Showing posts with label Soccer Leagues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soccer Leagues. Show all posts
As a representative of one of Forsyth County’s most successful soccer organizations, the FFSC Board continually seeks ways to offer the best in soccer for our community’s recreational, intermediate and advanced players.  In an effort to increase opportunities and provide an even greater level of service, we are pleased to announce the upcoming merger of the Forsyth Fusion Soccer Club with Atlanta Soccer Academy to form the United Futbol Academy (UFA).

The combined strengths of each organization will provide a superior soccer program at all levels of play, making this already widely popular sport even more accessible. The combined resources of each organization will also enable all soccer players in our community to enjoy soccer at their level of enjoyment and compete at their highest level of ability.

United Futbol Academy will be under the leadership of Iggy Moleka as Executive Director of Coaching, Gaucho Pinho as Executive Director of Specialized Training, Don Schultz as Executive Director of Operations, and Deo Moleka as Executive Director of Development. The leadership team brings more that 46-years of combined experience to the United Futbol Academy in training, development and the operations management of a soccer program.

The combined organizations bring strengths in communications, training programs, and team development as well as strong relationships with the Forsyth County Parks & Recreational Department and other soccer organizations throughout the world.

The Atlanta Soccer Academy and Forsyth Fusion Soccer Club will continue operating through the end of the Spring 2010 season.  No changes will be made with teams or uniforms during this period.

United Futbol Academy will hold combined select tryouts starting the first of June 2010 and all of the current facilities are available for use of this event as well as in the future.  All team formations will be determined for Fall 2010 during this combined tryout process. Anticipated coaching assignments for the Fall 2010 season will be posted in early May.

The United Futbol Academy will be open for registration for both select and recreational programs by April 26, 2010.

The Atlanta Soccer Academy and Forsyth Fusion Soccer Club will cease operations as independent organizations on May 31, 2010.

Additional information is located on the UFA website www.unitedfa.org.  We look forward to serving you and this community for years to come.

Jon Michaud - President, Forsyth Fusion Soccer Club

Informational Meeting - The leadership of United Futbol Academy will hold informational meetings
this Friday, April 23rd at 6:30 pm at Dave's Creek Elementary School
and May 1st at Midway Community Center.
You can find more information by visiting www.unitedfa.org
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Look, we've heard it before -- Americans don't care about the game of soccer, other countries have better players, better fans, and are more deserving of the games.

Well, this is our chance to prove the doubters and the world wrong, once again. This is our opportunity to show the world we have a deep passion for the game.

Be part of the grassroots movement to bring the FIFA World Cup™ to the United States.

http://www.gousabid.com/atlanta

Even more important, if Atlanta has a ton of support, it has a better chance of being included as an official city in the bid. Please, sign the petition to support Atlanta.

