Ledley King talks on ‘Life after the Final Whistle’ at Soccerex

Soccerex have confirmed that England and Tottenham Hotspur legend Ledley King will be speaking on the 'Life after the Final Whistle' panel at the Soccerex European Forum on April 10/11 in Manchester.

In a session which includes Edwin van der Sar, Gaizka Mendieta and Edu Gaspar, King will discuss the opportunities that have been made available to him in his role of Club Ambassador for Tottenham Hotspur, in particular by using his unique appeal as a well-known figure and positive role model to inspire young people in the community, working closely with the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.

Remaining in a role at Tottenham has also enabled him to start his coaching badges, attend various events, travel overseas to engage with their global fan base, and to take part in media work.

Arguably one of the finest defenders of his generation, Ledley made his debut in 1999 and went on to make 264 league appearances, becoming the first Tottenham captain in 9 years to lead the side to silverware by winning the Carling Cup in 2008. The centre-back also represented England 21 times and started the first game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup against the USA.

Speaking on his participation at the Forum, Ledley King said, "After hearing great things, I'm looking forward to speaking on a subject which is very important to me, as well as catching up with Edwin, Gaizka and Edu, who I have great memories of playing against."

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said, "Ledley's participation in the panel is a huge honour for us which will provide our delegates with an unmissable session. Throughout his career he has been the ultimate professional and will provide an excellent insight into the options available to players once they have retired."

The Soccerex European Forum is a two-day event which attracts over 1,600 delegates from the elite of Europe's football industry to come together to debate, network and do business. This year's agenda setting conference programme will tackle the key issues shaping European football, including fan engagement, media rights, match fixing, discrimination and addiction, life after football, social media and a selection of special 1-2-1 sessions with Gianni Infantino, Alexey Sorokin, Sir John Madejski, Sir Bobby Charlton and Gary Neville.

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208 987 5522 or visit www.soccerex.com/europe .

VIDEO: Interview with new Tottenham signing Lewis Holtby

Germany Under-21 international captain Lewis Holtby decided a few weeks ago that in the summer he would end his time at FC Schalke 04 to join EPL side Tottenham Hotspurs. Now in a quick decision Holtby was transferred in the winter break and here his first interview with SpursTV.

Deloitte Football Money League: Real Madrid top once more!

The Deloitte Football Money League 2010/11 has been released with Spanish giants Real Madrid topping the league table of the world's 20 highest earning football clubs for the seventh straight year, according to auditing firm Deloitte.

For the first time the combined revenues of the 20 biggest football clubs in the world has crossed the 4 billion Euros mark and now stands at 4,3 billion Euros an increase of 8,3 percent with all these clubs coming out of Europe. England remains the most represented with six out of the top 20 clubs from the Premier League, five from Italy, four from Germany, three from Spain plus two from France.

Once more Spain's big two are the highest revenue earners in world football. Though playing second fiddle to FC Barcelona in the Spanish league and on the European stage Real Madrid have been able to increase their revenues by 40.9 million Euros from the previous season to now an impressive 479,5 million Euros with Barca 28,8 million Euros behind. But the Catalans could once more close the gap over their archrivals.

German Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04 are the biggest movers as they move from 16th place into the Top 10 for the first time due to their UEFA Champions League semifinal appearance and winning the German Cup as their budget rose from 139,8 to 202,4 million Euros.

Atlético de Madrid, VfB Stuttgart and Aston Villa dropped out of the Top 20; while Borussia Dortmund, FC Valencia and SSC Napoli entered this elite group of football clubs.


