billsportsmaps.com

October 8, 2011

NFL, NFC North: map, with a brief team and league history, and titles list.

Filed under: NFL>NFC North,NFL, divisions,NFL/ Gridiron Football — admin @ 8:59 pm

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To see the full map of NFL, 1920-1960 click on this address,

http://billsportsmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/nfl_timeline1920-33_2.gif

Chicago Bears
Est. 1919 as the Independent semi-pro team the Decatur Staleys (of the A.E. Staley Co.) of Decatur, IL./ Joined NFL [APFA] in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys (NFL, 1920)/ in 1921 moved to Chicago, IL: Chicago Staleys (NFL, 1921)/ in 1922 their name changed to Chicago Bears (NFL, 1922-2012):
Chicago Bears Helmet History -

Chicago Bears Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/bears.

The Chicago Bears’ franchise began as the Decatur Staleys, a semi-pro team that started up in 1919. The team was sponsored by the A.E. Staley Co. of Decatur, IL, a corn and food starch processor. The Decatur Staleys were a charter member of the NFL [APFA] in 1920. In 1919-20, the team played at Staley Field, which was on the company property in Decatur. After the 1920 season, AE Staley sold the team to player/coach George Halas and his partners, and the team moved to Chicago and to Wrigley Field [the home of the National League baseball team the Chicago Cubs]. In 1921, the Chicago Staleys won the APFA title in their first season in the Windy City. As per an agreement Halas had made with AE Staley, the team had kept the Staleys name (and their colors) for that first year after moving, then changed their name to the Chicago Bears in 1922. The Decatur Staleys originally wore red jerseys in 1919 and 1920, and the Chicago Staleys also wore red jerseys in 1921 {see this article from the Gridiron Uniforms Database blog, by Bill Schaeffer, from June 8 2014, Say It Ain’t So, Joe…er, George!, where it basically is proven that the Decatur Staleys, the team that became the Chicago Bears, originally wore red, before George Halas bought the team after the 1920 season and, in 1922 {see this}, changed their colors to navy blue and orange, a color scheme that was similar to that of Halas’ alma mater, the University of Illinois.} The Bears were renters at Wrigley Field from 1921 to 1970. In 1971, the Bears began playing at Soldier Field (which opened in 1924). This U-shaped stadium featured Doric columns rising from behind the stands, yet the seats were just planks until 1978, when individual seats were installed. In 2002, because of stadium renovations, the Bears played 124 miles south of Chicago in Champaign, IL, at Illinois University’s Memorial Stadium. The Bears moved into the futuristic and totally re-built Soldier Field (II) in 2003.
Chicago Bears’ first NFL title was in 1921 (as the Chicago Staleys). The Chicago Bears won 8 NFL Championship titles (1921, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1943, 1946, 1963).
Chicago Bears: 1 Super Bowl title (1985).
The Bears are 1-1 in Super Bowl appearances [lost to Indianapolis in the 2006 season].

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Green Bay Packers
Est. 1919 as the Independent semi-pro team the Green Bay Packers (of the Indian Packing Co.) of Green Bay, WI. [2 seasons, 1919 and 1920, as an Independent team]/ Joined NFL [APFA] in 1921, Green Bay Packers (NFL, 1921-2012):
Green Bay Packers Helmet History –

Green Bay Packers Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/packers.

The Green Bay Packers began as a semi-pro team sponsored by the Indian Packing Company of Green Bay, WI. The Green Bay Packers joined the NFL [APFA] in 1921. The Packers are the last vestige of the small-own teams that were common in the NFL in it’s early years (1920s and 1930s). The Green Bay Packers are the only major-league team in the US that is non-profit and 100% fan-owned. The Green Bay Packers original colors of navy blue and gold were inspired by Notre Dame football. The Packers, with ACME PACKERS emblazoned across their navy blue jerseys in big gold letters, started out playing at Hagemeister Park (1919-22), which at first had no gates, no stands, and no clubhouse (a single stand was built in 1920). A hat was passed around for donations, at halftime, while the two teams would go to opposite end zones to discuss tactics, with the fans crowded around and joining in on the discussion [now the Packers players show their bond with the fans by jumping into the end zone stands to celebrate touchdowns]. Their next venue was Bellevue Park (1923-24), which could hold about 5,000. City Stadium was their next home, from 1925 to 1956. Its capacity was initially 6,000, and by the 1950s, it held 25,000. During this time, and all the way into the 1990s, the Packers played 3 home games per season in Milwaukee, WI – first at Borchert Field (1933), then for 18 years at the Wisconsin State Fair Park (1934-51), then briefly at Marquette Stadium (1952), then for 42 years at Milwaukee County Stadium (1953 to 1994). The Packers moved into their current home in Green Bay in 1956. Originally called New City Stadium, its name was changed to Lambeau Field in 1965 to honor the team’s founder, first star player, and long-time coach Curly Lambeau.
Green Bay Packers’ first NFL title was in 1929.
The Green Bay Packers won 9 NFL Championship titles (1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1939, 1944, 1961, 1962, 1965) [note: for 1966 and 1967, see note at bottom of this post].
Green Bay Packers: 4 Super Bowl titles, (1966, 1967, 1996, 2010).
The Packers are 4-1 in Super Bowl appearances [lost to Denver in the 1997 season].

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Detroit Lions
Est. 1929 as the Independent semi-pro team the Portsmouth Spartans of Portsmouth, OH./ Joined NFL in 1930 as the Portsmouth Spartans (NFL, 1930-33)/ in 1934 moved to Detroit, MI as the Detroit Lions (NFL, 1934-2012):
Detroit Lions Helmet History -

Detroit Lions Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/lions.

The Detroit Lions’ franchise was originally located in Portsmouth, OH, which is in southern Ohio on the north shore of the Ohio River. The Portsmouth Spartans, established in 1929 as an Independent semi-pro team, wore purple and gold and played for 4 seasons in the NFL (1930-33), at the 8,200-capacity Universal Stadium in Portsmouth, Ohio. The Portsmouth Spartans just missed out on an NFL title in 1932. The 1932 season had ended tied between the Spartans and the Bears, so an extra game was arranged in Chicago. Due to a blizzard, the game was moved indoors to Chicago Stadium, and was played on an 80-yard field. The Bears won 9-0. This led the NFL to adopt a divisional structure, a balanced schedule, and a championship game the next season (1933). The Portsmouth Spartans moved to Detroit, MI after the 1933 season. In their second season in Detroit (1935), the Lions won the title. They first played at the University of Detroit Stadium (1934-40; ’47); then played at Tiger Stadium (1938-39; 1941 to 1979). In 1975, the Lions moved 21 miles north to Pontiac, MI, and played at the Pontiac Silverdome for 27 seasons. In 2002, the Lions returned to downtown Detroit, to the indoor stadium Ford Field, which incorporates a 6-story former warehouse.
Detroit Lions’ first NFL title was won in 1935. The Detroit Lions won 4 NFL Championship titles (1935, 1952, 1953, 1957).
The Lions are the NFL team with the most seasons played without making a Super Bowl appearance [streak is at 45 seasons without a Super Bowl appearance as of the 2011 season].

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Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are the second NFL franchise from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The first was the Minneapolis Marines, who were originally an Independent pro team (est. 1905), who were in the APFA/NFL from 1921-24 {here are the 1923 Minneapolis Marines’ 1923 uniforms (gridiron-uniforms.com)}. In 1929, the franchise was re-started as the Minneapolis Red Jackets, but folded in 1930. The Minnesota Vikings began in 1961, as the NFL’s 14th team. The Vikings were so named in honor of the large population of ethnic Scandinavians living in the state. The Vikings played at Metropolitan Stadium in suburban Bloomington, MN (about 10 mi. south of the Twin Cities), from 1961 to 1981 (they shared the stadium with the Minnesota Twins ball club). Since 1982, the Vikings have played at the drab Metrodome in Minneapolis.
The Vikings are 0-4 in 4 Super Bowl appearances, losing in the 1969 season to the Chiefs, in the 1973 season to the Dolphins, in the 1974 season to the Steelers, and in the 1976 season to the Raiders.

My illustrated thumbnail histories from 2008 (with NFL, 1920-1960 map)…
Spartans/Lions old logos and helmets
Packers, Bears old logos and helmets

[note: 1966 and 1967 NFL Championship wins by Green Bay are not identified as titles, because of the Super Bowl. Green Bay won those first 2 Super Bowls (which were officially known as AFL-NFL Championship Games). The same also applies to the 1968 NFL Championship win (by the Baltimore Colts), with the title going to Super Bowl III winners the New York Jets; and to the 1969 NFL Championship win (by the Minnesota Vikings), with the title going to the Super Bowl IV winners the Kansas City Chiefs.]
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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘NFC North‘.
Thanks to misterhabs.com/Helmets , aka Helmets, Helmets, Helmets site. At that site I got most of the helmet illustrations for the 8 maps in this series. There are two problems with this set of helmet illustrations at the HelmetsX3 site – the metallic helmets are shown too dark, and the site hasn’t been updated since 2009 or so. So all the helmet illustrations in this series are from the HelmetsX3 site except for the helmet illustrations of all the silver or gold (or pewter) helmeted teams – Carolina, Dallas, Detroit, Oakland, New England, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Tampa Bay; as well as new Buffalo, recently new Arizona, recently new Indy, and also Tennessee helmet illustrations, all of which I found at each team’s page at en.wikipedia.org… ‘National Football League‘.
Thanks to mlive.com, for the photo of the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Thanks to The Wearing Of the Green (and Gold) A (hopefully) comprehensive look at the uniforms of the Green Bay Packers, 1919 to today.
Thanks to NFLteamhistory.com.

