Wembley rope in Roy to sell seats
WEMBLEY are going to offer a list of extra incentives to help sell the 17,000 corporate seats that are crucial to the financial wellbeing of the national stadium.
The marketing campaign will start in September, with Wembley attempting to find buyers for season tickets that bankrolled the venue when they were sold on 10-year contracts before the opening in 2007.
There is no appetite nearly a decade later for such long-term deals and the seats will be advertised on three- to five-year terms, plus the membership extras. Wembley see the perks as an important element in selling the seats, as the World Cup and European Championship qualifiers throw up so many unappetising fixtures.
Club Wembley patrons will be given the opportunity to attend regular question-and-answer sessions with England manager Roy Hodgson, mix with former England stars on match days, fly on the plane with the England team to away matches, attend press conferences before and after matches and watch training at St George’s Park. RUBEN LOFTUS-CHEEK, potentially Chelsea’s first homegrown player since John Terry to win a regular first-team place, speaks regularly to his half-brothers, Carl and Leon Cort, who have the same father as Ruben. Both Corts had multi-club careers and Carl cost £7million when Sir Bobby Robson signed him for Newcastle. MARTIN JOHNSON has taken almost a full rugby World Cup cycle to recover from being team manager when England imploded in New Zealand. Only now is Johnson (right) starting to reintegrate himself into the sport, working for sponsors Mastercard, England Rugby 2015 and making charity dinner appearances. But as England’s only World Cupwinning captain, you would expect him to be far more involved in a home tournament. THE legendary Brian Clough notably had a thing about not criticising referees. Not so his manager son Nigel, who was seen after Sheffield United’s 2-1 semi-final first leg League One play-off defeat by Swindon haranguing referee select group coach Alan Wiley over Darren Bond’s performance with the whistle.