Have a look at this little lad!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG47FDenyXw
Thursday, December 27, 2007
This Is Surreal
Old Trafford must seem a million miles away . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e23DZBC5mx8
David Beckham and Snoop???!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e23DZBC5mx8
David Beckham and Snoop???!!!
A European Cup Final For The Purist In You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlGOXOa-lnc
This game is commonly regarded as one of the greatest European Finals ever
This game is commonly regarded as one of the greatest European Finals ever
England 3 Hungary 6 November 1953
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgOs_m5bXCs&feature=related
This footage is ingrained on any student of English football history's brain . . . the day tactics were thrown up in the air and revitalized in a way never thought possible
This footage is ingrained on any student of English football history's brain . . . the day tactics were thrown up in the air and revitalized in a way never thought possible
When We English Had Our First Wake Up Call
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYFl6oOad3E
This fascinating German footage shows action from The 1950 World Cup when England were beaten 1-0 by the USA plus footage from the final
This fascinating German footage shows action from The 1950 World Cup when England were beaten 1-0 by the USA plus footage from the final
The Day Bestie and Co Ran Riot!
Hello All,
If winning the World Cup in 1966 wasn't enough, the icing on the cake was this, when United won the European Cup for the first time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwJSNlpGsUM
Of course, we didn't have drama on this magnitude until 1999 . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf3DNit0FvE
Truly memorable stuff! Still brings a tear to the eye all these years on
Eddie Kennedy
If winning the World Cup in 1966 wasn't enough, the icing on the cake was this, when United won the European Cup for the first time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwJSNlpGsUM
Of course, we didn't have drama on this magnitude until 1999 . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf3DNit0FvE
Truly memorable stuff! Still brings a tear to the eye all these years on
Eddie Kennedy
When England Truly Had A World Class Team
Hey Up!
Happy days indeed . . . and I wasn't even born! The 1966 World Cup Final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIGiYn8Iw1Q
Have fun
MOTD The USA Way
Happy days indeed . . . and I wasn't even born! The 1966 World Cup Final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIGiYn8Iw1Q
Have fun
MOTD The USA Way
A True Gent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG4ATQHt708
This link takes you to one of the true gents of the game . . . a man by the name of Zola . . . a wonderful Italian player who played in the Premiership for seven years . . . enjoy!
This link takes you to one of the true gents of the game . . . a man by the name of Zola . . . a wonderful Italian player who played in the Premiership for seven years . . . enjoy!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
When Gary Met Diego
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFz-qEzEfm0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adHoGYBRNh0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW3xcudqSCw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckjaSS2CqY4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te3_sq-cCV8&feature=related
The above links take you to a programme I watched on the BBC before I left for the US of A. It was a programme where Gary Lineker, one time England centre forward and the second highest England goalscorer behind Bobby Charlton and now successful presenter of some programme called Match of The Day met Diego Maradona, the scourge of England but, it has to be said, one of the greatest players of all time. It's a fascinating programme and I hope you enjoy it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adHoGYBRNh0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW3xcudqSCw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckjaSS2CqY4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te3_sq-cCV8&feature=related
The above links take you to a programme I watched on the BBC before I left for the US of A. It was a programme where Gary Lineker, one time England centre forward and the second highest England goalscorer behind Bobby Charlton and now successful presenter of some programme called Match of The Day met Diego Maradona, the scourge of England but, it has to be said, one of the greatest players of all time. It's a fascinating programme and I hope you enjoy it.
The Best Night Out At Old Trafford I Ever Had
Hello Football Lovers everywhere,
In March 1984 I was privileged to be at Old Trafford to witness one of the greatest comebacks ever.
The European Cup Winners' Cup was a tournament played between winners of each European country's F.A.Cup winners. Manchester United were, in 1984, in the quarter finals. The opponents were the mighty Barcelona. Their side included Diego Maradona and Bernd Schuster, the German who is currently the manager of Real Madrid.
In the first leg of the tie, United were beaten by 2-0. The odds were stacked against us. What happened has lived with me for ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzsIFKJRt3s
If you click on this link you see brief edited highlights of the game that'll live with me for ever. We won by 3-0.
