Du Nord 17 March @ 05:17 PM EDT
STARTERSSteve Davis on his blog Daily Soccer Fix explaining why he left ESPN Soccernet for Sports
Illustrated: "New management is in charge at Soccernet, and I don't get the feeling that MLS is a
big part of the plan going forward."
dN
Here's a real anti-shocker for you: Robinho did not make the trip to New York with Santos.
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Berlin's only Bundesliga representatives are going down, and now they have the fallout from a pitch
invasion to deal with too.
Ultras up the ante as Hertha pay for sins committed in a former life.
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EPL Talk 05 March @ 12:54 AM EDT
On the episode of the EPL Talk podcast we move from the action on the pitch to the events
surrounding the game, and there is no better person to talk about that than Pitch Invasion's Tom
Dunmore. Tom joined me for this edition of the show to talk about the movements pushing for
ownership changes at Old Trafford and Anfield, Then, we talk about some issues surrounding the
future of football blogging and the role Tom sees Pitch Invasion playing be it through new projects
or continued consideration of the course being traveled by the football blogging world.
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The Offside 24 February @ 08:06 PM EDT
Links to click after you enjoy this Mark González equalizer for CSKA Moscow vs Sevilla today: Game
finished 1-1. The big question: Will MLS players strike? (Andrew Hush) Truly, the PPL's stadium
(PennLive) Anderlecht fans gets unwanted shower (very much NSFW) (Deadspin) Soccer in America:
Evolution not revolution, via guys like Al Hack (Pitch Invasion) Introducing a new blogger, and
Swiss [.
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In a Pitch Invasion Sweeper from last week, Tom quoted Supporters Direct on various solutions to
the debt problem in English football:
"...they may be salary caps, luxury taxes, loss caps, a more comprehensive, single Fit
and Proper Test, built in supporter-representation at clubs to ensure protection against grounds
like Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park being split from the club, or the countless number of small
London clubs seeing their homes sold to pay for wreckless spending (in some cases, something a
little more sinister at play by property developers).
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A few things to mention on the last post before I go on: while I compared the NFL to the Premier
League, many of the structural peculiarities of the latter are not obviously limited to the top
flight. I think it's important this issue broaden out to English football as a whole.
I should also stress that club debt is not bad
per se; obviously, few businesses could
operate without some level of manageable credit.
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Match Fit USA 04 February @ 12:56 PM EDT
I'd be guilty of a significant understatement if I was to say that the Seattle Sounders "burst on
the MLS scene" in 2009. I'd also be selling the Sounders and their fans short if I said that
they...
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WorldCupBlog 03 February @ 04:10 PM EDT
The Chile 1962 World Cup quarterfinal between England and holders Brazil was just a few minutes
old when play was stopped by a canine pitch invasion. Somehow a stray dog was on the field of play
and was proving difficult to catch, avoiding Brazil keeper Gilmar and most remarkably teaching
Garrincha himself a thing or two about dropping the shoulder and accelerating away from your
pursuer.
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Entrance to the ground of Salford City FC, Moor Lane.
Photo credit: zawtowers on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
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So on Friday Tom woke up and thought it would be fun to play the devil's advocate on the issue of
the LA Sol folding. Really, it's good for the league! And everything's fine! And all you who think
AEG should have given them more time to find a buyer, don't you know, WPS isn't a charity!
At the end of the day, if women's professional soccer is to survive in the long-run, it
has to be because it's sustainable, not thanks to charity from Uncle Phil.
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Alresford Town v Poole Town, Wessex League, Arlebury Park, Alresford, Hampshire.
Photo credit: Paxie on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.
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Urawa Red Diamonds vs. Kashima Antlers, December 2009, Saitama Stadium
Photo credit: Sh@tei on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.
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Statue of William McGregor, father of the Football League and Aston Villa Chairman, at Villa
Park.
Photo credit: johngarghan on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
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How Arsenal players used to keep themselves clean.
Photo credit: steve260589 on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
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A brief followup on yesterday's Portland post before I get to everything that happened today.
