Featured post

Join Us For Our Champions League Final Party at Van Diemens

sslogo_newThe First Touch Saturday Strike events take place at various soccer pubs around the city throughout the year (sometimes on Sundays or weekdays) and offer discounted Carlsberg, competitions, and prizes including official EPL merchandise, collectables, and rounds of Carlsberg.

Prizes provided by OnionBag.com

UPCOMING FIXTURES:

Saturday May 25th
2013 Champions League Final
at Van Diemens, 383 3rd Avenue (27th St)

Join us and NY Coed Soccer League for our Champions League party. Drink specials all day!
WIN – Official Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, NY Cosmos & Chelsea Merchandise

Bring your mates and enjoy a great day of celebrating football, friends, and Carlsberg – the very stuff of life itself!

How it Works:

saturdaystrikefrontGame cards are given out with every purchase of Carlsberg. (some cards will also be randomly distributed by your Carlsberg/First Touch rep).
Each card has a number printed on it representing one minute of the game.
If a goal is scored during that minute in any of our featured games throughout that day – you win a prize.
Featured games and prizes will be announced by each venue.

11th Street bar

Happy days at the 11th Street bar

 

Thanks to all the NY Blues for a great day out at Mulligans!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Gooner at the Banter Bar Brooklyn

Sorted..at The Manchester Pub!

 

Featured post

Registration Open For The First Touch Spring League

FTmens_adit’s time to bring your first touch from the bar to the field…

 

First Touch is excited to announce our partnership with NY Coed Soccer to launch the First Touch Men’s League kicking off on Sunday June 2nd on Randall’s Island. All are welcome to join. 

The 8-a-side Sunday league will include teams from the various supporters groups and pubs throughout the city.

New teams are also encouraged to enter, along with individuals who may be looking for a team to join up with.

Coverage of the league will appear here in First Touch every week as well as on our web site and mobile app.

Registration is now open at www.nycoedsoccer.com/NYMensFirstTouch.html

NY Coed Soccer was established in November 2004 with their debut season being hosted on a Friday night in Chelsea. They now run leagues in Chelsea, Williamsburg, LES, Murray Hill and Randall’s Island while Cobble Hill and Park Slope feature during their Winter Indoor season.

Now boasting over 140 coed teams and 18 mens teams, NY Coed provides a welcoming environment for you to develop and hone your skills, exercise and meet new people. Games are available  all-year round in various Indoor and Outdoor locations in New York City.

First Touch has been championing the amateur scene in New York for two decades and is proud to be working with NY Coed Soccer.

Jason Roberts Interview

roberts1

Time passes all too quickly these days – clearly the boy Einstein knew what he was talking about when he was going on about it all being relative. 

And it’s relatives that we’re speaking of for it seems but a moment since Jason Roberts, nephew of the mighty Cyrille Regis, joined WBA from Bristol Rovers for around £2million, thereby beginning the Albion playing renaissance that sees them looking down at the bulk of the Premier League from a lofty perch. In fact, it was nigh on 13 years ago since that day and now the game of football looks upon Jason as one of its elder statesmen, not just a proven player at the highest level, but a pundit and commentator with plenty to say, and all of it worth hearing.

We’ll come on to much of that shortly, but first of all, given that time is short, let’s cut to the chase. We all know that Bank Holidays are a bit of a drag, but Jason has come up with a way of making next week’s a lot more fun, while doing plenty of good into the bargain. See if you can arrange to spend next Monday in Brentford. It will be worth the effort.

“We are holding a charity game coming on Bank Holiday Monday, May 27th, at Brentford FC and it’s the Friends of Africa against the Friends of the Caribbean, organised by my foundation (www.jasonrobertsfoundation.com) and the Sodje Sports Foundation. A lot of charities are going to benefit such as the Stephen Lawrence Trust, the Damilola Taylor Trust and the Daniel De-Gale African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust. The crowd is capped at 5,000 for the day, so a sell out would be excellent and would raise some good money for some good causes – you can get more info at www.afcarthegame.com.

If you possibly can get to the game, do so because foundation such as Jason’s and the Sodje family’s really do deserve support. The work they do is in sharp contrast to the media portrayal of footballers as selfish money grabbers, only interested in themselves. Plenty of them give up time and money to try to make a difference and Jason is a case in point. His foundation has done important work over the last few years, and all because of an incident that dates back to his time at The Hawthorns.

“The Jason Roberts Foundation has been running for five years now, and it largely came about because of something that happened during my time at the Albion. I’d moved on to Wigan by then, and I was watching a TV show on BBC that was about a young Albion supporter. He’d come through a tough upbringing and ended up working in the community department, and they asked him why it was that he’d gone down that path. He said that he was a big Albion fan and, “One day, one of my heroes came to visit a group of us at school, and he was telling us to keep away from gangs, to work hard at school, listen to teachers, get qualifications, all of those things, and that became a really important message to me”.

roberts2“They asked him who the player was and it turned out to be me! What was interesting to me was that I didn’t really remember that day, that boy, that event. As a player, you do a lot of those kinds of things but you don’t always think about it, but to hear this guy talking about the impact it made on him and the way it helped him map out his life, it really got me thinking.

