Posts Tagged ‘manchester united’

Good-Natured Ribbing or Intense Hatred? The Man U v. Liverpool Rivalry

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

The spirit of competition can bring out the best (or sometimes the worst) in the participants, and healthy rivalries exist throughout the sporting world.

Mention great sports rivalries and several could come to mind.There was Muhammad Ali duking it out with Joe Frazier, Greg Norman taking on Nick Faldo on the golf course and Chris Evert battling Martina Navratilova on the tennis court.There’s still a healthy rivalry in cricket between India and Pakistan.Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov have even made competitive chess seem exciting with their ongoing rivalry through the years.

But can any of these admittedly classic face-offs hold a candle to the colossal confrontation that occurs whenever the Red Devils of Manchester United clash with the Liverpool Reds?Let’s have a quick look at why this great football rivalry exists, and why it continues

1. The Northwest Derby – Matchups between the two clubs are often referred to using this moniker.There’s been quite a rivalry between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester ever since industrial times, and that sense of competition is certainly not lacking in the football world.

2. “The Greatest English Football Club” – Manchester United and Liverpool both lay claim to the title of The Greatest English Football Club.  A similar number of trophies have been won by each club, and they are also the two most successful English teams in European competition.

3. Fans and Money – The two clubs are widely-supported throughout the world and boast some of the most devoted fans in any sport.Also, they are two of the biggest-earning clubs in the world.

4.  Player Haters – As with a lot of football clubs, the fans can be downright hostile to each other sometimes.  With Liverpool and Man U, though, the hostility spills over to the players too occasionally.  United striker Wayne Rooney has publicly stated how he grew up hating Liverpool.Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, on the other hand, once told a television crew that even though he exchanges shirts regularly with opposing players, he would never have a Man U shirt in his house.

5. Transfers? Are You Kidding Me? – No player has been directly transferred between the two clubs since 1964; the few footballers who have played for both clubs always played in a different city in between. As recently as 2007, United left-back Gabriel Heinze expressed a desire to move to Liverpool, and a bid was made, but Man U rejected the bid and stated that Heinze would only join a foreign club if he chose to leave – all due to the age old rivalry.

The way these clubs are so passionate about their long-standing rivalry is inspiring, in a way.Some people out there, though, must think the whole concept of these sporting grudges is a waste of time.So, which side is obviously the best club in football?  That’s easy.  Everyone knows it’s Spurs.

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Alex Ferguson To Sign Serie A Star

Monday, December 28th, 2009

Midfielder Marek Hamsik it appears, has caught the attention of Alex Ferguson for the January transfer window.

The fact that Ryan Giggs is beginning to age, and the fact that veteran midfielder Paul Scholes will only have his name on old soccer kits soon has surely brought to Alex Fergusons attention that some expensive midfielders are required to boost the team.

With interest from Liverpool and Chelsea as well, the signing of Hamsik would add attacking ability to Manchester United’s midfield. Starting his career with Slovan Bratislava the Slovakian international quickly proved his ability and was bought by Brescia. He shone in Italy with Brescia scoring a hugely impressive ten goals from midfield and it wasn’t too long before Napoli paid over 5.5m Euros to take the player to the Sao Paolo.

Since joining Napoli in 2007, the goal scoring efforts of Hamsik have made him one of the best in Serie A. Many strikers would be proud to boast a similar strikerate as Hamsik with 25 goals from 81 games. After giving Napoli their first win over Juventus in Turin in 21 years with an excellent two goals Hamsik has quickly became known as the best midfielder in Serie A.

Hamsik’s performances have been equally impressive for his national side, Slovakia. His efforts were a major part in Slovakia’s entry into the World Cup in 2010. He may well re-write the history of the soccer World Cup.

Despite interest in the player from Manchester United and Chelsea in recent weeks, Napoli have refused to sanction any idea that the player will be sold. This has been reiterated in recent weeks by sporting director Riccardo Bigon who stated:

“Manchester United are after Hamsik? If we rejected the rumours regarding a friend like [Carlo] Ancelotti and his Chelsea, it is obvious we also reject these rumours.”

