Author Archive

Common Goal

I am very excited to see the progress that the Manchester United footballer, Juan Mata is making with his Comon Goal project. The Manchester United star is leading a drive to donate a percentage of footballers’ earnings to good causes around the world. Clearly Global football is more awash with money than ever and the Manchester United star Juan Mata is leading a project to give back to the communities that raised today’s stars by redistributing a small percentage of those resources to charitable causes around the world.

The project is called Common Goal. Already he has enlisted many world names in football – men, women and administrators to the project and can already count on the like of

Mata announced in an article for The Players’ Tribune in August 2017 that he was pledging one per cent of his salary to Common Goal, and called for other players to do the same.

He wrote, “So starting today, I am pledging 1% of my salary to Common Goal, a collective fund — run by the award-winning NGO streetfootballworld — that supports football charities around the globe. It’s a small gesture that if shared can change the world.

I’m asking my fellow professionals to join me in forming a Common Goal Starting XI. Together we can create a movement based on shared values that can become integral to the whole football industry — forever.

I am leading this effort, but I don’t want to be alone.

“One of the first lessons I learned in football is that it takes a team to accomplish your dreams. We live by this mantra on the pitch, yet we don’t see it enough in the social space. Common Goal is creating a collaborative way for football to give back to society. It’s the most effective and sustainable way that football can deliver long-term social impact on a global scale. Football has the power to do this, but we need to act together.

So now I would like to call upon my fellow footballers to help. We have so many opportunities simply because we play a children’s game. We are so lucky to live a dream. Let’s come together and help kids everywhere experience that same light and joy. By doing so we can show the wider football industry that Common Goal needs to happen and that it will happen, because it’s right.

The focus now is on contributions from players, but the the long-term goal is to unlock 1% of the entire football industry’s revenues for grassroots football charities that strengthen their communities through sport.

Just last month, I traveled to Mumbai, India, to see one such charity. We went to a slum just outside the main city, and at first it was very hard to comprehend the level of poverty. No child should have to live like that. Seeing the conditions, my spirits were a bit down.

But then we started interacting with the local kids. Their English wasn’t great, and I’m not sure all of them even knew that I was a football player, but we communicated through laughter and the game. If I smiled, they smiled. If I ran, they ran.”

Brentford

Well, it´s Boxing Day, which is always a HUGE football day in England and I was delighted to receive two emails within minutes – firstly from my friends at Copa and then from Brentford FC which was my local club when I last lived in England. It would be wrong therefore not to share the good news immediately!

Brentford FC Retro Shirts

We are delighted to confirm that Copa has teamed up with West London-based Brentford FC and launched two retro shirts. Both shirts are based on iconic ‘Bees’ shirts from the past.

The Dutch airline KLM sponsored Brentford for many years, including the 1985-1986 season. A big Dutch multinational doing business with a relatively small club from London, It might seem like a bit of a strange fit. But if you ever took a plane to London Heathrow you probably know why KLM was pretty happy with the deal. Just minutes before touchdown, Griffin Park looms up when you are enjoying the London skyline. The roof of the New Road Stand is in full sight for hundreds of people each day. And that is why KLM made sure that ‘Next time you’d better fly KLM’ was written on the roof in big bold letters.

Both retro shirts can be found online at copafootball.com, in the club fanshop, and via selected retailers and online resellers

*The 1,000,000 Seat Challenge*

What you need to know!

What is the 1,000,000 Seat Challenge?

Stadium Hoppers and the92.net have combined their force to create the 1,000,000 Seat Challenge! The aim: to visit stadiums with a cumulative capacity of 1,000,000 seats. The target is between 26th December 2017 and 26th January 2018! During this time The Stadium Hoppers Team will be embarking on a very special set of Hops!

Effectively this is a Beat The Boss Style Challenge. We want all Stadium Hoppers to join in!

What are the rules?

The rules are simple and anyone can join in!
To class a Stadium as “visited” you need to either visit a game, go inside or physically touch the stadium!
All Stadiums or Arenas that host sport can count – however big or small!
If you’d like to be eligible for 1,000,000 Seat Challenge prizes you’ll need a selfie at each stadium you visit.
What can I win?!