“I’ve always felt lucky that I’ve had so many inspirational people around me in my life, like my uncle Cyrille, my uncle David, my uncle Otis who played professional football as well, and hearing that I had made a difference to that young guy helped me realise that I wanted to try and magnify that and make it a wider thing. I am 100% sure that without my uncles being around me and inspiring me, I wouldn’t be where I am today, so if I can use the position I have now to try and inspire other kids, then I feel like I have a responsibility to do it, but I also feel really good about it as well. I’d say it’s the best thing I’ve done in my working career so far.

“It is so easy for kids who grow up in the inner cities to find themselves mixed up with the wrong crowd. A lot of footballers come from those environments, so we understand what goes on. I do have a bit of problem with the whole “footballers as role models” thing because I think everybody should try to be a role model, not just footballers. But what I do think is that if you have the opportunity to give something back and to inspire people, you should take it. Albion recently gave a contribution to the community award to Darren Moore, and that underlines what can be achieved. Darren is one of the best people you could ever meet and he has used his fame to make a big difference through his charitable and community work. I’m keen to make a contribution in my own way as well”.

Given that Jason’s Albion career came to an end amidst a hail of misinformation, it’s fascinating that he has now crossed the great divide and taken on a media role himself. Having been on the receiving end of unfair criticism, he takes his role very seriously and is determined to be scrupulously honest, whatever the cost.

“The media side of things has been interesting. It really wasn’t that contrived that I should move into it. I did some radio and TV work as so many players have, and they seem to like me and it’s gone from there. It wasn’t a long term plan of mine, but I have really enjoyed it.

“What’s been great about it is doing things like “606” because it gives you an opportunity to learn from fans. I’ve got my teams but I’ve never travelled the country supporting them, spent my money following them, so it is fascinating to see how they view things on a one to one basis on the phone ins. My job is to give a player’s viewpoint as honestly as I can, warts and all. The two often don’t tally but hopefully, by talking like that, we can each see one another’s viewpoint a little bit better.

“I’m now of the mind that I’ve hopefully got a couple more years of football in me and in that period, I would like to do as many things as I can to test the water and see where I want to go once playing football is over. I’ve done my coaching badges, I’ll keep doing the media work, I do some administrative things with the PFA, and so we’ll see what happens later. The main thing is I love football, I’m so lucky I have been able to be a part of it for most of my life so far and I would like that to carry on when I stop playing.

“It hasn’t been a great year or so for the game in terms of the racist controversies that have come up, it’s been a depressing year in that sense, against a backdrop of a fantastic year of football. I think there was a sense of complacency that racism had gone away, that we’d solved the problem, but this has dragged us back to the bad old boys to a degree. We have come a long way in football and in society and I think football has driven a real change in society simply by showing people as equals on the field.

“Some of the work that was done in the ‘70s, the ‘80s and into the ‘90s was really great work but I think we dropped the ball maybe, I think we have become complacent and that means that I don’t think we’ve gone far enough in changing things. I think now is the time to ask ourselves some difficult questions about how far we want to take this. We got to a point where there was hardly any racist chanting, where racial incidents were very occasional, and that is great. But where we didn’t follow on was in creating more opportunities for the ethnic minorities who have fallen in love with football.

“I find it strange that while we have 30% of black players, we have just a smattering of black managers, only a smattering in the media or in administration. To my mind, that cannot be right. I speak to players all the time, the guys want to be involved but it looks like a closed shop at the minute. People wonder if the black guys are doing their badges and applying for jobs. Well, at the last count from the PFA, over 20% are doing the badges. Any footballer of any ethnicity, they all want to remain in football, we’re all frustrated managers or pundits. The numbers do not stack up for me and I think we need a fresh approach.

roberts3“I’ve been very vocal on the need for us to introduce the Rooney Rule but I’m not sure people quite understand what it is as yet. It’s not that someone from a certain background has to be employed, it is not a quota system or favouritism as some have portrayed it. What it does is say that a specific problem exists with regard to advancement into other areas of the sport, so this is a way of addressing it. In America, the Rooney Rule did nothing more than ensure that one member of an ethnic group was given a job interview out of a list of six, seven, eight, nine or as many names as you wanted. Nobody misses out, it’s just one extra person to be interviewed.

“From there, it is only an interview. If the person, isn’t good enough, they don’t get the job. In America, that jumped the numbers from 6% to 22% in five years. I cannot see how that is a bad thing. If the ethnic minority interviewee isn’t good enough, they don’t get the job but, from an employer’s point of view, they are exposed to interviewing from that pool and, the numbers suggest, they can find better people as a result. That’s a win-win isn’t it?

“We also talk about a lack of young British managers. The Rooney Rule would formalise the employment process. Instead of somebody just getting the job as the only target, they would be required to go through an interview process. At the end, they might go for the same guy they wanted to start with, that’s up to them. But by interviewing others, they might come across somebody better and that gives British managers an opportunity they don’t always get now. How can any of that be a negative thing? We have a lost a couple of generations to the game already and I think it would be terrible to perpetuate that and lose another, to lose people like Steven Reid for example. We have to think outside the box to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“I look back at my uncle, Cyrille Regis, who was lost to the game in terms of coaching, management or administration, and it makes me wonder why I should bother doing my badges. Cyrille was twice the player I am, twice better looking, looks half my age now! They’re even building statues to him! Cyrille had charisma, he was a star, people loved him, nobody in the game has a bad word to say about him, yet even he couldn’t break down those barriers. Cyrille did his badges, he wanted to stay in the game, he applied for jobs and was refused interviews – a man with his standing in the game. So what chance have I got? As a game, we have to look at the messages we are giving out.

