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Post by coachragnar on Nov 9, 2019 16:32:17 GMT
As a long time Stokie in America, I've hoped for the growth of football here in the US. American Football has been in decline for some time and "soccer" or proper football is starting to take off. Our local team here in Washington state has sold out their championship game against Toronto. They averaged over 40,000 during the regular season and sold out the 70,000 seat Century Link Field for the Championship. It would be wonderful if we could have Stoke come over for a friendly.
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Post by southernish on Nov 9, 2019 16:37:25 GMT
Like to keep my eye on the Sounders after visiting in 2015. Glad to see them drawing such large crowds at Century Link Field too.
Good luck tomorrow!
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Post by seattlestokie on Nov 9, 2019 16:51:39 GMT
When I lived in Seattle between 1998 and 2000 I used to watch the Sounders regularly. Back then they played at a different 'stadium' down near Renton with crowds around a couple of thousand (if that), a far cry from the Century Link Field and their current attendances
Great days, Randy Mann at the back and Erik Storkson (the big man from Renton) leading the line
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Post by roloman on Nov 9, 2019 17:20:50 GMT
Very proud to say that my son, Tom Childs, is the Video Analyst at Seattle. He's been there for three years but moving on to pastures new after tomorrow. We've been a couple of times. Such a great atmosphere. The 'March To The Match' is brilliant. The first time I went, I wore my Stoke shirt and the Times writer, Henry Winter spotted it and mentioned me in his match report.
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Post by coachragnar on Nov 9, 2019 19:15:27 GMT
Very proud to say that my son, Tom Childs, is the Video Analyst at Seattle. He's been there for three years but moving on to pastures new after tomorrow. We've been a couple of times. Such a great atmosphere. The 'March To The Match' is brilliant. The first time I went, I wore my Stoke shirt and the Times writer, Henry Winter spotted it and mentioned me in his match report. I'm glad that you enjoyed your visits to my part of the world. Your son has done a great job and I'm sure everyone here is happy that he was part of the Sounders family.
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wapiti
Youth Player
Posts: 393
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Post by wapiti on Nov 9, 2019 22:03:16 GMT
Saw Port Vale play in Bremerton, WA several years ago. The "pitch" was in semi-cow pasture condition. Stoke-Seattle.....the stuff of dreams.
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Post by rawli on Nov 10, 2019 7:57:57 GMT
As a long time Stokie in America, I've hoped for the growth of football here in the US. American Football has been in decline for some time and "soccer" or proper football is starting to take off. Our local team here in Washington state has sold out their championship game against Toronto. They averaged over 40,000 during the regular season and sold out the 70,000 seat Century Link Field for the Championship. It would be wonderful if we could have Stoke come over for a friendly. We were in Seattle on holiday this summer. Fantastic city. Stadium was great and was gutted we couldn't see a match. Went to see Mariners and saw a win which is a bit of a rarity apparently!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2019 10:51:43 GMT
Spending thanksgiving in Spokane again this year. Go Coug's in the Apple cup Sounders are live on TV in the UK this evening GD
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2019 10:54:00 GMT
When I lived in Seattle between 1998 and 2000 I used to watch the Sounders regularly. Back then they played at a different 'stadium' down near Renton with crowds around a couple of thousand (if that), a far cry from the Century Link Field and their current attendances Great days, Randy Mann at the back and Erik Storkson (the big man from Renton) leading the line Parts of Renton are well dodgy. Don't the Seahawks have a training facility there now GD
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Post by tachyon on Nov 11, 2019 9:47:39 GMT
Probably worth mentioning that a great deal of the success enjoyed by the Sounders is down to a former blogger who took a fair bit of interest in that xG nonsense.
And a great deal of the success enjoyed by Toronto (who Seattle beat in the Championship game) is down to a former blogger who took a fair bit of interest in that xG nonsense.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2019 10:40:06 GMT
Seattle won :-)
GD
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Post by roloman on Nov 11, 2019 14:49:16 GMT
Very proud to say that my son, Tom Childs, is the Video Analyst at Seattle. He's been there for three years but moving on to pastures new after tomorrow. We've been a couple of times. Such a great atmosphere. The 'March To The Match' is brilliant. The first time I went, I wore my Stoke shirt and the Times writer, Henry Winter spotted it and mentioned me in his match report. My boy. (not sure if I've done the technology bit correctly) Attachment Deleted
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Post by roloman on Nov 11, 2019 14:50:11 GMT
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Post by canadianmoose on Nov 11, 2019 15:28:20 GMT
Bollocks to Seattle! As a Toronto FC fan Im starting to not like Seattle as much as the Vale and Wolves!
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Post by mrteddysalad on Nov 11, 2019 16:03:56 GMT
I don’t really follow the team or the MLS, but I try to make it to a couple Earthquakes games a season. Their new stadium is super nice, I just wish the football was better. It’s basically League One quality (so equivalent to a Nathan Jones led Stoke squad ZING).
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Post by coachragnar on Nov 11, 2019 16:17:08 GMT
I have to admit, that the MLS is a very far cry from even the Championship in the UK. It is often dreary football and in my opinion the original NASL (North American Soccer League) was a higher quality. Alan Hinton brought a bunch of the Derby County boys over at that time and they played good proper English football. Several things occurred, first, they had to have a financially sustainable foundation. The MLS tried holding all player contracts, etc. Next came the medical findings about head injuries in American football. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/08/sports/falling-football-participation-in-america.html. These two concurrent plus a younger generation that has grown up with a football at their feet, has led to a new demographic that has embraced the game. BTW I coached for over 20 seasons at the U18 level. The viewership of the Premiership and grown wildly in this country. That will demand a higher level of play from the fans. All this being said, I look for proper football to replace its American cousin over the next 20 years.
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Post by stokeyank on Nov 11, 2019 17:15:59 GMT
I have to admit, that the MLS is a very far cry from even the Championship in the UK. It is often dreary football and in my opinion the original NASL (North American Soccer League) was a higher quality. Alan Hinton brought a bunch of the Derby County boys over at that time and they played good proper English football. Several things occurred, first, they had to have a financially sustainable foundation. The MLS tried holding all player contracts, etc. Next came the medical findings about head injuries in American football. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/08/sports/falling-football-participation-in-america.html. These two concurrent plus a younger generation that has grown up with a football at their feet, has led to a new demographic that has embraced the game. BTW I coached for over 20 seasons at the U18 level. The viewership of the Premiership and grown wildly in this country. That will demand a higher level of play from the fans. All this being said, I look for proper football to replace its American cousin over the next 20 years. Depends a bit on which teams in the MLS you are talking about. The top teams (LAFC, Atlanta, Seattle, Toronto) could manage just fine mid table in the Championship. The average team would struggle and the poor teams are surely League One or below. The big difference right now with many MLS teams and the global/English leagues is squad depth. There are a few top players in MLS that I would take at Stoke in a heartbeat, but when you look at even the top team's 7-11 starters you see the difference in quality. That is the main reason you don't get the real game to game quality in MLS. As you mention it is on the rise and the league is improving every year, to the point where I do watch the games between top teams. The other problem is their stupid scheduling on all days of the week. You have no cadence to the league which is what works for European leagues and the NFL.
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Post by coachragnar on Nov 11, 2019 20:52:12 GMT
I completely agree about the scheduling and lack of pace. I'd love to have the MLS play the same basic season as the rest of the world. At some point they're going to have to quit being concerned about the other major sports leagues and stake out their own territory.
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Post by roloman on Nov 12, 2019 8:42:33 GMT
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