A Golden Time for Gymnastics

Credit: Western Daily Press

This week I have been blown away with the fantastic performances from inside the SSE Hydro Arena from the Gymnastics during the Commonwealth Games. After the Olympics had taken place I was slightly concerned for the sport as we had done exceptionally well and then two of our main gymnasts; Beth Tweddle and Louis Smith were to retire. Little did we all know that in the background we had some impeccable talent waiting to shine through onto the senior level and the Commonwealth Games would be their time to prove to the nation what they have got under their belt.

With the likes of 21 year old Max Whitlock achieving 3 gold medals in the Men's Floor Final, Men's All-around Final and Men's Team Final, silver in the Pommel Horse Final and a bronze in the Parallel Bar's Final for England. But, the star of the competition has to be 16 year old Claudia Fragapane who on her first time competing at senior level is the first female since 1982 to get four gold medals in one Commonwealth Games and definitely one to watch out for in the future. 

Not forgetting Dan Keatings taking gold for Scotland on the Pommel Horse, Frank Baines achieving Silver in Men's All- round final for Scotland and Daniel Purvis.

These individuals are very strong, feisty and powerful athlete, it is amazing how much time, effort and dedication they put into their training. It is not all about prancing around on the floor, every move is complex and precision and concentration is key, there is no room for mistakes. If they fall off an apparatus they get back up, no rolling around on the floor and continue with their routine to fight for their place on the podium.

From the second the gymnasts walked out into the arena on the first days of competitions right until the final gold medal was given out I was hooked. It really is amazing to see, learn and cheer on a sport which is not always in the spotlight and can be forgotten about once the major events like the Nationals, Olympics and Commonwealth Games are over.

I am very proud of our gymnasts from our home nation, they have done us proud with 26 out of the 39 medals being won by England, Scotland and Wales which is fantastic when the athletes join together to make Great Britain at the Nationals and then the 2016 Olympics in Rio. I hope that this sport will find some dominance amongst the likes of Football, Rugby, Cricket and Tennis. Certainly, myself will be keeping a closer eye on gymnastics more often.

A massive congratulations to all the gymnasts in the games!!

Twitter: @alice_stoker 

Who really has the final say in the Transfer Market?

 Transfer and Loan Market. Credit: The Offside - Catania

Twice a year the Transfer Window opens and every time there seems to be a new record signing, but how much of an input do players actually have in a move to clubs?

A lot of these deals are an on-going process which seem to go on for some time, if you look at the Gareth Bale move to Real Madrid it took over three month with negotiations between both clubs before Bale had a chance to go over his personal terms with Madrid. 

It is becoming a regular occurrence now that deals are done last minute and out of the blue. How have these players been able to express their views? They need to feel 100% happy and comfortable with the club they are moving to, will they be but into the starting 11 every game and not being placed on the bench. Unfortunately for those players who have stepped up to the Premiership from the lower leagues do sometimes find themselves sat on the side-lines watching the game from the dugout; one of those being Luciano Becchio who moved to Norwich from Leeds United in January this year. Since then, a further two new strikers have been signed by the Premiership side which has pushed Becchio out of contention to being picked for the squad.

It does put into perspective that there is a huge amount to discuss between both clubs before they can strike the deal. But who are the ones that are lengthening the process? The manager? The players? The Chairman? Or is it the players' agents?!

The player will always sets his sights high and at some point will want to move on somewhere new for another challenge in their career or have somewhere in mind as their 'dream move'. But I believe that their agents might have heard that various clubs are interested in his client and he stirs this information with the press which could put pressure on the player. It gets everyone talking!

This could have been something which influenced Wayne Rooney when he put a transfer request in at Manchester United, was it really in his heart that he wanted to move from the league winners to another club in the Premiership?! He might have had a few issues with Sir Alex Ferguson and coaching staff at United but this did not come across during training and games.

