Pre Season Friendlies

[Ric-Roc]

Unfortunately wont play any of them.
Pre season will be a replica fo last year.

Wycome, Aldershot, Luto etc
With Italy thrown in late July.

Curle said as much on Talksport.

And I 100% agree.

All about creating a winning mentality & belief.

I'd rather that than a glamour tie & get whipped.

Roll on Harrow Borough!

[Nodge70]

Shame - you need a home pre season friendly.

Commercial goldmine, money spinner (depending on opposition - even sell the game to ESPN, Premier Sports or AN Other desperate satellite/cable provider looking to fill their schedules etc for tv coverage) allows young fans to experience LR for the first time (v. important this summer as it will be very difficult to get tickets for league games) in a non pressurised environment and pushes huge footfall through the Club Shop which *should* be launching new kit...

Win/Win/Win/Win

Trebles all round. Chin chin

[Bluehoop]

Shame - you need a home pre season friendly.

Commercial goldmine, money spinner (depending on opposition - even sell the game to ESPN, Premier Sports or AN Other desperate satellite/cable provider looking to fill their schedules etc for tv coverage) allows young fans to experience LR for the first time (v. important this summer as it will be very difficult to get tickets for league games) in a non pressurised environment and pushes huge footfall through the Club Shop which *should* be launching new kit...

Win/Win/Win/Win

Trebles all round. Chin chin

I think even those of us in support of repeating last year's format agree with you Nodge.

There should be no reason why we can't do the same as last year and then play a home friendly against some marquee opposition - particularly as the EPL season starts later than the Championship

[californiahoop]

Unfortunately wont play any of them.
Pre season will be a replica fo last year.

Wycome, Aldershot, Luto etc
With Italy thrown in late July.

Curle said as much on Talksport.

in between these games how about a sneaky bet on Fiorentina anyone?

[Jeffro]

Well when we were sh it we played Ajax, Iran and Celtic, Chelsea and Spurs!!

[Jamie]

Went over to the Whitecaps for their opening game - unbelievable atmopshere/stadium - just wasn't prepared for that after the low key approach on the East Coast. They have 22,000 season ticket holders, and had to put a cap on any more. Not been to QWEST for either the Seahawks or the Sounders but understand it's bigger and better than Vancouver. MLS seems to have really taken off in the Pacific NorthWest.

Qwest seats 67,000 for Seahawks games and they always sell out.

For Sounders games, they have capped STs at 32,000 and they have a 5,000 waiting list.

Football is taking off big time in America, however they aren't helped by the fact a lot of youngsters and being 'drafted' and the waived in favour of foreigners after a last payday. They're bringing in a new rule to encourage sides to utilise home grown players.

Even of the youngsters being drafted though:

2011 Draft #1 & #2 picks were Mexican & Liberian
2010 Draft #1 & #2 picks were Congolese & Cameroonian
2009 Draft #1 & #4 picks were English & Jamaican

It's a big problem for American Soccer that the best youngsters simply go overseas.

[80sCasual]

Some big guns over in England for pre season games. Hopefully we can pick up a really good home game to celebrate our return to the PL.

Real Madrid
Fiorentina
Paris Saint Germain
New York Red Bulls
Athletic Bilbao
HSV Hamburg

all playing in England from July 20 - August 13

Mourinho down at LR, would be good to see.

[Nodge70]

Qwest seats 67,000 for Seahawks games and they always sell out.

For Sounders games, they have capped STs at 32,000 and they have a 5,000 waiting list.

Football is taking off big time in America, however they aren't helped by the fact a lot of youngsters and being 'drafted' and the waived in favour of foreigners after a last payday. They're bringing in a new rule to encourage sides to utilise home grown players.

Even of the youngsters being drafted though:

2011 Draft #1 & #2 picks were Mexican & Liberian
2010 Draft #1 & #2 picks were Congolese & Cameroonian
2009 Draft #1 & #4 picks were English & Jamaican

It's a big problem for American Soccer that the best youngsters simply go overseas.

Is there still the wage cap? I'm not sure the centralised draft system and the MLS owning player registration aids growth either...

