Support for FC Richmond soccer coach and former William and Mary player, Ian Stowe who is battling a tumor continues to come from all areas of the soccer community. Today the Richmond Kicker organization announced they will hold a benefit exhibition match to support #stowestrong.
From Kickers Press Release:
RICHMOND, VA – (Friday, February 10, 2012) – In support of Ian Stowe's battle with cancer, the Richmond Kickers and The College of William & Mary are pleased to team up for a benefit exhibition match on Friday, March 23.

Putting footballing rivalries aside for the benefit of the greater good isn't something that happens too often, but if it's happened anywhere, it's not surprising that it would be in the Bundesliga. Praised as "a model of financial virtue and good governance," the league has rejected gluttonous spending in favor of actually turning a profit.

By Tony Edwards - San Jose, CA (Jan 19, 2012) US Soccer Players -- In Tuesday's edition, Tony looks at the longer MLS season debate, an unexplored benefit of preseason training, Marco Etcheverry's new job, and contrasting styles of MLS management. Can you name at least one non-MLS city which is very excited about MLS pre-season training?

Image: REUTERS/Giorgio Perottino.

How cool would it be if there was a superhero whose job it was to pursue footballers and pull their shorts down for the benefit of watching?!

Well, fantasise no more, people. Juve's Fabio Quagliarella is here and he's going to rescue us from the horror of thigh-free week days.

Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football. Have your name in the book as an official sponsor. Updated information here

By Anne

The Football Media and Transfers: Is it time to ask "Cui Bono?"

"Cui bono?" is an Italian phrase that literally means "as a benefit to whom?

Robayo speaks about his move

Rafael Robayo spoke to the Colombian media Friday to discuss his departure from Colombian club Millionairos. He said his new contract was a two year contract. The first year of the contract is a loan with the Fire holding the right to purchase the 2nd year or extend the loan.

The draft is over, training camps are opening up and the season is less than two months away. It has been a while since we looked at promotional efforts around the league, so we thought the early preseason presented a good opportunity to look at ticket sales efforts as teams gear up for the start of the 2012 campaign.

Thailand are currently hosting the King's Cup, I'm not covering it, featuring teams from Scandinavia and North Korea and not doing particularly well it must be said. Anyway striker Sompong Soleb decided to go out for a few beers, breaking curfew, drove home, smashed up his motor and in fine Thai tradition, fled the scene.

One advantage of Peter Ridsdale and Graham Westley being together as chairman and manager respectively of Preston North End is that they may only end up annoying each other and messing around with only one club. I recognise that will not have brightened the day of any Lilywhites fans. And I can only apologise.

One advantage of Peter Ridsdale and Graham Westley being together as chairman and manager respectively of Preston North End is that they may only end up annoying each other and messing around with only one club. I recognise that will not have brightened the day of any Lilywhites fans. And I can only apologise.

Gazzetta dello Sport Inter Shout Nerazzurri beat Milan with a Milito goal are back in the scudetto race Moratti: "Ranieri is a wise guy. Now we'll see about Tevez..." Juve are top on their own Udinese stop as Genoa celebrate Lazio re-start Fiorentina down Tuttosport Juve Benefit Draw with Cagliari but the Inter win sends them to the top alone.

I'm 42, play soccer against guys (and sometimes a couple of gals) in their 20's every week, bicycle everywhere for transport and breakdance some nearly everyday. So you know I love me some yoga.Apparently, so does Klinsi, because the USMNT are now hitting their cobras as part of recovery and preventative medicine.

Morning all.

It's pretty quiet today, really. Still a bit of Thierry Henry stuff around with the manager confirming he'll be in the squad for the Champions League game against AC Milan. Interestingly, he hinted that the reason he loaned out Vito Mannone wasn't for the player's own benefit but so he could make space in the squad for Henry (I guess we were at the limit in terms of the number of 'non-homegrown' players in the squad).

Research reveals Premier League sides who bring in a new manager mid-season benefit by 4.7 points

Sports Interactive have showcased that clubs who opt for a short-term fix often reap the rewards, ahead of the release of the iOS version of Football Manager 2012

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-28 15:14:00 from: Goal

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

Fulham Football Club today announced a record profit of £5.4m and a record net profit of £4.8m for the year ended 30 June 2011. The Cottagers have also revealed a record revenue of £77.1m for the last season.

