Rovers Rock - And Thats No Sham!

There were some eye-catching performances last week in the Europa Cup.

It was a dark day for Scottish Football, with both Celtic and Rangers failing to make the Europa League – and of course Hearts fate was sealed last week with their capitulation to Spurs.

Contrast this with the form of Shamrock Rovers.

The Dubliners upset Serbian Champions Partisan Belgrade last night and my, how they have been rewarded!

Spurs will be taking the Ryanair flight to Dublin at some point before December (and a word of advice…I hope they have strong walking shoes for the work from the tarmac to the car park because it is miles!) and the 10,000 capacity Tallaght Stadium is sure to be packed to the rafters for the game.

In many ways, the Rovers story, is if you will pardon the expression, real Roy of The Rovers stuff. The club has had a rather chequered and nomadic history, particularly in recent times, and now isn’t the time to recount it – however if you want to read more then Barry Glendenning wrote a brilliant piece on the Guardian Blog.

And in their rise to the top Shamrock proved all that’s great about sport still holds.

There can be upsets, their can be passion, people can be brought together – all to watch the great game of football or Soccer or whatever you want to call it.

Soccer Business is proud to say that we have a lot of Franchisees in Ireland, indeed one of them is a very, very keen Shamrock supporter. So he deserves to enjoy last night more than most.

It also proves just what is great about soccer, and just why that everyone loves it so much.

Truly there has never been a better time to make Soccer your Business. Contact Soccer Business today

The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Astroturf

Tomorrow night Stoke City play their first ever second round game in European Competition.

Prior to this season The Potters had played in two European ties and lost on away goals both times.

This season they have seen off Croatia’s Hadjuk Split over two legs in the Europa Cup to set up a trip to FC Thun in Switzerland.

Now, I am going to the match. But the reason for writing this blog isn’t to tell you about the fact the coach leaves Stoke’s ground at 6pm tonight and will take me 17 hours to get there its rather to talk about what it can tell us about running leagues on the basis that we try and help you do here at Soccer Business.

We do not currently have a franchisee in Switzerland (if you do want to run leagues in that country get in touch because we could help you do that) but the pitch at the Arena Thun is Astroturf.

I didn’t know this until yesterday, when I was trying my best to find out all the info I could on the game (last night, obviously, on my laptop at home – in case my boss is reading this!) and that is the crux of the matter.

It can teach you a very valuable lesson with regard to the advantage of being a franchisee.

If you are running leagues in the area, you will be absolutely in the best position possible to take advantage of any local knowledge and developments.

So if there’s a rival league, if there’s a new pitch, if there’s anything that happens anywhere near you that could either affect of benefit your league then you will need to be all over it. And more to the point, you should be.

And that in a nutshell is why we formed Soccer Business. We believe that you, as a franchisee, with the backing of the major brand we can give you, will be able far better able to run local leagues than anyone else.

So if you want to make Soccer your business, then give us a call and we can help you.

Now, where’s my passport….?

The "Wimbledon Effect"

It won’t have escaped anyone’s notice – unless you have been totally fixated on the weeks shocking and terrible events – that the Football League season started last week.

And tomorrow (or Sunday if you are like my team) the Premier League joins in.

You might think this has very little bearing on your local community 5 and 6 a side league, the players, after all are a long way away from the standards of your Rooney’s, your Drogba’s (or in my case Jon Walters or Robert Huth) but it is nonetheless a potentially vital time for you as a franchisee.

At Soccer Business, we like to call it the “Wimbledon Effect.” This isn’t because we like tennis (in fact I would distrust anyone that did….) but think of what happens at Wimbledon fortnight time.

Simply put:  British people (sorry Lawn Tennis Association but this is true) don’t like tennis generally, but come Wimbledon fortnight and its straight on with the shorts and out with a racquet.

I go and watch cricket in the summer and next to one of the grounds we go to regularly is a tennis court. I am sure the people who run the facility make a good living, but during the last week in June and first week in July and the place is packed.

And, this remember, is tennis. A sport, which, with the best will in the world is a minority interest. You are running football leagues. People like football, people are passionate about football, and you are helping give it to them.

So if you aren’t out doing all plenty of promotion right now then you need to ask yourself why not.

So get out there this weekend, best of luck to your team in their first (or second if you are in the championship) but more importantly be ready to ride the wave of increased interest in football.

New balls please.

Soccer Business – Helping Make Soccer Your Business