After the 2014/2015 season, the League Manager’s Association calculated that the average tenure for a manager in England was just 1.23 years, and with 63 managers (and counting) departing during the 15/16 campaign, that average will have shortened further. Even at the lower half and relegation threatened sides, they can go to big teams in other European leagues and offer higher wages to bring in the best players. But Manchester City won’t have an easy ride. Thanks to some savvy transfer moves, Arsenal, Liverpool, and a resurgent Tottenham are all in pursuit. Under Roberto De Zerbi’s guidance, Brighton also appears ready to push towards the top. De Zerbi’s style of play draws comparisons to Pep Guardiola’s, making them stand out in European football. The story of the development of football is, in essence, the story of industrialisation and modernisation. England was the first country to experience mass industrialisation and through its global spanning formal and informal empire, the game grew. Throughout this vast empire, from Bilbao to Belfast, Glasgow to St Petersburg and Budapest to Sao Paulo, the spread of football can be sourced to the British expatriates organising games amongst themselves, as curious natives looked on Targeting new demographics: To further increase participation, football organizations are targeting new demographics, such as women and girls. The Canadian Football League has launched a program to promote the game among female athletes. It also encourages girls to participate in football on an international platform.

This will be a fairly obvious one. The nature of Prozone means that it’s possible to analyse a player’s strengths and weaknesses and thus see if they are suitable for a team. For a lot of smaller clubs out there, this could save on all of those long scouting trips abroad.Prozone has also been responsible for proving a certainly Sir Alex Ferguson wrong. Fergie hit the headlines after stating that Alan Wiley was not fit enough to referee at the top level, only for software stats to reveal that the ref actually covered more ground than all but seven players on the field!

The Premier League has now become the most watched league in the world. It is broadcasted over 212 territories to 643 million homes worldwide. Similarly to above, all of the features of the software allow a manager to see just how hard their own players are working – and perhaps respond to all those post-match radio calls from fans saying their team didn’t break sweat. Coincidence? Potentially. But are you willing to take a chance on these boots knowing six top, healthy players are all going to spend a serious amount of time on the sidelines as a result? Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side finished 12 points behind City last season and will be keen to try overhaul their noisy neighbours this time around.

There’s no doubt that some of the foreign ownership has advantages for our English game, clubs who have benefited from finical investment and ownership from foreign billionaires at Chelsea and Manchester City wont argue with foreign ownership as both clubs are enjoying their most successful periods for fifty years.

One key contributor to their success is Erling Haaland, who continues to shine brightly. However, it’s not just him; the entire team is in great form, and other players are staking their claim for the spotlight. FIFA President Sepp Blatter may have claimed that China is the birthplace of football, but, for the rest of us, there can be no denying that the version we all recognise was devised and first organised in English public schools in the 19 th century. The students of these schools were a mixture of children of the old money, aristocracy, and the nouveu riche, middle class of the Industrial Revolution. Disobedience and violence was omnipresent among a large group of boys in a confined space. Fresh from a treble-winning season, Pep Guardiola’s men are again odds-on favourites with Nomini and other bookmakers to continue their domestic supremacy, with some gambling platforms pricing them as low as 8/13 to lift a fifth league crown in six years. The first 22 teams joined the new league and since its formation, only Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham have been ever present.We started so far behind everyone else this season that if we can stay up, it would be the biggest achievement for me so far. This cuts little ice at supporters’ forum Avenue Online; “Who the hell wants that NPL Atherton Collieries, Morpeth, Bamber bridge watched by 60 people?” said barmyarmy; betraying both a hankering for the Football League at Horsfall, and a gross under-estimate of NPL crowds. Sadly ‘the League’ is another country for Avenue at the moment. Aside from which, Atherton Colls and Bamber Bridge are terrific away trips – surely a raison d’etre ‘at this level’. The English Premier League is played at a pace only matched by sugar-crazed toddlers. The fittest teams who have the best benches and best injury prevention invariably win. However there is the extra part as explained to me by one source working with an Premier League club, Even with the issue of visas and work permits due to Brexit, this hasn’t changed the increase in spending from teams in the Premier League on foreign players.

Moving over to Spain, rival teams Barcelona and Real Madrid have faced many disputes over the years. This all came to a head when Luis Figo made the brave move from Barcelona to Real Madrid in 2000. As was to be expected, supporters weren’t best impressed and Figo received a hostile response from the football industry. When he returned to Barcelona, donning the Madrid whites in 2001, fans took their frustrations out on Figo by throwing lighters, oranges and bottles at him. Sol Campbell – Tottenham Hotspur to Arsenal It was clear that there was an opportunity to develop the league on a commercial basis which was not happening under the previous regime. Chester may not be at this level much longer, their league position suggesting playoffs at least, and a swift return to the National League after last season’s relegation. The original club (owned by the notorious Stephen Vaughan) was wound up in March 2010. Supporters group City Fans United formed the new Chester FC later that year and moved into the vacant Deva Stadium. These days, Chester are guided by ex-Salford City management duo Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson, who left Moor Lane in May over ‘irreconcilable differences around personal terms.’ Make of that what you will. Two defeats in February slowed Chester’s progress, and they arrive fifth in the league, nine points behind leaders York. As well as the financial importance to players, the chance to play in the Premier League ensures they are seen by people around the world, and maybe more importantly by international coaches. To have expected any better from Flores is nothing short of delusional, and rather than having a settled framework in which to head into the new campaign, Watford will be heading in a new uncertain direction.

Would Liverpool fans have called a halt to super-dosing on caffeine and other substances if it meant their beloved club didn’t end 30 years of chasing the dragon? Would they hell! The response each time I asked a fan was – well, they know what they’re doing or that it was the player’s choice. Like the vast majority of football journalists, they don’t particularly care. The future of Canadian football looks very bright in the light of the fact that Canada will be teaming up with Mexico and the United States to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Canadian football has an exciting opportunity to grow and develop its reach. Even though the men’s team hasn’t had as much success as the women’s, they did qualify for the World Cup in 1986 and also reached the Olympics twice. The stated capacity as Horsfall is a generous 3500; one that was tested at the FC United play-off semi final in 2011. Flares, pitch invasions and police all made unwanted appearances, before an official record attendance of 2785* , and the capacity, imagined or not, is hardly threatened at today’s fixture with promotion candidates Chester.