DIEGO Maradona last night issued his first ever apology for his infamous Hand of God goal — and insisted: “If I could go back and change history I would.”

The 47-year-old former Argentina ace caved in during an interview with The Sun — nearly 22 years after his handballed effort cheated England out of the 1986 World Cup.

He also revealed he was planning to MOVE to Britain, has held talks about coaching a Premier League team — and took a swipe at David Beckham.

Dad-of-two Maradona, who has just finished a four-day visit to the UK, broke English hearts during the World Cup quarter-final in Mexico.

The 5ft 5in genius dribbled past five England players to score his brilliant second goal in Argentina’s 2-1 victory.

But it was his first, palmed into the net past helpless goalie Peter Shilton, which left him a hate figure in this country.

Maradona has never before apologised for the strike — which helped Argentina go on to win the tournament.

He cheekily claimed it had been netted “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.

Shilton, still fuming at 58, said recently: “He has never said sorry. I think for a player with his standing in the game, it was very unsporting.

“Instead of just saying it was the Hand of God, he could have owned up.”

But yesterday Maradona finally DID say sorry to England’s success-starved fans.

Smiling broadly, he said: “An English supporter came up to me this weekend, asked me for an autograph, and said, ‘You are a legend’.

“This made me very happy. Your people are so polite and kind despite the history between our countries.

“If I could apologise and go back and change history I would do. But the goal is still a goal, Argentina became world champions and I was the best player in the world.

“I cannot change history. All I can do now is move on.”

Maradona flew into Britain to visit Chelsea star Claude Makelele and the London club’s Israeli boss Avram Grant.

ALEX FERGUSON hailed Cristiano Ronaldo’s wonder strike as the best ever free-kick in the Premier League.(Cercate il filmato su Youtube)

 The Portuguese ace shot Manchester United back to the top of the table as he took his tally for the season to an incredible 27 with a double in the first 13 minutes.

 But it was his superb 25-yard second which had the Old Trafford boss drooling.

Liverpool fans unveil plans to buy out club and oust Hicks and Gillett

A group of Liverpool supporters will today unveil an ambitious plan to buy the troubled Anfield club from its US owners

A group calling themselves Share Liverpool FC aim to create a stakeholder base of 100,000 fans to raise enough cash to oust Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

It comes after weeks of worry about the financial future of Liverpool, sparked when the pair took out a £350 million re-financing loan.

There have also been tensions between the owners and club manager Rafa Benitez, who last year criticised them over their financing of transfers.

Rogan Taylor, a Kop season ticket holder and a director of the Football Industry Group at the University of Liverpool, is leading the buy-out campaign.

He said: "It is time to answer the concerns that football fans have about the patterns of ownership developing at our major football clubs.

"Thousands of Liverpool fans have already demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. Large amounts of debt is often laden onto newly-bought clubs and the fans know that in the end, it will be them who will have to pay it off through increased ticket prices and other schemes.

"In such a case, why not simply buy the club yourselves?"

The model proposed by Share Liverpool FC will be a 'member-share' scheme, aimed at raising £500 million to purchase the club from Hicks and Gillett and build a new stadium.

The group have pointed to Barcelona as an example of how the system works. Barca currently has more than 150,000 culis - members who own the club.

Mr Taylor added: "What many don't realise is that there are other ways of financing and taking ownership of big clubs.

"In Germany and Spain, most top-level football clubs are simply 'Not For Sale'. They are owned by many thousands of 'member fans'.

"The Champions League has been won on six occasions in the last 15 years by clubs owned and run in such a way."

The plan will be unveiled at 5pm tonight at the School of Management of the University of Liverpool.

The launch will also be attended by Phil French, former director of communications and public policy at the Premier League and now CEO of Supporters Direct, which advises supporters' groups about how to gain a shareholding in their club.

Kevin Jaquiss, of the Supporters' Trust, will also attend. Liverpool FC did not want to comment.

Gb: basta dire «mamma e papà», contro l'omofobia meglio parlare di «genitori»

Per abituare i bambini delle elementari all'idea che ci potrebbero essere genitori dello stesso

LONDRA - Nelle scuole elementari britanniche sarà proibito usare l'espressione «mamma e papà» e diventerà obbligatorio utilizzare l'espressione neutra «genitori», in modo particolare nelle comunicazioni a casa. Come scrive mercoledì il popolare quotidiano Daily Mail, il ministro per la Scuola e l’infanzia Ed Balls farà propria la proposta lanciata dall'organizzazione per i diritti degli omosessuali Stonewall, mirante ad abituare i bambini britannici delle elementari all'idea che potrebbero esserci genitori dello stesso sesso.

DIRITTI GAY - Secondo gli attivisti di Stonewall, l'espressione «mamma e papà» lede i diritti dei genitori omosessuali e favorirebbe pregiudizi anti-gay, inoltre ritengono che i bambini non dovrebbero avere un'idea «convenzionale» della famiglia. Ma non solo: l'iniziativa prevede che, quando si discuterà di matrimonio nelle scuole medie, gli insegnanti dovranno parlare anche delle unioni civili e dei diritti sulle adozioni gay.

TOLLERANZA ZERO - La proposta di Balls tende inoltre a combattere l'intolleranza nei confronti degli omosessuali e prevede punizioni per chi offenderà un compagno chiamandolo gay. Tra le espressioni che dovrano essere bandite dalle scuole britanniche ci sono anche: «comportati da uomo» e «siete un branco di donnicciole». Il ministro Balls si è detto «orgoglioso che il governo e il dipartimento siano stati fermi su questa strada. Il nostro punto di vista è che ogni scuola debba mettere in pratica azioni chiare contro ogni forma di bullismo, incluso quello a sfondo omofobico».

Scousers....