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A little while ago I mentioned that I decided to write an article about football's increase in popularity in Canada.

 

Right now I'm near the end, I'm in the process of putting in a paragraph or so of the views from Canadians (thanks to Toon Hoser for his input).

 

I'm willing to share the first paragraph now though, I'm interested in constructive feedback.

 

I first visited Canada in October 2003 at the age of 13, even then at an early age I noticed that football/soccer wasn’t as big as it was at home in the UK, or more specifically Newcastle. When visiting the parks in the Greater Toronto area (GTA) there was no sight of goalposts, no-one playing with a soccer ball. Back then soccer to Canadians was mostly seen as a sport for woman and young children, my younger cousin at the time played on the local school team, though I think that was more down to my aunty being soccer mad rather than his own passion for the game. The biggest evidence of the Canadians lack of interest in the sport came when me and my step father were searching for the Newcastle United result, there was no mention of it on the news, nor the sports channels, it wasn’t until the next day that we managed to find the results in the newspaper hidden away past the ice hockey, past the Canadian football, past the baseball, past the basketball, and in a corner at the bottom of the page in the smallest writing possible were the results; Newcastle lost 2-1 to West Bromwich Albion in the league cup. Little did I know then how things were about to change, both for Newcastle and for soccer in Canada.
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Some nice snippets of personal observation which add colour. Maybe start with the "No signs of goalposts. Nobody kicking a ball... .' Then backfill with the context 'I was 13 when I first visited Toronto. The absence of my favourite sport from the beautiful parks in the GTA stuck in my mind.' Then a bit more about the search for results and then bring in some evidence for your observations (if you can find it) who played the game then, who plays now. Coverage then; coverage now etc. Nice project :thup:

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Few amendments.

 

I first visited Canada in October 2003, at the age of 13.

 

Even then at an early age I noticed that soccer wasn’t as big as it was at home in the UK - or more specifically Newcastle.

 

When visiting the parks in the Greater Toronto area there was no sight of goalposts or even anyone playing with a ball. Back then, soccer to Canadians was mostly seen as a sport for women and young children. My younger cousin at the time played on the local school team - though I think that was more down to my auntie being soccer mad rather than his own passion for the game.

 

The biggest evidence of the Canadians' lack of interest in the sport came when me and my step father were searching for the Newcastle United result. There was no mention of it on the news or on TV. It wasn’t until the next day that we managed to find the results in a newspaper, hidden away past the ice hockey, Canadian football, baseball and basketball coverage, in a corner at the bottom of the page.

 

In small text were the results. Newcastle lost 2-1 to West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup. Little then did I know how things were about to change, both for Newcastle and for soccer in Canada.

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Hearing Julio Baptista was turning out for Bolton Under 23s made me think of other pretty well established international players who have pretty average British clubs on their CV alongside some of the world's biggest clubs

 

Obviously Bolton had quite a few during the Big Sam era with Hierro, Campo, Djorkaeff and to a lesser extent Okocha and Nakata. Anelka turning up at Bolton and West Brom. Salgado at Blackburn. Edgar Davids at Palace and Barnet. Even Gary Medel at Cardiff is a bit weird. Sure there must be loads more

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Most of those clubs were at a decent level at the time though.

 

George Weah at Man City when they were at Maine Road under Joe Royle with a team filled with the likes of Weaver, Wiekens, Prior, Tiatto, Whitley & Horlock.

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Re the Canadian football article. 

 

I get where you want to take the article, which is to show how soccer/football has blossomed across north america.  I'm not sure that positioning the intro about a mainly-foreign sport not being reported in the local paper is really a good comparison.... Does the Chronicle have any NHL coverage?  And why would a local paper have coverage of a sport from another part of the world?  Perhaps that's a good comparison, and one that would illustrate the change in popularity in the sports between then and now.  Still no NHL in the Chronicle but you can now find EPL coverage in the local US/CA TV media.  Plus if you want to find goalposts, then looking in the park is the wrong place... you should be looking on the ponds/lakes as you'll find plenty of signs of sport... just a different one. And of course the climate has a lot to do with this... in the dept of a Canadian winter a frozen pond is much easier to play hockey on than a snow covered field.

 

I like the personal story aspect of the article, trying to find the scores when abroad, so I would get to the comparison as quickly as possible and move on from the negative statement to a positive one (which is the purpose of the story).

 

Living in the US, Soccer (i'm going to call it that because talking football in the US but meaning soccer is way too confusing) was always a niche sport mainly for immigrants (Mexican, South Americans as well as those with UK/European backgrounds). And even after getting football games onto the TV in Fox Soccer channel or now NBC Sports it still seemed to be rather a niche sport.  The interesting point came where you saw ESPN (which focuses on the big US sports - NFL, NBA, MLB etc) was including soccer scores (prem league, la liga, bundesliga)in their ticker or their high light packages.  And even local talk-sports radio was adding small segments on soccer games into their daily talk shows, or even (as here in Dallas area) adding a Saturday afternoon soccer/football review show completely dedicated to the EPL.

