Icons.com
Icons.com, founded by James Freedman, was initially a football website that provided regular diary updates from many of the world's top footballers and also guest interviews from some of the biggest names in the football world. It was the leading portal for footballer websites in the world, housing official personal websites of around 70 players.
Football fans had access to diaries about the inside workings of a football club and their lives as professional footballers, as well as other sections focusing on their biographies and lives off the pitch.
In the past, several high-profile players had used Icons.com to announce major breaking-news stories. For example, Marc Overmars became the first player in history to announce a big-money transfer via his personal website in 2000, when he left Arsenal for Barcelona in a £25 million move.[1] Former Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United striker Frédéric Kanouté, now with Sevilla, once reported via his Icons website that he was safe and in hiding after he'd received death threats from Mali fans after a disappointing performance for his country. These are just two examples of many where the following day's newspaper headlines were read first on Icons.com.
In late 2008, Icons.com became exclusively focused on selling signed memorabilia from the world's best footballers. Icons.com regularly meets past and present players such as Pele, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Kaká, Cesc Fàbregas, Éric Cantona, and Fernando Torres for signing sessions and sells its signed shirts, boots, and photos direct to the public through the site and exclusively in-store at Harrods.
Icons.com also supplies the prizes for the weekly Sky Sports programme, Revista de la liga.
References
- ↑ "Football Stars Hit the Net - Computer Weekly 2001". Computer Weekly. March 8, 2001. Retrieved June 25, 2007.