The Charleston Battery are playing a friendly on July 17th against the article then goes on to say the team will play Charlotte and Toronto FC as well. Battery to announce EPL team next week I've heard a solid rumor as to who it is. I'll keep them to myself for now but it shouldnt be too hard to figure out!
Re: Toronto/EPL friendly in July? Mikey mouse: Thanks for keeping us updated on stuff like this; Lord knows the TFC front office doesn't.
Re: Toronto/EPL friendly in July? Nice! If the player pool at ussoccer.com is to be believed, then it would likely narrow the options down to either Aston Villa, Bolton, Everton or Fulham. You could possibly throw West Ham United in that mix as well.
Re: Toronto/EPL friendly in July? The article said "middle of the table EPL club", not "barely able to avoid relegation EPL club" Villa and Hammers have been here already, so I'd expect it wouldn't be one of them.
Re: Toronto/EPL friendly in July? Bolton apparently - http://www.24thminute.com/2010/05/rumour-tfc-v-fulham.html
Re: Toronto/EPL friendly in July? Confirmed: Bolton will be at BMO for the Carlsberg Cup match on July 21 to take on TFC. http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2010/05/bolton-wanderers-fc-play-carlsberg-cup
Re: Bolton Wanderers to come to Toronto on July 21 Looks like a chance to finally win the coveted carlsberg cup
Re: Toronto/EPL friendly in July? wow, what a surprise..yet another English side. Does the front office realize that Toronto is made up of a culturally diverse cross section of nationalities other than WASPs. Ya we had a portuguese team and a couple of latin teams...but mostly always a English team. What about approaching an Italian team or Spanish side, or German. All good leagues in Europe...and probably better mid table teams than Bolton. Jesus, from day 1 on its been a big olde cater fest to English soccer fans...from supporter groups, to chants, to songs, to player personnel to coaches.....even to the food (which ive said before...what genius decided that a chip butty or scotch egg would be a better menu choice than italian food...braniac)
Re: Bolton Wanderers to come to Toronto on July 21 I feel fortunate to pay $240 for 2 last row seats to see Bolton without any of their internationals as the marquee game of my 6pack... What a screw job! chances are Elmander is at Bordeaux and Klasnic back with Nantes by the time the game rolls around, who are they gonna push down our throats as the big name players coming in? Cohen, Davies and Jaaskallainen? LMAO
Re: Toronto/EPL friendly in July? OK, admittedly this isn't a complete list but I know for sure we've played the following in friendlies: Aston Villa Real Madrid Pachucha Independente River Plate Benfica I don't understand the "yet another English side.../...but mostly always a English team" statement...the list seems pretty diverse to me. Bolton...I can take it or leave it. I'll probably just give the tickets to a workmate anyways, but the list above are the type of teams that I would expect as a "bonus" ticket in a season ticket package.
Re: Bolton Wanderers to come to Toronto on July 21 Really! We are! Even the Trillium Cup is huge! OK, sarcasm aside, this Carlsberg Cup thing is kinda ridiculous, really. If it were a series between the two clubs, maybe then it might have some meaning.
Re: Bolton Wanderers to come to Toronto on July 21 Can't wait to see the mid-field antics of Muvamba and elbows of Kevin Davies
Re: Toronto/EPL friendly in July? how many signings came from England in the first few years...coaching staff...playing tactics... even the obvious look a like to liverpool, with Carlsburg sponsors, nicknamed the Reds, supporter groups that are for the most part english and how the team caters to them Dont get me wrong..I love the passion of those guys and im glad they are part of the makeup of the team and getting the fans worked up. as a Canadian with Italian descent i would like to see something from Italy...a friendly..maybe an italian on the team (Dichio counts as english lol). As probably the people of German descent or spanish descent would want a bone thrown their way. Ya they got Real Madrid...but that wasnt even included as was a major premium to go and watch...thats a money grab to get a huge team here..not to cater to people that follow what maybe is the best league in the world right now (La Liga) thats all...give us a different bone to chew once in a while.
Re: Toronto/EPL friendly in July? Yes, TFCMark, but your original statement was 'yet another English club'. Funny how you conveniently changed your argument once you were proven wrong.
Re: Toronto/EPL friendly in July? By my recollection this will be our 7th friendly, and only our 2nd English team. Has my memory failed, or do you have a different definition of "most" than the rest of us?
Re: Bolton Wanderers to come to Toronto on July 21 It's not as simple to put together a friendly as one might. Everything from unavailable dates, to high appearance fees, or not being able to guarantee certain player's appearing or not, all come into play. I'd like to see a Bundesliga team play, or a Serie A team, or a Ligue 1 team from france. Unfortunately that's not going to happen this year, bolton at least are a epl team after all, (most consider this to be the best league in the world) so I wouldn't complain too much. Would I like to see a liverpool or man utd or Inter milano sure who wouldn't. At the same time though If a big team does appear i'm not interested in a game without the BIG stars playing in it. That's what was so special about Real last year. I got to see Ronaldo and Raul and others at the prime of their carreers play here. It's more important for me to see tfc make the ccl and playoffs than to see ac milan or man utd play tfc here this year.
Re: Toronto/EPL friendly in July? Not sure of your point....Teams like Real Madrid are going to charge a premium to play against a small side like ours... To suggest we cater to clubs from the U.K is just crazy. I guess we really cater to the Argie and Portuguese community.
Re: Bolton Wanderers to come to Toronto on July 21 I can only think of Danny Dichio, Rohan Ricketts and Andy Welsh as English players. Are there more out there that I'm missing? Two of four coaches have been English...but coaching shouldn't really be about nationality, more about the players you have. I'm looking forward to seeing TFC play Bolton, as I looked forward and enjoyed the Aston Villa, Benfica, Independente, River Plate and Pachucha. They've all been very fun, spirited entertaining games. That's all that matters.