Mike Newton, a New York-based trader, has left his position as Oldham FC director for a second time, the club have announced.

Newton made the decision to leave the Latics’ board after holding talks with club chairman Simon Corney.

“Simon wants to restructure the board and I have agreed to stand down. Simon is a deep personal friend and hopefully things will work out for him. I have enjoyed my time at the club and wish them all the best,” he told the club’s official website.

Mr Newton, who put a substantial amount of money into the club, which he has written off as a donation, re-joined the board 12 months ago after initially standing down after the 2009/10 season.

Mr Corney added: “Mike has been instrumental in helping to shape various aspects of the club. Due to his day-to-day commitments and being based in New York, he is not able to get across so often.

“When he has been here, he has provided a useful insight.”

The Professional Footballers’ Association of England and Wales (PFA) has announced the appointment of Digital Sports Group, publisher of www.football.co.uk, as its new Official Digital Media Partner. DSG will work with the PFA to develop and maintain their social media presence and strategy, both for the PFA and also its members across social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

Initially the main focus of the partnership will see DSG design, publish and manage Official PFA Fans’ Player pages via the Facebook Network providing the Official PFA Players’ Profiles and giving information and news for every PFA member. DSG will also have responsibility for the management of the 2012 PFA Fans’ Player of the Month and Year Awards, facilitating the voting for the four divisional awards across both its own network of websites and an array of other media outlets.

Gordon Taylor OBE, Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association of England and Wales and Honorary President of FIFPro said

“With social media now being the accepted “norm” as a way in which the world communicates, the PFA are delighted to announce our official association with DSG (Digital Sports Group) who will be working collectively with the PFA to protect and positively reflect our members both in and to the online world across all social media platforms.

The newly launched Official PFA Fans’ Player pages will bring information on each of our members from all of the leagues with breaking news, profiles, statistics, imagery and of course the PFA Fans’ Player Awards. It is also our intention to highlight our members’ activities with charities and community work which is something that is sometimes all too sadly over-looked in traditional media.

The PFA firmly believes that it is the supporters, without whom we would not have a profession, as well as our players who are the lifeblood of the nation’s best-loved and most watched game and we are looking forward to working with DSG to bring exciting football content about our membership to the social media football fan audiences and followers.”

Simon Boynton, Managing Director of Digital Sports Group added; “DSG is enormously proud to be working alongside the PFA as its Official Digital Media Partner. The players are the heartbeat of our national game and to be central to the fans’ social interaction with them is a great privilege for our business. We believe that our football.co.uk brand is a perfect complement to the English game and will help keep fans across the globe up to date with all the news and information relating to their favourite players. These are very exciting times for our business as we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the PFA”.

Cable Thai Holding (CTH), unhealthy the newly established cable TV operator, anesthetist has won the broadcast rights for English Premier League (EPL) games for the next three seasons (2013-2016).

Wichai Thongtang, the major shareholder in CTH, said the company won the rights for Thailand, Cambodia and Laos but did not reveal how much the company paid.

CTH competed with four other bidders- TrueVisions, GMM Grammy, RS and Channel 7, which joined with Malaysian IT TV operator Cubic Associates Group on its bid.

Wichai said CTH is open to a partnership with other companies and confirmed there will not be a repeat of the “black screen” problem that happened during the Euro 2012.

CTH is a conglomeration of 320 small cable TV providers.

Its major shareholders are Wichai Thongtang, a former lawyer for ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai Rath newspaper, and a group of local cable TV operators.

The small cable TV providers under CTH have a combined customer base of 2.8 million households.{jcomments on}

National Football League (NFL) team, ambulance The Pittsburgh Steelers has terminated the contract of Special Teams Coordinator, ailment Al Everest.

Amos Jones, the Assistant Special Teams Coach Amos Jones will assume all of the special teams responsibility with immediate effect.

Mike Tomlin, Head Coach of the Steelers said: “We are continually evaluating our coaching staff and support staff, and we have decided to go in a different direction with respect to the coaching of our special teams.

“I want to thank Al for his contributions and efforts, and I wish him well in the future.”

Everest joined the team in 2010.

The English Premier League has forwarded a motion to introduce their own Financial Fair Play regulations next season.

The notion was made at a shareholders meeting in London today involving all of the top flight clubs, where it was suggested that regulations on finances would mirror that of European governing body UEFA.

UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules are on the horizon with European football’s governing body wanting to ban clubs operating at a loss, and a number of Premier League teams want to introduce similar guidelines.

The three main proposals which the clubs will vote on are Financial Fair Play, Wage Restraint and Contract Guarantees, and any motion needs 14 of the 20 chairmen to agree to be passed.

“I really think every club in the Premier League has this desire to break even at least,” Wigan chairman Dave Whelan told Sky Sports News.

The Premier League, which is a multi-billion dollar organisation are believed be aiming to introduce this new proposal next season. 

For the notion to pass, 14 clubs out of the league’s 20 will have to approve it.

The new Commercial Director of the Rugby Players’ Association (RPA) has spoken exclusively to iSportconnect about the challenges he faces in his new role.

The RPA announced that Nick Byrom had taken over from Alex Anderson who had departed his role as Commercial Manager earlier in the month.

Speaking to iSportconnect about the challenges he faces, generic Byrom said: “The events and sponsorship marketplace is already quite crowded and in difficult economic times it is really important to make the events and partnership opportunities stand out and offer good value for clients. That is what we will look to achieve.

