General Football Thread

[Lineker]

Notts County are to play Juventus in September to mark the opening of the Italian side's new 41,000-seater stadium.

The clubs have been linked since 1903 when the Italian side were inspired by the Magpies to change their shirts from pink to black and white.

The friendly match will take place in Turin on 8 September.

A return fixture between the two sides at Meadow Lane is planned before the start of the 2012/13 season.

Juventus are expected to wear pink for the first half of the exhibition match in Turin before changing to their new home strip in the second half, when the Magpies will don a specially commissioned white strip.

It was John Savage, an Englishman playing for Juventus, who in 1903 arranged for replacement shirts to be sent to the Italian club by a County-supporting friend back home, and Juventus have worn the black and white stripes Notts County traditionally play in ever since.

Notts County chairman Ray Trew told the club website that the trip to Italy was not ideal with a League One match scheduled for just two days after the game, and a further match three days after that, but it was an opportunity the club could not pass up.

"Given the historical relationship between our two clubs and the sheer prestige of the occasion, we were prepared to move heaven and earth to make this happen," he said.

"It will be a fantastic night for everyone associated with this great football club - the players, the staff and of course the fans."

[IAceI]

Still not as big as the Stadium of Light. Best fans ever etc.

[Plubby]

Stadium of light, haha. That is like...a poor man's Liberty Stadium...

[Lineker]

German club Hoffenheim have apologised after an employee admitted using a high-frequency sound system to drown out visiting fans' chants during their 1-0 win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.

The employee, who now faces disciplinary and legal action, deployed a sound system which emitted a shrill pitch.

The device irritated fans and disrupted their chants targeting Hoffenheim's major investor, billionaire Dietmar Hopp.

"An employee came forward and admitted that he had put in the equipment," the Bundesliga side said in a statement on Tuesday, a day after a Dortmund fan filed a police complaint for bodily harm following the incident, in which play was not affected.

The club said its employee had wanted to create an "antidote" to what he thought were unbearable insults against Hopp.

The statement added: "He also said he was unaware of the seriousness of his action which was mainly supposed to be humorous.

"Neither the club nor the president nor Mr Hopp were aware of the equipment's existence.

"We distance ourselves from such an action and apologise to all football fans if their experience was affected."

Photographs taken during the game showed a man with headphones sitting in a tunnel immediately under the travelling fans' stand with a home-made wooden construction that included two speakers.

Heidelberg police, who have asked for the apparatus to be delivered to them, are still investigating the incident.

[IAceI]

Yeah I read that, very odd.

Watched a bit of that match I think, Dortmund absolutely battered them - can't believe they lost it 1-0.

[Lineker]

Socrates, the captain of the Brazil team at the 1982 World Cup Finals, is in intensive care in a Sao Paulo hospital.

The 57-year-old was admitted to the Albert Einstein Hospital on Friday with gastrointestinal bleeding.

According to the hospital, the haemorrhage was caused by high blood pressure in the vein that carries blood from the digestive system to the liver.

Socrates won 60 caps in Brazil's midfield, scoring 22 goals.

He led the flamboyant but ultimately unsuccessful Brazil team at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

Brazil cruised through the first group stage scoring 10 goals, and then beat Argentina 3-1 - but they were eliminated after losing 3-2 to Italy in their second game of the second group stage, a game Socrates scored in.

He also played in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico - not as captain - but missed a penalty in a shoot-out as Brazil lost to France in the quarter-finals.

Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, to give him his full name, delayed the start of his international career until the age of 25 so he could complete his studies as a doctor.

In his retirement, he has added a doctorate in philosophy and fathered six children, and he continues to practice medicine in the town of Ribeirao Preto in addition to being a commentator on both football and cultural issues.

He is also well-known for his smoking habit.

. Hopefully he'll make a full recovery.

[Lineker]

Socrates is doing much better now.

As the Spanish league strike ends, the Italian one looks set to begin!

[Lineker]

An appeal from Turkish side Fenerbahce to be relegated from the country's top division following match-fixing allegations has been rejected.

The Istanbul club asked to be demoted after they were withdrawn from the Champions League by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF).

But the TFF said it would not make a decision on clubs or individuals while a police investigation was ongoing.

A statement said fixtures would now "be played as previously scheduled".

Fenerbahce were crowned league champions last season but were kicked out of the Champions League following an extraordinary general meeting and replaced by runners-up Trabzonspor because of UEFA's zero-tolerance policy on match-fixing.

More than 30 players and officials have been jailed pending trial - including Fenerbahce chairman Aziz Yildirim - in the ongoing match-fixing investigation. Officials are examining 19 games from last season.

Under league rules, were Fenerbahce to be relegated the punishment would not happen until next season.

The club's appeal to be relegated straight away was an attempt by them to draw a line under the affair.

But a statement on the TFF website said: "The TFF decided there was no reason to change the decision it made on 15 August."

In that ruling, the Turkish federation said it would not take any decisions until after a Turkish court lifts the secrecy on evidence being given to an ongoing police probe.

Waitwut?

[Colly]

An appeal from Turkish side Fenerbahce to be relegated from the country's top division following match-fixing allegations has been rejected.

The Istanbul club asked to be demoted after they were withdrawn from the Champions League by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF).

But the TFF said it would not make a decision on clubs or individuals while a police investigation was ongoing.

A statement said fixtures would now "be played as previously scheduled".

Fenerbahce were crowned league champions last season but were kicked out of the Champions League following an extraordinary general meeting and replaced by runners-up Trabzonspor because of UEFA's zero-tolerance policy on match-fixing.

More than 30 players and officials have been jailed pending trial - including Fenerbahce chairman Aziz Yildirim - in the ongoing match-fixing investigation. Officials are examining 19 games from last season.

Under league rules, were Fenerbahce to be relegated the punishment would not happen until next season.

The club's appeal to be relegated straight away was an attempt by them to draw a line under the affair.

But a statement on the TFF website said: "The TFF decided there was no reason to change the decision it made on 15 August."

In that ruling, the Turkish federation said it would not take any decisions until after a Turkish court lifts the secrecy on evidence being given to an ongoing police probe.

Waitwut?

Basically they're fucked, and wanted to go down this year to come back up rather than playing all this year then being sent down. Dirty cheats.

[Summers]

Makes sense. They don't want to play a whole season THEN be relegated however they do.. A complete waste of a season.

[Lineker]

Getafe video urges fans to become sperm donors to boost season tickets

Link includes the campaign video. Possible NSFW. That's just fantastic.

[MGW]

Getafe video urges fans to become sperm donors to boost season tickets

Link includes the campaign video. Possible NSFW. That's just fantastic.

That is awesome! The idea of an English team producing something like that amuses me

[IAceI]

http://pics.livejournal.com/baychee/pic/000194qc

Super rolls.

[Plubby]

Combine that foot with Ruddy's one-punch Drogba-knockout power in his hands and you've got yourself one heckuva UFC Goalkeeper

[Matt]

Quality. Who was that?

[GoGo Yubari]

San Marino, 0. Holland, 10 11. This is what happens when one of the best faces one of the worst.

[Starvinho]

When England face San Marino in the WC qualifiers we'll probably concede after 8 seconds again...

[EddieG]

San Marino, 0. Holland, 10 11. This is what happens when one of the best faces one of the worst.

Wijnaldum scored as well in his first cap.

[GoGo Yubari]

I'm officially adding San Marino to my pantheon of national teams I support, behind USA, Norway, Uruguay, Japan, France and North Korea. 203rd on the FIFA rankings, seventh in my heart!

[METALMAN]

It is good to see someone placing France so high!