Thanks
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Lionel Messi has extended his contract with European champion Barcelona.
Barcelona says in a statement on its Web site that "the Argentina forward's new agreement runs until 2016 and has a buy-out clause of €250 million ($368 million) included."
The 22-year-old Messi's previous contract was to expire in 2014 with a buy-out clause of €150 million ($220 million).
Messi was a key player in the Barcelona team which won the Spanish league, Copa del Rey and Champions League last season, making him a likely top candidate for the Footballer of the Year prize this year.
Associated Press
THE LIST: The greatest rivalries in club football, Nos 10-1By Matt Fortune
Last updated at 12:01 AM on 18th September 2009
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WHAT IS THE GREATEST RIVALRY IN CLUB FOOTBALL?
This week's LIST on Sportsmail Online runs down the top 50 rivalries in club football across the globe. The usual suspects should dominate the top 10, surely, but do you agree with the selections of our team? TELL US WHAT YOU THINK From Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and London. Rome to Rio and Buenos Aires.
Most cities have football clubs where derby day is the main event in the calendar for fans, publicans, pundits and police.
But some of the greatest football rivalries make no sense geographically.
Supporters of teams across the world look forward to traveling miles and miles just to earn the bragging rights for another season.
So, whatever the background to the biggest grudge matches, Sportsmail's team of experts have put their heads together to come up with the 50 greatest clashes that really get the blood boiling.
Join us for our countdown to No 1.
Read Nos 50-41Read Nos 40-31Read Nos 30-21 Read Nos 20-11
10 Palmeiras v Corinthians
The story of Brazil’s greatest football rivalry begins with a group of Europeans who would later become known as the ‘betrayers’. The rebel members split from Corinthians to create a sports club for Italians, known as Palestra Italia, and later just simply Palestra (Palmeiras). As the years passed honours and fans were split between the two great football clubs. True to Brazilian culture, the fixture is awash with colour and sound.
VIDEO: Watch it all kick off after an a rather un-Brazilian tackle in the Palmeiras-Corinthians derby...
9 Olympiakos v Panathinaikos
Billed as a clash between the 'eternal enemies’ of Greek Football, passions run high on and off the field in Athens. History favours Olympiakos, the traditionally working-class club, with 12 of the last 13 domestic titles. In an echo of other European leagues, political forces are present in the club’s respective corridors of power, which simply adds to the tension in the city.
Welcome: Panathinaikos players try to dodge missiles thrown from the Olympiakos end
8 Roma v Lazio
It is perhaps surprising that such a devilish rivalry can exist in a city shared with God’s top man. Yet when Rome's best sides lock horns, all hell breaks loose. Politics and proximity have equal claim to be the source of the hate, but historically it is the decision of Lazio not to merge with three other clubs from the capital, and so creating AS Roma, that began the rift.
VIDEO: See a West Ham legend goad fans in the Rome derby
7 Liverpool v Manchester United
A struggle for the Best of British title has kept these two adversaries in battle for over a half a century. United’s dominance of the Premier League era has hauled them level with the Merseysiders on 18 domestic titles while Liverpool trump their rivals on the Continent with five European Cups to three. Culturally, too, an industrial rivalry exists between the two beacons of England's north-west.
Lancashire hot pot: Wayne Rooney gets a kick from Javier Mascherano at Old Trafford
6 Ajax v Feyenoord
They say opposites attract. Holland’s most successful clubs certainly don’t think so. On one side, the cultural, historical and liberal socialist capital of Amsterdam with a club famed for championing 'the beautiful game’. On the other is Rotterdam, a rugged, industrial city, which was the birthplace of Pim Fortuyn’s anti-immigration party, and home to Feyenoord. As a result violent fan clashes have long marred occasions when the two sides meet.
Mustard gas: Fans make it a colourful clash between Ajax and Feyenoord in Amsterdam in February
5 Barcelona v Real Madrid
You traitor: Barcelona fans throw a pig's head on to the pitch for Figo's return to the Nou Camp with Real
‘El Classico’ never fails to live up to its name. Throughout the years the fixture has brought together the planets finest footballers – Maradona, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Romario, Cruyff – in two of the world’s most formidable stadiums. Politically, too, it pits the capital of Spain against the capital of Catalonia, a fiercely independent region in the north-west of the country. Crossing the divide is hardly recommended, as Luis Figo found out. After a world record move from the Nou Camp to the Bernabeu fans threw a pig's head at him.
Fiery reception: A poster of Figo is set alight
Serbs you right: Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic (centre) gets stuck into Partizan Belgrade during his time with Red Star
4 Partizan Belgrade v Red Star Belgrade
Out of the ashes of the Second World War, two teams were created in Belgrade. FK Partizan became the central club of the Yugoslav Army and Red Star were the civil adversary. Both can lay claim to being the supreme team in the country – it has largely been a duopoly since their inception – although Red Star’s European Cup title in 1991 sets them apart. However in a country were the game is rife with corruption allegations, this once great on-field battle has left its better days in the past.
3 Celtic v Rangers
The religious undercurrent to the Old Firm derby makes it unlike in any other fixture in the world. Away from the obvious antipathy that exists between two dominant clubs in the same city, there is a long and passionate rivalry that goes beyond the confines of the stadium. Celtic are the Catholic club with routes entrenched in Ireland while the Protestant faction of the city are linked strongly with Rangers. Between them they dominate Scottish football in a way that has led for calls for them to join the English Premier League.
Scottish grit: Rangers striker Kris Boyd shows little sympathy as Celtic's Darren O'Dea takes a tumble
2 Fenerbahce v Galatasaray
Sparks are bound to fly when football clubs are added to a city separated by a mass of water, especially when the city straddles Europe and Asia. Istanbul’s dominant sides were founded two years apart and a social rift soon added spice to the rift already created by geography. Gala were seen by many as a club for the aristocracy with Fener the ‘people’s club’.
Turkish delights: Fenerbahce's Ugur Boral (right) tries to hold off Umit Karan Sabri Sarioglu of Galatasaray
Boca Juniors' Cristian Chavez (left) vies River's Oscar Ahumada at a colourful La Bombonera (below)
1 Boca Juniors v River Plate
Spain has ‘El Classico’, Argentina has ‘il Superclasico’. And what an occasion it is. Like many other fiercely contested same-city fixtures, social resentment is as much the catalyst as proximity. From humble beginnings in the La Boca neighbourhood, River detracted to the aristocratic suburb of Nunez, earning the nickname ‘Los Millonarios’. Juniors, meanwhile, remained in the poor suburb. The entire country is gripped for days in the lead up to match day and the game kicks-off so too do 90 minutes of ear-bursting and nerve-jangling atmosphere. The fixture was recently listed as one of the 50 sporting events to attend before you die.

