Premier League club alleges that its trademark is infringed in simulation video game

Manchester United is suing the makers of the Football Manager series for allegedly infringing its trademark by using the club’s name “extensively throughout the game”.

The English Premier League club has taken legal action against Sega Publishing and Sports Interactive (SI), the publisher and developer of the popular football management simulation.

Related: Manchester United's net debt increases by £127.4m to £429.1m in a year

Related: Footballers' names: are these players real or digital regens? – a quiz

• Club suffered £28m loss in first three months of year
• Broadcasters due £20m rebate even if season completed

The Premier League will suffer an economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic for “years to come”, with clubs facing a broadcasting bill of at least £20m even if the season is completed, Manchester United have warned.

United underlined the gravity of the financial crisis afflicting the wealthiest league in the world as they posted their financial results for the three-month period to the end of March. The club recorded a pre-tax loss of £28.55m between 1 January and 31 March, compared with a £11.117m pre-tax profit in the same period last year, as a result of the pandemic and the adverse change in the exchange rate with the US dollar.

Related: Manchester United's net debt increases by £127.4m to £429.1m in a year

• United make pre-tax loss of £28.55m from 1 January to 31 March
• Financial results show impact of coronavirus pandemic

Manchester United’s net debt increased by £127.4m to £429.1m in the 12 months to 31 March 2020, their latest set of accounts reveal.

United made a pre-tax loss of £28.55m in the third-quarter from 1 January to 31 March, compared with a £11.117m pre-tax profit in the same period last year, because of the initial impact of the coronavirus pandemic and adverse movements in the US$-exchange rate. Net finance costs for the quarter were £25.3m because of the rate, an increase of £22.2m on the same period the previous year.

Related: Forgotten stories of football: Manchester United v Galatasaray, 1993 – podcast

The Guardian has launched a brand new podcast series, Forgotten stories of football, which is something like a football version of Audio Long Reads – some of the best tales from the beautiful game that you might not have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists.

In this episode, the second in the series: few had expected much from Galatasaray in the European Cup, but United were out of their depth on the pitch, amid terrifying hostility and harassment off it

• Read the text version here

A new series from The Guardian, featuring the best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: few had expected much from Galatasaray in the European Cup, but United were out of their depth on the pitch amid terrifying hostility and harassment off it

• Episode one: farce and fascism at the 1936 Olympics

• Prospect of crowds gathering has been a concern
• ‘Keep your friends, family and all United fans safe’

Manchester United have urged supporters to stay away from behind-closed-doors games if the season restarts.

The prospect of crowds gathering has been a significant concern for police amid the coronavirus pandemic and such messages from clubs are regarded as important if games are to go ahead, particularly without the use of neutral grounds.

Related: David Squires on … biosecurity and the Bundesliga: fussball is back

• Broadcaster apologises for running ‘joke’ 20 years ago
  
• Chadwick said jibes about appearance ‘lowered self-esteem’

Nick Hancock says he is “appalled” at himself after the former Manchester United player Luke Chadwick opened up on the torment the broadcaster’s TV show caused him. Hancock was speaking as a former host of the BBC panel show They Think It’s All Over, which Chadwick has said he used to “dread”.

Related: I still get abuse from Twitter trolls, says Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington

In their last game before lockdown, United played with the very thing we’re all lacking right now: freedom

The times they are a-changing us in ways, large and small, that we didn’t see coming. Normally, sitting on the sofa soaking up some sport, I’m a sucker for a cliffhanger. Watching cricket, which is part of my job, I’d rather see England lose by a whisker than win by an innings.

With football, I’m less professional and not quite so sporting. So let’s hear it for a match nobody would pick as the best game ever, unless they are Odion Ighalo’s mum: Lask 0-5 Manchester United.

Related: 'Industrial espionage': Lask Linz hit back after claims club 'torpedoed' guidelines

Saved by a tractor tyre, we watched two-goal Bryan Robson inspire a 3-0 victory over Diego Maradona’s Barcelona

It was one of Old Trafford’s greatest nights – and by repute its loudest – and but for a tractor tyre I would never have been there. There to witness Manchester United overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit to beat Diego Maradona’s Barcelona 3-0 in the European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finals.

Travelling up from Hampshire that day in March 1984, I picked up a new Peugeot we were road-testing for my local paper and I went to collect my companions – both New Zealanders – at the farm where they were staying. I arrived and went inside, forgetting to apply the handbrake. Luckily the car rolled gently into that tractor’s wheel when it could have ended up being wrecked.

Related: World Cup questions: what did Zidane's head-butt in Berlin mean? | Barney Ronay

• Some of them may not be mentally ready because of Covid-19
• Proposal approved for five substitutions to be allowed

Ole Gunnar Solskjær says he would not force any Manchester United footballer to play if they did not feel “mentally ready” due to concerns about coronavirus.

The Premier League hopes to get the go-ahead for a mid-June return and Solskjær has all his squad back in the country for a potential resumption of training. Yet the manager is conscious some may have reservations about doing so. .

Related: Neutral venue plan has 'no rationale', says former football police commander

The midfielder sat down for an online Q&A for charity and charted his journey from a Serbian village to Manchester United, via Benfica and José Mourinho

Nemanja Matic could be forgiven for feeling frustrated. Manchester United’s unbeaten run has stalled at 11 games after a resurgence largely featuring his presence in midfield. . He lists United’s last league game – the 2-0 derby win against City – as a highlight of his Old Trafford career.

