Ben White Leeds
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Brighton’s #BenWhite reflects on a great first week with England #BHAFC

June 8, 2021
Brighton's Ben White has reflected on his first week with England, after making his full debut yesterday. The 23-year-old defender has won two caps in the last six days after being handed his first cap when coming off the bench in their 1-0 win against Austria to replace Jack Grealish. Yesterday he was then handed his first start in their 1-0 win over Romania. In total he has kept two clean sheets in both of his caps so far. White capped off what has been a great week for him this morning by being called up to their 26-man squad for the Euros to replace Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, who withdrew through injury. Read more: Ben White makes full England debut against Romania. But after playing the full 90 minutes against Romania yesterday, White knows what he needs to do to get to the next level and become a regular for England. He said: “It’s been a great experience playing with the players that I have been playing with this week and shows me the level I need to be at, to be a top player like these boys. “It has been a great experience for me and obviously it has been tough, but really good.”
Ben White Leeds
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Brighton’s #BenWhite shines on his full England debut against Romania #BHAFC

June 7, 2021
The 23-year-old started and played the full 90 minutes for England in their 1-0 win over Romania in friendly at the Riverside Stadium yesterday evening. He became the first Albion player to start for England since skipper Lewis Dunk in a friendly against the USA at Wembley in November 2018. He partnered Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings at centre-half as part of a back four with Everton’s Ben Godfrey at right back and Manchester United’s Luke Shaw at left back. His performance earnt him plaudits from former England internationals Ian Wright and Lee Dixon, who were impressed by how ‘calm’ and ‘composed’ he was, with Dixon picking out White’s as the best performers in the back four. But after the game Gareth Southgate refused to be drawn on who will replace Trent Alexander-Arnold, with White one of six players in the running for the vacant spot in his their 26-man squad for the Euros. He said: “We will check how we are after the game medically and check there is nothing else we need to go through, so we will make that decision in the next 24 hours.” The only goal of the game came in the 68th minute after substitute Tiberiu Capusa’s pulled down Jack Grealish in the box. Marcus Rashford stepped up and calmly tucked his effort into the bottom corner. England won another penalty in the 77th minute after Vlad Chiriches bundled Dominic Calvert-Lewin over. Substitute Jordan Henderson took it but saw his effort saved by Sparta Prague’s Florin Nita. England had been unlucky not to take the lead in the first half after Calvert-Lewin’s header and Jadon Sancho’s curling effort both came back off the crossbar.
Amex Stadium Brighton
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PLStories- #AndrewCrofts becomes Brighton under-23’s head coach #BHAFC

June 6, 2021
The 37-year-old rejoined Albion in July 2019 to combine a playing role with coaching duties for the under-23s.  However, after under-23's manager Simon Rusk left in January to join National League side Stockport County as their manager, Crofts and Shannon Ruth stepped up to become the interim head coaches. But after guiding Albion to a ninth-place in the BPL 2, Crofts has been named as head coach. While, Ruth has been promoted to senior professional development coach and will continue to work with Crofts.  During his time with Albion the former Welsh international played 125 games in his two spells on the South Coast, scoring 13 goals. He also won 29 senior caps for Wales. Albion's technical director Dan Ashworth said: “We’re delighted that Crofty has accepted this position. “He is passionate about coaching and developing young players and this is a great opportunity for him.  “Shannon will now have a wider coaching brief having previously worked with our younger goalkeepers and we wish them every success for the future.”
Jose Izquierdo Brighton
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PLStories- #JoseIzquierdo to leave Brighton when his contract expires #BHAFC

June 5, 2021
Jose Izquierdo will leave Brighton when his contract expires at the end of this month. The 28-year-old joined in August 2017 from Belgian giants Club Brugge. He played an important part in helping them stay in the Premier League in his debut season making 32 appearances, scoring five goals and getting four assists. Those five goals included two great strikes against West Ham. However over the last two seasons Izquierdo has been hampered by a serious knee injury, which led to him missing a chunk of the 2018/19 season as well as the whole of the 2019/20 season. In October Izquierdo made his return from injury for Albion’s Under-23’s and scored the winner against West Ham. He went on to play a further four matches for the 23’s over the next month. But Izquierdo’s comeback was then halted as he suffered a thigh injury. He worked his way back to full fitness and made his first appearance for Albion since June 2019, as he came off the bench in April against Sheffield United. Albion’s technical director Dan Ashworth said: “Jose has been unfortunate with injury over the last couple of years. “But he played a key role in helping the club establish itself in the Premier League and he has always been a positive presence around the squad. “We wish him all the best for the future and thank him for his services to the club.”
James Ward Prowse
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PLStories- #JamesWardProwse still has Euro 2020 chance after #TrentAlexanderArnold forced to pull out of England squad #SAINTSFC

June 5, 2021
SAINTS skipper James Ward-Prowse still has a chance for a late England Euro 2020 call-up after Trent Alexander-Arnold was ruled out of the tournament. The Liverpool defender suffered a thigh injury in Wednesday’s friendly win over Austria. Alexander-Arnold limped off in the closing stages of the 1-0 victory, with Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate offering a grim prognosis immediately after the game. His fears were realised when scans revealed the extent of Alexander-Arnold’s injury – with the Football Association confirming his withdrawal on Thursday. “Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out of UEFA EURO 2020,” a statement said. “The Liverpool player sustained a thigh injury in the closing stages of Wednesday’s 1-0 win against Austria in Middlesbrough. “A scan on Thursday confirmed the 22-year-old will be unable to play in the forthcoming tournament so he has withdrawn from the England squad to return to his club for rehabilitation. “Gareth Southgate will not confirm a replacement until after Sunday’s return to the Riverside Stadium for the warm-up fixture against Romania.” Ward-Prowse is now one of the five outfield players on standby waiting to discover if they will be selected to replace Alexander-Arnold in the squad. Defenders Ben White and Ben Godfrey, who both made their debuts off the bench against Austria, as well as Jesse Lingard and Ollie Watkins are the others who Southgate can call upon. Saints skipper Ward-Prowse and the other players in contention to make the squad could still feature in Sunday’s warm-up fixture against Romania. “All the (omitted) players are going to stay with us through to the end of Sunday’s game anyway,” Southgate said. “Obviously we’ll make an assessment on the whole squad once we’ve got through that game. “I’m very conscious we’ve got another 90 minutes to get through and that alone is a bit of a challenge for us, really.” England face Croatia in Group D of the tournament on Sunday, June 13. They are then set to take on Scotland on Friday, June 18 and Czech Republic on June 22. All three of their group fixtures are at Wembley.
Trent Alexander Arnold and Virgil Van Dijk
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PLStories- England National team confirm #TrentAlexanderArnold Injury #LFC

June 4, 2021
Brighton defender Ben White could work his way into England’s 26-man squad for the Euros after Trent Alexander-Arnold withdrew from the squad through injury. The Liverpool full back limped off late on in the win over Austria on Wednesday night. England released a statement which said: "The Liverpool player sustained a thigh injury in the closing stages of Wednesday’s 1-0 win against Austria in Middlesbrough.  "A scan on Thursday confirmed the 22 year old will be unable to play in the forthcoming tournament so he's withdrawn from the England squad to return to his club for rehabilitation.  But Gareth Southgate has confirmed he will not name a replacement until after Sunday’s friendly against Romania. White is one of six players on England's standby list with him and Ben Godfrey being the only defenders on that list.