Stoke City will play Columbus Crew in a July 24, 2012 friendly at Crew Stadium in Ohio, the MLS side announced today.
The visit of Tony Pulis’s Stoke City side to the United States marks the fifth Premier League team who has announced they’ll be playing in the United States this summer. Stoke City joins other clubs who will be traveling across the United States including Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa.
Individual advance ticket prices start at $22, and will go on sale Friday, May 25, at 10 a.m., at the Crew Stadium Box Office, all central Ohio Ticketmaster retail locations, via Ticketmaster phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at TheCrew.com, following the completion of exclusive presale offers to Crew Soccer Nation members and other affiliated parties.
“We look forward to welcoming Stoke City to Crew Stadium in July,” said Crew President & General Manager Mark McCullers. “It is an historic club and Premiership teams are always compelling opponents for us, both in terms of the interest they generate among our fans and the competitive test they provide on the field.”
The match marks the first ever visit of Stoke City to Crew Stadium. The Columbus Crew is 9-4-2 all-time in international exhibitions, including 2-3-2 against teams from the English Premier League. Crew downed Leeds 2-1 in 1997, tied Newcastle United 2-2 in 2000, defeated Fulham 2-1 in 2005, tied Everton 1-1 in 2006, lost to Aston Villa 3-1 in 2007, fell to West Ham 3-1 in 2008, and lost to Newcastle United 3-0 last July.
The friendly against Columbus Crew is the first of several friendlies that Stoke City is expected to announce. Since one of Stoke City’s board member is the majority owner and president of Orlando City, I wouldn’t be surprised if The Potters make a trip to Central Florida in July. Stay tuned to EPL Talk for more news regarding Stoke City’s 2012 US summer tour.
