The Archive

Update on clubs in crisis from Tom Davies

You can tell a club is in trouble if fans protest throughout a 5-1 home win, as Derby’s did during last month’s thrashing of Crewe at Pride Park. Supporter protests against a board of directors presiding over a debt thought to be more than £44 million and the inevitable depletion of playing resources that has entailed have escalated in recent weeks and many fear for the club’s existence, especially if they are relegated. Subsequent embarrassing defeats by Coventry and Colchester will scarcely have improved morale and led to the dismissal of manager Phil Brown late last month.

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After the report was made public, Roger Titford reports on the main points and the amount of people who watch Sky Sports

Using the Freedom of Information Act, the Guardian managed to get Ofcom’s report (can be found here) on the Premier League’s television deal into the public domain. In the debate over the structure of the next deal there had been much alluding to this document as a support for change. In the event the findings by the regulator for the UK communications industries look rather inconclusive – “appear to point to potential demand for greater choice” is as strong as the language gets. But the report is certainly interesting.

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It’s not just managers who play the percentage game. The role of agents in football is once again under scrutiny, but Adam Powley wonders if the will exists within the game or the media to tackle the problem properly

Many issues have been raised by Mike Newell’s dramatic contribution to the perennial saga of bungs. But amid all the outrage, one question has barely been asked: what exactly are agents for? 

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Barney Ronay and his friends spent many a happy hour following football on Ceefax, but teletext is firmly on the retreat thanks to the digital revolution

The disappearance of a defiantly non-interactive, distinctly uncool and often misspelt page of blue-and-white text might not seem such a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But so far the imminent demise of Ceefax seems to have gone pretty much unnoticed. No public protest, no online petitions, no angry letters to national newspapers. Not that it’s happened yet, but it will. Ceefax, Teletext and the vaguely knocked-off looking versions that have recently ceased appearing on Channel Four and Five are all about to be sacrificed for good at the altar of digital communication. The government’s plans to replace all existing analogue TV signals with digital (the Big Switch Off, in irritating New Labour speak) get into gear later this year. The first transmitters will be junked in 2008, with Scotland’s Border region leading the revolution from above.

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Sunday 1 The SPL title may have been decided at Tynecastle, where Hearts go two up against Celtic but lose 3‑2 to two goals in the last three minutes. Celtic take a seven-point lead. Lincoln manager Keith Alexander is sent “on leave” by the club, who are 15th in League Two.

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