The draw was made last night for the Fifth Round of the Carling Cup.

The ties drawn by Rob Lee and Ray Wilkins are:

Watford v Portsmouth
Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool
Fulham v Chelsea
Manchester United v Arsenal

The matches are due to be played on Tuesday 30 November and Wednesday 1 December.

Euro 2008 preparations on track

Officials at the Swiss Football Association insist preparations for the Euro 2008 Championships are back on track.

Along with Uefa, they held a joint media conference yesterday. It appears they have resolved their differences; most notably the current lack of a stadium for Zurich.

The declaration came less than six weeks after the publication of a leaked letter from Uefa warning the Swiss and their Austrian co-hosts that they might lose the tournament if preparations were accelerated.

Swiss FA president Ralph Zloczower told Reuters:

“I think the information that Uefa’s executive committee was given did not correspond to the degree of preparation we already had. What made them nervous was the news that Zurich’s Hardturm stadium would not be ready in time for the championships. But now we have a serious alternative project in the form of the city’s Letzigrund stadium, and we are really optimistic that it can be finished by UEFA’s deadline of summer 2007. We now believe that things are progressing well in Switzerland and Austria. In some organisational areas the project is even one or two years ahead of schedule.”

Changes to the Zurich stadium are still to be approved by the Zurich city government in March and then by a popular vote in June. The proposal could be rejected however if local residents appeal - as happened with the Hardturm stadium.

Responding to Uefa’s other concerns over stadium contracts, the Swiss FA said it had signed a tournament contract with the owners of Basel’s St Jakob Stadium and that similar contracts were to be signed with the other stadiums in Bern and Geneva.

The Austrian stadiums scheduled for use at Euro 2008 are in Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and the modernised 50,000 seat Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, where the final is due to be held on 29 June 2008.

Quickest goal for over 40 years

Nick Barmby scored his first goal for Hull City at their KC Stadium home on Saturday, and he did it in record-breaking style.

Barmby’s opening goal in the 3-1 win against Walsall on Saturday was timed at 7.72 seconds. It is the quickest in Hull City’s history - the previous best being Ken Wagstaff’s 13-second strike against Cardiff City in October 1967 - and thought to be the quickest in English senior football for 40 years.

Many sources quote the record holder as Jim Fryatt for Bradford Park Avenue versus Tranmere Rovers in the Fourth Division on 25 April 1965. This was timed at four seconds by the referee.

The Guinness Book of Records states the fastest authenticated Football League goals were all timed at six seconds. These were also included in the Rothmans Book of Football Records.

The three known six-seconds FL goals are:

- Albert Mundy (Aldershot at Hartlepool United, Division Four, 25 October 1958)

- Keith Smith (Crystal Palace v Derby County, Division Two, 12 December 1964)

The world record for the quickest goal in first-class football that has been confirmed on film or video was scored by Damian Mori for Adelaide City v Sydney United on 6 December 1995. It was officially timed at four seconds.

Area quarter-final draw

The draw has been made for the area quarter-finals of the LDV Vans Trophy.

Southern Section

- Swindon Town v Bristol City
- Northampton Town v Southend United
- Bristol Rovers v Wycombe Wanderers
- Leyton Orient v Walsall

Northern Section

- Chester City v Wrexham
- Hereford United v Blackpool
- Oldham Athletic v Hartlepool United
- Macclesfield Town v Tranmere Rovers

Ties to be played week commencing 29 November.

Can technology and football be fused?

In the same week that FIFA have rejected Bolton Wanderers’ call for ‘video referees’, the leader of England’s professional referees has admitted that the Premiership club has proved that video technology can be a vital boost to match officials performance.

Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside believes football should follow the lead of rugby league and use technology to aid referees decision-making.

His suggestion drew a strong response from a FIFA spokesman:

“FIFA has always refused the assistance of video for refereeing matters. One reason for this is that it has not been possible to implement such technical means at a universal level. This point is particularly crucial as the same laws and conditions must apply worldwide so as to avoid that competitions such as the World Cup with about 800 preliminary matches around the globe become distorted. Rather than introducing technology, FIFA’s intentions are focussed on making referees more professional, where they can devote additional time to training and recuperation.”

Meanwhile, Keith Hackett - the general manager of Professional Game Match Officials - has revealed that Bolton have already assisted in improving standards by demonstrating the ProZone system. It analyses camera-fed information about the movement of players and officials in a game.

Mr Hackett recalled a visit to their Chorley training headquarters two years ago when he discussed a ‘debatable’ incident with Bolton boss Sam Allardyce.

He explained:

“I felt quite confident as I went up there, because I had seen video evidence of the incident and that appeared to prove that the referee’s assistant had made the right decision. When Sam showed me the ProZone version of the action it showed that the assistant had got it wrong. I returned to the Premier League with a strong recommendation that we took the product on board. It is, in my view, world class, and when I demonstrated it to other referees around the world they were stunned by the quality and content.”