I am not saying that players should not have agents, but for every positive there is always a negative and they seem to cause numerous problems. Do they really have the player’s best interest at heart, or is it all about the money? The players will benefit from the move there is no doubt about that with the substantial increase in wages and a luxury lifestyle they can achieve from this. But how much are the agents actually pocketing and once they have their hands on that money, do they ever think about how happy their client is once the move is complete.

From a fans perspective the transfer window is something that is exciting to watch but also brings frustration when it involves their club and players. Nobody really thinks about the affect on the club, it is just a business and greed. The more money the better, and I think it is going to spiral in years to come.  

Twitter:  @alice_stoker

Premier League Preview

                         

                                           The Premier League. Credit: UK Sports Network 

It's the 21st year the Premier League has been in action and 2013/14 season looks to be the biggest and most exciting yet.

A ball has not even been kicked and there is so much to talk about, five new managers, three new teams, players futures undecided and talks over who could win the league. 

All eyes will be on last years title holders Manchester United after it was announced at the end of May that Sir Alex Ferguson was to step down as manager after 26 years in charge making him the longest serving in the Premier League, winning 38 trophies including 13 Premier League titles. Now they are in the hands of ex Everton boss David Moyes. He was the appointment everybody within football expected. It will be tough, a new season a new job always is but after winning the Community Shield against Wigan it is a positive start to progress from. 

Chelsea could be back in the frame to win the title with Jose Mourinho back in charge for the second time. They are also under the spotlight for the hopeful transfer of United's Wayne Rooney after he asked once again for a transfer request. 

Another's player on everyone's minds is midfielder Gareth Bale, is he leaving Spurs.? It would be a record breaking fee of £80 million if he was to move to Spanish side Real Madrid, is this a ridiculous amount to be spent on a player? He is an outstanding player with 42 goals in 146 appearances and has helped definitely been Tottenham's best player by far this season. Another question to ask is if Bale leaves will Spurs cope without him? It is getting close the end end of the transfer window, so if they let him go they will need a replacement fast. I personally don't want to see him leave the club, he is exceptional talent which is great to be able to watch in the Premier League and we don't get many home grown players like him. 

With all these things in mind we cannot forget about the newly promoted teams; Cardiff City, Crystal Palace and Hull FC they face a tough season but who knows what might happen, there are always shocks in the Premier League. But with managers like Malky Mackay, Ian Holloway and Steve Bruce they are in safe hands and could actually prove people wrong by winning games. 

It's an exciting time with only hours to go until the first ball of the new Premier League season is kicked and only a few weeks left before the Transfer Deadline day anything could happen. 

Twitter: @alice_stoker 

A new era for Leeds United

          Beckford and Howson celebrate the good times.

It is a fresh start this season for Leeds United as all ties to Ken Bates have now been removed. 

There is no denying it has been the longest and hardest eight years for the club, and supporters with numerous ups and downs with pretty much everything dishing out disappointment. 

New owners GFH Capital have stepped up to the plate making remarkable changes to the club, with ticket prices lowered, Radio Leeds back doing commentary, players being signed and Bates no longer associated at Leeds United, a new manager and chairman. This is everything that fans could have wished for and with over 30,000 people already booked tickets for this Saturdays first game of the season tie to Brighton at Elland Road, I think the decisions have been proved popular. 

Back in 2007 when Leeds entered administration, the then acting administrator KPMG agreed to sell the club to the newly formed Leeds United Football Club Limited which Bates was one of three directors, little did fans know this was where everything would get complicated. 

To this day there is slight confusion on who actually owned the ground and training ground, was it Bates, the club, the council, his wife? 

A lot of issues rose when Bates was chairman, mostly that he was more bothered about money rather than getting the club back into top flight football. It was a very frustrating time, players were only brought in on a free even though the ticket prices had escalated to their highest. Where was this money going? Well it's safe to say possibly in his back pocket, with the recent revelations of his £1million deal to have a private jet bring him to home games for three years from Monaco. 

