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July 27, 2008

2008-09 English Football: League Two- Zoom Map.

Filed under: 2008-09 English Football,Eng-4th Level/League Two,Zoom Maps — admin @ 8:08 am

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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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The map shows all 24 clubs in this season’s League Two, which is the fourth Level of the English Football pyramid.

As a whole, League Two averaged 4,337 spectators per game last season, up 4.8 % from 2006-’07 {See this, from the European Football Statistics site}. But much of that increase can be attributed to Bradford City, who, when faced with relegation to League Two last year, slashed ticket prices across the board (they ended up increasing their average gate by 5,000 per game: from 8,694 to 13,694).

Last season was an extremely competitive one, for the clubs outside the dominant top two of MK Dons and Peterborough United. In 2007-08, there were an amazing 208 away wins, compared to only 220 home wins. {See this, from the English Football [Dot] Info site.}

This season sees both promoted clubs from the Conference (ie, the Blue Square Premier League, the 5th Level) from the southern part of England.

Exeter City has had a long history in the Football League, over 75 seasons worth, and have recovered from their recent near financial collapse and dissolution. They won the Conference playoff last May, over Cambridge City. Exeter City has maintained a solid fan base for a club that had been banished to non-League status. The Grecians drew 3,705 per game last season; second highest in the Conference (behind only Oxford United), and drew better than 10 clubs in the Football League.

Aldershot Town is a relatively new entity, which has risen from the ashes of the defunct Aldershot FC (as depicted by their phoenix-bird logo), and 16 years later, have made it into the Football League. They won the Conference handily, and boast a small, but rabid fan base {See this, from last November, on the Pitch Invasion site}. The club may have some tough times ahead this season, but the stands will be jumping.

{Click here, for the odds-makers’ favorites for promotion in League Two this (Statto.com site).} As of 27th July, the bookies are picking Bradford City, Darlington, Gillingham, and Shrewsbury Town to be promoted. Chesterfield, Wycombe, and Rochdale are the next favorites.

Both clubs promoted from the Conference last year were newcomers to the Football League: North Lancashire’s Morecambe, and East London club Dagenham & Redbridge. Both survived. Morecambe did exremely well, with 16 wins, and an 11th place finish. The Shrimps’ average gate went up from 1,598 in the Conference, in ’06-’07, to 2,855 last season. Dagenham looked to be in a relegation battle, before finding safety through two consecutive wins to end the season. The Daggers finished in 20th place, and saw their average gate go from 1,756 to just 2,021 (second lowest in all the 92-club League, higher only than Accrington Stanley).

All four of the clubs relegated from the 3rd Level, League One, in May 2008, have spent most of their seasons above the 4th Level. Luton Town have notched 16 seasons in the top flight, and even won the 1988 League Cup. They have spent their most seasons (34) in the 2nd Level, and before their financial problems, the Hatters, under Mike Newell, in 2005-’06, were actually in the running for a shot at the Premier League. Every thing went pear-shaped fast, and the former board is in disgrace, for their financial improprieties. A new management team has come aboard, but not until after a fatal points deduction which sealed their relegation. And what’s worse is that more points will be deducted for the up-coming season. The same goes for Bournemouth, who put up a valiant eleventh-hour attempt at avoiding off the drop, but to no avail. Port Vale will be in the 4th Level for the first time in 23 seasons. Finally, there is Gillingham, who have spent 55 seasons in the 3rd Level, and as recently as 2005, were in the 2nd Level. But the club from Kent have their own set of money problems, and were unable to afford the caliber of player that would have kept them in League One. The club has a decent size fan base, though (6,077 avg. gate last season).

Here is a very recent article from the Soccer Lens site, by Gary Andrews, about the points-deduction holes that Luton Town, Bournemouth, and Rotherham United find themselves in…{Click Here.}

Thanks to the Historical Football Kits site {click here}, for the kits on the map, which are copyright Historical Football Kits, and reproduced by permission [note: I have indicated on the map which kits are new for this season].

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July 23, 2008

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics: Men’s Football Venues- Map with photos.

Filed under: Olympics: Football — admin @ 4:32 pm

The Group matches start on 7th August. All 16 teams in the 4-team Groups will play 3 matches, all on the 7th, 10th, and 13th of August. Here are each venue’s first set of games (the venues below are listed from top to bottom, in correlation with the sets of photos on the map).

[Note: all population figures are for city-area, not the much larger municipality, or urban, area.]

