Past Poll Results: 2006

Who should be the next England manager?
There were many contenders for English football's top job including a whole host of young, ambitious, home grown managers. Most people seemed to be in favour of an English candidate but there were also calls for another overseas appointment such as Felipe 'Big Phil' Scolari, Fabio Capello or Guus Hiddink. We lumped them all together as 'Johnny Foreigner' and they received 24% of the vote, coming second in our poll, behind Martin O'Neill on 26%. In the event, both were overlooked with the FA plumping for Steve McClaren. The 'boro boss only came fifth in our poll on 6.6%, behind both Sam Allardyce (14%) & Stuart Pearce (12%). Paul Jewell, Bryan Robson and Alan Curbishley attracted few votes..

Who will win the African Nations Cup?
The year started with the African Nations Cup in Egypt, and as often happens, the host nation lifted the trophy. They were one of the pre-tournament favourites and they won our poll with a massive 40% of the vote. Cameroon were second favourites according to voters in our poll, with 20% of the vote and Nigeria came third with almost 17%. Tunisia - the previous winners - and Ivory Coast - who made the final this time around - were tied on 10% of the vote each and Senegal attracted just over 3%.

Past Poll Results: 2005

Who should be World Player of the Year?
There was an extremely convincing winner of our traditional end of year poll. Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho was your clear favourite with an incredible 62% of the vote thanks to a succession of eye-catching performances for club and country. This time he eclipsed the rest of the field, having finished as runner up in last year's poll (see below). Surprisingly, Peter Crouch came in second with 20% of the vote and Steven Gerrard and Adriano were tied in third place with just under 7%. Frank Lampard and last year's winner Andrij Shevchenko failed to attract many votes. (Click here for the results of the official About a Ball Awards 2005).

Which is the most exciting league this season?
With many of the major European leagues looking set for a season long procession towards the inevitable crowning of the run-away leaders as champions come next May, we asked which is the most exciting league this season. Despite Chelsea's seemingly unassailable lead, almost 50% of you still tipped the Premiership as the most gripping. The Scottish Premier League may not have such a high standard of play, but the title race is certainlt more interesting than in recent years, with Herts challenging the traditional Glasgow hegemony. 23% voted for the SPL. In third place was Spain's La Liga with 18% and trailing behind were Serie A (6%) and the Bundesliga (3%).

Who will make the biggest impact in England?
We asked which of the five biggest name summer imports to the Premiership will have the most success in English football. Park Ji-Sung came top with almost 35% of the vote and he's beginning to show some of his potential on the wing for United. In second place with 29% was Arsenal's Belorussian winger Alexander Hleb, with Chelsea's Basque left-back Asier Del Horno third on 17%. Mohamed Sissoko (Liverpool, 12%) and Emre Belozoglu (Newcastle, 8%) didn't inspire so much confidence.

What's the best summer sport?
In a bid to find out what our readers like to do during the short annual break from football (other than watching the plethora of summer tournaments) we asked you to rate several summer sports. Tennis proved to be the most popular activity with 37% of the vote. It was followed by cricket on 34% and cycling with 14%. Crazy Golf got a respectable 11% but bowls only appeals to 3% of you.

What really annoys you?
A non-football related poll for a change, but it still captured your imagination. Junk mail seems to really get on many people's nerves with a staggering 33% of you picking it out as the most annoying irritation. Rugby came in second with 25% of the vote and pollution polled almost 17%. Terrorism and poverty don't worry that many of you, only capturing 12% of the vote each..

Who would make the best Pope?
Once again there was a massive response to our poll and this one really did split opinion. Three of the four contenders were inseparable, gaining almost a third of the vote each. Jose Mourinho's charisma and Sepp Blatter's megalomania obviously appealed to many of you, whereas many more went for the continuity option of another Polish goalkeeper - Jerzy Dudek. Unsurprisingly, only 14% thought that Lee Bowyer would make a good Pope.

Who will win the Champions League?
Of the eight quarter finalists, you thought that Italian outfit AC Milan have the best chance of success in Istanbul - over 40% of you voted for the rossoneri. Chelsea were a distant second with 16%, followed by Lyon and Liverpool on 13% each. Bayern and Juventus got 8% apiece with Inter and PSV lagging further behind.

Who most deserves a chance in the England team this year?
In one of the biggest ever responses to an About a Ball poll, Shaun Wright-Phillips eclipsed the other options by gaining a massive 63% of the vote. His Premiership form duly earned him his first England start in a friendly against Holland at Villa Park but he failed to impress and got injured a few weeks later meaning he'll have to wait for a chance to claim the regular England spot many of you believe he merits. Other England debutants Andy Johnson and Stewart Downing earned 17% & 12% respectively and Matthew Upson picked up 7% of the vote.

Past Poll Results: 2004

Who should win World Player of the Year?
Almost half of you agreed with us in choosing Andriy Shevchenko as World Player of the Year. Deco came in second with 20% of the vote, closely followed by Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry. Wayne Rooney only managed 6% of the vote but his time will come - he won our Young Player of the Year award.

How should FIFA react to the racist chants by Spanish fans?
Opinion was split over the most suitable punishment for the Spanish FA in the light of the vile racist chants by large sections of their support at the Spain-England match in Madrid in November. Around 42% of you thought that Spain should be docked some World Cup qualifying points and about the same amount wanted Spain to play a match behind closed doors. 15% thought that the Spanish FA should escape with only a fine.

Who will be top scorer at Euro 2004?
Thierry Henry was your pre-tournament favourite with just over 25% of the votes but he failed to deliver. Ruud Van Nistelrooy got just over 14% and did produce the goods to justify this faith in his ability. Michael Owen and Pauleta both scored 11% but had disappointing form in front of goal. Jan Koller, Christian Vieri and David Trezeguet failed to pick up many votes and also failed to challenge for the top scorers award in Portugal. Over 28% of you thought that somebody else would be top scorer and several other players got themselves in contention for the honour (Baros, Rooney, Larsson, Zidane, etc).

Who will win Euro 2004?
Almost a quarter of you (24.6%) agreed with the bookies and went for favourites France. Home support probably contributed to England coming in second place with just over 17% of the vote. Italy were not far behind on 14%. Portugal, Holland and Spain all scored between 8 and 9 per cent and were followed by the Czech Republic and Germany. Only 4.6% of you thought that another team might win it.

Past Poll Results: 2002 - 2003