Bolton Wanderers will pull together and hope for the best in the aftermath of midfielder Fabrice Muamba’s close brush with death last weekend. The match with Tottenham was called off when Muamba collapsed on the pitch and was rushed to the London Chest hospital. Following a cardiac arrest that left him technically dead for well over an hour, the 23-year-old was miraculously revived, and according to latest reports he is in a stable condition, but his long-term prospects are still uncertain.

Wanderers captain Kevin Davies has said he’s amazed and gratified by the quick response of medical personnel who saved Muamba’s life, as well as the sincere concern expressed by fans and players. Davies was the first team member to see Muamba in hospital, and told reporters that it was too soon to think about anything beyond the immediate future.

Davies was among the handful of players who turned out for training on Monday. He says the team is still pretty much in shock, but for himself and others the best thing to do is carry on; that’s what Muamba would want.

Team manager Owen Coyle has also expressed his appreciation for the overwhelming response from all quarters. In reference to the match scheduled for this Saturday with Blackburn Rovers, the first one since Muamba’s collapse, Coyle said that any team member who doesn’t feel ready for it will be excused. But, he says, whoever does take to the field will be doing their best for Fabrice and for the team

iPhone and iPad, 60 Seconds Football is a brand new take on football games from Quirky Enterprises

iPhone and iPad, 60 Seconds Football is a brand new take on football games from Quirky Enterprises

Gone are the days of boring free kicks and penalties!  

 Mobile gamers looking for their next footie fix have to wait no longer, as 60 Seconds Football is here! This is a totally new game that makes you use both skill and timing to score goals from volleys and headers, and only the best get to see their names in lights on the global table of high scores.

 The whole aim of the game is to see how many goals you score within 60 seconds and can only score by heading or volleying the ball. This means that you have to control the ball before slamming it into the back of the net. While this may sound easy, every league in the Classic mode has amateur, professional, world class and legendary giving differing levels of difficulty.

 These can make scoring even more difficult, and you have to beat more players, better keepers and score more goals in 60 seconds to be able to rise up the rankings.

60 Seconds Football lets you play the Amateur League for free – with multiple levels of increasing difficulty where you need to beat the keeper and score enough goals in 60 seconds or less to progress. Plus you can polish your skills in the Practice mode. The Professional, World Class and Legendary Leagues as well as the Target and Goal modes are available in the full version of the game via in-app purchase.

In addition, you will be helping young adults across the UK to make a positive change in their lives, as a proportion of every full download of 60 Seconds Football will be donated to Street League – the football charity whose ambassador is Robin van Persie.

Street League is a charity that changes lives through football.  They use structured street football and education programmes to help disadvantaged young people aged 16-25 who are out of work, to find jobs or get back into education or training. In 2010, Street League worked with over 2,000 young people across the UK with approx. 500 going on to attend a Street League Academy.  3 out of 4 Academy Graduates get a job or return to education – all through the power of football.

Game features:

  • Score as many goals as you can in 60 Seconds to progress – increasing difficulty levels test even the fastest fingertip footballers

  • Awesome 3D graphics

  • Super-precise fingertip swipe and flick controls

  • Three great game modes – Classic, Target and Goal

  • Free version of the game comes with the Amateur League already unlocked and playable

  • Unlock the full game – including Professional, World Class and Legendary Leagues as well as the Target and Goal Modes – for just 69p

  • Customise everything about your player from hair down to boots, to replicate your favourite player and team in the unlockable ‘kit room’ for just an additional 69p

  • Challenge your friends via Facebook, Twitter and Game Centre to see if you can top the global leaderboards with your skills!

  • A proportion of every full download of 60 Seconds Football will be donated to Street League – the football charity

60 Seconds Football is a brand new game designed and conceptualized by Quirky Enterprises and built in association with The Chelsea Apps Factory. It is available from today for iPhone and iPad. The game is free to download and play in the Amateur League, with the other modes and leagues in the game costing 69p to unlock.

Key app information

 

SportsDirect.com invites you to discuss your ultimate football team

SportsDirect.com invites you to discuss your ultimate football team

All football fans have what they think is the ultimate dream team, their selection of 11 of the greatest players who they feel, should they combine, will be capable of winning every cup and title available to club football. For those fans who live, breathe and talk football, you can now talk to like-minded fans in the Facebook page created by SportsDirect.com, the top UK retailer of football boots

The team from SportsDirect.com have opened up a discussion forum for anyone who wants to create their ultimate dream team. Unlike other dream team competitions, this time can include any footballer who has ever lived, so you can have George Best playing with Wayne Rooney if you want to. Once you have chosen your star team, you can tell the world about them with World XI.

The editor of 4 4 2 magazine, David Hall, recently logged on and told SportsDirect.com which 11 players he would have on his team, and why. His team was packed with legends of the game such as Booby Moore who, according to Hall, could read a game so well he could play entire matches in the rain without getting his kit dirty. Other inclusions are Sir Bobby Charlton, Zinedine Zidane and Deigo Maradona.

This is certainly a dream team to be reckoned with, and that’s just the start. If you reckon you can put together an even better line up, then get yourself onto www.facebook.com/SportsDirectUK . Discuss your team with others and have your own World XI featured on this official Facebook page.

 

 

Sky fantasy football  Whether it is for the general love of the game, or of your club, with the help of a master step by step guide you can put together the dream team through your allotted £75 million. Throughout the season you get 30 transfers of which you can use five per month so you can change many of those that are not scoring.

While at times it is worth a change here and there after opening weeks if it appears your players just do not have it or are out of favour but do use them all up too early since an injury can strike at any time and usually at the most unexpected of times.

