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Simon Allen

Major League Soccer correspondent

email: SimonAllenSoccer@Yahoo.com

website: http://www.SimonAllenSoccer.com

twitter: DalaiLamaSoccer

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Waiting is the Hardest Part

It's worrisome days here in Los Angeles. Everywhere where I go people ask me the same two questions. “Is Landon Donovan returning?” And “Is Frank Lampard on his way?” My response is always the same...
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Chivas USA U-18 Coach Keith Costigan

I called Keith Costigan asking about his recent appointment as ChivasUSA U-18 coach. Costigan is now the U-18 coach for The Goats, which is good sign that the other LA club is working harder to create talent from within...
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Nigel Reo-Coker: US National Team Player?

January 19th Sky Sports reported that Nigel Reo-Coker was being looked at by New York Redbulls. “Reo-Coker is married to an American and would consider a move Major League Soccer” Interesting...
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LA Galaxy and the SuperDraft

Bruce Arena is a genius. There, I've said it. Argue amongst yourselves. Not only does he know how to get the best out of the best players in MLS, he can spot young talent like no other coach in the League...
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MLS Tickets Still Best Deal in Town

It seems like every few years the issue de jour in football in England is ticket prices. While soccer fans in Spain claim they can get a ticket to Barcelona Vs Cordoba for about $15...
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Another New York Team. Why?

Coming back from a two week trip from New York City, I desperately was looking for any signs that the city needed, wanted or deserved a second MLS club...
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Nine Players For MLS

The Silly Season has begun in American Soccer. Major League Soccer has begun moving players around and squads are being shuffled and massaged into what might be a winning formula for next season...
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Major League Soccer Without David Beckham

The 2012 Major League Soccer Final is done and dusted. The History books will show The Los Angeles Galaxy beat The Houston Dynamo for the second year in a row on home ground, this time a bit more triumphantly than 2011...
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Proper Soccer Movies Needed

I love the 1980's. I was very young kid in the eighties and I can say (and there's room for argument here!) that the 80's was the best decade for everything...
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The Luis Suarez Move

It's always a great time when I walk into my local in Burbank, California with a Liverpool FC jersey on...
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Bio
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Simon Allen - The Dalai Lama of Soccer

Simon Allen grew up in the shadows of Stamford Bridge, Craven Cottage and Plough Lane. As a young boy in South West London, he experienced the various footballing cultures and fell in love with the beautiful game and everything it encompassed.

In the late Eighties, Allen moved to the baron soccer wasteland of the United States. In Los Angeles, he discovered the ultimate melting pot of soccer where he embraced every international flavor that soccer had to offer. Allen worked briefly for the Glendale NewsPress as a beat writer where he learned how to write properly and fast. Something he promises to do at Football.com.

After years of being a spectator, Allen and his brother formed Elephant & Castle Football Club in 1999. There he honed his skills as a General Manager and Assistant Coach. In 2003, Simon formed Elephant & Castle FC Ladies and became the head coach. It was while coaching the women's team that Simon discovered the true beauty of the beautiful game.

In 2005, after seeing a lack of quality soccer programs anywhere in the United States, Allen decided to buck the system and create a show that spoke intelligently and honestly about soccer. The first-ever soccer show for the people. The new medium of podcasting afforded that opportunity and after a trial run of “Soccer Bros,” he created “World Soccer Wrap.” The original American soccer show took on a grass roots following that spread to five continents. The show garnered many admirers in the soccer business, created a new found respect for American soccer punditry and spawned many imitators.

The listeners of the show dubbed Simon Allen “the Dalai Lama of Soccer” due to his positive messages and universal outlook on the subject matter. A name he embraced whole heartedly.

In 2011, after surveying the soccer landscape once again, Allen saw that soccer podcasts had littered cyberspace with eurosnobs, sycophants and airheads. He decided to go solo and raise the bar on honest soccer talk. With The World Wide Soccer Podcast, Allen upped the ante.

Allen has supported The Los Angeles Galaxy and Major League Soccer since day one. He is also a life-long Liverpool fan and has supported the USA National team since 1990.