TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Watmore launches four-year plan to sort FA finances • FA's chief executive to overhaul finances by 2014• New plans for National Football Centre to be unveiledIan Watmore, the Football Association chief executive, has unveiled a four-year plan to overhaul the governing body's finances and operations by the time of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. After a protracted period of financial uncertainty sparked by the collapse of Setanta, Watmore said the FA was ready to move forward in the new year with redrawn plans for the long-delayed National Football Centre at Burton, a new push on youth development and an overhaul of its commercial strategy.He also claimed, in an interview with the Guardian, to have made substantial progress on establishing a working relationship with the Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore, despite the very public spat between the two organisations' respective chairmen, Lord Triesman and Sir Dave Richards, over the 2018 World Cup bid.Watmore, who has faced a series of major challenges in his six months in the job including replacing Setanta's £150m TV contract and renegotiating a series of key sponsorship deals, said the next four years were a "critical period" for the FA's finances."The period between now and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is critical," he said. "I think organising our sponsorship and TV deals together is the right way forward. Sponsors and TV companies prefer thinking World Cup to World Cup rather than Euros to Euros."Watmore said he was on the verge of renewing Tesco's deal to sponsor its skills programme to 2014, to add to recent renewals with Carlsberg and McDonalds and a new deal with Mars. However, talks over Nationwide's position as the leading England sponsor are dragging on and its exclusivity period has ended without an agreement.Watmore said his cost-cutting programme aimed at driving down the FA's expenditure by 10% was "basically done" and revealed that conclusive plans for the National Football Centre would finally be unveiled in the summer.Following a review led by the former Ipswich Town chairman David Sheepshanks, he said he was confident that private investment could be found to build the centre."Our hope and expectation is that by the start of next season we'll be able to say we're definitely doing this on this timetable, to this spec and to this business case," he said of the scheme, which will now act as a centre of excellence for coaching rather than players. "The concept we now all agree upon."Watmore said England's impressive World Cup qualifying campaign under Fabio Capello had made sponsorship negotiations easier, despite the recession and the continued financial burden placed on the FA's finances by Wembley until 2014.The chief executive plans to open negotiations over ITV's main contract to show live England and FA Cup matches, which runs to 2012, and wants to also bring that into line by offering the BBC and ITV a short-term two-year deal."That is also the point under current plans at which Wembley breaks even. The stadium will be servicing its own costs including interest and depreciation," he said of the ongoing burden of the £757m stadium, estimating that the FA would have to continue to contribute £20m a year in loan repayments and services rendered until then.Watmore, a former management consultant and senior civil servant who has maintained a low profile in his early months in the job, said the next four years would also be crucial in terms of devising new ways to exploit the FA's media rights."There is a period of change going on in terms of the way we as citizens react with everything in terms of new media," said Watmore, a former head of e-government. "That's a key period to play out because when we want to net the deals after that, it will be much clearer how the web and other types of platforms are playing and we'll be able to do the rest of the deals on that basis."The FA has been experimenting with streaming matches from the FA Cup on its website and has been encouraged by the results. It will continue to do so even when the £60m, four-year deal agreed with ESPN to replace Setanta begins next year.The FAOwen Gibsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Everton 2 Burnley 0: match report Forgotten man James Vaughan earns Everton three vital points against Burnley at Goodison Park. telegraph.co.uk |
Togo attack: coach questions future of African Nations Cup after gunfire in Angola Togo coach Hubert Velud says authorities should seriously consider whether to call off competition after armed attack. telegraph.co.uk |
Portsmouth made to wait again for Premier League transfer verdict • Portsmouth under embargo because of debts to clubs• League asked to allow loans and free transfersPortsmouth will have to wait at least another day to discover if their player registration embargo is to be lifted after the Premier League continued to consider the financial information supplied by the club during the two sides' meeting yesterday.The league's bottom team owe £10m to various English clubs for missed transfer instalments. A £7m payment of television money is now due from the Premier League, and it seems almost certain that it will choose to pay this directly to those football creditors.If Portsmouth cannot make up the £3m shortfall to clear the debt, various options are available to the league. It is thought that one Portsmouth may have asked it to explore is to allow Avram Grant the opportunity of completing free-transfer and loan deals until the £3m is cleared.The league is thought to be losing patience with the club, so it is not clear how amenable it would be to shifting away from the blanket ban it imposed in mid-October, to allow Grant some leeway to sign new players during the current transfer window.The Premier League may simply decide to maintain the embargo but it will also be conscious that Grant was able to name only 17 players for Tuesday's FA Cup third-round replay at Coventry City, one short of a full squad. While Grant's team offered a spirited display to force extra-time through a late equaliser, before claiming a last-gasp victory through Aaron Mokoena's winner, the Israeli desperately requires new faces.Grant's lack of playing options is limiting his tactical options, ahead of Saturday's visit to the south coast of Birmingham City, who are unbeaten in 13. Grant, though, was happy with the contribution of Mokoena, whom he was forced to field in central defence against Coventry. "I think Mokoena was great," he said. "Firstly he was playing in a position that was not his familiar one, but we needed him. Mokoena is one of the most Âprofessional players I have ever met."PortsmouthBusinessAvram GrantPremier LeagueJamie Jacksonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cologne adds to Wolfsburg woes Wolfsburg's defensive problems continued on Sunday as the defending champion lost 3-2 at home to Cologne, extending its winless streak to seven games. cbc.ca |