New cabin baggage rules on the cards
The European Parliament 's transport and tourism committee has voted to mandate airlines to allow passengers two pieces of cabin baggage, a personal item and small hand luggage, without additional fees.
This initiative aims to prevent budget airlines from imposing "unjustified extra costs" on travellers who currently face charges for larger cabin bags or are limited to one small personal item.
Budget airlines, including Wizz Air and Ryanair, oppose the proposal, arguing it would increase costs for millions, slow down boarding processes, and undermine their low-cost operational models due to limited aircraft space.
The proposal will proceed to a full vote by the European Parliament, followed by "trilogue" negotiations involving the Council and Commission, indicating a lengthy process before potential implementation.
While some airlines like British Airways and Jet2 already offer more generous cabin baggage allowances, a new EU law could lead to harmonised baggage rules across European flights, impacting many UK-EU routes operated by EU carriers.
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Times
an hour ago
- Times
The bargain summer wine list: the 51 best bottles, from £8 and under
Summer celebrations don't have to be fuelled with expensive wines. It's entirely possible to find delicious whites, good reds, mouthwatering pinks and decent bottles of fizz for £8 or under. You do have to know where to look, though. Rooting out the top 50 bargain wines here involved trying every single one of the wines that supermarkets showed at their spring and summer tastings,and plenty of the wine merchants' offerings too. It might sound like a wonderful job — but, believe me, there were as many duds as delights. Clearly 2025's perfect storm of dramatic duty hikes, a weak exchange rate and increased shipping and transport costs have been a challenge, resulting in less choice and wishy-washy, lower-alcohol flavours. Yet, for all that, there are some fantastic summer wines to be found. As always, Aldi and Lidl, the German discounters, have come to the rescue with some extremely good-value bottles. Anyone with prejudices about these no-frills supermarkets will overcome them as soon as they dive into Aldi's citrussy Pierre Jaurant French Sauvignon, £4.85, or Lidl's buttery Australian 2023 Cimarosa Chardonnay, £4.99. This summer's best bargain Kiwi sauvignon is a zingy, gooseberry and lush passion fruit 2023 Freeman's Bay Sauvignon Blanc, a £5.99 Aldi snip, or plump for Lidl's creamy, black-fruited 2023 Deluxe Australian Barossa Valley Shiraz, £7.99. Asda's wine buyers have also worked hard this summer, with the likes of a white rhône-like 2024 Extra Special Languedoc Blanc, £7.54, scented with viognier, roussanne and marsanne, and a brilliant-value-for-money, tank-method fizz, the floral, stone fruit Wine Atlas Lake Garda Sparkling, a £6.97 steal. The behemoth Tesco is fighting back on all fronts with, among others, a bouncy, apple blossom-perfumed Codorniu Herencia Cava, yours for just £7 until July 14, and a zesty red cherry-ripe 2024 Marques de los Zancos Red Rioja, £6.25. Marks & Spencer's Found range has some unusual, keenly priced bottles, plus this summer's cheapest, tastiest pink, the syrah-led 2024 Italian Rosato from clever Cantine Settesoli in Sicily, yours for just £6.50. Morrisons also has a few plums, including a lip-smacking Loureiro vinho verde, just £7 until July 15. Look out too for Waitrose's cut-price charmers, including a young, tangy unoaked claret, the seductive, violet-scented 2021 Château Margerots Bordeaux Superieur, £11, down to £8 from July 2. If I had to pick one summer party steal it would be Aldi's superior Specially Selected DOCG Prosecco Valdobbiadene, £7.99, down to £4.99 from July 10 to July 16. Prosecco's not typically my thing, but if an elegant, frothy, orchard-fruited fizz is yours, get in the queue. Happy hunting. • Read more reviews and recipes from our food and wine experts 11 per cent, Aldi, £4.15Jolly, non-vintage, bargain buy Central Valley merlot, topped up with a dollop of tintorera and dash of syrah with lashings of soft, green, plummy fruit. It makes a handy, lighter summer red, perfect with pasta and pizza. 11 per cent, Aldi, £4.85 Sauvignon is our most popular white wine by far and this summer's bargain-basement gem is a humble vin de France. Its gentle, citrussy zest, with a dab of sweetness, is the perfect picnic white and — at this price — a steal. 11 per cent, Lidl, £4.99 A cheap-as-chips, buttercup gold Aussie, bursting with the sort of light but lively, buttered glazed pineapple fruit that chardonnay fans can never get enough of. Lidl's New World offerings don't always hit the spot but this one most certainly does. 11 per cent, Aldi, £7.99, down to £4.99 from Jul 10-16 Prosecco's not my thing but if it's yours, queue up at Aldi for what's likely to be a sell-out stampede. Predominantly made from the glera grape and sweeter than most, what you get is an elegant, frothy, orchard-fruited mouthful. 