English Premier League

[Long Gun]

Wasn't that what I said? (Sorry, I cheated!) Actually he also got two against Pompey in the FA Cup when the referee was ....... Mike Riley!

 

LG

[sayjann]

you naughty man

have you done what i think you have?

[sayjann]

didn't really know where to put this and didn't want to start a new thread,so decided to put it here.

May 31 and i was in Switzerland for a few days.

staying with a friend and he has got tickets for the climax of the Swiss Season.

His team is Basel and they were playing Nauchatel Xamax.

the upshot was Basel were 2nd in the League,1 point behind Grasshoppers of Zurich and needed to win and Grasshoppers to lose or draw for Basel to win the Championship.

 

Travelled to the game on a tram and easy trip of around 20 minutes from the centre of Basel.

arrived at the ground and was impressed,newly bult(2 years i think) and financed by a woman who started to put her money into the club a few years ago.

Attached to the front of the Stadium was a huge offshoot building which housed all the behind the scenes kind of stuff,kitchens,VIP boxes,dressing rooms and to my surprise an accomodation block.

The Players lived in this block and the rest of it was designated as cheap retirement apartments for the elderly and every apartment has views of the pitch.

Inside,the ground is impressive,compact but seemed very spacious and nicely laid out and designed.

 

Got to our seats around 25 minutes before KO and we were 3 rows from the pitch and close to the team benches.

their manager is Christian Gross who a few years ago was manager of Spurs and was maybe the architect of the decline of Spurs in recent years.

As i was so close i took the opportuity to give him a bit of abuse,which i had been asked to do by a couple of friends who support Spurs(but obviously had to be careful,he is so revered in the town).

and looking around around the crowd i was surprised at the diversity of the crowd.

Elderly people and many many small children all kitted out in the team colours and faces painted.

Of course i have seen this in the UK,but not as popular as this.

 

I don't have a lt of experience of Swiss Football,but do remember Basel playing Man Utd in the CL and as the players were warming up on the pitch and i took the opportunity to try and reconize some of the players.

i saw the Yakim Brothers,Turkish Born but now Swiss Nationals and i also recognised Atouba,the Left Back who has just been voted player of the season.

also Bernt Hass,still on loan from Sunderland,but their top forward,Rossi was suspended for the game.

 

The players left the pitch and then the ceremony began and the Club song was sung by the crowd with great passion,this is something which is lacking in the UK and i was very impressed with the sight of a sell out crowd od almost 31,000 singing.

Then the Players were introduced and i have seen this occasion happen before in Europe.

Their faces were shown on the 2 big video screens at either end of the pitch and their Christian names were announced and the crowd just roared out their Surnames.

e.g. Hakim........YAKIM.

 

both teams walked onto the pitch and the cheering and flag waving was incredible and it seemed flags of different colours were waved in different parts of the Stadium. and one of those huge banners was unfurled at the home supporters end and passed over peoples heads.

It is a pity the English Authorities see this spectacle as a no-no.

 

The game started and while it was very techinical,there was little flair,but i did like the little right winger from Neuchatel,he was a handful for Basel's defence for the 1st half,but faded in the 2nd half as did Neuchatel.

The nerves were steadied by Basel scoring in the 17th minute with the defender Huggel scoring from a corner.

then confusion began to reign,more then once a roar went through the crowd at regular intervals and i assumed it was news from the other game and Grasshoppers were losing,but many confusing reports coming through from fans on their mobiles to their home telling people different scores.

10 minutes before half-time Huggel scored again and when half-time arrived nobody was really sure what was going on,we heard it was either 2-2 or 2-1 to Grasshoppers in the other game,but no-one was realy sure.

 

game was over within 10 seconds of the 2nd half starting when Yakim headed home from close range to make it 3-0 to Basel.

The game played it's course and nothing really happened except more cheering from the crowds and for a while it seemed Grasshoppers were losing and celebrations began,lots of singing and a few flares and rockets set off in the home end.

The final whistle went and it was confirmed Grasshoppers had won 4-2 and Basel had come 2nd in the Championship,losing by 1 point.

 

The Players slumped to the ground and many were crying and wanted to be left alone in their thoughts,but a few fans raced onto the pitch to try and console them,but were quickly ushered off the pitch.

Interviews were given by the coaching staff andthe Neuchatel Players left the pitch to leave the home team to their thoughts.

They may not have won the League,but this had been their most successful season ever.

Apart from 2nd in the League,they has won the Swiss cup and reached the 2nd phase of the Champions League(helping to knock out Liverpool).

