If they're taller than him, they're old enough! In the days before the Britannia Stadium became Fortress Britannia, home of the mighty Stoke City, it was the preferred stomping ground of Michael Owen. Rounding up his favourite has-been goalkeeper and a young boy, Little Mickey would display his goalscoring skills (and arrogance) to an empty stadium.

If we took a quick poll to find out who you think has been the best and most boisterous supporters during the 2008-2009 Premier League season, Stoke City would win the vote hands-down. The incredible amount of noise and hysteria generated by Stoke City fans at the Britannia Stadium has been wonderful to listen to and watch on television.

The English Premier League continued it 2009-10 season with a full weekend of matches. On Saturday August 30, 2009 there were seven matches inlcuding Manchester United v Arsenal, Bolton v Liverpool, Chelsea v Burnley, and Tottenham v Birmingham. Here's a recap of all of Saturday's matches along with video highlights.

According to The Dail Mail, Stoke City want to get Paul Scholes to the Britannia Stadium where he will be a player-coach. Stoke City had a fantastic Premier League season which saw them finish in...
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Almost eleven months to the day, Arsenal's Eduardo suffered that horrific leg injury against Birmingham City at St Andrews.
Last night at the Britannia Stadium, Eduardo played 90 minutes for Arsenal Reserves against Stoke Reserves. Eduardo didn't score but by all accounts he had a very good game.

How do this pair sleep at night?

Take a look around at the teams forking out big money in this transfer window, and then take a look at whats going on at Anfield. Then ask yourselves, why is this happening?

In case you didn't know, Tom Hicks and George Gillett bought Liverpool with loans and debts.

A look ahead at this weekends games in the Premier League. Last weekend I went 7 out of 10, when brings me up to 76% for the season.

Portsmouth v Everton
It looks like David Moyes side has turned the corner after a tough start to the season. In their last three games, all wins, Everton have scored 11 goals with none conceded.

Watching last night's match on television between Manchester United and Portsmouth, I was dumbfounded by the lengthy periods of silence I heard from the crowd of 74,895 at Old Trafford.

Sure, this is nothing new. Sir Alex Ferguson has described the atmosphere created by the Old Trafford fans as a funeral before, but come on, before the match kicked off, Manchester United were in second place in the league (only on goal difference), had two games in hand and would take a commanding lead in the Premier League if they won last night (which they did, 2-0).

The Premier League season is reaching its conclusion and it is time for tributes and awards to be given to those individuals and teams that have excelled throughout the season. Ryan Giggs has already scooped the PFA Player of the Year award and EPL Talk has made its case for why Roy Hodgson should be given the manager of the year honour.

The English Premier League opened it's 2009-10 season on Saturday with a full set of matches. Some of these including Fulham v Portsmouth, Hull City v Chelsea, Man City v Blackburn, and Everton v Arsenal. Heres a recap of the day's matches along with video highlights (click on each match for higlights).

Ireland defender Stephen Kelly has become Fulham manager Roy Hodgson's first summer capture after leaving Birmingham City to sign a three-year deal at Craven Cottage.
"I'm delighted to have joined a progressive club which has recently achieved its highest ever top-flight finish," the defender said.

The net is closing in on this one!

Skysports.com understands Liverpool, West Ham and Fulham are all chasing Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross.

The talented young centre-half excelled last season as Tony Pulis' side surprised everyone in comfortably establishing themselves as a Premier League outfit following promotion.

Stoke City promising defender, Ryan Shawcross, could be in his way out of Britannia Stadium where he is enjoying first team football.
Don't be LAZY! Read the full article by visiting the site

Tony Pulis set to pick up yet another new signing.

Sky Sports sources understand Sunderland have accepted an offer from Stoke City for defender Danny Collins.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis is keen to improve his defensive options and has already brought in Middlesbrough stopper Robert Huth.

The matches to watch after you realize Michael Ballack got a little more into the World Cup Qualifiers than you did.

Saturday

Manchester City v Arsenal at Eastlands Emmanuel Adebayor has continued to run his mouth about Arsenal fans (and his feud with Nicklas Bendtner), while praising the undying love Man City fans have shown him in the few weeks he's actually played for them.

. Chelsea had a stern test of the physical game at the Britannia Stadium, before taking all three points away from home to maintain their 100 per cent record in the Premier League this season. James Beattie succumbed to injury early on, but the Potters remained resolute and got a goal in the first half, thanks to [.

The English Premier League continues its 2009-10 season with a full set of matches this upcoming weekend. There are not as many marquee match-ups as last weekend which had the Manchester derby. Chelsea remains perfect atop the table while Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool are close behind them.