He also set up his own radio station at the ground 'Yorkshire Radio' which brought the live commentary after he banned BBC Radio Leeds from the Stadium. This would bring in more money for himself, but it left some fans unable to follow their club, if you lived in Yorkshire or had Sky, then great if you didn't then you missed out. People were unable to listen live to games if the lived down South, Lancashire or even across the globe. Yorkshire Radio wasn't the easiest station to pinpoint their airways. Don't get me wrong the journalists there were great, they had real passion for the club, but were they free to give their true opinions after the games? 

Surely now this is possible, but there is one thing hanging over us like a dark cloud- the suing from Ken Bates over his sacking as president of the club. 

A new era is upon the club and everyone associated, and they can now look forward to the season and maybe a promotion back to where they belong; the Premiership. 

Twitter: @alice_stoker 

Hillsborough - The Truth

Fan paying tribute to the Hillsborough Disaster. Credit: Press Association

                                     

After a very long and painful journey the families of the Hillsborough tragedy finally get the truth.

Nobody would have expected it to be as bad as what has been revealed. The police went to great lengths to cover up their mistakes by unlawfully altering hundreds of statements and documents and deliberately passing blame onto the fans for the crush on the terraces. It is a disgrace that these secrets have been hidden for 23 years it should have been uncovered sooner.

This is a huge breakthrough for the families but one that should never have happened, it is heart wrenching that we now know 41 of the 96 who sadly lost their lives could have potentially been saved.

Hillsborough has changed football, and unfortunately it wasn’t until lives had been lost that fans were treated respectfully and not like hooligans.

The families have finally got the truth, alongside a profound apology from Prime Minister David Cameron, but it wasn’t without a strong fight and came 23 years too late. Now it is a new battle to try and get justice by pressing for criminal charges to take place.

 Twitter: @alice_stoker

A Generation Inspired

What an amazing four weeks of exceptional sport we have witnessed as a nation.

It was a long seven years of tedious planning and hard work to get the London 2012 games to take center stage and now they are over with a blink of an eye. We had to overcome a few hurdles with G4S security not fulfilling their promises and the estimated costs kept rising whilst in the middle of a recession. 

Was there even any need for us to be worried? 

I don’t think so. Yes it was a huge risk spending the public money on staging the Olympic and Paralympic games, but look how successful it was. Finishing with 185 medals overall for Great Britain is a huge achievement and improvement since Beijing. 

All the worries seemed to be forgotten about as soon as Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony got underway. The pride and passion shone through straight away, it was a celebration of our past inspiring our next generation. 

This passion never stopped, the roar of enthusiasm from the crowds spurring on our athletes was incredible – definitely spine tingling moments. Not even the five-day wait for our first gold medal put a dampener on things, it eventually came for rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning at Eton Dorney.  

We witnessed a lot of unforgettable sporting moments, names we had never heard of shone through which was fantastic and fresh to see; Greg Rutherford won gold in the long jump and 19 year old Paralympian Jonnie Peacock beat the man of the race Oscar Pistorius in the T44 mens 100m to receive gold. 

London 2012 has showcased that we will not view disability in the same way again. The Paralympics always seems to be overshadowed by the Olympics, but after finishing with 120 medals they have changed the way we see the sport for the better. 

It was also a stage for the international athletes to stand up as well and what no better way to do this than beat the machine of the pool Michael Phelps to get gold in the 200m Butterfly, such a proud moment and magnificent achievement for South African Chad Le Clos. 

I have to say that there would not have been a more organized and successful games without the 70,000 staff and volunteers ‘games makers’ who gave up their time for free to make our games memorable. What a fantastic job they did!

Its small things like that which makes people remember what a proud nation we have. 

However the Government promised us a legacy, but will this follow through? These games were to ‘Inspire a Generation’ and this has been achieved, young children have new sporting heroes and want to be like them. It all starts at schools and sports club being backed; too many have had to close due to cuts. If they keep their promise we could continue this amazing achievement our athletes have produced in years to come. 

For London and Great Britain we have put on a spectacular show, this is just the beginning of something special for us. 

Twitter- @alice_stoker