The best and worst of 2025 – featuring devotion in DC, late-night tweeting and the fly that sank a birdieThe White House, issuing a communique to reporters covering April’s global market meltdown over tariffs as US losses hit $6.6tn (£4.9tn) in two days.“The President won his second round matchup of the Senior Club Championship today in Jupiter, FL, and advances to the Championship Round tomorrow.”Gianni Infantino, standing in the Oval Office in November while his choice for Fifa’s inaugural peace prize winner floated the idea of bombing World Cup co-hosts Mexico.

Infantino: “The president says what he thinks.He has such an incredible energy.”Canada’s ice hockey team, responding to calls for restraint before February’s match against the US after Trump called Canada “our 51st State” by starting three fist‑fights in the first nine seconds.Canada coach Jon Cooper: “That was as organic as it gets.”Infantino’s restructured Club World Cup: top clubs competing for a trophy with his name engraved on it twice.

Infantino – who commissioned a Panini gold sticker of himself pre-tournament – used a Trump Tower press briefing in July to reflect on the mixed response to it all: “We respect everyone’s opinion,But we can say definitely this Fifa Club World Cup has been a huge, huge, huge success,”Owner of the year: Monaco-domiciled Sir Jim Ratcliffe, scrapping subsidised staff lunches at Old Trafford because people shouldn’t get something for nothing,“I got a lot of flak, but no one’s ever given me a free lunch,”Player of the year: Cole Palmer, trademarking his “Cold Palmer” shiver pose for use on toys, clothes, food, spirits, but not wine after the French winemaker Château Palmer blocked it.

Palmer: “Everyone knows it’s my celebration,Lots of people might have done it before, but everybody knows it’s mine,”Tour of the year: Lionel Messi’s three-day GOAT India tour in December,Fans at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium paid up to £100 each to watch Messi waving at them, then rioted when they couldn’t see him behind a ring of VIPs,Organiser Satadru Dutta was arrested, and denies wrongdoing.

And gala of the year: November’s Christmas gala in London, a chance to “meet and greet Lamine Yamal’s mother”,Tickets ranged from £130 to £313 for dinner, champagne and a picture with Sheila,Journalists were told: “No questions about Yamal,”Among the year’s top content from Evangelos Marinakis’s media team at Forest:Morgan Gibbs-White’s interview in July about his new contract – making three mentions of “Mr Marinakis” in the first 45 seconds while the Forest owner stood just out of shot,“Thank you to Mr Marinakis for believing in me.

” Marinakis: “Morgan belongs to our family.”And May’s deconstruction of live TV footage of Marinakis confronting his own manager on the pitch.“The truth of the matter is there was no confrontation, with Nuno or with others, either on the pitch, or inside the stadium.” Instead: “In moments like that [Mr Marinakis] demonstrates his leadership, not just through words, but through action and presence.”Manchester United’s open-top bus parade through Kuala Lumpur in May.

United’s CEO, Omar Berrada, defended making players do it after their 15th-place finish: “This was a unique opportunity to deepen relationships with our fans,”Piotr Szczerek, caught on camera at the US Open tennis in August swiping a young boy’s signed cap,Szczerek, identified online as a company CEO, was filmed reaching for the cap then bagging it after Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak signed it,He said sorry for “a grave mistake” based on “my misconception”; Majchrzak gave the boy a new one,Halo, Sky Sports’ “lil sis” to their main TikTok channel, captioning a Man City goal clip for female fans: “How the matcha + hot girl walk combo hits.

” Sky dropped the project after three days: “We didn’t get it right.”Chivas striker Javier Hernández, issuing a clarification after he was fined by Mexico’s FA in July over his new TikTok series aimed at educating women, which featured key messages including: “Women, you are failing”; “Women, allow yourselves to be led by a man”; and: “Women, embrace your feminine energy: nurturing, caring, receiving, multiplying, cleaning, maintaining the home.” The former Manchester United striker said he “regretted any confusion … It was never my intention to reduce, hurt, or divide.”Among those offering feedback on the clips, Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum: “I’m a mother, I’m a grandmother, I’m a housewife.But I’m also the supreme commander of the armed forces.

”Uefa – applying its rulebook to deliver a series of big calls, including paying £10m “solidarity” funds to Russian clubs banned from tournaments while denying the same funds to five Ukrainian clubs.Uefa said the Ukrainian clubs couldn’t have the money due to them being in a “zone of military operations”.The PGA of America, expressing regret in September after the first-tee warm-up act it booked to deliver wholesome Ryder Cup atmosphere was filmed shouting “Fuck you Rory” through a megaphone as US fans joined in.Comedian Heather McMahan: “I will take full responsibility and sincerely apologise to Rory and Team Europe … I did not start the chant.I would just like that narrative to get out there.

”On screen at October’s figure skating in Chongqing: two Chinese ice dancers waving a toy nuclear missile while waiting for their scores.The International Skating Union censured the pair for using their screen-time to promote China’s new DF-61 intercontinental ballistic weapon: “This was an inappropriate soft toy … the ISU regrets it.”Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video.Here is a link to the video instead.Was drawn by Lazio: sacking their eagle mascot trainer Juan Bernabé in January for posting pictures of his penile implant surgery online.

Officials – who stood by Bernabé in 2022 after he made fascist salutes to fans – said the posts were too much: “This violates the ethical values of this club,”Lazio’s pick to replace Bernabé as eagle handler: Giacomo Garruto, who urged media in November to stop obsessing over his own record of problematic pro-Mussolini posts,Garruto said the messages from 2018 “no longer represent me,I’m sorry if anyone felt hurt or upset,”Among those not paying attention in 2025:Major League Baseball, pulling its new range of New Era Overlap caps from sale after fans spotted “unintended design issues” – the “unique motif” of team logos overlaid on team names resulting in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s hat reading “AnaAels” and Houston Astros’ cap reading “AsHos”.

