Scooped! featured on holdthefrontpage

The following article appeared in the news section of holdthefrontpage.co.uk - a website for journalists and journalism students across the UK.

Scooped!, the mock newspaper front-page business, has teamed up with The Scottish Sun to run a Father's Day competition. Readers in Scotland must tell the paper why their dad is the best in the world. Ten winners will each star on the front page of a special spoof edition of the paper. Scooped! was launched by former local press reporter and Sun sub-editor James McIvor after he was asked to design countless mock front pages for departing colleagues.

Funny newspaper stories

Some funny newspaper stories from today's tabloids ....

MOURNING COFFEE
A funeral boss has opened a cafe in a 60ft coffin - with waiters in mourning clothes in Donetsk, Ukraine.

QUARTER HACKS
Players shrink during games of American footballer with the weight of protective gear plus the impact of collisions compressing spinal discs, researchers have revealed.

FAS VEGAS
What Happened In Vegas director is backing plans for a Hollywood-style tourist attraction in his home town of Helensburgh - near Faslane nuclear base.

Funny newspaper phrases

Journalists love nothing more than a good "knobbly monster" - a desperate attempt not to use the same word again . . . when there is only one.

Named after Paul Hudson, who was writing about alligators when, having used up "reptiles", he resorted to "the knobbly monsters".

Here are some classic funny newspaper knobbly monsters ..

Pies: The humble pastry parcel

Wombles: The furry litter-pickers

The Office Xmas Special: The double-barrelled festive parting shot for the Slough cleaning product salesman

Paper talk

My football gift to you ... the best of rumours and gossip from today's sports pages.

Jose Mourinho is close to being named the new boss of Inter Milan following the release of pictures of the Portuguese coach meeting with Inter president Massimo Moratti in Paris on Friday. It is claimed that the meeting was held to discuss transfer targets, most notably a £25m bid for Barcelona's Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o. (Gazetto dello Sport)

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp is on the verge of hijacking central defender Richard Dunne's £5m move from Manchester City to Spurs. (The Sun)

And Liverpool have finally backed down over their £15m asking price for striker Peter Crouch... paving the way for the England international to join Portsmouth next week. (The Sun)

Sunderland are plotting a £4m swoop for unsettled Aston Villa striker Shaun Maloney. (Daily Mirror)

Rangers are tracking Le Mans right-back Jean Calve and Monaco left-back Jeremy Berthod. (Various)

Cristiano Ronaldo's godfather, Fernao Sousa, has claimed that the Manchester United winger has already decided to move to Real Madrid - but will not say so until after Euro 2008. (The Guardian, Daily Express)

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan is considering a £5m move for Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland. (Daily Mirror)

Scooped! featured on allmediascotland

allmediascotland.com - Scotland's premier media website - has an article today on Scooped! teaming up with The Sun to produce personalised newspapers for their army of readers.

Titled 'Sun Masthead To Grace Personalised Front Pages' the article reads ....

The Scottish Sun has hooked up with one of its former employees to offer a personalised front page - bearing its own masthead - as a competition prize for readers.

James McIvor now runs a business creating spoof front pages, to mark a special occasion, such as a birthday. Until now, his business - Scooped! - has used fictional mastheads, but the Scottish Sun has invited him to create reproduction front pages, using their own masthead, to celebrate Father’s Day.

Ten readers will receive mocked up front pages declaring them to be ‘Scotland’s Best Dad’.

McIvor used to be chief sub-editor at the paper. The competition was launched on Saturday.

And the relationship is not confined to Father’s Day, which is taking place on the 15th of next month. For £25, readers can have their own, Scottish Sun front page. For more, visit here

Says James: “It is fantastic that our company has been chosen to write and design spoof front pages for the country's best-selling newspaper. To the best of my knowledge, no other national paper has given their readers the opportunity to star on their front page, so I am confident that the concept will be well received by readers.”

Special edition Sun front pages

GOTCHA!
Scooped! has teamed up with The Sun to produce special edition spoof front pages featuring the famous Sun masthead.
From just £25 readers can buy a limited edition birthday, wedding or Father's Day front page.
This is an offer no newspaper lover can afford to miss so to order your very own personalised Sun front page just go to www.makingthenews.co.uk/thescottishsun

Scooped! teams up with The Sun

Scooped! has teamed up with The Sun - to produce special edition spoof front pages for their army of readers.
Britain's No1 company for personalised newspapers and magazines is now working with Britain's best-selling newspaper to give YOU the chance to appear on the front page of a spoof Sun front page.
In Saturday's Scottish Sun we invited readers to tell us, ahead of Father's Day, why their dad is The Best Dad in Scotland - with ten winners receiving a framed spoof Scottish Sun front page.
For those who are unsuccessful, they can still buy a Sun front page from just £25 by visiting www.makingthenews.co.uk/thescottishsun
The Sun has never before allowed an outside company to use their brand but Scooped! is no ordinary company.
All our personalised newspaper and magazine front page gifts are written and designed by real journalists.
As Sun readers now know it is always better to stick with the experts!

