Summary

  • Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City among 15 Premier League news conferences

  • Women's FA Cup final updates before Chelsea v Man Utd on Sunday

  • Man City's Erling Haaland and Chelsea's Sam Kerr named men's and women's footballer of year by Football Writers' Association

  • West Ham beat AZ Alkmaar 2-1 in Europa Conference League semi-final first leg

  • Uefa rules out switching final venue from 20,000-capacity Fortuna Arena in Prague

  • Hammers boss David Moyes admits Declan Rice could leave this summer

  • Gossip: Man Utd fear missing out on Kane

  • Get Involved - #bbcfootball, WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply)

  1. Postpublished at 08:10 British Summer Time 12 May 2023

    West Ham 2-1 AZ Alkmaar

    So let's return to West Ham's first-leg win over AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League semi-final.

    As promised, here is more on the news that, should West Ham finish the job in the Netherlands in the return leg on 18 May, they will be playing the final in front of just 20,000 people at the Fortuna Arena - formerly known as the Eden Arena - in Prague.

    Here is what BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Glenn Murray had to say on the subject...

  2. 'Boehly hires ally to fix crisis'published at 08:04 British Summer Time 12 May 2023

    Friday's back pages

    The Times

    And finally, the Times reports that Chelsea owner Todd Boehly hopes to appoint a second chief executive in less than a year and will seek to promote someone from within his own business empire.

    According to the report, the move would raise a question mark over the role of former Manchester City executive Tom Glick, who was appointed as the president of business less than a year ago.

    Times main sport pageImage source, The Times
  3. 'Harry red slap'published at 07:57 British Summer Time 12 May 2023

    Friday's back pages

    Daily Mirror

    The Mirror has more on that Harry Kane story, saying Manchester United are facing a losing battle to land the Tottenham striker, and say Arsenal will be missing defenders Oleksandr Zinchenko and William Saliba for the title run-in.

    Mirror back pageImage source, Daily Mirror
  4. 'Luk who's back'published at 07:48 British Summer Time 12 May 2023

    Friday's back pages

    The Daily Express

    The Express reports that Chelsea manager in waiting Mauricio Pochettino faces a "£97m dilemma" as Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku prepares to return to Stamford Bridge this summer at the end of his loan stay at Inter Milan.

    Another report on the back page says that Manchester United will target Everton's England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

    Express back pageImage source, Daily Express
  5. 'Target Mhen'published at 07:40 British Summer Time 12 May 2023

    Friday's back pages

    The Daily Star

    The Star's back page lead is on Manchester United's striker search.

    It reports that Erik ten Hag fears he may miss out on Tottenham's England captain Harry Kane, but has been boosted by the news that Napoli's Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen favours a move to the Premier League.

    The Star also has reports on West Ham's "fantastic fightback" against AZ Alkmaar and news that Arsenal's Ukraine full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko is expected to miss the rest of the season with a calf injury.

    Star back pageImage source, Daily Star
  6. 'Bunch of wasters!'published at 07:31 British Summer Time 12 May 2023

    Friday's back pages

    Metro

    The Metro back page focuses on comments made by Leeds manager Sam Allardyce, who leapt to the defence of Newcastle boss Eddie Howe following complaints by opposition managers that his Magpies side waste time during games.

    Allardyce responded: "Don't be daft."

    The Leeds boss branded the accusations directed towards Howe from managers such as Jurgen Klopp and Erik ten Hag as "rubbish", saying all teams waste time if they are sitting on a lead.

    Metro back pageImage source, Metro
  7. 'Antonio puts Hammers on track for final'published at 07:25 British Summer Time 12 May 2023

    Friday's back pages

    The Guardian

    Michail Antonio's celebrations with his West Ham team-mates, pictured in the Guardian's main sport page, point to a mixture of excitement and relief.

    His second-half goal gave the Irons a 2-1 lead over Dutch side AZ Alkmaar following the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final.

    Guardian's main sport pageImage source, Guardian
  8. West Ham earn slender semi-final lead over AZpublished at 07:19 British Summer Time 12 May 2023

    West Ham 2-1 AZ Alkmaar

    West Ham goalscorer Michail Antonio celebrates with his team-matesImage source, Getty Images

    West Ham's dreams of a first major trophy since 1980 are still alive as they came from behind to secure a narrow Europa Conference League semi-final first-leg win over Dutch side AZ Alkmaar at London Stadium.

    The Hammers' hopes of reaching the final in Prague on 7 June were hanging by a thread when Alphonse Areola made a mess of saving Tijjani Reijnders' low shot four minutes before the break.

    But in front of jubilant home support, David Moyes' side turned the tie on its head after half-time.

    They had former Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan to thank for offering them a way back into the contest when he recklessly punched Jarrod Bowen in the face as he arrived late to challenge for a high ball the England man actually headed over.

    After Ryan took an age to take his position for the penalty, Said Benrahma beat him with a powerful shot into the corner.

    And 15 minutes from time Michail Antonio hit the winner from close range, stabbing home the loose ball after Nayef Aguerd's initial header had been blocked by Yukinari Sugawara on the line.

    West Ham will take nothing for granted given AZ were two down after the first leg of their quarter-final with Anderlecht and still made it through.

    However, the hosts did carry the greater threat and would have taken a firmer grip on the tie had Benrahma found the target rather than blazing over after being set up by Danny Ings.

    Read Simon Stone's full report.

  9. Today's agendapublished at 07:14 British Summer Time 12 May 2023

    All times in BST

    There is plenty to get through this morning so I will keep this brief. Here is how the day will pan out:

    • Today's back pages
    • Reports and reaction following Thursday night's Europa League and Europa Conference League semi-finals
    • Gossip: Man Utd fear missing out on Kane
    • Women's FA Cup news conferences - Man Utd at 08:30 BST; Chelsea 15:00
    • Premier League news conferences - starting with Liverpool at 09:45

    But first, in case you missed it, let's have a look at how West Ham earned that slender semi-final lead over AZ Alkmaar...

  10. get involved

    Full capacitypublished at 07:08 British Summer Time 12 May 2023

    Get Involved: #bbcfootball, WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply)

    One of the big talking points after the first legs of the Europa Conference League semi-finals was the size of the venue for the final.

    Prague's Fortuna Arena has a capacity of 19,370, that is compared with West Ham's London Stadium, which can hold 60,000 supporters.

    While West Ham's support base might be bigger than their rivals in the Conference League last-four - Fiorentina, FC Basel and AZ Alkmaar - it is clear that whichever team reaches the showpiece final, demand for tickets will outstrip the supply.

    More on that later, but we would love to hear your views on this.

    Get in touch via Twitter, WhatsApp or text using the contact details above.

    The London StadiumImage source, Getty Images
  11. Good morningpublished at 07:00 British Summer Time 12 May 2023

    A difficult night for West Ham in the Europa Conference League semi-finals ended with a positive result for David Moyes' side.

    The Irons will take a slender 2-1 advantage to AZ Alkmaar in the second leg on Thursday, 18 May.

    All the reaction is coming up.

    Said Benrahma scores a second-half penaltyImage source, Getty Images
    Michail Antonio puts West Ham in frontImage source, Getty Images
    West Ham captain Declan RiceImage source, Getty Images