Liverpool scores first with broadband-ready website

Liverpool FC has become the first Premier League football Club to launch a branded, broadband-ready website, featuring match day coverage, five web TV channels, SMS and WAP services, and a ticket buying facility.

The site – www.liverpoolfc.tv – is officially unveiled this week, with an interactive video chat with former Liverpool player Ian Rush, the club’s chief executive Rick Parry, and Adam Rhodes, who heads the website. The webcast goes out at 9.30am on Friday May 4.

Parry says: “Our supporters come first and that means keeping them up to date with the latest news about the club and players.

“While we’ve had a website since January 2000, Liverpoolfc.tv will enable us to provide a much more innovative, entertaining and informative service for our local, national and international supporters.”

He says that Liverpool has over 2 million fans in the UK and a further 5 million worldwide. The new site will “not only enable fans to be closely involved with the club, but to interact with other supporters as well.”

The new site offers online interactivity around the match day. Key features include:

– an online version of the match day programme;

– exclusive pre-match previews and interviews;

– online publication of the team line-up as soon as it’s published offline;

– audio and video coverage of pre-match and post-match press conferences at home games;

– behind-the-scenes webcams;

– an audio match commentary with stills slide show, beamed direct from home game matches;

– chatrooms during match days, and fans given the chance to contribute articles for publication;

– “exclusive” post-match commentary and interviews; and

– post-match e-mails from the manager with his views on the game.