“I think if you look back, Brendon Batson, Laurie Cunningham, Cyrille Regis, they changed the country. Not just football, but society. For me personally, Cyrille, my uncle Otis and uncle David, they didn’t just inspire me personally because they were family, they, and guys from their generation like Laurie and Brendon, guys who were playing professional football, they made people look at black people in a different way and that made things better for kids my age as we grew up, rather than what they had gone through in the 1960s and 1970s.

“I grew up in a very Caribbean community so I didn’t really understand the idea of racism until I got a bit older and started to play football outside my area. I was the only black kid in my team and stuff would happen that would leave me genuinely mortified. I have friends who were brought up in more mixed or predominantly white areas and they had to deal with racism from an early age – I had never really seen it before and I didn’t know what to do. It affected me quite badly, some of the things I heard and saw at 12 or 13 were just horrendous.

“And what I’m talking about now that I have a platform, it’s not just for the benefit of me or of professional footballers, it’s for that 12 year old kid who is having to deal with these issues. Hopefully my generation can help to push things further and create fresh change so that those 12 year olds in the future aren’t exposed to that.

“We have got to change the country again, the way Cyrille, Laurie and Brendon did. What those guys went through, what they fought for, it was huge. They overcame those challenges. But what needs to be acknowledged – and generally isn’t – is that this generation has challenges to overcome to. It might not be as overtly hostile, might not be as obvious, but the issues are still there. The attitude that it’s so much better than it was in the ‘80s, well, so what? I find that approach very frustrating. It isn’t good enough. I don’t feel happy that things are better. But I expect it to be better. I’m not asking. I demand that it is better. So when people tell me to be patient, that holds no water with me.

“The refusal to wear the “One Game One Community” shirts was viewed as a specific attack on Kick It Out, which it wasn’t. It was to point out that we haven’t gone far enough, that racist issues were making their way back into the game and that we’ve stopped making progress in many ways. People are patting themselves on the back about what has been achieved and that’s fine but we need to find the will to do more because it needs doing. I’ve quoted the statistics, they show you that where we are is not good enough. It is amazing that in a game that is awash with money, most of these bodies are underfunded and so they have to go cap in hand to benefactors, at which point you have to question their independence because they become dependent upon the funders.

“I also think you have to wonder about the decision to take “racism” out of the Kick It Out name because it did great work on that issue. To suddenly throw all forms of discrimination into the one pot, I think it has weakened things, not just in terms of racism, but for each discrimination strand because I think each needs its own body fighting its own corner. You can’t just mash it up into one ball and expect it to operate efficiently because it won’t.

“I accept it is a generational thing. I totally take on board the strides made. But I do not see myself as any different to anyone else whatever their race, creed or colour, and I don’t think I should be treated differently, no better, no worse. Why should I? And maybe my generation’s outrage is an indicator of how far things have come, but there is no room for complacency or to say, ok, we don’t need to go further. We do. We must. For that 12 year old kid”.

NY Cosmos To Play Newtown Fundraiser in New Britain, Connecticut

nycosmos_logoThe New York Cosmos will participate in a special fundraiser for  The Newtown Parent Connection, Inc. (NPC) at Veterans Memorial Stadium in New Britain, Conn., on Tuesday, June 18.

The special doubleheader features the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer against Real Boston Rams of the United Soccer League’s Professional Development League in the first match. In the second game, the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League will face Newtown’s own, the Newtown Pride of the Connecticut Soccer League.

The evening will kick off at 6 p.m. with the Revs-Rams match, followed by the Cosmos-Pride match at 7:30 p.m. Stadium gates will open at 5 p.m.

Tickets cost $15 and can be purchased at newtownparentconnection.org or by calling 866-722-8953. Fans who purchase tickets before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11, will receive discounts: individual tickets will be $13, while group tickets (for parties of 20 or more) will be $10 each.

All proceeds from Soccer Revolution, including ticket sales and proceeds from a silent auction held that evening, will go to the Newtown Parent Connection.

“Newtown Parent Connection has been supporting the Newtown community for more than 20 years, and as a result of the tragic events on December 14, 2012, there is an increased need for family and youth peer support for both mental health and substance use disorders,” says Dorrie Carolan, Co-Founder of Newtown Parent Connection. ”We look forward to these soccer fundraising events as a way to build the sustainable support infrastructure our community needs to assist in the healing process for the long-term, something that will be in place, five, 10 and 15 years from now.”

 

The View From 101

 

esclogoBy Tim Hall

This week, something different. I recently had occasion to sit down with Brent Gamit. You might not know the name, but you should, because it rings a number of bells in the local soccer community. Brent was and still is the vocal leader of the Empire Supporters Club. Long before I came along, it was Brent’s baritone voice that started most of the chants at Giants Stadium and Red Bull Arena. I jokingly call Brent my rabbi, a police term for a veteran that shows the new guy the ropes, and I learned from Brent – even when he didn’t realize he was teaching me – what it meant to not only lead the section in song but also the importance of being an ESC member.

What follows is part one of what is, at times, an oral history, an interview, and a conversation between old friends. I started with the obvious question, wondering how he got involved in all this in the first place.

