Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com

Planning for summer friendlies is already in the works, and it appears that the New York Red Bulls will be welcoming one of the Premier League's top sides to Red Bull Arena for an exhibition.

According to the New York Post, the Red Bulls will play against Tottenham either July 31 or Aug.

Time for some quick hitters from around the soccer business world. We'll start in Colorado, where the Rapids have taken a unique step to promote season tickets and reward their best customers. The team's 2013 jerseys will include the names of its 2012 season ticket holders woven into the shirts.

The date has been set (March 18th, 2012). The shirt and scarf have been unveiled and are available for preorder at Barktees.com. The raffle is being organized. The new Sons of Ben tailgate location has been announced.

Never, in my wildest imagination, would I have dreamed of this moment.

Today, Sporting KC released information regarding the sell of single-game tickets. Starting next week, the team will start selling single game tickets to the team's first 8 home games. Games against New England, Dallas, LA, Real Salt Lake, Montreal, San Jose, Toronto and Chicago. Tickets will begin to go on sale starting February 13th for season ticket holders.

Chasing The Big Leagues West Ham United (English Championship) is a post from: Just Football

Tales from Tier Two is a series on Just Football in partnership with @tiertwofooty, in which we assess the promotion chances of the clubs in tier two of Europe's major leagues at the midway point of 2011/12.

Likely starters

There's a trip to Bolton looming in midweek, where we'll continue our climb up the league table in search of that Champions League spot. But first there's the matter of the FA Cup to deal with. A small matter or a big matter? Depends on the individuals. Arsene Wenger loves a bit of this competition but not over qualification to Europe's premier competition.

During a session with the media at the 2011 All Star Game in, Don Garber responded to a question from the Philadelphia media about the possibility of an All Star Game in the City of Brotherly Love. The Commissioner suggested that Philly would soon host the event and now it is official that the 2012 version of the event will go forward at PPL Park.

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber officially announced today that the 2012 AT&T MLS All-Star Game will be hosted by Philadelphia at PPL Park.

"That's why Philadelphia is the best sports city in the USA," Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said, "top notch fans, top notch stadium.

The worst kept secret managed to be confirmed ahead of its own public announcement. The Philadelphia Union will host the 2012 MLS All Star Game on July 25 according to multiple reports at Philadelphia's City Hall today.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com's soccer blog, the Goalkeeper, is reporting that the event has a start of 8 pm, with ESPN2 as the English telecast of the game in America.

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- Check out and post on theQPR REPORT MESSAGEBOARD where there are updated QPR and other football articles and discussion throughout the day....Also Follow: QPR REPORT ON TWITTER
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- QPR vs Everton Youth Tonight in the FA Youth Cup.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Philadelphia Union

Broad Street Hooligans says they have "a few connections who work down at PPL" and that these connections "may have accidentally overheard their bosses super-secret text messages" to the effect that Philadelphia will host the 2012 MLS All-Star Game.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3–0 CHELTENHAM TOWN Saturday 7th January 2012 FA Cup 3rd Round White Hart Lane
Sometimes in football cup draws fall the way you like and prior to the draw for the 3rd round of this seasons FA Cup I said to the wife that I hope Cheltenham get Chelsea, Manchester City or Spurs away.

"Mmm - you can barely taste the clog!"Toronto FC got the SIXual Healing bandwagon / promotional tour on track today with a breakfast event for season ticket holders in Downtown Toronto. The second year manager Aron Winter held court and was joined by players Danny Koevermans, Stefan Frei and Ashtone Morgan.

US Supporter's Section tickets went on sale right before Christmas, now today, Sporting KC announced the rest of the pricing structure for the tournament at LIVESTRONG Sporting KC. There are 3 levels of ticket buying, you can buy the series, single game advanced, and at the gate. The pricing is also pretty competitive, good pricing, anywhere from $28 a game to $220 a game.

