In 1999, West Ham United won the InterToto Cup beating Metz 3-2 over a two-legged tie. It marked a significant chapter in the careers of some of the younger players and the manager of West Ham at that time. They had ensured UEFA Cup football.
Then manager, Harry Redknapp had moulded an entertaining and skillful passing team with a very English mentality. Click to continue reading...

At age 22, Zinedine Zidane was playing in the Intertoto Cup with Bordeaux. At that same age, Éric Cantona had just got a move from Auxerre to Marseille. Rivaldo had just moved from Corinthians to cross-town rivals Palmeiras in São Paulo.

With the money involved in today's game and globalized scouting networks, such players would already have been with one of the European giants before they had the chance to establish themselves in their local teams.

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Azerbaijani Premier League outfit FK Qarabag surpassed their very own milestone in UEFA club competition through a shock victory over Rosenborg BK in the wake of a decade-long anniversary celebrating the nation's first away triumph. The mementous win came in the second batch of qualifiers for the inaugural Europa League, a prestigous and recognised platform than the now-defunct Intertoto Cup which was the backdrop for Qarabag's prior success on the European continent. Click to continue reading...

Beginning in December of 2008, rumors filled the web with information on Manchester City's supposed done deal in signing Kaka from AC Milan, which at that time (before CR9's transfer) would have made him the most expensive player ever with City offering 100 million pounds. AC Milan and their executives were sold.

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You might not have noticed, but the UEFA Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup) started play this week. Despite the rebranding, you probably still don't care too much who wins it oddly enough, the tournament is back where it started in that sense. In the 1950s and 1960s, then known as the Fairs Cup, its purpose and meaning were unclear, and complaints rained down that it was just another pointless competition cluttering up the schedule.

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The draw for the first qualifying round of the Europa League took place this earlier on today. Included in the draw where last years winner of the Fair Play League, Motherwell, and Scottish Cup runners-up Falkirk.

Motherwell wont have to travel too far for their two games. They've been drawn against Welsh side Llanelli, while Falkirk will play Vaduz of Liechtenstein at the second qualifying stage.

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PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester United made sure of the Premier League title on 16 May

Manchester United were crowned champions of England for the 18th time on 16 May following their 0-0 draw with Arsenal.

United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all qualified for the Champions League.

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The ten-year anniversary of the first European away victory for an Azerbaijani club will be fast approaching soon, and next season the same club responsible for undertaking such an upset will await their fate in the draw for the Second Qualifying Round of the UEFA Europa League. FK Qarabag emerged from their unfashionable tag as underdogs to create a commotion in Northern Israel when Maccabi Haifa plunged to a first-hurdle catastrophe in the 1999/2000 edition of the Intertoto Cup. Click to continue reading...

With the Premier League drawing to a close it's time for a look back at the season. Ryan Giggs has somehow already picked up the PFA player of the season, despite playing a mere 1313 of a possible 3150 Premier League minutes. The title was all but decided by Howard Webb's errant whistle and a meek Spurs capitulation at Old Trafford a few weeks back.

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PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all qualified for the Champions League. The top three will go straight to the group stage, while the fourth-placed team will face a play-off.

English clubs are offered three places in the Europa League (formerly the Uefa Cup) - for the FA Cup winners, the Carling Cup winners and the fifth-placed team in the Premier League.

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PREMIER LEAGUE

The top four teams in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League. The top three will go straight to the group stage, the fourth-placed team will face a play-off.

English clubs are offered three places in the Europa League (formerly the Uefa Cup) - for the FA Cup winners, the Carling Cup winners and the fifth-placed team in the Premier League.

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"Tiredness was a significant factor, we were missing key senior players today and we needed some energy because of a lot was expended on Thursday. We made a few changes to protect some other players as well the next game coming up.

"I was reasonably satisfied with 1-0 at half-time, Fulham were quite prepared to get people behind the ball and make it difficult for us.

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That the Intertoto Cup no longer exists. Yes, the world's most mysterious competion, with one winner, then a few more before half the teams 'won' it. When they realised that 24 ties with 12 winners, who all go to the UEFA cup, was basically the same as a UEFA Cup qualifying leg, they simply changed the name and got rid of the trophy. Click to continue reading...

Amidst all the brow-furrowing over Schalke's massacre in Madrid on Wednesday, it largely went unnoticed that German sides Hertha Berlin and Stuttgart were having some international success on Thursday.
Both clubs dispatched obscure Eastern European opponents to win the Intertoto Cup, alias the UEFA Cup qualifications, or, as they known in German soccer fan slang, the doner-kebab competition. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa surprised many neutrals last season, and probably even some of their own supporters, with their 6th-place finish. In 2006-2007, the Villans checked in at a respectable 11th, a nice improvement from 16th the season before. Villa's emergence, led by manager Martin O'Neill, came with one of the smallest, if not THE smallest, first team rosters in the Premiership. Click to continue reading...

When Sam Allardyce left by "mutual consent" in early January, Newcastle turned to a familiar figure to turn the club's fortunes around. I said it then and I'll say it now: Kevin Keegan, who spent over a decade away from St. James Park before returning to take the reins, is a blast from the past and isn't the answer going forward. Click to continue reading...

Yesterday Hamburg won the Emirates Cup, finishing ahead of Real Madrid, Arsenal and Juventus. Hamburg had already been invited to last year's edition of the mini-tournament, but had to cancel their participation due to an Intertoto Cup game. In March Hamburg won said Intertoto Cup by outlasting Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Cup. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has conceded Gareth Barry's proposed move to Liverpool could yet go ahead.
On Wednesday it appeared the England midfielder would be staying in the Midlands after Liverpool failed to meet Villa's deadline for a 'suitable' bid.
But after speaking to Barry, 27, and his agent, O'Neill says it is "the best way forward" to leave the door open. Click to continue reading...