Special thanks to Tim Brulia, Bill Schaefer and Rob Holecko of The Gridiron Uniform Database, for giving billsportsmaps.com the permission to use the football uniforms illustrations at gridiron-uniforms.com.

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October 5, 2011

NFL, NFC East: map, with a brief league history, and titles list.

Filed under: NFL>NFC East,NFL, divisions,NFL/ Gridiron Football — admin @ 9:33 pm

NFC East map

This post begins a new series, which will be filed under the Category “NFL>Divisions”. There will be 8 posts in this series, one for each of the eight 4-team NFL divisions. The four NFC divisions will be posted this season [2011]; the four AFC divisions will be posted from 2012 to 2014. (Note from Sept. 29, 2013: sorry for the delays but this category’s coverage became more expansive [and thus time-consuming on my part], with respect to the 3 AFC divisions I have posted so far).

The map is a simple location map, with current [2011] helmets shown next to each team’s current stadium-location. All the other NFL teams’ stadium-locations are also shown on the map. Any franchise shits of the 4 teams being featured are noted, with an arrow pointing towards the city the franchise moved to. At the far right of the map page is a brief history of the NFL, and below that is a titles list that includes, for the 4 teams being featured…A). Team’s year of establishment. B). Team’s Super Bowl titles. C). Team’s NFL Championship titles [from the pre-Super Bowl era of 1920-1965] (or, as with many AFC, teams, their AFL titles). D). Team’s total playoff appearances [1933-2010]. E). Teams total seasons in the NFL [counting this season - 1920 to 2011]. [I put the total seasons column next to the total playoff appearances column so it is easy to get a picture of each team's frequency of post-season play.]

At the lower right of the map page are short profiles of the 4 teams in the division. The profiles include a listing of all home venues the team has played in. Those profiles are also in text form further down in this post.
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http://billsportsmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/nfl_timeline1920-33_2.gif

The New York (football) Giants
The New York (football) Giants began in the 1925 NFL season. They played at the New York (baseball) Giants’ ballpark, the Polo Grounds [in northern Manhattan Island] from 1925 to 1955; at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx from 1956 to 1973; at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, CT, from 1973-74; and at the Mets’ Shea Stadium in Queens, NYC in 1975. In 1976, the Giants moved into Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. A new stadium, MetLife Stadium, was built on the same site and opened in 2010. They have shared Giants Stadium, and now MetLife Stadium, with the New York Jets since 1984. The Giants began wearing their trademark dark-blue-helmet-with-single-red-stripe in 1949 {see this, New York Giants, 1949 [uniforms], from the great site called Gridiron Uniforms Database}. The Giants’ iconic ‘ny’ logo was introduced in 1961 (1961-74), and re-introduced in 2000, with a metallic, and slightly lighter blue helmet. In 2000, grey facemasks were also re-introduced (see Giants’ helmet history below).

New York Giants’ first NFL title in was in 1927. The New York Giants won 4 NFL Championship titles (1927, 1934, 1938, 1956).
New York Giants: 3 Super Bowl titles (1986, 1990, 2007).
The Giants are 3-1 in Super Bowl appearances [lost to Ravens in 2000 season].

Est. 1925 as an NFL expansion franchise, the New York (football) Giants (1925-2013).
Below – New York Giants helmet history (1925-2012)

Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/giants.

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The Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins’ franchise began in 1932, in Boston, MA. The Boston (football) Braves played their first season at the Boston (baseballl) Braves’ ballpark, Braves Field. They changed their name to the Boston Redskins a year later, in 1934; and five years later, in 1937, they moved to Washington, DC. The Redskins won their first NFL title in their first season in DC. The Redskins have played at Fenway Park in Boston from 1933-36; at the Washington Senators’ ballpark, Griffith Stadium, from 1937 to 1960; at RFK Stadium from 1961 to 1996; and just outside the District of Columbia in Landover, MD, at FedEx Field, since 1997. The Redskins have a blatantly racist nickname, but team ownership is both unrepentant about this fact, and adamant in its neolithic refusal to change its hateful moniker. So, with that bigoted legacy in mind, it is no surprise that the Redskins were the last NFL team to integrate. They resisted integration until threatened by the Kennedy administration with Civil Rights legal action in 1962.

Washington Redskins’ first NFL title in was in 1937. The Washington Redskins won 2 NFL Championship titles (1937, 1942).
Washington Redskins: 3 Super Bowl titles (1982, 1987, 1991).
The Redskins are 3-2 in Super Bowl appearances [lost to Dolphins in 1972 season, and lost to LA Raiders in 1983 season].

Est. 1932 as an NFL expansion franchise, the Boston (football) Braves of Boston, MA (NFL, 1932)/ in 1933 changed name to Boston Redskins (NFL, 1933-36)/ in 1937 moved to Washington, DC as the Washington Redskins (NFL, 1937-2012):
Washington Redskins Helmet History -

Washington Redskins Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/redskins.

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The Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are the second franchise in the Philadelphia area. The first was the Frankford Yellow Jackets, who played in the NFL from 1924 to halfway through the 1931 season, when they folded. The Frankford Yellow Jackets had to play on Saturdays [Pennsylvania Blue Laws], yet still drew well (+15,000 per game] and were successful, winning the 1926 NFL title. When the Blue Laws in PA were relaxed in 1933, the NFL placed 2 of 3 new franchises that year in the state – the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Pirates [now Steelers]. The Eagles’ name was chosen in honor of the eagle logo of the New Deal-era National Recovery Act {‘National Recovery Administration‘}. The Eagles played at the Phillies’ ballpark the Baker Bowl from 1933-35; at Municipal Stadium from 1936-39/1941; at the Athletics’ ballpark Shibe Park [later called Connie Mack Stadium] from 1940 to 1957; at Penn University’s Franklin Field from 1958 to 1970; at Veterans Stadium from 1972 to 2002 (sharing the venue with the Phillies); and at Lincoln Financial Field since 2003. To deal with the vast legions of unruly Eagles fans, the city of Philadelphia built jail cells in Veterans Stadium, and operated a court of law there, from 1997 to 2002.

Philadelphia Eagles’ first NFL title in was in 1948. The Philadelphia Eagles won 3 NFL Championship titles (1948, 1949, 1960).
The Eagles are 0-2 in Super Bowl appearances [lost to Oakland in 1980 season, and lost to New England in 2004 season].

Est. 1933 as an NFL expansion franchise, Philadelphia Eagles (NFL, 1933-2012):
Philadelphia Eagles Helmet History -

Philadelphia Eagle Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/eagles.

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The Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys were the second NFL franchise in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The first, the Dallas Texans of 1952, did not last the season at the Cotton Bowl, and the NFL had to take over the team, which was made defunct following the 1952 season.. That was the last defunct NFL franchise {List of defunct NFL franchises (en.wikipedia.org)}. The Dallas Cowboys began in 1960, the 13th NFL team. They debuted their metallic silver blue helmets in 1963. They won their first Super Bowl title in their 10th season (1969 season). The Cowboys have won 5 Super Bowl titles (second-most). They played at the Cotton Bowl from 1960 to 1971; in Irving, TX [a western suburb of Dallas], at Texas Stadium, from 1972 to 2008; and in Arlington, TX [20 mi. west of Dallas], at Cowboys Stadium, since 2009.

Dallas Cowboys: 5 Super Bowl titles, (1971, 1977, 1992, 1993, 1995).
The Cowboys are 5-3 in Super Bowl appearances [lost to Baltimore Colts n 1970 season, lost to Steelers in 1975 season, and lost to Steelers again in 1978 season].
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Thanks to whoever put a link to my map of NFL, 1920-1960/Giants, Lions, Redskins at the New York Giants’ Wikipedia page, at ‘Logos and uniforms of the New York Giants/Uniforms‘ [ Giants, Redskins old helmets ].
From that same series 4 years ago, here is the Eagles and Steelers version.

Thanks to misterhabs.com/Helmets , aka Helmets, Helmets, Helmets site. At that site I got most of the helmet illustrations for the maps in this series. There are two problems with this set of helmet illustrations at the HelmetsX3 site – the metallic helmets are shown too dark, and the site hasn’t been updated since 2009 or so. So all the helmet illustrations in this series are from the HelmetsX3 site except for the helmet illustrations of all the silver or gold (or pewter) helmeted teams – Carolina, Dallas, Detroit, Oakland, New England, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Tampa Bay; as well as new Buffalo, recently new Arizona, recently new Indy, and also Tennessee helmet illustrations, all of which I found at each team’s page at en.wikipedia.org… ‘National Football League‘.
Thanks to mlive.com, for the photo of the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘NFC East‘.

