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September 24, 2008

Turkey: The Clubs in the 2008-’09 Super Lig.

Filed under: Turkey — admin @ 5:36 pm

Turkey’s Super Lig is currenty playing it’s 51st season. The reigning champions are Galatasaray.

The Big 3 of Turkey are all clubs from Istanbul…

Fenerbahce plays on the Asian side of the Bosporus Strait. Their name means “lighthouse garden”. The club draws extremely well (39,500 in ’07), and are a fixure in the Champions League. Their manager , since 2006, has been Brazilian great Zico. In the 07/08 CL, Fenerbahce finally advanced to the 2nd Round, where they beat Sevilla; they then lost to Chelsea in the Quarter-Finals. {Click here, for Wikipedia’s page on Fenerbahce.}

Galatasaray and Besiktas are both on the European side of the Bosporous. Besiktas draws much higher than Galatasaray (in 06/07, Besiktas drew 26,200; Galatasaray drew 16,300). But Galatasary are the more successful club. Their 17 titles equals Fenerbahce for the most in Turkey. The only other club to win the crown is the Black Sea club Trabzonspor, from northeast Anatolia. But they last won the title in 1984.

Below are two charts, both originally from Wikipedia. I added a column for the last year the club won the title. I kept the clubs’ names in Wikipedia’s font, so the ligatures could be seen in the letters in the names of clubs such as Fenerbahce, Besiktas, and Genclerbirgli (my keyboard doesn’t have this capability).

The winner of the Turkish Cup gets to play in the UEFA Cup 1st Round. The cup final is a two-legged affair; the 3rd round is grouped into a round-robin style.

The 2008 Turkish Cup was won by the central Anatolian club Kayserispor. They defeated Ankara-based Genclerbirgli on penalties, 11-10, to win it. [One note: In 1967, Altay SK won the cup over Goztepe SK via a coin toss.]

Here is the Turkish Super Lig table {Click here (Soccer Stats site) }.

Here is a site called Turkey (Turkiye) football (soccer) Column and News {Click here}. The Thursday, September 18 post covers the 4 Turkish clubs currently playing in Europe…Fenerbahce in the Champions League; and Galatasaray, Besiktas, and Kayserispor in the UEFA Cup.

Thanks to the site, http://kizilyildiz.blogspot.com/, which links up to this site.

Thanks to the European Football Statistics site {Click here}, for the attendance figures, such as they are. Hopefully, there will be some gate figures reported for this season, so I can make a more up-to-date attendance map next spring.

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September 21, 2008

Major League Baseball: the American League East- Map and Chart.

Filed under: Baseball: 2008 MLB div's — admin @ 5:04 pm

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Major League Baseball’s American League East features the sport’s two biggest rivals, and probably the two most-supported baseball clubs in North America… the New York Yankees, and the Boston Red Sox. These two clubs, plus the present-day Baltimore Orioles, are franchises which were founding members of the American League, in 1901.

The New York Yankees started out as the second Baltimore Orioles, but after just two seasons, the club moved to northern Manhattan’s Hilltop Park, in 1903, and became the New York Highlanders. The club first wore their pinstripe uniforms in 1912, and in 1913 the New York Yankees name was officially adopted. The club played at the old Polo Grounds ballpark from 1913 to 1922, as renters, since this was the home park of the National League’s New York Giants. In 1923, the steadily improving club moved just across the Harlem River, to the Bronx, and into their gigantic new home, Yankee Stadium. By the end of the 1920s, the club was well on its way to becoming the most successful sporting team in America. In the 1950s alone, the Yankees won 8 AL Pennants, and 6 World Series titles. The Yankees have won the most World Series titles: 26 (but no title since 2000). The Yankees say goodbye to Yankee Stadium tonight {see this from mlb.com/Yankees’ site}, and next spring the club will move into the new Yankee Stadium (2009) {see this, from Wikipedia}.

