Big Sam feels robbed after FA Cup loss to Man U

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Sam Allardyce the manager of West Ham felt that a penalty should have been called but wasn’t when his team left the FA Cup with a 0-1 loss against Manchester United. The only goal was scored by Wanye Rooney in the third-round replay.

A penalty shot was missed in the second half, and it was due to referee Phil Dowd catching Jordan Spence getting his hand on the ball. While Allardyce wasn’t disputing that, he felt that the Hammers should have been given a penalty kick as well as Rafael seemed to also touch the ball illegally.

Allardyce told ITV that the was no doubt in his mind that Rafael committed a handball foul just like Spence’s. The only difference was that Spence was on the West Ham side, which was the away team. He implied that the referee was more lenient due to Rafael playing at home.

The manager continued by stating that this is nothing new at Old Trafford. While he acknowledged the ref was in a difficult spot to pick out the handball, he was in a worse position when he called Jordon Spence. Yet he managed to see that one.

On the other hand, United advanced to a fourth-round tie with Fulham, and Ryan Giggs of United said he was a relieved about it. Per his interview, he said that in the FA Cup anything can happen as many of the final results demonstrated. Nonetheless, he was please to get through, and he gave credit to West Ham as a tough opponent.

 

Italian football game cut short after racism incident

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A football game that was held last Thursday in Busto Arsizio had to be stopped. The game involved the teams Milan and Pro Patria and it was cut off in less than 30 minutes because the crowd started harassing and chanting racist remarks against the player Kevin-Prince Boateng, who belongs to the Milan team. The player didn’t take it well and he reacted negatively by kicking the ball to the crowd.

A representative from the other team, Dario Alberto Polverini, pleaded with Boateng to stay but apparently Boateng didn’t heed him as he proceeded to walk off the pitch along with his team members. Among those who walked out was Massimo Ambrosini, who is the captain of the team. Boateng wasn’t the only one targeted as other players namely Urby Emanuelson, M’Baye Niang and Sulley Muntari were also verbally abused by the crowd.

Boateng sounded off in Twitter saying that he was disappointed that such a thing happened. Massimilano Allegri, who was the coach of Team Milan, told the paper, Gazetta dello Sport that he was also disappointed at what happened. However, he respected his black players and considered walking out of the game as the right thing to do.

He later apologised for his team’s actions but he said that this was the only way for them to send a clear message against racism but he did, however, promise that they would have another try at the game. Ambrosini mentioned to the paper that from the moment the game started, he was very disappointed and annoyed with the crowd.

His intention was to give a clear message that they just couldn’t proceed with such a negative atmosphere. There were many who lauded Boateng’s actions particularly the anti-racist organisations. One such prominent anti-racist organisation, FARE, through their executive director, Piara Powar, called for further action from the Italian Football Association regarding the incident.

 

 

Cole believes he and Rio Ferdinand can be mates again

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Ashley Cole is ready to share a dressing room with England’s Rio Ferdinand after a statement saying that he believes that they can be pals again. Ferdinand and Cole fell out over Cole’s support of John Terry the Blues skipper.

However, Ferdinand may return for an international run with Cole when England attempts to take the World Cup qualifiers against Poland and San Marino.

Hodgson, the boss of England, has not spoken to Rio since he chose not to take him on the Euro 2012 squad, but now that Terry has decided to drop out of the world of international football he will have to do something.

Hodgson is not excited about the idea to take the Manchester United player back on his team, but Cole wants to make it clear that his strained relationship should not be a factor in the decision.

Cole was on the defence for Terry in a courtroom case against that charged Terry of racially abusing Rio’s brother. Terry was cleared of all of the charges but Ferdinand ended up with a FA fine after re-tweeting a racial comment against Cole.

Hillsborough report finally exonerates Liverpool fans

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Following the publication of a report into the Hillsborough disaster, English fans’ behaviour will be under the microscope for the next few games following calls to put a stop to sickening chants at games. The report which was released on Wednesday found Liverpool fans blameless for the 1989 FA Cup semi-final crush which killed 96 of the supporters. The report was widely welcomed although the club is still mocked by rival fans with hateful songs and chants.

A few fans from Manchester United sing about the Hillsborough disaster while some supporters from Liverpool gloat over the Munich air crash in 1958 which decimated the Manchester United team.

Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool manager, hopes that the independent panel’s findings would put a stop to the taunts. Rodgers told Liverpool’s website that he does not like to hear anything which associates tragedy and death to other people. He is saddened by the minority who attempt to smear the reputation of a club. Ferguson, manager of Manchester United, echoed the views of Rodgers. On Friday the Premier League said that the handshake between the teams which happens before the match will go ahead.

In November Chelsea were compelled to condemn some of their supporters after they chanted songs about Ferdinand in Belgium during a Champions League game: both clubs have since warned their supporters to behave. The Queens Park Rangers’ website published a reminder on Thursday about fan’s behaviour whilst on Chelsea’s website they sad that abuse and discrimination has no place in any football stadium.

Both Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers are going to work together with the police ensuring that anyone who uses inflammatory or discriminatory language on Saturday will be identified. The strongest possible action will then be taken against them, it was revealed in a statement.

 

Fleetwood Town FC reintroduce retro contest with modern twist

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Fleetwood Town FC reintroduce retro contest with modern twist

The 1948-9 Fleetwood Town programme entry relating to Face in the Crowd

BSE, the sponsors of Fleetwood Town FC are speculating over whether their new initiative that has recently been introduced on match days has also encourage the BBC sports programme ‘Match of the Day’ to include a somewhat similar retro aspect to their opening sequence.

In July, the commercial gas and energy supplier announced that they were launching a new, season long competition called ‘Face in the Crowd’. Every Fleetwood fan is photographed when they arrive at the ground, and all the pictures are then flashed across a 25 metre screen, and the 60 plasma TV’s linked to it, at some point during the match.

The screen freezes and the persons face displayed at time is the winner, who receives a signed football. Inspiration for the contest was taken from a programme dating from the 1948/9 season that was found in the archives of the club, and shows that a similar contest was run at the club is the post war period.

BES is actually reintroducing a retro contest and bringing it up-to-date through the use of modern technology and audio-visual equipment. The new opening title sequence of Match of the Day has also gone a little retro and features a similar face in the crowd contest from another match programme from yesteryear.

BES’s director, Michelle Davidson, says: “We had the idea of running the BES Face in the Crowd contest before we discovered the old match programme and prior to seeing the new Match of the Day titles.  We are delighted that our new contest is so ‘in vogue’, but also has reference to the past and the traditions of Fleetwood Town”.

The Fleetwood Town winners back in 1948 were a Mrs Roskell of Warren Street, a Mr F Robinson of Devon Avenue and a Mr H Mellor of Lower Lune Street. Top prize was £2 and 2 shillings, second prize £1 1shilling and third prize 10s 6d.

Whether any of their descendants are now Fleetwood Town supporters is not known, but BES would like any relatives of these winners from the 1940s to get in touch, if they are also  Fleetwood Town supporters, by calling Jane Hunt on 01253 891114.

“It would be great if we could get relatives of these three winners down to the club one day”, says Michelle Davidson. That way, we can really unite the past with the present”.

BES Commercial Gas is the main club sponsor for the 2012-13 season at Fleetwood Town FC, with BES Commercial Electricity being the Associate Club Sponsor.  Both energy suppliers are able to offer commercial customers substantial savings on their energy bills, of up to 40% on commercial gas and up to 50% on commercial electricity.