Shenyang (China’s 10th largest city) is a sub-provincial city, and the capital of Laoning province, in northeast China, with a population of around 4.4 million (2007 estimate). On 7th August, Shenyang Olympic Stadium will host the Group C teams: Brazil v. Belgium (early match) and China v. New Zealand (late match).

Quinhuangdao (around China’s 78th largest city) is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, 190 miles east of Beijing, with a population of three-quarters of a million. Thursday the 7th of August, Quinhuangdao Olympic Stadium will host the Group D teams: Honduras v. Italy (early match) and South Korea v. Cameroon (late match).

Beijing is China’s capital, and the second largest city in the country, with a population of around 10.3 million. Both of the Beijing Stadiums will not host matches in the first 2 sets of games, and the National Stadium will only host the Mens Football Final, on Saturday, 23rd August.

Tianjin is the 7th largest city in China, with a population of 5.2 million. This northern coastal city is 120 miles southeast of Beijing, on the Bohai Gulf. On 7th August, Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium will host the Group B teams: Japan v. USA (early match) and Netherlands v. Nigeria (late match).

Shanghai is China’s largest city (and one of the top 10 largest cities in the world), with a population of around 16.2 million (20.6 million in the urban area). On 7th August, Shanghai Stadium will host the Group A teams: Australia v. Serbia (early match) and Cote d’Ivoire v. Argentina (late match).

Group Stage chapter, from Wikipedia’s page on this competition.: {Click here}.

List of largest urban areas in China, from Wikipedia: {Click here}.

Here is something interesting, from the official 2008 Summer Olympics site, which shows the Beijing National Sports Stadium (aka, “the Bird’s Nest“) being built, in time lapse-photography: {Click here, and scroll one-third down the page, to the box below where it says Focus}.

While searching for images, I came across this blog, called Off the Chang…here is an article about the Bird’s Nest stadium, and the larger issues surrounding the Beijing Olympic games: {click here}.

Thanks to the Football Temples of the World site {click here}.

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July 20, 2008

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics: Men’s Football- National Teams Map.

Filed under: Olympics: Football — admin @ 11:14 am

[Note: This map was done in collaboration with the Soccer Lens site: {click here for Soccer Lens' preview of the competition.]

Thanks to Wikipedia for the map and information; {click here, for their page on the competition}. Thanks to the CIA World Fact Book site, for the population statistics {click here}. Thanks to Ahmed, at Soccer Lens, for the idea, and input {click here}.

My next post will be a map, with photos of the 6 venues for the football competition, at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

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July 16, 2008

Canadian Football League.

Filed under: Canada,Canadian Football League — admin @ 3:59 am

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[Note: the map shows each CFL team's present day helmet. At the bottom of each team box is: 1. the team's earliest logo I could find; 2. a helmet design from the 1960s-1980s; 3. a recent variation of their logo/ or their current logo.]

The Canadian Football League was formed in 1958, though some of the teams had already been playing for many decades. The Canadian championship of gridiron football, the Grey Cup {see this}, was last won by a non-CFL team in 1944, when a battalion from Montreal called Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Donnacona {see this} were the champions. (Just because I love historical trivia like this, the last two non-CFL winners before this were the Toronto RCAF Hurricanes, in 1942, and The Sarnia (Ontario) Imperials {see this} in 1934 and 1936.)

The CFL is widely (and almost completely) ignored by the American media, and is overshadowed, even in Canada, by the National Football League. But it has been getting solid attendance figures for years, and averaged 29,438 per game in 2007. In fact the CFL is the 7th highest drawing league in the world {see this}.

The CFL season runs from July 1st to early November, with the Grey Cup played (in alternating cities) in late November. The CFL has some crucial rule differences from the NFL. First of all, there are only 3, not 4, downs (or plays), for the offensive team to gain the 10 yards necessary to start a new set of downs. Secondly, the offensive backfield (ie, the players who get the ball the most often) can be in forward motion prior to the ball being put in play. This gives the offense a much better chance of gaining yards than in the NFL. Thirdly, the game is a far more wide-open affair, as the CFL field is wider, longer, and has deeper end-zones. Again, more chance for the offense to score. Finally, there is the opportunity for a 1-point score (called a “rouge”), via the kicking game.

Here is Wikipedia’s page on the CFL {click here}.

Last season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders won only their 3rd Grey Cup, beating Winnipeg in the “Prairie Cup.”

