The Association Football Thread

[SpanishFan]

Haha, this is great, Ajaccio's goalkeeper just bought some shares of my team:












ALIZÉE YOU ARE NEXT!!!











There is also a banner in Celtic Park right now, "Save Real Oviedo"
















A lot of new shareholders from UK and the rest of the world thanks to twitter.
Articles in forums, Metro, Daily Mail...

http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/917139-...ly-boys-outing
http://www.swanseacity.net/news/arti...do-470726.aspx
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...do-shares.html




A thank you banner from our city, with the stadium on the background












Looking good so far

[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...


<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9T_E2eQByfA?list=UUNnqubI7o88llEGocNDro9Q&amp;hl=e n_US" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>





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.

[Fall]

Originally Posted by 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.

I was wondering if you were gonna get on here and post about that dude
I got to watch it, but I couldn't find it on the regular sports channels I have. So I thought maybe TV5 Monde would finally be useful, and happily they were showing the game. They played very very well today, especially in the first half, they Dominated!! Happy for all the other qualifying teams as well.

[Ali]

Originally Posted by Fall06

I was wondering if you were gonna get on here and post about that dude
I got to watch it, but I couldn't find it on the regular sports channels I have. So I thought maybe TV5 Monde would finally be useful, and happily they were showing the game. They played very very well today, especially in the first half, they Dominated!! Happy for all the other qualifying teams as well.

Haha dude. I had to come here and post since I am a HUGE soccer/football fan (even though most of the soccer fans who were buddies of mine on this site has long since left). I could not BELIEVE that France qualified. I saw the Leg 1 on Friday and was totally disappointed. I thought France wasn't going to qualify. But then I checked the score on ESPN today and was totally estatic. Everyone in France is excited.

I visited the french site tf1 which I have been visiting since 2006 WC (I view the site via Google Translate - it translates the entire site) and people in Alizee's home country is totally excited. It's like a bomb that went off once France scored the 3rd goal. Overcoming a 2 goal deficit is very, very hard at this competitive level.

It would have been just wrong and weird if a powerhouse and a great country like France hadn't made it to the World Cup. I would have only had to root for USA.

By the way, I see you are Diego Mardona fan, I was too when I was little, I remember when I was little I got all excited to see Diego Maradona in WC '94, too bad we didn't get to see much of him in '94 due to the steroid scandal. Easily one of the best players to play the game along with Pele, Zidane, Brazil's Ronaldo.

Ever since he left the game, Argentina hasn't been the same. I was a Argentina fan before I became a huge France fan with Zidane.

Hopefully, in this World Cup we will get to see Messi shine, now that he is much older and more experienced.

I hope Alizee is sleeping better tonight with a smile on her face. I know that she is a Soccer fan, she posted a pic of herself wearing a jersey of France's Loris (France's goalkeeper, before Euro 2012 started). Such a relief that France qualified. (whew!)