Many people today see money as the key ingredient to the success of a football club. The Roman Abramovich takeover at Chelsea in 2003 kick started an era of multi-millionaires becoming fixated in football and the possibility of buying their own football club. As football fans, we all dream of one day playing, managing, or for the small minority of people, having the financial capabilities to own our very own football club.
Robin Van Persie of Manchester United (Image via ABC.au)
The 2012-13 season is finally at an end for England's Premier League clubs. For Manchester United, it has ended in celebration and two of the club's greatest servants leaving on their own terms. Across town, it has ended in disappointment and dissent as Roberto Mancini's sacking has disappointed many fans and left some wondering whether the club is heading down the Chelsea route.
Manchester City "Soccer in the community" banner displayed in Staten Island NY (Image via MCFC Youtube Channel)
Manchester City may have just announced in New York yesterday that they are planning a massively adventurous business venture in partnership with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball to launch New York City Football Club, but there is more to the club's visit to the area than meets the eye.
Arsenal's homegrown hero Jack Wilshere this week stated his desire to one day captain both club and country.
Wilshere said, "I want to captain Arsenal and I want to captain England. That definitely appeals to me. It's my ultimate dream. People say players are no longer bothered about wearing the England shirt.
Now that David Moyes is set to join Manchester United July 1st of this year, fellow Toffees may also find their way to Old Trafford this summer. For quite some time, both Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines have continuously seen their name in the rumor mill and this time, a promising connection to Manchester United seems to be in order.
Manchester City have today announced a deal to acquire New York City FC with a partnership involving the New York Yankees. City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan successfully acquired the new franchise with Manchester City being the majority owner of the club.
What makes the deal so interesting is the partnership with the New York Yankees.
Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud (Google Creative Commons)
Having already wrapped up the Premier League title, Manchester United capped off a wonderful campaign with an extraordinary 5-5 draw against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns. United twice led by a three-goal margin, but the home side – inspired by Romelu Lukaku's second-half hat-trick – managed to battle back each time.
And so, even in the dying embers of its latest edition, the Premier League didn't fail in living up to expectations, signing off the 2012-13 season in incredible fashion.
The first 5-5 draw of its era, a nail-biting hunt for fourth spot between Tottenham and Arsenal and a handsome helping of 36 goals across 10 fixtures all made for a very entertaining finale to the Premier League campaign.
José Mourinho's exit from Real Madrid has been confirmed by the club president Florentino Perez after the club officials scheduled an emergency meeting on Monday. PSG manager Carlo Ancelotti, who has been tipped by many to replace Mourinho at the Santiago Bernabeu, asked for his club to accept his transfer request.
The future of Chicharito Hernandez has been a topic of discussion this season as the Mexican international has failed to once again find consistent playing time within Sir Alex Ferguson's team. With the arrival of Robin Van Persie, Chicharito was forced to once again play second fiddle in a team that secured the Premier League title several weeks ago.
We've discussed before on SWOL how Chelsea's midfield has experienced a tactical shift from big and powerful to small and mobile in recent years. Though Frank Lampard still plays a role at the west London side, gone are the imposing figures of Michael Ballack and Michael Essien. The larger and stronger names in Chelsea's midfield have now been replaced by the likes or Ramires, Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, and Oscar.
After crashing out of the group stages in the Champions League and subsequently failing to defend their title, coupled with a third place finish in the English Premier League, some Chelsea fans may look at this season as a disappointing one. The Blues did come away from the campaign with a Europa League title, earned direct berth into the UEFA Champions League and cut the point margin between third and second place Manchester City to just three points.
Arsenal headed to Newcastle on Sunday with just one victory separating them from a place in next year's Champions League qualifiers. Though Newcastle had struggled with a difficult season, the Magpies were never going to make it easy for Arsene Wenger and his men. Down in London, Sunderland visited Spurs where Gareth Bale and co.
