Tottenham’s Andros Townsend
MLS Press release
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR TO PLAY MLS ALL-STARS
Elite English club set to bring troupe of international talent to Mile-High City
Special welcome event to be held today at the Thirsty Lion in downtown Denver at 5 p.m. MT
DENVER, Colo. (Wednesday, April 15, 2015) – Major League Soccer today announced that Tottenham Hotspur will face the MLS All-Stars in the 2015 AT&T MLS All-Star Game. The annual showcase will be played July 29 at 9 p.m. ET at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, home of the Colorado Rapids. The game will be televised live on FOX Sports 1, UniMás and Univision Deportes Network (UDN) in the United States, TSN and RDS in Canada, and in more than 100 countries worldwide, including Sky Sports in the U.K.
MLS and the Colorado Rapids will host a welcome event for Tottenham in conjunction with a USA-Mexico watch party later today at the Thirsty Lion in downtown Denver. Media and fans are encouraged to attend the event which will kick off at 5 p.m. MT and feature special guests, including MLS President and Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott, Tottenham Hotspur Executive Director Donna-Maria Cullen and Colorado Rapids Team President Tim Hinchey along with Rapids coaches and players. One-on-one interview opportunities will follow.
For the twelfth time in the event’s 20-year history, an international club will take on the MLS All-Stars, who have a 7-3-1 record in the highly competitive and entertaining format. In addition to honoring the best players in MLS, the game has featured an array of world-famous clubs such as Manchester United (2010 & 2011), Everton FC (2009), Chelsea FC (2006 & 2012), AS Roma (2012) and, most recently, FC Bayern Munich (2014).
“The AT&T MLS All-Star Game continues to be one of the most entertaining and widely anticipated traditions for our League and for our sport in North America,” said MLS President and Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott. “We are excited to welcome another world-class opponent in Tottenham and look forward to a competitive match and a tremendous week of events. We know that the Colorado Rapids, one of our inaugural clubs, will be great hosts and that Dick’s Sporting Goods Park will impress both the fans in the stadium and television viewers throughout the World.”
“We’d like to thank Major League Soccer for the invitation to take part in the 2015 All-Star Game,” said Tottenham Hotspur head coach Mauricio Pochettino. “The fact that this will be our only fixture outside of Europe during pre-season says a lot about how we view this game. We enjoyed three tough matches last summer in North America and the quality of football in MLS continues to grow every year. Pre-season is an important time for us and we are looking forward to being a part of one of the biggest events on the U.S. football calendar. We know the quality of the facilities will be top-class and we see this fixture against the best players from MLS as good preparation.”
Founded in 1882, Spurs, as they are affectionately known, are a mainstay in the Barclays Premier League and regular participants in European competitions. The London-based club lifted the Football League Championship, now the Barclays Premier League championship, on two occasions (1951, 1961) as well as a host of domestic cups, including the FA Cup, which the club has won eight times.
“Once again, we’re thrilled to mobilize soccer fans’ passions at the AT&T MLS All-Star Game,” said Bill Moseley, director of marketing and communications, AT&T. “Each year, the game shows off the sport’s very best, and we can’t wait to share this summer’s experience with soccer spectators everywhere.”
Denver becomes the fourth city to host the All-Star Game for a second time. Only the now-defunct Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., and MLS’ first soccer-specific stadium, newly donned MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, have hosted the event more than once.
“We are delighted to welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for the MLS All-Star Game. They are one of the more acclaimed names in the English Premier League and have a roster full of top-quality international players. We know their presence will help create an exciting and entertaining contest in Colorado this summer,” said Colorado Rapids Governor Jim Martin.