These comments have since been substantiated by Napoli chairman Aurielo De Laurentiis who confirmed:

“Many clubs have requested Hamsik, it’s true, but he will stay with us for the long-term”

Whether this stance will soften in the summer, when United hope to make their move, remains to be seen. Napoli are not a particularly wealthy club and despite the chairman’s insistence that Hamsik is not for sale, it remains to be seen that if a firm offer was on the table that matched their valuation, whether they would be tempted into selling.

One factor which could scupper any deal however is Chelsea. Roman Abramovich has purportedly given manager Carlo Ancelotti the green light to make a £25m move for the player so. However with Chelsea set to be banned from transfers from February, it seems likely that the Blues will only be able to make a move for Hamsik during the transfer window and as such, the Londoners could gazump United’s own plans for the midfielder many pundits feel is cut from the same cloth as Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes.

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How to Safely Buy Manchester United Football Tickets Online

Monday, December 28th, 2009

Buying Manchester United Football Tickets online is a recommended way of acquiring them, but you should keep in mind that there are a lot of fake ticket dealers, and you should be careful in finding a trusted dealer. Should you want genuine Manchester United Football tickets, then you need to find a business selling them online that is tried and trusted. One of the best ways to ascertain whether or not you should make a purchase from somewhere is to go through customer reviews. You have to be careful of two things: Not giving your money to a site which is likely to steal your details, and finding a vendor which delivers quickly. Also ascertain if the review you are reading is legitimate and not simply written up by the vendor themselves. If you see a hyperlink at the bottom of the review, that can help determine whether it is true or paid for.

A legitimate customer reviewing a product doesn’t usually have a reason to post a link to the very product they are reviewing. Since email spam blockers have come out, advertisers are thinking of new ways to get their product exposure and biased reviews is a fairly popular method. Reviews which do not contain links are more likely to be genuine. Some people prefer to buy tickets on eBay because you can often find cheaper prices, but it is definitely a better idea to do business with a website specializing in tickets. Often times tickets purchased on eBay don’t arrive on time and sometimes the seller doesn’t even mail them so you never receive them. Most people you do business with on eBay are honest but if you decide to purchase this way make sure you read their feedback to get a better idea of how professional they are.

You can also protect yourself by never putting down any information about yourself in a page that is not encrypted. The importance of it can not be understated, but this is a feature not many people look for when checking out. How do you know if a website utilizes ecryption? At the beginning of a website address you will usually see “HTTP”. Web pages which are encrypted contain “HTTPS” in their address, not the usual “HTTP”. Encryption is at all times the best way to go, and while lack of it doesn’t necessarily imply that you’re dealing with a criminal company, it also doesn’t say much about how  they regard the privacy of your information. You can be pretty certain that the vendor is safe to purchase from if their check out page is encrypted, and if they have good reviews.

It is probably a good idea to follow these suggestions to avoid being scammed.  It is also a good idea to follow your instincts. If something about a vendor does not seem quite right, do not purchase anything from them. If it seems fishy it probably is. Doing some research will prove invaluable in fending off scam artists. Finally, you need to find the one which costs the least. You can buy with confidence the next time you shop on the web if you remember the information presented in this article.

The next time you buy sporting events tickets, buy from your online concierge for global sporting events.. PremiumTicketHub.com.

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Manchester United Fans and the Field of Dreams

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Acquiring  Manchester United tickets for a home game not only lets you to see one of the most exciting clubs in Europe play live, but also lets you experience the atmosphere at Old Trafford, also known as the Field of Dreams, home ground of the Red Devils, parade ground for the Red Army.

  Apart from 8 years after it was bombed out during WWII, Manchester United tickets for home games at Old Trafford have been bought by fans since 1910.

One of the Club’s most beloved and famous players, Bobby Charlton nicknamed the stadium the Field of Dreams.   

In 1966, Sir Robert “Bobby” Charlton, won the World Cup and was also named European Footballer of the year, in part because of his famous midfield attacks and his ferocious long-range shots.

Able to seat 76,212 Manchester United ticket buying supporters, Old Trafford is the second-largest of any English football stadiums, and it is one of two stadia in  England to have been given a  “UEFA elite stadium” five-star rating by UEFA.

