Football Club Photos - Arsenal F.C., Holloway, London

Arsenal Football Club is an English professional football club based in Holloway, London, who currently play in the Premier League. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups. Arsenal holds the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the English top flight and is the only side to have completed a Premier League season unbeaten (in the 2003-04 season). Arsenal was founded in 1886 in Woolwich and in 1893 became the first club from the south of England to join the Football League.

In 1913, it moved north across the city to Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. In the 1930s the club won five League Championship titles and two FA Cups. After a lean period in the post-war years it won the League and FA Cup Double, in the 1970–71 season, and in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century won two more Doubles and reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. Arsenal has a long-standing rivalry with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, with whom it contests the North London derby. Arsenal is the third most valuable association football club in the world as of 2010, valued at $1.2 billion.

 

 

Football Club Photos - Chelsea F.C., Fulham, West London

Chelsea Football Club is an English football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four times. They have also achieved European success, winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice.

Chelsea's home is the 42,449 capacity Stamford Bridge stadium, where they have played since their establishment. The club had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship, and won several cup competitions during the 1960s, 1970s, 1990s and 2000s. The past decade has been the most successful period in Chelsea’s history, capped by winning their first league and FA Cup "Double" in 2010. Since 2003 they have been owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Chelsea's regular kit colours are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks, the combination used since the 1960s. The club crest has been changed several times in attempts to modernise or re-brand; the current crest, featuring a ceremonial lion holding a staff, is a modified version of one first adopted in the 1950s.[4] The club has sustained the fifth highest average all-time attendance in English football. Their average home gate for the 2010–11 season was 41,435, the sixth highest in the Premier League.

 

Football Club Photos - Manchester United F.C., Old Trafford, Greater Manchester

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.

The 1958 Munich air disaster claimed the lives of eight players. In 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United was the first English football club to win the European Cup. The current manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has won 37 major honours since he took over in November 1986.

Manchester United has won the most trophies in English football, including a record 19 league titles, a record 11 FA Cups, four League Cups and 19 FA Community Shields. The club has also won three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 1998–99, the club won a "Treble" of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, an unprecedented feat for an English club.

Manchester United is one of the wealthiest and most widely supported football teams in the world. As of July 2011, the club is number one in Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the world's 50 most valuable sports teams, valued at $1.86 billion.[10] After being floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, the club was purchased by Malcolm Glazer in May 2005 in a deal valuing the club at almost £800 million.

Football Club Photos - Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, Merseyside

 

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, the second most in English football, as well as seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups. Liverpool has also won more European titles than any other English club, with five European Cups, three UEFA Cups and three Super Cups.

Liverpool was founded in 1892 and admitted into the Football League the following year. The club has played at its home ground, Anfield, since its founding. The most successful period in Liverpool's history was the 1970s and '80s, when the club won numerous honours both domestically and in Europe.

The club's supporters have been involved in two major tragedies. The first was the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985, in which charging Liverpool fans caused a wall to collapse, killing 39 Juventus supporters. In the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, 96 Liverpool supporters lost their lives in a crush against perimeter fencing.

Liverpool has long-standing rivalries with city neighbours Everton and with Manchester United. The team has played in an all-red home strip since 1964. The club's anthem is "You'll Never Walk Alone".

Football Club Photos - Real Madrid C.F., Madrid, Spain

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain.

It was founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club and has traditionally worn a white home kit since. The word Real is Spanish for royal and was bestowed to the club by King Alfonso XIII in 1920 together with the royal crown in the emblem. The club established itself as a major force in both Spanish and European football during the 1950s.

Unlike most European football clubs, Real Madrid's members (socios) have owned and operated the club since its inception. The club is the world's second most valuable football club, worth €1.4 billion, and the richest in terms of annual revenue, generating €438.6 million in 2011. Real Madrid holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably El Clásico with FC Barcelona. The team has played its home matches in the 85,454-capacity Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in downtown Madrid since 1947.

It is one of three clubs to have never been relegated from the top flight of Spanish football, along with Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona. They are the most successful club in Spanish football in terms of domestic and overall trophies, having won 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Supercopas de España, 1 Copa Eva Duarte, 1 Copa de la Liga, and a record 31 La Liga titles. Internationally it has won nine European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles and three Intercontinental Cups, both records, as well as two UEFA Cups, and one UEFA Super Cup.

Football Club Photos - FC Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Football Club Barcelona, also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" (English: More than a club). The official Barça anthem is the "Cant del Barça" written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs. Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the world's second richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €398 million. The club holds a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid, and matches between the two teams are referred to as "El Clásico".

They are the current Spanish and European football champions, and they have won the most domestic and international trophies in Spanish football, having won 21 La Liga, 25 Copa del Rey, 10 Supercopa de España, 3 Copa Eva Duarte and 2 Copa de la Liga trophies, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. In international club football Barcelona have won four UEFA Champions League, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, four UEFA Super Cup, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup  and a record two FIFA Club World Cup trophies.

