High Class Journalism?

[Kevin Thurlow]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/footbal ... edc2&ei=23

copied from the Daily Mirror, which starts

"Aston Villa's 7-0 victory over Sunderland in the Conti Cup could be overturned after Carla Ward's side fielded an illegible player,"

I think that's harsh - if the player had been "ineligible", then fair enough.

Many years ago, an interviewer asked The Corrs (a popular Beat Combo, my Lord), "How did you meet?"

[NickFaulks]

At least the player wasn't illiterate - unlike the journalist.

[John Upham]

the Conti Cup could be overturned after Carla Ward's side fielded an illegible player,"

In the days of match cards being reported via handwriting, post cards and The Royal Mail we witnessed a number of instances of illegible players.

Even in 2024 I get nonsense names being reported via the LMS that require investigation.

[Reg Clucas]

Even in 2024 I get nonsense names being reported via the LMS that require investigation.

And via email!

[Kevin Thurlow]

"And via email!"

well, yes. I mentioned elsewhere the multiple spellings of my name in the "Sorry Error", excuse me, "Surrey Mirror". When they got handwritten reports, there was some excuse, but when I sent them Word files, they still did it. And they managed to mention people more than once and not even spell the name the same way twice.

[NickFaulks]

Then there were the headlines which the writer of the piece submitted was not trusted to draft - this could only be done by a professional journalist. On occasion they bore no obvious relation to the text, or did but somehow got the whole thing upside-down. That's Bermuda not Surrey, by the way.

[LawrenceCooper]

Many years ago, an interviewer asked The Corrs (a popular Beat Combo, my Lord), "How did you meet?"

Donna Air, I believe.

[Richard Thursby]

One might have thought Aston Villa would know better, having been on the opposite side of a similar issue in 1999 https://www.theguardian.com/football/19 ... tory.sport which, incidentally spared Gareth Southgate's blushes after he again missed a penalty in the shoot-out.

Seriously though, I don't understand how/why eligibility isn't something that is checked as part of the pre-match process by officials.