Bookmakers William Hill have agreed a two-and-a-half year deal with The Football Association to become an 'Official Supporter' of the England football team, and 'Official Supporter' and 'Official Betting Partner' of the FA Cup.

Even Homer could rig a football match more professionally than the British criminal classes.
It is little wonder that your sport, this game of football, is TOTALLY controlled by Asian underground bookmakers whose expertise on both the sport and the behaviouralisms of another culture show you up as the psychopathic antisocials that you are.

LeagueSpy.com A definitive and comprehensive betting guide to world football - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Football betting can be a great investment or a waste of money, with an ever-increasing number of people deeming themselves football experts and putting their money where their mouth is on a daily or weekly basis, only to see their hard-earned cash taken from them.

It was concerning to read that Liverpool were planning to offer Andy Carroll in a direct swap deal with Carlos Tevez at the weekend.

At £35 million it is quite clear as far as the best bookmakers are concerned that the former Newcastle forward has not lived up to what might have been expected of him at Anfield in the year he has been with the club, but it is important to remember that he is still young.

The Football is Fixed prediction of a seriously brand damaging scandal within the British game this year is coming to fruition nicely - not just with Redknapp/Mandaric, Portsmouth FC and Rangers FC but with the occurrence of both "a betting accident live on tv" and the inappropriate control over the selection of match officials as well.

by Adam Bate

What a return it has been for Kenny Dalglish. Only Cardiff City now stand in the way of Liverpool lifting the Carling Cup at Wembley later this month and thus securing the club's first trophy in six years. King Kenny has brought the buzz back to the city. And thankfully, whatever the dramas off the field, everyone at Anfield appears to be pulling in the same direction once again.

In a decision that was undoubtably cheered at the FA's headquarters, a jury today cleared Spurs manager Harry Redknapp and former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric of tax evasion.

Speaking on the steps of Southwark Crown Court, Redknapp said the case "should never have come to court".

With Steve Bruce, Neil Warnock and now Mick McCarthy all gone in the Premier Sack Race, the question every football fan is asking will Chelsea boss, Andre Villas-Boas, be next for the chop?

The Portuguese manager has been made a very short priced 5/4 favourite with bookmakers to be the next to join the three already sacked, in the latest betting odds which were shortened following the strong rumours that indicate Blues owner, Roman Abramovic, is becoming increasingly agitated with the current situation at Stamford Bridge.

When Kyle Walker returned to Spurs at the end of his loan spell with Aston Villa, he came back with a reputation as a marauding full back with a keen eye for goal but maybe with some question marks over his defending.

As we reach the last third of the season, Kyle is unchallenged as our first choice right back and while he won't be happy that BAE is currently outscoring him this year, Walker's lone strike undoubtedly mattered most in securing a 2-1 win over Arsenal earlier in the campaign.

Back in the summer there was a point when Harry Redknapp was a very short odds on favourite to take over the Chelsea manager's job. Before checking the current prices, many may have thought that a similar scenario would happen again but at present, Harry is way off the pace at 40/1 with some bookmakers.

Two seasons ago, the English Premier League declared war on UEFA both over financial fair play and the programming of EPL matches to coincide with ones from the Champions League.
The bookmakers, as ever, were most grateful for such impact as the success of the English teams over the previous four seasons had been immensely poor for the bottom line.

After the weekends results it seems almost certain that the Premier League title is heading to Old Trafford to give United their 20th title. In Sunday's earlier game, United defeated QPR 2-0 after being given a fortuitous penalty decision which saw QPR skipper Shaun Derry sent off. In the later kick-off at the Emirates, a late Mikel Arteta strike gave Arsenal the victory over Manchester City, who ended the game with 10-men after the headline grabbing Mario Balotelli saw red after escaping a red card for a shocking tackle on Alex Song in the tenth minute.

Tonight's new battle of the Olympiques is one that will make history.

Being a Coupe de la Ligue final, its result will be carved in stone. The name of the winner will be added to the list of glorious predecessors, those who at least once have been the heroes of this recent but well publicized competition.

Newcastle United star, Cheick Tiote, has refuted claims he is about to leave the club, and insists his future lies on Tyneside.
The Ivory Coast midfielder has been a revelation since his £3.5m switch from FC Twente, in the summer of 2010. He impressed enough to be offered a new six-and-a-half year deal, in February 2011.

The Premier League, via the PGMOB, announces the referees and assistants for the matches on the following weekend on Monday afternoon at 16:00.
This occurs regardless of the presence, or not, of a Monday night match.
For the first time this season (aside from Easter), no such announcement was made yesterday afternoon prior to the Manchester derby - the Championship Play Off officials were released, so someone was in the office!

Only four weeks ago, following Man City's losss to Arsenal at The Emirates Stadium, almost the whole of the soccer world were crowning Man Utd as Premier League Champions for the 20th time. Their massive eight point lead looked insurmountable especially given the experience and success of United's wily old manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

In the old days, there was humour about the state of corruption within Italian football.
Now the tittering is about the rampant corruption in ScudamoreWorld - the Premier League Theme Park.
Serie A, Serie B, the Bundesliga, La Primera Liga (to an extent), the Dutch Eredivisie, the Champions League, the Europa Cup, the leagues in Portugal, Denmark, Sweden and even Russia have taken institutional actions that target the match-fixers.

South Wales is experiencing a severe shortage of Elvis Presley fancy dress costumes as Swansea fans step-up to their manager's request for a fancy dress tribute to the King. Brendan Rodgers asked Swans supporters to don Elvis outfits for their final game of the season against Liverpool on Sunday. He touted the idea after last [.

Monitoring the evidence being given by Rebekah Brooks to the Leveson Inquiry is more than entertaining...
... the collusion in corruption between power and insiders is evident.
In the dim and distant past, I undertook a Ph.D in Economics - the title of my thesis was "The Impact of Conspicuous Money on Outcomes in British Horseracing Betting Markets".

Soothing hearts the immediate task

Yesterday I kicked off the Euro 2012 theme on the blog and started with the favourites, Spain. Moving on, today we'll have the joint favourites, Germany (in the eyes of the bookmakers, at least).

Germany

In terms of the top 6 teams earmarked with the best chance to win the tournament, Germany has the lowest average age in their squad.