h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Great stuff Ormy. As I understand the situation (conflict now resolved, footy not going to be blanked from our screens) the money paid to the PFA is for the 'image rights', i.e. the payment due to the individual players for appearing on TV, which income every player voluntarily donates to the PFA. Strange how no journalist has mentioned this before because there is one hell of a story waiting to be written about the problems which could arise if the TV companies had to negotiate with every player individually! And, what would happen in the case of players who had to come on as a totally unexpected substitute, e.g. Stuart Taylor last Wednesday. If there was no agreement between him and the TV company would the editors of the coverage have been forced to ignore all incidents in the Arsenal goalmouth for the whole of the second half because they had no 'right' to show any image of Taylor

Yes - instead of following one player on a 'player cam' like they do on digital TV, they might have to blank out one player's face like they sometimes do with suspected criminals!

It's been interesting and worrying to hear the stories about the supposed plans for the 'Phoenix League' - a new-style two-tier Premier League. The story has been denied by various interested parties, so maybe it was just a case of the 'Daily Mail' being wrong as usual! After all, the only new thing about the story was the 'Phoenix' name. Rumours of Celtic and Rangers playing in England and a two-tier Premiership have been around for ages, and nothing ever seems to come of them.

But wouldn't it be outrageous if the same club chairmen who've been bleating on about how 'greedy' striking players were going to wreck the game, were in fact themselves planning a move that would wreck both the Nationwide League and Scottish club football?

I never believe ANYTHING written in the daily press any more until it actually happens! Too many 'journalists' with not enough real stories to go round in my opinion after all Paddy was 'definitely' going to Real Madrid at the beginning of this season wasn't he?

Mind you the way he's been playing this season we should have taken the money and run