Euro 2012: Extending the football feast into the summer

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As April gives way to May there are only a few weeks left of the football season left, with professional and amateur players alike being left to look back on a season of highs and lows. But this year, of course, the end of the football season means one thing: more football.

Because before the dust settles on the 2011/12 domestic season, Europe’s elite players will head out to the 2012 Uefa European Championships. Few are looking past current European and World Champions Spain to take the overall crown, but if the Champions League exits of Real Madrid and Barcelona (teams from which almost all of the Spain first 11 will be gathered) are anything to go by, the Iberians may not have it all their own way. Germany look stronger than ever with an exciting crop of young players, while Holland only narrowly lost out in the final of the 2010 World Cup. France have quickly recovered from their South African embarrassment and Italy, well they’re Italy. This all points to a potentially strong and exciting competition, even if England are bound to frustrate again.

For the armchair fan, the tournament’s evening kick-offs provide the chance to get out and stretch your legs with a friendly kickaround in the day; the good news is that this time of the year is also a great time to buy new football boots. The marketing departments of Nike, Puma and Adidas will shortly work themselves them up into a frenzy with all the new lines, meaning that boots that were the in-thing a month ago will soon be out in the cold, with a much lower price tag.

Shop for football boots online and you’re likely to find big discounts, which are happening with many retailers already. Then you can take that discount and try the new Euro 2012 ball, which Adidas has promised is nothing like the much-maligned Jabulani, some of which are probably still in near-earth orbit. Here’s hoping.

This was a guest post provided by JD Sports.

Delay in Olympic match tickets frustrates fans

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The organisers of the Olympic Games which are taking place this summer have still not announced when the remaining tickets for football matches at the games are going to go on sale. The reason for the delay is because the online systems are still being tested to make sure that they will function properly.

Football is not the only sport that has seen a delay in the release of tickets and the tickets were supposed to go on sale earlier this month however, they have been pushed back until the start of next month. A spokesperson representing the games has stated that the system is going to be back online shortly and all the technical problems should have been resolved.

The original site responsible for selling the tickets experienced an enormous amount of demand which caused it to crash. The spokesperson stated in an interview with the BBC, “Before we put these tickets on sale we want to make sure that the system is working as well as possible. It is essential that we do the appropriate testing so it doesn’t crash again when it starts up.”

The chairman of Locog has stated, “We don’t want to push the release of the tickets forward unnecessarily. It is best to be absolutely sure about systems before we release the tickets and this is what we’re doing. We are also currently working on finalising the seating plans for the venue and this is also pushing back the release of the final batch of tickets a little.”

Wage capping could protect clubs from financial hardship

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Something of a doomsday scenario has come over the Football League as clubs are struggling with the rules that limit the amount of turnover that can be spent on the wages of players. Championship clubs have also recently just voted to say that they would prefer to have the same financial rules that are seen in Leagues one and two.

The sort of rules that would be implemented in the championship would mean that it is less difficult for the clubs to fall into significant amounts of debt, and risk collapsing.

The chairman of the football league is Greg Clarke and he has commented, “These new regulations are going to create more financially sustainable football clubs. They are going to lay a foundation for creating a more responsible sport where clubs are less able to rack up large debts very quickly.”

The chairman has also said that the rules are going to be brought into effect next season and any clubs that are not being in compliance with the rules are going to face transfer embargoes as well as significant fines. He has also said however that these fines will not start being handed out until the season after that in order to give clubs an opportunity to get used to the new rules and restrictions.

A lawyer who specialises in sports at the law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, Daniel Geey has commented, “These sort of regulations are going to help ensure the football clubs are able to break even and that they do not take on a large amount of debt.

Fortunately, there is some leeway and it means that these rules will not be too restrictive on clubs, just enough to protect them from themselves. It is a good idea for them to have implemented the grace period before they started implanting finds in the 2014 season.”

Sanctions are also going to be put onto clubs that are not able to break even. Over the next five years these are going to be gradually increased so that clubs are able to improve their performance and not take unnecessary risks.

Images released of new M&S suits for the England football team

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Images released of new M&S suits for the England football team

Images released of new M&S suits for the England football team

On the 23rd April, St George’s Day, came the official launch of the suits that the English football team will be wearing as their formal dress at the Euro 2012 competition.