BG: I started to come around to the ESC, ’97, I guess, or ’98. It was always something of people who just wanted to show up to games, have fun, pregame a little bit, postgame a little bit. Sing your face off as much as possible. Really antagonize those, most of the time on the other team and, if we were playing really poorly, sometimes the guys on our team. Which is not exactly the greatest thing to do, but if you’ve seen some of those old school games, can you blame us?

TH: It’s honest. And that’s something that, as I’ve watched the rest of the league, I see a lot of supporters that sing for their own team, but don’t really attack the other team with the venom that we do. Your local derbies, Houston/(Dallas), LA/Chivas, they’ll go in, but, we’re playing Kansas City tonight, and I’m going through “Wizard of Oz” references. We are sort of the vicious bastards of the league.

BG: As Bill Murray said in one of the “Ghostbusters” movies, we have a right to be miserable.

TH: How do you think the club has changed, for the better or for the worse, since you came in in ’97? Aside from the obvious of having our own stadium and not tailgating anymore.

BG: Yeah, that’s the obvious one, and those are the ones that stick out the most, because as a result of those changes of venue, I think it’s kind of changed how we kind of deal with things and do things. That’s just kind of a natural process, I think.

TH: I would argue that we’re a bit tamer now than we were in the (Giants Stadium) parking lot days. We used to show up to the parking lot and rage. We would just get plastered.

BG: 2004 to 2009, it’s all a blur. The only differences were daytime/nighttime, dry or rain. Everything else was just a blur. It became a competition, who wanted to win Drunk of the Week that week. And I won it once! God bless you, aguardiente. (Laughter) But that was kind of the free license to do whatever you want.

TH: That’s part of our history. Not all of us. It’s impossible to paint all of us with the same brush. But, a lot of us were showing up at the parking lot, getting s***canned hammered, stumbling into a game and singing as loud as possible.

BG: And that part was the reluctant part. I know for many years, even when you were still relatively new, there were days where, I can’t even remember during which coaching regime, we would show up, really go hard, and then kinda look at each other and go “It’s time to go in now.” And we did that with a lot of reluctance. “Well, great, it’s this guy and this guy starting” or “Tab (Ramos) is out again, hooray” when Tab was one of the highest paid Americans in the league and he’s not around. But these days there’s a lot less feeling of that, if at all. But there were many times back in the day, that feeling happened a lot. But we still showed up, we went as hard as we could, and when the first goals came in against us, we’re like “Hmm. Great.”

TH: When the name change (from Metrostars to NY Red Bulls) happened, I know you know guys that threw up their hands and walked away. Do you still keep in touch with some of those guys? I’m sure some of them have turned up to games here at (Red Bull Arena).

BG: Not as much as I’d like to. But some guys, I’m Facebook friends with, but a lot of them said “You know what? I’m just gonna move on and deal with normal life things.” And by the looks of it, and what they put up on Facebook or on Twitter, they have. I don’t begrudge them for it, I understand as to why they left, and that’s just how it is. I wish that they did not, and I know some guys did eventually come back, and it’s good to see them and all that stuff, but a lot of guys have not.

TH: As I always like to say, life gets in the way. Guys grow up and have kids. You’ve been doing this longer than I have. What does it mean to you to be ESC?

BG: A lot. Because when I first started, I was just a young, mid-20s kind of a guy around a bunch of guys who were in their late 20s/early 30s who had obviously seen a lot more games in Europe, or are from a South American country and know that culture. I was just a young kid who was a year removed out of college, really didn’t want to follow baseball anymore. What’s around that I can afford and that I can get to without it being a trek and a half? Going to Giants Stadium was still a trek and a half, but… So I found these guys, I found there was something I could watch here, as terrible as it was in terms of gameplay or level of play, but I found a bunch of guys that had similar interests, and that’s how I got in with guys like (Kevin) McAllister and (Ben) Poremski, all those guys, guys that I always leaned on, who were more experienced, who always came up with the right chant, and, as it turns out, there were times where I came up with the right chant, and that’s how it went. There were guys ahead of me in the pecking order. I brought what I wanted to bring to the table, and we all had a laugh.

Next week, more on the good, and bad, old days.

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

Sunday May 19: New York Red Bulls vs. LA Galaxy – Sure, start a home game in the dying minutes of the EPL season, sounds like the way to pack the house. Dopes. Join the Empire Supporters Club at El Pastor (570 Market St. Newark) to welcome the Eurosnobs home.

Lansdowne Bhoys Flying High in CSL

Lansdowne Bhoys first team coach Austin Friel [left] and Metro Div. One boss Marty Griffin [right] with club stalwart Pat Diamond [center]

Lansdowne Bhoys first team coach Austin Friel [left] and Metro Div. One boss Marty Griffin [right] with club stalwart Pat Diamond [center]

By Jay Mwamba

Irish eyes were smiling in Yonkers last Sunday after Lansdowne Bhoys bagged division titles in both the CSL top flight and Metro Div. One on the penultimate weekend of the regular season. 

A goalless tie with West rivals United FC at Tibbetts Brook Field earned the Lansdowne first XI, now coached by Austin Friel, a second straight division title. The Yonkers-based Bhoys topped the East last season under former boss, and one-time Sir Alex Ferguson charge, Kevin Grogan.

