Jack Wilshere picks his dream team on Match Attax

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Jack Wilshere picks his dream team on Match Attax

Jack Wilshere picks his dream team on Match Attax

Arsenal and England International footballer Jack Wilshere has named his ‘dream team’ players. 

As part of the role he plays as the brand ambassador for the new 2013-2014 season of popular game Topps Match Attax 21-year-old midfield star Jack has chosen his own top players. This is the official card trading game of the Barclays Premier League and 1.25m kids collect them every season.

Of his selection, Jacks says the in the Premier League at the minute, the player who is the best at reading the game is Santi Cazorla and Steven Gerrard is the man who has the greatest stamina and strength. He also said that when it comes to possessing the most skill it has to be Wayne Rooney, and when it comes to speed nobody can match Theo Walcott.

Wilshere stars in the leading collectible company’s TV advertising campaign for the new season of the world’s most successful football trading card game, which will air on 5th October. 

Available in shops now, the latest collection comes with a new look alongside a brand new game-play format and promises to be the best yet, offering football fans and collectors alike a fun-filled accompaniment to the new Barclays Premier League season. 

Match Attax star signing

Commenting upon his role as the 2013-14 Match Attax brand ambassador, Wilshere said: “I’m really excited to be supporting the launch of the new season’s trading card game; it’s a great way for children to get involved in football, particularly in developing the tactical side of the game. Having played it myself, it really makes you think about which players you field to win a match. 

“With all-new features alongside a full range of player stats, the latest collection offers fans of the Premier League a great way to follow all the action of the football season. I am really excited about being this season’s ambassador and look forward to meeting Match Attax fans in the coming months.”

Every Match Attax card in the 2013-14 collection features player star ratings and a range of statistics, so that collectors can rank the Barclays Premier League stars according to power, skill, passing, shooting, speed and tackling, alongside Attack and Defence categories, making it more exciting than ever. There are also the very latest players’ photos featured on the brand new look cards. 

£100m super-squad

For the first time ever, each player card now also features a player value, allowing collectors the chance to build their own £100million super-squad. The values will also act as an aid to help collectors trade cards fairly in the school playground.

Jack Wilshere explains: “This takes the game to a whole new level, as fans are now able to choose their very own ‘dream team’– I just hope they pick me!” 

Rod Pearson, Marketing Director for Topps, adds: “We’re incredibly excited to be working with Jack to launch the brand new Match Attax collection. It is important that our ambassador is someone that our target 8-12 age group of children aspire to. Clearly, his popularity amongst fans and his commitment to the game, as well as his footballing ability showcased in his recent matches for England, really resonates with our young audience, so we are delighted he’s supporting us this season.”

The 2013-14 Match Attax collection is on sale now and features over 400 cards to collect, including Star Player and Star Signing foil cards, stat-boosted Man of the Match cards and 100 Club cards. In addition, fans can collect all 20 team manager cards as well as referee cards.

Match Attax packets and Starter Packs can be bought from Tesco, ASDA, Co-op, One Stop, Martins & McColls, WH Smith, Toys ‘R’ Us, Smyths Toy Shop and all good local independent stores.

Old Trafford Tour Review

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Thank you to Charles Clowes who submitted this review of his tour of Old Trafford. For anyone thinking of going, this is well worth a read as it goes into a lot more detail than all the promotional stuff about the experience.

Old Trafford Tour Review Driving about the outskirts of Manchester, you suddenly see the unmistakably massive silhouette of Old Trafford. Truly, the stadium is simply monstrous in its size and the sensation of driving ever closer to the home of Manchester United is spine tingling.

Once I drove up and parked, I found myself in a group of 20 fans who had made the pilgrimage from all across the country, as well as with a few from all over Europe. While most people paid on the day, I’d got a gift experience voucher that let me in for free!

Once through the turnstiles, we met our tour guide for the day who was an old boy dressed in a big winter coat with a Man U scarf wrapped round his neck and speaking in a thick Mancunian accent, I suppose you really couldn’t ask for a more stereotypical chap to lead a tour like this.

