Mathias Kniepeiss/Getty Images(Bleacher Report)What comes to mind you think of the term home-field advantage? To some clubs it is just a saying and a hopeful truth, while to others it is a true existence as their stadium and their fans have a profound effect on the opposition.
To say that football is a game that brings out the full passion of its fans in an understatement in many different categories.

While the US Women's National Team was finishing a 6-day camp in Florida, US Soccer announced that they will be playing a friendly match against England on April 2. This will be the first match ever in England for the US Women.

The match will be played in Matchroom Stadium in East London, which is home to English League One side Leyton Orient.

Two things on today's agenda:

Thing No. 1, an explainer on some stadium rakings that caused a stir.

Thing No. 2, A few words about what makes Livestrong Sporting Park such a great place – and it may not be what you think.

A few folks got their undies in a bunch over my Power Rankings of MLS stadiums (they are at the bottom of my weekly Five Things to Know about the MLS piece at SI.

Not every supporters group has it as good as the Timbers Army

This past Saturday the New England Revolution played against the Chicago Fire at home. Naturally, as is the custom with all MLS teams, the supporters went to their respective positions and began doing what supporters do best: singing, chanting, screaming, being passionate.

In the sanitized atmosphere of Singapore football not many of the teams there 'feel' like a football club in the sense of a team identifiable with their local community. You don't walk round Woodlands or Tampines and see people wearing club colours unless it's a Liverpool or Manchester United shirt.
The only times I've seen people wearing club colours in Singapore, I mean local club, it has been the green of Geylang United.

"We don't want a bunch of traveling supporters. As soon as we open up the whole building, it's a free for all. So obviously when we open our whole building up it's a lot different than when Vancouver and Portland open up their whole buildings, because their buildings hold 18,000 and 20,000. We want home games.

Despite the pundits tipping Arsenal for another difficult season following the club's drab goalless draw away to Newcastle yesterday, manager Arsene Wenger is content with his players' efforts, particularly those in the much criticized Gunners defense.

The boss singled out first-choice defensive pairing of Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny for praise, insisting that the two players must be lauded for helping goalkeeper Wojciech Szceszny keep an impressive clean sheet in a difficult atmosphere at St.

Liberally stolen from CBC and Chris Young/Canadian Press. Sorry but this is beautiful.
I need a forum for this and I'll keep it brief and do my best to tie it into our beloved Robins (that's TFC folks).
The match was an electric affair where a combination of sublime luck and timing earned a draw against relentless pressure and natural skills.

Official U.S. Soccer Bars across the country are ready to provide the perfect atmosphere for you and your fellow football fanatics to witness the USA's thrilling ride through this summer's action. From this Saturday's matinee against Spain to the chase for the Gold Cup, you can enjoy the excitement and intensity with U.

Tonight kicks off what I would consider to be the second most important international soccer competition outside of the World Cup for the United States, and, yes, I'm including the Summer Olympics in that statement. The Summer Olympics are fun, but largely resides outside the world of FIFA.

The United States opened their 2011 Gold Cup campaign with a 2-0 Group C win over Canada at Detroit's Ford Field in front of 28,209 fans. A 15th minute goal from Jozy Altidore opened the scoring with Landon Donovan picking up the assist. Clint Dempsey made it 2-0 USA in the 62nd minute, with Altidore assisting.

I did an update about the friendly schedule just a couple days ago, but it looks like we may have a new addition already. While I have not seen anything about this match in the English press or from the Bolton side of things, the official Twitter account of American club FC Tampa Bay announced yesterday that a friendly with Bolton would happen mid-July.

Has anyone else seen Fever Pitch? You know the scene when the couple are lying in bed and she's trying to plan a holiday, but he won't. And she gets angry because the reason he won't is that it might clash with an Arsenal game...

I realised this morning: that is me!
I've got loads planned for July.

We were fortunate enough to have a group of "Friends of the Nest" on the ground in Portland this past Sunday. Tom Faust did us the favor of capturing some video footage, including a pre-game predictions from the Thirsty Lion, half time comments and even the equalizing penalty by DeRo. In addition to the video, which you can view above, Tom took some shots around the ground and from his vantage point close to the Timbers Army.

