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.

WITH the football season nearing its conclusion (apart, of course from the European Championships) thoughts are already turning towards the big sporting occasion of the summer, the 2012 London Olympics. And one of England's top ex-players has put the cat among the pigeons by suggesting that Olympic football should be played by amateur footballers, not professionals.