Enjoy
Eddie
In March 1984 I was privileged to be at Old Trafford to witness one of the greatest comebacks ever.
The European Cup Winners' Cup was a tournament played between winners of each European country's F.A.Cup winners. Manchester United were, in 1984, in the quarter finals. The opponents were the mighty Barcelona. Their side included Diego Maradona and Bernd Schuster, the German who is currently the manager of Real Madrid.
In the first leg of the tie, United were beaten by 2-0. The odds were stacked against us. What happened has lived with me for ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzsIFKJRt3s
If you click on this link you see brief edited highlights of the game that'll live with me for ever. We won by 3-0.
Enjoy
Eddie
Is It Really Two Years?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3i9O7uqGJ8&feature=related
Watch this footage and you'll understand why George Best's funeral was live on British TV . . you'll understandwhy he was held in such high esteem as a footballer in the UK and around the world
Watch this footage and you'll understand why George Best's funeral was live on British TV . . you'll understandwhy he was held in such high esteem as a footballer in the UK and around the world
The Legend That is Eric
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVhQ6nME8f8
See this link above ? Well, hopefully, if you click it on it, you'll see a few minutes of excellence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTq6aApCBnA&feature=related
and this one . . sit back and enjoy a true legend !
Au revoir mes amis!
See this link above ? Well, hopefully, if you click it on it, you'll see a few minutes of excellence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTq6aApCBnA&feature=related
and this one . . sit back and enjoy a true legend !
Au revoir mes amis!
Football - Spare The Rod and Spoil The Child??
Hello All,
Happy Holidays everyone . . .well, the festive Football campaign is well under way. The games come thick and fast . . .games are on as I write this right now . . . must get to the telly very quickly!
I've been reading a lot lately about football players and their thoughts and behaviour. Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain, wants a quota put on the amount of foreign players allowed in the English game. My beloved Manchester United had their recent Christmas Party and got into trouble ( making the trashy British TV series "Footballers' Wives" look a bit more realistic than is comfortable for my liking.
Let's talk about the quota issue for starters. It's never going to happen. The Treaty of Rome prohibits the restriction of movement of EU citizens between member states. The argument "well, it'd have to be an agreement between clubs" would never get off the ground in my book. Let's face it, clubs sometimes want their cake and eat it. Let's remember Jean Luc Bosman.
Here was a guy in the mid 90's who was at the end of his contract. Thankfully, freedom of contract by now was in place. He wanted to play for one particular club. The transfer fee offered by this club was more than was offered by another club who his employers wanted to sell him to. However, the club was not prepared to sell hum to the club he wanted to go to. ( As I write this, it reminds me a bit of the saga United had with Gabriel Heinze . . . )
Bosman was unhappy, quite rightly so. At the end of the day, when you go to work, you have to be happy don't you? He consequently took his case to the highest European Court - and he won. Now players can move more freely than ever before. They can let their contract finish, and be perfectly within their rights in doing so. More importantly, clubs who have players who let this happen lose out financially. Big style. Classic case in point - well, two now I think about it - Steve McManaman at Liverpool in 98-99 season if I remember rightly and Michael Ballack at Bayern Munich. Both left their clubs to go to other clubs ( Real Madrid and Chelsea ) for no transfer fee and pocketed a huge signing-on fee. The pendulum has swung so in favour of the players it's gone just a little bit silly. Players can now, after the age of 25, if they have been with their clubs for more than 3 years, buy out their contract if they want to. Like most things in life these past 40 odd years, there needs to be a happy medium struck. Will it happen? I don't know.
I sound a bit like an old fart! Oh well, I have turned 40! Only joking, I am a fully paid up member of the "Life Begins At 40" brigade! Anyhow, I have to say that I fully back Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, who has banned his players from organising parties after lurid tales emerged from their Christmas Party. What players have to realise is they really do have a duty to set an example to people, especially the younger generations. They are paid thousands of pounds a week ( to put it into context, I was on 15,200 pounds a year working in a call centre back home and that was the highest salary I had ever had in my life ) for playing football. I'd give my high teeth to be able to say I have stood on the grass at Old Trafford.
