It has been said that plans to lift the ban on standing in the English Premier League and Championship are set to be announced by the government, with a handful of grounds being able to use designated safe standing areas before the end of the season. With an announcement set to be made within the coming weeks, it would mean that for the first time in over 25 years, fans of some top-flight football clubs would be legally allowed to stand and watch their team play.

Chair of the Football Supporters Association, Malcolm Clarke, said it was a "welcome" development that would benefit all fans, adding: "People who want to stand should be able to do so in safety. Those who want to sit should be able to do so without having their view blocked."

The long-term future of indoor athletics in Birmingham is set to be secured through a proposed 10-year partnership agreement between UK Athletics and Birmingham City Council.

A decade-long deal, due for discussion by the council's Cabinet on September 7, would see Birmingham host the Indoor Grand Prix and British Indoor Championships on consecutive weekends annually from February 2022 to February ‘32.

It has been announced that former Birmingham City defender Sam Oji has died.

Starting his career as a youth player with Arsenal in 2000, he joined the Blues in 2004 in search of first-team football, before featuring for Doncaster Rovers, Bristol Rovers and Leyton Orient. In July he became assistant manager of Highgate United.

The creative team that will deliver the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has been unveiled.

Taking place on 28^th July 2022, and broadcast to 1.5billion people around the Commonwealth, the Opening Ceremony will host a live audience of 30,000 at the newly redeveloped Alexander Stadium. 

Twenty-seven athletes from West Midlands have been selected to compete at the 2021 School Games National Finals – a major multi-sport event for talented young athletes across the UK, taking place at Loughborough University from the 2nd to the 5th of September.

The School Games National Finals will be the first multi-sport event for young athletes following the lifting of lockdown restrictions. The event will celebrate the athletes’ achievements in working hard to maintain training and motivation over the last year and a half of restrictions.

Former England and Sussex captain Ted Dexter has died. Nicknamed 'Lord Ted', Dexter was an aggressive batsman and useful seam bowler who played 62 Tests for England and was captain between 1961-1964.

He led Sussex to victory in the first two editions of the limited-overs Gillette Cup and went on to make a surprise two-Test comeback in 1968. In a statement, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) described Dexter as "one of England's greatest ever cricketers.