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Man United, Real Madrid, Celtic 2 play in Toronto?


Jarrek

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T.O. in for soccer treat?

By GEORGE GROSS, TORONTO SUN

Major international soccer matches for Toronto this year are in the works by American promoters. If arrangements of Champions World, a U.S. promotion group, materialize as planned, Toronto soccer fans will get to see Sir David Beckham and his Real Madrid team, as well as his previous team -- Manchester United -- and multiple Scottish champions Glasgow Celtic.

The Celtic game is planned for Toronto's SkyDome in July, but the promoters have yet to find an opponent. There's also talk about replacing SkyDome's ersatz turf with natural grass, something that is essential for games involving Real Madrid -- the Spanish Royals -- and Man. U., the team once known as the Busby Babes, named after their late legendary coach Sir Matt Busby.

"We are still negotiating for the games in Toronto," said Reg Schneider of Champions World. "Nothing has been finalized, but it will be in time."

Dave Applegate, spokesman for USA Soccer, said he had heard rumours about these teams coming to North America, but he couldn't confirm anything.

"You would have to talk to the promoters," said Applegate. "They will be able to tell you more."

For the uninitiated, Toronto was and still is a hotbed for top class soccer matches. Steve Stavro, former chairman of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment Inc., is a dedicated soccer fan and promoter.

Steve had Varsity Stadium under an exclusive contract for a number of years and imported top British, European and South American teams for exhibition matches, featuring such stars as the late Sir Stanley Matthews and Pele of Brazil, arguably the best soccer player who ever kicked a round ball.

Prior to tying up Varsity Stadium, Stavro promoted a game between Glasgow Celtic and Inter Milan of Italy at the sold out and now much lamented CNE Stadium. The national team of England, Bangu of Brazil, Reims of France and AEK Athens of Greece are among other prominent international clubs that have played in Toronto over the years.

Moreover, sold out stands at Varsity Stadium greeted the matches of Toronto City of the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League which boasted some of Great Britain's most famous players including Matthews.

Toronto City accomplished in 1961 something no other team was ever able to achieve. City had the captain of England (Johnny Haynes), the skipper of Scotland (Tommy Younger) and the captain of Northern Ireland (Danny Blanchflower) playing for the same team in league competition, along with Welsh junior international, Ambrose Morgan.

Small wonder that the powerful City squad won the ECPSL league championship and playoff cup, but also beat such respectable opposition as Stade Reims of France (2-1), AEK Athens of Greece (4-1), Bermuda All Stars (5-0) and British Columbia All Stars (7-1).

It behooves me to believe that if Real Madrid, Manchester United and Glasgow Celtic visit Toronto this year, the tickets will be hard to come by.

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quote:Originally posted by beachesl

"For the uninitiated, Toronto was and still is a hotbed for top class soccer matches. "

"STILL IS" ? Isn't that a bit of a Gross exageration?

Hey, common! Reims, Bangu and Reggina have all visited T.O. since WWII! It's been insane! [:P]

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quote:

Hey, common! Reims, Bangu and Reggina have all visited T.O. since WWII! It's been insane!

Well, here are teams that have come here in the past (brackets number of times):

Juventus(3)

Benfica(2)

Glasgow Rangers(2)

Hearts(1)

Lazio(1)

Torpedo Moscow(1)

Birmingham City(1)

Werder Bremen(1)

Santos F.C.(1)

Aberdeen(1)

Appollon(1)

US Catanzaro(1)

Maccabi Tel Aviv(1)

Tottenham Hotspur(1)

Sporting Cristal(1)

Aris(1)

Nottingham Forest(1)

AS Roma(1)

Ajax Amsterdam(1)

VfB Stuttgart(1)

Avellino(1)

Inter Milan(1)

Perspolis(1)

Santa Clara(1)

F.C. Porto(1)

Manchester United

Manchester City

West Ham United

Newcastle United

Celtic

Eintracht Frankfurt

Bologna

AC Milan

Not a shabby list!

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[}:)] Yet another opportunity to slam T-O.....and I have nothing to say. 'cept I'm out of Moosehead:( Noooo , don't tell me I've lost interest in putting down T-O ......Tell me it ain't so...;)

Just get the darn games on T.V. and make sure stars play, after all to those of us outside of the BIG SMOKE it's only a television event[:P]

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Well it was a hotbed when there was a stadium that had grass in it - now of course they are getting around that "tiny" problem by bringing grass to the stadium. I guess whether it still is a hotbed will be found out this summer - but I'll be hugely surprised if these matches don't do well (if they happen).

BTW, you left out 1860 Munich, Jarrek - the most recent one! :)

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quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Well it was a hotbed when there was a stadium that had grass in it - now of course they are getting around that "tiny" problem by bringing grass to the stadium. I guess whether it still is a hotbed will be found out this summer - but I'll be hugely surprised if these matches don't do well (if they happen).

BTW, you left out 1860 Munich, Jarrek - the most recent one! :)

57...58...59.... Scheiße! Scheiße! Scheiße!

(sorry, I love that chant)

Back to the topic -- I don't mean to bash T.O., but as Ryan Keay posted earlier in this thread, you might wanna look up the definition of "hotbed". It makes that sentence from that article absolutely hilarious!! :D I realize that the word "hotbed" is somewhat overused, but you gotta draw the line somewhere. No city in North America </u> is or ever has been a hotbed for top-class soccer matches!

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quote:Originally posted by Jarrek

Well, here are teams that have come here in the past (brackets number of times):

Juventus(3)

Benfica(2)

Glasgow Rangers(2)

Hearts(1)

Lazio(1)

Torpedo Moscow(1)

Birmingham City(1)

Werder Bremen(1)

Santos F.C.(1)

Aberdeen(1)

Appollon(1)

US Catanzaro(1)

Maccabi Tel Aviv(1)

Tottenham Hotspur(1)

Sporting Cristal(1)

Aris(1)

Nottingham Forest(1)

AS Roma(1)

Ajax Amsterdam(1)

VfB Stuttgart(1)

Avellino(1)

Inter Milan(1)

Perspolis(1)

Santa Clara(1)

F.C. Porto(1)

Manchester United

Manchester City

West Ham United

Newcastle United

Celtic

Eintracht Frankfurt

Bologna

AC Milan

Not a shabby list!

toronto a hotbed are you insane.you have a very short memory,didnt 1860 munich play the lynx a couple summers ago at centennial.if a world class club like 1860 can escape your radar something is wrong with soccer in t.o.i believe only 2500 showed up for the match.there is a reason why the csa has relocated to vancouver.
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quote:Originally posted by snake

there is a reason why the csa has relocated to vancouver.

And what reason would that be? Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with Toronto, since the CSA's offices are located in Ottawa.

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quote:Originally posted by Rudi

And what reason would that be? Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with Toronto, since the CSA's offices are located in Ottawa.

lack of respect from the business community.lack of respect from the local media.lack of respect from the fans.ONTARIO as the home province of the csa has been a disaster.toronto cares more about arena football than soccer.go into any of the many diverse ethnic communities in toronto and start talking canadian soccer.the disdain for the mens national team in toronto is second to none.
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