Hello Footy Fans!
This week the UEFA Champions League continues with matchday 2 as does the UEFA Europa League. The Concacaf Champions resumes group stage play as well. We will have three live UEFA Champions League matches on Tuesday and two live games on Wednesday. Between Fox Soccer and Setanta, nearly every game is being shown in the group stage. And with ESPN no longer showing the UCL, the network has picked up English Premier League games and even La Liga games from Spain – and more importantly, included highlights and scores on regular broadcasts.
As with the Mexico-USA world cup qualifier, the game at Honduras has goofy TV rights. The TV rights belong to the host nation and it can sell to anyone it wants. The Honduras game has been sold only to closed circuit TV which means that there will be no way to watch the game at home. The closed circuit feed is only available to bars and restaurants. The feed, as I am sure you can imagine, is not cheap. I am talking with the company who is selling the game in the USA and I am 99% sure that we will show it. Right now, I want to make sure that we can show it on multiple TVs – including the new 42″ plasma outside. The game is scheduled for 6 pm local time on Saturday, October 10th. I will send out an email next week once I know absolutely that the feed will work out. We will not be charging any kind of cover for USA fans, but I would ask that folks coming to the game realize that we will be spending an enormous amount of money to show the game and to try and spend at least $15 or so each.Â
DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING RESPONSE FROM USA FANS, THERE WILL BE NO AWAY FANS ALLOWED. There are several Spanish Language outlets for the game in town and we will certainly be at capacity with just USA fans.
The Costa Rica game is at home for the USA and will be on ESPN on the 14th. I am very optimistic about my chances of breaking out our USA yard glass to celebrate making it into the 2010 World Cup. For those who were at the last game, it was very much enjoyed around the entire bar. If you would like a USA yard glass of your own, visit our friend and professional glass blower, Dave Savarese, at his webiste – www.artisticglasscreations.com. Dave donated the USA yard glass to the bar for USA soccer matches and to commemorate O’Brien’s becoming San Diego’s only official US Soccer bar. Hopefully we will all drink from it soon.
The big Chelsea v. Liverpool game will be replayed just after we open at Noon. The Chargers play at 5:30 pm this Sunday, so the game will be shown on the big screen inside.
With that said, here are the upcoming games – I have included most same day replays:
Tuesday, 9/29:
11:30 am – Rangers v. Sevilla – FSC
11:30 am – Fiorentina v. Liverpool – Setanta – also at 5:15 pm
11:30 am – Arsenal v. Olympiakos – FSW
1:45 pm – Barcelona v. Dynamo Kiev – Setanta – also at 7 pm
2 pm – Fiorentina v. Liverpool – FSC
3:30 pm – Rangers v. Sevilla – Setanta – also at 8:45 pm
5 pm – Columbus Crew v. Saprissa – FSC
7 pm – Arsenal v. Olympiakos – FSC
Wednesday, 9/30:
Tape – FC Rubin Kazan v. Inter Milan
11:30 am – Manchester United v. Vfl Wolfsburg – FSC
11:30Â am – Apoel v. Chelsea – Setanta – also at 5:30 pm
2 pm – Manchester United v. Vfl Wolfsburg – Setanta – also at 7:15 pm
2 pm – Real Madrid v. Marseille – FSC
3:45 pm – Real Madrid v. Marseille – Setanta – also at 9 pm
5 pm – DC United v. San Juan Jabloteh – FSC
7 pm – Houston Dynamo v. Pachuca – FSC
Thursday, 10/1:
Tape – FC Porto v. Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich v. Juventus, AEK Athens v. Benfica
Noon – Valencia v. Genoa – Gol TV
5 pm – Celtic v. Rapid Vienna – Gol TV
Friday, 10/2:
Tape – Under 20 World Cup – USA v. Korea
11:30 am – AC Milan v. FC Zurich – Gol TV
8 pm – Chicago Fire v. LA Galaxy – ESPN
Saturday, 10/3:
Tape – Manchester United v. Sunderland, Bolton v. Tottenham, Hull City v. Wigan, Wolves v. Portsmouth
11:30 am – Inter Milan v. Udinese – FSC
2 pm – Burnley v. Birmingham – Setanta – also at 5:30 pm
2 pm – Bari v. Catania – FSC
3:45 pm – Wolverhampton v. Portsmouth – Setanta
5 pm – Manchester United v. Sunderland – FSC
8 pm – San Jose Earthquakes v. New York Red Bull – FSC
Sunday, 10/4:
Tape – Chelsea v. Liverpool, Arsenal v. Blackburn, Everton v. Stoke, Roma v. Napoli
11:30 am – Palermo v. Juventus – FSC
Noon – Chelsea v. Liverpool replay from Tape – and again around 2:30 pm or so
2 pm – Arsenal v. Blackburn – Setanta
2 pm – West Ham v. Fulham - FSC
Wednesday, 10/7:
3:45 pm – Rangers v. Celtic – Setanta
Saturday, 10/10:
Tape – Russia v. Germany, Bahrain v. New Zealand
Noon – France v. Faroe Islands – FSC
12:40 pm – Portugal v. Hungary – Setanta
2 pm – Denmark v. Sweden – FSC
2:45 pm – Greece v. Latvia – Setanta
4:30 pm – Belgium v. Turkey – Setanta
4:30 pm – New England Revolution v. Columbus Crew – FSC
6 pm – Honduras v. USA – Closed Circuit TV
Sunday, 10/11:
Tape – Armenia v. Spain
Wednesday, 10/14: More games to be announced later
5 pm – USA v. Costa Rica – ESPN
That is your soccer news for now. I will send out an email as soon as I have 100% confirmation on the USA – Honduras game. This week’s cask is the new Tuatara hoppy session ale from Alpine, which is delicious and uses New Zealand hops. There are still spaces available for our beer and cheese pairings on October 7th and 11th – sign up at the pub. Cheers, Tom