1.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
2.
Ice hockey
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Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponents net to score points. Ice hockey teams usually consist of six each, one goaltender. A fast-paced, physical sport, ice hockey is most popular in areas of North America, Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game enjoys immense popularity. In North America, the National Hockey League is the highest level for mens hockey, the Kontinental Hockey League is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The International Ice Hockey Federation is the governing body for international ice hockey. The IIHF manages international tournaments and maintains the IIHF World Ranking, worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries. Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom and these games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed, such as shinny and ice polo. The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion, in international competitions, the national teams of six countries predominate, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Of the 69 medals awarded all-time in mens competition at the Olympics, in the annual Ice Hockey World Championships,177 of 201 medals have been awarded to the six nations. In Russia and the Ukraine, where hockey can also refer to bandy, the name hockey has no clear origin. The English historian and biographer John Strype did not use the word hockey when he translated the proclamation in 1720, the 1573 Statute of Galway banned a sport called hokie—the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves. A form of this word was thus being used in the 16th century, though much removed from its current usage. According to the Austin Hockey Association, the word derives from the Scots Gaelic puc or the Irish poc. The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley is always called a puck. Stick-and-ball games date back to pre-Christian times, in Europe, these games included the Irish game of hurling, the closely related Scottish game of shinty and versions of field hockey. IJscolf, a game resembling colf on a surface, was popular in the Low Countries between the Middle Ages and the Dutch Golden Age. It was played with a curved bat, a wooden or leather ball
3.
Baseball
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. A run is scored when a player advances around the bases, Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team, which tries to prevent runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the team who reaches a base safely can later attempt to advance to subsequent bases during teammates turns batting. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the team records three outs. One turn batting for both teams, beginning with the team, constitutes an inning. A game is composed of nine innings, and the team with the number of runs at the end of the game wins. Baseball has no clock, although almost all games end in the ninth inning. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century and this game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the sport of the United States. Baseball is now popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, in the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into the National League and American League, each with three divisions, East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series, the top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision, a French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball. Other old French games such as thèque, la balle au bâton, consensus once held that todays baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It, A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England, recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of other. It has long believed that cricket also descended from such games. The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, David Block discovered that the first recorded game of Bass-Ball took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford and this early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants
4.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
5.
Multi-purpose stadium
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Multi-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event and it is used most commonly in Canada and the United States, where the two most popular outdoor team sports – football and baseball – require radically different facilities. Football uses a field, while baseball is played on a diamond. This requires a design to accommodate both, usually an oval. While building stadiums in this way means that sports teams and governments can share costs, some stadiums were renovated to allow multipurpose configurations during the 1980s. This type of stadium is associated with an era of suburbanization, in many sports teams followed their fans out of large cities into areas with cheaper. They were usually built near highways and had large parking lots, as multipurpose stadiums were rarely ideal for both sports usually housed in them, they had fallen out of favor by the 1990s. With the completion of the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City in 1973, since Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in 1992, most major league sports stadiums have been built specifically for one sport. In other countries, such as England, teams rarely share facilities, in Australia, many sports grounds are suited to both Australian rules football and cricket, as Australian rules was originally conceived for play on cricket fields. As of 2016, the Oakland Coliseum is the last multipurpose stadium to serve as a home to both an MLB team and an NFL team. Several stadiums hosted multiple sports teams prior to the advent of multipurpose stadiums, the original configuration of Yankee Stadium was specifically designed to accommodate football, as well as track and field, in addition to its primary use for baseball. Wrigley Field, while originally built for baseball, also hosted the Chicago Bears, just as Comiskey Park hosted the Chicago Cardinals, later venues such as Cleveland Stadium and Baltimore Memorial Stadium were built to accommodate both baseball and football. In the 1960s, multipurpose stadiums began replacing their baseball-only and football-only predecessors, subsets of the multipurpose stadiums were the so-called cookie-cutter stadiums or concrete donuts which were all very similar in design. They featured a circular or nearly circular design, and accommodated both baseball and football by rotating sections of the box seat areas to fit the respective playing fields. The first of these stadiums was Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, as of 2016, seven of these 11 stadiums have been demolished. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome was unusual in that it was one of the few air-supported dome stadiums that was multipurpose in practice, being convertible between football and baseball. Home of the Minnesota Vikings through the 2013 season, it was home to the Minnesota Twins until 2009. The Carrier Dome was another such air-supported, multipurpose stadium, although it was built to accommodate sports such as football
6.
National Basketball Association
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The National Basketball Association is the major mens professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier mens professional basketball league in the world. It has 30 teams, and is a member of USA Basketball. The NBA is one of the four professional sports leagues in the United States. NBA players are the worlds best paid athletes by average annual salary per player, the league was founded in New York City on June 6,1946, as the Basketball Association of America. The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3,1949, the leagues several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, the Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1,1946, in Toronto, Canada, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens, the first basket was made by Ossie Schectman of the Knickerbockers. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters. For instance, the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that leagues 1948 title, Following the 1948–49 season, the BAA took in the remainder of the NBL, Syracuse, Anderson, Tri-Cities, Sheboygan, Denver, and Waterloo. The new league had seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as arenas and smaller gymnasiums. The process of contraction saw the leagues smaller-city franchises move to larger cities, the Hawks shifted from the Tri-Cities to Milwaukee in 1951, and then to St. Louis in 1955. The Rochester Royals moved from Rochester, New York, to Cincinnati in 1957, japanese-American Wataru Misaka broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947–48 season when he played for the New York Knicks. He remained the only player in league history prior to the first African-American, Harold Hunter. During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships, to encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954. If a team does not attempt to score a goal within 24 seconds of obtaining the ball, play is stopped. In 1957, rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics, who already featured guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, and went on to lead the club to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became a dominant individual star of the 1960s, russells rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of American team sports. The 1960s were dominated by the Celtics, led by Russell, Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, Boston won eight straight championships in the NBA from 1959 to 1966
7.
National Hockey League
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Headquartered in New York City, the NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the playoff champion at the end of each season. At its inception, the NHL had four teams—all in Canada, the league expanded to the United States in 1924, when the Boston Bruins joined, and has since consisted of American and Canadian teams. After a labour-management dispute that led to the cancellation of the entire 2004–05 season, in 2009, the NHL enjoyed record highs in terms of sponsorships, attendance, and television audiences. The league draws many highly skilled players from all over the world, canadians have historically constituted the majority of the players in the league, with an increasing percentage of American and European players in recent seasons. The National Hockey League was established in 1917 as the successor to the National Hockey Association, founded in 1909, the NHA began play one year later with seven teams in Ontario and Quebec, and was one of the first major leagues in professional ice hockey. Realizing the NHA constitution left them unable to force Livingstone out, the four teams voted instead to suspend the NHA, frank Calder was chosen as its first president, serving until his death in 1943. The Bulldogs were unable to play, and the remaining owners created a new team in Toronto, the first games were played on December 19,1917. The Montreal Arena burned down in January 1918, causing the Wanderers to cease operations, the NHL replaced the NHA as one of the leagues that competed for the Stanley Cup, which was an interleague competition back then. Toronto won the first NHL title, and then defeated the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association for the 1918 Stanley Cup. The Canadiens won the title in 1919, however their Stanley Cup Final against the PCHAs Seattle Metropolitans was abandoned as a result of the Spanish Flu epidemic. Montreal in 1924 won their first Stanley Cup as a member of the NHL, the Hamilton Tigers, won the regular season title in 1924–25 but refused to play in the championship series unless they were given a C$200 bonus. The league refused and declared the Canadiens the league champion after defeated the Toronto St. Patricks in the semi-final. Montreal was then defeated by the Victoria Cougars of the Western Canada Hockey League for the 1925 Stanley Cup and it was the last time a non-NHL team won the trophy, as the Stanley Cup became the de facto NHL championship in 1926 after the WCHL ceased operation. The National Hockey League embarked on rapid expansion in the 1920s, adding the Montreal Maroons, the Bruins were the first American team in the league. The New York Americans began play in 1925 after purchasing the assets of the Hamilton Tigers, the New York Rangers were added in 1926. The Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars were also added after the league purchased the assets of the defunct WCHL, a group purchased the Toronto St. Patricks in 1927 and immediately renamed them the Maple Leafs. The first NHL All-Star Game was held in 1934 to benefit Ace Bailey, the second was held in 1937 in support of Howie Morenzs family when he died of a coronary embolism after breaking his leg during a game
8.
Bury F.C.
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Bury Football Club is a professional association football club based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. The team compete in League One, the tier of the English football league system. Bury have been members of the Football League since 1894 and have won the FA Cup twice, Gigg Lane has been their home ground since 1885. The club was formed in 1885 by Aiden Arrowsmith following a meeting at the White Horse Hotel, Gigg Lanes first ever game took place on 12 September 1885 when Bury played a friendly match against Wigan and won 4–3. In 1887 the first shed was built at Gigg Lane at a cost of £50, also in the same year Bury recorded their record defeat, Burys first ever floodlit game took place on 5 November 1889, when Bury were defeated 4–5 by Heywood Central. In 1892 Bury were Lancashire Challenge Cup Winners, before joining the Football League Second Division in 1894, Burys membership of the Football League from 1894 is now the 3rd longest ongoing run. Bury won the FA Cup on 21 April 1900 they beat Southampton 4–0 in the FA Cup final at Crystal Palace, in 1906 the South Stand was built at Gigg Lane. By 1922, the ground was finally handed over to the club from the Earl of Derby as a gift, in 1924 the Main Stand was built, during this period Burys ground was one of the best in the Football League. In 1923 Bury were promoted again, and in 1926 they achieved their highest League position ever, Two years later they were relegated and have never played top-flight football again. Steady decline following this relegation and by 1971, they had reached the Fourth Division, the clubs greatest benefactor was Hugh Eaves, a local benefactor under the stewardship of whom Bury were promoted to the second tier of English football following back to back promotions. In 1998–99, Bury were relegated from the second tier on goals scored, in 2001–02, the club was relegated to League Two following a spell in administration for financial irregularities. In May 2005, Bury became the first football club to score a thousand goals in each of the top four tiers of the English football league, in 2006, Bury became the first team to ever be thrown out of the FA Cup after fielding an ineligible player. After the FA Cup debacle, Bury failed to win in 16 games and they survived the relegation battle of the 2006–07 season, where a 0–0 draw with Stockport County ensured they would stay up to play another season in League Two. It was announced on 14 January 2008 that co-managers Chris Casper and Keith Alexander had been sacked, a club statement said the pair had lost the confidence of a large majority of the fans. Chris Brass, formerly the manager of the clubs Centre of Excellence, was given the vacant managers post on a caretaker basis and his first match in charge resulted in a cup upset, the Shakers knocking Norwich City out of the FA Cup in the third round. Despite this early success, results remained inconsistent, and a more full-time solution was sought by the board after Brass led Bury to a humiliating 5–1 home defeat to MK Dons, on 4 February 2008, Bury appointed Alan Knill as manager. In the play-off semi-final they were beaten on penalties by Shrewsbury Town, Bury finished the following season 9th, and partway through 2011–12 Knill and Assistant Manager Chris Brass left the club to take over at Scunthorpe United. Youth Team Manager Richie Barker took over as manager and lead the Shakers to promotion
9.