{Click here, for the 2008 CFL standings.}

{Click here, for the CFL site.}

Thanks to http://www.sportscolours.org, which includes Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page; Helmets, Helmets, Helmets; and Logo Shak.

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July 11, 2008

Baseball of the Southeast, circa 1992.

Filed under: Baseball,Hand Drawn Maps — admin @ 10:43 pm

Major League Baseball clubs in this map are the Atlanta Braves, the Baltimore Orioles, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Phillies logo isn’t included, but you can see Philadelphia in the far upper right of the main map.

All the other teams on the map are minor league ball clubs. Their parent MLB clubs are indicated by icons depicting the MLB clubs’ colors and logos. For example, the blue, orange, and gray circles are New York Mets minor league clubs (or farm clubs); the blue and sky-blue circles with the maple leaf are Toronto Blue Jays farm clubs; the teams with the red tomahawks are Atlanta Braves farm clubs, and so on.

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July 3, 2008

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

Filed under: Baseball: 2008 MLB div's — admin @ 6:02 pm

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Major League Baseball’s AL Central Division is made up of 4 charter members of the American League, three of which have remained in the same city since 1901; plus an expansion team from the late 1960′s.

The Chicago White Stockings, the Cleveland Blues, the Detroit Tigers and the Washington Senators were all founding members of the American League. Chicago changed their name to the White Sox in 1904; Cleveland became the Indians in 1915. The first Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins, when the Senators moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1961 (although the city of Washington D.C. was concurrently granted an expansion team, the second Washington Senators, that began play also in 1961 [and later moved to Arlington, Texas, in 1972, as the Rangers]. The Kansas City Royals were an expansion team from 1969 (one of four that year; the other three were the Seattle Pilots, the San Diego Padres, and the Montreal Expos).

{Click here, for team histories and photos (Sports E-cyclopedia site).}

AL Central Auxillary Chart, with each ball club’s uniforms evolution: Click on the image below, to see the full chart…

Thanks to the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Dressed to the Nines” site, which features uniform templates drawn by Marc Okkonen.

Thanks to http://www.sportscolours.org , which features Chris Creamer’s Logo Page.

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June 29, 2008

Japan: The J-League, 2008- Zoom Map.

Filed under: Japan,Zoom Maps — admin @ 5:34 pm

The J-League is back from it’s summer break, so it’s a good time to feature a zoom map of the J-1 level of the league. [J-2, which has 15 teams, is the other level of the J-League structure.]

The J-League was formed in 1992, and began play in 1993. There are 18 clubs in today’s J-1, with 2 or 3 clubs relegated each season, and 2 or 3 clubs promoted from J-2. The two league strucure, with a promotion/relegation system, was established in 1999. It features a playoff between the 16th place J-1 team v. the 3rd place J-2 team. The season runs from early March to early December, with a 6 week break in the early summer.

The current champion is the Kashima Antlers, a club from the Ibaraki prefecture, which is part of the greater Tokyo area (east of the city). They were able to wrest the Title away from the Urawa Reds on the last day of the season. Urawa Red Diamonds, who were founded by Mitsubishi Motors (and are still bank-rolled by the corporation), are the biggest club in Japan. They are also from greater Tokyo, north of the city, in the Saitama prefecture They drew around 46,000 per game in 2007, the highest average gate in all of Asia. Their true goal in 2007 was to win the Asian Football Confederation Champions League Title, which had eluded all Japanese teams since Jubilo Iwata won the Asian Cup (the ACF C.L. predecessor) in 1999. Urawa Reds achieved this goal, beating Sepahan FC, of Iran, in mid-November. But this probably contibuted to them losing their focus on the J-League Title. The Reds only earned 2 points off their last 4 league games, and Kashima Antlers leapfogged them on the last day of the ’07 season (3rd December). {See this article, from FIFA.com.}

To see the current J-League table, {click here}. Urawa Reds, who definitely aim to take care of unfinshed business, sit at the top, but only on goal difference, as they are tied for points with Nagoya Grampus Eight. Both these teams lost Saturday, though. The Reds went down 1-2 to Kashiwa Reysol, and now Reysol are just three points off the pace. Grampus lost big, 0-4, to reigning champs Kashima Antlers, so now the Antlers are just 1 point off the pace, with the best goal difference in the league.

On Sunday, Gamba Osaka beat newly promoted strugglers Consadole Sapporo 4-2 , so now Osaka is also one point below the lead. FC Tokyo, a relatively new team, with no major trophies but a large fan base, drew versus relegation-threatened JEF United, and now are 2 points behind the lead.

