The great football pub TV war ignites again

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The great football pub TV war ignites again Karen Murphy is a determined woman, and even though she was fined £8,000 about four years ago for breach of the Premier League’s copyright, she’s still fighting, and she may win.  If she does it will mean a major upheaval for the League’s broadcasting strategy.  Murphy is the proprietor of Red, White & Blue, a street-corner pub in Portsmouth, and her crime was bypassing the Premier League’s exclusive broadcaster, BSkyB and using a much less expensive Greek broadcaster to screen matches in her pub.

The Premier League said that Murphy had no right to go with the cheaper decoder, and sued her for copyright infringement.  They won at that level, but Murphy has taken the case to a higher court.  This week the Advocate General at the European Court of Justice, Juliane Kokott, ruled that Murphy did have the right.  Since the opinion of the Advocate General is followed in about 80% of cases before the EU high court, it looks like a good possibility that the decision will be passed to the High Court in London after the EU panel meets in three months.

BSkyB and ESPN are the only two networks authorized to broadcast Premier League football matches in the UK at this time, and that is a very lucrative operation for them, and for the League.  The current 3-year deal with BSkyB will make the League about £1.6 billion.  BSkyB makes about £200 million every year from sales of subscriptions to commercial customers such as pubs.  Both the Premier League and Sky are expected to fight the anticipated decision, on the basis that such a change in the structure of broadcast rights in the UK should be done through “proper legislative processes” and not through the courts.

All change at Wrexham Football Club

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All change at Wrexham Football Club Following the step down of Chairman Ian Roberts and owner Geoff Moss from the board of the Wrexham Football Club the team is set to be sold. Stepping up as the new chairman of the board will be Robert Bickerton who has served in the past on the board of Macclesfield and Shrewsbury.

At one point it was thought that the club would be sold off by its parent club Wrexham Village Ltd but decide to keep the Racecourse Ground stadium.  However, now Van Morton Investments is now slated to purchase the facilities and grounds at a coming date.

There is still no word of how the sale of the grounds will have a permanent impact on the Blues Square Premier partners or what the Crusaders rugby league club will do now that it is sold given the fact that the rugby team practices at the grounds as well.

The North Wales club released a statement that announced the sale of the team and then later the ability to purchase the grounds and the training area at a later date.  The announcement also said that as a result of the decision to sell the team Robert Bickerton was chosen to take on the task of chairman of the board and that the board will also have a new director in Tony Allen who is responsible for running the football club as its chief executive.

Tony Allen originally went into administration working with Notts County and in the past has also been the secretary of Chester City, Wigan Athletic, and Port Vale. Van Morton Investments on the other hand is a new firm that is hoping to help attract funding to the team.

MP’s ask Germans how to run football

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MP's ask Germans how to run football MP’s are going to Germany to find better ways to run the game of English football. The members of the Culture, Media, and Sport select committee are due in a couple of weeks to arrive in Munich and Frankfurt on a duty to discover facts,

The straw that broke the camel’s back for England was the loss of the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa to the German footballers. Since that loss the English are checking their motivation and technique. Following the bid to host the World Cup in 2018 and its subsequent loss at a very low vote of only two last month, the introspection has become severe.

The Germans have long been seen as the leader in developing youth into great footballers. They have set severe restrictions against foreign footballers in the Bundesliga. They forbid foreign ownership above 49% in the club’s shares, as well.

The best factor that allows the Germans to retain control of their football club is the  Deutscher Fussball Bund is constantly managing the entire game throughout their country, particularly the Bundesliga.

The Football Association in England has given way more and more over the past 20 years to the Premier League.

Hugh Robertson, Sports Minister, made statements last week that of all sports in Britain, football was the worst run. This has mounted pressure as well.

This temporary measure of a trip is now a nationally significant soul search.

Written evidence has the deadline of Wednesday, while verbal evidence will open in February.

Lord Terry Burns, who penned a special report regarding the management of football, that was cast aside without reading by the FA, is due to be a key witness.

Gazza sues News Of The World

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Gazza sues News Of The World The tabloid News of the World is about to get sued again, and maybe by a whole host of aggrieved celebrities.  The latest is Paul Gascoigne, whose attorney said that he would instigate proceedings within days.  Mr. Gascoigne’s complaint is exacerbated, according to attorney Gerald Shamash, because the phone hacking has undermined the former footballer’s efforts to overcome drug and alcohol problems.  Shamash said that believing his private voicemail has been tapped is no help to Gascoigne’s state of mind.

According to the Observer, comedian Steve Coogan is already taking action against the newspaper, and other celebrity names are on the list of potential claimants.  Jockey Kieren Fallon and TV presenter Chris Tarrant have both indicated that they plan to sue the paper’s publishers as well as the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who supposedly tapped hundreds of mobile phone accounts while he was working for News of the World.

The ‘rogue’ reporter Clive Goodman, the one News of the World claims is the only reporter involved in the phone hacking, was jailed for four months in 2007 after it was determined that he had tapped voicemail left for aides of Princes William and Charles, amongst others.  Mulcaire served a six-month sentence on the same charges.  However, further investigation revealed by Scotland Yard has confirmed that Mulcaire had at least 91 voicemail PIN’s in his possession.

Andy Coulson, now the Prime Minister’s communications chief, was editor of the newspaper when the phone hacking was discovered, and he quit the paper in 2007, saying that he took responsibility even though he had no knowledge of the illegal activity.  The Crown Prosecution Service announced that a new investigation is underway to determine just who the injured parties are and when the invasion of privacy took place.  The paper has already settled out of court on four other claims in this regard, including a reported £1 million to celebrity publicist Max Clifford.

West Ham Boss Still on Borrowed Time

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While Avram Grant may be enjoying a reprieve after Martin O’Neill turned down the offer to take on the task of managing West Ham, the reprieve may only be silent as word is that he will be replaced before the season closes.

The West Ham team is still sitting at the bottom of the Premier League and after finishing the Arsenal match on Sunday with 3-0 the rumour was that Martin O’Neill would move in as coach by the end of this week

O’Neill has since turned down the job but that hasn’t stopped punters betting that Grant will be the next manager to be shown the door, with Boylesports.com offering 15/8 that he is still the manager of West Ham on the last day of the season.

The former Chelsea manager is 1/6 to not be in charge at Upton Park on the first day of the 2011/12 season, against 7/2 that he is.

The Hammers are currently the 4/7 favourites to drop down to the Championship and 5/4 to stay up.

“Martin O’Neill may have turned down the job at West Ham but we still think that Avram’s days are numbered,” said Boylesports.com Head of Public Relations Leon Blanche.

“With reports already linking some big name managers to his job and hard-nosed owners like Gold and Sullivan in the boardroom, Grant looks to be on borrowed time.”

Avram Grant Specials
Will he last the season? Yes manager on the day of last game 15/8
Will they stay up or be relegated? 4/7 relegation 5/4 stay up
Will he be in charge on the first day of the 2011/12 season? Yes 7/2 no 1/6