Those who would rather live in a football stadium than a house are in for a treat: for the same price as a decent-sized detached property, you could get your hands Stonebridge Road, the home of Ebbsfleet Utd.
The Football Conference ground has been put on the market for an incredibly low guide price of £380,000-£420,000 - perhaps a reflection of the dire financial straits the club find themselves in. Since the novelty of MyFootballClub ownership wore off and few casual fans fancied renewing their investment, the Kentish side have jettisoned players and put their home on the market.
The 5,000 capacity Stadium - where Jimmy Bullard learned his trade while the club were still known as Gravesend & Northfleet - isn’t in the most glamorous locations (to call it ‘drab and industrial’ is an understatement), but the new owners will receive Ebbsfleet’s £5,400 annual tenancy, and £2,900 in advertising tenancies.
Investment update: The dream of owning your own stadium may now to over. It looks like Gravesham Council have stepped in with a £400,000 bid.
Even more transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Karim Benzema to Manchester United
The French striker’s agent Karim Djaziri revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson wants to sign his client this summer. Just last week, Djaziri was quoted as saying that Benzema was happy to stay with the Ligue 1 club for another year.
The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Djaziri doesn’t expect Lyon to demand more than 40 million euros but the French side are in a great bargaining position as they know that the Red Devils have plenty to spend and need a striker.
Michael Owen to Hull
Phil Brown has confirmed that he was deadly serious about trying to sign Owen after his Newcastle contract expires next week. He said: “Hopefully Michael
The two bosses have now shown a similar taste in enemies
Those who have noted similarities between Alan Pardew and Phil Brown were provided with even more ammunition last night when the Hull boss followed in Pardew’s footsteps by falling out with Arsene Wenger.
Obvious comparisons between the two include that both enjoyed an initial period of fantastic overachievement after winning promotion to the Premier League and went on strong FA Cup runs. Both managers made their clubs’ record signing in their first January in the top-flight (Dean Ashton and Jimmy Bullard) and both men suffered long-term injuries at a crucial time.
Negatively, both managers have received criticism for some of their methods: Pardew for his sloganed T-shirts and training complex revamps and Brown for
Wigan staff try to help one another win Fabio Capello over
Fabio Capello has named a number of unlikely candidates in his England squads over the last twelve months: Joe Lewis, Michael Mancienne, Jimmy Bullard and Carlton Cole to name a few. However, Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland has pushed the boundaries even further by tipping Titus Bramble for a call-up.
The Wigan defender, famed for screw-ups like the ones in the video above, has had a good season but surely still has some way to go before he can justify the label “international standard”, especially considering many other English centre-backs like Phil Jagielka, Matthew Upson and Gary Cahill have impressed this year.
However, talking up one another’s England prospects appears to be in vogue right now at the JJB, as Steve Bruce, who was famously never capped, has put in a good word for Kirkland, labelling him “the best goalkeeper in England”. All that remains now is for Bramble to point out that Bruce should be the next England manager and a perfect triangle will be complete.