The Kick Project

Pic: pearsonblog The BBC have released the results of a study into just how much it costs to be a fan of a major football team these days. The headline figures are telling and say a lot about modern football's shift away from its grass-roots, street level base. It emerges that the average cost of the cheapest seat in the EPL now sits at 30 Pounds. Note this is for the cheapest seats. While few seats in today's super stadiums are like the old nose bleeds - behind a wall and facing at an angle - these spots are well away from the field. The minimum wage in Britain in 2015 is 6.70 Pounds/hour. So that means, the man/woman on the street working in the lowest formal jobs in the country (and we all know lower rates are paid in the informal or underground economy) would need to work for almost 5 hours to watch a 90 minute game of football. Chelsea FC is owned by a Russian whom some consider a modern day Robber Baron - in Russia at least - with an estimated net worth of o...

Check out this article on football/soccer songs and the power of the game as a community healer, written for the Daily Review by The Kick Project founder James Rose. The Liverpool FC Australian tour starts in Brisbane ( v Brisbane Roar) this Friday and continues on to Adelaide ( v Adelaide United) "Sometime Friday evening, Brisbane's CBD will be roused with the old Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, from the hit post-war musical Carousel, “You'll Never Walk Alone.” It's not showing at QPAC and it isn't one of those quirky Brisbane cultural events: The World Festival of You'll Never Walk Alone Singers...). It will be sung unlike it was it the original show, Carousel , and more like it was in the reprised pop version, circa 1963, as sung by Gerry and The Pacemakers – as in “you'll neeeeeeeeva walk alooooooooooooone...” Add a Liverpudlian accent and you'll have it... [ read more ]

It's not really our thing to show open support for any specific club, but we here at KP have a real soft spot for FC Barcelona. As a football business they tend to run counter to the prevailing model for big clubs and emphasise community, fair play and youth development in their culture, often over profits and economic bottom lines. The European Championship final was in some ways, therefore, a contest between the big business and limited ownership approach of Man Utd and Barca's more integrated, community-based and socially conscious model. I know which one I prefer. So, big congrats to all at Barca for a fine achievement, managed in the best spirit of the game and in the interests of football fans the world over. Perhaps they will inspire other big teams to adopt their joyful and soulful approach to the beautiful game.