Olympic stadium debacle rumbles on

West Ham to remain at Upton Park?

Today's announcement by the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OLPC) that they are no longer selling the stadium to West Ham United after the 2012 Games didn't come as any great surprise.

In fact, the surprise in my eyes was that it was the OLPC who made the decision, rather than West Ham. The reason given, that they were unable to continue with the bid due to ongoing legal issues is fair enough, and reasonable under the circumstances.

Football at the Athens Olympic Stadium

It does, however, leave one massive question left unanswered - what WILL happen to the stadium after 2012? Having invested £500 million on the facility means that it can't be allowed to become a white elephant, as in the case of other stadia built for major sporting events in the not too distant past. Think of the Athens Olympics of 2004, or the FIFA World Cups of 2002 and 2010 for example.

While many can cite that much of the funding for the stadium came from public funds, a large amount was also funded privately, and those investors will want a return for that investment, surely.

Designed to hold 25,000 permanent seats on the lower tier, with 55,000 seats in a lightweight construction that can be removed afterwards, the stadium must retain the athletics track, as a part of any agreement to use the stadium post-Games.

The 'English-style' football stadium

For any football club to consider using a stadium with this track around it is complete lunacy. Supporters of football in the UK have watched the sport from close quarters since enclosed stadia were required at the onset of the organised game in the 19th century.

The demolition of Wembley in 2000 removed the last English venue of this nature, and now, only Hampden Park in Glasgow remains as the only major football venue to retain a perimiter track around it's pitch.

The Delle Alpi, now completely redeveloped without the track

You only need to take a look at European football clubs who have redeveloped or built new stadiums to see that athletics tracks do not mix with a good football-watching experience.

The new Juventus stadium - without the track

The mighty Juventus moved recently into their new stadium, the rebuilt Delle Alpi, which itself was built for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The track around that pitch made it an unloved and underused ground that Juve (and Torino) supporters deserted in droves.

As a result, Torino moved back to the revamped Stadio Communale (which itself was mothballed as a result of the move of both clubs to the Delle Alpi), and Juve decided to redesign the stadium completely, to bring their fans closer to the pitch.

More recently, the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany saw major stadium building and redevelopment prior to the tournament.

Stadia in Munich, Hamburg, Gelsenkirchen, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hannover,  Leipzig and Kaiserslautern were all built or rebuilt, having previously been stadia with athletics facilities. A look now at these grounds will see that they are there purely for football spectating (along with concerts).

The AllianzArena - perfect sightlines for watching football

It's useful to note that the new Allianz Arena in Munich has replaced the Olympiastadion, built as part of the 1972 Olympic Park. For over 30 years, both Bayern and 1860 Munich played to stands where supporters were outside the optimum distance for watching football, yet here we are, with the benefit of seeing others' mistakes, and a major football club is fighting tooth and nail to use a facility with an athletics track.

It appears as though, for West Ham's part, they are only thinking of the bottom line, rather than considering their support, yet are willing to spend millions on consultancy fees, and such like, for a project that, if successful, I am sure will see them doomed to fail.

As for the OLPC, they are left with the fallout of a decision made years ago that an Olympics for London would regenerate a whole swathe of run down estates in the East End. That, my friends, is an argument for another day.

For now, though, think about where you would rather watch your football from.

Sedgley Park v Birmingham - Report

This is my report as it appeared in The Rugby Paper on Sunday 2 October 2011. Having a word limit of 220 to report on a game that had 13 tries in it was difficult, but I think the report gives a succinct enough impression of events. Unfortunately, the headline in the paper the next day that went with the report was 'Eight try Tigers maul abysmal Bees'. It didn't reflect the Birmingham performance at all, but hopefully the report gave a fair enough account.

Sedgley Park 55 Birmingham Bees 34

National League One

Saturday 1 October 2011

Sedgley exorcised the demons from last weekend with eight tries in the late summer sun, during a game that went from end to end.

Having lost the first points to a Dan Hawkes penalty goal, Sedgley took the first half by the scruff of the neck with scores from Simon Parrott, Richard Oxley, Jamie Harrison, and Richard Wainwright.

Birmingham replied with two of their own, from John Lowden and Jack Preece, to keep the pressure on the home side. 

