Check out it's football time: 2014

Thursday, 27 February 2014

Valencia FC

Valencia Club de Fútbol also known as Valencia CF, Valencia or Los Che are a Spanish football club situated in Valencia. They play in spanish leage and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish football world and European football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups (which was the predecessor to the UEFA Cup), one UEFA Cup, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and two UEFA Super Cups. They also reached two UEFA Champions League finals in a row, losing to La Liga rivals Real Madrid in 2000 and then to German gaint Bayern Munich on penalties after a 1–1 draw in 2001. Valencia were also members of the G-14 group of leading Europeanfootball clubs. In total, Valencia have reached seven major European finals, winning four times of them.

In the all-time La Liga table, Valencia is in third position behind Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. In terms of continental titles, Valencia is again the third-most successful behind the two, with these three being the only Spanish clubs to have won five or more continental trophies.

Valencia were founded in 1919 and have played their home games at the 55,000-seater Mestalla since 1923. They were due to move into the new 75,000-seater Nou Mestalla in the north-west of the city in 2013, but the final move date has been postponed while the stadium is still being built. Valencia have a long-standing rivalry with Levante UD, also located in the City of Valencia, and with two others club in the Valencian Community region, Hércules CF and CD Castellón.

Valencia are the third most supported football club in Spain, behind heavy weights Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. It is also one of the biggest clubs in the world in terms of number of associates (registered paying supporters), with more than 50,000 season ticket holders and another 20,000+ season ticket holders on the waiting list, who can be accommodated in the new 75,000-seater stadium.

As a consequence of the Spanish economic crisis, Valencia CF is one of three football club that have been taken over by the Valencia region.

Villarreal

Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or just Villarreal, is a Spanish football club situated in Villarreal, a city in the province of Castellón within the Valencian Community. established in 1923, it plays in La Liga, holding home games at El Madrigal, it's capacity is 24,890 spectators.
The club is nicknamed El Submarino Amarillo (Yellow Submarine) for this reason home kit's colour yellow, and due to being a low-profile team compared to Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Valencia CF, whom they have challenged for trophies over the last decade. Villarreal has often been touted as an example of small but successful club.

Saturday, 22 February 2014

Real Betis

Real Betis Balompié, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Betis, is a Spanish football club based in Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 12 September 1907, it currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at Estadio Benito Villamarín in the south of the city.
Among other titles, the club – which in 1932 became the first Andalusian team to play in La Liga – won the Primera División in 1935 and the Copa del Rey in 1977 and 2005.
Both the King of Spain Juan Carlos I and his son Prince Felipe de Borbon are honorary members of the club. Maintaining an historic city rivalry with Sevilla FC.

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

Atlético Madrid

Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrd

Club Atlético de Madrid,famous as Atlético de Madrid, or Atlético, is a Spanish football club situated in Madrid who plays in La Liga. Atlético have won La Liga on nine occasions, including a double in 1996; the Copa del Rey on ten occasions; 1 Supercopa de España and 3 Copa Eva Duarte; in Europe, they won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1962, were European Cup runners-up in 1974, won the Europa League in 2010 and in 2012, and won the UEFA Super Cup in 2010 and 2012.
Los Colchoneros play their home games at the Vicente Calderón,which currently holds up to 54,960 spectators. In 2015, Atletico are due to move to their new home of Estadio La Peineta,

Atletico Madrid

which will have a capacity of 70,000.
Atleti's home kit is red and white vertical striped shirts, with blue shorts, accompanied by blue and red socks. This combination has been used since 1911. Nike are the kit manufacturers, the main sponsor is Azerbaijan.
Atletico are the third most supported football club in Spain, behind only Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. It is also one of the biggest clubs in the world in terms of number of associates (registered paying supporters), with more than 65,000 season ticket holders.
During their history, the club has been known by a number of nicknames, including Los Colchoneros ("The Mattress Makers" in English), due to their first team stripes being the same colours as old-fashioned mattresses. During the 1970s, they became known as Los Indios, allegedly due to the club signing several South American players after the restrictions on signing foreign players was lifted. However, there are a number of counter theories which claim they were named so because their stadium is "camped" on the river bank, or because Los Indios (The Indians) were the traditional enemy of Los Blancos (The Whites), which is the nickname of the club's city rivals, Real Madrid.

Atletico Madrid

Thursday, 13 February 2014

Real Madrid

Real Madrid C.F. is a Spanish professional association football club situated in Madrid. The club was established in 1902 as Madrid football club, and played their first competitive match on May 13, 1902, when it entered the semi-final of the Campeonato de Copa de S.M. Alfonso XIII. Real Madrid recently plays in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Madrid was one of the established members of La Liga in 1929, and is one of three clubs, including FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, never to have been relegated from the league. They have also been entered in European football ever since they became the first Spanish club to enter the European Cup in 1955, except for the 1977–78 and 1996–97 seasons.

