European Footballers of The Year since 1956

A list of European Footballers of The Year since 1956. The award is known as the Ballon d’Or and was originally conceived by France Football‘s chief magazine writer Gabriel Hanot, who asked his colleagues to vote for the player of the year in Europe in 1956.

Participation Rates in Football (Soccer) England, Canada, Australia

Proportion of Population Playing Football – UK vs Canada vs Australia with breakdowns by Age and Gender. Within the UK as a whole the scope of the game across various levels of participation is considerable:

7 million adult participants (including 5-a-side), plus an estimated 5 million in schools
37,500 clubs, including 9,000 youth clubs
2,000 competitions
32,000 schools (17,000 primary)
30,000 FA-qualified coaches
27,000 FA-qualified referees
45,000 pitches (21,000 facilities)

Major European Clubs Kit Suppliers and Shirt Sponsors – 2009-10

Table showing the offical kit suppliers and shirt sponsors of thirty of the largest European professional football clubs during season  2009/10. Concerning kit suppliers, Adidas were associated with ten of the clubs, nine of the clubs were supplied by Nike, three by Umbro, two by Puma and one each by Kappa, Under Armou, Reebok, Lotto, Jako and Joma.

Team Football Kit Suppliers World Cup 2006

List of  official Football Kit Suppliers to the thirty-two participating countries in the 2006 World Cup held in Germany.

Puma kitted out the most teams (12), followed by Nike with 8 teams and Adidas 6 teams.

Umbro and Lotto were kit suppliers for two teams each, whilst Joma and Marathon supplied one team each.

Football Boots Manufacturers Market Share by Value – 2000

List of the main Football Boots Manufacturers in the UK ranked by estimated Market Share by Value iin year 2000. Adidas headed the list, followed by (in order) Puma, Reebok, Umbro and then Nike. Brands in the ‘Others’ category would include: Lotto, Joma, Mizuno, Valsport, Asics, uhl and more.

Source: ODS

Sports Participation by Children – England – 1994 versus 1999

Football in Comparison with other
Sports. According to a government sponsored
survey by the OPCS there was an average 5% increase in the number of
school children saying they played football between 1994 and 1999.
This increase was shared amongst boys and girls, although boys were
roughly 4 times more likely to play than girls. Of all the major
spectator sports, football is the one that most people in England are