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September 24, 2011

NHL 2011-2012 Location Map, with average attendances from 2010-2011 regular season, and Stanley Cup titles’ list (active teams) / With a short article on the arrival of European players into major-league ice hockey in North America, featuring the Hot Line of Hull/Hedberg/Nilsson (Winnipeg Jets 1974-78) / Plus Winnipeg Jets (II), logos / Plus Winnipeg Jets (I): a graphic synopsis of the franchise that is now based in Phoenix.

Filed under: Hockey,Hockey-NHL and expansion — admin @ 8:52 pm

NHL, 2011-12 location map, with 2010-11 avg. attendances, and all-time titles list
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NHL.com
For the fifth-straight season, the NHL will begin the season by playing a set of games in Europe…
‘NHL to play regular-season games in Europe again‘.
The 2011-2012 NHL regular season will begin on October 6. On October 7, 2 games will be played in Europe – one of which is the Anaheim Ducks versus the Buffalo Sabres in Helsinki, Finland. It is no coincidence that the Ducks are playing in Finland, because Helsinki is the birthplace of their 18-year veteran superstar Teemu Selänne, who plays Right Wing and is 41 years old, yet still was the 8th-highest scorer in the NHL last season (with 80 points). In fact, there are 4 Finnish players on Anaheim, the other three being the Ducks’ captain, and two-time-All-Star, the Center Saku Koivu; Defenseman Toni Lydman, and Goalie Iiro Tarkki. The Anaheim Ducks currently have 7 European players on their roster [all the roster lists linked to here were as of Sept.24,2011]. The Buffalo Sabres also currently have 7 European players on their roster, including Finnish LW Vinne Leino.

Also on October 7, the Los Angeles Kings will play the New York Rangers in Stockholm, Sweden. On the LA Kings’ current roster is 1 European playerr. The New York Rangers boast 8 European players on their current roster, including 3 Swedes, most notably their starting Goalie Henrik Lundqvist, as well as LW Carl Hagelin and RW Andreas Thuresson.

The following day (October 8) Stockholm, Sweden will host another regular-season game, with the Ducks vs. the Rangers; while the Sabres and the Kings will play in Berlin, Germany [this will the first-ever regular-season-NHL-game in Germany]. Buffalo has 2 German players on their current roster – D Christian Ehrhoff (ex-Vancouver Canuck), and assistant-captain and 8-season-Sabres’-veteran, the Left Winger Jochen Hecht.

Granted, team rosters are preseason-bloated and have not been pared down, but I think you get the idea. There are an awful lot of European players playing in the National Hockey League these days. And that brings us to my segue… the North American teams that were the trailblazers in utilizing European-born and European-raised talent. Sure, the New York Rangers had the first European-born-and-raised NHL player, Swedish 1964 Olympic Silver Medalist Ulf Sterner, who played 4 games for the New York Rangers in 1964-1965. But the first two major-league hockey teams in North America who played European players on a regular basis were the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association. In 1973-1974, with the Swedes Borje Salming (D), and Inge Hammarström (LW), the Maple Leafs blazed the trail {here is the Hockey Hall of Fame site’s page on Borje Salming; here is an article on Borje Salming’s impact on the game in North America from Greatest Hockey Legends.com}. The following season, 1974-1975, the Winnipeg Jets signed three other Swedes, two of whom would go on to have a huge impact on the offensive style of ice hockey in North America. Those two players were Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, who, when teamed with legendary Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, formed the “Hot Line’” [Note: the third Swedish-born player who also played on the Jets back then was Defenseman Lars-Erik Sjöberg (1974-80 on Winnipeg), and Sjöberg usually played on the same shift with the Hull/Hedbergh/Nilsson line].

The two Swedes on Toronto, and Borje Salming in particular, showed that Europeans could hack it in major-league North American hockey. But the two Swedes who began playing for Winnipeg a year later would go on to prove that Europeans could win titles in North America. The trio of Nilsson (C), Hull (LW), and Hedberg (RW) played a swift, inter-weaving style of ice hockey that threw away the notion that wingers must stay in their channels. With their puck-handling skills and speed, they were able to control the flow of the game. On counter-attacks, when they switched positions as the need arose, they were swift and deadly.
From Rebel League - The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association, by Ed Willes (McLellan & Stewart, Toronto, 2004) -
{excerpt…”You could argue whether the Hull-Hedberg-Nilsson line – the Hot Line – was the best line in the game’s history, but they were inarguably the most influential. They played together for just four years, but when they were done practically every NHL team was trying to capture the magical combination of speed, skill, and creativity the line possessed. Glen Sather built his Edmonton Oilers dynasty on the Jets model. The modern transition game was pioneered by Hull and his colleagues, as was the practice of interchanging forward roles on the rush. The numbers they accumulated in their four seasons together are staggering, but they played in a league without a television contract, which means most of their legacy is anecdotal and almost mythic. In the end it only seems to add to their aura. And if the NHL never saw the best of Hedberg and Nilsson, in much the same way the NBA never saw the best of Julius Erving, it makes their four years in Winnipeg that much more memorable.
“They revolutionized the game,” says André Lacroix, the seven-year WHA veteran. “They said, Just because you play left wing doesn’t mean you have to go up and down your wing like a robot. You can use the whole ice. It was exciting”.
“…end of excerpt}

Hull, Hedberg, and Nilsson skated circles around the opposition and revolutionized the game in North America, and led Winnipeg to the first 2 of the team’s 3 WHA titles. Here’s a few numbers …in 1974-75, in their first season together, Ulf Nilsson had an astounding 94 assists (for 120 points). In 1977-78, en route to the second of Winnipeg’s 3 WHA titles, Anders Hedberg scored 76 goals in an 81-game season (and became the first-ever to score 50 goals in 50 games), and between the three of them the Hot Line amassed 365 points that season. This sort of offensive domination kick-started a scramble amongst other teams to get some European players of their own. The other WHA teams, and, more importantly, other NHL teams, soon began to dip into the vast European talent pool, to the point where, some 37 years later, roughly 25 to 30 percent of NHL players are European.
From en.wikipedia.org, ‘List of NHL statistical leaders by country‘.

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Lack-of-new-content disclaimer…This map, which you can see by clicking on the image at the top of this post, and which I originally posted around 3 years ago {here} is basically an excuse to show off the new Winnipeg Jets (II), whose franchise moved from Atlanta, Georgia, USA to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in June 2011, returning NHL hockey to Manitoba and the Canadian prairies after a 15-year absence. Thank you Gods of Hockey, for relocating a team, for once, in the proper direction. When a new NHL team comes to the Sunbelt, the collective response there is “Meh”. When a new NHL team comes to a Canadian city, the collective response there is to sell out the entire allotment of season tickets in a matter of minutes. From The Winnipeg Free Press, from June 4, 2011, by Ed Tait “Season ticket wait list capped at 8,000 following 17-minute sellout‘.
Thanks to the Canadians who got this team out of the Deep South and into the frozen North, where major league hockey teams belong. You’re next, Phoenix.

Photo credit – shop.nhl.com

‘Winnipeg Jets‘ at en.wikipedia.org.
Jets.nhl.com

Winnipeg Jets (I), 1972-1973 to 1995-1996.
7 seasons in WHA, 3 Avco Cup titles. 17 seasons in NHL.

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Photo of Stanley Cup from Photobucket.com.
Photo credits (pucks) – ClassicAuctions.net (1930s) . ClassicAuctions.net (ca. late 1950s/early 1960s) . ClassicAuctions.net (“Original Six teams [on reverse of puck]). ClassicAuctions.net , here (ca. 1960s) . GasolinAlleyAntiques.com , here (ca. 1970s) . GasolineAlleyAntiques.com (1974-1983) .PittsburghHockey.net [75th] . GasolineAlley.com (ca. 1995-2008) Collectible-Supplies.com (2011 Stanley Cup Finlas puck).Amazon.com [Boston Bruins, who were 2010-11 NHL champions] .

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘National Hockey League‘.
Thanks to ESPN for 2010-11 NHL attendances, here.
Thanks to RoadTraficSigns.com, for the arrow-sign.
Thanks to Ed Willes, for his book on the WHA…‘Rebel League, the short and unruly life of the World Hockey Association’, published by McLelland & Stewart, Toronto, 2004 {at Amazon, here}.

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September 20, 2011

Croatia: 1.HNL (the Croatian First Division).

