Sparky’s Column

“One million dirhams, that’s right ONE Million dirhams”

"One million dirhams, that's right ONE Million dirhams" was the cry coming out of my radio. That was the half time prize money on offer at Al Jazira's home match last weekend to somebody who could hit a target with a football. The five chosen out of the crowd all failed one after the other and the money still lies in a vault somewhere. The amazing thing is that nobody decided to wear football boots to the match! If there was even a slight chance I could be chosen to win that amount of cash I would have spent the entire week practicing at the park and made sure that a full football kit was my attire for the evening. I heard that the failed participants wore a mixture of sandals, slip-ons and heels. Take heed for next time - be prepared!

That particular match last weekend between Al Jazira and Al Wasl was the first Etisalat Pro-League game to carry English commentary, with Brian Murgatroyd in the hot-seat. He is the voice of football in the UAE and I think it's important we get to know the man behind the mic.

Name: Brian Murgatroyd.

Nationality: Welsh

Favourite football team: The once mighty Leeds United

Biggest game commentated on: That would have to be Brazil v Iran a few weeks ago in Abu Dhabi. A huge honour to commentate on the four-time World Champions, even though it was a friendly.

Give us one nugget of information from the first game: Even though Al Jazira won, they conceded a league goal at home for the first time this season. Still, that's only four conceded in seven games which hardly suggests major problems at the back.

Players that stood out in the Al Jazira v Al Wasl game: Al Wasl's star man Yeste was well-policed by the Al Jazira defense but I loved Oliveira's non-stop energy and passion out there and his work in setting up Al Wasl's goal was scant reward for a performance full of heart and running all night. Ibrahim Diaky was all over the pitch for Al Jazira, was a real handful and was clearly the man of the match, not least for his two goals, and Subait Khater was full of running before cramp cut him down after an hour.  

Your overall view of the Etisalat Pro-League: If you look at the way Dubai and Kalba are adrift at the foot of the table, even at this stage of the season, there's obviously a significant gap between the top sides and the ones near the foot of the League but then you could argue that's the case in most top leagues around the world. The good news is that the marketing and promotion of the League is heading in the right direction and with players like Cannavaro here now then the profile and support for it will only grow. Al Jazira's exercise in offering AED one million last Friday was superb and helped create a fantastic atmosphere. Hopefully the fans at the ground and watching on TV enjoyed that and will want more, and with coverage now in English the chance is there to open the League up to a whole new audience.

Player you would most like to see and commentate on in the Pro-League: Tough call as it would be between Rooney, Ronaldo and Messi. Any one of them would draw huge crowds and their skills and work-rate would be a joy to see.

 Team you predict will win the title: It's tough to look past Al Jazira at the moment but there's a long way to go in the season and given they've never won the title, that may well start to play on the minds of players and fans as the finish line draws closer.