Brackley Town have confirmed the club’s chairman Francis Oliver is stepping down, ending a run of 22 years in the position.
In a statement last week, the National League North champions confirmed Oliver has chosen to step down, ending an association that began when he took the role back in 2003.
He leaves at the end of a season that saw Brackley confirm their ascent to the National League for the first time in their history. The Northamptonshire-based club confirmed their promotion and title win with victory on the final day of the National League North season.
The club confirmed that Matt Wise will take the role of chairman, having previously served as a director at St James Park. Oliver will remain involved at the club as a director.
In his statement, Oliver praised the efforts of everyone involved both over his tenure and in what turned out to be his final season.
He said, “I am writing to you as a momentous season concludes and preparations for the new season are well and truly underway.
“I stepped into the role of chairman in 2003 and never thought I would still be in post more than 20 years later! With the support of our community and hard work by so many people the club has come a long way. With the club well placed and poised for even greater things in the years ahead this is the time for me to step aside as chairman.
“Matt Wise has been a director and has been heavily involved with the club for many years. Matt will now step in as chair and does so with my best wishes.
“I have every confidence in Matt, our CEO Janene, who oversees and directs the everyday running of the club, and newly appointed director, Tim Carroll, who has also been involved with the club for many years. This group will need your backing and support in the uncharted territory the club will find ourselves in next season.
“I will remain as a director and will continue to enjoy time around the club and assisting Janene and the board as best I can as the club faces the inevitable challenges and continues to grow and develop.
“Saturday 26 April 2025 was an amazing day – in my opinion the best ever among the many highs we have had as a club. And with the Ladies’ team winning three trophies I could not be taking a step back at a better time.
I could not feel more proud of our club and its place in the town. In my 22 years at the helm we have seen a remarkable journey from a local team playing in the Hellenic League to a team that will now be competing in the top division of non-league football.
“The growth in the number of boys and girls enjoying their football with us and the magnificent Saints Community Project on Wednesdays are just two aspects of what the club does and both are especially close to my heart. The Community Project was set up some ten years ago. It has gone from strength to strength and now plays a vital part in the lives of so many people providing an opportunity to get out of the house on a Wednesday and meet other people to have a chat or join in when we have live entertainment. Well done to everyone involved in that amazing project – thank you. Who would have believed all this!
“I have not mentioned here any particular people who have been involved in the club during my stewardship as there are so many of you. I would however like to thank everyone who has helped in this journey – it could not have been achieved without your help, advice, input and hard work.
“I now need to spend more time with my family and sorting out the many tasks that have been put to one side for too long. From a proud man who has taken pride in everything we have achieved together – our town, our club, our community. Come on you Saints!”
Late drama changed Red Bull’s race at the Spanish Grand Prix, as the team picked up a single point when they had previously looked set for a podium.
Max Verstappen was set to finish third but after he was passed by Charles Leclerc following a late safety car, there came a hugely controversial incident when the Dutchman collided with Mercedes’ George Russell.
The contact saw the reigning world champion handed a ten second time penalty, turning what would have been a fifth place finish into tenth, earning a single point.
Teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished 13th in the race, failing to score a point after starting from the pit lane.
The result saw both driver and team lose ground in the respective F1 championships. In the driver’s championship, Verstappen has 137 points, finding himself 39 points behind second place Lando Norris and 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.
Teammate Tsunoda sits 15th in the championship, with the Japanese driver on ten points but having failed to score points in the last 2 races.
Meanwhile, in the constructor’s championship, the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull team slip a place to fourth in the standings. While they are 90 points clear of 5th placed Williams, they now find themselves 15 points behind Mercedes in third, 21 behind second place Ferrari and 218 points behind leaders McLaren.
At a hot Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull had lined up with Verstappen third and Tsunoda from the pit-lane after the latter changed set-up following qualifying last.
Verstappen had managed to jump ahead of Norris to take second place from the start of the race, before being passed back by the McLaren at the start of lap 13.
Red Bull opted to go aggressive by pitting both their drivers onto a 3-stop strategy, and as the race progressed, Verstappen was able to show some pace by catching up to Norris. He had got within DRS range of the McLaren, but lost it after losing time while trying to lap Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman, who were distracted by their own scrap over position.
It had looked as though proceedings were set for Verstappen to take third when on lap 54, the safety car was deployed after Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli pulled up with an oil pressure fault that killed the car’s engine.
Red Bull made the choice to pit Verstappen onto fresh hard tyres, but the choice went awry when proceedings restarted on lap 60. Verstappen had a huge slide out of the final corner, which invited Leclerc to pass.
There was some slight contact between the Red Bull and Ferrari as the latter went past, and as if that wasn’t enough, Verstappen made further contact with Russell’s Mercedes at turn one, having to take to the escape road.
In their deliberations, Red Bull felt that Verstappen might be vulnerable to a penalty if he didn’t let Russell through so informed their driver to do so, despite his protests.
In doing so, however, Russell and Verstappen collided on lap 64, with Verstappen deemed wholly at fault after seemingly accelerating to prevent Russell to make the pass into turn 5.
It later came out that this communication for Verstappen to let Russell through was in error, with the stewards later determining that there was no reason to give Verstappen a penalty for the turn one incident. A similar decision was reached for the contact between Verstappen and Leclerc just before that.
