The San Jose Earthquakes have announced plans to host West Bromwich Albion of the English Premier League on July 12 at Buck Shaw Stadium. West Brom is currently 13th in Premier League play this season with two matches left against Everton and Newcastle United. West Brom currently trails Newcastle and Sunderland by a single point in the standings. This season has seen them defeat Arsenal 3-2 at home, drew 2-2 away to Manchester United, crushed Everton away 4-1 and beat Liverpool 2-1 at home.
West Brom, led by legendary manager Roy Hodgson, features a talented lineup that is bolstered by one of the top five scorers in the Premiership in Nigerian Peter Odemwingie. He has scored a personal best 15 goals this season. The team is captained by Chris Brunt, who is a member of the Northern Ireland National Team. He scored 13 goals last season and has notched four so far this season for the Baggies. Congo native Youssouf Mulumbu (Congo) and imposing center back Jonas Olsson (Sweden) have also been key components for the Baggies this season, as they have achieved a number of memorable results.
The matchup is San Jose's third contest against an EPL squad. On July 17, 2010, San Jose hosted club partner Tottenham Hotspur at Buck Shaw Stadium and drew a Buck Shaw Stadium record crowd of 10,712. Aston Villa traveled to San Jose to play the Quakes in 1997 at Spartan Stadium, a match that ended 1-1 with Shawn Medved scoring the lone goal for San Jose.
Individual tickets will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, May 12 at 10 a.m. at SJEarthquakes.com and by calling (800) 225-2277. Season ticket holders should use their Bonus Game "B" ticket for the match. Season ticket holders will also be able to purchase additional individual and group tickets from Tuesday, May 10 until tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday. Prices for individual seats range from $20 to $50.
The fine folks at Quake, Rattle and Goal will have plenty more coverage in the coming weeks.