Welcome to Twelve Yards

Celebrating penalty glory and disaster

Welcome to the Twelve Yards newsletter!

My name is Ben Lyttleton and I am the author of Twelve Yards: The Art and Psychology of the Perfect Penalty.

Twelve Yards will be a regular newsletter looking at funny, brave and dramatic penalties from around the world. I will analyse the important penalties in all the big matches and will include exclusive interviews with psychologists, coaches and penalty heroes and villains to get their takes on the biggest penalty stories of the day.

This will be a community to share stories of penalty heartache and penalty glory; to celebrate and commiserate; and to share ideas and innovations. Because if there’s one thing I have learned from ten years of studying spot-kicks, it’s that everyone loves a penalty.

I would love you to get involved too, so please send me any penalty questions or theories that you would like to explore. In the coming weeks we will answer the following questions:

Can a Panenka penalty ever be disrespectful?

Which five current players would you pick for a penalty shoot-out?

How do penalty conversion rates differ in empty stadia?

Why does a skip before a penalty upset so many people? 

So step up to the spot – and don’t miss out!

Sign up now so you don’t miss the first issue - coming next week!

In the meantime, please tell your friends!