Man City's captain Vincent Kompany is set to take part in the first ever interactive post match interview with fan's posting questions via Facebook & Twitter.
After the full time whistle in City's tea-time kick off against Blackburn will be receiving messages via his personal Twitter & Facebook accounts. All twitter users can ask the Belgium international captains via the hash tag #askvincent, whilst all Facebook fan's can post questions via his official Facebook fan page.
The first ever interactive post match interview will be streamed live on Manchester City's official website, Facebook page and available via the club's Youtube channel. The club will be hoping not to match the levels of the #askthecaptain campaign which seen the City captain controversially sent off against rivals Manchester United in their recent match up in the third round of the FA cup.
Speaking about the event Kompany is excited for the prospect of answering fan questions. “I just wanted to use social media to give ours fans the chance to have their voices heard, instead of shouting at the TV, wishing the interviewer would ask the kinds of questions that really matter to them.
The club have recently ran a number of digital initiatives in the last year, with the aim of appealing to a wider audience. City are currently top of the premier league and looking comfortable in the Europa League having dispatched former champion's league winners FC Porto 6-1 over two legs.
The Football League have announced of it's intention to appeal to global sponsor's by taking on several commercial executives.
The move is a smart one by the governing body for the footballing league sides, as it aim's to make up for the shortfall of £24 million from Sky under a new deal that starts at the beginning of the 2012/2013 season. The leagues sponsors currently are Npower, Johnstone's Paint & Carling. However the fact is that the organisation is a attractive prospect for any potential sponsorship investors.
The Championship average attendance stands at 17,562. This is by far the highest second division attendance across all the major European leagues. The football is competitive, with the top half of the table all seemingly fighting for the play-off places come the end of the season.
Whilst the league is also the breeding ground for many top professionals. Arsenal's duo of Theo Wallcott & Aaron Ramsey both had stints in the Championship and now have represented their countries over 40 times between themselves. This element could certainly branded successfully, especially to the South East Asian market who have a fierce passion for the English game. Fans of Leicester City and Carling cup finalists Cardiff City can certainly vouch for this.
However this is not the first time a major brand has worked with the Football League. Coca-Cola ended it's 6 year sponsorship with the league in 2009. After running a number of successful marketing campaigns including the win a player competion & show your colors campaign. The potential to reach a large, passionate and loyal audience is huge and if dealt with correctly could earn millions for the league.
Cristiano Ronaldo has released his very own app so I thought I’d check it out and take a look.With a such a large fan base as his, it makes sense for there to be an application totally about him.
I opened the app and to no surprise I was directed to a homepage with Ronaldo as the background; its what you’d expect when the app is all about Cristiano Ronaldo.The layout is professional and very sleek and the background changes between two pictures.There are four options to select from, located at the bottom of the screen:
Fans comments run beneath the selectable options, where you can contribute to by clicking on ‘fan wall’.Here you can write a message to Ronaldo, although he won’t reply to you directly, just to everyone in general – disappointing but I’m sure he’s a busy man.I clicked onto news and a feed of different news regarding Ronaldo appeared.Goal alerts will appear if and when he scores, so expect plenty of theses!Video content is available to watch, such as messages directly from Ronaldo.However, when you follow the links they aren’t easily watchable, as you may have to sign into Facebook or you’re directed to YouTube to watch them; this may take some time if you haven’t got any signal on your phone.Although, given that the app is brand spanking new, I’d have thought updates and further detail will enable the videos to be fully supported on the app.You can view exclusive photos that are only available to users of the app, so you feel that little bit special than people who haven’t downloaded it yet!Unfortunately, there aren’t so many yet but that’s to be expected.
App rating: 6/10
The app is brand new so don’t expect too much of it yet, but its perfect for fans and those who idolise the Portuguese winger.I like Ronaldo a lot and think he’s a brilliant player but I won’t go as far as following his every movement.There isn’t much to offer people and in my opinion you may as well just follow him on Twitter or Facebook because this is what it revolves around.
The Championship, League 1 & 2 are all growing in reputation and popularity, not only across the UK but foreign countries too, so it makes sense for there to be a Football League app. An immediate positive is that it’s free, making it easily accessible. The app was available at the beginning of last season, so it’s relatively new and updates are regularly available. So don’t expect too much yet!
Upon entering the app,you'll be prompted to choose a favorite club so that all of the information available can be tailored to your preferences i.e. your favourite club. Being a Portsmouth fan I naturally go to select them however, Portsmouth aren’t accessible on the app; the same applies for Aldershot Town, AFC Wimbledon, Leeds United, Middlesborough and West Ham United. A little disappointing if you’d just wasted time downloading it. Clubs such as West Ham United and Leeds should probably have club profiles, especially because they have such large fan bases. I’d expect this to be major flaw with the app, however being relatively new you’d expect updates to fix this soon, so don’t lose faith!
