Living and breathing football can be a difficult existence at times. Justifying the pursuit of a pastime that much of the general public see as an over-hyped exercise in paying morons unimaginable wages can be tough. But Kingsmeadow, a new film which had its first festival screening in London this month, hopes to redress the balance. Alex Lawson caught up with its director Adam Tyler.

“Football in the current era has a very mixed reputation in this country. For something of such great social worth to the UK, it gets very bad press – for financial excess, tabloid scandal and alleged corruption – but only at the very, very top of the game,” says Adam Tyler, director of new short film Kingsmeadow, the latest production by Scratchmark Films.

The 25-minute piece focuses on non-league Kingstonian FC – plying their trade at the Kingsmeadow ground in the Ryman Isthmian Premier Division – and looks to debunk the idea that football is a game dominated by ego rather than real personality. As such, we get a charming insight into manager Alan Dowson’s working and personal life. From greeting staff at the slightly naff club bar and pep talks with the players to shouting on the sidelines and breakfast with his son.

“The tabloids write about the celebrity of the top clubs and constantly hunt for scandal – and that very small, unrepresentative focus creates a terrible impression of football among those who don’t actually follow it. Last year, when I decided to make the film, was particularly bad in this respect,” said Tyler

“What the general public don’t see – what the press don’t write about – are the tens of thousands of tiny semi-professional and amateur football clubs across the UK, that provide shared purpose and pleasure to hundreds of thousands of people across the country, many of whom hold it as the most important element in their life.”

Tyler’s anguish is palpable. “Quiet, steady good news like this is never reported – even normally in documentaries – so we made Kingsmeadow as a celebration of the small, simple good things about the game and the world around it across the UK, to try to put the public perception right.”

And it feels like a celebration, dipping in and out of stylish black and white there’s a noticeable positivity to a subject that’s far from glamorous. Non-league football can be really tough; full of people dreaming of more or resigned to less, the constraints offered by a lack of investment or TV money (see the fallout of the Setanta debacle) and often outdated or less than ideal grounds it’s not for the faint hearted.

But, as Tyler describes the “warmth and humanity” of the people offering endless cups of tea at non-league clubs across the country in the filming process you see the rewards.

Kingstonian FC prepare for another big game

The film itself follows Kingstonian in a match against Ashford Town Middlesex but is used to represent non-league as a whole. It largely takes on the form of a portrayal of manager Alan Dowson and uses the minutae of his life – making the tea, walking to games– to illustrate its point.

“I hope that the film will touch the heart of every football fan, and reveal to the general public a wonderful, warm, vital world of quiet heroes at the heart of British society, that they never realised existed,” Tyler concludes. And with a couple of decent listings and some publicity, who’s to say it can’t?

KINGSMEADOW will be released on DVD in the new year. For more information email hello@scratchmarkfilms.com or visit www.kingsmeadowfilm.com.

Lion heart: Haye sporting the new kit before his heavyweight defeat

When David Haye walked to the ring against Wladimir Klitchsko on Saturday night he was sporting England’s brand new navy blue Away kit.

The kit’s appearance was at the height of the hype and expectation for English triumph, only for the fans to be let down with failure in Haye’s defeat. In that respect it was quite fitting for the football team’s shirt to be revealed in this way , especially as Haye was backed by Fabio Capello.

Any hidden meanings aside, the shirt is actually quite nice, though as a casual top rather than a playing jersey. In plain navy blue with the Umbro badge on one side and the iconic Three Lions with sadly only one star above it, it is simplistic but stylish. The lighter shade of blue for the collar gives the shirt an added-quirk but keeps the polo shirt feel – bound to appeal to most fans.

It reminds me of the style of the white kit of the 2010 World Cup, which I wish was around when I was at school as I would have got away with wearing it as uniform. The new blue shirt passes as a polo shirt and may even pass the ‘no football kits’ test with some nightclub bouncers.

Blue is a rare colour in England kit history, this is only the 11th time England have opted for it, compared to 41 red versions, although even a ‘reversible’ number was released when Umbro couldn’t make up its mind. Last time England wore anything like a blue shirt was when Gareth Southgate missed that penalty in Euro 96.

The shirt’s stylistic image wins on points against some previous designs but does it strays too far from a traditional football strip?

Bolton Wanderers will be hoping to have a hot streak when the next Premier League season kicks off in August and they have reflected that in their design for the away strip for the new campaign.

Owen Coyle’s men will be taking to the field across the country in a new black number that has a yellow streak across the shoulder – with a yellow club crest to match.

Sponsors 188 Bet will be pleased that they remain the main focus on the shirt, but instead of a matching yellow, their logo is in white.

