Big Announcement from VillarrealUSA
by maddi on Mar 22, 2011 4:34 PM CET
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PrintHey everyone, as always, thanks for reading! I wanted to take this time both to specifically thank the entire VillarrealUSA community for now over three years of camaraderie with each other and support for the soccer team we all care so much about. A lot has changed over those three years. From the early days, when I was lucky to get visitors to the site, to my days in partnership with my friend and regular reader and contributor Nick, to later adding Sidarth, and then Allen, all the while expanding our reach to literally the far corners of the world, the website has continued to grow. I believe that everyone that comes to this site and participates in the discussions has been part of developing a close relationship with Villarreal C.F. And in turn, Villarreal C.F. has gone out of its way to help make VillarrealUSA a part of its worldwide community. Seriously, I am willing to bet that you could count the number of top-tier sport teams or clubs in the world that would allow such a close and ongoing relationship with upstarts like us!
And in light of everything that has happened over the last three years, those of us handling the management of the site want to continue to develop and grow. With that in mind, we have formed a partnership with the blogging network SBNation, who will begin to host VillarrealUSA. This move to SBNation will include some changes, which I will discuss a bit below, but it will also bring about many new benefits to VillarrealUSA members and readers. Foremost among those benefits is a new level of interaction for our readers. Specifically, in addition to the typical discussions that occur through the comments, all readers will now have the opportunity to post FanPosts on the site (example @ Barcelona Blaugranas). These posts will be listed on their own page on the website, and will be linked from the main page - in effect allowing everyone to post the same types of material that Sidarth, Allen, and I post on a regular basis - i.e., longer, more in-depth analyses of the club's performances, injuries, transfers, and more.
Readers will also be able to post "FanShots", including links, pics, videos, and quotes. Now, when folks like Damipher want to post a pic like this:
he can actually post the picture on-site, adding to the discussion immediately and directly.
The new partnership with SBNation will also help us expand the VillarrealUSA (and, in turn, the Villarreal C.F.) community. SBNation is a powerful blog network with 300+ blogs for teams (of all sports) from all over the United States and Europe. SBNation is in the process of expanding their soccer coverage. Currently, they have bloggers covering Barcelona from La Liga (with a particular push right now to expand that coverage - hence, here we are), as well as 11 teams from England covered and all of MLS, and also some general soccer blogs. This wide-ranging coverage, as well as the fact that much of the coverage is directed at a United States audience, will help us expand readership here in the U.S. and around the world.
There will be some changes that I hope will be quick and painless for everyone. The biggest is that the website address is moving, from the current VillarrealUSA.ORG, to VillarrealUSA.COM. The .Org site will stick around and continue to host all of VillarrealUSA's archives (some of which are being transferred to the .Com site), but beginning March 28th, Sidarth, Allen, and I will be posting at VillarrealUSA.COM instead of the site you are currently reading. So, adjust your bookmarks!
The second big change, and I think the only other change that could cause some consternation for everyone, is that you will actually need to register with SBNation to comment and post. I admit, this is not my favorite aspect of the change. I would prefer to continue to allow everyone to post comments without that requirement, but this is part of the deal. There is good news on this point, though. If you have a Facebook account, a Yahoo! address, or an OpenID, you can use that to sign in to the site. If not, all you have to do is to sign up with a name and email address. My understanding is that you can continue to sign up with the username you use around here as your "name" (as I did), and that you can easily use a non-primary email address. I can say from personal experience that I have signed up and not received a single email from SBNation - which is good, because I hate junk mail. While I know this change might not be a favorite of everyone here, from a personal standpoint, I cannot express my appreciation for all of you who visit this site and comment regularly - and I hope this does not alter your habits when it comes to that.
I feel confident that these are changes all of us can get used to very quickly. I want to open up this forum to any questions you might have about the move - any at all - and I will try and answer them with everything I know. Just ask a question in the comment section below (I am in depositions all day today - oh the fun of real work), so I might not be able to respond immediately, but I will get to it shortly. On behalf of Sidarth, Allen, and myself, thank you again. And ENDAVANT VILLARREAL!
