Latest news with #WalsallFC
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Walsall midfielder McEntee joins Hearts
Walsall defensive midfielder Oisin McEntee has agreed to join Scottish Premiership side Hearts on a three-year of Ireland under-21 international McEntee, 24, has made 79 appearances for the Saddlers across three seasons since joining from Newcastle United in was part of a Walsall side that led League Two for much of the past season but dropped off in the run-in and ended up losing the play-off final to AFC who played in the Scottish Championship with Morton in 2021-22 during a loan spell from Newcastle, will join the Jam Tarts on a free transfer when his Walsall deal expires this summer."It became clear in our conversations Oisin is hungry, he wants to learn and improve, and be part of what we're trying to do here at Hearts," said boss Derek McInnes."He's played in defence and midfield, so to have options around his positioning is a big plus. Oisin's gained a lot of experience down south and he has knowledge of Scottish football too, which is a bonus." Saddlers release four, in talks with nine McEntee is among a number of out-of-contract players at Walsall, with the club in talks with nine others to extend their stays after the disappointing end to their Saddlers are in discussions with goalkeeper Sam Hornby, defenders Liam Gordon, Harry Williams and Priestley Farquharson, midfielders Ryan Stirk and Ronan Maher and forwards Albert Adomah, Jamille Matt and Douglas have released four players - goalkeeper George Barrett, defender Donervon Daniels, midfielder Jack Earing and striker Danny Johnson - but have exercised options to extend the contracts of defenders Rico Browne and Evan eight first-team regulars - Connor Barrett, Jamie Jellis, Josh Gordon, Charlie Lakin, Brandon Comley, Levi Amantchi, Taylor Allen and David Okagbue - remain under contract at the Bescot Stadium.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
One Way to Sell Beer in Britain? Buy Into a Soccer Team.
With a portrait of Queen Victoria watching over him, a 75-year-old man frowned at a pint of something unfamiliar. 'This isn't beer,' Michael Walker said, teasing. He was sitting in a 178-year-old pub called the Victoria (Katz) near Birmingham, England. The drink reminded him of a goat's milk yogurt that he said helped cure his debilitating arthritis. Sitting across from him, his son, Steve Walker, 52, and a friend, Mark Sykes, 60, laughed. It was, in fact, a pint of beer, a citrusy I.P.A. called Cowboy's Payday, that they had placed in front of him. The pair had chosen this particular ale because they support Walsall Football Club. The beer came from an American craft brewery, NoFo Brew Co, which is among the English soccer club's sponsors. The pub, run by a Walsall fan, has a permanent tap of Cowboy's Payday. Michael Walker, a card-carrying member of the Campaign for Real Ale, an appreciation society for enthusiasts of traditionally brewed British beer, kept grumbling as he drank the more modern offering before him. But after a while, his companions noticed that he had downed his glass before either of them. In 2022, when Bryan and Shannon Miles became investors in Walsall F.C., they saw an opportunity to expand their Georgia brewery, which then distributed only in the Southeastern United States. Now, on the strength of its connection to the team, NoFo has 150 accounts in central England and is expanding into Ireland. 'They're doing something very savvy to build that local connection with a craft brewery,' said Ruvani de Silva, a British freelance beer journalist. 'I'm surprised more breweries aren't doing it.' For years, British soccer fans and beer drinkers, often one and the same, have watched American money and methods infiltrate their favorite pastimes. With some exceptions, they've enjoyed it. In soccer that meant big teams (Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United) and small ones (Wrexham, most notably) have been funded by U.S. investors, some of them celebrities. The American influence on beer meant airy beer halls serving easy-drinking ales popped up amid traditional pubs with the warmer, yeasty brews. As the Mileses ventured into two very British realms, they arrived at a particularly friendly time. A Trojan Horse When Mr. Miles was a teenager in San Diego, the English Premier League team Aston Villa invited him to be part of its organization on what's called a schoolboy contract: He would attend school in England while training with a professional soccer organization in hopes of playing professionally. Mr. Miles's parents said no. So he played soccer in college, then got a job in corporate America. In 2010, he and his wife cashed out their retirement accounts to start a virtual staffing company, which eventually became worth more than $100 million. As their wealth grew, they wanted to diversify their assets. When a friend, Joe Garcia, approached them about opening a brewery, they went for it. Next, when another friend asked Mr. Miles if he'd be interested in joining a small investment firm, Trivela Group, to buy soccer clubs, the couple was in. Walsall Football Club, owned by Trivela Group, is in England's League 2, the fourth tier in English football, three below the Premier League. That made it more affordable than larger clubs. It also meant that with some improvements of the stadium grounds and other capital injections, Trivela was able to quickly build value. 'They will follow their heart and wallet with whoever's sponsoring their club,' Mr. Miles said of the team's fans. 