1st Prize: Stadium Hoppers sports map of your choice

2nd Prize: Limited Edition Stadium Hoppers Beanie

3rd Prize: Terrace Battles Card Game

Everyone who achieves over 500,000 will receive a sheet of our new Stadium Hoppers stickers to do with what they wish!

How do I join in?

Powered by the92.net, the site will be a leaderboard to chart your progress and show how you compare to other Stadium Hoppers! It takes less than a minute to sign up and if you already have a the92.net login, then you can use this!

WORLD’S FIRST STORE WHERE YOU CAN BUY REAL ITEMS FOR REFUGEES

“Choose Love” Christmas pop-up for Help Refugees opens in Soho
18 Broadwick Street, London 24 until end of January 2018

Choose Love is the world’s first shop where you can buy real products for refugees. From emergency blankets to school bags and medical equipment, you can shop to your heart’s content, leave with nothing, and feel great. All funds raised will go directly to UK charity Help Refugees supporting their vital work across Europe and the Middle East.

The innovative store will be beautifully designed to create an uplifting yet meaningful retail experience – a striking space where people can learn about refugees while doing something practical to help.

Help Refugees is a pioneering organisation working on the frontline of the refugee crisis in Europe and beyond. Founded in 2015 as part of a grassroots movement of volunteers, in just two years they have become one of the most prominent and effective humanitarian aid organisations working directly with refugees.

Josie Naughton CEO of Help Refugees, “It’s easy to forget how lucky we are to have a bed, a blanket and a roof over our heads. For thousands of refugees this winter, these basic human needs are completely out of reach. This shop is all about one simple idea: that we should all choose love this Christmas and help those in need”

The pop-up store has been created by creative collective Glimpse, whose mission is to use creativity for good. They were behind the impactful campaign last year where all the adverts in Clapham Common tube station were replaced with pictures of cats.

The space in the heart of Soho has been provided by Shaftesbury – a Real Estate Investment Trust who invest exclusively in London’s West End. It will showcase a range of items that represent the three phases of a refugee’s experience: Arrival, Shelter and The Future. The curated selection of items, such as blankets and gloves, are all items distributed by Help Refugees on the front lines of the refugee crisis. Each item on sale is accompanied by short stories about how and why it was chosen.

Visitors to the store simply take an item’s tag to the till or buy directly from one of the store staff. Along with their purchase, visitors can find out about the work of Help Refugees through the charity’s staff.

The items on sale will include emergency blankets, children’s shoes, warm socks mobile phone credit and more. Costs will range from £4.99 to £499 with an option to even ‘buy the store’. James Turner from Glimpse: “We want charity giving to become as much a part of the festive shopping experience as secret Santa and stocking fillers. This Christmas we’re hoping people will come together, Choose Love and buy gifts for refugees who truly need them.”
The team have also opened an online store. Through December passers-by can also expect surprise celebrity staff, events and special promotions.

CHOOSE LOVE:

Opening: 24 November 2017 Closing: 31 January 2018
Address: 18 Broadwick Street, Soho, London, W1F 8HS
Hours: Monday – Saturday 11 – 6 pm, Sunday 12 – 6 pm

Nottingham Forest

Three New Nottingham Forest Shirts

I got a mail from my friends at Copa today ….

“We recently launched our first official Nottingham Forest retro collection and today we have added three brand new polyester shirts, based on the shirts worn during Forest’s glory days in the late 1970’s and 1980’s.

Led by Brian Clough, Nottingham Forest were the very unexpected European Cup winners in 1979. Having surprised the continent a year earlier, Forest were back in 1980 to surprise a few more people by doing the very same thing again. Nottingham Forest retained their European crown against HSV and remain the only club to have won the European Cup more often than their own national League.

All Forest classic retro shirts take you back to relive the rich history of the club. All shirts are Made in Europe with great care and pride, using the best possible fabrics for the right vintage look & feel. As a finishing touch all items are packed in luxury gift boxes.

The Nottingham Forest retro collection can be found online at copafootball.com, in the Forest Fanshops, and via selected retailers and online resellers.”

Brentford star, Romaine Sawyers, joins Kick It Out for a unique sign language workshop

Romaine Sawyers joined Kick It Out representative Paul Mortimer in highlighting deaf sport at a primary school in Twickenham yesterday, as part of his role as an ambassador for the organisation.

