TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Sunderland's Turner banned 4 games Sunderland defender Michael Turner has been suspended for four matches by the Football Association following his sendoff against Manchester City. cbc.ca |
Which football club is the greenest? Plus: Funking like Zamora; the (not so) mysterious Bristol Downs League; and the most postponed game ever. Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk"The Copenhagen summit got me thinking: which football club is the greenest?" wondered Jack Lyle a few weeks ago.Step forward Dartford FC, whose £6.5m 4,100-capacity Princes Park stadium has the green credentials to make Al Gore go weak at the knees. A grassed roof, solar panels to provide hot water, a small lake to catch rainwater which is then recycled, timber cladding for insulation ... even the pitch and floodlights are "deliberately positioned below the level of the surrounding terrain in order to reduce noise and light pollution for the neighbouring population".And with the Darts turning out in the Isthmian Premier, European football – and the polluting long-haul flights that accompany it – is not an issue. Indeed, the geographical nature of the division also keeps a check on the club's carbon footprint – Dartford rarely have to travel far outside the M25, with the trips to Bognor Regis and Margate about as distant as they get. And the car park at the ground is used on weekdays as part of a park and ride service that encourages the use of public transport.Swampy would be proud, but Dartford are by no means alone in giving environmental concerns a high priority. The City of Manchester Stadium is set to become the first sport arena in the world to have its own wind turbine, with the capacity to provide enough energy to power 1,250 homes. Arsenal's Emirates Stadium also has excellent eco credentials and the fact that an estimated 70% of Gunners' supporters use public transport to get to games gives the club further brownie (or should that be greenie) points.The Darts also have a competitors outside the UK. Freiburg's Dreisam Stadium has 60m² of solar panels, providing 60% of the club's hot water. Teddy Barrett also highlights the green credentials of Vitesse Arnhem's Gelredome Stadium, trumping Freiburg with 112m² of solar panels, 320m² of photovoltaic cells that generate a 30,000kWh surplus, eco-friendly cooling and heating systems, and recycled seats.Across the pond, Devon Rowcliffe has news of Charleston Battery FC, who are set to receive the 2010 South Carolina Aquarium Environmental Stewardship Award. According to the club "the Battery has completed a comprehensive range of energy saving and environmental initiatives including: installation of a geothermal HVAC system, adding energy-efficient hand-driers, switching out water-heaters to tankless units, replacing concession beer coolers with energy efficient models, switching incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents, eliminating bottled water from the stadium, replacing selected urinals with waterless units and implementing a comprehensive recycling program."Any more for any more? You know what to do.FUNK LIKE ZAMORA"In light of Bobby Zamora's fan funk, have any other players stuck it to their own fans in similar style?" asked someone whose name has been lost in the black hole of the Knowledge inbox a few weeks ago.More than one of you (two in fact) wrote in proffering links to this pointed act of protest from Warren Joyce - one which raises the question: if a footballer celebrates a goal but no one is there to see it, did he score at all? Andy Beil explains: "In the 1996-97 season, the Hull City manager Terry Dolan was under constant scrutiny from the fans, having been given a new contract despite two relegations on his record and continuing to take the club to lower depths. His captain, Warren Joyce, publicly defended him and unsurprisingly received the fans' criticism as well. The match against Brighton in March 1997 was played in front of 3,373 fans at Boothferry Park, none of whom were in the closed, dilapidated East Stand. Joyce scored twice in a 3-0 win and spontaneously celebrated both goals in front of the empty stand."Joyce went on to be appointed Hull's player-manager, and famously saved the club from relegation to the Conference at the end of the 1998-99 season. So perhaps Zamora will emerge as the ideal candidate to succeed Roy Hodgson should Fulham's campaign to qualify again for Europe falter ...In Argentina, the notoriously languid Juan Roman Riquelme was pricked into running 50 yards towards a section of the home support at Boca Junior's La Bombonera stadium after scoring a goal, to rebuke a particularly animated detractor. "Boca Juniors were playing Racing a couple of years