Filed under: Croatia — admin @ 9:51 pm

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Soccerway.com/1.HNL – Results, fixtures, table

Croatia is a crescent-shaped nation of around 4.29 million {2011 census figure} that has an area of 56,594 square km. (21,851 sq. mi.), which makes Croatia slightly smaller in area than the state of West Virginia, and slightly smaller in area than the nation of Latvia. Croatia is situated in Central Europe at the northern end of the Balkan Peninsula and the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. The Croatian first division is currently [Sept.2011] ranked #20 by UEFA for play in Europen competitions (up 2 places from #22) {UEFA league coefficients}. Croatia’s relatively high UEFA league coefficient is the result of decent performances in Europe these past few years by the two biggest Croatian clubs – Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split. Hajduk Split qualified for last season’s [2010-11] Europa League Group Stage, and Dinamo Zagreb have qualified for this season’s [2011-12] Champions League Group Stage {my 2011-12 UEFA CL Group Stage map, here}.

Croatia became independent in 1991, leaving the Second Yugoslavia (the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which existed from 1945 to 1992). {The 6 republics of the former SFR Yugoslavia can be seen here}). A bloody and wrenching conflict with the rump-state of Yugoslavia [which was by then effectively controlled by Serbia], and conflict also with militarized ethnic Serbians within Croatia, preceded and followed Croatia’s independence, and is known as the Croatian War of Independence (1991-95).
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In the Croatian language, Croatia is known as Hrvatska. The Croatian first division is called the Prva HNL (Prva Hrvatska Nogometna Liga), or 1.HNL [Nogometna means 'Football' in Croatian]. There are 16 clubs in 1.HNL (up from 12 clubs after 2008-09). However, the Croatian Football Federation has decided to reverse this, and so 5 clubs will be relegated (and 1 club promoted up from the second division) at the end of the 2011-12 season, so as to return the 1.HNL to a more realistic 12-team league. I say more realistic, because a glance at the 2010-11 average attendance figures in Croatia (which you can see on the map page) will tell you that there are some pretty tiny clubs making up the numbers in top flight Croatian football – last season 3 clubs in 1.HNL did not even draw 1,000 per game on average, and only 5 clubs drew above 2,000 per game. The best-drawing club in Croatia is Hajduk Split, who drew 6,933 per game in 2010-11. Dinamo Zagreb drew second-best in 2010-11, averaging 3,560 per game – a figure that is pretty low for a 6-time-straight champion. Dinamo Zagreb has recently drawn as high as 11,156 per game (in 2005-06). But Dinamo Zagreb has seen an attendance drop in recent seasons that is partly explained by the fact that a considerable segment of their supporters have been boycotting games because of a feud with the club’s executive vice-president. Also, because the Croatian top flight has become such a two-horse race, many fans of the 2 top clubs have been turned off to the domestic competition. Their focus is on Europe. Here are some recent examples… Hajduk Split averaged 27,333 per game in their 3 Europa League home matches in 2010. Dinamo Zagreb drew 30,065 for their Champions League Play-off round tie in August 2011 versus Malmö FF (which Dinamo won 4-1 en route to a 4-3 aggregate victory); and Dinamo drew close to a full house, with a 34,847 turnstile count, in their 14th September 2011 Champions League match versus Real Madrid (which they lost 0-1) {Report on that match, with illustrations incl. an aerial view of the Stadion Maksimir that night, here (from CroatianSoccerReport.com}.

The Prva HNL was formed in 1991 [the Yugoslav First League lasted one more season before being dissolved in 1992]. The Prva HNL began it’s first, truncated season in Feb.1992. The 1.HNL runs from August to May, with an 8-week winter hiatus from late December to early February. All teams currently play each other twice, for a 30-game season. Last place finisher in 1.HNL is automatically relegated to the Druga HNL (aka 2.HNL), while the 15th place finisher must play the 2nd place finisher in 2.HNL in a promotion/relegation play-off.

There will obviously be a different arrangement next season [2012-13], with a 12-team/33-game/3-times-versus-other-teams format the most likely arrangement.
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As alluded to earlier, the Croatian first division is dominated by two clubs – Dinamo Zagreb, and Hajduk Split. These 2 clubs have won 19 of the 20 Croatian titles. The remaining title, from 2001-02, was won by the tiny west-Zagreb-based NK Zagreb (more on them further down).

Dinamo Zagreb are from the largest and capital-city of Croatia. Zagreb’s metro-area population is around 1.28 million {2011 figure}. [Dinamo Zagreb are one of 4 clubs from the capital that are currently in the Croatian top flight, the other 3 being: Lokomotiva, the newly-promoted NK Lučko, and the aforementioned NK Zagreb.] Dinamo Zagreb play in the city-owned Stadion Maksimir, which was opened in 1912, and renovated and expanded to a 38,923-capacity in 1997. The stadium, which takes it’s name from the Maksimir neighborhood on the east-side of Zagreb, is often home to the Croatian national football team. Dinamo Zagreb were formed in 1945, but it’s roots are in a club called Gradanski Zagreb.

Image credits – http://zagrebsblues.webs.com/2.htm

Gradanski Zagreb were formed in 1911, when Croatia was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Gradanski became the football club for working-class fans in Zagreb (as opposed to their major city-rivals HASK, which were the club of the upper-class and were affiliated with the University of Zagreb and it’s students). Gradanski won 5 Kingdom of Yugoslavia First League titles, with their last national title in 1939-40, which was the last season of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia phase (1923-40) of the Yugoslav First League. Gradanski Zagreb, along with 2 other Zagreb-based clubs – Concordia and HASK – were disbanded by the Yugoslav Communist Party immediately after the end of World War II, primarily for playing in the pro league of the short-lived Nazi-puppet-state called the Independent State of Croatia (1941-45).

Dinamo Zagreb became a charter member of the second-phase of the Yugoslav First League (which ran from 1946-47 to 1991-92). They won 4 Yugoslav titles during this phase. However, they had not won a title for 10 years when the Croatian clubs in the Yugoslav league system departed for the new Croatian league system in 1991. Of course, once the Croatian top flight was established, Dinamo Zagreb became, along with Hajduk Split, the dominant powers in Croatian football. Counting their entire existence in both Yugoslav and Croatian football, Dinamo Zagreb have never been relegated (1945-46 to 2011-12). Currently, Dinamo Zagreb are on a 6-season title-streak, having won every 1.HNL title since 2005-06, and again, Dinamo Zagreb sit atop the 1.HNL table [with a 5-point lead over Hajduk Split as of 20 Sept.2011].
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Hajduk Split were, like Gradanski Zagreb, also formed in 1911 (so 2011 is Hajduk Split’s Centenary Year). Split is a very old city, around 1,700 years old. Split has a city population of around 178,000 {2011 census figure}. ‘Hajduk’ is a term that refers to outlaws, freedom-fighters or guerrillas – sort of like a Balkan Robin Hood-figure. In Balkan folklore, the Hajduci (plural) were romanticized heroes who stole from, and battled against, the Ottoman authorities. This concept was especially resonant in Split circa 1911. That is because Split, as part of the Dalmatia region on the Adriatic coast, was prevented by their Austo-Hungarian rulers back then from being unified with the inland sections of land on the Balkan Peninsula historically populated by Croats.

Photo from Hajduk.hr via Skyscrapercity.com, here.

Hajduk Split won 2 Yugoslav First League titles pre-WWII (in 1927 and 1929), and, impressively for a club representing such a medium-sized city, Hajduk Split won 7 Yugoslav First League titles during the Communist era – their first title from this era was in 1949-50, and their last Yugoslav title was in 1978-79. So, just like Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Spit had not won a title in over decade when the Croatian league was started in 1992. Hajduk Split have won 6 Prva HNL titles, with their last in 2004-05 (Split finished second in 2006-07, 08/09, 09/10, and 10/11; while eastern Croatian side Slaven [Koprivnica] were runners-up in 2007-08, and north-western Croatian side Rijeka were runners-up in 2005-06). Like Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split have never been relegated, which puts Hajduk Split as having played in the first division since 1923.
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Finally, the only other Croatian champion besides Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split needs mentioning. NK Zagreb is a club that plays in another municipally-owned stadium in Zagreb, Stadion Kranjčevićeva, which has a 8,850 capacity, and is located in Trešnjevka, Zagreb. Trešnjevka is a large neighborhood in the western part of the city [note: just-promoted side NK Lučko are also playing there this season]. NK Zagreb have played in all 20 seasons of the Croatian top flight, as well as 19 seasons in the old Yugoslav First League. NK Zagreb uses the city of Zagreb’s coat of arms as it’s crest, and the fact that one of the design elements in that coat of arms is a Muslin crescent-moon is appropriate, because NK Zagreb is a club that is opposed to all forms of discrimination (be it ethnic, religious, or otherwise). The club also has a strong anti-hooliganism policy. As to the question of how NK Zagreb, a club that is hard-pressed to draw 1,000 per game these days, could have won the 2001-02 Croatian title, well, take a look at the numbers that Ivica Olić had that season. Ivica Olić is a Croatia international striker who currently plays for Bayern Munich. Olić famously scored the winning goal at Wembley that saw England eliminated from qualifying for Euro 2008. In 2001-02, as part of the NK Zagreb squad, Olić scored 21 goals in 28 matches (in a 30-game season). Also, NK Zagreb benefited that season from the experienced leadership of the much-travelled manager Zlatko Kranjčar (who is a former coach of the Croatia national team; a title-winning manager with Dinamo Zagreb in 1996 and 1998; and is the father of Tottenham midfielder Niko Kranjčar). NK Zagreb drew 3,387 per game in their championship-winning season of 2001-02, but last season [2010-11], they drew only 980 per game.
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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘Prva HNL’.
Thanks to European-Football-Statistics.co.uk, for attendance data.
Thanks to Demis.nl, for the base map – Demis Web Map Server.

