☕️🌦️⚽️ Good morning everyone! We’re entering the last week of Premier League soccer, and it’s all down to Manchester City and Arsenal. Currently, Arsenal are in first place with one point ahead of City, but City have 2 games left while Arsenal only have one. All the pressure is on Pep and his men as they face a Tottenham squad that could potentially be getting a Champions League spot if they win their last two games.

Giveaway: Wake up and smell the coffee. Our giveaway will be a $30 gift card for our favorite coffee brand- Kickoff Coffee. As always, each friend that you refer to subscribe to the newsletter is an entry to our raffle. Best of luck!

Weekend Recap

US MLS

English Premier League

La Liga

Bundesliga

Serie A

US NWSL

Business
Last Lifeline Pulls Out

📉😓 is the take over? If you haven’t been following us, Everton has been struggling not just on the pitch but also financially. Queue the mysterious Miami-based investment firm 777 partners, who last fall agreed to buy Everton from current-owner Farad Moshiri. “The more time that I have spent with the 777 team, the more my confidence increases that we have found the right people to take the club forward in the modern era”- Moshiri this past October to Sky Sports News. And that comment could not have aged any worse.

🙃🫠 As the buying process of Everton began, a parade of lawsuits and investigations followed.

• A London-based asset manager Leadenhall-Capital Partners has filed suit in the southern district of New York, alleging that $350M 777 used as collateral for loans was either 1) not actually its money or 2) already pledged as collateral to others

• Leadenhall accused 777’s co-owners, Steve Pasko and Josh Wander, and its biggest financial backer, ACAP, of “operating a giant shell game at best, and an outright Ponzi scheme at worst”

• The 777 Firm has loaned Everton about ~$195M- a debt which comes on top of the ~$225M Everton has already borrowed from Rights & Media Funding

• Without 777’s cash injections, Everton appears unable to meet all of its financial obligations

• ACAP has called the lawsuit baseless while 777 has declined to comment

Everton’s manager, Sean Dacha, outlined his fears that the woes surrounding 777, coupled with the club’s creaking finances, could force the sale of his best talent this summer. If a takeover fails to materialize, and players fail to plug the financial gaps, this would likely mean the club will face another point deduction for further breaches of profitability and sustainability rules. Local companies and sole traders that supply the club with products and services face the risk of not having their invoices paid with the jobs of the staff also under threat.

For now Everton fans may want to bid farewell to their new stadium for now. This all could explain why the Premier League hasn’t approved the sale Everton has called in restructuring and insolvency advisors while looking for alternative financing.

😡😡 Everton aren’t the only fans upset with 777. 777 also owns at least part of teams in Italy, Brazil, Germany, Austrailia and BBelgium’s Standard de Liege. Liege supporters protested and prevented the team from reaching its stadium. Their match against Westerlo was ultimately called off as a result. Standard Liege, have also been in hot water financially as the club was late on payments to staff and received been placed on a transfer ban.

Looking back
The year of the underdog

🐕️ 📈 Let’s highlight some stories that we all love to read about: The Underdogs. There are few that stuck out to us this year so let’s give them their flowers

🇮🇹 Como promoted to Serie A after 21 years. When you hear “Lake Como” mentioned, you probably think about that house that George Clooney allegedly has in one of Italy’s most beautiful destination. Now, you can think about the recently promoted Serie B team with an ownership team that includes French legend Thierry Henry and Spaniard Cesc Fabregas. Read the full story here.

🇮🇹 Staying in Italy → Bologna qualify for Champions League for the first time in 60 years. Qualifying for a Champions League spot next season can change the trajectory of a team. All of a sudden, you can gather more interest from quality players that would do anything to hear that beautiful anthem on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. The tide is sure to change for Bologna and its historic club.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Leicester City promoted back into the Premier League. The 2016 Premier League Champions have found their way back after spending a year in the second division. Their championship run in 2016 was likely the most improbable story, and one that won the hearts of soccer fans worldwide. Honorable mention to Jamie Vardy, who stayed with the team regardless of being relegated, and lead them back into the Premier League being the team’s top goalscorer with 18 goals this season.

Bayer Leverkusen
Is Leverkusen still undefeated?

⌚⏳Time and time again, they find a way. Leverkusen manages to extend their undefeated record to a total of 50 games. This is officially the longest undefeated streak in the history of the game. They have 3 games left to make this one of the greatest seasons this sport has ever seen, with 2 of the 3 games being finals.

Latest Game:

Matches to Catch

La Liga

Premier League

Quick Bites 🍕

Arsenal put the pressure on City

50(!) games unbeaten and going

Not coming back home

Banter of the day

Football, by the fans for the fans

In search of a pub? Ever find yourself in a new city and are desperately searching for a local soccer pub? Who would have thought that the premier league took time out of their day to create a bar finder. There really is nothing better than catching an early premier league game on the weekends with fellow fans of the game, and finding that bar that will actually have the game sound on just got that much easier.

USA Bar Finder. Bar finder, aka Intern Jose’s nickname in college. Easy to use search platform on the premier leagues website. It has most major cities included, and they’re even accepting updates to their list if you email them at [email protected]

Find your local soccer pub here.