Some readers might recall the blurb that was posted about the launch of the first episode of the Pitch Invasion podcast last month. Pitch Invasion Editor and former Section 8 Chicago Chairman Tom Dunmore interviewed the former head of Supporters Direct, Dave Boyle.

Boyle is currently preparing to travel to Portland for the Independent Supporters' Council meeting.

Photo by Tony Quinn/ISIphotos.com

If Sebastien Le Toux makes an appearance at PPL Park this summer for his second MLS All-Star Game, he won't be representing the home team. He'll be doing it as a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Philadelphia Union officially announced that they have dealt Le Toux to the Whitecaps, acquiring an undisclosed sum of allocation money in exchange for its leading scorer and 2010 MLS All-Star.

Talk about a 180.

Just a week or so ago it was Sebastien Le Toux on a plane to England to train with Bolton. Now he is back in North America and has been traded to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

No word yet on what the terms of the deal will be but the Frenchman just tweeted out that it is official.

Although you can't argue with the fact that David Beckham decided to turn down an awful lot of money and the lure of several major clubs in order to continue pursuing a career in the MLS, proving a number of soccer betting tips wrong in the process, that fact fades into insignificance when you realise that not only does Becks want to stick around because he enjoys playing in North America, but also because he has a vested interest in staying for the long term in order to take advantage of the clause in his contract that means he could become the owner of an MLS franchise once his deal expires.

In the last year we've been joined by Arsenal supporters from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America only Antarctica to go. Whatever your beliefs, it is a good time to remember and be thankful for what unites us.

We are united by our love of The Arsenal and have forged friendships with people most of whom we are unlikely ever to meet; all made possible by the magic of the internet.

L'Impact Montréal, we love you and your Muppets

Over in Quebec (and the whole of North America), the Montréal Impact are starting to create a steady buzz in the football community as they get ready to join MLS. I wrote a piece for The Football Ramble on the unique challenges facing L'Impact.

Psst, you might have noticed we've scaled Pitch Invasion down to periodic lengthy essays and photo features. We're happier this way, without feeling we need to post every day and with more focus on crafting quality posts (hopefully!).

But we still find interesting stuff elsewhere every day.

The North American Soccer League announced today their 2012 opening weekend schedule. The season will kick off Saturday April 7th, with four games across North America. The opening weekend will be highlighted by a matchup between the reigning NASL Champion Minnesota Stars and 2011 NASL Regular Season Champion Carolina RailHawks at Mall of America Field [.

Images via Rob Kim/Getty Images North America & Style.com

Can Victoria Beckham makes spats happen? Or will they go the way of "fetch?"

Victoria is in New York, where she spoke at the Women's Wear Daily Apparel & Retail CEO Summit last night. She's the first woman to wear a look from her Spring 2012 collection and in doing so wore the item that most perplexed us: spats.

Image: Kyle Rivas/Getty Images North America.

For those Kickettes who reside outside the United States of America, the celebratory shenanigans above might imply that Houston Dynamos have just won the World Cup. They haven't, of course. They're not eligible.

Images: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images North America, Bauer Griffin.

MLS 2021 Playoff brackets are set... Go Oklahoma!We have never made any bones about it - we don't like playoffs in football... unless you're trying to get promoted to the Premiership (hello West Ham). Playoffs that decide a "champion" after a long, hard season is wrong on many levels but such is life in North America.

Pro Evolution Soccer had a triumphant reboot with its 2011 edition that took the series back to its mid-2000s heights. Its successor, Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 (now available at Amazon), has been out for consoles (PS3 and Xbox 360) for the past month in North America. We've spent the last couple of weeks playing PES [.

The first thing that will jump out to you about newly-renovated BC Place is the roof. This focal point of Vancouver Whitecaps FC's new building provides a sense of space unrivaled in any MLS venue. It's a suspension-based structure that is retractable, much like a few of the new European venues seen in Germany.

Image: Jeff Golden/Getty Images.

It has been reported that DC United striker Charlie Davies is suing the owner of the nightclub for serving alcohol to a woman who then went on to cause the accident that almost ended his career.

His suit claims that Das Enterprises, who own The Shadow Room in Washington D.

Would anyone care to argue against the case that Patrick Nyarko (No. 14) of the Chicago Fire has the best seat in the damn house? No. Thought not. Image: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images North America.

This is my first attempt at Live Bloggery, but hopefully it's slightly less challenging than rocket science for a tech-challenged person such as myself.

JG is going to be doing our recap today, and hopefully Darren will stop by during the live blog as well. I think Brenton is working some insane hours at the moment, so I'm not sure if he'll be by.

I woke up this morning eager as a beaver and highly anticipating the event as the day had finally come. No I am not talking about our big match with FC Basel. Nope, I'm talking about the release date in North America for my favorite addiction, FIFA 12. My life, my love and the reason [...]

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 19, 2011) US Soccer Players -- I'll start with a bit of a disclaimer: this isn't going to be an attempt to build up or knock down Major League Soccer either explicitly or implicitly. Future plans aside, right now North America's topflight should know they're not in the conversation for best league in the world.

By FRANCO PANIZO

If all the trailers and screenshots have you itching to get your hands on FIFA12, Tuesday will provide some temporary relief.

The FIFA12 demo is set to release on both the Playstation 3 and Xbox360 consoles on Tuesday, giving gamers a glimpse of the latest installment of the top selling soccer video game on the market two weeks before it is released.