More than 80 pupils from Chase Bridge Primary School took part in an exciting sign language workshop with the country’s only full-time, deaf football coach – Ben Lampert, who works for Brentford FC Community Sports Trust. To help raise awareness of disability in sport, pupils also unlocked their creative potential and designed posters that highlight deaf football. “If a football player or someone of a profession I was interested in came into my school when I was younger; I would have probably listened that little bit more,” Romaine said.
“I need to use the platform I have to try and make a difference.”

Kick It Out, football’s equality and inclusion organisation, has received widespread recognition for tackling discrimination within football. Although it was originally launched to eliminate racism from the game, Kick It Out expanded its remit in 1997 to challenge all forms of discrimination – whether based on age, disability, faith, gender, gender reassignment, race or sexual orientation. “It was great to work with Romaine, who has been our ambassador for several years now,” said Paul Mortimer, who previously worked as a coach at Brentford and is now Professional Players Engagement Manager at Kick It Out.

“It was fantastic to educate the Chase Bridge Primary School pupils about Kick It Out and our key messages around diversity and inclusion.

“Brentford’s Community Sports Trust does great work so I am pleased that we teamed up with them to raise awareness around deaf sport – I certainly learnt a lot at Ben’s sign language workshop!” “Running these events will help educate the next generation and highlight the importance of disability in football,” said Ben Lampert, who was born profoundly deaf. “For me, becoming involved with Brentford FC Community Sports Trust was the turning point in the development of my coaching career. Through the work of Kick It Out and the Trust, we can raise awareness and provide deaf children with the same opportunities I had.”

Brentford FC CST has had a longstanding commitment to disability projects; the Trust engaged with nearly 500 disabled adults and children last year.

New FC Internazionale Retro Shirts & Jacket

About a month ago, we launched the first items of our new FC Internazionale collection. Today we added two iconic retro shirts and a retro jacket.

The shirts and the jacket, made under official license of the Italian superpower, take you back to relive special moments: the Serie A title returned to Inter in some style in 1989 after a nine-year absence. Coach Giovanni Trapattoni fashioned almost an entirely new team based around the very experienced West German pairing of midfielder Lothar Matthaus and full back Andreas Brehme. Ultimately Inter won the title with considerable ease in this record-breaking season.

All items are Made in Europe with great care and pride, using the best possible fabrics for the right vintage look & feel and are packed in luxury gift boxes.

The collection can be found via copafootball.com, in our flagshipstore in Amsterdam and via selected retailers and online resellers. Or in the official Inter.it webshop and Inter fanstore in Milano.

Penny Power OBE

One of the most exciting parts of the whole Shirt Project, was the opportunity I have had to meet so many exciting, positive and professional people. So may people have supported Bjørn and I that it is invidious to name names but I must give a huge shoutout to Penny Power and her husband Thomas who supported me magnificently in 2010 as I cycled through the UK. They were the owners and leaders of Ecademy and I had the pleasure of meeting up with them a number of times that summer. Moreover they introduced Bjørn and I to many supporters who made our two tours possible. HUGE THANKS, guys.

So, I was really excited to read about an amazing new initiative from Penny and it is the least I can do to share it. I wish her every success…..although I am not sure she will need it.

JOIN MORE THAN 100 INVESTORS in The Business Cafe crowdfund

Imagine if tomorrow you could pop into your local Business Cafe and sit in plush surroundings, served by lovely staff who make an effort to know your name, and maybe ask a Digital Friend to help you with a skill you would like for your business.

You may remember us, Penny Power and Gail Thomas – we are creating community and delivering digital skills and support for sole-traders, SMEs and people in business for FREE.

Our coffee shops will be a great place to network, make business friends and get to grip with business apps.

We want to get the first one going in early 2018, please support our crowdfund.

In addition to food and beverage, our revenue comes from the brands who pay to feature on our Digital Menu and train up our Digital Friends to help businesses in each locality become aware of and benefit from better productivity.

Check our pitch page and make your investment here.

So far we have:

*already gained private investment to develop the business and operational structure

*got huge support and online community from SMEs across the UK and beyond, see testimonials from our youtube channel here

*signed major brands on to our Digital Menu

I hope you’ll join our journey, we’d love to have you on board.

With friendship first

Penny
Penny Power OBE

See our video here to learn about us.

