Starling on Sport: We need a football club in ‘new’ Dubai

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: Starling on Sport: We need a football club in ‘new’ Dubai   Last week we published a story about the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) urging residents to have their say on sports events and facilities in the emirate. At the launch of the council’s new five-year plan, DSC secretary-general Saeed Hareb told 7DAYS that he wanted feedback from people living in Dubai as they were the people using the facilities and playing the sports. He said: “What do you want from sport? You are living in Dubai. What should the Dubai Sports Council be concentrating on?” We have had some great feedback from readers giving their views on sport in Dubai and topics of conversation include lawn bowls facilities, public Olympic-sized swimming pools, cycling leagues for juniors and much more. This got the sports desk thinking about what we would like to see in Dubai. After getting our heads together for a good few minutes we decided there’s one thing missing from our sporting community – and that’s a football club based in ‘new’ Dubai. Or more specifically a club to cater for fans who live in Dubai Sports City, JLT, the Marina and Jebel Ali. The catchment area of ‘new Dubai’ is astounding and there’s no doubt that within these communities there is a huge amount of interest in football. People will say that fans – especially expats – are only interested in the Premier League and La Liga. That may be true, but what is the Arabian Gulf League doing to attract expat fans to the games? I’ve always wanted to be part of a professional football club, so here’s what I propose… we start our own. Ok, so we don’t have any players, staff, kit, fans or ground, but did that stop FC United of Manchester or New York City FC? Of course it didn’t. If we need somewhere to play, why not the long-proposed football stadium at Dubai Sports City? It’s the perfect location for a new club, has all the facilities and also the road infrastructure. Maybe even Mr Salgado can get on board and loan us some up-and-coming talent from the Spanish Soccer Schools? Being realistic, of course I know that this dream to start a football club would take years and millions of dirhams to achieve, but surely there is someone out there eager to take advantage of a football-crazy audience? If anyone fancies the challenge then drop me an email at mike@7days.ae and we will get the ball rolling, so to speak. True dedication… The early contenders for 2016 Fans of the Year go to the 50,000 NFL supporters who attended the Minnesota Vikings versus Seattle Seahawks match on Sunday. Those guys had to endure temperatures of -6C, which felt like -25 with the added wind chill. The match was the third coldest play-off game ever recorded. Brrrrr indeed. You’ve still got it, champ As a sports and film fanatic it was great to see Sylvester Stallone pick up a Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture for ‘Creed’. Sly’s acting career is just like a classic rags to riches sports story. He started on a high (Rocky), hit some dreadful lows (‘The Expendables’, anyone?), then he staged a tremendous comeback with ‘Creed’. And to quote the legend Rocky: “Life’s not about how hard of a hit you can give… it’s about how many you can take, and still keep moving forward.” Well said, sir, well said. Trump card: offend your sporty voters Donald Trump has tried his best to offend the world, now he’s taking on the NFL. He doesn’t watch the game anymore because the NFL has gone “soft” like the United States. I bet he did not say that to a 6ft 5” offensive tackle did he? Congrats Andy on an ace initiative Andy Murray has raised Dhs444,000 for Unicef through his Andy’s Aces initiative after donating Dhs267 for every ace hit on court. Murray does not always get credit for his skills on court, but this gesture really should be applauded. Please, just shut the window now…  The football transfer window may be open, but nothing seems to be happening. Rumours are getting boring and we just want one big deal to happen. Gareth Bale to Man Utd would be fine, at least it would give us something to write about.   Read the original story at: Starling on Sport: We need a football club in ‘new’ Dubai