A good all in brawl on the field among the players is an essential part of the SLeague experience. In fact given the lack of atmosphere at most games a free for all is about all there is that can get players' adrenalin pumping.

It was felt that once striker Noh Alam Shah had gone to play overseas things would quiet down in this regard but, fortunately, there have been others ready to step up to the plate.

Gary Neville is currently in Singapore, meaning he missed out on the news that Ashley Young had finally signed for Manchester United.

When asked about our new player by The New Paper, our former captain had to double check it was all official before talking about him.

"Sorry, have we signed Ashley Young?

Liverpool Leaning Towards New Stadium

Liverpool are leaning towards the prospect of building a new stadium in Stanley Park, having previously professed their desires to redevelop Anfield. The Reds require increased capacity in order to compete with the Premier League's major players, and have favoured an Anfield stay ever since FSG assumed control of the club.

Off to KL to see the Arsenal!
Big stadium, the Bukit Jalil. Was there last year for the Malaysia v Indonesia AFF Cup Final. Malaysia won that night 3-0 in front of something like 86,000. Check Jakarta Casual TV for a taste of the atmosphere!
Last time the Arsenal were in South East Asia, they got beat by Thailand 4-3!

Japan turned the narrative tables: This time it was not the USWNT winning against the run of play. They attacked relentlessly for much of the match, and came awfully close to scoring over and over again. Japan forced the USWNT to bring the game to them. Every now and again, they let up their breaks.

Men are pigs. Bullish, impatient, mindless, and above all selfish. It is why I only love women. And apparently, so do the Turks. In an effort to punish clubs for crowd trouble while acknowledging that such trouble comes from a small percentage of individuals, the Turkish Football Federation proposed barring all males over the age of 12 from the stands as punishment.

The best photo from a blurry batch of cell-phone pictures. I'm glad to say that I was lucky enough to be able to go to Empire Field's last Vancouver Whitecaps game against the Seattle Sounders. When I go see matches live, I'm usually too engrossed in the action and swept up by the atmosphere to be able to properly focus on what I'm going to write later in the match report.

The Football Association of Ireland, in association with Three and supporter's group, ‘You Boys in Green' today (November 4) joined the campaign to encourage fans to ‘Go Green on November 15'.
The campaign aims to encourage fans all over the country to get behind the team by wearing green on November 15 when Ireland take on Estonia in the second leg of the EURO 2012 Play-off in Aviva Stadium.

By Chris Wright

The recent return of Liverpool's messianic regent, King Kenneth of Dalglish, to the Anfield fold may have been enough to make full-grown Scousers lose control of their giddy bladders, but the man himself is keen to quell the 'honeymoon' atmosphere currently engulfing the club insisting that the club's supporters would be wise to begin lowering their newly re-inflated expectations:

"We have got to manage expectations.

Fernando Who?... After all the hype and build up to yesterdays fixture, a mix of the general rivalry in clashes with Chelsea, oh and the added sprinkle of Fernando Torres playing his first game in a blue shirt, well by kick off the whole fan base was ready and raring to go. It was always going to be a slightly heated atmosphere after the timing of Torres' leave and although some fans have taken

By Chris Wright

1.) A goal down against Hannover, Wolfsburg midfielder Diego tumbles in the area and wins his side an 80th-minute penalty.

2.) Diego then wrestles the ball away from Wolfsburg manager Steve McClaren's designated penalty taker namely deadline day signing Patrick Helmes as the Brazilian is unsure of who Helmes actually is.

Fernando Torres has admitted Liverpool are a bigger club than Chelsea but says he moved to Stamford Bridge because he was losing enthusiasm for football at Anfield.
The striker has been heavily criticized by supporters of the Reds since his £50 million move to west London after three-and-a-half successful years on Merseyside.

By Chris Wright

With Crawley Town set to play Manchester United in the fifth round of the FA Cup this weekend, a gaggle of the club's supporters banded together to record a tribute song 'A Message To You, Rooney' to commemorate the occasion.

