In the debut issue of EPL Talk Magazine (available from EPLTalk.com), there's a behind-the-scenes look at software that most Premiership clubs use to stay ahead of the competition.

Well, ProZone now has a competitor, and it happens to be the founder of the company who sold ProZone in 2004 and has now formed a new company.

Read the interesting article today at The Guardian for more details.

With great anticipation, England has announced what band will have the honor of recording the official World Cup Song for the English national team this summer.

The band is Embrace and the song name will be "World At Your Feet." More info on this BBC article.

I would have much preferred the Kaiser Chiefs or Arctic Monkeys! Oh well, there's always 2010!

Major League Soccer (MLS) is expected to announce Monday that Chelsea has been invited to play in the MLS All-Star Game this summer in Chicago.

The EPL Talk Blog reported on March 16 that there were significant rumors about the Blues coming to Chicago.

According to The Guardian newspaper, some of the Premiership's biggest matches could be broadcast exclusively over the internet from next year rather than via pay TV under plans unveiled yesterday by the Premier League

In the next 30 days, the Premier League will make some of its most important decisions ever in terms of who will own broadcasting rights to the EPL worldwide, including online, via TV, podcasts and cellular phones.

Stay tuned to EPL Talk for more details. Interestingly, the next EPL Talk Podcast will feature an interview with Fox Soccer Channel's very own Nick Webster. During the interview, Nick discusses the above topics and, exclusively, drops a major hint about new programming coming from Fox Soccer Channel regarding the World Cup (other than their new Passport to Germany show).

BBC announced today that the broadcasters interested in winning the rights to broadcasting the English Premier League from 2007-2013 have until April 27 to submit their sealed bids.

Read more about the developing story here.

The English Premier League has just struck a deal with the European Union over the future sale of broadcasting rights, which could have a profound effect on the amount of Premiership matches seen on North American TV in the future.

It's unclear what the impact will be right now, but the bottom line is that SkySports will no longer have the exclusive rights to the Premiership from 2007 until 2013. No single broadcaster will be able to screen all the available games - ending BSkyB's monopoly - and the rights will be sold in six packages. As well as television, the deal covers mobile phone and internet rights.

What this could mean to TV viewers in the States is that the Premiership may end up being available on Fox Soccer Channel and other networks, depending on who wins the bids to broadcast the matches. According to The Guardian newspaper, Setanta Sports has said it is interested in bidding for the rights. Fox Soccer Channel and Sky are owned by the same global company, Rupert Murdoch's Fox.

The changes will occur beginning with the 2007/2008 season. First, though, the broadcasters will be able to bid on the live matches to determine who will get the rights.

EPL Talk broke the exclusive on March 8 that Fox Soccer Channel was producing a World Cup preview show, and now the word is official.

Last night, Fox Soccer Channel debuted "Passport to Germany." The show will be on every Wednesday night at 8:30pm ET. If you missed last night's episodes, check your TV listings to see when it'll be replayed.

It was interesting to watch Everton maul Aston Villa 4-1 last Saturday, not just because of the goalfest, but for other reasons too.

Everton were playing a very English style of soccer, with mostly British players, playing in a quintessential old English-style stadium. In 2006, this is indeed a rarity in the Premiership.

The physical nature of play was evident with both of Everton's first two goals being the result of a long ball headed down by James Beattie for first McFadden and then Cahill to score. Leon Osman and James Beattie had brilliant games. And Arteta was just superb.

The physical nature of the match ensured that were plenty of bandages and injuries during the 90 minutes -- again, adding more of an English flavor to the game.

And who cannot love the church nestled in the corner of the Goodison Park ground?

Everton face Liverpool this Saturday in the Merseyside derby at Anfield. The game promises to be one of the most exciting Liverpool derbies in years with both teams currently on fire. The match will be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel starting at 7:30am EST.

This morning GolTV announced it is expanding its soccer coverage to include the English Premiership with the addition of Arsenal TV and Liverpool TV to its programming.

The two shows will feature full match coverage of the team's previous weekend's Premiership match. Plus, the shows will include highlights from the Champions League matches (for Arsenal) and classic matches from the beginning of the EPL (for Liverpool), in addition to player interviews and behind-the-scenes coverage.

GolTV has purchased the official TV rights through 2007.

The shows mark the channel's first foray into the English Premiership. No plans have been announced to add additional EPL coverage, but a network representative says the channel is open to more coverage. She added that the idea is for GolTV to continue to get rights for different teams in different leagues, and to include "the best-of-the-best" on the soccer network.

Starting Monday March 27, Arsenal TV will broadcast every Monday at 4pm ET, while Liverpool TV will be shown every Tuesday at the same time. Each show will be 180 minutes.

