Top Ten Most Popular World Cup Songs

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Latest research undertaken by PRS for Music reveals that Three Lions proves to be the UK public’s favourite ever World Cup song.

1. The Lightning Seeds Three Lions
2. New Order World In Motion
3. Fat Les Vindaloo
4. England World Cup Squad Back Home
5. Embrace World At Your Feet
6. Ant & Dec We’re On The Ball
7. Luciano Pavarotti Nessun Dorma
8. Andy Cameron Ally’s Tartan Army
9. England World Cup Squad This Time We’ll Get It Right
10. Dario G Carnaval de Paris

If you are a budding musician, and feel inspired to try to emulate those in the list above, then check out the Sing Up England! competition.  It is a free to enter competition looking for the best original song about the FIFA World Cup 2010 and runs from today until kick off on June 11th. For full details on how to enter visit www.m-magazine.co.uk/singupengland.

Limited Edition Mutual Respect Print of iconic Pele and Bobby Moore swapping shirt image

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Limited Edition Mutual Respect Print of iconic Pele and Bobby Moore swapping shirt image One of the most iconic and endearing sporting photographs ever taken – of footballers Pele and Bobby Moore swapping shirts at the 1970 World Cup Finals – is to get an artistic makeover thanks to a renowned artist whose previous work was made into an Oscar and BAFTA-winning film. What’s more you have the opportunity to own a limited-edition print version of the new painting.

British artist and football fan Richard Piers Rayner has turned his talent to one of the most famous sporting pictures ever taken.

Stockton-born, Rayner, famous for his work illustrating Road to Perdition and who has also worked for DC Comics in America on Hellblazer, Batman, Swamp Thing and Legion, and for Marvel illustrating Dr Who, X-Men and Captain America, has now turned to his love of football to give his unique artistry to this memorable image.

Rayner says: “I loved the rare and irresistible opportunity to recreate one of sports defining images. In a brief moment at the end of the game opponents acknowledge the sportsmanship of their contest. There is no better reason to call it the ‘Beautiful Game’, and no better challenge than to bring all that colour and drama back to life.”

The original photograph, taken by John Varley at the Estadio Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico 7 Jun 1970, shows Bobby Moore and Pele swapping shirts following England’s Group C defeat at the hands of Brazil. Quoted as being Bobby Moore’s ‘favourite photo’, the then world champions were effectively handing over the baton of world supremacy to champions-elect and the world’s greatest-ever player.

This limited edition ‘Mutual Respect’ print (33cm x 44cm) of the painting by Richard Piers Rayner is available for £175, and includes courier dispatch and first-class packing. These prints are not framed but come fully mounted and ready for framing on high quality art paper. Each copy is signed by the artist and numbered 1-500. There will be just 500 limited-edition prints available and each comes with a certificate of authentication. A black-wooded framed version is available for £225 (inclusive of delivery).

To own a limited-edition print of the painting by Richard Piers Rayner log on to www.yfppublishing.com

Funny World Cup Videos Part 1 – Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt in the 2006 final

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With the world cup just around the corner, sports social media site Sportpost.com has got into the spirit by releasing a number of funny videos of alternative world cup moments. The series of four videos are aimed at football fans and have been posted on the Sportpost site and its YouTube channel.

The four animated football videos include alternative endings to famous world cup moments including Zinedine Zidane’s head butt in the 2006 final; Gazza crying at Italia ’90; Maradona’s hand of god and Beckham’s red card against Argentina. The videos have been created for anyone who has ever wondered what Materazzi really said to Zidane, or how Gary Lineker tried to cheer up Gazza. As the sports world gets geared up for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the highly controversial videos are already causing a stir amongst football fans and are proving popular on YouTube as well.  We will post one of these each day for your convenience.

First up is the infamous Zinedine Zidane headbutt in the 2006 final in Berlin.

Win a World Cup Shirt signed by Pele in Burton Score Draw competition

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Win a World Cup Shirt signed by Pele in Burton Score Draw competition

Burton menswear has announced the launch of its Score Draw competition. The Score Draw collection is a retro collection of football shirts to celebrate the great years of footballing champions and cool shirts.

There are 20 shirts available in the collection, covering 10 English clubs: Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, West Ham United, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Sunderland and Manchester City, plus 4 Scotland shirts soon to be available.

The Score Draw brand is the leading supplier of official retro football shirts in the World.  Score Draw football shirts are officially licensed and endorsed by more than 40 football clubs and national associations accommodating over 600 styles from over five decades. Every Score Draw football shirt is meticulously researched and designed to represent the original garment worn by momentous old teams and players – football shirts fit for heroes – that are widely accepted by football clubs, players and supporters as the definitive reproduction.

To celebrate this collection Burton is giving the chance to win a T-shirt – a Brazil 1970 World Cup Final shirt signed by the world’s greatest ever player, Pele.

This authentic reproduction Score Draw shirt represents the all-time football shirt design classic. Worn by the famous Brazil team of the 1970 Mexico World Cup Final in the 4-1 victory over Italy, the top epitomises the classic encounter of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object as the Brazilian force prevailed and secured a record third World Cup triumph (1958, 1962, 1970).

This Score Draw shirt has been autographed by Edison Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele, who played in 92 internationals (scoring 77 goals) for Brazil – including two World Cup Finals.

For a chance to win this signed collectible retro Brazil shirt signed by Pele, entrants just need to fill out a competition entry form on the Burton site. The closing date for this competition is 12 February.

For more information – click here.

Win a World Cup Shirt signed by Pele in Burton Score Draw competition

The History of Football Kit

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The History of Football Kit Considered to be the most popular sport in the UK and pretty much across the world, football has a legion of follows who claim support of their local or favourite team by wearing their football shirts. In the early days of football there were no uniform kits instead players would wear what they had and distinguished themselves by wearing coloured caps, scarves or sashes.

The first uniform kits began to appear around 1870 just before the creation of the FA, back then most teams came from public schools or officers serving in the army so the team colours were distinguished by their colours.  It wasn’t until the late 1870’s that working people in Scotland formed their own teams that the sport became more widespread, once more working class people wanted to form teams it caused a departure from footballs upper class roots. With the formation of more teams came the first manufacturer of sportswear in the UK by a company called Bukta which was established in 1879.

The player’s tops known as ‘jersey’ became popular and featured many designs, a lot of the early era of organised English football began to disappear and football kits became more distinguished for each team. Many of the kits worn today still feature the clubs trademarks from the early 1900s in particular Manchester United’s most recent strip which features a bold V design, which was a new design first worn by them in the 1909 FA Cup.

Many fans now like to emulate their favourite player by wearing the kit which features their name on or creating their own replica t-shirt from a prominent time in the clubs history which can be custom to any design. Numbers and names are often applied to the back of Replica kits via a method of t-shirt printing.