Funny newspaper stories

Some funny newspaper stories from today's tabloids ....

FLIRT WITH DANGER
Being around flirty women makes men find partners less attractive, Canadian researchers have revealed.

A LONG WEIGHT
British women typically spend TEN YEARS on diets with two five-week plans a year between 18 and 70, a study shows.

LOO-KING GOOD
Designer Jemal Wright is selling toilets covered in 50,000 Swarovski crystals for £40,000 in Hollywood, Florida - and plans to make a matching bath tub.

Newspaper front pages

Too busy too read the papers? Don't worry The Editor brings you the best of what the papers have to offer each day. Here's what making the news today ..

Funny newspaper phrases

Journalists love nothing more than a good "knobbly monster" - a desperate attempt not to use the same word again . . . when there is only one.

Named after Paul Hudson, who was writing about alligators when, having used up "reptiles", he resorted to "the knobbly monsters".

Here are some classic funny newspaper knobbly monsters ..

Brazilian - The severe bikini treatment

The Vatican - The Pope's base in Rome

Kilt - The tartan garment

and perhaps my all-time favourite ....

Viagra - the trouser-bursting tablets

Paper talk

My football gift to you ... the best of rumours and gossip from today's sports pages.

Chelsea will continue to pursue the players sacked boss Avram Grant wanted to sign this summer - and will pay up to £50m for Liverpool striker Fernando Torres. (Daily Mail)

Grant also wanted AC Milan midfielder Kaka and Chelsea could offer Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho and cash to secure him. (Daily Mail)

Arsenal want to seal a £11m deal for Marseille playmaker Samir Nasri before he plays for France in Euro 2008. (Various)

Newcastle, Manchester City and Arsenal all want Thierry Henry but new Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola will not let him leave. (Daily Star)

Veteran Rangers defender David Weir will head back to England and could join Burnley after being told he will not be a first-choice at Ibrox next season. (Daily Record)

Dynamo Kiev look like beating Celtic in the race for Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Ognjen Vukojevic. (Daily Record)

Newspaper gift

Anyone notice this little beauty at the weekend ...
Personalised Sun front pages - what a great idea! Though it has to be said, you just can't get the male models these days.

Loyal reader(s): An apology

For a number of reasons I've neglected the blog over the last week or so but from today it's business as usual and I'm back with all the usual nonsense ...

Wedding magazine gift

Scooped! has added a Hello-style celebrity magazine to its brilliant range of personalised wedding gifts.

Show the bride and groom how special their big day is - by putting them on the front page of a spoof glossy magazine.

A personalised wedding magazine is the perfect personalised wedding gift for any bride and groom.

Give the new Mr and Mrs a special keepsake and mark their wedding day by letting them mix in celebrity circles with a personalised magazine gift.

Just supply four pictures of the happy couple and Scooped! will do the rest.

Personalise our Wedding template page or have a professional journalist write and design your completely unique bespoke front page for that truly special personalised wedding gift.

Scooped! add Player of the Year back page

Is your son or daughter the new Cristiano Ronaldo? Let the world know how proud you are of your soccer starlet by naming then Player Of The Year in our new ScoopSport back page.

Tell us your wonderkid's name and which team he/she plays for and our sports desk will put their heroics performances on the back page of a spoof newspaper.

If you are a junior or amateur football club looking for the perfect Player of the Year gift then contact Scooped! on 0141 639 9918 or email scooped@makingthenews.co.uk

A ScooSport back page is the perfect personalised football gift for football fans of all ages.

In our brilliant ScoopSport range, you can also 'sign' for your favourite team, be named their 'No1 fan' or even 'buy' the club and be on the back page of a spoof newspaper!

A joke newspaper is the perfect unique personalised gift idea for any occasion.

Personalise our template page or have a professional journalist write and design your completely unique bespoke front page for that truly special personalised football gift.

Funny newspaper stories

Some funny newspaper stories from today's tabloids ....

BEHIND BARS
A 38-year-old dad who filmed 3,000 women's bottom using a camera hidden in a bag faces prison in Venice, Italy.