The Boston Red Sox are one of 4 AL clubs which has never changed its city location (along with the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Indians, and the Detroit Tigers). The Boston Red Sox moniker was officially adopted in 1908. In 1912, the ball club moved into their new home, Fenway Park. The Red Sox have played there ever since (it is the oldest ball park still in use by a Major League team). The Red Sox went through an 85 year title drought, finally winning their 5th World Series title in 2004. They won their 6th championship in 2007.

The Baltimore Orioles which exist today are the third Major League incarnation of that name. The first was the National League’s Baltimore Orioles (I), who existed from 1892 to 1899. This club won three NL pennants, and were a legendary team that featured 7 future Hall Of Famers {see this, from Wikipedia}. As noted, the second Baltimore Orioles (II) moved to New York in 1903, and eventually became the New York Yankees. There was a minor-league Baltimore Orioles which formed in 1903, right after the American League Orioles (II) moved to NYC. This club initially played in the Eastern League (which, since 1911 has been called the International League); they played in Baltimore from 1903 to 1911, and 1914 to 1953. {see this}. In 1954, when the hapless St. Louis Browns (a club that one could call “major-league” in name only) moved east to Baltimore, the minor league Orioles made way, and moved to Richmond, Virginia. This club later moved north to Ohio, and are the present-day Toledo Mud Hens (still of the International League). The present day Baltimore Orioles (III) have remained on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay since 1954, winning 3 World Series titles, the last in 1983.

There are two other ball clubs in the AL East. The Toronto Blue Jays were established in 1977, and are the sole Canadian ball club in the major leagues. [Although there was another MLB club from Canada, the Montreal Expos, who played in the National League from 1969 to 2004. This ball club moved to the US capital to become the Washington Nationals in 2005]. The Blue Jays won two World Series titles, in 1992, and 1993. The Tampa Bay Rays were established in 1998, as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays; the club dropped the Devil from their name this year…a wise decision for a ball club that sits on the edge of the Deep South’s Bible Belt. Saturday, the Rays clinched a spot in the playoffs for the first time ever {see this, from mlb.com/Rays’ site}.

AL East Division Auxiliary Chart…Click on the image below to see the full chart.

{Click here for ball club histories and photos, from the Sports E-Cyclopedia site.}

Thanks to the National Baseball Hall Of Fame’s “Dressed to the Nines” site, which features baseball uniforms templates drawn by Marc Okkonen {Click here}.

Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page {Click here}.

Thanks to Logo Shak {Click here}.

Thanks to the Cooperstown Collection Vintage Baseball Caps by American Needle {Click here}.

Thanks to Wikipedia {Click here, for their section on Major League Baseball}.

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September 18, 2008

Netherlands: Eredivisie, Clubs in the 2008-’09 Season (with 07/08 attendances).

Filed under: Netherlands — admin @ 10:52 am

The 53rd season of the Netherlands’ Eredivisie is underway. Reigning champions PSV Eindhoven have won the crown 4 consecutive seasons, and 7 times in the last 9 seasons (Ajax were champions in ’04 and ’02; Feyenoord won it in 1999). The Eredivisie, which began it’s first season in 1956, has 18 clubs. One or two clubs are relegated each year, depending on the outcome of the promotion/relegation playoffs (between the 17th and 16th place finishers in the Eredivisie, and two clubs from the second division, which is called the Eerste Divisie).

Here is an overview of the 07/08 Eredivisie season and preview of 08/09, from http://www.betinf.com/prev_netherland.htm.

For the Eredivisie table, {Click here}.

The Dutch clubs still playing in Europe this season are as follows…

PSV Eindhoven are in the 2008-’09 Champions League, in Group D. In their first match, Tuesday, PSV were embarrased at home by Atletico Madrid, 0-3. They next play at Anfield, versus European powerhouse Liverpool, so it looks grim for PSV’s chances of getting any sort of decent start in this competition. [Note, I wrote a bit about PSV in an April '08 post: {Click here}.] PSV have won 21 Dutch titles (the second most, behind Ajax), 8 KNVB Cups (last in 2005), and 1 European championship: the 1988 Champions League title. The club drew around 33,500 per game last season, in their lavish 35,100-capacity Philips Stadion {see this}, in Eindhoven, North Brabant.

