Worldwide worries at
costly move from .
com to
.
anything
Murad Ahmed and Simon de
Brixelles – The Times
A multibillion-pound plan to expand the
internet is mired in conflicts of interest,
raising concerns from the world’s
governments and largest businesses, an
investigation by The Times has found.
From January, companies and...
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Worldwide worries at costly move from . com to . anything Murad Ahmed and Simon de Brixelles – The Times A multibillion-pound plan to expand the internet is mired in conflicts of interest, raising concerns from the world’s governments and largest businesses, an investigation by The Times has found. From January, companies and groups can apply for a raft of new domain names — the suffixes to internet addresses. This means that as well as . com and . co. uk, soon there may be the likes of . google, . sex and . London. But key industry figures have raised questions about the independence of those who have made controversial plans to sell off the web’s “real estate”. Sources said the changes mean that thousands of British businesses and prominent people will be compelled to buy new web addresses to defend their online identities, costing them millions of pounds. “If you’re Unilever [maker of Dove soap], you’re going to want to defensively register dove. London and dove. chicago,” said
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From Stuartnoel
THE
2010-2011SEASONROOKS
Official Match Day Programme £2.
00
SATURDAY 22nd JANUARY 2011 BLUE SQUARE BET SOUTH KO 3.
00pm
STAINESTOWN
Photo: James Boyes
1000
/0
COMMUNITY
OWNED
Staines 2011 Prog AW.
qxd 20/1/11 09:53 Page 2
From Stuartnoel
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Pub. on Jan. 24th 2011
Pages: 40
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THE
2010-2011SEASONROOKS
Official Match Day Programme £2.
00
SATURDAY 13th NOVEMBER 2010 BLUE SQUARE BET SOUTH KO 3.
00pm
ST ALBANS CITY
Photo: James Boyes
1000
/0
COMMUNITY
OWNED
St Albans Prog AW.
qxd 10/11/10 15:08 Page 2
From Stuartnoel
Adobe PDF document
Pub. on Nov. 25th 2010
Pages: 40
Views: 314
Downloads: 8
THE
2010-2011SEASONROOKS
Official Match Day Programme £2.
00
SATURDAY 20th NOVEMBER 2010 FA TROPHY 3rd QR KO 3.
00pm
SALISBURY CITY
Photo: James Boyes
1000
/0
COMMUNITY
OWNED
Salisbury FAT Prog AW.
qxd 17/11/10 15:25 Page 2
From Stuartnoel
Adobe PDF document
Pub. on Nov. 24th 2010
Pages: 40
Views: 39
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www.
carshaltonathletic.
co.
uk Official Matchday Magazine £2
the robinsVS MAIDSTONE UNITED
Season 2010/11
Saturday 13th November 2010
Ryman Premier League
K.
O.
3.
00pm
From Stuartnoel
Adobe PDF document
Pub. on Nov. 12th 2010
Pages: 32
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THE
2010-2011SEASONROOKS
Official Match Day Programme £2.
00
SATURDAY 30th OCTOBER 2010 BLUE SQUARE BET SOUTH KO 3.
00pm
DARTFORD
Photo: James Boyes
1000
/0
COMMUNITY
OWNED
From Stuartnoel
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Pub. on Nov. 5th 2010
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A few months ago a fascinating story caught my eye in my Metro newspaper on my then
daily commute to London (now my commute takes less than 4 minutes from luxury
bachelor pad on the waterfront in cool Copenhagen to the office - well during the
week anyway!).
It was a story about a mad chap who had visited all 92 clubs in one...
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A few months ago a fascinating story caught my eye in my Metro newspaper on my then daily commute to London (now my commute takes less than 4 minutes from luxury bachelor pad on the waterfront in cool Copenhagen to the office - well during the week anyway!). It was a story about a mad chap who had visited all 92 clubs in one season and wolfed down a pie at each one - who would be so crazy to do such a thing? Well all of the TBIR team would have, and having picked up the hotline to HQ in Brighton I can confirm that the EFW team would be on that mini-bus too. Bolton Pie After months of searching for our elusive pie-muncher I had to fall back on the excellent match making skills of Claire from Sky Sports Magazine, who is an Angel of the First Degree (the highest honour TBIR can bestow on anyone) who put us in touch with Tom Dickinson, the Pie Man extraordinaire and the rest as we say in this industry is gravy. So here we go. Me, Tom and a plate full of assorted nibble
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From Stuartnoel
In April 2009 Forbes magazine published a list of the World 25 Richest clubs.
The list
unsurprisingly is headed by Manchester United and Real Madrid, with Arsenal surprisingly in third
place.
What how do they actually define profit? Well as only a few of the clubs in the Top 25 are
publically listed they can actually be very...