Gigg Lane
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Gigg Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It was built for Bury F. C. in 1885, the first match to be played at Gigg Lane was a friendly between Bury and Wigan on 12 September 1885, which Bury won 4–3. The first league game was a 4–2 victory over Manchester City on 8 September 1894 in the 1894–95 Football League Second Division. The capacity of the ground was once 35, 000—and this capacity was reached when the crowd was achieved for Burys FA Cup third round tie against Bolton Wanderers on 9 January 1960. The game ended 1–1 and Bury lost the replay after extra time 4–2, in 1986, Gigg Lane saw its lowest ever crowd of just 461 for a Freight Rover Trophy game against Tranmere Rovers. There has never been a crowd below 1,000 although the closest to that mark came in 1984 with a crowd of 1,096 against Northampton Town. The highest all-seater attendance at Gigg Lane was recorded when Bury played local rivals Manchester City 12th Sept 1997, the ground was renamed the JD Stadium in November 2013 after Bury announced a new sponsorship deal with JD Sports. The deal was ended in July 2015, in 2016 it was announced that the club was looking to build a new 15, 000–20,000 capacity stadium in the borough of Bury. The stadiums current capacity is 11,840, the South Stand is the largest stand and it was renamed the Les Hart Stand in the summer of 2010. The Manchester Road End was home to the electronic scoreboard until 2011. A new scoreboard was placed in the south-east corner of the ground a few months later, the Cemetery End has capacity of 2,500. In September 2015 a screen was installed in the side of the Les Hart Stand. On Match-Days the club show advertisements, match highlights and the scoreline, towards the end of the 2015–16 season, a fence was constructed between the Cemetery End and the Les Hart Stand in an attempt to stop the clubs rise of hooliganism. This further separates both Home and Away supporters, Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers have hosted reserve-team matches at the ground. F. C. United of Manchester shared the ground from the 2005–06 season until 2014 and they moved into their own ground for the 2015–16 season. F. C. United set a record attendance of 6,731 when they played Brighton. A couple of teams have switched their home games to the stadium, non-league sides Rossendale United and Radcliffe Borough moved home F. A. Cup ties to Gigg Lane against Bolton Wanderers and York City respectively, in 1996, the stadium was used as the filming location for the TV film based on the Hillsborough disaster of 1989, where 96 Liverpool fans died as a result of a crush on the stadiums terraces
10.
F.C. United of Manchester
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F. C. United of Manchester is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England. The club competes in the National League North, the tier of the English football league system. They achieved three promotions in the first three years of their existence and were promoted for a fourth time to compete in the National League North for the 2015–16 season. In cup competitions, F. C. United reached the round of the FA Cup during the 2010–11 season. After sharing multiple stadia across Greater Manchester between 2005 and 2015, F. C. United opened their own ground, Broadhurst Park in north-east Manchester, the team has been managed by former professional footballer Karl Marginson since its formation. The clubs regular kit colours are red shirts, white shorts and their badge is based on the Manchester coat of arms and features a ship at sea and three stripes for the three rivers that flow through Manchester. F. C. United are the largest fan-owned football club in the United Kingdom by number of members and have one of the highest home attendances in English non-league football. The club is run by its members who have equal voting rights. The club was founded in 2005 by disaffected supporters of Manchester United, although fans had various reasons for dissatisfaction, the catalyst for F. C. Uniteds formation was the 12 May 2005 takeover of Manchester United by American businessman Malcolm Glazer. Supporters first considered forming a club in 1998 during an attempted takeover of Manchester United by BSkyB. The creation of F. C. United in the event of a Glazer buyout was first proposed in February 2005 by Manchester United fanzine Red Issue. Public meetings for fans were held on 19 May 2005 at the Central Methodist Hall in Manchesters Northern Quarter, subsequently, a steering group was created to set up the new club. After the name F. C. United was rejected by The Football Association for being too generic, on 14 June 2005, it was announced that F. C. United of Manchester had been chosen, beating A. F. C. Manchester 1878, Manchester Central and Newton Heath United, and F. C. United were officially registered with the Manchester County Football Association on the same day. Karl Marginson was appointed as the manager on 22 June. Around 900 players applied to part in the trials, of whom 200 were chosen to take part and 17 selected to play for F. C. United. Jonathan Mitten, great-nephew of Manchester United forward Charlie Mitten, was the clubs first signing. F. C. Uniteds inaugural members meeting was held on 5 July 2005 at the Methodist Central Hall, members voted on the constitution, badge, core principles
11.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
12.
New York Giants
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The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference East division. The team plays its games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Giants hold their training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The Giants were one of five teams that joined the NFL in 1925 and their championship tally is surpassed only by the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. Throughout their history, the Giants have featured 28 Hall of Fame players, including NFL Most Valuable Player award winners Mel Hein, Frank Gifford, Y. A. Tittle, and Lawrence Taylor. The teams heated rivalry with the Philadelphia Eagles is the oldest of the NFC East rivalries, dating all the way back to 1933, the Giants played their first game as an away game against All New Britain in New Britain, Connecticut, on October 4,1925. They defeated New Britain 26–0 in front of a crowd of 10,000, the Giants were successful in their first season, finishing with an 8–4 record. In its third season, the finished with the best record in the league at 11–1–1 and was awarded the NFL title. In 1930, there were many who questioned the quality of the professional game. In December 1930, the Giants played a team of Notre Dame All Stars at the Polo Grounds to raise money for the unemployed of New York City and it was also an opportunity to establish the skill and prestige of the pro game. Knute Rockne reassembled his Four Horsemen along with the stars of his 1924 Championship squad and told them to score early, Rockne, like much of the public, thought little of pro football and expected an easy win. But from the beginning it was a one-way contest, with Friedman running for two Giant touchdowns and Hap Moran passing for another, when it was all over, Coach Rockne told his team, That was the greatest football machine I ever saw. I am glad none of you got hurt, the game raised $100,000 for the homeless, and is often credited with establishing the legitimacy of the professional game for those who were critical. It also was the last game the legendary Rockne ever coached, in a 14-year span from 1933 to 1947, the Giants qualified to play in the NFL championship game 8 times, winning twice. During this period the Giants were led by Hall of Fame coach Steve Owen, the period also featured the 1944 Giants, which are ranked as the #1 defensive team in NFL history. a truly awesome unit. They gave up only 7.5 points per game and shut out five of their 10 opponents, though they lost 14-7 to the Green Bay Packers in the 1944 NFL Championship Game. The famous Sneakers Game was played in this era where the Giants defeated the Chicago Bears on an icy field in the 1934 NFL Championship Game, the Giants played the Detroit Lions to a scoreless tie on November 7,1943
13.
New York Jets
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The New York Jets are a professional American football team located in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues American Football Conference East division. The team is headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, in a unique arrangement for the league, the Jets share MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey with the New York Giants. The franchise is legally and corporately registered as New York Jets, the team was founded in 1959 as the Titans of New York, an original member of the American Football League, later, the franchise joined the NFL in the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The team began to play in 1960 at the Polo Grounds, under new ownership, the current name was adopted in 1963 and the franchise moved to Shea Stadium in 1964 and then to the Meadowlands Sports Complex in 1984. Since 1968, the Jets have appeared in the playoffs 13 times, however, the Jets have never returned to the Super Bowl, making them one of three NFL teams to win their lone Super Bowl appearance, along with the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The teams training facility, Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, which opened in 2008, is located in Florham Park, the first organizational meeting of the American Football League took place on August 14,1959. Wismer was granted the franchise later dubbed the Titans of New York as Wismer explained. He secured the Titans home field at the decrepit Polo Grounds, by 1962, the debt continued to mount for Wismer, forcing the AFL to assume the costs of the team until seasons end. A five-man syndicate, headed by Sonny Werblin, saved the team from certain bankruptcy, Werblin renamed the team the New York Jets since the team would play in Shea Stadium near LaGuardia Airport. The new name was intended to reflect the approach of his team. The Jets owners hired Weeb Ewbank as the manager and head coach. The early 1990s saw New York struggling, after firing coach Bruce Coslet, owner Leon Hess hired Pete Carroll who struggled to a 6–10 record and was promptly fired at the end of the season. Thereafter, Rich Kotite was selected to lead the team to victory, Kotite stepped down at the end of his second season forcing the Jets to search for a new head coach. Hess lured then-disgruntled New England Patriots head coach Bill Parcells to New York in 1997, Parcells led the team back to relevance and coached them to the AFC Championship Game in 1998. Hess died in 1999 while the team, plagued by injuries, produced an eight win record, the franchise obtained a new owner in Woody Johnson in 2000. Additionally, through the 2000s the Jets visited the five times. Rex Ryan was hired in January 2009, Ryan led the team to back-to-back AFC Championship appearances during his first two years but the team never made the playoffs again during his tenure
14.
MetLife Stadium
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MetLife Stadium is an American sports stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It is part of the Meadowlands Sports Complex and serves as the stadium for two National Football League franchises, the New York Jets and the New York Giants. The stadium opened as New Meadowlands Stadium in 2010, in 2011, MetLife, an insurance company based in New York City, acquired the naming rights to the stadium. At a construction cost of approximately $1.6 billion, it is the most expensive ever built and is the second-largest stadium in the NFL in terms of seating capacity. MetLife Stadium is the only NFL stadium shared by two clubs, as Giants Stadium approached 30 years of age, it was becoming one of the older stadiums in the NFL. The Jets, who had been the tenants at the stadium, sought to have their own stadium built in Manhattan proper. Originally intended to be the 85, 000-seat main stadium for New Yorks bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, however, the West Side Stadium would have required significant public funding, which collapsed in 2005. The Jets then entered into a partnership with the Giants to build a new stadium in which the two teams would be equal partners. This idea originated at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, unlike Giants Stadium, MetLife Stadium can easily be converted from a Giants game to a Jets game or vice versa, within a matter of hours. The total linear length of louvers is exactly 50,000 meters or 163,681 feet, front row 50 yard line seats are 46 feet away from the sideline, which is the shortest distance of all NFL stadiums. To change the field decorations, two 4-person crews take appx,18 hours using forklifts and other machinery to remove the 40 sections of FieldTurf which make up the teams respective endzones. Unlike most NFL stadiums, the NFLs logo is painted at midfield, instead of the logo of one of the teams, also shortening the transition time. The replaceable team logos at midfield were removed in August 2010, unlike a number of other new NFL venues, MetLife Stadium does not have a roof, as proposals to include a roof failed, over a dispute for funding. Thus, indoor events such as the Final Four cannot be held at the facility,20 giant high-definition-ready light emitting diode pylons, located at the north and east entrances, display videos of the team currently in-house. The pylons measure approximately 54 feet high by 20 feet wide, inside, are four 30 feet by 116 feet high definition video displays, and hang from each corner of the upper deck. The new stadium has seating for 82,500 people, including 10,005 club seats and approximately 218 luxury suites, MetLife Stadium includes a total of four locker rooms, one each for the Giants and Jets, as well as 2 for visiting teams. The home teams have locker rooms on opposite ends of the stadium with a locker room adjacent to it. The two teams formed the New Meadowlands Stadium Company, LLC, a 50/50 joint venture, to build and operate the stadium
15.
