World Football Thread VIII - The beautiful game?

[MikeH]

Yeah, totally deliberate, I deleted it from a few posts because I knew what you lot would say.

I also support England. I came to football quite late from a non-footballing family so I didn't have a pre-determined club like most people.

I haven't been in a band for the first time since 2001 the second half of this season so with Saturdays free I actually got to go to a fair amount of Reading games.

It's still expensive, but not £50 (plus transport etc.) like Chelsea.

As the Southampton fans sang to us: "where were you when you were sh*t?"

[Solly]

Originally posted by duke o' york
PA, my mate told me that there was rioting in the town centre, and the police closed all the pubs, but for some reason I can't find any reference to this on any web news site. Weird.
Curiously enough, it was also Leeds fans who were behind the trouble at the England-Turkey game just before Euro 04 - the trouble that caused rumours that England would be booted out of the tournament.

Didn't hear much myself apart from 23 arrests and 11 injured.

Seems to be a lot of hushing up of trouble these days - I went to York vs Halifax a few weeks ago and the York fans were massed on the streets awaiting a scrap with the Shaymen (who had to wait behind ).

[MikeH]

It's true, a lot more happens than is reported.

[Imran Siddiqui]

So the Arse get Rosicky. Probably to replace Pires, who as rumor has it, is going to Villareal. Net gain - positive.

[MikeH]

Definitely, great player. Although Pires will be staying, apparently part of Henry's resigning negotiation was that Pires would be offered a 2 year deal too.

[alva]

Smart decision. Pires is a very good player and they can use the experience.

[Cort Haus]

Rosicky looks a bit slight for the EPL - he'll need bulking up a bit. I bet Bolton can't wait to get their elbows and studs into him.

Rumours are that both Pires and A.Cole are staying. I hope so.

[lightblue]

Isn't Rosicky very injury prone? It's one of them lot. I wonder why he's gone from £18M to £7M in a couple of years...

[duke o' york]

Henry's resigned? So he is going to Barcelona after all then.

The fans turned against Rosicky in the past couple of seasons because Dortmund weren't doing that well, and he was seen as lacking in effort. He's so cheap because he has a £6.8m release clause in his contract, and Dortmund must need the money.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

. . . yeah, to sign swiss star alex frei, who has 23 goals in 42 caps from Stade Rennes and was last years goal scoring champ in the french ligue 1.

[DanS]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
In other news, WELCOME Toronto as the 13th team in the MLS (owned by the company that owns the Raptors of the NBA and Maple Leafs of the NHL)!

I went to my first MLS match the other week. Kansas City at DC United. Good fun was had by all. A good, enthusiastic crowd of about 20,000. Tickets were $20 apiece, close to the field at the 50 yard line. I cheered in the Barra Brava section. Drank lots of brews. Sang lots of songs.

By 2008 or 2009, DC United should be in a soccer-only stadium to be built at Poplar Point, right across the river from the new baseball stadium. Capacity is expected to be about 27,000, but I think they should bump it up to above 30,000.

The MLS is doing lots of things right in order to thrive in a challenging market.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Naw, 27,000 is good enough. It looks really bad on TV when you have these 35,000 seat stadiums that are half full some nights (Hell, Dallas has got a 15,000 stadium that is half empty most nights!).

[DanS]

DC United has a devoted following. The average attendance is about 20,000 probably. Capacity is about 30,000 in the lower bowl right now in any event (and 56,000 overall).

I don't think DC United would have any problem filling to a reasonable degree a 32,000 stadium.

[Imran Siddiqui]

You just said you went to a match and there were about 20,000 there. If that's the average, then you don't want to make it too too much bigger than that. 7k over average in RFK is a good number.

[DanS]

And it (20,000/30,000 in the lower bowl) doesn't look bad on TV. 20,000/32,000 wouldn't look bad either. And it would give adequate room to grow.