NATALIE LAWRENCE hopes her "groundbreaking appointment" as Team Wellington National Youth League coach will "encourage more clubs to not see gender when selecting coaches." Lawrence will be the first female to coach a male NYL team when she takes charge this year. She said, "It's significant in the fact that it shows all females that it's football, no matter what gender" (STUFF, 8/20). ... RICKY GEORGE, the man who scored the winning goal when Hereford United "famously" knocked Newcastle United out of the FA Cup in '72, was jailed for money laundering. George, 72, was sentenced to two years and his son ADAM, 40, was also jailed for 15 months. The fraud involved the sale of a house "without the knowledge or consent of the owner" (BBC, 8/14). ... Liverpool forward MOHAMED SALAH is "on the shortlist" to be named '17-18 UEFA Men's Player of the Year. The Egyptian, who scored 44 goals for his club last season, is up against CRISTIANO RONALDO and LUKA MODRIC. The women's award will go to either PERNILLE HARDER (Denmark and Wolfsberg), ADA HEGERBERG (Norway and Lyon) or AMANDINE HENRY (France and Lyon) (PA, 8/20). ... KENNY MILLER's seven-week tenure as Scottish Premiership side Livingston player-manager "is over." Miller only took the position at the club at the end of June, succeeding DAVID HOPKIN. A club statement said that it "amicably agreed to part company" with the former Rangers striker, 38, after talks over the weekend (BBC, 8/20).
PLAYING FAVORITES: Major League Baseball Commissioner ROB MANFRED said that Mexican President-elect ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR "is his favorite politician." Manfred's comments followed López Obrador tweeting last week that "developing Mexican players was part of his administration's plan." Manfred: "We appreciate his commitment to the game and we are interested in working with him in any way possible so that the game grows in Mexico" (LA AFICIÓN, 8/19).