However, I'm not totally against footballers and their salaries. My argument has always been that if you are in an industry which wants to pay you silly money, are you going to turn it down??!!! I don't think so. It is a short career and they do have to look after themselves financially as best as possible. You just have to behave fellers, that's all we want. Plus, fans have to stop treating opposing footballers like they are something they have trodden in. We all have a duty to clean up our collective acts. We are all only human after all. Eric Cantona famously proved that in January 1995. If I find the footage, it'll be on this blog, have no fear.
If you want to read what a well brought up footballer and human being can sound like, read the article from "The Guardian" which carried an interview with Phil Neville. It makes refreshing reading. It's on this here blog.
Anyhow, time for me to be glued in front of the telly - it's Boxing Day after all, which means beaucoup de footy. Have fun and be ready, there may be shows posted on here soon of the show David Beckham only dream about getting on , namely"Match of The Day The USA Way" every Monday morning at 7am on Valley Free Radio, 103.3FM here in the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts. It is also available to listen to online, just go to www.valleyfreeradio.org and follow the instructions. It's dead easy - if I can do it, so can you. Ta ra!
Happy Holidays everyone . . .well, the festive Football campaign is well under way. The games come thick and fast . . .games are on as I write this right now . . . must get to the telly very quickly!
I've been reading a lot lately about football players and their thoughts and behaviour. Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain, wants a quota put on the amount of foreign players allowed in the English game. My beloved Manchester United had their recent Christmas Party and got into trouble ( making the trashy British TV series "Footballers' Wives" look a bit more realistic than is comfortable for my liking.
Let's talk about the quota issue for starters. It's never going to happen. The Treaty of Rome prohibits the restriction of movement of EU citizens between member states. The argument "well, it'd have to be an agreement between clubs" would never get off the ground in my book. Let's face it, clubs sometimes want their cake and eat it. Let's remember Jean Luc Bosman.
Here was a guy in the mid 90's who was at the end of his contract. Thankfully, freedom of contract by now was in place. He wanted to play for one particular club. The transfer fee offered by this club was more than was offered by another club who his employers wanted to sell him to. However, the club was not prepared to sell hum to the club he wanted to go to. ( As I write this, it reminds me a bit of the saga United had with Gabriel Heinze . . . )
Bosman was unhappy, quite rightly so. At the end of the day, when you go to work, you have to be happy don't you? He consequently took his case to the highest European Court - and he won. Now players can move more freely than ever before. They can let their contract finish, and be perfectly within their rights in doing so. More importantly, clubs who have players who let this happen lose out financially. Big style. Classic case in point - well, two now I think about it - Steve McManaman at Liverpool in 98-99 season if I remember rightly and Michael Ballack at Bayern Munich. Both left their clubs to go to other clubs ( Real Madrid and Chelsea ) for no transfer fee and pocketed a huge signing-on fee. The pendulum has swung so in favour of the players it's gone just a little bit silly. Players can now, after the age of 25, if they have been with their clubs for more than 3 years, buy out their contract if they want to. Like most things in life these past 40 odd years, there needs to be a happy medium struck. Will it happen? I don't know.
I sound a bit like an old fart! Oh well, I have turned 40! Only joking, I am a fully paid up member of the "Life Begins At 40" brigade! Anyhow, I have to say that I fully back Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, who has banned his players from organising parties after lurid tales emerged from their Christmas Party. What players have to realise is they really do have a duty to set an example to people, especially the younger generations. They are paid thousands of pounds a week ( to put it into context, I was on 15,200 pounds a year working in a call centre back home and that was the highest salary I had ever had in my life ) for playing football. I'd give my high teeth to be able to say I have stood on the grass at Old Trafford.
However, I'm not totally against footballers and their salaries. My argument has always been that if you are in an industry which wants to pay you silly money, are you going to turn it down??!!! I don't think so. It is a short career and they do have to look after themselves financially as best as possible. You just have to behave fellers, that's all we want. Plus, fans have to stop treating opposing footballers like they are something they have trodden in. We all have a duty to clean up our collective acts. We are all only human after all. Eric Cantona famously proved that in January 1995. If I find the footage, it'll be on this blog, have no fear.