{Click here, for 08/09 Champions League results (UEFA site) }.

There are 4 Dutch clubs still competing in the 2008-’09 UEFA Cup. FC Twente might have made it to the Champions League had they not drawn such a tough opponent as Arsenal, in the CL 3rd Round Qualifiers. [As it is, Twente missed a golden chance for entry into the promised land of the Champions League, especially since the second Dutch spot for a Champions League place will no longer be decided by a post-season playoff between 2nd through 5th place finishers in the Eredivisie. Basically, Ajax complained enough about the format to have it scrapped, and the Dutch Big 3 have again consolidated their hold on the Dutch game. These playoffs had been designed, effectively, to give a club outside the Big 3 a shot at the Champions League. Ironically, two seasons ago, up-and-coming club AZ Alkmaar blew the Eredivisie title on the last game of the season, lost the title on goal difference to PSV, then lost in the playoffs. So that year, the whole plan of the playoffs backfired. Anyways, it's back to simply putting the 2nd place finisher into the 3rd Round Qualifiers of the Champions League.]

FC Twente, with English National Team flameout Steve McLaren as their new manager, face French club Rennes, in the UEFA CUP 1st Round. FC Twente are from Enschede (a city with a population of around 154,000), in east-central Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel; Twente is a region in the south-east of the province. FC Twente draw around 13,000 per game; they have won the KNVB (Dutch) Cup twice: 19777, and 2001; a predecessor of theirs, Sportclub Enschede, won the Dutch championship (pre-Eredivisie) in 1926.

Ajax face Serbian club FK Borac Cacak. {Click here, for Wikipedia’s page on the biggest football club in the Netherlands, Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax.}. Amsterdam is the nation’s largest city, with a population of around 752,000. Ajax have won 29 Dutch titles (the most); 17 KNVB Cups (last in 2007); 4 European championships: 3 European Cups (three straight years: 1971-’73), and 1 Champions League title, in 1995; and 1 UEFA Cup (1992). Their home is the Amsterdam Arena {see this}, which features a retractable roof and a capacity of 51,628. Last season, Ajax averaged around 49,100.

NEC Nijmegen face 18-time Romanian champions Dinamo Bucharest. NEC are a medium-small club that has been punching above their weight. Their ground only holds 12,470; the club played to around a 95% capacity last season. Nijmegen is a city of 160,000 or so, near the German border, in the eastern part of the province of Gelderland.

SC Heerenveen are a perennial UEFA Cup participant, and are the club of Friesland, a north-central province of the Netherlands that has it’s own language, West Frisian (which is linguistically similar to the English language {see this} ). Heerenveen isn’t even a city: it’s a town of about 43,000. SC Heerenveen is known for discovering (then selling) future star players (such as Ruud van Niistelrooy and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, as well as the Brazillian Afonso Alves, who scored 7 goals in an Eredivisie game last October, and is now on Middlesbrough). The club averages a respectable 25,000 per game, and have been consistently improving/enlarging their grounds. But they still are unable to crack the hegemony of the Big 3. Heerenveen did make it to the Champions League, once, in 2000. But he club has no major titles. Last season, Heerenveen lost in the 07/08 UEFA Cup 1st Round to Sweden’s Helsingborgs; 2 years ago they made it to the Group (of 40) Stage). Currently, in this year’s competition, Heerenveen face Portugal’s Vitoria Setubal.

Feyenoord are part of the Big 3, but have not been champions for nine seasons. {Click here, for Wikipedia’s page on Feyenoord Rotterdam.} Rotterdam is the Netherlands’ second largest city (pop: appx. 584,000), and has the largest port in Europe. Feyenoord have won 14 Dutch titles, 11 KNVB Cups (they won it this year), 1 European championship (1970 European Cup), and 2 UEFA Cups (1974 and 2002). Feyenoord face Sweden’s Kalmar FF.

{Click here for 2008-’09 UEFA Cup Results, etc. (UEFA site) }.

Thanks to the European Football Statistics site, for the attendance figures {Click here}.

