Fifty years after it first went on air, Tyne Tees Television is now a mere relic. A name from the past. Along with almost all of the other ITV regions, the company name all but vanished from our screens in October 2002 when ITV did away with its regional network and finally merged together as one lumpen mass.

Click to continue reading...

Eurosnobs and assorted critics (like this one) often wish MLS would open its wallet a little more to attract better players and improve the quality of play.

Well, a fiscally conservative approach has its benefits as this story below out of Europe today confirms. Put this one in the careful what you wish for department.

Click to continue reading...

Goodbye! Cheerio! See ya later, Interlull. Yeah, that's right. Pack your bags and shove off.

Thankfully it's over. It seems like the longest Interlull of all time and there have been many lengthy and tedious ones in the past. At this moment in time there don't appear to be any casualties but we'll have to wait for official confirmation of that.

Click to continue reading...

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was an unhappy man after UEFA's decision to charge Eduardo for diving against Celtic. UEFA's reply, coming from chief executive David Taylor, was immediate.

He said:

What he is saying is totally without foundation. No-one is re-reffing a game, this is about the image of football.

Click to continue reading...

Clubes arriscam ruína em caso de guerra de contratações

Os clubes da Primeira Liga inglesa de futebol arriscam a ruína financeira se tentarem competir no mercado de contratações com o poder financeiro do Manchester City, propriedade de Abu Dhabi United Group, advertiu o secretário-geral da UEFA, David Taylor.

Click to continue reading...

The Big Story

UEFA again expressed concern at the spending by the likes of Man City, with general secretary David Taylor commenting "I would say in this financial climate, it is surprising - a little bit destabilizing of the market".

Click to continue reading...

It's all in the timing. The BBC couldn't have chosen a better time to run a special report on the state of finances in English football. The eve of the new English season is a time of optimism at most clubs, but in an interview with Radio5's Dan Road, the UEFA general secretary David Taylor expressed concerns about many aspects of the way that Premier League clubs in particular are running themselves, singling out the saddling of clubs with debt and the transfer activity of some (hello, Manchester City) as having a destabilising effect on the health of the transfer market.

Click to continue reading...

We knew it was going to happen anyway but the news that Darren Fletcher's ban has been upheld feels like a fresh blow. For as long as there was hope you could believe he wasn't going to be robbed of his place in the Champions League final.

Getting to start against Barcelona would be the perfect finish to Fletcher's best season in our jersey, but thanks to a refereeing error he will have to miss out.

Click to continue reading...

No big surprise, but it is official that Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher will miss the Champions League final against Barcelona after failing with an appeal against a red card.

The Scot was sent off for a tackle on Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas minutes from the end of United's 4-1 aggregate semi-final victory, despite appearing to take the ball.

Click to continue reading...

Just a quick piece of news that I've just heard. In the aftermath of Darren Fletcher's red card, it seemed like there was little hope that he'd feature in Rome on 27 May. But yesterday, UEFA secretary David Taylor offered some hope, basically saying that if United offered an appeal on the grounds of exceptional circumstances, UEFA could pass it onto a disciplinary committee.

Click to continue reading...

Darren Fletcher may be permitted to play in Rome when United take on Barcelona in this season's Champions League Final.

Fletcher was sent off 15 minutes before the end of United's semi-final victory over Arsenal but replays clearly show the midfielder made contact with the ball before bringing down Cesc Fabregas .

Click to continue reading...

Following the disgraceful decision to send Darren Fletcher off for winning the ball against Cesc Fabregas, we were told the only way Fletcher could get off with it was if there had been a case of mistaken identity, which there clearly hadn't.

The Uefa general secretary, David Taylor, has today given United some hope though, suggesting that the case should be referred to UEFA's disciplinary body for review.

Click to continue reading...

UEFA's general secretary David Taylor has lost his marbles. He's warned clubs that they may face being banned from competing in European competitions if they continue to carry excessive debt. "There would be forms of communication, even warnings, even reprimands before one would ever get to a situation of exclusion but it's absolutely possible," said Taylor. Click to continue reading...

The UEFA Executive Committee has approved the change of name for the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League from 2009/10.
The new name heralds major changes to the competition, which will have a new 48-team group stage with centralised marketing of broadcast rights, a presenting sponsor and an official matchball in addition to centralised sponsorship from the knockout stage and a new logo and visual identity. Click to continue reading...

Quite the little controversy over Ruud van Nistelrooy's goal yesterday. RvN was blatantly beyond the Italian line of defence when connecting with Giovanni van Bronkhurst's shot/pass, but the big question was whether RvN was being played onside by Christian Panucci or not. Panucci had been knocked off on his arse the field and by his own keeper Buffon.

Click to continue reading...

AEK, having just dismissed coach Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, face Spanish-side Getafe tomorrow in the UEFA Cup. AEK Assistant manager Nikos Kostenoglou will take over the team temporarily and try to end AEK's mid-season slide with an emphatic win in Athens. Getafe defender David Belenguer claimed in an interview today that Getafe's main goal will be to [. Click to continue reading...

Here at Pitch Invasion, we think limiting the number of foreigners on Premiership teams would do nothing to help England, and quite possibly would make us even worse (if that's possible). But the debate over quotas rumbles on. One of the arguments against it comes from those who simply laugh it off as absurd due [. Click to continue reading...