Monday July 18th will be the big day. As a thank you to the club's dedicated fans, season ticket holders will be invited to attend a Vancouver Whitecaps v Manchester City game for free, as guests of the club. Non-season ticket holders are not quite as lucky. It sounds as though walk up tickets will be in the $60 range.
According to the club's release in the last two match ups between these squads, City did not manage to put the ball in the back of the net. We will have to see if the trend continues but it's doubtful, City will be bringing one of the deepest squads in the Premiership, and that's not including any reinforcements Roberto Mancini brings in during the next transfer window.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
The Caps have agreed to bring in a grass pitch for this match and have indicated that they intend to retain possession of the grass after the game and install at their training facility later in the year. Mum was the word on the training facilities location but it seems as though an announcement must be in the works on that if they have already purchased grass for it.
There are a few interesting connections between these two clubs when you dig a little deeper into the meat of this story. Terry Dunfield spent four years as a member of Manchester City's program and even managed to make it into the first team briefly. There is even a little bit of a family rivalry going into this one as Whitecaps workhorse Atiba Harris is actually cousins with MCFC defender Micah Richards.
City will likely trot out a couple of new signings and maybe a trialist or two, but I would not imagine that we are going to see a full Whitecaps squad taking the field. The 'Caps actually play on July 16th at home on the grass against Real Salt Lake and then again two days after the City game in San Jose. Both of those games are going to be vital in the standings if Vancouver are going to be making a serious attempt at making the playoffs in their first season in the MLS.
Does anyone out there really think that the 'Caps stand a chance? Wait a second... this is City we are talking about... nobody shits the bed like City.