Brand New Site Goes Live

We are extremely pleased to announce that after plenty of hard work our very own site goes live at 8pm this evening. The sad news is that this will be the final post on this blog which has been very good to us.

But we here at The Eagles Beak have decided that we need to evolve and a new site gives us so many more options. We hope that you will all like what we have to offer you and come with to continue this wonderful journey that we are on.

This does not change a thing. We still want you, the fans, involved in everything we do. Your feedback continues to be extremely important to us as we take everything you tell us seriously. The new site is up and running but the hard work is still to come. We want plenty more content on there and we will continue to do what we do best.

We thank you all for your fantastic support so far and look forward to much more of it in the future. While we wave goodbye to Blogger we run with open arms into our new venture.

Never forget, we are the noise of the Eagles. Being loud, being proud, being PALACE!!

www.theeaglesbeak.com

92 Live

 

Picture courtesy of Sky Sports News (c)

It was always going to be a gimmick for Sky Sports but it was quite an interesting one. And it gave us a rest from them reporting on what Gareth Bale was or was not doing!

Most fans were looking our for when their team were to appear. Rumours abound that the cameras would not arrive at Palace until around six o'clock in the evening. But who was going to be there? Most teams were putting a fan forward, the kit man or coach driver to be interviewed by the intrepid Sky Sports reporter.

The later the day got and they had still not arrived at Selhurst. Six teams left, five, four ... It was a countdown. Then there were only two, Palace and Man United and it was obvious that the current champions were going to be the final team to be featured.

So off to Selhurst Park at just after six thirty in the evening. A fantastic evening and the pitch looked a healthy vivid green. You could see the work going on in the background, new seats in the main stand and the new TV gantry in the Arthur Wait stand. Who was going to speak on behalf of the club? Step forward none other than Steve Parrish.

Speaking to Sky Sports News reporter Jamie Weir, Steve had this to say;

"Incredible. We weren't really ready for all the things we had to do to the stadium. We weren't prepared for that. The staff have done an incredible job, but we'll be as ready as we can be. It's an old stadium so needs work but we are trying to give everyone something. From the boxes, new lounge, toilets and taken the retail food back. Four completely different stands and we are trying to bring it all together, an enormous amount of work. Some of it we had to do, other bits we wanted to do."

"Excited, nervous, it's a massive step up. The Championship is a massive league but the Premier League is even bigger. Probably four or five levels we are going up in one go. We will be giving it our best shot, we're not quite there with the squad, four or five new signings to come in before the transfer window closes. The new players have to be the right characters for this team. We know where we are probably going to be this season, this club has never stayed in the Premier League, have done in the old Division One. The manager and the players are here all fighting for the cause, ready to die for this club. That's what we want."

"Holloway has two Oscars. You can fluke it once but two promotions to the Premier League. He's a fantastic manager, difficult times ahead we know that but that is where he will do us proud. We hope he can pull it off for us. With Tottenham coming here on opening day, only 4000 seats available for each game the take up has been incredible. We have got the big game to kick off the season which is what we wanted, no disrespect to any of the new teams coming up."

"The stadium is 25% to 30% improvements, we have something to announce next week which will hopefully allow us to spruce up the stadium even more."

Great words from Mr Parrish and proud that he spared the time to give us a little insight into what is going on behind the scenes. Buzzing for the new season after seeing that probably isn't quite the word.

The Eagle Speaks

Well here we all are, yet another week has passed and we are only two away from the start of the new Premier League season. Here is our view of the football world that was this week. 

Bale And Sky Sports Get A Room
That is all it's been this week, moving Rooney and Suarez down the headlines much to their disgust. Very little other reporting other than what Bale is having for breakfast, what underpants he is wearing and not to mention the transfer fee that Real Madrid are expected to pay.

BT Sports Channels Launched
We here at The Eagles Beak with multi-subscription channels for sport. For instance, if you want to watch all Premier League games this season you have to sign up to Sky Sports and BT Sport. Seriously, how is that giving the fans a better deal? One channel should have the rights. End of.

