Stoke & Staffordshire

Latest Updates

  1. A close-up of a sign showing the silver Jaguar badge to the left under the word Jaguar, and a green Land Rover emblem to the right

  2. Six teams in Championship play-offs 'dilutes it' - Smith

    72+ EFL Pod: Blackburn bother & ballers as chocolate bars

    A potential move to take the Championship play-offs down to eighth place would damage the competition's credibility, according to former Huddersfield, Stoke and Middlesbrough defender Tommy Smith.

    The EFL board is set to discuss proposals to increase the number of teams in the end-of-season play-offs from four to six but Smith, who was promoted to the Premier League with Huddersfield via the play-offs in 2017 is not a fan of the idea.

    "It's not for me - I think it suits teams who don't really have a chance to get in the top six," he told the BBC's EFL podcast 72+.

    "From a credibility point of view the top six is there to be aimed at and you have to earn your place in it."

    The play-offs were first introduced for the 1986-87 season where sides finishing third down to fifth were involved along with the team third-from-bottom in the top flight.

    After two seasons the format was changed to be played out between teams finishing third to sixth in the second tier.

    "To finish eighth in the Championship and potentially get promoted to the Premier League it just doesn't sit right with me," added Smith.

    "Notoriously over the past years getting into the top six is tough and when you get in there after a long hard season it feels brilliant, so to make it a top eight it dilutes it."

  3. A man with dark hair, wearing a black jumper over a white t-shirt is looking across the camera, and smiling. Behind him is shelving with boxes on

  4. A red and white British Rail sign is on top of a building in the background. Cars are in front of the building, near two bus shelters by a road.

  5. Stoke's Premier League plan key to Rigo signing

    Stoke City midfielder Tomas Rigo in action Rex Features

    Tomas Rigo was Stoke City's 11th signing of the summer transfer window

    Stoke City midfielder Tomas Rigo says he signed for the club because of the Potters' ambition to get back to the Premier League.

    The 23-year-old Slovakian joined two days before the end of the transfer window, agreeing a four-year deal from Banik Ostrava.

    "They introduced to me their plan and I liked it," Rigo told BBC Radio Stoke.

    "They want to go back to the Premier League and I hope I can be part of that. They are a club with ambition.

    "It was not a difficult decision. I wanted to move forward in my career and develop and Stoke was a a very good option for me.

    "All the facilities are much better and I think it can develop me to the next level."

    Rigo says he has settled in well over the past few weeks and said as soon as he met everyone he felt "like I'd been here two or three years".

    He was introduced to the home fans ahead of the game against West Brom on day he signed - an experience he said was "very nice" adding the supporters were "incredible".

    His introduction to the Championship has so far encompassed the 1-0 win over Birmingham City at the bet365 Stadium, and last Saturday's defeat by Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.

    Rigo says those matches have given him a sharp introduction to English football.

    "The intensity is higher," he said.

    "I don't have much time on the ball. I'm getting used to it and it's nothing I can't do.

    "I'm a creative player and want to create chances and be dangerous in the final third."

    Rigo is set to keep his place for Saturday's visit of Norwich City and says it is important that they "forget about" the QPR result.

    "I'm happy to start two matches in a row and I believe we can keep our position in the league. I'm trying not to put pressure on myself and am going to play my game."

  6. A Dutch Herder has a cut to her head.

  7. Sisters Yevheniia and Maria Shepilova. Yevheniia is wearing a green jumper with a gold pocket watch. Maria is wearing a pink jumper and has her hair tied.

  8. A small black and white dog with a blue fabric collar with the number 20 on it is being held in the arms of someone wearing a black jacket with 'Cannock Chase Council' visible on it.

  9. A pile of bricks, with a blue sky in the distance. There is part of a bottle-shaped kiln in the background of the image.

  10. Hannah Hampton, in black one-shoulder evening dress, holding a gold trophy. She is standing at a lectern, smiling in mid speech, with a man with dark hair in evening dress behind her. She has long blonde hair in soft waves and is wearing a silver necklace and bracelet.

  11. Ali Campbell, on stage with his arms outstretched, is wearing a black suit with a dark-coloured T-shirt. There is a drum kit and a drummer behind him, and a backdrop showing red-lit bricks with the word 'red' in capital letters in the appearance of a neon sign.

  12. Darren Moore stands in his navy blue hoodie with the the letters PVFC on the front watching on from the touchline

  13. Lorent Tolaj

  14. A large crest on a concrete wall, with the words Staffordshire Police, and an image of a knot in the middle

  15. An England flag attached to a lamppost, set against a blue sky with light-coloured clouds.

  16. A police officer in uniform is posing for the camera. He has a walkie talkie and a body warn camera attached to his jacket. There is a Staffordshire Police logo on the brim of his hat.

  17. Police mugshots of the two men who have been jailed. James Ball Senior, in the left image, has short grey hair and a beard and a tattoo on his neck and is scowling at the camera. James Ball Junior, in the right image, has short brown hair, and he is peering at the camera with his eyes half-closed. His nose is crooked.

  18. We were not on QPR's level - Johansson

    Johansson: ‘We weren’t near their levels’

    Stoke City goalkeeper Viktor Johansson says the Potters were not on the same level as Queens Park Rangers after suffering a 1-0 loss at Loftus Road on Saturday.

    The defeat, their second in three league games, was not enough to see the Potters drop out of the top two but it has left them four points adrift of league leaders Middlesbrough.

    Johansson had kept the Rs at bay in the second half with two excellent stops before Harvey Vale struck the winner on 75 minutes.

    "We weren't near enough on their levels," Johansson told BBC Radio Stoke.

    "We trained well all week. Different solutions to different problems, we just couldn't find it.

    "It's frustrating. We've got so much more in us, we just couldn't get the energy."

    Listen to the full post-match interview with Johansson and more Stoke City content on BBC Sounds.

    Listen on BBC Sounds

  19. Jodie Looker and Lee Blakeman are stood at podiums either side of a stage which is illuminated with pink lighting, with the a purple backdrop which has writing on it which reads BBC Radio Stoke Make a Difference Awards 2024.

  20. A hospital with ambulances parked outside it. The hospital building is several storeys high, and has red and yellow cladding on the lower part.

  21. Tony Christie, wearing yellow-tinted glasses, a dark red scarf and a dark blue jacket, smiles as he embraces his granddaughter, who has brown hair and a brown jacket and is smiling with her eyes closed as she leans on his chest. They are both standing next to a pillar in a pub.

  22. A woman in a blue Stoke City football shirt has one arm held aloft by a man in a black t-shirt which has the words toe wrestling championship on it. The woman's other hand is clenched in a fist and she is cheering.

  23. An elderly lady has her sleeves rolled up as she gets a jab. She has short blonde hair and is wearing a pink jumper. A female nurse in uniform is standing in the right of the image and has gloves on. Her face is not fully seen.

  24. A brown horse with a small white patch on its head looks into the camera with strands of grass hanging from its mouth. Its is in a grassy field with a wooden fence behind it and the start of a rainbow visible further back in a grey sky.