England spurred on

ENGLAND will use Tottenham’s training ground at Enfield before they play Spain a week on Tuesday because building work at Arsenal’s London Colney prohibits extra use.

But such has been the friendly welcome by Spurs officials — with the FA even holding their pre-match press conference at Enfield — that there are no plans to return to London Colney.

The England staff have always had a good relationship with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, but Wembley insiders allege London Colney’s facilities director Sean O’Connor had a dictatorial approach in his dealings with the FA. An Arsenal spokesman said England’s absence was purely down to the builders being there.

NICOLA KEYE, West Ham’s new head of ticketing, has the pressure job of ensuring the seating plan starts working at the trouble-hit London Stadium. Keye knows all about difficult situations, having been assigned a bodyguard at Aston Villa when the Midlands club went into meltdown last season. BT SPORT always insist broadband sales are more important than viewing figures. But a peak rating of 12,000 for the Australia v South Africa Test on the opening day of BT’s £80m deal with Cricket Australia could hardly have been lower.

THE rugby Premiership are understood to have two captains of industry on their shortlist to replace Quentin Smith as chairman. However, one obstacle is that a number of insular clubs still believe the new leader should come from within the sport.