Philippe Clement insists Rangers came close to a “miracle” win over Benfica in their thrilling Europa League last-16 tie which ended 2-2 in Lisbon.
Midfielder Tom Lawrence gave the Light Blues the lead in the seventh minute of the first leg with a header before Argentina World Cup winner Angel Di Maria levelled with a penalty in added time after VAR intervened to highlight that Gers defender John Souttar had used his arm inside the box.
Dujon Sterling restored the visitors’ lead in added time with his first career goal only for Gers defender Connor Goldson to head into his own goal in the 67th minute and the tie is now set up nicely for next Thursday in Govan.
With a nod to Benfica’s huge budget in comparison to that of Rangers, the Light Blues boss said: “We were really close to making this miracle, the first team ever in the Europa League to win here.
“It is a pity to get a penalty against us like that, it is really an unlucky situation, the ball drops and John doesn’t see it and it drops on his arm. That is really unlucky.
“We were really close, we had two opportunities with Fabio (Silva) and Cyriel (Dessers) to make it 3-1, it would have changed a lot in this game but I am really proud of my team.
“They showed character, personality and solidarity also with the ball we scored two really good goals.
“I am really someone who is demanding but I cannot give more than what they gave today. They gave their all and also, the guys who came in.
“We missed a lot of players in the offensive position so other players had to do the job. I am very happy with Fabio and Dujon.
“We need to continue like this. If we keep this mentality that they have been showing in the last couple of months it could be an amazing season.”
Asked if Rangers now have the advantage in the tie, the Belgian boss said: “It’s only an advantage that it’s at Ibrox. If our fans are on top of it from the first second until the last second then they can give a lot of energy to the team.
“But we stay realistic about the qualities of Benfica. You guys wrote this week about the difference in the transfer budgets and that’s the reality. If we could eliminate this team I think it would be a huge, huge thing.
“I can only ask for my players to give their best and to show that they have shown tonight again on Thursday.”
Clement went on to describe the penalty as “very harsh”, saying: “I have said it already a few times that I don’t agree where the game has gone to with handball situations. I know those are the rules.
“I had more problems with some situations in the last couple of weeks.
“With the rules and how they are now, you can give this penalty. But as somebody who loves football, I have difficulty with those rules.
“And I think all the managers and all the players think the same.
“It is too harsh now that a ball that is clearly not intended to go against your arm, the moment it touches you it’s a penalty.
“Too many games all over the world are decided in this way with these handballs and these penalties.”
Kristaps Porzingis bowed down to the "incredible" Luka Jokic after the Denver Nuggets star dismantled the Boston Celtics.
Eastern Conference leaders Boston lost back-to-back game for the first time since November as the Nuggets ran out 115-109 victors on Thursday.
Jokic had 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists – his 20th triple-double of the season and his 30th career 30-point triple-double as the Nuggets completed the series sweep against the Celtics.
Porzingis recorded 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 41 points and 14 rebounds, but ultimately Jokic's quality told for the reigning NBA champions.
"He's just an incredible basketball player," said Porzingis.
"Some things I learned from him today, actually. He's just so smart, so crafty, so many things you don't see that he does on the floor that helps that team win.
"It's incredible. Whenever you [slip up] just a little bit, he'll find [Aaron] Gordon, he'll find all these guys. It speaks to how valuable he is for them."
The Nuggets have won seven of their last eight games and sit third in the West.
"They're a really good team, and they have basically an answer for everything," Jokic said.
"Matchup-wise, defense-wise, offense-wise. They are a really well-built team, and they're playing really good.
"That's why they're the best team in the NBA right now. It's really hard to play against that team. They're long and tall. They defend really good. They have really smart players. It's a great thing."
Denver coach Michael Malone knows it is something of a statement win.
"That team never goes away," Malone said of the Celtics, before adding of his team: "I thought the bench was outstanding, they gave us really good contributions.
"We've got 19 to go, we've got to find a way to stay hungry, we can't just get up for the great teams, we've got to get up for everybody and play that brand of basketball every night."
What the papers say
Chelsea have joined the race for English defender Archie Brown at Belgian club Gent. The Sun, via HITC, reports a number of Premier League clubs, Juventus and AC Milan are watching the 21-year-old, who left Derby three years ago in search of first-team football.
Manchester United have opened talks on a contract extension with Kobbie Mainoo, according to the Manchester Evening News. The England Under-19 international midfielder, 18, has impressed since forcing his way into the first team at Old Trafford.