Real Madrid

This list encompasses the major honours won by Real Madrid and records set by the club, their managers and their players. The player records section includes details of the club's leading goalscorers and those who have made most appearances in first-team competitions. It also records notable achievements by Real Madrid players on the international stage, and the highest transfer fees paid and received by the club.
The club currently holds the record for the most European Cup /
UEFA Champions League triumphs with 9, and the most La Liga titles with 32. The club's record appearance maker was Raúl, who had made 741 appearances from 1994 to 2010; the club's record goalscorer is also Raúl, who scored 323 goals in all competitions during his career...

Wednesday, 12 February 2014

Swansea City

Swansea City Association Football Club is a Welsh professional football club based in the city of Swansea, South Wales that plays in the Premier League. Swansea City represent England when playing in European competitions, although they have represented Wales in the past. They play their home matches at the Liberty Stadium.
The club was founded in 1912 as Swansea Town and joined the Football League in 1921. The club changed their name in 1969, when it adopted the name Swansea City to reflect Swansea's new status as a city.

Swansea City

In 1981, the club were promoted to the original Football League First Division. It was during the with their involvement hailed by Supporters Direct as "the most high profile example of the involvement of a supporters' trust in the direct running of a club".
following season they came close to winning the league title, but a decline then set near the season's end before finishing sixth, although a club record. It was from here the club suffered a relegation the season after, returning to the Football League Fourth Division a few seasons later, then narrowly avoided relegation to the Football Conference in 2003. Prior to playing home matches at the Liberty Stadium, the team had previously hosted at the Vetch Field. The Swansea City Supporters Society Ltd owns 20% of the club,
In 2011, Swansea were promoted to the English Premier League, becoming the first Welsh team to play in the top division since its formation in 1992. On 24 February 2013, Swansea beat Bradford City 5–0 to win the 2012–13 Football League Cup (the competition's highest ever winning margin for the final), winning the first major English trophy in the club's history and qualifying for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.

Tuesday, 11 February 2014

Norwich City

Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club situated in Norwich, Norfolk. During the 2012–13 English Premier League season, Norwich City finished eleventh.
The club was founded in 1902 and first won promotion to the Football League First Division in 1972. Since then, Norwich have played a total of 23 seasons in the top flight, with a longest continuous spell of nine seasons. Norwich have won the League Cup twice, in 1962 and 1985, and the FA Youth Cup twice, in 1983 and 2013. They were founder members of the Premier League in 1992–93, finishing third in the inaugural season and played in its first three seasons, reaching the UEFA Cup 3rd round. Norwich most recently

Norwich City

returned to the Premier League in 2011 after a six-year absence.
Since 1935, Norwich have played their home games at Carrow Road and have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with East Anglian neighbours Ipswich Town, with whom they have contested the East Anglian derby 138 times and Norwich are the current holders of the "Pride of Anglia" title. The fans' song "On the Ball, City" is regarded as being the oldest football song in the world.

Monday, 10 February 2014

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace Football Club are an professional football club based in South Norwood, London England. They are currently playing in the English Premier League. In the 2012–13 Football League season, Palace finished fifth and gained promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs. Red and Blue are their theame colour, although they had adopted a claret and pale blue strip of Aston

Crystal Palace

Villa in their early years. The club was established at The Crystal Palace in the year of 1905 to introduce a team to the local population, who regularly supported the FA Cup Final in sizeable numbers, which was played at the sports stadium, in Crystal Palace Park. Failing to gain election to The Football League, Palace instead joined the Southern Football League Second Division, playing home games at The Crystal Palace, inspiration for the club's initial nickname, "The Glaziers". Palace won the Division and promotion in their first season, and played in the Southern League First Division for the next fifteen years.

Crystal Palace

In 1920 the Southern League Division One formed the Football League Third Division. Palace won the division and gained promotion to the Second Division, where they spent four seasons before suffering relegation to the Third Division South. In 1958 a league re-organisation saw Palace become founder members of Division Four. Over the next eleven years the club moved from the lowest rung of English Football to the highest, reaching the First Division in 1969. In 1973 the club modernised its image, changing the nickname from The Glaziers to "The Eagles" and ending the 68-year association with claret and blue by introducing the red-and-blue vertical stripes now associated with the club. The club stabilised itself in the top two divisions with successive promotions in 1977 and 1979. The period from 1989–91 saw Steve Coppell guide the team to an FA Cup Final and third place in the First Division. Palace became founder members of the Premier League in 1992, but were relegated the same season. Palace entered administration in both 2000 and 2010, and are now owned by a consortium of four. The club achieved promotion back to the
Premier League under manager Ian Holloway with a 1–0 win over Watford in the Football League play-offs in May 2013.

