FL extend Coca-Cola deal
Spireites sack McFarland
Huge demand for first Wembley tickets
—– Coca-Cola extend their sponsorship deal with the Football League until the end of the 2009-10 season.
The global drinks company began its partnership with the FL in 2004 when they took over from the Nationwide Building Society.
Although he refused to divulge any figures, League chairman Lord Brian Mawhinney says the three-year extension is a significant rise on the initial agreement: “The previous sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola was the largest with which the League has been involved.
“This has now been eclipsed by the new sponsorship deal.”
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—– With the Spireites only a point above the drop zone, League One Chesterfield sack manager Roy McFarland.
The former England centre-back had been in charge at Saltergate for nearly four years.
Chairman Barrie Hubbard paid tribute to the veteran boss: “Roy has helped return respect from the football world and we thank him for that.
“During my long involvement with the club I have made a number of mistakes, but appointing Roy McFarland as manager was not one of them.
“He helped a club recovering from the shenanigans of a previous regime.
Lee Richardson is named caretaker manager for the remaining nine games of the season on his 38th birthday.
—– Tickets for the first match to be played at the new Wembley stadium are sold out within hours.
The 60,000 tickets (priced at £10) for England Under-21s match against Italy on 24 March go on sale at 3pm and they have all gone by the end of the day.
Demand is so great that the Football Association’s web site crashes.
The match is a test event that, all being well, will allow a safety certificate to be issued to enable the rebuilt stadium to stage the FA Cup Final on 19 May before a capacity crowd of 90,000.
Next week’s game will establish a new record attendance for an England Under-21 game.
The current high is 34,494 for the game with France at Tottenham Hotspur on 11 November 2005.
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