Toddsimmons

Earlier today, fans walked the long drive up to Red Bull Arena. There was no parking near the arena so they walked, most about a quarter mile, to the gates. Some had been coming to games the entire year, more to just a game here and there, and what seemed to be the majority were […]

Most people around the world get soccer. It comes at them packaged in so many ways for their consumption: on television, online, in print. They get it. It is available all the time. In fact, it is even more than available. It is there to indulge in, to feast on, even to glut on. There […]

Yesterday afternoon, as the sky darkened an hour early, and as the cold November wind blew around the arena, the New York Red Bulls kept a clean sheet against a DC United team and had Thanksgiving coming a few weeks early for their fans. Coach Mike Petke had talked about the importance of away goals […]

Last night the New York Red Bulls hosted Sporting Kansas City in the knockout round of the MLS playoffs. It was a chilly evening. Fans clustered in the parking lots before the game laughing and keeping warm, and you had the impression of a much larger crowd than the 15,518 who trickled into the seats. […]

Last night after the Colombian national team's 3-0 win over El Salvador, head coach Jose Pekerman spoke about the new chapter that his team is beginning to write on the field. Reaching the quarter finals at the World Cup in Brazil this past summer will be a hard story to follow. Heading to the match, traffic […]

If there are two lessons that Manchester City and the New York Yankees can take out of the game between Liverpool and Manchester City at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night, it is that there were a whole lot more Liverpool fans in New York, and that there is a lot of work yet to be done […]

Liverpool is in New York City, in preparation for its sold-out game at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday against Premier League rival Manchester City. My son and I attended the Liverpool practice yesterday in Princeton. It was a quietly whispered open practice with just a few hundred fans there, and the team including Brendan Rodgers, made […]

Saturday's friendly between Arsenal and New York Red Bulls is a strange one in that both teams downplayed the New York Cup match in Thursday's press conference. A lot of planning has gone into this game that will be broadcast live on ESPN2, a game that has brought Gunners fans from across the United States […]

Major League Soccer, after a break from its season for the World Cup, has returned. With the eyes of the world focused on soccer, where here in the US where fans are turning out to watch the games on television and online in record numbers, the MLS has an opportunity to grow its fanbase. And […]

Last night, over 46,000 fans showed up at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, hoping to catch a glimpse of something special, something that they could take home with them like a gift that they could open and peek at during the games played by Portugal in Brazil. They wanted a gift that would unwrap further […]

With two draws in their preparation friendlies, Greece is a team that is looking toward the World Cup with tempered optimism. A depleted Portugal squad held them 0-0 on May 31, and they found themselves in another scoreless draw against Nigeria on June 4. On Friday June 6 at Red Bull Arena in New York, […]

This afternoon the USMNT held an open practice at Red Bull arena. It drew a crowd that probably equaled the one that was here on Memorial Day for the Serbia against Jamaica friendly. Outside the arena over an hour before the gates opened, the lines grew longer and longer, weeding through the tents that had […]

It is 5:48 on Tuesday, still the early evening, of May 27th. The day that David Peace's novel Red or Dead had been released in the United States. People are gathering in the match viewing room at the 11th St Bar, a Liverpool supporters hangout. The edges of the tables are chipped. There is a […]

On Wednesday night I went to the New York Red Bulls game with a friend who was seeing the Red Bull Arena for the first time. He is German, which both is and isn't a statement that is important to the story. It is, because he follows his hometown team and tries to cram in […]

The World Cup is a dream. In June, some 600 players from around the world will assemble at stadiums and training grounds throughout Brazil to contest that dream. For viewers in the United States, soccer fans will be able to turn that dream into a reality through a host of viewing options from ESPN and […]