“I cannot say I didn’t enjoy this month at home,” he says via video link. “Normally when we’re playing, we travel a lot. We’re away every two or three days. It’s been nice to spend time with the kids.” Off the pitch, Matic talks like he plays: measured, pragmatic and to the point.

Related: Aston Villa join opposition against finishing season at neutral grounds

• Striker has also attracted attention from Arsenal and Spurs
• Steven Gerrard says he will not pressure Rangers over transfers

Manchester United have an agreement in place to sign Sunderland teenager Joe Hugill.

The 16-year-old striker is set to join the United academy next season, should the move receive Premier League ratification.

Related: Manchester City set to run down Sané's contract despite Bayern interest

Related: Project Restart: the hurdles Premier League football must clear to resume | Paul MacInnes

• Rojo was pictured smoking and playing cards with friends
• Defender was loaned to Estudiantes in January

Manchester United will remind Marcos Rojo of his responsibilities after the defender was filmed appearing to flout Argentina’s coronavirus lockdown rules.

Related: Matteo Darmian: 'Rashford can reach Mbappé level and win Ballon d'Or'

The former Manchester United player, now at Parma, discusses his time in England, the criticism of Paul Pogba and living in lockdown

Matteo Darmian is discussing the players who impressed him the most during his four years at Manchester United. He describes how Wayne Rooney stood out from “the first training session” to such a degree that the Italian had to have a stern word with himself: he hadn’t moved to England to stand around admiring his teammates in training; he had to make an impression himself.

Then he pauses and says: “There was another player who really impressed me …” and his mind wanders back to the day when a certain teenager trained with the first team for the first time. The kid in question blew Darmian away. “I still remember Marcus Rashford’s first session with the senior squad like it was yesterday. I immediately thought: ‘wow, this is an incredible player’. He did so many impressive things for a player of his age and the way he improved in every detail really impressed me.”

Related: Real Madrid's Lucas Vázquez: 'You have to be tough and find your own path'

Related: Is the gravity-defying Manchester United brand facing a fall back to earth? | Barney Ronay

United are the most extreme debt-loaded commercial model, predicated on constant growth. What happens when it crashes?

What’s your favourite bit of non-football-football so far? In my opinion the best new sub-genre to emerge is pictures of José Mourinho delivering vegetables.

You don’t have to go looking for them. They just turn up on your social media feed or on the click-bar beneath a news story. Handsome, crinkly José carrying a box of lettuce across the tenement threshold. José in a surgical mask distributing radishes to elderly war heroes. José off-camera giving a secret briefing against the fucking artichoke guy who isn’t pulling his weight (premium content: subscribers only).

Related: Next season's cup competitions may suffer, says United's Woodward

Gareth Bale went on to win the Champions League four times, but many of his contemporaries had already peaked

By Martin Laurence for WhoScored

There is an assumption that footballers get better with age before peaking in their late twenties and regressing in their thirties. The theory goes that players improve with greater experience before their fitness deteriorates and they inevitably get worse. However, a look back at the best players aged 21 or under in the 2009-10 season shows that not every promising youngster is destined for greater things.

Related: When Arsenal won a 'world title' despite having their physio sent off

Related: Gareth Bale gives almost £1m to fight coronavirus in Spain and Wales

Related: Nicklas Bendtner: ‘Henry tells me to shut up. I shout back that he should shut up’

We look at players who have been important to the their clubs but perhaps not always received the credit they deserved

Part one: from Arsenal to Liverpool

Position Forward Time at club 2011-16 League apps/goals 130/50

Related: Underrated Premier League players: part one, from Arsenal to Liverpool

• Vice-chairman sounds warning of knock-on effect
• ‘It’s always a top priority for us to strengthen the team’

Next season’s FA Cup and League Cup competitions may be affected if the 2020-21 Premier League season is truncated because of coronavirus, according to Ed Woodward. Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman is also unclear whether the club will be able to resume their 2019‑20 FA Cup campaign.

The future of this season remains in the balance and the situation will be discussed by Premier League clubs at a meeting on Friday. Woodward hinted that the domestic cup competitions could be threatened whenever the next campaign starts.

Related: Manchester United apply to install rail seating at Old Trafford

Former Manchester United striker on living in lockdown, how lots of transplant patients ‘hate themselves’, and the value of support

Andy Cole gazes out of my laptop screen and, even in our strange virtual world, I can see clearly how his face creases with pain. His familiar voice resonates around the room as he explains how low he has felt these past weeks while in self-isolation and dealing with the continuing problems of a kidney transplant in 2017.

“There are many, many times when I want to give up, period, not just on life but give up on everything,” Cole says. “It becomes so difficult. I was struggling last Wednesday. It totally came out of the blue and I had to stay in bed. I conceded defeat and accepted that today’s not going to be my day. Previously, I would fight. But, ultimately, I know I can’t beat it.”

Related: PSG's Nadia Nadim: 'I know the value of helping a person when they have no hope'

• Club intend to have it in place for next season
• If trial is successful more barrier seats will be added

Manchester United will trial 1,500 barrier seats that will allow fans to stand next season, after being given permission by Trafford council.

Standing at top-flight games has been banned since 1994 on the recommendation of the Taylor report which followed the Hillsborough disaster of 1989 in which 96 Liverpool fans died.

Related: Underrated Premier League players: part one, from Arsenal to Liverpool