Fifa world cup club

Warrington playmaker Stefan Ratchford has denied he is poised for a shock return to former club Salford.

But he admits he still goes back to watch Reds as often as possible.

Sunday’s Challenge Cup fifth round clash at the Halliwell Jones Stadium will be a bitter-sweet moment for the England World Cup hopeful.

City Reds owner Marwan Koukash has pledged to re-sign a handful of ex Salford stars tempted away in recent seasons, including Ratchford, team mate Richie Myler, Matty Smith (Wigan) and Daniel Holdsworth (Hull FC).

“I think you have got to take what Marwan says with a pinch of salt,” says Ratchford, 24.

“I’ve heard the rumours but I have not signed for Salford.

“I’ve still got a couple of years left on my contract at Warrington and it’s up to them whether I stay or go.

“But I still have great affection for Salford. I was there eight years from the age of 15 and I still go to watch games when I can.”

Warrington are chasing a fourth Wembley final win in five seasons while Brian Noble will be in charge of his first cup tie since becoming Salford boss.

“I was a bit gutted when I heard the draw because we are favourites and it would have been good had Salford got a lower division side,” added Ratchford.

Danny Kirmond says York are out to show their Betfred Super League potential on Sunday.

They host Championship rivals London in the Betfred Challenge Cup sixth round. That means at least one second-tier club will be in the quarter-final draw – ready to give the big guns a run for their money. And ex- Wakefield second-row Kirmond, 37, said: “It’s a great opportunity.

“For a lot of our younger players, if we do get through, it’ll be a first time to test themselves against a Super League side and some of the best opposition in the game. It’s exciting and a massive goal for us but we know London will be thinking the same.

“We played them recently and only just won so we know they’re a really good side. But we know if we do progress, as well as facing a top-flight team, we’ll also get a chance to showcase York – both as a city and club – as one wanting to be part of Super League. That’s what we hope to achieve eventually and London will be looking to do the same.”

Under IMG’s plans to ‘reimagine’ the sport, York – with their big city status, geographical location and various other factors – are a club who will fancy their chances of eventually getting into the elite division via the grading system. IMG have also already said they see the city of London as an important part of their plans so Broncos, who sit tenth in the Championship two points behind York, will also be encouraged.

York won 30-28 a fortnight ago but Kirmond insisted: “It’s a completely different game in the Cup. It’s a cliche but true. We’ve trained a little bit differently going into a Cup game. You forget about form and it’s more performance-based. You have to get that performance bang on to get the win. It’s a massive game for London as well. Looking at where they’ve gone since getting relegated from Super League (in 2019) and having now moved forward as a club.

“We know they’ll be right up for it. They have a really good team, a great back-five and a good pack with some really senior players like Dean Parata who guides them around the field really well. It will be another tough one I’m sure.”

London have also just signed ex-Penrith centre Dean Whare, 33, who’s been playing for Pia Donkeys in France. Kirmond added: “He’s obviously a massive talent: a New Zealand international who played for Catalans last year. “They’re the kind of players you expect to finish in that French competition and get a Super League deal so it’s a massive coup for them and a sign of their intentions.

“But you see that a lot in the Championship. There’s a lot of clubs with aspirations of moving forward. It’s not the competition it was ten years ago when you had a couple of clubs who wanted to get promoted and that was it. It was a closed shop. Now there’s a lot of clubs wanting to advance and really show people they are in that Super League window.”

Monaco and Cannes have been considered the jewels of the French Riviera yachting scene for many years, but a few kilometers down the coast, another port is rising to fight for the crown. Antibes, with its quaint, historic old town and picturesque wall-lined harbour, has long appealed to yacht owners, but in the past it has lost the custom of larger yachts to its more famous neighbours. That all could change.

Over the past five years, Port Vauban has been working on phase one of an extensive redevelopment project that’s seen a segment of the marina transformed into a key fit for superyachts, with enhanced mooring options, contemporary facilities and a brand-new yacht club. At the inauguration of the International Yacht Club d’Antibes (IYCA) last week, Olivia Gordon-Bourcart, marketing director at Port Vauban Antibes, revealed what owners and crew can look forward to, and how Antibes plans to differentiate itself from its neighbouring rivals.

Congratulations on the inauguration. Please talk us through the renovation project to date.

We took over the management of Port Vauban in 2017 and for the past five years, we’ve started to renovate. The global envelope is €135 million and our mission is to completely renovate the entire Port Vauban, includes now the International Yacht Club of Antibes. Before, it was two separate companies – now it’s only one.

We started the renovation by what used to be the Key Grand Pleasant. The key here is brand new. Many of the major works we’ve been doing are not visible because they’re underground – we’ve re-done all the electricity, all the water pumping and everything – so now we’ve got now for all the latest facilities and amenities for all the megayachts.

Our competition is Cannes and Monaco, as well as now Porto Montenegro and Barcelona, so we had to really renovate. But what’s special is that, because the key is inaccessible to the public, we are the only port to be able to provide confidentiality and security to our client. With what’s going on in the world, our clients are looking for the commitment of confidentiality and security, and we are able to provide that.

What can guests look forward to at the new yacht club?

The previous building on the key was destroyed and we’ve rebuilt the brand-new yacht club with modern facilities. We’ve got meeting rooms, sports facilities with a studio gym, and a crew center dedicated to the crew – for us, it’s very important to be able to welcome the crew in the best condition. They also have a lounge that’s open from six in the morning.

We’ve then got the lounge bar on the first floor. The unique thing is that we didn’t want to have a lounge bar only open for the clients – we wanted the bar to also receive the crew. This is a new trend that’s different from the old ways of the superyacht industry. Now the captain really wants to bond with their team – they don’t want to have this separation. And this is the spirit of the yacht club.

What’s your ultimate goal for the new yacht club?

We always say that Antibes was the capital of the yachting industry. I think for a few years, we lost a bit of appeal because we were not to the up to the level of our competition. Our goal is to become again the capital of the yachting industry.

We also want to be a convivial place. Port Vauban is a place where it’s nice to be, it’s nice to live, it’s nice to work. It’s very pleasant to have a berth because it’s not just a place to park your boat. We have gym classes on the port twice a week that are open to everybody; once a month we also invite all our clients for breakfast outside on the dock; and we’ve got parties in July and August. The port is a place where people can meet each other and lots of friendship are being made here.

Would you say Port Vauban is very different from the ports in Monaco and Cannes?

Yes, we are very different. It’s very good to be different because our clients are not looking for the same thing that they get when they go to Cannes or Monaco or even St Tropez – where you perhaps want to be seen. We’ve got more of what looks like a family destination, even though we’ve got very important clients who come with clients rather than family. We are an international town but we are like a village. And it’s very authentic. For the building, we worked with architect Philippe Prost to keep the authenticity of Port Vauban. This was extremely important to us. We don’t want to make a brand new marina – we work with the historical heritage that we’ve got.

What’s next for Port Vauban?

Now that we have finished the renovation of this key, we are jumping across to the Monaco Marine side to start now the renovation over there. We are doing it area by area. We don’t want to put all the ports into renovation as it will be too much for clients, so we’ll do it in different phases. In three years time, we will end up by the Capitainerie where the next works will be undertaken. And then it will be all done.