Posts Tagged ‘Football Association’

American football has grown an enormous worldwide fan base since the American Professional Football Association was formed in 1920, with the first game being played on October 3rd of that year. From that day on the sport has grown to be what it is today with a bigger fan base in America than Baseball, and a fan base that follows every season of American Football avidly from every corner of the globe. The NFL was born out of the APFL two years later in 1922 and eventually became the Major League of American Football.

As mentioned, as the sport grew into a phenomenon so too has the fan base with the love of the sport growing increasingly each year that in the American Football season of 2008 it was unknown of the number of people in the global fan base. These fans attach themselves to a team and are proud of their team in the good times and stick by them in the harder times. As avid American Football fans they love to display there admiration for teams and players through wearing the teams jersey´s, drinking from their teams mugs and the luckier ones owning signed apparel such as magazines and American Footballs.

The growth of the internet has also helped the growth of American football with the ability to track any one of the 32 team’s events, news and statistics online, as well as ordering and buying gifts, memorabilia and apparel from many of the online American football stores. If you are looking to buy goods from an American football store online there are a few things to bear in mind. Firstly where are the goods coming from – be sure there are coming from a verified retailer such as Amazon.com, this will ensure you are receiving official American football goods and benefiting the best you can.

The next thing to consider is the selection that the site you are buying from – having the ability to select the American football gifts for yourself, a loved one or a family member is paramount, as we said the love of sport means that the items will be cherished. Make sure you have a selection to choose from and don’t just purchase the goods because that was all that is available; there are some fantastic American football stores online that offer a wide variety of gifts.

With this in mind allow me to take a moment and introduce you to one such site – www.QuarterbackFan.com, they stock an immense amount if American football items, all official and from a verified retailer you are guaranteed satisfaction for yourself or the receiver of the gift. Remember, love American football love QuarterbackFan and the benefits they hold.

For any soccer fan, a visit to the new Wembley Stadium is a must. Not only is it one of the world’s most outstanding modern stadiums, but is host to the best of English football and features a veritable ‘footie-fest’ of the nation’s leading cup finals and Football League play-offs every season. The Football Association – the sport’s governing body – is planning a £12million move of its administrative headquarters from Soho Square to the new Stadium during July 2009. As Wembley is also the home venue for all of England’s international fixtures – including the qualifying games for the 2010 World Cup Finals – the move will firmly establish the stadium as the ‘home of English football’. As the English football season progresses towards its climax in May, Wembley hosts a number of prestigious finals including the traditional finale to the football season – the FA Cup Final. But, before that the cup final season begins in either late February or early March with the staging of the Carling Cup Final. This show piece cup competition of the Football League will celebrate its 50th anniversary at Wembley in 2010. Next up is the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final played at Wembley in early April. This competition is exclusively for clubs that compete in League One and League Two of the Football League. The 2009 final was an absolute thriller with Luton beating Scunthorpe 3-2 after extra time in front of a substantial lower league football crowd of 53,378. In May the games come thick and fast at the Stadium, starting with the FA Trophy Final and FA Vase Final, played on successive days on the second weekend of the month. Next, and still in May, the Football League hosts the Play-off finals when the last promotion spots for The Championship, League One and League Two are decided. Indeed, The Football League Championship play-off final – normally played on late May Bank Holiday Monday – is billed as football’s most lucrative ‘one-off’ game. The winners will be promoted to the Barclays Premier League and with that comes access to lucrative TV money. Finally, the last weekend in May sees the traditional season finale; the FA Cup final. This is one of the few ‘protected’ games to be televised live on terrestrial channels and is the daddy of all football competition finals. As you can see, May is also the month when the owners of London hotels – particularly those situated around Wembley – rub their hands in glee at the glut of ‘no vacancies’ signs, as they accommodate the thousands of football fans travelling to the capital to watch their teams in action. But, fans of football that can’t get a ticket to a game at Wembley needn’t despair. They can still access the stadium and sample its marvellous features at first-hand by buying a Stadium tour ticket.

U.K. football has been around for nearly two hundred years, yet today it’s more popular than ever. Football was actually invented in Europe in late 1863 with the formation of the Football Association.
U.K. Football stars David Beckham, Kevin Phillips and Ryan Giggs
David Beckham
English national football team midfielder David Beckham has become one of the best known U.K. football players. Thirty three year old Beckham has numerous awards and accolades for his football ability. Some of these awards include winning the British Sportsman of the Year Award in 2001 from the British Sports Writers’ Association, UEFA Awards most valuable player in 1999 and PFA Young Player of the Year Award in 1997 to name a few. Going back to 1991, David signed on as a trainee for the Manchester United and today plays for Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy team. These days Beckham is known the world over not only for his contribution to U.K. football but for much more, including his acting roles.
Ryan Giggs
Born in Cardiff in 1973, Ryan Giggs has played for the Manchester United for the past eighteen years. Since beginning his career with Manchester United in 1992, Giggs has won nine Premier League winner’s medals. Ryan is also a midfielder and is widely accepted as one of the best in U.K. football history. However, in 2007 he retired completely from international football.
Kevin Phillips
Aston Villa forward Kevin Phillips started off in football as a right back. His 30 FA Premier League goals during the 1999-2000 seasons for Sunderland won him the European Golden Boot. Although he has suffered injuries and has bounced around to many teams, he is still regarded as a fan favorite amongst U.K. Football fans.
History of Premier League Football
Premier League Football also known as the Barclays Premier League began in mid 2002 to revive and recover the failing U.K. Football image. Due to many soccer stadium riots and violence that brought shame to the entire nation, new rules, regulations and systems where put in place for U.K Football. English football had been banned for several years for its violence. Racial slurs and stadiums falling apart were also issues that were addressed and fixed with the Premier League formation. Since then, the Premier League has created a brand that sports fans around the world regularly watch.
Below is the list of the twenty Premier League teams.
Arsenal/Aston Villa/Blackburn Rovers/Bolton Wanderers/Chelsea/Everton/Fulham/Hull City/Liverpool/Manchester City/Manchester United/Middlesbrough/Newcastle United/Portsmouth/Stoke City/Sunderland/Tottenham Hotspur/West Bromwich/West Ham/Wigan Athletic
The Football League Championship (Also known as the Coca-Cola Football League Championship because Coca-Cola sponsors of the Championship and the two leagues.) is a division of the English football league system after the Premier League. It’s also one of the biggest football leagues in Europe today. Team rankings are based upon goals scored, goal difference, and points gained. Teams play against other teams for a total of two times. One home game and then another away game is then played. Recently, BBC Radio 5 Live and The Football League Championship have teamed up to provide weekly podcast featuring U.K. Football content.
The twenty four Football League Championship teams
Barnsley/Birmingham City/Blackpool/Bristol City/Burnley/Cardiff City/Charlton Athletic/Coventry City/Crystal Palace/Derby County/Doncaster Rovers/Ipswich/Norwich City/Nottingham Forest/Plymouth Argyle/Preston North End/Queens Park Rangers/Reading/Sheffield United/Sheffield Wednesday/Southampton/Swansea City/Watford/Wolverhampton Wanderers