If I was a betting man, I'd guess no Washington and Oregon clubs again this year. I was nudging Bellingham United to join, but they didn't seem keen (or clear about how to register).

Let's make some predictions before the Premiership KO tomorrow.

Top 4 - Chelsea, Utd, Liverpool, City Relegated - Blackburn, Newcastle, Swansea

Got a feeling Arsenal won't finish in the top 6 this season, they seem to be in absolute free fall. That said they should beat Newcastle tomorrow.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2013/05/03/20792286.html

Why would the player not publicly come out as a group ?

He wants to manage Neymar (Santos), Lucas Moura (PSG) and Leandro Damião (Internacional).

I am sure Neymar who is already one of the most marketable athletes in the world doesn't need Jay Z in his corner.

England: Jan 1 - Jan 31 and Jul 1 - Aug 31

France/Germany/Italy/Spain/Scotland: Jan 1 - Feb 2 and Jul 1 - Aug 30

Sweden/Norway: Jan 1 - Mar 31 and Aug 1 - Aug 31

Netherlands: Jan 3 - Jan 31 and Jun 9 - Aug 31

Denmark: Jan 5 - Jan 31 and Jun 11 - Sep 1

USA/Canada: Jan 21 - Apr 15 and Jun 27 - Jul 27

Finland: Mar 1 - Apr 30 and Aug 1 - Aug 31

Listed here will be some of the more notable transfers, as they take place.

I'm a little surprised at how difficult this is - it's no problem founding out how old entire grounds are, but it's tricky to find this information for individual stands. Some of the oldest grounds (e.g. Deepdale and Brammal Lane) have been mostly/completely rebuilt, so they're out.

I'm looking for stands that are completely or mostly original, other than for new chairs put in (due to the Taylor Report), re-tiling of roof, new paint applied, etc.

This is what I've found thus far... but are there any old ones that any of you can think of? It would be handy if a list already existed, but I can't seem to find one.

Main Stand at Wellesley Recreation Ground (Great Yarmouth Town) - built 1892

Main Stand at Blundell Park (Grimsby) - built 1901

Johnny Haynes Stand at Craven Cottage (Fulham) - built 1905

South Stand at Hillsborough (Sheffield Wednesday) - built 1913-15

Main Stand at The Polegrove (Bexhill United) - built 1929

Thin end of the wedge for me. The also don't like No Surreander and 10 German Bombers. Looks like this group called FARE have the capability if the charges are proven to force the authorities to play future games behind closed doors.

I am sure the MLS would have a field day with this. A sure fired way to gain fan censorship that they strive for.

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=411612

The Draw for the 2012/13 CCL was today. New format is 8 groups of 3 where only 1 club makes it out of each group, and a Mexican and American team can't be in the same group.

Group 1 Santos Laguna (MEX) Toronto FC (CAN) Aguila (SLV)

Group 2 Herediano (CRC) Real Salt Lake (USA) Tauro FC (PAN)

Group 3 Olimpia (HON) Houston Dynamo (USA) FAS (SLV)

Group 4 Seattle Sounders FC (USA) Marathon (HON) Caribbean 1

Group 5 LA Galaxy (USA) Metapan (SLV) Caribbean 3

Group 6 Tigres UANL (MEX) Alajuelense (CRC) Real Esteli (NIC)

Group 7 Chorillo (PAN) Monterrey (MEX) Municipal (GUA)

Group 8 Xelaju (GUA) Chivas de Guadalajara (MEX) Caribbean 2

Looks like TFC and Seattle both had relatively tough draws. I really don't think TFC will make it out past Santos which are the best team in the tournement.

Metapan made it to the quarter finals last year in a group with Santos Laguna and The Colorado Rapids, so they are no push-over

http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/656932.html

Highmark's Initial Phase Completed Station Square rerouted as Riverhounds' stadium takes shape Pittsburgh Riverhounds News Release -- www.riverhounds.com

Friday, August 25, 2012

PITTSBURGH -- The Station Square Drive reroute and the new section of the Riverwalk trail are complete as part of the initial phase of construction of Highmark Stadium in Station Square, reports the Riverhounds management group.

The reroute of Station Square Drive was complete at the beginning of August and runs parallel to West Carson Street reconnecting back to the original roadway at the West Entrance.

The section of the Riverwalk trail is a new addition to the site, providing a direct pathway along the trail. Prior to this addition, those who used the trail were required to bypass through the Station Square parking lot.

In addition to these modifications, the construction teams have been actively completing demolition and excavation of the former Trib Total Media Amphitheater, building foundations for the scoreboard, light poles and grading foundations for the grandstands as well as installing underground utilities.

