Dynamo, Timbers, Aston Villa FC

The Q's are gearing up for a couple of pre-season games coming up next week - Wed 3/17 vs Houston Dynamo (at Kezar) and Sat 3/20 vs Portland Timbers (at Buck Shaw). What can we expect from this coming season? I haven't a clue. We will have a completely different team than the one that we started with at the beginning of last season. Playoff hopes? I think we should keep those to ourselves for now.

I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things at Buck Shaw and banging our drums loud. Sec 108 - let's rock!

I have been keeping busy with my EPL club - Aston Villa FC. I am actually the chairperson for the Aston Villa supporters club here in California called "AVFC California". Villa is still in the hunt to break the Top 4 and qualifying for the Champions League next season, made it to the League Cup final (aka Carling Cup) - but fell to Man Utd, and are making a run for the FA Cup still (semifinal match v. Chelsea in early April).


Click the image to visit AVFC California!

Kaka' Rumors, World Soccer Daily Controversy, etc.

Where will Kaka' end up next year? I have heard rumors about Real Madrid and Chelsea. I have also heard that he has not intention of leaving and wants to stay at ACM. I think I need to start another rumor...

World Soccer Daily....Liverpool FC Controversy

Just as I discover this daily soccer radio program/podcast - there is a controversy that has many Liverpool FC supporters from around the world calling for a boycott of this program as well as a boycott of all of WSD's sponsors. What is the issue? I has to do with some comments made by one of the WSD hosts - Steve Cohen - and comments that he made on the program with respect to a tragedy known as the "Hillsborough 96". Because I am such a newbie to this sport, I had to do some research. The Hillsborough 96 refers to a disaster that occurred on April 15, 1989, at Hillsborough stadium (the home of Sheffield FC). 96 Liverpool FC supporters were crushed to death within the stadium crowd. From what I understand, thousands of people - some without tickets - were pushing into the stadium through a narrow gateway. As people continued to push in, the section in the stadium also felt the pressure and those closest to the field were crushed up against a fence/barrier between the stands and the pitch.

I have not gone back to find the podcast where the WSD/Cohen comments were made, but the response has involved death threats and other acts of violence (on top of the recommended boycotts). Here are his comments - he focused his questions on those ticketless fans that contributed to the situation. Cohen did make a public apology, but I have read that Liverpool FC supporters did not accept it. More later.

href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster

UEFA Champions League - Update

The CL quarter-finals are now complete.

Chelsea (Go Blues!) beats Liverpool FC (7-5 on aggregate)

Manchester Utd beats FC Porto (3-2 on aggregate)

Aresnal beats Villarreal (4-1 on aggregate)

FC Barcelona beats Bayern Munich (5-1 on aggregate)

Semi-final Match-ups

Chelsea vs. FC Barcelona

Manchester Utd vs. Arsenal

My thoughts: I am still pulling for Chelsea to go all the way. John Terry will be back from yellow card suspension. Michael Ballack needs to get rid of the Greg Brady haircut (it is probably what causes him to run so slow!).

Drogba, Lampard, Terry, and Anelka will carry the day against Barca. Petr Cech better be at the top of his game and have no mistakes like he did vs. Liverpool.

Prediction for 2009 Finals in Rome: Chelsea FC vs. Manchester United

Summer Pre-Season Tours

I have not really followed closely the pre-season summer tours that several international clubs (Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter Milan, etc.) schedule in U.S. cities. I think these are great opportunities for the American public to have the opportunity to see the cream of the crop when it comes to football. I hope that these tyoes of matches receive enough media coverage so that the beautiful game reaches more people. H told me about a match in July between Inter and Club America (Palo Alto) and the AC Milan friendly with the LA Galaxy (I think also in July). I just read information about Chelsea's US summer tour schedule (the closest for me would be the match in Seattle - Chelsea vs. Sounders FC. I think this is where any discussion of the Q's being involved disappears (...no venue). I think the Stanford stadium looks like a great place to watch football - Palo Alto is close enough to San Jose, right? Sure would be nice for the Q's to have a summer friendly against the likes of Club America, Chivas, Inter, AC Milan, Chelsea, Celtic, etc. These certainly would draw more attention than those season ticket holder "bonus games" we had last season (vs. Sounders and vs. FAS).




