The second home match of the season is the fourth in 8 days for the Sounders Women and the last in a while for the contingent of national team players, who will be traveling to Sweden for a two-week camp involving matches against Sweden and Japan as they warm up for the Olympics this summer.

Facing them will be the onetime Colorado Force, who changed their name this season as they partnered with the Colorado Rapids.

There was only one Major League Soccer match on the calendar this weekend with the Revs hosting the Chicago Fire at Gillette on Saturday night. The 2-0 victory pushed the Revs up the table, but drew a crowd of only 12,500. Cold weather and rain likely contributed to the down crowd, but the Revs will again need bigger numbers in Summer and Fall to push attendance to a respectable height by the end of the season.

Everton 7 Southampton 1
Saturday 16th November 1996
Attendance 35669
Stadium Goodison Park

Everton Team

N Southall, E Barrett, A Hinchcliffe, D Unsworth, D Watson, G Stuart (Scored), G Speed (Scored 3), N Barmby (Scored), A Kanchelskis (Scored 2), J Parkinson, T Grant

Substitute P Gerrard replaced N Southall

Everton unused substitutes C Short, D Ferguson, P Branch, G Allen

Southampton Team

C Woods, J Dodd, C Lundekvam, U van Gobbel, K Monkou, R Slater, J Magilton, E Ostenstad (Scored), S Charlton, M Le Tissier, E Berkovic

Substitute N Heaney replaced S Charlton
Substitute A Neilson replaced N Heaney
Substitute G Watson replaced M Le Tissier

Southampton unused substitutes N Maddison, D Beasant

European Cup Winners Cup Final 1985
Everton 3-1 Rapid Vienna
Date: 15 May 1985
Stadium: Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam
Attendance: 38,500
Referee: Paolo Casarin (Italy)

Everton Team

N Southall, M Stevens, P van den Hauwe, K Ratcliffe, D Mountfield, P Reid, T Steven (Scored), A Gray (Scored), G Sharp, P Bracewell, K Sheedy (Scored)

Rapid Vienna Team

M Konsel, R Kienast, K Garger, H Weber, L Lainer, P Hristic, Z Kranjcar, R Weinhofer, K Brauneder, P Pacult, H Krankl (Scored)
Substitute J Gross replaced R Weinhofer
Substitute A Penanka replaced P Pacult

For many fans in attendance at the Brazil's 4-1 win over the U.S. not wearing yellow and samba dancing while drinking criminally overpriced beer, this was the best moment of the match. After Pato scored the game's final goal in the 87th minute, Richard Simmons' illegitimate step-son ran out to the center of the pitch and slid through the center circle.

Another standing room only crowd at Livestrong Sporting Park as Sporting KC pulled in just under 20,000, at 19,974 for today's game against the San Jose Earthquakes. Sporting KC continues to push to set a new high for attendance average in a season this season. Here's a look at attendance through 6 games throughout the seasons.

Cayman Islands FA president Jeffrey Webb is now the 4th president of the CONCACAF confederation. He was the lone candidate for the position (29 nominations out of the 40 members) and was voted by acclamation at the CONCACAF congress in Budapest today. Webb has the administrative experience from years of service at the national FA, CFU, CONCACAF, and FIFA committees, and has accumulated the contacts that go along with such service.

Article by Doak Gips
There were too many sports happening on Saturday. Seriously. Between Champions League final, MLS /NASL games, and the NBA playoffs, I honestly don't own enough TV's. But a bar does. So that's where I was. Until I went to support local soccer. Which you should be doing!

One quarter of Europe's football faithful (41 million) are classed as Fans Without Borders, with FC Barcelona the most popular foreign team (29%), followed by Real Madrid CF (10%) and Manchester United FC (8%).

Fans Without Borders have been categorised into three groups:
1. Highlight Fans, representing 60% of all Fans Without Borders, are attracted to a club's playing philosophy (85%) and success (79%).

Welcome to episode #32 of the IMSoccer News North American Soccer League Podcast. This week Gerry Wittmann , Jay (Yankiboy) Long, and yours truly, Brian Quarstad, run down all this past weeks NASL games and feature some post game comments from players and coaches. We also talk about the NASL attendance and we spend some [.

BY ADAM SERRANO

When the defending MLS Cup champion Los Angeles Galaxy are honored at the White House on Tuesday, goalkeeper Josh Saunders will be right alongside his teammates, according to a club release.

After announcing that Saunders will be away from the club indefinitely been away to enter the league's Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health program, but was approved to join the group in Washington, D.

Now that everybody in the top three men's leagues has had at least one home game, here's the first Taking Attendance report of the 2012 season.

