billsportsmaps.com

October 6, 2010

League Two, 2010-11 season – Attendance map (2009-10 figures).

Filed under: 2010-11 English Football,Eng-4th Level/League Two — admin @ 5:23 pm

Note: to see my most recent post on the English 4th division, click on the following: category: Eng-4th Level/League 2.
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League Two, 2010-11 season
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Port Vale FC toil under the radar and in obscurity in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The Valiants are the rather surprising leaders of League Two after 10 matches. Port Vale have won 4 of their last 5 matches and sit atop League Two with 22 points, 3 points ahead of Chesterfield. [Chesterfield are riding a club resurgence and a swell-in-attendances following the opening of their new ground, B2net Stadium{photos, here; en.wikipedia.org page, here}.

In September, 2009, Port Vale manager Mickey Adams placed the entire squad on the transfer list, after he judged the team to be basically not trying hard enough {here is an article from the Guardian.co.ik, by Louise Taylor, from 29 September, 2009, 'Micky Adams is playing a dangerous game at Port Vale'}. This move had followed a poor 2008-09 season, when Vale finished 18th, and that had followed relegation in 2007-08. So Adams in one stroke called the entire squad out on their professionalism and lit a fire under them. Port Vale then finished eight places higher and with 20 more points than the season before. So it can be judged that Adams' move worked, seeing as how there actually was little in the way of an injection of talent in the squad throughout last season, because Vale are one of the many clubs these days that is operating on a shoestring budget (even if their gates are higher than many of their fellow fourth division clubs...Port Vale averaged 5,080 per game last season, this in a league where the median average attendance in 09/10 was around 3,600).

I hope Port Vale keep up the good form, and decent crowds continue to show at Vale Park, like the 8,443 who attended the 28th September match versus high-flying nearby rivals from 50 km. to the west, Shrewsbury Town (which Vale won 1-0, with a 74th minute goal by the veteran MF Gary Roberts). Because what Port Vale need, apart from consistency, is for more people from the Six Towns that make up the Potteries to start showing up at Vale Park, a ground that holds 18,947 {Vale Park page at port-vale.co.uk, here}`; FootballGroundsGuide.com page, here} and is frankly too large for a club the size of Port Vale. Port Vale are just like Notts County in that they are also the second biggest club in a mid sized English Midlands city, and just like Notts County, Port Vale had a taste of success around 15-20 years back. But of course Vale only made it to the 2nd Level before their recent, decade-long slide, and are in fact the club which has played the longest number of seasons in the second tier without ever having made it to the top flight...Port Vale have played 41 seasons in the second division, yet have never won promotion to the first division. And also just like Notts County, when Port Vale in the past decided it was time to expand their ground, it was an over-expansion. Both significantly enlarged the capacities of their grounds to keep up with the town rivals (Port Vale's being Stoke City...{see this: 'The Potteries Derby', from en.wikipedia.org}; Notts County's being Nottingham Forest). These big expansions were undertaken in spite of the fact that attendance averages were decidedly far smaller than the planned expansion. Unlike Notts County, this occurred with Port Vale in 1949-1950 (while Notts County over-expanded following their last, single season in the top tier in 1991-92). Vale Park opened in 1950 with a 40,000 capacity (!). 40,000 capacity was, back then, and is, now, a ridiculous size for a mid-table, 3rd division football club, even in 1950 , which was during the Post-War era that saw dramatic attendance increases throughout the country [many clubs had their all-time average attendance high in the Post-War years around 1946-47 to 1949-50 or so, including Stoke City, who drew 31,500 per game in 1947-48]. This specter of a club that over-expanded and then languished is still apparent in Burslem, because Port Vale currently play in a ground with one stand uncompleted – the Lorne Street Stand, which was demolished in 1998, and only partially rebuilt, due to lack of funds. The rub is that the club built the posh bits of the Lorne Street Stand, namely, the Executive and Corporate boxes, but left a gaping blank concrete space below, with steps, but no seats.

At the time, Port Vale were riding high, coming off a plus-60-year best league finish, at 8th place in 1996-97 in the old Second Division, and a pre-popstar-fame Robbie Williams was probably having the time of his life supporting the Valiants. But Port Vale were drawing only around 8,000-9,000 per game back then (with a modern-day turnstile peak of 9,214 per game in 1994-95), in what turned out to be a last, 6-season spell in the second division. One can’t help but think this partially unfinished, yet still half-empty ground sets the tone for new arrivals to Vale Park, be they players or first-time-spectators. Because what does it say about the viability of a club that has left a gaping empty space in their ground for a dozen years? And that for decades has played to crowds that are less than 50% capacity ?
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Thanks to Tims 92 site [English football stadium photos, League and Non-League]…Saturday, 17th January, 2009, Vale Park, Port Vale 1-1 Shrewsbury Town.
Thanks to The Groundhog.WordPress.com/visit to Port Vale (May 26,2007), here.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, 2010-11 Football League 2
Thanks to www.mikeavery.co.uk , for attendance figures, 2009-10 Attendance all teams high to low.