11 per cent, Tesco, £6, down to £5 from Jul 15Easily the best of the non-vintage Isla Negra reds and from the same Chilean stable as Cono Sur. Bursting with ripe, smoky, blackcurranty fruit, plus a dab of chocolate on the finish, it's equally at home with red meat or veggie fare. Given away for a fiver. 12 per cent, Asda, £6.24, down to £5.50 from Jul 3-30A delicious, smoky, vanilla pod-scented rioja, with a fine, tangy finish that makes it the white wine to serve with everything from punchy summer salads to burnt barbecued fare. Despite the topsy-turvy 2024 vintage, Espartero is all easy-drinking, bright, vibrant, juicy fruit. 10.5 per cent, Booths, £6, or 2 for £5.50 each Jul 2-29Don't turn your nose up at non-vintage whites; Isla Negra's bosky sauvignon, zhuzhed up with grapey pedro jimenez, makes a refreshing, lower alcohol summer sip. With masses of green pepper and lemongrass pizzazz, it's summer in a glass. 12 per cent, Lidl, £5.79Pinot grigio is as popular as ever. The rub, though, is to find one, especially at this price, that has any flavour at all. Luckily Lidl have come to the rescue with this greeny-white, perky, lemon zest and celery salt gem from pinot grigio vines grown close to Lake Garda in the Veneto. 10.5 per cent, Co-op, £5.80A mouthwatering, light, zesty, budget summer garden party soave that, surprisingly, is a better buy than the Co-op's £8-plus version. Made exclusively from the garganega grape, this vegan-friendly soave has oodles of unoaked, crisp, zingy, lemony fruit. 11 per cent, Asda, £5.98, down from £6.48 until Jul 30Chile's best bargain basement pinot noir continues to punch well above its weight with delicious, beefy, rustic, mocha fruit. Given that this burgundy-style red is more than £8 elsewhere, my advice is to stock up now. 14 per cent, Asda, £5.98, down from £6.48 Once upon a time cheap pinotage was vile but new-era winemaking, including scrubbing dirty cellars and grubbing up virused vines, has cleaned up the grape's act and reputation. Hence this spot on, bright, coastal pinotage, with oodles of sweetly spiced black cherry charm. 11 per cent, Asda, £5.98, down from £6.24 until Jul 2Hurry along to Asda to scoop up this delightful and delightfully cheap viognier that's £2 more elsewhere. With less alcohol than previous vintages, this exotic, honeysuckle and spiced yellow peach-laden Chilean makes the perfect summer party white. 14 per cent, Aldi, £5.99Southeast European wines go from strength to strength and this unusual red from North Macedonia is made exclusively from the kratosija grape, better known as zinfandel. Crammed with sweet yet tangy, squishy red and black fruit, it's a summer must-try. 12.5 per cent, Aldi, £5.99Kiwi 'savvy' is our favourite white wine by a country mile and as usual Aldi's Freeman's Bay is the cheapest and best. A clever combo of ripe, zingy gooseberry with lashings of lush passion fruit pizzazz, this is an Aldi core line so there should be enough to go around. 13 per cent, Aldi, £5.99Juicy, fruity, easy-swigging Languedoc merlot with masses of plump, red berry fruit — tailor-made for chilling on sunny days, or enjoyed at room temperature on cold days. With a tad more alcohol than lots of cheap reds, it's the bottle to drink with burnt barbecued fare. 11.5 per cent, Lidl, £5.99Pecorino — the wine, not the cheese — is a handy Italian summer aperitif white made from an ancient grape grown halfway down the Adriatic coast in Abruzzo. Pale in hue but with wonderfully elegant, floral, herby, lemon blossom scents, it's a brilliant sub-£6 buy. 13 per cent, Tesco, £6Portugal produces brilliant value-for-money reds, including new-wave bottles like this one. It's mostly syrah and cabernet sauvignon, beefed up with a dollop of alicante bouschet and touriga nacional, making for a tasty, red plum jam-luscious, crowd pleaser. Vegan-friendly. 13 per cent, Tesco, £6A classic Aussie duo, with shiraz filling out cabernet sauvignon's hollow middle. It's a machine harvested, lush bramble-fruited, fat, hearty, non-vintage red with a dusting of French and American oak. Barbecued burgers, anyone? 13.5 per cent, Asda, £6.17Cariñena in northern Spain, a good hop southeast of Rioja, is home to some terrific value-for-money reds just like this impressive bright crimson purple garnacha. Overflowing with bold, ripe, cassis and blackberry fruit, it gives you a lot of bang for your buck. 8.5 per cent, Morrisons, £6.25, down from £7.25 until Jul 15It's hard to keep your alcohol content down in summer, but Casillero del Diablo's Belight hits the spot. Made from cinsault, carménère and sauvignon blanc, what you get is lots of ripe, peachy, fruit that will go down well at picnics and parties. • The best picnic wines to drink alfresco 13 per cent, Tesco, £6.25Tesco is on a roll, with good wines to be had from top to bottom including this impressive red rioja made exclusively from the tempranillo grape. Unoaked and harvested at night to hang onto every ounce of fruit, it's a delicious, bright, zesty, red-cherry mouthful. 