Traveling to England? Then make sure to check out a soccer match. Here’s what you need to know to get the most out of your England football experience, with help from West Ham fan Stuart, who works on several European football travel websites.
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New Pro Women’s Soccer League a Perfect Excuse to Travel
I’m more about doing and less about watching, but the launch of the blandly named Women’s Professional Soccer league this year makes me feel like it’s okay to plop down in the bleachers. Why a WPS match instead of Major League Soccer or one of the European sides on their summer tours of the United States?
1. Principal – I want to support women’s sports. The WPS will be a high level of play with some truly fine players both established and emerging. They’re fit, technical and well-organized.
2. It’s good for the U.S. Women’s Team – A top-quality domestic league will give the U.S. women a way to make money playing (and endorsing) while pitting them more regularly against quality opponents. The national team’s quality went down when the old women’s league, WUSA, folded and other nations still had women’s leagues. Coincidence? No.
3. Affordable ticket prices – MLS also shares this benefit, so I may try to take in one of their matches, too. But supporting WPS will be my priority. I suppose I could get a two-fer if the two league schedules smile upon me: Then I could see the awfully named FC Gold Pride (almost as bad as the previous leagues CyberRays) and the San Jose Earthquakes … seeing Darren Huckerby in action is definitely a draw there. He was always fun to watch with Norwich City, and I hear he still has it.
4. The matches mean something – When Chelsea or Milan come to town, there’s a [...]
Tell me about it …
So I’m a bit curious about you, the readers! What is your favorite travel souvenir, aside from photos?
I go for jerseys/shirts from local sports teams. It started off as soccer, when I snagged a Deportivo Saprissa shirt down in Costa Rica. Then, I got skunked in Belize … couldn’t find any local soccer shirts there, though they have a league and a national team.
Down in Australia, I switched to rugby since that was their thing. In Canada, I wanted to find a Vancouver Whitecaps shirt, but no luck there … and I will never, ever where a Vancouver Canucks jersey unless it is the only clothing and I’m shivering naked on a glacier.
I’d say my uber-cool Wallabies shirts shown below is my all-time favorite. It says Qantas on it as a bonus, and it even looks cool when being worn while rockin’ out!