Comments (2)

October 1, 2010

Primera División de México, 2010 Apertura/2011 Clausura – Stadia map.

Filed under: Football Stadia,Mexico: Fútbol,Zoom Maps — admin @ 8:04 am

Please note: to see my most-recent post on Mexican football (from January 2017), click on the following, category: Mexico/fútbol.
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Primera División de México 2010-11 – Stadia map

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Mexican Primera 2010 Apertura, Primer, by John Jagou at BigSoccer.com
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Both Apertura (August to December) and Clausura (January to May) champions are decided by the 8-team playoffs called the Liguilla {see this}. One club is relegated each season, and that is determined by the lowest 3-season total points ratio (ie, just like Argentina’s cynical system). This basically makes it easy for established clubs to avoid a one-bad-season relegation, and makes it harder for just-promoted clubs to remain in the first division, because newly-promoted clubs usually have to finish closer to the middle of the table to avoid the drop, since their points ratio will be from just 34 games versus other clubs whose ratio will be determined from 68 or 102 games.

There are some changes to the format {which, if you are unfamiliar with the Mexican top flight, you can read about on the map page of my last map of the Primera División de México, here [Feb. 9, 2009]}…Copa Libertadores spots #s 2 and 3 are no longer being decided by the now-scrapped Inter-Liga competition, but by the second best and third best finishes in the Apertura general table (Apertura Classification stage), and as before, the Apertura Classification stage leader gets the #1 Copa Libertadores spot.

So when following the Primera Divisón de México, especially in the autumn months (ie the Apertura), it is wise to keep an eye on not just the three divisions, but also the combined 18-team general table, because coveted Copa Libertadores spots are being fought for there.
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Clausura 2010 champions were Deportivo Toluca, who beat Santos Laguna on penalties in the final of the playoffs in May. This is Toluca’s 10th title, making them tied for second-best all-time with América. Chivas de Guadalajara have the most titles, with 11. {List of Mexican professional era champions, here}. That makes it three of the last ten championships won by Toluca…pretty impressive for a club like Toluca, which gets relatively little media attention, plays in a stadium that only holds 27,000, and are from a city that is sixth-largest in the country {List of metropolitan areas in Mexico by area, here}. The fact that some clubs are owned by giant conglomerates, and in the case of Club América, by Televisa (the largest Spanish-speaking television and media organization in the world) doesn’t help provincial clubs like Toluca. Televisa actually owns two teams (which is a cartel, and should be illegal, like most everywhere else): the very popular and successful América, and the very weakly-supported and trophy-less San Luis. There is big money in televising Primera Divisón de México games {see this article, from the Australia.to News site, from 18 May, 2010, by Emilio Godoy, ‘Football Fortunes for Mexican TV‘}. América are known as Millonetas (Millionaires), for all the money the club has at it’s disposal.

Just like in Argentina, two clubs get the lions’ share of the spotlight in Mexico…Club América and Chivas de Guadalajara (Mexico City clubs Cruz Azul and Pumas de UNAM are the only other clubs that have relatively large fan support). But nevertheless, just like in Argentina, other clubs keep on winning the recent tournaments. In Mexico’s case, recent champions were Toluca (Apertura 2005, Apertura 2008, and Clausura 2010 champions), CF Monterrey (Apertura 2009 champions), Pumas de UNAM (Clausura 2009 champions), Santos Laguna (Clausura 2008 champions), and Pachuca (Clausura 2006 and Clausura 2007 champions). América’s last title was in Clausura 2005; Chivas’ last title was in Apertura 2006. [The wide range of recent champions is most likely less a product of an even playing field and is more likely a result of the byzantine league/playoff system and split season structure, where an upset or two has much larger implications here than it would in a long-haul, 10-month season.]

Below is a chart that shows the results of a 2010 poll, {found here (Consulta.mx site)}. It shows the most popular fútbol clubs in Mexico, and the percentage changes from 2008 to 2010….

