On Aug. 13, the lights will come back on in Dyersville, Iowa for the Minnesota Twins and the Philadelphia Phillies to walk out of a field of cornstalks and play in MLB’s third Field of Dreams game at the site where the 1989 film was shot.

Imagery from the film will be incorporated into all aspects of the game, including some of the gear worn on the field by players. Phillies infielder Bryson Stott tasked Ryan Stevens, head artist and owner of NXT LVL Customs, with designing a special pair of cleats for the moment.

On the side of Stott’s cleats, Phillies legends Tug McGraw, Roy Halladay, Darren Daulton, Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, and Harry Kalas emerge from the corn, just as the departed players from yesteryear did in the film. McGraw died in 2004 at the age of 59 from glioblastoma, Halladay died in 2017 at the age of 40 in a plane crash, Daulton also died in 2017 at the age of 55 from glioblastoma, Roberts died in 2010 at the age of 83 from natural causes, Ashburn died in 1997 at the age of 70 from a heart attack, and Kalas died in 2009 at the age of 73 from heart disease. The selection of legends includes players from different Phillies eras, plus Kalas, whose 38 years as the team’s play-by-play announcer linked many of those generations together.

“Every year we go down to Clearwater (Florida) for spring training and we’ve been working with Bryson since 2023,” Stevens said. “He got on our podcast and I was like, ‘I have this idea.’ I pitched him the idea I had since the game was announced, and he said, ‘I fully trust you and whatever you think is cool.’

“I came across this daytime shot of the players coming out of the cornfield and it was blurry, but what stuck out to me was the catcher – the catcher was holding his mask for some reason and I thought it resembled Darren Daulton. I searched Darren and that was the first picture that popped up, in a similar stance.”

The vision inspired Stevens to include other Phillies legends in there who have passed. “It kind of resembled the movie, but the Phillies version of it.”

From left to right: McGraw, Halladay, Daulton, Roberts, Ashburn and Kalas as depicted on Stott’s cleats. (Photo courtesy of NXT LVL Customs)

The intent was for the approach to be realistic, not cartoonish. Stevens enlisted help from his friend and fellow artists Stephen Hatala on the image, using pictures of the legends. It took a week to complete.

On the other side of the cleat, the Field of Dreams text logo sits basking in a sky blue background with the corn stalk look featuring swooshes with quotes from the movie and signatures of each Phillies’ player featured.

The cleats were delivered to Stott on Aug. 7. According to Stevens, Stott was impressed by the design’s realism, which differed from last year’s Elmo cleats for Players Weekend.

Stevens has designed cleats for Stott and other baseball players for years. He’s also worked with former Phillie Kody Clemens, who is now playing for the Twins.

Expect to see similar themes from both teams during the Field of Dreams game. This year mark the first edition of the game since Marucci and Victus became the official bat, and the latter is unveiling a special corn bat for the occasion.

The new buttered corn bat. (Photo courtesy of Victus)

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Talk to people who watch Ousmane Diomande regularly and they will tell you he is a bigger fan of duels than Wild Bill Hickok — and that he has an equally impressive success rate.

In a similar mould to Nikola Milenkovic, he is a physical, combative and decisive figure. He is a defender who lives for defending.

Last season, he was in the top percentile of players for his tackle success rate in Portugal’s Primeira Liga. He has pace, strength and is comfortable on the ball — whether carrying it at his feet or passing it out from the back. But, most of all, he is a defender.

And he is the man who Oliver Glasner hopes can bring some of those qualities to Nottingham Forest, with the 22-year-old set to move to the City Ground for €40million (£34.3m; $46.2m), as reported by The Athletic’s David Ornstein.

#NFFC linked with a move for Sporting centre back Ousmane Diomande. Defensive action numbers fairly low but that’s to be expected at a top side.

Spent last season playing in a 2, but has significant experience in a 3 (mostly as the middle or right centre back).

Imagine the cost… pic.twitter.com/X7uBEIJM1v

— WT Analysis (@wt_analysis) July 20, 2026

The Ivory Coast international has experience of playing in a back four with Sporting. But he is also very comfortable in a three. Which is one of the reasons Glasner has retained an interest in a player who was previously on his radar when he was head coach of Crystal Palace last season.

The message that Glasner has already delivered more than once to the media — that formation is less important than ethos — has been reflected in a far more important environment: within the Forest dressing room.

Glasner and his staff have put together lengthy video presentations to explain the identity he wants his Forest side to have. And it is one that, inescapably, starts with a back three.

