All threads are temporary. This one's about soccer.

[The Sybian]

Finally, proof that CONCACAF is superior to EUFA.

[A_B]

Finally, proof that CONCACAF is superior to EUFA.

The European Union of Footballing Atrocities?

[The Sybian]

Finally, proof that CONCACAF is superior to EUFA.

The European Union of Footballing Atrocities?

Damnit. UEFA... My phone wouldn't accept the statement.

[Nonlinear FC]

This shit is hilarious...



I love a good trick play, in any sport. This one is higher level.

[degenerasian]

Financial update from the new general secretary. Even getting a financial update from the organization just seems like a breath of fresh air. Australia spending 112M and breaking even is impressive.

Canada Soccer’s budget for FY24 shows a $4M operating deficit on total expenses of $30M.

For context, the US Soccer Federation reported a $40M deficit on $188M of total expenses for FY23, is forecasting a $3M surplus on $184M of total expenses in FY24, and is planning for a $9.6M surplus on $201M in spending (USD) in FY25. Football Australia reported a $669,000 surplus on $112M in expenses (AUD) in FY23.

...

Thinking ahead my initial assessment is that Canada Soccer must grow annual revenues by between $10M and $12M to robustly fund its programs and serve its stakeholders – from grassroots up to the national teams.

...

The first concept is based on Consumer Price Index (CPI). Canada Soccer has forgone $5.84M in revenue since 2017 because the Player Levy has not been adjusted for CPI. We are discussing a true-up of the Player Levy for CPI along with a proportional adjustment of Membership Affiliation Fees.

The second concept is an incremental investment that would direct additional funding specifically towards the launch of Project 8 and in support of our youth national teams. These are timely and strategically important investments. Project 8 ensures an equitable competitive pathway into professional football. And additional support for our youth national teams is important in light of FIFA’s recently announced expansions of international youth competitions.

https://canada-soccer-pressroom.prezly. ... e-finances

[HaulCitgo]

40 million? Someone's board is very accommodating

[DaveInSeattle]

From the Men In Blazers newsletter this morning...absolutely bonkers scenes from back when Johan Cruyff did the "fuck you" season with Feyenoord, and they won the league.



This makes the footage of Yankee Stadium after Chris Chambliss won the ALCS against the Royals look sedate.

[HaulCitgo]

Rucker x Eriedivise

[Pruitt IV]

Dutch will never not make me laugh.

[Johnny Carwash]

Dutch will never not make me laugh.

It sounds like people who can't speak English making sounds that they think sound like English.

[Pruitt IV]

Dutch will never not make me laugh.

It sounds like people who can't speak English making sounds that they think sound like English.

Or German being spoken underwater.

[The Sybian]

Dutch will never not make me laugh.

It sounds like people who can't speak English making sounds that they think sound like English.

Or German being spoken underwater.

I thought it was the Swedish Chef at one point. Crazy how they were all standing right on the lines, but nobody crossed until the ball went in.

[Rex]

I’d throw in a few loonies to make this happen.

[wlu_lax6]

The MLS Next tournament in Bradenton has turned into a fiasco. Red Bull's teams withdrew after 2 racism incidents against them. Then the Union's U-17 team and Flamengo had a rough game that saw the Union accused of racist language. Then Flamengo started a scuffle after the game near the big board with the bracket (video popped up on social media).

[HaulCitgo]

Saw that. Looked like soccer fighting... i.e. no fighting. Kids got a friend playing and doing well from what I hear. Great opportunity for those kids. Valencia won one of the age groups and they sent some coaches a while back. I say all ado about nothing. They need to go check out an AAU tournament. At least it wasnt the adults. Kids have to learn and theyre learning that u might not want to embarrass yourself on an international stage.

[DaveInSeattle]

Story about a group of New Yorkers who bought a 3rd division team in Denmark (gift link)...

Why These New Yorkers’ Favorite Soccer Team Is in Denmark: They Own It.

Some people splurge on beach vacations or handbags or bottle service. A year and a half ago, a group of roughly 140 people, many of them New Yorkers, pooled some cash to buy a struggling Danish soccer team called Akademisk Boldklub, also known as A.B. The club plays in an unassuming suburb of Copenhagen called Gladsaxe and only draws a couple hundred fans to its games.

