A PE teacher has set the new record for the farthest football throw after pitching a ball over half the length of a typical pitch.

The teacher, Danny Brooks, utilizes his own special ‘flip’ style to toss the football a total of 163.32 feet, which is a world record.  The technique is considered legal because he keeps both of his feet grounded while reaching behind his head with his hands to launch the ball.

Brooks is from Halifax, West Yorkshire videotaped the launch, after which he sent photos and the video to Guinness World Records who declared him the new record holder

A former gymnast, he commented that he came to the conclusion that he could perform a flip to get a better toss of the ball.  He continued to say he was sure that if he could get the angles just right like a discus or shot putter he would be able to beat the current record.

Brooks was inspired to try for the record by Stroke City player Rory Delap who is known for his long throws.

The previous record holder for long distance pitching was Michael Lochner from America who completed the distance of 158.04 ft.

Anger at Northern Rock’s Newcastle sponsorship  The State owned Northern Rock met with public disapproval yesterday following the announcement that they will spend around £10m to sponsor the Newcastle United football team.

Campaign director of the Taxpayer’s Alliance, Mark Wallace, stated that although he is a fan of Newcastle, the proposal is ridiculous because a bank that needed money from the government should be more focused on repaying the tax payers and not helping out a football team.

Wallace continued to state that even if they planned to spend the £10m on advertising alone there are still better ways to spend the money that would help increase the value of the investment.

The Northern Rock deal is worth around 500 times more than what an average Northern Worker makes, which is £20,000.

In fact, the offer is even more than other football clubs receive and some of those clubs are larger and more successful teams than Newcastle.

For example, yesterday Birmingham City, which is in the Premier League, signed a five year deal valued at about £8m.

The Northern Rock was bailed out in February of 2008 after the panic that caused customers to line up down the street in an attempt to withdraw their money before the bank went bankrupt.

However, chief executive of Northern Rock, Gary Hoffman maintains that the promotion is appropriate because it gives the bank a link to the community, and helps to promote the further development of the institution.

Melanie Slade rejects the WAG lifestyle  Melanie Slade has been known to shy away from the publicity that comes with being a WAG, which is why it should be no surprise that she rejected a flashy birthday present from her Arsenal boyfriend Theo Walcott.

Slade who will be 21 this January turned away a £140,000 Ferrari California from Walcott that came complete with personalized nameplates.  She told him that she was still satisfied and happy to drive the £20,000 VW Beetle that he gave her when she turned 18.

Her decision was based around the fact that she is studying at London’s St. George’s Hospital and thought that the Ferrari would be too much to be seen driving around campus in.

She also told her friends that at times she wishes Walcott was less “showy” about how much money he makes, a whopping £60,000 per week.

One of her friends stated that Slade considered the car and gave it a test drive but is now back to driving her Beetle because she considers the Ferrari a waste of money.  The friend went on to state that Slade is trying hard not to get pinned as living the WAG lifestyle on campus.

Walcott and Slade met in 2006 at the WestQuay shopping centre in Southampton, and have been dating ever since, although she did not become part of the media focus until she travelled to see him play in the World Cup.

Although Slade has had promotional offers, she is determined to finish her coursework and pursue a career as a physiotherapist.

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  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.