China to Runcorn

Well, it’s not exactly about a shirt but the story needs promoting! Let’s be honest, it’s not every day that a Football Manager fan travels 6,000 miles from China to visit Runcorn FC – after managing them on CM 01/02

Huang Wenbin enjoyed his title-winning game so much that he wanted to pay a visit to the club.Anyone who plays Football Manager will know how easy it is to develop a soft spot for the club you manage.

Huang Wenbin did exactly that, as he became an exiled fan of Runcorn FC Halton following his tenure in charge of them on Championship Manager 01/02.

Wenbin turned his Runcorn side into world beaters, rising from the Conference to the Premier League, signing the likes of Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy along the way.

Fifteen years on from his virtual exploits, Wenbin, 37, underwent the ultimate pilgrimage for any Football Manager fan – as he completed a 12,000-mile round-trip to visit Runcorn.

The club, now under the guise of Runcorn Linnets following the demise of the original club in 2006, play in the ninth tier of English football.

But that was not going to put off Wenbin, who flew to Liverpool with his wife, Lin Xiaoru, and children, Yandao and Geshu, in a bid to find the non-league club.

“The first time I made the decision to find Runcorn FC was in 2015,” Wenbin told Mirror Football.

“I went to Liverpool by train to watch Steven Gerrard’s last match at Anfield.

“When the train was parking, I saw a sign for Runcorn. I told my friend I will be there again to find my club.” After arriving in England last week, Wenbin set up a Twitter account in order to contact the club to try and organise a visit. And on Sunday, he was greeted by club officials.

“We all breathed a sigh of relief when we saw that someone was waiting for us in front of the stadium. We spent over 24 hours to arrive in Liverpool from Xiamen in China.” Wenbin worked out the local bus system and was able to travel from Liverpool to Runcorn – but it was not without complication.
“We missed the bus station and got lost on the road in the countryside near Runcorn Linnets. “We spent three hours trying to find the club. It must be my false for my poor English speaking and listening.” But football is a universal language and there was no problem in telling the story between Wenbin and club chairman Mark Buckley, who showed the family around the Millbank Linnets Stadium.

“Mark is such an easy going person and he introduced the Runcorn Linnets club to us,” Wenbin said.”He brought us a box of club souvenirs, such as a badge which my son wore on his clothes immediately.”My son wanted to kick a ball on the pitch. Mark was so kind to let him do that and my son enjoyed himself to the full.”

Wenbin was unable to watch the Linnets’ away match against Burscough this weekend but made up for it with a visit to Anfield to watch his beloved Liverpool’s game against Manchester United.

But it was the visit to Runcorn that Wenbin was most excited about. On the other hand, his wife, Xiarou, was just thankful for the warm welcome from the club – and Wenbin is appreciative of her for joining him on the journey. Runcorn chairman Mark said: “She possibly didn’t know what to expect, so when he got a warm welcome I think she was probably quite relieved! “I don’t think he realised that he was quite big news. He seemed quite astonished that we were happy to see him. We have a Swedish fans group and a Norwegian fans group, but China is a little bit special.

“It was quite humbling, because he was such an honest and polite man. I really, really enjoyed it personally. It was a fabulous few hours.”He has already emailed me umpteen photos and his thoughts from the day, so I think I’ve found myself a pen pal for life, which is brilliant and I’m looking forward to keeping in touch. He’s a thoroughly decent bloke.”

Runcorn are now endeavouring to source a replica shirt which they can send to over to Chin

Full story here . Photos courtesy of The Mirror Group

FC Internazionale

New FC Internazionale Retro Collection
Internazionale retro collection

Internazionale retro collection
After launching our first official FC Internazionale retro shirts and jackets back in 2016, we are delighted to show you the first items of the new retro collection, made under official license of the Italian superpower.

These two retro shirts and the retro jacket, designed in strong collaboration with the club, are inspired by the rich history of Inter and instantly recognizable styles from the past. They take you back to relive special moments, created by legends like Altobelli, Meazza, Suárez and Mazzola.
Internazionale retro collection

Internazionale retro collection
All items are Made in Europe with great care and pride, using the best possible fabrics for the right vintage look & feel and are packed in luxury gift boxes.

The collection can be found via copafootball.com, in the Copa flagshipstore in Amsterdam and via selected retailers and online resellers. Or in the official Inter.it webshop and Inter fanstore in Milano.