If you want to read what a well brought up footballer and human being can sound like, read the article from "The Guardian" which carried an interview with Phil Neville. It makes refreshing reading. It's on this here blog.
Anyhow, time for me to be glued in front of the telly - it's Boxing Day after all, which means beaucoup de footy. Have fun and be ready, there may be shows posted on here soon of the show David Beckham only dream about getting on , namely"Match of The Day The USA Way" every Monday morning at 7am on Valley Free Radio, 103.3FM here in the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts. It is also available to listen to online, just go to www.valleyfreeradio.org and follow the instructions. It's dead easy - if I can do it, so can you. Ta ra!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Match of The Day The USA Way Away From The Mic!
Hello All,
Here's some pictures you might love to see . . . the top one is me and some local celebrity in a boozer in Amherst . . . the other two are of the Stokes men . . . taken on the opening day of the PVJSL season in Leeds . . . star player Freddie Stokes and Timothy Stokesinho!
Tim and Eddie try to become Football Club shareholders !
Hello All
Eddie Kennedy here, one half of the presenting dream team - think Randy Moss and Tom Brady - Valley Free Radio has to keep the "soccer show" alive on community radio here in the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts, USA, every Monday morning on 103.3FM from 7am to 8am ( or stupid o'clock to sane o'clock as I like to think of it )
As always, it was a packed show yesterday. We kick-started our show with what has become a bit of a cult classic. It was our Monday motivational moment. It is the last 4 minutes of the commentary from BBC Radio 5 Live's coverage of the 1999 Champions League Final, when, 1-0 down, my beloved Manchester United came back in injury time to win 2-1. Happy days indeed! It has amazed me the reaction I have received since we first played the piece of commentary. Naturally, as an exiled Red, it still gets me excited now, over 8 years since the game was played. The look on Tim's face as he intently sat listening to it, coupled with what I have heard from mine and Tim's wife, well, all I can say is that the old saying about painting pictures with words was never more true.
New England Revolution's sad demise in the MLS Cup Final was the next topic. To go 1-0 up courtesy of an excellent Taylor Twellman goal and lose from two momentary lapses of concentration, well, it only sickens you. The lads did very well trying to salvage something, but, you do wonder if the current crop of players needs freshening up, and that they need the "designated" player the MLS allows, to take them to the next level. It's times like this, in my opinion, that the players have to ask themselves have I done my manager, my team, the fans and myself justice? Having said all that, the Revs have won one piece of silverware this season and have gone to the MLS Final for the 3rd successive season. A good season, but they have to go to the next level if they are to be truly remembered as a great side in MLS history. All great teams like United ask themselves that.
The subject of Football Club ownership was the next big topic. News from England that http://www.myfootballclub.co.uk/ has bought a majority shareholding in a semi-professional team caught our eye. Ebbsfleet United, from Kent, are now owned by more than 20,000 people! It's a great idea in principle. The concept of a community owning a team appeals to the socialist in all of us, the idea of stopping one person using it as a toy to make money for him or herself is great. It will be interesting to see how the idea maps out. Tim and I tried to sign up online, but, computers being the fickle, tempermental buggers that they are, wouldn't let us do it for some reason. Never beaten until it's over, I'll find a way for us to become part of the scheme!
I used to haves shares in Manchester United. It made me feel part of the club on a level I had not felt before in all the years of supporting the Reds. It was a shame in one way when "Uncle Malcolm" came riding into town and bought the club in the manner that he did, saddling the club with the debt it has now after years of being debt free.
It has been discussed many times before, that from the day United became a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange, the time for a takeover was an accident waiting to happen. The money raised by Martin Edwards and the board was needed - the development of the ground wouldn't have happened in the accelerated manner in which it did - without the move to being a PLC ( Public Limited Company ). Only time will tell how the situation with the Glazers will develop, but with rising ticket prices being imposed on the club's core supporters, it is sunny with the chance of heavy showers right now at M16!