Los Angeles Lakers
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The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association, as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, as of 2015, the Lakers are the second most valuable franchise in the NBA according to Forbes, having an estimated value of $2.7 billion. The franchise began with the 1947 purchase of a disbanded team, the new team began playing in Minneapolis, calling themselves the Minneapolis Lakers in honor of the states nickname, Land of 10,000 Lakes. The team was propelled by center George Mikan, who is described by the NBAs official website as the leagues first superstar, after struggling financially in the late 1950s following Mikans retirement, they relocated to Los Angeles before the 1960–61 season. Led by Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Los Angeles made the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s, but lost each series to the Boston Celtics, beginning their long and storied rivalry. After the retirement of West and Chamberlain, the team acquired another center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had won multiple MVP awards and this team featured Hall of Famers in Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, and a Hall of Fame coach, Pat Riley. After Abdul-Jabbar and Johnsons retirement, the team struggled in the early 1990s before acquiring Shaquille ONeal, led by ONeal, Bryant, and another Hall of Fame coach, Phil Jackson, Los Angeles won three consecutive titles between 2000 to 2002, securing the franchise its second three-peat. After losing both the 2004 and 2008 NBA Finals, the Lakers won two championships by defeating the Orlando Magic in 2009 and Boston in 2010. The Lakers hold the record for NBAs longest winning streak,33 straight games,21 Hall of Famers have played for Los Angeles, while four have coached the team. Four Lakers—Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, ONeal, and Bryant—have won the NBA MVP Award for a total of eight awards, Minneapolis sportswriter Sid Hartman played a key behind the scenes role in helping put together the deal and later the team. Inspired by Minnesotas nickname, Land of 10,000 Lakes, Hartman helped them hire John Kundla from College of St. Thomas, to be their first head coach, by meeting with him and selling him on the team. The Lakers had a roster which featured forward Jim Pollard, playmaker Herm Schaefer, and center George Mikan. In their first season, they led the league with a 43–17 record, in 1948, the Lakers moved from the NBL to the Basketball Association of America, and Mikans 28.3 point per game scoring average set a BAA record. In the 1949 BAA Finals they won the championship, beating the Washington Capitols four games to two, the following season, the team improved to 51–17, repeating as champions. In the 1950–51 season, Mikan won his third straight scoring title at 28.4 ppg, one of those games, a 19–18 loss against the Fort Wayne Pistons, became infamous as the lowest scoring game in NBA history. In the playoffs, they defeated the Indianapolis Olympians in three games but lost to the Rochester Royals in the next round, during the 1951–52 season, the Lakers won 40 games, finishing second in their division. They faced the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, which won in seven games
16.
Los Angeles Clippers
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The Los Angeles Clippers, often abbreviated as the LA Clippers, are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The franchise was founded in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves, one of three teams to join the NBA that year. The Braves moved from Buffalo, New York to San Diego in 1978, in 1984, the Clippers moved to Los Angeles. Through much of its history, the failed to see significant regular season or playoff success. The Clippers fortunes turned in the early 2010s with the acquisition of core players Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul. In 2013, the franchise won its first division title, as the made the playoffs for the ninth time in franchise history. They repeated as champions in 2014. They played their games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, along with another Buffalo team that would begin play that year. After two bad seasons, the Braves fortunes started to change under coach Jack Ramsay and star forward/center Bob McAdoo, McAdoo led the NBA in scoring three consecutive seasons and was named the leagues MVP in the 1974–75 season. The Braves qualified for the three times in a row, losing thrice to the eventual Eastern Conference champions. As a result, after an attempt to sell the team to an owner who intended to move it to South Florida. Brown, Jr. who decimated the roster, traded away all of its stars. Eventually in 1978, Brown dealt with Celtics owner Irv Levin so they would trade franchise ownerships, southern California resident Levin then decided to move the Braves to San Diego, something the league would have never allowed him to do with the Celtics. In 1978, San Diego welcomed the relocation of the Buffalo Braves franchise because the city had lost their Rockets to Houston seven years earlier, when the Clippers moved to Los Angeles in 1984, they kept their nickname. Playing at the San Diego Sports Arena, the Clippers posted a record of 43–39 in their first season in California under new head coach Gene Shue and it would be the Clippers last winning season for 13 years. It was also in that first season in southern California that long-time announcer Ralph Lawler began his association with the club. The 1979–80 season saw the Clippers begin to struggle despite adding center Bill Walton, Walton missed 68 games due to foot injuries
17.
Staples Center
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Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street, opening on October 17,1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles Area. It is owned and operated by the L. A. Arena Company, Staples Center is also host to over 250 events and nearly 4 million guests each year. The Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park will host both the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams beginning in 2019, Staples Center measures 950,000 square feet of total space, with a 94-foot by 200-foot arena floor. The arena seats up to 19,067 for basketball,18,340 for ice hockey, two-thirds of the arenas seating, including 2,500 club seats, are in the lower bowl. There are also 160 luxury suites, including 15 event suites, the arenas attendance record is held by the fight between World WBA Welterweight Champion, Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley with a crowd of 20,820 set on January 25,2009. Star Plaza Outside the arena at the Star Plaza are statues of Wayne Gretzky and Magic Johnson, a third statue of boxer Oscar De La Hoya was unveiled outside Staples Center on December 1,2008. On April 20,2010 a fourth statue of the long time Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn. A fifth statue of the Laker legend Jerry West dribbling was unveiled on February 17,2011, a sixth statue of Lakers player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was unveiled on November 16,2012. A seventh statue of former Kings Hall of Fame left wing Luc Robitaille was unveiled on March 7,2015, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that they will honor Shaquille ONeal with a statue that was unveiled on March 24,2017. Construction broke ground in 1998 and Staples Center opened a year later and it was financed privately at a cost of US$375 million and is named for the office-supply company Staples, Inc. which was one of the centers corporate sponsors that paid for naming rights. The arena opened on October 17,1999, with a Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band concert as its inaugural event. Staples Center was named Best New Major Concert Venue for 1999, on October 21,2009, Staples Center celebrated its 10th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, the official web site nominated 25 of the arenas greatest moments from its first ten years with fans voting on the top ten. The venue opened in 1999 as the home of the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA, the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA joined in 2001, while the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League joined in 2006. It became home to the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League in 2000 until the teams discontinuation in 2008. Since its opening day, the Staples Center has hosted seven NBA Finals series with the Lakers, of the teams five NBA championships since moving to the venue, the Lakers have celebrated their 2000 and 2010 victories at Staples Center with series-winning victories at home. Prior to the 2006–07 NBA season, the lighting inside Staples Center was modified for Lakers games, the lights were focused only on the court itself, reminiscent of the Lakers early years at The Forum
18.
Ajinomoto Stadium
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Tokyo Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. The stadium was founded at Kantō Mura, the redevelopment area formerly used by United States Forces Japan, in March 2001. It was the first stadium in Japan that offered its naming rights and this contract was renewed on November 2007 and extended by 6 years for 1.4 billion yen to February 2014. As a result, it is now named Ajinomoto Stadium, the stadium is the home of J. League Division 1 football club F. C. Tokyo and J. League Division 2 football club Tokyo Verdy and is used as the venue of some divisions of football leagues. Rugby union and American football games are held there. For the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Saudi Arabias national team based their training camp at Chōfu and used the stadium as a training ground. The stadium is used for non-sport events, such as concerts. It has been used as a shelter for survivors of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, the stadium is one of the planned football venues for the 2020 Summer Olympics. During the Olympics, the stadium will be known as Tokyo Stadium due to International Olympic Committees non-commercialization policy, the stadium has also been announced as one of the venues for 2019 Rugby World Cup and will host the opening ceremony as well as opening match of the tournament. The north end of the stadium adjoins the Chofu Airport, while Route 20 runs close to the south end, at the south end is the main gate, which is directly connected by a pedestrian bridge over Route 20. The stand accommodates 49,970 and is divided into two levels, the upper level accommodates 20,600 and the lower level 29,370, on each level, the stand is divided into four sections. The whole of the level, as well as upper tiers of the lower level, is covered by roof. The main stand houses media and hospitality boxes, VIP rooms, two large LED displays are installed at both sides. The ground was designed for both athletics and football games. However, the construction of the ground, which is needed for compliance with 1st-grade athletic grounds in Japan, has been postponed. The management company has decided to use the ground mainly for football, currently artificial turf is laid down all over the ground except the football field area, over which natural turf is spread. Consequently, there is room between the football pitch and the stand
19.
FC Tokyo
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Tokyo is a Japanese association football club playing in J1 League. The team is one of four in the J. League to be simply called Football Club without an extended name. The team started as a team, Tokyo Gas Football Club Their first appearance in the national leagues was in 1991. However, at the time the team lacked the qualifications for a promotion to the J1 league. In 1999, the year the team became eligible, they finished second in the J2 league and were automatically promoted to J1 beginning in the 2000 season. Despite a widespread belief that the team would win enough to stay in the J1. Helped by its record, the attendance shot up and it is still above that of well-known Tokyo Verdy 1969 that moved its home town from Kawasaki. Since 2002, the team welcomed Hiromi Hara as its manager, the 2003 season had the team finish in 4th, its highest ever. Long-time leader Amaral, nicknamed The King of Tokyo by his fans and he was replaced by Athens Olympics national football team player Yasuyuki Konno from Consadole Sapporo. In November of the year, it won the J. League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup for its first major title since joining the J. League. After 10 years of participation in the J. League without a character, the team adopted Tokyo Dorompa. On December 4,2010 FC Tokyo had to win their game of the season away to already relegated Kyoto Sanga FC. FC Tokyo lost 2–0 and went back down to the second tier for the first time in 11 years, nevertheless, they bounced back at the first attempt, winning the J2 title in November 2011. Before their 2011 Emperors Cup win, FC Tokyo reached the semifinals of the three times, in 1997,2008, and 2010. Their 2011 win was remarkable in that the club was a second team during the season. They became the first J2 champions, and third second-tier champions overall, Tokyo uses Ajinomoto Stadium as its home ground. Clubs training grounds are Sarue Ground in Koto, Tokyo and Kodaira Ground in Kodaira, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules
20.