Chivas de Guadalajara is owned by the corporation that runs the Ponzi-sceme that is Ominlife (ie, stay away if you don’t want to be ripped off) (Omnilife is the main rival of Herbalife). Chivas de Guadalajara is a club that prides itself on only fielding players born in Mexico. [The policy is similar to the one at Spain's Athletic Bilbao, who only field Basque players, but there is a crucial difference... because the Spanish government suppresses Basque identity at an institutional level; while with respect to Chivas, it is excluding all others except the national archetype (ie, Mexicans).] Chivas de Guadalajara’s policy, in this day and age of open markets, more fluid borders, and more cross-cultural interchange, is racist by definition. It is also foolish, because the policy does not give the club a chance to attract the best players. Chivas would probably have had a better chance of winning the 2010 Copa Libertadores final versus Internacional of Brazil, had they not had their Mexicans-only policy. I mean, Chivas doesn’t even want Mexican-Americans on their squad {see this from The Offside.com, by Daryl, from Feb. 2008, ‘But is He Mexican Enough?‘}. That’s when xenophobia trumps logic, because a California-born Mexican is still Mexican ethnically, and was born in an area that was once part of the nation of Mexico. Anyway, it is something that many Mexicans feel proud of and I am sorry but those people should be re-considering what it means to be a citizen of the planet Earth in 2010…people should be tearing down walls between different societies – legal walls, metaphorical walls, and physical walls. People should not be proud of policies of exclusion that prevent the inclusion of others who are different. And yes, I know in America there are many on the right wing who advocate just the sorts of things my last few sentances decried, like building a wall at the Mexican border, or passing creepy document-check/racial profiling laws like they did in the state of Arizona. But I do not support that political platform, I support an inclusive policy which is the polar opposite. Think of it this way…what would the response be if a German football club had a policy of only playing Germans? You think people would stand for that? OK, let’s try it with a country with a more benign 20th century history…what if a Swedish club had a policy of only playing Swedes? You see…no matter how you frame it, it comes off as racist, because IT IS RACIST. So why does Chivas de Guadalajara get a pass on this? For crying out loud, the Primera División de Mexico has exactly zero African players in it {see this, from The Best Eleven site, ‘Foreign Players in the Primera Divisón de México‘ [Feb., 2009]}. I checked, and as of October, 2010, there still are not any players from Africa in the rosters of any club in the Primera División de México. Granted, there have been a few Afro-Mexican players, including current Cruz Azul DF Melvin “Melvin of the Cocoa Crispies” Brown, and there have been a couple of Afro-Mexicans who have played for the Mexico national team, including Tottenham’s Giovanni dos Santos {see this, from The Culture of Soccer site, ‘Soccer and the Afro-Mexican Population‘ [March 12, 2007]. Also, it should be pointed out that there are a few prominent, dark-skinned Latin American players in the league, such as Tigres de UANL captain and FW Itamar Batista da Silva {profile at e.wikipedia.org, here}. But I did not make up that nickname that has been foisted upon Melvin Brown, and it pretty much proves my point about the damaging effects that the institutional encouragement of racial exclusivity has on a culture. Because it is pretty hard to accept the fact that that sort of nickname is still tolerated in Mexico.

And don’t get me started on Chivas de Guadalajara’s new stadium. Sure Estadio Omnilife {skyscrapercity.com thread, here} looks impressive and unique. It has been described as looking like a flying saucer landing on a volcano. But didn’t management consider the colossal irony of the fact that the exterior of the stadium is clad in actual, real, live grass, but the playing surface is artificial turf ? Real grass on the outside for show, but inside, where it matters, on the field, the players must run and tackle and slide and fall, and risk injury, on a playing surface that is concrete covered with plastic bristles. Duh. Estadio Omnilife is the sort of thing you would expect to see being built by Mr. Burns during an episode of The Simpsons.
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I decided to make this map a Stadia map, even though I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to find good quality photos of some of the stadiums, so sorry for that. I decided to “make up” for that by adding another photo for each stadium, an interior shot. I decided I had to do that when I saw photos of Santos Laguna’s new Estadio Corona… it looks like a nice place to watch a match {photo gallery of Estadio Corona (II) with lots of photos of of the swank new facilities, here (at ‘Disfruta la Galería de Inaguación’, which is below the time-lapse video}. Plus I wanted to better show Deportivo Toluca’s ground, one of the oldest stadiums in Mexico (opened in 1954; hosted games in both World Cups in Mexico in 1970 and 1986), which I think is one of the coolest-looking football stadiums around. Here is an 11-photo gallery of Toluca’s Estadio Nemesio Díez, from deportivotolucafc.com, {click here}.

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, Primera División de México
Thanks to FootieMap.com/Mexico for location help.
Thanks to Ludwig for his message, which included maps he made of the Mexican first and second divisions, here (in the Comments section at the bottom, comment #4).

Photo credits…
Santos Laguna – exterior shot: at imageshack.us , here
interior: at Territorio Santos Modelo.com.mx .

San Luis – exterior: Google Earth shot via The Mistic.wordpress.com , here.
interior: BigSoccer.com forum (with lots of Mexican stadium photos), here.

Tigres de UANL – exterior: Fermin Tellez Rdz at Flickriver.com , ‘Estadio Universitario, San Nicholás de los Garza, N.L. México‘. Fermin Tellez Rdz’s photostream at Flick.com
interior: unattributed, from nuevaleon.wordpress.com [from Flickr.com files].
Monterrey – exterior: http://www.football-pictures.net
interior [wide photo]: Pato Garza at commons.wikimedia.org.: ‘The Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education’s Tecnológico Stadium in Monterrey, Mexico, during a professional football (soccer) match‘.

Necaxa – exterior: [sitio oficial] necaxafutbol.com/Estadio
interior: {from crisolplural.com/Deportes/Futbol} , Estadio Victoria de Aguascalientes.