EPL Talk has just launched the inaugural episode of the EPL Talk Podcast. Download it today, and subscribe via iTunes (Apple will be adding it momentarily).

The 30 minute podcast features an exclusive interview with Steven Cohen, co-host of Fox Football Friday and the World Soccer Daily radio show.

Highlights of the podcast include:

> Hear his fascinating thoughts on the Premiership,
> Learn how Steven moved to America, and how he met co-host Nick Geber,
> Hear who he thinks has done the most to harm the game of soccer in America,
> Discover who Steven lives across the street from, and what famous rock star was in his exercise class, and
> Find out how you can win a FREE EPL Talk T-shirt.

The EPL Talk Podcast is unique because it's the only soccer podcast to feature interviews with famous soccer celebrities. Stay tuned for more exciting interviews coming soon!

What a difference a weekend makes!

Fulham upset Chelsea, which moves Chris Coleman's side out of the relegation danger zone. Portsmouth convincingly defeat West Ham, setting up an exciting finish to the season. Will be it Harry Redknapp's side or West Brom or Birmingham that'll avoid the drop?

At the opposite end of the EPL table, the pressure is on Chelsea to avoid dropping any more points (and red cards). Dare I say it, but can Manchester United give Chelsea a run for the money? If Man Utd wins their one game in hand, they'll only be nine points behind Chelsea with eight games remaining for both sides.

And the battle for fourth place in the Premiership continues to heat up with Spurs, Arsenal, Blackburn, Bolton and Wigan all winning over the weekend. All five teams are formidable. It may end up coming down to goal difference. Right now, Arsenal has the advantage with a goal difference of +25 (helped by their 7-0 win against Middlesbrough several weeks ago).

The finale to the Premiership season promises to be exciting!

Both West Brom and Birmingham are concerned that West Ham boss Alan Pardew may rest some of his players this weekend, giving Portsmouth an unfair advantage and possible chance to edge closer to the two Birmingham clubs in the relegation battle. Read the story at The Guardian.

ChelseaInAmerica.com is reporting a rumor that Chelsea could be playing in Chicago this summer as part of their summer tour at the end of July.

It looks almost certain that Liverpool striker Peter Crouch will be in the England World Cup squad this summer.

It never fails. When you're not doing well, the luck is against you. And when you are doing well, the luck is with you.

This is definitely true when looking at this weekend's fixture list in the Premiership.

The teams fighting to avoid relegation are playing tough sides. West Brom play at home against an in-form Manchester United. Birmingham play at home against an also in-form Spurs, while Fulham are at home against Chelsea. Portsmouth, meanwhile, have a tricky tie away against West Ham United.

Now the teams battling for fourth place in the league and a Champions League play-off spot have an easier hill to climb. Spurs, as mentioned, are away to Birmingham. Bolton are at home against Sunderland. Blackburn play home against Middlesbrough, while Arsenal play Charlton at home in a London derby.

Based on this weekend's fixtures, I don't see any of the relegation teams winning one or three points, so we'll have to wait a few more weeks before determining who'll go down.

My prediction? Sunderland, Portsmouth and Birmingham -- with both West Brom and Fulham scrambling to safety.

Watching the excellent EPL Review Show on Fox Soccer Channel, I had to wonder when was the last Premiership weekend when there were so many spectacular goals worthy of "goal of the season" contention?

This past weekend had four contenders. First, there was Henri Camara's stunning volley for Wigan against Sunderland. Second, what about McFadden's goal for Everton versus Fulham, or William Gallas's long range bullet for Chelsea versus Spurs? And Sergio Mendes's second goal for Portsmouth against Man City?

Despite Chelsea running away with the title, the climax of the season begins to build as there are still so much up for grabs. May 7th, the final day of the season, beckons.

Ten years ago, following the Premiership was a chore. For most people in the States and around the world, it meant buying a shortwave radio and listening in to the BBC World Service.

But the Internet and satellite television changed everything.

We're now spoilt by an overwhelming amount of soccer web sites, soccer radio shows on Sirius and on the Internet, and -- in the States -- two major 24/7 soccer channels (Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV; Setanta is not available via cable in most homes).

The question is, where does it go from here?

The soccer fan's appetite for watching more soccer on TV won't stop. But the most important element in how much soccer we'll continue to see on television and what the future will bring is depends on advertisers, the people paying the money to air their commercials on Fox Soccer Channel. Right now, I'm willing to bet that FSC isn't making a profit.

Take a second and try to think of five companies who advertise on Fox Soccer Channel. And out of those, how many are well-known nationwide brands?

If you're like me, you can probably think of one or two. In order for Fox Soccer Channel to continue being successful, that number will need to be much more than it currently is.

