Kicking off the new season

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It's high summer, which must mean it's time for this year's football season to begin. For years, British football fans were denied what their devotion warranted: a quality footy daily. Today, however, like every other branch of the media, the web is saturated with the beautiful game. Inevitably, most of the coverage chases advertising revenue, which means there are a lot of Premiership spin-off sites. The remainder play up their obsessive credentials as a sign of their dedication.

Football 365 (www.football 365.co.uk) is one such, but at least it can walk the talk. As comprehensive as you could possibly wish, it has news, gossip, match reports, features and the ubiquitous Andy Gray. The site itself is busy on the eye and, in the manner of the true anorak, smothers you with its erudition.

For the essentials regarding the up-coming season, the various on-line versions of the daily papers are a good bet. Of these the Electronic Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk) provides a straightforward and detailed results service across all divisions. There are sites, though, which treat you neither as a compulsive purchaser of replica kits nor stat-heads. The on-line version of the game's original fanzine, When Saturday Comes (www.wsc.co.uk), is oriented to the regular fan. Even it, though, is conscious of financial considerations, choosing not to furnish its witty site with much editorial - you'll need to subscribe to the mag proper for that.

Bringing up baby

www.ndirect.co.uk/stephen.masters/carolinaweb

There's nothing quite like another parent full of their personal child-rearing bliss to put you off babies altogether. Carolina Web, the on-line diary of a growing toddler as compiled by her family, takes this offspring grandstanding to Truman Show proportions. If you can stomach this, though, there are a lot of sites dedicated to bringing up your baby. Babyworld (www.babyworld.co.uk) is a well organised example, taking a quasi-medical approach to the experience. UK Mums is another voluminous links site (www.ukmums.co.uk), with numerous web pages offering advice on everything from conception to teenage afflictions. Dismayingly, most of these are aimed at mothers - though a little searching can provide a good few catering for the other half of the equation.