posted
I didn't know the Impact (awful, awful, awful name, though not as bad as le Manic) were drawing that well. Where do they play?
And you know better than to ask a a lawyer to answer a question like that, but yes, it has been difficult/impossible for teams looking to break into established leagues to use the antitrust laws to do so. That said, I think the economic factors, "sports culture" factors and absence of a deep talent pool are much larger barriers to the introduction of promotion and relegation in MLS.
Posts: 18670 | From: mediolanum | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
Vancouver is also building a new stadium for the Whitecaps.
They hope to but the application is going to mired in hearings at city hall for months, possibly years. There are a lot of objections to a downtown waterfront stadium from various citizen and business groups, and with the Olympics on the horizon it's not getting much attention. Whether it goes ahead eventually depends on who's in power at 12th and Cambie when everyone has had their say. At the moment it's way to soon to speculate.
Posts: 7138 | From: here you can't get there | Registered: May 2002
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I think Wigan Athletic applied for election to the league something like 20 times running before finally being voted in in 1978, they were consistently kept out by a cabal of mainly the other Lancashire and Mancuncian clubs like Rochdale who could see the writing on the wall. I understand their eventual election only came about because Southport were almost begging to be released, due to financial difficulties.
Posts: 15858 | From: this corner of the bar you can only see half of the big screen | Registered: Aug 2003
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Wigan only finished sixth in the Northern Premier League in the 1975/76 season (the year before they were promoted - their lowest position since it had been founded). I don't think Southport "asked" to be voted out, but they had had a couple of wretched seasons beforehand, and their geographical location didn't exactly help their case.
Posts: 4298 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Aug 2006
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Yes, I mean Southport must be, what, fifteen miles from Wigan?
Posts: 906 | From: The other end of Stretford | Registered: Jan 2004
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Well, the League had a long and glorious history of chucking northern teams that were situated on the coast (see above for confirmation). I don't know the exacts of it, PR7 (judging from your username - assuming it to be a postal code - you should be able to provide a little more information on this), but my guess is that it a little more centrally located than Southport. The Southport website says this much:
quote:The old pals act didn't work this time with the older board members Jack Clough deceased and John Church no longer chairman. Disastrously chairman Walter Giller failed to canvas and on a second ballot at the Café Royal on June 2nd 1978, Southport lost their league status to Wigan Athletic. Southport's fifty years in the Football League was over.
It's inconclusive, but it doesn't suggest that they asked to be replaced.
Posts: 4298 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Aug 2006
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Amor - thanks for that - I had understood the process was much closer to completion in Vancouver.
The Impact (remember, it's Montreal, so the name has to work in two languages) play at the Claude-Robillard sportsplex, which, if memory serves is north east of Jarry Park in St. Leonard.
One reason to hope for the Impact's arrival is that they are a *very* Italian team. Italian owner, Italian coaches, etc. It would be useful to have some of that in MLS just to give some diversity of style.
On the other matter - what exactly happened in 1986 to make the football league change its policy with respect to the conference? Why then?
Posts: 1762 | From: the further reaches of sleep deprivation | Registered: Sep 2007
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Er..no. He's not been terrible as a ball-winner, and with Maurice Edu forms a decent (for MLS) central midfield partnership. But he has no passing range whatsoever which is problematic when your manager decides he wants to play long-ball.
There was one extraordinary moment against DC United two weeks ago when he surged forward (itself a miracle), received a pass in the clear, nothing but 45 yards between him and the keeper, no defenders in sight and managed not to even take a shot. Possibly the worst break-away in the history of football.
Posts: 1762 | From: the further reaches of sleep deprivation | Registered: Sep 2007
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for what its worth AG, his performances for Wales havent been too sharp either
Posts: 4512 | From: bat country | Registered: Jan 2005
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Hartlepool's came out the blue because they had been going very well up to that point, they were riding high in the league (second, I think) and their last goal before the drought was a very dodgy penalty to put Crystal Palace out in the third round of the Cup. I'd remembered it as being thirteen games without a goal, but soccerbase reckons it was twelve.
Either way I think it's longer than anything East Stirlingshire have managed, as far as I can see anyway. Though you have come to expect such things from them (last season they didn't score at home between September and March) they've turned the corner this season and are currently on a run of six straight wins - their best since 1968.
Posts: 1606 | From: John McGlynn's bouncy army | Registered: Sep 2006
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AG, BBC Wales did a piece with Robinson in Toronto in the lead up to the DC United match and the fans interviewed said things like "He's superb" "We need a team of Carl Robinsons" and "He's awesome"!!
Posts: 7152 | From: the lower reaches of the Fifa rankings | Registered: May 2002
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But Gramsci, "Impact" doesn't work in either language; it sounds like a Korean car.
I'm hoping that the new MLS trend towards Euronames could leave to the rebirth of Olympique Montreal.
And you haven't seen the worst "breakaway" in modern football unless you watch Robbie Keane on a regular basis (which given your lamentable choice of British clubs is unlikely).
Posts: 18670 | From: mediolanum | Registered: Jan 2006
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I know it sounds gruesome, but a team of Carl Robinsons would actually be better than the freak show XI we've got out there now. Even a lack of scoring ability wouldn't necessarily be a drawback since we haven't scored in nine games anyways....
Posts: 1762 | From: the further reaches of sleep deprivation | Registered: Sep 2007
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