Creative frustration
By Thomas Gravgaard
If you watch football on a regular basis you might have noticed “Against modern football”-banners being displayed among certain sections of the crowd at most clubs in most European leagues.
I am not sure when this message was first conceived but my guess is in 2005 when Red Bull – you know, the energy drink with the red bull on it – purchased financially troubled Austria Salzburg and changed the club's name, colours and everything else to fit the brand. They even tried to erase the history of the old club, but then the Austrian FA put its foot down and told them to keep their honours or start all over. Which was exactly what the disgruntled supporters of the old club eventually did.
Having visited these supporters in Salzburg myself, many of whom had to endure the usual labels of “hooligans” and “troublemakers” until the public realised what was being created, I have nothing but the deepest sympathy for them and their project: the revival of SV Austria Salzburg. These were fans that felt betrayed and left behind. But they used their anger to work, built and create instead of just continuing to show up at Red Bull matches to protest. It is because of this kind of people that football will always belong to the masses and not to the elite.
Modern football, whether fans like or not, does involve big corporate brands. PartoftheGame.tv is just another example of that. But just as there are different ways for a brand to get involved in football, there are different ways for supporters to manifest their feelings.
The people that resurrected SV Austria Salzburg have chosen the best of these ways and they are an example to be followed if necessary. Let’s hope it won’t come to this too often, though.
Watch our feature on Austria Salzburg here on PartoftheGame.tv.
Thomas Gravgaard tg
5/13/2009 12:00:00 AM
Creative frustration
Derby day and I love it!
By Thomas Gravgaard
Growing up as a football fan in Denmark meant looking to other countries for interesting teams and matches. First England, later - with the launch of a second nationwide tv channel in 1988 - the Italian Serie A. But the domestic club football was in a sad state with crowds rarely exceeding 2.000.
Now? For weeeks it has been impossible to track down tickets for the big Copenhagen derby between F.C. København - a club that was only founded four years after TV2 - and Brøndby on Sunday 17th of May. And it has been like this for more than a decade with the football getting better and better along with an atmosphere that is not far from the one we jealously experienced on the screen from Milano, Napoli and London when we were kids.
In the late nineties there was perhaps 20 people in a 2.000 strong crowd who would wear scarves and banners at a club match in Denmark. Take a look at this film and see how it is nowadays. This is why I - being neither a F.C. København nor Brøndby supporter - still look forward to Sunday's clash between the two and my search for a ticket or two will go on. Wish me luck!
Thomas Gravgaard tg
5/16/2009 12:00:00 AM
Derby day and I love it!
The perfect final
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By Thomas Gravgaard
This is it. This night the biggest club match ever will take place when Manchester United and FC Barcelona meet in the Champions League final in Rome. And why is it the biggest? For many reasons: the two teams are probably the best supported worldwide, they have played the best football in the world over the past couple of decades and they are current champions of the two best leagues in the world. Add to this the splendour of the setting, Stadio Olímpico in Rome, and you have a pretty good case if there should be a dispute over the TV remote control tonight at 20.45 CET.
Our way to honour this perfect final here on partofthegame.tv is to invite you to share your 27th of May with us. We are looking for any sort of footage that shows what Planet Earth is up to today. Our reporters in Rome, Barcelona and Manchester will contribute and no matter where you will be today, we hope you will do as well. All the best footage will be edited together in a Champions League final documentary that will reflect how the world responded to its biggest ever club football match. And if you upload your clip(s) you enter the draw for 2 x 2 tickets to a Liverpool Premier League home match against Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester United.
Have a look at our presentation video here. We hope you will find it worth the while taking part. Let’s write history together.
Thomas Gravgaard tg
5/27/2009 12:00:00 AM
The perfect final
A lifetime of football
By Thomas Gravgaard
Today is a special day for us at PartoftheGame.tv and if you love your football you’ll probably find it quite interesting too. Today we launch a new daily series consisting of 26 incredible anecdotes from the world of football.
Now, we all know anecdotes and not all of them are really that interesting, especially not the ones forced upon you by a bar guest on his 15th pint or by that very annoying person next to you in the stadium who apparently has seen it all and knows it all.
What makes these anecdotes we are about to bring you over the next 26 days so special is that they – apart from being true – are being told by a person who actually HAS seen it all. A person who on top of that is probably the best story teller and teacher in the world of football.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Rogan Taylor, a professor from Liverpool University who has spent almost all of his life in football – as a writer, a broadcaster and as a person who loves the game itself almost as much as he loves his Liverpool FC and his big idol Ferenc Puskas.
We have been looking forward to sharing his experiences with you, exclusively on PartoftheGame.tv.
Thomas Gravgaard tg
7/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
A lifetime of football
Gustavo and Rafa are back!
The worst thing about a summer without football has been that Gustavo and Rafa have had nothing to discuss. Now, with the Spanish Primera División already weeks old, they once again have plenty of opportunities to exchange their opinions about each other's favourite clubs: Real Madrid and Barcelona. So we went down to their hometown Huelva in Andalusia and challenged them to watch a match together. While it is claimed that Rafa doesn't have the guts to watch a Real Madrid-match at Gustavo's house - rumours have it that he charges Barcelona-fans an entrance fee - Gustavo did agree to show up for this evenings Barca-match. He ended up getting himself thrown out. Watch it all here as we welcome back to true football supporters who don't use their fists but just foul language to sort (or point) out their differences!
Thomas Gravgaard tg
9/24/2009 12:00:00 AM
Gustavo and Rafa are back!
My FA Cup day
With the new year the top teams of England have entered - and some already left - the world's oldest club competition, The FA Cup. Follow it in our "My FA Cup day"-series.
Thomas Gravgaard tg
1/6/2010 12:00:00 AM
My FA Cup day