13.5 per cent, Asda, £6.48Uber-popular malbec remains our No 1 red wine choice and this 2022 Mendoza edition has been pumped up with a helpful 15 per cent dab of classy, barrel-matured Uco Valley malbec. What you get is a deliciously dark-hearted blueberry and black chocolate wallop. 13 per cent, Lidl, £6.49Puglia's primitivo grape, one and the same as California's zinfandel, makes a brilliant barbecue bottle, with masses of savoury, strawberry-ripe fruit, tailor made for charred meat. Lidl sells lots of different primitivos so make certain you nab the right bottle. 11 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £6.50 Castile-La Mancha's workhorse airen grape may not be the most exciting but Bodegas del Saz's unoaked, cool-fermented 2024 gets my summer thumbs-up. Brimming with bright, ripe, easy-drinking yellow peach fruit, this screw-top white is perfect for picnics. • The best organic wines to buy now 11 per cent, Tesco, £6.50, down from £7.75, Jul 15-Aug 11It's worth waiting a fortnight to nab this refreshing Spaniard at £6.50. Made from the parellada grape and garnacha blanco, and with uncomplicated verdant fruit plus a dash of grapefruit on the finish, it's the sort of simple white we should all have in the fridge. 11 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £6.50Hats off to Marks & Spencer's buyers for rooting out this refreshing, fruity yet delicate pink from clever Cantine Settesoli in Sicily, which makes rafts of good varietal wines at keen prices. Mostly peppery syrah, with a dash of hearty nerello mascalese, it's a surprisingly light, floral charmer. 11 per cent, Tesco, £6.75, down from £7.75 until Jul 20 Rueda, a good hop northwest of Madrid, is a brilliant source of tasty, sauvignon blanc-esque Spanish whites, and this one from Pagos del Rey is a favourite. Harvested at dawn to hang onto every ounce of fruit, this organic and vegan-friendly 2024 bursts with zesty, lime peel style. 11.5 per cent, Tesco, £6.75, down from £7.50, Jul 15-Aug 11 A mouthwateringly summery, glorious Gascon white, roughly equal parts of the colombard and gros manseng grapes. Overflowing with juicy, citrus and pepped up with a tangy pink grapefruit finish, enjoy this wine as a sparky aperitif or with a seafood starter. 11 per cent, Asda, £6.97 Asda's Wine Atlas range highlights unusual grapes, regions and wine styles. None could fit the bill more neatly than the Cantina di Soave's tank-method pop. Made from garganega grapes grown around Lake Garda, it's a brilliant value-for-money sparkler with easy-swigging, light, floral stone fruit. 14.5 per cent, Asda, £6.98Turbo-charged, delightfully cheap zin from the fruit bowl of America, with masses of seductive, floral, bramble and violet fruit. Exceptional is the new name for Asda's better own-label wines and this unoaked malbec and petit verdot-enhanced zin really is a cracker. 13 per cent, Lidl, £6.99Not every Lidl Italian hits the spot but this bold, oaky, potpourri-scented charmer certainly does. From one of the finest Tuscan vintages yet, even at this humble chianti riserva level, it's a humdinger — and a keenly priced one at that. 13 per cent, Lidl, £6.99 Every bit as good as the 2023 vintage and, frankly, Lidl's best sub-£7 French white. With fuller bodied, spicy, citrus blossom and stone fruit charm, this southern rhône white, made from viognier, roussanne and marsanne, is a summer essential. 12 per cent, Sainsbury's, £7, down from £8 until Jul 1Tasty cabernet franc-based pinks like this one are wonderfully summery and perfect to crack open with Ottolenghi-inspired summer fare. Atlantique's pretty orangey-pink hue leads onto a gutsy, redcurranty palate, with a fine salty spin on the finish. 10 per cent, Morrisons, £7, down from £8.25 until Jul 15 Spritzy vinho verdes — especially those made from the aromatic loureiro grape — make handy summer fridge-door whites. Serve this light but lively, soft, floral, lemony sip as a summer aperitif or with simple white meat and fish dishes. 11.5 per cent, Tesco, £7, down from £8 until Jul 14 A keen price for one of the best Codorniu cavas on a supermarket shelf this summer. It's made with a dab more macabeo and xarelo than parellada, but no matter — this vegan-approved bubbly from the oldest family business in Spain is all apple blossom and bouncy citrus charm. • The best cava to buy now — including a £5.79 Aldi bottle 11 per cent, Tesco, £7, down from £8 until Jul 14 Love sancerre but hate the £25 price tag? Lap up this delicious sparky sauvignon blanc instead from further west along the Loire river in Touraine. Hand-picked, unoaked and cool fermented, it's brimming with grassy, gooseberry and nettle fruit that's tailor-made for fish and seafood. 