Football's coming home

Football’s coming home. At last.

Well that’s the hope of many an England supporter and the English FA as they confirm that England will bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Following FIFA’s announcement on Monday that the previous rotation policy will be discontinued, and the positive comments made by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, FA Chairman Geoff Thompson said: “I’m delighted to announce our intention to bid to host the World Cup in 2018.

“The tremendous support from Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his government has also been a key consideration in today’s decision.

“I’m delighted The FA Board have been so positive in their support for a bid. It would be tremendous for English football and the whole country if we are successful.”

FA Chief Executive Brian Barwick said: “It is very clear that the English football public wants to see the World Cup back in this country”, highlighting some of the key points for England’s bid:-

Maximising support for England internationally
Financing the bid and financial planning for the tournament
Forming a bid team and who will lead it
Identifying the stadiums and training facilities to be used
Working with all stakeholders to ensure we have infrastructure in place to support the tournament – transport, hotels, communications etc.
Plans for supporters – domestic and international
The tournament’s legacy – for football and the whole country
Ensuring the tournament is inclusive to everyone
Making England the number one bid and to host the best World Cup ever.

As for the stadia, well England has a wealth of great stadiums at the moment with the prospect of more to come. In addition to the 'Home of Football', other potential venues include:-

Old Trafford
Emirates Stadium
St James' Park
Stadium of Light
City of Manchester Stadium
Villa Park
Stamford Bridge
Elland Road
planned stadiums at Liverpool, Everton, West Ham and Nottingham.

If successful, it would end a 52 year wait for the World Cup to return to Wembley.

If I were you, I’d start saving your money … now.

MLS play-offs: Could it happen here?

In America as we speak, the MLS season is entering the final straight. Having seen the Eastern and Western Conference competitions completed, the top eight teams now take part in a play-off series where the MLS Cup is at stake for those who can negotiate their way through the tricky knock-out section.

For those of us living outside the States, an end-of-season contest such as this may seem a little alien. In Europe for instance, the league competition is all there is. Whoever finishes at the top of the table after everyone's played everyone else home and away is the outright winner. It's always been like that and probably always will be.

Yet could a play-off series in the style of that used in the MLS be a success for the Premier League? Don't write off the idea for a moment - let's think this through a little…

First of all, play-offs in general. While some of you may think they're surplus to requirements, they do undoubtedly generate much excitement for the watching masses. Anyone that's seen the Football League play-offs over the past decade or so would find it difficult not to agree.

Next, we know what you're thinking - they'd generate more money for the teams involved, and that, of course, means the teams that are among the best in the country anyway. In England, you might argue that they're not short of money in the first place, so by way of a solution let's suggest that all play-off money goes to charity or something. There - that's that little issue sorted…

If you're still in need of a little persuasion, let's loosely apply the MLS play-off model to last season's Premier League table. Obviously the Premier League isn't split into an East and West Conference (although a North and South one might be interesting - discuss), so let's just take the top eight teams and see how the quarter finals would have looked:

Manchester United (1) v Reading (8)
Chelsea (2) v Bolton Wanderers (7)
Liverpool (3) v Everton (6)
Arsenal (4) v Tottenham Hotspur (5)

* Final positions shown in brackets.

Now who doesn't find the prospect of seeing two derby matches mouth-watering, eh? And before you say the other two games would be one-sided, think again: if you take the aggregate scores from the two meetings last season into consideration, Man United would beat Reading 4-3 and Chelsea would beat Bolton 3-2. Even they'd be potentially close encounters.

Continuing the aggregate score theme, you'd then end up with semi-finals that contained Man United, Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea. Whichever way you serve those four up, you'll get a couple of great games to lead into the grand final.

So there it is, the case for play-offs at the end of a Premier League season. Who's ready to sign the petition?

SPAOTP's Road to Wembley: FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round

Another round, another team for us on our Road to Wembley as today we feature Hayes and Yeading United, the team who knocked out our previous focus of attention Chelmsford City 1-0.

This afternoon saw the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup (sponsored by E.OR (sorry, 'E.ON')) taking place and Hayes and Yeading found themselves playing away at Maidenhead United. Before we reflect on what happened, let's put everything into perspective for you.

Hayes and Yeading United only came into existence back in May when the merger came about of, yes, you've guessed it, Hayes and Yeading. They play in the Blue Square South (or Football Conference South as it's known in non-commercial circles), and if you're wondering what level that is in the English football pyramid system, here's a diagram to show you (click to enlarge).

