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Leisure Opportunities is published fortnightly by Te Leisure Media Company Limited, Portmill House, Portmill Lane, Hitchin, Herts SG5 1DJ, UK and is distributed in the USA by SPP, 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid @ Manchester, PA POSTMASTER Send US address changes to Leisure Opportunities, c/o PO Box 437,Emigsville, PA 17318-0437. Te views expressed in print are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the publisher Te Leisure Media Company Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recorded or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright holder. Printed by Warners Midland plc. ©Te Leisure Media Company Limited 2014 ISSN 0952/8210


2


SPORT Sheffield Wednesday seals takeover


Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is under new management after Azerbaijani businessman Hafiz Mammadov com- pleted his takeover of the English Championship club in the middle of June. Mammadov, also owner


of Azerbaijani side FC Baku and French top-flight club Lens, takes over from for- mer Owls owner Milan Mandaric, who will stay on at the club serving as chair. “I am immensely pleased


and proud to have agreed a deal to buy this wonderful club,” said Mammadov. “I am hugely ambitious and feel the Owls


ing extremely hard to bring the success that everyone here at the club so rightly craves.” Sheffield Wednesday finished 16th place in


English football’s second-tier following promo- tion from League One in the 2012/2013 season. Former Portsmouth and Leicester owner Mandaric, who took over in December 2010,


Mammadov is expected to invest heavily as part of a promotion push


match my passion and desire for success. “I promise the supporters that I will be work


had been openly looking for a buyer for the club, but always insisted he would only sell to a potential owner who he could be sure would be able to make further investment in the team. Te deal is still subject to ratification by


the English Football League and during that process Mammadov will become involved in the operation of the club, to “ensure the best possible preparation for the new season.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=C3f8b


English sport participation higher than ever


More people in England are playing sport regularly than ever before, according to new figures from Sport England. Results from the organisa-


tion’s Active People Survey, which covers April 2013- April 2014, show the number of over-16s playing sport once a week, every week has grown to more than 15.6 million. The rise measures an


increase of 180,000 in the last six months, while also high- lighting that 1.7 million more people play sport once a week, every week, than they did in 2005 when London won the Olympic bid. Te largest increases have come from young


More than 15.6 million people over the age of 16 now play sport regularly


people, with a record 3.9 million 16-25 year- olds now playing sport on a regular basis. Te findings show positive signs of recovery given that participation for this age group had dipped as recently as December 2013. The most prominent sports driving the


increase include football, netball and rugby union, with girls within the 16-25 age group


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital


showing a particular interest, helping con- tribute to an increase of 85,000 in numbers between this April and the last. “Tese figures are really encouraging, with


more people than ever before now playing sport regularly,” said Sport England chief executive Jennie Price. She added the body would now focus on closing the wide partici- pation gap that remains between young men and women. http://lei.sr?a=q3A6S


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2014


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