Features

9 April 2010 Can you identify the sporting arena? We take an aerial view of a topical ball park, football stadium, marathon course, golf course, Games venue, race track, iconic arena, athletic theatre (some literally theatres), pitch, park, stretch of water or wherever else sport takes place. And we ask you to identify it with the help […]

By Brian Sears 9 April 2010 A top six finish in this season’s Premier League is probably beyond Birmingham despite their fine campaign under Alex McLeish. But another kind of top six finish is realistically within their grasp: they remain on course to achieve one of the best ever seasonal performances for a club in […]

JOHN ROBERTS wrote for the Daily Express, The Guardian, the Daily Mail and The Independent, where he was the tennis correspondent for 20 years. He collaborated with Bill Shankly on the Liverpool manager’s autobiography, ghosted Kevin Keegan’s first book, and has written books on George Best, Manchester United’s Busby Babes (The Team That Wouldn’t Die) and Everton (The Official Centenary […]

By Lionel Page 8 April 2010 As an academic with an interest in economic analysis, the downfall of the English teams in the Champions League this season did not surprise me, even while it disappointed me as a Manchester United fan. Earlier this season, I was actually expecting that the English teams would “under-perform” in the competition, when set […]

7 April 2010 Can you identify the sporting arena? We take an aerial view of a topical ball park, football stadium, marathon course, golf course, Games venue, race track, iconic arena, athletic theatre (some literally theatres), pitch, park, stretch of water or wherever else sport takes place. And we ask you to identify it with […]

JOHN ROBERTS wrote for the Daily Express, The Guardian, the Daily Mail and The Independent, where he was the tennis correspondent for 20 years. He collaborated with Bill Shankly on the Liverpool manager’s autobiography, ghosted Kevin Keegan’s first book, and has written books on George Best, Manchester United’s Busby Babes (The Team That Wouldn’t Die) and Everton (The Official Centenary […]

By Nick Harris 5 April 2010 On a journalistic assignment at Birmingham City yesterday, I just happened to be in the BCFC boardroom shortly after the end of the 1-1 draw with Liverpool when Kenny Dalglish came through from the adjoining dining room to say goodbye to his host for the day, Carson Yeung, Birmingham’s owner. Mr Yeung […]

By Brian Sears 2 April 2010 So the Premier League enters the home straight for another season and statistical seers (not to mention Sears) strive to grab a passing morsel of numerical nuance from their historical data. Most clubs have but six games to go. As a statistician trying to work out what’s next (snow, […]

2 April 2010 Can you identify the sporting arena? We take an aerial view of a ball park, football stadium, marathon course, golf course, Games venue, race track, iconic arena, athletic theatre (some literally theatres), pitch, park, stretch of water or wherever else sport takes place. And we ask you to identify it with the […]

By Brian Sears 31 March 2010 Many things in life are uncertain, from the changing of the seasons (these days) to whether the world will explode when the Large Hadron Collider really gets a move on, although reports of the initial collision of protons at record energy levels in a tube beneath Switzerland are encouraging. […]