Page 6 - Monthly Archives: August 2015

It might be hard to believe now, considering the fact that the Blackburn Rovers have been putting forth middling performances in the Football League Championship for three consecutive seasons, but early in Premier League history, the Rovers were actually one of the top teams in the division. Indeed, Blackburn finished in fourth place in the first year of the Premier League (1992 1993), despite the fact that they'd just earned promotion up from Division 2 the year before. The next season, the Rovers were the runners-up to Manchester United's championship squad, and in 1994 1995, Blackburn actually won the Premier League, topping Man United by just one point to take the crown. So can Blackburn Rovers earn promotion back into the Premier League during the 2015 - 2016 football season?

Blackburn Rovers Jersey

A Fall from Grace

The years since their Premier League victory haven't been anywhere near as kind to the Blackburn Rovers. They dipped to seventh place in 1995 1996, and continued to slide

What can £750 million buy in the English Premier League? For Adidas, it bought a 10-year kit sponsorship agreement with Manchester United-a world record deal that inspired the Red Devils to end their 13-year partnership with Nike. Nike had been making United's official football kits since 2002, when the club chose not to renew its sponsorship deal with Umbro after 10 years. Adidas actually has been United's kit manufacturer in the past-from 1980 to 1992-but the Manchester United home kit 2015 - 2016 marks first time in a long time, that we've seen the trademark Adidas stripes on the shoulders of a Devils jersey.

Fittingly, then, the design of the Manchester United home jersey 2015 2016 seems to hearken back to the soccer club's jerseys from the 1980s. In fact, Adidas seem to be picking up right where they left off with the Red Devils. The new home kit is red with a swooping V-neck and white and black trim-a design that has been appropriately described as "retro" by many of the sources that

For weeks, everyone has been wondering if Arsenal's strong 2014 2015, FA Cup victory, and big influx of new talent could mark the football club as a potential frontrunner for the 2015 2016 Premier League season. Now, as Arsenal win FA Community Shield 2015, beating EPL Champions Chelsea, the Gunners are almost undisputable as the team to watch during the forthcoming soccer season.

Arsenal Puma Kit

Arsenal's Renaissance

Granted, Arsenal won the Community Shield last year too. The match, which pits the champions of the previous season's Premier League against the reigning holders of the FA Cup, is seen as the inaugural event of a brand new season. Arsenal won the game in 2014, topping 2013 2014 Premier League champs Manchester City 3-0 in front of more than 70,000 people at Wembley Stadium.

The victory didn't ultimately predict a win for the Gunners in the Premier League-they finished third-but it was a part of an increasingly impressive renaissance for the London club. The 2014 2015 season

Chelsea might be one of the most dominant forces in English football on the men's side, but the Chelsea
Ladies Football Club had never won an FA Women's Cup title until Saturday. Arsenal and Southampton have been the big winners in the tournament over the years. Arsenal have been particularly dominant, winning nine of their 13 titles since the year 2000. The Gunners were also the two-time reigning champions, having clinched consecutive FA Cup events in 2013 and 2014. Southampton, meanwhile, had early success in the soccer tournament, but haven't won since 1981. But now Chelsea Ladies win first ever FA Cup title in monumental year for women's football.

Chelsea Shirts

An Unpredictable Turn of Events

This year was unusual in that, regardless of what happened in the championship match, there was going to be a new winner in the annals of the FA Women's Cup. Southampton exited the tournament in the preliminary round, Chelsea eliminated Arsenal in a quarterfinal away match, and Notts County beat

Boca Juniors have reached the round of 16 for the 2014 2015 Copa Argentina tournament, and local favorite son Carlos Tevez is one of the men most responsible for the victory. Tevez may currently be a nominee for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award-thanks to his dynamite performance at Juventus last season-but his days in European football, it seems, are done. On July 13^th, just two days before Tevez was named to the UEFA award shortlist, Juventus announced that he would be transferring to Boca Juniors for a €6.5 million fee. And now as Carlos Tevez makes Boca Juniors return he has also officially scored his first goal since returning to the club that made him famous.