Barcelona is the only European club to have played continental football every season since 1955, and one of the only three clubs to have never been relegated from La Liga, along with Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid. In 2009, Barcelona became the first club in Spain to win the treble consisting of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the Champions League. That same year, it also became the first football club ever to win six out of six competitions in a single year, thus completing the sextuple, comprising the aforementioned treble and the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

Football Photos - Togo national football team

The Togo national football team, nicknamed Les Eperviers (The Sparrow Hawks, is controlled by the Fédération Togolaise de Football. They played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Their team bus underwent a fatal attack in Angola prior to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations. They withdrew and were subsequently banned from the following two tournaments by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

They made their first FIFA World Cup appearance in their history in 2006, having been coached throughout the qualifying campaign by Stephen Keshi; German coach Otto Pfister managed the team at the finals, despite having resigned three days before their first match over a players' bonuses dispute, only to be persuaded by the players to return. Although Togo have qualified for the World Cup, they have never advanced past the first stage of the African Nations Cup. Prior to gaining independence in 1960, the team were known as French Togoland.

 

Football Photos - Congo national football team

The Congo national football team, nicknamed the Diables Rouges (Red Devils), is the national team of the Republic of the Congo and is controlled by the Fédération Congolaise de Football. They have never qualified for the World Cup, but did win the Africa Cup of Nations in 1972. They also won the All-Africa Games football tournament in 1965.

The Congo national football team made its first ever appearance in April 1960 in the L'Amitié tournament, a competition for French-speaking nations held in Madagascar. On 13 April they defeated Reunion 4-1 in their first game to advance to the quarter-finals. In their quarter-final on 15 April they defeated the Ivory Coast 3-2. On 17 April they lost 5-4 to Cameroon and were beaten 8-1 by the host Madagascar in the third-place play-off on 19 April.

In April 1963 they entered another L'Amitié competition, this time in Senegal, and were drawn in a group with Tunisia, the Ivory Coast, Congo Kinshasa and Mauritania. They lost their opener 2-0 to Tunisia on 13 April but beat the Ivory Coast 3-2 the next day. On 15 April they beat their neighbour Congo Kinshasa 2-1, and then Mauritania 7-0 two days later, but did not advance to the next round.

 

 

Football Photos - Morocco national football team

The Morocco national football team, is the national team of Morocco and is managed by Eric Gerets. Winners of the African Nations Cup in 1976, they were the first African team to win a group at the World Cup, which they did in 1986, finishing ahead of Portugal, Poland, and England. They were also the first African team to make it to second round barely losing to eventual runner-ups West Germany 1–0 in 1986. They also came within two minutes of moving out of the group stage of the 1998 World Cup, Kjetil Rekdal's late winning goal for Norway against Brazil eliminating them.

The Moroccan National team traditionally used the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium (Rabat) and the Stade Mohamed V (Casablanca) as their main stadiums, but recently started using the new Marrakech stadium, as the last four home games were held there.

Morocco's national football team participated four times in the FIFA World Cup. Their best performance was the 1986 edition when they advanced to the second round, being the first African nation to do so. In 1998, the team narrowly missed repeating the same achievement.

FIFA World Cup record

Football Photos - Nigeria national football team

The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles or Green Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). The team has ranked as high as 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, in April 1994. They won a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the Africa Cup of Nations on two occasions, and have reached the FIFA World Cup finals four times.

Nigeria finally reached the World Cup for the first time in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. They were managed by Clemens Westerhof. Nigeria topped its group which included Argentina, Bulgaria, and Greece. In its first game Nigeria defeated Bulgaria 3–0, lost to Argentina 1–2, and qualified for the second round after a 2–0 victory over Greece. In the second round Nigeria played Italy and took the lead with a goal from Amunike at 25 min. Nigeria were within two minutes of qualifying for the Quarter finals of 1994 World Cup in the game against Italy but Roberto Baggio scored to take the game to extra time. He also scored the eventual winning goal.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan, saw Nigeria again qualify with optimism. With a new squad and distinctive pastel green kits the Super Eagles were expected to build on its strong performances in the 2000 and 2002 African Cup of Nations. Nigeria were drawn into group F with powerhouses Sweden, Argentina, and England. The first game against Argentina started with a strong defence that kept the first half scoreless. In the 61st minute Gabriel Batistuta breached the Nigerian defense to put Argentina in the lead 1–0 and win the game. Nigeria's second game against Sweden saw them take the lead but later lose 2–1. Nigeria then drew 0–0 with England and bowed out in the first round.

Nigeria missed out on qualification for the 2006 World Cup after finishing level on points in the qualification group with Angola, but having an inferior record in the matches between the sides.

On 14 November 2009, Nigeria qualified for the 2010 World Cup after defeating Kenya by 3–2 in Nairobi.

Nigeria lost its opening match against Argentina 1–0 at Ellis Park Stadium following a Gabriel Heinze header in the 6th minute. In its second game Nigeria led early on by a goal from Kalu Uche. A red card against Sani Kaita gave Greece the advantage. Greece scored the equalizer late in the first half and Nigeria conceded the second goal in the second half and lost the game 2–1. They then drew 2–2 with South Korea with goals from Kalu Uche and Yakubu but failed to qualify for the next round. On 30 June 2010, following its early exit and poor showing, the President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan suspended the national football team from international competition for two years. This suspension put the team at risk of being banned from international football by FIFA for reasons of political interference. On 5 July 2010, the Nigerian government rescinded its ban of the national football team from FIFA/CAF football competitions, but the sanction of suspension was applied by FIFA some three months after. On October 4, 2010, Nigeria was indefinitely banned from international football due to government interference following the 2010 World Cup. Four days later, however, the ban was "provisionally lifted" until 26 October, the day after the officially unrecognised National Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF) dropped its court case against the NFF.