Players Autographs

[bignickhowes]

The Mirror wrote to 60 premier league players:

“I love watching you play and would be really pleased if you could send me your autograph. I have written my address on a stamped addressed envelope so you can send it back to me. Thanks a lot and good luck this season.”

The Link shows who replied and who didn't


www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/premier-league-stars-sent-autograph-4688895

I bet some of the players who didnt reply probably didn't even get the letter in the first place

[Gods]

Well done Asmir!

In fairness no one writes to anyone these days. I've even abandoned Xmas cards to family and friends so I don't really see why a young football star should feel obliged to effectively send a letter to some little twerp they have never clapped eyes on. It's not just signing it is it, you've got to get the fucker to a post box too.

[tazi]

I wonder what address was put on the self addressed envelope and I wonder if players were sceptical about their signatures been used for potential forgery.

Just can't be too sure in today's world.

[Deleted]

anybody over the age of 16 collecting autographs needs to have a long look at themselves, or maybe become a trainspotter

[Deleted]

i also think its disgusting that the mirror has decided to name and shame those who for whatever reason did not reply.by all means praise those that did take the time and effort to reply but its a bit low to name those that didnt.

[JoeinOz]

If I was famous I would be very selective about autographing things.

[Lakeland Potter]

Some years ago, whilst I lived in Plymouth, some children from Belarus came over on a cultural visit - they had been affected by fallout from the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine. They were mostly football mad and I decided to get some signed photographs by Sergei Shtaniuk to give to them. It never occurred to me to write to Sergei himself. I had no idea how good his written English was for a start and I didn't want to give him the hassle of finding someone to translate what I had written. So I wrote to the club secretary and she got the great man to sign 30 photos and sent them back to me within a few days. And the signatures were obviously done to order by Sergei and not pre printed - there were obvious slight differences - as you get when someone is asked to sign 30 photographs.

Surely this would have been the better option for the Mirror to take? Unless, of course, they were hoping to maximise "non replies" to get a bigger "story" in order to sell more newspapers.

EDIT: To his credit - Sergei also included a good luck message to each child.

[Deleted]

Mailing off to get signatures defeats the point anyways, surely a signature is something you keep to remember the time you met a given player, celebrity or influential figure...
In my case goofy at disney world when I was 4, could be argued he was an influential figure however turned out it wasn't in fact the real goofy. Found out 15 years later when I learned dogs can neither write, nor hold a pen... go figure  

[Sergeant Muttley]

Getting there early for all home games(for parking reasons) I see all the players arrive and the usual suspects asking for autographs.90% of the players always sign anything that they are asked to do especially Walters and Crouch but 2 players stick out for their blatant disregard of fans and they are Shawcross and Huth.Huth so much so that he now climbs over the wall to avoid the people waiting for autographs.Shawcross just walks straight through and mainly ignores the fans there but then again I'd ignore Hairypotter and his chronies most weeks????

[2004]

A bit harsh naming the players who did not reply. It is their choice after all.

[marwood]

I dont think you can conclude anything from this study. Some of the players may have been injured/away on international duty, etc etc at the time of the letter. Some agents also save such responses and do them in batches - perhaps not every two months which seems to have been the allowed response time. A much better response would be gained sending in such a request in the close season. You could only come to measured conclusions after sending 2 or three over the course of a season. Sadly some agents advise against signing anything in the post in case it goes for resale - and there are some fans who do this to make money.
A better way to determine if they are a true fan is if they actually turn up for a game in the first place and ask for autograph - as posted on here - most players will do so. Others may do a lot for charity in their own time. Non story -or rather -typical Mirror silly season story

[lawrieleslie]

Nov 26, 2014 7:18:47 GMT Lakeland Potter said:

Some years ago, whilst I lived in Plymouth, some children from Belarus came over on a cultural visit - they had been affected by fallout from the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine. They were mostly football mad and I decided to get some signed photographs by Sergei Shtaniuk to give to them. It never occurred to me to write to Sergei himself. I had no idea how good his written English was for a start and I didn't want to give him the hassle of finding someone to translate what I had written. So I wrote to the club secretary and she got the great man to sign 30 photos and sent them back to me within a few days. And the signatures were obviously done to order by Sergei and not pre printed - there were obvious slight differences - as you get when someone is asked to sign 30 photographs.

Surely this would have been the better option for the Mirror to take? Unless, of course, they were hoping to maximise "non replies" to get a bigger "story" in order to sell more newspapers.

EDIT: To his credit - Sergei also included a good luck message to each child.

I wonder if this was the same group that the special school I was teaching at in Totnes sponsored for a few days and took them out and about on Dartmoor, kayaking, forest school etc. it was 2006-7 ish during the summer.

[Lakeland Potter]

Nov 26, 2014 9:08:05 GMT lawrieleslie said:

Nov 26, 2014 7:18:47 GMT Lakeland Potter said:

Some years ago, whilst I lived in Plymouth, some children from Belarus came over on a cultural visit - they had been affected by fallout from the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine. They were mostly football mad and I decided to get some signed photographs by Sergei Shtaniuk to give to them. It never occurred to me to write to Sergei himself. I had no idea how good his written English was for a start and I didn't want to give him the hassle of finding someone to translate what I had written. So I wrote to the club secretary and she got the great man to sign 30 photos and sent them back to me within a few days. And the signatures were obviously done to order by Sergei and not pre printed - there were obvious slight differences - as you get when someone is asked to sign 30 photographs.

Surely this would have been the better option for the Mirror to take? Unless, of course, they were hoping to maximise "non replies" to get a bigger "story" in order to sell more newspapers.

EDIT: To his credit - Sergei also included a good luck message to each child.

I wonder if this was the same group that the special school I was teaching at in Totnes sponsored for a few days and took them out and about on Dartmoor, kayaking, forest school etc. it was 2006-7 ish during the summer.

I think it probably was the same group but on a later trip. Sergei had left the club by 2006/7. The group I got the photographs for were on a visit where the main organiser at the Plymouth end was a lady from Plymstock - it was her interview in the Evening Herald which I responded to with a suggestion for the photographs. I forgot to mention that the club also threw in a copy of the video of the Playoff Final at Cardiff where Sergei played very well - all the kids watched it and cheered every tackle he made! No DVDs in those days, of course.

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2014 0:33:40 GMT Gods said:

Well done Asmir!

In fairness no one writes to anyone these days. I've even abandoned Xmas cards to family and friends so I don't really see why a young football star should feel obliged to effectively send a letter to some little twerp they have never clapped eyes on. It's not just signing it is it, you've got to get the fucker to a post box too.

Well...those little twerps took the time, and those little twerps are the people adidas, nike, and all the other companies that pay these players millions are targeting.

When you are on £20k a week, paying someone £100 a day once a week to sort your post for you on a Friday is not a big ask is it. All a person would have to do is print out a picture and ask the player to sign it and pop in a post box for them. Its a tea and toast job for someone.

Taking the money from being a "Star", being "famous" and the advertising money that comes with that....is it a big ask to put £100 aside to reply back? I don't think so.