By Dave Green
As soon as you enter the newly repainted Islington Boxing Club on Hazellville Road, you are greeted by a soundtrack that feels oddly familiar: skipping ropes flicking, bags being pounded and pain being endured.
That, and the smell of sweat and hard graft.
The odour has had a good 25 years to settle into the mats, during which time boxing luminaries such as Commonwealth gold medallist Courtney Fry, WBU titleholder Colin Dunne and Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison have graced the club’s floors.
Yet, as the cliché goes, you’re only as good as you’re last fight, and they have all had theirs, whatever the noises emanating from the Harrison camp about a proposed comeback.
Garv Krasniqi is the future, and the board that sits next to the gym’s practice ring suggests that at 16 years old he is “ready” to fight.
On April 1st at Bethnal Green’s York Hall arena, Krasniqi will fight in the ABA London Championships, with an eye on progressing to the national finals if he wins both his quarter and semi-final.
Krasniqi trains every day, three nights, a week at the Islington club, and Tuesday evenings at the Angel Amateur Boxing Club, with the other days filled with running and gym work.
He does all this while attending La Swap Sixth Form College.
Asked when he gets time to do the normal things people of his age do, Krasniqi smiles wryly – “I guess in the afternoons I have time to watch films, listen to music and play football, but most of my free time I spend here.”
It’s obvious that his coach, Paul McMahon, has instilled the right ethos of discipline and ambition in the youngman’s mind. Watching Krasniqi train is like watching a big cat on the hunt, he moves from bag-to-bag with a grace and power remarkable for one so young, and his eyes retain a palpable hunger as he works his routine.
“I started boxing to get fit but then moved onto contact. Boxing is good for your self-respect and for learning to respect your elders and other people. I’m one of the youngest here, the others are a bit older, 18-20, but the age goes up to 30.”
Oner Avara, the 34-year-old coordinator of the club, says “He’s got a good chance of progressing. From our experience, when you look into their eyes you can more or less tell straight away if they will box, if they will keep coming and the effort they will make when training.”
Krasniqi has been training with Avara for two years and it’s a long process to get someone newly through the door into the ring and boxing competitively.
“We start them out running and then do a bit more pad work before moving onto sparring. Once they do the sparring that’s when they realise whether they will box or not,” says Avara.
Now the club has three amateurs it considers ready to get in the ring out of a roster of 31 seniors: Krasniqi, Reece Shagourie and Carlos Moreno, all youngsters based in the area around the club.
Krasniqi says “Islington is a good club. It’s got good coaches who are friendly and do a good job of training you hard.”
Even though Krasniqi will be the only one actually boxing on April 1st, Avara is insistent that the rest of the club will be at York Hall to support him.
“These guys have been working hard for this and of course all the other kids will go down to support. It encourages others to compete when they see their mate doing so well and getting so much attention.”
Yet boxing is about more than being the best and keeping fit. Avara stresses the other aspects of the sport. “In terms of self-discipline, this is the best sport I have ever seen. Because you don’t want to get hurt you don’t need anyone to tell you to go training, you don’t want to lose. Life is full of competition and this is a smaller scale competition that will help you prepare for the rest of your life, when you go outside you know how to compete with other people and not lose your self-control.”
Krasniqi will see how much self-control he can retain when he steps in the ring on April 1st.
Wednesday 21 March 2007
Skipping Ropes, sweat and hard graft
Tuesday 20 March 2007
First footage of Arsenal?
By Kevin Widdop
It would make Arsene Wenger blush. Footage of the oldest recorded film of football is an insight into back-to-basics training routines, stationary defenders and vacant looks.
The 18-second video on the free sharing website, YouTube, sees a familiar phalanx of red-and-white-clad players bunched together in the box defending a corner. It is thought to be Arsenal training in 1887 at their first ground, Plumstead. It is played to the background of a cacophony of stuttering sound of film production.
There is also an empty, rundown stand, which is fenced in by wood and a peppering of supporters behind the goal. The penalty area is still in its infancy and has yet to become a 12-yard box. There is no sign of billboards or advertising which became mainstays of grounds shortly after they were opened.
But opinion remains divided. Some say it is a training session, others a match – and there are doubts about whether it is actually Arsenal. One thing however remains abundantly clear: the haphazard, disorientated shape of the team would make any manager squirm.
Last-minute Everton strike outguns Arsenal
By Kevin Widdop
Everton 1 – 0 Arsenal
Goodison Park
It comes in threes. Arsenal’s cup defeats of late turned to domestic gloom on Sunday as they conceded a third late goal in a month which compounds the Gunners’ disappointing season.
As violent hail lashed down onto the Merseyside turf, a late scramble led to Andy Johnson’s half volley which arrowed past Jens Lehman before the England striker took ecstatically to the stands to celebrate a goal that takes David Moyes’ side up to sixth in the Premiership.
