Sir Alex ends his BBC boycott

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Sir Alex ends his BBC boycott The recent end to the boycott of the BBC by Sir Alex Ferguson has led many people to wonder how it actually begun in the first place. This is a common problem with long running arguments; we sometime forget how it all started.

The conversations between Sir Alex and Mark Thompson, BBC director general, will probably never be known as both parties have agreed to not comment on the talks. The only reason for Ferguson’s original boycott was the BBC airing the documentary ‘Fergie and Son,’ in 2004 – he never actually mentioned what it was in the documentary that affronted him and caused him to boycott the BBC.

The only time he spoke of the BBC since 2004 was in 2007, when he accused the broadcaster of being incredibly arrogant and saying they would never apologise for the content of the documentary. He said the film was very insulting to his son and damaged his honour. He also accused the BBC for making up the contents of the documentary.

The documentary focused on Ferguson’s son, Jason. Alex Millar directed the programme and went back to examine the revelations that the agents Jason had once worked for had got £25,000 for the transfer of Massimo Taibi, a goalkeeper. Other transfers were also examined in the film.

John Magnier and J P McManus, former friends of Ferguson’s had asked nearly one hundred questions about the football clubs financial propriety. These questions were leaked to the Daily Mail and United faced much greater scrutiny. As a response to this, the club decided to conduct a review of all its transfer dealings.

Before the airing of the documentary, the BBC released information about some of the findings that Millar had made. Unexpectedly, and in an attempt to pre-empt the revelations in the film, the club publicly announced that it was reviewing its transfers.

All Scottish sides knocked out of the European club

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All Scottish sides knocked out of the European club It is not a good time for Scottish football. All Scottish sides have been knocked out of the European club competition rounds, and this is the first time this has happened in history. Celtic and Rangers were both eliminated in the play-off’s showing a complete failure of Scottish football, and they joined Hearts, who were relegated earlier in the competition.

In the first leg of the competition Hearts had already taken a beating, losing to Tottenham five nil. Playing at home later they regained a tiny amount of pride by managing a draw, 0-0. Ranger’s managed a 1-1 draw against the Slovenian champions, Maribor. The Scottish team however lost the match on aggregate. Celtic lost in Switzerland by 3-1 and defender, Daniel Majstorovic was sent off in under a minute. All of the teams’ managers are facing a lot of criticism for the losing streaks of their various teams.

Ally McCoist, the new manager of Rangers, has had a dismal start to his time with the club as he has suffered only losses when playing in Europe. McCoist has, understandablym been criticised and has commented, “I feel disappointed mostly, for the fans and the players especially,” when asked whether he felt under more pressure after the losses he said, “No, it’s just disappointment, I don’t feel under more pressure.”

McCoist’s team have lost 24 out of the 25 matches they have played in Europe. Such a figure indicates that this problem is not just down to bad management. While McCoist cannot be held solely accountable he is certainly facing a lot more scrutiny. The manager has gone onto say, “We have been having some serious problems converting the chances for a win into an actual victory. The second half of the match in Maribor was a disappointing performance.”

Mirror football phone app

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Mirror football phone app

Mirror football phone app

The latest Mirror Football app for the iPhone app is now much improved and is completely free for the 2011/2012 season. It can now be personalised and includes a new global fan blog.

MirrorFootball.co.uk has announced that it is launching a new and updated version of its popular football app for the iPhone, and it is packed with new and innovative features to coincide with the new 2011/2012 football season. The best news of all for football fans is that they will be able to get the app for free from all the Apple global apps stores, which will give even more fans access to Mirror football.

This app further builds on the success of the MirrorFootball.co.uk website (which in June 2011 had 3.8m users. Source: ABC) The app now allows users to personalise the homepage with a bookmark for their favourite club in the Premier League. It also gives access to club specific news, live match trackers which give minute by minute results and extensive photo and video-led content, as well as the new global fan blog facility.

The app gives footie fans instant access to a unique 24/7 news service which can be accessed anytime anywhere and there is also a wealth of exclusive pieces offering the opinions from both award winning writers and footballing legends. These include the transfer expert Darren Lewis, Oliver Holt, Robbie Savage, Mark Lawrenson and Martin Lipton.