More
In April 2009 Forbes magazine published a list of the World 25 Richest clubs. The list unsurprisingly is headed by Manchester United and Real Madrid, with Arsenal surprisingly in third place. What how do they actually define profit? Well as only a few of the clubs in the Top 25 are publically listed they can actually be very ambiguous in how they class certain expenses and so the true position is slightly different. Profit is also a short term measure. You can run a business at a loss for years on end and pile up massive debt but in one year when you actually make profit you could appear on this list simply by selling one player, or the naming rights to a stadium. So Manchester United’s £80m sale of Christiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid will almost certainly keep them at the top of the list next season as that is money they apply straight away to their P & L. Now here’s the thing. Accounting regulations allow them to book that money straight away as revenue, despite the fact Real Ma
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From Stuartnoel
Stuart Fuller from the blog The Ball is Round (http://www.
theballisround.
co.
uk) talks about the
worst supported league in Europe.
Currently there are 53 countries affiliated to UEFA.
These are countries who are allowed to play
in tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and of course the European Championships.
But
there...
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Stuart Fuller from the blog The Ball is Round (http://www. theballisround. co. uk) talks about the worst supported league in Europe. Currently there are 53 countries affiliated to UEFA. These are countries who are allowed to play in tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and of course the European Championships. But there are only 52 which actually have a league of their own as Liechtenstein do not organise a league, preferring to play in the Swiss leagues. But which one is actually the worst supported? Step forward the Meistriliiga in one of my favourite countries, Estonia. Yes, with an average attendance in their top league of just 180 people, Estonia can claim to have the worst support league in Europe. Others come close, such as Georgia (average attendance 690), Latvia (448), Lithuania (880) and even San Marino (210) but Estonia take the dubious honour of having less people interested in the game than any other country. Their top league has 10 teams whic
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From Stuartnoel
Stuart Fuller from the blog The Ball is Round (http://www.
theballisround.
co.
uk) looks back to
1979.
.
.
I am a difficult person to buy things for at Christmas.
And to make matters worse my birthday is
just 12 days later.
But this year I had a few nice surprises, one of which was a selection of
England programmes from...
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Stuart Fuller from the blog The Ball is Round (http://www. theballisround. co. uk) looks back to 1979. . . I am a difficult person to buy things for at Christmas. And to make matters worse my birthday is just 12 days later. But this year I had a few nice surprises, one of which was a selection of England programmes from yesteryear. So let me take you back to October 1979 for England s European Championships qualifier against Denmark at Wembley, and what everyone was talking about. So firstly lets look at the price of getting a ticket for the game. Thanks to our trusty inflation calculator we can see that the price of tickets has far outstripped inflation. Ticket prices were £3 for standing and £5. 50, £6. 50, £8. 50 and £10. 50. With inflation these prices today would be £14. 81, £21. 15, £27. 50, £35. 96 and £44. 42. So how does that compare with Wembley today? £30, £40 and £60 are the prices we are charged for an equivalent game today. A
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From Stuartnoel
So every season around 45% of the 92 clubs replace their managers.
Most find another role
within months, with clubs ignoring the fact that the reason why they are available is that they
failed in a previous role.
Some managers are heralded as the next best thing, only to be on the
scrap heap within months.
Aidy Boothroyd,...
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So every season around 45% of the 92 clubs replace their managers. Most find another role within months, with clubs ignoring the fact that the reason why they are available is that they failed in a previous role. Some managers are heralded as the next best thing, only to be on the scrap heap within months. Aidy Boothroyd, appointed at Watford to a great fanfare took Watford into the promised land of the Premier League against all expectations. He was held up as a potential England Manager for the future and despite their swift relegation from the top table, Boothroyd was awarded a new 3 year deal by Watford in 2007. Just over a year later he was fired as Watford in November 2008 with the club in mid-table – a position they were in when he took over. Question – Who was the last English Manager to be voted “Manager of the Year”? We have already seen on this very blog the craziness around the sacking of Luton’s Mick Harford who was dismissed three days after masterm
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From Stuartnoel
Stuart Fuller from the blog The Ball is Round (http://www.
theballisround.
co.
uk) reflects on a decade
of football.
.
.
So ten years into the third millennium and football just keeps on changing.
The last decade has
seen the game become a huge global game where the amount of money in the Premier League
itself is more than...
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Stuart Fuller from the blog The Ball is Round (http://www. theballisround. co. uk) reflects on a decade of football. . . So ten years into the third millennium and football just keeps on changing. The last decade has seen the game become a huge global game where the amount of money in the Premier League itself is more than most countries GDP, so lets look at 10 facts from 10 years ago:1. The World’s most expensive player 10 years ago was Christian Vieri who moved from Lazio to Inter in 1999 for £32m. In the last decade the most expensive fee has risen by 150% to £80m for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. Apart from the summer of madness at Real Madrid transfers have been relatively flat during the decade after the Vieri deal with that amount only being topped on four occasions 2. In the 1999/2000 Premier League, nine of the bottom 10 teams now ALL play outside the Premier League (Watford, Sheffield Wednesday, Wimbledon, Bradford City, Derby County, Southampton, Cov
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From Stuartnoel
Stuart Fuller from the blog The Ball is Round (http://www.
theballisround.
co.
uk) talks about his
experience in dealing with Football club administrators.
In my dim and distant past I had unparalleled access to the Football League clubs, trying to help
them as an "outsider" to maximise their commercial revenue streams.
I was lucky...