Fulham recorded a profit of £5.4m, before interest and taxation, and enjoyed a 4.

FC Dallas traded Honduran winger Marvin Chavez to the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday, securing an allocation in the process.

The deal sent Chavez, who enjoyed a standout season in Dallas, to San Jose, where he should slot right in as the team's starting right winger.

Chavez delivered six goals and four assists for FC Dallas, providing a perfect complement on the right wing to Brek Shea's forays from the left flank.

AVB craziness Last time Chelsea had a Portuguese manager there was usually a whirlwind of conspiracy theories and paranoia swirling around. But with Jose Mourinho at the helm it was usually created for the benefit of the club. Under Andre Villas Boas it seems the manager himself is the biggest victim.

• Kop That: Andy Dunn's Big Match Verdict: Controversial Suarez so key for King Kenny http://t.co/OzOZJYL8 23:11:42, 2011-12-10
• Kop That: New England generation to see benefit of new coaching http://t.co/RlEXAm8p 23:11:28, 2011-12-10
• Kop That: Warnock hails Liverpool hero Suarez http://t.

New England generation to see benefit of new coaching

"Technically the Under-17s matched Spain and didn't try to stop them playing. It was a message of intent and how we are evolving now," says Sir Trevor Brooking

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-12-10 22:55:12 from: The Mirror

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

Happy Friday to you. A few things on the mind this morning.
First up is a reaction to Brad Friedel's comments on Landon Donovan taking the easy road by staying in MLS. What a ridiculous thing to say. Friedel is an accomplished player, one who is certainly deserving of respect. But for him to criticize Donovan so publicly was extremely out of line.

Image: jutarnji.hr.

We love taking nervous boys under our (pterodactyl-like) wings and er... offering consolation. This is exactly what we were planning when we saw this photo of Yoann Gourcuff arriving in Croatia for Lyon's crunch Champions League tie vs. Dinamo Zagreb. With the benefit of hindsight, we needn't have bothered.

THFC1882′s Stuart Watts with news of an exciting new book, chronicling memories of Tottenham Hotspur over the last 60 years!

It is with great pleasure that I would like to announce that I am one of the founding members of the Spurs Writers Club!!

Prolific Spurs author Norman Giller has recruited a team of 45 writers and our first book The Glory-Glory Game will be published early in 2012!

Clint Dempsey is once again the hero in West London, scoring the only goal in a surprising win against Liverpool. It wasn't easy for Fulham, who needed the officiating crew to call a Liverpool goal offside that replays showed wasn't and the benefit of an additional man to take all three points. Playing a man up from the 72nd when Jay Spearing was sent off, Dempsey got the rebound after Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina was.

Morning all,

the Wigan win and performance at the weekend was just the tonic after a week in which we'd stumbled a little bit, and confidence will be high as we prepare for a trip to Greece to face Olympiacos. Not all the players who played on Saturday will be making the trip, obviously, as the manager has a chance to rest some legs and keep players fresh for the Premier League.

1. So we're barely in December and we've already won as many games away as we had done all of last season. Whilst the scoreline meant we had a nervy ending to the game, it was a convincing performance that was worthy of victory. Whilst I don't think dominating a team in the top half away from home is anything to be sniffed at, it is frustrating to see us struggle to put games to bed.

Arlo White did not come to the Seattle Sounders with expectations of becoming an icon. Surely, he had expectations that he would be successful, but any hopes were far exceeded, as he said in Part 1 of our rather lengthy interview.

In Part 2 of the interview, we delve a little deeper into his relationship with the team and the fans and how that turned a virtual "no-brainer" decision to join NBC into what that required far more thought.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. Flanked by the men who hired him, newly-appointed head coach Jay Heaps spoke confidently about the immediate changes that need to take place in order to return the Revolution back to respectability.

"Fundamentally, a few things have to change right off the bat," said Heaps as President Brian Bilello and General Manager Michael Burns looked on.