12.5 per cent, Asda, £7.47Find Argentinian malbec too brutish? Take a trip to the malbec grape's first home deep in southwest France at Cahors. With lighter fruit and less alcohol, Asda's Exceptional has some of the grape's distinctive rustic, smoky style but with a delicious, minty, red fruit spin of its own. 14 per cent, Aldi, £7.49Tasty, two-thirds grenache to one-third syrah Côtes du Rhône Villages is a good step up from basic red rhône and worth paying a tad extra for. Brimming with bright, tangy, red plum skin and dried strawberry fruit, it shows just what can be done in a hot, dry year by a good producer. 12.5 per cent, Asda, £7.54 The Midi has taken a leaf out of the Rhône's book with this delightful roussanne, clairette, grenache, viognier and marsanne mix. Brimming with exotic floral scents and baked quince and yellow peach oomph, it's just the ticket with punchy barbecue fare. 11 per cent, Co-op, £8.65, down to £7.65 from Jul 16-Aug 12Australia makes lots of great pinot noir but this oak-chipped, lower-alcohol edition shows how good the grape can be under £8. With sensual, soft, floral fruit leading onto an equally delicate, gamey palate, plus a dusting of oak, it's catnip for pinot noir drinkers. 12 per cent, £7.95The good old Wine Society's Duo series wines are easy-glugging, great value for money bottles and this year's Plages is a night-harvested mostly cinsault and grenache combo plus a splash of syrah. This exuberant pink's dry, herby fruit is just the ticket with seafood. 12.5 per cent, Aldi, £7.99German pinot noir is increasingly popping up on supermarket shelves and this authentic, garnet red '23 from a good source, the Pfalz, is the mesmerising bottle to buy this summer. With light, but lively, herby fruit, plus a tickle of spice on the finish, it gets my thumbs up. 13.5 per cent, Lidl, £7.99South Australia's Barossa Valley is home to some gorgeous, creamy, shiraz tub-thumpers and this is one of them. Crammed with rollicking, bold, earthy, blackberry and black raspberry fruit, it's the sort of full-flavoured and full-bodied red that big food needs. 13.5 per cent, Aldi £7.99Aldi has long championed Portugal's characterful reds from the Douro and elsewhere. The latest vintage of this reserva is a terrific combo of all three Douro port grapes and delivers vanilla pod scents and layer after layer of deep, dark, oaky fruit. 12.5 per cent, Sainsbury's, £8, down from £9 until Jul 1 The wizard Midi winemaker Laurent Miquel creates wonderfully seductive viognier and this is one of them. Machine harvested at night to enhance the fruit, this unoaked, golden white bursts with orange blossom, nectarine and hawthorn verve. 13 per cent, Waitrose, £11, down to £8 from Jul 2-29A new wave, young, tangy, unoaked, bright crimson purple claret from the lesser Entre deux Mers region that, at just £8, is a cut-price steal. What you get is a wonderfully aromatic bouquet reminiscent of violets, pepped up with masses of plummy merlot and curranty cabernet fruit. 11.5 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £8Bulgaria is coming back, care of Domaine Boyar and the indigenous dimyat grape, topped up here with chardonnay. Unoaked but with the sort of unusual, exotic, floral spice you might expect, it's the bottle to serve to guests who have been everywhere and tasted everything. 12.5 per cent, Waitrose, £8, down from £11 until Jul 1A restrained yet refreshing new-era white rhône — a grenache-dominant blend but with a dollop of clairette, viognier, roussanne and bourboulenc in the mix too. It's all white flowers and gentle peach and pear fruit, plus sufficient backbone and body to copy with punchy summer salads. 12.5 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £8Sicily's Cantine Settesoli does a terrific job getting the best from all manner of this hot, arid island's grapes, including this elegant white made exclusively from cataratto. Unoaked and with delicious light, leafy, floral, aniseed-spiked fruit, it's an easy-drinking summer crowd-pleaser. 11.5 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £8Hand-picked corvina and rondinella grapes, with a dab of molinara, grown on hilly slopes overlooking Lake Garda, make for an arresting rosé. Chiaretto pinks have that hint of bitterness so beloved by the Italians, but Fioritura's zesty, herby palate leads onto a sweet candied peel finish. 13 per cent, Waitrose, £8, down from £10 until Jul 1I've had my eye on this limestone soil-enriched Languedoc for a while now, a wine made from 40-year-old vines and given a blast of toasty French oak. What you get is a gorgeous, creamy, nutty, sweetly spiced mouthful that's a whizz with curried chicken or a spicy salmon dish.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
‘I'm still called a gold-digger. Men look at me like I'm stupid'