MLS G Total Average Median High Low Montreal 4 162,115 40,529 41,016 60,860 19,223 Seattle 7 270,387 38,627 38,399 39,312 38,301 Los Angeles 6 139,182 23,197 22,696 27,000 18,466 Houston 1 22,039 22,039 22,039 22,039 22,039 Portland 5 102,190 20,438 20,438 20,438 20,438 Toronto 5 95,109 19,022 18,944 20,070 18,364 Sporting KC 5 95,087 19,017 19,777 20,404 15,161 Vancouver 5 93,074 18,615 19,271 21,000 15,382 Salt Lake 6 110,062 18,344 17,924 20,415 16,738 Philadelphia 5 91,563 18,313 18,526 19,074 17,189 New York 5 81,020 16,204 17,114 21,024 11,315 Colorado 4 58,019 14,505 13,949 19,152 10,969 Chicago 5 70,433 14,087 14,159 18,075 10,489 DC United 6 82,506 13,751 13,619 16,314 10,135 Dallas 7 92,179 13,168 11,702 20,906 10,069 Chivas USA 5 64,338 12,868 14,127 14,652 7,723 Columbus 5 63,290 12,658 11,516 18,197 10,479 San Jose 6 71,421 11,904 10,364 21,816 8,734 New England 4 41,575 10,394 11,251 12,925 6,149 MLS TOTAL 96 1,805,589 18,808 18,114 60,860 6,149 NASL G Total Average Median High Low San Antonio 3 32,801 10,934 10,114 13,151 9,536 Atlanta 4 17,180 4,295 4,460 5,000 3,261 Minnesota 3 12,553 4,184 2,168 8,693 1,692 Fort Lauderdale 3 10,449 3,483 2,916 4,779 2,754 Carolina 3 9,442 3,147 3,041 3,683 2,718 Tampa Bay 4 12,119 3,030 3,148 3,536 3,536 Edmonton 2 2,393 1,197 1,197 1,273 1,120 Puerto Rico 4 4,074 1,019 1,006 1,542 520 NASL TOTAL 26 101,011 3,885 3,085 13,151 520 USL PRO G Total Average Median High Low Rochester 1 7,959 7,959 7,959 7,959 7,959 Orlando 3 23,042 7,681 7,899 8,421 6,722 Charleston 4 14,979 3,745 3,544 4,729 3,162 Wilmington 3 10,620 3,540 3,682 4,456 2,482 Richmond 3 10,451 3,484 3,169 5,009 2,273 Harrisburg 1 1,223 1,223 1,223 1,223 1,223 Los Angeles 4 4,867 1,217 1,118 2,432 200 Antigua 6 6,400 1,067 900 1,800 800 Dayton 3 2,645 882 853 1,012 780 Pittsburgh 2 1,567 784 784 1,005 562 Charlotte 5 3,507 701 576 964 522 USL PRO TOTAL 35 87,260 2,493 1,223 8,421 200 PDL G Total Average Median High Low Fresno 2 8,634 4,317 4,317 4,361 4,273 Des Moines 3 10,237 3,412 3,272 3,722 3,243 Carolina 1 2,741 2,741 2,741 2,741 2,741 Ventura County 1 1,547 1,547 1,547 1,547 1,547 Western Mass 1 1,491 1,491 1,491 1,491 1,491 West Texas 2 2,732 1,366 1,366 1,644 1,088 Portland 1 1,257 1,257 1,257 1,257 1,257 Victoria 1 1,172 1,172 1,172 1,172 1,172 Palmetto 1 1,031 1,031 1,031 1,031 1,031 El Paso 1 560 560 560 560 560 Boston 1 546 546 546 546 546 Worcester 1 531 531 531 531 531 Mississippi 1 418 418 418 418 418 CFC Azul 1 397 397 397 397 397 No.

One of the world's best players is making a stop at Red Bull Arena this summer.

Leo Messi and Argentina will hold an open training session at Red Bull Arena on June 7, two days before the albiceleste are scheduled to take on archrivals Brazil in a friendly at MetLife Stadium. The session is free to New York Red Bulls season ticket holders, but tickets will need to be purchased otherwise.

West Ham beat Cardiff on an aggregate score of 5-0 in their Championship playoff semifinal as they try to make a quick return to the Premier League. Russell Brand was in attendance for their successful second leg at Upton Park and so was the man holding the sign in the above photo.

Apparently confident that West Ham wouldn't blow their first-leg lead, this man brought a sign breaking the news that he wouldn't be serving as best man at his pal Chris' wedding due to a conflict with the Hammers' trip to Wembley for a final against Blackpool or Birmingham City on May 19.