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Good luck Maddi et all!
Looking forwards to continue reading your coverage of the Yellow Submarine @ SBNation. I must confess that I became curious about Villarreal when they bought Jozy, but I have come to enjoy their style of play and I am constantly rooting for them.
Cheers
by Pico on Mar 22, 2011 5:13 PM CET reply actions
Well said, maddi. On that note, you will see me posting at VillarrealUSA.com as siempre_riquelme. I’m excited for the move and hope that all of you will join us as we embark on a new endeavor.
by sidarth on Mar 22, 2011 6:43 PM CET reply actions
Spanish press: “Napoli and Bayern on Cazorla”
by Anonymous on Mar 22, 2011 7:20 PM CET reply actions
Congratulations! Great to see the site continuing to grow.
I remember stumbling across it early on and there were times when I was the sole poster, I was delighted to be able to contribute for a time until other areas of my life took over. It was great to have people who could step in and produce fantastic content. The amount of comments and the level of discussion under each post is a testament to the sites continuing success. I’m delighted to still be a part of it and long may the growth continue!
by Nick on Mar 23, 2011 12:24 AM CET reply actions
Hello maddi. Thank you for your attention to my humble person.
By the way, I want to remind you, that I am from Kazakhstan, and we have growing fan support in our country.
by damipher on Mar 23, 2011 10:44 AM CET reply actions
I have seen your websites – and it is great having support for the club in Kazakhstan!
by maddi on Mar 23, 2011 2:40 PM CET up reply actions
off topic (the sort of thing that can be a fan shot on the new site)—the club site has an interview with Marcos Senna, who says he hopes to be back in 2-3 weeks. That would be good as we move along our stretch run.
by Allen on Mar 23, 2011 11:50 AM CET reply actions
I’m not sure if maddi spelled this out, but the move will happen MONDAY MARCH 28. Until then, you can continue to post here, and as maddi mentioned this site will remain active as an archive of past posts.
by Allen on Mar 23, 2011 1:41 PM CET reply actions
I hope that the changes on the site will be good;-) Got a bit worried about that “signing up with facebook-account”, but the company sounds fine. I also see it as a positive thing that we will have to register in the future…
I get most of my Villarreal news in here, In Denmark we also only hear about “the sub” if Bille scores….
Before I found this place, I use translator on the Spanish sites, but that sucks in the long run:-) So thank you for making it a lot easier to follow Villarreal;-)
by Jens the dane... on Mar 23, 2011 2:37 PM CET reply actions
Jens, the facebook sign-up is optional – no need to use facebook if you do not want to. Thanks for reading.
by maddi on Mar 23, 2011 2:40 PM CET up reply actions
I’m surprised there’s been no comment so far on the proposed stoppage (it’s not a strike as it not the players but the employers organisation taking the action) of La Liga for the weekend 2/3 April when we are due to play Barcelona. Here the situation is well summed up by La Liga Loca.
by Kenez on Mar 23, 2011 4:01 PM CET reply actions
“Villarreal, Málaga, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Sevilla, Zaragoza and Espanyol are the seven clubs that have come out against the proposal lead by the LFP but failed to overturn the league’s decision to strike in the most recent meeting held to discuss the issue. " =
Villarreal wants to play but other things are not important.
by damipher on Mar 23, 2011 4:21 PM CET up reply actions
You beat me to it! I had been trying to ignore this, thinking surely the LFP powers that be can’t be that stupid. but….a number of them are….at least Sr. Roig talks some sense
by Allen on Mar 23, 2011 6:59 PM CET up reply actions
And just so everybody realizes, the proposed strike has nothing to do with the players; the two competing parties are the league and the Spanish Government. It has to do with the fact that right now the government requires one La Liga match a week to be shown on free TV.
The league (or at least the majority of it) wants to eliminate that requirement, so that there is even more TV money to be inequitably distributed among the league teams. (Note that the clubs opposing the strike are largely the same as those who were dissatisfied with the TV rights proposal put forward this fall).
Since the government hasn’t backed down, the LFP has decided to “suspend next week’s matches”, I guess as a protest and to force the government to give in to their demands.