It follows in a similar design to the new home kit, with Reebok having a similar pattern across the shirts’ left shoulder.

Reebok have completely abandoned the look from last year, which was a royal blue shirt with thin orange piping and the manufacturer’s logo on both shoulders. They will hope it will encourage fans to shell out another £45 as they hope the players will light up the pitch the same way the yellow lights up the kit.

Although the fixture list is yet to be released, Bolton will most likely wear this shirt on away days to the likes of Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and newly promoted Swansea City.

The yellow streak certainly stands out and puts a twist on any traditional design – what do you Bolton fans think?

So it’s little wonder that the man behind the masterminding of Liverpool’s triumphs in the 1970s and 80s has stayed relatively under the radar. Before his death in 2004, Geoff Twentyman was known as a legend in the red half of Merseyside but by few outside the footballing community. A staunchly workmanlike figure, Twentyman became Bill Shankly’s chief scout having worked with the Liverpool idol at Carlisle United and played for the Reds a handful of times before heading to Ireland to begin a short-lived management career.

In truth, the life of a scout is not a glamorous one. When author Simon Hughes talks of former Liverpool assistant Phil ‘that nose’ Thompson’s freezing cold trips to Zagreb to watch low-profile games in non-atmospheres there’s little sense of envy from even the most ardent footy nuts. Add to this Twentyman’s dedication to hunting out youngsters via midweek afternoon reserve games across the north of England and you realise the extent of his passion to create an unbeatable side.

Twentyman, here eulogised by Hughes who admits to never having met the former scout, played a significant part in creating the side of 1980s which became indominatable. The book opens with a piece from Alan Hansen describing his first encounters with Twentyman and being brought into Bob Paisley’s side for an almost unimaginable fee of £100,000 for a lad from Partick Thistle.

Other notable signings are almost too multitudinous to list but include the likes of Kevin Keegan, Ian Rush, Graeme Souness and Bruce Grobbelaar – if there’s one thing we can be certain of, it’s that Twentyman had an eye for a snazzy ‘tache. Another is that he had an arguably wise scouting policy, signing up just three players from south of the Watford Gap in his reign. He was convinced they would never settle on Merseyside, an interesting viewpoint given the parable between that and South American stars unable to settle in Europe.

Although it’s clear that Hughes has never met Twentyman and the book often lacks a little colour that only a personal touch can add, there’s plenty here to enjoy. The passion of the Anfield fans, and the resulting pressure on player procurement is an interesting facet of Twentyman’s reign, as is the continuity between ever-successful bosses.

Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout provides an in-depth, insightful look at the seemingly inseperable link between man and club, and unearths some witty anecdotes along the way. It’s clear Twentyman had an eagle eye, even if he did say Trevor Francis was “worth nothing”.

Buy your copy at the Merseyshop.com for only £8.99 with Free Delivery: Geoff Twentyman: Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout

Window pain. The panels on the shirt leave a lot to be desired

Kit manufacturers Adidas had a window of opportunity when designing the new Chelsea away strip but it does not look like they cracked it with the design for the 2011/12 jersey.

The Blues have never been one for snazzy away strips, I once owned the famous orange and grey of the mid-90s (with Stein on the back), but now a little older and wiser I certainly will not be buying the new black top with turquoise panels that remind me of an advertisement for a certain computer software company.

The kit, which is available to pre-order now ahead of its official launch next month, has these odd turquoise squares on the chest area in front of a black background, with turquoise trim also on the shorts.

There is also the usual talk that the v-neck shirt contains technology to keep the players cool and maximise fitness, while the socks are also playing their part with an Achilles protector.

While the turquoise on black is a striking colour scheme the squares just look, well, odd and you are left scratching your head at why they are there.

There have been worse Chelsea kits in recent years, such as the high visibility number in 2007, where people could not distinguish between fans and stewards in the crowd, but after a couple of years of calm and traditional designs, Adidas have gone all out again but it just does not work for me.

What do you think?

Real Madrid fans are hoping that their club will soon be returning to their golden era and this idea was certainly in the mind of kit makers Adidas given the design of their strip for next season.

While Jose Mourinho’s team will be playing for silverware, the fans will be in gold with shiny golden trim the big change to the famous white shirt from last year.

The new design features a golden Adidas logo as well as their three stripes, and golden trim on the collar of the new polo-style shirt, different to last year’s v-neck design.

Away from home, Real will be playing in a black kit, again with gold trim. Last season they adopted a similar look away in La Liga but wore purple shirts in the Champions League. The new away design does not have a collar like the smart home shirt, but a more common round neck.

