The Association Football Thread

[Junkmale]

Great news SF :-)
Looks like the campaign is gathering some pace.
Hopefully it all ends well and the club is saved.

[SpanishFan]

Originally Posted by Junkmale

Great news SF :-)
Looks like the campaign is gathering some pace.
Hopefully it all ends well and the club is saved.

After packing 20.000 people last sunday to watch a third division game...


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After being on the news in the BBC, the new york times, Boston herald, CNN, Fox news, the washington post, and many many more...


http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/1...enerosity-and/

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/sp...ef=sports&_r=0

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...6e2_story.html

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/s...osition=recent







After getting the support from new shareholders around the world...







After nice stories from people all over the world...

16.11.2012 18:59:22

Cormac McGovern, an Irish shareholder, wrote a beautiful and amazing letter to the club

Dear friends of Real Oviedo,



May I firstly excuse the fact that this letter of support is written in

English and not Asturian or Spanish.



I have recently purchased a single share in your club, to help in your

efforts to continue self determination. Your club has always been of

interest to me and how it has represented the Asturias region. I fondly

remember the Victor Onopko era in particular.



I am a season ticket holder for St.Patricks Athletic

http://www.stpatsfc.com/main.php and our club has also gone through a

period when financial problems threatened the clubs existence. Thankfully

that has not happened and will never happen. Although each season is a

fight for survival for every Irish club. St. Patricks rely on the loyal few

to overcome the many obstacles in their path. **



An unheralded Irishman has helped Oviedo fight against the odds in the

past, this man was a Dubliner, Patrick O’Connell. Patrick O’Connell was the

manager of Real Oviedo from 1929-31, when the club was in the second

division. It is in his memory that I donate my few euro to Real Oviedo in

their quest to continue as club, a family and an institution of the

Asturias region.



On a personal level I hope our journeys can be intertwined in a strong and

everlasting relationship. I am marrying Bríd O’Connell next year in

Waterville, Co.Kerry. Bríd is the love of my life and I know I can always

rely on her, and she can rely on me to overcome anything together through

our journey in life.



It is the act of togetherness that I hope will drive on your club and

ensure that your history will be preserved and new history created. The

story of Patrick O’Connell brought me to Oviedo. And another great

O’Connell brought me to Kerry.



So from Oviedo, to Dublin, to Kerry and back to Oviedo again, our journey

will continue. Long live Real Oviedo.

And after making a lot of noise everywhere... we got an investor... and that investor is the richest man in the world... five times Abramovich wealth.

Financially stricken Spanish club Real Oviedo said on Saturday that Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim had agreed to invest €2 million ($2.5 million) in the third-tier team, which had been facing bankruptcy before a massive fund-raising effort by fans.

Oviedo narrowly staved off financial extinction after supporters over the past two weeks bought more than €1.5 million ($1.9 million) in new shares in the club.

The club said in a statement on Saturday that Slim decided to become the new majority shareholder because of Oviedo's "history in Spanish professional football and above all for the extraordinary support of its fans."

According to Forbes magazine, Slim is the world's richest person with a net worth of $69 billion. Slim made his fortune in the telecommunications industry.

"This challenge and ambition is strictly a sports investment and one that looks to benefit the club and its fans," the club's statement said regarding Slim's plans. "(The investment) will try to support Oviedo's player so they can reach their goals and the club can reach the division that corresponds to its history and values."

Oviedo, which has spent a total of 38 seasons in the top division, said that Slim plans to use the club "to create synergies and exchanges between Spanish, Mexican and Latin American football."

"It's a good day, a very good day," Oviedo spokesman David Alonso told The Associated Press, adding that fans are still buying up shares of the club at the low price of €10.75 ($13.74). The share offering is set to end Saturday night. Shares cost €60 ($77) at its initial offering 20 years ago.

Unlike two weeks ago when fans started to do their part in what appeared to be a hopeless cause, Oviedo's supporters are now buying a part of a club that appears to have a much brighter future. Four shares earns a buyer a seat and vote at the annual shareholders meeting.

"People are still buying shares, it's an investment," said Alonso. "People are still buying because they feel they form a part of this club and they know that every little bit helps."

Oviedo was relegated from the top flight in 2001, and then fell as far as the fourth division.

Players including Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla, Chelsea forward Juan Mata, Swansea's Miguel "Michu" Perez, and Atletico Madrid's Adrian Lopez have all played for Oviedo.

It has a fan base of 20,000 supporters and a stadium that can seat 30,500 spectators, putting it on par with many first-division clubs.

Our Asturian roots in Mexico from years ago and the fact than Ajaccio's mexican goalkeeper invested on us was very important for this decision from Carlos Slim.



We are saved, and the future is bright. What a happy ending...
Thanks Junkmale!!

[Junkmale]

Fantastic news SF :-)
A good news story for a change.
My own team are doing pretty well this season. Currently 2nd in the NI Premier League. We got a bit of money for qualifying for the Europa League this year which has helped to keep us afloat for a little while!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20377287

[SpanishFan]

Great! It is fantastic that teams with passion, history and little money are able to survive these days

[Fall]

Anyone else watching the Confederations Cup final? Brazil is winning 3-0, against the world champions, Spain

Brazil wins the Confederations Cup

[Fall]

Today is Maradona's birthday







And of course, no Diego birthday post would be complete without this



Not doing much today from what I've heard.
Personally I think he should still be Argentina's head coach.

[Ali]

Woohoo! France came back from 2-0 deficit in the first leg of World Cup Qualifying to beat Ukraine 3-0 today in Paris!

http://espnfc.com/us/en/report/38219...t=true&cc=5901

No other country in the history of Europe as ever come back from 2-0 behind to Qualify for the World Cup. I am proud of the players for putting in a great effort. No one thought that France would make it to the World Cup but they proved everyone wrong.

I hope Alizee is as happy as me.

[Junkmale]

Tough one for England.....

[Fall]

Originally Posted by Junkmale

Tough one for England.....

Indeed, but at least they're not up against Spain and the Netherlands like Chile and Australia!
I don't think we'll see a repeat of the last World Cup where both the previous champions and runners up went home almost immediately

[Jacotey]

Why I didn't see this thread before? So yeah, like Fall mentioned above, I'm Madridista, but I support Liverpool FC and Paris Saint-Germain too. Yesterday was very happy day for me - this win is very important, because it means that Ancelotti is a good trainer for Real (it's his first season and we still have chance for Triple Crown) and one of few things which I hate in Madrid's management is firing trainers after one season, it didn't happen with Mourinho, but in the past...

I didn't count how many times I've already watched Bale goal, but he is just awesome. He has three attributes which I love - incredible speed, powerful long-shots and amazing free kicks... It looks like I described two Madrid players at the same time About the price - it's even more than $100 mil, Gareth Bale costed €91 mil, so it's about $120 mil. It's hard to describe in words how many it is for the average people , but Real Madrid is for sure the richest club in the world with income ~€500 mil per year, they can afford it.

Like you guys, I can't wait to see the World Cup. I support France (I wonder why... ), Portugal (CR7, Pepe and Coentrão), Spain (only because of Real Madrid players, but I wouldn't mind if they won't win... 1x World Cup and 2x Euro is enough!) and... Belgium - they have a lot of amazing young players (Hazard, Curtois, Januzaj, Lukaku... just wow), even if they won't do well in 2014, they will dominate next Euro or World Cup. And besides, Belgium is a francophone country

Oh, I forget. Thanks for your attitude Fall - if every fan of Barcelona and Real would be like you... And like them!