ESPN Soccernet is a website that provides comprehensive coverage of world football (soccer)

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

. Complete football information includes scores, statistics, and features of worldwide football.

History

The website was established by father and sld in 1995, initially providing live score updates, tables and news articles. Greg at that time worked for the Daily Mail and in order to gain capital effectively rescinded ownership of the site to his bosses in return for £40,000 and a revenue sharing scheme.

In 1999, Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG) acquired a controlling interest of 60 per cent in Soccernet from the Daily Mail and General Trust

Daily Mail and General Trust

Daily Mail and General Trust plc is a British media conglomerate, one of the largest in Europe. In the UK, it has interests in national and regional newspapers, television and radio. The company has extensive activities based outside the UK, through Northcliffe Media, DMG Radio Australia, DMG World...

 for £15m. It has since put additional features such as providing breaking news, match results, statistics and analysis for not only the leagues in England

FA Premier League

The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...

 and Scotland

Scottish Premier League

The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...

 but also for the rest of Europe, Latin America and other parts of the world. It is the world's most popular football site with more than 100 million page views per month.

ESPNSoccernet.com enjoyed record success in 2006, with more than 30 percent growth in unique users. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup

2006 FIFA World Cup

The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

, the site averaged more than 9.5 million page views per day, peaking with more than 14 million page views on June 22, a new record for daily traffic to the site.

ESPN Soccernet Sportscenter is a daily show that wraps up action in the soccer world for the day. The show can be watched on Soccernet's video player in the top right corner of the site, Soccernet Sportscenter also features on ESPN International's English speaking stations during commercial breaks as well as a similar Sportcenter dedicated to cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 in CricInfo Sportscenter. Soccernet and CricInfo Sportscenter is produced by ESPN International in Bristol

Bristol, Connecticut

Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States southwest of Hartford. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 61,353. Bristol is primarily known as the home of ESPN, whose central studios are in the city. Bristol is also home to...

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, USA.

Key features

Some of Soccernet's key features are a premium fantasy game and a twice weekly podcast hosted by Dan Mason and Jonathan Harris-Bass, as well as video content and features. For the first time ever ESPNSoccernet.com (in the US and Australia) is offering live coverage of all 125 UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 matches via online pay-per-view

Pay-per-view

Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...

, with each match available for $9.95 per match.
Also, the website has numerous columns and forums which try to explain to the public some opinions about different issues in football, as well as giving some analysis on teams.

Regular contributors

Some regular contributors to Soccernet include: Phil Ball

Phil Ball

Phil Ball is a British writer based in Spain. He has lived in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain, for almost twenty years. Born in Canada to English parents, Ball grew up in Grimsby on the north east coast of England, having moved there as a child in 1957. As a youngster Ball supported Grimsby Town,...

, Derek Rae

Derek Rae

Derek Rae is a Scottish football announcer for ESPN, working as a sports commentator for its coverage of the UEFA Champions League and Scottish Premier League. He is also the host of ESPNsoccernet's PressPass.- Career :...

, Tommy Smyth

Tommy Smyth

Thomas Michael "Tommy" Smyth is one of the most recognized soccer commentators in the United States. He is a color commentator for ESPN, which he joined in February 1993 as a football analyst. He provides co-commentary or in-studio analysis for major soccer events...

, Shaka Hislop

Shaka Hislop

Neil Shaka Hislop, CM is a former professional football goalkeeper. The majority of his career was spent in the top division in England where he was a part of the Newcastle United team which finished second in the Premier League for two successive seasons under Kevin Keegan's first tenure...

, Robbie Mustoe

Robbie Mustoe

Robin "Robbie" Mustoe is a retired English footballer who now works as a commentator for ESPN. He made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League, playing as a midfielder for Oxford United, Middlesbrough, where he spent the majority of his career, Charlton Athletic and...

, Frank Leboeuf

Frank Leboeuf

Franck Alain James Leboeuf or Lebœuf is a former French international footballer who played as a defender...

, Gabriele Marcotti

Gabriele Marcotti

Gabriele Marcotti is an England-based Italian sports journalist, sports author, and radio-television presenter.Born in Italy and now based in London, he was raised in Chicago, Poland, Germany, New York and Japan...

, Janusz Michallik

Janusz Michallik

Janusz Michallik is a retired Polish-American football defender and current soccer coach and television sports commentator.-Youth:...

, Roberto Gotta, Ernst Bouwes, Dale Johnson, Dom Raynor, John Brewin, Jon Carter, Kevin Palmer, Norman Hubbard, Uli Hesse, Richard Jolly, Alice Munro, Jen Chang, Eduardo Alvarez, Ben Smith, Andy Brassell, Andy Moir, Nick Bidwell,
Kevin Palmer, Robin Hackett, James Dall, Mark Lomas.

External links

• Soccer Times an associate of ESPN
  ESPN
  Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
  
  
• Buena Vista Acquires, Relaunches Soccernet