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September 14, 2008

2008-09 UEFA Champions League: Attendance Map.

Filed under: UEFA Champions League — admin @ 9:55 am

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There are 19 clubs, from 07/08, that are returning to the 08/09 Champions League Group Stage. All 5 British clubs: England’s Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea; and Scotland’s Celtic; 2 Spanish clubs: Real Madrid, and Barcelona; 2 Italian clubs: Internazionale, and Roma; 2 French clubs: Lyon, and Marseille; 2 Portuguese clubs: Porto, and Sporting; 2 Ukrainian clubs: Shakhtar Donetsk, and Dynamo Kyiv; Germany’s Werder Bremen; the Netherlands’ PSV Eindhoven; Turkey’s Fenerbahce; and Romania’s Steaua Bucharest. To see the 07/08 Champions League attendances, by club: {Click here (European Football Statistics site) }.

Here is the UEFA site’s 08/09 Champions League page {Click here}.

Here is Wikipedia’s page on the 08/09 Group Stage. I set it at a chart showing the seeding structure (determined by each club’s co-efficient rating); scroll down for the Groups, etc. {Click here}.

Here are ESPN Soccernet‘s profiles of all 32 clubs in the 08/09 Champions League {Click here).

Thanks to the European Football Statistics site, for the attendance figures {Click here}.

Thanks to the Albion Road site, for featuring this map http://albionroad.com.

Thanks to SoccerLens, for linking up to this map http://www.soccerlens.com.

Comments (29)

September 11, 2008

Portugal: Clubs in the 2008-’09 Liga (with 07/08 attendances).

Filed under: Portugal — admin @ 4:18 am

The Portuguese Liga is currently playing it’s 71st season. Reigning champions FC Porto have won 5 of the last 6 titles.

There are currently 2 clubs from Portugal in the 08/09 Champions League: Porto, and Sporting Club Portugal (widely known as Sporting Lisbon). Porto is in Group G, with Arsenal, Fenerbahce, and Dynamo Kyiv. Sporting is in Group C, with Barcelona, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Basel. The Group Stage starts 16th September {Click here, (UEFA site) }.

Four Portuguese clubs are in the first round of the 08/09 UEFA Cup: Vitoria Guimaraes, Benfica, Martimo, and Vitoria Setubal. Here are the two-legged match-ups (scheduled for 18th September, and 2nd October): Portsmouth v. Guimaraes, Napoli v. Benfica, Maritimo v. Valencia, and Vitoria Setubal v. Heerenveen. { Click here, for the whole 1st Round Fixture List (Wikipedia) }

{Click to the right, for a overview of 07/08 season, and a preview of 08/09: http://www.bet.inf.com/prev_portugal.htm }.

Thanks to European Football Statistics, for the gate figures {Click here}.

Thanks to Demis, at http://www.demis.nl, for the base maps.

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September 8, 2008

Major League Baseball: the National League East- Map and Chart.

Filed under: Baseball: 2008 MLB div's — admin @ 5:02 pm

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Major League Baseball’s National League East Division is made up of two franchises who date back to the nineteenth century (the Atlanta Braves, originally from Boston; and the Philadelphia Phillies); two ball clubs which were expansion franchises from the 1960s (the New York Mets; and the Washington Nationals, originally from Montreal, Canada); and a club that was an expansion franchise from the 1990s (the Florida Marlins).

{Click here for ball club histories and photos (The Sports E-Cyclpedia site).}

NL East Division Auxillary Chart: Click on image below.

Thanks to the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Dressed to the Nines” site, which features baseball uniforms templates drawn by Marc Okkonen {Click here}.

Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logo Page {Click here}. Thanks to Logo Shak {Click here}.

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September 5, 2008

Primera Division Argentina: 2008 Apertura map.

Filed under: Argentina — admin @ 2:04 pm

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In the Primera Division Argentina, the two newly promoted clubs are both from the interior of the country, and both have won no major titles.

