A camera crew from sports news website Bleacher Report UK popped down at the end of training this week to put Ebbsfleet United players through their paces with a slightly unorthodox set of routines.
Bleacher Report wanted a club to test out one of the concept ideas floated by Marco van Basten to settle drawn games with a hockey-style dribbling shoot-out – and the Fleet players were only too happy to oblige once Daryl McMahon had excused them from normal training duties.
Several first-team players pitted their dribbling skills against Nathan Ashmore and after the experiment, the Fleet players were asked for their views on the idea.
Bleacher Report is the second biggest sports digital platform in the US and the company has a worldwide audience and an increasing footprint in the UK, with the football side of the organisation run from London – so this was an ideal opportunity to gain the club exposure far and wide. BR has five million followers on Facebook and a healthy presence on Twitter and Instagram, as well as via its own website and app, and the club has received plenty of clicks, like and retweets as a result.
To view the video, click on the Twitter link below (you do not need to have a Twitter account).
⏱ 8 seconds
? 25 metres
? 1v1@EUFCofficial put Marco van Basten's penalty shootout alternative to the test. pic.twitter.com/eeGpOmjY2Y— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 25, 2017