Bright Dike practiced with the Timbers today in what could be his final appearance with the team in 2012. Word from practice is that Dike will go on a season long load to the LA Blues of the USL Pro division as was rumored on twitter yesterday. Dike will still take up a spot on the Timbers roster and will be able to be recalled to the team if necessary.

photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson
The third largest crowd at Livestrong Sporting Park saw KC fall to Montreal 2-0 last night in the team's 5th home game of the season. The 2012 season continues to lead the way for average attendance so far this season, ahead of the 2011 season, which is the best attended season in team history.

The Minnesota Stars (2-W/0-L/3T) picked up their 2nd win of the season with a 2-0 shutout over the Atlanta Silverbacks on Saturday night in Blaine, Minnesota. The Stars remain the only team undefeated in the NASL after a month of league play. The rain stayed away but cool and windy conditions persisted and kept attendance [.

Seattle's Fredy Montero scored his first goal of the season in stunning fashion during his side's 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy. With Seattle already up 1-0 in the 48th minute, Montero was given too much space in the middle of the pitch and he punished the Beckhamless Galaxy by launching a beauty into the top corner from 35 yards out.

They started the ISL season known as Gresik United but some media are now calling them Persegres. There is a Gresik United in the 'official' Divisi Utama but they don't announce attendance so we cannot compare. Anyway this lot may just be 12th but their crowds are pretty healthy if the numbers tend to be rounded up by the look of it.

Newcastle held another transfer summit yesterday with Derek Llambias, Alan Pardew and Chief Scout Graham Carr all in attendance. Cheick Tiote in action against Arsenal earlier in the season With Chelsea surprisingly making the Champions League final last night, when they beat Barcelona in the semi-finals, it could be that Newcastle don't know what competition they will be playing in [.

By Tony Edwards - San Jose, CA (Apr 19, 2012) US Soccer Players -- It's Thursday, and Tony joins Robert Warzycha in looking for answers in Columbus, details Kansas City's impressive defense, and offers no excuses for MLS attendance. What is Coach Robert Warzycha doing to shake up the Columbus attack?

When I first saw this video I feared the worst having seen similar scenes last year when gunshots erupted outside a stadium in Mexico. But alas, this was nothing more than a bunch of grown men humping the ground and praying to avoid the wrath of one of the fiercest and most intimidating predators in the insect kingdom.

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In between ridiculous attendance and their "Defensive Brat", what will happen with New York's storybook year?
follow on Twitter @olearyscowfc
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Podcast Powered By Podbean
In between ridiculous attendance and their "Defensive Brat", what will happen with New York's storybook year?
follow on Twitter @olearyscowfc
email olearyscow@yahoo.com

When he watches football... he likely doesn't watch Chivas USAWhile we are no fans of changing team identities unless absolutely necessary (i.e. Sporting Kansas) sometimes you just have to admit things are stuck in the Roller Hockey era and need a different approach (i.e. Crew, Revolution, Rapids, Impact) While not lumbered with a 90's Nike-infused identity, Chivas USA were branded in a way that alienates Los Angeles football fans who have a built-in hatred for The Goats' parent club Chivas Guadalajara.

KC had another standing room only crowd for last night's game against Real Salt Lake, the 4th SRO crowd of the season. The 19,422 actually puts Sporting KC ahead of last seasons attendance rate which was the highest attended game ever. Here's a look at the rest of the 4th home game attendances in team history.

So while Seattleites will continue to set the standard for MLS attendance and atmosphere, they will probably have to set aside their hopes of welcoming the U.S. national team

Seattle is a great soccer market. So why won't the U.S. national team play there? A search for answers - Soccer Insider - The Washington Post

Exceptions are made for LA, for Salt Lake, for Foxbourough, for Tampa, for New Jersey, but not for Seattle.

Below are some of the responses that I received on Twitter and in the comments of my post on the opening arguments on the question of whether Sporting KC fans are becoming cocky and over confident in the team. Seems a lot of people believe I am overreacting in ways, but there were quite a few that have agreed with me that there are fans that are starting to get over confident in the team.

By Chris Wright

Spotted in the Stacey West Stand after Lincoln City's Alan Power knocked in a penalty during their 4-0 win over Tamworth at Sincil Bank a couple of weeks back a veteran Imps fan showing the young'ns in attendance how to really celebrate a goal.

Alcohol may have been a factor.

Some of you commented on yesterday's attendance post that I should have compared last year's week 5 numbers with this year's week 5 numbers. While my intent with the post was to just present this year's numbers with a few notes, I do get where you all were coming from.

So here ya go, last year's numbers at Week 5 along with this year's (numbers via Soccer America):

Like I said, things are steady.

Some packed houses like this are starting to become the norm in MLS. (Photo via the Montreal Impact)

Yes, this is the obvious MLS attendance post. Thankfully this time around I am not going to be blasting any team for their lack of quality gate figures. Yeah, that's right, this isn't one of those posts that you see that comments on how poorly a team is doing at the gate.