Two assistants from Man United living legend' Ryan Giggs saw the reds grapping another three points, this time against Stoke City at Britannia Stadium. Giggs came in the second half to help Dimitar...
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There must be a handful of fixtures preferable for Newcastle United interim boss Alan Shearer's first managerial venture away from the North-East.
Stoke City's form at the Britannia Stadium rarely disappoints with their 28-point haul at home likely to provide the crucial edge in the tightest bottom-of-the-table scrap seen for a long time.

Stoke City's victory at home to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday all but confirmed their place in the Premier League for a second season. After being written off by the media from the start and with bookmakers Paddy Power paying out on their relegation back in September, this is as an amazing achievement for Tony Pulis and his players.

Stoke v West Ham Live Streaming & Match Preview
Watch Stoke vs West Ham Live Online - Click Here
Saturday 2nd May 2009
Kick Off : 15:00 GMT
Venue : Britannia Stadium

Stoke look set to be the highest placed of the teams who got promoted last season and Tony Pullis should be congratulated on such a great job.

We fully expect David Edgar to get a recall for the game at Anfield tomorrow afternoon. David Edgar - another chance at Liverpool tomorrow? The 21 year-old Canadian defender put in a tremendous performance against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, when he played for once, in his preferred position of center-back in the 1-1 draw.

Although authorised by our editors, the below article was not written by an author of The Gunning Hawk team but by one of our readers who is a collaborator of this section. If you also would like to have your Arsenal articles published on our website, please click here for more information.

We've signed Birmingham right back Stephen Kelly.

Roy says:

"I am delighted that Stephen has become our first signing of the summer transfer window. He is a talented young full back with experience of playing in the Premier League as well as competing at international level.

Let's get this annual shambles out of the way then.
ST's CUAS Predictions for the 2009/10 Premier League Season
1. Liverpool
I can't believe I've done this. Do I really think that Liverpool are going to finally win the title this year? Maybe I am. Before last year, it looked as though Rafa's priorites lay elsewhere, but they came desperately close last season and Fernando Torres proved what a wonderful player he is.

Stoke City were very, very good to me last season. Their fixture list fell just perfect so that their last few months were a cake walk. Not that I cleaned up, but I did get good returns from Lawrence, Beattie and Wilkinson. Meanwhile, Fuller and Shawcross were point machines.
Now it's second season syndrome.

My favorite soccer league is less than four hours away from kicking off. Before it's too late, I thought I would give my predictions on how I think the final table will look. In nine months, this will either be evidence of my soccer brilliance or it will give readers evidence that this site should be changed to "StupidSoccer.

Fernando Torres insists Liverpool must dominate Stoke from the start tomorrow or they could suffer the same frustrations against the Potters as last season.
Tony Pulis' side managed a creditable 0-0 draw at Anfield last term, and repeated that result against the Reds at the Britannia stadium.

Dave Kitson scored his second goal in four days to give Tony Pulis a hard fought win at the Britannia Stadium.

Don't forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Done Deal

Stoke City have completed the signing of defender Danny Collins from Sunderland for a fee of £2.75million. (Sky Sports)

After five years good service at Sunderland Danny Collins has joined his former Black Cats teammate Dean Whitehead at the Britannia Stadium.

So today Chelsea travel to the Britannia Stadium looking to make it five out of five this season and for ten straight wins in the Premier League following on from our fantastic end to last season. Today we are without Deco who got injured in midweek during the International break, Zhirkov, Joe Cole and Paulo Ferreria as they are still working back towards full fitness.

After such an eventful weekend, it would be easy to lose sight of some of the Premier League's lesser lights but away from the glitz and glamour of the Manchester and London derbies a strange thing happened – all three promoted teams won. Stranger still, it wasn't the first time such an event has happened this season.

A look ahead at this weekends games in the English Premier League. Last weekend I went 7 out of 10, when brings me up to 76% for the season.

Portsmouth v Everton
It looks like David Moyes side has turned the corner after a tough start to the season. In their last three games, all wins, Everton have scored 11 goals with none conceded.

Tomorrow at three o'clock United face Tony Pulis' upwardly mobile Stoke City team at the Britannia Stadium knowing that even at this early stage of the season it would not be wise to come away with anything other than three points.

Stoke, since their promotion to the EPL in 2007/08, have looked well capable of competing at this level and near unbeatable at times in their own backyard.