Pick of the first half tries was Sedgleys’s Jamie Harrison, who collected the ball from kick-off, and with the Birmingham winger Jack Pons seemingly unaware of any danger, the Sedgley dangerman put his foot on the gas, powering down the wing, before sidestepping the full back Lowden, and touching down between the posts, giving Greg Smith his first conversion. 

Birmingham though, were always capable of putting the Sedgley defence under pressure, with livewire scrum half Warwick Lahmert at the centre of all the Birmingham plays.

The visitors scored three more times in the second half, through Pons, Lahmert, and Hawkes, although the home side repeated their first half scoring feat, with tries from Harrison, Dom Kohler, Michael Dutton, and Scott Wright.

Birmingham weren’t helped with the sin-binning of Tom Quarrie during the second half, for not moving away from the tackle, but the damage was already done, Sedgley having made enough headway for this bonus point win.

Scorers:

Sedgley Park

Tries: Parrott 11, Oxley 22, Harrison 24 54, Wainwright 33, Kohler 66, Dutton 70, Wright 74

Conversions: Smith 24 33 54 66 70 74

Penalty Goals: Smith 52

Birmingham & Solihull

Tries: Lowden 13, Preece 30, Pons 44, Lahmert 59, Hawkes 80

Conversions: Hawkes 44 59 80

Penalty Goals: Hawkes 4

Half-time: 24-13

Star Man: Louis McGowan

Attendance: 217

Teams:

Sedgley Park: Smith, Dutton, Wainwright, Riley, Harrison, Kohler, S Parrott, Birchall, Oxley, Flynn, Venter, McGowan, Lewis, Dew (Capt), Crous

Replacements: Black, Wright, Woolley, Urmston, Hurst

Birmingham & Solihull: Lowden, Clarke, White, Evans, Pons, Hawkes, Lahmert, Long, Preece (Capt), Darkintas, Quarrie, Todd, Brightwell, Reeves, Earnshaw

Replacements: McMillan, Tua, Farmer, Sadler, Webster

The game as seen by Sedgley Park website.

The game as reported by the Birmingham Post.

What next for sport on the BBC?

The news today from the BBC that they are cutting their spending on sports broadcasting rights by a further 15% poses questions for the millions of sports fans in the UK who rely on the Beeb providing them with their live TV and radio sport.

The reduction announced today includes confirmation that the BBC will share with BSkyB the rights to Formula One after the current exclusive contract ends. How this will work remains to be seen, but it is thought that each round of the F1 season will be screened exclusively by one of the broadcasters, with the other taking highlights.

Picture courtesy autoblog.com

As early as March this year, motor sports commentators were moved to spell out the move away from exclusive rights for the BBC when the current contract ends in 2013, and it is thought that this will only lead to a stronger market share for BSkyB in the sports broadcasting portfolio.

The same announcement also states that there will be reductions "to some smaller sports events". Without being specific in any way, it does state that sports that are "listed events" or those which "bring the nation together"will remain with the Corporation.


The BBC Trust were moved to reassure the public with an announcement to allay fears that there would be the loss of significant sporting coverage -

Sports coverage plays a major role on the BBC’s main television channels, and is central to delivering some of the BBC’s public purposes. However the acquisition of sports rights can be expensive, and BBC management has identified an ambition to save 15 per cent in this area. While it is not for the Trust to decide which individual sports rights are bought by the BBC, we have ensured BBC management’s approach is guided by the strategic principles we have set in this area: that, subject to value for money and affordability, the BBC should continue to prioritise those sports and events which have greatest national resonance, and in particular the events listed by the Government, as well as providing an outlet for minority sports

Although the BBC will be keeping its 'crown jewels', a worrying part of the announcement was that as well as the reduction in spending on sports rights, it also announced today that there will be a reduction in local sports coverage in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For sports fans in these countries, the access to local broadcasting is a necessity that just cannot be replaced by central UK-wide sports reporting.

Picture courtesy racingdiary.co.uk

A further confirmation of the importance which the BBC places on sports output, was that BBC Two would be the main home of live sport for the Corporation.

While that is fine for a late night finish at the World Snooker Championship, will it be good enough for the FA Cup Final, or the Men's Final at Wimbledon (or the Women's Final, for that matter)?

Although television sport is a major player in the BBC's portfolio, radio has a major part to play in its standing as a top quality producer of live sports broadcasts.

