Drawing comparisons between the career trajectories of Liverpool’s talismanic captain Steven Gerrard and AS Roma’s patriarch Francesco Totti is an inevitable prospect. Both were passionate childhood fans of their “native” football clubs. Both were recruited into their club academies at a very tender age. Both have risen through the ranks and established themselves as the heart and soul of their club. And both have consistently led from the front and guided their clubs to football glory.
However, the strongest bond that exists between the two is their relentless, unmitigated devotion to their beloved club. The common thread that binds Totti and Gerrard together is their unique ability to stand by their clubs through thick and thin.
But the past few years have been particularly painful for the aficionados of Roma and Liverpool. Totti and Gerrard have seen their club slip down their respective domestic league tables in recent years owing to the dominance of their cross country rivals. Both Roma and Liverpool have failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League since the 2010-2011 and 2009-2010 seasons respectively. Their continued absence from Europe’s premier football cup competition has severely tarnished their image and dented their aspirations of attracting the big name players to their clubs which their domestic rivals have been successfully able to do so.
While Roma occupied a lowly 6th spot in the Italian Serie A in 2012-13, Liverpool was left languishing in
In this ethnography I am going to climax on the characteristics that make the Champions club so exclusive and
Although, the case study of Manchester United gives us a good example of a brand’s ability to globalize, it does not give us a clear picture into how a league as a whole accomplishes these same goals. To get this clear picture of a successful global soccer league we can review a case study by Matthew Holt that examines the UEFA Champions League and its ability to succeed. The UEFA Champions League(UCL) was established after the UEFA European cup started to see more revenue increases based on the increase in television and digital technologies. (Holt, 2007) The goal of the UCL was to increase revenue through a newly structured European club soccer league. The first way that UCL accomplished this was through centralized marketing. This was accomplished through selling the television rights as the UCL brand rather than allowing the clubs to individually sell the rights to the games. This increased the value of the television rights and in turn increased the profitability of the clubs. (Holt, 2007) UEFA sold this UCL brand
Cantona was a talent with an abundance of self-confidence, but had been a destructive force inside the dressing rooms of his previous clubs in France. He had been known as much for punch-ups with team-mates at Auxerre and Montpellier as his ability with a ball at his feet” (Fenn). Cantona is a great footballer as it is called in Europe but his mentality is his own kryptonite and it has led him to try and find different jobs in the world of soccer.
The issue that is being investigated are between two Spanish “football” (soccer) teams – which team is ultimately better? Both giants in their own right, Barcelona and Real Madrid have traded success and feuded for a very long time. Both sets of fans have fought over which team is better – comparing players, stats, style of play, managers, stadiums, etc.
But you may be surprised to know that in America, “More than three million boys under age 18 play organized soccer in the U.S., but we have never produced a critical mass of elite performers to compete on equal terms with the world’s best” (Michael Sokolove 24). Soccer players in America don’t have the demographic luck like some other players in different countries do. Going back to Messi and his family, they show how much a young boy’s family contributes to his soccer career. They had picked up everything and moved to a new country just so young Messi could continue his treatment and train with a national club team. A proud family of 20-month-old Bryce Brites showed his dribbling and kicking skills and attracted Belgian club
“McClure, you are a waste of oxygen and life”, my verbally abusive coach spit from him flaming mouth one last time as I walked out of his office. I was numb, and in shock, but relaxed, oddly feeling at peace with myself and my decision. Soccer had brought so much confidence, passion, work ethic, and pure joy to my life, it was something so stable and rewarding for 15 years. 15 years of endless passion enwrapped in pain and sweat, accompanied by life lessons I could not have gone on without, yet within 2 years, this wonderful aspect of my existence collapsed.
At first, Hall claims that Callum Gribbin, a young skillful soccer player, handles the pressure of playing at a high league such as Manchester United in a professional manner with the evidence provided from Gribbin’s Coach, Kenny Swain (Hall 2).However, later in his article, Hall asserts Callum Gribbin’s hot temper and lack of discipline leads Callum to rashly complain about the minimal playing time he once dealt with. When Hall provides the details of how Gribbin whined on twitter, it contradicts Hall’s argument that Gribbin handles the issues of being a skillful player professionally. Hence, the concrete evidence of the tweets written by Gribbin outweighs the remarks of the coach, Kenny Swain. Conversely, the author strengthens his stance
Since this is a literature review, the methodology used appears to be a collection of research on the topic, in this case - from soccer teams in the European professional leagues. Gammelsaeter (2014) included a reference to 43 articles, mostly from professional journals. These articles helped support
It seems to be some sort of intoxicating mix of attractive football and long-term stability. The first half of the 2014-2015 season under Jose Mourinho was the physical manifestation of at least part of that dream. What has happened in the months since, however, has left Chelsea Football Club facing an existential crisis. The deluge of anger and frustration that descended upon Stamford Bridge in the aftermath of Mourinho’s departure was not aimed merely at the players, but also at Abramovich and the board.
Globalization has long been attributed as one of the main factors contributing to the overwhelming popularity of football around the world. Through this process of global diffusion, football has managed to reach across borders and cultures to amass an astounding 3.5 billion fans from all over the world (McGowan). Globalization has also provided football with another gift: migration. This particular effect is highlighted in European football with the rise of increasingly diverse national teams. Immigration in Europe has always been substantial, but after World War II many Western European countries saw an increase of people crossing their borders. Migrations to various European countries have continued to rise exponentially in the 21st century
Value betting is counterproductive but is also the most profitable in the long run. In this type of betting, one wages on value other than quantity and thus spends adequate time analyzing a single match. The aim of this thorough scrutiny of individual team is to establish bookmakers’ errors and capitalize on them. Often when strong team loose to relegation battle ones, there are often injury issues on concern, or perhaps a change in management of the latter.
The lyrics “Walk on, Walk on, With hope in your hearts” are belted out by a sea of red as a Liverpool match is about to start. Even though the intonation of the singing might make a choral director cringe, there is no doubt that everyone wearing Liverpool’s red jersey knows every word to the song. Sung in unison, the undeniable passion of Liverpool’s fans is overwhelming, when they wear their club’s crest and colors on their chest and recite their anthem with their voice. This sort of chanting and singing is mainstay in European football, almost as central to the sport as the ball itself.
In this assignment I will be exploring the ways in which Internal and external factors have an impact on the core revenues of Clubs and how clubs themselves can potentially help put the factors in their favour. Topics such as Fans and their behaviour and Player conduct on and off the pitch will be explored. Things that can occur which clubs have little or no power over – such as a major political shift – which can affect a clubs income will also be covered.
It has been suggested that the UCL is a product of societal evolution. After forty years without change the European Cup had become commercially obsolete to broadcasters and sponsors due to the lack of guaranteed matches involving Europe’s biggest clubs (Ahlstrom, 2002). The knockout format allowed for clubs who would bring in large sums of revenue to be eliminated after merely two games.
Some European football clubs have in, approximately in the last three decades, developed from being relatively small local organizations, into global giants in terms of multi-million businesses supported and followed by millions of stakeholders from all over the world. How does one relate