It was a tight game that drew the best and worst from Arsene Wenger’s young side. They passed with precision at times, but gave the ball away all too easily and lacked the attacking punch to see off an Everton side with Europe on their minds. It is difficult to see how Arsenal can threaten the top two next season if they do not bring in new blood to add to the injured Henry’s killer instinct.
It is not enough for Arsenal to counter that they aspire to play total football if they continue to switch off at the last, slipping crucial goals which sees them battling for third place and a season which is descending into mediocrity while others chase trophies. Julia Baptista, Abou Diaby and Jérémie Aliadière all went close, but it was Everton who looked the more threatening.
Lee Carlsey bossed the midfield and Manuel Fernandes partnered him brilliantly, shutting out the sprightly Fabregas, who usually orchestrates the centre so well. But not here. Both Carsley and Leon Osman rattled the woodwork and there was always a sense that the Gunners were trying to wriggle off the demons of their wretched cup defeats. They never looked like doing so.
With England coach Steve McClaren watching in the stands, it was fitting that it should be Johnson who netted his twelfth of the season before he deservedly starts the game in this weekend’s trip to Tel Aviv.
Thursday 15 March 2007
Young Guns take step towards FA Cup Final
THE Arsenal under-18 side beat Manchester United 1-0 in a FA Youth Cup semi-final first leg at the Emirates.
In front of a crowd of 38,187 – a record for the competition and almost the same number of fans as at Villa Park – Steve Bould’s youngsters got the better of their rivals thanks to a sublime second-half strike by midfielder Kieran Gibbs. The Lambeth-born 17-year-old latched on to left-back Armand Traore’s clever pass 14 minutes after the break to unleash an unstoppable drive past United keeper Ben Amos and into the top-left hand corner. It was the first time the resolute United rearguard had been breached in this year’s competition and means the Gunners only need a draw in the return leg at Old Trafford in three weeks time to book their place in their first final in six years, against Liverpool or Newcastle. Traore, ever-present for the first team in their Carling Cup run this season, was the most experienced player for an exciting Arsenal team that also featured the talented Spaniard Fran Merida and livewire hitman Jay Simpson, author of the first ever Emirates hat-trick in the quarter-final win over Cardiff. But it was the visitors who had the best chances of the first half with Sam Hewston and Febian Brandy both proving a handful for central defenders Paul Rogers and Gavin Hoyte, brother of Arsenal first-teamer Justin. Twice the home side relied on clinical blocks from Rogers who, once he sorts out his wayward distribution and on-the-ball contribution, could prove a hit with the first team. Arsenal’s first chance before the interval came when Gibbs’ fifteenth minute header zipped past the left upright following a corner. Minutes later Simpson gathered the ball on the edge of the box with his chest, turned and smashed a fierce drive over the bar with Amos sprawling. Otherwise, the home side, for all their intricate passing and fluid movement, looked technically brilliant without really testing their opponents, much like the club’s first team in so many games this season. After the break, however, the young Guns attacked with vim and vigour. The breakthrough almost came on 55 minutes after Dutch playmaker Nacer Barazite burst into the box and rifled his rising shot into the side netting. The decisive moment came soon after when Gibbs hit home emphatically to give the expectant crowd something to cheer about. Buoyed by breaking down United’s traditionally water-tight defence, Arsenal began to dictate the game. In the 67th minute, England Under-17 international Rhys Murphy, on as a substitute, found space on the edge of the box only to see his curling effort cannon off the crossbar with Amos well beaten. It was the most memorable of a series of Arsenal attacks which came from all directions. At the other end, sliding interventions from both Simpson and Hoyte kept United at bay, although the visitors could have drawn level in the dying moments of the game when Danny Welbeck’s freekick was expertly palmed away by the hitherto untested Lee Butcher. With the youthful crowd whistling, throwing chips and engaging in lengthy Mexican waves, the referee finally blew his whistle amid a raucous crescendo of noise. If only Arsenal’s first team could elicit such a reception at all of their home games. Post-match entertainment came from a group of teenage spectators who managed to leap-frog the hoardings and invade the pitch. After much hi-jinx and sliding around, they were rounded up by the stewards and escorted from the pitch.
Korfballers upbeat despite second place
HIGHBURY Korfball Club’s hopes of gaining promotion to the National Division One were dashed on Sunday after losing to rivals, the West London Wildcats.
Highbury needed four straight wins, including two against the Wildcats, in their remaining fixtures for a chance of topping the London Premier Division.
But despite putting on a spirited display, the side went down 23-11 at a neutral venue in Tooting in what was called the season’s most exciting match so far.
Club manager Sam Larkham said: “That was one of the best games I’ve played in. We were really up for it because we knew that we did not have much to lose. The odds were in the Wildcats’ favour and, to be honest, we had already given up hopes of promotion.
“The game was extremely competitive, full of testosterone and played at a very high level. The Wildcats’ coach, Steve Barker, a Korfballing guru, told us after the game how nice it was to finally face proper opponents. It was a great compliment for Highbury KC.”
Korfball is a mixed-gender, non-contact team sport similar to basketball and netball.