Atlas – exterior: lalomg_0326 at flickr.com.
interior: Maximilian Laackmaan at www.asseltours.de, via www.fussballtempel.com.
Estudiantes Tecos – exterior:’Remodelan el estadio Tres de Marzo‘ (www.diacritico.com from 5-22-2009).
interior: Rigoberto H. Esquivel at mediotempo.com, here.
Chivas de Guadalajara – exterior: mexico.cnn.com, 29 de Julioo, 2010, ‘El Estadio Omnilife tendrá una inauguración al estilo europeo‘.
interior: Marco Guzman, Jr. at en.wikipedia.org/Estadio Omnilife, here.

Queretaro – exterior: www.queretaro.travel at flickriver.com.
interior: www.futboldeseleccion.com/Estadios Mexico .

Deportivo Toluca – exterior: Sergiopons at Panoramio.com, ‘Estadio Nemesio Diez desde el aire‘ .
interior: www.deportivotolucafc.com/estadio

Morelia – exterior: pollomar at photobucket.com
interior: ‘Monarchs will play Sundays noon during A10‘ (www.mediotempo.com, 5-26-2010).

Pachuca – exterior: ‘Inicia el cuadrangular Pachuca Cuna del Futbol Mexicano‘.
interior: Hector Jesus Tapia Fernandez at en.wikipedia.org/Estadio Hidalgo

Cruz Azul – exterior: Estadio Azul by vedur77 at flickr.com skyscrapercity.com thread, Estadio Azul (6 photos).
interior:estadio Azul by originalrocker at flickr.com. originalrocker’s photostream at flickr.com.
Pumas – exterior: unattributed/bigsoccer.com/forum.
interior: www.dalepumas.com/Estadio Olimpico Universitario.
América – exterior: unattributed at photobucket, but it says Ricardo Garrido/esmexico.com…no luck finding a link.
interior: Estadio Azteca by Samuel G. Valdes Montemayor at www.mexicofotos.com, here.

Atlante – exterior: www.colchonero.com/Futbol Mexicano thread [note: this link is recommended if you would like to see Mexican top flight jerseys circa 2009].
interior: fricki.net thread, here.

Puebla – exterior: [oficial sitio] www.pueblafutbolclub.com.mx/Estadio.
interior: unattributed at imageshack.us.

Jaguares de Chiapas – exterior: Miguel Abarca at mediotiempo.com
interior: danorebel at photobucket.com

Comments (12)

September 25, 2010

Canadian Hockey League, with all WHL, OHL, and QMJHL teams (60 teams); reigning champions listed; and 2009-10 attendances.

Filed under: Canada,Hockey — admin @ 4:17 pm

Please note: I have made a more “recent” map-and-illustrated-post of the CHL that I am guessing would be more enjoyable to read than this one (seeing as how it shows a more updated map and is chock-full of illustrations on teams and their arenas and hometowns). Click on the following link for that,
Canadian Hockey League: location maps for WHL, OHL, and QMJHL teams (60 teams) and 2011-12 attendance data. Plus the top 3 highest drawing teams, the top 10-highest percent-capacities, and the Shawingan Cataractes – the 2012 CHL Memorial Cup winners.
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Canadian Hockey League
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I made this map because a viewer asked for a map of all 3 CHL leagues on one map, here (40th comment). At first, I didn’t think I would be able to fit in team logos, because there are so many teams in a relatively small area in southern Ontario Province. I solved that problem by including an enlarged map segment of that region at the lower left of the map page.
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The Canadian Hockey League is an umbrella-organization for the 3 Canadian major junior hockey leagues, the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The leagues are the top echelon of junior hockey on Canada and are for players aged 16 to 20 years old (there can exceptions made for young phenoms being allowed to play, but this has happened just once since the CHL implemented the 16 year old minimum-age rule a few years ago…that player was New York Islander and 2009 #1 draftee John Tavares, who was allowed to play when he was 15). Each team has a European player allotment of 2 players. [see this: {Junior hockey page from en.wikipedia.org}].There are 60 teams in the CHL, with 22 teams in the WHL, 20 teams in the OHL, and 18 teams in the QMJHL.

There are 51 Canadian-based teams in the CHL, and 9 teams in the CHL that are based in the United States. The 5 American-based teams in the WHL are from Everett, Washington; Seattle, Washington; Kennewick/Pasco/Richland, Washington; Spokane, Washington; and Portland, Oregon. The 3 American-based teams in the OHL are from Saginaw, Michigan; Plymouth Township, Michigan; and Erie, Pennsylvania. The one American-based team in the QMJHL is from Lewiston, Maine.

There is no inter-league play between the 3 leagues except for the Memorial Cup competition, which is played each May at a different site, and is a round robin tournament made up of the 3 league champions and a fourth team which is the team from the host city. In 2010, Brandon, Manitoba was the host city, meaning that the Brandon Wheat Kings squared off against the WHL-champion Calgary Hitmen, the OHL-champion Windsor Spitfires, and the QMJHL-champion Moncton Wildcats. In the final, Windsor demolished Brandon 9 to 1, and so the Windsor Spitfires were Memorial Cup winners for the second straight season.