Mason Greenwood will be stopped from joining United on a pre-season tour of the United States by club bosses, reports the Daily Star. The English forward, 22, is currently on loan in Spain with Getafe.
Defender Ben White, 26, is the next player expected to sign a new deal at Arsenal. The Sun says the new deal could be signed this month after fellow defender Takehiro Tomiyasu agreed a fresh contract.
Social media round-upPlayers to watch
Oleksandr Zinchenko: Newcastle and Bayern Munich are keen on Arsenal’s 27-year-old Ukraine international, according to Football Transfers.
Crysencio Summerville: Leeds’ Dutch Under-21 international, 22, is high on Chelsea’s list in their search for a winger, reports Teamtalk.
England’s bowlers toiled without any reward as unbeaten centuries from India pair Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill snuffed out hope of a fightback in Dharamsala.
A batting collapse on the opening day of the fifth Test left England behind the eight-ball and India advanced an overnight 135 for one to 264 without further loss to move 46 ahead on the second morning.
Zak Crawley got fingertips to a chance presented by Rohit but it was otherwise one-way traffic as India’s captain reached three figures just before Gill on the stroke of lunch.
Rohit ended the session on 102 not out, with Gill unbeaten on 101 in an unbroken stand of 160 and England’s hopes of a consolation win at the end of this series are growing ever more bleak.
Mark Wood bowled in excess of 90mph regularly and was perhaps a tad unfortunate to concede 60 in nine overs while Shoaib Bashir was also expensive. Tom Hartley offered a degree of control but was non-threatening while James Anderson sent down just three overs, leaking 16 runs.
England started the day needing quick wickets and while Bashir started with a maiden, he was carted back over his head twice by Rohit for six-four while Gill disdainfully stepped down to Anderson and launched the veteran seamer over the rope.
Rohit offered the merest of chances on 68 after turning Bashir off his hip but Crawley, perhaps unsighted at leg slip, was too late to get in position as the ball flicked off his fingertips and away.
India’s first 50 runs came off 56 balls and while England were able to briefly slow up the scoring rate, they were unable to exert any pressure. Wood drew the outside edge of Gill but the ball flew wide of the lone slip and the batter middled one through point for four later in the over.
The 100-run stand came off just 149 balls after Rohit stepped to leg and smashed Wood through vacant mid-off for four, while a 94mph attempted yorker was driven straight for another boundary by Gill.
Bashir, whose first 17-over spell yielded 86, was greeted back into the attack with a six by Gill which took India into the lead while another maximum left the young off-spinner with his hands on his head.
It was just a question of who would reach their hundred first, with Rohit winning the race with a single into the leg-side off Hartley, while Gill slog swept Bashir for his 10th four, to go with five sixes, to bring up his ton.
Luka Dončić became the second player with five straight 30-point triple-doubles and the Dallas Mavericks rallied for a 114-108 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday.
Doncic had 35 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to join the exclusive group with Russell Westbrook, who had five consecutive 30-point triple-doubles in 2017 for Oklahoma City. Doncic also became the first in history with four straight 35-point triple doubles.
Doncic was 12 of 24 from the field and 7 of 13 on 3-pointers and sank all four free throws. He is averaging 35.8 points, 11.8 assists and 11 rebounds during his five-game run.
Kyrie Irving added 23 points as Dallas snapped a three-game skid.
Terry Rozier had 27 points and 11 assists for Miami, which had won seven of eight.
The Mavericks trailed 101-100 with under four minutes remaining but 3s by Doncic, Dante Exum and Irving gave them the lead for good.
Curry limps off as Warriors fall to Bulls
Stephen Curry limped off late in the fourth quarter and DeMar DeRozan converted a three-point play with 26 seconds remaining to give the Chicago Bulls a 125-122 win over the Golden State Warriors.
Curry exited with 3:51 left after rolling his right ankle and went to the locker room. He scored 15 points in 29 minutes.
DeRozan, who also hit a key jumper with 43 seconds to play, finished with 33 points, while Nikola Vucevic had 33 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, including a tying 3-pointer with 2:49 to go.
Chicago won for the fourth time in five games and snapped an eight-game skid on Golden State's home court.
Jonathan Kuminga scored 19 points and Draymond Green notched a triple-double with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 boards.
Edwards stars in Wolves’ win
Anthony Edwards tied his season high with 44 points, hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer and came up with a stellar block at the buzzer to give the Timberwolves a 113-111 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Edwards soared to reject a last-second layup attempt by Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith, hitting his head on the rim as time expired.
