Football, football, football 34

[Nas!]

...JLloyd Samuel

Oh yes. How did I forget JLloyd? Mea culpa.

Come now, we are an equal opportunity band of thugs. Why, the leader of the notorious Intercity Firm in the 80s was black.

I stand corrected. As long as you like throwing rocks at Chelsea fans, you are thug enough!

I guess I should add something else.

Even though I think he is a solid actor, I hate Elijah Wood's stupid face, so I can't root for a team that is associated with him. Sorry, everything else sounds good.

This is a key bit information that would have saved me some effort. But I see your Elijah Wood and raise you this stupid face.

[White Walker Texas Ranger]

Borussia Dortmund fits all your criteria. Doesn't poach players from other teams (very much), solid defense, passionate supporters, distinctive kit and not Aston Villa.

Of course, they don't play in the EPL and they're a bit of a hipster's choice right now.

[BigFatCoward]

standing at football back on the table, how do we feel about this? for me i don't see it happening. they couldn't justify charging £40 to stand so why would they bother. except for maybe Man Utd who could still probably sell out and make it financially viable. actually, i'm just assuming you can cram more people in to a standing area, are there rules about how much space each fan gets? anybody from germany where they do this confirm?

[balefired-ed]

Borussia Dortmund fits all your criteria. Doesn't poach players from other teams (very much), solid defense, passionate supporters, distinctive kit and not Aston Villa.

Of course, they don't play in the EPL and they're a bit of a hipster's choice right now.

See, I was thinking of rooting for them based on the fact that my area of the US is very German and they have the same color of my MLS team. I dunno, though.

[polishgenius]

are there rules about how much space each fan gets? anybody from germany where they do this confirm?

I dunno about Germany but this being labelled 'safe standing' I presume there has to be, and even if there's not right now, to be remotely viable in England as a proposal they would have to implement such.

[baxus]

This is a key bit information that would have saved me some effort. But I see your Elijah Wood and raise you this stupid face.

yeah, but steve harris more than evens that out.

[polishgenius]

Let's be honest, when you've got this face supporting you, then all the stupid faces in the world can't take it away from you.

[The Iceman of the North]

Messi recently broke Müller's old record for the record number of goals scored for club or national team during a calender year, with 86 goals so far.

Now there appears to be a contender to that record, back in 1972, the same year Müller set his record, Zambian footballer Godfrey Chitalu is supposed to have scored 107 goals playing for Kabwe Warriors. Due to poor record keeping, proving this might be hard, but according to people with some knowledge of Zambian football the claim is not outrageous given the disparity of quality between the teams in the league at the time, and the high number of goals scored in each game.

[kuroishi]

Nothing wrong with Villa! I might be a bit biased, but Aston Villa seems like a team you would enjoy. They play with a good defence, focus on youngsters (mainly from their own academy, but lately also from the lower league - courtesy of new manager Paul Lambert. They're a club with a big fan-base, being the biggest club in Englands second city. On top of that they wear a recognizable kit (which they had before West Ham - opposing teams' fans usually sing "you're just a shit Aston Villa"). It's also a club with great history ehich even won the Champions League 1982 (though at that time it was called the European Cup).

Do I have to feel stupid for always assuming that Aston Villa was based in London, like half the other clubs in England? If only you guys named your teams according to the city they're based in, like almost* everyone in Europe... Imagine all the fun you'd have supporting London FC or London Utd, London City or Inter London or whatever London!

_____

*I'm looking at you Bundesliga for making me assume for years that there was a city called Schalke in Germany... :uhoh:

[BigFatCoward]

Do I have to feel stupid for always assuming that Aston Villa was based in London, like half the other clubs in England? If only you guys named your teams according to the city they're based in, like almost* everyone in Europe... Imagine all the fun you'd have supporting London FC or London Utd, London City or Inter London or whatever London!

i believe only everton are not named after an actual place in the premier league. though arsenal isn't in arsenal.

[Inigima]

Come now, we are an equal opportunity band of thugs. Why, the leader of the notorious Intercity Firm in the 80s was black.

