First Person View - POV-FS Second Annual 'On the Road' Football Tour

    Regular readers may have noticed a severe drop off in posts over the recent weeks. Holidays and end of season lull aside, a good portion of my attention has been focused on the organization of another whirlwind town of the British Isles.

    Departing this evening bound for Manchester, the second annual tour will commence on Saturday and wrap up a week later with six matches spread over the seven days.

    Up first is a return to Old Trafford for United vs. West Brom followed by a day trip to Liverpool and Goodison Park for Everton vs. Chelsea, all before the new year is rung.

    Then off to the City of Manchester Stadium for City vs. Stoke on the first before travelling up north to the wiles of Scotland – Glasgow’s Celtic Park for Celtic vs. Motherwell and Heart’s Tynecastle for the Edinburgh derby vs. Hibs - Hibernian.

    The tour will conclude with a return south to Leeds United’s Elland Road for their FA Cup tie against Birmingham City.

    I had hoped to take in a final FA Cup tie on Sunday, but Mansfield Town’s home draw against Liverpool sold out quickly.

    With the occasional off-day I hope to tour a stadium or two and take some time to check out the National Football Museum.

    I’m not sure whether I will be able to provide live coverage of the trip - as I did last year - given the rigourous scheduling and the paucity – and expense - of internet service, but I shall do my best.

    Either way, expect a full recap of the tour upon my return home and normal service at POV-FS will resume with the build to the new MLS season and the completion of several thoughts from last season.

Happy New Year to all, thanks for visiting, all the best,

    James

The Curse of the SkyDome Strikes Again

    Back on March 7th Toronto FC began their 2012 season with a dramatic 2-2 match in front of nearly fifty-thousand fans at the SkyDome in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Some Miscellaneous Thoughts on the Latest Troubles Surrounding Toronto FC – Part III

The third part; a final segment addressing some of the current issues swirling around a troubled Toronto FC; parts one and two.

Book of the Month – When Friday Comes: Football in the War Zone by James Montague – Chapter Four – Israel

    Israel, a land fractured by its divisions and ringed with fences of intimidation. Hatred and hash, political factions turned football clubs. Life is lived on the edge; a party on the verge of disaster. Young faces with massive guns everywhere.

POV-FS - On the Road - England - Day Twelve & Thirteen: Tourism & Home

     Monday (December 5th)  marks the last full day of the excursion abroad; there was a faint hope of finding tickets for the Fulham-Liverpool match at Craven Cottage – one of the grounds I really wanted to go see – but it proved fruitless.

    Seeing as I had avoided doing the whole tourist thing for the majority of the trip I gave in to the urge to ride a tour bus around the historic districts of London.