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Should We Be Surprised If European Football Is Fixed?

Twohundredpercent 21 November @ 04:03 AM EST

As the Thierry Henry story rumbles on into its fourth day, a story is starting to break which might begin to put it into perspective. It is a story that is breaking from Germany and involves the arrest of seventeen people in connection with what would be the biggest, most systematic match-fixing ring that European football has ever seen.

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The Future According To Frank

Against The Crossbar 22 October @ 12:08 AM EST
I have a huge amount of respect for Frank Lowry. Five years ago Frank was the driving force behind the rebirth of football in this country. The creation of the A-league, the move to Asia and the recruitment of Guus Hiddink all contributed to a resurgence of the game here in Australia.
However I do wonder if Frank understands that all of this new found love for the game may evaporate if a few missteps are made. Click to continue reading...

Football In The Regions: The North-East

Twohundredpercent 21 October @ 04:00 PM EST

Fifty years after it first went on air, Tyne Tees Television is now a mere relic. A name from the past. Along with almost all of the other ITV regions, the company name all but vanished from our screens in October 2002 when ITV did away with its regional network and finally merged together as one lumpen mass.

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Supporters Direct Arrive At The Crossroads

Twohundredpercent 17 October @ 09:21 AM EST

This year's annual Supporters Direct conference found the organisation at something of a crossroads. The high profile failure of Supporters Trusts at Notts County and Stockport County have caused a deal of unwanted attention to be cast upon SD (even though they are obviously not for responsible for the goings on at specific trusts) and, with continuing concerns about the credentials of some of the owners coming into the game, this year's conference was always going to carry an underlying theme about two subjects: foreign ownership and the question of whether supporter ownership of clubs is always a good thing.

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What the Portland Timbers Mean to the Credibility of MLS

Major League Soccer Talk 14 October @ 07:41 PM EST

Now that the United States national team has assured itself a place in the 2010 World Cup, the American soccer community can turn its attention back to the domestic game. This season has been unlike any other in any other in recent memory, as both Major League Soccer and the United Soccer Leagues have produced compelling story lines throughout 2009.

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The Evil That Is The Internet Football Forum

Twohundredpercent 13 October @ 06:39 PM EST

Lincoln City supporter Keith Duncombe stepped into the murky world of the football internet forum and, in spite of warnings from his doctor about the ill-effects that it is all having on his blood pressure, he is still there.

In 1997 I coined my first ever internet "handle", and I'm still using it today.

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The Ongoing Failure Of The Fit & Proper Persons Test

Twohundredpercent 29 September @ 04:49 AM EST

English football's "fit and proper persons" test, I would submit, has failed, and here are just four reasons why:

1) Tom Hicks and George Gillett still co-own Liverpool.
2) Sulaiman Al-Fahim owns Portsmouth.
3) The Gods alone know who owns Notts County, even now "they" have "told" us
4) It isn't really a "test" at all.

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End Of An Era – The Phasing Out Of Ceefax

Twohundredpercent 24 September @ 04:18 AM EST

The BBC's text service Ceefax celebrates its thirty-fifth birthday today, but it's a celebration that is tinged with sadness as it is to be the last significant anniversary celebrated by the antiquated service, which is to be phased out in line with the stopping of the analogue television signal in Britain in 2012.

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The Acquittal Of The Tottenham Two

Twohundredpercent 16 September @ 07:34 PM EST

It is an uncomfortable truth that every club seems to have its achilles heel, a bone of contention that shows up the true colours of a certain section of its support, and in the case of Tottenham Hotspur it's Sol Campbell. Campbell's defection from White Hart Lane to Highbury in 2001 continues to infuriate Spurs supporters to distraction, and the extent to which this still seems to boil over should be an embarrassment to the club.

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Ramos Not at CSKA for Long Term

Mad About Fútbol 15 September @ 07:38 PM EST
From 1998 to 2001, Juande de la Cruz Ramos Cano coached Rayo Vallecano, leading them into Spain's Primera División after the 1998-99 season. In the first season of Rayo's return to the top flight, they finished ninth. The next season they fell to fourteenth, after which Ramos took the job at Real Betis - a bigger club that had just been promoted from the Segunda. Click to continue reading...

FIFA 2010 – The Full Demo Is Here

Twohundredpercent 15 September @ 04:45 AM EST

There was a time when devotees of the Pro Evolution football series looked down their noses at devotees of EA Sports' FIFA series of video games. Pro Evolution, it was said, was the authentic football experience while FIFA, hamstrung by the costs of obtaining licences for every single league and player that there is, sacrificed gameplay for making everything look shiny.

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Why We Deserve Better Than Alan Green

Twohundredpercent 14 September @ 05:04 PM EST

The BBC's veteran radio commentator Alan Green has been at it again, this time insisting on Graham Taylor's removal as co-commentator for the recent England vs Croatia match. Mark Murphy wonders aloud whether it is time to put Green out to pasture.