I did not realize you were one of us. With your posting history I am very pleased.

[The Iceman of the North]

i believe only everton are not named after an actual place in the premier league. though arsenal isn't in arsenal.

So according to you 'Stoke' is the name of an actual place?

I did not realize you were one of us. With your posting history I am very pleased.

Don't mind him, he's just temporarily forgotten who he is.

[BigFatCoward]

So according to you 'Stoke' is the name of an actual place?

i know stoke is an actual place, my dad lives there. its a fucking shit hole.

[Jon AS]

standing at football back on the table, how do we feel about this? for me i don't see it happening. they couldn't justify charging £40 to stand so why would they bother. except for maybe Man Utd who could still probably sell out and make it financially viable. actually, i'm just assuming you can cram more people in to a standing area, are there rules about how much space each fan gets? anybody from germany where they do this confirm?

I honestly have no idea how many more people you can squeeze into an area if they are standing. It might be decided on a case by case basis for every stadium. Dortmund's Westfalenstadion has the largest standing section in Europe and goes from 65,000 in international encounters to 80,000 for league and cup games.

Incidentally, I'll finally be able to attend a game at this greatest of German football stadiums for next week's game against Hannover. :thumbsup:

Messi recently broke Müller's old record for the record number of goals scored for club or national team during a calender year, with 86 goals so far.

Now there appears to be a contender to that record, back in 1972, the same year Müller set his record, Zambian footballer Godfrey Chitalu is supposed to have scored 107 goals playing for Kabwe Warriors. Due to poor record keeping, proving this might be hard, but according to people with some knowledge of Zambian football the claim is not outrageous given the disparity of quality between the teams in the league at the time, and the high number of goals scored in each game.

Ha! I demand a thorough investigation of this matter. Maybe the IFFHS could get on the case, they love to pretend they're good for something.

*I'm looking at you Bundesliga for making me assume for years that there was a city called Schalke in Germany... :uhoh:

Come on, it's perfectly legitimate to name clubs after city districts. Or some random ship in the case of Hertha...

Btw, there's no city named "Greuther" either.;)

[polishgenius]

So according to you 'Stoke' is the name of an actual place?

It's very real. It's near Newcastle. Albeit not that Newcastle.

It's also basically the borderland between England and one of the uglier circles of hell.

[kuroishi]

(just assuring everyone that my whole rant is very tongue-in-cheek. though it is confusing to foreigners)

Come on, it's perfectly legitimate to name clubs after city districts. Or some random ship in the case of Hertha...

Btw, there's no city named "Greuther" either. ;)

Since french football magazine displaying Bundesliga league table apparently had some sort of sign limit, I thought for a very long time (I found it odd, but eh, why not) that M'gladbach was the actual name of a town...

[Jon AS]

Since french football magazine displaying Bundesliga league table apparently had some sort of sign limit, I thought for a very long time (I found it odd, but eh, why not) that M'gladbach was the actual name of a town...

It's not unusual to shorten it like that. Just "Gladbach" is even more common, but of course if Bergisch Gladbach ever got a Bundesliga team that'd be confusing.

[White Walker Texas Ranger]

See, I was thinking of rooting for them based on the fact that my area of the US is very German and they have the same color of my MLS team. I dunno, though.

It's an entertaining side with a lot of young talent developed in-house, but there's a good chance that young talent could get poached in the next couple years.

[The Iceman of the North]

i know stoke is an actual place, my dad lives there. its a fucking shit hole.

Surely you must be joking?

[Maltaran]

Do I have to feel stupid for always assuming that Aston Villa was based in London, like half the other clubs in England? If only you guys named your teams according to the city they're based in, like almost* everyone in Europe... Imagine all the fun you'd have supporting London FC or London Utd, London City or Inter London or whatever London!

_____

*I'm looking at you Bundesliga for making me assume for years that there was a city called Schalke in Germany... :uhoh:

Aston is a place - it's the area of Birmingham where Villa Park is.

Of course, if you want to name all clubs after the city they're in, then there'd only be one club called Manchester.