New Meadow
New Meadow, also known as The Croud Meadow for sponsorship purposes, is a stadium situated on the southern outskirts of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, between the districts of Meole Brace and Sutton Farm, and close to the A5. It serves the home ground of English football club Shrewsbury Town. It was completed in the summer of 2007, in time for the 2007–08 English football season, and was built to replace Gay Meadow, Shrewsbury Town's home stadium since 1910. Stadium Naming The stadium had no official name during the club's first season at their new home, before being christened the "Prostar Stadium" in a four-year deal with the sports kit manufacturer of the same name in July 2008. The club had initially distanced themselves from the unofficial name of "New Meadow", preferring to sever links with the old Gay Meadow ground, however when the naming deal with Prostar ended two years earlier than scheduled, new sponsors Greenhous gave supporters the opportunity to vote for a new s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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UEFA Elite Stadium
UEFA stadium categories are categories for association football, football stadiums laid out in UEFA's Stadium Infrastructure Regulations. Using these regulations, stadiums are rated as category one, two, three, or four (renamed from elite) in ascending ranking order. These categories replaced the previous method of ranking stadiums on one to five star scale in 2006. UEFA does not publish lists of stadiums fulfilling the criteria for any of the categories defined in the UEFA Stadium Infrastructure Regulations, but all assigned stadium categories are visible in UEFA's TIME platform, which is not open to the general public. General If a retractable roof is present, its use will be directed by consultation between the UEFA delegate and the main assigned referee. Although the minimum stadium capacity for category four is 8,000, only one stadium with a capacity less than 60,000 has been selected to host a UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Euro finals and 30,000 for the UEFA Europa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Powerleague
Powerleague is an operator of small-sided football centres, with 43 sites across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The company is headquartered in Fitzrovia, London. It also manages amateur sports leagues across the UK through its league operations arm, formerly known as Powerplay, which now operates under the Powerleague brand. These leagues span over 350 locations and include football and netball competitions. Powerleague has developed a proprietary artificial playing surface known as POWERPITCH™, and introduced an updated version, POWERPITCHPLUS™, in 2023. Origins In 1987, Keith Rogers opened what is considered the world’s first commercial 5-a-side football centre in Paisley, under the brand name Pitz. Rogers expanded the business to 11 centres before it was acquired by private equity firm 3i, which subsequently rebranded the operation as Powerleague. Recent history In 2002, after a period of decline, 3i invited Claude Littner, then Chief Execut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Football League Two
The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL) and fourth-highest tier overall in the English football league system, after the Premier League, EFL Championship and the EFL League One and is contested by 24 clubs. Introduced for the 2004–05 English football season as Football League Two, it is a rebrand of the former Football League Third Division. As of the 2025-26 season, Newport County hold the longest tenure in this division following their promotion in the 2012–13 season. There are currently two former Premier League clubs competing in this division: Oldham Athletic (1992-94) and Swindon Town (1993–94). The current holders are Doncaster Rovers. Structure There are 24 clubs in this division. Each club plays each of the other clubs twice (once at home and once away) ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Darran Kempson
Darran Kempson (born 6 December 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender from 2003 to 2014. He played for Preston North End, Accrington Stanley, Morecambe, Crewe Alexandra, Bury, Shrewsbury Town, Wrexham, Forest Green Rovers, Grimsby Town and Alfreton Town. Personal life Kempson attended Manor Beach Primary School and Millfield High School in Thornton Cleveleys area, Blackpool. after leaving school he was given the chance as a trainee with Preston North End. Career Preston North End The central defender started his career at Preston North End as a trainee, but didn't play a game for ''The Lilywhites''. He was given a loan spell at Accrington Stanley from February 2004, making his début in Accrington's 3–2 defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge. Kempson went on to play a further 10 appearances for Accrington, scoring one goal, which was in the 3–1 defeat to Margate. Kempson got a second loan spell away from Deepdale at the end of December 200 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Football League Championship
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the English football league system, sitting below the Premier League. Introduced for the 2004–05 in English football, 2004–05 season as the Football League Championship, the division is a rebrand of the former Football League First Division. The winning football team, club of this division each season receives the EFL Championship trophy, which was the previous trophy awarded to list of English football champions, the winners of the English top-flight prior to the launch of the Premier League. As with other divisions of professional English football, Welsh clubs can be part of this division, thus making it a cross-border league. Each season, t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Colchester United F
Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colchester therefore claims to be Britain's first city. It has been an important military base since the Roman era, with Colchester Garrison currently housing the 16th Air Assault Brigade. On the River Colne, Colchester is northeast of London. It is connected to London by the A12 road and the Great Eastern Main Line railway. Colchester is less than from London Stansted Airport and from the port of Harwich. Attractions in and around the city include St Botolph's Priory, Colchester Zoo, and several art galleries. Colchester Castle was constructed in the eleventh century on earlier Roman foundations; it now contains a museum. The main campus of the University of Essex is locate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Hibbert
David John Hibbert (born 28 January 1986) is an English former footballer who played as a forward; he is now working as a coach at Stoke City. Starting his professional career with Port Vale in 2004, the following year he was signed controversially by Preston North End – who eventually paid Vale £45,000 for his services. Following loans out to Rotherham United and Bradford City, he transferred to Shrewsbury Town in 2007 for £75,000. He managed to become a key first-team player for the "Shrews" before leaving them for Peterborough United in 2010. After picking up a serious injury in November 2010, he did not play a competitive game and announced his retirement from football in April 2013. He returned to the game with Nuneaton Town in October 2013 on a part-time basis before moving on to Tamworth in June 2014. He joined AFC Telford United in June 2015 before retiring at the end of the 2016–17 season. Playing career Port Vale Born in Eccleshall, Staffordshire, Hibbert star ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ron Atkinson
Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939) is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nicknamed "The Tank" during his playing career, he represented Oxford United for twelve years, and still holds the club record for appearances. As a manager, he won the FA Cup with Manchester United in 1983 and 1985 and the Football League Cup with Sheffield Wednesday in 1991 and Aston Villa in 1994. Early life and playing career Atkinson was born in Liverpool in the Old Swan area of the city with his brother Graham Atkinson who was also a professional footballer. After a few years his family moved to Shard End (then in Warwickshire, now an area of Birmingham). He attended Lea Village Secondary School. After beginning his career as a ground staff boy at Wolverhampton Wanderers, he was signed by Aston Villa from works team BSA Tools at the age of 17, but never ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football executive, Manager (association football), manager, and former Association football, footballer who played predominantly as a Forward (association football), forward. He is currently vice-president of the ''Lega Pro'', the Italian Serie C football league. He spent the first decade of his playing career in Italy, most notably with S.S.C. Napoli, Napoli alongside Diego Maradona and Careca where he won the 1989–90 Serie A title, and at Parma Calcio 1913, Parma where he won the Supercoppa Italiana, Italian Super Cup and the 1994–95 UEFA Cup. He later moved to English side Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, where he was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year, Football Writers' Player of the Year in the 1996–97 in English football, 1996–97 season. During his time at the club, he won the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, two FA Cups, the EFL Cup, League Cup, and the FA Community Shield, Community Shield. In 2003 h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "without standard financial intermediaries". Mollick, E. (2014). ''The dynamics of crowdfunding: An exploratory study.'' Journal of Business Venturing. Vol. 29, pp. 1–16. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crowdfunding. Although similar concepts can also be executed through mail-order subscriptions, benefit events, and other methods, the term crowdfunding refers to internet-mediated registries. This modern crowdfunding model is generally based on three types of actors – the project initiator who proposes the idea or project to be funded, individuals or groups who support the idea, and a moderating organization (the "platform") that brings the parties together to launch the idea. The term crowdfunding was coined in 2006 by entrepreneur an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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English Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the world, and was the top-level football league in England from its foundation until 1992, when the top 22 clubs split from it to form the Premier League. The Football League was rebranded as the "English Football League" (EFL) starting with the 2016–17 season. The EFL is divided into the EFL Championship, Championship, EFL League One, League One and EFL League Two, League Two, with 24 clubs in each division, 72 in total, with promotion and relegation between them; the top Championship division clubs change places with the lowest-placed clubs in the Premier League, and the bottom clubs of League Two with the top clubs of the National League (division), National League. Currently four of the EFL clubs are from Wales – Cardiff City F.C., Car ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Safe Standing
Safe standing is a measure of design in stadia to ensure that spectators are able to stand safely during events. It is important in the context of football in the United Kingdom, association football in the United Kingdom, where a series of fatal incidents led to legislation requiring major clubs to develop all-seater stadiums during the 1990s. Since then, fan groups have campaigned against the ban on standing accommodation, arguing that new design options would allow designated standing areas to be built in compliance with all safety laws and guidelines. As these options are outlawed in England and Wales, safe standing in practice originated in continental Europe, primarily Germany. This occurred because although UEFA and FIFA required all-seater stadiums for international competition, it was not mandatory for domestic matches. Background Traditionally most football grounds in the United Kingdom had Terrace (stadium), terraces at each end and often on lower tiers along each sid ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |