General Football Thread

[stokeriño]

I remember reading a couple of months ago that Carling were not happy with the idea of Budweiser taking another major sponsorship. Will be interesting to see if there's any fallout.

[Lineker]

I remember that Budweiser advert. Amazing.

Wembley Stadium will host the 2013 Champions League final, Uefa announced on Thursday.

The match has been awarded to London's showpiece stadium, which hosted this year's final, to mark the Football Association's 150th anniversary.

"This may seem exceptional but I think it was important for us to respect this anniversary of our game," said Uefa president Michel Platini.

Wembley's staging of this year's final was regarded as a resounding success.

Barcelona produced a magnificent performance to beat Premier League champions Manchester United 3-1, inspired by the brilliant Lionel Messi.

As well as being a commercial triumph for Uefa, it also proved to be simple in terms of organisation.

There was no need to book extra marquees for hospitality events, increase facilities for the media or any major technology issues.

Though there has been no official announcement, tickets are expected to be cheaper in 2013.

Platini apologised in April for the high cost of tickets at this year's final and said they would consider introducing a cheaper category for families in the future.

The cheapest tickets on general sale for the 2011 final were priced at £150 plus a £26 administration fee and the cheapest package for one adult and one child was only available in category two seats and cost £338.

"It was a mistake, it was not good. But it is not easy to decide the price of the tickets in the Champions League final," said Platini in April.

"Perhaps in the future we have to have another category for families that is less expensive. But if you put those on the black market how much will they cost?"

Hopefully the tickets won't be riciulously overpriced this time around.

[Lineker]

The British Olympic Association (BOA) is close to an agreement to enter a British football team at London 2012.

BOA chief executive Andy Hunt said he is "incredibly positive that we will get a [british] men's and women's football team" at the Olympics.

Hunt told Inside the Games there remain "some final things to resolve."

The Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish Football Associations have expressed reservations about such a team but cannot legally stop players competing.

An English-only football team may also be in breach of International Olympic Committee rules on discrimination, Hunt warned.

The non-English FAs have been hesitant over plans for a British football team.

They expressed concerns that it could lead to the formation of a permanent British side and that they might lose their representation on the International FA board.

The BOA has left management of the GB team with the English FA and it appears likely that the bulk of the squad will be formed by the current England Under-21s.

But if agreement is reached then a British team at the 2012 Games could include Wales internationals Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale, while older players could also feature.

Olympic football squads are allowed three players over the age of 23 and David Beckham has already shown his willingness to see a British Olympic football team by saying he would "love to be part of it".

[Starvinho]

Team GB football 2012 deal angers nations

Footballers from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England will be available for selection for Team GB at the 2012 Olympics.

There has been opposition to all-British teams competing in London from every home nation apart from England.

But the British Olympic Association said an "historic agreement" has now been reached.

"It has been a long, six-year journey to get to this point," said BOA chief executive Andy Hunt.

However, the BOA announcement has sparked outrage from the Scottish and Welsh FAs.

Former Scottish Football Association president George Peat told the Press Association: "I am absolutely astounded that they have put out this statement. I know nothing about any such agreement and we want nothing to do with this tournament."

Welsh FA president Phil Pritchard

Welsh FA president Phil Pritchard was equally furious, saying the FA had no right to speak on behalf of the other associations on Olympic matters.

Pritchard told the Press Association: "We are not part of any agreement. The FA have no authority to speak on our behalf - they do not represent Wales whatsoever and that's a fact.

"We have not discussed this at any time recently."

The BOA's statement indicated that all home nations were behind the move to field a GB team made up of players from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

"The FA has consulted with its partner associations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in developing the player-selection criteria and timeline," read the statement.

"All four associations have received a written assurance from the secretary general of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (Fifa), the international federation for football, that participation in the 2012 Olympic football tournament will in no way compromise their autonomy and independence for other Fifa-sanctioned tournaments, nor will it have any impact on their positions of leadership within the Fifa governance structure."