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September 14, 2011

2011-12 UEFA Europa League, Group Stage – attendance map (with attendance data from 2010-2011 domestic leagues, home matches).

Filed under: UEFA Cup / Europa League — admin @ 9:43 pm

First matches are on 15 September {uefa.com/Europa League matches}.
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Click on the following Category, UEFA – clubs that qualified for Europe, to see club profiles/stadium photos of clubs in this competition that are from UEFA’s top 5-rated national leagues (of England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany). From the 5 posts, you can see 12 teams in the 2011-12 Europa League Group Stage (4 from England, 2 from Spain, 2 from Italy, 2 from Germany, and 2 from France).
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Thanks to European-Football-Statistics.co.uk, for attendance data.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2011–12 UEFA Europa League‘.
Thanks to free-football.tv, for the photo of the Europa League football.

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September 7, 2011

NCAA Division I FBS: Pac-12 Conference, 2011 season – attendance map (2010 figures) / Plus modern-era helmet history chart of Pac-12 teams / Plus maps of each of the two Pac-12 football divisions: the North Division and the South Division.

Filed under: NCAA Gridiron Football,NCAA/fb>Helmet History,NCAA/fb-Pac 10 & Pac-12 — admin @ 9:16 pm

Pac-12 Attendance map (2010 figures)

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This post has 5 gifs. The first gif, which you can see by clicking on the image above, is an attendance map of Pac-12 football teams, using 2010 home average attendances. Locations of the teams’ home stadiums are shown. Each team’s helmet (current home-uniform or base-uniform helmet) is shown, and is sized to reflect 2010 average attendance – the higher the average attendance, the larger the helmet. For gate figures, I used info from this pdf (from NCAA.com) – pdf, 2010 NCAA Division I FBS Attendance. The list in the upper-middle of the map page shows the teams’ 2010 average attendances, as well as percent-change from the 2009 season. Below that is a list of all-time titles for the Conference (PCC/AAWU/Pac-8/Pac-10/Pac-12, from 1916 to 2010). Years spent in the conference by each team is also noted. At the bottom, I have included the titles won from the 2 new teams’ previous conferences (Colorado coming over from the Big 12 Conference, and Utah coming over from the Mountain West Conference).
A brief history of the Pac-12 Conference and it’s previous permutations can be found 4 paragraphs down.
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The second gif (click on image below) is a chart of the modern-era helmet histories of the 12 teams in the Pac-12. By “modern-era” I mean the era of plastic composite football helmets, which began from the time right after World War II to the mid-1950s. During this 1946-to-circa-1955 time period, some college football programs took longer than others to stop using the decidedly less-safe leather helmets. I am pretty sure this chart is not 100% comprehensive, because I suspect a couple teams (Arizona and Oregon State) had earlier helmet designs at the start of the plastic composite helmet era (circa 1950-59), but I could not find confirmation of that. I pinned down helmet designs, helmet design changes, and dates the helmet designs were used mainly through two excellent sites – The Helmet Project (at National Champs.net), and the brilliant Helmet Hut.com. I can’t thank the people who run these sites enough. I don’t know the Helmet Hut guys’ names, but the Helmet Project site is the work of Charles Arey, so thanks very much, Charles.

One new aspect of the layout of the helmet history chart – the current [2011] helmet(s) of each Pac-12 team can be found in the gray-shaded section at the far right of the chart page. First, the large illustrations of each team’s primary helmet are displayed (these illustrations are from the excellent site called MG’s Helmets). Then there are small side-view & front-views of all the teams’ current helmets shown (these illustrations are from each team’s Wikipedia page [which, in their original form include the full uniforms], and were drawn by Wikipedia-user Kevin W). {All of Kevin W.’s college football teams’ uniforms illustrations can be found at a spot in Wikipedia, here}. So thanks very much to MG down there in Birmingham, AL; and thanks to Kevin W.
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A brief history of the college football conference now known as the Pac-12

The conference that is now named the Pacific-12 (Pac-12) was formed in 1959. It’s roots are in the Pacific Coast Conference, which began play for football in 1916, and existed from 1915 to 1959. Founding schools in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) were California (of Berkeley, CA), Washington (of Seattle, WA), Oregon (of Salem, OR), and Oregon State (of Corvallis, OR). The following year, 1917, Washington State (of Pullman, WA) joined. Stanford (of Palo Alto, CA) joined the next year, 1918. In 1922, the conference expanded to 8 teams with the addition of Southern California [ie, USC] (of Los Angeles, CA), and Idaho (of Moscow, ID). Montana (of Missoula, MT) joined in 1924. The PCC swelled to 10 teams when UCLA (of Los Angeles, CA) joined in 1928. Montana left the PCC in 1950, to join the Mountain States Conference. The dominant schools in Pacific Coast Conference football were the four California schools. UCLA won 12 Conference titles, both USC and California won 11 titles, and Stanford won 8 titles. The 6 other schools won a total of 14 titles, with the highest being Oregon with 5 titles. The two Rocky Mountain schools, Idaho and Montana, never won a football title.

The divide between the 4 California schools and the other 6 schools was also evident in another way. Many university leaders in the California schools considered the Northwest schools academically inferior, and advocated a split to form a separate California conference, for schools that held a higher standard of the student athlete.

So it is ironic that the split-up of the Pacific Coast Conference came about after a scandal involving illegal payments to players on the UCLA and USC teams. UCLA officials and coaches eventually admitted to widespread payments to players, and in turn blew the whistle on phony USC programs that paid players. 3 of the 4 California schools (but not Stanford), as well as Washington, were eventually implicated in the pay-for-play scandal, and the PCC disbanded in 1959.

In July, 1959, the Athletic Association of Western Universities was formed, comprising California, Stanford, UCLA, USC, and Washington. This in spite of the fact that many at Stanford had wanted UCLA to be expelled for their part in the pay-for-play/ slush fund scandal. For it’s first few years, 1960-’62, the AAWU was popularly known as the Big Five. The Northwest schools were initially blocked from joining, but Washington State was able to join in 1962, and it became known as the Big Six. Oregon and Oregon State were finally able to join in 1964. Idaho was never invited, and stayed independent until joining the Big Sky Conference in 1963.

In 1968, the AAWU changed it’s name to the Pacific 8 Conference, aka the Pac-8.
In 1978, the conference added two schools from the Western Athletic conference: Arizona State (Tempe, AZ), and Arizona (Tuscon, AZ), and changed it’s name to the Pacific-10 Conference, aka the Pac-10.

In 2011, the conference added two schools, one who left the the Big 12 Conference – Colorado (Boulder, CO); and one who left the Mountain West Conference – Utah (Salt Lake City, UT). The conference changed it’s name to the Pacific-12 Conference, aka the Pac-12. The football conference branch of the larger all-sports Pac-12 changed the structure of it’s competition by instituting a 2-division format (North and South Division), with a Pac-12 football championship final to be played each December (at the home field of the divisional finalist with the best record).
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The 3rd gif and the 4th gif show the new breakdown of teams by division in Pac-12 football (North Division and South Division).

