A grand day out for Coleen Rooney

by

Today was the biggest day in the racing calendar, the Grand National, and one of the UK most famous WAGs turned up looking exceptionally stylish, despite being 8 months pregnant. Coleen Rooney stepped out in a clinging, black lycra dress which emphasised her bump and a lace panel over her boobs. She teamed with a killer set of scarlet heels, dismissing the myth that those so close to giving birth have to live in flats.

Coleen is always a head of the game when it comes to fashion, and her maternity outfits never fail to impress either. She has appeared in a series of great outfits since she announced that she was pregnant with the couple’s second son, who is due to make an appearance next month. Accompanying her to Aintree were her mum Colette McLoughlin, herself looking a lot colourful than we are used to in a turquoise dress with with bright yellow handbag and shoes.

Although husband Wayne was at home injured, Coleen did bring along his little mini-me; 3 year old son Kai. The youngest member of the party was looking very stylish in a pale blue and white ensemble with striped pants, and he even brought along his own Buzz Lightyear booster seat to ensure he missed none of the action on the course.

Wayne’s boss was there too but not as a mere spectator, Sir Alex Ferguson had two horses in the starting line up; What a Friend and Harry the Viking. Neither were in it at the finish however, with the surprise winner being the 66-1 shot Aurora’s Encore. Whether any of Coleen’s group won a few quid is unknown, but if there are was a style race Mrs Rooney would have won by a length.

There’s snakes on the pitch

by

Kalyani Stadium staff was busy with some extra clean up action the other day when it was discovered that over a dozen poisonous snakes had made their ways inside, right onto the field, endangering any future footballer who anyone else who may have wanted to go practice on that field.

This happened after Mohun Bagans I-League had their match against the Arrows, and the stadium was thankfully empty of any fans. A local newspaper, the Indian Express, said that the local city council attributed this influx of snakes to the unusual summer heat that the region has been under. It is not yet known if the next match will be able to take place, but so far the authorities are confident that the problem has been dealt with.

50 years of footballing fashion on display at the National Football Museum Manchester

by

If you haven’t yet paid a visit to the National Football Museum since its relocation from Preston to Manchester, it’s new exhibition might just be the one to tempt you in. The name; Strike a Pose; 50 years of Football and Fashion is a complete giveaway and takes a look at everything that links both football and fashion from the way that kits have evolved over the years, through the many dodgy haircuts and the rise and rise of the WAG.

This is not merely a fashion show however, as the exhibition effectively deals with how the coupling of the beautiful game and fashion have changed both society and popular culture and also led to violence in the terraces. Inspired by the best selling book from 2004; The Fashion of Football From Best to Beckham, From Mod to Label Slave by Mark Baxter and Paolo Hewitt, they have run with the authors’ belief that what unites fashion and football is passion.

Things started to change in the 1960’s when the footballing minimum wage was scrapped and they could then start to lead more lavish lifestyles than their predecessors could ever have dreamt of. Fans started to take sartorial inspiration from their stylish icons, a trend that continues today. The late and great George Best owned a fashion boutique in Manchester on Bridge Street, so it is fitting that the exhibition looks at the part he played in the 60’s.

Another fun inclusion from recent times is the ovecoat favoured by Jose Mourinho during his time at Chelsea, and itself an inspiration for a song sung by the fans at matches. There have also been some notable faux pas, lest we forget those white suits the Liverpool team sported before the FA Cup Final in 1996. Gamely, Robbie Fowler has supplied one of these offensive items for the exhibition, fine in 76′ but a definite no no two decades later.

It hasn’t yet been disclosed which famous hairstyles have made the cut but obvious inclusions would be the Keegan bubble perm and the 80’s mullets sported by Glen Hoddle and Chris Waddle. There are many photographs on display courtesy of one of Britain’s finest photographers Terry O’Neill who shot to fame in the 60’s with his candid shots of celebs. An avid footie fan, O’Neill happily provided images for the display, including a great shot of a very young Bobby Moore, described by the museum as an unlikely style icon.

The dark side of football is also explored and looks at the links between the terraces and the skinheads, mods, casuals and how the different styles spilled over into explicit violence, and even today exists in the form of racism. This is an excellent exhibition which runs until the 27th August 2013, so get along there if you can.

 

 

 

 

 

The Road to Rio

by

Today sees the launch of The Road to Rio, a mini-guide to the destinations – San Marino/Rimini, Podgorica, Novi Sad, Stockholm, Split and Zagreb – hosting World Cup qualifying games this spring.

England, Scotland and Ireland travel to San Marino, Montenegro, Serbia, Sweden and Croatia – and the Libero Guide team has visited every stadium and half-decent pub, sports bar and hotel there to produce the Road to Rio website available at www.footballfansguide.co.uk

Libero (£1.49) is the football fans’ travel app, for Apple and Android smartphones, the most up-to-date travel companion to Europe’s most exciting destinations, city-by-city, club-by-club.

Packed solid with freshly researched information and thousands of original photos, Libero is massive – so massive it is best downloadable with a strong WiFi or via iTunes.

liberoguide.co.uk/liberoguide.com

Celtic Football Club Supporting Indian Youth Football Development

by
Celtic Football Club Supporting Indian Youth Football Development

Neil Lennon with Celtic’s guests

Celtic Football Club are working to promote the beautiful game in India.  They have teamed up with the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge and as part of the programme two Indian teenage stars recently spent a week training in Scotland with the Glasgow giants.

The Mahindra tournament is played out in six cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Cochin, Goa and Calicut.

More than 3000 players from 192 schools took part and the winning teams from each centre came together in Bangalore for an inter-city championship. At the same time, the teams and their coaches received specialist training from Celtic coaches who flew out from Scotland.

Throughout the final stages of the tournament the Scottish coaches shortlisted the best individual players, who were then invited to Glasgow.

This year the honour fell to Gaurav Bora (14) from Delhi and 15-year-old Sufaid Ali Pookkodan from Kerala, both of whom are central defenders.

The youngsters spent an eventful seven days as guests of Celtic. On their first night in Scotland they found themselves in the centre circle during the half-time break in the recent Celtic v Kilmarnock Premier League match.

Gaurav and Sufaid Ali were introduced to the crowd and were given a warm welcome on a cold Glasgow night as Celtic went on to win 4-1.

During the rest of their stay they visited a mosque and a Hindu temple, enjoyed a tasty night out at Mr Singh’s, one of Glasgow’s top Indian restaurants, and trained with young Celtic stars of the future.

They even found the time to keep up with their studies at a local school.

This was the second year of a three-year commitment by Celtic to the Mahindra tourney and it is understood negotiations are currently taking place to extend the arrangement.

Celtic worked closely with Glasgow-based Oceanic Media Consulting, who organised many of the social and cultural events for the two visiting players.

A Celtic spokesman said: “We’d like to thank Oceanic who were crucial in assisting with the week’s activities.”