HALF COUT
A man in a dinner jacket was arrested for drink-driving - on a lawnmower at a home in Irving, New York.

BURGLAR A-LLAMA
A gang of rustlers stole an entire herd of alpacas in Uphall, West Lothian, on Sunday night. A police spokesman said: "They've been taken by someone who knew what they were doing."

Newspaper gift

The Editor loves a freebie with his morning paper - and while I was all for The Guardian's free Eric Clapton music sheet giveaway they're taking it too far today by giving away Cat Stevens sheet music.
Don't worry, you can still get a Mills & Boon DVD free with your Daily Mail.

Scoop of the day ...

This isn't just the best story of the day - this is the story of the year.

Only in Oz. Genuis.

A car driver in Australia has been fined for strapping down his beer rather than his young child.

Police said they were "shocked and appalled" when they pulled over the car south of Alice Springs in Australia's Northern Territory.

They said the 30-can pack of beer was strapped down between two adults in the back, with the five-year-old child unrestrained on the floor.

The driver was handed a fine of A$750 (US$709; £362).

The fine was for failing to ensure a child was wearing a seatbelt as well as driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle.

The car was pulled over on the Ross Highway last Friday.

Constable Wayne Burnett said: "I haven't ever seen something like this before.

"This is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child... The child was sitting in the lump in the centre, unrestrained."

When Constable Burnett handed over the fine he said the driver "just looked at me blankly".

"He didn't get it," Constable Burnett said.

"I asked him about the fact the child was unrestrained and the beer was, and he said he didn't know anything about it."

Superintendent Sean Parnell of Alice Springs police said the incident was a "timely reminder" to ensure "all passengers are secured".

Newspaper front pages

Too busy too read the papers? Don't worry The Editor brings you the best of what the papers have to offer each day. Here's what making the news today ..

Paper talk

My football gift to you ... the best of rumours and gossip from today's sports pages.

Michael Owen could leave Newcastle if they try to cut his wages as part of a new deal, with Everton among the possible contenders to sign him. (Daily Mail)

Manchester United have earmarked Sevilla's Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano as their top summer target (Times) and his team-mate Daniel Alves could be following him (Sun).

West Ham will make another bid to sign Reading defender Nicky Shorey but boss Alan Curbishley has been told he must sell before he buys. (Daily Express)

Petr Cech's agent says an unnamed "very big European club" is willing to pay £32m for the Chelsea goalkeeper. (Sun)

Cardiff teenager Aaron Ramsey could be on his way to Manchester United as a long-term replacement for Paul Scholes. (Mirror)

Hull are interested in signing veteran Italian striker Christian Vieri if they are promoted to the Premier League. (Mirror)

Highly-rated Crystal Palace teenager John Bostock, who was wanted by Barcelona and Manchester United and is currently doing his GCSEs, is on the verge of joining Tottenham. (Daily Mail)

Jackie McNamara has joined Falkirk on a two-year deal after he left Aberdeen. (Daily Record)

Birthday newspaper gift

Scooped! produce personalised newspapers as gifts for all occasions.

Including in our range of templates is birthday newspaper front pages.

As the only personalised newspaper gift company in the UK that is run by real journalists with real experience of working in national newspapers, we also write and design bespoke front pages for any occasion.

Here is an example of a bespoke birthday newspaper front page.

Our bespoke pages are completely unique. Your page will be designed exactly as you want it .. original story, original headlines, original picture captions - no two pages are ever the same.

Call our news desk on 0141 639 9918 for a personal interview with a Scooped! reporter or email us the details. Tell us all about the person, give us any funny stories or tell us what you would like included in your unique front page and our professional journalists will do the rest.

Newspaper gift

The Editor loves a good freebie with his morning paper - and they're all trying to suck us in today with cracking giveaways.
The Sun is offering High School Musical 3 goodie bags, The Mirror has Hannah Montana trading cards, The Mail, erm, Mills @ Boon DVD (give the one a miss I think) but my personal favourite is The Guardian who is giving away a free Eric Clapton Music Sheet.

Scoop6 and other dodgy bets

It was quite a weekend on the betting front .... referee Mike McCurry's shameful performance in the Dundee United/Rangers game may have cost the Arabs an estimated £125,000 but it also cost me £100.
I had a doubles and treble on Rangers/United draw, Darlington and Motherwell - as the last two won I double my money but could and should have been so much more.

My day got worse. I told an old pal of mine I was sticking on a French coupon of Lorient, Bordeaux and Lille. In the end I didn't have time and, yip you've guessed it, they all won.