Deloitte Football Money League - 2009/2010 Top 20

01. (01) Real Madrid 479,5 million Euros
02. (02) FC Barcelona 450,7 million Euros
03. (03) Manchester United 367,0 million Euros
04. (04) FC Bayern Munich 321,4 million Euros
05. (05) FC Arsenal London 251,1 million Euros
06. (06) FC Chelsea London 249,8 million Euros
07. (07) AC Milan 235,1 million Euros
08. (09) Inter Milan 211,4 million Euros
09. (08) FC Liverpool 203,3 million Euros
10. (16) FC Schalke 04 202,4 million Euros
11. (12) Tottenham Hotspurs 181,0 million Euros
12. (11) Manchester City 169,6 million Euros
13. (10) Juventus Torino 153,9 million Euros
14. (15) Olympique Marseille 150,4 million Euros
15. (18) AS Roma 143,5 million Euros
16. (--) Borussia Dortmund 138,5 million Euros
17. (14) Olympique Lyonnais 132,8 million Euros
18. (13) Hamburger SV 128,8 million Euros
19. (--) FC Valencia 116,8 million Euros
20. (--) SSC Napoli 114,9 million Euros

VIDEO: Cat invasion at Anfield!

Liverpool FC hosted Tottenham Hotspurs at Anfield Road in a Monday night game on February 6. But there was an unusual visitor onto the pitch when 10 minutes into match a cat, a black and white moggie, ran over the pitch to stop proceedings for about a minute before a steward collected the cat and allowed the match to restart.

Since then the cat has become a celebrity with it even having its own Twitter account under @AnfieldCat .

Leverkusen's Arturo Vidal much sought after

Chilean international Arturo Vidal is one of my players of the season in the Bundesliga! He was a key player for Bundesliga runners-up Bayer 04 Leverkusen and he happens to be a favourite of the club coach Jupp Heynckes.

The Santiago de Chile born midfielder turns 24 next Sunday and has been a rising star with club and country. And it is usual after such a strong season in which Vidal played in 33 of the 34 league matches scoring 10 goals and getting 11 assists that a player like him will draw interest from top clubs across Europe.

Vidal has been linked with FC Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspurs and FC Valencia. The latest club to be linked with a move for Vidal are Spanish giants FC Barcelona according to the press reports in Spain. Barca are said to be considering a move for Vidal if they are unable to sign Cesc Fabregas from FC Arsenal.

But Vidal himself has said in the last few weeks that he would like to stay in Germany if he leaves Bayer 04 Leverkusen with whom he has a contract until 2012. His departing coach Heynckes would like to take him along to Munich, where Vidal could be a new partner for Bastian Schweinsteiger in the hear of midfielder, which has been weakened since the winter departure of Mark van Bommel.

Meanwhile Bayer 04 Leverkusen would like to extend Vidal's contract and keep the player at the BayArena. It will be interesting to see if Vidal leaves this summer or stays in Leverkusen.

Gattuso faces tough UEFA punishment

Former Italian international and current AC Milan captain Gennaro Gattuso could face tough sanctions from European football governing body UEFA for his unprofessional behaviour in the Champions League match against Tottenham Hotspurs on Tuesday.

What had happened? There were two separate instances were Gattuso and Tottenham assistant coach Joe Jordan came close - in the first instance Gattuso shoved Jordan in the throat, before going on to head-butt him after the final whistle.

The Control and Disciplinary Body of UEFA will meet on Monday to review the Gattuso incidence. And as per rules there is a stipulation of a minimum three-match ban for assault, although UEFA have the power to issue lengthier suspensions depending on the individual case.

Meanwhile Gattuso has apologised for his actions and some jokingly said there were two guys who understood each others language well and had a dispute. Gattuso played a year in Scotland for Rangers in the 1990s, while Jordan can speak Italian as a former AC Milan player.

Gattuso said afterwards, "I lost control. There is no excuse for what I did. I take my responsibilities for that." And added, "I was nervous. We were both speaking Scottish, something that I learned when I played in his home city of Glasgow, but I can't tell you what we said."

And trying to defend his client Gattuso's agent Claudio Pasqualin told Italian radio that his client had been called a "fucking Italian bastard" by Jordan. Pasqualin said: "For someone like Rino, who has a strong sense of belonging to Italy, I think this is the most cowardly and unspeakable of insults."

