1. Log in now to remove adverts - no adverts at all to registered members!

Non QPR football thread

Discussion in 'Queens Park Rangers' started by Sooperhoop, Feb 2, 2021.

  1. Uber_Hoop

    Uber_Hoop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2011
    Messages:
    17,850
    Likes Received:
    26,917
  2. sb_73

    sb_73 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2012
    Messages:
    29,195
    Likes Received:
    26,549
    The full consequences of a Coventry v Luton play off final are beginning to sink in for me. WHAT THE ****?!? I mean WHAT THE ****ING ****?!?!??One of these basket cases gets a season in the Prem? ****ING HELL THIS IS INSANE. Haaland at Kenilworth Road. **** OFF! Blackburn, Boro, West Brom, Norwich, Watford….should be ashamed of themselves.


    Anyway come on Cov. 37k of their fans going, apparently. How many did we take? About 8 million as far as I can remember, the same number who were there in ‘66 for the World Cup, saw the Pistols play live and were at the 81 Headingley Test.
     
    #722
    Stroller and Steelmonkey like this.
  3. LandOfHoopsAndGlory

    LandOfHoopsAndGlory Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2022
    Messages:
    1,703
    Likes Received:
    1,507
    Reminds me of that fat bastard that played for Narwich a few seasons ago. What's his name?
     
    #723
  4. Uber_Hoop

    Uber_Hoop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2011
    Messages:
    17,850
    Likes Received:
    26,917
    Heath Ledger.



















    (Grant Holt)
     
    #724
  5. Uber_Hoop

    Uber_Hoop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2011
    Messages:
    17,850
    Likes Received:
    26,917
  6. Ranger4ever

    Ranger4ever Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 16, 2011
    Messages:
    2,774
    Likes Received:
    2,240
    Reading Women's join their male counterparts in getting relegated :1980_boogie_down:
     
    #726
    Didley Squat and Uber_Hoop like this.
  7. Uber_Hoop

    Uber_Hoop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2011
    Messages:
    17,850
    Likes Received:
    26,917
    Hats off to the Royals for leading the way in delivering similar goals for both their men’s and women’s teams.
     
    #727
  8. Uber_Hoop

    Uber_Hoop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2011
    Messages:
    17,850
    Likes Received:
    26,917
  9. kiwiqpr

    kiwiqpr Barnsie Mod

    Joined:
    May 11, 2011
    Messages:
    110,219
    Likes Received:
    214,686
    please log in to view this image
     
    #729
  10. sb_73

    sb_73 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2012
    Messages:
    29,195
    Likes Received:
    26,549
    Chelsea appoint Pochettino, a man who couldn’t win the French league as boss of PSG, as coach.

    To be fair he was Spurs’ best coach for ages. He won nothing for them of course.

    Brilliant.
     
    #730
    kiwiqpr and Uber_Hoop like this.

  11. kiwiqpr

    kiwiqpr Barnsie Mod

    Joined:
    May 11, 2011
    Messages:
    110,219
    Likes Received:
    214,686
    keep your head down steelsy+
    11 years for fraud
    yet only five for kiddy porn


    TV fraud gang jailed for illegally streaming Premier League games
    • Published
      10 minutes ago
    Share
    please log in to view this image
    IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS - CARL RECINE
    Image caption,
    As Manchester City lifted the trophy, five men were awaiting sentencing for illegally streaming Premier League matches
    By Tom Symonds and Tom Grundy
    BBC News

    Five men who illegally streamed Premier League football matches to tens of thousands of people have been jailed.

    The gang sold cut-price £10-a-month subscriptions, bragging they made money showing games not otherwise available to watch live in the UK because of "blackout" broadcasting rules.

    Their operation, described as the biggest so far, received more than £7m from 50,000 subscribers.

    The sentencing follows a rare private prosecution by the Premier League.


    The fraud prosecution was brought to protect "some of the world's most valuable content", the league's lawyers said.

    It followed a lengthy trading-standards investigation led by Hammersmith and Fulham Council.


    And the personal details of many of those who paid for Flawless TV are now in the hands of investigators, raising the question of what action might be taken against them.

    please log in to view this image
    IMAGE SOURCE,PREMIER LEAGUE
    Image caption,
    Bodycam images show Mark Gould on his sofa as investigators searched his south London flat
    At Derby Crown Court, the gang's "prime mover", Mark Gould, 36, was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

    Four other members were sentenced to between three and more than five years.

    One of them, Christopher Felvus, 36, was also found guilty of voyeurism and possessing indecent images of children, discovered on his computer.


    Trading-standards investigator Doug Love led a raid on Gould's smart riverside flat in Greenwich, south London.

    "I don't think any of us realised how big it was," Mr Love tells BBC News.


    please log in to view this image
    IMAGE SOURCE,PREMIER LEAGUE
    Image caption,
    Investigators found dozens of linked set-top boxes at the flat
    "When we went into the spare bedroom, there were 20 or 30 set-top boxes linked together."

    The gang took feeds from broadcasters in the UK, Qatar, the US, Australia and Canada and streamed them a few seconds later via the Flawless service.

    The operation developed apps offering Premier League matches and other content, which ran on phones and smart TVs.

    Users picked what they wanted to watch from a fully-functional on-screen programme guide.

    The gang made £7.2m between 2016 and 2021, according to the league. Gould personally made more than £1.7m.

    Direct subscribers paid £10 a month to watch every Premier League game, compared with about £80 a month for legal services from Sky, BT Sport and Amazon Prime.