The BOA statement went on to detail how the men's squad would be made up, explaining that it would comprise of 18 players - 15 under-23s and three 'open age' players.

It added that the process of selecting players would begin later this year, while "an announcement of the managers for both Team GB sides will be made in due course".

The last time Britain competed in an Olympic football event was in 1960, when the men's side failed to win a medal in Rome after beating Taiwan 3-2, drawing 1-1 with Italy and losing 4-3 to Brazil.

FA general secretary Alex Horne

Team GB has never fielded a women's football team at an Olympics.

The statement from the BOA also quoted FA general secretary Alex Horne.

"We're delighted there will be football teams representing Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics," said Horne.

"It's important as the host nation, football plays its part in what is sure to be a fantastic spectacle.

"We are pleased the team will be selected from players across the home nations and I'd like to thank our counterparts at the Welsh, Irish and Scottish FAs for their understanding on a difficult issue."

Interesting...

[Lineker]

lol, Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland.

Jack Warner wants to die.

[TCO]

It's not like the team is going to be anything but Garerth Bale and his English friends anyway, so all the "fury" is for nothing.

[Pesci]

HEY!

...Aaron Ransey might get a place on the bench.

[Colly]

All depends who qualifies for the Euros really, all your established names will soon pull out when they've two tournaments in the summer.

[9 to 5]

I bet Beckham shows up for it.

[EddieG]

Isn't the olympics under 23s anyway? With 3 exceptions?

[TCO]

Yeah but Beckham is so desperate to play international football he'd probably declare himself available for the English pub team if he could.

[The Future]

It's okay too...not like Milner's any better.

[MDK]

I don't get why Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland are upset about this, it means they might actually win something for once.

[stokeriño]

I don't get why Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland are upset about this, it means they the England team plus a couple of groupies might actually win something for once.

Oh, I think I can see why they're upset.

[MDK]

Pfft.

Savages.

[Lineker]

Council bosses have admitted scoring an "own goal" after a fence was built through the middle of football goalposts in a park in York.

The new fencing was installed at a cost of £6,000 on playing fields in Heworth.

It was erected before £37,000 worth of new play equipment is phased in at the park over the next few weeks.

Dave Meigh, City of York Council's head of parks and open spaces, said: "We recognise that the failure to relocate the goalposts is a real own goal."

It has left local people who use the park to play football confused.

Mr Meigh said the council had asked the contractors to "resolve the issue as a matter of urgency and can only apologise for the error".

Local residents said it was "unreal" and a "waste of money".

Jane Hannon wrote on the BBC Look North Facebook page: "Typical example of too many chiefs and not enough Indians, one doesn't know what the other is doing. What a waste of time and money."

The new play area will be for children aged eight to 13.

It includes an aerial runway, a mega-basket swing, outdoor fitness equipment, a jungle climber and web traverse/balance equipment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-13873091

[Lineker]

Inter Milan have announced former Genoa boss Gian Piero Gasperini as their new coach on a two-year contract.

A host of coaches had been linked with the post, including England manager Fabio Capello and new Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas

Gasperini, 53, was sacked by Genoa in November but earned plaudits when he led them to fifth in Serie A in 2009.

Inter president Massimo Moratti said on the club's official website: "I am fully satisfied with the choice."

Gasperini, who has also managed Crotone, will be Inter's fourth manager in a year following Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez and Leonardo, who is set to become sporting director at Paris St Germain.

Inter were snubbed by Chile boss Marcelo Bielsa and Fiorentina's Sinisa Mihajlovic as they looked to replace the Brazillian, while they were put off a move for Villas-Boas by the 33-year-old's hefty £13.3m release clause - which the Blues met earlier this week.

I give him no more than six months.

[IAceI]

For anyone who cares, River Plate have been relegated (from a league that use an average over 3 seasons point system to stop the big teams from going down too), so this year we've seen River Plate, Deportivo, Monaco, Sampdoria and.. er.. West Ham.. all go down.

[Lineker]

The riots there look insane.

[EddieG]

But are they all River Plate fans?