The crucial detail is that all 4 California teams – 2 in the North Division (Cal and Stanford) and 2 in the South Division (UCLA and Southern Cal) – will be playing each other every season. That and other details concerning the new divisional structure are shown in the center of both divisional maps here via a screenshot I took from en.wikipedia’s page on the subject {the link for that page is at the very bottom of this post}.
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Below is the 5th gif, the 2011 Maryland Terrapins’ new alternate helmet and new alternate uniforms -

From HuffingtonPost.com, from 5 September 2011,’University Of Maryland Football Uniforms By Under Armour Create Buzz On Twitter (PHOTOS/TWEETS)‘.
http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/
From PalmBeachPost.com, ‘Maryland Terrapins’ new uniforms elicit a storm of fashion criticism‘. [Note: you can also see the new alternate helmets and new alternate uniforms of Georgia and Boise State at this link.]
From Washingtonpost.com, ‘University of Maryland football defeats Miami in season opener [w/ gallery]‘.
From SBnation.com/NCAA-football, ‘PHOTO: Maryland’s New Helmets…‘.
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Credits for Pac-12 Helmet History Chart -
Thanks to http://www.sports-logos-screensavers.com/NationalCollegiateAthleticsAssociation.html .
Thanks to Helmet Hut/College helmets.
Thanks to the Helmet Project page at http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/pac10.htm
Thanks to MG’s Helmets, for current [2011] Pac 12 football helmets.
Thanks to jennypenny1 at this address at E-Bay – http://stores.ebay.com/The-Football-Helmet-Store/NCAA-Game-Used-Helmets-/_i.html?rt=nc&_fsub=289111719&_sid=877628519&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1513&_pgn=2
Thanks to Amazon.com for the photo of the circa 1960 Oregon State helmet.
Thanks to MonsterMarketplace.com for the Cal 1987-2007 helmet photo, here.
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Credits for Pac-12 Attendance Map (2010 figures) -
Thanks to these sites for the helmet photos…
Arizona new white helmet (white, with asymmetrical red/white/navy stripes, and with white face mask), from the Arizona Wildcats official site’s gallery page, here.
Arizona State new home helmet (sunflower yellow, new pitchfork logo, with maroon face mask), from an article at the EastValleyTribune.com site, here.
Cal helmet from Fathead.com, here.
Colorado helmet from Fan’sEdge.com, here.
Oregon helmet (primary-uniform helmet) from Wallpaperborders.org, here.
Oregon State helmet from SportsBlink.com, here.
Stanford helmet from OmniSports.com [link was broken], here.
UCLA helmet from Fathead.com, here.
USC helmet from SportsCrack.comhere.
Utah helmet from SportsCrack.com, here.
Washington University helmet fromFathead.com, here.
Washington helmet from Fathead.com, here.
Washington State new home helmet (with grey, not maroon, face mask), here [link was broken to Cougars team shop, here].
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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2011 Pacific-12 Conference football season‘.
Thanks to NCAA.com, for attendance figures.

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September 1, 2011

2011-12 UEFA Champions League, Group Stage – attendance map (with attendance data from 2010-2011 domestic leagues, home matches).

Filed under: UEFA Champions League — admin @ 8:14 pm

2011-12 UEFA Champions League Group Stage attendance map

First matchday for the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League Group Stage is 13 and 14 September to see fixtures click on the following link –
{uefa.com/Champions League schedule}.
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The map on the map page shows the locations all 32 clubs in the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League Group Stage. Club crests are sized to reflect average attendance from 2010-2011 domestic leagues (home matches). At the left of the map and map segments are all the clubs listed by average attendance last season, along with attendance change versus 2009-2010 gate figures.
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If you missed it thus summer, I have charts with stadium photos of clubs playing in Europe in 2011-12 from these countries – England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France. Click on the following category – UEFA: Clubs that qualified for Europe – to see those 5 posts featuring 17 football clubs in the 2011-12 UEFA CL Group Stage [4 clubs from England; 4 clubs from Spain; 3 clubs from Italy; 3 clubs from Germany; 3 clubs from France].
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Thanks to E-F-S site, for attendance data.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2011-12 UEFA Champions League‘.

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August 26, 2011

Netherlands: 2011-12 Eredivisie, attendance map (with 2010-11 attendance data).

Filed under: Netherlands — admin @ 8:20 pm

Dutch top flight – 2011-12 season, with 2010-11 attendance data

Eredivise – Results, Fixtures, Table (Soccerway.com).

The Dutch first division is called the Eredivisie. On the map page, you can see the locations of the 18 clubs in the 2011-12 Eredivisie. Attendance data from last season (home league matches) can be found to the right of the map.

This season, the 56th season of the competition, began on the weekend of 6th August. Reigning champions are the Dutch giants Ajax, of Amsterdam, who have now won 30 national titles in the Netherlands including 8 titles which preceded the formation of Eredivisie, and the first Eredivisie title in 1956-57. But before last season, Ajax had not won a title in 7 years. And midway through the 2010-11 Eredivisie season, it looked like that title drought would continue, after Ajax lost their manager (Martin Jol, who resigned in early December because the squad was playing so poorly). Then Ajax lost their leading scorer, the talismanic striker Luis Suarez (who was sold to Liverpool in January). Then they lost their star goalkeeper to injury (Maarten Skekelenberg, who has since moved to Roma). But the squad came together under the leadership of Frank De Boer, and meanwhile Twente and PSV dropped points in the run-up. So Ajax’s fine form in the deciding weeks led to a final dual-match showdown versus Twente – first in the KNVB [Dutch] Cup, and then on the final day of the Eredivisie season. Although Ajax lost the Dutch Cup final to Twente (by a score of 3-2 in aet), a week later they showed up for the more important of the two matches, and handily disposed of Twente 3-1, to claim the title, with Siem de Jong scoring a brace. Frank De Boer is now, along with Rinus Michels and Ronald Koeman, one of the 3 players to have won a title as a player and a manager of Ajax.

It wasn’t just player attrition and a managerial change that the Ajax squad had to contend with last season – there was also a very public turf war within the Ajax top brass. Suffice to say that the 800 pound gorilla in the room, Johan Cruyff, is back with the leadership of the club now, after a half-decade-long turmoil within the Ajax board, so it looks like it will be bright days ahead for Ajax, what with the spiritual father of total football guiding the club and its player development system, {see this, from WorldOfAjax.wordpress.com, from 31 March 2011, ‘A free way for Johan Cruyff(?)‘.}

In that 7-year span when Ajax went without a title, 2 clubs emerged with national championships, breaking the quarter-century-long domination of the Dutch game by the Big 3 – the triumvirate of Ajax, PSV, and Feyenoord. Those 3 clubs had won every Dutch title from 1981-82 to 2007-08 (27 seasons). Then the small club from Noord Holland, AZ of Alkmaar, won the 2008-09 title after coming agonizingly close in the seasons before [AZ had won the 1980-81 title; their 08/09 title is their second Dutch title]. AZ [pronounced 'Ah-Zed'] recently re-built and expanded their stadium, but it still has a capacity of only 17,000. Alkmaar has a population of around just 90,000 {2007 figure}. Even people from down the road in the freak-friendly city of Amsterdam consider Alkmaar to be a pretty freaky place, what with it’s fully-sanctioned window prostitution in it’s red-light district. After AZ shook up the status-quo in Dutch football, another provincial club took the baton the following season, with FC Twente, of Enschede, winning the 2009-10 title, by one point ahead of Ajax…{see this from Guardian.co.uk, from 2 May 2010, by Louise Taylor, ‘Steve McClaren goes from zero to hero as FC Twente win Dutch title‘. Enschede has a population of around 156,000 {2009 figure}. It was FC Twente’s first Dutch title. Twente play in the 24,000-capacity De Grolsch Veste, and the club pretty much plays to capacity these days. [FC Twente's current stadium expansion saw a recent tragedy {see this, from Guardian.co.uk, from 8 July, 'Second death following collapse of FC Twente stadium roof'}.]

In fact, clubs playing to high, above-90-percent-capacities is a recurring theme in the Netherlands, as you can see by the chart on the map page. Over half of the clubs – eleven clubs in the current season of Eredivisie – filled their stadiums to an above-90%-capacity figure last season (and Ajax was just below that at 89.3 %-capacity). But notably, only one of the Big 3 did – PSV, of Eindhoven, who are, like Wolfsburg in Germany (Volkswagen) and Sochaux in France (Puegot), a club that is bankrolled by a large multinational that makes durable goods. In PSV’s case, it is the electronics manufacturer Philips that has put the club on the map. PSV are the most successful club in the Netherlands in the last decade or so, having won 7 titles since 1999-2000, but their last title was 3 seasons ago in 2007-08. PSV play at the 35,000-capacity Philips Stadion. Philips Stadion is a pretty nice ground (with state-of-the-art fully heated seating and hi-tech turf-maintenance features) that is, unlike many of the first-division grounds in the Netherlands, right by the city center. Eindhoven has a population of around 213,000 and a metro-area population of around 440,000 {2010 figures}. To round out the population figures of the cities of the Big 3 clubs, Amsterdam [Ajax], the largest city in the Netherlands, has a city population of 1.2 million and a metro-area population of around 2.15 million {2010 figures}; while Rotterdam [Feyenoord], Holland’s second city, has a city population of around 611,000 and a metro-area population of around 1.21 million {2010 figures}. Feyenoord is starting to become like the Dutch version of Liverpool, because they have not won a national title since 1998-99, and are in retrograde, and in fact were in the bottom-half of the table last season, with a 10th-place finish, which included a 10-0 loss to PSV. The reason for Feyenoord’s title-drought and drastic drop in form is financially-based. However, Feyenoord might be out of contention these days, but the club can still pack them in, drawing 42,559 per game last season. Only Ajax draws better: they drew 47,316 per game to their 52,960-capacity Amsterdam Arena, which has a retractable roof and looks like it landed there from another planet. That’s par for the course in Dutch football, because in my opinion, this plucky little nation has created some pretty cool looking football grounds, as you can see in my previous post on the Eredivisie, {see this- ‘The Netherlands: 2009-10 Eredivisie, with 08/09 average attendances, and stadium photos‘}. Last season, the Eredivisie as a whole drew 19,296 per game. Notice that there are no running tracks in any of the top flight stadiums in the Netherlands. Thank goodness no one ever tried to combine an ice-skating oval and a football ground there.

