Chelsea doing something nice in SHOCKER!
CHELSEA IN 'DOING SOMETHING NICE' SHOCKER
Chelsea aren't particularly well known for their acts of kindness or good-heartedness, least of all since Roman Abramovich, Peter Kenyon and Jose Mourinho arrived at the club, but in a dream come true, leading national five-a-side organiser Pitch Invasion has arranged for Lucy Darling and her amateur five-a-side team Los Amigos to play a match against their heroes Chelsea Ladies. The match, which is kicking off at 7:45pm on Wednesday 22 August at Brighton's Stanley Deason leisure centre, is to help raise awareness of women's football at all levels.
Women's and Girls Operations Manager at Chelsea FC Ladies, Ben Bartlett, explains: "We need more people like Lucy and organisations like Pitch Invasion actively encouraging women into football at local grassroots level." Ben heard about Lucy from Pitch Invasion, who explained that Lucy had contacted various football clubs, organisations and businesses in the Sussex area, looking for female teams, and how from this the Pitch Invasion female five-a-side league started.
In a unique show of solidarity, Ben agreed to bring the Chelsea Ladies team down to play. Ben continues: "It's going to be a fun evening. We're really looking forward to playing this game of five-a-side and meeting Lucy and the rest of the players in Brighton. We're glad to help Lucy and Pitch Invasion and wish them every success in getting more women and girls playing football."
Lucy is understandably nervous but excited about playing Chelsea, one of the top ladies' teams in the country, filled with international players: "They're very good, full of great players and ability. They're top athletes. I hope we don't embarrass ourselves, but it will certainly be something to tell the grandchildren about one day. Playing Chelsea is a wonderful opportunity; we're very lucky, it is the sort of thing all footballers dream about, so we are going to enjoy it, and by seeing the Chelsea team in action, maybe others will be inspired to join us."
Lucy's league has also received the backing of Deb Browne, former General Manager of Women's and Girls Football at Charlton Athletic FC. Deb, who enjoyed great success with the Charlton ladies team before it was disbanded earlier this summer, had this to say about Lucy and Pitch Invasion's efforts: "Five-a-side is great fun to play and an ideal way for women to get involved with football.
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"What Lucy and Pitch Invasion are doing in Brighton is very positive and I hope it works and spreads across the country. The more women we have playing football the better it is for the overall game. More girls are learning football at school and it is important to keep their interest after they have left, and what Pitch Invasion are doing is providing a way for girls to stay involved."
Can you imagine Jose taking his team down to play against your local five-a-side team? Nah...
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DON'T SWEAR, YOU'RE AT A FOOTBALL GAME
Barcelona's pre-season trip to China might have just been a mixture of a warm-up and a money-spinner for them, but for their hosts it was the perfect chance to prepare for next summer's Olympic Games by getting tough on loutish behaviour at major sporting events. Authorities in Beijing have been cracking down on swearing, spitting, etc in the city to try and avoid national embarassment when the eyes of the world are on it in 2008.
When Barca played Beijing Guoan on Sunday, there were police filming each section of the crowd to keep an eye out for 'inappropriate' behaviour, which is basically anything that would happen at your average English football ground. Swearing, fighting and littering were all crimes that would lead to being detained by the police as well as getting a 12-month ban from attending footy matches.
"It is just way out of line to have 30,000 people shouting and swearing en masse," police spokesman Liu Chunjiang was quoted as saying. "What we are trying to do is to give the right guidance in how to view a football match, not to impose anything on the spectators." Well of course. However, such draconian measures haven't dampened the enthusiasm of the locals for this tour by one of the world's most famous clubs.
At the weekend, there was an auction of Barca merchandise in Beijing to raise money for disabled Chinese children. Amongst the special items on sale were a lock of Ronaldinho's hair, the shirt Thierry Henry wore at his unveiling by the club earlier this summer and the boots Leo Messi used to score his famous 'Maradona goal' against Getafe last season, which went for £2,700.
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WACKY SHORTS
Fed up of the wild lifestyles led his players, the president of Romanian second division club FC Botosani has rented a villa on the edge of town for them to stay in on the nights before matches, along with coach Leo Grozavu and his assistant Giani Florian. "The guys are young and healthy and they want to have a nice life, but too nice is not good," club president Valeriu Iftimie said.
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And finally, some wishful thinking by Manchester City striker Rolando Bianchi when he turned up at Carrington to start training with his new team-mates on Saturday. Unfortunately, he was soon informed that he doesn't actually play for Manchester United and was directed to City's training ground just down the road. Nice try Rolando...
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VIDEO OF THE WEEK
The new season is just around the corner and Rafa Benitez must be busy plotting Liverpool's rise to glory as Premier League champions. But you'd think it would be easy for a man with the kind of magical powers shown in this clip...
