Jack Charlton World Cup hero opens new pitch for Durham

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Jack Charlton World Cup hero opens new pitch for Durham Jack Charlton, one of the winners of the World Cup in 1966, has recently taken part in a penalty event in order to encourage interest in football for the next generation. This is a particularly impressive achievement when you consider that the football player has recently had a hip operation, although it shows that it has been a great success by the fact that he could make the penalty. He took the shot against a junior keeper from Brandon United, and managed to get it in, despite being nearly 80 years old.

The former England international and Leeds United defender, part of Sir Alf Ramsey’s famous World Cup winning squad, was officially unveiling a new third generation (3G) artificial grass pitch at Meadowfield Leisure Centre in Durham that has been funded with the help of a £78,273 grant from the Football Foundation – the sports charity funded by the Premier League, The FA and the Government via Sport England.

Jack Charlton: “This is a fantastic surface that the Football Foundation has funded. I remember the old artificial pitches that were at QPR and Luton. The ball would bounce so high, you would think it was to take half an hour to come down again. Plus after the game the players would have grazes all over their legs.”

Jack also gave a special pep talk to the youngsters from Brandon FC, advising them: “If you want to make it, listen to your coach!”

Durham County Council worked with the Durham County FA to secure the funding from the Football Foundation. The new pitch is both full-size and floodlit, and can be used for full 11-a-side games, or divided into three to allow smaller teams to play, supporting The FA’s youth football development plan. The floodlights mean that football does not simply stop when it gets dark at around 4pm and the durable, all-weather surface will ensure that more people are able to access regular sport.

Young players from Brandon FC, one of the local clubs that will use the new pitch, showed off their skills on the new surface. The event was also attended by Football Foundation President, Lord Pendry, Durham FA Secretary, John Topping, Middlesbrough FC mascot Roary the Lion, and Durham County Council’s ‘On the Ball’ football coaches.

Brandon FC’s Under-13 captain, Cameron Allan, 12, from Bearpark, Durham, said: “It was an honour to meet someone like Jack Charlton. And I really enjoyed the night – especially playing on the new astro turf, which was the best pitch I have ever played on.”

David Barber, Chair of Brandon FC, said: “It was wonderful to have Jack Charlton come up and we are very grateful to the Football Foundation for their support in helping to build this new pitch. It is a great facility and a great opportunity for the youngsters of Brandon to stay healthy, have fun and to play football.”

Football Foundation President Lord Pendry said on the night: “It is a real honour to have World Cup winner Jack Charlton here to launch this first-class playing surface. Since its launch in 2000 the Football Foundation has helped to build nearly £1bn worth of facilities, such as this, thanks to the generosity of our funding partners – the Premier League, The FA, government and Sport England.

“This pitch may well help to produce more stars – more Jack Charltons, perhaps – of the future. But that is not why we do it. We fund the development of new facilities so that more people are able to get access to sport purely for the love playing it and to stay healthy. So congratulations to everyone involved in making this happen and, most importantly, enjoy your football!”

Maria Plews, Local Councillor and Cabinet member with responsibility for sport and leisure services at Durham County Council, said:“We are thrilled to have had this support from the Football Foundation and were delighted to welcome Jack Charlton to the official launch of these new facilities.

“This is such a welcome boost to grassroots football in County Durham and will provide high quality training facilities for young and older players alike.”

World Cup is an essential to the local pub

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World Cup is an essential to the local pub Pub owners across England are hoping that the World Cup encourages a hangover for patrons that lasts the entire month, given the fact that pub patronage is not quite what it used to be. In fact, there has been a steady decrease in the amount of pub beer sales since the smoking ban went into effect in 2007.

Adding to the declining sales is the fact that now England’s supermarkets is able to offer much cheaper beer leading to Bloomberg News to report that only about 50% of all beer consumed in the UK is consumed in pubs which is a sharp difference from 88% back in 1979.

Punch Taverns Plc Operations stated that the World Cup without a question is the best way to get people back in the pubs, but in order to truly be effective England needs to make it to at least the quarterfinals so that people will continue to tune in at the pubs.

