The Fashion of Football: From Best to Beckham – The Book

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The Fashion of Football: From Best to Beckham - The Book The Fashion of Football, by Paolo Hewitt and mark Baxter, is a groundbreaking work that examines for the first time the link between football and fashion. Voted one of the 50 best football books by Four Four Two magainzine, it features a selection of rare photographs which enliven the text, the book divides itself into a work of two halves – the first depicting how fashion has influenced the players and the second showing how it has been represented in the stands. We begin in 1962, when restrictions limiting earnings from professional football were lifted and footballers started to splash out on looking good. First we visit George Best’s boutique in Manchester, try on the Terry Venables wig and reveal how the 1970s Chelsea team used flamboyant King’s Road boutiques to gain the upper hand in psychological battles with fierce rivals Leeds. We then move on to the ’80s to consider the influence British black footballers brought to bear on fashion, leaving room to mention the hairdressers and the mullet. Into the ’90s and, well, we’re confronted with Liverpool FC in white suits and David Beckham in a skirt…Back in the stands for the second half, The Fashion of Football describes how football fashion has been influenced by the world around it – from the ’60s working-class Mod look to ski.

Paolo Hewitt is also author of The Sharper Word: A Mod Anthology, The Soul Stylists, Alan McGee and the Story of Creation Records and The Looked After Kid. Mark Baxter is a former shop and club owner with a love of ’60s clothing and Millwall Football Club.

‘Hewitt and Baxter go in for a mix-and-match style…to create a colourful, colloquial history of British football fashions’ The Independent on Sunday



Speech Soccer Online Voice Activated Football Game

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Speech Soccer is the first voice only activated online football game and the fans are going wild for it at www.speechsoccer.com. It’s the brainchild of automatic speech recognition specialist and football fan Nick Wilkinson PhD of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire whose love of the game inspired him to create Speech Soccer.

Speech Soccer is an addictive game where the players respond to your voice to pass the ball, tackle and shoot in fast flowing football action. It is the game for the football purist that wants to recreate the art that was Brazil 1970, Liverpool 1988 or Arsenal 2004. The speech interface liberates you from focusing on the individual players giving you the freedom to play as a team . There’s a formation editor too, which allows you to develop your own tactics for attacking and defending.

Once you’ve trained the speech recogniser you’re ready to play. To score goals you must move the ball quickly about the pitch to create space for shooting. When your team has the ball, say the number of your player you wish to pass to. Or, if you keep saying the number of the player who already has the ball, he will run with it. When you are in range of the goal simply say “shoot”. When the opposition has the ball you need to win it back. Say the number of one of your players and he will start moving towards the ball. When you get close say “tackle” to challenge for the ball.

Beware though, tackling from behind results in a yellow card and if that player commits another foul then a red card is given and the player is removed from the pitch!

The real fun of Speech Soccer is playing against other people online. Registration to play online is £5 for six months access and if you’re one of the first 1000 people to register you’ll be in with a chance to win a football shirt personally signed by England Captain John Terry.

Here’s a demonstration video:


To join in the fun download your FREE copy of Speech Soccer at www.speechsoccer.com.

David Beckham to Join the Family Fashion Business

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David Beckham to Join the Family Fashion Business David Beckham is known for his great figure whenever he slides into a nice pair of keks, but it is about to get more personal as he will soon design his own clothing line and even model the entire range himself.

The news comes after he officially signed into a deal to follow his wife into the fashion industry after the World Cup is over this year, when he will temporarily hang up his cleats and pen menswear designs for the top couple’s DVB fashion line.

According to a source that knows the famous couple they have been working together on her already popular fashion ranges with Armani and that he has big plans for his own lines.

The source continued to say that fashion is a passion of David’s and that it is only logical that he would want to work on his own fashion line.

His wife, Victoria better known as Posh, established herself as a fashion designer after ending her career as a pop icon with the Spice Girls.

Since she entered the fashion world she has earned millions from her designs that include lines of sunglasses, dresses, and jeans.

David also has modelled already for Emporio Armani underpants and is usually seen around town in the most popular designs, although the skirt that he famously wore while in the South of France may be one of his most known fashion faux pas that is not likely to make an appearance in the line.

Where is Patrick Vieira moving to?

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Where is Patrick Vieira moving to? The rumour mill has long tended to a list of tell-tales signs that show others are failing to see small warning signals.

This is not to say that the Mill is about spreading rumours or being picky about others, but at times it does spread a good rumour that will get people talking.

The latest rumour comes from the Daily Mail and involves Patrick Vieira being 90% positive that he will soon join the Manchester City team as part of a six month deal that will loan him out beginning next week.

At the same time, the quick prediction may be delayed given the fact that the Inter team has a great deal of injuries on its line up at the moment.

Other rumours include the exchange David Bentley the Spurs will get Maxi Rodriguez.  This may be hard to make happen however given the fact that Rodriguez is also wanted by Villarreal, Liverpool, and the prep school from Argentina Boca Juniors.

Also exchanging spots is assistant manager Mike Phelan of Manchester United who will take over Owen Coyle’s spot at Burnley.

Alex Curran is no friend of other WAGs

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Alex Curran is no friend of other WAGs Alex Curran who is the wife of Steven Gerrard revealed the other day that while everyone thinks that all the WAGs hang out, she is not close to any of them.

Curran continued to say it is not as if she calls up Coleen Rooney or that she even really enjoys football as much as people may think.  She confessed to reporters that she may watch the bigger games with her husband but that she is not a big time fan.

However, she said that she will be watching in South Africa next summer when her husband will be taking the pitch in the World Cup in an attempt to lead England to victory.  Curran stated that she cannot wait to see Steven play and that she thinks the team has a good chance although she does want to jinx it.

Even in South Africa Curren will be working out however, as the face of Shake Weight arm slimmers, because according to her once you get bingo arms they are incredibly hard to get rid of.

She has an ulterior reason up her sleeve however, as she said that even though she may not be best pals with her fellow WAGs she still wants to keep up with them visually stating that Beckham always looks amazing with a famous sense for style and that Cheryl Cole is lovely.

She added that she understands why some women such as Beckham and Cole dislike the term WAG because it is discouraging after their hard work that this is what they are known for.