Plans are being finalized for the 2009 Premier League Asia Trophy. So far, Chelsea, West Ham United and Hull City have been invited to participate in the tournament which is likely to be held in China, in either Beijing or Shanghai. The 2007 edition of the tournament was hosted in Hong Kong where Portsmouth won the [. Click to continue reading...

Not to be outdone by rivals Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur has announced a strategic partnership with a Major League Soccer club. In 2007, Arsenal announced a partnership with Colorado. Now Spurs have announced a deal with San Jose Earthquakes. The major difference with the Spurs deal is that it sets the wheel in motion for Tottenham to [. Click to continue reading...

The following article is written by EPLNFL, a longtime reader of EPL Talk and a resident of Chicago. Every year now about the end of June many EPL fans in the US and Canada get the news they long to hear, the teams that they often get up before sunrise for on a frigid December morning [...] Click to continue reading...

EPL Talk reader EPLNFL was at last night's friendly between Chicago Fire and Everton at Toyota Park. Here's his mini-report from the game: "As a Fire fan I had a great time with a 2-0 Chicago victory. As a EPL fan I was disappointed in Everton and the quality of play. They were extremely cautious with [. Click to continue reading...

Fox Soccer Channel will be broadcasting this season's Community Shield featuring Manchester United against Portsmouth. The game will be televised live and shown at 10am ET on Sunday, August 10th. The match has been the traditional opener to the new season and pits the winner of the Premier League against the winner of the FA Cup [. Click to continue reading...

Southend's pre-season preparations are in full swing, and after not conceding a goal in three friendlies, Southend were swept aside by Premier League Fulham 2-0. I didn't go due to work commitments but here's a list of links to reports from last night's game. Regular match reports from longpier will start again at the beginning of the season. Click to continue reading...

Growing up in the UK, the summers were surreal for me. There was the rare but glorious sunshine. The Butlin's Holiday Camp. And spending time with relatives on my grandparent's farm. But it was also surreal because it was a rare moment for my favorite team, Swansea, to be playing friendlies against some of the top [. Click to continue reading...

Now that Euro 2008 is over, don't be surprised if you go through withdrawal symptoms over the next few days. But while one of the most entertaining European Championships in recent history has finished, many Premier League clubs will begin playing their first friendlies as early as next week. With only 47 days to go until [. Click to continue reading...

The 2008/2009 Premier League fixtures have been announced and here are some mouthwatering matches to look forward to (all dates subject to change): Sunday, August 31* Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur Saturday, September 13 Manchester City v Chelsea Sunday, September 14* Liverpool v Manchester United Sunday, September 21* Chelsea v Manchester United Saturday, September 27 Everton v Liverpool Saturday, October 25 Chelsea v Liverpool Tuesday, October 28 Arsenal v Tottenham [. Click to continue reading...

Everton will be playing two friendlies in the United States this summer. According to ToffeeWeb, the club is rumored to be playing against Chicago Fire on July 30th and Colorado Rapids on August 3rd. Last July, Everton played a friendly against Real Salt Lake and trained at the Home Depot Center outside Los Angeles, California. Click to continue reading...

West Ham United announced this morning that the club has scheduled a friendly against MLS side Columbus Crew for Sunday, July 20 at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The friendly is West Ham's second on their North American tour. On Thursday, July 24 the east London will play against the MLS All-Star Team in Toronto, Canada. Click to continue reading...

Fulham announced this morning that it'll be playing two preseason friendlies in South Korea this July. The club will play against FC Seoul on July 23 and against Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i FC on July 26. Fulham's decision to travel to South Korea this summer dashes any hopes of the club visiting the United States, where it [. Click to continue reading...

Tottenham Hotspur may be traveling to South Africa for a preseason tour this summer. According to Pretoria News, Spurs may play South African Premier League champions SuperSport United in Pretoria, according to SuperSport club chairman Khulu Sibiya. Last summer, Spurs played several friendlies in South Africa against teams such as Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. Click to continue reading...

Manchester United will be playing three friendlies in South Africa this summer. On Saturday, July 19, they'll play against Kaizer Chiefs. That match is then followed by a game against Orlando Pirates on Tuesday, July 22. And then on Saturday, July 26 the Red Devils will play the winner of the July 24th match between [. Click to continue reading...

For the second year running, River Plate's fans can celebrate on the beaches of Mar del Plata after their side succesfully defended the Torneo de Verano trophy won last January. The extra-heated atmosphere that River - San Lorenzo matches have taken on since Ramón Díaz took over at the Boedo club was present as ever, [. Click to continue reading...

Racing and Independiente played out the most boring match of the 2008 Torneo de Verano on Sunday night, drawing 0-0 in front of stultified fans in Mendoza. With this result, Independiente lead the table, and will claim the title unless River beat San Lorenzo in the one remaining match, on Tuesday night. Click to continue reading...

Well, that's one way to do it. Carlos Ischia wasn't the Boca fans' choice of new manager, and his appointment caused some anger towards Pedro Pompilio when the latter first unveiled him, but on Saturday night, in the Estadio Mundialista of Mar del Plata, he took a huge step to winning over the fans: He [. Click to continue reading...

In a dire match in Mar del Plata, Independiente and San Lorenzo drew 1-1 in the Torneo de Verano. Once again, it was a match which saw a mix of first-teamers and reserves, with Pedro Troglio sending out a more or less full-strength Rojo side and Ramón Díaz preferring to experiment with kids and substitutes [. Click to continue reading...

It's difficult to know who'll be more disappointed after Tuesday night's Torneo de Verano match-up. On the one hand, Racing are at a low enough point that they'll be expected to be happy with a goalless draw against a team made of youth players and reserves. On the other, Boca's youth players and reserves, who [. Click to continue reading...

The highlight of Boca vs. San Lorenzo on Saturday night was a classic from the scrapbook: a free kick taken from a collection of Juan Román Riquelme's finest, on the day the world's finest playmaker returned to his boyhood club. One small difference, though: it was Claudio Morel Rodríguez, not Riquelme, who placed the ball [. Click to continue reading...

Lionel Messi's training with Barcelona during the week has gone well, and he's included in Frank Rijkaard's squad for Sunday's Spanish First Division match against Racing de Santander. In perhaps the only Argentine-player-related story that could have eclipsed that one, the Torneo de Verano will see a big moment for Boca Juniors later on Saturday: [. Click to continue reading...

In his second match in charge, Diego Simeone has his first win as River Plate manager. The Torneo de Verano continued in Salta on Friday night, as Simeone's side met his former playing club Racing, and won 2-0 thanks to some good play and a couple of red cards for La Academia. Elsewhere, the invitational [. Click to continue reading...

Like Diego Simeone at great rivals River Plate, new Boca Juniors boss Carlos Ischia started his tenure with a Torneo de Verano friendly against Independiente in Mar del Plata. Unlike Simeone's River, there were some first-team players in Boca's lineup: Leandro Gracián was given the playmaker's role and Matías Silvestre was sent off late on. Click to continue reading...