His knowledge about the club, the sport and all the players was incredible and while he talked endlessly throughout the tour, with the odd joke and anecdote here and there, you couldn’t hear a pin drop. I can’t remember much of it, but it was all riveting stuff!

As for the tour itself, it would have been a bit bland were it not for our tour guide and the sheer magic and majesty of Old Trafford and Man U bringing it all to life.

The tour began with a seat in the stands, with many of us grabbing a hot drink, as it was cold out. Here we were told about the history of Old Trafford, how many seats it has, how it was built and the experience of seeing Man U play in a fully packed stadium was described to us too. Although this seemed to be a painful reminder of how difficult it is for more people to actually get tickets to see them play. As we all know, you can’t seem to get them for love nor money of late. Well, an awful of a lot of money perhaps…

Then we had a tour of the very swanky players’ lounge (from which the manager is banned unless invited by the players) and after a quick drink from the bar we took a tour of the changing rooms where more history and anecdotes followed to keep everyone smiling, while a few lockers of the top players were pointed out.

Then we all made the long walk down the tunnel to the pitchside dugout. Walking down the tunnel, you could imagine walking out into a roaring crowd of thousands upon thousands of people. The sheer size of the stadium was dizzying, even when empty, cold and wet out. We all seemed to share a moment taking it all in.

After thanking us for taking the tour and wishing us all well, our guide left us to wander the MU-seum and browse the long history of Man U FC, including the 12 league titles, five FA Cup titles, two UEFA Champions’ League trophies and a long long list of all the players down the decades.

There was also a screen where you could watch the best goals and even a holographic cat with Sir Alex Ferguson, which was a bit bizarre. But by this time, the tour had been going for a fair few hours, so I simply saw myself out through the gift shop, buying a Man U scarf on the way.

But while the tour sounds rather simplistic from what I’ve written here, it was absolutely brilliant! This is mainly thanks to our incredible tour guide, whose name escapes me. But he made it an experience to be remembered with all his stories and the way he told them, even if I can’t remember most of it a week later.

So I highly recommend this sort of experience, whether you fancy learning a bit more about Man U or you’ve got a mate who’s mad about Man U and you need to buy them something for a birthday, Christmas or whatever.

Just be sure to wrap up warm if the weather’s overcast, because it gets quite cold and blustery in that big stadium.

New customers of the Man Utd credit card have a choice of limited edition designs

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New customers of the Man Utd credit card have a choice of limited edition designs

The four limited edition credit cards available for eligible new Manchester United Credit Card customers

UK-based fans making a successful new card application can opt for one of four “heritage” designs

New designs launched as MBNA and Manchester United Football Club extend partnership

 

MBNA, the credit card specialist based in the UK, has partnered with premiership football giants Manchester United to launch limited edition versions of their joint credit card in order to extend their collaboration to 2016. Any fan of Mancheter United can apply for a credit card from today, and select from one of the four custom-made designs which include:

  •  The “Champions 2013” logo created to celebrate United’s 20th league title win.
  • United’s famous Old Trafford stadium and “Holy Trinity” statue of club icons George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton.
  • Ryan Giggs’ famous FA Cup goal celebration against Arsenal in 1999.
  • A legends design with images of club icons through the years including Gary Neville, Andy Cole and Peter Schmeichel.

The new card designs have been launched by Manchester United as part of an extended three-year relationship with MBNA, one of the UK’s largest credit card lenders. The two brands have been working together for the past 15 years.

The Manchester United Credit Card is available for UK-based fans now at
https://apply.mbna.co.uk/UKNeoCCapp/entry?sc=1UASMUFIMS001EC&mc=UAMMUF0030P.

The credit card offers eligible new customers zero percent interest for 20 months on balance transfers and money transfers, plus three months at zero percent on purchases*.

The new card comes with Red Rewards, an array of benefits and incentives developed specifically for Manchester United fans. For every £50 spent on the card, the cardholder will also be entered into a monthly prize draw with a chance to win a range of fantastic prizes, including club memorabilia signed by the first team and once-in-a-lifetime days out; including the chance to watch the first team train at United’s training ground.