The draw for the UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round was conducted this morning, and the two English clubs involved at this stage in the competition couldn't have come away happier. Both should defeat their respective Scandinavian opponents and advance to the First Round without too much difficulty.
After seeing off EB/Streymur in the last round, Manchester City will open this tie at home against FC Midtjylland. Click to continue reading...

Gareth Barry's transfer to Liverpool finally looks like going through after the Anfield club came up with the money to secure his move from Aston Villa.
The longest-running saga of the summer has reached a confusing climax after an earlier statement that he was staying at Villa Park.
Sportsmail understands that the mix-up was due to a deadline being missed by 20 minutes, and the transfer will finally be concluded on Thursday. Click to continue reading...

Want to experience the trials and tribulations of an English soccer team but not sure which one to follow?
We'll follow a team through the 2008-09 season here at The Netminder. Each week, we'll go through an update of team news and check in with the papers and blogs. If we find a receptive front office, we'll talk with players and managers every once in a while.

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The final set of Intertoto Cup fixtures took place over the weekend and the eleven winning clubs now advance to the UEFA Cup second qualifying round. Advancing are Aston Villa, Napoli, Stade Rennais FC, RC Deportivo La Coruna, SC Braga, SC Vaslui, SK Sturm Graz, Grasshopper-Club, VfB Stuttgart, IF Elfsborg and Rosenborg BK. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa today announced Wilfred Bouma could be playing within 4 to 6 months following his succesfull operation on a dislocated ankle suffered during the victory at Odense BK in the intertoto cup.
The Dutch international, 30, underwent an operation on Sunday, in which the ankle was reset succesfully, Leaving the wingback in "Good spirits" according to Martin O'Neil. Click to continue reading...

Martin O'Neill has urged Gareth Barry to remain with Aston Villa and claimed the Midlands club wants him more than Liverpool.
Barry received a rapturous reception from the Villa faithful following his introduction as a 15th-minute substitute in the Intertoto Cup win over Odense.
The England midfielder responded with applause of his own as he turned in his usual measured performance after replacing stricken Dutchman Wilfred Bouma at left-back. Click to continue reading...

Nothing like playing in a friendly to get yourself injured... This week saw two popular defenders injure themselves: Bosingwa of Chelsea and Bouma of Villa. Both are likely to miss the start of the season.
Bouma sustained the worst injury, dislocating an ankle in Villa's Intertoto Cup third round victory over Danish side Odense. Click to continue reading...

Panionios became the third Greek club in the history of the Intertoto Cup to be knocked out of the competition in the final round, after another 1-0 loss to SSC Napoli on Saturday. Panionios were underdogs heading to Naples, as Napoli held a 1-0 aggregate lead heading into the decisive Click to continue reading...

A summer filled with video highlights here continues with Ashley Young's stunning goal in Aston Villa's 1-0 victory over Odense BK yesterday. The win sealed Villa's place in the UEFA Cup second qualifying round, and Young sent the home crowd into raptures with this right-footed drive from his usual left wing position. Click to continue reading...

This weekend brings to a close the often-times confusing history of UEFA's least-popular competition, the Intertoto Cup. When I was first becoming interested in European soccer in the mid-'90s, I would hear the phrase "Intertoto Cup" mentioned, but without the Internet resources we have today, I could never quite figure out what it was. Click to continue reading...

This weekend brings to a close the often-times confusing history of UEFA's least-popular competition, the Intertoto Cup. When I was first becoming interested in European soccer in the mid-'90s, I would hear the phrase "Intertoto Cup" mentioned, but without the Internet resources we have today, I could never quite figure out what it was. Click to continue reading...

This weekend brings to a close the often-times confusing history of UEFA's least-popular competition, the Intertoto Cup. When I was first becoming interested in European soccer in the mid-'90s, I would hear the phrase "Intertoto Cup" mentioned, but without the Internet resources we have today, I could never quite figure out what it was. Click to continue reading...

The 2nd legs of the 3rd Round of the Intertoto Cup takes place this weekend. All the winners go into the qualifying rounds of the UEFA. The most interesting tie this weekend has to be Aston Villa v Odense at Villa Park later on this afternoon not because the tie is square at 2-2 but the reception Gareth Barry might receive from the home fans should Martin O'Neill decide to include him in the squad. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool are putting the finishing touches to a deal that will make Robbie Keane one of most expensive signings in the club's history.
Keane is expected to undergo a medical early next week to finalise his transfer from Tottenham Hotspur.
The fee could ultimately rise to £20m given the add-ons and incentives that have been negotiated. Click to continue reading...

Hibs torn apart in Pep Guardiola's first match as Barca boss Having already been knocked out of the InterToto Cup earlier this month, Hibs' confidence is clearly low - not a great time to face Barcelona then. The vistiors gave... Click to continue reading...

Martin O'Neill has warned Liverpool he is ready to set a deadline for them to meet his valuation of want-away Aston Villa skipper Gareth Barry.
O'Neill insists Villa cannot continue to be at the "behest" of the Merseysiders who have failed to offer the £18million he is seeking for the England midfielder. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill says he will be playing Gareth Barry in their Intertoto Cup match with Odense. O'Neill had this to say: "I think that in terms of fitness the game on Tuesday will have brought Gareth on so, if he's mentally tuned in and he wants to go and play, why not? "Why shouldn't [. Click to continue reading...