Chelsea Expand Summer Tour To 4 U.S. Cities
by The Gaffer on March 25, 2009

Chelsea Football Club have expanded their preseason tour of the United States for the summer of 2009 to include friendlies in the following cities: Seattle, Pasadena, Baltimore and Arlington.
Chelsea kick off their tour on July 18 when they play Seattle. On July 21, the Blues will play Inter Milan at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena (the original destination was going to be San Francisco, but this has changed). Then on July 24, Chelsea play AC Milan in Baltimore. And, on July 26, Chelsea concludes their U.S. preseason tour with a game against Club America at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Chelsea’s matches against Inter Milan, AC Milan and Club America are part of the inaugural World Football Challenge tournament, which pits the four teams against each other in matches around the United States this summer.

For each match, supporters will be glad to know that there will be home and away ends for all teams, so if you want to get a seat in the Chelsea end, you can order those tickets online. Ticket prices are affordable, too. At least 50% of all tickets will be $35 or less.

“We are delighted to be in the United States again for pre-season,” said Peter Kenyon, Chelsea FC chief executive. “This is our fifth pre-season out of six that we have toured here and it is always a pleasure to see our fans and train and play in excellent facilities in great cities. Chelsea, of course, will bring a full-strength first team squad and with the quality of the opposition, and the backing of our partners, this series of matches will be the best preparation and the most high profile we have played in America.”

All of the matches will be televised live on ESPN and ESPN 360. The TV schedule is as follows:

Sunday, July 19 Club America vs. FC Internazionale Milano at Stanford Stadium (Palo Alto, Calif.)7 p.m. EST on ESPN2

Tuesday, July 21 Chelsea FC vs. FC Internazionale Milano at the Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.)11 p.m. EST on ESPN2

Wednesday, July 22 AC Milan vs. Club America at the Georgia Dome (Atlanta, Ga.)7 p.m. EST on ESPN2

Friday, July 24 AC Milan vs. Chelsea FC at M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, Md.)8 p.m. EST on ESPN

Sunday, July 26 AC Milan vs. FC Internazionale Milano at Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)5 p.m. EST on ESPN2

Sunday, July 26 Chelsea FC vs. Club America at Cowboy Stadium (Arlington, Texas)7 p.m. EST on ESPN2

What’s most impressive about the TV schedule is that Chelsea against AC Milan will be shown in prime-time on a Friday night on ESPN, which definitely shows the strides that the sport has made in this country and the opportunity for huge TV ratings as well as the chance to win over new soccer fans in this country.

The tour is fantastic news for Premier League fans in the United States. The last time a tour of this size was organized was five years ago, in 2004, when Manchester United, Liverpool, Roma, AC Milan, Celtic and Chelsea played across the United States and one game in Canada.
This time it’ll be interesting to see how many seats are sold for the games. The new Dallas Cowboys stadium will open in June with a capacity of 80,000. The Rose Bowl, site of the 1994 World Cup final, has a capacity of 92,000, while the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore can hold 71,000 people. Qwest Field in Seattle, meanwhile, has 67,000 seats. The opportunity for Chelsea and organizer CAA Sports to make this tour very lucrative is immense.

Two areas of concern for football traditionalists and Chelsea fans will be (1) how many of the above stadiums will feature artificial turf when Chelsea play, and (2) whether Chelsea are over extending themselves. They were originally scheduled to participate in the 2009 Barclays Asia Cup Trophy in late July in China.

For the latest schedule of preseason friendlies for all 20 Premier League clubs, visit EPL Talk’s preseason friendlies page which is updated as soon as fixtures are announced.