The home shirt is impressively smart and fans will enjoy the polo shirt style. The gold is a classy touch without verging on tacky. Meanwhile, the away kit is a little unimaginative for Adidas, and owners of last year’s shirt may not bother shedding out again next season.

No third kit has been released yet for next season’s campaign.

Win a limited edition Texaco Championship Baby Pack!

The football season may be over if you are not involved with the Play Offs. But we’ve got a great competition for any fans expecting or who have recently had a baby.

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As such, the unveiling of AC Milan’s new kit for next season will have sent bloggers worldwide into ecstasy with Rossoneri stars Clarence Seedorf, Mark Van Bommel and Luca Antonini fronting the event.

For the 2011/12 jersey, adidas has decided to combine its most innovative technology with a design reminiscent of the Rossoneri strips of the early twentieth century. The launch, too, was structured along the same lines – journalists from the traditional media and bloggers gathered at adidas Italy’s Brand Center in Monza but Milan fans from across Italy and the world were also able to attend the unveiling of the new strip and to ask the guests in attendance questions by means of live streaming at adidas.com.

The strip will be worn for the first time on 15 May for the penultimate game of the Serie A season against Cagliari.

As for the shirt itself, the Italian giants are reverting to the thinner 2cm-wide stripes compared to the 9cm-wide ones of last year, there are 21 stripes in total, 11 of which are black and 10 red.

The white crew neck stands out with three stripes on the sleeves, which are white for the first time, on a red inset. The back of the collar bears the words “Associazione Calcio Milan” underneath the Italian flag to highlight the fact that Milan is one of the best-known symbols of Italy around the world.

Reference to the colours of the Italian flag can be found on the insets at the sides on the front of the shirt as well as on the shorts and socks.

In addition, players are likely to be spotted wearing either a figure-hugging single layer PowerWEB shirt or the traditional Techfit outfit. Expect some dithering in the changing rooms.

The new shirt marks a 13-year partnership between adidas and AC Milan, recently renewed up until 2017.

If there’s one thing that’s frustrating as a fan of one of the teams outside the top 20 of the 92 English league clubs, it’s the over emphasis on Premier League tie-ins. A huge disparity in television and radio coverage, branded carrier bags and appearances on every football game, the “greatest league in the world” has everything, while lower league teams get little more than the proverbial branded sausage worth of attention.

So it’s nice to see games like PlayForYourClub, from games company Mousebreaker, allow pure equality for those who want to (digitally) pull on their team’s colours rather than managing Stoke to a 9^th placed finish and all the minimal satisfaction that gives.

The game itself is refreshingly simple, it’s all about volleying. Players are encouraged to play the ‘Paul Scholes v Bradford’ role and hit a sweet volley from just outside the box, catapulting their team up the league in the process. Using either keys or the mouse, simply manoeuvre the player into position, take aim and then hit a sweet strike into the top corner. Either that, or entirely miss it and see the hunched defender in front of you, who looks like a cartoonised Nigel Winterburn mock you saying ‘That was rubbish”.

The depth of detail is impressive for an online game, with the Belgian, French, Danish, US and even Australian A leagues covered in the competition. The idea is that the website will snowball, with players forwarding the game to more fans of their own club and thus adding to their points total. Of course, this is likely to mean in the top leagues the teams with more fans may champion but lower down the leagues it works well in a truly unilateral way. It won’t provide hours of entertainment, but worth pulling on that virtual shirt and racking up some points for your team every other coffee break.

Check it out at: http://classic.playforyourclub.com or the updated version at http://www.playforyourclub.com

Superman, Batman, Spiderman, what have they all been crying out for? Yep, it’s an official kit sponsor. Imagine if Spiderman had the backing of, say, Umbro to deal with the unsightly creases around the crotch of his lycra all-in-one or if Reebok were to pull its finger out and redesign Batman’s helmet to allow people to see his eyes a little better. Well now we have our latest superhero – it’s Superfly.

The invention of those nifty people over at Nike, Superfly’s special powers mainly centre around being able to kick a football for he is a boot. The third in a series in fact, with the release of the Nike Mercurial Vapour Superfly III. Featuring the iconic swoosh hugging the edge of the foot and around on to the toe, the new boot extends the Mercurial line’s tendency towards the bright and flashy – expect to see them in purple worn by Superflys Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Theo Walcott and many more of its superstar top-level users. And Clint Dempsey.

The boot itself is not much of an upgrade on its predecessor with a trim here and there the main differences. The campaign behind the product’s launch focuses on speed with the ‘Be Fast, Be Seen’ tagline linked in with a Facebook group asking fans to vote who their ‘King of Speed’ or Superfly will be.

