Newcastle United announce email address for stadium name

Yes you read that right Newcastle United have decided to call their stadium -  sportsdirect.com @ St James’ Park with immediate effect.

Managing director Derek Llambias said the famous ground would bear the name of owner Mike Ashley’s Company until the end of the season, when naming rights would be sold on the open market. Ashley angered supporters of Newcastle United late last month when he announced the club’s plans to rename the stadium for commercial purposes, having taken them off the market.

Llambias said of the re-naming announcement;

"We could have worded it better, and that's why we came out yesterday to explain what we're trying to achieve. With the renaming it was always going to be whatever brand it was, at St James' Park. For the remainder of this season, we already have sportsdirect.com on the Gallowgate so we'd like to take that branding through the rest of the stadium"

I can’t speak for the Newcastle fans but obviously the announcement of the renaming was met with hostility and I only can think how ludicrous it would be for Old Trafford to be renamed. There is clearly no thought for the fans and the history of the ground. As a football fan Ashley needs to go and let Newcastle move on with a new owner.

I also thought Sports Direct is a bit chavvy or is that just me?

Posted on the WDKF site here and for posts from me on the site check here

FA Announce Women's Super League

The FA has announced today an 8 club Women's Super League commencing in 2011, originally this was for 2010 but due to financial uncertainty following UK television broadcasters  Setanta collapse, it has been delayed a year.

The FA hopes this will stop England players leaving for America and FA Chairman Lord Triesman said “The launch of The FA Women’s Super League will help us take female football to a new and unprecedented level, increasing overall participation in what is now officially the most popular female team sport in the country.”

This all seems a very positive move for Women's football and I'm sure they are under even more pressure with Gerry Sutcliffe's (England's Sports Minister) admittance last week that the FA is failing to meet the criteria set for them four years ago.

The application process starts in October 2009 and I will keeping a keen eye to see how this progresses.

Also I'm going to The London FA Women's Football Forum on the 14th October at White Hart Lane, there will be a guest panel of Jacqui Oatley (BBC Radio and Match of the Day commentator), Rachel Pavlou (National Women’s & Girls' Football Development Manager) plus others – including an Female England International Player.

The London FA have seen our posts from last week and are keen for me to do a piece on here about the forum. I've obviously got a few questions of my own but if there is anyone else who wants to know anything; drop me a comment below and I'll be sure to do my hardest to ask for you!

Crazy week so far!

I am apologising again as I will be doing EVEN more football posts as I am now writing for wdkf.co.uk (We Don't Know Football), I'm very excited about it and I'm still smiling from ear to ear, if you see WDKF in the blog labels you know it's also been posted on their website too. Football fans should check it out and join in the debates, we wouldn't get anywhere without people's viewpoints. If you're not a football fan, still drop by and something might take your fancy! My first big article on Women's football that I also posted on here has got quite a reception.

With all this excitement I haven't got round to starting my own book yet, I will start it soon though. My friend's book that I mentioned I had been asked by him to read; FINALLY (stupid Royal Mail) arrived! Only got the first 3 chapters but it's really good. All I can say is that it's a science fiction story... and that's all I can say! 

Tai Chi this week was really good, although I'm finding it now a little difficult, everything is done so slowly and through the years of doing more "active" fitness regimes, I'm used to using more power! It is quite hard to slow punch!

It's a beautiful day to day, the sun is out and it's actually pretty warm out! I'm off to Woburn Abbey Safari Park tomorrow as a volunteer with a charity that supports people with learning difficulties. Although sun or rain we still will have a great day! 

I will be making some cupcakes again next week, I haven't made any for ages and I feel the need... the need for cakes!

I'll be watching Flash Forward on Monday night on Five, the trailer has had me hooked for weeks. Let's hope the programme lives up to the trailer!

That's all for now, take care y'all

The state of women's football

The world might be football mad and in England we have the most high profile and richest professional men's league in the world, but when it comes to the women's game the level of interest and support remain frustratingly small. While Capello's men play at the shiny new Wembley, England's women have yet to play at the national stadium; instead they appear at grounds in Swindon, Colchester and Shrewsbury.

It has not always been this way though, immediately after the First World War a match between Dick Kerr's Ladies FC (a works factory team from Preston) and St Helen's Ladies at Everton's Goodison Park stadium, drew a crowd of 53,000 (a women's record attendance that still stands today). Players such as Lily Parr and Alice Woods became stars of the game, and earned tidy sums touring France and the US.

But this was all to change, on the 5th December 1921 the FA banned women from playing on their pitches, effectively all grounds with spectator facilities. It was said that "the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged". Speculation now says that male officials were threatened by the success of their female counterparts. The women's game was left to die whilst the men's game flourished.

In 1971 this ban was lifted but the women's game has failed to get back to how it was with Parr and Woods. Recent successes; Arsenal Ladies winning the Uefa Cup in 2007 (the equivalent to the Champions League), England reaching the quarter finals in the World Cup that same year and recently they were Euro Final Runner Ups to Germany (Why is it always Germany?). Despite this array of honours and successes the Women's game is short on attendances, facilities and finance, League games are not shown on TV, and sponsorship is hard to come by.

Successful clubs like Manchester United, Birmingham City, Charlton, Bristol City and Fulham Ladies have all folded or struggled when the men's club cut off support. It's no surprise that English players are heading over to America where the games are shown live on TV and they have live phone in and discussion programmes. In Sweden, Umea IK pay professional wages to 75% of their players and rival mens' teams in terms of football coverage. England is lacking well behind these examples of what is going on elsewhere in the world. It was reported that during The World Cup they were paid £40 a day! It's of no surprise that they have to have 2 jobs to keep themselves financially secure, with annual salaries of £16,000 - it's a long way of the men's teams with some of them getting that in a day.

As role models go the Kelly Smith's and Karen Carney's of this world are doing all they can to highlight women's football and the FA is now starting to pay attention; mainly because the stars are leaving England to go to America. They say there will be a new Super League in 2010, but news on it is sketchy to say the least.

I've had the chance to do quite a lot of coaching and over a year ago I coached a group of 10-12 year old girls football, and they all wanted to play football when they were older but had been told by their schools "It wasn't worthwhile". Although I've now heard some of them are trialling for a girls team near me and I feel proud! So I must have done something right and I'm going to get in contact with them and see if there's any further support they need. I realise it's easy to write a post like this and say more needs to be done and then do nothing myself, so I will continue with coaching and try to get as many girls/women into football. I trained last year to be a referee and if I hadn't gone with two other girls I would have been the only female in the training, with 24 blokes! Not that it would have stopped me going I might add.

I'm interested to know what you think?

If anyone has any doubts on the women's game you gotta check out Brazilian footballer Marta, a lot of men wouldn't be able to score goals like she can!

Pitch invader scores!

Everyone wants the chance to score a penalty past your local rivals' goalkeeper, but one fan took his chance this weekend.

The fan couldn't wait for Spartak Moscow's Brazilian midfielder Alex to take the kick against Saturn so came on and took it for him.

Watch his celebration run with his mate following him, I'm pleased he didn't do the shirt over the head celebration!