In the latest piece of evidence of a continuing trend towards globalisation in football, Manchester City are to acquire a majority share in a Major League Soccer franchise with the New York Yankees baseball term. There is thus 'crossover' both in sports and countries.

City will have a team called New York City FC playing in MLS from the 2015-16 season, with the Yankees, a top global sporting brand, holding a 25 per cent stake. The new club could play in the same sky blue colours as City.

BT Vision are hungry for content in their battle with BSkyB and it looks as if they are close to a £300,000 deal to show Football Conference game as well as stream them online. It is thought that 25-30 live games will be shown in the first season.

For the last three years the Conference has had a deal with Premier Sports which saw home clubs paid £5,000 and visiting clubs £1,000 for each live broadcast. It's a long way from the riches of the Premiership.

Pictures spread through social media yesterday evening suggesting that Coventry's Ricoh Arena, but in fact it was an over enthusiastic rehearsal of a pyrotechnic display for a concert on Wednesday. Even BBC Midlands News had to deny the story, but perhaps it is not surprising that it spread given understandable nervousness about the fate of Coventry City.

Arsenal fans certainly thought so yesterday, even though it was another season without a trophy. They had qualified for the Champions League again at the expense of their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Moreover, one cannot claim that their league position was a shock: they have finished 3rd or 4th every year since 2005.

It's not easy running a football club in an economically challenged small northern town near a bigger city. Stockport County are now playing in the Conference North, having at one time been in what is now the Championship. Bury also played at that level, but have faced serious financial problems.

It's been a good year for Welsh football. Swansea City won the League Cup and established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the Premiership where they will be joined next season by Cardiff City.

But in many ways the most remarkable story has been that of Newport County, albeit their promotion out of the Conference was achieved at the expense of another Welsh club, fan-run Wrexham. They are back in the Football League after a quarter of a century away.

Whether David Beckham was a good or a great footballer has been debated on Radio 5 this morning, but he was certainly the greatest footballing celebrity of his generation. Having played at two of the greatest clubs in the world, Manchester United and Real Madrid, he then went to the ultimate celebrity destination, Los Angeles, and topped it off with a stay in the home of cosmopolitan chic, Paris.

Paul Appleton, the administrator of Coventry City, is insisting that the Sky Blues are available for sale from today and that this includes the golden share which enables the club to play in the Football League.

The economic crisis has hit Greek football hard. Austerity has reduced the disposable income of fans, often drastically, and businesses have also been in difficulty. AEK Athens has become a major casualty of the Eurozone crisis.

They are preparing to declare bankruptcy and seek relegation to the third division. AEK were relegated from the Super League for the first time in their 89-year history in the season just ended. They are in serious financial difficulties and reported to owe 170 million euros in taxes. Angela Merkel, herself a football fan, will be pleased to hear that.

Reports that American millionaire Preston Haskell has tabled a bit for Coventry City and the 50 per cent of the Ricoh Stadium owned by the Higgs Trust have been confirmed. Haskell was in Coventry for nine hours of talks earlier in the week.

One of the continuing problems at the Sky Blues has been the lack of any stake in the stadium, but the Haskell backed bid for a share of the stadium would only go ahead if ownership of the golden share could be secured.