Martina Cox at a fundraising game for her husband Sean at the Aviva Stadium in April 2019. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

For the journalists in the press box, there was the sight of Tony Barrett hurriedly making his way down the steps to one of the exits. Barrett is the head of Liverpool’s supporter engagement department. He is also a staunch Liverpool fan who watches every game from in front of the media seats. But that night, he never came back. One of the bigger matches of the season and his seat remained empty. In the directors’ box, there was more movement. Peter Moore, then Liverpool’s chief executive, had just taken his seat when he felt a tap on the shoulder. It was Andy Hughes, the chief operations officer, and the message was, “We need you in the operations centre.” That was enough to tell Moore it was serious.

– (€) Sean Cox’s wife Martina tells Daniel Taylor of The Athletic about her husband’s recovery from the attack outside Anfield that turned their lives upside down. 

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There is, perhaps, no better indication of just how all-encompassing the distrust between Ozil and Arsenal has become than the fact that, along with his political activism and his refusal to accept a pay cut, at least part of the tension between the parties relates to an argument over a dinosaur.

– For the New York Times, Rory Smith and Tariq Panja document Mesut Ozil’s ostracization at Arsenal. 

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It became clear Kevin wasn’t going to make kick-off. Still the train didn’t move. He wasn’t going to make half-time, either. Unable to contact his desk but knowing they had a space to fill and needed copy, he composed a piece about being on the train with frustrated fans, filed when he was finally able to disembark and somehow produced something true and insightful, and far more memorable than anything that had been written at the game itself.

– Jonathan Wilson pays tribute to Kevin McCarra, The Guardian’s former football correspondent, who recently died from Alzheimer’s disease aged 62.

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The spectacle of Marcus Rashford running rings round any number of cabinet ministers is so painfully Manichean it has the flavour of a Nike advert, like that one in the Colosseum where Eric Cantona had to score the winner against Lucifer. At Rashford’s age – 22 – [Boris] Johnson’s chief interest in food distribution was limited to which bread roll to chuck first at a pleading restaurant owner.

– Another piece from The Guardian, this time written by Marina Hyde, who examines Marcus Rashford’s work in tackling food poverty in the UK.

Marcus Rashford pictured after scoring a hat-trick for Manchester United against RB Leipzig on Wednesday. Dave Thompson Dave Thompson

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When Cavan and Monaghan met in the first final in 1888, Maghera MacFinns and Inniskeen Grattans represented the counties. The Bishops of Kilmore and Clogher were said to be antagonistic to organised games so the replay – the first game had finished 0-2 apiece – was played in Bryanstown, near Drogheda, where Bishop Nulty of Meath was a bit warmer towards the whole caper.

– Ahead of yesterday’s meeting of Cavan and Monaghan, a piece on ‘the oldest derby in the game’ by Paul Fitzpatrick in the Anglo-Celt.

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My life consisted of playing the sport I loved and travelling the world with some of my best mates. I had developed many close friendships, both in and out of sport, and had a loving family who were proud of my achievements. Despite all of this, I was incredibly frustrated, angry and desperately sad. I despised myself and the life I was living. I was trapped in a false narrative and could see no way out. Most nights, I cried myself to sleep and routinely numbed myself with a heavy cocktail of opioids.

– Former Wallabies prop Dan Palmer opens up about his sexuality in the Sydney Morning Herald.