The Lansdowne thirds were also celebrating back-to-back titles without kicking a ball, thanks to their unassailable 12-3 [36] record in Metro Div. One West. The Irishmen won the Metro Two championship in their rookie season last year and can clinch promotion to the Second Division if they beat East runners-up BW G Cosmos in the playoffs this Sunday.

Victory will also earn the Bhoys a shot June 2 at either Mr. Dennehy’s, the team they pipped for first place in the West, or East winners CD Iberia for the CSL Metro title.

IRISH DOUBLE?

Friel’s lads [10-2-4, 34] finished the season two points ahead of United who they meet again June 9 in the Manning State Cup final – with a league and cup double in sight.

Before that, however, Lansdowne tackle New York Athletic Club [NYAC], a side they defeated 4-2 during the regular season, in the playoffs this Sunday. The winners advance to the CSL championship match June 2 against either defending champs New York Greek-American/Atlas or United FC.

Greek-Atlas beat Lansdowne on penalties to lift the CSL crown last June.

“I’m happy to be division champions and now for the real show,” said Friel, top scorer with 22 goals in last year’s campaign. He’s bullish about the Bhoys prospects in the playoffs and remarked: “You have to beat all the good teams to win it.”

WYNNE BRACE

Adrian Wynne netted both goals in a 2-1 decision for the Lansdowne reserves against United, whose Ivan Klyazuv scored.

NYAC STUMBLE

There were no excuses from NYAC, meanwhile, after losing a seven-goal thriller to New York Croatia in their regular season finale — ahead of the playoff clash with Lansdowne.

Mike Holody, Nick Scott and John Stamatis connected for the hosts who erased a 3-1 deficit at one point on Travers Island and would hit the woodwork twice.

“Croatia, to be fair to them, were the better team,” conceded Andrew Cullen. “They were well organized and were very tight at the back.”

Six-team CSL champs, NYAC [9-7, 27] finished second behind Atlas in the East.

THE INVINCIBLES

NYAC’s reserves punctuated a stellar season with an 8-0 drubbing of Croatia ‘B’ that saw them finish the 2012-2013 campaign as undefeated champions [15-0-1, 46] and tied with Jersey City Eagles’ Over-30 Div. II team [also 15-0-1] for most points accumulated.

Second Division kings Manhattan Kickers [12-0-4, 4] complete that elite class of undefeated sides in the entire CSL this season.

The curtain raiser on Travers Island was over as a contest after NYAC scored three times in the opening five minutes, courtesy of perhaps the fastest brace ever in the CSL, by Brian Kuritzky.   Elton Hassall accounted for the third goal, his first in a hat trick, while Jim Peters added two and Will Whiston had one.

“Hats off to Croatia though. They are clearly struggling and finished with nine guys on the field yet they played as tough as they could for 90 minutes. Gotta admire that!” summed up NYAC coach Bill Saporito.

CROUCHING TIGER

Atlas’ playoff with United has been rescheduled to next Thursday [May 23] to allow the Greeks to fulfill their delayed U.S. Amateur Cup Region 1 semi-final with New England’s Battery Park Gunners in Boston this Sunday.

KOKKO TREY

West title contenders for most of the race, Central Park Rangers got a hat trick from Lasse Kokko to end the regular season on a 5-2 high, at Pancyprian Freedoms expense.

Player-coach Eli Vovsha and Andy West contributed to the humbling of the seven-time CSL champs who led twice on their St. John’s University home ground.

“We completed the league season, and a tricky spring, with a convincing win against the former powerhouse in an entertaining and open match,” noted CPR manager Yuval Lion. “Special mention to Eli who had a masterly game, and Lasse.”

CPR now switch their attention to the League Cup where they meet their reserves in a semi-final derby next week.

The CPR reserves were also triumphant at St. John’s, edging Pancyprian’s second unit 2-1 on strikes by Andres Padilla and Baha’a Ahmed.

“They also came from behind and grabbed a late winner to end their league season in positive fashion,” said Lion.

POLE-AXED

Matt Negus hit three for Manhattan Celtic in a 5-1 thumping of Polonia at Pier 5. Austin McCann had the other two.

This after Barrie Taylor [two], Simon, Mike Casalett and Pat Kelly had shutout the Polish reserves 5-0.

LIFELINE

Elsewhere in the First Division, two-goal hero Paul Kitson [17th, 83rd] starred for Hoboken FC in a 3-1 victory over Barnstonworth Rovers at Overpeck Park.  Kwadwo “Kojo” Asante [56th] was the other scorer.

Steven Keker replied for Rovers.

PHOTO FINISH

In Division Two, the race for runners-up and that second promotion spot to the top flight is headed to the wire this Sunday between Steve Kovalenko’s New York Ukrainians and Stal Mielec.

A 5-0 mauling of FC Japan on Randalls Island last weekend saw Stal [9-3-3, 30] reclaim second place from Ukranians [8-2-5, 29] who had a bye.

Stal play FC Gwardia in their last game while Ukrainians tackle Tesoro Brooklyn Knights and neither side can avoid to drop points as their goal stats are almost equal.

SUPER-STALS

The romp over Japan was scripted by Kestutis Mykolaitis. He created all five goals, three of them for hardman Jacek Lawniczak who’d walked off a plane from China barely ten hours earlier.