Islington’s only Korfball team are now ten points behind the Wildcats, and despite two games in hand, there is no hope of catching up.
The Wildcats will take on another regional team in a play-off for the chance to play in the National Division One next year.
Finishing second in their league just one year after being promoted to the London First Division shows significant progress for Highbury KC and Larkham is now confident that the team, which boasts several international players, will build be able to follow in the Wildcats’ footsteps.
He said: “Our object next season will be to win the league and gain promotion. This is very realistic given our performances in relation to the other teams in our league this year. Korfball has exploded here and it bodes well for the future.”
“We’re just a little way away from being great”
In an EXCLUSIVE interview, Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman talks to Felix Lowe about the promise behind a season without silverware
TOP brass at Arsenal are happy. Despite crashing out of all competitions this season, the promise of the young Gunners in the squad is encouraging.
Managing director, Keith Edelman, admitted that the club was “disappointed” by recent results, but insisted there was good reason to be upbeat about the future.
He said: “You have got to look at the positives along with the negatives. On one hand, we have been knocked out of three competitions and there will be no silverware this season, but on the other, we have a very young squad and we play outstanding football.
“Many clubs would be envious of our position. Of course, [this season] is disappointing because we have been used to such high standards in recent years, but if you look at the world football stage, we’re very successful.”
His words come after a difficult fortnight that saw the club, currently fourth in the Premiership, lose the Carling Cup final against Chelsea, and suffer FA Cup and Champions League exits at the hands of Blackburn Rovers and PSV Eindhoven.
With many young players breaking into the first team this season, however, the foundations for forthcoming success seem firmly laid.
The likes of Theo Walcott, 17, Denilson, 19, Justin Hoyte, 22, Abou Diaby, 20, and Johan Djourou, 20, have broken into the first team this term, alongside the comparatively seasoned players Cesc Fabregas, 19, Emmanuel Eboue, 23, Emmanuel Adebayor, 21, Gael Clichy, 21, and Robin van Persie, 22.
It was a largely second-string line-up, with an average outfield age of 21, which narrowly lost to a full-strength Chelsea side in the memorable Carling Cup final in Cardiff after defeating Premiership opposition in three previous rounds.
Mr Edelman labelled the blossoming North London squad as “the most talented group of young players in any club in the world at the moment.”
With reference to last May’s Champions League final defeat to Barcelona, he added: “The young players might have not had the experience, but many of them have already played in a European Cup final. They can only get better and learn more. We play very attractive football, which has increased our fan base all over the world and has improved our reputation as a football club.”
Arsenal’s lack of clinical finishing and shaky defence have been the main criticisms from the last two trophyless seasons.
But Mr Edelman defended the club’s attacking style of play, stressing that the team, caught short at times, are on the verge of greatness.
He said: “We have a distinct style of play and we’re going to play that way. It’s very exciting to watch, it’s how the game should be played. The problem is that young players do make mistakes, and that obviously hurts you at this level. We’re still a little bit away from it working every week, but not far. We’re just a little bit away from being great.”
Denying tabloid rumours of an Emirates transfer “war-chest”, Edelman nevertheless confirmed that manager Arsene Wenger will be supplied with ample funds for team building in the summer, despite the premature exit from Europe.
He also stressed the importance of Thierry Henry’s fitness. The talismanic captain has suffered a string of injuries and was recently ruled out for the rest of the campaign.
“His absence has had a negative impact on both him and the club, but I’m sure after a break he will come back refreshed and renewed. He will be as important next season as in previous seasons.”
In an apparent attack against Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool, who have all undergone lucrative takeovers from foreign investors, Edelman praised his club’s rich traditions.
He said: “We take pride in being a British club owned by British people. We are a very big club, a world club, with a huge reputation to keep up. We have been honourable and honest for years and the objective is to remain so.”
Scheme kickz Islington into shape
A NORTH Islington Park has become the headquarters of a new national community football project.
Supported by Arsenal FC, Kickz, for boys and girls aged 10 to 18, aims to create safer, stronger, more respectful communities through the development of youth potential.
The project is a three-way scheme involving Arsenal, the Met Police and Islington Council. The Gunners are one of 25 Premierships clubs across the country involved in Kickz.
Qualified Arsenal coaches provide football training four nights a week in Elthorne Park, which is undergoing intensive regeneration.
Sgt Paul Colwill, heading the Met’s involvement in Islington, thanked Arsenal for their contribution and the regeneration of the area.
He said: “Besides the money and the coaching staff, as important as anything is the brand of Arsenal. The club has been instrumental in the success of Kickz at Elthorne Park.”
Money raised from Dennis Bergkamp’s testimonial match in July last year will fund the construction of a new Astroturf surface on the site. Scheduled to open in May, it will be called the Cruyff Pitch after Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff.
In a statement, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said: “Arsenal is delighted to be involved in this exciting project. By bringing together young people in this way it allows our community coaches to get to know the players and help them in a wide range of areas as well as football.”