Immortalised at the club where he made his name, now former Wolverhampton Wanders and England footballing legend, Sir Billy Wright, has been further immortalised with blue plaque which was unveiled at his childhood home.

Wright, the first England player to notch up more than 100 caps, captaining them 90 times, has a statute outside Wolves' Molineux ground – in front of the main stand which bears his name - grew up on New Road in Ironbridge, in Shropshire, where the plaque was revealed.

At the unveiling, his daughters said it was "so exciting" to see their dad honoured. Vicky Wright was joined by sister Babette at the unveiling and both were set to stay overnight at the house for the first time afterwards.

She said: "My sister and I are honoured to be to be in the position where we can honour his memory. "The people of Ironbridge and Wolverhampton just adore him.

"My sister and I are really, really close, and we just adored him, he was the most incredible dad." Sir Billy spent his entire playing career at Wolves, making 490 appearances before retiring in 1959.

After hanging up his boots, Wright managed Arsenal and was married to Joy Beverley, of the 1950s pop group The Beverley Sisters – they were the original ‘Posh & Becks’.

The New Road house now home to Viv and Tony Moore; they said they were "thrilled" to be linked with its legacy.

The brainchild of the late Sted Wallen, this Sunday (August 25) marks the 21^st anniversary of the Birmingham Sports & Culture Day – the family-friendly fun day providing top-class international cricket, live music, children’s entertainment and an abundance of fantastic food and drink to wile the day away.

It will be two years – almost to the day – since one of the city’s greatest modern-day mandarins so suddenly parted, but his presence will be very much felt by the thousands who are expected to attend the mass day of celebration – and reminiscence – for one of Jamaica and the entire Caribbean’s, multicultural Birmingham’s, cricket’s and, in fact, life’s own greatest ‘son’.

Playing for the ‘Sted Wallen Memorial Cup’, stars of local national and first class international cricket will be at Handsworth Cricket Club, in Handsworth Park, Birmingham, this Bank Holiday where all of ‘his community’; that is everybody – man, women and children of all nations – get together to celebrate the true winner; Sted’s memory.

Start Time - 12:00.

The 45th WorldSkills Competition saw 1,354 young professionals from 63 countries and regions compete in 56 skills in the Russian city of Kazan, with India creating their own history by winning 4 medals there.

Demonstrating an exceptionally high level of vocational education and training, as well as teamwork abilities, a truly unforgettable event saw the young competitors challenging for Gold, Silver and Bronze medals as well as the Medallion of Excellence and the Albert Vidal Award.

With skills grouped into six sectors at the KAZAN EXPO International Exhibition Centre - including; Construction and Building Technology, Creative Arts & Fashion, Information and Communication Technology, Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, Social and Personal Services, plus Transportation and Logistics – competition remained high and exciting during the week-long fare.

Team UK won four medals - two of them gold (Rebecca West, from Sussex Downs College, in Beauty Therapy and Nottingham University’s Haydn Jakes of, in Aircraft Maintenance), with Connor McKevitt, trained by Riverpark Training and employed by Wrights Accident Repair Centre, claiming a Silver in Car Painting, while Phoebe McLavy from Coleg Sir Gar, employed by Morgan Edward Salon, winning Bronze in Hairdressing.

The team were also awarded 15 medallions of excellence – which are given to competitors who have achieved the international standard in their skill.

Neil Bentley-Gockmann, chief executive of WorldSkills UK, said: "The members of Team UK, all under-25 years, championed the UK focus on skills development in front of a global audience, sending a strong message that the UK is a world-class place to invest, do business and create jobs.

"Governments, education and industry need to continue to work with us to make sure the UK stays at the cutting edge of global best practice in skills development."

Also speaking after the event, India’s Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said: "This time we expect India to occupy a slot between one and 10 among 63 participating countries here...We are trying to bring forward the talents of the Indian youth".

One of the legacies of WorldSkills Competitions is the increased visibility of skilled professional education, as one of the tools of social and economic transformation.

The competition also provides leaders in industry, government, and education with the opportunity to exchange information and best practices regarding industry and professional education.

The Vitality Netball Superleague is entering its 15^th year and to help mark the occasion and continue building the excitement that surrounds the league, the 2020 Season Opener event is changing.

This season the opening round will be in addition to the normal 18 rounds. This will make the regular season 19 rounds long, giving fans more action-packed and thrilling netball to look forward to.

The fixtures for this extra round are determined by where teams finished in the 2019 Vitality Netball Superleague. Reigning champions Manchester Thunder will take on second place Wasps Netball, third place Team Bath will play Loughborough Lightning and so on.

The new and highly anticipated Season Opener will see the teams return to Arena Birmingham on Saturday 22 February 2020.

The additional round will contribute to the regular season and count towards each club total points, the other 18 rounds will see teams play each other home and away, deciding who finishes in the top four to fight for a place in the Grand Final. The top seven sides will qualify for the British All-Star Fast5 Championship along with the competitions’ defending champions.

The additional round means that each team will play the Season Opener as well as nine home and nine away fixtures.

With Vitality Netball Superleague television audiences up by 27% in 2019 compared to 2018, this new addition to the calendar contributes towards the growing demand for elite netball in the United Kingdom.

Mark Evans, Independent Chair of the Vitality Netball Superleague, said: “We are delighted to be returning to Arena Birmingham after a very successful event in 2019. It is always a wonderful start to the season and this year a change in format should see five really tight competitive games – making a great event even better.

“A re-run of last year’s Grand Final will be the highlight of the day but fans of all the clubs will be excited to see their favourites in action. The season itself should be our best yet, as the sport goes from strength-to-strength.”

