Posts Tagged ‘manchester united’

Football’s Longest Standing Rivalry?

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

There’s been a healthy rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool FC for over 100 years…but is that a good thing or a bad thing.

Everyone has heard of at least one famous sporting rivalry in history.There was Muhammad Ali going toe-to-toe with Joe Frazier in the boxing ring, Martina Navratilova facing off with Chris Evert on the tennis court and Nick Faldo going head to head with Greg Norman on the golf course.A healthy cricket rivalry continues 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?This could be the greatest rivalry in football, but it’s time to take a closer look at things to determine why it 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.They are also ranked as two of the richest 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 mentioned that when he was growing up he hated Liverpool FC.  Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard meanwhile once told a television crew how, although he regularly exchanges shirts with opposing players, he will never have a Manchester United shirt in his house.

5. Transfers? What Transfers? – 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 simple.  Everyone knows it’s Spurs.

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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. If you buy tickets from an online vendor who has a good reputation, you can protect yourself when you plan to buy manchester united football tickets. 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. The best way to discern if a review is genuine or advertising is to look for a hyperlink towards the end of the review.

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. There is a bigger chance for a review to be legit if a review is link free. Though buying tickets on eBay can often get you cheaper prices, it is probably a good idea to buy tickets from established websites that specialize in tickets alone. 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. So how do you tell if a web page is encrypted or not? At the beginning of a website address you will usually see “HTTP”. If a web page is encrypted the HTTP will change to “HTTPS”. It is always a good idea to make sure the page is encrypted because even if a company is completely honest but does not use encryption, it does not show a lot of respect for the customers’ personal information. If you are interested in a ticket vendor, they have good reviews, and their check out page is encrypted, then you can be pretty certain that the vendor is safe to purchase from.

It is also important to go with your gut and these guidelines are important to follow in order to avoid being scammed. Should a vendor’s pitch not seem plausible to you, avoid buying anything from that vendor. If something seems off then there is a good chance something is. Doing some research will prove invaluable in fending off scam artists. Now it just comes down to a matter of finding the best price! Keep the information contained within this article in mind and you will be able to make your next purchase with confidence.

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

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United To Target Serie A Star Midfielder

Monday, December 28th, 2009

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

The form of veteran former England midfielder Paul Scholes, plus the fact that Ryan Giggs is not getting any younger has convinced Sir Alex Ferguson of the need to bring in a top notch quality replacement to bolster what is perceived by some critics to be United’s biggest weakness, midfield.

With interest from Liverpool and Chelsea as well, the signing of Hamsik would add attacking ability to Manchester United’s midfield. Snapped up by Brescia after proving his skill with Slovan Bratislava. Transferring to Napoli for 5.5m Euros after dominating the midfield at Brescia scoring 10 goals from the midfield.

Since joining Napoli in 2007, Hamsik has established himself as one of the finest box to box, goalscoring midfielders in Serie A. His impressive record of 25 goals in just 81 games bears comparison with some of the finest midfielders in Serie A and there are many strikers who would be proud to boast a similar strike rate. 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. Expected to be one of the major stars of the upcoming World Cup his efforts might put him down into soccer history forever.

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’s short budget will defiantly play a factor in their decision to keep Hamsik or to sell him if a good offer is made.

Chelsea’s current situation however might put a stop to any dealings between Napoli and Manchester United. With Carlo Ancelotti given the go ahead to spend £25m on a player by Roman Abramovich in January they might beat Manchester United to the punch

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Manchester United Fans and the Field of Dreams

Sunday, November 8th, 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.

Manchester United tickets have been sold for home games at Old Trafford since 1910, apart from the 8 years it took to rebuild after it was bombed in WWII.

The name Field of Dreams was bestowed upon the stadium by Bobby Charlton, one of the Club’s best known players.  

Sir Robert “Bobby” Charlton was famous for his attacking instincts from midfield and his ferocious long-range shot, and won the FIFA World Cup” World Cup and was named the  “Ballon d’Or” European Footballer of the Year in 1966.

Able to seat over 76,000 Manchester United ticket buying supporters, Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadiums in England and it is one of the two stadia in England to have been given a  “UEFA elite stadium” five-star rating by UEFA.

As a neutral venue, Old Trafford has hosted many FA Cup semi-final matches and a number of  “English national football team” England international fixtures.

It has also hosted matches 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.

Originally designed to hold 20,000 fans, the Stretford End was the last remaining where fans watched the game on their feet at the ground before the forced upgrade to seating in the early 1990s.

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

Most of the noise and atmosphere at Old Trafford comes from this stand, and once the roar from the fans there was measured as louder than that of a jumbo jet lifting off.

Unless you’ve been subscribing to your season Manchester United ticket for many years  it is impossible to get a seat in the Stretford End, even for the most die-hard fan.

Manchester United’s fan club, usually called the Red Army was once the largest 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.

These days, the Red Army is 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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Can Affordable Manchester United Tickets Be Found?

Monday, October 26th, 2009

The 2009/2010 Premier League season is about to get underway and the chase to find affordable Manchester United tickets has resumed. The departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez will not change the popularity of Man Utd which has won its third title in a row.

Becoming a member of the One United fan club gives the best chance of finding reasonably priced 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 can be bought easily on the team’s website and every member is eligible to apply for tickets for all home matches of the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Curling Cup, and the Champions League. A random lottery drawing determines the success of an application.

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 team’s ticket exchange lets season ticket holders who are unable to attend particular games sell their tickets to One United Members. Club members should grab these Man Utd tickets as soon as they become available as they are sold on a first come, first served basis.

The best chances of winning tickets in the lottery are for middle of the week games such as some of the Premier League games and all of the Champions League matches. A ticketing agency with a good reputation is worth checking out for Man Utd ticket prices. Usually secondary market tickets are sold at much higher than their face value, as game day draws near, it is sometimes possible to pick them up at a reasonable price.

Get your Manchester United Tickets and sporting events tickets at your concierge for global sporting events, www.premiumtickethub.com.

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