Here we go, everyone. I'm going to say that every game is a must-win for us, starting with this game. 35 wins on the season, yah!

Check out Darren's preview, then get yer comment on. Kick-off is at 3pm UK, 10am Eastern, 7am Pacific. Shout out to our eastern seaboard Gooners! Hope you're coping well with the after-effects of the weather there.

Last night on Twitter we asked a question that was a bit of a stumper: How many players could make their debut for the MNT outside of North America?
Turns out the answer is five: Timmy Chandler, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Bill Hamid, Jeff Larentowicz, and Brek Shea. The one that kept tripping people up was Kyle Beckerman.

Kickette Philosophy Handbook, Rule 4.9b: For every Cristiano Ronaldo there must be a Kyle Beckerman. Images: Getty Images North America/Zimbio.

The captain of MLS side Real Salt Lake is a wild n' woolly type with what appears to be an aversion to bathing and hair products. He also seems to scare the crap out of small children and it looks unlikely that he spends all his money on shiny, expensive things.

This FIFA12 ad was made for European viewers, seeing as how the release date mentioned is Sept. 30 (the UK's release date of the game) and not Sept. 27 (North America's release date). But it is still one of the first TV ads released by EA Sports for its highly-anticipated video game, and with the demo scheduled to come out on Sept.

North American Soccer Almanac

In case anybody was curious, MLS has put together an "almanac" on American and Canadian soccer along with some nice infographics and lists.

The reason why I put almanac in quotations was because it's not very good yet. Also the name doesn't include any other league or information stats from other nations in North America.

North America Soccer Almanac (image via MLSSoccer.com)

A very interesting item was posted today over at MLSSoccer.com. The North America Soccer Almanac.

First of all, saying North America is really broad for the league to do here with this mini-site.

It's kinda cool, they had folks fill out a survey on Facebook not long ago to populate some of the responses on here.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are featured prominently in the new FIFA 12 trailer to promote the video game, which will be released in North America on September 27 and in Europe on September 30.

After watching the above video, you might be surprised by whether Los Blancos or Blaugrana score, so watch the above video to find out the answer.

North American Soccer Almanac

So MLS is conducting a survey about soccer in North America. Questions concern which leagues do you follow and how. Also who is the all time best US player and Canadian player. Give it a look and when the results are published I will link to them.

(All apologies to Northern Ireland and the Faroes...mostly the poor Faroes.)

Aside from infuriating injuries and some pretty decent highlight goals, anyway.

Shockingly, the happenings actually came from North America. For serious. Where Jurgen Klinsmann somewhat stole the show with his dancing and goal celebrations.

The Vancouver Whitecaps are expected to announce Martin Rennie as their new head coach during a Tuesday press conference.
The 36-year-old Scotsman is currently coaching the NASL's Carolina Railhawks, who are currently running away with the league's regular-season title. IndyWeek.com is also reporting that Rennie will complete the season with the Railhawks before joining the Whitecaps.

It's a friendly. Friendlies aren't simply less than a big deal they're no deal.

However, when this incarnation of Barcelona gets dumped 4-1 by a team from North America, it's news. Particularly when it involves two wondergoals within the span of minutes by Chivas' Marco Fabian.

He's 22 and has proven to be able to dethrone Barcelona in the swiftest and most dramatic of fashions.

On the latest edition edition of the Major League Soccer Talk Podcast : This Week in US Soccer ... your hosts Chris Webb and Chris Riordan take you on a tour across North America as their is much to discuss. The MLS All Star Game essentially serves as the midway point of the long MLS season.

Guest writer/Steve Amoia Juventus Football Club has traveled to North America for a three-game tour to participate in the 2011 Herbalife World Football Challenge. The team has been based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has been holding daily training sessions at the NovaCare facility of the NFL franchise, the Philadelphia Eagles.

After Manchester City's comfortable 2-0 win against Club America Saturday in front of a disappointingly small crowd at San Francisco, City's tour of North America continues tonight with a friendly against Vancouver Whitecaps at Empire Field. That...
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Manchester City kicked off their pre-season tour of North America with a
comfortable victory over Mexican side Club America.

Mexico's national soccer team not only retained their continental Gold Cup crown but in the past three weeks have also made their mark as one of the most successful sports brands in North America.

It's Wednesday, do you know when the international competition you're vaguely interested in because of club connections kicks off...?

* Earlier in the week I said that England's u17s, with Raheem Sterling starring, kicked off their second group match against Canada on Thursday at midnight in England.

Sublime!

Javier Hernandez (Chicarito) delivering goals with flair for Mexico and Manchester United. World class?

Is Chicarito North America's best striker?

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Lindpere was voted Red Bulls' MVP in his debut campaign last year.
It isn't often that England scouts North America for talent, but any snippet of such transfer rumour is newsworthy here on MLS UK.
The website of British newspaper Daily Mail has been analysing a range of possible transfers and rating the likelihood of the switch taking place.

Etienne Barbara dribbles through the Edmonton defense.

Etienne Barbara was named the North American Soccer League Player of the Month today for the Month of May. This is the second month in a row Barbara has won the award. He has also been player of week in the NASL 4 times in the first 8 weeks of the season.

Sporting KC will be well represented when the CONCACAF Gold Cup begins in June.

KC has four players who will play for their national teams in the tournament that determines the champion of North America, Central America and the Carribean.

Shavar Thomas will play for Jamaica, Roger Espinoza for Honduras, Craig Rocastle for Grenada and Stephane Auvray for Guadeloupe.