Van Nistelrooy equals record

Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy equalled a Champions League record as he scored all four goals in United’s 4-1 defeat of Sparta Prague at Old Trafford last night.

The Dutch master marksman became only the fourth player to hit a quartet in a Champions League game.

He followed the example set by Dado Pršo (Monaco v Deportivo in 2003), Marco van Basten (Milan v IFK in 1992) and Simone Inzaghi (Lazio v Marseille in 2000).

Ruud now boasts a staggering tally of 35 goals in 36 European matches in United’s colours.

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has likened his appetite for European football to the likes of football greats such as Alfredo Di Stefano, Gerd Muller and Johann Cruyff.

Ruud confirmed to the club’s official web site that it’s a stage he relishes:

“I enjoy it. I enjoy playing for United in every competition. But the Champions League is very special to me. For me it is just great every time I enter the stadium here and play games at Old Trafford - it’s always special for me.”

Decline in popularity of televised football

Figures collated by the British Audience Research Bureau (BARB) suggest that the popularity of watching Premiership football on television is in decline.

BARB indicate viewing figures for Premiership matches so far this season are down dramatically on last season and are at their lowest for ten years.

Information published by The Observer newspaper this week shows the following key points:

- 8.9%: The drop in audiences for the BBC’s Saturday night Match of the Day so far (up to last weekend), compared with ITV’s The Premiership last season.

- 227,000: The average number of viewers watching SKY’s highlights package. On Saturday nights, SKY’s interactive Football First: Match Choice show - offering viewers a 55-minute version of all Premiership games played that day.

- 138: The number of live SKY games this season - 32 more than last season. They’ve screened 25 already - compared with 20 this time last season.

- 1.048million: The average audience for the live games this season: down from 1.251m in the same period last season. That’s an average 16.23% drop per game, and a 22.72% drop on last season’s overall average of 1.356m.

- 11%: The average audience share for each live SKY game this season. That’s down from 19% last season.

- Nine of the 25 games shown live by SKY so far have attracted an audience share of 6% or less; only one match gained such a tiny share in the same period last season

- 409,000: The lowest audience so far this season - for Bolton v Birmingham on Saturday 25 September at 5.15pm (a 4% audience share).

- 568,000: Last season’s lowest live TV audience - also for Bolton v Birmingham in October 2003. This season five games have attracted the same, or fewer, viewers. (Palace v Chelsea (568k), Newcastle v Norwich (498k), Portsmouth v Palace (466k), Bolton v Birmingham (409k) and Palace v Fulham (568k).

Macclesfield boss joins elite group

Macclesfield Town boss Brian Horton joins an elite club tonight when he becomes only the fifth current manager in English football to reach 1,000 games in charge.

It all started for the former Brighton & Hove Albion and Luton Town midfielder on 25 August 1984 when he made his managerial debut for Hull City in an old Third Division game at Lincoln City.

Via Oxford United, Manchester City, Huddersfield Town, Brighton and Port Vale and over twenty years later, Brian brings up the four-figure landmark as Macc face Mansfield Town in the LDV Vans Trophy at Moss Rose.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, the 55-year-old gaffer declared there’s many more games to come:

“I’ve been football-mad since I was a kid. I suppose it’s just in-bred. Football is my life and I love being involved. What else would I do?”

With his usual enthusiasm, he explained his management philosophy:

“Everybody likes talent, but I like honest players. I like my team to be up front. They must train hard, and I suppose it’s old fashioned but I want them to dress properly and look the part. I know I am always on their case, maybe too much, but that is how I get the best out of them.”

The full list of the managers to reach the 1,000-game in English club football is:

- Alec Stock
- Sir Matt Busby
- Brian Clough
- Jim Smith
- Graham Taylor
- Dave Bassett
- Dario Gradi
- Lennie Lawrence
- Alan Buckley
- Denis Smith

National Football Museum honours legends

The National Football Museum has announced the latest footballing greats to enter their Hall of Fame.

The first 23 players and six managers were inducted into the museum in December 2002 having been chosen by twenty of the games greatest names including, amongst others, Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Robson, Terry Venables, Mark Lawrenson and Brian Clough.

New players are now inducted into The Museum Hall of Fame each year by the selection panel. In 2003, a further nine players and four managers were inducted, and this year another eight players and two managers will be honoured.

The 2004 inductees are Tony Adams, Viv Anderson, Billy Bremner, Sir Geoff Hurst, Roy Keane, Wilf Mannion and Alan Shearer. From the world of management, Dario Gradi and Don Revie are inducted while Sue Lopez is the sole female to be honoured.

The Hall of Fame evening takes place on Thursday 4 November at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton.

More details of the National Football Museum can be found at www.nationalfootballmuseum.com