Image courtesy of Empire Supporters Club

The Philadelphia Union announced on Monday the signing of defender Chris Albright.

The Philadelphia native, a product of Penn Charter and FC Delco, has played in MLS for 13 years, beginning with DC United where he started his career as a forward.

Chicago Fire original CJ Brown played in his last professional soccer game on October 23, 2010. Both Brown and teammate Brian McBride had announced their retirements days earlier. Chicago was already eliminated from the playoffs going into the game. Prior to kick-off the players knew it was going to be only the second time in the club's history that the Fire did not make the playoffs.

There are some stories in life and sports that force us to re-evaluate what is important. This is one of those stories. It is the story of a young man whose courage, determination and heart has touched the lives of professional athletes from all over Major League Soccer and beyond. Evan Mundine, a 13 year old boy from Texas has found a way to connect with athletes in the best ways possible.

Sporting Kansas City will again offer a series of youth soccer camps in 2012 for boys and girls of all ages. Camps will be offered to the experienced player ready to take it to the next level as well as the player who is newly developing their skills. Campers who attend sessions at our training center in Swope Park will have the opportunity to observe the Pros at practice.

It was a quite transfer window for Liverpool by last season's standards, with Wrexham's teenage goalkeeper Danny Ward the only notable arrival. However, since the window was introduced 10 seasons ago, the Reds have made some excellent signings in what is usually a frenzied period littered with hit-or-miss transfers.

It was a quite transfer window for Liverpool by last season's standards, with Wrexham's teenage goalkeeper Danny Ward the only notable arrival. However, since the window was introduced 10 seasons ago, the Reds have made some excellent signings in what is usually a frenzied period littered with hit-or-miss transfers.

The next United Nights is taking place on Friday, February 10th, the day before Liverpool. Mickey Thomas and Sammy Mcllroy will be joining David May at Walkabout bar in Manchester in the upstairs private function room for the event.

Sammy was the last youth player Sir Matt Busby signed for United when he moved from Belfast as a 15-year-old.

Three years ago I moved to Yorkshire from East Anglia for work purposes: a move I share with one very special former Ipswich Town player. Can you figure out who?!
Leeds and Ipswich share a lot in their histories: Huge success in the past has brought respect to both teams but the difficult financial times that followed have seen them slip down the league tables in recent decades.

(In its entirety)...FIFA.com caught up with Jurgen Klinsmann to discuss his first six months in charge of USA. A legendary former player who dazzled for Germany, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur, the 47-year-old spoke candidly about his hopes to transform American soccer from floor to ceiling.

Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane has joined Aston Villa on-loan for two months, 13 years ago Keane could have joined the Villians but instead joined Coventry. Keane becomes the third MLS high profile played to join up with a EPL club during the MLS off-season with Landon Donovan and Thierry Henry already signed up for Everton and Arsenal respectively

Two small pieces of news before we get on with the Player Of The Year discussion:
*Steve Nicol turned down the Rapids interview request. There was some talk about him being uncomfortable with the environment here, but all along I thought getting Nicol out of Boston, where he's been for 13 years, would be a long shot.

Stevie G in 10 top videos

Today marks 13 years since our inspirational captain Steven Gerrard made his Liverpool debut. To mark the occasion here are 10 great videos on LFC TV Online.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-11-29 15:34:06 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

United Rant claims our current situation in Europe is nothing like it was in 2005.

The FCF looks at our 3-3 draw with Barcelona 13 years ago today.

The Daily Mail reports on claims Mario Gotze is not for sale.

It's Friday. Follow Scott on Twitter. #ff @R_o_M

"RoM Reads" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

Junior goalkeeper Lara Campbell on Oct. 7, 2011 during the South Alabama match @ CIBER Field

The University of Denver's women's soccer team has had an amazing season, and finished with 16 wins and only five losses.

Junior goalkeeper Lara Campbell made an astounding 43 saves this season even after suffering a, high ankle sprain injury early on in the season.