BBC Radio Five Live's Alan Green has been at it again, having a spat with a fellow co-commentator and demanding his removal.

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Fake Plastic Chairs?

A More Splendid Life 14 September @ 06:21 AM EST
One wonders how it got there.
I mean, you've seen the things before, usually chucked en masse in old, grainy videos from town squares across continental Europe whenever the English national team passed through. But you know where they've been culled from; probably from under the patio table of a nice Dutch family on holiday who vacated mere seconds before to a nearby telephone booth, wondering why they didn't spend a bit more to visit New York instead. Click to continue reading...

The Makings of US Football Tradition

Albion Road 10 September @ 07:17 PM EST
The United States is sometimes derided for its lack of football culture and traditions. For at least one night, the Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup filled that void admirably as Seattle Sounders F.C. defeated D.C. United 2-1 in the 96th edition of the oldest competition in American football.
Spurred by a war of words between the two team's front offices, the game drew more interest than the U. Click to continue reading...

England’s Greatest Hope?

Twohundredpercent 08 September @ 02:12 PM EST

England beat the Netherlands 2-1 on Sunday evening to move into the final of the 2009 European Women's Football Championships in Finland, where they will play Germany on Sunday night. Perhaps predictably (and exactly as they did when the under-21 team made similar progress during the summer), the English press have reacted hysterically to the news.

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Scourges Of Modern Game: Goal Music

Twohundredpercent 05 September @ 06:51 AM EST

The ball is passed out to the wing. The winger controls the ball with the outside of his foot and runs towards a full back with a look upon his face that reminds you of a rabbit stuck in front of car headlights. Momentarily, it looks as if the winger can't remember which leg is which but this is all an act, and he jumps away from the tackle.

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Is the midfield diamond here to stay?

MIKE JACOBS 25 August @ 02:14 PM EST
The 4-4-2 Diamond Midfield has started to become more en vogue all over the world, with both Chelsea and Inter establishing the strengths of this alignment in the early stages of the 2009-10 season.
Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian has an outstanding article where he outlines the strengths and weaknesses of that alignment. Click to continue reading...

DVD Review - “The Damned United” (Revisited)

Twohundredpercent 24 August @ 05:23 PM EST

Earlier this year, we sent Ted Carter to the cinema with a paper bag containing some crab paste sandwiches and a ticket for the movie version of David Peace's 2006 novel, "The Damned United". The film is released on DVD next Monday, so we thought that it was time to revisit this interpretation of Brian Clough's forty-four days at Leeds United.

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Serie A Preview: 2009/10

Twohundredpercent 21 August @ 04:29 PM EST

The Premier League started last weekend and it's still a couple of weeks until La Liga begins in Spain but this weekend Serie A kicks off in Italy and Paul Grech has been generous enough to offer us a full run-down of the chances for the runners and riders in Italy this season. If you can't get enough of Serie A, feel free to drop by at Paul's blog www.

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Corruption Allegations Make The Maltese Cross

Twohundredpercent 20 August @ 04:20 AM EST

Football in Malta has started to make a real impression in European competitions over the last couple of years but, as Paul Grech reports, the new season starts under a cloud amid controversy over match-fixing allegations involving two of the clubs in the Maltese Premier League.

Days before the Maltese football season is due to start and still the future of Marsaxlokk FC and Vittoriosa Stars, the two clubs at the centre of corruption charges, is unknown after hearings were repeatedly postponed.

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Dennis Bergkamp, a fan of English football

Euro 2008 on World Cup Blog 12 August @ 08:43 AM EST
Dennis Bergkamp played England three times in the orange jersey and wore the Arsenal shirt eleven seasons. "I feel totally at home in the English football culture," the 79 times capped international says, looking forward to tonight's clash. Playing against England "My first one was the 2-2 in 1993. That game was Click to continue reading...

Out In The Open Revisited - Football & Homophobia

Twohundredpercent 01 August @ 04:55 AM EST

It is only very seldom that we re-run articles on here but, in view of the fact that today is the day of the Brighton Gay Pride festival, we thought that it would be appropriate to run a piece that first appeared on here in March 2007 on the subject of football and homophobia. It was our intention to run more articles on this subject and we will do in the future - if you can help, feel free to get in touch.

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Sir Bobby Robson - 1933-2009

Twohundredpercent 31 July @ 05:10 PM EST

It has been a very sad day for football on the eve of the new season. We have lost one of us. It is, perhaps, a reflection of the the hole in the heart of English football that we should mourn a football man whose greatest single attribute was nothing more or less than a sense of common decency.

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Say NO to the vuvuzelas? Yes please.

