In all my decades of attending Stamford Bridge, players, managers and owners have come and gone whilst the only constant was Lord Richard Attenborough. [url=http://www.ravensjerseyscheapauthentic.com/ravens-john-brown-black- jersey/]John Brown Jersey[/url] . Honorary life vice-president, shareholder,

In all my decades of attending Stamford Bridge, players, managers and owners have come and gone whilst the only constant was Lord Richard Attenborough. John Brown Jersey . Honorary life vice-president, shareholder, club director, Stamford Bridge host to the likes of Frank Sinatra and Steve McQueen: If someone had have asked him, Attenborough would willingly have accepted the role of Chelsea FCs chief cook and bottle washer. The connection to the club for the highly acclaimed actor, film director and producer can be traced back over 75 years when as part of his preparations to play the role of a gangster in a movie Attenborough got to train with the players. He is famously quoted as saying throughout his life he had two love affairs - his wife of seven decades and Chelsea Football Club. His lasting legacy occurred in 1982. After decades of neglect, the then-club owners had embarked on overly ambitious plans to completely rejuvenate Stamford Bridge. This coming at a time of volatile oil prices, Middle East tensions and the globe in an economic freefall. All combined with extremely high interest rates construction costs spiralled out of control. Stamford Bridge began to resemble an abandoned construction site, more than it did a soccer venue. The club flirted with bankruptcy. Property developers spotted an opportunity it could not resist they began purchasing from distressed shareholders their holdings in the valuable land Stamford Bridge was situated ona€“ this for a club which had been formed in a pub across the street in 1905. The only news coming out of Chelsea in those troubled days was discussion of demolishing the ground and turning it into a residential area for the super-wealthy. Stamford Bridge borders one of the most expensive postal codes on the planet, and the Royal Borough of Chelsea and Kensington. I recollect it vividly. The Mears Family who had formed the club in that pub back at the turn of the 20th century, began losing control. Brian Mears, the chairman and grandson of the club founder was ousted in a boardroom coup. Speculation was rife on what minority shareholder Richard Attenborough, would do with his shares. In the end, Attenborough got a promise from Ken Bates - who would buy the club in late 1982 for the princely sum of ?￡1 plus all its debts a€“ that he would not move the club out of the community that meant so much to the man who won an Oscar for that years Hollywood Blockbuster, Gandhi. Simply put if Attenborough had sold out to the property developers, a wholly different Oscar would not be running out at Stamford Bridge in the number 8 shirt today. Nor would Roman Abramovich be taking in matches form the luxury of the owners private box. For that matter Chelsea, if it had survived, would most likely be playing in the second or third tier of English football and not competing for yet more Premier League or Champions League titles. We certainly wouldnt be seeing the abundance of Chelsea jerseys in the football pubs and city streets worldwide. Its reason why Chelseas supporters have begun a petition to rename the East Stand at Stamford Bridge in the memory of a man who was friends, and on first name terms with Kings, Queens, Prime Ministers and Presidents. No one outside of players, the coaching and medical staffs are allowed into the fabled Stamford Bridge dressing room pre-game, not even Abramovich. Such is the stature of the man: Attenborough was welcomed with open arms. There was no better sight at Stamford Bridge than witnessing Attenborough taking his seat, next to his wife in the directors box, surrounded by his own a€?private security that came in the irresistible form of the Chelsea Pensioners. Those retired military serviceman - who reside in the Royal Hospital Chelsea and who come resplendent in bright red military jackets - you will often have often caught a glimpse of from Stamford Bridge TV broadcasts. Youd often see Attenborough driving his very distinctive Rolls Royce around the streets which surround Stamford Bridge. My own favourite personal memory came in 1998. Attenborough was in Montreal to film his movie Grey Owl, with the man who would go on to become James Bond, Pierce Brosnan in the lead role. Filming took place in a small Quebec town some 200 km outside Montreal. The name of that town was Chelsea, population 6,500. You couldnt make it up. Sunday, Mar. 29 was deemed an off day and Chelsea were playing Middlesbrough at Wembley, it was the League Cup Final. There were no digital satellite channels back in 1998. You wanted to watch any live football you had to go to one of very few sports bars which had old school bulky satellites which didnt always pick up the signals. Most often they would just provide grainy pictures and no commentary. Not this day. Taking up my usual spot with the other four Montreal-based Chelsea supporters 15 minutes before kickoff Attenborough walked in. Amiable and approachable Attenborough was like a kid who had just had a drop off from Santa Claus. He somewhat resembled him too. Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 2-0, their second coming from the man who in 2012 led them to Champions League Glory, Roberto Di Matteo. Attenborough was in no rush to leave. There was a lap of honour on the hallowed Wembley Stadium pitch to take in. On what would today have been Lord Attenboroughs 91st birthday, Chelsea announced earlier that in consultation with his family, they plan a lasting memorial for Stamford Bridge. Saturday afternoon Chelsea will trot out at Goodison Park wearing black arm bands in memory of a man everyone connected to Chelsea owes an immense debt of gratitude to. As English football has evolved into the multi-billion dollar global business it is today we can be sure we will not witness the likes of a€?Dickiea€? Attenborough ever again. Hes cut from a cloth not even Abramovich could afford. Listen to Everton v Chelsea a€“ Live on the TSN Radio Network Saturday 12:30pm et / 9:30am pt Noel Butler can be reached at: Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel on Twitter Kenny Young Jersey . - Diego Fagundez scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season in the 76th minute to lift the Revolution to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Crew on Saturday night that kept New Englands playoff hopes alive. Orlando Brown Jr. Ravens Jersey .com) - SirDominic Pointer posted career highs of 24 points and seven steals to lead No. http://www.ravensjerseyscheapauthentic.com/ravens-lamar-jackson-black-jersey/ .C. -- The Bobcats announced theyve signed centre Justin Hamilton to a 10-day contract.One of Canadas foremost experts on doping in sports has a solution for a cash crunch thats leaving university football and hockey players rarely tested for banned substances: have an entire team pee into one bucket and then test the collective result. As TSN reported Thursday, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport is under intense pressure from the federal government to focus drug testing on athletes who compete in international events representing Canada. Since funding for the tests has been frozen and the cost of testing can eclipse $1,000 per test, university athletes in a number of sports are being tested less often. This coming school year, the CCES expects to conduct about 200 tests of athletes who compete in Canadian university athletics. The number of tests has plunged from 455 during 2011-12. And as testing has slipped, positive drug tests have climbed. Since a scandal at the University of Waterloo in 2010, 14 CIS football players have tested positive for banned substances (taken from 1,399 urine tests and 142 blood tests over that period). The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) has had four violations recorded - three of them in football and one in soccer (taken from 18 urine tests over that period). Three more of the top CIS players tested positive at a CFL-financed training camp in Edmonton in March, TSN reported Thursday. There have also been positive drug tests in other sports, both of university and college athletes. In the wake of TSNs report Thursday, the head of Canadian Interuniversity Sport said he plans to ask officials with the federal and provincial governments, as well as national sports organizations and amateur sports groups, to consider meeting at a summit to discuss whether more can be done to improve drug testing protocols in Canada. "Canada is a leading force around the world for innovation and for taking a stand on clean sport and we need to keep it going to do everything we can to help have clean sport," said Pierre Lafontaine.PC Member of Parliament Bal Gosal, Canadas sports minister, couldnt be reached for comment. Lafontaines remarks come as Doug MacQuarrie, the CCESs chief operating officer, told TSN that provincial governments and Canadian companies should begin funding anti-doping efforts. "To date corporate Canada has been conspicuously absent in funding support for Canadas anti-doping efforts," MacQuarrie said. "They derive great benefit through association with sport. There is a tremendous opportunity for them to signal the type of sport (clean sport) that they wish to associate with." Ira Jacobs, dean of the University of Torontos kinesiology and physical education department said in an interview that Canadiaan officials should consider new testing technologies to help cut testing costs. Mark Andrews Ravens Jersey. For instance, the CCES could have a single team urinate into a bucket and test the combined waste. "You analyze it and if its positive you go back and test the whole team individually," Jacobs said. "The odds are that wont happen very often." Jacobs said the CCES might also narrow the types of drugs it tests for. Its not necessary to test football players for stamina-boosting drugs that cyclists or marathon runners might turn to. Jacobs also said the CCES could take samples from every athlete without testing all of the samples. "Research suggests the most effective deterrent for athletes is the perception of how frequently they are tested, not education about potential side effects." He said one technique might involved "not doing the testing but pretending you are." Bob Copeland, the former athletic director at the University of Waterloo, said the CCES should also consider having lower-cost U.S. labs test results. MacQuarrie said that it can be a slippery slope when organizers find ways to cut costs. "The challenge is we have a best in class and world standard," he said. "You have to determine a comfort level of stepping away from that." For instance, he said taking samples but not testing them would be wrong. "International standards for doping control say that an organization cant collect a human sample without submitting it to the agreed to rigour," he said. "It corrupts the whole process. If you collect a sample, you have to process it. Why submit an individual to the violation of privacy to collect a sample if its going to be poured down a sink?" Richard Peddie, a former CIS board member and former chief executive of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, said the CIS should ramp up efforts to generate revenue. Several U.S. schools recently signed licensing agreements with Nike for the sports company to produce school-branded running shoes. Popular Canadian schools like McGill, the University of Toronto or UBC might have similar appeal, and with the added revenue, schools could contribute more money towards drug testing protocols.There are modest signs of progress. MacQuarrie said the Canadian Olympic Committee last year made a financial contribution to the CCES, as has the CFL. CIS schools will follow suit this year, and so will national sports organizations.That money cant come soon enough, Jacobs said. "Im concerned about a safe playing ground and being able to afford it," he said. 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