Photo: Earl Gardner
Philadelphia Union
The Union front office will be closed through Jan. 2 so it is unlikely that there will be much in the way of news for the next week. In the meanwhile, we’ll let you know if we come across anything.
“Peter Nowak dissembling the Union” was the third biggest Controversy of the Year according to MLSsoccer.com: “no personality in MLS left a bigger wake of destruction in 2012.” In the online voting, which is still open, Nowak leads by a wide margin.
This look at the Union’s sold attendance at PPL Park for the 2012 season shows a t 1.12 percent drop compared to 2011. Average attendance in 2012 dropped to 18,053 from the 2011 average of 18,533.
Three Union academy players were recently named to the NSCAA Youth All-American team: Conor Maloney and Colton Storm, who are with PA Classics, and goalkeeper Zackary Steffen, who was recently called up for the US U-20 squad and plays his club soccer for FC DELCO.
MLS
Voting is open for the Moment of the Year on the league’s website and the MLS All-Stars win over Chelsea at PPL Park is on the ballot.
Seattle claims the best Tifo of the Year on the league website with Portland in second. Is there any way we can get the Union to pay for some kind of non-obtrusive rigging structure in the River End from which tifo can be hung because the SoBs are at an unfair disadvantage when it comes to creating the kind of spectaculars seen in the Pacific Northwest?
At SI, Alecko Eskandarian lists his favorite MLS stories of the year.
ProSoccerTalk looks ahead on the calendar for some key upcoming dates during the offseason. Among them: the MLS Combine, Jan. 11-15; the MLS SuperDraft on Jan. 17; the Supplemental Draft on Jan. 22.
NWSL
The new women’s league will hold its first college draft on Jan. 18 during the NSCAA convention in Indianapolis. The eight teams in the league will pick players over four rounds with the selection order chosen by a blind draw.
US
SBI looks at which USMNT players saw their stock rise or fall in 2012.
Union Dues looks at the US schedule for the Hexagonal.
The USWNT gold medal win in the Summer Olympics is one of ProSoccerTalk’s Stories of the Year.
PST also has a list of their three most intriguing US Soccer personalities of the Year. At No. 1 is Alex Morgan, followed by Landon Donovan and Jurgen Klinsmann.
Elsewhere
In a vote at the website of Spanish sports newspaper Marca, some 82.4 percent of readers, the majority of whom are Real Madrid supporters, want Jose Mourinho sacked.
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