Tottenham Hotspur may have just missed out on a spot in the Champions League next year after yesterday's dramatic final day in the Premier League, but the North London club have one massive positive to take from the season. Gareth Bale secured both PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards and impressed for Spurs throughout the year.
Scarves outside the gates of The Hawthorns pay tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson (Image via Facebook)
On May 19, 2013, Manchester United and the world of football said goodbye to living legend, Sir Alex Ferguson. In what was the manager's 1500th match in charge of United, his charges delivered a send off that was worthy of the 71-year-0ld.
New Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio (Google Creative Commons)
Sunderland face their final match of the English Premier League campaign this afternoon of May 19, 2013, when they travel to Tottenham's White Hart Lane (see the projected lineups) but a few months ago the side looked less than thrilled to face the end of the season as relegation was looming.
According to reports from ESPN on the morning of May 19, 2013, Manchester United have announced that Wayne Rooney will not participate in today's match against West Bromwich Albion.
Rooney has been on a mission to see if the grass is greener on the other side as his ill-timed transfer request already upset enough people having been brought to the table the same time as Sir Alex Ferguson's announcement of retirement at the end of the campaign.
Gareth Bale of Tottenham Hotspur (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
The final day of the English Premier League season may not have the same drama that it had last season but do not tell that to the fans based in North London.
Arsenal and Tottenham are battling for the only meaningful position in the table that has been left up for grabs until Sunday.
Wayne Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson embrace (Image via MUFC official website)
Transfer rumors continue to fly hot and fast for Manchester United star striker Wayne Rooney. As of May 18, 2013, the want-away forward has been linked all over Europe and continues to increase the amount of speculation around his future in England.
Arsenal forward Theo Walcott (Google Creative Commons)
Arsenal have one last chance to try and guarantee their place in the UEFA Champions League next season, and a final chance to try and force a third-place playoff with Chelsea if they can be level on terms with the Blues thanks to a win at Newcastle United providing the right numbers to be level in all categories.
Santi Cazorla arrived in London over the past summer transfer season to mixed reviews and wonder as to just how well he would fit into the English Premier League after his time in La Liga with Villarreal and Malaga.
However, he proved more than capable to manager Arsene Wenger as he took to leading the club to multiple victories and proved a thorough nuisance to any defense he faced.
Chelsea host Everton at Stamford Bridge on Sunday in their final match of the Premier League. The match will bring to an end a season that saw the Blues play an extraordinary amount of matches across multiple continents. From the Champions League to the Premier League to the Europa League and more, Chelsea have certainly had a long, but entertaining season.
Chelsea and England footballers Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Gary Cahill will miss this Saturday's exhibition game between Chelsea and Manchester City at Yankee Stadium in order to return to London to meet up with the England squad for their upcoming friendlies against Ireland and Brazil.
However, Lampard, Cole and Cahill will be available for Thursday's match in St Louis between Chelsea and Manchester City.
The English Football Association and Nike have released more photos of the new England home shirt for 2013, to commemorate 150 years of the FA.
The new photos and accompanying video show more detail regarding the England shirt, and it's not as bad as we first saw after Jack Wilshere tweeted out an image (why Nike thought it'd be best to launch the kit with a schoolboy wearing the shirt, I do not know).
England's new shirt for the FA's 150th Anniversary Year has been revealed. It's the first England shirt from Nike after taking over from Umbro. And in typical Nike style when it comes to soccer shirts, it's underwhelming to say the least.
While Umbro added a long legacy of classy shirt to the history of England, the new jersey from Nike is an abomination.
England manager Roy Hodgson says that Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur have "scotched" England's friendlies by scheduling post-season friendlies in the United States and, in Tottenham's case, The Bahamas.
Here's what Hodgson said:
"My thinking, which is based a lot on having been a club manager, is that they'll probably want a few days after the season ends, they won't want to go straight from the end of the season to us, so let them have a week and then we'll keep them a week and then they're free.
