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• One more year – Ben Foster sticking around at Wrexham following promotion

  Ben Foster has signed a new one-year contract with Wrexham following their return to the English Football League.

  The former England goalkeeper, 40, was tempted out of retirement in March to become a part of co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s ambitious plans to haul the club up the divisions.

  He provided one of the National League’s moments of the season with a brilliant stoppage-time penalty save against fellow promotion hopefuls Notts County in April, preserving a 3-2 lead and sending Wrexham top of the table.

  Phil Parkinson’s side clinched the title with a game to spare to ensure their 15-year stay in the fifth tier finally came to an end.

  Foster, who played in the Premier League for Watford as recently as last year, told the club’s official website: “At the end of last season it was obvious that I enjoyed being at the club, I loved being part of the team and everything that Wrexham stands for.

  “The fans took to me so warmly, Phil Parkinson is brilliant, (assistant manager) Steve Parkin is top class, I love (goalkeeping coach) Aidan Davison to bits, and the co-chairmen are out of this world.

  “I’d decided before the end of last season I wanted to do it, because it feels like home. I’ve never joined a football club and felt at ease so quickly.”

  Foster kept three clean sheets in his eight appearances to win his second trophy for the club, 18 years after lifting the LDV Vans Trophy while on loan from Stoke in 2005.

  Parkinson said: “We’re delighted that Ben has signed for the coming season.

  “It’s a key signing for us because we all saw the impact he had, not just on the pitch but also around the training ground, and we are all looking forward to working with him again next season.”

• Expanded competitions threaten well-being of ‘pushed to limit’ players – report

  The expanded Champions League and Club World Cup pose a threat to the well-being of players who are already being “pushed to the limit” in the current calendar, according to a new report.

  The men’s Player Workload Monitoring (PWM) report for the 2022-23 season from world players’ union FIFPRO has projected that changes to both competitions from the 2024-25 season could lead to an 11 per cent increase in the number of matches top players are involved in.

  It looked at the example of Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota, whose 64 games for club and country in 2021-22 could rise to 72 in 2024-25.

  The new 36-team Champions League would involve a team playing up to 17 matches from the league phase through to the final – four more than the current 13.

  The new 32-team Club World Cup, due to be played every four years from the summer of 2025 onwards, could involve seven extra matches for the teams reaching the final.

  The tournament has the backing of the European Club Association, but the World Leagues Forum – currently chaired by Premier League chief executive Richard Masters – is opposed to the plans.

  The PWM report said: “The Club World Cup is expected to take place in June-July, which is just after the end of the long club season for the majority of participants.

  “This will undoubtedly further decrease the off-season rest period for many players and raise concerns about their ability to fully recover in time for the new season. In addition, high travel load will also be associated to the tournament.

  “The reforms of the two major tournaments will ultimately increase the number of games played by top players who could conceivably feature in both.

  “This poses a threat to the well-being of players who are already pushed to their limit with the current international match calendar.”

  The report found Manchester United and Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes played 74 per cent of his matches ‘back to back’ – without a gap of at least five days in between, including 20 consecutive back-to-back matches.

  Chelsea’s January recruit Enzo Fernandez played 70 per cent of his matches back to back.

  That was despite the midfielder having no off-season rest at all last summer, having played a first friendly for Benfica just eight days after competing in the Copa Libertadores for Argentinian club River Plate.

  He also only had a nine-day break between featuring in the World Cup final for Argentina and reporting back for club duty.

  The report also compared the workload of young players from the current generation to their predecessors.

  It found England midfielder Jude Bellingham has already played 14,445 minutes in his professional career before the age of 20, while Wayne Rooney had only played 10,989 minutes before his 20th birthday.

• Jarrod Bowen: From Hereford and Hull to West Ham’s humble European hero

  It has been quite a few weeks for Jarrod Bowen – the family man and England international who welcomed twin daughters into the world last month before delivering Europa League Conference success for West Ham.

  Described by his first boss as a “manager’s dream”, Bowen’s last-minute winner in a closely-fought final against Fiorentina on Wednesday night provided an unforgettable end to West Ham’s 43-year wait for a major trophy.

  The 26-year-old, whose partner is reality TV star Dani Dyer, has a down-to-earth demeanour which has seen him become a firm favourite among team-mates and the club’s supporters since he relocated to London in 2020.

  “The best moment of my career” was how Bowen summed up the 90th minute at Prague’s Fortuna Arena when he latched on to a through-ball and beat the press to run in on goal and finish coolly to clinch a 2-1 victory and get manager David Moyes dancing.

  Exactly a year earlier, the former Hereford and Hull player had come off the bench for England in their Nations League draw away to Germany.

  It was his second cap in a number of days following a first international call-up after a fine season for the Hammers.

  The World Cup was in sight for a man who had never been capped at any age-group level, but it was not to be, another career setback that Bowen would use as fuel to keep moving forward.

  “I am disappointed I didn’t go to the World Cup, but three years ago I was playing for Hull City in the Championship. You have to look at it in different ways,” he said after missing the cut for Qatar.

  “It’s about your mindset and the person you are to keep going and know what you can do. It’s just been about keeping going, never hide from it, never slump and keep always looking forward.”

  Bowen featured in every Premier League game for West Ham this season, struggling, as much of the team did, in the early stages of the campaign.

  But this is a forward fired up by unsuccessful trials at Aston Villa and Cardiff, determined to prove he is still worth being in the conversation when Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland pick their next England squad.

  Peter Beadle worked with Bowen in the Hereford academy and took him along for the ride when he was appointed manager of the first team. Bowen’s rise to European trophy success will not have come as a shock to his old boss.

  “He’s done nothing but go from strength to strength since and I’m not surprised one bit,” he told West Ham’s website when Bowen completed his move to the London Stadium in 2020.

  “He’s a very humble human being. He comes from a very strong footballing background with his dad and he’s had a great upbringing. He’s honest and hard-working – a manager’s dream really.”

  Last month Bowen announced the arrival of twin daughters with his partner Dyer, whose actor father Danny Dyer would have been just as jubilant when he saw Bowen run through on Wednesday night to win a trophy for his beloved Hammers.

  Bowen is one of the most popular members of the West Ham dressing room but one of its quieter players.

  However, actions spoke far louder than words when he tucked home past Pietro Terracciano to secure his place as a West Ham hero.