To round the show off, we chatted about a few news items that had caught my eye over the past week. The unfairness of the money received by the England women's football team for their efforts in China during the World Cup ( $80 a day ) to compensate for lost revenue from their day-jobs ( there is a league in the UK but not to the standard over here ) , a study about telling a defender from a forward or a goalkeeper purely on looks and personality were covered and how some junior coaches in the Pioneer Valley put "professionalism" for want of a better expression before fair play and skill development. Dear me, what is the world coming to? Have we learnt nothing?
Tim described the mood of the morning as "grumpy". He was right after the footballing weekend's actions, despite the USA beating South Africa and Israel doing England a favour by beating Russia. I think we went some way to rectifying the problem. It is our intention to try and put a smile on people's faces as they start the working week. I like to think we do. Tim and I are very proud of our show. When people who are not sporty-minded say, on air, that they look forward to hearing it, then I know we are doing a good job.
As a final thought, football mirrors life. We all, at some stage in our life have to work in a team environment. Watch a game of fotball at some time folks, you might like it and more importantly, learn something. You never know, you might become like Tim and me! ( By the way,that's Tim with boys from his football team in the picture - they are Connor Edwards, Freddie Stokes and Alex Zimbalist )
Till the next time,
Adios and enjoy your football
Eddie Kennedy
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
The Debut of the Blog!
Good Morning Soccer Lovers everywhere!
Welcome to the first blog of Match of The Day the USA Way, broadcast every Monday morning at 7am ( that's stupid o'clock to you and me ) on Valley Free Radio, 103.3F.M. live from the bowels of Florence Community Center, here in the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts. It's hosted by Eddie Kennedy, VFR's resident Brit ( that's me ) and my good friend, the holding midfielder that is the legend that is Mr Tim Stokes. Tim is a coach for Northampton Soccer Club. He coaches the boys u-10 team. They are affectionately known as "Timmy's Tigers". Me, well, I'm a mad keen football fan and ex-player who is a devoted supporter of Manchester United.
Each Monday we talk about the wonderful world of football. Tim once said to me that he wondered how we could talk about football for an hour, but, and my Mum agreed, he had never met me! We talk about the weekend's results from the English Premier League, the MLS aand any other game we may have seen that weekend. We then cover an issue that appertains one way or another to the game. In the past we have covered local soccer issues and had an expert on the business side of sports come on the show and be interviewed by Tim and me! This coming Monday we will talk about the report publised anually by Deloitte and Touche on the business of football.
We like to think our show is good, intelligent, sensible and fun listening. We also cover the lighter side of the beautiful game, by chatting about the more obscure news items that have featured in the game that past week. Music is also featured - again, something light-hearted and something that is quality listening. It's well worth a listen, so please tune in folks, you might just get a game with us. It's every Monday morning on Valley Free Radio, broadcast live on 103.3F.M. here in the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts.
Welcome to the first blog of Match of The Day the USA Way, broadcast every Monday morning at 7am ( that's stupid o'clock to you and me ) on Valley Free Radio, 103.3F.M. live from the bowels of Florence Community Center, here in the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts. It's hosted by Eddie Kennedy, VFR's resident Brit ( that's me ) and my good friend, the holding midfielder that is the legend that is Mr Tim Stokes. Tim is a coach for Northampton Soccer Club. He coaches the boys u-10 team. They are affectionately known as "Timmy's Tigers". Me, well, I'm a mad keen football fan and ex-player who is a devoted supporter of Manchester United.
Each Monday we talk about the wonderful world of football. Tim once said to me that he wondered how we could talk about football for an hour, but, and my Mum agreed, he had never met me! We talk about the weekend's results from the English Premier League, the MLS aand any other game we may have seen that weekend. We then cover an issue that appertains one way or another to the game. In the past we have covered local soccer issues and had an expert on the business side of sports come on the show and be interviewed by Tim and me! This coming Monday we will talk about the report publised anually by Deloitte and Touche on the business of football.
We like to think our show is good, intelligent, sensible and fun listening. We also cover the lighter side of the beautiful game, by chatting about the more obscure news items that have featured in the game that past week. Music is also featured - again, something light-hearted and something that is quality listening. It's well worth a listen, so please tune in folks, you might just get a game with us. It's every Monday morning on Valley Free Radio, broadcast live on 103.3F.M. here in the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts.
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