14 Common Misconceptions About Soccer Score Updates

Most people associate watching football within the 21st century with going to a soccer stadium, listening to the commentary on the radio or watching the match live on television, but people rarely mention other alternative viewing. Is this because it is seen as uncool and not classed as following a soccer match properly?

Since the introduction of Ceefax within the 1970s and other technological improvements in the 1990s (like sky/cable television as well as the internet), there have been other alternative ways to keep track on how a team is getting on which has a kind of 'cult' feeling to it.

The oldest alternative viewing to the traditional avenues is Ceefax (phonetic for "See Facts"), which was introduced through the BBC in 1974 (who at he time were working on ways of providing television subtitles for the deaf). Their system was the very first teletext system on the planet. It was a simple information system with the absence of sound, pictures, or anybody giving your basic information.

It was basically simple pages of blue-and-white text that you could access via your television remote. But what does this need to do with football? Well the Ceefax service holds information on a wide selection of subjects, for example News, Sport, Weather, TV Listings and Business and these pages are kept current (usually being the first to report a breaking story or headline).

Many people in the British Isles that you speak to have within the past used Ceefax on a match day (especially before the development of the net). Everyone looks at football scores (linked site) on Ceefax since it is the original internet. People will leave Ceefax on within their living rooms on a Saturday afternoon to keep track of how their team is doing and may wait anxiously for the blue-and-white text on the screen to refresh hoping that their team holds on within the dying minutes or scores that dramatic last minute equaliser. A lot of people are anxious whilst starring at the blue-and-white text and I have know people to spend a large involved in the match sat in front of their TV waiting for the black rectangles to change in favour of their team.

Some people would argue that it is sad to sit in front of your TV waiting for the screen to refresh, but it really is surprisingly engrossing. If all you are serious about is the score, then it's the ideal medium. Consider it this way, you've got no annoying adverts, no annoying analysis from inapt soccer commentators and just the scores which you are interested in. With the plans to replace all analogue TV signals with digital in the British Isles for 2008, sadly this alternative viewing will probably disappear.

A similar version to Ceefax has developed via the internet over the past decade because of technological improvements. There are various versions of the tv Ceefax system over the internet in one form or another and usually comes under the form of 'Live Scores'. In the event that you do a simple search on the internet for soccer Live Scores you will be amazed at how many sites are returned in the results. In essence it really is just a modern day version of Ceefax.

In place of sitting in front of your TV watching Ceefax refresh you are sat in front of your computer watching an internet site refresh. There's no real difference in the service which is provided, just the truth that it is coming from a different medium. Like with the Ceefax service, if you ask most soccer fans in the British Isles who use the net, they will be able to name a site they use to keep track of their team on match day. If you were to pick out differences between the 2 it could be the truth that web sites take advantage over the number of individuals accessing the site by placing ads alongside the scores.

During the 1990s, Sky Sports was launched within the British Isles and their introduction was to have a massive impact on soccer. Sky revolutionised soccer with their live matches, showing live games on Friday's, Sunday's and Monday's. Sky also introduced a live manned version of Ceefax called Sky Sports Saturday. Their service is simply a sophisticated version of Ceefax on a match day, having an anchorman and various ex professional soccer players talking about the action as it happens.