Gattuso is a tough player, but someone who is a nice guy off the field. It will be interesting to see what action UEFA takes on such an incidence.

Tottenham Hotspur to fund Team India in Homeless World Cup

In something very encouraging English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur renewed their sponsorship agreement with Team India for the 8th Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup.

Team India is organized and run by Krida Vikas Sanstha (KVSN) working with over 10,000 people through their slum soccer programme. The partnership will see the English Premier League Club fund Team India during the forthcoming competition in Rio, Brazil, which takes place from September 19-26.

Daniel Levy, Chairman, Tottenham Hotspur said, "Our involvement in last year's Homeless World Cup was extremely successful and we are delighted to be involved again this year. The Premier League is vastly growing in popularity in India, as is the support for Spurs, and so it's very satisfying that through football we can help make a positive impact as part of our global community strategy. Our involvement with the Homeless World Cup is one aspect of what we hope will be a bigger role for Tottenham Hotspur in our long-term support of football development in India."

Vijay Barse, Founder KVSN, Manager Team India Homeless World Cup is delighted by the news: "KVSN organises the development of grass roots football in India and it is very important to our success that our participants get a chance to participate at the Homeless World Cup, this opportunity has been realized by the timely support of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Players from slums of Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai are representing India this year and they are delighted to be participating with the support of a professional English Premier League Team."

Homeless World Cup founder Mel Young said: "Homelessness is a global issue and creative partnerships are needed to address it. Spurs is a fantastic example of what a premier football brand can do to make a difference and we applaud them for it."

In addition to providing financial support to Team India, Tottenham Hotspur will also provide kit, coaching advice and signed memorabilia for auction. The Club will also seek to engage further with KVSN through their own partnerships.

For more information visit: www.homelessworldcup.org

About KVSN, the Slum Soccer programme

Krida Vikas Sanstha Nagpur (KVSN) or in English 'Sport for the Homeless', is based in Nagpur, and runs football programmes to inspire and educate the most disadvantaged members of society. KVSN began by providing organized leagues for the homeless and slum dwellers, many of whom were addicted to drugs or alcohol, and involved in petty crimes or violence. The dramatic decrease in these harmful activities and the improvement in the participants' lifestyles inspired KVSN to expand such that it is now running slum soccer programmes in over 15 cities and is addressing issues such as HIV/AIDS infection, personal hygiene and environmental protection. KVSN has organized marches to raise awareness of these issues and an India-Pakistan friendship bicycle rally along the disputed border to promote peace in the region. Currently, KVSN is in the process of developing a community development centre to offer participants housing, school education and vocational training.

www.slumsoccer.org


About the Homeless World Cup

Beating homelessness through football, the Homeless World Cup is an annual world class, international football tournament inspiring 64 national grass roots football projects and over 30,000 homeless players a year to change their lives: over 70% change for the better. The 8th Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup takes place from September 19–26 at Copacabana Beach, Rio, Brazil before the baton is handed to the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup from August 19-29, 2011. Homeless World Cup is supported by UEFA, Vodafone Foundation, Nike, global ambassador Eric Cantona, international footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.

www.homelessworldcup.org


About Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

Founded in 1882, Tottenham Hotspur is the 15th largest football club in the world in terms of turnover. In 1961 Tottenham Hotspur became the first club in the modern era to win the League Championship and FA Cup 'double'. In winning the European Cup-Winners Cup two years later they became the first British club to win a major European trophy. In all, Spurs have achieved two League Championships, won the FA Cup eight times, the League Cup four times, and a major European trophy on three occasions. The most recent success was the 2-1 Carling Cup Final victory against Chelsea in 2008.
Their Barclays Premier League matches are broadcast in to 211 territories worldwide, and more than 166 million people world-wide support Tottenham Hotspur or like to see them do well, including 4 million in India. In the 2010/2011 season Tottenham Hotspur will play Champions League football for the first time in the clubs history.

www.tottenhamhotspur.com