New Era at sports exhibition

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The lifestyle brand, New Era Cap Co, have announced their presence at this Monday’s Exhibition of Sprot Merchandise. It is to be held at Wembley Arena and record crowds are expected.

Since it was started 90 years ago as a small family business, New Era has become a  lifestyle brandacross the globe. They were the original pioneers of such classic styles as the Newsboy, Gatsby and flapper. Their designs epitomised the 1920’s in America. The new EK collection features the classic men’s headwear of the time tailored to suit the consumer today..

The brand is rightly proud of it’s football heritage; a bond with supporters forged by their creation of authentic sporting merchandise. Their stand will emphasise these bonds by having a ‘football in the 1920’s’ theme.There will be a large image of football fans in 1923 entering a football ground ans they  are all sporting classic caps from the time.

Today, New Era is now the official on-field headwear provider for Major League Baseball and also holds major licenses with the NHL, NFL and the NBA. New Era continues to specialise in creating quality headwear which transcend time, culture, sport and fashion; those classic styles which defined an era still stand as some of the most popular silhouettes today.

It was a natural progression for New Era to become the brand of choice in customising accessories for some of the best football teams across Europe, proudly collaborating with over 70 of Europe’s top Premiership clubs, including Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and West Ham. At this year’s exhibition, New Era will be showcasing a mix of EK by New Era, Authentic MLB 59FIFTY and football licensed product.

To honor this flourishing relationship, New Era is proud to present an authentic EK by New Era Newsboy cap with unique heritage inspired lining, available exclusively to VIPs and executives during the event.

For more info detailing the brand’s 90 years in the headwear and sports merchandise business, log onto: www.neweracap.co.uk.

Stewart Downing fights it out with his agent in court

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Stewart Downing fights it out with his agent in court Stewart Downing, the winger who has played for both Middlesbrough and Aston Villa was in court recently to settle a long running dispute with his agent, Ian Elliott. The court heard how Downing, 26, had trusted Elliott so implicitly to the point where he signed papers without even checking them.

It was in January 2007 that the cracks first started to appear in their seemingly solid relationship. In a radio interview, Elliott stated that Tottenham Hotspur had shown an interest in Downing, a fact the player didn’t want broadcasting as he was settled at Middlesbrough.

Soon after that Downing discovered that one of his companies had only £11,000 in its account, not the £600,000 + he thought should be there. The court was told that Elliott was siphoning off the money to support his own business ventures, which were failing and had mounting debts.

Downing admitted he never checked over contracts and the like before signing as he trusted Elliott, and believed him to always have his best interests at heart. He also admitted that he left a lot of the running of the businesses solely to Elliott so he could concentrate on his football.

A further allegation against Elliott is that he created a conflict of interest by acting as agent for both Middlesbrough FC and Downing during crucial contract negotiations, an act that is against the rules of the F.A.

The prosecutor, Christopher Attwooll, told the court that Elliott had dishonestly managed Downing’s affairs to meet his own financial need and abused the complete trust that Downing had placed in him. Elliot vehemently denies the charges that have been brought against him and the case continues.

‘Old Firm’ warned about possible arrests

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'Old Firm' warned about possible arrests Following problems at the last ‘Old Firm’ football game between Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic, culminating in an altercation between Rangers Assistant Manager Ally McCoist and Celtic Manager Neil Lennon, both clubs have been warned that they could be arrested in future, if conduct does not improve.

Strathckyde Police Chief Constable Stephen House said that, in future, police officers would visit the grounds and speak to both players and managers to warn them of possible offences, together with any action that might be taken. There was also a recent high-profile incident featuring AC Milan player Gennaro Gattuso and Tottenham Hotspur Assistant Manager Joe Jordan. Mr House said that an arrest on the pitch would only be made in extreme circumstances, such as those involving potential assaults of use of obscenities, however, action would be considered after the game.

A four hour summit, convened by Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond, was held after the game, leading to an eight point action plan, including the prospects of holding games mid-week, banning the sale of alcohol near the grounds, the banning of fans convicted of domestic violence, and a new Football Intelligence Unit. There was also an increase in reported violent crime after the game, although the Chairmen of both clubs felt that there was a general over-reaction to the game.

Mr Salmond considered that the meeting had been a success, that the priority had to be to reduce violence connected to such games and that players, managers and officials should be left in no doubt as to the possible consequences.

Sir Alex Ferguson will not back down against FA

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Sir Alex Ferguson will not back down against FA A charge of improper conduct by the Football Association against Sir Alex Ferguson has led to indignation and preparation for an appeal that is against legal advice. The charge is for his comments about referee Martin Atkinson, following a defeat at Chelsea and by appealing the charge he risks a four-match ban.

Just his indignation means he is going to declare innocence of the charge and this is clear in his actions not to appear in public to even discuss his team’s next game at Liverpool tomorrow. At a meeting at United’s training base, he rejected legal advice given to him yesterday.

Last season’s two-match ban for calling out referee Alan Wiley’s fitness would take immediate effect if he admits to guilt of this current charge that he has until Tuesday night to respond to.

A one-game ban for challenging the incident and an additional one for the incident with Atkinson could be assessed if his appeal is declared frivolous and Sir Alex’s defense is still unknown but may be the appearance of immediately backtracking from his comments. All this is mute until we know if he is to appeal of not by Tuesday.

Ticket touts arrested at Arsenal and Liverpool

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Ticket touts arrested at Arsenal and Liverpool The home grounds of Arsenal and Liverpool were the scene of a swoop on ticket touts, with eight arrests being made. The first four were arrested near the Emirate Stadium, Arsenal’s home ground, before kick off on Saturday. They have been bailed to appear in court next month. The following day the other four were arrested nearby Liverpool’s stadium, Anfield and are still in custody. The arrested were all men aged between 23-47.

The undercover operation to catch these criminals in codenamed Podium, and one of the officers working on this case stated that Ticket touting was illegal and the criminals were gaining financially by exploiting clubs and fans.

Genuine fans should always ensure that they buy their tickets from registered outlets, and never off a man in the street or in a pub. They also run the risk of getting given tickets which put them in amongst the supporters for the opposition. Operation Podium is a working partnership between the Metropolitan police, Merseyside police and the Emirates and Anfield stadium.