Tokyo Verdy
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Tokyo Verdy, is a Japanese professional football club, based in Tokyo, Japan, that plays in J2 League. Shoriki died a year later, in 1969, but not before signing his name to the plans to establish Yomiuri Football Club, backed by the Yomiuri Group and NTV, Yomiuri Football Club firstly launched at Tokyo Local League B in 1969. They began gaining promotions from the Tokyo Local League to the Kanto Football League in 1971, in 1971, Yomiuri marked 3rd place and promoted Japan Soccer League Second Division. At last, They were promoted to First Division in 1978 and their first major title was the Japan Soccer League Cup in 1979. From its days as Yomiuri FC, the ownership had visions of an equivalent of the baseball Yomiuri Giants – a star-studded powerhouse with fans across Japan. Verdy also won the 1996 Emperors Cup and three consecutive J. League Cups from 1992 to 1994, the JSL disbanded and reformed as the professional J. League in 1993. This early success did not last, however, and as the stars aged, Verdys 1st-place finish in the 2nd Stage of the 1995 season would be its last stage victory and the 1996 Emperors Cup would be its last major title of the decade. A downturn in the economy and the cooling of the J. League fad meant all teams had to cut expenses. This meant Verdy could no longer buy expensive replacements for its aging stars, although Verdy looked to return to prominence in 1999, finishing 2nd in the 1st Stage, the resurgence was short-lived as it fell to 10th in the 2nd Stage. Meanwhile, the efforts to become Japans Team alienated local fans in Kawasaki. The expensive salaries and struggling attendance caused the clubs debts to mount, struggling to compete with the newly professionalized crosstown rival Kawasaki Frontale and the nearby Yokohama Marinos and Yokohama Flugels, Verdy made the decision to leave Kawasaki. C. Despite a sharp increase in numbers for Verdy, this was still well below those of F. C. Tokyo. Their new local rivals had been promoted to J1 in 2000 and had captured a vast number of the supporters Verdy had been hoping to acquire. In its first year in Tokyo, Tokyo Verdy 1969 found itself trailing F. C, Tokyo in the standings as well, and finished last in the division at 16th in the first stage of the 2001 season. Only the play of midseason acquisition Edmundo and a win in the match of the second stage saved the club from relegation to J2. Tokyo Verdy 1969 was back at the bottom of the table in the first stage of the 2002 season, but again finished the season strong, placing 4th in the second stage. Two mid-table finishes followed in 2003 and 2004, before Tokyo Verdy 1969, under Osvaldo Ardiles, won the Emperors Cup on 1 January 2005, its first major title in 9 years, winning the cup earned Verdy a spot in the 2006 AFC Champions League. However, the 2005 season saw Tokyo Verdy 1969 fall to its worst finish of its history and this was the first season after the scrapping of the two-stage season format, and Tokyo Verdy 1969 were relegated to J2, after 28 years of top flight football
21.
Allianz Arena
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The Allianz Arena is a football stadium in Munich, Bavaria, Germany with a 75,000 seating capacity. Widely known for its exterior of inflated ETFE plastic panels, it is the first stadium in the world with a colour changing exterior. The two professional Munich football clubs FC Bayern Munich and TSV1860 Munich have played their games at the Allianz Arena since the start of the 2005–06 season. The clubs had played their home games at the Munich Olympic Stadium since 1972. 1860 Munich previously had a 50% share in the stadium, the arrangement allows 1860 Munich to play at the stadium while retaining no ownership until 2025, when the club will need to find another ground. The large financial services provider Allianz purchased the rights to the stadium for 30 years. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the stadium was referred to as FIFA WM-Stadion München, in UEFA club matches, it is known as Fußball Arena München, and it hosted the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final. The stadium has been nicknamed Schlauchboot, since 2012 the museum of Bayern Munich, FC Bayern Erlebniswelt, has been located inside the Allianz Arena. Effective with the approval of modifications that was granted 16 January 2006. The lower tier can seat up to 20,000, the middle tier up to 24,000,10,400 of the seats in the lower tier corners can be converted to standing room to allow an additional 3,120 spectators. The total capacity includes 2,000 business seats,400 seats for the press,106 luxury boxes with seating for up to 174, and 165 berths for wheelchairs, Bayern Munich limited capacity during their league and cup games to 69,000. The partial roof covers all seats, although winds can still blow rain onto some of them, Allianz Arena also offers three day-care centers and a fan shop, the FC Bayern Munich Megastore. Merchandise is offered at all along the inside of the exterior wall inside the area behind the seats. Numerous restaurants and fast-food establishments are located around the stadium. There are four team rooms, four coaches locker rooms. Two areas are provided where athletes can warm up, there are also 550 toilets and 190 monitors in the arena. On 28 April 2013, FC Bayern announced to sell 300 more tickets in the Südkurve starting with the 2013–14 Bundesliga season, on 21 January 2014, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge declared that FC Bayern discusses a further expansion of the Allianz Arena. About 2,000 new seats to be installed in the tier and about 2,000 more tickets are to be sold in the Nord-
22.
FC Bayern Munich
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Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. commonly known as FC Bayern München, FCB, Bayern Munich, or FC Bayern, is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. FC Bayern was founded in 1900 by 11 football players, led by Franz John, although Bayern won its first national championship in 1932, the club was not selected for the Bundesliga at its inception in 1963. The club had its period of greatest success in the middle of the 1970s when, under the captaincy of Franz Beckenbauer, overall, Bayern has reached ten European Cup/UEFA Champions League finals, most recently winning their fifth title in 2013 as part of a continental treble. Since the formation of the Bundesliga, Bayern has been the dominant club in German football with 26 titles and has won 8 of the last 12 titles and they have traditional local rivalries with 1860 Munich and 1. FC Nürnberg, as well as with Borussia Dortmund since the mid-1990s, since the beginning of the 2005–06 season, Bayern has played its home games at the Allianz Arena. Previously the team had played at Munichs Olympiastadion for 33 years, the team colours are red and white, and the team crest shows the white and blue flag of Bavaria. In terms of revenue, Bayern Munich is the biggest sports club in Germany, as of November 2016, Bayern has over 284,000 members. There are more than 4,000 officially-registered fan clubs with over 314,000 members, the club has other departments for chess, handball, basketball, gymnastics, bowling, table tennis and senior football with more than 1,100 active members. FC Bayern is ranked second in the current UEFA club coefficient rankings, FC Bayern Munich was founded by members of a Munich gymnastics club. Within a few months, Bayern achieved high-scoring victories against all rivals, including a 15–0 win against FC Nordstern. In the following years, the club won some trophies and in 1910–11 Bayern joined the newly founded Kreisliga. The club won league in its first year, but did not win it again until the beginning of World War I in 1914. In the years after the war, Bayern won several regional competitions before winning its first South German championship in 1926, an achievement repeated two years later. Its first national title was gained in 1932, when coach Richard Little Dombi Kohn led the team to the German championship by defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2–0 in the final, the advent of Nazism put an abrupt end to Bayerns development. Club president Kurt Landauer and the coach, both of whom were Jewish, left the country, many others in the club were also purged. Bayern was taunted as the Jews club, while local rival 1860 Munich gained much support, josef Sauter, who was inaugurated 1943, was the only NSDAP member as president. As some Bayern players greeted Landauer, who was watching a friendly in Switzerland lead to continued discrimination, Bayern was also affected by the ruling that football players had to be full amateurs again. In the following years, Bayern could not sustain its role of contender for the national title, after the war, Bayern became a member of the Oberliga Süd, the southern conference of the German first division, which was split five ways at that time
23.
TSV 1860 Munich
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Turn- und Sportverein München von 1860, commonly known as TSV1860 München or 1860 Munich, is a German sports club based in Munich. The clubs football team plays in the 2, Bundesliga, after relegation from the Bundesliga following the 2003–04 season. 1860 Munich was one of the members of the Bundesliga in 1963, becoming West German champions in 1966. Since 2005,1860 Munichs stadium has been the Allianz Arena,1860 Munich has a rivalry with Bayern Munich. The roots of the TSVs founding as a fitness and gymnastics association go back to a meeting held 15 July 1848 in a local pub. It was a time of revolutionary ferment due to the 1848 Revolutions, the club was formally reestablished on 17 May 1860 and after mergers with a number of other local associations in 1862 was known as Turnverein München. A football department was created on 6 March 1899 and played its first matches against other squads three years later, in 1911, the team adopted the familiar lion to their crest and in 1919 was renamed TSV München 1860. By the mid-1920s, they were playing football in the countrys upper leagues, like the Bezirksliga Bayern. Die Löwen challenged for the championship in 1931 but dropped a 2–3 decision to Hertha BSC, two years later, they made another semi-final appearance which they lost to Schalke 04 who were on their way to becoming the dominant side in German football through the 1930s and 1940s. In 1933, German football was re-organized under the Third Reich into 16 top-flight divisions known as Gauligen, TSV joined the Gauliga Bayern where they earned second-place finishes in 1934,1938 and 1939 before finally capturing a division championship in 1941. Their subsequent play-off appearance saw them second in their pool to finalist Rapid Wien. TSV returned to the national again in 1943, progressing to the quarter-finals. After World War II,1860 played in the top flight Oberliga Süd as a mid-table side and those performances were followed by poor showings in three consecutive seasons leading to relegation in 1970 to the Regionalliga Süd. It took 1860 seven years to make their way back to the first division, through a three-game play-off contest with Arminia Bielefeld, the clubs exile from the Bundesliga would last a dozen years. They were promoted to the top flight in 1994, but found themselves in danger being sent back down again. Stars like Abedi Pele, Thomas Häßler and Davor Šuker played for 1860 as their careers were winding down, becoming crowd favourites and making important contributions. Under the heavy-handed, dictatorial leadership of Wildmoser and Lorant, the combination of proven veterans and young talent helped the club avoid relegation,1860 earned a fourth-place Bundesliga finish in 2000 and were entered into the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, where they faced Leeds United. A 3–1 aggregate defeat, however, saw them play in the UEFA Cup that season, the club, however, was unable to build on this success and after some mediocre performances by the team, manager Lorant was fired
24.
