MLF to become BritLeague for '09, plus more changes

Major League Football has announced that they will change its name to the BritLeague with immediate effect following that they don't want any confusion with the similarly named North American football (soccer) league called Major League Soccer.

"We want to be our own identity," said the BritLeague commisioner.

MLF2 is now to be known as BritLeague D (the Development League), MLF Europe will now be known as EuroLeague Football and MLF International will be called InterLeague.

Also many teams have changed their names. Manchester Magic will become Manchester Rockers because of Manchester's long history of indie music, Edinburgh Eagles will now be FC Edinburgh 2007, Dublin Druids (who were criticised for their name, they had no idea what druid meant at the time) will now be the Dublin Shamrocks, and Ajax London (who have ended their partnership with the Dutch team Ajax Amsterdam this year) will now become London Town.

Also the Middlesbrough Monsters have dropped the town name in favour of the Monsters Football Club, as they will move into their own stadium next year outside Middlesbrough after using Middlesbrough FC's Riverside Stadium for the past three years.

And finally, Reading Ruckus will move to Hampshire next year, after poor attendances at the Madejski Stadium. They will now be known as the South Coast Ruckus, however it is unknown whether they will use Southampton's St. Mary's or Portsmouth's Fratton Park as their main arena.

MLF considers overseas matches

Major League Football officials are considering staging some matches abroad in the near future.

The UK-based competition has been a hit throughout the world and could be staging some overseas fixtures after the CSA Champions League successfully experimented with the idea last autumn.

A few CCL games in October were held in Los Angeles, Sydney, Rome, Paris and Tokyo.

"It would be good for the fans abroad to see MLF in their own backyard," said MLF commissioner Ron Gardner. "It would also be nice for us to give them something back."

However, many fans and managers have been against the idea.

"I don't get it," said Sheffield Strikers manager Harry Davies. "What's the point of going abroad just to play some MLF?"

However, London United boss Bobby Hutchinson was for the idea.

"I like it," said Hutch. "We'd love it if we were playing a competitive MLF match against FC London under the LA sun."

MLF First Kick '08 revealed

New boys Reading Ruckus will start their new beginnings with a Friday night home opener against MLF Cup finalists Manchester Magic.

Frank Allan's side boast big name players like Julio Marconi and Stefan Shanahan.

Meanwhile MLF Champions London United start their title defence against the newly-renamed Glasgow FC that Sunday.

Onto a busy Saturday - the Middlesbrough Monsters travel to Newcastle to face the Geordies, East Anglia Knights entertain the Leeds Lightning and FC London are at Nottingham Fire.

Ajax London travel to Sheffield to take on the Strikers, while newly-relocated Bristol Pirates host the Cardiff Dragons.

The Merseyside Mighty Mice host the Eagles of Edinburgh and expansion boys Dublin Druids travel to Birmingham to take on Real.

Friday 28 March 2007
Reading Ruckus vs. Manchester Magic

Saturday 29 March 2007
Bristol Pirates vs. Cardiff Dragons
East Anglia Knights vs. Leeds Lightning
Merseyside Mighty Mice vs. Edinburgh Eagles
Newcastle Geordies vs. Middlesbrough Monsters
Nottingham Fire vs. FC London
Real Birmingham vs. Dublin Druids
Sheffield Strikers vs. Ajax London

Sunday 30 March 2007
London United vs. Glasgow FC

MLF Adidas Shirts Video

Here's some of the new adidas kits to be worn for the upcoming season.

MLF Table

Major League Football
Table Updated : 11/05/2008
View Results Table, League Table (Home & Away, sorted by Points Awarded.)
Sort By Home, Away Results
Pos	Team Name	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
1	London United	9	7	0	2	32	6	26	21
2	FC London	9	6	1	2	17	7	10	19
3	Middlesbrough Monsters	9	6	1	2	13	9	4	19
4	Newcastle Geordies	9	6	1	2	12	8	4	19
5	Real Birmingham	9	5	2	2	10	4	6	17
6	Bristol Pirates	9	5	2	2	10	5	5	17
7	Glasgow FC	9	5	1	3	8	11	-3	16
8	Reading Ruckus	9	4	2	3	8	7	1	14
9	East Anglia Knights	9	4	1	4	6	6	0	13
10	Ajax London	9	3	3	3	11	14	-3	12
11	Manchester Magic	9	3	1	5	16	15	1	10
12	Cardiff Dragons	9	3	1	5	7	11	-4	10
13	Merseyside Mighty Mice	9	3	1	5	4	9	-5	10
14	Dublin Druids	9	2	3	4	5	9	-4	9
15	Leeds Lightning	9	2	2	5	7	12	-5	8
16	Nottingham Fire	9	2	1	6	4	17	-13	7
17	Sheffield Strikers	9	1	2	6	3	11	-8	5
18	Edinburgh Eagles	9	1	1	7	6	18	-12	4