“Buying a soccer club is probably one of the worst investments you can make,” said Andrew Lewner, a group member from East Rockaway. “But no one’s going into this from that perspective.”

[Baloney]

Bring on the Basques

[wlu_lax6]

Everyone wants to be Wrexham..Winklevi dropping some coin on a team...bitcoin
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/12/cameron ... -club.html

[sancarlos]

I don’t know why the Winklevosses think they are the first crypto team. League Two Crawley Town’s owners are clearly crypto tech bros.

WAGMI purchased Crawley around the same time the NFT market began plummeting and crypto investors turned to real-world assets for stability. “We were trying to use all the hype from the NFT boom. These online communities were forming and people were gathering and we're like, what if we bought these people a professional sports team?” explains Preston Johnson, WAGMI co-owner and former ESPN gambling analyst, from his home in America. “There were a lot of projects and companies that were coming out built on hype and essentially, that's all it was. It was empty promises and hype.”
Johnson tells VICE they wanted to give the crypto community something tangible “that people can gather around every Saturday and root for”.

That article is pretty critical of the ownership group’s efforts, too. The list of management at the ownership group is kind of comical. Names that read like members of a comic book gang or a wild rap group. Link

[Pruitt IV]

Everyone wants to be Wrexham..Winklevi dropping some coin on a team...bitcoin
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/12/cameron ... -club.html

Considering these guys, fuck that team into extinction.

[Baloney]

Everyone wants to be Wrexham..Winklevi dropping some coin on a team...bitcoin
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/12/cameron ... -club.html

Wrexham secure back to back promotions

[sancarlos]

Yep. Happy ending for the upcoming season of Welcome to Wrexham, which will premiere on May 2.

[brian]

I think they had the highest wage bill in League Two so gonna start getting a lot tougher from here. But League One is a big deal. Start playing some decent sized clubs at that level. They might be able to retrench to get to the Championship by 2026.

[sancarlos]

I think they had the highest wage bill in League Two so gonna start getting a lot tougher from here. But League One is a big deal. Start playing some decent sized clubs at that level. They might be able to retrench to get to the Championship by 2026.

Yep. Who knows what they could accomplish? Ipswich was League One last year, and it looks like they could be getting an automatic promotion to Premiere league for next season.

[DaveInSeattle]

Heard about this on the Guardian Football Weekly pod...

Kurt Zouma mocked by stag do wearing West Ham kits as they chase the groom - dressed as a cat - to an animal protection charity shop... after Hammers defender was sentenced to community service for kicking his pet

West Ham defender Kurt Zouma has inspired a stag do in Leeds, leaving onlookers stunned and many on social media in stitches.

Footage emerged in February 2022 of Zouma - and his brother Yoan - abusing a cat in his kitchen, which eventually led to the pair being prosecuted by the RSPCA.

The Frenchman pleaded guilty to two counts under the Animal Welfare Act when he appeared at Thames Magistrates' Court in east London back in May 2022.

As a result, Zouma was fined two weeks' wages worth £250,000 by West Ham and sentenced to 180 hours of community service.

His actions have again gained attention after a stag do wearing full Hammers' kits with his name on the back chased a groom dressed as a cat.

[wlu_lax6]

No more replays in FA Cup proper rounds. Tradeoff is FA gets no competition from EPL during the final and a big increase in EPL paid $ for supporting grassroots football. Guess that offsets the $ that some minnows get for an unexpected home replay against a giant. This also lets them create a little bit more offseason for the players.

[elflaco2]

scary situation last sunday...
2nd league game (O50s).. 8a start vs last years league leaders (we were bottom half of the table).. held our own first half, nil-nil.
second half gave up 3 fast ones (all dumb mistakes, giveaway in our box) in the first 15...
just about to make several rounds of subs around 18, one of the older guys came out, apologizing for not being in it today.. he sat down on the bench.. a minute later collapsed, his nose broke the fall, blood everywhere..
heart attack
30+ guys all stopped, worried, freaked out.
three took on to do cpr.. one (head of anesthesiology at rutgers) directed... cops showed up wihtin 5 minutes, then fd then ambulance. cops took over w the machine to shock him and get a pulse back.
he's ok.. gets out tomorrow. if no cpr, he would have died.
scary. glad he's ok.
obviously we lost the game.

