Sports Shorts: Terry signs new contract at Chelsea

Chelsea captain John Terry has signed a new one-year contract, the Premier League club said on their website (www.chelseafc.com) on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old central defender has played more than 500 games for Chelsea since joining them as a 14-year-old in 1991.

He has won the Champions League and Europa League, three Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two League Cups.

Terry played 78 times for England before announcing his international retirement in September 2012.

Media reports said Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard will also sign a new deal, although the future of a third experienced England international, Ashley Cole, is less clear.

Manager Jose Mourinho said last week that he hoped all three players would stay.

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Tim Sherwood became the latest Tottenham Hotspur manager to fall foul of the north London Premier League club's sky-high expectations when he was sacked on Tuesday after six months in charge.

The 45-year-old replaced Portuguese Andre Villas-Boas in December after a spending spree fuelled by the world-record sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid failed to propel them to new heights and they sat seventh in the table after thrashings by Liverpool and Manchester City.

Sherwood signed an 18-month contract when he took over as manager but was widely expected to leave at the end of the season, despite leading them to sixth place and another season in the second-tier Europa League.

"We appointed Tim mid-season as someone who knew both the players and the club," chairman Daniel Levy said in a statement. "We agreed an 18-month contract with a break clause at the end of the season and we have now exercised that option."

Sherwood, who played nearly 100 league matches in midfield for Spurs after winning the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers, rejoined the club as assistant first-team coach in 2008 and progressed through the ranks until he was handed his first senior management role.

Speculation had mounted in recent months that Sherwood would not last beyond this season, despite having the highest winning percentage of any Spurs manager in the Premier League era.

He never appeared to have the full backing of the notoriously ruthless Levy, who has now used eight managers and two caretaking teams in his 13 years at the club and failed to acknowledge Sherwood in his end-of-season message to supporters.

Frank de Boer of Ajax Amsterdam and Southampton's Mauricio Pochettino have been linked with the job, with Sherwood saying last week he felt like a "supply teacher".

"On behalf of the club, I should like to state our thanks for all his efforts during his years with us," Levy said.

"We wish him great success in his managerial career.

"Moving forward, now the season is over, we shall embark on the process of finding a new head coach. We have a talented squad and exciting young players coming through. We need to build on this season, develop our potential and inspire the kind of performances that we associate with our great club."

Spurs are desperate for regular Champions League appearances and following the sale of Bale they signed seven players, many with big reputations but none with English experience.

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Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers was named the League Managers Association's (LMA) 'Manager of the Year' on Monday after he helped lift the Merseyside club out of the doldrums and took them to the brink of the Premier League championship.

The LMA also honoured Crystal Palace boss Tony Pulis with the Premier League Manager of the Year award for an impressive six months in which he replaced Ian Holloway mid-season and pulled the club out of relegation danger.

Liverpool, after finishing seventh a year ago in Rodgers' first season in charge, had been in pole position to win the title before late slip-ups to Chelsea and Crystal Palace saw them finish second, two points behind Manchester City.

Under Welshman Pulis's watch, Palace went from strength to strength, finishing 11th after a five-match winning streak and only one loss in their last eight games.

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Former England defender Rio Ferdinand is leaving Manchester United after 12 years and more than 400 appearances having won almost every major honour in the game, he said on Monday.

"I have thought long and hard over the last few months about my future and, after 12 fantastic years playing for what I regard as the best club in the world, I have decided the time is right for me to move on," Ferdinand said on his website.

British media reported that the 35-year-old Ferdinand, who played 454 times for United and scored eight goals, was not offered a new contract by the Old Trafford club.

He won six Premier League trophies, two League Cups, the Champions League and the Club World Cup after joining from Leeds United for 29.1 million pounds ($49.1 million) in 2002 to become the most expensive player in English football.

"I joined Manchester United in the hope of winning trophies, and never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined how successful we would be during my time here," Ferdinand said.

"There have been so many highlights, playing alongside some great players who have become good friends, winning my first league title and also that fantastic night in Moscow (winning the Champions League) are memories that I will cherish forever.

"Circumstances didn't allow for me to say goodbye the way I would have liked but I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my team mates, staff, the club and the fans for an unbelievable 12 years that I'll never forget. Winning trophies I dreamed about as a kid came true at this great club."

Ferdinand has not decided whether he will continue playing.

"I am feeling fit and healthy, ready for a new challenge and looking forward to whatever the future holds for me," he said.

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China's double Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang made a winning return to the pool after a six-month ban, taking an easy victory in the 200 metres freestyle at the National Championships and qualifying for the Asian Games.

It was Sun's first race since being banned by Chinese swimming authorities in November after a car he was driving without a license collided with a bus. He was also ordered to spend a week in detention and pay a fine.

The 2012 Olympic 400 and 1500m freestyle champion clocked a time of one minute 46.04 seconds in Monday's race, which was also his first since splitting with long-term coach Zhu Zhigen. Li Yunqi finished second in 1:47.74.

"I'm satisfied with today's performance. It's an easy win," the 22-year-old was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency.

The 17th Asian Games will be staged in Incheon, South Korea from Sept. 19-October 4.

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Britain's double Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah will compete for England at the Commonwealth Games in July in Glasgow, he said on Twitter on Monday.

"Hi guys! I will be running in the Commonwealth Games this year. See you in Glasgow," he tweeted.

The 31-year-old Farah, who was eighth in April's London Marathon nearly four minutes adrift of winner Wilson Kipsang of Kenya, has yet to announce which events he will run.

Although he wants to try more marathons he is unlikely to do so in Glasgow after his coach Alberto Salazar advised him not to compete over 26.2 miles until after the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Farah could try to pull off another 5,000 and 10,000 metres double, which he achieved at the 2012 London Games and 2013 Moscow world championships, or focus on one of those distances.

The athletics programme in Glasgow kicks off with the marathon on July 27 before the 5,000 final that evening, while the 10,000 take place on August 1.