Godoy Cruz are from the city of that name, in Mendoza Province, which is in the Cuyo Region of west-central Argentina {Click here, for Wikipedia’s entry on the Cuyo}. The city’s population is around 183,000. San Martin de Tucuman are from San Miguel de Tucuman, the largest city in northern Argentina (with a population of around 525,000). It is the capital of the province of Tucuman {Click here}. Tucuman Province features high, arid mountains in the western half, and dry plains in the east.

San Martin de Tucuman have played 20 seasons in Argentina’s top tier. The 2008-’09 season will be their 21st. They played 18 seasons (1968-1985) in the old Campeonato Nacional (which was replaced by European-style seasons starting in 1985-’86). The club also played in 2 more recent seasons in the Primera Division: in the 1988-’89 season; and in the 1992 Apertura and the 1993 Clausura (these two comprising the “whole” 1992-’93 season). The 1989-’90 season was a “full” 38 game season. The Argentine system of Apertura and Clausura “half” seasons (of 19 games) was implemented in the latter half of 1990, and continues to this day. Each 19-game season, Apertura or Clausura, stands on it’s own, with a seperate title, yet is counted as half of a single season (meaning the league has just started the 08/09 season). Relegations and promotions are implemented only after the Clausura, in the June of each year.

San Martin de Tucuman are not to be confused with San Martin de San Juan. San Martin de Tucuman wear red-and-white vertical striped kits; the just relegated San Martin de San Juan wear green-and-black striped kits. [San Juan is about 375 miles south west of Tucuman.]

Godoy Cruz, who sport blue-and-white striped kits, are back in the top flight for their second season, after a year in the Argentine Primera Nacional B division. The club was first promoted after the 2006 Clausura, and played in the Primera Division for the 2006 Apertura, and the 2007 Clausura, before losing in the Promocion playoff to Huracan, in June ’07.

Primera Division Argentina current table {Click here (Soccerway site) }.

As to qualification for the 2009 Copa Libertadores {Click here.}, 2 of 5 Argentine clubs have qualified so far: 2007 Apertura winners Lanus (it was their first title), and 2008 Clausura winners River Plate (their 34th title; their 33rd title since the professional era began in 1931). The winner of the current season (’08 Apertura) will qualify, as will the best two other clubs based on the last one and a half seasons (’07 Apertura, ’08 Clausura, and ’08 Apertura). {Click here, for the list of all the South American and Mexican clubs that have qualified for the 2009 Copa Libertadores (from Wikipedia).}

Thanks to the Hasta El Gol Siempre site, for information, and corrections {Click here}.

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September 1, 2008

Germany: Clubs in the 2008-09 Bundesliga (with attendances from 07/08).

Filed under: Germany — admin @ 5:24 pm

Germany, Bundesliga 2008-09 (with 2007-08 attendances)

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Please note:
My latest Bundesliga map-&-post can be found here, category: Germany.]
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Defending champions Bayern Munich look to consolidate their historical dominance of the German Bundesliga. The Bavarian giants have won 20 Bundesliga titles, out of a total of 44, since the league began, in 1963-’64. And they have been champions 7 of the last 10 seasons.

The club has just built a state of the art training ground to complement their space age stadium. The facility was built in just 6 weeks. It’s design had considerable input from new coach Jurgen Klinsman, and features the sort of new age accents (spare, Asian-inspired interiors, complete with Buddha statues) and hi-tech gadgetry (lockers featuring computerized consoles and message boards) that befits someone (Klinsman) who has spent some time in California recently. {See this article, from Der Speigel online.}

Here is an overview of the 07/08 season, and a 08/09 preview, from the “BetInf [dot] com” site: {Click here}.

{Click here, for the leading scorers in 07/08 (ESPN Soccernet)} .}

{Click here for the current Bundesliga table (from the Sky Sports site)}.

Thanks to European Football Statistics, for the attendance figures {Click here}.

Thanks to World Soccer, whose August issue gave me a topic here.

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August 29, 2008

Spain: La Liga, Clubs in the 2008-09 Season (with 07/08 Final Standings Chart, and 07/08 Attendance Map).