A Foregone Conclusion

To outsiders, it may seem surprising that Carlos Tevez is heading to Argentina for the 2015 2016 season. In his two years at Juventus, he helped the Italian soccer club win two Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia, and a Supercoppa Italia. He also played a big role in the team's runner-up Champions League

Real Madrid won their second International Champions Cup title in a week on July 30^th, beating AC Milan in a hard-fought penalty kick shootout to claim victory in the International Champions Cup 2015 China incarnation of the football tournament. Just days before, on July 24^th, the Vikings had beaten Manchester City 4-1 to clinch the Australian incarnation of the 2015 ICC.

Unfortunately, Real aren't participating in the third and final edition of this year's International Champions Cup, which is currently taking place in North America and Europe. Still, two tournament victories in a single month is nothing but good news for the 2014 2015 La Liga runners-up, and shows that Cristiano Ronaldo and company haven't lost a step in the transition from Carlo Ancelotti to new manager, Rafael Benitez.

Football Shirts

The China ICC

For the Australia edition of the 2015 International Champions Cup, Real Madrid had been up against Manchester City and AS Roma. They actually lost their tournament-opening

It's official: Arturo Vidal signs for Bayern Munich. The transfer is arguably the biggest signing of the summer for the German champs, as Vidal has played an integral role in each of the past four title-winning seasons for Juventus. He's also on the shortlist for UEFA's Best Player in Europe Award for the year-one of five Juventus players on the list, and one of three who is departing the Italian football club this summer. (Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez are also saying goodbye to Juventus for the 2015 2016 season.)

A Key Cog

In their announcement of the Best Player in Europe Award shortlist, UEFA praised Vidal for his contributions in both Juve's Serie A victory and the Chile national team's 2015 Copa America triumph.

The European football organization noted that Vidal "struck the decisive goal against Sampdoria" on May 2^nd, in a 1-0 home game win that officially secured the Serie A trophy for Juventus. UEFA also stated that Vidal "was ever-present in Chile's Copa America success on home

FC Copenhagen are no strangers to success. In terms of Danish championship titles, they are the third most decorated football club in the country, and the only team in the top three that has won a title in the past 10 years. With that said, the soccer squad hasn't clinched a win in the Danish Superliga since 2012 2013, finishing second in both 2013 2014 (with AaB Fodbold taking the top spot) and 2014 2015 (as FC Midtjylland clinched their first win in the top flight). What are FC Copenhagen Danish Superliga prospects for 2015 2016? Could this season see the Copenhagen Lions returning to the zenith of Danish football?

Consistent Contenders

Even though the Lions haven't won the Superliga in two years, they are still arguably the safest bet to secure the top position in 2015 2016.

For one thing, Copenhagen have been remarkably consistent over the past 10 years. All but one of the football club's Danish championship titles have been attained since the turn of the century, with Copenhagen clinching

Back in February, AC Milan announced plans to build a new 48,000-seat stadium in the Portello area of Milan. The plans included a sweeping re-development concept for the urban Portello neighborhood, including a new hotel, a number of restaurants, a sports college, and more. Now, plans for the new AC Milan stadium have officially been approved, which means that AC Milan's days at San Siro are numbered.

AC Milan Kit

A Storied Venue

It's not surprising that the Red and Blacks are moving forward with plans for a new stadium. Football club officials have been talking about relocating since late 2005, and it's not difficult to see why. While AC Milan's history has been inextricably tied to San Siro for the better part of a century now, they do share the venue with Inter Milan-a complicated arrangement that has always made it difficult for either team to feel completely "at home" in the soccer stadium.

It is somewhat interesting that AC Milan should be the club to leave San Siro, since they have

So what are the SK Rapid Vienna prospects for 2015 - 2016? SK Rapid Vienna (or SK Rapid Wien) are the
most successful club in the history of Austrian football. Since the first Austrian national championship in 1812-which Rapid Wien won, beating Wiener Sportclub to the top of the table-the soccer club has won 32 Austrian titles. They also clinched a German national championship in 1941, beating reigning champs Schalke 04 when Austria was under Nazi rule.

Yet, in spite of Rapid Vienna's prestigious history at the zenith of Austria's football circuit, it's now been seven years since the team ascended to the top of the podium. Indeed, the last time the Green-Whites lifted an Austrian national championship trophy, it was 2008. Thank the recent dominance of FC Red Bull Salzburg, who have won five of the past seven incarnations of the Austrian Bundesliga. But after a strong runner-up finish in the 2014 2015 league, could the upcoming soccer season be Rapid Vienna's chance to finally end their