Nike unveil their first England home shirt - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Nike have unveiled their first England kit after the Football Association announced a new partnership with the American apparel manufacturer last year in September.
The first official sighting of this shirt was a tweet by Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere of a pupil at his former school wearing the jersey.
Jack Wilshere Tweets Picture of New England Kit for 2013-2014 is a post from: Just Football
Ahead of the upcoming friendly with the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on May 29th, Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has tweeted a picture of the new England kit.
Like this kid, my England dream began here, so he was first in #theshirt – England's new kit from @nikefootball twitter.
Real Madrid forward Gonzalo Higuain (Flickr Commons)
Arsene Wenger is making a list, and checking it twice and Gonzalo Higuain seems to be a top the Frenchman's summer transfer window list. According to Pro Soccer Talk, Arsenal are currently working on tabulating a bid for the current Real Madrid striker who could bring additional attacking firepower to a Champions League bound North London side for next season.
Farewell Wigan Athletic, a flawed yet loveable Premier League team is a post from: Just Football
by Matt MacKenzie
Despite their frankly astonishing FA Cup triumph, the axe has finally fallen on one of the Premier League's most appreciated sides. A neutral's favourite throughout this season in particular, Wigan Athletic have become the latest victims of relegation to the Championship.
The future of Fernando Torres has been called into question many times this season, and with Chelsea wrapping up their Premier League third place finish, Roman Abramovich may axe the Spaniard. The Blues have already brought in Demba Ba whom is still in the process of adapting to the Chelsea way; however, Torres seemingly is ready to welcome any additional striker that signs for the Blues this summer according to ESPN FC.
The latest rumour in the Arsenal goalkeeper situation by SS
There is an Arsenal transfer rumour that Arsene Wenger could be ready to make a surprise bid for Reading's Alex McCarthy who has earned his first ever call up to the England squad this week. McCarthy would not become the top goalkeeper at the club but would instead be used as emergency cover and loaned out to other clubs with a recall option, similar to the arrangement Fulham have with David Stockdale.
Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko (Image via MCFC official site)
Reports from TalkSport on May 18, 2013, are suggesting that the first major name set to leave Manchester City following the departure of manager Roberto Mancini could be star forward Edin Dzeko.
Dzeko was brought to the club in January of 2011 for the price tag of £27 million from German club Wolfsburg as he was continuing to top the Bundesliga goal scoring charts at the time.
According to TalkSport on May 18, 2013, Chelsea star striker Fernando Torres has been linked with a move away from the club this summer.
Despite having done his best to prove himself to Roman Abramovich and the Chelsea fans, Torres has never truly re-captured the blistering form that he had in this Liverpool days.
It's looking likely that Stuart Holden will get another shot to prove his worth to Bolton Wanderers FC over a full season.
According to a report in England, Holden is set to sign a one-year contract with the club, keeping him at the Reebok Stadium through the end of the 2013-2014 season.
On this week's Gadsby's England roundup, David Beckham retires. Gadsby pays tribute to the remarkable England career of a footballer who became a world icon.
Manuel Pellegrini has announced he will leave his post at Malaga at the end of the season, paving the way for his likely move to Manchester City.
Speaking at an awards ceremony in Malaga, the 59-year-old said, "On Sunday, I will take charge of my last match at the Rosaleda. I would like to thank the owners of the club for putting their trust in me.
Springfield, MO- From MissouriStateBears.com: Jack Griffin of Beverley, England, has signed a national letter of intent to play for the Bears, the Missouri State men's soccer program announced Monday (May 20). Griffin will be a freshman in the fall for the 2013 season at MSU.
The new England kit has been revealed through the medium of a slightly strange tweet from Arsenal's Jack Wilshere. The midfielder posted a photo of the new kit on his Twitter account with the message: "Like this kid, my England dream began here, so he was first in #theshirt – England's new kit from @NikeFootball.
