Football and Fashion |

A day out at a football match at Wembley Stadium costs an arm and a leg.  With the ever increasing costs of tickets, food, drink, replica kit and travel involved with attending a match, there is at least one-way in which you might be able to save some cash.  With only a few weeks to go until the FA Cup Final at Wembley, Parkatmyhouse.co.uk, is an  online marketplace that connects property owners with a spare parking space to drivers in need of a convenient and affordable place to park, has reported a surge in bookings from fans keen to save time and money.

Controlled parking schemes that operate in local areas around Wembley and other London stadiums mean parking, where available, is expensive. Around Wembley Stadium, motorists who are unable to take public transport can expect to pay parking fees of up to £27.50 for a car and £63.50 for a coach/mini-bus. Football supporters have been quick to discover that renting privately through Parkatmyhouse.co.uk costs as little as £7.50 to attend the match.

Brian Stewart, a 43 year old market analyst, has been renting his driveway in Wembley for two years. “Most of my customers are families with young children. Many drive long distances so they are grateful for my offer of a cup of tea and use of my loo on arrival. And if they parked at the stadium they can only leave their car there for the duration of the match. With my driveway there is no time limit so they can enjoy a full family day out.”

Mike Barrett, a security consultant living in Southampton parked on Brian’s drive last year and has just rebooked to attend the FA Cup Carlsberg Vase Final between Whitley Bay and Wroxham in May. “It’s more economical to park on someone’s drive near Wembley”, he says. “And given security is my game I am very conscious that his drive is a safe place to leave my car. It’s in a safe area, it’s close to the grounds, and I know that Brian will take care of it.”

More details at Parkatmyhouse.co.uk

Kick4Life, a UK charity backed by the Vodafone Foundation to tackle the AIDS crisis in Lesotho in Southern Africa, announced it had been selected by FIFA to host a sport, health and education centre as part of ’20 Centres for 2010’ campaign.

In 2008, England Manager Fabio Capello visited a Kick4Life event in Lesotho where he witnessed a young boy being tested for HIV. It was here he called upon the world of football to do more in the fight against disease and poverty.

The ‘20 Centres for 2010’ will help increase awareness about HIV/AIDS, increase literacy, improve gender equality, integrate youth with intellectual disabilities and promote development in other targeted ways, leaving a social legacy for the African continent.

Kick4Life have spent the past four years delivering a range of programmes focused on tackling HIV by providing sports-based health education, voluntary testing, life-skills development and support into education and employment.

Steve Fleming, Kick4Life Co-Founder said:

“Being selected as a centre host as part of the official World Cup campaign is a fantastic development for Kick4Life that will provide a first class sports, health and education facility right in the heart of Maseru, Lesotho’s capital. It will enable us to deliver activities to thousands of orphans and vulnerable children in an aspirational setting, and become, we hope, a centre of excellence for the use of football as a tool for social development.”

Capello offered his congratulations at the announcement: “I have seen first hand how Kick4Life is actually changing lives for the better. This summer all eyes will be on South Africa, and it is my hope that we can harness the power of the game to transform the lives of some of the world’s most disadvantaged people, and continue to fight this disease”.

Kick 4 Life is a registered charity funded by The Vodafone Foundation. For more information & to see how you can get involved go to www.kick4life.org.

Garry Mann, an avid England football fan, has received a temporary stay of extradition from the European Court of Human Rights over a prison sentence for a riot he participated in while in Portugal during the 2004 UEFA Euro tournament.

The Court of Human Rights stated that it was not ready to make a decision on his case until every domestic legal procedure was attempted.  Instead, it referred the question of his extradition and punishment back to UK courts, which should hear the case before the close of March.

A spokeswoman for the court stated that the High Court will still hold a hearing and thus the Human rights judge are not yet ready to hear his case.  She also stated that at the moment Mr. Mann will not face imminent extradition due to the fact that UK legal procedures must be completed first.

The Portuguese authorities have requested Mann’s extradition due to the fact he did not serve his two year term in prison in the UK after his deportation for violence that he allegedly helped create in the Alburgerira Algarve resort in June of 2004.

Mann, who is 51, has maintained that he was not given a fair trial since he was taken into custody by the UK in March of last year.  He said that he is stuck in limbo between the court systems, which has taken away his ability to work and provide for his family, as well as offer his family any type of closure to the situation.

Victoria Beckham is no longer the top earning WAG in Britain as Cheryl Cole the X Factor Judge has knocked the former Spice Girl off the spot by earning a reported £6.9m this year.

Cole has made her millions at the young age of 26 from her work with Girls Aloud, her own solo career, and from TV sponsorship deals.

Beckham on the other hand, was only able to raise £6.75 all of which came from the Spice Girls reunion and her fashion label.

An unnamed source commented that it was simply a waiting game to see who would finally take Beckham’s spot as the top WAG.  The source continued to say that Cole is the reasonable choice since she has a hand in every field from judging X-Factor to the band, to sponsorship by L’Oreal.

A large reason for Cole’s earning power to double in size is her place on the judging panel on X-Factor next to Simon Cowell.  She is estimated to be worth about £12m total and earned a solid £2.5m from her music career.

£500,000 of Cole’s earnings came from the L’oreal deal and another £1.25m came from wise property investments.

Despite the large earnings by Cole during the last calendar year, Beckham still owns the title for the wealthiest overall WAG as Coles £12m does little to touch Beckham’s personal fortune of about £45m due to the fact she is married to David Beckham who is easily the most recognizable footballer in the UK.