By contrast, the stewards deemed Verstappen wholly responsible for the incident with Russell, handing him a ten second time penalty. Although he let Russell through to take fifth, the penalty would see him sent down to tenth.
Also of note is that Verstappen received three penalty points for the incident, taking him up to 11 points. One more would see him earn a race ban.
As for Tsunoda, he ended up making some moves after the restart but was unable to close in on the points, coming up short with a 13th place finish.
The race was the last after a triple header, with Red Bull next racing at the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks time.
Former MK Dons academy player Kevin Danso will stay with Spurs after the Premier League side opted to activate an option in his loan deal to make his move permanent.
The 26-year-old Austrian international defender had joined Spurs on loan from French side Lens in February, and the North London club have now opted to activate an option in his deal to keep him at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Danso will join Spurs for an undisclosed fee reported to be around £21million and he has signed a contract of undisclosed length at the club.
The announcement comes on the day when Spurs published their retained list, which confirmed the departures of out-of-contract players Fraser Forster, Sergio Reguilon and Alfie Whiteman, as well as the departure of loan player Timo Werner and the exit of midfielder Pierre-Emilie Hojbjerg, whose loan move to Marseille will be turned into a full transfer.
Danso made 15 appearances in all competitions after signing for Spurs, including an appearance as a substitute after they beat Manchester United in the Europa League final, earning their first major trophy since 2008 and qualification to next season’s Champions League.
Danso didn’t make a senior appearance for MK Dons but spent several years in the youth academy set-up with the English club after moving to Milton Keynes as a child.
He would leave MK Dons to join German side Augsburg in 2014 as a teenager, making his competitive debut with the side from southern Germany.
After loan spells with Southampton and Fortuna Dusseldorf, he made a permanent move to join French side Lens in 2021, before his consequent move back to England to join Spurs in 2025.
MK Dons have found out the final opponent for the 2025/26 League Two season after Oldham Athletic won the National League play-off final.
A 3-2 win after extra time for the Latics over Southend United at Wembley means that the Latics booked their return to League Two for the first time since 2022.
The result means Oldham will follow Barnet in winning promotion to the fourth tier, with the London-based Bees having already been promoted after winning the National League.
The two will replace Morecambe and Carlisle United, who were relegated from League Two at the end of last season.
In the other changes from the just-concluded 2024/25 campaign, Doncaster, Port Vale, Bradford and AFC Wimbledon achieved promotion, with the latter winning the play-offs last weekend after beating Walsall 1-0 in a final at Wembley.
Remaining on the Dons’ fixture list will be Walsall, Chesterfield and Notts County, who were beaten in the play-offs. They will be joined by Bristol Rovers, Crawley, Cambridge and Shrewsbury, who suffered relegation from League One.
Fixtures for the new season will be revealed by the EFL at 9am on Thursday June 26th.
The full list of League Two teams in the 2025/26 is:
- Accrington Stanley
- Barnet
- Barrow
- Bristol Rovers
- Bromley
- Cambridge United
- Cheltenham Town
- Chesterfield
- Colchester United
- Crawley Town
- Crewe Alexandra
- Fleetwood Town
- Gillingham
- Grimsby Town
- Harrogate Town
- Milton Keynes Dons
- Newport County
- Notts County
- Oldham Athletic
- Salford City
- Shrewsbury Town
- Swindon Town
- Tranmere Rovers
- Walsall
Ian Watson has left his position as a First Team Coach at MK Dons to take the role as manager at South Shields.
Watson replaces Elliott Dickman, who left his position with the North East-based club earlier this month, with Watson to take charge of the Mariners in the National League North next season.
The move sees Watson leave after a second spell working with MK Dons, having re-joined the club in March and worked with the club in the final three months of the just completed season.
Watson had first moved to Milton Keynes as part of Mike Williamson’s coaching staff when the former Newcastle defender was appointed as Graham Alexander’s replacement in October 2023.
After leaving Milton Keynes to be part of Williamson’s set-up at Carlisle United in September 2024, Watson left Carlisle when Williamson was ousted in January, and he found himself back in Milton Keynes as part of Ben Gladwin’s coaching team when he was made interim Dons boss after the sacking of Scott Lindsey.
Nicknamed Busty by players and other members of the MK Dons’ set-up, the move sees Watson leave the club, which will be facing a first full season under the management of Paul Warne next season after the arrival of the former Rotherham and Derby boss in April.
In a brief statement, the League Two club said, “MK Dons would like to thank Ian Watson for all his efforts during his time at Stadium MK and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”
The Dons’ Sporting Director Liam Sweeting said, “In a difficult moment for the Club, I put a call in to Busty, and by that evening he had travelled four hours to Milton Keynes and was in the hotel in our Stadium, ready to help in any way he could. I think that sums up his mentality and willingness to step in and support Ben and the staff at that time.
“His connection with the players and his genuine passion for this Club were evident every single day. While we would have loved for him to stay with us, he starts his own journey of leadership, and I very much look forward to watching this next chapter of his career.
“As we often see, good people join our journey and really connect with this Club – Busty certainly did that. I thank him for all his efforts during his time with us.”
