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.
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.
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.
Financial restraints are making the Irish leagues consider dramatic changes, writes Geoff Wallis
As AGMs go it was as cosy as they come when the Football Association of Ireland met in Castlebar, County Mayo, on July 26. Chief executive John Delaney reported a healthy increase in turnover, that financial plans were well in place to secure the FAI’s role when the rebuilt Lansdowne Road reopens in 2010, and that their assumption of control over the Eircom League had seen an aggregate attendance rise of 100,000 over the last year. That figure represents slightly more per game than the mere 320 who attended the 4‑0 victory by Waterford (Delaney’s local side) over Longford the previous night.
Three years after the Americans' takeover, Manchester United's season might appear to vindicate the Glazers. But Ashley Shaw remains suspicious, despite their dramatic European Cup win
As the dust settles on Manchester United’s “Golden Double”, there is a feeling that, unlike the victories of 1999 and 1968, Moscow 2008 will come to be seen as the start of a great era rather than the end of one. Both those previous European Cup-winning teams were predominantly British, but this time around the players are largely from overseas or have racked up sufficient experience to make the transition from domestic domination to European success that much easier. Unusually, this United team have suffered only one major catastrophe in Europe (the under-strength humiliation at Milan last year) and there’s cause to believe that there won’t be another nine-year wait.