Anderton earns Birmingham extension

Birmingham City FC

Scottish club Heart of Midlothian FC have scrapped plans to sell their Tynecastle stadium to help pay off debts of around €28.5m. Hearts were expected to raise €31m by selling the ground to property developers Cala Management. But a motion rejecting the deal, and supported by the club's prospective new owner, Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov, was passed at an extraordinary general meeting of Hearts shareholders last night.

In England, Merseyside rivals Everton FC and Liverpool FC have shelved tentative plans to share a new stadium. A year of talks sponsored by the government's sports minister, Richard Caborn, that might have led to Everton sharing Liverpool's planned new ground at Stanley Park ended in disagreement. A Liverpool city council spokesman said: "It is disappointing that both sides have been unable to reach agreement on a joint stadium."

Liverpool will go into the second leg of their English League Cup semi-final against second-division Watford FC with a slender lead after Steven Gerrard scored the only goal of the first meeting at Anfield in the 56th minute. Chelsea FC face Manchester United FC in the first leg of the second semi-final on Wednesday night.

Belarussian coach Sergei Borovski is set to return to Lithuania and take charge of FK Vetra. "We have agreed everything with Borovski, and he will shortly sign a one-year contract," said club president Romas Stašauskas. The 48-year-old Borovski previously led FBK Kaunas to the Lithuanian title in 2003/04, before leaving for a spell in Ukraine with FC Metalurh Zaporizhya. Earlier, FK Vilnius appointed Kestutis Latoža as coach, while Igoris Pankratjevas took over at FK Atlantas.