'And so it just seemed to me that if we could embed the NoFo brand in that, it would be kind of like a Trojan horse.' In 2023, NoFo became the sponsor on the front of the team's warm-up jerseys. There was already a pub at the 11,000-seat stadium, which had been shut down for decades. Rehabilitating it had been a condition of the purchase of the team. In December 2023, NoFo reached an agreement with an English brewery to produce its beer, rather than shipping it from the United States. That has lately turned out to be a sound decision. It means the uncertainty of the global tariff system won't affect it. Nick Burton, the company's dedicated sales representative, said American beer was considered 'more exotic, more interesting' than other offerings. 'I don't want to get myself out of a job here, but it's not that hard selling it,' Mr. Burton said. In 2024, NoFo produced 2,235 barrels of beer in the United States and Britain. Having begun selling in Ireland as well this year, they expect that number to increase to 3,630. Most U.S. brewers produce fewer than 1,000 barrels per year, according to statistics compiled by the Treasury Department. But it is a top-heavy industry. The largest producers make millions of barrels of beer each year. Craft beer became popular in Britain two decades ago, boosted by a tax benefit given to small breweries in 2002. Aspiring brewers visited the United States to learn more about the process, according to Matthew Curtis, a co-founder of Pellicle, an online magazine about drinking culture. He said breweries were shipping hops from the States so they could have the same ingredients found across the Atlantic Ocean. And although the number of breweries in Britain peaked in 2019, then steadily declined, the country had developed a taste for that kind of beer. NoFo debuted at the Locker, the revitalized stadium pub, in April 2024, and in March of this year, NoFo began selling its beer in Ireland at the stadium for Drogheda United, the Irish team that the Trivela Group bought. The Trivela Group also owns an 80 percent stake in a Danish team, Silkeborg I.F., and founded a soccer team in Togo, Trivela F.C. The Mileses said getting distribution in Ireland had been more difficult than it had been in England. But the experience has them thinking even more internationally. Mrs. Miles said they were considering expanding into other countries in Europe. The Ryan Reynolds Model English soccer fans are accustomed to American investment in their teams. Fans of the Premier League team Manchester United, for example, were famously not delighted by their American owners, the Glazer family. One of the most successful examples of American investment in a small soccer team is Wrexham A.F.C., a team in Wales that the actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny bought. (The basketball player LeBron James is part of an ownership group that controls the Liverpool Football Club.) Their involvement and the money they have spent on the team have made Wrexham a tourist destination, attracted a global fan base and, most important, led to the club's playing well enough to be promoted to a better league in three consecutive seasons. A fourth promotion would land it in the English Premier League. 'You go to Wrexham, and if you went there five years ago, the kids on the streets would be wearing a Manchester United or Chelsea or a Liverpool shirt,' Mr. Curtis said. 'Now you go and everyone is wearing a Wrexham shirt. It wouldn't surprise me if they managed to do the same with Walsall. People are pretty cool with their club having money.' (Mr. Curtis is a fan of Lincoln City, which has American investors. Landon Donovan, a former U.S. national team player, is a strategic adviser for the team.) And Walsall jerseys did become a lot more common around town this season as Walsall F.C. got off to a promising start. By January, it was in first place in League 2 by a wide margin and expected to be promoted to League 1. (The top three teams are automatically promoted while the fourth through seventh place teams enter a playoff for the fourth promotion.) Trivela opted not to sign flashy and expensive players, planning to expand the team's business first. And then the team's fortunes turned, and the standings got tighter. On April 5, Walsall faced Port Vale, a team that was threatening Walsall's standing atop the league. The winner would leave the day in first place. The Victoria (Katz) opened at 10 a.m. so fans could drink before going to the stadium about two miles away. In England, drinking alcohol on the grounds is illegal during a match, so attendees drink their fill in advance, at halftime and afterward. The Locker buzzed before the game, with every seat filled and a line to get drinks. Groups made up mostly of men gathered around high-top tables or picnic benches, their voices echoing in the cavernous space. 'It's a family affair for us,' said Dale Birkett, 51, who was there with his father and his 22-year-old son, Joe. 'My dad, he used to take me in the mid- to late '80s.' 'We just really want to get out of this league, don't we?' Joe said. 'We've been in this for far too long.' Joe and Dale Birkett were both drinking Cowboy's Payday, saying it was less boring than going for beer they could get just anywhere. But the eldest Birkett, Dale's father, refused. Walsall scored early, but lost. The Port Vale fans sang taunts. After the game, Walsall's supporters returned to the Locker, but they shuffled in this time, glumly. Matters didn't improve. By the end of the day, the team had fallen to fourth place; it would end the season without being promoted to the higher league. Still, after the loss to Port Vale, fans kept their post-match plans at the Victoria (Katz). Beer was the move after a win, and the move after a loss. 'There's a few Walsall fans in here,' the bar's owner, Jason Paddock, said. 'They've come to commiserate.'
