How to save money on parking at Wembley Stadium  A day out at a football match at Wembley Stadium costs an arm and a leg.  With the ever increasing costs of tickets, food, drink, replica kit and travel involved with attending a match, there is at least one-way in which you might be able to save some cash.  With only a few weeks to go until the FA Cup Final at Wembley, Parkatmyhouse.co.uk, is an  online marketplace that connects property owners with a spare parking space to drivers in need of a convenient and affordable place to park, has reported a surge in bookings from fans keen to save time and money.

Controlled parking schemes that operate in local areas around Wembley and other London stadiums mean parking, where available, is expensive. Around Wembley Stadium, motorists who are unable to take public transport can expect to pay parking fees of up to £27.50 for a car and £63.50 for a coach/mini-bus. Football supporters have been quick to discover that renting privately through Parkatmyhouse.co.uk costs as little as £7.50 to attend the match.

Brian Stewart, a 43 year old market analyst, has been renting his driveway in Wembley for two years. “Most of my customers are families with young children. Many drive long distances so they are grateful for my offer of a cup of tea and use of my loo on arrival. And if they parked at the stadium they can only leave their car there for the duration of the match. With my driveway there is no time limit so they can enjoy a full family day out.”

Mike Barrett, a security consultant living in Southampton parked on Brian’s drive last year and has just rebooked to attend the FA Cup Carlsberg Vase Final between Whitley Bay and Wroxham in May. “It’s more economical to park on someone’s drive near Wembley”, he says. “And given security is my game I am very conscious that his drive is a safe place to leave my car. It’s in a safe area, it’s close to the grounds, and I know that Brian will take care of it.”

More details at Parkatmyhouse.co.uk

Becks is still highest earning player  David Beckham is still the highest earning football player across the globe for the third year in a row, according to the annual feature in Forbes magazine. In 2009 the 35 year old football player earned £40m out of which 80% came from his sponsors, who include Giorgio Armani, Adidas, and Motorola. Beckham unfortunately is predicted to lose some of his larger sponsorship money this year due to the fact that he tore his archilles tendon in March, which will force him to sit out the South African World Cup. Second on the Forbes list was Christiano Ronaldo who earned £30m in the past year. Credits to his name include the 2008 World Player of the Year and the title of the highest salary paid football player in the world when Real Madrid purchased him from Manchester United. His contract is for six years and started at about £15.5m but will increase by a quarter every year after. Sponsors of Ronaldo include Coca-Cola, Giorgio Armani, and Nike. In third place on the list of top earners is Kaka also a Madrid player who earns £25m per year. His sponsors are also Giorgio Armani and Adidas. Fourth place is Ronaldinho who also earns £25m per year and in fifth place is the Barcelona striker from France Thierry Henry who earns about £24m per year. Last year Beckham was estimated by Forbes to have earned £46m while Ronaldinho was estimated to make £33m in second place and Henry was in third place with £28m.

Manchester United still top club money wise  Manchester United may not have earned a place in the Champions League and will have to scrape to keep their Premier League title, but they still have been able to keep the lead as one of the most valuable clubs globally.

In this year’s Forbes Magazine list of the top twenty football teams, the Old Trafford club held onto top position with a value of £1.19bn, which is a two percent decrease from last year.

England landed seven clubs on the list, although the Premier League is known as the most indebted club league throughout Europe.

Showing up on the list was Arsenal in third, Liverpool in sixth place, Chelsea in ninth, Tottenham Hotspur in 12th, and near the bottom in 19th place is Manchester City.

The last team on the list was a surprise as Newcastle United made the list even though they are currently in relegation for the Championship.

Forbes business sports writer, Peter Schwartz, stated that Manchester United deserves a bit of praise for its continual resilience and its place as one of the largest global sporting brands.

Schwartz continued to say that the club has made itself one of the first class brands out of all world sporting brands with great marketing and new kit deals that have helped them continue to hold their status even in the face of the global recession.

Over the last season the twenty most valuable clubs together generated a total of £422m in operating income and combined revenues of £3.57b.

Having paid out on Chelsea as winners of the Premier League on Friday top bookie Paddy Power are this morning facing the prospect of a £500,000 cock-up after Paul Scholes’ last minute winning goal in the Manchester Derby and Spurs unexpected 2-1 win over League leaders Chelsea has thrown the title race open again.

Reacting to yesterday’s results Paddy Power were forced to slash the odds on Manchester United winning the title from 6/1 to 11/8 and pushed Chelsea’s odds from 1/7 to 8/13.

Paddy Power said “I’m guessing it’s far too late to say our early payout on Chelsea was a belated April Fools joke? It looks like the football Gods are conspiring to teach us a very expensive lesson”

Paddy Power has long had a reputation for calling the title first for their punters each season. In the 2005/06 season the bookie correctly crowned Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea the champs as early as September after the London club raced into an unassailable lead. But the bookie hasn’t always got it right.

In 2003 Paddy Power paid out early on Arsenal (with a 12-point lead) as Premiership winners at the start of March. The Gunners surrendered their title with a 3-2 home defeat against Leeds United in the penultimate game of the season effectively handing the title to Manchester United and costing the Bookie a very expensive double payout on the Premiership that season!


LATEST TITLE ODDS

8/13 Chelsea (from 1/7)
11/8 Man Utd (from 6/1)
12/1 Arsenal (from 25/1)

Portsmouth still want place in Europe  Portsmouth plans to appeal to the FA in an effort to secure a Uefa club licence so that they can play next season in Europe.

The team led by Avram Grant had one of the finest shows of the season this week when they took on Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley and won 2-0 allowing them to move on to the FA Cup Final.

The stunning victory came just a day after they were once again confirmed part of the Barclays Premier League, but due to their financial plight there is a large amount of doubt about whether they will actually be allowed to take back a place in the Europa League.

As Chelsea has secured their chance to play in the Champions League, normally Portsmouth could claim the Europa League Place given to the winner of the FA Cup, but since the club is in administration they would not be able to formally apply for a Uefa licence which is required.

Portsmouth administrator, Andrew Andronikou, however has said that the team will appeal to the FA and are currently seeking legal advice and starting the process if the club is able to launch the appeal come Friday.

Andronikou continued to state that clearly they are qualified to pitch for the league, but in terms of financial covenants they may not be qualified.

He continued to say that although he feels that they do have grounds for an appeal, he is not certain but plans to act in accordance with the 100,000 Portsmouth fans and try to make the best move he can for the club.