Azadi Stadium
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The Azadi Stadium formerly known as Aryamehr Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium was designed by SOM and inaugurated on 18 October 1971, it is self-owned by Esteghlal F. C. and it is also the home stadium of the Iran national football team. It has a current capacity of 78,116 spectators, though it has been able to more than that during special matches. Aryamehr, renamed after Iranian Revolution to Azadi, is the 10th largest association football stadium in the world and it was built to host the 1974 Asian Games and has hosted the 1976 AFC Asian Cup. The stadium also hosted AFC Champions League final on two occasions, in 1999 and 2002, the stadium is located in the West of Tehran, near Ekbatan district, and is easily accessible for most people living in the city. The West entrance is located on Ferdous street and the East entrance is on Farhangian street, Azadi Sport Complex was constructed by Arme Construction Company for the 7th Asian Games in 1974 with international criteria. Its land measurement is 450 Hectares and it is located in West Tehran, though a simple bowl concrete structure, the stadium is a breathtaking sight. Situated west of the capital, an arching, slightly raised outer shell appears to give way as sweeping stands sink down to pitch side, eventually political issues saw Tehran drop its bid for 1984, leaving the eventual host, Los Angeles, the only city left bidding. In 2002, the level of the stadium had seats installed. Stadium management also plans to install seats in the upper level of the stadium. The renovations were completed in 2003, stadium was refurnished with 35,000 seats, in 2004 a large jumbotron television was added, replacing the original scoreboard. This giant screen with an area of about 300 square meters. The stadium hosted two West Asian Football Federation Championship in 2004 and 2008, in 2008, AFC forced Sepahan to play the home matches in AFC Champions League in this stadium after their home stadium Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium was closed for renovation. The stadium also is the regular host for Iran U-23 for the Olympics football qualifying, in November 1975, Frank Sinatra held a concert at Aryamehr Stadium. The famous 2006 film, Offside starring Sima Mobarak Shahi and Ida Sadeghi, Azadi Stadium also hosted Ferdousi festival, organized by Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization and two major concerts in May 2013. 2015 Womens Islamic Games were also held at the stadium, the architect of the stadium were Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. At the beginning, the stadium had a capacity of 120,000 visitors but was decreased to 84,000 after renovations in 2003. On the big occasions the crowd swells well beyond that, the design of the stadium amplifies the noise across the pitch
25.
Persepolis F.C.
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Persepolis Football Club, commonly known as Perspolis, is a Persian Gulf Pro League professional football club based in Tehran, Iran. Persepolis F. C. was founded in 1963 by Ali Abdo and has been in the first division of Iranian football since 1968, Persepolis had also three teams in Bowling, Basketball and Volleyball in its first years of establishment. Persepolis F. C. is the club of the multisport Persepolis Athletic. The club is owned by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, there have been many attempts to privatize the club with no success due to the large debt the club has accumulated. The club has played at its ground, Azadi Stadium. They contest the Tehran derby, which is regarded as one of the biggest in Asia, with archrivals Esteghlal, according to the Asian Football Confederation, Persepolis is the most popular football club in Asia. Only Dalian Shide and Al-Hilal come anywhere near to having such an amount of support in Asia. Persepolis F. C. AFC. </ref> Persepolis has won a record nine Iranian league titles, as well as five Hazfi Cups, many notable players have played for the club, including former Bayern Munich players Ali Karimi, Ali Daei, Vahid Hashemian and former Hamburger SV player Mehdi Mahdavikia. However, Ali Parvin is widely regarded as the clubs greatest ever player, Parvin played 18 years with the club from 1970 to 1988, and had his number 7 retired by Persepolis for seasons. Shahin was established in 1942 by Dr. Abbas Ekrami, a teacher and these talents made Shahin popular in the 1960s but its very popularity was viewed as a threat by the Iran Football Federation and the Keihan Varzeshi newspaper. The conflict between them became worse and on 9 July 1967, two days after Shahins 3–0 win against Tehranjavan F. C. the Iran Sports Organization declared Shahin F. C. as dissolved. League attendance dropped and other clubs including Pas, Rah Ahan, Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club was established in 1963 by Ali Abdo. Abdo had returned to Iran from the United States and was a championship boxer, Persepolis F. C. started the 1968 season with Parviz Dehdari as manager. The team was quite weak, and participated in the 2nd division of the country. The best player on the team then was Mahmoud Khordbin, the club, using four Shahin players, had a friendly match with Jam Abadan, a respected team at the time. After the match the remainder of the Shahin players joined Persepolis and that year no league competition was held, as many teams had been dissolved, so a 44-team tournament was held, and Persepolis, along with Pas, Taj, and Oghab finished top of the group. The next year they represented as the first Iranian club in the Asian Champion Club Tournament held in Thailand, in 1962, the Iran Universal automobile factory was opened. In 1969, The boss of the factory, Mahmoud Khayami, paykan won the championship that year, but the new players moved back to Persepolis at the end of the season
26.
Esteghlal F.C.
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Esteghlal Tehran Football Club until 1979 known as Taj Tehran Football Club is an Iranian professional football club based in Tehran that plays in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Esteghlal F. C. is the club of the multisport Esteghlal Athletic. Founded in 1945 initially as Docharkhe Savaran meaning The Cyclists in Persian and later in 1949, the name of the club was finally modified into Esteghlal that is the current name of the club, meaning Independence, subsequent to the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In 1970, under the management of Zdravko Rajkov, Esteghlal Tehran became the first Iranian football club to win the Asian Club Championship and they have won several official titles on the national and international stage since 1970, including eight Iranian League titles and a record 6 Hazfi Cups. There are two stars above the teams official badge to represent winning two titles in Asian Club Championship. On September 20,1945 three Iranian military officers—Mirzani, Jananpour and Navab—started a sports club on Ferdowsi Street, Tehran, since the founders of the club were mostly interested in cycling, the clubs original name was Docharkhe Savaran, meaning The Cyclists in Persian. Esteghlal football club played its first official match in 1946, from the beginning Taj or Docharkeh Savaran competed in the Tehran Local League, which at the time was the highest ranked league in Iran. On March 6,1950, Taj played its first official game in front of over 20,000 spectators in Amjadieh Stadium against Shahin, later in that year, the clubs name was officially changed to Taj which means crown in Persian. In 1970, Taj defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv of Israel 2–1 in the final to win its first ever Asian Club Championship, after the revolution, any sign of the previous monarchist regime was not tolerated. During the 1980s, Esteghlal won the Tehran Football League twice, the 1989–90 season was a memorable one for Esteghlal. The club finished 1st in Group B of the Qods League, Esteghlal defeated Malavan 4–0 on aggregate to advance to the final against the hated rival, Persepolis. Esteghlal defeated Persepolis 2–1 through a 74th-minute goal by Samad Marfavi to win the Qods League, in the following season, Esteghlal made it to the final of the Hazfi Cup only to lose to Malavan on penalties. 1991 proved to be one of Esteghlals most memorable years as they won the Asian Club Championship for the 2nd time defeating Chinese club Liaoning 2–1, Esteghlal once again reached the final of the Asian Club Championship in 1999, this time losing to Japanese club Júbilo Iwata 1–2. 2001 marked the first year of the newly founded Iran Pro League, going into the final day, Esteghlal was on top of the leagues table, however, with an Esteghlal loss and a Persepolis win, Persepolis was crowned as the leagues inaugural champion. However, the 2001–02 Hazfi Cup provided some consolation for Esteghlal as they beat Fajr Sepasi 4–3 on aggregate to win the cup. The 2002–03 season was one of the worst years in club history, in July 2003, Amir Ghalenoi was appointed manager of Esteghlal. In his first year, Esteghlal finished runner-up in the league, Ghalenoi also made it to the final of the Hazfi Cup losing 2–5 on aggregate to Sepahan. His second season proved to be successful as Esteghlal finished 3rd
27.
S.C. Farense
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Sporting Clube Farense, simply known as Farense, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Faro in the district of Faro, who play in the LigaPro after promotion. They were promoted from the Segunda Divisão at the end the 2012–13 season, the Leões de Faro played at the Estádio de São Luís for 94 years from 1910. The club moved stadium in 2004 to the newly constructed Estádio Algarve which was built for the purpose of hosting matches at UEFA Euro 2004, the Faro side moved back to the Estádio de São Luís in 2013 after it gained promotion to the Segunda Liga. As a result of their promotion, the Estádio de São Luís underwent major renovations to improve its facilities, the club also reached the final of the Taça de Portugal in 1990 where they lost to Estrela da Amadora. The 2001–02 season saw the club relegated to the tier of Portuguese football. Since then the club has struggled to reach the success that it had during the 1980s and 1990s, despite living some of its darkest years in recent times, the 2012–13 season saw the Faro side promoted to the Segunda Liga. SC Farense stadium is the Estádio de São Luís next to Faro Hospital, the club did play for a short period of time at the Algarve Stadium built for the EURO Championship Finals in 2004. The club has rivlaries with fellow Algarve clubs S. C, as of 18 August 2016 Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality
28.
Louletano D.C.
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Louletano Desportos Clube is a Portuguese club from Loulé, founded on June 6,1923. The association football team play in the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores. The club plays at the Estádio Algarve, a stadium which it shares with Sporting Clube Farense, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, official site Squad at Zerozero Squad at ForaDeJogo
29.
Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas
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Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, also known as Botafogo and familiarly as A Estrela Solitária, is a Brazilian sports club based in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Botafogo is mostly known for its football team. It plays in the Campeonato Carioca, the state of Rio de Janeiros premier state league and it was appointed by FIFA to the group of the biggest clubs in the twentieth century. The club is responsible for the greatest victory ever recorded in Brazilian football. On July 1,1894, Club de Regatas Botafogo was founded, on August 12,1904, another club was founded in the neighbourhood, the Electro Club, the name first given to the Botafogo Football Club. The idea came during a lesson at Alfredo Gomes College. Lets establish another one, in Largo dos Leões, what do you think and we can speak to the Wernecks, to Arthur César, Vicente and Jacques. And so the Electro Club was founded, after a suggestion from Dona Chiquitota, Flávios grandmother, the club finally became the Botafogo Football Club, on September 18 of the same year. Just like Juventus FC, the team of Itamar Tavares, one of the clubs founders, and the badge, drawn by Basílio Vianna Jr. in Swiss style with the BFC monogram. The Botafogo Football Club would soon become one of the strongest football teams in Rio de Janeiro, winning the championships of 1907,1910,1912, the same name, the same location, the same colours and the most important thing, the same supporters. It seemed that the destiny of both clubs was to become one, and so it happened, on December 8,1942 they finally merged. It was after a match between both clubs, when Botafogo Football Club player Armando Albano died suddenly, that the idea began to become truth. At the tragic occasion, the president of Club de Regatas Botafogo, Augusto Frederico Schmidt spoke, At this time and we wont play no longer the time left on the clock. We all want the young fighter to leave this night as a winner. This is how we salute him, eduardo Góis Trindade, Botafogo Football Clubs president said, Between the matches of our clubs, only one can be the winner, Botafogo. And then Schmidt declared the fusion, What else do we need to our clubs become one, and so they did, Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas finally became true. The Football Clubs badge became black, and the monogram substituted by Clube de Regatas lone star, the team won the Campeonato Carioca in 1907,1910 and 1912. In 1909 the team beat Mangueira 24–0, which remains the highest score in Brazilian football and they won further state titles in 1930,1932,1933,1934 and 1935
30.
