The 20th and final place in the English Premier League for the 2011/2012 season will be won today when Swansea City takes on Reading FC at Wembley Stadium in the League Championship Promotion Final (10am, Fox Soccer Channel).
Swansea City will be looking to reach the Premier League for the first time in its history, while Reading will try to return to the Premier League for the first time since the 2007/2008 season.
If you will be watching today's match, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action.
Go Reading!
Excited about the game but sorry to see the swan song of English football…..
I going to try to watch the game, but I fear the current FIFA soap opera has most of my attention right now.
This is one of my favorite matches of the season. So much money on the line.
good game so far, hopefully it doesn’t get out of control with the yellow cards.
Penalty Swansea!
And Sinclair converts. 1-0 Swansea
nightmare for Reading
Holy cow, Sinclair scores again! 2-0 Swansea
Poor challenge by the Reading defender…not a really good chance for the ball and from behind. The official had to call that. Lucky he didn’t get a yellow on top of it.
Too bad for Reading who arguably had the stronger 1st 20 minutes….they are lucky to have 11 players though
have a feeling the card situation will only get uglier
I will be very surprised if Khizanishvili actually finishes this game.
AND… Game.
Goal Swansea, Dobbie with the goal from a poor clearance. 3-0 Swansea.
3-0 Swansea after 40 minutes.
it’s over at Wembly….time to switch over to French Open Tennis
The fat lady is warming up to start singing.
Long misses a beautiful chance to get one back for Reading. Man they needed that.
Halftime, Reading 0-3 Swansea. Reading has a mountain to climb.
I get the sense that, from the descriptions of the run of play, Reading might have felt slightly unlucky to go into the half down 1-nil, much less 3-nil. Fair?
Not really. Silly challenges, turnovers, and bad clearances have been Reading’s downfall.
Fair….Reading the more solid and had the most chances. Swansea got three chances and converted.
Falling apart for REading with an assistant and sub red-carded and sent off.
Reading’s assistant manager has been banished from the pitch and substitute Jay Tabb has received a red card for arguing with the ref during halftime.
Reading gets one back. Hunt with a brilliant header to the near post. Reading 1-3 Swansea.
Finally Reading able to convert a corner. Can they get another one?
It was an own goal – brilliant? Lol.
Hunt’s header was an own goal on the replay. Never been a Hunt fan (neither him or his brother) and he clearly isn’t EPL quality.
Dowd desperately trying to keep control of this match
It looks like it on the replay. Think it went off Allen.
Mills scores! Reading 2-3 Swansea. Mills heads it in on a corner. What a game!
Now THAT was a header. Exciting game.
Well this is now a game again. 3-2
Dobbie has got to be kicking himself right now.
And another Header conversion! Game back on. If they are able to tie this and it goes to OT, they may well miss not being able to use Jay Tabb.
Reading is in complete control right now. Still over 30 minutes plus stoppage time to go.
Swansea players diminishing chances of scoring by taking too long on the ball when they have space.
Wow, don’t know how Dobbie missed that just before Reading’s 2nd goal.
Now Reading hits the post and has a corner!
Gotta feel that if Reading find a 3rd they are going to find a 4th.
Every game should have $150,000,000 on the line. This is great.
Wow. I’ve missed most of the game. 3-2 with 30 minutes left.
150,000,000??
The difference between the Premier League and the Championship in TV money alone I think, so it’s possibly greater than that overall.
Fifteen minutes to go, can Reading find another goal?
Cracker of a game. You just have to wonder though, if Reading were to get through whether these players are good enough for the EPL. Last time they were up, only Kebe was a starter with Long, Hunt, Karacan, Federici, Mills, Church all playing in the reserves. Just seems that they look to be more of a Championship team.
Another penalty for Swansea! Andy Griffin with a horrible foul in the box.
Well that should do it.
And Sinclair gets his hat trick! Reading 2-4 Swansea. Surely that’s the dagger.
Gotta give Swansea credit – they have contained Long all game.
I heard it’s $35 mil in TV money for just getting to the Prem and not $150 mil. WALES!!!!!!!!
Full time, Reading 2-4 Swansea City. Swansea City is in the Premier League!
Both teams played well and it was a very entertaining game. But in the end it was silly penalties Reading commited that made the difference.
The Premier League is similar to MLS in that there are teams in two different nationalities playing in the same league. Here is a good question? Let’s say, hypothetically, Swansea City wins the Premier League title next season (again, hypothetically, most likely won’t happen)? They wouldn’t be eligible for the Champion’s League for England, right?
I thought you got Champions League invites based on the League, not the country?
Monaco is an example of what you are talking about.
I don’t know about in UEFA, but in the CCL, Toronto and Vancouver aren’t eligible for the Champions League through MLS, they have to go through the Canadian Championship–even if one of them won the league, or the Open Cup, or the Shield.
But I don’t think there is a way for Welsh teams to get to the Champions League, so if Swansea were in position to go to the Champions League if they were an English club, I feel like they’d probably get in.
But don’t take my word for it, I’m just speculating.
Would anyone like to see any particular American signed by Swansea?
Well I know that Lichtenstein does not have a Champions League position because all of it’s teams play in Switzerland. In 2008-09 Valduz was playing in the top Swiss league and were not eligible to play if they were the Champions. But would it be any different with Wales since they have their own league?
Like to see one of the younger guys get picked up by one of the promotion teams: Guzan and Lichaj are a couple, if the both got on at Norwich that would be interesting for the future with Whitbread already there. Although Leeds seems determined to get Lichaj back for next season and with Friedel going to Tottenham who knows what’s going to happen.