Today's announcement has said that Radio 5 Live, although continuing to "Maintain sport output at current levels", will reduce its costs through sending smaller production teams to outside events. It remains to be seen whether this will have an effect on the quality of broadcasts. We shall wait and see.

Commonwealth Youth Games 2011 - Rugby Sevens

The weekend of 10-11 September 2011 saw the introduction of Rugby Sevens to the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Tosha - the CYG2011 mascot

The fourth Games, held on the Isle of Man, from 8-11 September saw eight nations compete in the sevens tournament, including the very first time that an Isle of Man national side had been selected.

Funding from the Manx Government had been secured, to renovate the Bowl Stadium in Douglas, a part of the National Sports Centre in the town.

The newly refurbished stadium has a full 3G synthetic surface, which has been approved for use in rugby by the IRB, and also the footballing governing bodies, with the Bowl Stadium home to the Isle of Man FA.

The tournament was covered on Manx Radio as part of their status as Official Games Station, providing full coverage of the IOM Commonwealth Youth Games.

I would like to thank all at Manx Radio for their support and encouragement while I was there, on my first live broadcasting job. Here is my round up of the tournament, with all the results.

Tournament Format

Two groups of four teams were drawn to play each other in a round robin format, with all sides playing three games each day.

All sides would play a quarter final fixture, with the winners progressing to the Gold medal semi finals, and losers to the Bowl/Plate semi finals. The losers of the Gold medal semis would play for the Bronze medal, and the losers of the Bowl/Plate semi finals would play for the Bowl Final, and the winners, the Plate final.

Pool A

Isle of Man v Scotland

The first fixture of the competition was a major milestone for Manx rugby, with the Isle of Man competing as a national side for the first time at any level. Their fixture against Scotland ended in defeat by 43-5, although Liam Murphy would have his name in island history as the first try scorer for the Isle of Man.

Australia beat Canada by 31-0, and with both underdogs having taken heavy beatings, the second round of fixtures saw the Canadians almost upsetting the formbook with a one point defeat, by 15-14 to Scotland, while at Australians beat the hosts by a more comfortable 47-0. Scotland had made it hard for themselves, having taken a 15-0 lead, letting the Canadians come back at them, and just holding out for the victory.

Australia v Canada

The final round of matches in the pool was simply a case of fighting for positions, leading into the quarter finals. The Isle of man, perhaps fancying to do something against Canada, just didn't have it in them, and lost out by 50-0, while the Australians were too good for the Scots, winning by 19-5, and taking first place in Pool A.

Pool B

With two minnows of world rugby up against two giants, this pool was also to see some heavy defeats for the underdogs.

England v Sri Lanka

South Africa started the ball rolling, with ten tries in a 62-0 rout of Sri Lanka, before England put Trinidad & Tobago to the sword, with nine tries in a 53-0 victory.

The Springboks equalled their first scoreline, with ten tries against Trinidad & Tobago (62-0), with England also putting ten past the Sri Lankans in their 64-0 win.

Again, the last round of pool fixtures saw tight fixtures to sort out the quarter final places. First up, it was the battle between England and South Africa, with the English winners by 7-5; a 7-0 half-time lead being defended until the final hooter, when the Springboks scored, but they couldn't convert from a difficult angle.

South Africa v Trinidad & Tobago

The Sri Lankans beat Trinidad & Tobago by 17-5, despite going behind to the Carribean side.

The tight finish to the England v South Africa match had led to both sides being seen as favourites to progress to the final match.

Quarter Finals

The quarter final draw had thrown up some fixtures which observers could see would end up one sided, and this was the case in all but the final fixture.

The first of these saw Australia put Trinidad & Tobago to the sword by 53-0, before the home side played an England team who had every player in the squad signed up to Premiership Academy sides, and most of whom had played A League reserve team fixtures for their team.

The home crowd were firmly behind their team, as the English were camped in their own half for a full two minutes, before they managed to gain any territory against the Manx men. Despite the territory gained, the islanders just couldn't get any advantage against their opponents, with some ferocious defending keeping them at bay. Quality soon prevailed, and England went through with a 52-0 scoreline, but not without the home side getting the crowd cheering with some stout tackling.

Scotland won easily enough against Sri Lanka, by 47-0, before Canada lost out 24-12 to South Africa. The Springboks had led by 19-0 at half time, and shipped two tries in the second half, although the strong Canadians just couldn't come back at them in time.