See The Cup 30 July @ 02:45 PM EST

I think I can turn that question into a statement. With the World Cup in South Africa approaching, I am inclined to be against the vuvuzelas because, like we saw during Confederations Cup, it allows absolutely no space for chanting which is one of the beauties of being at a football match and screaming your lungs off.

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State Of New York Football: Past, Present and Future

WVHooligan 29 July @ 03:44 PM EST

Editor's Note: Geoff Reid appears on WVHooligan.com each week. Today he is back to discuss the state of the world's game in New York. Feel free to leave him a note below.

On Saturday evening, the New York Red Bulls were on the end of a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of the Colorado Rapids in what was a perfect example of their 2009 season up to this point.

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Pisa Come Crashing Down Again

Twohundredpercent 25 July @ 04:16 AM EST

Britain isn't the only country in which football clubs are prone to occasional financial collapse. Paul Grech, from the Italian football blog Il Re Calcio, writes on the rise, fall, rise and fall again of the Italian club Pisa AC.

For a city that has been made famous by its gravity defying leaning tower, there's a bit of irony in Pisa AC's penchant for tragic and spectacular crashes.

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The Great Twohundredpercent Site Directory Project

Twohundredpercent 23 July @ 05:59 PM EST

A long time ago, the venerable football magazine "When Saturday Comes" used to keep a directory of fanzines tucked away at the back of its pages every month. It fell from view at some point in the early 1990s, and has been sorely missed. It is with this in mind that we have decided to launch "The Great Twohundredpercent Directory Project".

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Beckham & Galaxy - The Point Of No Return?

Twohundredpercent 22 July @ 04:26 AM EST

The match between LA Galaxy and Milan was always, in view of the recent goings-on between David Beckham and the Italian giants, going to be something of a powder keg, and the global media reaction to the events at the decidedly unromantically named Home Depot Center has said a lot about how Beckham has managed to control the public perception of him.

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Suspending Animosity: The Football Shirt Swap

EPL Talk 20 July @ 11:57 AM EST

It's the little things.

I've been fully enamoured with the concept of the shirt swap since I first saw it in action. Mind you, I'm an American and a latecomer to world football, and we don't have anything like this in American sports. I've never seen a baseball pitcher record the last strike of the last out of a playoff game and then trot to home plate, unbutton his shirt and give it to the batter.

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Noticias

Futbolita 14 July @ 01:51 AM EST
  • Hat-wearing Hernanes is being targeted by AC Milan and it looks like a deal has been put in place for him to join the side next season. Botox Berlusconi is expected to announce a contract for the box-to-box midfielder in the next few days. If it's true, Hernanes will be a new member of the Rossoneri and Leonardo can finally find peace.
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Canada & The 1986 World Cup

Twohundredpercent 12 July @ 08:26 AM EST

You wouldn't know it from the absolute lack of media coverage in the UK, but the CONCACAF Gold Cup - North & Central America's equivalent of the European Championships - is currently being played out in the USA, and one of the minor surprises of the competition so far has been the progress of the Canadian national team, who have comfortably qualified for the quarter-finals with two wins from their three group matches against Jamaica and El Salvador.

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10 Footballing Cricketers (And Vice Versa)

Twohundredpercent 08 July @ 06:33 PM EST

Seeing as how the Ashes have started and England aren't - at the time of writing - being thrashed seven shades of black and blue by Australia (though there is plenty of time for that to happen over the next few weeks or so), we thought that now would be an appropriate time to have a quick look back at the (now dying) breed of sportsman that combined their summer sport with their winter sport.

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Sky Pulls The Plug On Rivals

Twohundredpercent 07 July @ 04:41 AM EST

Regular users of the network of independent websites, Rivals.net, were in for something of a surprise when they logged in last week only to find a blank page with only the cursory message, "‘Rivals.net is currently unavailable" replacing their unofficial fan site. Rather than being a temporary blip, however, this was permanent.

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Be Prepared For The Worst Football Kit Designs Ever

Twohundredpercent 24 June @ 04:09 AM EST

Criticism of Newcastle United has long since passed from being some form of sport into being a sadistic ritual, but their new change kit for next season is surely worthy of some comment. The two-tone yellow striped number from Adidas has already been described as "custard and cream with yellow shorts" (When Saturday Comes), "the worst football strip ever" (The Sunderland Echo, perhaps unsurprisingly and a "garish orange and yellow stripe number" (The Sun) but, whilst it may well be the worst offender of the summer, it certainly isn't the only terrible football kit that has been designed over the last few months or so.

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Satan’s Instrument? The Vuvuzela and Noisemaking in World Football

Pitch Invasion 21 June @ 11:24 AM EST

The current controversy over the vuvuzela at the Confederations Cup in South Africa is hardly the first debate about "artificial" noisemakers used by football fans. In different forms, their use has been common across the world for over a century. So is the vuvuzela an organic instrument of South African football culture we should respect, or a commercialised nuisance that should be banned?

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