 

This is what's telling me that soccer has arrived (and I don't just mean for 4yr olds as their first sport before they move onto Football or Baseball).  Office workers now have fantasy soccer leagues at work with often the Americans outnumbering (and out performing) the Brits in predicting games. Saturday and Sunday mornings are for EPL soccer games before the college or NFL football games come on.  And wait till the world cup (or even European Champoinships) come around..... Breakroom TVs are tuned to the games and its not just the brits/brazilians who are watching.  The american sports fans are watching now.  Yes, we all laughed at Diana Ross and her penalty kick in 94, but America loves the world cup now...especially now that USA can compete as a reasonable level (and is not a token invite).  Deep down Americans want to compete in a world sporting event with a seat at the adult table that they have earned. Yes, they love winning the Olympic medal count, but  I think they know that being Olympic champions in basketball is nowhere near as satisfying as it would be to win the world cup and beat the world at their game.

 

Would love to read the full article when you are finished  Forgive my criticism of the opening paragraph... I wasn't able to see where you were developing the article,  but I just wanted to offer a reverse view and I think that it would balance your article nicely to contrast the increased popularity of soccer in Canada/US compared to US sports in UK. You might also consider a comparison of the growth of the NFL in London, as a contrast to an overseas sport becoming accepted in a country dominated by its legacy sport.  Yes, the NFL sells out their games in London, but you don't see an uptake of American Football in the UK parks on a Saturday afternoon.  This probably provides more data points to your article about how soccer is really taking over in north america.  No it will never overtake football or baseball here in US (or Hockey in Canada), but it's climbing. 

 

 

 

 

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Personally I thought that Canadian thing was a look back at 1975, not 2003. The Canadians were doing a lot for the sport back then. The Premier League's base ran through there as they were hosted on Fox Sports World which then turned into Fox Soccer Channel. To date, that was the best coverage we ever got. Also, like two years later, Toronto FC sprung up. And finding a League Cup score in a Canadian newspaper is pretty decent. I can't even remember who won the competition in 2003. And then add in Owen Hargreaves and Jonathan De Guzman. Canadians who were so good that they broke into European national teams!

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41249300

 

Sorry if already posted somewhere but couldn't find it being discussed anywhere.

 

Terminally ill Barnsley owner Patrick Cryne has written a poignant letter to the club's fans.

 

Cryne, who has cancer, wrote a piece for the club's programme for the EFL Cup second-round tie against Derby, which the Reds won 3-2.

 

The 66-year-old has been in charge at Oakwell since 2004.

 

In the article, Cryne revealed that he is "living on borrowed time" and thanked fans for their "kindness down the years".

 

Cryne's letter in full

 

"I am living on borrowed time. I live in pain, but living is better than the alternative. Cancer is insidious, cruel and rapacious and I implore everyone to have regular checks to stop it gaining hold.

 

"Recent months have brought into focus the things that are important to me. I have spent a lot of my life pursuing the ultimately pointless when there were better things to do. My family have always been important to me but I should have spent more time telling them so.

 

"I do now and it creates joyfulness in our relationships. Of course, my football club has been important too and I am lucky that my family have shared my love of Barnsley FC.

 

"For much of the time since I became the club's buyer of last resort, I allowed others to run the club, fearing that I did not know enough to win the respect and supporter of the 'football people'. It is ironic therefore that we enjoyed one of our most successful periods when I did take up the mantle ending in two successful visits to Wembley.

 

"Maybe, one day before too long I will tell the secrets of how we did it. Certainly, the whole club working as one was instrumental. I don't know if we will ever repeat the sense of togetherness of that season, which extended also to the fans, their tolerance and incredible support.

 

"There are many things I wanted to achieve before my custodianship of our fabulous team ended at the hand of the Grim Reaper. Of course, I wanted to see us get back to the Premier League and make some enhancements to the iconic West Stand. On a personal level, I wanted to bring back together all the 1912 FA Cup final medals, but I only managed to retrieve five.

 

"Most people realise I was a reluctant custodian but what has made it bearable against the occasional cruelty of the internet world is the kindness shown to me by so many fans on a personal basis.

 

"People are not shy in coming forward and telling me they appreciate my efforts, even if I have fallen short of their aspirations. I receive many letters and cards from fans who share with me their memories and best wishes. I am grateful to them all.

 

"Regarding this season, I think we will get stronger as it goes on and our team gels, not unlike the double Wembley season. I do not expect to live to see the ultimate outcome, but I travel in hope.

 

"I wish you all a good football season and thank you for your kindness down the years."

 

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That is sad. Hope they try their best and give him as much joy as possible in whatever time he still has. They've got a trip to Wembley coming up now. Hope he gets to see them there.

 

Don't wish bad things upon people but fuck it, is Mike Ashley is a healthy bulldog?

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