Manchester United Group Managing Director Richard Arnold comments: “MBNA is one of the UK’s largest and most well-known credit card providers and the club is delighted to be extending its successful 15 year partnership for a further three years. We have eight million followers in the UK and the new MBNA Manchester United Credit Card will give these fans a new way of showing their support, whilst taking advantage of the attractive incentives and rates MBNA has to offer.”

Michael Donald, MBNA’s Business Development and Commercial executive, added: “Throughout our 20 years in the UK, we’ve established credit card partnerships with some of the world’s most iconic brands; and Manchester United Football Club is certainly one of those. We’re delighted to extend our partnership for another three years, and to celebrate, we’re launching something unique for fans based in the UK.”

* Terms apply. Full details of these offers are available on the website and within customer’s terms and conditions. The Manchester United Credit Card offers new customers successfully applying for the card zero percent on balance transfers and money transfers for 20 months (a 3 percent handling fee and 4 percent handling fee apply respectively) and as long as they are made in the first 90 days of account opening. It also includes zero percent on card purchases for three months from the date an account is opened.

Representative example 16.9% p.a. variable on card purchases. This is equivalent to 16.9% APR representative variable based on a credit limit of £1200.

 

Muamba urges young players to look beyond football

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Fabrice Muamba’s football dreams came crashing down last year after collapsing on the pitch suffering from a cardiac arrest, and the Bolton midfielder had to retire from football in August 2012.

Today, in conjunction with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), he is warning young footballers that they should consider what to do after they are through with football. He plays in the backyard with his son, but will not return to the active pitch. He says that it would be great to come back but his health comes first.

Over 100 people leave the game every year so Muamba’s situation is not strange. According to the League Football Education (LFE) only 45% of apprentice footballers get a professional contract. In the following years many of them still drop out.

Fabrice Muamba has now been encouraging players of ages 16 to 18 to consider education, on his many visits to clubs. They need to consider their plans since only 10 – 15 will be accepted into the first teams.

The assistant PFA director of education, Oshor Williams, said that clubs have suffered even as the economy took a downward trend. Players who leave the football pitch and look for jobs find it tougher to secure these positions, and they are unable to adapt to a new career.

He goes on to say that this situation will be aggravated in future since the clubs are taking players into the team when they are aged as young as 9 years. When the player leaves the teams aged 18, half their lives may have been in elite development. Many lose their identity and also have poor self-esteem. This means that they need to redefine themselves as who they are, and not the profession that they had.

 

Two Welsh teams look forward to the start of the season in the Premiership

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The Premier League will include two Welsh Clubs, for the first time, this season following the promotion of Cardiff City in April, to join Swansea City who in 2011.

The Premier League has a global fan base, and the government of Wales wants to use these two teams as a way of marketing the country as a good place to invest. Edwina Hart, the Economy Minister, has said that this was a great opportunity for the country to advertise itself to the whole world. Welch tourism and businesses are set to reap rewards from the football that is beamed across the world.

According to the government, football clubs and politicians can work together and market the country to the many viewers across the world. Now they have Swansea jerseys being sold at the Seoul airport just like Man United shirts, a situation that was not possible 10 years ago.

In a sponsorship arrangement with the government, Visit Wales Branding can be seen inside and outside the Croesco Stand, which was originally named the Liberty Stadium’s North Stand, ever since Swansea entered the Premier League.

In a similar deal, the Canton Stand will be renamed in a £110,000 deal signed by the government and Cardiff. The question that remains to be answered is whether sports can be used to brand a country. Cardiff has hosted Teamworks, a branding company, for more than 20 years.

According to the commercial director, Tom Tribe, it is crucial for a country to create its identity and sell accurate perceptions to the global market. This kind of branding helps people to understand their identity.

He added that Welsh football has succeeded well recently, since the British and Irish Lions are mainly Welsh, and this success can be used to get the message out that although they are a part of Britain, they are also their own country too.