The Archive

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.

Read more…

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? 

Read more…

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.

Read more…

Macclesfield Town have found themselves in hot water over their new stand. Mike Whalley reports

The News of the World didn’t foresee what a traumatic time lay ahead for Macclesfield Town when tipping them to win League Two at the start of the season. But then not even the most pessimistic fan foresaw the financial penalty that has threatened the club’s existence. 

Read more…

The FA Cup final should be back at Wembley in May, but what was once the English game’s great showpiece is now almost a sideshow, argues Jon Spurling

On the eve of Leeds United’s defeat of Arsenal in the 1972 FA Cup final, captain Billy Bremner said: “I’ve won a Championship medal, a European medal and countless Scotland caps, but sometimes I think I’d swap the lot for an FA Cup winners’ medal.” A few hours later, Bremner professed delight “with my new prized possession”. How attitudes have changed. In his autobiography, Roy Keane described the showpiece occasion as “little more than an afterthought”, and Patrick Vieira admitted that Arsenal’s triumph in the 2005 final “can’t possibly make up for the disappointment of losing the league crown”.

Read more…