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Stuart Fuller from the blog The Ball is Round (http://www. theballisround. co. uk) talks about his experience in dealing with Football club administrators. In my dim and distant past I had unparalleled access to the Football League clubs, trying to help them as an "outsider" to maximise their commercial revenue streams. I was lucky enough to dine at the top table on a number of occasions, attending regular Commercial meetings organised by the Football League and attended by the great and the good of the administrators of the game. I was wined and dined in executive boxes at major finals by clubs wanting to see if they could persuade me to open my purse strings. It is very very rare for people in the commercial positions to remain in their posts for more than a season. They, like the football managers, are moved on regularly for failing to hit their objectives, re-emerging a few weeks later at another club despite the fact they had essentially been sacked for non-performance. And
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From Stuartnoel
The Reebok, The Emirates, The JJB, The Weston Homes Community Stadium, The A-Line
Arena.
.
.
Household names I am sure but does sponsorship in football actually work?
Do the fans care? Do the fans actually have any brand allegiance?
I have asked this question time and time again to people I have met in football.
All of them...
More
The Reebok, The Emirates, The JJB, The Weston Homes Community Stadium, The A-Line Arena. . . Household names I am sure but does sponsorship in football actually work? Do the fans care? Do the fans actually have any brand allegiance? I have asked this question time and time again to people I have met in football. All of them say "of course it does" but as a football fan, and a season ticket holder with one of Europe s top 20 richest clubs (fact!) I would say categorically NO. Sponsorship executed well can have a positive effect, but there is also a balance. Most football fans can remember that Arsenal used to be sponsored by JVC during the 1980 s and 90 s. What impact did this have? Well Spurs fans actively avoided buying JVC in the fear their mates might find out they were supporting the "enemy". Yet Arsenal fans would still buy the cheapest product available, with little allegiance for their club s sponsor. Would any Aston Villa fans fly with FlyBe if they h
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From Stuartnoel
Stuart Fuller from the blog theballisround.
co.
uk takes a look at what is happening to attendances
at the lower levels in England.
"Twenty years ago automatic promotion from the Conference to the Football League structure
was introduced, with Scarborough becoming the first club to "step up to the big time" with Lincoln
City falling...
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Stuart Fuller from the blog theballisround. co. uk takes a look at what is happening to attendances at the lower levels in England. "Twenty years ago automatic promotion from the Conference to the Football League structure was introduced, with Scarborough becoming the first club to "step up to the big time" with Lincoln City falling into the unknown of Non-League football. For years many well run, well supported non-league clubs had been denied their chance in the league thanks to an anarchaic process that involved the chairman of the league clubs voting on who should stay in. Wimbledon and Wigan Athletic were the last two teams voted into the league in the late Seventies, replacing Workington and Southport respectively. This decision was justified with both teams going onto reach the Premier League and a major domestic cup final apiece, whilst the teams they replaced are still knocking around in the Blue Square North. Who is to stay what the league structure would have looked lik
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From Stuartnoel
Stuart Fuller from the Theballisround.
co.
uk blog takes a further look at the silly world of Shirt
sponsorship.
"Is it any wonder that we are still seeing silly transfer deals going through, with sums changing
hands more than the total GDP in some countries when cash is flowing into the game in other
areas.
We recently...
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Stuart Fuller from the Theballisround. co. uk blog takes a further look at the silly world of Shirt sponsorship. "Is it any wonder that we are still seeing silly transfer deals going through, with sums changing hands more than the total GDP in some countries when cash is flowing into the game in other areas. We recently looked at commercial deals in general in this very programme but we now want to look at Shirt Sponsorship again after World Soccer Magazine published its findings. As of the start of 2010/11 season, the traditional Top 4 in the English Premier League will be earning close to £58m PER ANNUM just for selling the space on their shirts. Leading the silly money stakes are surprisingly in times of banking crisis, a bank. Not just any old bank but one that has run into major issues with the sub-prime market in the US. Step forward Standard Chartered Bank who are taking over the shirt sponsorship from Carlsberg at Anfield. They feel that an investment
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From Stuartnoel
Stuart Fuller from the blog The Ball is Round (http://www.
theballisround.
co.
uk) takes a look at
attendances in the Top European leagues.
Mirror, Mirror on the wall.
.
.
Who is the fairest of them all? Well in terms of football in Europe it
comes as no surprise that at the halfway point in the season, Germany leads the way in terms...
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Stuart Fuller from the blog The Ball is Round (http://www. theballisround. co. uk) takes a look at attendances in the Top European leagues. Mirror, Mirror on the wall. . . Who is the fairest of them all? Well in terms of football in Europe it comes as no surprise that at the halfway point in the season, Germany leads the way in terms of attendances. A country that scoffs at the idea of ripping off the fans and consequently charges an average of 26 Euros to watch a top level game. A country where the drinking before, during and after the game is compulsory. A country where sausages are the national dish and a country that has invested billions into the football infrastructure. But what is the situation like in other countries? Read on to find out what is happening in the top 15 leagues in Europe. . . . . 15th Place - Sweden - Allsvenskan average attendance 7,928 Two major new stadiums opened in Sweden in 2009 season which was responsible for the small growth in average attendances
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From Stuartnoel
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