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Thanks to E-F-S site, for attendance data.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2011–12 Eredivisie‘.
Thanks to Demis.nl for the base map, Demis Web Map Server.

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August 21, 2011

Spain: the 3 promoted clubs from Segunda División to La Liga for the 2011-12 season.

Filed under: Spain — admin @ 2:58 pm

The 3 promoted clubs in La Liga

La Liga players, and Segunda División players, have gone on strike – from Guardian.co.uk, from 19 Aug., by Sid Lowe, ‘Strike brings pain to Spain over players’ demand for emergency fund – La Liga faces prolonged shutdown while players’ union fights for a guarantee that protects all unpaid wages‘.

Some 200 players in La Liga and Segunda División are owed around 43 million Euros in back salary (!) {see this article, from the Rob Train blog at ESPN Soccernet, from 21 Aug., ‘Player strike delays La Liga season‘}.
[editor's note: the strike lasted just one week.]
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Real Betis returns to La Liga after a 2-season spell back in the Segunda División. Betis had previously been in the second tier in 2000-01. Real Betis Balompié S.A.D were formed in 1907. The Seville club, with a fan base large enough to average around 38,000 per game in good seasons, has spent 46 seasons in the first division; the 2011-12 La Liga season, whenever it begins, will be Betis’ 47th season in the top flight. Seville, the 4th largest city in Spain, has a city population of around 704,000 and a metro-area population of around 1.5 million {2010 figures}. Real Betis won the 1934-35 La Liga season, for the club’s sole national title. That team was managed by the Irish international Patrick O’Connell. O’Connell had guided Betis out of the second division in 1932. Their 1935 championship came on the final day of the season, when they beat Santander and pipped Real Madrid by 1 point for the crown in the then-twelve-team-league. O’Connell left the next season to manage Barcelona. Betis have won 2 Copa del Rey – in 1977 and 2005. Betis’ 1977 cup win was over Athletic Bilbao, and needed 21 penalties and an 8-7 tally to decide the 2-2 match. Betis’ 2005 cup win saw them beat Osasuna 2-1 in aet. Betis play in the 52,000-capacity Estadio Benito Villamarín. [It is significant that while Betis play in stadium with a larger capacity than local rivals Sevilla FC (who play at the 48,500-capacity Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán), Sevilla have outdrawn Betis every season since 2002-03. Sevilla's highest crowds in the last decade were in 2006-07, when they drew 43,632 per game; while Betis' highest crowds in the last decade were also in 06/07, when they drew 38,737.] Betis averaged 31,095 per game last season, which is a huge figure for the Spanish second division, where often, no team draws over 20,000 per game, and where very few clubs can draw even 15,000 per game. Betis play in green-and-white vertically-striped jerseys – green and white are the colors of the flag of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. Betis’ green is usually a lighter shade of green than the Andalusian flag, although this season [2011-12], Betis have an alternate kit that includes a jersey in a darker shade of green – see this from FootballFashion.org).

Rayo Vallecano are the self-styled left-wing football club of Madrid. Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. were formed in 1924. The team plays in white jerseys with a red sash. They play in the three-sided Estadio de Vallecas, which has a capacity of 15,500. The ground is in the working-class neighborhood of Vallecas, in the south-east of Madrid, 9 metro stops and 15 minutes south of the Sol station in the center of Madrid [Madrid has a city population of around 3.2 million and a metro-area population of around 6.4 million {2010 figures}]. Rayo Vallecano have spent 11 seasons in La Liga; 2011-12 will be the club’s 12th season in the top flight. Their last spell in the top tier was a 4-season stint from 1999-2000 to 2002-03 that included the club’s best-ever finish (of 9th place in 1999-2000), and a UEFA Cup run that saw them reach the 2000-01 UEFA Cup quarterfinals (going out to the Basque side Deportivo Alavés). Rayo Vallecano’s relegation in 2003 was just the start of their troubles, and another relegation in 2004-05 saw Rayo Vallecano stuck in the third division, in Segunda División B. Rayo returned to the second division in 2008. The club had financial problems for years, but the situation got worse when, during Rayo Vallecano’s promotion-run last season, the squad was only sporadically being paid – like, circa March 2011, only twice in the past 9 months. [Note - this is an example of the main reason why players in Spain in the top two divisions have gone on strike.] The owner, Jose Maria Ruiz Mateos, had previous as a tax cheat and spent time in prison for that a few years earlier. He’s the sort of businessman that did quite well when Franco was in power, and supported the status quo back then. His politics are lovely, too, with him giving lavishly to the creepy far right-wing Opus Dei organization. [What a great businessman this guy is...he's a right winger who buys the most left-wing football club in the country. That's a like an Israeli consortium buying a hog farm.] By early in 2011, his holding company was in financial crisis, and for pretty much all season long, the players were not being paid. In March, Ruiz Matos’ wife, Maria Teresa Rivero, who was the figurehead at the top of the club, accused the players of not trying, after a 4-1 loss to a basement club. That’s some pretty twisted moral values right there – criticizing the commitment of your players whom you have been failing to pay. Next thing you know there’s fan demonstrations outside the owners’ domicile, and even player protests prior to match kick-offs. {See this article, from When Saturday Comes site, from 4 March 2011, by Huw Richards, ‘Rayo Vallecano held back by their owners‘.} Well, the good news is that that owner and his charming wife, after 20 years, are now gone. The new owner is a local businessman, Raúl Martín, age 36, who made his money in the printing industry. The bad news is that Rayo Vallecano are now in administration. Being in administration in Spain is not necessarily as onerous as it is in England, because there are never any points deductions that accompany going-into-administration, like in England. However, with administrators now trying to force a 70%-pay-cut on the players, it looks like even more players are set to walk. From the FiveInMidfield.com site, from 19 June 2011, ‘Rayo Vallecano reach La Liga after tumultuous period of absence‘.

Granada CF wouldn’t be back in La Liga after a 35-year spell in the lower leagues without the support of Serie A club Udinese. 12 players on loan from Udinese contributed to Granada’s second-straight promotion in 2010-11, and several of those Udinese loanees were starters for Granada. In fact, a Udinese loan player, the Nigerian FW Odion Ighalo, was responsible for the goal that got Granada promoted, in the play-off finals versus Elche. And the fourth-highest scorer in Segunda División last season, the Swiss-born/ethnic Spaniard Alexandre Geijo (who netted 24 times last season), was and still is also on loan from Udinese to Granada. All this was the result of Granada president Quique Pina, who was a player agent in Italy and whose previous job was with Udinese Calcio. Udinese have a rather small fan base that produces crowds of only around 17,000 per game, and this club from the north-east of Italy survives in the Italian top flight by eventually selling off a good portion of the talent they develop. So it’s a win-win situation that circumvents the no-promotions-allowed-for-B-teams rule, by Udinese essentially having their B team in another country. Udinese have also given financial support to Granada. Granada CF are from Granada, in the south of Spain in Andalusia, about 50 km. (30 miles) from the coast, and 212 km. (132 miles) east of Seville. The city of Granada has a population of around 237,000 {2007 figure}. Granada is at the confluence of 3 rivers at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain. The city of Granada is 738 meters (2,421 feet) above sea level. The Moorish palace and fortress and present-day museum and tourist-mecca the Alhambra, built in the 14th Century, is in Granada. Granada CF plays at the smart and compact, small-yet-still-three-tiered Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes, which has a capacity of 22,890 (but the stadium had been restricted to a 16,212 capacity while Granada was in the lower divisions). Granada drew 14,143 per game last season. Granada CF has a distinctive, narrow, shield-shaped crest in red and white, with angular and stylized G-C-F initials; and the team plays in red-and-white hooped jerseys and blue pants. Granada have spent 17 seasons in La Liga, and when the 2011-12 La Liga season gets underway, it will be Granada’s 18th season in the top flight. Granada Club de Fútbol were formed somewhat later than the bulk of top-division clubs in Spain, in 1931. It only took the club a decade to make it to the top flight – Granada made it’s first division debut in 1941-42. Granada’s most successful era was in the 1970s, with 8 seasons in La Liga then, including two 6th-place-finishes – in 1971-72 and 1973-74, which are Granada’s highest finishes.

Photo credits -
Rayo Vallecano…Aerial image of stadium [formely called Estadio Teresa Rivero] now called Estadio de Vallecas from bing.com/maps/Bird’s Eye satellite view, here. 4 interior photos of Estadio de Vallecas from DiarosDeFutbol.com, ‘Vuestros estadios: Estadio Teresa River (Vallecas, Madrid)‘.

Real Betis…Aerial photo of stadium [formerly called Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera] now called Estadio Benito Villamarín] by PrishtinaLund at Flickr.com, here. Exterior photo of stadium with houses in the foreground by nosbigdivad at Flickr.com, here. Exterior photo of stadium by Gregory Zeier at en.wikipedia.org, here. Interior photo ofstadium by hombre at WprldFootball.net, here.