The Premier League is set to resume following the international break and this round will definitely favour the teams that didn't have a lot of players away on international duty. Carlo Ancelotti, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger among others will be hoping for all their players to return unscathed so that they would be fit to play this weekend, while we are in for some interesting matches with the highlight being Aston Villa Chelsea game.

The English Premier League has another full set of matches on Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1. Some of the key matchups include Fulham v Liverpool, Manchester United v Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers v Chelsea, Everton v Aston Villa, and Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur. Will Chelsea remain on top and can Liverpool continued their recent form to keep pace with the top teams?

Michael Tonge's loan move from Stoke to Preston after Tony Pulis's unsuccessful attempt to establish the languid midfielder as a Premier League player comes as little surprise; his spell at the Britannia Stadium having been as excitement packed as a Cabinet meeting to discuss the Lisbon treaty. Tonge is one of a special breed of players who look the part – and his formative years in some dramatic

The English Premier League resumes after an international break with a full set of matches. Here's are predictions, video previews, and United States and United Kingdom TV listings for this weekend of matches on October 17-19.

Predictions (times listed are GMT local UK time)

Saturday, 17 October 2009

Arsenal v Birmingham, 15:00 Arsenal wins 2-0

Aston Villa v Chelsea, 12:45 1-1 Draw

Everton v Wolverhampton, 15:00 Everton wins 1-0

Man Utd v Bolton, 15:00 Man U wins 2-1

Portsmouth v Tottenham, 15:00 Tottenham wins 3-1

Stoke v West Ham, 15:00 0-0 Draw

Sunderland v Liverpool, 15:00 Liverpool wins 1-0

Sunday, 18 October 2009

Blackburn v Burnley, 13:00 Blackburn wins 3-0

Wigan v Man City, 16:00 - 2-2 Draw

Monday, 19 October 2009

Fulham v Hull, 20:00 Fulham wins 3-2

Video Previews/TV Listings (time listed are USA Eastern Standard Time or -5 GMT, click on each match for video preview)

Saturday, October 17, 2009 Time Home Away TV VENUE 7:45 ET Aston Villa v Chelsea (USA), Sky Sports (UK) Villa Park 10:00 ET Arsenal v Birmingham Emirates Stadium 10:00 ET Everton v Wolverhampton Wanderers Goodison Park 10:00 ET Manchester United v Bolton Wanderers Setanta Sports (USA) Old Trafford 10:00 ET Portsmouth v Tottenham Hotspur Fratton Park 10:00 ET Stoke City v West Ham United Britannia Stadium 10:00 ET Sunderland v Liverpool Fox Soccer Channel (USA) Stadium of Light Sunday, October 18, 2009 Time Home Away TV VENUE 8:00 ET Blackburn Rovers v Burnley Sky Sports (UK), Setanta Sports (USA) Ewood Park 11:00 ET Wigan Athletic v Manchester City Sky Sports (UK), Fox Soccer Channel (USA) DW Stadium Monday, October 19, 2009 Time Home Away TV VENUE 15:00 ET Fulham v Hull City (USA), ESPN (UK) Craven Cottage

League Table (as of Thursday, October 15, 2009)

2009-10 Table Team GP W D L Pts GF GA GD Chelsea 8 7 0 1 21 18 6 12 Manchester United 8 6 1 1 19 19 8 11 Tottenham 8 5 1 2 16 19 12 7 Manchester City 7 5 1 1 16 15 8 7 Arsenal 7 5 0 2 15 24 10 14 Liverpool 8 5 0 3 15 22 12 10 Aston Villa 7 4 1 2 13 10 6 4 Sunderland 8 4 1 3 13 16 13 3 Burnley 8 4 0 4 12 7 16 -9 Everton 7 3 1 3 10 9 11 -2 Stoke City 8 2 3 3 9 6 10 -4 Wigan Athletic FC 8 3 0 5 9 8 15 -7 Bolton 7 2 2 3 8 10 11 -1 Birmingham City 8 2 1 5 7 5 8 -3 Fulham 7 2 1 4 7 6 10 -4 Blackburn 7 2 1 4 7 8 15 -7 Wolverhampton 8 2 1 5 7 7 14 -7 Hull City 8 2 1 5 7 8 20 -12 West Ham United 7 1 2 4 5 8 11 -3 Portsmouth 8 1 0 7 3 4 13 -9

Stoke add to their squad in a push to stay in the Prem.

Stoke City's Ireland midfielder Glenn Whelan is backing his international team-mate Stephen Kelly to make an impact at the Britannia Stadium.
Kelly joined City on loan from Birmingham at the end of January, but hasn't played since making his debut in the 2-0 defeat at Sunderland on February 7.