Byrom’s previous work experience included roles at Wembley Stadium, symptoms IMG Hospitality, Thomas Cook and experience in rugby travel and hospitality.

And the new employee said that his previous roles will come into play at the RPA: “Our Commercial Partnerships are usually a mix of Sponsorship rights and Hospitality opportunities at RPA events. I’ve worked in each of these areas so the key thing is to make this balance work for the client.

“Also the Players are keen to get involved in business opportunities, networking events and charity work and this involvement of the players in the run up to a Rugby World Cup in England in 2015 can create some really interesting commercial opportunities.

On his appointment, Byrom said that he was “delighted to join the RPA,” and that he would work to “introduce some innovative events and opportunities.”

Taking this one step further, Byrom added: “We have the RPA Players’ Lounge at Twickenham on International days, the RPA Rugby Open at Walton Heath and the Computacenter awards dinner each May.

“We will have a bigger range of events for 2013 and also some outstanding networking opportunities for our commercial partners and RPA Business Club members. Watch this space!”

Byrom begins his role at the RPA immediately, after Anderson announced his intentions to leave earlier in the summer. Anderson had been with the RPA since 2000.

To have your say on what challenges Nick faces and the future of the RPA, visit our discussion thread http://bit.ly/OaZd76 

order helvetica, abortion sans-serif;”>There’s only one reason why busy professionals should exhibit at and visit Stadia and Arena 2012 in Bordeaux – because this industry-leading event works at all levels: networking, buy conferences, and, most importantly, profitability.

Exhibitors return year after year. They sign contracts and meet their future customers; delegates at the conferences hear firsthand what is happening worldwide that will affect their own venues; and networking brings operators of venues of all sizes and all events together on a level playing field.

If your company is thinking about exhibiting, here’s what past exhibitors have been saying:

“We have exhibited at Stadia & Arena every year and I am delighted to state we have signed a Seating Contract following our participation at each event,” says Sheldon King of The Box Seat / Arena Seating.

“Cooper Safety exhibited at the 2011 Stadia & Arena event in Marseille; we found the event to be of exceptional quality and the direct business earned by attending superb. We look forward to the Bordeaux exhibition and continued success” – Mari Griffiths, Division Marketing Communications Manager.

“I would like to congratulate you for the good organization of the Stadia and Arena event. We feel we had a successful event and really enjoyed the venue” – Arnaud Buannic, Head of Stadium Sales at Sony

Have a look at the web site (www.sam.org.uk) and hear what the industry leaders, including John Barrow of Populous; John Beattie, President of The European Association of Stadium and Safety Managers (ESSMA); and Henk Markerink, President of the International Association of Venue Managers, Europe (IAVM) say about Stadia & Arena, Bordeaux. These are the people who are the present and future of a worldwide growth industry, with past experience and success that has driven them to the top.

For over a dozen years Stadia and Arena has been the industry’s leading event for sports and entertainment venue operators: it is now recognised as the most prestigious and influential in Europe and it attracts exhibitors, speakers and presenters, and delegates from all five continents.

To book your stand contact Alan Levett (alan@aladltd.co.uk) or Paul Thornhill (paul@aladltd.co.uk); or simply call on +44 (0)1732 459683.

Delegates should book and organise accommodation through Carole Beckhamn (carole@aldlrtd.co.uk).

British Eurosport and ITV4 have been awarded the rights to broadcast the tenth edition of the modern Tour of Britain in the UK.

The British networks will show daily coverage of the 1, order 045km race, which starts in the Scottish Borders town of Peebles on Sunday September 15.

Race organisers, Sweetspot, recently re-awarded the tender for the Tour of Britain by British Cycling, estimated that two million people watched last year’s race from the roadside.

British Eurosport’s managing director, David Kerr, said his network would show each of the eight stages, as part of a 30-strong race package.

“The event continues to grow in stature and there is the promise of another top class field this year,” he said.

The Tour of Britain, which will feature a time trial and a summit finish for the first time this year, takes its place alongside the three Grand Tours in the channel’s coverage.

Both networks will also broadcast a highlights package each evening, in addition to live daily broadcasts.

The highlights show for the Tour of Britain matches the commitment made by both broadcasters to the Tour de France. Its inclusion in ITV4’s schedule continues an unbroken run since 2008.

ITV’s Director of Sport, Niall Sloane said: “Following our extremely popular coverage of this year’s Tour de France, we’re delighted to bring ITV4 viewers live coverage and highlights of this country’s major cycling event with all the key action from The Tour of Britain.”

Some 124 countries broadcasted last year’s race, which was won by Jonathan Tiernan-Locke for the now defunct Endura Racing squad.

Organisers estimate the 2012 Tour of Britain was shown in 288 million homes worldwide, and pledged to reveal details of an increased international distribution of TV rights later this month.

Japanese professional football club, Albirex Niigata has signed emerging apparel company, gol.japan as the kit sponsor of its Singapore League squad.

gol.japan replaces the club’s former apparel provider adidas.

Club chairman, Daisuke Korenaga, said it was fitting that the Japanese club, which also has a team in the Japanese professional league, also supports Japanese brands.

“We want Singaporeans to see us produce brands from Japan for them to know better and support,” Korenaga said.

The sponsorship is part of the company’s international expansion that will see it distribute to Singapore in November and then to the rest of Southeast Asia, including countries like Thailand and the Philippines.{jcomments on}