This may seem a little preemptive, but the American Outlaws are selling tickets in the Supporters Section for the semifinals and finals of the Olympic qualifiers at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on March 31st and April 2nd. The tickets are $30 for AO members and $35 for non-members. No word yet from Sporting KC on whether season ticket holders will get a chance at a presale for the game as well or not.

After the live Q&A session Seattle Sounders FC committed to answering the rest of the questions that were submitted by Alliance members. Many of these passed through my hands at some point, though not all. Several had to be condensed together as they covered similar issues. But in the final versions of the questions as submitted to the club through the Council or through twitter submissions they answered.

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- Throughout the day, the QPR Report Messageboard has news updates, comments and perspectives - even links to other board comments of interest re QPR matters (on and off the field) along with football (and ONLY football) topics in general....Also Follow: QPR REPORT ON TWITTER
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- MATCH REPORTS: Compilation of QPR-Sunderland Match Reports and Managerial Comments
- A couple of past articles How Managerial Change often does not help!

Well we've all been wondering what the Portland Timbers pre-season plans were and today they've been given a serious spotlight. Per the title of this article, the Timbers will host Chivas USA, San Jose Earthquakes and AIK (from Sweden's first division Allsvenskan) from February 27th-March 4th, about 1 week prior to First Kick 2012).

I read with some interest the news from Ivan Gazidis that away fans could potentially be moved from their current position in the lower tier at the Emirates to the upper tier of the Clock End that houses away fans in cup ties.

Whilst I think this is a great idea in principal, this suggestion has raised a few questions that I'm sure will need addressing.

I read with some interest the news from Ivan Gazidis that away fans could potentially be moved from their current position in the lower tier at the Emirates to the upper tier of the Clock End that houses away fans in cup ties.

Whilst I think this is a great idea in principal, this suggestion has raised a few questions that I'm sure will need addressing.

I read with some interest the news from Ivan Gazidis that away fans could potentially be moved from their current position in the lower tier at the Emirates to the upper tier of the Clock End that houses away fans in cup ties.

Whilst I think this is a great idea in principal, this suggestion has raised a few questions that I'm sure will need addressing.

I read with some interest the news from Ivan Gazidis that away fans could potentially be moved from their current position in the lower tier at the Emirates to the upper tier of the Clock End that houses away fans in cup ties.

Whilst I think this is a great idea in principal, this suggestion has raised a few questions that I'm sure will need addressing.

Well, would you believe it? It seems as if progress is on the Arsenal horizon with chief bod Ivan Gazidis seemingly open to ideas from Gooners on improving the atmosphere at the Emirates. Revealtions this morning on Twitter suggest that the club are pondering the option of booting away fans upstairs in the Clock End, thus allowing home supporters cheaper seats and improving the unity at that end.

Well, would you believe it? It seems as if progress is on the Arsenal horizon with chief bod Ivan Gazidis seemingly open to ideas from Gooners on improving the atmosphere at the Emirates. Revealtions this morning on Twitter suggest that the club are pondering the option of booting away fans upstairs in the Clock End, thus allowing home supporters cheaper seats and improving the unity at that end.

Well, would you believe it? It seems as if progress is on the Arsenal horizon with chief bod Ivan Gazidis seemingly open to ideas from Gooners on improving the atmosphere at the Emirates. Revealtions this morning on Twitter suggest that the club are pondering the option of booting away fans upstairs in the Clock End, thus allowing home supporters cheaper seats and improving the unity at that end.

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- On This Day in 1989: Roy Wegerle Joins QPR in a club-record signing
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- Throughout the day, the QPR Report Messageboard has news updates, comments and perspectives - even links to other board comments of interest re QPR matters (on and off the field) along with football (and ONLY football) topics in general.

The Chicago Fire might be in the off-season but Section 8 Chicago keeps working on. The Section 8 monthly Board Meeting will take place tonight, December 7 at 7:00 PM at The Atlantic Bar & Grill, 5062 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. As always, the board meetings are open and everyone is invited to attend.

