With QPR/Brentford postponed this weekend, Marc Bircham has accepted a call up to the Canadian national team for their friendly at Findland. Birch has been officially "retired" from the international game since before Gold Cup '02. He didn't want to miss nearly a month of the season, as the Gold Cup was then in January/early February, but ol' Holgar Osieck said he was going to call him anyway and force him to come, so Birch up and "retired" from the intenational game. With Osieck gone, Birch said he told the Canadian folks that while QPR is his first priority, he'd be happy to play for Canada if there was no conflict with the R's. http://www.qpr.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~434657,00.html There's a nice bit on QPR World up about this now too.
Birch started and went the full 90 in Canada's 2-3 loss at Finland. The Finns grabbed 3 goals in 18 minutes to go up 3-0 by halftime. The Canadians fought back with two in the second half but couldn't draw even. Match reports: http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=1501 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=128095&cc=5901 http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...49&call_pageid=968867503640&col=1053692575155
Slight change of subject Good to see Bircham lending his support to Canada but keeping focused primarily on the Rs. Atouck - I think it may have been you that posted a link recently by some individual who had a site on west London, Shepherds Bush, or W12 pubs but I can't find your post on this again. I actually found that site myself before, but I lost my bookmarked favorites recently including that site. If it was you (or if it was another R who frequents this section), could you post it again? Cheers if so. BTW, seems we haven't heard from KevinH (?) for a while. Enjoyed his posts from England. Hope he keeps posting. Anyway, good luck in the upcoming west London derby. I was at Loftus road for last season's Rs vs Bees game, it was a lot of fun. I was in the Ellerslie, at the end next to the Bees fans in the School End who were in full voice from start to finish.
Re: Slight change of subject Oh Im here! Pissed I can't get up to London tonight for the LDV match - can't afford a full price train ticket and a day in London. No R's for me till the 25th - although Posh away is tempting. And there is no such thing as a West London derby - Brentford are in Middlesex.
Re: Slight change of subject No problem. The list is of all pubs in Hammersmith & Fulham, broken down by post code. http://www.sff.net/people/chris.amies/publist/index.html Enjoy!
The official site has a photo of Birch wearing the retro QPR top while on duty for Canada: http://www.qpr.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~438095,00.html
Cheers for link Yeah I saw that link on a Canadian message board, although one Canuck was miffed that he had to register for the Rangers site to check the article. Good pic. The general feedback from Canadian supporters seemed to be positive regarding Bircham's performance, even though the reds lost, and the only criticism seemed to be that his distribution/passing was a bit wild and erratic at times. Thanks for the H&F pubs link, nice to find that site again - obviously a labour of love by the webmaster and one of those nifty hidden gems that makes the net worthwhile. Good to hear from Superkev as well, always enjoy the occasional report on supporting the Hoops (where time and money allow) from the south coast. Have the Seagulls rubbed off on you yet, if you'll pardon the expression? I lived in Kemptown for about six months (College Terrace I think it was), and quit enjoyed Brighton. One of my brothers (lapsed Spurs fan) still has a house in Hove, but hangs in Spain most of the time. Anyway, hope to see a victory at Posh. Yooo R's.
Re: Cheers for link Yikes! Watch that kinda talk down here sailor. Actually, I have not been to the Withdean yet for a number of reasons. Its clear across town (Im in North Moulescoombe - near the Uni's), its tough to get a ticket and frankly, the ground is *#*#*#*#. I'm more interested in seeing some non-League football down here. Maybe Eastbourne Borough, Hastings, Lewes - someone like that. Nice city though - speaking of which - Im off to the beach. No Posh for me tomorrow, really wish I could go.