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace initially played their games in the grounds of The Crystal Palace, but the First World War saw them forced to move out, and they enjoyed a number of seasons at both the Herne Hill Velodrome and The Nest. Since 1925, Palace have played their home games at Selhurst Park. They have a fierce rivalry with M23 neighbours Brighton & Hove Albion, with whom they have contested the M23 derby 98 times. They also enjoy rivalries with fellow South London teams Millwall and Charlton Athletic. The club's kit is currently made by Avec, a subsidiary of Nike, and the shirt sponsor is GAC Logistics. The club captain is Paddy McCarthy and the current player of the year is Mile Jedinak. Edmund Goodman is the club's longest serving manager, and Jim Cannon has made the most appearances for the club. Peter
Simpson is the club's top scorer for both one season and overall, netting 54 and 165 respectively. The highest transfer fee received has been for Wilfried Zaha from Manchester United in January 2013 and the highest paid has been to Peterborough United for Dwight Gayle in July 2013.

Saturday, 8 February 2014

Cardiff City

Cardiff city

Cardiff City Football Club is a professional football club situated in Cardiff, Wales that played in the English football league. The club is playing in the Premier League for the first time in the 2013–14 season. They play their home games at the Cardiff City Stadium, after moving from Ninian Park in 2009.
The club was established as Riverside A.F.C. in 1899 and is the only club from outside England to have won the FA Cup in 1927. The club won the Football League Championship title in the 2012–13 season and were selected for the top flight for the first time in 51 years. This followed two lost national cup finals, the 2008 FA Cup Final against Portsmouth and the 2012 Football League Cup Final against Liverpool, the latter being settled by a penalty shootout.
In 2012, Cardiff City was rebranded by the club's Malaysian owner, Vincent Tan. This included the change of the club's home colours and crest.

Early years

Cardiff City

Riverside A.F.C. was established in 1899 as a way of keeping players from the Riverside Cricket Club together and in shape during the winter months. Their first season saw them playing friendlies against local sides at their Sophia Gardens ground, but in 1900 they joined the Cardiff & District League for their first competitive season. In 1905 Cardiff was granted city status by King Edward VII, and as a result the club put in a request to change their name to Cardiff City, but the request was turned down as they were deemed to be not playing at a high enough level. To combat this they arranged to join the South Wales Amateur League in 1907 and the following year they were granted permission to change the name of the club to Cardiff City.
Interest in the club began to rise during this time, but they were forced to turn down the opportunity to join the newly formed Southern League Second Division due to the lack of facilities at their Sophia Gardens ground. Over the next two years Cardiff welcomed many of Britain's top sides to Cardiff, including Middlesbrough, Bristol City and Crystal Palace, with the matches being played at various grounds in Cardiff and nearby towns. The club would eventually move into their new ground, Ninian Park, in 1910. The club made its first signing the following year with the acquisition of Jack Evans from fellow Welsh club Cwmparc FC.

Cardiff City

With the new ground in place, Cardiff joined the Southern League Second Division, and Bartley Wilson was quick to hire the club's first manager in Davy McDougall, who became player-manager. Their first match was a 2–1 defeat to Aston Villa, in which new signing Evans scored the only Cardiff goal. They went on to finish in fourth place in their first year in the league. They stayed in the division for the next decade, apart from when the league was suspended due to the outbreak of World War I.

Friday, 7 February 2014

West Brom

West Bromwich Albion Football Club , also known as West Brom ,or WBA, is an English professional football club situated in West Bromwich in the West Midlands. The club was established in 1878 and has played at its home ground since 1900.

West Brom

Albion were one of the founding members of The Football League in 1888 and have spent the majority of their existence in the top tier of English football. They have been champions of England once, in 1919-20, but they more successed in the FA Cup, with five time wins. The first cup came in 1888, the year the league was founded, and the most recent in 1968, their last major trophy. They also won the Football League Cup at the first attempt in 1966. The club's longest consecutive period in the top division was
between 1949 and 1973, and from 1986 to 2002 they spent their longest ever period out of the top division. The 2013–14 season is their eighth season in the Premier League since 2002.
The team has played in blue and white stripes for most of the club's history. Albion have a number of long-standing rivalries with other West Midland clubs; their traditional rivals have always been Aston Villa, though rivalry also exists with Wolverhampton Wanderers, with whom they contest the Black Country derby.

Southampton

Southampton F.C.

The Southampton F.C. home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club moved to in 2001 from The Dell. The club has been nicknamed "The Saints" since its inception in 1885 due to its history as a church football team, founded as St Mary's Church of England Young Men's Association and has since generally played in red and white shirts.
The club has a long standing rivalry with Portsmouth due to its close proximity and both cities' respective maritime history. Matches between the two sides are known as the South Coast Derby.

