England Penalty Shoot Outs

• The first penalty shoot-out, or to give it it's official name "Kicks from the penalty mark", that England were involved in, was against Germany in the World Cup '90 semi-final.
  Penalty shoot-outs are covered in rule 10 of the game as dictated by the rule making body IFAB. They are primarily used in competitions where a result must be forced on the day. The first major tournament to include penalty shoot-outs was the 1976 European Championship. Prior to that there was usually a replay within a couple of days of the draw, or in the case of the Home Championship the title was shared. However, modern day football demands a winner. We are not convinced that winning on penalties should be classified as a full win - even FIFAs own ranking procedure doesn't give full points to a team who "won on penalties". Therefore we have taken the decision to classify penalty shoot-outs as draws. You might be inclined to think this a cynical tactic by us to ease the pain of England's usual capitulation in shoot-outs but please read on - England aren't that bad at taking penalties these days. Besides, the winner of the shoot-out progresses to the next round or is crowned champions - the loser gets nothing - not much to say for a team that has battled and matched their foe for one hundred and twenty minutes before the lottery of penalty kicks - we think that the least the victor can do is conceed a draw is worthy of both teams.