One player on that twice-champion Windsor team was the #1 pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, Kingston, Ontario-born LW Taylor Hall, who was selected by the Edmonton Oilers. [2010 NHL Entry Draft, here (en.wikipedia.org).]

So I know a few of you are asking, “what do CHL players get paid?”. Well, they get paid a per deim, or basically meal money, which amounts to around $70 to $100 a week; and the families that some players are staying at [ie, being billeted at] get a little money. And, significantly, the players get full college scholarships to Canadian universities (players get a year’s tuition paid for each season they play in the CHL). The NCAA considers the CHL a “pro league”, so players have to decide at a pretty young age (14-15 years old) if they are going to play in the NCAA hockey system or the Candadian Hockey League. Because if they play in the CHL and then decide they do want to play in American college hockey, they will not be allowed to get a scholarship, because the NCAA considers that miniscule meal money to be payment as a professional. From this thread at the HF Boards, it is evident that some of the top prospects in the CHL are getting more than that meal money, though, and are being paid under the table {see entries 11 through 16, here, at ‘How much do juniors make in OHL, etc?’ thread from May, 2008 @ hfboards.com}. Entry #13 names names, and of the 5 OHL teams that the poster names, London, Kitchener, Windsor, Brampton, and Ottawa, four of those teams are in the top eight highest-drawing teams in the CHL (Brampton is the exception). So you can see how luring top-shelf players with some under the table payments has become a part of some higher-drawing teams’ business strategy. Why it isn’t being punished might be explained by the following link below.

There might be a reason all this under-the-table paying of exceptional players is being turned a blind eye by Canadian authorities…and that is the fact that the major junior leagues in Canada are competing with American universities for players. See this article from the PipelineShow.blogspot.com, from December 15, 2009, by Dean Willard, ‘[Executive Director with College Hockey, Inc.'s] Paul Kelly: CHL teams are paying players under the table‘. Kelly accuses CHL teams of targeting American players for the under the table pay arrangements.
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I got the 2009-10 attendance figures from this site, http://www.mib.org/~lennier/hockey/ (Han’s Hornstein’s Hockey Attendance, Schedules, and Standings Pages).
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, Canadian Hockey League.
Official site, http;//www.chl.ca
Western Hockey League, http://www.whl.ca/
Ontario Hockey League, http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/
Ligue de Hockey Junior Majeur du Québec [Quebec Major Junior Hockey League], http://www.lhjmq.qc.ca/

Comments (8)

September 20, 2010

League One, 2010-11 season – Attendance map (2009-10 figures).

Filed under: 2010-11 English Football,Eng-3rd Level/League One — admin @ 4:42 pm

League One 2010-11 season, with 2009-10 attendances
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Note: to see my latest map-&-post of the English 3rd division, click on the following, Eng-3rd Level/League One.
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On the map page, the map shows a small club crest for location and a variably-sized club crest to denote 2009-10 average attendance (home league matches). The chart at the top right includes attendance rank in all leagues combined, which I found at (mikeavery.co.uk / 2009-10 Attendance Tables Median, Levels 1-8).
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The first chart below shows the seasons spent in the 3rd Level by club, with each current League One club’s first arrival into the third tier listed.

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At the top left on the map page and also below is a chart I put together that shows the total seasons each current League One club has spent in each of the top 4 levels of English Football. Included, in parenthesis, is the last year the club has spent in the level. The gray vertical bar in the center is 3rd Level/League One; within that bar is a tan bar which shows how many consecutive seasons each club has presently spent in the third tier. Of all clubs currently in League One, AFC Bournemouth has spent the most seasons in the 3rd Level…67 seasons. [I am pretty sure Bournemouth is also the longest-serving member of the 3rd Level overall throughout the English League system, but I guess I will find that out for sure when I make charts like this for the1st Level/Premier league, the 2nd Level/League Championship, and the 4th Level/League Two...which I will do sometime later in this season.] Oldham Athletic has currently spent the most seasons consecutively in the 3rd Level…14 seasons.

The five columns, from left to right, are: A). English titles. B). Seasons spent in the 1st Level. The 1st Level was originally called simply the Football League and had just 12 clubs in it (from 1888-89 to 1891-92). From 1892-93 to 1991-92, the top flight was called the First Division. From 1992-93 to the present, the English top flight has been the Premier League. C). The 2nd Level. Instituted in 1892, and called the Second Division (from 1892-93 to 1992-93). The 2nd tier of English football is now known as the Football League Championship. D). The 3rd Level. Instituted in 1920 (1920-21 season), and called the Third Division. Expanded to two geographical regions the next season, as the Third Division South and the Third Division North (from 1921-22 to 1957-58). With the addition of the 4th Level in 1958-59, the 3rd Level went back to being called the Third Division (1958-59 to 1991-92). The 3rd tier of English football is now known as Football League One. E). The 4th Level. Instituted in 1958 as the Fourth Division (1958-59 to 1991-92). The 4th tier of English football is now known as the Football League Two. This is the lowest level of the Football League. Level 5 and lower are called Non-League football [note: current League One clubs that spent some seasons in Non-League football are denoted with an asterisk at the far right of the chart.]