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LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - Blooming defender Sergio Jauregui has been banned by a Bolivian football league tribunal for one-year for kicking Oriente Petrolero player Leonardo Medina in the face in a match on Aug. 23.

The ban went into effect on Wednesday and cannot be appealed.

The incident took place after both players were expelled for pushing each other during the match last month. Following the expulsions, Jauregui then struck Medina in the face and neck with a flying kick that left Medina sprawled on the ground.

Jauregui later apologized publicly for the incident and is reported to have paid Medina's medical bills. Medina was hospitalized for a day and ordered not to play or practice for 12 days.

Officials of Oriente Petrolero had asked for a three-year suspension.


Associated Press
A new soccer championship (league), potentially an alternative to Major League Soccer (MLS), will be created in the United States next season unless a dispute between clubs and their league can be resolved.
The United Soccer Leagues (USL), which runs soccer from the professional division below the top tier MLS down to regional youth leagues, faces losing at least eight of its leading professional clubs.
The USL, founded in 1986, was owned by Nike until last week when it was sold to Atlanta-based company Nu Rock Soccer Holdings, a move which foiled a bid by a consortium of leading clubs to purchase the league.
Now those clubs, including franchises in major cities such as Miami, Atlanta and Minnesota are threatening to breakaway and form a new league.
A statement from the eight teams talked of a "commitment to achieving a team-owner controlled league" and said the group would pursue all avenues to do so.
Selby Wellman, owner of the Carolina Railhawks and spokesman for the eight teams, said a breakaway league was on the agenda.
"It is certainly one of the options," he told Reuters in an interview. "We are clearly at odds with USL, we have been at odds with them for two years over the fact that we are the only league in the world that doesn't have (team) owners controlling it," he added.
Selby said the teams, which also include franchises in Montreal and Vancouver in Canada and Tampa Bay and St.Louis, would be open to a compromise with the USL but that he was not optimistic common ground could be found.
"I have to be honest and say that my expectations of it are quite low -- if you just bought a league for that money and put it in Nike's pockets you are probably unwilling to turn it over to other people.
"We have been at this for two years..we are not willing to start all over again and drag it out for another year or so. Quite frankly we are tired."
USL CEO Tim Holt said: "We've seen the announcement, which contains several incorrect statements but we don't want to comment right now.
"At the moment we are focussed on and excited about preparing the future of our professional divisions, we would prefer not to get caught up in a war of words."
(Source: Reuters)