Hayes and Yeading are currently 13th in the Conference South table out of 22 teams and are currently enjoying a seven-game unbeaten run that goes right back to the beginning of September. Top scorer in the league so far is Staforde Palmer with four goals although several other players in the squad have chipped in too this season including Will Hendry (3), Nevin Saroya (2) and Simon Martin (2).

Hayes and Yeading United are managed by Garry Haylock, previously manager of Yeading FC until the end of 2006 and a man who knows what its like to play much higher up the football food chain. As a player, Horlock was a prolific goalscorer at clubs such as Huddersfield Town, Shelbourne, Dundalk, Linfield, Glentoran and Portadown (where he topped the Northern Irish league scoring charts in 1996 and 1997).

He's also played in the European Cup during his spell in Irish football as well as Greece where he once played for Panionios GS. While there, he appeared in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1998-99 where Lazio were his opponents.

With that sort of pedigree, you'd think today's oppenents, Maidenhead United, would be quaking in their boots - especially as they're five places lower than Hayes and Yeading in the Conference South table.

Well let's just say they obviously hadn't read his biography before today's encounter because this afternoon's ninety minutes of toil and hard graft ended up in a 1-0 win for Maidenhead. Manny Williams goal just before the half-hour mark wasn't equalled by the time the referee blew his whistle, so that's it - SPAOTP lose another team in an away fixture and we have to say goodbye to Hayes and Yeading for this season.

On the plus side, we now have Maidenhead United as our new team and it's them we'll be following for the thrilling FIRST ROUND PROPER on Saturday 10th November. Oh and hot news folks - they've already done the draw at FA Headquarters, and guess what? Our team will be playing away AGAIN!

Maidenhead were pulled out of the hat in tie number 26 of 40 to play Horsham, who play in the Isthmian League Premier Division where they're currently fourth in the table, three places below one of our previous Road to Wembley teams, Chelmsford City!

Could this be a rare win for SPAOTP in this season's FA Cup (sponsored by E.ON)? Watch this space to find out...

So far, so good? (Part 2)

Continuing our look at some of the close-season transfers and the progress they've made at their new clubs, we begin with...

Elano (Man City)
The canny Brazilian has emerged from the mass of Sven's summer signings as one of the more eye-opening talents in the Premier League. Capable of scoring from free-kicks and long distance, Man City seem to have finally found that elusive asset - someone who can put the ball in the back of the net, and they've not had someone like that for a while.
Impact rating: 7/10

Carlos Tevez (Man United)
Much like last season with West Ham, Tevez took a while to find his feet but now finds himself as a key player in Fergie's battalion. Somewhat curiously, he's found more of a sense of purpose as a provider of opportunities for people like Wayne Rooney rather than as a striker in his own right, but given United's slow start to the season, that's something they'll probably be grateful for.
Impact rating: 7/10

Mido (Middlesbrough)
The move north from Tottenham during the summer looked to have breathed a new lease of life into Mido with a goal in his two opening games but since then there's been nothing to report except a few yellow cards. Appears to be trying hard to find his early season form but may be hindered by the whole team's current demise which has seen Boro head towards the foot of the table.
Impact rating: 4/10

Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland)
Roy Keane paid a pretty penny for the services of the Trinidadian but after six appearances he already has three goals to his name and it looks like there'll be more to come. Has the potential to achieve that rare distinction of being a player who did well in the top flight as well as in the lower leagues. In a team as admittedly weak as Sunderland is, Jones has already singled himself out as a decent striker. Imagine what he could do at one of the big clubs?
Impact rating: 6/10

Darren Bent (Tottenham)
Haven't seen that much of him this season, to be honest. One goal from three starts isn't a bad average, but we need to see more of him before we can properly pass judgement. £16.5 million pounds is a lot of money to spend on a player, and without him Spurs have undoubtedly suffered, so it should be fun seeing what sort of impact he'll make when his appearances become more regular.
Impact rating: 3/10

Craig Bellamy (West Ham)
Fortunately for The Hammers, Bellamy has largely evaded the injury curse which has struck practically every other summer signing to arrive at Upton Park. Two goals in the Premier League and two in the Carling Cup suggests the hot-headed striker still has it in him to produce the goods, so as long as he can avoid injury and suspension, we should be able to pencil him in for more goals further down the line.
Impact rating: 6/10