Golaço Stories

There are 195 sovereign states on this planet that are recognized by the United Nations and only 8 of them are not affiliated to FIFA. Here's what you need to know about them. Vatican City Contrary to popular belief the Vatican isn't just the pope and other high members of the Catholic Church. In fact there's enough people within the Vatican that it has it's own amateur league. Each club within the league represents a section of the city state, so we have the team of the hospital, the team of the museum workers, a team of the guards, etc. ...

Even the most casual soccer fan knows that national teams get 1 star for every FIFA World Cup title, it is probably most peoples first introduction to the concept. However, even soccer's most simple championship star rule isn't without controversy. Uruguay, who won the World Cup in 1930 and 1950, has 4 stars over it's crest, and here's why. Prior to the inaugural World Cup in 1930, the biggest international soccer tournament on the planet was the Olympics. Just before that first World Cup, Uruguay was gold medalist in the 1924 Paris Olympics and 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. Two obvious concerns immediately...

On December of 2020 the MLS announced a new system for it's franchises to follow regarding championship stars over their crests. Simply put, clubs get a silver star for a championship win and a gold star at their 5th win. I imagine most readers at this point are thinking this is the end of this post, but the trust is that the MLS doesn't seem to be very clear on exactly what it wants and isn't too tough on enforcing it either. For example, it is unclear whether the golden star substitutes the previous 4 silver stars or is added...

To begin telling the story of professional soccer in Hawaii we first have to make a quick stop in San Antonio, Texas. In 1974 the NASL announced it's 17th franchise, the San Antonio Thunder. The new Texan club was owned by Ward Lay, son the of the founder of Frito-Lay, played in the Central Division alongside state-rival Dallas Tornado, and hosted it's games in the Alamo Stadium. Despite a lot of initial excitement the franchise folded in just 2 seasons. Even though the Thunder was able to add World Cup level players to the roster, they finished last and second...

Even though Germany has very clear and straight forward rules on how stars are added to its clubs crests, it is still has a unique system. To start off we need to clarify what the German federation considers a valid championship title for this count. First of all, East German titles do not count, so clubs like Dynamo Berlin, Dynamo Dresden, Hansa Rostock or Magdeburg for example all have national titles that don't count in this case. Also, any West German title prior to the creation of the Bundesliga in 1963 does not count (highly recommend looking up what the German League looked like up...