Directory of Punch Taverns, Kevin Georgel, stated that if England does not make it past the first round pub owners across England will be ‘cheesed off.’

Manager of Sun & Doves, Nicky Francey, stated that pub owners have a lot riding on the back of World Cup 2010 and after the horrible years in sales they are hopping for sales to pick up and help them survive just a little longer.

Watching football in a pub is the natural setting without debate, as British as eating fish and chips out of newspaper, of course that’s another tradition that has slipped away

Stampede before World Cup brings new security measures

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Stampede before World Cup brings new security measures The stampede and resulting injuries amongst soccer fans at an exhibition match between Nigeria and North Korea prompted football authorities to put some better security measures in place for the games in the upcoming World Cup.  At least 14 people, including one police officer, were injured in the crush trying to get through the stadium gates at Makhulong on Sunday.

FIFA, football’s chief governing board, maintains that the responsibility for the melee lies with the Nigerian security organization, and that FIFA had nothing to do with arranging the ‘friendly’ match.

The FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, said his organization takes this warning very seriously, and assured members of the media that this sort of thing will not happen during the World Cup games.

The stampede was apparently caused chiefly by the distribution of free tickets at the stadium just prior to the match.  Fans both with and without tickets mobbed the gates once they were opened, and police and security guards managed to get them closed temporarily, but another stampede occurred when they reopened a short time later.

FIFA emphasized that they will exercise greater caution in several respects, including pre-game distribution of tickets and keeping a wider perimeter around the stadiums where World Cup matches are played.  Presumably, no one without a valid ticket will be able to get closer than 40 metres from the gates, and there will be more entrances to keep bottlenecks from forming.  Fans will also be warned to get there on time or early, and leave their cars parked elsewhere.

Prostitutes expected to invade world cup

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Prostitutes expected to invade world cup Officials warned that up to 40,000 women may head to South Africa around the time of the World Cup this year in order to find work as prostitutes during the festivities.

In anticipation of the sudden influx of prostitutes South Africa has tightened its border procedures and is hoping to help prevent those who want to make money from the fans during the tournament.

Deputy chair of the Central Drug Authority of South Africa, David Bayever, stated that local officials are worried that girls from the area will be encouraged to also head to the streets in an effort to get sex work from tourists in an area where up to 16% of the total population is thought to have HIV.

Bayever continued to say that the problem is a large concern and that organizers of the event are aware of the threat and that the women looking for work and money as sex workers are expected to come from areas located throughout the globe with a large concentration from Eastern Europe.

The problem was discussed at a meeting of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime and policies designed to limit the amount of women allowed in the country were discussed.

According to Bayever, the UN office has been given assurances that passport control checks will be conducted at the borders on those who look suspicious and that screening methods will be in place.

Officials are also fearful that children may be attracted to sex work while on holiday during the World Cup.

Puma corner world cup fashion

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Puma corner world cup fashion The World Cup finals are coming and with them of course the chance to celebrate, incredible anticipation, and eventually commiseration for the fans of the losing team.

However, this year the finals will come with a twist as they will be held in Africa for the first time since the World Cup began and thus all the major sporting merchandise brands are gearing up with plenty of African themed items.

Puma, which has enjoyed a long standing line of sponsorship with African teams, will introduce a lifestyle clothing line that celebrates the African football team and fans.  Additionally, they received a commission for a uniform that will be worn by all African nations that are competing as part of their third kit.

With the aid of African American artist Kehinde Wiley Puma also has a commission for a wide range of training gear, street wear, footwear, and four paintings that were inspired by the top three football players in Africa.

The clothing line will debut in Paris this week as a travelling exhibition and will move onward through Europe, Australia, and Asia before finally landing in South Africa as the World Cup commences.

In an interview Wiley stated that her work with Puma started when she began to look outside of America and using global fabrics.  She stated in the past that she was already working on her own clothes which is why it was the perfect time when Puma approached her about working on a World Cup football line.