The Archive

Research has proved that there is more to penalties than just luck, writes Simon Creasey

Shootouts are always fraught with tension. However, one man believes that he has discovered a way of easing the tension and maximising a team’s chances of winning. The man in question is Ignacio Palacios-Huerta from the London School of Econ­omics’ department of management. Part of his body of work includes a recently co-authored report with Jose Apesteguia of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona, entitled “Performance pressure in the workplace: evidence from a randomised natural experiment”. The report saw the pair study 260 shootouts from national and international cup competitions – a total of 2,712 penalty kicks.

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You Are The Ref challenge is back and testing would-be refs, writes Ian Plenderleith

In the future, everyone will be a referee for 15 minutes. Ruud van Nistelrooy’s goal for Holland against Italy at Euro 2008 not only prompted a fervent discussion about the offside laws, it also exposed the fact that players, ex-players, pundits and fans alike for once had something in common – very few of us are truly familiar with the laws of the game. By a nice coincidence, the BBC website chose Euro 2008 to revive the You Are The Ref column that puts exactly such unusual scenarios to its reader, and then lets them get on with exposing their own ignorance.

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Is Sky's subscription-TV dominance about to be challenged? Gavin Willacy explains why he parted with his credit-card details

For seven years, I have proudly resisted the lure of a Sky Sports subscription, defying the seductive glances of pay‑TV. I watched my football in the flesh, and live on the Beeb, ITV and Five. An hour of MOTD was enough Premier League action for me and I was an expert on MLS and Serie A. Sky was a luxury I could easily do without. This summer I was not so sure.

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No sooner than Euro 2008 had finished than friendlies and summer tours began. Mark O'Brien remembers a time when football went unnoticed – and you could look forward to the real thing 

All dads have their quirks. Mine’s was his annoyance if anyone, ie me, read his Liverpool Echo before he got in from work. “But the words are all the same, I don’t get it.” “Yes, but you’ve let the newness out.” I thought he was mad at the time, as I was left to pick the paper up off the mat, hold it by my fingertips and pore over the back page but no more. Over the years, though, I have come to understand the simple pleasure of opening an unsullied newspaper. It’s all about neatness, order and anticipation, and in many ways those same feelings always applied to the football season, too.

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For day four of the WSC advent calendar we have a piece from issue 259, September 2008. Ariel Ortega – nicknamed “little donkey” – was dubbed the next Maradona and so it partially proved, though not in a good way, reports Chris Bradley

There was one conspicuous absence as the open-top bus carried the victorious River Plate squad through the streets of Buenos Aires on June 22. The fans were there, with flags and songs; there was joy and champagne and fireworks; but, not for the first time this season, there was no Ariel Ortega.

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