Premier League
SWANSEA CITY CHARGED £478 FOR MASCOT APPEARANCE
Former English Premiership side, Swansea City on New Year Day received a flack from pundits following the revelation that the club charges ‘outrageous’ fee from willing parents that wanted their children to be mascots on match day.
It costs up to £478 for a match-day mascot “package” at the Championship club, research by BBC Wales found.
Only three teams in the Premier League charge more, while the experience is free at most of the top clubs. Cardiff City charge £255.
Swansea City said prices were reduced this year following relegation.
Consumer groups have branded the higher prices as “outrageous”.
For many youngsters, the chance to walk out onto the pitch with their football heroes is a dream come true.
Indeed many clubs tell parents the package is the “ultimate gift your child will never forget”.
Yet while many of the biggest clubs in the country, including Premier League champions Manchester City, do not charge for the opportunity, others are cashing in more than £700 per child.
Most packages include full kit, match tickets, photographs and autographs as well as walking onto the pitch before kick-off.
But a £270 deal at Fulham does not include kit while a £185 package at Bournemouth does not come with a ticket to the game.
Martyn James, of consumer website Resolver, said: “It’s absolutely outrageous that some richer kids can effectively buy their way to the top of the mascot list.
“When I was younger, being a mascot was a reward for super loyalty or for having been through a great deal.
“Charging any money for these packages is unacceptable – and it’s pretty unknown too.
“It makes a mockery of all the things that our national game is supposed to represent.”
Supporters on fan forums have slammed the prices as “unfair” and “scandalous”.
Swansea City said the “truly once in a lifetime experience” includes four hospitality places, a meal and half-time penalty competition on the pitch.
A spokesman added: “We’ve reduced prices this year following relegation, from £450 plus VAT to £399 plus VAT for weekend, and £349 plus VAT for weekday matches.
“We also give one space free to charity every match and this was brought in this season.”
Mascots at the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United are picked at random from their junior fan club and are free.
Cardiff City offer the chance for children aged between four and 10 to turn “dream into reality” for £255 and have sold out for many of their most popular home fixtures.
Claire Blake, of Penarth, arranged for her eight-year-old son Cian to be a mascot before the Bluebirds’ game against champions Manchester City as a birthday gift in September.
“We were lucky to get such a big game but I’m not sure we would be happy paying the same amount for games against other teams,” she said.
“Cian got a kit, signed photos and met Neil Warnock and had a great time, but the seats were poor and it was a bit rushed meeting the players.”
Season-ticket holder Tracy Morgan paid for her eight-year-old son Leo to be a mascot.
She said: “It was very expensive but it was worth every penny to see my son’s face – and my husband’s.”
Ryan Moore bought a mascot package as a Christmas gift for his six-year-old son Niall.
He said: “It’s free for some big clubs like Liverpool but a money-making scheme at others and there are so many mascots that it dilutes the experience.
“But we were pretty happy with the whole day. Niall loved it – apart from the team being hammered 4-1.”
EPL MASCOT PRICES
West Ham United £700
Leicester City £600
Tottenham Hotspur £405
Wolves £395
Crystal Palace £375
Brighton £350
Burnley £300
Fulham £270
Cardiff City £255
Watford £250
Bournemouth £185 Free: Arsenal, Everton, Chelsea, Huddersfield, Liverpool, Man City, Man United, Newcastle United and Southampton
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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