Grzegorz Kruk and Radoslaw Rar got the other two.

Stal’s reserves won 5-1 on goals by Wojtek Kiwak [two], Waldemar Pyryt [two] and Jan Zelezny.

FACE-SAVER

Joey Aronovsky had Shamrock’s lone response in a 4-1 drubbing by Division Two champions-designate Manhattan Kickers on Randalls Island.

Renaldo Vega, Damian Lopez and Bryan Baracaldo [two] connected for Kickers, whose reserves prevailed 4-0 courtesy of Chris Pattersons, Nick Bill and two own goals.

At McCarren Park, Tomasz Gorka was on target for the Gwardia reserves in a 2-1 loss to Tesoro.

 DENNEHY TUNE-UP

Mr. Dennehy’s FC warmed up for arguably the biggest game in their short history — Sunday’s Metro One playoff vs. CD Iberia –  with a 6-0 thrashing of Homenetmen on Randalls Island.

Goals from Josh Southall, J.P. Loize [two] and a second half hat trick by player-coach Ronan Gardiner secured the three points, while firing warning shots at Iberia in the process.

Said Gardiner: “We are really excited at the prospect of playing CD Iberia again in the playoffs. They are a very good side [that] beat us in a high scoring game earlier in the season. It promises to be an exciting encounter.”

GOTTSCHEE THREAT

Depleted Iberia, meanwhile, crashed 4-0 to a BW G Cosmos side that posted its third win in four matches ahead of its playoff with Lansdowne Metro.

Michael Ledesma [two], Orie LaRode and Singa Barry were on target.

“[We] scored all four in the first half with the wind and played solid defense in the second,” said coach John Krische.

“Not a good day at all,” lamented Iberia’s Diego Monteagudo, who finished with ten men. “We had a lot of people out, and others that just didn’t show up, and went down 4-0 in the first 20 minutes.”

ZEN MASTERS    

Once-beaten Grenadier Zenith ended an impressive Metro Two title campaign with a 3-1 decision over Central Park Rangers at Kaiser Park.

Jean Evans, Clifford Augustin and Stanley Cadet connected in Grenadier’s last game before taking their high scoring ways to Metro One.

FOR MOMMY

In a gesture that would make any mommy proud, NYC Metro Stars dedicated their Mother’s Day Metro Two fixture against shorthanded FC Partizani to the players’ mothers.

Elmer Batres [23rd, 32nd] and Weslley Pereira [57th, 75th] then handed Metro Stars a 4-2 win on Staten Island.

Pirro Cece and Kirk Patiniotis replied for Partizani.

“We started the game with seven players and later had a full 11 so fell behind early,” explained Eni Zejnati.

ROVERS ROMP

On Randalls Island, Adam Walsh, Remo Enea, Brandon Rowley, Paul Nitto and Sergio Restrepo [two] tallied in Barnstonworth Rovers’ 6-1 romp over New Amsterdam United.

 BRISHNA FLUSHED

At Flushing Meadow Park, Fidelis Idoko struck twice as FC NY Bravehearts saw off Brishna FC 5-2.

Guillermo Arbelaez, Omar Ezat and Eric Clermont also tallied.

GALICIA HELD

In other Metro Two action, New York Galicia were pegged back by NYPD FC in a 2-2 draw at Brooklyn High School.

Left back Robbie Roo and Jose San Martín had understrength Galicia up 2-0 at the interval before the Cops hit back on resumption.

“It was a tough battle, especially for [a] last game that didn’t really matter to either side,” observed Galicia’s Thomas Pego.

 PREMIER DERBY

Namesakes Manhattan Kickers Premier and Barnstonworth Premier warmed up for their Over-30 Div. One playoff on Randalls Field 74 tonight [Thursday, 9 pm] in contrasting fashion.

Kickers blew out SC Eintracht 6-0 on goals by Richie Webb [two], Gilad Bloom [two], Joe Whiteman and Russ Osur finish nine points clear [12-2-2, 38] atop the East.

Barnstonworth, on the other hand, had a goal from Kevin Alexander in a 1-1 draw with Tesoro as they finished a distant 12 points behind West champs Manhattan Celtic Legends.

LEGENDS SLIP

Legends, meanwhile, might have been looking ahead to Sunday’s playoff with Dinamo when they slipped 1-0 to Barnstonworth Rovers Over-30. Mike Eisenberg scored.

GREYS, TOO

CPR Greys also ended their Over-30 Div. II ‘A’ title winning campaign with a whimper, succumbing 4-1 to Guyana Veterans “B.”  Tony DeLorenzo got the consolation goal.

“Greys suffered their first league defeat of the season in a game we hardly showed up for to play and missed numerous chances. But credit to Guyana, who worked hard and did finish the opportunities they fashioned in front of net,” noted Yuval Lion.

DARING EAGLES

There was, however, no such let up by Jersey City Eagles, the Div. II  ‘B’ champions who continued with their high scoring ways at CPR Legends’ expense.

Evoud Thompson led all scorers in a 6-1 shellacking with four goals.  Chris Vataj and Giuseppe Bottaglia also tallied.

JASON III

Jason Gayle [three] led the Hoboken charge in a 6-4 win over Troy Turkish United FC.  David Reid [two] and Dennis Thun added to the tally.

Hoboken Veterans were blanked 3-0 by Megas Alexandros.