[Giff]

Holy shit! Glad he's going to be OK.

[Shirley]

Holy shit! That's pretty awful. (Should have earned you guys a cancelation instead of a loss!)

[The Sybian]

I'm feeling the terror just reading and imagining it. Fuck. A couple days ago a boy in my daughter's grade lost his mother to a heart attack. 16 yo sister was there and watched it happen. My daughter is completely freaked out and keeps saying she doesn't understand how we aren't shocked, but we are at the age that people start dying of natural causes. She wasn't accepting that.

[mister d]

This is a fun thread to read on Day 3 of upper left arm pain.



(Its more positional like moving it above my head than a "vise grip" and feels a lot like how my right one does after a particularly bad day of throwing so I'm pretty I just slept on it wrong or something.)

[Nonlinear FC]

No more replays in FA Cup proper rounds. Tradeoff is FA gets no competition from EPL during the final and a big increase in EPL paid $ for supporting grassroots football. Guess that offsets the $ that some minnows get for an unexpected home replay against a giant. This also lets them create a little bit more offseason for the players.

While I really don't care all that much... If they wanted to reduce the wear and tear on players so much, how about scrapping the ridiculous preseason travel/games they force on the players? I get that the actual season is jam packed, but they could give these guys and actual off-season or at the very least, not force them to go play in the US and Asia for over a month.

[sancarlos]

I’m going to see a friendly between Chelsea and Wrexham this summer, and I fully expect it will feature mostly youngsters and backups. So, there’s that.

[The Sybian]

I’m going to see a friendly between Chelsea and Wrexham this summer, and I fully expect it will feature mostly youngsters and backups. So, there’s that.

That's what I said when Arsenal came to town last year, and I didn't get tickets. My daughter was so pissed at me when they actually played a lot of their first team.

[Nonlinear FC]

I mean, first off, you never know where they are in their cycle in terms of who is resting and who they want to see press the pedal down. Total crapshoot.

Second, it's more about the wear and tear of travel, living out of suitcases and dealing with flying (not everyone finds that fun/relaxing). It's one thing if you set up shop in, say Florida for 2-3 weeks and teams come to you... That's not what happens typically.

It's a money grubbing grind of a thing to do.

[Baloney]

Wow Coventry

[sancarlos]

Wow Coventry

So close.

[Baloney]

Wow Coventry

So close.

[elflaco2]

scary situation last sunday...
2nd league game (O50s).. 8a start vs last years league leaders (we were bottom half of the table).. held our own first half, nil-nil.
second half gave up 3 fast ones (all dumb mistakes, giveaway in our box) in the first 15...
just about to make several rounds of subs around 18, one of the older guys came out, apologizing for not being in it today.. he sat down on the bench.. a minute later collapsed, his nose broke the fall, blood everywhere..
heart attack
30+ guys all stopped, worried, freaked out.
three took on to do cpr.. one (head of anesthesiology at rutgers) directed... cops showed up wihtin 5 minutes, then fd then ambulance. cops took over w the machine to shock him and get a pulse back.
he's ok.. gets out tomorrow. if no cpr, he would have died.
scary. glad he's ok.
obviously we lost the game.

update...
Mike returned to the pitch yesterday -- checked out of the hospital on friday -- walking around .. came w his missus - - he wouldnt' suit up (of course not.. did say doc will reassess in a couple of weeks and he expects to be back in full kit before the end of the season)
turns out it was a busted 3y.o. stent.. all fixed up and good to go.

oh and we recorded our first win of the season. i got to start both halves at rm (4-4-2).. but with 8 guys on the bench.. time was limited. i did show some silky moves but my lack of tracking back led to their second goal (we won 3-2)

[rass]

GD missed that last week. Glad he's OK.