 

Then they ran a video montage on the video screens of their best moments and goals in the CL and every goal was cheered so loudly.

The team song was then sang again and by now it was very atmospheric,it had been a glorious evening with bright sunshine and a marvellous sky as the sun went down.

but now it was dark and lightning began to streak across the sky and with the Stadium lights off,t was a spooky moment.

 

My friend and i exited the Stadium and got a couple of beers while waiting to meet his Mother and Brother who are both Season Ticket Holders.

We met up with them and joined in the party around the Stadium.

Many bars had been set up and no-one was concerned about leaving the concourse of the Stadium and many happy? fans were drinking,singing and having a good time.

The game had finished around 10pm,but we did'nt leave until around midnight and got the tram into town and my friend and said goodbye to his mother and we walked through the bar area of Downtown Basel and the party atmosphere was incredible,many drunken Swiss singing away and just having a good time,none of the violence i have seen in my travels.

 

this had been an experience and i'm so glad i was there to witness it.

[naughtyboy]

Sounds like you had an enjoyable day. I was on holiday in

Basle in 1969 and went to St Jacob Stadium to see Celtic playing there in the EC. A boring 0-0 draw with Celtic winning 2nd leg in Parkhead 2-0. Basle got revenge this season. I assume they still play in the same stadium which has been reconstructed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[check_bin_krap]

Cut and Paste from Soccernet, interesting about groundshare and finances:

 

Clubs riding out financial storm - report

 

 

The financial state of Britain's football clubs remains critical - but there is hope a corner has finally been turned.

 

Business advisors PKF surveyed 21 finance directors - 15 from Premiership and First Division clubs and six from the Scottish Premier League - and the reality is further hardship is expected in the future.

 

The ITV Digital fiasco followed by the transfer market slump has seen several clubs plunged into cash chaos from which they are struggling to emerge.

 

Of those clubs questioned, alarmingly 43% have increased their borrowing in the past 12 months and 57% envisage using more than 90% of their bank facility during the forthcoming year.

 

'You can draw the conclusion there are a lot of clubs still financially stressed,' said Stuart Barnsdall, a partner at PKF.

 

'The next two years will be crucial for smaller clubs. Never before has the polarisation within football been so apparent with the elite of the game clearly running away with the spoils.

 

'With the market for football now proven to be finite and largely restricted to the most powerful, those who do manage to survive face the prospect of re-inventing their business models based on non-TV related income targeted at a local market.

 

'Clubs who fail to respond to the changing environment are unlikely to exist in the long term.

 

'But clubs are dealing with, and facing up to the financial aspects, it's just that it is taking a long time to unravel.

 

'Hopefully, they have hit the bottom of the slump and they will now start coming out the other side.'

 

Just 24% of clubs expect to make a profit this year, perhaps primarily due to the introduction of performance-related pay, with 71% now implementing salary packages which reflect success or failure on the pitch and over half the First Division and SPL clubs prepared to cut wages in the event of relegation.

 

Wages remain a major talking point and First Division clubs are overwhelmingly in support of a salary cap with 80% in favour in contrast to just 10% in the Premiership.

 

One of the most surprising statistics is the number of finance directors who admit they would consider groundsharing which has risen this year, from 14% to 40% among the English clubs, with that figure slightly lower in Scotland at 33%.

 

'In previous years there's been a number of clubs where there has been a temporary groundshare and it's not been a particularly satisfactory arrangement,' added Barnsdall.

 

'But I think they see the real financial benefits of joint ownership and the cost benefits of sharing a stadium.

 

'There's all sorts of problems, in particular the fan bases, which have to be overcome. But the financial sentiment is overwhelming.

 

'If you look at clubs like Liverpool and Everton, they are both aiming to build new stadia. I know there would be huge hurdles in sharing, but if properly done then it could work. It would be a fantastic solution.

 

'But you can understand the responses of the finance directors because they have taken a battering in the last 18 months in terms of a dip in income.

 

'They are all cutting their costs, in particular in transfers - apart from Chelsea - and the stadium cost is one of the bigger issues to tackle.'

.....................................................................

Sharing grounds is a controversial subject. I know its done in Italy - AS Roma/Lazio, AC Milan/Inter Milan. Its really only been used temporary in England as far as I know.

 

With the economic problems in the prem, its foolish not to look into. What about L'pool/Everton, Arsenal/Tottenham, Man.U/Man.C, Aston Villa/B'ham? Outside the prem there are more.

 

If passionate Italians manage this, there is no reason why it can't be done in the prem...

 

Opinions?

 

Cheers!