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo
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Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, commonly referred to as Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro. The club was established in 1895, although it did not play its first official game until 1912 and its traditional playing colors are red and black hooped shirts with white shorts and red and black hooped socks. The team achieved the most prestigious accolade in South American football when they defeated Cobreloa 2–0 in the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo to become champions of South America and they subsequently became known as the Geração de Ouro, or the Golden Generation. That same year, Flamengo became world champions after defeating Liverpool 3–0 in Tokyo. Flamengo is the most popular team in Brazil, with over 39.1 million supporters as of 2010, the club has long-standing rivalries with nearby neighbors Fluminense, Botafogo and Vasco da Gama. There is also a rivalry with Atlético Mineiro. Flamengo was founded on 17 November 1895 as a club by José Agostinho Pereira da Cunha, Mário Spindola, Nestor de Barros, Augusto Lopes, José Félix da Cunha Meneses. The group used to gather at Café Lamas, in the Flamengo neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Rowing was the elite sport in Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century. The young men hoped that forming a club would make them popular with the young ladies of the citys high society. They could only afford a used boat named Pherusa, which had to be rebuilt before it could be used in competition. The team debuted on October 6,1895 when they sailed off the Caju Point, from the Maria Angu beach, however, strong winds turned over the boat and the rowers nearly drowned. They were rescued by a boat named Leal. Afterwards, as the Pherusa was undergoing repairs, the boat was stolen, the group then had to save up money to buy a new boat, the Etoile, renamed Scyra. On the night of 17 November, the group, gathered at Nestor de Barross manor on Flamengo beach, founded the Flamengo Rowing Group and elected its first board, the name was changed a few weeks later to Clube de Regatas do Flamengo. The founders also decided that the anniversary of the foundation should be celebrated on 15 November, so as to coincide with the Day of the Republic. Flamengo only embraced football when a group of dissatisfied players from Fluminense Football Club broke away from that club following a dispute with its board, the players decided to join Flamengo because Borgerth, the teams captain, was also a rower for Flamengo. Admittance of the new members was approved on 8 November 1911, a motion against the club taking part in football tournaments was defeated, and the members assembly officially created the football team on 24 December,1911. The new team used to train on Russel beach, and gradually gained the support of the locals, the first official match was played on 3 May 1912 and is, to this day, the most spectacular victory of the club, as the team defeated Mangueira 16-2
31.
Fluminense FC
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The club is based in the Laranjeiras neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro. Fluminense play their games at the Estádio Giulite Coutinho, which currently holds up to 13,544 spectators. Cox was elected as the clubs first president, Fluminense has been state champions on 31 occasions, second only to Flamengo with 33. The team has national champions four times, most recently in 2012. Fluminense is a demonym for people who reside in the State of Rio de Janeiro, although football is the clubs original endeavor, the club is today an umbrella organization for several teams in more than 16 different sport activities. Fluminenses home kit is dark red-and-green vertical striped shirts, with white shorts, accompanied by white socks, Fluminense holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably against Flamengo, as well as with Botafogo and Vasco da Gama. It has contributed the fifth-most players to Brazils national football team, Fluminense Football Club was founded on July 21,1902 in Rio de Janeiro by Oscar Cox, a Brazilian of English heritage, in the then aristocratic neighborhood of Laranjeiras. Fluminense was formed by sons of the elite who had come into contact with football while studying in Europe, the first official match was played against now defunct Rio FC, and Fluminense won 8–0. The clubs first title came in 1906, when Fluminense won the Campeonato Carioca, in 1911, disagreement between Fluminense players led to the formation of Flamengos football team. The so-called Fla-Flu derby is considered one of the biggest in the history of Brazilian football, three years later, in Fluminenses stadium, the Brazilian national football team debuted, against touring English club Exeter City. It was also there that won their first title, in 1919. By 1924, Fluminense had 4,000 members, a stadium for 25,000 people, in an unfortunate event in 1914, Carlos Alberto, a mulatto playing for Fluminense, decided to cover himself in face powder to disguise the color of his skin. This ultimately led to one of the nicknames, pó de arroz. The following years saw an expansion of the hegemony in Rio. Fluminense would remain unsurpassed in terms of state championships until 2009, international acclaim came in 1949 with the awarding of the Olympic Cup, and was further fostered in 1952 with Fluminenses first intercontinental honor, the Copa Rio. The club established itself regionally with victory in two Torneio Rio-São Paulo cups in 1957 and 1960, national honors followed in 1970,1984,2010 and 2012 with Taça de Prata and Série A cups, respectively. Also taking the Cup in Brazil in 2007, from the 1960s, the first national championships began to be played in Brazil. Fluminenses first national title came in 1970, at time, Brazil had the best players in world football
32.
Jan Breydel Stadium
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Jan Breydel Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Sint-Andries, Bruges, Belgium. The city-owned stadium is the stadium of two top-flight association football clubs, Club Brugge and Cercle Brugge. It is used mainly for football matches, which cost between €5 and €60/seat/match, the stadium was built in 1975. It is named after Jan Breydel, an instigator of the Bruges Matins, prior to 1999 and the Euro 2000 Championship the stadium was known as Olympiastadion, the Olympic stadium in Dutch, and had 18,000 seats. During December 2015 the surface of the pitch it has changed with an Hybrid Grass named Mixto Hybrid Grass Technology. The average season attendances from league matches held at the Jan Breydel for Cercle Brugge, www. clubbrugge. be www. cerclebrugge. be Jan Breydel, Photos stadium
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Club Brugge KV
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Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging, commonly referred to as just Club Brugge, is a football club based in Bruges in Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium. Throughout its long history, Club Brugge has enjoyed much European football success, Club Brugge is the only Belgian club to have played the final of the European Cup so far, losing to Liverpool in the final of the 1978 season. They also lost in the 1976 UEFA Cup Final to the same opponents, Club Brugge holds the European record number of consecutive participations in the UEFA Europa League, the record number of Belgian cups and the record number of Belgian Supercups. 1890, Brugsche Football Club Club created by old students of the Catholic school Broeders Xaverianen,13 November 1891, Club recreated The club was recreated. This has since adopted as the official date of foundation. 1892, First board An official board was installed in the club,1894, Football Club Brugeois Club created by 16 old members of Brugsche FC. 1895, Vlaamsche Football Club de Bruges Club created in the city, 1895–96, the UBSSA set up in 1895. and they went to the UBSSA and took part of the first Belgian national league. 1896, Leaving the UBSSA Financially it was difficult for FC Brugeois,1897, Fusion FC Brugeois joined Brugsche FC but they continued under the name Football Club Brugeois. 1902, New fusion Vlaamsche FC joined FC Brugeois,1912, De Klokke They moved to a new stadium named De Klokke. 1913–14, First cup final FC Brugeois reached their first Belgian Cup final,1920, First time league champions The club became for the first time champions of the first division. 1926, Royal Football Club Brugeois The club get number 3 as their matricule number,1928, First relegation A first low when the club was relegated to the second division. 1930, New statute President Albert Dyserynck changed the statute into a non-profit association. 1931, Albert Dyserynckstadion When president Albert Dyserynck suddenly died they honoured him by changing the name into Albert Dyserynckstadion. 1959, Permanent to the first division RFC Brugeois promoted to the first division,1968, First time cup winners They won the Belgian Cup for the first time against Beerschot AC. 1972, Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging The club changed their name into the Flemisch name Club Brugge KV1975,1976, Highest position in UEFA Cup Under Austrian coach Ernst Happel, Club Brugge reached the finals of the UEFA Cup and lost against Liverpool. 1978, Only Belgian European Cup 1 finalists Still under Ernst Happel and this time it was in the European Champions Clubs Cup final. Club Brugge is the only Belgian club that has reached the finals of the European biggest competition,1992, First goal scorer in the Champions League Daniel Amokachi is the first goal scorer in the Champions League
34.
Cercle Brugge K.S.V.
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Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, the club play home games at the Jan Breydel Stadium, which they share with fierce rivals Club Brugge. Cercle Brugge won their first national title in 1911, and won two titles before the Second World War. The side also won the Belgian Cup in 1927 and in 1985, Cercle Brugge was founded on 9 April 1899 as Cercle Sportif Brugeois by former students of the Saint Francis Xavier Institute, colloquially known as De Frères in Bruges. Originally, the focused on five sports, football, cricket, lawn tennis. Cercle Brugge became a member of the Royal Belgian Football Association in 1900 and were awarded matricule number 12, Cercle achieved their first success in the 1902 Henri Fraeys Cup, defeating Olympique Iris Club Lillois and US Tourcoing. After winning another few friendly cups Cercle achieved their first big success, Cercle ended a single point ahead of their main rivals FC Bruges, after their confrontation on the seasons last matchday ended in a 1–1 draw. Three years later Belgian football was devastated by World War I, former player Alphonse Six also lost his life. Cercle resumed competitive football in 1919 with an almost completely new team, Louis Saeys was the only player to remain in the team from before the war. Expectations were low, but the finished third in the league. The monument still exists and now stands in front of the Jan Breydel Stadium, in 1923 Cercle extended their stadium facilities again, moving 100 metres from their old pitch to a newly built stadium. This ground, later named the Edgard De Smedt Stadium, became Cercles home for more than 50 years, in 1924 the club changed its name from Cercle Sportif Brugeois to Royal Cercle Sportif Brugeois. The club embarked on a period, led by two key players, Belgian record international Florimond Vanhalme and player-coach Louis Saeys. Cercle led the league midway through the 1925–26 season, but player injuries led to results that saw them finish in fifth place. Cercle made a start to the 1929–30 season, entering the mid-season winter break in sixth place. Nonetheless, by the weekend of the season they had narrowed the gap to a single point. The side then faced a wait for the result of Antwerp against 10th placed Standard Liège. In the end, the news reached team captain Florimond Vanhalme that Antwerp had lost 3–5, meaning Cercle had won their third, because of this title Cercle were invited to take part in the Coupe des Nations, which is regarded as the predecessor of the Champions League
35.