“The construction teams have certainly met challenges due to existing conditions since the site was an old manufacturing warehouse years ago. Regardless of these obstacle, things are progressing very nicely,” said Mike Gorman, Project Manager at Millcraft Industries.

Millcraft Industries partnered with the Riverhounds management group in 2012 and are responsible for coordinating all construction activities between Highmark Stadium’s architect, ThenDesign Architects (tda), an Ohio-based architectural firm with offices now located in Pittsburgh, and Nello Construction, a Pittsburgh-based company serving as the general contractor for Highmark Stadium.

“In TDA, Millcraft Industries, and Nello Construction, we found true partners - groups who truly understand the impact this project will have in Pittsburgh and who genuinely want to be a part of the effort,” said Jason Kutney, CEO of the Riverhounds.

“This is a great opportunity for Pittsburgh, as well as for Nello Construction,” said Gino Torriero, Executive Vice President of Nello Construction.

The initial phase of construction is anticipated to be complete by the end of August. Upon completion, the next phase will include the installation of the scoreboard, light poles and grandstands.

For a current view of Highmark Stadium construction, check out Highmark Stadium’s time lapse camera at www.oxblue.com/open/RiverhoundsStadium.

• Spain v Uruguay
• Germany v France
• England v Brazil
• Sweden v Argentina
• Netherlands v Italy
• Ireland v Poland
• Portugal v Ecuador

That's just a couple of them. I'm also interested to see how Kenny Miller does with Scotland against Estonia!

There are also some quality WCQ games this evening:

• Mexico v Jamaica
• USA v Honduras

Join up at https://www.facebook.com/Arsenalvancouver and follow them on twitter. Hopefully they're good folks. Though us Arsenal supporters are usually deluded fools.

An interesting piece, especially when they talk about La Masia, their youth academy.

Found a stream of Montpellier HSC (last years league winner) against Toulouse FC. Currently 1 - 0 for Montpellier shortly after halftime.

BTW - This site has streams (usually many to choose from) of damn near every game you would want to watch. I watch most Whitecaps games this way since I live down in the US.

Never have I seen something like this, especially at a Premiership Club! I'm wondering what the repercussions of this would be in a North American setting like the MLS, or any sports venue for that matter. Considering I've stood at Whitecaps games and never gotten yelled at, apparently standing goes against Sunderland FO policy.

http://www.theprovince.com/12days/index.html

GROUP A
FC Porto
Dynamo Kiev
Paris Saint Germain
Dinamo Zagreb

GROUP B
Arsenal
Schalke
Olympiakos
Montpellier

GROUP C
AC Milan
Zenit
Anderlecht
Malaga

GROUP D
Real Madrid
Manchester City
Ajax
Borussia Dortmund

GROUP E
Chelsea
Shakhtar Donetsk
Juventus
FC Nordsjaelland

GROUP F
Bayern Munich
Valencia
Lille
BATE Borisov

GROUP G
Barcelona
Benfica
Spartak Moscow
Celtic

GROUP H
Manchester United
Braga
Galatasaray
CFR Cluj

Maryland is previously 28-0-0 when facing Georgetown, and it's been non-stop action.

The other semi-final between Creighton (12) and Illinois (16) comes up at 4:30. Final to be played on Sunday.

So what do you think? Should footballers keep their political opinions to themselves or should they use their profile to sway popular opinion if it is important to them?

In this circumstance, I am all for footballers educating the public.

Should be another fun ride down memory lane.

EDIT: Can you start your threads in the appropriate category next time, please?

Alessandro Del Piero and Emile Heskey both scored goals in a great game which Sydney unfortunately lost 3-2 in front of our biggest regular season crowd of 35,419

Anyways, the quote of Vancityvilla is from that thread:

At what point will African and Asian players stop playing in England?

VanCityVilla said: Downloaded this program last night and I highly reccommened it. Absolutely shocking the racism that still exists at these football stadiums in Poland and Ukraine.

Or did you mean Jolly Old England?

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1242203/police-probe-apparent-monkey-gesture-at-west-bromwich-match?cc=5901

It's funny - 6 months ago everybody was willing to pile onto Polkraine for their shocking displays of racism. Since then I have posted multiple examples from beloved England and the focus has shifted to me - the messenger - rather than maybe everybody overreacted a little bit too much to the original video. OR from my point of view - have underreacted to the many displays of racism and anti-semitism in England in 2012.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18192375

I think there will be a major overhaul in our lifetime of European soccer. Something just isn't right. I don't know what the fix is but this isn't working.

EDIT: category

Eric Hassli's goal against Toronto.. Watching this makes me pull my hair out that they got rid of him! He just seemed to create things out of nothing..

Anyway.. here it is: http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/puskasaward/index.html

Although in my opinion,.. Falcao's goal was the best of the lot.