Football and Fashion |

The unanimous vote by the eleven-member board to nominate David Bernstein as chairman of the Football Association heralds what many feel is a great new era for football in England.  Even the man who was really the only other candidate for the position, David Dein, said that he knows and likes Bernstein and wishes him all success.

Bernstein certainly has impressive qualifications for the job.  He took over the chairmanship of Wembley Stadium in 2008 at a time when the FA was at risk of defaulting on their £341.5 million bank loan.  Working with the FA’s general secretary, Alex Horne, and with Roger Maslin, Wembley’s chief executive, Bernstein helped to negotiate a refinanced loan that eased the pressure.

Bernstein has extensive experience at several levels of English league football.  He spent nine years as a Manchester City director, five of those years as chairman, and during his tenancy in that office the club regained Premier League status.  As a chartered accountant, he has also spent many years on the boards of large companies, so he knows how corporate governance should be implemented.

The expectation seems to be that Bernstein will rise admirably to the challenges he will face, not least the less-than-cordial relationship between FA and Fifa following the World Cup vote.  Bernstein, whose appointment may have been a surprise in Nyon and Zurich, said he knows he’ll have his job cut out for him trying to repair the rift, but he appears to be up to the task.  He said he intends to work very hard to get a good grasp of the most pressing issues in the FA and the best way to deal with them.

Though the council still has to approve Bernstein’s nomination at its meeting on January 25^th, there is little doubt that he will be dealing with those issues as of that date.

The Football Association needs to decide how it is going to sort out a crowd situation and assess fines after a disruption led to 11 arrests.  Following a match between the Queens Park Rangers versus Millwall, police were called out onto Loftus Road to deal with disorderly citizens.  There were also arrests in two pubs prior to the match.

Scotland Yard commented that the police themselves had very little difficulty, as they are always prepared to handle these sorts of situations when football matches are scheduled.  Adequate policing and cooperation with the clubs are used to gather intelligence and control possible and actual outbreaks of violence.

The police report continued to offer that one arrest was for drunk and disorderly, one for immigration issues, another arrest for common assault, two arrests were for offences against public order, another two arrests for affray, two more for assault on police, and two people were arrested for possessing offensive weapons.  That brings the total of eleven.

The Football Association has not decided whether or not to fine the clubs over the incidents.  Earlier this year the FA did level 115,000 pounds against West Ham for incidents involving around 64 people last August.

Of course, neither of the clubs feel they should be assessed fines for the incidents.

Facebook has denied rumours that it is talking to the Football Association about taking over the England team as its major sponsor. The landmark social networking website is one of four companies reportedly looking for the available contract as the English football body is hoping to find a replacement for Nationwide, which it lost, valued at £20m.

The building society will discontinue its sponsorship at the close of July, after withdrawing the effort that they made to the Football Association prior to the World Cup.  Santander the banking group and telecommunication giants Orange and O2 all made the shortlist.

Facebook however had continued to deny that they have considered the sponsorship or met with the FA stating that any rumours are ‘bizarre.’  In an official statement they said that they are not speaking to the FA, and that they are not sure where the rumours started, but it’s not true.

The statement also acknowledged that they do work with many brands and the FA has made use of the Facebook platform thus they have spoken to them about these matters but in no way different than any other brand.

Facebook is just one of many blue-chip companies that have spoken out against rumours that they may become the new sponsor of the England team.

Fabio Capello seems safe in his job with England after the Football Association hierarchy has offered a large amount of support. Premier League chairman, Sir David Richards, who is the head of ‘Club England’ is being urged to offer his recommendation to the FA board that Capello is kept at as the England boss even thought the team failed at the World Cup.

FA director of football development, Sir Trevor Brooking, is also understood to want Capello to fulfil his contract which runs until 2012.

Brooking is said to feel that replacing Capello will not solve the English football team’s problems and a group of FA board members also feel the same way.

Instead, Brooking is expected to argue that a better funding marsterplan be created so that young players will be attracted to the sport and also that coaches be increased at the youth level.

Also adding to the argument to keep Capello is his ten years of experience with the AC Milan academy as he could offer valuable input into how to develop the talent of young players.

In addition, a few FA figureheads think that the club could save £9m by not firing Capello and spending time and money looking for a replacement.  Instead, the money could be spent on youth development.

In addition, the last two years left on Capello’s contract would offer Stuart Pearce the opportunity to gain more experience as Capello’s assistant and at the under 21 level.

The Football Association is investigating the ugly riots that were incited by Luton Town supporters at a match against York City in which the Luton Town fans rushed the pitch and pelted fans and players of York City with missiles.

During the fracas a handful of police officers were injured and riot police had to be called in before order could be restored.  The violence led to seven arrests, which tainted the victory of York City in the semi-final play off that took place at the Blue Square Premier.

Luton Town may now face charges from the FA after the governing body announced that the incident will be under investigation.  Additionally, a spokesman for the FA warned that any supporter that is found to have contributed to the disorder will not be allowed to attend any future football matches.

A spokesperson from the Bedfordshire Police stated that six out of the seven people who were arrested on suspicion of drunk and disorderly as well as public order offences had been released on bail pending further charges.

The spokesperson also stated that it appeared the trouble began when Luton fans invaded the pitch but did add that both clubs had fans that were focused on injuring each other.

Sophie Hicks, the director for York City, denied the statement and instead said that the dignified behaviour of the York City supporters was a credit to the fine club and that from her point of view the outbreak looked one sided with all aggressive behaviour attributed to the Luton supporters.