Letzigrund
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Letzigrund is a stadium in Zürich, Switzerland, and the home of the athletics club LC Zürich, and the football clubs FC Zürich and Grasshopper Club Zürich. LC Zürich is a spin-off of FC Zürich whose members constructed the stadium in 1925, grasshopper-Club is using it as their home stadium since 2007. The annual athletics meet Weltklasse Zürich—part of the IAAF Diamond League—takes place at the Letzigrund since 1928, on the Letzigrund track on 21 June 1960, Armin Hary was the first human being to run the 100 metres in 10,0 seconds. It opened November 22,1925 owned by the FC Zürich football club, during the Great Depression, ownership changed to the city of Zurich in 1937 which has operated it since. It underwent extensive remodeling in 1947,1958,1973, and 1984, the first open-air concert was in 1996. The capacity was 25,000 and the pitch was 105 by 68 meters with athletics facilities. There were also three other playing fields,2 lawns,1 artificial turf and a small packed sand field, the old Letzigrund also contained a bar and a restaurant within the stadium. The old stadium hit its highest capacity of 75,000 during Celine Dions Falling Into You Tour, notably, Tina Turner performed 2 sold-out performances at the old stadium during her highly successful Twenty Four Seven Tour. AC/DC were scheduled to perform during their Razors Edge World Tour on September 6,1991, in 1997, the city parliament decided favourably on an upgrade of the stadium whereas parallelly, the city administration was working on a reconstruction plan. At the same time, the owners of the Hardturm football stadium were after several smaller extensions also planning to reconstruct their stadium, as a result, the planning process for the new Letzigrund stadium was accelerated. In 2005, the city approved in a vote the reconstruction of the public stadium, plus in a separate vote. Originally planned for 2009, the new Letzigrund stadium was now opened already on August 30,2007, the first sport event there was the annual Weltklasse Zürich on September 7 with 26500 spectators, the first football game was FC Zürich vs. Grasshopper Club Zürich on September 23. It hosted three games during the 2008 European championships, with a capacity of up to 30,000, the current capacity is 25,000, for football events,30,000, for athletics and 50,000, for concerts. List of football stadiums in Switzerland Media related to Letzigrund-Stadion, Zürich at Wikimedia Commons Official Website Stadion Letzigrund Weltklasse Zürich stadium information
36.
Kadir Has Stadium
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The Kadir Has Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Kayseri, Turkey. It is part of complex of sports venues that are on the outskirts of the city and it effectively replaces the ageing Kayseri Atatürk Stadium, which has been in use since the early 1960s. It was opened with the Kayserispor match against Fenerbahçe on 8 March 2009 and it is primary used for football matches and hosts the homes matches of Kayserispor and Kayseri Erciyesspor. The stadium has a capacity of 32,864 people and is totally covered and it is one of the most modern stadiums in Turkey, and offers a number of restaurants, cafes, and VIP areas for fans. Two brand-new shopping centres will also be located nearby, as will a car park with a capacity of 1785 cars, the light rail system of Kayseri, Kayseray, passes close to the stadium complex, allowing travelling supporters to reach the new site with ease. The stadium hosted its first international match when Turkey played Estonia in a 2010 World Cup Qualifier on September 5,2009. Kadir Has Stadium is one of the 8 host stadiums of the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, for 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup the Kayseri Kadir Has Stadium was renovated to meet regulations and requirements of UEFA. The c-values have been improved to a minimum c=90 for all seats, furthermore, the VIP hospitality area has been extended, media facilities have been brought up to date, and public restroom facilities improved. Kadir Has Spor Salonu Official site for EURO2016 Bid Turkey – Kadir Has Stadium City Council information on new stadium Construction Photos Venue information
37.
Kayserispor
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Kayserispor is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Kayseri. The club colours are red and yellow, and the play their home matches at Kadir Has Stadium. The club has won one Türkiye Kupası, in 2008, and they became fifth in the Süper Lig four times, in 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, and 2012–13. The club was one of the co-winners of the 2006 Intertoto Cup. Erciyespor, which was Kayserispors predecessor, was founded as Erciyesspor with red-white colours, in 1937, Erciyesspor merged with Yılmazspor and changed their colours to yellow-red. It was merged into Kayseri Gençlik in 1940 and they were refounded in 1948 with yellow-navy colours. They merged with Kayseri Gençlik in 1949 and changed their colours to yellow-red, but they were refounded by Naci Ulucan in 1952. They played in a league until 1966. These new clubs would compete in the newly created 2. Lig, after several meetings, representatives of the city merged Erciyesspor, Sanayispor, and Ortaanadoluspor to form Kayserispor. The club submitted the paperwork and were officially founded as Kayserispor on 1 July 1966. They began competing in the 1966–672. Lig, erdoğan Gürhan was the first manager, signing a contract worth 1,500 TL. In their first season, the competed in the Beyaz Grup. Yener scored the first goal in history when he netted a shot in the 17th minute against Ankara Toprakspor. The club finished with a nine win, nine draw, and twelve loss record in 30 matches while scoring 21 goals and it was refounded as Kayseri Emniyetspor with red-navy colours. They merged with Kayserigücü, whose name was Mahrumlarspor in 1985. They were promoted to 3rd level in 1988, however changed their name to Kayseri Erciyesspor due to the Security General Directorates decision to withdraw Security teams from leagues. They changed their colours to black-white and they became Büyükşehir Belediye Erciyesspor with blue-white colours in 1992, Melikgazi Belediyesi Erciyesspor with yellow-red in 1997, and Hacılar Erciyesspor with yellow-navy colours in 1999. They were promoted to level in the 1999–2000 season
38.
Kayseri Erciyesspor
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Kayseri Erciyesspor is a Turkish sports club based in Kayseri which currently competes in the Turkish TFF Second League. These new clubs would compete in the newly created 2. Lig, after several meetings, representatives of the city merged Erciyesspor, Sanayispor, and Ortaanadoluspor to form Kayserispor. The club submitted the paperwork and were officially founded as Kayserispor on 1 July 1966. They began competing in the 1966–672. Lig, erdoğan Gürhan was the first manager, signing a contract worth 1,500 TL. In their first season, the competed in the Beyaz Grup. Yener scored the first goal in history when he netted a shot in the 17th minute against Ankara Toprakspor. The club finished with a nine win, nine draw, and twelve loss record in 30 matches while scoring 21 goals, Kayserispor were promoted to the 1. Lig for the first time at the end of the 1972–73 season. They were also relegated for the first time in 1974–75, Kayserispor defeated Galatasaray in the quarter-finals of the 1977–78 Türkiye Kupası, and reached the semi-finals for the first time. They went on to lose to Adana Demirspor, in 1978, Tamer Kaptan, manager of the club at the time, brought Johan Cruyffs Total Football system to Kayserispor after watching the Netherlands national football team in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The club proceeded to score 66 goals that season, which ranked second in Europe behind English club Liverpool F. C. The club were promoted again at the end of the 1978–79 after beating Ankaragücü 3–0 at promotion play-off, Kayserispor were promoted to the 1. Lig again in 1984–85, but were again relegated the following year. They would continue competing in the 2. Lig until the end of the 1991–92 season except playing in level between 1989 and 1991. The club set a record for most managers in a season when they hired and fired eight coaches throughout the 1988–89 season, Kayserispor reached a low point when they were relegated to the 3. Lig after successively 2 promotions between 1990 and 1992 Kayserispor started 1, Lig in 1992–93 season with 7–2 away defeat to Kocaelispor, also newcomer but managed to remain in it. They reached to 11th position in 1994–95 season but were relegated again to 2nd League at the end of the following season, after the season Kayseri Erciyesspor promoted to Super League. Before the start of 2004–2005 season,2 teams of Kayseri switched their names, chairmans, thus, Kayserispor became Kayseri Erciyesspor and changed their colours as blue-black. They finished 2nd level as 3rd and thus returned to top level after 7 seasons and they finished Super League with respectable 10th place in 2005–2006 season
39.
Philip II Arena
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Philip II National Arena, also known as the Telekom Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. It is currently used mostly for football matches, but sometimes also for concerts or other events. On 30 June 2015 the UEFA announced that the National Arena Philip II of Macedonia will host the 2017 UEFA Super Cup, the project for the south stand was designed in 1977 by architects Dragan Krstev and Todorka Mavkova from Beton. Construction of the stadium in its present form began in 1978, with the building of the south stand, the reconstruction and expansion started after a long delay in project implementation in January 2008. The construction of a new stand was finished in August 2009 and was put in use on 2 August 2009. Ten days later, on 12 August, the Macedonia national football team played a match against then World Champions Spain. The reconstruction of the southern stand started in 2009, which was put into operation on 30 July of that year for the match between FK Rabotnički and FC Liverpool, soon after, the construction of the new western and eastern stands started. By mid July 2012, the majority of the stadium was completed with the reconstruction of the new pitch, on 25 July 2012, FK Vardar played FC BATE Borisov in the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League to re-open the stadium. In November 2016, the Philip II Arena was renamed to Telekom Arena due to the agreement with Makedonski Telekom. Since 2008, the stadium has seen investment of two billion denari, or €32 million. The second phase, which got underway in November 2011, is the reconstruction of the pitch. The athletic track around the pitch, from the original 6 will be extended to 8 running tracks, total cost for this phase is €3.5 million. By 2013 it should be finished with the completion of a new illuminated outer facade, the total construction cost for all actions related to the stadium in the period 2008-2013 is estimated to reach over €60 million. 1985–86 UEFA Cup First round, Second leg -2 October 1985 between FK Vardar and FC Dinamo Bucureşti, 1987–88 European Cup First round, Second leg -30 September 1987 between FK Vardar and FC Porto. 1992–93 Macedonian Cup Final -23 May 1993 between FK Vardar and FK Pelister, UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying -7 September 1994 between Macedonia and Denmark. UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying -12 October 1994 between Macedonia and Spain, 2000–01 UEFA Cup First round, First leg -14 September 2000 between FK Pobeda and AC Parma. 2003–04 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round, Second leg -6 August 2003 between FK Vardar and CSKA Moscow, 2003–04 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round, First leg -13 August 2003 between FK Vardar and AC Sparta Prague. UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying -6 September 2003 between Macedonia and England, 2003–04 UEFA Cup First round, Second leg -15 October 2003 between FK Vardar and AS Roma
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FK Vardar
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FK Vardar is a football club based in the capital city of Skopje, in Macedonia. Founded in 1947, they have members of the Macedonian First Football League since its inception in 1992. Vardar is the most popular and renowned Macedonian football club both domestically and abroad, having won 10 national championships and 5 national cups and its home venue is the Telekom Arena, with a capacity of 33,460. FK Vardar was created with the merger of city rivals FK Pobeda and FK Makedonija, the foundation assembly had decided the club color to be blue and it was, but already at the next assembly the decision was changed to red and white. However, during the decade they were several times relegated and promoted back again. The present recognizable red and black color was adopted after the 1963 Skopje earthquake, the club won its first major trophy in the 1961 Yugoslav Cup. Many famous players from the region started their careers at Vardar, the leader of that particular generation of players was Andon Dončevski, who later coached the team from 1985 to 1988. Due to massive irregularities during the last 34th week of fixtures, Yugoslav Football Association headed by Slavko Šajber voided the last week results ordering a replay of all 9 fixtures. Twelve clubs were docked 6 points due to alleged participation in the match-fixing scandal, Crvena zvezda played in the 1986/87 European Champions Cup. However, after a sequence of processes, the original final table, with Partizan as champions, was officially recognized. The following 1986-87 Yugoslav First League season saw 10 teams starting with −6 points, in 1986/1987 season team had a group of wonderful players, led by the talented Darko Pančev and including Ilija Najdoski, Dragan Kanatlarovski and Vujadin Stanojković. FK Vardar went on to spend 33 seasons in the Yugoslav top flight from 1947 to 1992 and is ranked 11th on the all-time table, Vardar celebrated Macedonia independence by buying three consecutive titles including going unbeaten in the inaugural season. During the 90s they remained at the top of Macedonian football reaching five Cup finals and have always been the team to beat. After a lean spell by their standards, they bought the league again in 2002, a remarkable achievement, in the 2nd round of qualifying they eliminated CSKA Moscow and came within a goal of getting past Sparta Prague. In 2011, Vardar was originally relegated from the First League, the following season they brought the league again after nine years. To date they have 13 major honors to their name, in 2012, with the new transformation football club Vardar became the first team in Macedonia organized as a joint stock company incorporated under the companies act. Deducted points, FK Makedonija Gj. P. -19, FK Sloga Jugomagnat −11, FK Vardar −9, FK Cementarnica −3, in their history, Vardar has had many memorable matches. Among those, the one that stands out the most was defeating Partizan Belgrade by a score of 5,0, in early history, the 2,1 victory over Varteks in the Marshal Tito Cup final is remembered by the club as its first major trophy win
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Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia
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The Atleti Azzurri dItalia is a stadium in Bergamo, Italy, used by the Atalanta and Albinoleffe football teams. The field is 120 m long, and 70 m wide, the stadium has a capacity of 26,562 seats. The stadium is seen by many to be outdated and not up to standard for Serie A due to inadequate facilities, poor views from a number of stands and because most of the stadium has no roof cover. In the last decade some projects for a new stadium have been put forward, though issues with funding, there have also been areas dedicated to cater for disabled spectators. At the same time, the box has been lowered and moved. These improvements have come at the cost of reducing the capacity by around 3,000 seats. Atalanta have also chosen to be one of the first clubs to introduce a smoking ban within the stadium, l’Atalanta all’esordio nel nuovo stadio ]
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Atalanta B.C.
