SAD NEWS: Non League announced the death of a player…

DESENZANO DEL GARDA, Italy — You might think that this has been a terrible season for English clubs in Europe. The Premier League had no side in the final of the UEFA Champions League, Europa League or Europa Conference League, and it also lost out to the German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A in the race to claim a fifth league place in next season’s elite club competition. But there is one team from England that can proudly call themselves champions of Europe.

On the shores of the picturesque Lake Garda in northern Italy, FC United of Manchester, founded in 2005 in protest at the Glazer family’s takeover of Manchester United, have just won the Fenix Trophy again after beating Czech side Prague Raptors. On the Stadio Tre Stelle pitch, joyous manager Neil Reynolds, a former school headmaster, told ESPN (with tongue in cheek): “Someone just said that I’ve equalled Brian Clough and Sir Alex Ferguson with two European Cups!”