Thanks to the Footy-Mad sites for League History info on the clubs, Footy-Mad.net/League One
Thanks to Mike Avery, 2009-10 Attendance Table at mikeavery.co.uk .

Comments (6)

September 14, 2010

2010-11 UEFA Europa League, Group Stage – Attendance map (with figures from domestic leagues, 2009-10).

Filed under: UEFA Cup / Europa League — admin @ 5:34 pm

2010-11 UEFA Europa League Group Stage

1st matchday of the Group Stage of the second annual UEFA Europa League is on Thursday, 16th September. You can see the 12 groups, here (en.wikipedia.org/2010-11 UEFA Europa League Group Stage).
Two of the clubs I root for are in the 2010-11 Europa League Group Stage…Karpaty Lviv of western Ukraine, and Getafe CF of Greater Madrid, Spain . I root for Karpatry Lviv because both sides of my family are from western Ukraine. I root for Getafe because I am drawn to runt-of-the-litter type clubs like Getafe, who often can be found punching above their weight and crashing the party, like when the plucky Spaniards bested Tottenham, then Benfica in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup.

Here is how Karpaty Lviv made it into the 2010-11 Europa League group stage…click here…(YouTube/Artem Fedetskyi goal in 93rd minute of Karpaty Lviv 1-1 Galatasaray, [3-3 aggregate], on 28th August, 2010).
Here is the goal that clinched a Europa League spot for Getafe CF last May…click here (Dirty Tackle site/Roberto Soldado goal of 4th May, 2010).
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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, 2010-11 UEFA Europa League group stage.
Thanks to the indispensable E-F-S site, for attendance figures.

Comments (1)

September 8, 2010

2010-11 UEFA Champions League, Group Stage – Attendance map (figures from 2009-10 domestic leagues).

Filed under: UEFA Champions League — admin @ 4:28 pm

1st matchday for 2010-11 UEFA Champions League is 14th and 15th September. Here is an article from the UEFA site, ‘Fresh Look to Elite‘.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, 2010-11 UEFA Champions League/Group Stage.

Comments (2)

September 2, 2010

NCAA Division I FBS: Big Ten Conference, 2010 season – attendance map (2009 figures), and modern era helmet history chart. Plus maps of the two Big Ten Divisions starting in 2011.

Filed under: NCAA Gridiron Football,NCAA/fb>Helmet History,NCAA/fb-Big Ten — admin @ 4:37 pm

Big Ten reveals divisional breakdown (article from September 2, 2010, from ESPN/College, {here}).
Below are two maps I assembled today, that show the two unnamed divisions in Big Ten football which will be instituted in 2011, when Nebraska makes the Big Ten football conference a 12 team organization. Included are the permanent rivalries [ie, match-ups that will have a game played each season].

Click on each image below to see full map of each future division set-up…

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Here is a list from the standpoint of who filled their stadium the best last season… the accumulated percentage capacities of Big Ten teams from 2009 [with 100% being a sell-out/team played to capacity; and a figure above 100% meaning the team played to capacity plus standing-room-only. (Ranking then listed in context of all 120 teams in FBS - I ; {then average attendance listed; then percent increase or decrease versus 2008 average attendance}).]…
Ohio State – 102.87% capacity (and the 3rd highest average attendance in FBS-I, at 105,261 per game {+0.3% vs. 2008 avg. attendance}).
Michigan – 102.57% capacity (and the highest average attendance in FBS-I, at 108,933 per game {+0.3% vs. 2008 avg. attendance}).
Minnesota – 101.61% capacity (and the 42nd highest average attendance in FBS-I, at 50,805 per game {+1.7% vs. 2008 average attendance}).
Penn State – 99.74% capacity (and the 2nd highest average attendance in FBS-I, at 107,008 per game {-1.1% vs. 2008 average attendance}).
Wisconsin – 99.74% capacity (and the 15th highest average attendance in FBS-I, at 80,109 per game {+1.7 % vs. 2008 average attendance]).
Michigan State – 99.65% capacity (and the 18th highest average attendance in FBS-I, at 74,741 per game {-0.1% vs. 2008 average attendance}).
Iowa – 99.47% capacity (and the 21st highest average attendance in FBS-I, at 70,214 per game {+0.1% vs. 2008 average attendance}).
Illinois – 94.71% capacity (and the 29th highest average attendance in FBS-I, at 59,545 per game {-3.5% vs. 2008 average attendance}).
Indiana – 84.98% capacity (and the 56th highest average attendance in FBS-I, at 41,833 per game {+31.6% vs. 2008 average attendance}).
Purdue – 80.73% capacity (and the 44th highest average attendance in FBS-I, at 50,457 per game {-11.1% vs. 2008 average attendance}).
Northwestern – 51.33% capacity (and the 83rd highest average attendance in FBS-I, at 24,190 per game {-15.4% vs. 2008 average attendance}).