ago," writes Daniel Tunnard. "When Riquelme scored the second goal of the game he ran to the middle of the pitch and dedicated it to Boca fan Agustin Pozzetti, who'd spent the whole match shouting out insults and grabbing his [own] testicles. Pozzetti denied he'd been insulting the player, and to be honest if you've ever been to the Bombonera, it's surprising Riquelme could hear anything he was saying. Maybe they were having a quiet day." It certainly was not quiet in the incident's aftermath as the crowd turned on Pozzetti, leading lawyers for the 21-year-old to try to bring a charge of inciting violence against Riquelme.While the sainted Riquelme's reputation survived untarnished in La Boca, Mark Aizlewood fared less well when he took out his frustration on the Leeds crowd in 1989. Andy Limb has the story of the under-fire defender's reaction to having scored the winner in an end-of-season game: "His celebration was to race up to the Elland Road kop, leap on to the fences and stick two fingers up to the home fans who had become increasingly disenchanted with his pedestrian style over the preceding months. Howard Wilkinson subbed him immediately, and he never played for Leeds again."Less dramatic, but betraying the cheeky cockney wit which so endeared him to Newcastle fans, was Dennis Wise's response to being heckled. "I remember Wise scoring at Stamford Bridge many years ago and he had an odd celebration of patting himself on the top of his head," says Noel Markham. "When he was questioned about it after the game, he said that some bald fella had been giving him grief for the whole of the match at the top of the East Stand, so this was his way of sticking it back to him."THE (NOT SO) MYSTERIOUS BRISTOL DOWNS LEAGUE"A friend recently hit me with the trivia titbit that Bristol are the city represented at the most levels of the English league system, by virtue of something called the Bristol Downs League, that sits below all other regional leagues," wrote David Whale before Christmas. "Can you shed some light on this? I'd also be interested to know what the highest a team from this league has ever risen up the league pyramid."Wikipedia, that ever-trustworthy source, agrees with your friend, David, but we'll hand this answer over to reader Joe Rowsell:"I am from Bristol and have played in the Downs League. It is a completely standalone league and not part of the football pyramid at all. It has four divisions which have relegation and promotion within themselves but if you win Division One you are the Downs League champions, there is no promotion into any other league. This is what makes it so unique. Somebody also told me once that is the largest independent standalone league in Europe but I cannot back that up."I was doing some research into the pyramid myself a while ago using Wikipedia. It does indeed list the Downs League as the bottom-most part of the football league pyramid, stating that there is promotion into another Bristol league (Bristol & Avon I think it was) but that is rubbish."So there.KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE"Down at the pub the other night, a friend of mine bullishly claimed he'd heard that a match was once postponed on almost 30 separate occasions. Is he having me on?" asked Jonathan Gainter in 2006.Hail your friend, Jonathan, as he speaks the truth. Back in the icy winter of 1979, the Scottish Cup second-round clash between Inverness Thistle and Falkirk had to be postponed no fewer than 29 times. The original date for the game was 6 January, but the clubs had to wait 47 days until the Kings Mills ground was eventually declared playable, on 22 February. When the match finally took place, four first-half goals helped Falkirk seal their spot in the third round. However, because of the 71-day period between the second-round draw and Falkirk's win, Billy Little's side were forced to visit Dundee just three days later in round three, where a late penalty ended their cup journey.Incredible as these 29 postponements are, the tie is still eclipsed by another Scottish Cup game that took place 16 years earlier, when sub-zero conditions again played havoc with the fixture list - and not just in Scotland but all across Britain. More than 400 English league and cup matches fell victim to the weather and the season had to be extended by a month on both sides of the border. While one FA Cup third-round tie between Coventry and Lincoln eventually took place at the 16th time of asking, the clash between Airdrie and Stranraer was busy setting a British record of 33 postponements. For Airdrie it was 34th time lucky as they ran out 3-0 victors.Incidentally, the worst day of domestic cancellations didn't occur in 1962-63. That honour went to 3 February 1940, when only one