Andrew Guest and an anonymous commenter added their perspective in various comment threads on the
issue. Guest over at Pitch Invasion:
In regard to the Portland stuff, I'm not an expert in stadium finance and it seems fair
for Fake Sigi to point out the potentially sketchy aspects of the stadium deal.
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Statue of Ronaldo, Nike World Headquarters, Beaverton, Oregon.
Photo credit: ohhh_yeah808 on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
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kenn.com 27 January @ 01:18 PM EDT
(Repeating a comment I posed on Tom Dunmore's Pitch Invasion blog about the
impending expiration of the collective bargaining agreement between Major League Soccer players and
league management. Too many seem to think that as of the CBA's expiration, there's automatically a
lockout, or that that's what MLS' intent is.
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A lonely fan at Estádio do Morumbi, São Paulo.
Photo credit: Uyrá on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.
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"Green and gold till the club is sold. Love United, Hate Glazer." Man Utd fans protest the
Glazer regime at Old Trafford. January 24th, 2009.
Photo credit: Green&Gold_LUHG on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
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Estádio Olímpico Monumental, home of Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, Brazil.
Photo credit: Richard E. Ducker on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion
Photo Pool.
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No dogs or football colours allowed. The Talbot Arms, Milngavie, Scotland.
Photo credit: bluerondo on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
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The home of King's Lynn FC, the Walks Stadium, founded in 1879 and dissolved in December
2009.
Photo credit: crouchy_crouch on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
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There's a soccer show/convention going on tomorrow at the Energy Centre and I will be there
tomorrow night. Feel free to get in touch if you plan to be there too and wish to say hello. I
don't have business cards though. What sort of idiot am I anyway?
Anyway, Pitch Invasion drew my attention to this piece today, and I will move you in that direction
as well.
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Boothferry Park, home of Hull City from 1946 until 2002.
Photo Daily: THE MAGIC RAT on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
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The Sweeper: Man Utd Ban Their Players From Twitter (Pitch Invasion)Messi quietly stealing the
limelight from Ronaldo (Reuters): Real Madrid forward SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/Cristiano Ronaldo has not
not been shy in trumpeting his intention to win back the FIFA World Player of the Year award, but
current holder Lionel Messi appears to have other ideas.
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Catania fans this weekend, during a 1-1 draw with Sampdoria in Serie A.
Photo credit: SiciliaToday on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
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Part of the fun of writing for Pitch Invasion is to get to unabashedly wear my anti-neoliberal hat
when discussing European club finances (see today's Sweeper to get a taste of what I mean). That
said, my sympathy for the methods of some supporters trusts has limits.
Witness the news today that Manchester United Supporters' Trust is pushing for a letter-writing
campaign to get Sir Alex to resign in protest of recent news that the Glazer family has been
treating Manchester United in much the same way I've been treating my line of credit since my
wedding.
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Decaying turnstile at Folkestone's ground. Kent, England.
Photo credit: naturesam9 on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
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Olympic fatigue.
I'm still laughing over that one.
That was United States Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati's explanation/justification for
excluding the USSF's hometown Chicago from its list of 18 potential host cities for the 2018 World
Cup. Should the U.S. win the rights to host the games, it will have to trim that list to about a
dozen, but there's a lot angst in the midwest and Windy City over the snub.
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Stevenage Road Entrance, Craven Cottage, Fulham.
Photo credit: kk_wpg on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.
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Du Nord 14 January @ 12:07 AM EDT
AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS VIEWING IN THE TWIN CITIESImportant Update:I have had problems getting the Africa Cup of Nations games on the TV at my beloved Sweetwater in
St Paul. On Tuesday during the Egypt v Nigeria match the channel went out, and it has still not
come back on.
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Boarded up turnstiles at the Vetch Field, home of Swansea City from 1912 to 2005.
Photo credit: Alex Gunningham on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
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Red Rants 12 January @ 04:33 PM EDT
The Guardian has been rattling off story after story on the Glazer debt, giving me an
image of a press room chock full of Shakespearean monkeys rattling away feverishly at their
keyboards. And, whilst some of them have gotten repetitive, quite a few of them have been good
reads.
The blogosphere isn't far behind though, and there is some good material going around over there
too.
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