Ventura County Fusion to Play Exhibition Vs. Premier League's West Bromwich Albion on Sun., July 17

June 20, 2011 - PRLog -- VENTURA, Calif. — The Ventura County Fusion (http://www.vcfusion.com), the region’s first and only world-class, championship-caliber soccer franchise, the 2010 Southwest Division title holder, and the 2009 champions of the Premier Development League (PDL), today announced it will play an international exhibition match against five-time Football Association (FA) Challenge Cup winner and Barclays® (English) Premier League side West Bromwich Albion (Albion) Football Club (http://www.wba.co.uk) at 3:00 p.m. PDT on Sunday, July 17, 2011, at Oxnard College Stadium in Oxnard, Calif. The game will take place during Albion’s 10-day training camp in Ventura.

The game, also known as a “friendly,” is one of three exciting contests the English club will play in July as part of its month-long North American promotional tour. In addition to the Fusion, the renowned squad, affectionately known to its fans as the “Baggies” or the “Throstles,” will also face the San Jose Earthquakes and Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer (MLS). Today’s announcement was jointly made by Fusion General Manager Ranbir Shergill and Fusion Director of Soccer Graham Smith, a former Albion goalkeeper who also serves as president of First Wave Sports Marketing, the organizers of the tour.

The Albion exhibition represents the first-ever meeting between the teams, and the Fusion’s fourth match against Premier League sides during its five-year history. Most recently, the Fusion challenged Portsmouth F.C. on July 17, 2010, at Oxnard College, and faced Burnley F.C. on July 21, 2009, on its former home turf at Buena High School’s Bulldog Stadium. The team also played Everton F.C. on July 24, 2007, at Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. during its inaugural season. Prior to the start of the 2011 PDL campaign, the Fusion hosted and played against five MLS clubs as part of those organizations’ respective pre-season training:  the Earthquakes, Timbers, Vancouver Whitecaps, Colorado Rapids, and D.C. United.

“This friendly with Albion, one of the United Kingdom’s most storied and well-known clubs, marks the thrilling return of Premier League action to Ventura County for the third consecutive year, and represents another formidable test for Fusion players from high-quality professional opposition,” said Shergill. “For soccer fans, the match offers a rare opportunity to see Albion striker Peter Osaze Odemwingie, a top-five Premier League scorer, and other international stars in person from one of the most watched and highly-followed sports leagues in the world. Finally, the match continues our mission of competing against top professional clubs from across the globe.”


About West Bromwich Albion
Founded in 1878, Albion is one of the founding members of The Football League, the predecessor of the Premier League, and a five-time winner of the FA Cup. Originally known as the West Bromwich Strollers, the Midlands club has long-standing rivalries with Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers, with whom they compete in the famous Black Country derby.

Led by legendary manager (head coach) and former Liverpool FC player and Fulham coach Roy Hodgson, Albion’s powerful roster is fueled by Nigerian international Odemwingie, who scored a career-best 15 goals this past season. The side is captained by Chris Brunt, a Northern Ireland national team member who scored 13 goals during the club’s 2009-10 campaign and added four more this year. Brunt and Odemwingie, along with Congo native Youssouf Mulumbu and Swedish midfielder Jonas Olsson, led Albion to an 11th-place finish for the 2010-11 season, during which the club defeated Premier League powerhouses Everton (1-0) and Liverpool (2-1) on the road. The club also triumphed over Arsenal (3-2) at home, and played Manchester United to a 2-2 draw away.

Additionally, Albion is stocked with a plethora of international stars, including Marek Cech (Slovakia), Scott Carson (England), Somen Tchoyi (Cameroon), James Morrison (Scotland), Gonzalo Jara (Chile), Steven Reid (Republic of Ireland), Pablo Ibáñez (Spain), Gabriel Tamas (Romania) and Dean Kiely (Republic of Ireland). Ibáñez was a starter for Spain’s national team, alongside Carlos Puyol at center back, during the 2006 FIFA™ World Cup.


Ticket Pricing and Availability
Tickets for the Fusion-Albion match are now on sale and immediately available by contacting Fusion headquarters at (805) 277-9742, or by ordering online at http://www.vcfusion.com. Ticket prices are $15.00 each for adults, and $8.00 each for children under the age of 17, if purchased in advance through VCFusion.com. A family four-pack, which includes two adult and two youth tickets, is also available for advance purchase for $40.00. At the gate, ticket prices are $20.00 each for adults, and $12.00 each for youths. All Fusion season ticket holders will be admitted free. Located at 4000 South Rose Avenue in Oxnard (93033), Oxnard College Stadium will open at 2:15 p.m. PDT, with kickoff set for 3:00 p.m. PDT.

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About The Ventura County Fusion
Based in Ventura, Calif., the Ventura County Fusion is a successful world-class, championship-caliber soccer franchise and participant in the Western Conference’s Southwest Division of the Premier Development League (PDL), an official operation of United Soccer Leagues (USL). Now in its fifth year of operation, the team enters the 2011 season with three consecutive playoff berths and as the reigning Southwest Division champions. The Fusion’s roster consists of members of the U.S.’s Under 20 National Team, players from well-respected NCAA Division I university programs, and standouts from international squads throughout the world. In addition to PDL play, the Fusion competes in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and in exhibitions against some of the world’s best professional squads, including Burnley and Everton of the English Premier League, and Chivas USA, DC United, Los Angeles Galaxy, and Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer (MLS).