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Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly known as just Atalanta, Atalanta Bergamo or the abbreviation Atalanta BC, is an Italian football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy. The club currently plays in Serie A, having gained the promotion from Serie B in 2010–11 and they are nicknamed the Nerazzurri and the Orobici. Atalanta play in blue-and-black vertically striped shirts, black shorts and black socks, the club stadium is the 26,638 seater Atleti Azzurri dItalia. The club won the Coppa Italia in 1963 and reached the Cup Winners Cup semi-final in 1988 and this is still the best ever performance by a non-first division club in a major UEFA competition. Atalanta also participated twice in the UEFA Cup, reaching the quarter-finals in 1990–91, the club was founded in 1907. A football club had existed in Bergamo since 1904, founded by Swiss immigrants, it was known as Foot Ball Club Bergamo. The rival Atalanta club grew out of a division between different sporting societies in the town, the name is taken from the female athlete of Greek mythology. The FIGC was unimpressed with the new club and did not officially recognize them until 1914, the current club is the result of a merger between Atalanta and a third team called Bergamasca. The first, black and white coloured and the wearing a blue and white shirt. The team moved to the site of the current ground, on the Viale Giulio Cesare, Atalanta joined the Italian league in 1929. The club first reached Serie A in 1937, but was relegated immediately, the club achieved its highest position in 1948, finishing in fifth place. In 1981, the fell into Serie C1, a blow which revitalised the club. The team returned to Serie B the next season and made it back to Serie A in 1984, the clubs form in Serie A remains uncertain, as it was relegated in 1987,1994,1998,2003,2005 and 2010. After a change of ownership, in 2011, Atalanta immediately came back to Serie A, in terms of titles the club has won little, their sole silverware is the 1963 Coppa Italia. The club has had a few runs in Europe, on several occasions being eliminated by the eventual winners. Welsh club Merthyr Tydfil caused an upset in the 1987–88 European Cup Winners Cup, oddly enough, the only other team to do so being Merthyr Tydfils countrymen at Cardiff City. Atalanta reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals in the 1990–91 season, losing to local rivals Internazionale, in recent years, the club was relegated after the 2002–03, 2004–05 and 2009–10 seasons, but gained the promotion to Serie A after only one season every time. In 2011–12, Atalanta was docked six points in the table due to the outcomes of an Italian football scandal
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U.C. AlbinoLeffe
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Unione Calcio AlbinoLeffe is an Italian association football club based in Leffe and also representing the town of Albino, in the Province of Bergamo, Lombardy. Currently it plays in Lega Pro Prima Divisione/A, the club was created in 1998 as a result of the merger between former Serie C2 teams Albinese Calcio and S. C. Leffe, respectively from Albino and Leffe, two neighboring towns, in their first season, the club finished 2nd in the Serie C2 and won a promotion after defeating Modena in the Girone A playoffs. After rising to the Italian Serie C1, they performed at the middle of the pack, finishing 9th in 2000 and 13th in 2001. However, in 2002, the Seriani went to the finals of the Coppa Italia Serie C and they won the tournament on the tiebreaker. In league play they again finished 13th. In 2003, AlbinoLeffe, under coach Elio Gustinetti, finished second in league play before heading to the promotion play-off, there, they defeated Padua in the semifinals, then had a surprising triumph over Pisa Calcio final, which pushed them up to Serie B. AlbinoLeffe used to play there before its promotion to Serie B, the 2006–2007 Serie B campaign, the fourth consecutive for the small Lombard team, ended with a good tenth place, well ahead of the relegation zone. Historically, AlbinoLeffes home games have been characterized by low attendance, as shown by the average 2,400 spectators per game in the 2006–07 season. This has thus far failed to improve the clubs low home attendance, even after a 1–0 loss to Brescia, AlbinoLeffe managed to win at home in the second leg and qualified for the final against Lecce. In the first leg they suffered a 1–0 loss, on 15 June the second match was played in Lecce and the result of the match was 1–1 so AlbinoLeffe didnt reach Serie A. At the end of the 2011–12 season, it was relegated to Lega Pro Prima Divisione after 9 consecutive years in Serie B, AlbinoLeffe following the systematic match fixing as a club controlled by Singapore-based organized crime was penalized 10 points in the 2012–13 Lega Pro Prima Divisione. AlbinoLeffe plays its games at the Atleti Azzurri dItalia stadium, in the city of Bergamo. As of 4 February,2017 Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Coppa Italia of Serie C Champions 2002 Serie C1 group A Runners up 2003 Serie C2 group A Runners up 1999 Official Website
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San Siro
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The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A. C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadia in Europe. On 3 March 1980, the stadium was named in honour of Giuseppe Meazza, the San Siro is a UEFA category four stadium. It hosted six games at the 1990 FIFA World Cup and four European Cup finals, construction of the stadium commenced in 1925 in the district of Milan named San Siro, with the new stadium originally named Nuovo Stadio Calcistico San Siro. The idea to build a stadium in the district as the horse racing track belongs to the man who then was the president of A. C. Milan. The architects designed a stadium only for football, without the athletics tracks which characterized Italian stadiums built with public funds. The inauguration was on 19 September 1926, when 35,000 spectators saw Inter Milan defeat Milan 6–3, originally, the ground was home and property of A. C. Milan. Finally, in 1947, Inter, who used to play in the classy Arena Civica downtown, became tenants, on 2 March 1980 the stadium was named for Giuseppe Meazza, one of the most famous Milanese footballer. Apart from being used by Milan and Inter, the Italian national team also plays occasional games there and it has also been used for the 1965,1970,2001 and 2016 UEFA Champions League finals. The stadium was used for Inter Milans UEFA Cup finals when played over home. The stadium underwent further renovations for the 1990 World Cup with $60 million being spent, as part of the renovations, the stadium became all seated, with an extra tier being added to three sides of the stadium. This entailed the building of 11 concrete towers around the outside of the stadium, four of these concrete towers were being located at the corners to support a new roof which has distinctive protruding red girders. In 1996 inside the stadium was opened a museum about A. C. Milan and Internazionales story with historical shirts, cups and trophies, shoes, art objects, the stadium was one of the biggest venues of the 1934 FIFA World Cup and held three matches. The stadium was one of the four selected to host the matches during the UEFA Euro 1980, the stadium was one of the venues of the 1990 FIFA World Cup and held six matches. San Siro was the venue for the match between Duilio Loi vs. Carlos Ortiz for the Junior Welterweight title in 1960. The first and only top level rugby union match was a test match between Italy and New Zealand in November 2009, a crowd of 80,000 watched the event, a record for Italian rugby. Besides football, San Siro can be configured to hold other events. After this event, the singer to perform at San Siro was Bob Dylan on 24 June 1984
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A.C. Milan
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Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A. C. Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons, in the top flight of Italian football, known as Serie A since 1929–30. With 18 officially recognised UEFA and FIFA titles, they are the fourth most successful club in the world, with 18 league titles, Milan is the joint-second most successful club in Serie A, along with local rivals Internazionale. They have also won the Coppa Italia five times, and the Supercoppa Italiana seven, Milans home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which is shared with city rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, inter are considered their biggest rivals, and matches between the two teams are called Derby della Madonnina, which is one of the most followed derbies in football. The owner of the club is former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, the club is one of the wealthiest in Italian and world football. It was a member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europes leading football clubs as well as its replacement. A. C. Milan was founded as Milan Cricket and Foot-Ball Club on 13 December 1899 by English expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin, who came from the English city of Nottingham. In honour of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the name, as opposed to the Italian spelling Milano. Milan won its first Italian championship in 1901 and a two in succession in 1906 and 1907. In 1908, Milan experienced a split caused by disagreements over the signing of foreign players. Following these events, Milan did not manage to win a domestic title until 1950–51. The 1950s saw the return to the top of Italian football, headed by the famous Gre-No-Li Swedish trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl. This was one of the clubs most successful periods domestically, with the Scudetto going to Milan in 1951,1955,1957,1959 and 1962, in 1963, Milan won its first continental title by beating Benfica in the final of the European Cup. This success was repeated in 1969, with a 4–1 win over Ajax in the final, during this period Milan also won its first Coppa Italia, with victory over Padova in the 1967 final, and two European Cup Winners Cups, in 1967–68 and 1972–73. Milan won a league title in 1979, but after the retirement of Gianni Rivera in the same year. The club was involved in the 1980 Totonero scandal and as punishment was relegated to Serie B for the first time in its history, the scandal was centred around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan achieved promotion back to Serie A at the first attempt, winning the 1980–81 Serie B title, in 1983, Milan won the Serie B title for the second time in three seasons to return to Serie A, where they achieved a sixth-place finish in 1983–84
