CHICAGO, Ill. (July 18, 2012) – The Chicago Fire Soccer Club announced today that the Chicago Fire vs. Aston Villa match Presented by TrueCar at Toyota Park on Saturday, July 21 at 7:30 p.m. CT will be streamed live across the world on the Comcast SportsNet Chicago website www.CSNChicago.com and www.Chicago-Fire.com.
“We are excited to bring the Chicago Fire vs. Aston Villa match presented by TrueCar to an international audience,” said Fire Vice President of Marketing and Communications Emigdio Gamboa. “The Fire have teamed with a local media partner, CSN Chicago, to create and provide a unique digital offering. The livestream provides supporters who cannot make it to Toyota Park an opportunity to watch two top flight teams face off in Chicago, one of the world’s great soccer cities.”
The Fire – Aston Villa match will be the first international friendly available via live stream in club and CSN Chicago history. In the lead up to the match, the Fire and CSN Chicago will be giving away ten tickets to the Chicago Fire vs. Aston Villa match via social media. Fans can stay up-to-date and follow all the action with the Twitter hashtag #FIREvAVFC. In addition, the Fire and CSN Chicago will give away a pair of personalized Fire jerseys for those engaging in the conversation during the livestream by utilizing the #FIREvAVFC hashtag. CSNChicago.com will be live blogging via its ScribbleLive tool – as a part of the live stream – with match commentary, news and photos and curation of all fan Tweets using the #FIREvAVFC and #cf97 hashtags.
The Fire and Aston Villa will host a press conference at the Swissotel (323 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601) on Friday, July 20 at 2:30 p.m. CT. Fire head coach Frank Klopas and Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert will be joined by star players from both teams.
Prior to the match Aston Villa will hold a training session at Toyota Park on Friday, July 20 at 6:00 p.m. CT. The training session is open to the public. Admission is free for current Fire Season Ticket holders and Ten Game Plan holders. Tickets for the general public can be purchased for $20 by calling 888-MLS-Fire or visiting www.Chicago-Fire.com.
Aston Villa, one of the oldest and most successful clubs in English football history, will make their first trip to Chicago. Since its founding in 1874, Villa has amassed 19 major domestic honors, including seven English League titles and seven FA Cups. The Villans also won the 1981-1982 European Cup. One of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992, Aston Villa has competed in the top flight of English soccer ever since.
