Football Diary

by Patrick O'Connor

THERE may not be much football being played at the moment in the run-up to the start of Euro 2012 but that doesn't mean there hasn't been much activity.

Football purists will be delighted by the news that the game's governing body in England, the Football Association, has decided that small-sided formats for certain age-groups will be mandatory from now on.

Football Diary

by Patrick O'Connor

IT'S not very often that I praise the Football Association but they definitely deserve a pat on the back for their bid to halt the decline of men playing the 11 a side game.

A £200m investment scheme in grass roots football includes improving access and quality of pitches.

THE British have a reputation for being efficient and well-organised but don’t be fooled – we can cock it up as well as the rest of the world.

Take the idiots who run our football, for the past few years they’ve been doing their best to devalue the FA Cup, once the most prestigious knock-out tournament in the world.

THE fixture list was extremely kind to Sky TV on Sunday, providing their football subscribers with three local Derbies in one day.

And the viewing public were not disappointed. Liverpool and Everton served up a cracking 2-2 draw, Sunderland and Newcastle battled it out for a 1-1 stalemate and in the Midlands, Birmingham and Aston Villa also tied 1-1.