Instead, I selected Reading FC as an example. I was redirected to a ‘homepage’ screen that had adopted Reading’s colors’ and theme, as if it were an independent Reading FC app. This is definitely a bonus to fans whose clubs don’t offer an independent application. The layout is organized and professional, with plenty of information showing the clubs recent results and upcoming fixtures.By clicking them you can learn more about the side goalscorers and team sheets. There’s little advertising, only a very small add space at the top of the page, however this doesn’t obstruct viewing at all. Latest news regarding a team is also available with statistics. Live updates on matches being played are available, so you can keep up-to-date with your team whether you’re at work or simply lounging on the sofa at home.
There is a premium offer and it’s £1.49 for 1 month, £4.99 for 6 months and £9.99 for 12 months. This includes unlimited access to video highlights. From match highlights and post match interviews to goals and fan opinion pieces.It’s only a small price, especially for highlights that aren’t easily attainable on the web, so it’s a very worthwhile buy. The app definitely has plenty of potential and if they can sort the issue out with the six clubs unavailable, then this can be one of the best free sports apps out there!
App Inspection Rating- 8/10
I can't think of many bad features, only that six of the clubs aren't available. If they can address this then I'd be giving it a higher score. The idea of video highlights are very good and offers consumers a unique selling point. I know how hard it is to find highlights of Portsmouth on the internet so this is perfect for me! Nevertheless, its a promising app with plenty of potential!
Football's European governing body Uefa has announced a renewal of it's sponsorship with MasterCard for all Champions League broadcasts. The card provider who also has a long time association with the Brit's which is aired tonight have signed up for a further three seasons.
The brand will continue to gain exclusive sponsorship in the brands category of payment systems. The tie up comes as brands such as Heineken & Ford tied up their involvement with Europe's elite club tournament over the course of last year. Along with exclusive advertising pitch side on all Champions League match days, the deal will also include television indents on all champion's league televisions broadcasts across the World.
The deal will be seen to boost the brand further to a world wide global audience, especially as last year's Champions League Final between Manchester United & Barcelona drew an audience of 109 million viewers. The first time the competition has eclipsed the NFL Super Bowl as the World's most viewed sports final.
Tonight in the Champion's League Real Madrid face a tricky away tie in Moscow against CSKA. Whilst an under pressure Chelsea side face Italian side Napoli.Andre Villas Boas is under fresh scrutiny from the press and owner Roman Abramovich after a run of poor results.
Aston Villa and Premier League title chasers Manchester City are looking to strengthen their digital teams. Villa who currently lie in 15th place in the league are looking for a Web manager to strengthen their digital presence which includes a paid for television subscription service AVTV.
The Villans will be eager for a website manager to deliver the team's digital brand to a wider audience having just signed a new record £15m shirt sponsorship deal with Italian kit suppliers Macron. The club have seen to be trying to diverse content recently by producing regular Audioboo chat's with first team players. The new web manager will look after the whole range of content across Villa's website, with the aim of encouraging e-commerce business from the online retail aspect of site along with raising traffic overall.
Whilst Manchester City are looking to add to their content team to keep up with their expanding digital content on their site. The blue half of the city have been aggressively expanding their digital services over the last two years, as the club is striving to catch up with cross city rivals Manchester City, whilst also trying to appeal to new audiences in Japan and the Middle East.
In sponsorship news City have announced a new deal with bookmakers Paddy Power. As part of the deal – running until the end of the 2012/2013 season – Paddy Power will offer their market-leading range of innovative betting products to Blues fans via the Manchester City website and also a specially created City microsite.
The tie up is part of the club's aggressive sponsorship strategy in the last 18 months. City are following the examples of Arsenal & Manchester United who have similar deals with Bet Fair & Betsson.
Liverpool's shirt sponsor Standard Chartered have come out to voice concern over striker Luis Suarez's antics at Old Trafford over the weekend. The controversial Uruguayan striker further stoked the rivalry between the two rivals by his refusal to shake Manchester United's left back Patrice Evra. This came from after being handed a record eight match ban for racially abusing the defender back in December.
The bank is halfway through a 4 year deal with the Anfield based club worth £80m. The London based bank, who have considerable assets in South East Asia- a key marketing area for the club have voiced their concern to the clubs American owners the Fenway Sports group.
In a statement the bank who generated over $16 billion dollars in revenue in 2010 said "We were very disappointed by Saturday’s incident and have discussed our concerns with the club.”
In a separate development Luis Suarez, manager Kenny Dalglish and chief executive Ian Ayre all issued an apologies in relation to the incident on Saturday. Liverpool will be looking to focus on events on the pitch as they next take on Brighton in the FA cup at Anfield on Saturday.
Manchester City has established a key outpost in its continuing global expansion by signing a deal with software firm MLJ to launch a Japanese-language website for mobile phone users.
The Sheikh Mansour-owned outfit has handed MLJ the rights to develop its official Japanese-language mobile website for basic devices, such as PSPs or low-end phones, until May 2013.
The website will host daily news content, downloadable team photography and official MCFC merchandise (pictured).