Diomande may still be young but he has notched up 149 professional appearances, while collecting 16 international caps. He has won the league title twice with Sporting and was part of the Ivory Coast squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2023. At Forest, he is seen as a missing piece of the jigsaw.

Oliver Glasner assesses our second successive pre-season victory. 🗣️

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) July 22, 2026

In Forests’s 3-0 win against Blackburn Rovers in their second pre-season friendly in Portugal last month, Glasner got to take a look at five of the six men who will fight it out for a place in his preferred back three.

Murillo was at the Estadio da Nora for that game, as he returns from the hamstring problem that sidelined him at the end of last season. In the first half, Jair Cunha, Nikola Milenkovic and Morato formed the trio of central defenders. After the break, as Forest made 11 changes, it was Zach Abbott, Tyler Bindon and Omar Richards. All impressed in different ways.

Catching up in Portugal. 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/90cEjK2frI

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) July 22, 2026

Jair contributed to the Forest goal, pressuring high up the pitch to help win back possession, before advancing purposefully right into the opposition penalty area, where he was tackled as he lined up to shoot. Morgan Gibbs-White was blocked in similar fashion before the ball rebounded for Igor Jesus, who slotted home.

“That was one of the things we have been working on — organising the defence so that we can get pressure on the ball,” Glasner told journalists. “In that situation it was exactly what we want. Getting in the right area to win the ball… we do not just do it to defend, we also do it to score a goal.

“Honestly, it (defence) is where we have most of our work to do: the habits. In 60 per cent of the situations, we do well, but in other situations we fall into other habits. We need to work on our consistency and show them in training, so that they get used to how we want to defend.”

Forest regularly used a back three to see out games under Nuno Espirito Santo from 2023-2025, but Steve Cooper, the man who led them to promotion in 2022, was the last to frequently use it as a starting point. Academy product Abbott said that, for the players, it did not represent as much of an adjustment as you might imagine.

Igor Jesus’ opener in Portugal. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/GipfBwtTUV

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) July 22, 2026

“There are loads of different tactical bits,” he said. “But formations are all very similar. When you are out there, you are constantly rotating. There are not always clear positions. Even in videos he (Glasner) says to us, ‘Yes, you are playing in a back three — but look at this situation…’ and it is now a back four. It is about how we want to go about playing, about our ethos.

“We just want to play in a way where we dominate the ball and, when we lose possession, we step up and read the game, so that we can get pressure on the ball.”

Abbott does not believe that it will be difficult for the established duo of Murillo and Milenkovic to adapt.  “They read the game so well. It does not matter what the formation is. They are top players,” says Abbott. “These are people I am looking up to and trying to learn from. But it is the reading of the game that is as important as anything else.”

Diomande would naturally slot into the right-sided role, next to Milenkovic and Murillo. Then Forest would have Morato and the young trio of Jair, Abbott and Binden — if he does not head out on loan again.

Diomande was spotted when Midtjylland sporting director Kristian Kjaer found himself watching Ivorian league football and saw raw talent. He arrived for a trial without any boots but still impressed, in borrowed footwear, in a friendly against the Greenland national team. He signed for the Danish club in January 2022.

“I have a picture on my phone, it was snowing and he was wearing a big leather jacket and some slippers. One year later, we sold him to Sporting. It was like a fairytale,” said Kjaer in a previous interview with The Athletic.

Forest will hope that fairytale is about to get a fresh chapter at the City Ground.

Former West Ham United co-chairman David Sullivan has attended their Carabao Cup match against Portsmouth despite being advised he should stay away from home games at London Stadium.

Sullivan resigned from his position as co-chair of West Ham in June after seven women accused him of sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour, allegations he categorically denies.

West Ham are in the opening round of the EFL Cup for the first time in 15 years following last season’s relegation from the Premier League.

The match against Portsmouth is the first the club have played since the allegations against Sullivan were reported.

A joint investigation by BBC Panorama and The Times revealed Sullivan has been banned from contact with West Ham’s women’s and youth teams for the past three years because of safeguarding concerns.

Despite resigning from his position as co-chairman in June, Sullivan remains the largest single shareholder at the club with a 38.8% stake.

A spokesperson for London Stadium on Monday told BBC News it had “recommended” to West Ham that Sullivan does not attend with concerns about fan unrest.

However, there did not appear to be any problems inside the stadium before and shortly after kick-off.