Semi Finals

The Isle of Man's quarter final defeat had led to a Bowl/Plate semi final match against Sri Lanka, a fixture that Mike Dee, the IoM manager had thought would be "interesting"! It certainly ended up that way, with a very first historic Manx win, by 26-15. This match certainly had the crowd on their feet, with Andy Evans scoring two tries and Alex Murphy one by half time. The breathing space of two conversions from those tries was needed going into the second half, as the Sri Lankans came back with three tries of their own, before Dan Bonwick put down between the posts and converted for a fantastic result.

The strong side from Canada hammered Trinidad & Tobago by 60-7 in the other Bowl/Plate semi final, setting up a Bowl Final of Sri Lanka v Trinidad & Tobago and a Plate Final of Canada v Isle of Man.

The Gold Medal semi finals set up and 'Auld Enemy' clash followed by a battle of the southern hemisphere giants.

England proved too strong against Scotland, winning by 19-5, while the South Africans beat Australia by 26-21 in the match of the tournament so far. Lewis Holland had set the ball rolling for the Australians, before South Africa came back, to lead by 21-7 at half time. Australia came back, equalising through a converted Alex Northam try, with kicker Waldo Wessells continuing his excellent record throughout the tournament. The winning try though, came from Burger Odendal right at the death.

That result set up an intriguing rematch of England v South Africa for the Gold Medal. Would the final be as tight as the group game, which had been settled by a missed conversion?

Bowl Final

The Carribeans from Trinidad & Tobago lost out to Sri Lanka by 24-12 in a match where the Asian side were ahead throughout. The T&T team appeared to be too keen to use their feet when the ball was loose, and never really got to grips with the game.

Plate Final

This was the one which the local support were wanting to see, but the big Canadian side outmuscled the IoM team by 8 tries to none, securing the Plate Final by a score of 52-0. While it was a big disappointment for the home team, their manager Mike Dee had been pragmatic about their chances in the tournament beforehand, so to finish sixth out of eight was a big achievement for the squad.

Bronze Medal Final

A re-run of the earlier group game saw the Scots give the Australians a huge fright, leading the game going into the final minute, but a Will Miller try secured the Bronze medal for Australia, with a 15-12 scoreline.

Gold Medal Final

England took the honours against the Springboks once more, but with a 21 point margin after the 20 minute final match. Helped by a Jack Arnott hat-trick, they took the game by the scruff of the neck, with a 19-12 half-time lead, and never looked back throughout the second half. The final result of 40-21 looked harsh on the Springboks who made this into a final worthy of the name, and went home as Silver Medallists.

Full Results

Pool A

Scotland 43 - 5 Isle of Man

Australia 31 - 0 Canada

Scotland 15 - 14 Canada

Australia 47 - 0 Isle of Man

Canada 50 - 0 Isle of Man

Scotland 5 - 19 Australia

Pool B

South Africa 62 - 0 Sri Lanka

England 53 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago

England 64 - 0 Sri Lanka

South Africa 62 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago

South Africa 5 - 7 England

Trinidad & Tobago 5 - 17 Sri Lanka

Quarter Finals

Australia 53 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago

Isle of Man 0 - 52 England

Scotland 47 - 0 Sri Lanka

Canada 12 - 24 South Africa

Semi Finals

Plate & Bowl

Isle of Man 26 - 15 Sri Lanka

Trinidad & Tobago 7 - 60 Canada

Gold & Bronze

Australia 21 - 26 South Africa

England 19 - 5 Scotland

Finals

Bowl - Sri Lanka 24 - 12 Trinidad & Tobago

Plate - Isle of Man 0 - 52 Canada

Bronze Medal - Australia 15 - 12 Scotland

Gold Medal - South Africa 20 - 41 England

* All photographs courtesy www.cyg2011.com

Sale Sharks - 8 April 2011

Sale Sharks  36 Gloucester 31

Aviva Premiership

Edgeley Park

Friday 8 April 2011

Live coverage of this vital fixture as I saw it on the night.

>

Ansbro keen to make his mark

It’s not often we get to celebrate a new international name from the Lancashire stable, far less one who plays in the blue shirt of Scotland!