92 Live
A new idea from Sky Sports but we appeared on there as the second to last team at just after 6.30pm. And where a lot of teams had a fan, kit man or coach driver to interview. Not us. We pulled out the big gun. Steve Parrish himself! Watching that and seeing the new seats going in the main stand and the new TV gantry taking shape, we're buzzing for the new season.

Coventry In Decline
With all the ridiculous transfer fees being paid at the moment, spare a thought for fans of Coventry City. They face an uncertain future just as we have experienced twice. The club face liquidation and it looks like a long few weeks ahead for them. We wish them well for the future and hope that they find someone to give them a secure future.

Poogate Plot Thickens
It turns out that the Gus bus may have started the long road to ruin in March when the manager of the Weed asked the chairman to let him leave in a phone call right before the league game against Palace. It seems that our team don't have to do an awful lot these to cause chaos.

Money Talks
Two strikers have signed for QPR in the last week. Both more than capable of playing in the Premier League but their ambitions have clearly been clouded by the pound signs. There is no guarantee that they will gain promotion at the first attempt from a division that is arguably the most competitive around. It could be that both Austin and Hooper didn't have any interest from the top flight but I find that hard to believe.

Football League Kick Off
Yes, football is back with the start of the 125th season of the Football League. The live coverage kicks off this evening when Sheffield United take on Notts County live on Sky Sports.

Swansea City - The Fall & Rise
An excellent documentary on the BBC this week showing how the Welsh club soared to the dizzy heights of the then Division One and back down again, with a thump. Quite the story to see where they are again now. To think they were 90 minutes away from dropping out of league football. Simply amazing. The programme should still be available on iPlayer and we urge fans to give it a watch.

The Alan Igglesden Charity Golf Day

Former England and Kent fast bowler Alan Igglesden is hosting his ninth charity golf day at Westerham Golf Club on Friday 4th October 2013.

We here at The Eagles Beak have pleasure in promoting this charoty event following previous very successful years. We are hoping you will lend your support to help Alan raise funds for this worth while cause into brain tumour research.

Alan was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 1999 and ever since has been striving to raise much needed funds to support this most worthwhile charity. Alan’s fund raising efforts have totalled £140,000 but he does not wish to stop there. Alan has been a patron of Brain Tumour UK for many years and holds an annual golf day and arranges celebrity cricket matches with all proceeds going to the charity. The golf day last year raised a magnificent sum of £9,400. 

 
If you enjoy playing golf and would love the opportunity to meet and play with some very familiar faces from the sporting world, contact the organisers using the details at the bottom of this page. All proceeds from the charity golf day are going to a very worth while cause. If you are unable to attend the event but would still like to contribute they would still love to hear from you.

Kevin Igglesden explains ...

"Growing up in the sleeping little town of Westerham, we were unaware at the time that we were going to watch two sportsman from the same town, appear for their country.

It was Alan that was making his way in cricket with Kent but at the same time dreaming of playing at Palace at Wembley. A few years later John Salako and I were playing football together and attended Kent schools cricket trials together. It was John that was spotted and he moved on to Anerley juniors and then on to Palace while dreaming of scoring a hundred at the home of cricket, Lords.

With Dad, Alan and myself all life long Palace supporters, John playing for our beloved team was absolutely perfect! Alan and John both suffered injury problems that reduced their chances of more England caps but this was a golden era for little town of Westerham in Kent.

Alan was at Selhurst Park when we beat Burnley in front of our record crowd and the FA Cup semi-final win at Villa Park against Liverpool and holds those as truly special memories. Since he retired Alan has strived to raise funds to help find a cure for such a horrible disease. Alan, a brain tumour sufferer himself, holds a annual golf day which is always supported by our good friend and one of our sporting heroes, John Salako." 

We urge you to lend your support in any way that you can for this event in aid of such a worthy cause.
 

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