Carolyn Radford arrives in her sizeable back garden, fresh off the family helicopter, with suitcases, her millionaire husband, John, and two dogs — Bo, a teacup Maltese terrier, and Casper, a weimaraner puppy — in tow. It's a whirlwind — and not just thanks to the still spinning rotary blades on the seven-seater chopper out on the lawn. The couple met when Radford, a lawyer, applied for a personal injury job at the insurance firm John founded. 'I think I'm still being interviewed,' she quips. 'It's my probation.' If so, it is a comprehensive trial period. Along with three sons (ten-year-old twins Rupert and Albert, and eleven-year-old Hugo, who are boarders at Ludgrove School, where alumni include Princes William and Harry), two dogs and three homes — one in the Algarve, Portugal, one beside the Thames in Eton, Berkshire, and this one, 19th-century Barnby Moor Hall in Retford, Nottinghamshire — the Radfords own the sprawling Doncaster-based business One Call Insurance. Oh, and a football club. 'I didn't quite realise what I was getting myself involved in,' Radford says wryly. As CEO of Mansfield Town FC, one of just a handful of female chief executives in English football, 43-year-old Radford has taken the Stags from the non-league doldrums — when John, 59, bought the club in 2010 for £1, the team no longer had a ground, but trained in the local park — to League One, where last season they played alongside Wrexham, Reading, Bolton Wanderers and Birmingham City. Being blonde and glamorous, the comparisons with Rebecca Welton, the wealthy, fictional owner of the equally fictional AFC Richmond, are inevitable, but, 'It's not like Ted Lasso,' Radford says firmly, before I have even asked. In the ten-bedroom manor house, complete with gym and swimming pool plus vast chandeliers, indoor pillars and several grand pianos, Radford and I settle in the very white lounge/dining room. Up in her top-floor office, alongside shelves of law books, is Karren Brady's novel, United, set in the world of football and politics. Radford doesn't know Brady, the first female managing director of an English football team, who was appointed at Birmingham City at the age of 23 and who now sits in the House of Lords as well as being Alan Sugar's wingwoman on The Apprentice and vice-chairwoman of West Ham United, 'but she's been incredible in showing what can be done. I respect what she's achieved massively and hopefully it inspires other women, not just to aspire to the title of CEO, just to go and feel supported and ignore the noise.' When Radford, then Carolyn Still, was appointed CEO at 29 — at the time the youngest CEO in English football — there was no shortage of noise. She and John, who are worth an estimated £184 million, had been dating for a while but were not yet publicly a couple and, while some branded it a 'publicity stunt', Radford was subjected to sexist abuse from the stands and online. 'It was overwhelming,' she has said. 'Being young, relatively attractive and female, all those things counted against me. I was made into this caricature and had the most horrible things you can say about being a woman [said about me], people calling me a bimbo.' 'Nobody knew anything about me, or cared,' she says now. 'I didn't realise, especially back then, what the title means or how it worked, that it was generally for people — men — who had been in football or had played or they'd been around football clubs before.' Almost 15 years on, things are not much different. 'I'm still called a gold-digger,' she says. 'They still just look at me like I'm stupid.' The best riposte, of course, is the recent success of the club, but the low-level sexism persists, even among fellow executives. 'On match days you go into each other's boardrooms and a lot of the time they'll direct conversation to my husband, and it's not just me being paranoid,' she has said. 'There are lots of casual comments like, 'Hope you're behaving yourself today,' or, 'Oh, look at you. You look absolutely gorgeous,' in a leering kind of way. Just not things you would say to another man. 'But I don't have to read my CV out to everybody,' she says. 'I work hard, so think what you want. I'm not desperate to prove people wrong. I just want to do the best that I can possibly do.' It is not all casual. She has had rape threats and death threats 'constantly' since being in the job, online and in the post. 'Now, I just don't want to even know what any of it says,' she says. She thinks it is probably the case that 'all women in public positions get that sort of thing'. As the club's owner, her husband is not immune to criticism either. 'If we win, we're local heroes. If we lose, we're some kind of villain,' Radford says. She jokes that her husband, a Mansfield native, 'went to the pub and came home with a football club', but it's not entirely a joke. The club's previous owner and CEO, Keith Haslam, had run it into the ground and, according to John, had plans to sell off the ground — the oldest in the football league, built in 1861 — to build houses, claims denied by Haslam at the time. 'We rescued it, really,' he says. 'We had no fans, nothing. The club was literally just some football players that we'd inherited,' Radford says. 