The Newcastle fan alleged to have punched a horse following last weekend's derby defeat to Sunderland insists he's an animal lover. Unemployed factory work Barry Rogerson, aged 45, from Morpeth, reeled off a list of pets and a penchant for feeding foxes in mitigation for his attack on a police horse.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has revealed that Sergio Aguero is out with a 'stupid
injury' to his foot. But the Italian wouldn't be drawn on the cause of the mystery ailment which
will rule him out of tomorrow's match against Sunderland. Mancini said: "It is a stupid injury. It
was not his fault.
The Richmond Kickers are turning 21! To help celebrate, VA Soccer News and the Richmond Kickers are going to be giving away a prize pack that includes four tickets to the April 6 home opener (Kickers vs Riverhounds) and a limited edition Kickers scarf.
As most Kickers fans know, the Richmond Kickers have recently partnered with 4-time MLS Champions, D.
It was a quick trip to the Big D for United States Men's National team coach Jurgen Klinsmann on
Sunday. The US boss was on hand for the MLS season opener between FC Dallas and the New York Red
Bulls. He also was there to scarf Uncle Lamar's statue in the North Gate at FC Dallas Stadium.
The spoke briefly to a few reporters before the game and offered up a few interesting
nuggets.
Well with First Kick over the weekend the Major League Soccer season though we'll have to wait
for our season opener as we've still got #BeatSantos Fever, don't forget the viewing party and
scarf party on Wednesday.
Arsenal youngster Emmanuel Frimpong has stirred things up ahead of Sunday's north London derby in his own unique way. The midfielder, currently on loan at Fulham, pretended to put a Tottenham scarf down his pants during a live stream video broadcast.
Democracy in sports, y'all! Thanks to the Alliance Council, Sounders season ticket holders now have the opportunity to vote on the design for the scarf that will be distributed to STH's in 2013. This was originally conceived as a chance for the fans to design scarves and use a contest to decide the winner, but scheduling constraints led to a compromise in which the team's designers would come up with 4 alternatives and let the fans vote on the winner.
Burrito is back! And want The Ultras and Flight 19 to learn and sing this song for the Strikers vs
FC Edmonton game this Friday!
Vamos Strikers! Lets show them putos they come to Lockhart to lose! Defend the pinche Fort!
Blame Canada, Blame Canada
It seems that everythings gone wrong
since Canada came along,
blame Canada, blame Canada
They're not even a real country anyway!
MUST have tonight claimed that the green and gold protests will continue this season and will
start with tomorrow's game against Fulham, with the away supposedly joining in.
"At the match tomorrow assuming the Glazers' security don't try to suppress free speech a
significant number of Fulham fans will be taking Green & Gold scarves into the away section,"
said Duncan Drasdo, chief executive of MUST.
If you have not yet picked up your scarf, today is the best day to do it. Dave and Jeremiah will
be at Temple Billiards today with scarves for everyone who has paid for them, as well as for anyone
interested in buying one. There are about 70 unclaimed scarves, so if you want one it's probably
best to do get it sooner than later.
Reminder: Wednesday We're Hosting A #BeatSantosAgain Watch Party
As if we haven't talked about it enough, we wanted to remind you one more time that Wednesday is
our epic #beatsantosagain watch party. If you don't have Facebook or haven't RSVP'd through other
means, please feel free to do so here.
Ah, that sweet feelin'. It looks just like any other package, sitting there by the door. But
any other package wouldn't give me this vaguely inappropriate tingle, now would it? High points
include a well-designed full size scarf (a major improvement over last year's "summer scarves")
and a Union lanyard from which your season ticket card is meant to hang.
To be completely honest, I haven't been a "serious" sports fan for very long (I strayed in my
adolescence, long story). For reasons I won't elaborate on here, Kansas City and its stadia became
my homes away from home. An unfortunate side effect of that choice was that I became a complete
stranger to sports success.
Tonight's game is about pomp, circumstance, crowds, evangelism and practice. It is not, nor is
any friendly about who wins (ok, USA-Mexico is). This Wednesday night's 6:30 PM
nationally-televised game between Chelsea FC and the Seattle Sounders FC will be a display of joy
and passion. It will be a celebration of soccer history in Seattle that starts with a Roger Davies
Golden Scarf ceremony and ends with Roger Levesque saying goodbye from the pitch.
Prior to the Seattle Sounders v Chelsea FC friendly NASL Sounder Roger Davies will be awarded
the Golden Scarf. The scarf is now awarded on a much more limited basis than previous years, but
there is little doubt that Davies deserves the recognition of his importance to Seattle's soccer
history. This guest post is to provide those that missed his greatness with a reminder of just how
much he meant to the Sounders.
When the whole Seattle Sounders Alliance was created it was clear that not everything was going
to happen immediately, but things have happened. There's some governing documents, non-supporters
are able to get designated tickets to Cascadia Away matches, we ran the Supporters Summit, there
are recognized supporters groups chosen by a fan organization rather than by members of the front
office and we're not done.
Good to see that the season is underway and that we're headed down to Mexico with a 2-1 lead
going into the second leg. It was a great performance against a team that's in mid-season form.
Don't forget the Santos Away Viewing Party, not to mention it will be the unveiling of the 2012
Sounder At Heart Scarf (can't wait to get mine though I'll be waiting for the mail man).