Nike poses the question on its website: “Superfly is a select breed of player. The hunters and showmen. The innovators and illusionists. Each one with the skills to decide any match. Is it all about the speed demons or the visionaries? Self-belief or genius? What defines a Superfly player?”

Visually the boot is impressive and its accompanying bag, complete with netted sides to show off the Jimmy Chews, is rather snazzy. The neatly-designed studs allow an excellent amount of control at speed and, after being broken in, its comfort levels are very good.

At prices ranging between £250 and £290 it’s more than that birthday cheque from your Nan might stretch to, but if you’re playing to a decent standard and fancy intimidating a shaky looking left back then they may well be worth the investment.

No, this isn’t heading for a ‘Dad’ joke but the experiences these three legendary characters had with Manchester United’s brightest ever star (see recent accolades for Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs for questions marks over this). Many people say The Beatles were just a pop band – and sure they are, with a massively over-lauded reputation to boot – but seen in context the progression they allowed was astonishing. The progress of George Best from footballer to celebrity superstar, while perhaps less admirable in his approach and the ramifications for future generations, was nonetheless comparable.

This re-released book offers an excellent insight into the period. John Roberts, a reporter for the Express, was tasked with ghosting a weekly column for the errant Best, giving unprecedented and unimaginable access by today’s new standard (anyone who has read cricketer Alistair Cook’s intermittent columns for freesheet Metro will see the dull platitudes trotted out can only belong to a process of rushed phone interview padded out).

The original limited edition book, George Best: Fall of a Superstar, was published by Derek Hodgson in 1973 and sold in the United club shop. As it was published, Best had returned from exile in Marbella and reiterated his desire to continue his career at the club, prompting many critics to ironically suggest the original book was ‘out of touch’ in painting its portrait of a fallen star.

But seen now with the retrospect of the tragic future that lay before the fleet-footed winger gives the book a new perspective. The insights into Best’s home life, those he trusted and his ever upbeat mannerisms are invaluable. As a portrait of the legendary footballer between 1971 and 1973 (the book has been released to mark the 50^th anniversary of Best’s arrival at United) there are perhaps gaps. Life is, as we often hear, a series of moments and Sod this… often feels just that, a little disjointed and without propulsion. But on a simple level there’s plenty to enjoy, be it Best celebrating his 26^th birthday with a big cake and a bunch of hacks or stark images of him necking a bottle of spirits a day, those with even a passing interest should take a look.

Throughout the book, Roberts recalls incidents first hand and offers exclusive insight into Best’s movements during the short period, with what appears to be unrivalled reportage largely because the group of journalists who followed Best to Spain were too merry on sangria to remember to file much copy.

Undoubtedly Best let a lot of people down, not least the Northern Irish who so desired a footballing figurehead, making them run about after him in the process. But the incisive viewpoint of the man who admits he was often mistaken for “(a) [Best’s] undersized cut price bodyguard (b) his agent (c) relative of friend” gives a different, occasionally mellow image of the often mysterious man.

Pick up your copy of Sod this, I’m off to Marbella at Zutopia.co.uk for only £5.00

Thankfully those ever so nice people over at adidas have let us have a sneak preview ahead of the unveiling in May.

At an event held at Wembley, featuring Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou, Spurs’ Steven Pienaar and Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri and hosted by Mark Chapman, the ball was launched two months before it is set to return for the final on 28 May.

For what it’s worth, the uniquely designed adidas Finale London ball in red and white to reflect the Saint George Cross with two lions holding up the famous UEFA Champions League Trophy cuts a great image.

One hundred and fifty of the specially designed star balls was also be given away when Jermaine Defoe visited a local school in a branded bin lorry, not a deliberate reflection on Defoe’s recent form we suspect.

The launch event turned out some great quotes. Salomon Kalou gushed: “Playing at Wembley is a special moment for any English team and I hope we will be one of them in the final so it is a nice ball and having a special ball for the Champions league final is always great,” conveniently forgetting how decidedly unspecial his missed sitter in the 2010 FA Cup final against Portsmouth was.

“We have two lions almost fighting for the cup so it shows how important the competition is, so I think both teams, what ever team they are, will be two great teams fighting for a great competition the Champions League,” Kalou added.

One thing’s for sure, Chelsea will have to convert chances such as those which presented themselves in the 0-0 draw with FC Copenhagen on Wednesday if they want to power the much heralded ball into the Wembley nets on 28 May.

The adidas Finale London unveiled this week as the official match day ball for this year's Champions League Final at Wembley