Manchester City achieved the holy grail of winning the Champions League in 2023, but did so against the backdrop of an unprecedented number of charges for alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules.
It was that kind of year in many ways. Spain made history by winning the Women’s World Cup, but was immediately embroiled in a sexism scandal, while the unexpected success of the England rugby team brought major setbacks for the cricketers.
Here, the PA news agency looks at ten things we’ve learned in 2023.
Manchester City gets the one they wanted
Despite all the Premier League titles won and records set, Pep Guardiola had openly acknowledged that he needed to bring the Champions League trophy to Manchester City in order to consider his time at the Etihad Stadium a success.
And in June they did just that, as Rodri’s second-half goal was enough to secure a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in Istanbul and see City emulate neighbors United by securing a treble, by beating the Champions League to add to the Premier League and FA Cup trophies. they had already been lifted.
It was the trophy City coveted more than any other during the decade-plus overhaul under Sheikh Mansour’s ownership, and it was finally theirs.
Management battles
City’s success came just a few months after they were faced with a whopping 115 charges by the Premier League for alleged breaches of financial regulations – a case expected to continue well into next year and beyond.
But when the Premier League handed Everton a ten-point penalty for a much lesser offense, many in football were shocked and there are now serious questions about how the Premier League will handle not only City’s case, but also potential charges against Chelsea, who reported their own transgressions to themselves.
At a time when the Premier League is trying to show that it does not need an independent regulator, the consequences of the outcome of these cases could be enormous.
LIV continues to rock golf
Jon Rahm’s announcement in December that he would be joining the LIV circuit showed that golf is still figuring out how to deal with the Saudi-backed startup.
The joint announcement in June, in which the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV announced a framework for a merger to form a unified commercial entity, was far from the end of the dispute and – as some players have said – could could even make it easier for players to feel like they can jump ship.
Rahm has been a critic of LIV in the past, but after his Masters win and European Ryder Cup success, the timing was right for him. Where it leaves the rest of golf is unclear as we await further progress in talks between the rival tours.
The misery at the World Cup leaves questions for the ECB
England’s defense of their Cricket World Cup title could hardly have gone much worse as they won just three of nine matches in India, leading to even more soul-searching.
The ECB’s decision to push aside its domestic over-50s competition in favor of The Hundred doesn’t look good in this context, although it’s unclear how much of an impact this could actually have.
The bigger focus may be on the increasingly scrutinized scheme. England played half as many ODIs in the run-up to this World Cup as they did before victory in 2019, and most of them were against weak opposition.
Bitter disappointment for English women
After the highs of their European Championship victory, England went into the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as one of the favorites, but that was not to be.
Sarina Wiegman’s team overcame Lauren James’ red card to get past Nigeria on penalties before beating Colombia and hosts Australia, but despite Mary Earps’ heroics in goal, Spain proved too strong in the final, with Olga Carmona scoring the only goal scored.
This month, a 6-0 defeat to Scotland was not enough for England to beat their Nations League group as the Netherlands scored late to beat Belgium 4-0, securing Team GB a place at next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris denied.
A World Cup final overshadowed
Spain made history by beating England in the final in Sydney to lift the World Cup trophy for the first time.
But their big moment became embroiled in controversy after Luis Rubiales, then president of the Spanish federation, kissed Jennifer Hermoso on the lips during the celebration despite her obvious discomfort, and also made obscene gestures.
Rubiales subsequently refused to resign for several weeks as controversy enveloped Spanish football, showing how much work remains to be done to change attitudes.
Red Bull’s dominance is unprecedented
Red Bull completed the most dominant season ever in Formula 1 history in 2023, when Max Verstappen won 19 of 22 races, leaving everyone else in a separate competition.
While there is hope that a new season will bring new opportunities to their rivals, the sheer scale of their dominance brings its own problems.
With the titles having been secured long ago, Red Bull has already been able to work on developing next year’s car, allowing everyone else to catch up once again.
Bright spots for Borthwick
England went into the Rugby World Cup with relatively low expectations due to home defeats against Scotland, France and Fiji over the course of 2023.
It was therefore a welcome surprise to see them not only advance out of their group, but also beat Fiji in the quarter-final before pushing eventual champions South Africa all the way to the front as they lost the semi-final 16-15.
Although a number of experienced players are retiring, it was a performance that offered hope for the future as exciting youngsters like Henry Arundell emerged.
The sport continues to struggle with war
The International Olympic Committee has announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes who qualify for Paris 2024 will be allowed to compete individually next summer.
The IOC said the decision, which was quickly condemned by Ukraine after Russia’s invasion of the country, was about “respecting human rights”.
Although the IOC has given the green light, many individual sports governing bodies – not least World Athletics – have not changed their positions, meaning athletes in these events will continue to be ineligible.
The glacial pace of change at Old Trafford
It’s been more than a year since the Glazer family announced they would consider a sale or minority investment at Manchester United, offering fans hope that years of neglect may soon end.
The deal for Sir Jim Ratcliffe to take a 25 percent stake – a deal that would come with significant control – isn’t the most sought-after solution, but at least offers hope for change, even if it takes longer than expected because of the rumors. timelines for completion have come and gone.
In the meantime, the team continues to lurch from mini-crisis to mini-crisis on the field, with Erik ten Hag’s team unable to build on the encouragement of last season. Will 2024 be the year that real change finally comes to Old Trafford?