Gus Poyet has refused to back down from defending Liverpool striker Luis Suarez over alleged racist comments made against Patrice Evra.
Suarez has been charged by the Football Association for remarks made to Evra in a 1-1 draw between Manchester United and Liverpool in October.
Poyet caused further controversy by claiming that Evra has been "crying like a baby" over the comments and is convinced that his fellow Uruguayan is innocent.

Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore is disappointed with the way Liverpool and Manchester United have handled the Luis Suarez-Patrice Evra situation, and questions whether either club really wants to get to the bottom of the issue.
Collymore argues Liverpool and United have too easily accepted their players' versions of events, and that there may be an ulterior motive behind this:
"With Evra and Suarez, the thing that is most disappointing of all is that Liverpool and Manchester United have just accepted their players' version of events without question or investigation.

Former English national team goalkeeper Chris Woods has joined the U.S. staff under new coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
Woods was at the U.S. team training session Monday, ahead of an exhibition game against Ecuador. Woods has been Everton's goalkeeper coach for 13 years, and Klinsmann says Everton manager David Moyes had given permission for Woods to take the U.

Scotland travel to Liechenstein on Saturday looking to keep their slim hopes of qualifying for Euro 2012 alive. Despite the assertions of manager Craig Levein, this campaign has been nothing short of a disaster for the Tartan Army and another major step back for the national team at a time when the quality of player available for selection is as high as it has been for some time.

Scotland travel to Liechenstein on Saturday looking to keep their slim hopes of qualifying for Euro 2012 alive. Despite the assertions of manager Craig Levein, this campaign has been nothing short of a disaster for the Tartan Army and another major step back for the national team at a time when the quality of player available for selection is as high as it has been for some time.

Scotland travel to Liechenstein on Saturday looking to keep their slim hopes of qualifying for Euro 2012 alive. Despite the assertions of manager Craig Levein, this campaign has been nothing short of a disaster for the Tartan Army and another major step back for the national team at a time when the quality of player available for selection is as high as it has been for some time.

19 year-old defender Jeff Henderson has joined Gateshead on an initial one-month loan deal. Jeff Henderson - one month lain at Gateshead The Ashington-0born player, who attended Coquet High School, has been at Newcastle since he was 13 years-old, and while he is principally a defender, he can also play in central midfield.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This morning we must offer our congratulations to British Conservative member of parliament Tracey Crouch (no relation to Peter), whose obstinacy, refusal to obey the rules and blind adherance to her beliefs have confirmed her as a true Kickette.

If Spurs score first then Arsenal won't win at White Hot Lane

Spurs take on Arsenal at the Lane today knowing that they will never have a better chance of finishing ahead of their bitter rivals this ­season. It will not be goalless – the last 0-0 draw was back in February 2009 and the one before that was 13 years ago!

For the first time in 13 years, the University of Wisconsin women's soccer team has started the Big Ten Conference season with back-to-back victories.

Freshman striker Cara Walls (Wauwatosa East) scored her second goal of the game and team-best sixth of the season in the 84th minute as the Badgers knocked off Michigan State 2-1 on Friday in East Lansing, Mich.

Chivas USA Coach Robin Fraser, Jimmy Conrad and Chivas USA General manager Jose Domene yuck it up during the loosest retirement press conference in MLS history (Photo courtesy Chivas USA).

Like fans, journalists like to watch great players; players capable of fantastic quotes, we love even more.

The Little League World Series is upon us again and soon a new champion is to be crowned. Every year in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, sports fans are treated to a little bit of the lighter side in sports. The competition is top-notch and serious.

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America writes of how US coach Jurgen Klinsmann hopes to impact the US game at the grassroots level.
Before Jurgen Klinsmann's debut as U.S. coach against Mexico, ESPN's Julie Foudy asked him, "How would you define success over the next three years?"
It's noteworthy that Klinsmann steered his response to youth soccer:
"I define success in individual development of players.

