By Nick Harris 17 June 2013 There are 60 footballers in the ‘Big 5’ leagues of Europe who each carry a market value of £20m-plus this summer. The world’s best and most expensive player is Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, whose ‘guide price’ is between €217m and €253m (£185m-£215m). Next comes Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (£87m-£101m), then […]

By Nick Harris 11 June 2013 Manchester City are the best paid team in global sport according to Sportingintelligence’s Global Sports Salaries Survey (GSSS) for 2013, compiled in association with ESPN The Magazine and published this week to coincide with The Magazine’s ‘Money Issue’ (cover below). The average first-team pay at City, who have been transformed […]

By Nick Harris 17 April 2013 Cardiff City’s guaranteed promotion to the Premier League means that half of the 92 clubs in English football’s four main divisions next season will have tasted Premier League football at some point since 1992. That means being in the Premier League is on the brink of being a ‘majority […]

By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year                                             25 March 2013 The story of Robert Beal, also known as “The man who hoaxed The Times,” might be amusing if it did not […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 11 December 2012 Queens Park Rangers are odds-on to be relegated from the Premier League this season but it should be no surprise that they are struggling. They achieved far too little last season, considering the money they spent, and avoided relegation by a point. […]

By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 11 September 2012 One amusing vignette in the first episode of FOX’s forthcoming fly-on-the-wall Liverpool documentary features a brief exchange between midfielder Charlie Adam and the Boston Red Sox outfielder Cody Ross. It takes place in the locker room at the home of the Red […]

By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 9 September 2012 Isatou Nyang is a single mum of two from The Gambia, a small country in West Africa where the average income is around £1,200 per year, or £23 a week. Nyang, 28, makes about half that much, or around £10 per week, […]