Given that the majority of people in Japan access the internet via their mobile phones, this deal demonstrates that MCFC is serious about getting in front of the eyeballs of Japanese consumers. Presumably, slicker and more high-end smartphone apps are also on the way.
Interestingly, the site will also give Japanese fans the opportunity to purchase match-day tickets directly from their mobiles.
It won’t take a geography scholar to realise that flying from Tokyo into Manchester is one hell of a commute, so whether this signposts an intention to eventually host matches in Japan is open to interpretation.
Through the deal Manchester City is targeting one of the most established football markets in the Far East. The Japanese national team is currently ranked as the top Asian side in official FIFA rankings ahead of Australia and J-League games generating crowds of tens of thousands.
The country’s links to English sides can be traced back to as far as 1983 when Osaka-based tech firm Sharp became the official shirt sponsor of MCFC’s nearest rivals United in a relationship that lasted until 2000.
One of the high-profile names associated with the English game to have plied their trade in Japan include Arsene Wenger, who managed Tokyo side Nagoya Grampus Eight before arriving in North London.
Meanwhile, MOTD presenter and ex-Spurs striker Gary Lineker moved in the opposite direction having left the Gunners’ North London rivals to join Grampus Eight in the early 90s.
If MCFC can build a strong supporter base in Japan it would go some way to reducing its reliance on Abu Dhabi petro-dollars as FIFA’s financial fair play regulations come into force.
And of course, nothing stokes local support for a foreign team than having one of their own wearing the club’s jersey. Again, it’s open to debate whether we’ll see a Nakamura or Nakata lining up in the sky Blue of Eastlands. But I can’t help but think that this is a huge possibility given the club’s investments.
In anticipation of a new wave of Sky Blue support emerging from the land of the rising sun I’ve unearthed some Japanese language recordings of the MCFC anthem ‘Blue Moon’ (below). Apparently the ditty has been popular there since 1936 when Katsuhiko Haida released a version, so MCFC converts there should already know the words.
On that note, we’ve taken the time to translate some key MCFC sayings (yes, we cheated and used Google translate) that will make any Japanese fan fit in at Eastlands:
Futera FC is a unique online football management experience involving the first online community to manage and make changes to a team, live during the game. I managed to catch up with Co-founder Adam Partlington to find out more.
Adam, what is Futera FC? Futera FC is the first Football Team in History EVER to be managed by an Online Community. The team play just outside of London on a Sunday Morning. Fans of Futera World Football Online (Interactive Football Trading Card Game) come online and manage the team via our interactive platform at www.futerafc.com. We have Virtual Managers from all over the world, but predominately the South East Asia region. Sounds interesting, how does it work?
Throughout the week the Futera FC Virtual Managers vist our Facebook page with their suggestions on what the team should focus on in training and vote on tactics for the coming game. On a match day, they come online at around 10am GMT before kick-off at 10:30am. Once the game begins the Virtual Managers watch the action via LIVE streaming to the website. The also offer their suggestions and we post polls on tactics and subs! They manage the game from the comfort of their computer screens! The information and decisions they make we relay to Pitch-side. It's great fun!
How has the project gone so far? It's going well, we have only pushed the idea within the realms of our customer base within our online game. We average a decent amount of Virtual Managers per-game and interaction is growing. It's a great idea but we believe these things take time if you want to produce the most fun. We've had some minor hiccups but on the whole things are moving forward. How do the Players feel about the project? They engage with the product incredibly well , they've become mini-internet celebs. A lot of these lads will never play professionally; the project gives them a chance to taste the life of a Footballer. The exposer and the ability to watch your performance back (due to highlights of each game being shown the website). There's also the pressure, the players have to perform as a lot of our Virtual Managers expect the team to do well. We've had players join from the Premier Division due to them hearing about the project. If I'm honest, I'm jealous I never got a chance to play within a project like this one!
What does the future hold for Futera FC? The sky’s the limit really. It's something that is so exciting to be involved in. There is still a lot of work to do and we still have certain things that will need tweaking before we let this loose to the masses. However, we are confident that this idea works given the results we've already received. I like to think we are giving Football back to the fans with a project like this; you support the club and manage it. It's great.
If you want to get involved with Futera FC and become a Virtual Manager, like them on Facebook and head over to Futera FC on Sunday mornings, kick off at 10:30am GMT.
Arsenal's Dutch international striker Robin Van Persie has launched his new website to much fanfare on Twitter. The striker who has scored 29 times in 34 appearances this season announced it all from his personal Twitter account .
"Some good news today ladies and gents. My website has finally gone live!! Check it out! www.robinvanpersie.com hope u like it."
Immediately interest was so high that the website crashed. However the site the site now has been back online. The website is full of video content and exclusive pictures, mainly drawn from Arsenal TV and the official Arsenal website. The strikers new website was also congratulated by Arsenal team mate Thomas Vermaelen.
Arsenal are currently in seventh position in the Premier League and entertain Blackburn Rovers at the Emirates on Saturday who lie in the relegation places.
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