- Here's a thing I've decided to do, despite the fact that MFUSA is no longer a viable soccer
blog; re-blog things I've written in the distant past. Sometimes they'll be MFUSA pieces from the
3+ years of the site's existence, and sometimes they'll be things I wrote for other outlets. In
this case, I'm posting a column I wrote for the defunct (and no longer extant, so there's not even
a link) MLS Daily on the Sounders debut in March of 2009.
After waging a round of beer on his country beating Ukraine in their opening Euro 2012 game,
Sweden fan Ola Sjostedt (who is head of the Sweden Supporters Club) had to make his way to the
government offices in Kiev to settle his boozy debts.
Poland and their ballerina goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny are all set for
tonight's Euro 2012 tournament opener against Greece. It should be an interesting game if the
Greeks remember not to park a bus or a Trojan Horse for that matter in
front of goal as they did in 2004.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Our series of fan posts continues with a post from Avery
Kravitz, who writes about following the Union from New England.
There are three things New England sports fans enjoy doing; Watching the Patriots, hating the
Yankees, and clinging to the hope that the Big Three can stay out of a retirement home long enough
to win another NBA title.
Last season loyal reader bmvaughn rode the brief but memorable Cinderella run of the
Richmond Kickers and some other quality lower division teams to an early points lead, but he
couldn't overcome the fact that the (understandably) most picked team among contestants went on to
win the Cup for the third season in a row and so the title went to site writer Dizzo.
It would look like the deed is done. Here's Liverpool's brand-spanking new manager holding the
requisite shirt and scarf aloft at Anfield this very morn...
It would look like the deed is done. Here's Liverpool's brand-spanking new manager holding the
requisite shirt and scarf aloft at Anfield this very morn...
No Grand National would be complete without an appearance from The Queen of Scouse. We have no
doubts that Alex Gerrard is smiling because she's just come from the "cocktails" stand and who can
blame her? No Grand National event can be taken in whilst sober.
Her rumoured former fling once supposedly spoke of his super sized sexual adventures, so it was
only a matter of slow-news time until Raffaella Fico (Mario Balotelli's current girlfriend) spoke
out about her own partner preferences.
La Gazzetta dello Sport originally reports:
"Apart from Balotelli, I've only been with Cristiano Ronaldo.
All quiet on the field so I thought I'd point out this new off-field promo. The Rapids are doing a Scarf of the Month promo this year. Each month of the season there will be a new scarf design for sale. Each scarf will sell for $25, but you can pre-order the first 4 for $70 until Sunday, a 30% savings.
OTP has teamed up with Savile Rogue to give you the chance to win one of the world's finest cashmere football scarves. Savile Rogue scarves give a nod to football terraces of yesteryear, shunning in-your-face logos and cheap nylon in favour of a traditional bar design and the comfort, quality and warmth of top grade [.
There is a great raffle going on that closes tomorrow. All the proceeds will go towards the very
important Fire 15th Anniversary celebration. There are a lot of little things going on behind the
scenes that need the help. The grand prize is two tickets to the Second Star Club for the August
18th game vs New England.
Forever in touch with the common-or-garden football fan, UEFA bigwig Michel Platini has revealed
that he is pondering a radical rethink of the 2020 EUROs, with cities all over Europe hosting
games. The star of the 1984 Euro Finals said:
After an underwhelming 2011-2012 season, most of which was due to lack of selection rather than
any failings of his own, there was general consensus that Dirk Kuyt had little time left as a
Liverpool player. Still fit as ever, still capable of producing in front of goal, and still
committed to the cause, even if its commitment to him had waned.
A day after winning the Champions League in Munich, Chelsea returned to London and held their
open-top bus parade to celebrate the season's cup double. The joyous occasion was celebrated with a
few songs, including a rendition of "We Are The Champions" from Fernando Torres that was so off
key, the cameras couldn't even show the singer, Didier Drogba leading the "Super Frankie Lampard"
chant and David Luiz shouting his usual hilarious nonsense.
The Madison 56ers have started a supporters group for their National Premier Soccer League
team.
For $20, supporters group members get a season ticket and a 56ers scarf – the regular price
for those items is $50 ($35 for season ticket and $15 for the scarf).
In exchange, the club asks that the members make a commitment to attend each of the team's eight
home matches, or find a friend to fill in for them if they can't make it.
AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still reeling over the fact that Juventus
snatched the Serie A title from under his nose - literally. No surprise there, given that
Milan were pretty consistent this season and still failed to win a trophy. Yes, Gennaro
Gattuso, you've been missed!
8-year-old Siham from Quevilly poses with her football scarf ahead of the French Football Cup
final against Lyon this weekend. It's going to be a treat for this Futbolitina!/ via Daylife,
Dynamo season ticket holders are receiving their season tickets today, mine arrived this
afternoon and I figured I would give everyone a look at what we got. The box includes match tickets
(including a foil embossed one for the inaugural match in the new stadium), a small book with some
information about the stadium and the new account management system, and a scarf.
The [bad] Cheesequakes logo has been retired in favour of this NASL rehash.
Canada right? Cold? Wintery?
That's bullsh-t. It's broken 20 C every day for the last 9 days. Today's forecast, cold, rain and
misery. And talking about the weather is typically clichéd, but in football terms, it's important.
