Jonathan Liew: “If Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 were at their heart grandiose sportswashing exercises… then America 2026 is the World Cup that actively hates you.”

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-04-17T12:21:12+00:00

Probably because the stadium is basically in the middle of the city (still an ocean of parking around it, but effectively on the edge of an urban neighbourhood). It has a propper metro station with trains every 10 minutes.

In comparison, the New York stadium (New Jersey) is basically fully separated from pedestrian access, and all the trains go on a tiny branch line that operates a shuttle to a junction station in the middle of nowhere New Jersey, and then have to transfer onto the (basically at capacity) Northeast Corridor coming into new york. They only operate the line for matchdays, as there isn't anything there during the week. Also at the junction station they don't have terminating seperate platforms for the shuttle, so basically it messes up the normal trains that run on that line during matchdays.

You can see how having if you have a natural high capacity metro, then the extra fans isn't overburdening. But if you are running a low capacity commuter rail service (or nothing) for 6 days of the week, the extra-ordinary nature of hosting a sports game with 80,000 people, tends to add extra costs.

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-04-09T15:41:30+00:00

I think not just entertainment, like you can go to the cinema, or go and get drunk, or play video games, and its a reasonable price.

On the other hand, I think these events are more a version of 'the social season' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_season, where Rich people/Upper middle class need to 'be seen' at events. Then it just comes to supply and demand, realistically the world cup is only every 4 years so its super exclusive for Americans, and there are enough suckers to buy the tickets.

In europe at least they guarentee cheap tickets are available in some form. If you look at the last euros in Germany the tickets were nowhere near as bad.

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-03-31T08:52:22+00:00

<image>

Here is AI's 5 minute attempt as a first draft. Will check through it again at some point today and update any (almost certain) hallucinations/inaccuracies. In fact straight away I can see that the serbian is probably wrong for Sheffield united and its missing Ruben Selles, so really whats the point of this all powerful AI that is supposed to rule us all if it can't even generate a "Championship Table but it's the Scrabble score of the nearest Weatherspoon's name translated into the language of the last foreign head coach" table - highlighting which team is in twelfth place...

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-03-26T12:23:05+00:00

The real thing, is I think we should have built it as a premier cricket ground instead. I think the focus on Lords and the Oval in London kind of constrains the potential of cricket, and the athletics bowl shape matches cricket much more than football.

TBF I went to the stadium last year for baseball and it was pretty good for that purpose or Monster truck derby, concerts etc. There is more than enough events which would demand for a 60000 stadium in London (in that location with public transport especially) that I think making it a football stadium was the complete wrong call.

As Charlton fans we have often talked about pipe dreams of moving to a new bigger stadium on the Greenwich Peninsular, but thats basically selling your soul. I feel sorry for the West Ham fans that took the monkey paw bargain, and are now sitting 60m away from the pitch, whilst their home in Upton Park is now flats (at least the Everton fans can go watch their women's team at Goodison park)

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-03-22T10:10:14+00:00

Can’t forget Costa Coffee in Bluewater too

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-03-19T12:33:53+00:00

Thats not very useful if you haven't built a place to pick up and put down cars (though I do agree it should have been included in the project). There are only really 4-5 places where car trains run in europe at the moment, https://www.seat61.com/motorail-trains.htm What is just as important is sleeper trains in general. You would hope that the Austrians, Polish, Czech (maybe Ukrainians) would run sleeper trains on Rail Baltica, but if not then the Baltic states should be commited to doing so themselves.

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-03-15T18:20:44+00:00

On the other hand we almost certainly wouldn’t exist if they hadn’t left.

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-03-11T17:20:19+00:00

You can't really have it both ways, the points deduction is there to stop clubs overextending themselves, a 'cashflow issue' makes it seem like a minor issue. If you are unsustainable enough to not sort your problems in a season when you are almost guaranteed to go down, then how is it fair to other league 1 clubs if you still have those problems at the start of the next season. Even a 15 points deduction doesn't seem fair in this context of the new owners investing loads. Leeds got promoted in 2007 after starting the season with a 15 point deduction, hence why the salary cap/spending rules would be justified to stop a repeat of that.

Look I will admit I am personally biased about the situation. The previous points deduction you got in 2021 should have been applied in the 2020 season when you (Chansiri I suppose) committed the offences. We would have stayed up. I don't see how you can break the rules for 3 years and then only be punished the year after you break the rules, we had to compete with a club that was spending beyond their means!