'Nobody wanted to go and watch their team lose again.' Last season, its most successful in 50 years, was Mansfield Town's first in League One — 'and almost our last', says Radford. But the club narrowly escaped relegation. And the 10,000-seat stadium is sold out every match day. Lee Anderson is one of those regularly in the stands. The Reform MP for the nearby constituency of Ashfield, he represents the political vicissitudes and shift to the right of the region in recent decades: Red Wall (and in Anderson's case, National Union of Mineworkers) to Brexiteer to Boris Johnson era Conservative to Reform. Mansfield ranks in the top 15 per cent of the most deprived areas nationally, with some neighbourhoods in the top 10 per cent. 'It's a tough town,' Radford says. 'For John, the choice was either go down the pit or go into the army [he chose the latter] and that is reality.' 'But people in Mansfield have a smile on their face now,' John says of the club's contribution. The couple have ploughed an eye-watering amount of their own money — a reported £100,000 a month — into the club to get there. 'I don't even want to think about that,' Radford says. 'And then there are the tangible assets we've done.' John bought the stadium back for £2 million, 'then spent another couple of million to get the stands right', he says. They have built a new training ground, which cost another £1.5 million. Later — while piloting us to the club in the helicopter — John says, deadpan, 'You don't really realise how much of a money pit a football club is until you're doing it.' Money has also gone into myriad initiatives, both at the club, such as academies for local youngsters and walking football teams for older people, and via their charity, the Radford Foundation, which funds and supports leisure facilities and services in Mansfield and the surrounding areas, including for children, disabled people and the elderly. Their roles, CEO and owner, 'are just titles, really. We're a husband and wife team,' Radford says. So do they ever truly switch off? 'Not really. And if you are losing four games in a row, it's brutal. Every match hurts. 'I've had to reframe it. I've started listening to all these podcasts, learning how to manage our world and not take it too personally, because I start to blame myself, but sometimes it's nothing to do with you.' Growing up in Chorley, Lancashire, Radford's father owned a building company and her mother was a PE teacher. 'I'm from quite a sporty background,' she says. 'My aunties ran for England and one was CEO of Sport England. My cousins played netball for England and I grew up watching a lotof football, so I have always understood it. But it wasn't necessarily something that I ever thought I'd be dealing with on a daily basis for ever.' Her first job, at 13, was on Saturdays in a pie shop. When her sons are old enough, 'I'll be getting them working in the kiosks at Mansfield, that's for sure. Showing them how to cook a pie. I think it's important,' she says. She studied politics at Durham University and, 'I am massively interested in politics, but I don't like to show it too much or I might get stoned — football is bad enough. 'I've always been quite malleable in my way of thinking, and I think that's being able to pivot and having conviction of what I think is right and wrong,' she says. 'I liked New Labour, Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell and Things Can Only Get Better. I was on that bandwagon. 'Post-university, I was then Tory. I've always liked Thatcher and I liked Boris Johnson. Are you allowed to say that?' She is confused as to why Kemi Badenoch has been made leader of the Conservatives — 'It seems like they put them there to be … It's like a game' — but neither is she convinced by Sir Keir Starmer's government so far. 'Perhaps by actually talking to business owners, maybe you'd get a better way of doing things. It definitely needs a shake-up.' One of her best friends at Durham was Lucy Rigby, now the Labour MP for Northampton North and the solicitor-general. 'I don't think you have to be politically affiliated to one particular party — I think that's where we've been going wrong. I'd definitely vote for Lucy.' Radford was a lawyer for Gucci group, working on brands such as Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, before moving to One Call. She and John, who has been married once before, began dating after he hired her. I imagine there was some commentary around that. 'John was still building a business. He wasn't … One Call wasn't what it is now. I fell in love with John for his mind, his business acumen, his intelligence. 'Then we've got an age gap, but lots of people have age gaps. I didn't think about it. And you don't know how a relationship's going to work out anyway. 'I guess I'm about the same age now as John was then. And we're still here, touch wood. We built our world together. I like to think and hope that my hard work and a bit of business acumen and whatever else has helped create our world.' The Radfords were both state school educated, but it is likely that their three sons will attend one of the UK's top public schools, perhaps Eton or Marlborough. 'I sound so northern when I'm cheering them on at matches,' Radford says. 