NASL had 4 games this past weekend, though hardly anyone noticed. Nobody missed too much anyways, only two goals were scored.
It is an eight-team league, considered as U.S. pro Soccer's Second Division (or the top of the Minor Leagues).

Another over capacity crowd at Livestrong Sporting Park in the third game of the season. Time to take a look at the attendance for the third home game throughout Kansas City's history.
1996 - Arrowhead
17,706
Saturday 5/11/1996 vs Dallas Burn 2-3 loss
Average - 15,898
1997 - Arrowhead
6,272
Friday 4/18/1997 vs Dallas Burn 2-1 win
Average - 8,292
1998 - Arrowhead
11,500
Saturday 4/18/1998 vs LA Galaxy 1-2 loss
Average - 8,643
1999 - Arrowhead
4,815
Saturday 4/10/1999 vs San Jose Clash 1-1 (0-2) shootout loss
Average - 9,546
2000 - Arrowhead
7,380
Saturday 4/15/2000 vs San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 win
Average - 6,723
2001 - Arrowhead
14,521
Saturday 4/28/2001 vs San Jose Earthquakes 0-0 draw
Average - 10,661
2002 - Arrowhead
21,301
Saturday 5/4/2002 vs LA Galaxy 1-2 overtime loss
Average - 14,569
2003 - Arrowhead
16,006
Saturday 5/3/2003 vs Columbus Crew 2-2 draw
Average - 17,665
2004 - Arrowhead
27,969
Saturday 5/1/2004 vs Colorado Rapids 2-0 win
Average - 19,293
2005 - Arrowhead
10,007
Saturday 5/7/2005 vs FC Dallas 3-3 draw
Average - 11,833
2006 - Arrowhead
8,138
Saturday 5/6/2006 vs Chicago Fire 1-1 draw
Average - 11,572
2007 - Arrowhead
10,141
Saturday 5/12/2007 vs FC Dallas 1-2 loss
Average - 8,335
2008 - Community America Ballpark
8,096
Wednesday 4/9/2008 vs New England Revolution 1-3 loss
Average - 9,071
2009 - Community America Ballpark
10,385
Thursday 4/23/2009 vs New York Red Bulls 1-0 win
The first ESPN game from Community America Ballpark
Average - 9,231
2010 - Community America Ballpark
10,045
Saturday 4/24/2010 vs LA Galaxy 0-0 draw
Average - 10,219
2011 - Livestrong Sporting Park
18,467
Saturday 6/25/2011 vs Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 win
Average - 18,953
2012 - Livestrong Sporting Park
20,323
Saturday 4/7/2012 vs LA Galaxy 1-0 win
Average - 18,420
Here are the rankings of the average attendance through 3 games.

Who will be the deciding factor at the Camp Nou tonight? This guy.

When all comparisons and statistics are placed on the table, it's tough to bet against Barça getting the job done in front of ~90,000 supporters. Without the injured Thiago Silva once again, AC Milan are the underdogs in tonight's Champions League quarter-final.

Stan's Standing Ovation.

The 19th minute today at Villa Park was special. There were no goals scored, nor were there any red cards given. No, the 19th minute comprised of 60 raw seconds commemorating an excellent career, and an urge to keep fighting. You see, on Friday Aston Villa's captain and #19, Stylian "Stan" Petrov, was diagnosed with acute leukemia, and will retire from the game he loves in an effort to defeat this to defeat this cancer.

The United States Under-23 National Team entered their final match of Group A play in need of a victory to advance in the qualifying for the Summer Olympics.

Standing in their way, however, was a resilient El Salvador squad that gave the Americans every thing they could handle, right up until the 90th minute.

photo courtesy Jarred Donalson
Continuing to take a look again this year, comparing the attendance from throughout KC's history. Here's the look through 2 home games after KC drew 15,161 last night against FC Dallas. That's the second lowest attendance for a KC game at Livestrong Sporting Park.

Before we take a look at MLS attendance from the weekend, a quick note on our "new" look. The front page of Footiebusiness has been revamped to (hopefully) make things easier to navigate. After more than three years with the same front page, it was time to make a few changes. Hopefully it will be easier to access the Footiebusiness Twitter feed and soccer links while still providing access to the site's content.

There really hasn't been much "news" news in MLS over the past few weeks: clubs haven't been rumored to be in talks with international stars, managers have kept things with the status quo, and not a single player was found to me making anything of a ruckus. The season opened smoothly, and attendance looked stronger than ever.

Here are the quotes from yesterday's practice session.

Quotes

John Spencer

On New England

I think that what you have got to remember is, people say that they are down and not doing this and not doing that, but they have had two tough road games.