I was able to make amends on the Sunday though as my £2 on 25/1 shot McManus to score first in Celtic/Hibs game came up.
I also had Reading, Arsenal and Everton up but Blackburn let me down for 4-fold.

Still, well up for the weekend but could have been a lot better.

This week, I had Leeds, Bristol City and Zenit treble but Leeds blew that last night after bottling it at home to Carlisle.

Funny newspaper stories

Some funny newspaper stories from today's tabloids ....

WAKE TO GO
Grieving Shao Kaicang, 36, drank himself to death at his dad's funeral wake in Wuhan, China.

GOLDEN KISS-OFF
Dumped Megahn Perry has set up a website in LA which lets women sells rings from their exes.

CARD'S MARKED
Thief John Dooney, 47, broke into a call box in Blackpool and found it only took phonecards. JPs put him on a curfew.

Scoop of the day

The best headline of the day has to go to The Guardian, and it's not often you can say that, for this little beauty (look top left of page)

Newspaper front pages

Too busy too read the papers? Don't worry The Editor brings you the best of what the papers have to offer each day. Here's what making the news today ..

Paper talk

My football gift to you ... the best of rumours and gossip from today's sports pages.

Kevin Keegan has been summoned to London on Friday for showdown talks with angry Newcastle owner Mike Ashley. (Daily Mail, The Sun)

Real Madrid are steeling themselves for a major attempt by Chelsea to sign their international defender Sergio Ramos for £50m. (Daily Express)

Although the Blues are apparently only going to offer £20m for Ramos. (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea are ready to reignite their interest in Manchester City defender Micah Richards. (The Sun)

Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra is lining up a British record offer of £32m for Dimitar Berbatov. (Daily Mail)

But Berbatov is more likely to end up with Manchester United, who are prepared to pay twice the £10.9m they could have signed him for two years ago. (Daily Mail)

Manchester United are ready to turn to long-term target Klaas-Jan Huntelaar if Spurs are successful in creating a big-money auction for Berbatov. (Daily Express)

Manchester United also retain an interest in Lyon's Karim Benezma. (Daily Express)

Spurs have taken steps to replace Berbatov by opening talks with Barcelona over Samuel Eto'o. (Daily Mirror)

Alan Pardew wants Norwich midfielder Mark Fotheringham to help lead Charlton back to the Premier League. (Daily Express)

Manchester City are set to sign Mexican wonder-kid Giovanni Dos Santos from Spanish giants Barcelona. (Daily Mirror)

Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor has told Barcelona to forget about signing him because he wants to make history with Arsenal. (The Sun)

Portsmouth and Newcastle are fighting it out for Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen. (The Sun)

Kevin Keegan could lure West Bromwich Albion's Zoltan Gera to Newcastle. (Daily Mirror)

Thierry Henry could be on his way out of Barcelona whether he likes it or not. (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea flop Juliano Belletti is on his way out of Stamford Bridge this summer. (Daily Mirror, The Sun)

Ajax are looking at Middlesbrough's Robert Huth, while Boro will release Fabio Rochemback next week. (The Sun)

Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi is set to snub a £4m move to Stoke, where he is currently on loan. (The Sun)

Martin O'Neill is determined to keep Gareth Barry at Aston Villa despite rumours of interest from Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. (Daily Mail, Daily Star)

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has been told by the club's owners the Glazers that he can go on a £40m buying spree. (Daily Star)

FA Cup finalists Cardiff have offered keeper Peter Enckelman a three-year deal to remain at Ninian Park. (Daily Star)

Sunderland are likely to be the first club to take advantage of Reading's relegation plight by prising Steve Hunt away from the Berkshire club. (The Independent)

Jimmy Calderwood is looking to add some firepower to his Aberdeen side and is tracking SK Slovan Bratislava striker Pavol Masaryk. (The Herald)

Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies hopes to agree a deal to keep midfielder Mehdi Taouil at Rugby Park. (The Sun)

Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen says new signing David Van Zanten is the first of three or four he plans to make in the summer. (The Sun)

Sheffield United boss Kevin Blackwell has targeted ex-Manchester City winger Darren Huckerby after the 32-year-old was released by Norwich. (Daily Star)

Wigan are chasing Hamburg's Jose Paolo Guerrero and are prepared to smash the club record transfer in their hunt for a striker. (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea are not after Lionel Messi but do want to sign France star Franck Ribery from Bayern Munich. (Daily Telegraph)

Scoop6 and other dodgy bets

There really is football on 7 days a week now. Great, innit.
A wee Atletico Madrid, Roma and Dundalk treble pays 6/1

Funny newspaper phrases

Journalists love nothing more than a good "knobbly monster" - a desperate attempt not to use the same word again . . . when there is only one.