CELTIC FIVE

In other Over-30 Div. Two action, Manhattan Celtic Bhoys knocked off Banatul 5-2 on goals by Simon Nee [two], Youcef Mami [two] and Jaime Gonzalez.

Sir Alex Ferguson Questions

keano1 – Who were the only club to ever sack Alex Ferguson?

2 -  Who did Ferguson replace as manager at Man Utd?

3 – Who was the Barcelona manager who lost to Ferguson’s United in the 1991 Cup WInners’ Cup final?

4 – Who was the Bayern Munich manager during the famous 1999 Man Utd CL Final victory in Barcelona?

5 – How many Champions League finals did Ferguson reach with Man Utd?

ANSWERS

Sir Alex Ferguson Answers

keano1 – Who were the only club to ever sack Alex Ferguson?

St. Mirren

2 -  Who did Ferguson replace as manager at Man Utd?

Ron Atkinson

3 – Who was the Barcelona manager who lost to Ferguson’s United in the 1991 Cup WInners’ Cup final?

Johan Cryuff

4 – Who was the Bayern Munich manager during the famous 1999 Man Utd CL Final victory in Barcelona?

Ottmar Hitzfeld

5 – How many Champions League finals did Ferguson reach with Man Utd?

four

Fergie Times: The Footballing Life of Sir Alex Ferguson

FPCOVERalexBy Dave Bowler

It’s little wonder that St Mirren wanted to abandon their old home for pastures new. For if you venture to Paisley and walk down Love Street, preferably on a quiet evening, you find yourself enfolded in a strange, ghostly atmosphere, an air of what might have been. And if you listen particularly keenly, you might detect an ethereal thump, thump, thump permeating the space. That’s the sound of generations of St Mirren supporters banging their heads against a wall in frustration at the decision to dismiss their manager, Alex Ferguson, back in 1978.

Various reasons have been proffered for that decision, but from a St Mirren perspective, could there have ever been a worse day’s work than to lose the services of the man who has been the pre-eminent football manager in the British Isles over the course of the subsequent 30 years?

He’d already tasted a degree of success with the Buddies but once Ferguson walked into Pittodrie to replace Billy McNeill, things quickly moved onto a different level. There was already plenty of potential on the books but Ferguson was a shrewd operator in the transfer market and with a tweak here and there, after a barren first season, Aberdeen began to move through the gears and by the end of the 1979/80 season, they were crowned as champions of Scotland, ending 15 years of Glaswegian dominance and heralding the opening of a brand new era in the Scottish game, an era where the west of Scotland would be required to play second fiddle.

alex2Although Ferguson has never been afraid to adapt, to update, to take on new ideas, fundamentally, he has changed little since those early days at Pittodrie, when he made it perfectly clear just who was in charge. Players respected him or they were out the door and amid that respect, there was a certain fear of the boss as well, knowing that if they stepped out of line, the hair dryer was always ready to be plugged in.

Those are traits that Ferguson shares with other working class heroes, great football men who stepped out of the hard working life to crate extraordinary football teams and to take themselves out of a life of grinding hard work. Nobody is suggesting that there aren’t many sacrifice to be made in being a successful football manager, that the pressures aren’t intense, the hours long and the disappointments many and crushing. But for those who grew up in a mining village like Bill Shankly, or for those who got their hands dirty in the shipyards like Ferguson, they understand the privilege it is to work in he football industry instead of having to do a proper job, for lousy pay in horrible conditions.

fergietimes1That is the background that has fuelled Ferguson, understanding how lucky he is and understanding how important football is to the people he left behind in the shipyards. The people who populate the stands at our football grounds work hard all week, in jobs they might not like, for people they probably dislike and end up with not a lot of spare money by Saturday afternoon. So if they chose to spend it in coming through the turnstiles, then Ferguson has always wanted to ensure they get value for money. Woe betide any player who fails to put in the proper level of industry to reward the people who have put their faith and their money behind them. A poor performance is one thing, but a lazy display is something that Ferguson never tolerated.

The levels of fitness, of determination and, of course, quality, that the Dons put out on the fields of Scotland week after week, and then on into Europe, ensured that Aberdeen’s is a name that will ring out across Europe for decades to come. The success of Ferguson and his team ensures that whenever they do venture beyond these shores, the name of the club rings out and commands respect. Two stars on the shirt counts for something, especially in Scotland.

As a proper football man, Ferguson understands the nuances of the game, the value of tradition, the importance of symbolism, of reputation. He understood the Scottish game for example, knew that however good he or his team was, history would demand the Old Firm rise again and blow Aberdeen out of the water by virtue of their spending, as Rangers did. So when the offer of managing Manchester United came along, it was an offer he simply could not refuse.

United gave him the broad canvas that he needed, the scope, the scale that great managers require if they are to build anything of lasting value, just as Busby had before him, as Stein did, as Shankly did, as Chapman did. At Old Trafford, the Busby babes, Munich, Sir Matt and the Holy Trinity cast a long, long shadow. To those that followed in the wake, it was a shadow that cast them in darkness, a weight around the neck, a promise on which they could not deliver.