Clint Dempsey scored twice for Fulham in their 3-0 victory against Dnipro. The comfortable win at home puts the Cottagers on course to qualify for the Europa League group stage.
Sliding one-touch finish to double Fulham's lead.
Dempsey gets up to head home his second goal:

Here are some quotes from today's press conference introducing Jurgen Klinsmann. For the full transcript, click here.
U.S. Soccer President SUNIL GULATI
Opening comments:
"I think today is a very important day and perhaps the start of a new era for us. We're extraordinarily excited about having Jurgen Klinsmann join our team, to lead our team and to help lead our technical program.

By MIKE NASTRI

NEW YORK -- The U.S. Soccer Federation did not just hire the 35th head coach in national team history, but it perhaps altered the direction of the entire national team program.

Jurgen Klinsmann, the first foreign-born U.S. national team coach in 16 years, touched on a few topics during his first press conference since being hired to replace Bob Bradley on Friday, but he frequently emphasized the culture and direction of soccer in the United States.

A new era of US Soccer will start tomorrow, when Jurgen Klinsmann is formally introduced to the media as the new national team coach.
Rob Hughes of the NY Times writes of the potential influence that Klinsmann will have on his adopted nation.
When Jürgen Klinsmann took over as the German national team trainer before the 2006 World Cup, he opened the eyes of his birth nation.

Spending more than a decade at a big club such as Manchester United, John O'shea made a rather surprising move by leaving Old Trafford to join Sunderland for the upcoming season.

Revealing the main reason behind his departure, O'shea stated that it was his attraction with the Black Cats' project that made him willing to accept the deal and depart from the club that his been playing with for the last 13 years.

WASHINGTON -- The team that finally got over the hump earned their moment with the leader of the free world.

Clad in gray suits, the Colorado Rapids were honored in the East Room of the White House by President Barack Obama Tuesday afternoon for winning the 2010 MLS Cup a little more than seven months ago at BMO Field in Toronto.

Hearts defender Craig Thomson (20) has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 5 years for preying on underage girls via the Internet.

The paedophile first started preying on young girl's with general conversation, one of which was just 13 years old, however when the girl turned 14 he told her he wanted to have sex with her before sending pictures of naked men's private parts.

How many times do we read of the size of Mr Wenger's wage packet? Some have said that our leader benefits from the profitability of the club which they proclaim accounts for his penchant to buy small and his insistence of selling big. Thankfully, this nonsense has been rebutted and rarely raises it's ugly head, even in the most anti-AW sites.

Wow. What a day! The game wasn't all that thrilling, but Liverpool have been beaten at Villa Park for the first time in 13 years thanks to a superb strike from Stewart Downing and, with the other results today, we end up finishing in 9th place. A top half finish, on top of the Midlands once again despite our worst performance over 38 games for five years.

Wow. What a day! The game wasn't all that thrilling, but Liverpool have been beaten at Villa Park for the first time in 13 years thanks to a superb strike from Stewart Downing and, with the other results today, we end up finishing in 9th place. A top half finish, on top of the Midlands once again despite our worst performance over 38 games for five years.

Written by Geoff Strong

During the 17 seasons from 1930 to 1953 (excluding the war years), Arsenal Football Club won 7 league titles, 3 FA Cups and had only 7 barren seasons, never waiting more than 3 seasons for a trophy (of which there were only two per year). A golden age, the best of times.

U.S. U-20 MNT forward Bobby Wood has lived the teenage soccer player's dream. Having a successful trial at 13 years old and moving to Europe at 14, Wood has made a home at 1860 Munich and graduated to the first team this season. He was called into a camp with U-20 coach Thomas Rongen in April 2010, and has been a mainstay ever since.

Having players and coaches around you that you can trust is critical for a team's success. Ben Olsen is working on putting together a winning formula with DC United in Major League Soccer, and a key piece in that equation is Josh Wolff.

Josh Wolff and Ben Olsen had been teammates on the youth national scene, at the 2000 Olympics and 2006 World Cup.