Named after Paul Hudson, who was writing about alligators when, having used up "reptiles", he resorted to "the knobbly monsters".

Here are some classic funny newspaper knobbly monsters ..

Cheques - the paper payment system

Kids' scooters - the lightweight aluminium transporters

Lovehearts - the fizzy message-bearing sweets

Korean dictator Kim Jong Il - the tiny totalitarian

Newspaper gift

The Editor loves a freebie with his morning paper and The Telegraph has an 'L' of an offer today - a free driving lesson for every reader.
They'll be driving their rivals car-azy with a giveaway like that.

PS: I didn't work in tabloid newspapers for 10yrs for nothing you know - if you think those puns are bad you ain't seen nothing yet.

Funny newspaper stories

Some funny newspaper stories from today's tabloids ....

SELF-TOT
A girl of three drove her dad's car half a mile through a busy market after he got out and left the keys in the igntion in Beli Lom, Bulgaria.

WASH AND DRY
Two women were taken to hospital after a cafe mistakenly served them dishwashing liquid instead of mulled wine in Queenstown, New Zealand.

PONG NUMBER
Mobile phones that can send different smells will be ready in 2010, according to boffins in Munich, Germany.

Newspaper front pages

Too busy too read the papers? Don't worry The Editor brings you the best of what the papers have to offer each day. Here's what making the news today ..

Paper talk

My football gift to you ... the best of rumours and gossip from today's sports pages.

Striker Peter Crouch is demanding showdown talks with boss Rafael Benitez after admitting he cannot take another season spent on the Liverpool bench. (Mirror).

Everton boss David Moyes is lining up a £3m bid for out-of-favour Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell. (Various)

Moyes is also prepared to pay £4m for American midfielder Michael Bradley from Dutch side Heerenveen. (Mirror)

Manchester United will sit down with Wigan next week to thrash out an £8m deal for midfielder Wilson Palacios. (The Sun)

And there could be more business between the two clubs, with United looking to offer striker Louis Saha and cash in exchange for Ecuador winger Antonio Valencia. (Mirror)

The Latics, meanwhile, are looking to reinforce their attacking options by making a £4m swoop for Egypt striker Amr Zaky after boss Steve Bruce watched the 25-year-old score twice for his club Zamalek on Monday. (Various)

Sunderland are leading the race to sign Carlton Cole from West Ham but Celtic and Middlesbrough are also interested in the former England Under-21 striker. (Mirror)

Martin O'Neill could turn to Stephen Carr, who has been released by Newcastle, after being priced out of a move for Porto full-back Jose Boswinga. (Mirror)

Newspaper gift

The Editor loves a freebie with his morning paper but, sadly, free Nick Nairn recipe cards with The Scotsman is as good as it gets today though for a minute I thought The Independent was giving away a free cannabis plant.

It's scorchio outside - you'd think at least one of the papers would have thought of giving away a free ice lolly, even an ice pole would have done the trick.
Ach well, back to the gardening for me ...

Scoop6 and other dodgy bets

The race for the SPL continues and Rangers are up against Motherwell who were unlucky not get a point at home to Celtic at the weekend.
Well are chasing a Uefa Cup spot and Rangers look nackered but incredibly some bookies have the home side 5/1 ON and Well as high as 10/1 which is got to be worth a couple of quid of anyone's money.
Mark McGhee was on the radio this morning saying he'll rest players ahead of their game against Aberdeen on Saturday but even still .....

Hen night newspaper gift

Scooped! produce brilliant personalised newspapers as gifts for all occasions - including hen nights.

Scoop the hen on her last night of freedom - by putting her in the paper!

Here is an example of our template hen night page (KATE'S LAST STAND) and also a bespoke front page. We also offer saucy page 3 style ScoopStunner or ScoopStud pages.

A personalised newspaper front page is the perfect personalised hen weekend gift.

Funny newspaper stories

Some funny newspaper stories from today's tabloids ....

REST IN PEAS
A factory worker almost died after falling in a vat and being buried by ten tons of peas in Esperance, western Australia.

BRIT BAKER-OUI
A bakery in Barnsley has won a contract to supply traditional French brioche bread to France.

PHOTOSHOOTING
A tour firm may lose its licence after offering sightseers snaps with armed drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro slums.

Newspaper front pages

Too busy too read the papers? Don't worry The Editor brings you the best of what the papers have to offer each day. Here's what making the news today ...