​ This was supposed to be a week of footie celebration: the world cup field is finally going to be filled up, the Mexican liguilla is gearing up, and the MLS Cup culminates a terrific season for the local league. All of that is still going to happen, and we should all enjoy the festival. […]

Hm, an all African-American Hall of Fame class. (Except for the Veteran and the Builder.) It probably doesn't mean anything in the long run, except as another example of how admirably apolitical American soccer is, that even this milestone has apparently gone totally unnoticed. I'm probably racist for noticing, even. Anyway, my initial reaction was […]

So I was thinking getting rid of the secret ballot for World Cup bids was probably a good idea at this point. So good an idea, in fact, that I honestly couldn't come up with a reason why the voting was secret in the first place. Well, you know what they say – ask the […]

​ The Icelandic ash cloud that has paralyzed European air travel has forced Barcelona to use a more modest method of travel. The Blaugrana will arrive at Milan today by bus after a 800 km journey and one stop-over (in Cannes, no less. Rough life). I know many of us have ridden on the bus […]

I'm sure by now you've all seen this Wall Street Journal article breaking the big news that Mexico's national team is popular in the United States. That's the boring part – do Mexican gridiron fans weep and rend their garments that the Dallas Cowboys are more popular than the Mexico City Seahawks, or whatever the […]

As 2012 is now upon us, I thought I’d stick my neck out and make some predictions for the upcoming year in football. As I’m from the UK, most of these will be based around the EPL and European football. So, here goes. Premier League Champions: Manchester United (City will fade towards the end of […]

Time for Paul Gardner to step aside: Disgusting. Repellent. Hateful. Odious. There is simply no earthly parallel between the US national team and ********ing apartheid. There are probably lots of good reasons to fire Bob Bradley and his entire staff, but this kind of smug, self-righteous garbage cheapens and poisons the debate. I'd call for […]

MLS Commissioner Don "Cohiba" Garber, in Manchester for the annual SOCCEREX world football business forum, where a "1-to-1" event featuring his own self was a scheduled attraction, had some conciliatory things to say regarding the state of the union. ​ I can't tell from press reports whether his comments were made in the course of […]

Tim Ellison died yesterday. Not many BigSoccer members met him or knew his real name, but if you spent much time in the regions of BigSoccer where serious people with a devotion to the game tend to hang out, then you surely knew that when "oldguyfc" posted something, that reading it wasn't going to be […]

England and LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham suffered a "complete tear" of his Achilles tendon in AC Milans'' match against Chievo on Sunday and has already been ruled out of any chance for a return in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. ​ With only a few minutes remaining and the score 0-0, the […]