Author: Darren Young
How To Stop Things Getting Even Messi-er
I was in Cyprus last September speaking at a sports conference. It was especially memorable for me as only three people spoke English – my one and only language – during their presentations throughout the day. Me, obviously, plus Pele (although he was starring in an American Express commercial circa. 1974) and another guy who […]
Read moreLet We-eeeee Entertain You
Blame the ‘commentator’s curse’ but as I drove home listening to the build-up to the Premier League game the other evening between Brighton and Wolves, they said the one thing they could guarantee was goals. Brighton had scored 16 times against Wolves in their four previous encounters, and Wolves themselves had scored 9 goals in […]
Read moreIs it Time To Say Tara to VAR?
I think the time has come, even if just for a little while. As I support a team that are mid-table in League Two so some might ask why I even care? The closest I’ll get to VAR ruining a Saturday afternoon is if I wanted to go for a walk in Stockley Park and […]
Read moreOur World Cup Runneth Over
On a metro train in central Doha in the middle of the afternoon at any given date in late November 2022, there’s a wonderful sight. Two Argentinian fans are in animated debate with two Moroccan supporters. A family from Wales is posing for a selfie with some Brazilian fans. Just down the carriage some Mexican […]
Read moreTen Ways to Grow Your Club in 2023
Happy New Year to all of our followers. As John and Yoko said, ‘let’s hope it’s a good one’ so, with that reckless aim in mind, here are our Ten Ways to Grow Attendances in 2023. Those of you old enough to remember pre-pandemic times may recall that we used to put out regular […]
Read moreSpace: The Play-Off Final Frontier?
Wrexham’s co-owner, Ryan Reynolds, wants them to be the first football club in space. It’s revolutionary, I’ll give him that. And ambitious too - which fans always love – but is it feasible? Especially with the cost of fuel these days. And who would they play when they get there? To be fair to Reynolds, […]
Read moreFOR SALE: Football Club. Several Careless Owners
You know the old(ish) joke about football club owners? That is the first of many questions I’m going to pose in this blog. It goes like this…what is the easiest and quickest way to become a millionaire? Answer: be a billionaire, and then purchase a football club. Let’s hope this Swiss guy, who’s reportedly been […]
Read moreIt’s a Shame about ROI
Mark Bradley @fanexperienceco Mark works all over Europe helping associations, leagues and clubs to understand and improve fan engagement and their match day experience. The Fan Experience Company was founded in 2005, and they have carried out over 3,000 assessments as well as other fan engagement and matchday experience improvement projects in 19 countries. This […]
Read more“Doing a Sunderland”: Let’s show the World what that really means
Mark Bradley @fanexperienceco Mark works all over Europe helping associations, leagues and clubs to understand and improve fan engagement and their match day experience. The Fan Experience Company was founded in 2005, and they have carried out over 3,000 assessments as well as other fan engagement and matchday experience improvement projects in 19 countries. ‘Doing […]
Read moreHow can Sunderland AFC grow women’s football attendances?
Mark Bradley @fanexperienceco Mark works all over Europe helping associations, leagues and clubs to understand and improve fan engagement and their match day experience. The Fan Experience Company was founded in 2005, and they have carried out over 3,000 assessments as well as other fan engagement and matchday experience improvement projects in 19 countries. It’s […]
Read moreTo Have And To Hold (Onto Those Three Points)
A football fan, especially one of a lower league club or one that doesn’t perpetually reside in the top half of the Premier League, has to go through a fair few lows in their time. Cup upsets, relegations, getting rid of managers that don’t work out, losing good ones that do, defeat in cup finals […]
Read moreIndependence Tray
The recommendation by former Sport’s Minister, Tracey Crouch, that football needs an independent regulator (from now on called an IREF) to ‘stop it lurching from one crisis to another’ is both very welcome and also incredibly frustrating. Welcome, because we’ve seen to many clubs go to the wall or too close to it for comfort […]
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