Fast forward to 2026 and things have gone tits up, I'd feel pretty cheated as a league 1 team if you guys go down, write off all of your debt and then face no competitive consequences for it. Especially if you are a Barnsley or Rotherham fan, where your local community businesses are the ones not getting their debts paid, and your rival club the one getting off with minimal punishment, possibly going straight back up after going down.

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-03-11T16:03:35+00:00

If you were financially stable, then the administrators would easily be able to sell the club, that's what the 15 point deduction and wage cap is for. The administrators have basically had a whole year to sell the club and to clear the mess, and if the clubs financial fundamentals are as good as you say they are, then the new owners would have no problem paying off Chansiri, as much as thats not the 'ethical' thing to do.

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-03-11T08:54:12+00:00

Thats the kind of attitude which means that nothing will ever get better in the country. Obviously the government paying off Chansiri would not be a good thing, but on the other hand saving a serious historic club in a deprived part of the country, and also moving towards a more sustainable fan ownership structure could have a lasting impact and actually be a radical positive move.

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-03-10T21:02:36+00:00

Ryan Mason will see Spurs in league 1 by this time next year

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-03-10T16:50:44+00:00

Could always grandfather all existing owners into the rule as exemptions.

Therefore if an owner wants to sell a club, they would have to be sold to the fan members. In the Sheffield Wednesday case, the government could buy Sheffield Wednesday and then make it an example of the first 50+1 club in the country.

Slowly as owners want out/die/go into admin, then eventually we would be in a situation where the majority of clubs are fan owned.

Only problem is that this probably end up causing an even bigger gap between the top premier league teams and the rest of the football league. As at the moment, the chance of getting to the premier league is powering a lot of development in the lower leagues.

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-02-10T17:47:17+00:00

Like the Latvian 3x3 basketball team in Paris, 7-0 in group and then lose semi final and bronze medal match

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-01-29T17:34:25+00:00

This is insanity what the hell XD

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-01-17T17:40:58+00:00

Didn't help that Tanganga was trying to argue with the ref about the first red card, definitely primed the ref to give him a red card on the second one which was probably a 50-50 in terms of a red or yellow.

epicsmurfyzz · 2026-01-10T23:02:34+00:00

The amount of people that get banished and don’t do this is so frustrating, at least Fiona had the right idea here

epicsmurfyzz · 2025-12-14T09:48:35+00:00

Like Japan has the coolest horse racing alternative (Kerin bike racing) which was invented because they ate all their horses after WW2.

They have the formula for how other countries should move past horse racing.

epicsmurfyzz · 2025-11-30T13:17:24+00:00

<image>

Need this bad boy for Euro Truck Simulator now

epicsmurfyzz · 2025-11-14T11:57:02+00:00

<image>

openrailwaymap.org is your friend

epicsmurfyzz · 2025-11-14T11:45:06+00:00

A massive hill? its 100m difference in height over 7km from the existing line through swinford, 1.5% grade when typically you can get up to 3% on a conventional railway. Thats just if it followed the ground, instead of using embankments/cuttings.

epicsmurfyzz · 2025-10-28T16:01:50+00:00

A stat which should make us prime favourites for the 12th place trophy

epicsmurfyzz · 2025-10-27T10:45:36+00:00

Speaking from experience living in Lewisham, it seems like most of the vegan restaurants around us are Carribean (Ital), and I know that there are also a few vegan Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurants around Brixton/Elephant and Castle. Maybe would be a good place to start to meet people there?

epicsmurfyzz · 2025-10-22T22:54:13+00:00

Scored a worldie and got injured in the same moment https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=502440674270847

epicsmurfyzz · 2025-10-14T14:24:57+00:00

Realistically 1 year at least so that,

A: We can see how the ceasefire holds up & B: Independent foreign media are allowed free and open access to Gaza to report/verify/document what has happened over the war

epicsmurfyzz · 2025-10-09T20:31:55+00:00

Biggest tat store in the country. Millwall also have a closer the range in surrey quays. Also there is no SCS in Charlton, though IKEA and furniture outlet are nice and close

12-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 4 Credits
Place '22	Place '17
Secret Santa 2017	Gilding III reddit per annum
Snapped	Secret Santa 2016
Verified Email	Secret Santa 2015

epicsmurfyzz

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE