Footie news.  Atlanta made the cut for the 18 cities included in the US bid for the 2018/2022 World Cups.  Why?

“Southern hospitality,” Sunil Gulati, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, said in a quick explainer of the city’s inclusion.

Whew – we missed out in 1994.  If the US gets a bid, the games will be at the Georgia Dome (although if we build a new stadium for the Falcons by then, it gets grandfathered in).

Here is what the US bid committee folks have to say about soccer in Atlanta:

In 1968, the Atlanta Chiefs faced off against Manchester City – at the time considered one of the best teams in the world – in the first ever meeting between a top foreign team and an American professional team. The Chiefs shocked the soccer world by beating Manchester City – twice! Manchester City manager Joe Mercer is reported to have said, “Atlanta is the most soccer-wise city in the states.”

The Atlanta what?  The Chiefs?  Did that have something to do with the Great Atlanta Pot Fest Atlanta Pop Festival?  No?  Oh. But they won the league in 1968.  Don’t even ask me what the league was called.  To be honest, do either of us care?  I thought not.  Also, did Manchester City really say “soccer-wise” without getting immediately run out of England?

They were renamed the Apollos in 1973, and had this logo.  Wait, for real this had nothing to do with the Pot Fest?

Can you figure out what this is supposed to be?

Oh, wait, I see. It is an A, but also legs with a soccer ball. At first I thought it spelled something.  What, you’ve never had trouble with a logo before, right? Git.  (See, there, how I used a British insult because we are talking about footie?  They don’t let just anyone write for the Metblog!)

Wait, what was I talking about?  Oh, right – World Cup footie.  Here.  In Atlanta.  Woot!  We’ll be going up against:

• Australia
• Belgium &  Netherlands
• England
• Japan
• Russia
• Spain &  Portugal
• Indonesia
• South Korea
• Qatar

We should at least do better than Qatar, right?

*sorry, I confused the Atlanta International Pop Festival with the Great Atlanta Pot Fest.  The former was in 1969 and 1970, while the later was in the 1990s.  I believe both were at Piedmont Park and involved lots of pot, so you can perhaps understand my confusion.