    '3pm kick-off'
    The case has highlighted a demand for illegal streaming, created by the unavailability of many football matches on TV.

    Uefa allows the Premier League to prevent broadcasts of UK matches between 14:45 and 17:15 on Saturdays.

    The "blackout", in place for decades, is to encourage fans to attend matches, at all levels of football, rather than watch on TV.

    But Flawless offered subscribers "3pm kick-off" Premier League games, otherwise broadcast only abroad.

    please log in to view this image
    IMAGE SOURCE,TBC
    Image caption,
    The Flawless on-screen menu, showing matches available
    The gang had exchanged messages saying the "blackout" was "good for business", accounting for 80% of subscribers, prosecutor David Groome told the court.

    Research from the Intellectual Property Office estimates nearly four million people in the UK used an illegal source to watch live sport last year.

    Some pubs and bars also use illegal streams to show unavailable matches, or to avoid the cost of official services, which can be more than £20,000 a year for commercial premises.

    Fans point out while most games are not televised in the UK, they are all shown live overseas.

    "The Premier League is on our doorstep and yet we have the least amount of access to that football," YouTuber Daniel Bradley, also known as FPL Mate, says.

    "I would pay more for more - but I don't have that option."

    please log in to view this image

    Image caption,
    Daniel Bradley on YouTube
    When the investigators raided the homes of gang members, they seized computer equipment and documents detailing the operation of Flawless.

    As a result, they now have payment information for thousands of those who subscribed to the service.

    The Premier League pays the Federation Against Copyright Theft to investigate and enforce its copyright over football content.

    Fact visits those identified as using illegal football streaming, warning them they are potentially breaking the law, as well as issuing "cease and desist" letters to those running streams.

    But it seems highly unlikely fans will face legal action.

    One of the barristers who worked on the Flawless case, Ari Alibhai, said, in an online seminar, in 2021: "In practice, the idea of someone being prosecuted who isn't also concerned in the trade, so they aren't also concerned in supplying illicit television services, is minimal."

    Steal money
    But fans thinking of subscribing to illegal streams could be setting themselves up for another headache.

    "You get sports and you are getting a cheap price," Mr Love says. "But you're committing an offence and putting yourself in danger.

    "You are contributing to organised crime who won't be paying taxes and can make a quick buck by selling your details on."

    These could be used to steal money or hack computers. The streaming sites themselves are also riddled with malware and pornography.

    Big business
    Prosecutors in the Flawless case described the lengths to which gangs would go to avoid detection, in a cat-and-mouse game between broadcasters and illegal streamers.

    Sky adds a code on screen during its broadcasts, which acts as a watermark, so it can determine which legitimate accounts are being used for offering illegal streaming.

    But the Flawless gang developed software to blur the watermark - and so Sky randomised its on-screen position to prevent that.

    Covert "test purchases" and subscriptions are also used in the fight against copyright theft, helping the Premier League take down 590,000 streams in 2021.

    But it remains big business - and when Flawless was shut down, other services were quick to take over, amid complaints from users online.

    The investigation into the gang continues, with the aim of seizing the illegal money they made.

    'Financial contribution'
    The Premier League's legal team say they will now pursue other illegal streaming operators.

    "The Premier League's substantial financial contribution to the entire football pyramid is made possible through the ability to sell our broadcast rights," the league's general counsel, Kevin Plumb, said.

    "We are pleased that through rulings such as this, the courts continue to show that they recognise the importance of safeguarding the Premier League's rights.

    "We will continue to protect our rights and our fans by investigating and prosecuting illegal operators at all levels."
     
    #731
    Uber_Hoop likes this.
  12. Uber_Hoop

    Uber_Hoop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2011
    Messages:
    17,850
    Likes Received:
    26,917
  13. kiwiqpr

    kiwiqpr Barnsie Mod

    Joined:
    May 11, 2011
    Messages:
    110,219
    Likes Received:
    214,686
    Sounds fair
    He owns it
     
    #733
    Uber_Hoop likes this.
  14. Uber_Hoop

    Uber_Hoop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2011
    Messages:
    17,850
    Likes Received:
    26,917


    Surprised it didn’t catch on.
     
    #734
    Hammersmith bookie and kiwiqpr like this.
  15. Sooperhoop

    Sooperhoop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2011
    Messages:
    34,790
    Likes Received:
    26,869
    This appeared on a house opposite the Holmesdale Road stand at Palace a couple of days ago, luckily I live in the next road along so it's just out of view. Who would be a candidate for a QPR hero mural? Certainly none of the current crop...

     
    #735
  16. sb_73

    sb_73 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2012
    Messages:
    29,195
    Likes Received:
    26,549
    He had his top six move, to United, and it was a disaster.
     
    #736
  17. Uber_Hoop

    Uber_Hoop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2011
    Messages:
    17,850
    Likes Received:
    26,917
  18. Uber_Hoop

    Uber_Hoop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2011
    Messages:
    17,850
    Likes Received:
    26,917
  19. Uber_Hoop

    Uber_Hoop Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2011
    Messages:
    17,850
    Likes Received:
    26,917
     
    #739
    kiwiqpr likes this.
  20. Didley Squat

    Didley Squat Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2012
    Messages:
    24,725
    Likes Received:
    59,033
    Sheer fcukin luxury, l say!
    He's got more front than a road train.................. and a head like a smack A-hole!
     
    #740
    Uber_Hoop likes this.

Share This Page