He accounted for the team’s final eight points, shooting 18 of 35 from the field with three 3s and six rebounds.
Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Naz Reid contributed 13 points and eight boards as Minnesota won its second straight to move back into sole possession of the Western Conference lead.
Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and Tyrese Haliburton had 23 with 13 assists for the Pacers, who erased a 17-point deficit to lead 104-103 with two minutes remaining.
Luka Doncic became the second player with five straight 30-point triple-doubles and the Dallas Mavericks rallied for a 114-108 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday.
Doncic had 35 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to join the exclusive group with Russell Westbrook, who had five consecutive 30-point triple-doubles in 2017 for Oklahoma City. Doncic also became the first in history with four straight 35-point triple-doubles.
Doncic was 12 of 24 from the field and 7 of 13 on 3-pointers and sank all four free throws. He is averaging 35.8 points, 11.8 assists and 11 rebounds during his five-game run.
Kyrie Irving added 23 points as Dallas snapped a three-game skid.
Terry Rozier had 27 points and 11 assists for Miami, which had won seven of eight.
The Mavericks trailed 101-100 with under four minutes remaining but 3s by Doncic, Dante Exum and Irving gave them the lead for good.
Curry limps off as Warriors fall to Bulls
Stephen Curry limped off late in the fourth quarter and DeMar DeRozan converted a three-point play with 26 seconds remaining to give the Chicago Bulls a 125-122 win over the Golden State Warriors.
Curry exited with 3:51 left after rolling his right ankle and went to the locker room. He scored 15 points in 29 minutes.
DeRozan, who also hit a key jumper with 43 seconds to play, finished with 33 points, while Nikola Vucevic had 33 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, including a tying 3-pointer with 2:49 to go.
Chicago won for the fourth time in five games and snapped an eight-game skid on Golden State's home court.
Jonathan Kuminga scored 19 points and Draymond Green notched a triple-double with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 boards.
Edwards stars in Wolves’ win
Anthony Edwards tied his season high with 44 points, hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer and came up with a stellar block at the buzzer to give the Timberwolves a 113-111 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Edwards soared to reject a last-second layup attempt by Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith, hitting his head on the rim as time expired.
He accounted for the team’s final eight points, shooting 18 of 35 from the field with three 3s and six rebounds.
Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Naz Reid contributed 13 points and eight boards as Minnesota won its second straight to move back into sole possession of the Western Conference lead.
Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and Tyrese Haliburton had 23 with 13 assists for the Pacers, who erased a 17-point deficit to lead 104-103 with two minutes remaining.
RT if that was the best block you’ve ever seen. pic.twitter.com/6UrBuoLFdR
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 8, 2024
Brian O’Driscoll bade farewell to the Aviva Stadium a decade ago with a memorable last appearance in Dublin in Ireland’s Six Nations victory over Italy.
O’Driscoll’s vintage sleight of hand inspired a seven-try, 46-7 win to set up a title decider against France.
The then 35-year-old marked his world-record 140th Test cap by deftly setting up tries for Johnny Sexton and Andrew Trimble.
Chants of “one more year” rang around the ground at the final whistle, but O’Driscoll’s summer retirement was set in stone.
The outside centre, who made his Ireland Test debut in 1999, said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better close to playing at home in an Irish jersey.
“To score 46 points and only concede one try, it really made the day what it was. I’ll remember that for a very long, long time. I got emotional at the end, it was hard to take it all in.
“I think maybe when I go back and look over it again, I’ll probably get more emotional then. But it was very, very special, if a little embarrassing, but it was still great.”
O’Driscoll had a fairytale ending to his international career, with Ireland defeating France in Paris the following weekend for only the second time in 42 years to claim the Six Nations title.
He continued playing for Leinster until the end of May, with his final appearance coming in their Pro12 Grand Final victory over Glasgow Warriors.
Garnet Hathaway scored with 22 seconds left in regulation and the Philadelphia Flyers got 29 saves from Samuel Ersson in a 2-1 victory, ending the Florida Panthers’ six-game winning streak on Thursday.
Ryan Poehling had the other goal for the Flyers, who have points in three straight (2-0-1) after losing three of four.
Vladimir Tarasenko was pointless in his Panthers debut after he was acquired from Ottawa on Wednesday.
Florida, which had won six in a row at home, dropped to 12-2-0 in its last 14 games overall.
