Franchise Notes: Pascal Wehrlein To Drive For Manor F1

German F1 driver Pascal Wehrlein "is to drive for the Manor team" in '16. The 21-year-old, who was the reserve driver for Mercedes in '15, "takes the first of two vacant Manor seats." Wehrlein "has a deal with Manor for the entire season" (BBC, 2/10). ... Man City wants to meet the FA for talks as the club pushes "for more to be done to address the fixture chaos" it believes is damaging English football. Man City CEO Ferran Soriano has spoken to Martin Glenn, his counterpart at the governing body, in recent days "over the scheduling of the club’s FA Cup tie against Chelsea and wider issues of fixture congestion" (LONDON TIMES, 2/10). ... Premier League side Newcastle United announced "a price freeze on adult season tickets next season with those for under-18s being reduced." Newcastle said that there is a risk "generations of supporters" could be lost if the cost of attending matches rises too high (Irish INDEPENDENT, 2/9).