The suits have been both designed and supplied by Marks & Spencer and the images show a traditional team line up with a bit of a twist; there are 3 real lions lined up alongside the players.

This is the fifth year that M&S has been the official tailor for the England team, having supplied them with their formal wardrobe since 2007. For these latest suits, their bespoke in house tailors have followed guidelines set down by the England team itself. They have sourced the finest British fabrics and finishes and made each suit a perfect fit for every player.

The suits have been specially created to be lightweight and comfortable in the hot summer temperatures of Poland and the Ukraine. Richard price is the director of menswear at M&S and he has said that this has resulted in modern and slim fitting Autograph two buttoned suits that deserve a place in the wardrobe of every football fan.

The two-button single breasted suit jacket is sculpted to a slimming modern block with sleeve head roll shoulders for a classic fitting, slim silhouette. Additional styling details include narrower lapels and slanted pockets, along with impeccably finished internals featuring the World Cup winners star. Trousers are flat fronted and slim fitting with an elegant modern shape. The suit is cut from 100% British wool fabric in bright navy, complimented by a navy stripe tie, crisp plain white shirt and pointed Gibson shoes.

“We’re really pleased to continue our relationship with M&S and are delighted with the latest suit that has been designed for the team. The players are all really happy with how it looks and feels and we’ve had a fantastic reaction to the iconic lions imagery, it really brings the partnership to life” said Sean McAuliffe, FA Group Head of Business Development.

To support the launch of the images and the campaign as a whole, M&S has partnered with the Sun Online to create an exciting online hub. Packed with behind the scenes video from the team photo shoot, exclusive competitions, quizzes and a virtual application that allows users to join the team. The microsite will also launch on St George’s Day.

 

 


Win tickets to the FA Cup final with ipadio Facebook app

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Win tickets to the FA Cup final with ipadio Facebook app

Win tickets to the FA Cup final with ipadio Facebook app

The Football Association is the governing body of British football, and cover a vast portfolio of the beautiful game that ranges from grass roots to the elite teams in the Premiership.

Social Media plays a vital part in the engagement strategy of the FA, and thanks to the work they are now doing with ipadio’s VideoInPage service they are providing a unique way of putting fans right in the heart of the game.

The FA Cup ipadio Facebook app allows fans to make their own commentaries on goals scored, as well as giving them a chance to win tickets to the FA Cup Final. The commentaries are to be judged by John Champion from ESPN and the winner will receive the much sought after tickets.

Charlie Boss is the FA’s marketing manager for the FA Cup and he has said that using the ipadio’s VideoInPage service is one of the most engaging and easiest ways to get involved with user generated content that the FA has seen for a long long time.

Mark Smith, ipadio CEO notes that, “ipadio strives to make the task of getting rich content online as simple as possible, so while our audio products make podcasting no more complex than making a phone call, VideoInPage is that same principle applied to video. This takes away the barriers to upload and allows organisations to easily place their people in the centre of their online presence.”

ipadio’s VideoInPage (VIP) service allows organizations and brands to collect user generated video from their stakeholders with no more complexity that pressing ‘record’. The VIP service works by detecting the presence of a camera and allows the user to record directly into the webpage. This video can then be moderated (or not!), embedded into your website or intranet, cross posted into other sites (eg. Facebook, YouTube), and automatically alerted to registered viewers.

The VIP service is white labelled, a key feature for corporate users, so they can brand their video with their logo, their messages, moderate and control where the video ends up. It’s these features that resonate with corporates – ipadio’s VIP provides them with the means of socializing their organisations – spreading audio and video content around their networks – but with the necessary control and brand protection.

Also, because VIP is cloud based and doesn’t rely on expensive camera crews and post production (brand elements, intros and outros are all applied automatically) the costs are significantly lower than typical in-house video production.

As with all ipadio services, VIP is provided as Software as a Service – set up times are minimal and the recorder and resultant videos are typically embedded inside the customer’s websites or intranets.

Why not give The FA Cup ipadio Facebook app a go yourself and see if you can win a ticket to The FA Cup final?