So that's it. Another Interlull over.

I suppose, in one way, one very strange way, I'll miss it. I mean, the one good thing about the Interlull is that Arsenal have remained unbeaten so that's a positive, I guess. All the same, in another more natural and common sense way, it'll be good to see the back of it, like it's good to see the back of a rash on your .

Reports surfaced this week in Spain that Malaga had approached Chelsea with a view to taking Romelu Lukaku on loan for the remainder of this season in January. Now, I was surprised with these reports as AVB had openly said that he wouldn't be going anywhere.
The reports continued for a couple of days and got so intense even AC Milan were rumoured to be interested in January.

Great news for Chelsea Football Club and the CPO today with news that Hammersmith & Fulham Council have pledged to work with us to try and find ways to extend Stamford Bridge so that we do not have to move from what has been our home since 1905.
In a statement featured here, the a spokesperson for the Council said:

"In light of the recent decision by Chelsea Pitch Owners PLC to retain its freehold of the ground, we reaffirm our desire to see Chelsea FC remain in the Borough and our commitment to help the club to remain at its historic home of Stamford Bridge.

Fair play to West Ham. They may have poached one of the lower leagues' most prolific marksmen, Sam Baldock, from MK Dons but it's not all take, take, take - on the contrary, they seem to be vigorously pursuing a policy of loaning out their youngsters to the benefit of both other clubs and the players themselves.

Spooky At first we thought it was a roadsign, but with the benefit of hindsight it's fairly obvious that Mario Balotelli has been walking round with a firework on his head all week. Perhaps his hairdresser needs to consider a new career as a psychic.

Kenny Dalglish has slammed Liverpool's underperforming players after the woeful performance against Rangers. In typically forthright style, Liverpool's manager questioned the attitude and commitment of some of his players, and made it clear that such lack of effort would not be tolerated.

A landmark day in the fight for justice when this evening Hillsborough was debated in the house of commons. A truly moving and inspirational opening speech by Steve Rotherham was applauded by the house and families watching in the gallery.
The home secretary has promised to release the files without making any changes to them and handing them over to the panel and the families.

By Chris Wright

If you though HIK's previous overwrought/decidedly annoying goal celebrations (think Shakira, Guns N' Roses, etc) were low budget and chintzy just wait until you see their latest offering, 'The Goal of Love'.

Scored in the same game that spawned the Axl Rose-aping tomfoolery, the 'Goal of Love' sees a chap named Soares bag a completely unremarkable goal, charge into the crowd to kiss his girlfriend Alysson and then, for the benefit of mankind, produce a naff tribute video (complete with Avatar-esque 'special' effects) to mark the occasion that is so cringe-inducing that it made a little bit of sick come up.

Whether you're talking heroics like those shown by Fredy Montero and Osvaldo Alonso in Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup, or CONCACAF Champions League performances by the likes of David Beckham and Landon Donovan, some of the best players in MLS are performing well on multiple fronts, and not just in MLS matches.

Many of Spurs youngsters have been given an important taste of first team action this season thanks to the opportunities presented by the Europa League. Out of those players, Tom Carroll has been made steady, if unspectacular contributions in the games he's played but it raises the question as to what comes next.

While Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has used the Europa League to blood many of the younger players at the club, there is another benefit to the competition as he will discover tomorrow night.

It has been difficult for Harry to find any positives from European qualification but tomorrow's game against Shamrock Rovers gives the boss a possible opportunity to give run outs to Aaron Lennon, Steven Pienaar and Danny Rose.

Up the R's As we all know, Stiliyan Petrov's hands are well known for their miraculous touch. On Sunday, QPR defender Anton Ferdinand felt the benefit of the Saint's healing hands during his regular early season prostate check-up.

Kenny Dalglish feels returning striker Craig Bellamy has "unfinished business" at Liverpool.
Bellamy scored in the 2-1 Carling Cup win against Brighton on Wednesday after being given his first start since re-signing for the Anfield club last month.
Despite the 32-year-old's reputation for having trouble follow him wherever he goes, Dalglish has had nothing but praise for a player they picked up for nothing after Manchester City agreed to cancel the final year of his contract.