Fox Soccer Channel is planning on producing more original programming for its network, including a series of World Cup shows with previews of each group.

In a conversation with Fox Soccer Channel's Nick Webster, the co-host of Super Saturday + (and producer of Fox Football Friday) said the show will be similar to the Gillette World Cup specials.

In other news, I'll be interviewing Nick Webster in a couple of weeks for a podcast interview. So if you have any questions you've been dying to ask him, post a comment now and I'll pose the best questions to him.

If you're new to EPL Talk, welcome to your interactive guide to the English Premiership! In addition to the blog, be sure to visit the EPLTalk web site, download the free magazine, visit the EPL page at Squidoo and stay tuned to this blog for exciting news about an upcoming podcast.

Cheers to the wonderful girls at The Treble radio show for a great shout-out during their must-hear show. Also, thanks to Mark Hesketh from A Game of Two Halves for a recent mention on their podcast. And cheers to Graham Bell at The 2 G's for pimping EPL Talk last week.

For TV viewers, one of the traditional ingredients in the build-up to any World Cup is the classy and well-produced show "Gillette World Cup."

For as long as I can remember, Gillette has been bringing the World Cup show to audiences around the world. Now it's back and it's on Fox Soccer Channel (check their TV listings for exact times).

The new series will include 12 shows examining each group, the stories behind the stadiums and planning in Germany, and interviews with World Cup soccer superstars.

Don't miss a single episode!

This past weekend's matches were a perfect advertisement for the Premiership and Fox Soccer Channel.

Four of the five were classics: Newcastle 3-1 Bolton, Man City 2-1 Sunderland, Chelsea 2-1 West Brom, and Wigan 1-2 Man United. The only disappointing match being the nil nil draw between Liverpool and Charlton.

When was the last time you remember so many nailbiter games in one weekend? In all of the games, any of the losing teams could have nicked a win or a draw. And the quality of skill on display was fantastic. Newcastle are playing like a dream now against an equally impressive Bolton side. Sunderland were agonizingly close to a vital point against a brilliant Manchester City side (two goals inside the first ten minutes).

And the West Brom versus Chelsea match was full of controversy with Bryan Robson and Jose Mourinho clashing on the touchline.

Liverpool's first half display against Charlton, meanwhile, was first class and the London side could have easily been two nil down if it wasn't for the acrobatic saves by Myhre.

The quality of passion, skill, determination, speed and end-to-end action from these games sum up why the English Premiership is the greatest club league in the world.

Looking at this weekend's schedule of English Premiership matches, how many of them do you think are televised live in England by Sky Sports?
Let's go through them one by one:

West Bromwich Albion v Chelsea, Saturday, 7:30am ET
West Brom desperately need to claw back some points in this match. It's live on Fox Soccer Channel, but in the UK it's only available on PremPlus, Sky Sports' pay-per-view channel.

Liverpool v Charlton Athletic, Saturday, Noon ET
Liverpool jostle for who'll end up in second place between them and Man United, Charlton have to be careful that they don't fall deeper down the table and into relegation panic. The match will be live on Fox Soccer Channel, and only available on PremPlus in the UK.

Newcastle United v Bolton Wanderers, Saturday, 3pm ET
The tape-delayed game, playing at 10am earlier that morning, is on Fox Soccer Channel but unavailable on Sky Sports. This could either be a very interesting game with a lot of end-to-end action, or it may end up being the most boring match of the season. An early goal by either team will dictate the tempo of the match.

Manchester City v Sunderland, Sunday, 1pm ET
Tape delayed again, this match kicking off at 8:30am on Sunday morning. However, the 1pm broadcast should see City cruise to victory, strengthening their challenge for a UEFA Cup spot. In the UK, the match will be shown live on Sky Sports 1 (which isn't the pay-per-view channel).

Wigan Athletic v Manchester United, Monday, 3pm ET
This live match will give Wigan a chance for revenge after last weekend's Carling Cup final defeat. Live on Fox Soccer Channel and Sky Sports.

Sky Sports 1 is also broadcasting the live match between Spurs and Blackburn on Sunday, available to soccer fans in North America only via pay-per-view. Saturday's Fulham v Arsenal match, meanwhile, is available on pay-per-view for soccer fans in North America, but not available at all in the UK.

How much does PremPlus cost UK soccer fans? The lowest price I could find is 50 GBP, which is $87 US. PremPlus gives you 50 pay-per-view matches over the entire season. Is this a sign of things to come for soccer fans in the States??

For Saturday entertainment, Fox Soccer Channel rules the airwaves. On Sundays, it's a different story as Sky Sports offers two live matches versus one delayed match on FSC. And on Monday, both sides of the pond get to watch the match live.