Student Work – Hawkinsport

Llantwit Major F.C Football Manager 22 Challenge Shirt Giveaway – The Extraordinary Welsh 2nd Division Club

LLANTWIT Major F.C are giving away a free football shirt to anyone who can qualify for the Champions League, whilst using the team in the popular video game Football Manager 22.

The game replicates real life football tournaments, and to qualify for the Champions League, a Welsh team would have to win the Cymru Premier division.

This would ensure qualification to the early play-off rounds before the Champions League group-stage.

In order to complete the challenge, a player must get past the play-off rounds and into the group-stage.

The challenge has already been completed by one Twitter user called Laurence, with the club announcing they will award anyone else who completes the challenge with a shirt before 14^th January.

Another Twitter user was also given a shirt after Tweeting proof of winning the Champions League with Llantwit Major FC in last year’s edition of the game.

“Someone who has thousands of followers and is a well-known content creator started following us and made a tweet a few weeks later talking about our social media.” Said board member Ben Dudley.

“As a small club, we have to do things differently to get noticed”

However, this doesn’t tell the full story of Llantwit Major F.C.

The team based in South Glamorgan currently play in the JD Cymru South, the 2^nd division of Welsh football, where they currently sit in 2^nd place.

They are only two points behind the leaders, Jonathan Jones’ Pontypridd Town.

Under manager Karl Lewis, who is still in charge after five years at the club, they rose from the amateur ranks, to win the Division three title in 16/17, and then the Welsh Football League Division Two title in the 17/18 season.

They had gone from lower leagues to winning the third tier of Welsh football and back-to-back promotions with a strong core of local players.

“We’ve worked to a policy of getting players who are already familiar with each other.”

“A lot of the squad have been friends their whole lives and are all from the local area.

“You can see in the clubhouse and on the field, people don’t just want to win for themselves, they want to win for their mates.”

After the success, some players have moved on to represent Welsh Premier sides.

Striker Adam Roscrow moved to Wimbledon AFC in the English League One and club legend, Sam Snaith, also came close to a big move to Newport County before the Covid 19 pandemic struck.

Other players have stayed, with goalkeeper Jack Lansdowne currently playing his 14_^th season at the club.

The team known as “the Windmill Army” currently play at the Prince Moomin’s Palace, after a girlfriend of one of the players won a raffle costing £20 to rename the stadium.

They were anticipating a club record attendance against Undy Athletic on 27^th December, with hundreds of school pupils were invited until the game was postponed due to Covid restrictions.

Birmingham vs Sheffield United Preview Student Work

17th place Birmingham City will take on 6th place Sheffield United at St. Andrews later today.

The home side remain unbeaten in six games against Sheffield United when playing at home and are coming off an important 1-0 victory over Leeds at the weekend.

The home side will be without midfielder Maikel Kieftenbeld after he suffered an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament during the fixture.

Gary Gardner will start after the birth of his child meant a halftime exit against Leeds and Jota will have to settle for a place on the bench for the 4th game in a row.

Birminham City will be hoping that inform striker and former Sheffield United player, Che Adams, will continue his good form as he will look to add to his tally of 25 goals and 15 assists in the league, after scoring against Leeds last time out.

Meanwhile Sheffield United have dropped into 6th after Leeds managed a 2-0 victory over Preston yesterday.

The Blades will have to manage without defender Jack O’Connell for the second game in a row after

a calf injury against Bristol City ten days ago, meanwhile Gary Madine returns from a three game absence after suspension.

Chris Wilder hasn’t managed a win in three fixtures against Birmingham City’s Garry Monk but his Blades side have led 1,228 minutes this season, the most minutes of any team in the Championship this season.

Results around the grounds today:

Hull 2 Wigan 1

Norwich 2 Reading 2

Brentford 2 Ipswich 0

Rotherham 1 Aston Villa 2

Millwall 0 QPR 0

Jonathan Hill reflects on his experience during the Pembrokeshire murder cases

By Luke Hawkins

IN an exclusive discussion, ITV journalist Jonathan Hill talked about his role in the production “The Pembrokeshire Murders” documentary.

Originally the murder of both the Dixons and the Thomas’, by killer John Cooper, was thought to be a “Cold Case” but was found to be active when Hill was called into the station back in 2006.

Hill spoke about his involvement in the case, including his search through the archives for the footage of the killer’s appearance on the game show “Bullseye”.

“What struck me when I looked at it was how similar he looked to the ‘scruffy man’,”

The “scruffy man” was the name given to sketches of the suspect of the killer at the time of the murders in the late 1980’s. Hill continued:

“The person who saw the ‘scruffy man’ using Peter Dixon’s cash card only caught a glimpse of him over the shoulder,”

“I shuttled through the footage and managed to find a moment where the camera was just over Cooper’s shoulder,”

“it struck me that it was a doppelganger, it was the same man.”

Hill also gave his views on whether he ever would have liked to be a detective:

“I get teased in work, they sometimes call me detective inspector Hill,”

“I think (being a journalist) it’s the best place to be.”

