by Coachie Ballgames on November 6, 2009 · 11 comments
Traditional terrace tipplers still mouthing up their marmite at the news that Newcastle’s St. James’ Park will henceforth be known as sportsdirect.com@St. James’ Park Stadium will be further aghast to learn that Chelsea would consider cashing in on Stamford Bridge. We are not too far off from Ethan Armstrong’s vision here at EPL Talk of sponsored songs and players. While the idea of selling naming rights in England is not new, what with the Emirates Stadium, the KC Stadium, Reebok Stadium and the DW Stadium; the practice is not nearly as common as in the United States, what with Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Pizza Hut Park, the Home Depot Center and virtually every outdoor or indoor facility in the country.
Once commercialization trends start they tend to spread as swiftly as beans on toast. The FA first allowed shirt sponsors in 1977, by the Premier League’s debut in 1992, nearly every club had a shirt sponsor. The underlying beauty of a football kit has always been its simplicity. From a purely aesthetic view, sponsorships rob shirts of their visual appeal. The sight of Liverpool and Olympique Lyonnais playing this past Wednesday sans shirt sponsors was refreshingly glorious.
Here are the video highlights for the very first season of the Premier League, 1992-93. Included in the video is the great Brian Clough, once-great clubs such as Norwich City, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town, as well as the intriguing race for the title featuring Manchester United, Aston Villa, Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers and Blackburn Rovers.
After watching the videos, click the comments link below to share with us what you found interesting and surprising about the season and how the Premier League has changed.
by Alex Caulfield on November 5, 2009 · 3 comments
Former teammates; Alonso and Gerrard
I really can’t wait to read the December installment of FourFourTwo Magazine. In this issue Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard finally states what we all know: the departure of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid has undeniably damaged the Merseyside club. I would personally like to thank Stevie for a poignant piece of honesty. While fans and pundits pick over the decaying carcass of Liverpool Football Club, a team that has lost six of its last eight matches and is all but eliminated from the Champions League, Gerrard sites the initial catalyst for all the misery.
The captain states, “I was devastated, yeah. Devastated. But there was nothing I could do about it. Xabi said a long time ago that he wanted another chapter in his career and finally he got it and his teammates and the coaches couldn’t stand in his way. We just had to say thanks and move forward without him.”
Pressure has mounted on Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez over his side’s slumping form over the past month, with a sole victory over Manchester United keeping the club hanging from a thread. Yet to anyone who follows this team closely, Alonso’s departure signaled the beginning of an era of doubt an instability. As Gerrard wisely points out, Alonso is, “one of the best players in the world.” His diligent play over four successful seasons helped to propel Liverpool to Champions League glory, an FA cup triumph, and a stunning finish last season that saw the Anfield club nearly pip United to the Premier League title. Last year’s second place position is the closest Benitez will get to his most coveted prize, as Liverpool currently sit in sixth place in the Premier League table and are nine points adrift of first-place Chelsea.
by Kartik Krishnaiyer on November 5, 2009 · 5 comments
Kartik Krishnaiyer and Laurence McKenna break down all the midweek Champions League action. Hear Kartik’s very sharp opinions on UEFA’s seeding process and Laurence’s views on Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benetiz. We also preview this weekend’s headline top of the table clash between Chelsea and Manchester United.
The EPL Talk Podcast is the number one Premier League interview and analysis show.
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Stan Kroenke has purchased even more shares in Arsenal today taking his holding to 29.9% of the club. With only another 0.09% required to reach the threshold to make an offer for the rest of the clubs shares, Kroenke has purchased 627 shares this week for the princely sum of £5.3 million. The oddest part of the share purchasing is that 100 of the shares were purchased from Arsenal chairman, Peter Hill-Wood.
Hill-Wood seems to have had a change of opinion about Kroenke, after originally stating that the club didn’t need his money or his sort back in 2007 when he purchased his first shareholding in the club. Now the club seem to be relying on him to protect themselves from a takeover from Red and White Holdings, the share vehicle of Alisher Usmanov and ran by former Arsenal vice chairman David Dein.
“It is difficult for us to qualify, but not impossible,We have to win our game and see what happens with Fiorentina and Lyon. Then we will approach the last game.” Benitezhas certainly fought his corner today after the galling last minute equaliser Liverpool conceded in the Stade Gerland last night. Of course, the nay sayers and doom merchants are already drafting Rafa’s last rites as the promise of last season seems already consigned to the dustbin by mid November.
Even Liverpool’s most feverish critics must be surprised how quickly the wheels have fallen off this season. 5 league defeats, knocked out of the League Cup and facing demotion to the Europa League have seen Benitez under the most pressure he’s ever faced during his tenure at Anfield. With the financial situation at Liverpool as tight as it can be, the key achievement for Liverpool to aim for this season is to finish in the top 4 in the Premier League.
Ten years ago today, when I was still single, I threw a party for about 20 of my friends in my studio apartment. It was November 5th, 1999. On a shoestring budget, I had an assortment of sausage rolls and poppadoms available for people to eat and plenty of bottles of beer to wash the food down.
Then the big announcement came. I told everyone that they were there to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night, a traditional British celebration held every November 5th. I explained how it marked the downfall of the Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605, in which a number of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament, in London.
However, there was a big problem. No one believed me. Not one single person. They all thought I had made it up. And they all thought that “Guy Fawkes” was slang for “Guy F**ks.”