Southampton F.C.

The club has won the FA Cup once in 1976, and their highest-ever league finish was second in the First Division in 1983–84. Southampton were relegated from the Premier League on 15 May 2005 ending 27 successive seasons of top division football for the club.

After three seasons playing in the Championship, the Saints were further relegated to League One in 2009. After two years playing football in the third tier, the club secured back to back promotions under the management of Nigel Adkins. Adkins
was replaced in January 2013 by former Espanyol manager Mauricio Pochettino, who secured The Saints a 14th place finish in their first season back in the top flight and the club's best ever Premier League start the following season.

Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Stoke City

Stoke city

Stoke City

Stoke City Football Club. Stoke City F.C. is an English association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The club was formed in 1863 as Stoke Ramblers F.C., and played their first competitive match in November 1883, when they entered the First Round of the 1883–84 FA Cup. In 1888 they joined the inaugural Football League thus becoming founding members. The club was renamed Stoke City F.C. in 1925, and they moved to Britannia Stadium in 1997.

Stoke City

Friday, 17 January 2014

Newcastle

Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club situated in Newcastle upon Tyne. The club was established in 1892, by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since. The ground was developed into an all-seater stadium in the mid-1990s and now has a capacity of 52,387. The club has been a member of the Premier League for all but two years of the competition's history, and has never dropped below English football's second tier since joining the Football League in 1893. In 2007, long term chairman and owner Sir John Hall sold his share in the club to Mike Ashley. In 2013, after an underpar season, the club appointed Joe Kinnear as their football director after a strong connection with Mike Ashley.
They have won four League Championship titles and six FA Cups, as well as the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Newcastle United has the ninth highest total of major honours won by an English club. The club's most successful period was between 1904 and 1910, when they won an FA Cup and three of their First Division titles. The club is the twentieth richest club in the world in terms of annual revenue, generating €115.3m in 2012. Newcastle’s best ever placing is 5th in the World.
They have a fierce local rivalry with Sunderland, and the two clubs have engaged in the Tyne–Wear derby since 1898. The club's traditional kit colours are black and white striped shirts, black shorts and black socks. Their traditional crest takes elements of the city coat of arms, which features two seahorses.

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

Hull City

Kingston upon Hull, usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull has a resident population of 256,100 (2011 est.). The Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) population stands at 573,300.
The Hull city was founded late in the 12th century. The monks of Meaux Abbey needed a port where the wool from their estates could be exported. They chose a place at the junction of the rivers Hull and Humber to build a quay.
The exact year Hull was founded is not known but it was first mentioned in 1193. It was called Wyke on Hull. Renamed Kings town upon Hull by King Edward I in 1299, the town and city of Hull has served as market town, military supply port, a trading hub, fishing and whaling centre, and industrial metropolis^.
Hull was an early theatre of battle in the English Civil Wars. Its 18th-century Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, played a key role in the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.
The city is unique in the UK in having had a municipally-owned telephone system from 1902, sporting cream, not red, telephone boxes.
After suffering heavy damage during the Second World War (the 'Hull Blitz'), Hull weathered a period of post-industrial decline, during which the city gained unfavourable results on measures of social deprivation, education and policing. During the early 21st-century spending boom (before the late 2000s recession) the city saw large amounts of new retail, commercial, housing and public service construction spending.

Hull City

Established tourist attractions include the historic Old Town and Museum Quarter, Hull Marina and The Deep, a city landmark. The redevelopment of one of Hull's main thoroughfares,
Ferensway, included the opening of St. Stephen's Hull and the new Hull Truck Theatre. Spectator sporting activities include Premier League football and Super League Rugby. The KC Stadium houses the Hull City football club and Hull FC rugby club and Craven Park is home to rugby club Hull Kingston Rovers. Hull is also home to the Elite Ice Hockey League Hull Stingrays.
In November 2013, it was announced that Hull had won the UK City of Culture 2017 award.

Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Aston villa

Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C. is an English professional football club situated in Aston, Birmingham, who currently play in the English Premier League. The club was established in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founding members of The Football League in 1888 and the Premier League in 1992.
They are one of the oldest and most successful football clubs in Engllish Premier League history, having won the First Division Championship seven times and the FA Cup seven times. Villa are also one of only five English clubs to win the European Cup, which they did in 1982. Aston Villa is the fourth most successful club in English football history, having won 20 major honours,
This is a list of its notable players, generally this means players that have played 100 or more first-class matches for the club. However, some players who have played fewer matches are also included; players from the club's pre-Football League days, when they played fewer matches in a season than the present day, and club captains are included. Players who hold club records have footnotes describing the record. Players are listed according to the date of their first-team debut for the club. Appearances are for first-team competitive matches only including those as a substitute; wartime matches are excluded.