Scottish football club Rangers is "finally back in the top flight of Scotland." The famed club beat Dumbarton, 1-0, on Tuesday "to clinch the league and book a spot in the Scottish Championship next season, ending a four-year absence after the club went into financial ruin" and was liquidated in '12.
With Rangers back in Scottish Premiership, the twice annual Old Firm derby against Celtic "will be back." The rivalry, "one of the most historic and the fiercest in all of the world, was a staple of Scottish sports for more than a century." Rangers' 54 league titles "are the most by any club in the world for their domestic league." They've won another 61 trophies, including the 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup, and played in the Champions League as recently as '10 (FOX SPORTS, 4/5).
Leicester's mayor "is planning to name the city's streets after the club's title-chasing stars." Mayor Peter Soulsby said that he will honor the players and Manager Claudio Ranieri "in fantastic fashion should they clinch the Premier League title this season."
Leicester "has already honoured professional sportsmen such as former England star Gary Lineker and they are ready to rebrand streets with the names 'Vardy Vale' and 'Ranieri Road.'" More than 10,000 gathered in Town Hall Square in '14 when the Foxes "were promoted to the top flight," and Soulsby said that there is going to be a "much bigger event" this time.
He said,
"Town Hall Square will not be big enough this time" (SKY SPORTS, 4/6).
FRANCHISE BRIEFS ...
Bayern Munich fans "have protested against plans to introduce a European Super League, which has been backed by club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in recent months."
There has been renewed talk in '16 of creating a European Super League where major clubs from Spain, England, Germany, Italy and France divisions "could go head to head." During Tuesday's Champions League match against Benfica, Bayern fans "took the chance to protest on the big stage as they displayed several banners during the first half" (ESPN, 4/6).
Serie A side Fiorentina fans "will boycott this Sunday’s Tuscan derby with Empoli, in protest at ticket prices." Tickets for the away sector are priced at €30 ($33), with no discount tickets "available in the Curva Sud for women, children or the elderly as often the case in Serie A." Curva Fiesole Ultras said in a statement, "The stadium has to be something that is open to everyone, not a privilege for the few" (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 4/6).