BBC News
27-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Walsall need 'reset' after Wembley loss
Walsall defender Liam Gordon says the players and the club need a "reset" following their defeat in the League Two play-off Saddlers' 1-0 loss to AFC Wimbledon ended their hopes of promotion to the third tier. They had a 12-point lead at the top of the table with 11 games of the regular season left."It's very emotional," Gordon told BBC Radio WM."We're going to have to feel these emotions and deal with it - there's no running away and hiding from it."It's a tough time and a tough moment that we're in." Despite bouncing back from the disappointment of missing out on automatic promotion to breeze past Chesterfield in the play-off semi-finals, Walsall could not find a way past Wimbledon at Hippolyte's first-half strike proved enough for the Wombles, who sealed their League One return after three years away."It was always going to be a tough game - they've got the best clean-sheet record in the division," Gordon said."It was going to be a tight game. We lost and we've got to refocus for another 10 months for another season."We're going to have to reset as players, and as a club, to go again." 'I've got to pull myself together and go again' Walsall's pain at missing out on promotion will likely feel more acute given how dominant they were for much of the an inexplicable run of 13 games without a win saw Mat Sadlers' side slip from promotion near-certainties to outsiders in the lottery of the said it had been a taxing season from start to finish, not just when results started to desert them."It's not just since February when we had a big blip in form, the whole season's been mentally, psychologically and physically tough," he said."A lot of the players haven't been in this situation before - being top of the table for so long and doing things that others didn't think we were going to do, and be in a position they didn't think we'd be in. "I've got to pull myself together and go again."Gordon, who fought back from nearly losing his leg after a freak training-ground injury three years ago, said his time at Walsall has been "unbelievable"."I've got nothing but good things to say about the fans and the gaffer, especially," he said. "It's been a tough season for the gaffer but he's been unbelievable and I'll back him all the way."I just want nothing but success for the club."
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Walsall match day volunteer Gary Edwards in VIP Wembley tour
A match day volunteer at Walsall FC's Bescot Stadium was treated to a VIP day out at Wembley for his 80th a visit organised by Walsall FC Foundation, the team's official charity, Gary Edwards was presented with a signed shirt before Friday's semi-final, and then took a behind the scenes tour before Monday's pensioner has run the tuck shop at Bescot as a match day volunteer since the stadium was built in said Walsall's defeat on Monday was "disappointing", but his birthday tour was a "brilliant experience". A Walsall fan since he was a teenager, he told BBC Radio WM that his son was a member of the junior Saddlers team when he was asked to run the tuck shop 35 years ago, and he is still doing top sellers at the moment are Haribo sweets and KitKats, he he toured Wembley with his grandson, he said the highlight was seeing the royal box and the media room, and he went on the pitch."We went round in the media room which was great," he described how he was able to sit behind the press conference desk imagining what it was like to be the England manager, while the man who showed them round sat in the audience."We went up into the royal box," he said, "And we went to where the players have the trophy after, which unfortunately wasn't Walsall." Signed shirt Remembering how he visited the old Wembley stadium 10 times, he said he still recalled paying seven shillings and sixpence for a ticket – which was original Wembley, which opened in 1923, had been famous for its twin was demolished in 2003 to make way for a modern 90,000-capacity venue. Monday's visit was his third trip to the new FC Foundation posted on Facebook: "To celebrate our volunteer Gary's 80th birthday, we presented him with a signed shirt before our play off semi-final on Friday."Thanks to EFL (English Football League) in the Community, we've also gifted him a VIP experience at Wembley Stadium on Monday ahead of the final." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Dedicated Walsall fan to watch match from China
A die-hard football fan will watch his favourite team play in the dead of night while on business in China. Neil Thacker, from Pelsall, has supported Walsall FC since 1979 and said being on the other side of the world would not stop him from watching them Saddlers will take on Chesterfield later in the League Two play-off semi final at Bescott Mr Thacker told the BBC while he could not be there in person, he would be watching from his hotel room at 03:00 local time (20:00 BST). Walsall have got a 2-0 aggregate lead after the first game against Chesterfield last weekend."I went to Birmingham Airport on Sunday. I managed to see the game before I went", he told BBC Radio Thacker is currently in Shanghai, but will be waking up early to catch a flight to Hong Kong on Saturday, which means he will be waking up to watch the game at 02:30 and then has to be at the airport for 06:30."It's a travel day so I can sleep it off [on the plane]."When asked to make a prediction for the game, he said he did not want to "jinx" anything, adding: "I'm just hoping we get through". Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