'But they are very down to earth. They're not really materialistic, and they just like their friends and playing football.' All three want to be footballers when they grow up. But the Radfords' lifestyle has made them tabloid fodder, with stories of paying decorators to transform Barnby Moor Hall at Christmas, flying in Santa Claus on the helicopter and spending £10,000 on a birthday party for their sons. 'The boys are very lucky and blessed, but often they don't even have birthday parties. That was for a particular show that was on TV [Billion Dollar Babes],' Radford says. (For a while, though, the family did own three racehorses named Rupert, Albert and Hugo, after them.)'Often in these kinds of situations, I say yes because I'm trying to fly the flag for the football club, and that was part of that process.'Does she feel that her actions are sometimes deliberately misinterpreted?'Yes, I think so.'Does she think it would be the same were she a man?'No, I don't think so.' John is back from refuelling the helicopter, so we hop in to fly the seven minutes to the football ground. We land behind the stadium, beside a brand new padel court complex the club has built and an AstroTurf pitch heaving with kids playing football. Our unsubtle landing inevitably attracts a lot of attention, though all of it feels positive. For all the sexist abuse she has endured, Radford has also been dubbed 'the first lady of Mansfield'. It is Friday night, not a match day and out of season, but people are drinking in the stadium's bars. 'That's what our strategy is — to make it a destination every day, not just on match days,' Radford says. 'To make it a hub, really part of the community again. 'It's taken 15 years and we're not there yet,' she says, as we stroll through the blue and yellow-seated stands. 'It's a labour of love, but we're proud of what we're doing.' By the time we've finished touring the stadium, where a fourth stand is under construction, I check my train times back to London to find they've all been cancelled. The Radfords — heading south to pick up their sons for the weekend — generously offer me a lift in the helicopter. I sit with Casper, the weimaraner puppy at my feet as we soar over a lush, green early-summer England, landing just before sunset at an airfield in White Waltham, near Maidenhead, where Prince George is rumoured to be learning to fly. They would love to take Mansfield Town all the way to the Premier League, Radford says. 'We want to take it as far as possible, without being stupid. 'We're also big manifesters. I didn't know there was a name for it until recently, but we kind of talk about things, John and I, as if they're going to happen. We're always talking about our plans for the future, always pushing forward.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
For those about to rock: How on earth does a French-Canadian musician and songwriter breathe fresh life into ailing Dumbarton FC? New owner Mario Lapointe tells Mail Sport about his plans to turn Sons into the best-run part-timers in Scottish football
Mario Lapointe is a businessman and entrepreneur. He is a French-Canadian whose first language was not English. He is a musician and singer-songwriter who cites Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen as inspiration. He made his money in the electronics industry and has a degree in mechanical engineering. In his free time, he works on old cars and restores them to their former glory, a hobby which earned him the nickname 'Vintage'. He describes himself as a poet and a 'soulful whisperer'. In his latest venture, he has also now become the owner of one of Scotland's oldest football clubs after recently completing a deal to buy Dumbarton. Following years of financial mismanagement and off-field turmoil, Dumbarton were plunged into administration last season and docked 15 points, leading to relegation to League Two. A fund-raiser set up by supporters allowed the club to make it through until the end of last season, before the old company was dissolved and Lapointe bought the assets and set it up under a newco structure. Which raises a fairly obvious question. Why would an eccentric French-Canadian businessman want to invest in a cash-strapped part-time club in the fourth tier of Scottish football? Well, Lapointe is clear on one thing. He is not here to make a quick buck or to sell the family silver. Indeed, he is now actively working on a guarantee that would stop the stadium being sold off under his watch. 'I was looking for a team for quite a while,' he explains. 'I looked at Italy, Spain, Portugal, England, Ireland and Scotland. 'For the pockets I have, I'm not looking for a £400million team. I'm a modest guy. My mum was a cleaner and my dad was a mechanic. I did mechanical engineering at university. 'I started my own electronics business in 1996 and I didn't take any salary whatsoever the first three years. 'I was the only guy who was happy to have parents who were divorced because I could bum dinner at one place and then go elsewhere the next night. 