Thanks to the NCAA site, for 2009 attendance figures, ‘NCAA Accumulated Attendances, FBS’ (pdf).
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New Michigan State helmet, here (at Motown Lowdown, a SB Nation blog), featuring a tapered grey stripe at top of helmet, and a slightly darker green helmet color.
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You will notice I placed a small rectangle for the Nebraska Cornhuskers on the main map page. Of course, Nebraska will be joining the Big Ten next season, in 2011, but I figured people would like to see geographically where the Cornhuskers’ home, Lincoln, Nebraska, is located in relation to the other 11 Big Ten teams’ locations.
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On the main map page, the modern-era helmet history of each team is not completely comprehensive, but shown are all major helmet design changes of each Big 10 team from the post-World War II era to the present time (approximately 56 to 64 years). That includes face mask color changes. As usual on these maps and charts, all modern, plastic composite helmet designs of each team in the Conference are shown, and they are arranged chronologically from left to right.

The plastic composite helmets replaced the old leather ones in the years following the end of World War II. By 1949, most NFL teams, and many college teams, had started using the new type of helmets, which had come out of technological innovations made during the WW II era. By the early 1950s, every college team was using the new helmets. Each teams’ helmet history on the chart thus starts when that school started using the safer and shinier new headgear. I made exceptions with Penn State and Michigan, because there was room for a leather helmet there, and I was able to find images of their final leather-helmet era designs. Believe me, if I could, I would have included the leather-helmet histories of all the teams, but sadly that visual history is very hard to unearth and there is no source out there for even incomplete depictions of what teams’ helmets looked like circa, say, 1900, or even 1940 {like the Michigan Wolverines helmets included in this photo from University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library site, here. Full article (‘Michigan’s Winged Helmet’, here}. The following link has (and sells) leather helmets of college teams, but some of them are probably not accurate, like the Michigan State helmet. And back then, with some manufacturers, leather helmet colors only came in black or tan, and sometimes if a school wanted their football team to wear helmets in the school colors, they had to paint them themselves. So anyway, at the Past Time Sports site, you can see the old , circa 1930 to 1940s, leather helmet designs of Michigan (top of page); and further down the page teams such as Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State, {click here}. And you can go to MG’s Helmets site for a nice set of pages that shows, year-by-year, the helmet design of the popularly recognized National Champion, here …Note: go to the 11th category on the left-hand sidebar called ‘NCAA National Champs [1936 to present]‘. There you can see the 1936, 1940, and 1941 AP #1 Minnesota Golden Gophers’ maroon leather helmet and the 1942 AP #1 Ohio State Buckeyes’ silver leather helmet with top red stripe.

Thanks to Elite Deals site, where I got most of the current Big Ten helmet photos. I also got a couple photos from Score Here.com.
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Special thanks to the two sites that were instrumental in making this helmet history chart…the brilliant site Helmet Hut. Helmet Hut/College.
And the singular Helmet Project page, which is the only site I can find that has attempted to tackle helmet histories of college football teams (even if it is only from 1960 to the present day)… http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/
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One more thing…the Ohio State buckeye-leaf decals were green in the 1970s, were black around 20 years ago or so, and now are a very dark green (I think). My last post on Big Ten football, in November, 2008 {here} linked to a now-infamous thread on BuckeyePlanet.com {here}, which featured an ex-Buckeye player who showed photos of his helmet (this ex-player is early 1990s Ohio State punter Scott Tema), and provided vociferous arguments for the fact that the buckeye decals have always been black, but some outlets sell fake ones that are green. Well, 25 pages on, and a Slate.com mention later {here…(‘Lunatics Guide to College Football’, by Justin Peters on Aug. 29, 2007 @ Slate.com…see Ohio State/Bizarre fixation)}, the jury was still out but leaning towards dark hunter green, and certainly leaning towards the fact that during the 1970s, at least, the buckeye decals were definitely green. So I decided to use the Ohio State University.edu ‘s entry on the subject {here}. I did find out one thing for certain, though…the leaf decals were being awarded starting in 1967, not 1968, like is popularly believed. 1967 was the last year that Ohio State wore a red helmet. On page 17 of the thread, you can see a photo that proves this {here (halfway down the page)}.

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August 27, 2010

Spain: La Liga, 2010-11 season – Stadia map.

Filed under: Football Stadia,Spain — admin @ 6:17 pm

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Note: to see my latest post on Spanish football, click on the following, category: Spain.
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The 2010-11 season of La Liga begins on 28th August. Reigning champions are FC Barcelona. Copa del Rey [aka King's Cup] holders are Sevilla FC.

The map page features a photo of each club’s stadium; each club’s 2010-11 kits; each club’s major domestic titles; and the list of 2009-10 average attendances [domestic leagues] of the 20 clubs.

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org and es.wikipedia.org. 2010-11 La Liga.
Primera División de España 2010/11.

Thanks to Bing.com/maps [Bird's Eye view] (link goes to Barcelona/Camp Nou photo), Thanks to futbolmania.wordpress.com (Deportivo La Coruña / Riazor photo).

