Two of these DC signings have already been waived/photo from MLSNET.com At the conclusion of a successful 2007 season which saw MLS' attendance at it highest level since the inaugural season of 1996 and media coverage beyond once imaginable levels, the league opted to increase the number of international squad spots to eight from the previous [.

"Football is definitely changing in this country, and it is getting bigger and growing," Beckham said. "But it is going to take time, and I said that at the start. It's not just going to happen in a year or two. It's a long-term plan to raise the profile for this game in this country. I think it has gone well so far.

So, FInland are in the play-offs. A good performance from everyone, with special mentions for Juha Hakola, Tim Sparv and substitute Jarno Parikka, and it was a good attendance too. The support from the Finland fans was mentioned in Niklas Hägen's excellent report in HBL, in particular that there were songs to the tune of [.

An inspired Red Bulls squad made my staying up till 1am worth it, with a win against an out of game shape, tired, uninspired Chivas Guadalajara team.

Red Bulls pwnd the game. Seriously, from start to finish, it was all Red Bull. It actually makes you admire MLS teams like Houston or New England who are thrown into preseason tournaments and still go head to head with the regions best.

The 2007 season was one of the most significant for MLS ever. David Beckham signed with the Gals (but didn't play much) and his popularity increased the league's average attendance per game by a whopping 1,000 fans. Commissioner Garber was finally delivering on his promise of growth to a league that had toiled in near obscurity for over a decade.

The 2008 season is over for the Wizards following their loss to Columbus on Saturday. With that done, it's now time to start looking at some of the end of season stats for the Wizards. The first stat this offseason to look at, is the Wizards attendance for the 2008 season compared to the rest of the league and to last season.

The atmosphere was one of a kind, with 22,453 fans in attendance for both team's first Superliga match.  As the announcer announced the starting lineups, the jars of the song and drum reverberated through your heart.  The teams walked out onto the field to a heavy round of cheers and applause, and the game began.

Next Monday, 28 July, sees a Singapore Select take on Brazil Olympic at the Kalang Stadium in Singapore.
Grandstand - S$120
Gallery - S$ 60
Gallery - Student - S$15 (2000 gallery tickets available for students under the age of 16 years old.While stocks last!)
I won't be going.

The reviews of the first ever Pan-Pacific Championship are in and we've got a flop on our hands. Even with David Beckham and hometown hero Brian Ching on the pitch, the combined attendance for the two double-headers was a mere 38,215. On top of that, the field turf was horrible.
So what to make of this tournament?

The ADASL, metro Atlanta's top mens amateur league, has scheduled the annual pre-season organizational meeting for Tuesday, August 5 at the Hudson Grille-Brookhaven at 7 PM.
This meeting kicks off the 2008-2009 Major Season. Teams must have a representative in attendance to collect registration information.

Graham Fox is a freelance soccer writer from Manhattan, Kansas. He is a KC Wizards fan, a du Nord regular, and an advocate for fun. Find him at grahamfox@gmail.com
Do you know that:

• Eurosnobs look down on you for watching MLS?
• Low attendance is your fault?
• The level of play in MLS could be higher if you would have eaten one less pickled egg last night?

A unique feature of the Home Depot Center stadium is that there's grass seating on a little hill at one end of the stadium. Usually, though, they don't open that area up for fans unless everything else is sold out. I always consider that a true sell-out, no matter what the numbers are officially. No one on the grass?

This comes to us from a very credible source within US soccer journalism who wishes to be anonymous:

Obviously keep my name out of this but I'm hearing MLS is seeking investors for Miami. I'm not sure if this means Beckham/Fuller or they are looking for a backup plan. MLS I have heard thinks on reflection they rushed to pull the plug on the Fusion because of a non-soccer fan investor who owned that club (Horrowitz) who didn't know it would take time to build.

Courtesy of MLSNet.com
NEW YORK -- Major League Soccer and its Japanese counterpart, the J.League, continued to develop their relationship this month, as a J.League delegation toured several MLS markets during the month of September. The 33-person delegation included representatives from 28 of the J.

Next month sees the Merdeka Cup kick off in Malaysia with eight countries bidding to win the trophy won by Malaysia last year.
Seven of the countries have been confirmed while Kazakhstan have yet to confirm their attendance.
Despite Indonesia having postponed the ISL for a month so they could compete in this competition the Star doesn't include them!

Ilkka Mäkelä had hoped for 5-6,000, but in the end the attendance for Jari Litmanen's return was 4,163. Seasoned football-watchers were unsurprised about that, given the history of football in Lahti. One told me that "hardly anybody in Lahti supports FC Lahti. The real clubs there are Kuusysi and Reipas.

Tuesday night's attendance at the Emirates was 56,632, this is 93.8% of the total capacity.  Of the big premier teams it was the best.  Manchester United had 52,632 (69%), whilst Liverpool had 29,151 (64%).  Does this mean Arsenal fans are more loyal to the club?   Well what it means is that the club have continued to [.

Just four weeks into the 2008 season and some trends are starting to appear. League wide average attendance numbers are pretty steady at a bit above 15,000, which is lower then last season's overall average, however a bit above where the numbers sat at a similar time last season (a year ago the average per game was just under 15,000).

Toronto FC vs San Jose
Result: 0-0
Location: BMO Stadium
Attendance: 20,200
Time of the match: 1:53

I have to admit I wasn't expecting much from yesterday's match, but I was hoping for a little bit more than a draw against the rather lifeless San Jose Earthquakes. Not a lot more, just a little.

It's over. Dunzo. Outta here like last year. And to put it in the most eloquent way I can think of...it totally sucks. The oldest existent soccer rivalry in the country has gone the way of the dodo and even though I'm not a supporter of either club --at least not officially, but I do have my preferences-- I have to say I'm kinda bummed for a few different reasons.

