New Associate Publisher for Kick Off

Former professional footballer George Dearnaley has been appointed Associate Publisher of Kick Off magazine. Mike Allen, previous Publisher of Kick Off and Director of Touchline Media has relocated to China with the MIH Group, but will still assume the role of Non-executive Director on the Touchline Media board.

Dearnaley aims to take this fortnightly magazine to new levels with big projects such as the 2006 and 2010 World Cups on the horizon: "With the 2010 World Cup around the corner, we are in line for some very exciting times, and as the industry leader in the soccer magazine business, Kick Off hopes to play a vital role in the success of the World's biggest sporting event.

"We are busy negotiating with FIFA as to our role in 2010 and in the meantime have secured the rights to publish the only 'official' guide to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and also the Official Colouring-in book for the 2006 World Cup.

"This is my eighth year with Kick Off, and I hope to be here for a very long time. We have a great team in place and are all looking forward to the challenge of producing world-class media and keeping Kick Off number one in the hearts and minds of our soccer loving readers."

Kick Off is already the biggest selling sports magazine in Africa reaching over 1.4 million readers every two weeks.