Granada…Aerial image of Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes from Bing.com/maps/Bird’s Eye satellite view, here. Panoramic image of Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes from ImageShack.us, here. Photo during a match at Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes by Lanadahlauts at Flickr.com, here.

Thanks to E-F-S site, for attendances.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2011-12 La Liga‘.
Thanks to Demis.nl for the base map of Spain, Demis Web Map Server.

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August 16, 2011

Italy: the 3 clubs promoted from Serie B to Serie A, for the 2011-12 season / Plus, Italian Baseball League – location map of the 8-team league, with Scudetto and Coppa Italia [Baseball] titles of each club.

Filed under: Italy,Italy: Baseball — admin @ 10:01 pm

The 3 promoted clubs in Serie A

From wsc.co.uk, on 1 Aug. 2011, by Geoff Bradford, ‘Italy’s match-fixing investigation will run and run‘.
Note: as the above articles points out, most observers of the Italian game don’t think the implicated club Atalanta will get relegated back down to Serie B as punishment for their part in the betting and match fixing scandal from last season (which took place mostly in Serie B and Serie C). Atalanta will probably get a points deduction for this season.
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Two of the 3 clubs promoted from Serie B in June will be immediately returning to the Italian top flight – Atalanta and AC Siena. The other promoted club, Novara, has not been in the first division since 1956.

Atalanta are from Bergamo, which is in the Region of Lombardy, 45 km. (29 miles) north-east of Milan. Bergamo has a population of around 120,000 {2010 figure}. Such close proximity to Milan and the 2 Milanese footballing giants (Milan and Internazionale) has certainly prevented Atalanta from building a larger fan base. Atalanta drew 18, 737 per game last season, but that number is much higher than recent attendance figures because the club had slashed ticket prices following relegation from Serie A in 2009-10, and that helped increase the crowds. In fact, Atalanta was drawing in the 12,000 per game range in their last 2 seasons in Serie A (08/09 and 09/10). Atalanta have played 50 seasons in Serie A, the 2011-12 Serie A season will be their 51st. The club has no national titles, but Atalanta did win the 1963 Coppa Italia title, defeating Torino 3-1. Their highest finish in Serie A was in 1947-48, when they finished 5th (in the first Serie A season following World War II). The club was formed in 1907, and played with black and white vertically-striped jerseys. The club took their name from the character in Greek mythology named Atalanta, who was a female athlete. In 1924 a merger between Atalanta and Bergamasca created Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio S.p.A. Bergamasca had played in blue jerseys, so the new club began wearing black and blue vertically-striped jerseys. Atalanta joined the Italian league system in 1929, and first reached Serie A in 1937-38, but were relegated back to Serie B immediately. Their next spell in the top flight was much longer, a 16-season spell from 1940-41 to 1958-59. They won promotion back to Serie A one season later, for the 1960-61 season, and this time Atalanta stayed in the top tier for a decade, before relegation in 1972-73. After that, Atalanta morphed into a yo-yo club. Promoted in 1977/relegated back to Serie B two seasons later in 1979. Promoted in 1985/relegated two seasons later in 1987. Promoted in 1988/relegated six seasons later in 1994. Promoted in 1995/relegated three seasons later in 1998. Promoted in 2000/relegated three seasons later in 2003. Promoted in 2004/relegated one season later in 2005. Promoted in 2006/relegated four seasons later in 2010. Atalanta plays in the 24,642-capacity Stadio Atleti Azzuri d’Italia.
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AC Siena are from Siena, in the region of Tuscany. The city of Siena has a long history and a prominence and is quite a tourist magnet. But it is a tiny city – Siena’s population is only around 54,000 {2010 figure}. AC Siena drew 7,281 per game last season, and drew between 8 and 11,000 per game when they were in the top flight (for the first time) for a 7-season spell from 2003-04 to 2009-10. Società Sportiva Robur was formed in 1904. In 1933, the club’s name was changed to Associazione Calcio Siena SpA. The club still maintains the odd Robur reference in their crest, and around town the football team is called Robur to differentiate them from the club’s basketball team. Siena never managed to reach the second division, let alone the first division, in the nineteen-hundreds, and were finally promoted to Serie B in 2000. Siena then won promotion to Serie A three seasons later, in 2003. The club has played 7 seasons in the Italian top flight, never reaching higher than 13th place (which they did in 03/04 and in 08/09). 2011-12 will be Siena’s 8th season in Serie A. Siena have a loose affiliation with Juventus in that Juve often loans out players to Siena for experience, and the two clubs co-own some players (which is a common practice in Italy). Siena play at the Stadio Artemio Franchi – Montepaschi Arena, which has a capacity of just 15,373. A recent renovation got rid of the running track behind one goal. Further renovations are not planned, because in March 2011, Siena announced plans for a new stadium, to be built just south of the city, {see this article, with architect’s renderings, ‘Siena’s new stadium will be below ground level‘, from the brilliant Dirty Tackle site}.
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Novara are from Novara, in the Region of Piedmont, 44 km. (27 miles) west of MIlan, and 88 km. (55 miles) north-east of Turin. Novara has a population of around 105,000 {2010 figure}. Because the club is from that historical region, Novara wear jerseys in the shade of blue (a grayish light royal blue) of the nation-of-Italy’s-founder-ruling-entity, the House of Savoy {as does the Italian national football team, see this ‘Why do Italian national sporting teams play in blue colours?‘, from Guardian.co.uk}. Novara has now won back-to-back promotions. Novara drew drew 2,241 per game in Serie C in 2009-10, and 5,449 per game in Serie B in 2010-11 . [I couldn't find attendance figures for Novara's last season in Serie A, 56 years ago.] Novara Calcio S.p.A were formed in 1908, and made their debut in the Italian league system in 1912. The club comes from the area in the eastern part of the Piedmont that was home to a very successful club in the early days of Italian football – Pro Vercelli, who won 7 Italian titles, their last in 1922, but are now a third division club [Novara is 22 km/14 mi. NE of Vercelli]. Novara first won promotion to Serie A in 1936, but went straight back down. Their next spell in the top flight lasted 3 seasons, from 1938-39 to 1940-41. Novara’s third spell in the top tier lasted 8 seasons, from 1948-49 to 1955-56, and included the club’s highest placement, at 8th place in 1951-52. It was during this era that Silvio Piola played for Novara. Piola racked up over 300 goals for Novara, and their stadium is named after him. Novara have spent much of their last 50 years in Serie C and Serie C2 [which are the third and fourth divisions, and now (since 2008) have the name of Legia Pro Prima Divisione and Legia Pro Seconda Divisione]. After 33 years below the second division, Novara won promotion back to Serie B in 2009-10. They finished in 3rd place in Serie B in 2010-11, and entered the promotion play-offs. In the first round, their 2-2 aggregate versus Reggina was good enough for them to advance, because in Italy, an aggregate tie in this case is not decided by away goals or overtime but by league finish, and Novara finished higher than Reggina. In the finals, Novara defeated Padova 2-0 in aggregate. On the map page you can see the Novara players celebrating their promotion with a victory lap around their Stadio Silvio Piola, which has a capacity of only 10,106. This season will be Novara’s 13th season in Serie A.

By the way, that baseball park next to Novara’s stadium (as seen in the satellite image on the map page) is the home of Italian Baseball League ball club Novara United. Novara United are a new member of the IBL {see this from BaseballItalia.com site from Feb.2011, here}. The Italian Baseball League is an 8-team league that was formed in 1948 {‘Italian Baseball League‘, page at en.wikipedia.org.}

So here is a map of the 2011 Italian Baseball League -
Click on the image below for map of Italian Baseball League 2011 season…

Photo credits -
Atalanta… Photo of roofed stand at Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia from fussballtempel.net. Interior photo of Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia by albe at Panoramio.com, here. Aerial photo from Skyscrapercity.com thread, here [and from a source that included a tag of 'Skypictures', which was from a site I could not find following a Google search]. Aerial image from Bing.com/maps/Bird’s Eye satellite view, here.

Novara…Photo of Novara players taking victory lap after winning the promotion play-off two-legged final versus Padova, on 12 June 2011, from AP/La Presse via CalcioPro.com, here. Photo of Stadio Silvio Piola at dusk from PESstatsdatabase.com, here. Photo of Stadio Silvio Piola main stand by aldo.maccone at Panoramio.com, here. Aerial image from Bing.com/maps/Bird’s Eye satellite view, here.

Siena…Photo of Photo of Stadio Artemio Franch in sunlight from SienaFree.it, here. Photo of new curva stand at Stadio Artemio Franch by Amras Carnesîr at pt.wikipedia.org, here. Stadio Artemio Franchi with running track in foreground by magro_kr at Flickr.com, here. Aerial image of Stadio Artemio Franchi from Bing.com/maps/Bird’s Eye satellite view, here.

Thanks to E-F-S site for attendance figures.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en and it.wikipedia.org, ’2011-12 Serie A‘.

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