“Detective work can be fairly mundane, painstaking, not particularly exciting,”

“also, it’s terrible hours and there is a lot of pressure.”

“I feel lucky to have dipped into this case, I’m interested in the motives and how the detectives solve it,”

“the mindset of the detectives and the science behind it.”

Hill also commented on the possibility of more documentaries being produced soon.

“We’ve been making documentaries with the South Wales police at the moment.”

“The Pembrokeshire Murders documentary opened some door to a lot of other things because people see what you’ve done and feel they can trust you.”

Marcus Rashford: Feeding Britain’s Children –

RASHFORD’S recent good work was covered by the BBC in the documentary that aired in December.

His background is covered well and clearly contributed to his recent actions that has benefited children across the country.

It gave us an insight into the sort of people he is helping as mothers and school children spoke to Rashford on camera.

They were left in a situation without the food because during the Covid 19 pandemic and Rashford took it on himself to do something about it.

His background is covered well and clearly contributed to his recent actions that has benefited children across the country.

It gave us an insight into the sort of people he is helping as mothers and school children spoke to Rashford on camera.

The interviews had an authentic feel, taking place in the schools, parks and homes where the families who benefitted live.

It covers the stories of struggling to make ends meet and struggling to afford feeding their children and other life struggles that are in the background.

Whenever referring to social media the graphics have a basic feel and highlight the cruel nature of some people online.

We also get first hand glimpses inside the meetings that matter, where Rashford makes big decisions on the next steps to make the government do more for hungry children.

Most of all, it sums up the pressures Rashford faces on and off the pitch.

The way the documentary uses clips from football matches, authentic material filmed first- hand and the graphics to display social media interaction clearly makes it feel like all mediums are covered.

By the end we see the full affect of Rashford’s actions and how his good will has spread amongst thousands of people in the UK.

His charity work with Fareshare ended up raising £20 million for the cause, feeding around 3 million families.

This programme did a great job making us feel like we met those families.

Below find the link to BBCiPlayer to watch the full documentary:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000qq41/marcus-rashford-feeding-britains-children

Sir Bobby Charlton Has Been Diagnosed with Dementia

By Luke Hawkins

THE world cup winner was announced to have the disease on Sunday, causing a huge response on social media.

Charlton, 83, made 606 appearances for Manchester United and scored 199 goals, at the time a club record.

Norma Charlton, Bobby’s wife, made the decision that the diagnosis should be made public to raise awareness of the disease.

The news came after his fellow World Cup winner, Nobby Stiles, died of the disease last Friday.

Bobby’s brother, Jack, also died of the disease.

Since there have been many Twitter posts paying tribute to the former United midfielder.

People also voiced their concern on the current rules with headers still being part of the game, even though the balls aren’t as dangerous.

The following article really helps illustrate how the game contributed to the significant amount of cases in England’s famous squad.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-08/dementia-the-deadly-legacy-of-englands-world-cup-triumph/7826618

850,000 people in the UK suffer with dementia and the disease causes memory loss and reduces the ability to learn and solve problems.

520,000 of those cases have been caused by Alzheimer’s disease.

The decision to release the diagnosis is one that was made for the benefit of everyone affected by the disease and there is advice available online:

Alzheimer’s disease

Danny Gabbidon Hopes for Change for the Better in Football

By Luke Hawkins

DANNY Gabbidon believes “Elements of BLM have been positive” but calls on people in high positions to “make the right decisions going forward.”

Former Wales and Cardiff City defender, Danny Gabbidon

The former Wales international gave his views on the affect of BLM and some of the questions it raises for some people.

“Elements of it have been very positive, there’s also been elements of it where certain people don’t want to take the knee,”

Gabbidon has also called for action from figures of authority suggesting that BLM is the start of things and he raised its imperfections.

He also suggested that for any demonstration to have lasting effects, people in positions of power need to put things in place to truly have an impact on racism.

“the people in the high authority positions, they’re the ones who need to make the right decisions,”

He also suggested that social media is currently a source for a lot of the problems black people face.

He called for there to be “more control” over the abuse directed at some players online.

The comments come after a torrid couple of months that have seen abuse directed at multiple high profile football players.

Gabbidon described social media as a “useful tool” but also as “quite poisonous”.

Manchester United attackers Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial were subject to such abuse last month.

Meanwhile, West Brom midfielder Romanie Sawyers received racist messages after West Brom lost to Man City 5-0 in January.

In the Sawyers case, the suspect was arrested for his actions.

The government have also promised to implement new laws against online abuse later this year.

“people are saying ‘Is it having the desired affect? I’m not sure I want to take the knee’.”

“I think if they have to change the gesture it really doesn’t matter.”

“If they change taking the knee to standing tall or what we saw happen at Millwall a few months back where all the players got together,”

“That wouldn’t be a sign of giving into racists by going away from the taking of the knee.”

