Search: 'media'

An inevitable punfest ensues as England book their place in the World Cup finals

England’s qualification for the 2010 World Cup was deemed important enough to knock even current tabloid fixation Jordan off the front pages. To qualify with eight consecutive victories, scoring 31 and conceding only five, is indeed an impressive feat and the manner in which qualification was confirmed, with a resounding victory, was also noticeably un-English. In the immediate aftermath the papers quietly acknowledged that overhyping the national team has been counter-productive in the past. But they were completely unable to resist the temptation to do so again, sometimes even on the same page as the pleas for restraint.

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The behaviour of footballers on the pitch hits the headlines

From rioting at Upton Park to Chelsea’s dubious youth recruitment tactics to Eduardo’s lack of balance, the first few weeks of 2009-10 have produced ample opportunity for moral outrage. Some gloomy observers have chosen to view this as an unprecedented and apocalyptic period for football. Meanwhile, a general sense of opprobrium has been building around a single club: Manchester City.

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The experiment of using additional officials in the Europa League does not appear to be working

This season’s Europa League matches have generated more media interest than is usually given to Europe’s secondary club competition but it has nothing to do with the new league format and silly name change. The games are being watched with keen interest because they involve two extra officials stationed behind the goals.

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Due to a series of political manoeuvres, Argentine fans can now see more football than ever before. Rodrigo Orihuela explains

Football is a central part of Argentine cultural heritage and, therefore, everybody should enjoy the right to watch live broadcasts of all domestic matches free of charge. This statement does not come from a bitterly disappointed fan tired of ever rising pay-per-view costs. It is actually the crux of the argument used by the Argentine government to justify a £96 million year-long deal to acquire the rights to broadcast football free-to-air.

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As Ian King observes, the media now defines football supporters by their fanatical behaviour. Is this encouraging some to behave in an increasingly irrational, negative and anatagonistic manner?

When the retail chain Sports Direct (SD) makes news it is usually in connection with their owner, Mike Ashley. But in mid-August several newspapers carried the story of a man who went to an SD store and spent £55 on a replica Man Utd shirt. He decided to have “YSB” (which stands for “You Scouse Bastards”, apparently), “96” and “Not Enough” printed on the back of it. He then posted pictures of his purchase on Facebook. Sports Direct say that they will now only allow the printing of current players’ names on their shirts and that the sales assistant who had the design made up didn’t understand it. This  line was not accepted by Margaret Aspinall of the Hillsborough Support Group: “I don’t believe it is possible someone printing football shirts wouldn’t know what the message meant.”

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