Also transfers are good if a team has a good run and they have some favourable fixtures or two in one week. You can make unlimited changes until the ball is kicked away on August 13.

In fantasy football captain changing can happen all you like and it is worth following the form of all the players plus their opponents as your skipper receives double points and that pick could change a good week to great.

You can make the formations the way you want them and either go on the attack and go for broke or park the bus and let it come to you. No matter what you decide as the formation the only thing to remember is not more than two players are allowed from the same club.

First and most important you want players that always play since there are no points if they are sitting. Just being in the first eleven gives you an instant two points with a substitution giving you one.

Each goal earns five points and three points for an assist plus an additional five if you have the man of the match. Yellow cards also come into effect since they start accumulating them and each yellow costs one point and a red will cost three. A penalty missed will cost you an additional three. There are also live point updates on match days allowing you to keep track of your team scores.

TOP TEAMS LIGHT UP THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY?  –         New Research Shows Player Power Could Illuminate The FA Cup Final –

There are still four rounds left before the FA Cup Final comes around which means that there are still plenty of twists to come before the final two teams are chosen to compete in May.  Whichever two clubs make it to the will have used more than their fare share of energy by the time they make it to Wembley however if new research released today is to be trusted.

According to the study commissioned by sponsor and well known energy company E.ON titled aptly the ‘Player Power’ study over the course of the season both lucky Finalist teams will have consumed more than four million kilojoules which is the same amount it takes to power the Wembley stadium.

The figures are based off of last season’s match of Chelsea versus Everton when the clubs played in 100 games combined with each team spending about 37,000 kilojoules per match which is the same amount of energy that it takes to light up the stadium light bulbs for ninety minutes.

The study, which forms part of E.ON’s Energy Fit campaign*, investigated the average energy consumption of a professional footballer and analysed data captured from this season’s FA Cup competition to identify how the modern player applies himself on the pitch during a match.

Typically, in a game players make more than 1,000 changes in activity – altering their speed of movement every four to six seconds, and covering around nine miles. On average, this intense period of activity consumes over 4,000 kilojoules of energy, which equates to 680 watts. That’s an equivalent amount of energy to light a three-bedroom house for 90 minutes, run a television for 4 hours or boil enough water for an entire team to enjoy a half-time cuppa.

In analysing the player performance data from key games in The FA Cup this season, the report also found that Premiership rivals Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City are the powerhouses of the domestic game in more ways than one.

Against Southampton in the Third Round in January, United players Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs covered a combined distance of over 12 miles, using 6806 kilojoules of energy in the process, which is enough power to keep Sir Alex Ferguson’s hairdryer – the real one – going for over two hours.

England and Man City midfield duo, James Milner and Adam Johnson, both covered over 15 miles in their victory over Leicester City in The FA Cup, consuming 8435 kilojoules of energy – equivalent to watching 16 games of football on a 42” plasma TV.

It also revealed that The FA Cup has the ability to inspire and raise the performance levels of players outside the top flight, but it’s often the touch of international class and ruthless efficiency in front of goal that brings the top clubs through. As a team, Leeds United, York City and Huddersfield Town all notched up over 70 miles (almost three marathons) during their recent FA Cup matches – a tenth more than their Premiership opposition – but despite this they couldn’t quite match the star qualities of individual players such as Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, who were both instrumental in keeping Arsenal in the competition, despite not playing a full game.

Dr David James, senior lecturer in Sports Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University said:

“This study looked into how a modern player applies themselves on the pitch during FA Cup matches. It was interesting to see that The FA Cup really does seem to inspire teams to raise their game but as they go toe-to-toe physically, it is quite clear that how you use your energy is a critical factor. The energy consumed by each footballer was determined by looking at the time they spent in seven different ‘intensity zones’ during a specific match. Using this knowledge and video tracking data of specific players it was possible to create a mathematical model to calculate the energy consumed by different footballers. The total value of energy consumed during the match can then be converted into an average ‘power’ rating by looking at the rate of energy consumption, which can be then applied to electrical products around the home.”

Simon Breakell, Sponsorship PR Manager, added:

“Energy efficiency is about using your energy wisely and when it really matters; at home it can save you money and on the pitch it can win you games. Our research statistically backs up what we already know and love about The FA Cup – giant killings are a combination of hard work, endeavour and a bit of luck along the way. It’s just a shame we can’t connect these players to the national grid, otherwise we’d perhaps have some unlikely heroes in tackling climate change”.

To understand how E.ON’s Energy Fit campaign can make help you save money on your energy bill, visit: www.eonenergyfit.com. The website features an online calculator that will determine the ‘energy fitness’ of a property and provide specific recommendations to help improve its rating.

As part of their campaign, E.ON’s Energy Fit Experience will be touring the country starting this weekend in Sheffield. The Experience is an interactive exhibition which aims to raise awareness of energy efficiency by harnessing the excitement and magic of the world’s oldest Cup competition, and demonstrate ways in which you can save money by reducing your energy bills. The experience kicks off at Meadowhall shopping centre on Friday 18 February to Sunday 20 February and offers football fans and their families a fun day out and the opportunity to win exclusive FA Cup prizes. E.ON’s Energy Fit Experience will also visit Manchester (Arndale Centre, 25-27 February), Birmingham (Bullring, 04-06 March), London (O2, 18-20 March) and Nottingham (Victoria Centre, 08-10 April).

*E.ON’s Energy Fit campaign is a campaign designed to help you use your energy more wisely and in turn, save you money. Whether it’s your business or even your football club, E.ON can give you the tools to create your own personal energy saving plan. By putting you in control, you can set your own goals, tailored specifically to your needs. Visit eonenergyfit.com to start your own journey.