“To get rid of racism is going to be difficult because we all have different views”

“It’s not about saying black people are better than anyone else, it’s just about being accepted and treated in the same way.”

“You can only hope things like this and what happens after will help to change people’s views”

“there is much more that needs to be done, on a daily basis, players are getting racially abused, after games and before games,”

Gabbidon also commented on the sort of people who can make change going forward.

“social media as amazing a tool it is, it is quite poisonous as well,”

“hopefully, the likes of Facebook and Instagram, the likes of these companies can do a bit more to control it.”

“Things like the BLM movement are things that need to happen to promote change.”

“You need people above that in senior positions who make big decisions to buy into it,”

“we’ve seen what sky have done in the last few months, where they’ve really bought into it,”

“but it’s not about that, the people in the high authority positions, they’re the ones who need to make the right decisions,”

“that’s my worry really, all these different movements and campaigns, how much does it mean? Will it run its course?”

International Women’s Day: Encouraging the Future of Women in Sport

By Luke Hawkins

INTERNATIONAL Women’s day raises awareness of the disadvantages women face across the world.

Globally, women are paid 11% less than males who work the same jobs.

Only 24% of national parliamentarians are women. (UNWomen)

International Women’s Day 2021 | UN Women – Headquarters

International Women’s Day also focuses on great female role models to inspire the next generation of women.

Female athlete Morgan Lake has commented on how important it is for women to have role models.

Commonwealth high jump silver medallist Morgan Lake

She described how she was “fortunate in that I could look at athletes like Jess Ennis-Hill and Christine Ohuruogu.”

She also spoke of the importance of increased televised coverage of women’s sport, so girls can “discover their own role models.”

There is a massive importance for women to have their own role models in any field.

However, when it comes to sport and the media coverage it seems to be vital.

Morgan Lake also stated she felt “too embarrassed” to use the gym equipment at her school.

She described that this was because it felt like women shouldn’t be muscly.

But there is improvement. BT sports presenter Sarra Elgan says things have changed and there are more female role models in sport and the media.

She claimed “There’s a line isn’t there – ‘you can’t see them, you can’t be them’. So I think that is getting better.”

International women’s day will help break the barriers that currently exist and although things aren’t equal yet, women in the sports industry definitely think progress is being made.

Serena Williams talks about how she dealt with racism

In a recent interview with Gayle King, Serena Williams was asked about comments made by Ilie Nastase. At a press conference event for the Fed cup, Nastase made comments about the unborn baby’s skin colour, saying “let’s see what colour it has, chocolate with milk?”

Williams addressed the situation:

“I think they were very inappropriate comments” Williams said

“Not only that but I’ve been really supportive of my peers and the people I’ve worked with”

“I’ve been a pro for almost 20 years so for me it’s really important to hold women up”

“It’s something that these young women, they’ll come to the locker room and they’ll want to take pictures with me”

“For me it’s just like I want to be a good leader and a good example for them”

“Not only did he have rude things to say about me and then my peers but I felt it was important for us to stand up for each other and myself”

“At that point for me it was really important for me to say I’m not going anywhere and I’m not afraid, I’m not going anywhere but this is inappropriate.”

The comments come after Williams defended herself and fellow players on Instagram. Nastase has since apologised saying the comments were “spontaneous” and stated:

“I will not try to defend my words, but I can assure you they stemmed from my desire to defend the Romanian team and Romanian Tennis.”

Joseph Parker joins the list of sports stars posting online about COVID-19

With the sports world halted by the coronavirus pandemic, sports stars have taken to social media to contribute to the same message, stay safe, through isolation.

With the number of cases going up every day across the world the number of confirmed cases is approaching 500,000.

Countries including Spain, Italy and most recently Great Britain have now imposed rules locking down the country, so people stay indoors unless they need to collect food or medicine.

In the UK it has been well reported that despite the recent lockdown and financial support people continue to ignore advice regarding social distancing and risk spreading the disease with footage from the tube emerging this week in London of public transport still packed.

With the current situation celebrities, public figures and sports stars are taking to social media to promote the message to stay indoors.

Joseph Parker posted on multiple social media platforms a video where he dances around the house to the song Jump by The Pointer Sisters. The clip is in reference to a similar scene from the film Love actually.

Eddie Hearn, Parker’s promoter responded to the light-hearted video on Instagram and retweeted it on Twitter. In his Instagram post he said:

“Great work @Joeboxerparker, made me smile this morning”

Trending on Twitter now is #clapforourcarers and #clapforNHS, as Britain starts to go deeper into the crisis the country braces for the impact on the country’s health services.

Man United defender Harry Maguire used the hashtag four days ago to promote an applause for the healthcare workers who find themselves facing such a big task.

Maguire has been spreading the message of stay home and stay safe, having uploaded a video training in his garden in the past week like so many sports stars.

But as the pandemic affects the UK, the positive messages continue to be spread across the country and Britain will pull together at 8pm in a show of appreciation for doctors and nurses in awareness of the testing times ahead.