Users can leave their comments on the articles and also send them onto their friends as well as publishing them on Facebook and Twitter.  The new global fan blogs are great for those fans who follow football in other countries, and they can read analysis of games by bloggers in Spain, Italy, France, South America and MLS.

Key App Features

  • FREE to download
  • 24/7 breaking football news
  • Personalise your homepage to your club
  • Live up-to-the-minute match tracker
  • Latest scores, results, fixtures and tables
  • News & reports for all Premier League clubs
  • Insights from award-winning columnists
  • Real fans view from global bloggers
  • Share stories with friends via Facebook and Twitter
  • Videos of press conferences and interviews
  • Read the top stories offline

Chris Ellis, Managing Director, Digital – Nationals Division, said: “We’re really excited to be launching the updated Mirror Football App for the new season. As well as adding a whole new raft of content to cover foreign leagues, we’ve made the app totally free so that many more iPhone and iPod Touch fans will have real-time access to the latest football news, opinion, results and fun that MirrorFootball.co.uk is known for. We’re also offering users more and more interactivity around video, social media and comments, making this the most compelling football app you can download.”

Consumers can find the app on Apple’s app store by searching for ‘Mirror Football’; customers in the UK can also get it by texting FOOTBALL to 67800 or find the app on the Apple app store at http://bit.ly/mirrorfootballapp, plus a trailer showing the app can be viewed at http://youtu.be/egq42pHZLCA.

1000% increase in football ticket prices in 20 years

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Despite the fact that it’s a multi-billion pound industry, football is alienating young fans due the continuing rise in ticket prices, which have gone up by a staggering 1000% over the past 20 years. If you wanted to watch Manchester United play at home in 1989, the cheapest ticket would have cost you £3.50. Allowing for inflation, that should cost £6.20 today, but in fact will set you back £28.

It is even worse for Liverpool supporters, they used to pay £4 for a ticket at Anfield, and their cheapest is now £45, a massive hike of 1,025%. Arsenal’s prices have risen by 920%, and their tickets have risen from £5 to a wallet bashing £51, making a home match possible only for those with cash to splash around, and excluding the ordinary footie fan.

The chairman of the Football Supporters Federation, Malcolm Clarke, has said that while some teams in the Premiership still offer their fans a good deal, the top clubs, particularly those in London, charge outrageous prices. These are way beyond the means of younger fans who now feel alienated and have to go to the pub to watch their team play, which robs them of the match day atmosphere that exists in a football ground.

Traditionally, football was one of the most accessible of all sports, but the price of tickets in today’s economic climate where jobs are under threat and there is less disposable income, fans have found themselves being priced out of the game. Some clubs, according to the Guardian Online, are proposing to raise ticket prices even higher. A rise of 6.5% is on the cards at Arsenal, but Blackburn have tickets for £10 and Stoke are freezing prices.

When stadiums were made all seated after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, prices rose as there were less supporters able to fit in the grounds, but nowadays, the price you pay at the gate is to pay the astronomical wages of the top flight players.

Scottish football clubs score one for dementia

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Scottish football clubs score one for dementia A top Scottish university has announced that some of the biggest football clubs in the country are joining them in a project which is aimed at helping those suffering from dementia. Hearts, Hibernian, Motherwell and Celtic have all teamed up with the Caledonian University in Glasgow in its latest stage of the long running research project it has been doing on the condition.

The clubs will be offering both those suffering from dementia, and their carers, the opportunity to visit the grounds and have a chat about the beautiful game in a serious of informal and relaxed coffee mornings. For those who like football but don’t follow a particular team, there is a chance to visit Hampden, the home of the Scottish national team.

This initiative has come about after those doing the research at the university discovered that using football to trigger the minds of those suffering from dementia resulted in startling and positive results. Experts had discovered previously that showing items of football memorabilia to men with dementia had stimulated their memories in quite a remarkable manner.

Charlie Bennett, from Motherwell FC,  has said that  Motherwell have always made an effort to engage with their community at all different levels, and strive to bring benefits to others wherever they could. He added that some of their former players suffered from Alzheimer’s, so they had first hand knowledge of how the condition affected both the sufferers and their families.

The team hopes that by letting sufferers and their carers access the facilities at their ground, Fir Park, they are creating an environment to stimulate their minds. The trophies and memorabilia that are on display in the lounges could have a profound effect and jog memories, thus bringing relief to their carers.