The Hat Trick

- Seattle Sounders' announcer Arlo White has been named as the lead soccer announcer for NBC Sports. This means he will be on the national MLS games NBC inked back in August. He will also take the lead for other soccer games like the Summer Olympics coming up. SB Nation's Jeremiah Oshan writes very favorably on the idea:

The first thing you'll notice about him is that he knows his subjects as well as anyone.

The draw for UEFA EURO 2012 will take place on December 2nd in Kiev, Ukraine. Ireland are 4th seeds and the draw will determine our entry into one of four groups, A, B, C or D.
Each of the four groups will play matches across two host venues in one of the host countries, either Poland or Ukraine.

Things seem to be escalating out of control very rapidly at Blue Square Premier club Kettering Town, where pre-season hopes of a fresh start at a new home have already evaporated, to be replaced by a sense of foreboding over so little as the short term security of the club. During the summer, Kettering's move from its traditional Rockingham Road home to Nene Park, the former home of the club's former rivals Rushden & Diamonds, eight miles from their home town, had provoked more than a few raised eyebrows.

In the wake of the Galaxy's MLS Cup triumph Sunday, the first 2,011 season ticket holders to have their picture taken with the trophy at Home Depot Center also received a 1'x1' piece of the field the Galaxy won their third MLS championship on, including care instructions. (Thanks to loyal reader Studs for the picture).

Earlier Scott Johnston and I debated the Old Firm leaving Scottish football. As a wee bonus here's Stewart Weir (@sweirz) with his take on the issue:
It's usually an argument made by those who don't support the Old Firm.
But if Celtic and Rangers (in alphabetical order only) departed Scotland and went elsewhere, Scotland wouldn't have the Old Firm.

One year ago today, the Kansas City Wizards had an announcement at the Power and Light District in downtown KC to announce their identity change from the Wizards to Sporting Kansas City. Included with the new name was a new logo, new colors, and basically a new identity.
Overall the first year of "Sporting KC" would be classified as a success both on an off the field, on the field the team went from missing the playoffs two straight years to topping the Eastern Conference in the regular season and making the conference finals.

One of the benefits of being a Philadelphia Union season ticket holder, aside from the nifty card I proudly carry in my wallet and access pre-sales and to special events as well as discounts on everything from the price of tickets, parking and team merchandise, is the Loyalty Point Program. What's that, you ask?

STARTERS
I really really really DISLIKE the idea of an unbalanced schedule for MLS next season.
-If you play more games against your biggest rivals then each game means a little less, not more.
dN
Oguchi Onyewu broke a rib of Zlatan Ibrahimovic during a training session fight when they were both at AC Milan a year ago.

The Newcastle players can look forward to a bumper crowd this afternoon, with the crowd expected to exceed 50,000 for the first time this season. Alan Pardew let's hope he's doing this today too That's partly because Newcastle have sold almost 4,000 additional season tickets with their cut price offer to existing season ticket holders, and it's also because the lads [.

Good news for those of you stuck on the season ticket waiting list! According to a press release sent out by the Timbers FO this morning, the club plans on permanently expanding the seating capacity of the stadium and will allow 2,000 additional season ticket holders
"After taking a detailed look at increasing capacity at the end of our first MLS season, we are comfortable with raising capacity at JELD-WEN Field to accommodate the demand for tickets without negatively impacting the fan experience," said Mike Golub, COO of the Timbers.

There was a really good interview yesterday with Leon Best, with Evening Chronicle reporter Lee Ryder doing the interviewing. Leon Best Yohan is such a lovely lad Leon answered questions from Lee as he signed autographs for the fans, and he was complimentary of what Mike Ashley was doing in giving season ticket holders additional season [.

Since yesterday all current Newcastle United season ticket holders were able to purchase further season tickets at a special half-price rate according to the club's website. The move comes after a fantastic start to the season for the Magpies on the pitch, but a slightly disappointing average attendance at home games.

Newcastle have announced a half-price season ticket offer. LLambias and Ashley great gesture from the two that run the club After the best start to a Premier League season since back in 1995, existing season ticket holders can now buy as many additional season tickets as they wish, which will be half price, from 2:00 pm yesterday.