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Old Trafford is an all-seater football stadium in the Trafford borough of Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Premier League club Manchester United. With space for 76,212 spectators, Old Trafford has the second-largest capacity of any English football stadium after Wembley Stadium, the third-largest of any stadium in the United Kingdom, and the eleventh-largest in Europe. It is one of two stadia in the country to have been given a five-star rating by UEFA. The stadium is approximately 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from Old Trafford Cricket Ground and the adjacent Manchester Metrolink tram station.

The ground, given the nickname the Theatre of Dreams by Bobby Charlton, has been United's permanent residence since 1910, with the exception of an eight-year absence from 1941 to 1949, following the bombing of the stadium in the Second World War. During this period, the club shared Maine Road with local rivals, Manchester City. The ground underwent several expansions in the 1990s and 2000s, most notably the addition of extra tiers to the North, West and East stands which served to return the ground almost to its original capacity of 80,000. Future expansion is likely to involve the addition of a second tier to the South Stand, which would raise the capacity to over 90,000. The stadium's current record attendance was recorded in 1939, when 76,962 spectators watched the FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town. (Full article...)

James Milner (born January 4, 1986) is an English footballer who plays as a winger and left-sided midfielder.

Milner began his career at Leeds United by joining the club's academy in 1996, he was later taken on as a trainee. Milner made his inaugural appearance for the first-team in 2002, aged only 16 and became prominent by becoming the youngest player ever to score in the Premier League.

While at Leeds United, Milner spent time on loan at Swindon Town to gain experience as a first team player. Following his move to Newcastle United in 2004, he was loaned to Aston Villa for a season before establishing himself as a regular starter in the Newcastle first team.

A playmaker, he has made over a hundred appearances for the club, as well as making a record number of appearances for the England Under-21 side. He was part of the squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship before eventually losing 13-12 in a penalty shoot-out in which he scored twice. In October 2007, Milner scored Newcastle's 500th home Premier League goal in a 3–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur. (Full article...)

Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only established in 1961 as the Australian Soccer Federation. It was later reconstituted in 2003 as the Australian Soccer Association before adopting the name of Football Federation Australia in 2005. In contemporary identification, a corporate decision was undertaken to institute that name to deliver a "more united football" in a deliberation from the current CEO, James Johnson. The name was changed to Football Australia in December 2020.

Football Australia oversees the men's, women's, youth, Paralympic, beach and futsal national teams in Australia, the national coaching programs and the state governing bodies for the sport. It sanctions professional, semi-professional and amateur soccer in Australia. Football Australia made the decision to leave the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), for which it was a founding member, and become a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on 1 January 2006 and ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) on 27 August 2013. (Full article...)

• ... that Carlton Town F.C., now competing at the eighth tier of the English football pyramid, was once denied promotion by a hat-trick scored by future England international Jamie Vardy?
• ... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
• ... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
• ... that Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?
• ... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
• ... that goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, who has lived in England, Africa and the US, has been chosen to play soccer for the Republic of Ireland?

The rules of soccer are very simple, basically it is this: if it moves, kick it. If it doesn't move, kick it until it does. — Phil Woosnam

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The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in 2007. It was the second time that Brazil staged the competition, the first being in 1950, and the fifth time that it was held in South America.

31 national teams advanced through qualification competitions to join the host nation in the final tournament (with Bosnia and Herzegovina as the only debutant). A total of 64 matches were played in 12 venues located in as many host cities across Brazil. For the first time at a World Cup finals, match officials used goal-line technology, as well as vanishing spray for free kicks. FIFA Fan Fests in each host city gathered a total of 5 million people, and the country received 1 million visitors from 202 countries. Spain, the defending champions, were eliminated at the group stage. Host nation Brazil, who had won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, lost to Germany 7–1 in the semi-finals and eventually finished in fourth place. (Full article...)