Monthly Archives: February 2010

P(l)ay up Pompey?

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portsmouthPortsmouth FC , who have debts of somewhere around £60m, have become the first ever Premier League club to enter administration.
The club will be docked nine points as a result and face almost certain relegation to the Championship – as if that wasnt already on the cards already, being 8 points from safety. The points deduction will leave them 17 points behind with 12 games left to play.

Pompey, who have had four owners this season, were due to face a winding-up order on March 1st but decided to go into administration in a bid to survive.

World Cup 2010 Group E

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Been a little distracted lately, but time now to have a look at Group E of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa

Holland
Ranked 3 by FIFA
Runners up 1974 and 1978
Manager: Bert van Marwijk
Key player: Wesley Sneijder
A delight to watch when confident and in form
Footballbits group prediction: Winners

Denmark
Ranked 26 by FIFA
Quarterfinalists in 1998
Manager: Morton Olssen
Key player: Nicklas Bendtner
Excellent for his country and full of self confidence
Footballbits group prediction: 3rd

Japan
Ranked 43 by FIFA
2nd round 2002
Manager: Takeshi Okada
Key player: Shunsuke Nakamura
Excellent in a dead ball situation
Footballbits group prediction: 4th

Cameroon
Ranked 11 by FIFA
Quarterfinalists in 1998
Manager: Paul Le Guen
Key Player: Samual Eto’o
Absolutely devastating on his day, seems to always rise to the occasion
Footballbits group prediction: 2nd

holland_football_badge

Denmarkcameroon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Games
14th June, Holland v Denmark
14th June, Japan v Cameroon
19th June, Holland v Japan
19th June, Cameroon V Denmark
24th June, Denmark v Japan
24th June, Cameroon v Holland

How we think it will finish

1st Holland
2nd Cameroon
3rd Denmark
4th Japan

Celebrate 100 years of the ‘Theatre of Dreams’

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This month, Old Trafford, home of Manchester United celebrates its one hundredth birthday and has an amazing history. .

In 1902 Manchester United were known as Newton Heath , newly appointed chairman John Henry Davies pushed for a new stadium to built as he believed their current stadium, Bank Street simply wasn’t good enough for a team who had won both the FA cup and First Division.

The stadium was originally planned to have a capacity of 100,000 but due to the high cost of the land, the capacity was reduced to 80,000. The FA Cup Final was hosted at Old Trafford in 1911 and 1920 the first England international was played there when Scotland visited in 1926.

Football continued at the stadium throughout the 3nd World War, until  the 22nd December 1940 when a German air raid severely damaged the stadium. Old Trafford reopened in March of 1941, but just three days later, most of the stadium was destroyed by another German air raid. During the reconstruction of Old Trafford, Manchester United actually played their home games at Maine Road, home to rivals Manchester City.

Old Trafford finally reopened in 1949 after nearly 10 years. In 1951 work began restoring roof over the main stand, followed soon after by the other 3 stands. and floodlights were installed.

In 1992 the Football League, after the Taylor report into the Hillsborogh tragedy, decreed that all First and Second Division football stadiums had to be made all-seater. Once the changes had been made, Old Trafford had dropped to an all time low capacity of 44,000 seats.

Because of United’s popularity,construction began in 1995 of a brand new twenty five thousand capacity north stand. In 2000, with continued success, second tiers were added to both the east and west stands bringing the capacity to over 68,000.

Between 2005 and 2006 second tiers were added to both the North-West and North-East corners of the ground bringing the capacity to well over 76,000 all- seated spectators.

Why not celebrate 100 years of the Theatre of Dreams with these official commemorative souvenirs, part of the huge selection from Footballbits Football Souvenirs

100 years of Old Trafford Cufflinks

Old Trafford Hip FlaskManchester United 100 years of Old Trafford Commemorative Leather WalletManchester United 100 years of Old Trafford Commemorative WashbagManchester United 100 years of Old Trafford Mousemat

Building Bridges?

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ashley_coleEngland defender ‘C’ashley Cole is in a race against time to be fit for Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad after breaking an ankle in the Premier League defeat by Everton on Wednesday

The Chelsea left-back is expected to be out for around three months and Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said he “did not know” if Cole would recover in time to play in South Africa. Most England fans I have spoken to say ‘Hope not!’

If Cole doesnt recover in time, there is a good chance England manager Fabio Capello would want Wayne Bridge to start England’s first World Cup match against the United States on the 12th of June. Wonder how Bridge and JT will get on if that happens?

And I wonder what wife Cheryl is thinking about the possibility of having home during the World Cup – gutted I reckon!

Whoever gets the nod for left back you can still get all your England souvenirs for the World Cup at www.footballbits.co.uk

Euro 2012 draw

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Euro 2012We’re all here looking ahead to the World Cup in South Africa, but lets not forget that in 2 years time it’s the European Championships again!
The draw was made yesterday in Poland for the qualifying groups and came up with some interesting match-ups:

GROUP A: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Germany

GROUP B: Andorra, Armenia, Macedonia, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Russia

GROUP C: Faroe Islands, Estonia, Slovenia, NORTHERN IRELAND, Serbia, Italy

GROUP D: Luxembourg, Albania, Belarus, Bosnia, Romania, France

GROUP E: San Marino, Moldova, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands

GROUP F: Malta, Georgia, Latvia, Israel, Greece, Croatia

GROUP G: Montenegro, WALES, Bulgaria, Switzerland, ENGLAND

GROUP H: Iceland, Cyprus, Norway, Denmark, Portugal

GROUP I: Liechtenstein, Lithuania, SCOTLAND, Czech Republic, Spain

Qualification starts in September and runs through to October 2011 with the nine group winners automatically qualifying for the tournament together with the runner-up with the best overall record. The eight other runners-up will then face play-offs over two legs in November 2011. Co-hosts, Poland and Ukraine qualify automatically.

England manager Fabio Capello said his team had been drawn in one of the two toughest groups, “All four opponents are really dangerous,” Capello said. “Wales will be my first derby as manager of an international team. It will be interesting. They are really young but the value of the players is high.” “I prefer a smaller group because we have less games but the group is very tough.”
“Switzerland qualified for the World Cup, they are one of the best teams. I remember when I played against them it was not easy to win away.”

“I have big confidence in my team and I am sure we will play a fantastic qualifying tournament for 2012.”


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