Kenez, that is how I understand it—you are in the middle of it there so feel free to correct me and/or give us more details on this.
by Allen on Mar 23, 2011 7:11 PM CET reply actions
You have the essence of the dispute. The decision not to play on 3 April was actually decided at an EGM of the LFP on 11 February. That meeting decided to open a dialogue with the Government to air their greivances particulalrly with regard to the Law that requires one match of each round of La Liga to be shown live and open on terresterial TV, that is without payment by the viewers. The LFP also wants a greater share of the proceeds from the pools and betting. If there was no progress then the meeting agreed that there would be no matches on the weekend of 3 April.
At their meeting this week the clubs were informed that no progress had been made and therefore the decision adopted at the EGM would stand until such time as there is some concession from the Government. With an election around the corner it’s considered unlikely the Government would want to take an unpopular decision.
The LFP claim that the situation now with regard to televised fotball is very different to when the law was adopted in 1997 and football by subscription was considered expensive. Just to make it clear Señor Roig is in agreement with the stance of the LFP but not with the method of pursuing their claims with a stoppage.
The latest deveopment today is that the group lead by Sevilla and Villarreal, now called the G-6, will be in court tomorrow to challenge the agreements made on 11 February.
by Kenez on Mar 23, 2011 9:28 PM CET up reply actions
Another point is that the remaining calendar would be put back, not just match 30 tagged on to the end of the season. So the match v Barca would then be on 10 April.
by Kenez on Mar 23, 2011 9:33 PM CET up reply actions
no match v barca, will be good 4 twente match, players will be more rested :)
by jackson on Mar 23, 2011 8:10 PM CET reply actions
Some Barca fans are commenting that Villarreal are pursuing this because Barca would be hit by the FIFA virus forgetting that Villarreal also have players involved in Internationals this week.
by Kenez on Mar 23, 2011 9:30 PM CET up reply actions
Good luck to the G-6 but forgive me if I don’t hold out much hope that the Spanish court system will somehow be a paragon of common sense.
by Allen on Mar 23, 2011 9:52 PM CET reply actions
and in case you missed these words of wisdom from Sr. Roig, here they are:
the notion of having to wait until mid-June to finish the season is just ridiculous.
by Allen on Mar 23, 2011 10:37 PM CET up reply actions
Jens makes an interesting point above regarding getting information in English about Villarreal. Whilst there are some sources for information in English on La Liga there are hardly any for Villarreal. I know when I first started living in Spain I spent quite a time searching for news in English and that why I was happy to find VillarrealUSA. Perhaps we can have an article on this subject on the new site to share information.
Whilst the club itself is aware that there is an international following, the official website has had an English version for some time I think that the media and supporters here are still a little provincial. I heard a discussion on local Radio Nou Castello the other night with radio and press journalists and they expressed surprise at the diversity of followers on twitter accounts. Not long ago there was a question raised on one of the forums about how many Villarreal followers there were in the province that lived outside of Villarreal. There are actually penyas in other parts of Spain as well as the ones abroad.
by Kenez on Mar 23, 2011 10:06 PM CET reply actions
That’s a good idea for an article on the new site! Thanks.
I think the provincialism cuts both ways—I remember reading that before the club made it to the Primera many people in Spain didn’t know where Vila-real was. And of course when the media coverage inside Spain is dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona, and in the Valencian Community Valencia receives the largest regional coverage, it probably is astounding that people with no particular previous connection to the area want to claim Villarreal FC as “their team”.
We have no way of knowing how many of the people that visit this site would classify themselves as Villarreal supporters, but I am constantly amazed at the number of visits we get from people around the world. Certainly the club wants to gain a higher international profile (witness the plans to play friendlies in Asia for the next few years) and ,as maddi noted, is incredibly supportive of VillarrealUSA.
by Allen on Mar 23, 2011 10:58 PM CET up reply actions
Also, learning some Spanish would be very beneficial to fans looking for more info on Villarreal. ;)
by Eskimo Joe on Mar 24, 2011 4:09 AM CET reply actions
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