Flyers defenseman Cam York left late in the third after blocking a shot with his knee, while leading scorer Travis Konecny returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury.
Carolina’s Andersen sharp in return
Frederik Andersen turned away 24 shots after a four-month absence and Brady Skjei scored twice to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Andersen made his first appearance since Nov. 2 due to a blood clotting issue and improved to 5-1 on the season. He had been doing on-ice work for about a month in preparation for his return.
Stefan Noesen and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for the Hurricanes, who pulled within four points of the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers.
Forsberg has hat trick in Predators’ win
Filip Forsberg recorded his ninth career hat trick to lead the red-hot Nashville Predators to a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Forsberg scored the game’s first goal at 3:53 of the opening period and scored twice in the third period, completing his first hat trick of the season at 6:43.
He extended his point streak to seven games, one short of matching his career high. He has seven goals and five assists during the run.
Luke Evangelista also scored and Juuse Saros stopped 26 shots to help the Predators improve to 9-0-1 in their last 10 games.
The Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves will be without star forward Karl-Anthony Towns for at least four weeks after he undergoes surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee, the team announced Thursday night.
With Towns expected to miss at least four weeks, he would, at minimum, be sidelined for at least 13 more games – the majority of the Timberwolves’ remaining schedule.
The team revealed after Thursday’s 113-111 win over Indiana that an MRI exam, performed Wednesday, showed the tear.
He will undergo surgery early next week.
“It’s not a plug-in one person to fill Karl’s role kind of situation,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “What I love about our team is that we have a multitude of options. We can go a lot of different ways based on matchups on any given night. We’ve started different guys through the season anyway.”
An All-Star for the fourth time, Towns is averaging 22.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while sinking a career-best 42.3 percent from 3-point range. He is one five players in the league averaging at least 20 points, shooting 50 percent from the field and 40 percent on 3-pointers.
The Chicago Bears and star cornerback Jaylon Johnson have worked out a four-year, $76 million deal, two days after the team placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on the 24-year-old.
Johnson is guaranteed $43.8 million at signing and will make $28 million in the first year of the deal, according to sources.
“We’re extremely excited to be able to keep Jaylon here for the next four years,” general manager Ryan Poles said in a statement. “He’s an integral part of our defense and his leadership will help our team continue to ascend.”
Johnson would have been due $19.8 million in 2024 had he not agreed to extension prior to the July 15 deadline.
Johnson has started all 53 games he’s appeared in since the Bears selected him in the second round with the 50th overall pick in the 2020 draft.
He had four interceptions and returned one for a touchdown last season after picking off one pass in his first three years. Johnson had 10 passes defensed and forced one fumble and was selected second-team All-Pro.
The Bears finished 7-10 last season and missed the playoffs for the third straight season. They own the No. 1 and No. 9 overall picks in next month’s draft.
World and European champion Emma Finucane is hoping to inspire the next generation of young girls after helping to overhaul the fortunes of Great Britain’s women’s sprint squad.
Amid the dominance Britain has enjoyed in Olympic track cycling since Beijing, there had been a glaring weakness since London 2012, with the country failing to even qualify to race in the women’s team sprint at the last two Games as Katy Marchant was left to fly the flag alone in the individual events.
But a plan put in place after Rio to address that has begun bearing fruit since Tokyo, and Britain will head to Paris on the back of team sprint silver medals at both the World Championships in Glasgow last summer and at the European Championships in Apeldoorn in January.
Sophie Capewell, Lauren Bell and Milly Tanner have all earned their place on British Cycling’s Olympic Podium Programme alongside Marchant, and Finucane, 21, made herself the poster girl of the revolution with individual sprint titles at both world and European level in the last seven months.
“Women’s track sprinting has come on loads and I think that’s down to the strength in depth we have,” Finucane told the PA news agency while watching the next set of hopefuls race at the British National Championships in Manchester.
“Even at the nationals we have so many girls breaking personal bests and pushing each other on. We have that internal competition and it really, really helps the women’s sprint. Hopefully in Paris we will have a team sprint and that hasn’t been the case for the last two cycles.
“That is super exciting and I think it shows we can do it, we work just as hard as everyone else and the results will come.
“I hope to inspire younger people to get into sprinting because I didn’t really know a lot about it when I was younger. All you would see was Laura Kenny and the endurance riders, so I think it’s a huge thing for the women’s sprint.”
