125 years ago this Saturday, a Scottish draper from Aston Villa wrote a letter that made history (and football as we know it)

February 26th, 2013

By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 26 February 2013 It was 125 years ago on Saturday, or 2 March 1888, that William McGregor, then the president of Aston Villa, wrote a letter to a small group of other football clubs, floating the idea that they should organise a league. In doing so, he changed the world, or at least the large parts of the world that know football as the only truly global game. McGregor, a draper by trade from Perthshire in Scotland, wrote to Blackburn, Bolton, Preston and West Brom saying: "I beg to tender the following suggestion as a...

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Messi business: Five thoughts on a number-crunched Ballon D’Or

January 8th, 2013

By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 8 January 2013   So Lionel Messi yesterday won the Ballon D'Or for the fourth time in a row, having had a stellar year in which he won the Copa del Rey. And scored 91 goals. The brilliant Argentinean, 25, collected the award - deservedly - after a mammoth voting process involving 170 national team captains, 170 national team coaches, and 169 journalists, four of whom did not manage to actually vote and one of whom selected only one player when asked for three. Having studied the votes in some detail, here are five conclusions.   ONE: The...

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REVEALED: Barcelona No1 for producing players for clubs in Europe’s elite leagues

December 13th, 2012

By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 13 December 2012 Barcelona have produced more footballers currently earning a living as first-team players across Europe's elite 'Big 5' divisions than any other club in the world, Sportingintelligence can reveal. The Spanish giants have been responsible for the development of 38 players at top-flight clubs in either Spain's La Liga, England's Premier League, Italy's Serie A, Germany's Bundesliga 1 or France's Ligue 1. The definition of 'produced' for these purposes means that a player spent three or more years within the development programme of the club in question specifically between the ages of 15...

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