New Parma Owner Pledges Long-Term Excitement In Football; FA Cup Winner Reg Harrison Dies at 97 and More (Football Round-Up)

The takeover of Italian club Parma Calcio 1913 was confirmed on September 18 and the new owner, Kyle Krause, who is also the chief executive of Krause Group, has pledged to create a team of young players that makes football exciting and fun to watch in the long run. 

"I understand we are not going to be Juventus by January," Krause said in his first interview with a non-Italian media organisation as Parma owner and president. "I see some presidents in Italian football, (and) around the world, become impatient fairly quickly and I think that can be unfortunate for the entire staff," he said."So I view this as a long-term investment, a long-term passion. For me, owning Parma is not about a near-term success.” 

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"You don't have to go that far back where people know Parma around the world and that history can give us something to aspire to," Krause said. 

He emphasised on his focus on bringing in young players.  "We see the development of players as a big part of what we do. We have got an excellent academy from an infrastructure standpoint, and the opportunity for us to grow and develop talent and have them play in the first team has to be a priority one," he added. "Some other Serie A teams have huge rosters, they bring in talent and loan out talent which is fine... but we are going to bring in talent and have them play for us."

Krause group bought a 90 percent stake in Parma, which went bankrupt in 2015 and made a comeback in 2018 after Nuovo Inizio took over the club.  Inizio will now retain nine percent stake with remaining 1 percent belonging to Parma Partecipazioni Calcistiche, the company which is responsible for bringing together fans as shareholders. 

Reg Harrison Dies 

Derby County announced that their Former right winger and oldest  winner of the FA Cup alive, Reg Harrison, died at 97 on the evening of September 17. 

“Derby County are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of 1946 FA Cup winner, Reg Harrison.We will miss you, Reg,” said Derby County official twitter account. 

In a span of 19 year, between 1944 to 1955, he played 281 games for Derby, scoring 59 goals. 

It was 74 years ago in 1946 -- Harrison was just 22 years old -- when Derby defeated Charlton Athletic 4-1 after extra time to win the FA Cup at the Wembley Stadium. 

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Harrison also served as training officer in the army in England during World War II and also made guest appearances for clubs like Sheffield United, Notts County, Charlton Athletic and Hartlepools United during the war.

Following his retirement, Harrison worked for the Derby City Council’s Youth Service.  In the late 1960s, he also set up a Youth Centre on Stockbrook Recreation Ground titled ‘Reg’s’ and was awarded the Freedom of the City.

Solskjaer Criticises England

The Manager of Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, expressed his dismay at England over their handling of Mason Greenwood. 

Greenwood, along with Phil Foden, were sent back home after they met two women in Iceland away from the bio-secure environment, breaching the Covid-19 protocol.

However, Solskjaer stated that Greenwood should not have been a part of the England team and should have been allowed to rest. 

"The kid had a fantastic season," Solskjaer said. "He's just come through. I've worked and the club has worked and all the staff here, we worked really hard, when we gave Mason enough time on the pitch, when we gave him exposure in the media..” 

"Then you come to the end of the season and we've had less than two weeks off, and he's called up to the national team,” he said."I have to be honest enough to say I tried my best to give him a rest over the summer. The club asked specifically - we pointed out he should have had a rest. He needs in mentally and physically after that season he had.” 

Sweden Players Vow to Keep Taking a Knee

Sweden women’s team defender and Chelsea captain, Magdalena Eriksson, faced a lot of criticism for taking a knee at the Euro qualifier against Hungary on Thursday night, but he has now hit back at the critics.

The Swedish team openly showed support to the  Black Lives Matter movement but the players were heavily criticised on social media.

Former Swedish ice hockey goalkeeper Sofia Reideborn was one of the few persons who criticised the football team saying the action is going to make people disinterested in women’s sport and they are “ruining it for future generations”.

Eriksson released a statement saying: “To take a knee was never close to being a hard decision for us. This was always the right thing to do. We know what we stand for and believe in. Yesterday we took a knee to show that we are against racism and discrimination in any way.

“This is not about politics or a political act. This is about humanity and the fact that we believe everyone is equal and no one should ever be treated differently because of the colour of their skin, their race, sexuality, gender or anything at all.”

1K Fans Allowed at Italian Stadiums 

As many as 1,000 fans will be allowed in Italian stadiums, sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said as Serie A is planning to make a comeback.

This change is going to be implemented from the opening Serie A games this weekend. The Fiorentina vs Torino and Verona vs Roma matches will be held without spectators, but nine-time reigning Serie A champions Juventus is likely to start their season against Sampdoria on Sunday with fans present.

"From the semifinals and final, 1,000 spectators can be present at all sports competitions which take place outdoors and which scrupulously respect sanitary rules," the minister said.

Organisers who want to have spectators at their respective venues will have to follow the "rules laid down for spacing, masks, seat reservations," the minister said. An official confirmation will be made  "in the next few hours" and called it "a first step, but a significant step towards a return to normality in sport, which we hope for soon."

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