Finucane surprised herself with her victory in Glasgow last year, a title that thrust her onto the shortlist of favourites for Olympic success in Paris. But only three years ago she was a fresh-faced teenager trying to find her way around the Manchester velodrome after moving from home in Wales.
“I moved up in January of 2021 and I didn’t think Paris was a possibility for me,” she said. “I’m quite young and I’d just moved out of home and only just purely started track sprinting. My career progressed from there and I’m now trying to qualify for the Games so it really is exciting.
“I’ve just tried to take each race as it comes like I always do. I think there has been a part of my career that has happened quite quickly but I wouldn’t have it any other way, just living and riding my bike with these amazing girls around.”
The rainbow jersey has brought added attention and expectation but Finucane’s individual win at the Euros in January, again beating the German duo of Lea Friedrich and Emma Hinze who might expect to be the primary opposition in Paris, suggests she is handling it just fine.
“I’m aware of (the expectations) but I’m just going to try and enjoy the journey, not just focus on the outcome,” she said.
“I feel like that’s where people get lost. It’s a journey and there’s still a long way to go. I’m trying to enjoy the people around me, I still have my circle around me, and I just want to enjoy racing. I feel that’s when I’m at my best.”
Whilst most sports are now moving to develop and promote their women’s game independently of the men’s, racing has the rare distinction of allowing both sexes to compete directly against one another.
The majority of jockeys are male, but there has been breakthrough after breakthrough in the women’s ranks and responsible for much of that progress is the great talent of Hollie Doyle.
Doyle is not just a supreme female jockey, but a leading rider regardless of gender and is one of only a handful of jockeys to enjoy a retained role as the go-to for Imad Al Sagar’s Blue Diamond Stud.
It is aboard their star mare Nashwa that she has enjoyed great success in recent seasons, winning three Group Ones and collecting several placings at the top level in a career that looks set to continue when the Flat season really starts next month.
John and Thady Gosden train Nashwa but Doyle is the stable jockey for Archie Watson, for whom she has registered countless victories aboard big names such as Glen Shiel, Outbox and last year’s Royal Ascot scorer Bradsell.
With a stable jockey position and a retainer, Doyle could be expected to take only a limited book of outside rides, but her CV proves she is in demand whenever available and she is the rider associated with Alan King’s top stayer Trueshan.
Her status would also grant her the right to sit out the lower quality meetings and choose not to travel the length and breadth of the country for all-weather rides, but Doyle is arguably one of the hardest-working riders in the weighing room and took just shy of 800 rides last year in Britain alone.
During the window that determines the British Flat jockeys’ championship, she rode 89 winners last season, finishing fifth behind William Buick, Oisin Murphy, Rossa Ryan and her husband, Tom Marquand.
In addition to that, she has plied her trade in almost every significant racing jurisdiction that exists and last year brought home prize money from Japan, France, Germany, Sweden and Italy – something she does not take for granted.
“I get loads of support from everyone and it’s really nice to feel that I have such an open book of trainers that are willing to use me,” she said.
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“It is great to have the association I have with Imad Al Sagar and it’s even better that Nashwa is in training for another year, and that’s something to look forward to for the season ahead already.
“I’m really lucky, I’m attached to Archie’s stable and always busy in that regard, he has a nice team of horses to go forward with.
“I’ve been riding all around the world, I did a stint in Japan and I thoroughly enjoyed that – it’s something I’ll be hoping to do a lot more of.
“It’s great as it’s always hard to go to a new jurisdiction and pick up some good rides, you have to take it all in and adapt to the style of racing riding there.”
Hayley Turner broke many barriers at a time when there was some reluctance to use female jockeys, with her success then paving the way for younger riders like Doyle.
“Hayley was a massive trailblazer for everyone, especially when I was young and she was really at the peak of her career,” she said.
“She definitely carved out a path and that’s had an impact on us all.”
Exeter wing and Gladiators star Jodie Ounsley has targeted a place in the England 15s squad after hanging up her super-hero outfit and changing back into a rugby kit.
The 23-year-old from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, is already an England Sevens international and has set the bar high following her exploits as Fury on the revamped BBC show.
Ounsley, who became the first deaf woman to play for a senior England rugby side in 2019, told the PA news agency ahead of International Women’s Day: “I was straight back into rugby the week after filming finished last summer, but because of my injury I’ve been out.
“Quite a lot of people thought I’d given up rugby, which is not the case at all. I’m full-time rugby and part-time Gladiator.