[IsleworthRanger]

Had some good days at pre seasons over the years including a trip to Slovenia a couple of years and saw Faulins debut and Falkirk where we lost 2-0 but the hospitality by the Sweaties was second to none and they really looked after us in their clubhouse

Went to Hibs as well many years ago when the coach left at Midnight from the White City club and arrived at 7am to see some bars open

That was a very long trip and Vic wanted to go straight home after the final whistle but a few of us had a mutiny and he relented for a while and let us have a couple of pints

Man City had a friendly that day with Hearts as well so you can imagine there was spots of trouble all day

If I remember rightly Lee Charles put us 1-0 up but we lost 2-1 or was it 2-0?

[Fraggy]

Pre-Season at Toronto FC then NYRB's (only 6 hours down the road) would be great.

WHU & Celtic have both played at Toronto & the atmosphere was electric due to a huge European following in Toronto.

Toronto also have a waiting list for season tickets (I think last time I checked, there had been people waiting almost 2 years; also every game is always a sell out.

If our C-Mob fancied a rumble, there is always Columbus Crew :yush:

[californiahoop]

Pre-Season at Toronto FC then NYRB's (only 6 hours down the road) would be great.

WHU & Celtic have both played at Toronto & the atmosphere was electric due to a huge European following in Toronto.

Toronto also have a waiting list for season tickets (I think last time I checked, there had been people waiting almost 2 years; also every game is always a sell out.

If our C-Mob fancied a rumble, there is always Columbus Crew :yush:

I think I remember watching the WHU game on fox

[ant8383]

I remember playing foolham in a friendly BEN SAHAR was on top form!!!!

[Jamie]

Is there still the wage cap? I'm not sure the centralised draft system and the MLS owning player registration aids growth either...

Yes there is still a wagecap in force. For under 23s it's somewhere around $60,000 a year (£40k) which in my personal opinion is why the US youth teams are producing such quality, as youngsters play the game for love, rather than for the fortunes they do here.

The problem is not so much a lack of quality coming through, but that so many players see it as a final payday. The Revolutiok for example have Didier Domi & Ousmane Dabo, the Union have Faryd Mondragon, even Luke Rodgers a nothing footballer here plays alongside Henry at NY.

Must say the 'college' setup there is fantastic. If I was an 18 year old leaving a YTS setup here id look to take a scholarship over there, free education in a beautiful country and a good chance of a career afterwards.

I got a chance to see a USL Pro League game over there recently at Fc Tampa Bay and **** me the quality is poor. The second level of football is non-league standard at best.

[Nodge70]

Yes there is still a wagecap in force. For under 23s it's somewhere around $60,000 a year (£40k) which in my personal opinion is why the US youth teams are producing such quality, as youngsters play the game for love, rather than for the fortunes they do here.

The problem is not so much a lack of quality coming through, but that so many players see it as a final payday. The Revolutiok for example have Didier Domi & Ousmane Dabo, the Union have Faryd Mondragon, even Luke Rodgers a nothing footballer here plays alongside Henry at NY.

Must say the 'college' setup there is fantastic. If I was an 18 year old leaving a YTS setup here id look to take a scholarship over there, free education in a beautiful country and a good chance of a career afterwards.

I got a chance to see a USL Pro League game over there recently at Fc Tampa Bay and **** me the quality is poor. The second level of football is non-league standard at best.

What's the story on my old mucker Paul Kelmsley's NY Cosmos. They were playing in the USL but hopeful of being awarded a MLS franchise. With Cantona and Umbro very prominent (how that works with centralised MLS sportswear deals, I do not know!), they've had acres of media coverage but nothing in terms of sporting achievement.

[Jamie]

What's the story on my old mucker Paul Kelmsley's NY Cosmos. They were playing in the USL but hopeful of being awarded a MLS franchise. With Cantona and Umbro very prominent (how that works with centralised MLS sportswear deals, I do not know!), they've had acres of media coverage but nothing in terms of sporting achievement.

The Cosmos currently run several youth teams across America but at present do not have a senior team. They have an u23 side in the USL next season which will likely be made up of draft cast offs looking for an MLS ticket ala Whitecaps Residency.

The next MLS expansion for 2012 is Montreal Impact, so 2013 is the earliest the Cosmos could enter the league. MLS want them but obviously it's all about striking a financial deal that works for everyone.

The problem is that the next expansion takes MLS to 21 teams so not much more room for expansion.

At roughly the same time Cosmos restarted, Miami FC was formed with massive financial backing, theyve become the Fort Lauderdale Strikers for this season (another famous old club) and are strongly pushing for an MLS slot so there is competition.