The fixtures are as follows:

11:00 Strathclyde Sirens v London Pulse 12:30 Celtic Dragons v Surrey Storm 14:00 Saracens Mavericks v Severn Stars 15:30 Team Bath v Loughborough Lightning 17:00 Wasps v Manchester Thunder

Surrey Storm Director of Netball, Mikki Austin, said: “Season Opener 2020 is sure to be a hugely exciting start to the season! Not only does the Vitality Netball Superleague provide world-class sporting action but also exceptional entertainment and events.

“With all teams under one roof you get a chance to look at all the line-ups really early on. This time though the formatting will be different, with this being a bonus additional round with a chance for teams to get some extra points on the board, we know how vital that can prove to be at the end of the year!”

With developments officially now underway, the last hurrah for the Alexander Stadium – as we know it now – saw a host of record-breaking stars out to book their flight tickets for Doha and the 2019 edition of the IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Müller British Athletics Championships.

Record-holder Dina Asher-Smith, European champion Matt Hudson-Smith, Eilish McColgan and, somewhat surprisingly, Ojie Edoburun, guaranteed their respective Team GB vests with Championship, Season and Personal Bests a-plenty at the Trials.

Triple European champion, Asher-Smith, who broke her own British Championship record and is planning to compete at 100m and 200m, said: "I'm just happy I've booked my seat for at least one of the events." On the possibility of doubling-up, she added: "It's all about the progression to the World Championships."

A hugely delighted Edoburun, 23, said he was "very, very happy" after claiming victory by one thousandth of a second.

"I'm not going to cry on TV. It's taken me so long to figure out what works for me, while seeing my peers excel," he said. "I was so scared, having flashbacks of all the bad trials I've had over the years."

On a day where many other stars such as Morgan Lake, Tim Duckworth, Harry Hughes, Rosie Clarke and Jodie Williams confirmed their places in the squad for Doha, it was a particularly fitting way to give the Alexander Stadium its big send-off before it undergoes major redevelopments in preparation for the Commonwealth Games in 2022, with Councillor Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council, saying: “We’re now in an exciting phase of the design process where we would like to share our plans for the future with the community and hear their thoughts.

“The team has designed a redeveloped stadium which will meet the needs and aspirations of the community for generations to come. This is about creating a destination venue, shaping a legacy beyond the Commonwealth Games.”

The changes to the 40-year-old stadium will include an increase in permanent seating capacity from 12,700 to 18,000, allowing up to 40,000 during the Games through additional temporary seating.

The Perry Barr venue, which is the home of UK Athletics, will host the athletics plus the opening and closing ceremonies at the Games, set to take place from July 27 to August 7, 2022.

The best in the country will descend on Birmingham this coming weekend as British titles and spots on the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team for the IAAF World Championships are decided.

Dina Asher-Smith headlines a weekend of incredible athletics at the Alexander Stadium where the top athletes in the country compete alongside the up-and-coming.

Triple European champion from 2018, Asher-Smith is fresh off the back of a second-place finish in the 200m at the Müller Grand Prix Birmingham but will contest the 100m where she’ll look to defend her title after clocking a Championship record on the way to victory in 2018.

In the men’s equivalent, Zharnel Hughes is huge favourite to claim his first British 100m title. Hughes’ time of 9.95 seconds at the Müller Anniversary Games makes him the fastest man in the field, with his presence in the 200m field as well an eye-catcher given no man has won both titles since Marlon Devonish in 2007.

In the women’s 200m, Beth Dobbin will look to defend her title in the same stadium where she broke the Championship record last year, with closest competition likely to come from Jodie Williams and Ashleigh Nelson among others.

In field action, European indoor silver medallist Holly Bradshaw (Scott Simpson; Blackburn)goes in search of a seventh British outdoor title in the women’s pole vault, while Commonwealth champion and world No.4 Nick Miller goes in the hammer throw. With both athletes already holding the world qualifying standards in their events respectively, they will look to secure a top-two finish to complete the job.

On the long jump runway - and having finally leapt the qualifying mark at last Sunday’s Müller Grand Prix Birmingham at the Alexander Stadium - Abigail Irozuru will be seeking to confirm her place on the team in Doha as she continues a fine return to the sport.

Sure to be hot on Irozuru’s heels, though all in need of the qualifying mark themselves, areLorraine Ugen, Shara Proctor and Jazmin Sawyers, with the trio all playing starring roles in a memorable competition last time out.

Leading the charge in the men’s 800m is European indoor silver medallist Jamie Webb, with his personal best of 1:44.52 set this year the quickest time produced by a Brit since 2013. With the event seeing eight athletes hold the world qualifying standard however, it is all to play for.

With only five of the eight qualifiers racing the 800m, the other three missing qualifiers have opted for the 1500m instead. Jake Wightman, Josh Kerr and Charlie Da’Vall Grice all hold the standards over both events,three of five in total who have the world qualifier in the 1500m with all of them racing the distance this weekend.

The women’s 5000m sees international medallists Eilish McColgan, Laura Weightman and Melissa Courtney as the leading trio coming into the event, with five out of the seven in total who have the standard racing.

Major Events Director, Cherry Alexander OBE said: “The Müller British Athletics Championships is one of the stand-out fixtures in the calendar for our sport and holds pivotal importance in the season.

“With places up for grabs in the team for the IAAF World Championships, and also several of the country’s leading para athletes competing here as a crucial part of their preparation for the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai later in the year, this is set to be a hotly-contested two days of domestic athletics action.

“In regards to engaging the local community, we are also playing host to another Couch to 5k for women only before the action begins on day two (Sunday 25 August) of the championships, with all of those who take part receiving a complimentary ticket to watch Sunday’s action.”

“Finally, we look forward to welcoming both fans and athletes to Birmingham for this bumper weekend of athletics, and once again we are delighted to have the support of BBC once again who are broadcasting the Championships across the network.”