Old Trafford has hosted a fair number of FA Cup semi-final matches as a neutral venue along with a couple of  “English national football team” England international fixtures.

It has also played host during the  “1966 FIFA World Cup”  and  “UEFA Euro 1996″ and the  “2003 UEFA Champions League Final”.

Stands, officially known as the North, East, South and West Stand surround the pitch at Old Trafford.

Each stand has at least two tiers, with the exception of the South Stand, which only has one tier because of construction restrictions.

The lower tier of each stand is split into Lower and Upper sections, the Lower sections having been converted from standing room only terraces in the early 1990s.

The best-known stand at Old Trafford is the West Stand, more famously, or infamously known as the Stretford End.

The Stretford End stand was designed to hold 20,000 fans,  it was the last stand to be covered and also the last remaining all-terraced stand at the ground before the early 1990s ushered in seating only rules.

Stretford End is where Manchester United’s most die-hard supporters, known as The Red Army are located.

Most of the noise and atmosphere at Old Trafford emanates from Stretford End, and once the roar from the Red Army there was measured as louder than that of a jumbo jet lifting off.

There is practically no chance for anyone new to get a set in the Stretford End as the fans that fill this stand resubscribe to their Manchester United season tickets every year.

Manchester United’s Red Army was once the biggest and most infamous group of followers British football has ever seen.

When the Red Army followed Manchester United to an away game, the town would fall into chaos: large numbers of fhe Red Army would travel en-mass by train, coach, car or even by foot if necessary, doing whatever it took to get to the game.  

During the mid-seventies when Manchester United had been relegated from the top flight of English football and played in the  “Football League Second Division” Second Division for one season, the Red Army caused such chaos at games around the country when visiting stadiums where they would often outnumber the home fans, that it led to the introduction of segregation and fencing between of home and away fans at football grounds throughout England.

The Red Army is now nothing like it was in the 1970’s & 80’s.

This Manchester United supporters club, now has a fan base of over 300 million fans across the world.

The huge number of Manchester United supporters, all of whom would like to visit Old Trafford, both to see a live game and to experience the atmosphere there, result in it almost always being difficult to buy Manchester United Tickets.

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Is It Possible to Find Affordable Manchester United Tickets?

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

The chase to find affordable Manchester United tickets is back on as the 2009/2010 Premier League season is about to start. Now that it has won its third title in a row, Man Utd is even more popular and that won’t change despite Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez leaving the team.

Joining the One United fan club offers the  best chance of finding reasonably prices Man Utd tickets. {Becoming a member for the 2009/2010 season will cost between 30 and 36 GBP {Great Britain Pounds} for adults and 20 to 26 GBP for juniors.~Joining the fan club for the 2009/2010 season will cost an adult between 330 and 36 GBP {Great Britain Pounds} for adults and 20 to 26 GBP for juniors.~Adults will pay between 30 and 36 GBP {Great Britain Pounds} for membership in the fan club for the 2009/2010 season, and juniors 20 to 26 GBP.} Memberships are easily bought through the team’s website, and every club member has the opportunity to apply for tickets for all Premier League home matches, the FA Cup, the Curling Cup, and the Champions league. Whether or not an application is successful depends on a random lottery.

Subscribing to the One United email newsletter is the easiest way to know when applications for tickets, which usually need to be made 4-6 before the game, are due. Lottery results are usually announced 2-3 weeks later and the winners pay for their tickets by credit card before tickets will be shipped out to the member. Monitoring the team’s ticket exchange gives those fans who were unlucky in the lottery another chance to secure affordable Man Utd tickets. The exchange allows One United members to buy tickets off season ticket holders who can’t attend some games. These Man Utd tickets are sold to the first person who wants to buy, so members should purchase them as soon as they become available.

Games that are held during the middle of the week such as some of the Premier League games and all of the Champions League games offer the best chances of securing tickets through the lottery. Another option is to watch Man Utd ticket prices at a ticketing agency with a good reputation. Although these tickets are usually sold significantly above face value, it is sometimes possible to acquire them at reasonable prices as the date of the game gets close.

For Manchester United Tickets and other sports tickets and acccess to the biggest sporting events, visit your concierge for global sporting events, www.premiumtickethub.com.

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