However, the fairly good-humoured atmosphere was spoiled when it came to light that one of the Crawley fans that appeared in the video had spent most of his time making 'aeroplane' gestures in reference to the 1958 Munich Air disaster that killed 23 of United's players and staff.

It was announced today that, after weeks of training with the team, Charlie Davies has signed a 12-month loan to DC United from France's FC Sochaux. The 24 year old American striker spent the past 16 months out of Sochaux's starting roster as he recovered from the December 2009 car crash that cost him his spot in the 2010 World Cup, and which, incidentally, took place only miles from what will be his new home at RFK Stadium.

I will not lie to you. Going into this match, my heart was saying we had a real chance, but my head just couldn't forget about last year's tie, and I was really afraid we might get battered. Isn't it fantastic when the heart wins out? Victoria concordia crescit.

I honestly don't really know where to begin.

Did Wednesday night's game at the Emirates mark a watershed for the Arsenal? All the reports I have read about the Emirates have decried the lack of atmosphere and compared it to a library.

Now, never having been there, I am these days the archetypal armchair fan subscribing to every TV and Computer feed that will bring me the games as they happen and have therefore got used to the sound or lack off it, in many cases, coming through my speakers.

Didier Deschamps is banking on the feverish backing of the Stade Vélodrome crowd to give Marseille a valuable edge in the first leg of their tie against Manchester United, a club the coach describes as "an example to follow". The visitors have a number of injury problems for the trip to France but Sir Alex Ferguson is confident in their ability to cope as his team begin a testing run.

Since the inaugural season of Major League Soccer, RFK Stadium has been known to be a building that opponents were wary of and that housed the best atmosphere in the League. Those characteristics remain intact as United is set to open its 16th season at the iconic facility. Among the many areas of organizational improvement during the off-season are several items that will contribute to a better game-day experience to United faithful at home games throughout the season.

Spurs and Arsenal have thrown up some memorable encounters over the years and the two most recent league fixtures have added in their share of drama, stunning goals and more importantly, three points for Spurs.

When you ask many Tottenham fans about their favourite game against Arsenal, they point to the 4-4 at The Emirates in 2008.

A few weeks back I wrote about the guy who had organised competitive football where previously there had been none in the villages of West Java.
Yesterday was the Grand Final day with all 200 teams and 3,000 kids bussed into Jakarta for their own Cup Final.
Pictures of the day can be found on Asian Football Pictures while Jakarta Casual TV takes in the atmosphere of the big day.

Not content with knocking Liverpool off their perch, a small group of United fans braved the atmosphere of Anfield to rub their rivals' noses in it a little bit more and unveil an antagonising banner...
Continue to the full story

Integrity Athletic Performance and Physical Therapy is offering soccer players a chance to improve their skills and athleticism over the summer with their Ultimate Summer Soccer Sessions. Sessions are run Monday thru Thursday June 6 to August 26 at the Integrity indoor soccer facility and weight room in Springfield.

A Day at Wembley Photo, Shoot Special is a post from: Just Football

Last week Just Football was kindly invited to go behind-the-scenes at Wembley Stadium to soak up the atmosphere the day before European club football's showpiece event the 2011 Champions League final between FC Barcelona and Manchester United.

Here is the MNT in England feature 'Stuart Holden Game Day Experience':
A few things we took away from the day with Stuart:
First, it was clear the connection that Stuart has already made with the club. From the fans waiting outside to the stadium personnel and team backroom staff, there was a genuine connection.

A Supportive Saturday Afternoon - A short film by Eric and Jordan Beard

The texture of passion often lacks definition. However, when loyalty befriends sheer strength in numbers, clarity arises.

64,121 people showed up to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts to see the United States Men's National Team play Spain on Saturday, June 4th.

Tomorrow is the home opener for Sporting KC at Livestrong Sporting Park. Here are a few news bits before the game tomorrow.
First, Thad posted it on Twitter today, and Robb Heineman mentioned it on 980 today, Sporting KC will not have a surprise jersey sponsor on the jersey for the game tomorrow.