of 56 wartime league matches beat the weather. Plymouth made the most of their moment in the limelight with a 10-3 thumping of Bristol City.For thousands more questions answers take a trip through the Knowledge archive.Can you help?"With the current cold snap in Britain causing havoc with the fixture list," begins Iain Stanthorpe, "I was wondering: what is the lowest temperature at which a match has taken place?""After checking out your guide to England's proposed venues for the 2018 World Cup, I noticed that Plymouth are planning a 45,000 capacity stadium for a population of 252,800 meaning 18% of the city could attend a game if they desired. Then I noticed Sunderland has 49,000 seats for 178,000 people (28%)." Mark Ireland has clearly had some time on his hands. "So, is there a ground which has a higher capacity than the town/city it is located in, so that 100% of the population could fit into the ground if they really wanted? If not, who has the highest percentage?""When George Friend played for Wolves at Old Trafford last month he completed a feat of playing in all five English national divisions in roughly 20 months," write both Doug Kirkpatrick and Benjamin Hurrell. "Since playing for Exeter in the Conference away at Burton on 26 April 2008, he has played in League Two for Exeter, League One for Millwall and Southend, in the Championship for Wolves and Scunthorpe and now the Premier League. Has any player achieved this feat in a shorter time?""It just occurred to me that the Ashes (yes, I know that's cricket) is really very small for the importance attached to it," notes Mark Ireland, who must have had a lot of time on his hands. "So, what's the smallest trophy in the world of football?"Send your questions and answers to the lovely people at knowledge@guardian.co.uk.ArsenalManchester CityEthical and green livingJohn AshdownAlan Gardnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Hamilton Academicals 3-3 Rangers Hamilton Academical proved obdurate opponents here today as they turned a 2–0 deficit into a 3-2 lead against the Cup holders before a Kenny Miller penalty kept Rangers in the competition.Walter Smith's team had seemed set for a comfortable victory before shambolic defending allowed Hamilton back into the match. The upshot is an extra fixture Rangers could have done without, with the teams scheduled for a replay at Ibrox on Tuesday week.Of about as much concern to Smith as defensive generosity would have been the first-half injury collected by the prolific striker Kris Boyd, who limped off with a groin problem which the Rangers assistant manager, Ally McCoist, said has been bothering him for a number of weeks."We'll know the full extent of the injury in the next 48 hours," said McCoist. "The cold probably played a part it but hopefully we got him off in time."Smith had already lost Steven Davis to a dead leg by that point. Rangers, who have suddenly been beset by a string of personnel troubles, do not have the finance to bring in January back-up.Steven Whittaker's third-minute volley proved the first of six goals. The midfielder capitalised on a Richard Hastings error to fire home a shot via the hosts' crossbar. When Miller curled a fine second beyond Tomas Cerny, the script seemed straightforward.Hamilton, though, hit back in an amazing six-minute spell. Kirk Broadfoot's barge on Mark McLaughlin led to a penalty which Simon Mensing scored and Marco Paixao promptly bundled over the line for an equaliser, Smith left bemused at the concession of what appeared a definitive advantage.Worse was to come for the Rangers manager. David Weir's slip allowed Mickaël Antoine-Curier a clean run on goal, the striker supplying a low finish to send Hamilton in front before the break.Unsurprisingly, the visitors displayed the necessary energy in the second period. Yet their salvation was to arrive from 12 yards after Stuart Elliot used a hand to halt a one-two between Broadfoot and Sasa Papac. Miller despatched, but Rangers' subsequent pressure could not muster a winner.Hamilton, for whom James McArthur displayed exactly why he is attracting admiring glances from England's Premier League, lost their full-back Richard Hastings to a second yellow card 10 minutes from time.Man of the match James McArthur (Hamilton)Scottish CupHamiltonRangersEwan Murrayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Ghana through to African Cup quarter-finals World Cup qualifier Ghana beat 10-man Burkina Faso 1-0 on Tuesday in Luanda, Angola, to advance to the African Cup of Nations quarter-finals. cbc.ca |
Arsene Wenger blames himself as Arsenal dumped out of FA Cup by Stoke Arsenal manager says he had little choice but to field weakened side but admits blame for defeat lies squarely at his door. telegraph.co.uk |