Linesman gets bird

We read with interest of Antoon Soetens' claim last week that his latest invention will make disputed offside decisions a thing of the past. The Belgian has created a nifty little electronic device that sends signals to a receiver, held by the linesman, every time a player strays into an offside position. FIFA, though, are a bit sceptical about the gadget, stressing that "the human side is part of football".

Indeed, but did they hear about the problems one such human had at the game between Peterborough and Oldham last week? The linesman in question repeatedly confused Oldham striker Carlo Corazzin with the club's mascot Chaddy the Owl (who was standing on the far side of the pitch) and kept, mistakenly, calling him offside. "Fair enough, I DID have a replica shirt on," said Kevin Williams, aka Chaddy, "but the Owl is seven feet tall AND also has a big furry head." Bet Carlo didn't think the mistaken identity was, err, a hoot.