Category: Story

When English Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore announced his now infamous ’39th Game’ plan to an unsuspecting world earlier this year, it was nice to hear a high-ranking FIFA official for once condemn outright such a ludicrous and nakedly cynical cash-generating scheme. At the time, Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed bin Hammam denounced the […]

Forbes magazine’s recent evaluation that the average National Football League team is worth one billion dollars is already out of date, writes Gideon Haigh. The days of perpetual increases in the value of sporting franchises are likely over “and things may never be this good again.” While a team like Manchester United can cope with […]

No such pessimism from Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts, who is understandably buoyant in a week when his club opened its soccer specific stadium in the Salt Lake suburb of Sandy. He is also forecasting a bright future for Major League Soccer, and told John Mantia that in five to 10 years he expects […]

Houston Dynamo midfielder Dwayne De Rosario was “sent to work under a tight deadline” against Panamanian club San Francisco FC in Tuesday’s Concacaf Champions League game, writes Bernardo Fallas. But it was time enough to score a spectacular winning goal and give a Major League Soccer team its first win in this year’s competition at […]

U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley was brought up the way most soccer-crazy kids can only dream about — by hanging out with the pros. At the age of nine, writes Steven Goff, he would spend his summers watching and then knocking the ball around with John Harkes and Marco Etcheverry. It helped that his dad, current […]

“There’s a big desire to make sure we make the playoffs and unfortunately we have to sacrifice some of the tournament. But, at no point are we giving up — if we have to act as spoilers, that’s what we’ll accomplish, but our guys will continue to show heart and desire and continue to fight […]

Jonah Freedman in Australia tracks down former Major League Soccer players now plying their trade in the A-League. You mean you don’t remember Michael Enfield and Tony Lochhead?

“Not all of our supporters are pulling in the right direction and they give the media it [bad publicity] on a plate.” Glasgow Rangers’ Chairman David Murray wants the club to get rid of a bigoted minority of fans spouting sectarian “bile” in stadiums and on the Internet.

“Our debt is not external, we don’t owe it to a bank or an insurance company, we owe it to the owner of the club who is a committed investor in the club.” Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck denies that the club’s estimated $1.27 billion debt could jeopardize its future, citing CFC’s “unique ownership model.”

“In an ideal world, the representatives of club and country would sit down and work out a Europe-wide plan with no League Cups, all top flights reduced to 18 teams, streamlined European club competitions, and no more than six qualifiers for World Cups and European Championships.” Journalist currently of this parish outlines idealistic, no-hope plan […]