Filed under: Spain — admin @ 10:19 pm

[Please note: to see my newest post on football in Spain, click the 'Spain' category.]
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Spain’s Liga de Futbol Professional, almost universally known as La Liga, begins its 78th season on the weekend of 30th and 31st August.

The reigning champions are Real Madrid. The giant club from the capital city has won the title 31 times. Barcelona (second on the list, with 18 titles) had a disorganized season in 07/08, and hope to regroup. In fact they finished in 3rd place; 2nd place went to plucky Villarreal, who continue to punch above their weight. This is a club from a small town of 48,000, 35 miles north of Valencia. That they could actually be in Spain’s top flight is remarkable enough. But to make it to the Champions League Semi-Finals (in 2005-’06), and now place second in La Liga, is amazing. In 1999-2000, the season that they were first promoted to La Liga, Villarreal were drawing only around 8,ooo per game (they draw around 19,000 these days).

In the Group Stage of the 2008-’09 Champions League, Real Madrid are in Group H, with Juventus, Zenit St. Petersburg, and BATE Borisov (of Belarus). Villarreal are in Group E, with Manchester United, Celtic, and AaB Aalborg (of Denmark). Barcelona are in Group C, with Sporting [Lisbon], Shakhtar Donetsk (of Ukraine), and FC Basel (of Switzerland). Atletico Madrid are in Group D (see below).

Fourth place went to perennial underachievers Atletico Madrid, who seem poised to begin a new, more successful chapter in their club’s history, with their qualification for the Group Stage of the Champions League. Wednesday, Atletico won 4-0 over the German club FC Schalke 04 (who also are a big club that has underachieved in the recent past). This clinched advancement to the holy grail of the Champions League. Atletico Madrid have been drawn into a very competive group, with Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, and Marseille. All four of these clubs have a viable shot at advancement {See this (from the UEFA site)}.

Fifth place went to Sevilla, who failed to equal their impressive 3rd place finish of 06/07, and will have to content themselves with a 1st Round UEFA Cup appearance (a competition which they won, twice straight, in 2005 and 2006).

Sixth place went to Racing Santander. This is a medium sized club (with an average gate of around 17,000) whose defining characteristic has been the ability to survive the drop, year after year, without any sort of distinction. So their first-ever qualification for the UEFA Cup is definitely cause for celebration up north in Cantabria.

Spain’s final UEFA Cup spot went to Valencia, who had a disasterous La Liga season in 07/08 (with a 10th place finish). But Valencia salvaged the season with a win over Getafe in the Copa del Rey, thus qualifiying them for European competition.

There is one more Spanish club to qualify for the UEFA Cup, via the Intertoto Cup: Deportivo La Coruna. {Click here to see all the clubs in the 08/09 UEFA Cup.}

Here are the final standings from La Liga 07/08 {Click here (ESPN Soccer Net)}.

Here are the leading scorers from 07/08 {Click here}.

Thanks to Demis, of the Netherlands, for the base map {Click here}. Thanks to European Football Statistics {Click here}, for the attendance figures. Thanks to Ahmed, at Soccer Lens, for linking up with, and featuring, some of my recent maps.

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August 26, 2008

Italy: Serie A, Clubs in the 2008-09 Season (with 07/08 Final Standings Chart, and 07/08 Attendance Map.)

Filed under: Italy — admin @ 3:41 pm

(Note: to see my latest map-and-post on Italian football, click on the following, Category: Italy.)
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The 2008-’09 Season of Italy’s Serie A starts the weekend of 30th-31st August. Internazionale (called “Inter Milan” by many in the English-speaking world, but by no one in Italy) are winners of the last 3 championships…one via the courts, the last two on the pitch. But they still saw fit to sack their manager, and hire Jose Mourinho. You can read about it in this preview (from the CNN site) {Click here).

Here are the final standings from 07/08 {Click here (Wikipedia)}.

Here are the leading goal scorers from 07/08 {Click here (ESPN Soccernet)}.

Thanks to the Colours Of Football site, for the kits {Click here}. Thanks to football-shirts.co.uk for the Chievo away kit.

Thanks to Demis, for the base map {Click here}.

Comments (4)

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