Aston Villa and Wolves have both endured difficult starts to the new Premier League season.placeholder image
Aston Villa and Wolves have both endured difficult starts to the new Premier League season. | Getty Images
Aston Villa and Wolves have both seen a series of difficult results to start the new Premier League season
With four Premier League match weeks gone and late September rapidly approaching, West Midlands rivals Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers prop up the league table after both enduring challenging starts to the new season.
Villa have yet to score in the league and sit 19th with two points, while Wolves have gone one further and have not yet registered a single point to find themselves at the bottom of the table under Vitor Pereira. This is nothing new for Wanderers, though, who lost seven of their first eight games in 2024/25 and did not win until match week 11.
FIFA announce huge £308m cash windfall after major decision
FIFA have announced a change to their Club Benefits Programme, with more clubs than ever set to benefit from the 2026 World Cup - in what is a boost to clubs across England and the world.
The new rules state that a share of the £308 million solidarity fund will be shared amongst every club whose players directly feature in either a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier or in the tournament itself. This aims to achieve fairer redistribution across world football and across its confederations, with more clubs than ever benefiting from the flagship world tournament and the income it generates.
The fourth and most recent edition of the CBP, implemented for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, saw £153m distributed amongst 440 clubs from 51 FIFA Member Associations across all six confederations - meaning the windfall is set to more than double this time around. Clubs will need to submit an application to earn a share of the redistributed fund, with more details set to be released in due course.
‘Clubs play a pivotal role’ - FIFA explain decision
“The enhanced edition of the FIFA Club Benefits Programme for the FIFA World Cup 2026 is going a step further by recognising financially the huge contribution that so many clubs and their players around the world make to the staging of both the qualifiers and the final tournament,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino in a statement on Instagram.
“A record USD 355 million [£308m] will be distributed to clubs for the release of their players, and this reinforces our solid collaboration with the European Club Association and clubs worldwide as we all look forward to a ground-breaking and globally inclusive edition of the FIFA World Cup next year.”
"At ECA we are pleased to have collaborated with FIFA to support the development of this innovative new FIFA Club Benefits Programme. It will ensure even more clubs across the world are rewarded for releasing players and highlights exactly how ECA supports the ongoing growth of the global club game,” said ECA Chairman and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
"Clubs play a pivotal role in the success of national team football and this initiative recognises every element of it, from early development through to release for the most important games."
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