By Nick Harris 31 January 2011 Spending by the 20 clubs of the Premier League has hit a record level for a January transfer window, with sportingintelligence calculating that they will have spent £223.47m collectively on the signings of permanent deals for players. This will rise slightly depending on add-ons in some deals. This smashes the […]

By Brian Sears 31 January 2011 It’s been one of the more ‘romantic’ FA Cups of recent seasons, what with giants being slain hither and thither and Crawley getting the dream draw at Manchester United in the fifth round. But the magic it once had is wearing off in general and we can show it […]

By Alexandra Willis 28 January 2011 Bookmakers are unashamedly backing Novak Djokovic against Andy Murray in the Australian Open final on Sunday, as they face a record payout if the British No.1 achieves a first Grand Slam win. Labrokes were offering 8/1 on a Murray victory in the build-up to the tournament, as the Scot […]

By Brian Sears 28 January 2011 It was in January last year that Liverpool became the 100th Premier League club to lose in the FA Cup to a team from a lower division, in their case to Reading. That made them the most ‘slain’ giants of the Premier League era, having lost seven times in […]

By Alexandra Willis 26 January 2011 The cost of raising the next Rafael Nadal or Maria Sharapova has been estimated to be over $400,000, according to a report by Bloomberg. Based on the example of 12-year-old Mia Smith, whose parents have sold their house in order to send their daughter to the prestigious $68,495-a year […]

By Nick Harris 25 January 2011 . Blackburn and West Bromwich Albion set a new record in their Premier League game this week when fielding players from 22 different nations in the same Premier League game among the 27 players used on Sunday. (Full breakdown in the graphic below). To add to the cosmopolitan nature […]

By Brian Sears 25 January 2011 Manchester United’s Premier League season reached the half-way mark, its 19th game, with the New Year’s Day 2-1 victory at West Brom. Since then they’ve played three more league games, beating Stoke, drawing at Tottenham and then thrashing Birmingham 5-0, all ahead of Tuesday’s match at Blackpool. As sportingintelligence’s […]

By Brian Sears 21 January 2011 Everton prepare to host West Ham on Saturday knowing the Hammers bottom of the table with one measly away win this season. But more than that, the London side have provided more points for Everton than any other opponents in the history of the Premier League. (See table below […]

By Nick Harris 20 January 2011 The average footballer’s wage in England’s top division has climbed from £20 per week in 1961 to £33,868 per week or thereabouts 50 years later. This week marks half a century since the abolition of the maximum wage in English football, as has been noted by a variety of […]

By Nick Harris 17 January 2011 INTERACTIVE SPECIAL REPORT . This feature will be updated throughout the week with links to other pieces in a special series that also includes: The VH Group in detail; Pune in pictures; Boomtown Pune; Words of chicken wisdom; DR BV Rao; Inside Venky’s XPRS; the family-sponsored temple. . It was […]