Sporting Kansas City’s position, that Canadian-born U.S. national team striker Teal Bunbury is not on trial with Stoke City, continues to be refuted by the English Premier League club. On Thursday, Stoke City posted a list of eight players it is linked to in possible transfer-window deals and, voila, Bunbury is on the list. Bunbury, who won the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy in 2010 as the most valuable player in the NCAA, scored five goals in his first MLS season with the then-named Kansas City Wizards.

Is Teal Bunbury switching sides again? The Hamilton, Ont.-born son of Canadian national-teamer Alex Bunbury, recently alienated most soccer fans on this side of the border when he decided to play for the United States rather than the country of his birth. Now, is he also hoping to leave Sporting Kansas City? Stoke City has officially stated that this might be the case. Bunbury appeared with Stoke’s reserve side Tuesday and, paired with former Chelsea and Barcelona forward Eidur Gudjohnsen, was reportedly very impressive. Bunbury scored against Wigan’s reserve side.

Eleven of the 32 players available, just more than a third, were selected in phase two of the MLS Re-Entry Draft Wednesday afternoon. If all of the 11 players chosen today come to terms, that means a grand total of 13 out-of-contract players were able to find work. Only two — and both were minor deals — were taken in the first round, where players are guaranteed to make in 2011 at least what they did in 2010. The other 11 will likely all go for less money than they did in 2010.

Earlier this week, the Vancouver Whitecaps named Carl Valentine, a member of Canada’s 1986 World Cup squad, as the club’s official ambassador. Valentine was a member of the 1979 Whitecaps squad that won the NASL Soccer Bowl, defeating the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Giants Stadium, just a week after Vancouver stunned the heavily favoured New York Cosmos in the semifinal. “Valentine, at 21, the kind of young recruit NASL teams should be looking for—rather than the big-name, passe players they are forever signing—was continually showing thrust and speed,” wrote Sports Illustrated’s Clive Gammon about Valentine’s performance in the Soccer Bowl. As well, you can’t miss the fact that, on the Whitecaps website, right beside the logo, reads a simple statement: “Since 1974.” This a team that was forged in the NASL, and doesn’t talk about the league in embarrassed hushes.

e Dec. 5 MLS Re-Entry Draft is a straightforward process, but there will be a couple of considerations for Real Salt Lake general manager Garth Lagerwey and Columbus Crew GM Mark McCullers. The Crew and Real Salt Lake will meet in the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-finals; the first leg of their aggregate two-game series will go Feb. 22, while most teams are in the midst of their training camps.

For all the Canadian soccer fans hoping to make short hops across the border to catch World Cup games in 2022, there is disappointment. The United States’ bid to host the tourney was unsuccessful, as FIFA awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar.

The first domino has fallen. Wednesday, Seattle made Fredy Montero, the franchise's top scorer, it's newest Designated Player. Not counting Landon Donovan's grandfathered deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Colombian star becomes the first MLS regular to graduate from the normal salaried ranks to DP status. MLS knew this was coming. When the new DP rule was rolled out on April 1, allowing each team to have a maximum of three slots, the league knew that its member clubs would soon need to use spots so they could retain existing players, not just to attract players from Europe and South America.

The Canadian women’s team has been drawn into the Group of Death. And it might be the best possible boost this country’s bid to host the 2015 Women’s World Cup could have hoped for. The World Cup draw, held Monday in Germany, saw the Canadians grouped with the hosts, Nigeria and France, which is ranked in the top 10 on the planet. The opening game of the tournament will see the Germans face Canada on June 26.

Vancouver Whitecaps and EA Sports — maker of FIFA 11, the hottest-selling sports video game, well, ever — announced a new partnership that will see EA promoting the Whitecaps through its technology, and putting in support for the development of grassroots soccer in British Columbia. The Whitecaps become the first pro soccer team in North America to become an official partner of EA.

The referees are on strike in Scotland. They have had it. They’ve had it with the criticisms of coaches and players. They’re tired of being made the scapegoats whenever a close decision goes against a fiery manager with an axe to grind. Good for them. They’ve gone on strike, leaving the Scottish FA scrambling to find refs for this week’s matches. Polish and Portuguese refs who the SFA thought it had secured to officiate this weekend’s games have gone back home. Scotland did find enough foreign refs to keep the Premier League going, so fans could be treated another weekly instalment of Rangers, Celtic and Everybody Else.