“I’d love to do another Gladiators series, but right now it’s all rugby for me. I’ve still got a long way to go, but I’d love to be involved with the Red Roses 15s.
“I’m focused on getting back fit, hopefully getting some game-time in the Premiership with Exeter and then who knows?”
The multi-talented Ounsley is a former British jiu-jitsu champion, five-time world junior coal-carrying champion and represented Great Britain at the 2017 Deaf Olympics in the 100m and 200m sprints, aged just 16.
But after scoring a length-of-the-field try with her very first touch in her first rugby match for local club Sandal, she was hooked on the 15-a-side game and never looked back.
Ounsley was included in the England Sevens squad while at first professional club Loughborough Lightning and was snapped up by Sale Sharks in 2020 before joining her third top-flight club, Exeter Chiefs, in 2022.
“There’s so much competition in the Red Roses, especially the back three, so I’m not putting any expectation on it,” she said.
“I’m just going to work hard and let’s see what happens. First of all I just want to get back on the pitch and see where I can go with it.”
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Ounsley has long been blazing a trail for the deaf community and, since starring in Gladiators, her popularity has transcended to a wider audience.
She is grateful to her growing fan-base for helping her inspire the next generation of deaf athletes and change the perception of women’s rugby in general.
Ounsley, whose TikTok followers alone number over 176,000, said: “I just love showing young kids you can be a bad-ass rugby player, a bit savage, but also be a nice person and still be feminine. I like to show people that.
“I always wanted to be successful in sport, whatever that might be. But I never in a million years expected it to turn out how it did and have such a platform.
“In terms of the rugby community and kids now getting into rugby, girls playing it and having that ‘Fury mentality’ of smashing people and stuff… I love it!”
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Ounsley is completely deaf in both ears and wears a scrum-cap while playing rugby to protect her cochlear implant.
She is a “super-proud” honorary president of UK Deaf Sport and a patron of the Elizabeth Foundation, a charity which helps young deaf children learn to listen and talk.
“Being on Gladiators has meant so much to me, not because it’s on TV, but because we can be good role models to kids,” she said.
“We look a bit like super-heroes, so they’re perhaps more susceptible to us setting a good example, but the response has blown me away.”
As tough-tackling Exeter wing or as Fury the Gladiator, Ounsley is playing her part in the drive to raise the profile of women’s sport.
“The gap is massive, obviously, and I know there’s a long way to go,” she added.
“We’re sort of indebted to the Lionesses. They’ve taken it to another level. Women’s football is showing the support is there and women’s rugby has stepped it up over the last few years.
“Women’s sport is certainly becoming a lot more popular. More people are appreciating that there are some super-talented female athletes out there.”
The Grand National remains the world’s most famous race and on International Women’s Day, a woman stands proudly at the helm in Liverpool.
Sulekha Varma was appointed clerk of the course at Aintree in 2019 after gaining years of experience in the racing industry.
As a teenager, Varma went on a work experience placement at the yard of dual Grand National-winning trainer Lucinda Russell. Upon graduation from Edinburgh University she gained a place on the British Horseracing Authority Development Programme, during which she spent time on the news desk at the Racing Post.
After returning to Russell’s yard as racing secretary and working for the Arabian Racing Organisation, Varma then began to take the first steps towards her current career with a trainee role at the Jockey Club that led to spells at Market Rasen, Nottingham, Warwick, Huntingdon and then Hamilton Park.
That experience stood Varma in good stead when the role of clerk of the course at Aintree became vacant and she subsequently became the first woman to hold the position, in the very thick of the action on the world’s most famous and watched day of racing.
“It’s a great honour. I can’t believe it’s been four years already since I took on the role,” she said.
“Working for Lucinda was a great grounding for me in horse racing. Learning about sport from the very grassroots; how a yard operates and what life is like at that end of the sport, and from then I moved into the administration side.
“I did the BHA Development Course in 2006, straight out of university, and my placement was at the Racing Post which was incredible, I got to write a double-page spread for the paper which was something I never thought was going to happen.”
Naturally Varma’s success is the result of drive and hard work, but she credits the industry with being filled with people who are willing to help those looking to advance their career.
“I met a huge number of people who were very willing to help me out, whether it be work experience or just talking through opportunities and learning about the industry,” Varma added.
“I think you have to open doors for yourself, but there are also a lot of people who, if you show enthusiasm and love for the sport, they will also open doors for you.
“Being the first female to fill this role is something that I’ll always treasure. Absolutely.”
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