Leading out the Stonyhurst 1st XV.
Picture courtesy Stonyhurst College

For this quiet spoken young man, hailing from Dumfries and Galloway in the Scottish borders, it would seem natural that he would play for the country of his birth. Fate however, sent him to the red and white of Lancashire, through his schooling at Stonyhurst College, deep in the Ribble Valley.

His rugby abilities came to the fore during his time there, and he was selected to play at county Under 16s and Under 18s; from where he was selected for the North of England, in a squad alongside Sale Sharks’ Matthew Tait, Scott Armstrong of Leeds Carnegie, and captain Rob Webber, now hooker at Wasps.

It was while he was at university studying at Cambridge that he continued to play, with two Varsity match appearances, as well as a place in their side against the touring Samoans of 2005. It wasn’t his greatest moment, being knocked out after 30 minutes, but nonetheless, he earned himself some good reviews among watching scouts.

On tour with Stonyhurst in Australia, 2004
Picture courtesy Stonyhurst College

“I didn’t really think that I’d get into professional rugby. I never thought ‘Oh, I’ll wait for three years and then go back to it’. I had pretty much thought it was curtains as far as professional rugby was concerned.”

As far as international recognition goes, Ansbro was selected for Scotland A squad to play at the 2009 IRB Nations Cup. A hip injury against Uruguay put him out of the final match of that tournament, and it wasn’t until October 2010 that further international recognition came his way; a place in the Scotland A side against the USA Eagles that was ultimately aborted for what would become his greatest achievement so far – a call up to the full Scotland squad for the Autumn international series.

His debut against the South Africans on 20 November 2010 was a proud moment for the Saints back, never having expected the call.

“I didn’t expect it” was all he could say about a moment that has changed his standing in the game!

“I had lost alot of momentum when I went back to Northampton (after the Nations Cup), and didn’t play much club rugby. This year, although I’ve playing alot from the bench, I feel that I’ve been playing alot better.”

“To get the call was nice, but to play was something that I would never have imagined.”

His recent appearances for Northampton Saints have seen him gather more game time, where has taken his chance after an injury to team mate Chris Ashton. Best known as a utility back, he has started at outside centre and on both wings this season at Franklin’s Gardens.

It’s an exciting time at Northampton right now; a great position in the Aviva Premiership, the first side through to the Heineken Cup quarter finals, and winners of the 2010 LV Cup. Ansbro is keen to make his mark even further at his club, and being named Man of the Match in last week’s Heineken Cup match at Castres is also a great recognition of his regular first team starts.

Now that he has been included in the Scottish Six Nations squad, he will be looking to add to his two caps, and cement a place on the flight to New Zealand for Rugby World Cup.

Preston North End announce Phil Brown as new manager



Brown wants "to put smiles back on faces"

Preston North End have unveiled former Hull City boss Phil Brown as their new manager.

He takes charge at the club following the sacking of Darren Ferguson on New Year’s Eve.

The 51 year old has taken training with the players this morning, and will be in charge for the next match, the FA Cup Third Round match at Deepdale against Former boss Billy Davies’ Nottingham Forest.

“I’m more than excited to be here. We are trying to get the club out of the situation they are in, with 22 games to do it in.”

Brown takes charge at a time when Preston are rooted to the bottom of the Championship, having lost their last three matches, including the relegation dogfight at Crystal Palace on 3^rd January. That result has left the Lilywhites four points behind second-bottom Scunthorpe, and seven behind fourth-bottom Sheffield United.

The new management team at their first press conference

Alongside Brown was his assistant, Brian Horton, a man who has been in football management for almost 30 years, with Manchester City among his former clubs. He was equally positive about the challenge ahead.

“We’ve seen the players today, and we like what we’ve seen so far”

When asked about the prospects of climbing to safety, he was as positive as the new manager: “Seven points is nothing, there are 66 points to play for”.

Between them, they are looking at a target of winning half of their remaining games, which should see the side remain in the Championship come the end of the season.

Caretaker manager David Unsworth and his assistant Jamie Hoyland have been asked to stay on to work with the new management team, but as yet, there are no firm commitments.

One main concern is the current size of the squad, made threadbare through the return of five loanees to Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as the loss of talismanic striker Jon Parkin to Cardiff City.

When asked about the opportunities for new signings, Brown said: “Assurances have been given, and we have five or six places to fill, so we need to have the conversations with the owner and chairman.”