Details for the Los Angeles Galaxy's 2008 post-season tour are starting to emerge. Despite the fact that Los Angeles hasn't won a match in nearly three months, are currently outside the final MLS playoff spot and have a lot of work to do if they are to make the postseason, club officials are busy scheduling exhibition games around the world for this coming off-season.

Just received:

Hey,
Looks like 'Temo may head back south at the end of the season.
I heard Jorge Ramos on the ESPN Deportes Radio show say that Mexican Club San Luis want to buy out Blanco's contract to bring him back to Mexico. They cited the success Chicago has had with sponsors and attendance and San Luis want to copy that for their club.

Only five weeks in and the East looks to be the class of the league this year as they won all five matches between the conferences. If there is any piece of good news the West can take from this weeks games it is that in all but one of the five, the Western side was the visitor.

Marc Burch has a dangerous left foot. The man nearly beat John Busch in Chicago last month on a set piece and he left LA's Steve Cronin standing on his line as his 30-yard free kick smashed off of the cross bar last Sunday. Tonight, he again showed his skill, scoring on two second half free kicks, leading United to a 2-0 win over the Rochester Rhinos and into the U.

Carolina 0 - 0 Monterrey
Monterrey wins the Tecate Cup on penalties.
Attendance ~ 7000.
More to follow.

At the conclusion of a successful 2007 season, which saw MLS' attendance at it highest level since the inaugural season of 1996 and media coverage beyond once imaginable levels, the league opted to increase the number of international squad spots to eight from the previous four senior and three youth internationals.

I got home from work a few minutes ago, so I've missed most of the Montreal Impact-Real Esteli match. Tonight's matches in the Champions League are on, so let's go!Scores and liveblog beneath the jump. Montreal Impact 1-0 Real Esteli Alajuelense 0-0 Puerto Rico Islanders (10')Isidro Metapán 0-0 MarathónGjertsen scored in the first half.

The gulf between football in Eastern and Western Europe is rarely more clearly on display than in Bill Turianski's latest contribution, a map of the 2008-09 Champions League. Of the 32 clubs only nine could be considered part of Eastern Europe and three of those (Panathinaikos, Anorthosis and Fenerbahçe) fit ever so loosely into that category.

This past weekend of play saw a drop in goals and a huge increase in ties as only three matches saw more then two goals while four out of the seven ended tied up.
Attendance numbers also dropped a bit over the weekend, however every team broke the 10,000 mark. Real Salt Lake did the best at 25,571, while Houston came in second with 20,058.

The Huddersfield Town Season Ticket offer is now over. It is a special offer to celebrate the club's 100 year anniversary. Prices started at £100. The final number of purchased tickets is 16123. Sean Jarvis, former Latics and current Director of Business Development at Huddersfield Town is said "We're absolutely delighted".

After 120 minutes of play Tuesday night, players for the Carolina RailHawks looked exhausted and whipped to the bone. Some sat on the grass. Others stood with their hands behind their heads.
Sweat poured from their pores. Disappointment filled their faces. No one smiled.
There wasn't any reason to be happy.

One of the highlights for me of the A-league has been the support and crowds that have been attracted to the league. Three years ago just about nobody would have foreseen that Melbourne Victory would be averaging 26,000 to home games and have a membership of 21,000.
It is with deep sadness then that I read my membership renewal form for this year.

Ed.'s Note: The match report is from Saturday night's North American SuperLiga Group A match, but technical difficulties delayed the posting of the report. The atmosphere at D.C. United's RFK Stadium was one of a kind, with 22,453 fans in attendance for the teams' first SuperLiga match. As the announcer announced the starting lineups, the [.

Due to a limited budget, I haven't made it to too many United games this year, but this was a game that I feel was probably much better to watch in person than on tv. Good atmosphere at RFK as always (and the lights stayed on!), but it seemed like less attendance than usual. All in all, a pretty exciting game, including a frantic final 10 minutes that had my usually quiet section standing throughout.

Good old Persitara, they have been good for a few stories recently. Some of which I even posted on here.
But the end could soon be nigh for the side from North Jakarta unless they can find some money by yesterday.
Of course how a club with no finances and no stadium could even enter the brave new world of professional football here is another story and one that is well rumoured but little written about.

Hey all, just sent out a press release announcing the LA Galaxy game on September 13 has been moved to Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff will now by 4 p.m. CT instead of 7 p.m. CT. The Chiefs home opener is the next day, so the game was bumped up, in part, to allow more time for grounds crews and stadium crews to change things over.

Why doesn't this surprise us?
Courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch. Here is an excerpt:

The Crew is a solid playoff contender for the first time in years. The team began the season with a franchise-best 6-1 start and is 8-5-3 as it prepares to play host to the Kansas City Wizards in a nationally televised game tonight.

globeandmail.com: Beckham set to shine in his first MLS all-star game

Beckham set to shine in his first MLS all-star game
LARRY MILLSON
July 24, 2008
TORONTO -- Since joining the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer during last season, David Beckham has missed two chances to play at BMO Field.

Superliga is back! The semifinals kick off tonight at 10pm eastern and you can watch the games here in English. And view the Semifinals scoreboard here.
How appropriate that we'd receive a pretty good Superliga rumor. We call this good due to the fact that we like it and hope that it happens, not that we think it is probable.

Everyone knows Ben Olsen. One of the most popular players on the team since his rookie year in 1998, the tenacious midfielder has already cemented himself in United history as one of the best. You may not, however, know his older brother Jeremy.

Best by injuries in recent weeks, United's coaching staff has called upon the elder Olsen - who has been in D.