'I used to have a girlfriend from Glasgow when I was studying. It's the passion of the country which ultimately made me want to come here. 'Dumbarton is a resilient club who have had a lot of ups and downs, but the passion of the people who work and volunteer around the club was really clear to see. 'Look at the stadium. Where in the world could you see a more spectacular setting for a football stadium? 'I shared something on my Facebook recently about the perfect radishes. People like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, guys who are a little bit different. I always compare a good team to a good salad. You can't have a good salad with just lettuce. 'I like radishes and, in sports terms, that would be guys who have a little character. I want this club to have character.' By his own admission, Lapointe doesn't have limitless wealth to pump into an under-performing and troubled football club. This isn't going to be another Brooks Mileson and Gretna project, where the owner was seduced by wild ambitions to go flying up the leagues and spent way beyond their means. The plan is to bring some much-needed stability to Dumbarton. To get the club back on a solid footing and to become the best-run part-time club in the country. While Lapointe may be a colourful character, a lot of what he said at his unveiling yesterday made sense. He wants the club to live within its means and to become self-sustaining. Progress might be slow in the initial period, but it's part of a wider, long-term plan. 'First thing's first, I am not here to sell the stadium,' he insists. 'If I wanted to build houses, I could have done it back in Canada. No, that's not why I'm here. 'We have a community trust which is a non-profit organisation that was set up before I arrived. I don't own all of the land beyond the stadium. 'There is a section of land which I believe belongs to another party, but they can't build anything on it. In the long-run, we want the community trust to take ownership of this land so they have the right to approve things. 'In terms of the level of investment I will make, it's probably not correct to put an exact figure on it. But probably half my savings are going into this. I want to put the club back on its feet. 'The burn-rate (loss) for the club has been close to £200,000 per year. My goal is for the club to move away from that and not to burn money. It's about how you allocate the money in certain areas of the club and the facility at the stadium. 'For instance, one of the first things we are going to do is spend around £20,000 to revamp our main hospitality suite. 'We want that to be something that appeals to people. They can come and have a great day out at the football and really enjoy our hospitality experience. 'We also have some big spaces, big halls, inside the stadium. Those could be used for birthday parties, wedding functions, stuff like that. Whereas, at the moment, they are not being used at all. 'I want us to start hosting music nights, things like open mic, and also comedy nights. These are things that could help with revenue whilst also engaging with the local community in Dumbarton. 'You have to invest in things like this initially to start finding ways of bringing in revenue. Otherwise, you will just end up in the same situation where the club is pouring money down a hole. 'In terms of budget — cup money, league money and sponsorship equals the player wages. That's basically it. It can't be any more simple than that. 'We have it all on a spreadsheet. My accountant Mhairi, who is the daughter of [Dumbarton and Celtic legend] Murdo MacLeod, is great. 'You can't run a club purely with ego and ambition. You have to win it with math. This will be a key point for us in terms of how I want to take the club forward.' In terms of his background in music, Lapointe revealed that he had already contacted David Byrne, frontman of Talking Heads who was born in Dumbarton. 'I tried to reach out to him so that I could get him to make a little video so that I could pump the tyres of the volunteers,' he says. 'Just so he could say something like: 'Hey! Dumbarton! I heard that there's a new sheriff in town'. 'But he didn't answer. Talking Heads are actually one of the favourite bands of one of my sons. 'I play guitar and write songs. If you go on to you will hear all of my songs on there. I think I have a song for every kind of mood you can experience. 'I used to write music when I was much younger, than I basically stopped for about 30 years or something. I used to be in a band around the time I went to engineering school. 'I didn't have a great memory. I would f*** up all the time and forget the words. It was the same when I tried to read poems at school. 'After getting divorced, 25 years of marriage, three boys, and a cheating wife, you end up with quite a lot to say. So I wrote songs about it.' Whether or not he becomes Super Mario in Dumbarton, only time will tell. But with Lapointe in charge, life at The Rock certainly won't be dull.