Throw Omiya Ardija into the mix (at 4 points off the pace), and you have the recipe for an interesting close of the J-League season, with very likely a half dozen teams (or more) with a shot at the crown. {J-League site, click here.}

There is a really good independent site for the J-League. It’s called The Rising Sun News {click here}. It’s full of lots of info, and graphics.

On the map, I have included a segment of my 2006 J-League Attendance Map, so the viewer can get a better picture of the Greater Tokyo teams’ locations, and their fan-base sizes. **{Click here, for my 2006 J-League Attendance Map.}

On the map, for each team, I have listed J-League Titles, and Titles for the Emperor’s Cup (the oldest Cup competition in Japan). {Click here, for Wikipedia’s page on the Emperor’s Cup.} I have tried to list the original names of all the teams, most of which started as company-teams. The corporate connections have played a big part in Japanese football, and as far as I can tell, only 3 teams currently in J-1 were not formed by any sort of corporation: Kyoto Sanga, Albirex Niigata, and Shimizu S-Pulse.

I began rooting for the Shimizu S-Pulse because I thought their stadium looked the most fan-friendly, the team played an up-tempo style, and I have always had a soft spot for orange kits. But now that I know they were formed at the grassroots level (from a big footballing region: {see this}), and initially with no big corporate money behind them, I like them even more.

Thanks to Demis, of the Netherlands {click here}, for the blank map of Japan. Thanks to http://www.colours-of-football.com, for the kits. Thanks to the Albion Road site {click here}, for background on the teams.

Thanks to Mike, from the Go! Go! Omiya Ardija site {Click here}, for responding to my e-mail, and pointing out misspellings. Check out this site: Ardija is shaping up to be the surprise team of ’08…which is nice to see, as the club labors under the shadow of fellow Saitama-dwelling J-League giants Urawa Reds, and last year were only 3 points away from the relegation playoff.

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June 28, 2008

UEFA Euro 2008: Finals Match- Germany v. Spain.

Filed under: UEFA Euro 2008 — admin @ 10:00 am

Sunday, 29th June, it’s the Germany National Team versus the Spain National Team, for the Championship of European football. Euro 2008 has been an absolutely fantastic competition. It’s amazing to think how big the Euros have become, and deservedly so, because there have been some incredible games. I think, as opposed to the World Cup, the teams are willing to play less conservatively, and with a more go-for-broke attitude. Whatever the reason, the Euro 2008 games have been, by and large, a thrilling affair. [Note: this is old content, posted again here for viewer convenience. Late Sunday, I will post a map of Japan's 2008 J-League.]

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June 22, 2008

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

Filed under: Baseball: 2008 MLB div's — admin @ 9:07 am

The National League Central Division is made up of four long-time NL franchises (the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the St. Louis Cardinals), plus two franchises that were formed in the 1960′s (the Houston Astros, and the Milwaukee Brewers (who were originally the Seattle Pilots)).

The Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis ball clubs all date back to the nineteenth century. The Chicago Cubs are the only charter member of the National League (established 1876) that has remained in the same city, continuously.

**Click on the image below, for the NL Central Auxillary Chart, which shows selected uniforms and logos from each ball club’s past. Click below…

**{For team histories, and photos, click here (Sports E-cyclopedia site.}

Thanks to the SSUR site (http://www.sportscolours.org/). Thanks to the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Dressed to the Nines” site (click here}, which features team uniform templates by Marc Okkonen.

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June 18, 2008

UEFA Euro 2008: Turkey- Squad Map.

Filed under: Turkey,UEFA Euro 2008 — admin @ 6:10 pm

Kudos to the Turkey National Team, for their two consecutive come-from-behind victories in Euro 2008. They beat Switzerland 2-1 on 11th June , and stunned the Czechs last Sunday, 15th June, by coming back from a 0-2 deficit, to win 3-2. Nihat Kahveci pounced on a rare Peter Cech miscue, in the 87th minute. Nihat then curled a fantastic shot from the top of the penalty area, in the 89th minute. {See this article (uefa Euro 2008 site)}.

Turkey will now face Croatia, in a Quarter-Final match, on Friday 20th June, in Vienna, Austria.

The map includes the 12 largest cities in Turkey (500,000 population, or more). {Click here, for the full list of Turkish cities (Mongabay site.)

{Click here, for modern history/ demographics/info on the country of Turkey {CIA World Fact Book site}.}

Thanks to the UEFA site, for the Turkish Team kits.

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