Sparky’s Column

The English League of Choice

 

We are reaching the hottest part of the year here in the UAE and the transfer market is matching the temperatures outside.  Al Wahda seem to be the one the first to have things in place for the new season. They have one player to bring in to complete the quartet of overseas signings. Across the capital Brazilian striker Bare could well be looking for a new club as it looks his time at Al Jazira is coming to an end. He would be an excellent signing for any team in the Pro League. He is a proven goal scorer who has won titles at Al Ahli and Jazira. He is also settled in the UAE so any club that signs him would not have to worry about the player settling in the UAE.

 

We all know the Pro League is making the push towards the expat community. This column and an English website are a case in point. They are directly aimed at bringing in English speaking fans to the matches. How does the League compare to others around the region when it comes to being expat friendly?

 

I decided my not entirely scientific test would look at online presence, TV  and Press Coverage. The first test has to be the first port of call for everyone in the 21st century looking for information is the website. The Pro League has the best site in the region, the only site that is comparable is the Q Stars League in Qatar. They have a similar level of up to date information and they are regularly updated with the latest news. Oman have a website that is available in English whereas Saudi, Kuwait and Saudi only have official Arabic versions. The next test is the availability of English TV commentary; the UAE is the only country that has this option. Qatar has a small section of the World Football Show that rounds up the Q Stars League but full English Commentary is not available.  I went for a simple Google news search next. The keywords were the name of the country and the football. We are looking for English articles featuring the clubs from the league of that country. The UAE wins hands down on this test with articles in Sport 360, Khaleej Times, Gulf Today and Gulf News. The coverage in Sports 360 in particular is impressive with at least a page everyday dedicated to the league and often local football stories taking the lead. The Olympics mean that the clubs names crop up in a lot of articles about the games in the UK press which shows the reach of the game here.

 

The strides forward have been huge for the league since it became professional. The game the UAE plays against Great Britain in the Olympics will be another chance to raise the profile of the game in the country amongst the British expats. The countries league is well placed amongst the best in the region if not Asia as they push to tap the huge expat market.