MLB: “This was missed during the product review process.”Great North Run organisers, apologising in September after 60,000 medals were accidentally printed with a map of Sunderland instead of Newcastle.Officials said the design “was a mistake … Lots of people looked very closely at it.None of us picked it up.”Wimbledon’s new automated line-calling tech, working fine, but only when turned on.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said a fourth-round game was “stolen” when an official forgot to press the button; organisers said sorry: “We have made the appropriate changes.”Philadelphia’s mayor, Cherelle Parker, expressing regret in January after being filmed rallying Eagles fans before an NFC divisional playoff game by shouting at a press conference: “Listen, we got to do this.Let me hear you all say, ‘E-L-G-S-E-S, Eagles!’ Let’s go Birds.”Brentford under-21’s Iwan Morgan, taking a long throw in May.And Martin Brundle on his Singapore Grand Prix gridwalk, almost identifying Lewis Capaldi – “Lewis, wonderful to see you … Oh, you’re his brother?” – then turning away as the singer offered a handshake.

Brundle apologised for a “cardinal sin on my part” after @LewisCapaldi reposted it,Nigel Farage, who compared the UK to North Korea in September, then urged Sky to sack Gary Neville for criticising flag hangers in October,Farage: “He’s so detached from reality it’s not true,”Farage also eased up on his keep-politics-out-of-football campaign to launch a new line of Reform UK football tops, including new festive special edition £349 black shirt, “signed by Nigel himself”,Among this year’s best wrong anthems at big games: organisers in Bulgaria hosting Ireland’s Women’s Under-19 Euros qualifier mistakenly swapping out the Irish anthem for God Save the King; and the PA team at India v Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in September failing to cue up the Pakistan anthem, and playing the intro to Jalebi Baby by Tesher and Jason Derulo instead.

Making an impact online in 2025:Best clarification of late-night tweeting: Norwich defender Shane Duffy, revealing in October how he meant no disrespect when he called a fan on X a “knob” and a “gimp”,Duffy: “My comment came out of frustration, not a lack of respect for supporters,We really value your passion and backing,”Least attentive tweeting: Paul Merson, July, taking instructions from his social media team and posting them: “Incredible day @slimmingworld meeting 41 amazing men who have lost a life-changing 330st 2lbs! Please also include #ad,”Strongest club views: Clyde FC, sorry in March after their official X account started retweeting Only Fans content.

“We’re aware of some unfavourable content that was shared early this morning,Needless to say, this content does not reflect the views of the club,”Most over the novelty of it all: Bromley FC’s X admin, appealing for help in August after their second game in seven days was delayed due to an injured official,“Here we go again,If there’s anyone in the crowd who is a qualified referee, please come forward to the nearest steward.

This is not a joke.60’ | #WeAreBromley | 1-0”And the best use of a heart emoji: Plymouth manager Miron Muslic, 1 May, tweeting to explain he lost his cool in a press conference because: “I’ve fallen in love with this football club … I was over-passionate with emotions about our relegation and how much I care for Argyle and the Green Army and how committed I am to the club and its future.I want the best for Argyle.We are all frustrated, but now we will put it right.We are all in this together ♥.

” 28 May: Joins Schalke,Virgin Media, saying sorry in November after a Welsh language translation error in their S4C TV listings trailed a show featuring Wales hooker Ryan Elias as a show featuring “Wales prostitute Ryan Elias”,Virgin: “It was promptly rectified by our external provider,We apologise for any offence,”Racing 42 coach Patrice Collazo, reflecting on the lessons after his hooker Janick Tarrit was sent off for a diving head-butt in November.

“As a coach you plan for a lot of things; your tactics, your rival’s tactics.But one thing you cannot plan for is stupidity.” Had he spoken to Tarrit? “No.What’s the point?”Club Blooming v Real Oruro in the Bolivian Cup in November, featuring 17 post-match red cards and police pepper spraying players and staff.Blooming captain Gabriel Valverde said he regretted his own red because “I probably didn’t set a good example there.

This shouldn’t happen again.”Among the year’s bigger votes of confidence:RB Leipzig managing director Marcel Schäfer, backing his under-fire coach Marco Rose.4 Feb: “I’m known in football for not losing my nerve, I’m known for being very patient, and I believe in Marco.” 8 Mar: “The lack of patience in our industry is always criticised, and maybe rightly so.But we’re completely different at this club.

” 30 Mar: Sacks him.Tranmere chair Mark Palios, 6 Feb, telling fans to lay off Nigel Adkins in an open letter.“As always happens when a club has a bad run it has led to calls from some for the manager to be sacked.But I’ve decided to stick with Nigel.In Nigel we have a manager with huge experience, a record of many successes, and a genuine passion for a club he has supported all his life.

I cannot see what is to be gained by gambling,” 26 Feb: Gambles,And Reading chair Rob Couhig, 6 Oct, defending manager Noel Hunt against fans’ impatience,“I’ve never considered firing Noel,I don’t believe firing a manager suddenly turns a guy into a better striker or a better defender.

I don’t think firing a manager changes anything as long as the players still support him.I don’t believe firing a manager does anything but take pressure off an owner – and I’m here to take that pressure.If you don’t like what he does, blame me.If you don’t like who we sign, blame me.” 26 Oct: Sacks him.

13 Oct: Bracknell Town manager Matt Saunders getting an unexpected 8.4m views for this assessment of his senior players.“I’m not going to let this club be dragged down by players that can’t run, can’t look after their body, want to go and drink after games, it ain’t happening.They don’t want to do the basics well.They don’t want to eat well