Thanks to gijondesdeelaire.com(Sporting Gijón / El Molinón photo). Thanks to webdelracing.com [translated] (Racing Santander / El Sardinero photo).

Thanks to MiAthletic.com [translated] (Athletic [Bilbao] / San Mames photo)]. Thanks to estadioanoeta.com (Real Sociedad / Anoeta photo).

Thanks to www.ticket4football.com (Osasuna / Reyna de Navarra photo). Thanks to frikfootball at Flickr.com Zaragoza / La Romareda photo).

Thanks to the comprehensive Spanish football database, BD Futbol.com, www.bdfutbol.com (Espanyol / Estadi Cornelia-El Prat, Mallorca / ONO Estadi and Villarreal / El Madrigal photos).

Thanks to EA UK Community, forums.electronicarts.co.uk (Valencia / Mestalla photo). Thanks to the XV Mediterannean Games [2005] site (Almería / Estadio del Mediterráneo photo). Thanks to losbuquerones.com (Málaga / La Rosaleda [aka the Rose Garden] photo).

Thanks to MagicKiko at www.cochonero.com (Atlético Madrid / Estadio Vicente Calderón photo). Thanks to webrealmadrid.com (Real Madrid / Estadio Santiago Bernebéu photo) [this page is cool because it shows the 5 earlier crests of Real Madrid].

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August 21, 2010

France: Ligue 1, 2010-11 season – Stadia map.

Filed under: Football Stadia,France — admin @ 4:22 pm

Ligue 1 2010-11 Stadia map
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Note: to see my latest map-&-post of Ligue Un, click on the following: category: France.
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Thanks to http;//demeraux.jerome.pagesperso-orange.fr/ [collection of post cards of stadiums/France] (Lille/Stadium Lille-Métropole {last photo, under Stadium Villeneuve d’Ascq}). Thanks to Ticket4Footbal.com ( photo). *Here is a photo of Valenciennes new stadium under construction (ImageShack.us). Thanks to www.mordue.dsl.pipex.com (Lens/Stade Félix Bollaert photo).
Thanks to bouygues.com (PSG/Parc des Princes photo…here in full, city-wide view [which includes Eiffel Tower]).
Thanks to EU Foci site (franciafoci.eufoci.hu), (Nancy/Stade Marcel Picot photo).
Thanks to www.auxerre.com (Auxerre/Stade Abbé-Deschamps photo).
Thanks to TousLesStades.fr (FC Sochaux/Stade Auguste Bonal photo).

Thanks to the contributors at SkyscraperCity.com/thread: Euro 2016 venues, France. [Thread includes Rennes/Route de Lorient photo; and Toulouse/Stade Municipal photo].
Thanks to Ticket4Football.com (Montpelier/Stade de la Mosson photo).
Thanks to ACA-Supporter site (Arles-Avignon/Parc des Sports photo).
Thanks to Dkhgdnh at en.wikipedia.org/Olympique de Marseille/Stade Velodrome.
Thanks to Big Soccer.com/forum, (Monaco/Stade Louis II photo).
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Thanks to European football Statistics site, E-F-S attendances.

Thanks to Demis of the Netherlands, for the base map, Demis Products: Web Map Server.

Comments (5)

August 15, 2010

Germany: Bundesliga, 2010-11 – Stadia map.

Filed under: Football Stadia,Germany — admin @ 3:05 pm

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Please note:
My latest Bundesliga map-&-post can be found here, category: Germany.]

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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, 2010-11 Fussball-Bundesliga page.
(Bayern Munuch/Allianz Arena photo).
Thanks to www.webbaviation.de (FC St. Pauli/Millerntor-Stadion photo).
Thanks to Bing.com/maps {Hamburg SV/Imtech Arena bird’s eye view}.
Thanks to www.dajeroma.com {Werder Bremen/Weserstadion photo).
Thanks to www.falconcrest.com Airphotographien (Hannover 96/AWD-Arena photo).Thanks to www.wolfsburg-ag.com (Wolfsburg/Volkswagen Arena photo).
Thanks to www.arenapark.gelsenkirchen.de (Schalke 04/Veltins-Arena photo). Thanks to Spain Ticket Bureau.com (Dortmund/Signal Iduna Park photo).
Thanks to Pawel 19-87 at SkyScraperCity.com thread ‘Mönchengladbach – Borussia Park‘. Thanks to Der Spiegel.com/Confederaion Cup stadiums (Köln/RheinEnergie Stadion photo). Thanks to www.scpreussen-muenster.de (Bayer Leverkusen/BayArena photo).
Thanks to Stadi del Mundo blog (Mainz/Stadion am Bruchweg photo). Thanks to www.wallmueller.de (Kaiserslautern/Fritz-Walter Stadion photo). Thanks to www.motor-talk.de (Hoffenheim/Rhein-Neckar-Arena photo).
Thanks to badenova.de (Freiburg/badenova-Stadion photo).
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Thanks to ESPN Soccernet, 2009-10 Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga attendances, Bundesliga attendances 2009-10.
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Thanks to Demis, at Demis Products, Demis Web Map Server.

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