But to Alex Ferguson, history was an inspiration. At Pittodrie, he’d had to create history from nowhere. For all that the club had enjoyed 75 proud years before his arrival, it’s the Ferguson years that really built the club’s legend, its folklore. At Old Trafford, the raw materials were already there, at least in terms of the club’s place in the world. But players were underachieving, there was much talk of a drinking culture at the club, fitness levels were a long, long way from the kind of perpetual motion that had fuelled Aberdeen’s silverware collecting juggernaut.

fergietimes3Ferguson wasted little time in stamping his authority on Manchester United just as he had at Aberdeen. Certain players were deemed surplus to requirements and removed, not least as a warning those that remained behind. Those that did stay quickly had to shape up and fall into line with the manager’s unceasing demand for utter professionalism and total dedication to the cause. Anything less than that was letting Manchester United down and Ferguson was quick to remind anyone and everyone just how fortunate they were to be linked with the biggest football club in the world.

Pride in your shirt, in your club, in your team mates, in yourself has always been the cornerstone of the Fergie philosophy and slowly, that pride wormed its way into every corner of the United training ground, every corner of the dressing room, every corner of the pitch. Gradually, United inched towards becoming a major force, but it was a long, hard road and there were whispers that the manager might not be up to it, that change was required. Any such ideas were cast away, at least temporarily, when United beat Crystal Palace to win the FA Cup in 1990 and then, far more significantly, went on to emulate Aberdeen’s European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph a year later, defeating Barcelona in he final. Psychologically, that result was as important as any that Ferguson achieved in those early years at United, for it underlined that his side could go head to head with any club in the world and come out on top.

Setting goals is a key feature of management as well and off the back of that win, Fergie told the world that United would win a first League title since 1967 in the following year. The proclamation certainly gave his players belief, but in the final run in, they were found wanting and Leeds United pipped them to the title. To some, this was the final, overwhelming proof that Manchester United were never going to make the breakthrough, that they were indeed cursed never to win the title gain – pretty much the way they feel at Anfield about now. The fact that they had let the title slip through their fingers could easily have shattered confidence about the club had the manager shown any sign of weakness – fortunately for United, that’s not exactly one of Ferguson’s defining characteristics. Certainly they made a sluggish start to the following campaign, and they were mired in mid-table by November of the next campaign before Ferguson produced a day’s work that even by his standards was pretty exceptional.

Back in the day at Pittodrie, he was frequently quoted as saying that he never expected to do another deal as good as the one that brought Mark McGhee to Aberdeen. But back then, he had no idea that one day, he would commit the kind of theft that forced Ronnie Biggs to flee the country and go and live in Brazil. Presumably acting in the dead of night, wearing a mask, a stripy jumper and carrying a bag marked “swag” over his shoulder, he stole into Elland Road and made off with Leeds’ greatest asset, Eric Cantona, leaving a little bit of loose change to cover any damages caused during the break in.

The purchase of Cantona was truly visionary, in every sense. Ferguson clearly recognised that here was a player that could add that little bit of devilment, that spark that transforms good sides into special ones while for the Frenchman, this was finally the grand stage on which he could unleash his Shakespearean gifts, that facility for comedy, for tragedy, for drama.

Over the five years that Cantona was the number seven at Old Trafford, Manchester United set about crushing all-comers in England. Alex Ferguson saw the window of opportunity that had opened for him and his club in the Premiership age, particularly as both Liverpool and Arsenal were slipping away from their own high standards of the past, and he ruthlessly exploited that golden chance for all that it was worth. Bizarrely, Blackburn were the only other club to win the title in those first five Premiership seasons, and then only because everybody was kung fu fighting at Selhurst Park.

Time moves so fast these days that the events of a decade ago seem almost prehistoric, but it would be foolish to underestimate just how influential those years are, even today. Those were the years when the Manchester United that we know today was built. Bigger than anything even Sir Matt Busby might have envisaged, bigger than any club in English football history. United’s grasp on the young, on the casual fan, on supporters hundreds – even thousands – of miles away from Old Trafford might not bet everyone’s taste, but for the Red Devils, those were the foundations on which they have continued to build.

Had Ferguson and his team not dominated, and dominated in such glorious, attacking style in that period, had he not built a trophy eating monster, had he not made them even more of a worldwide phenomenon, perhaps not even they could have withstood the way that Roman Abramovich’s arrival at Chelsea distorted the sporting landscape by sheer weight of roubles. And had United not been able to fight back, had Chelsea enjoyed a serene procession to four straight titles, where might the EPL be now?

For Ferguson though, simply winning in England was not why he went to Manchester United, for his ambitions and his hunger have always driven him to want success on the biggest stage, in Europe, and to emulate Stein and Busby by lifting the European Cup. Frustrated by the “foreigners” rule that often forced him to leave out the likes of Cantona, Kanchelskis or Schmeichel in his early seasons, that was one of the prime motivators behind the emergence of Fergie’s Fledglings, a youthful side of home grown talent who burst in to the team. That and the fact that they were a clutch of superb players, schooled in Fergie’s image, exhibiting his own rock hard attitude, professionalism and will to win.

How many more dedicated players have there been in recent times than Ryan Giggs? Apart from Gary Neville. And Paul Scholes. And David Beckham. United seemingly had a monopoly on them and that was largely down to Ferguson’s radical influence which extended from top to bottom at United. His handling of Giggs in particular was a masterclass of keep an incredible young talent on the straight and narrow in a celebrity obsessed culture, keeping him out of the limelight and allowing him the space and scope to allow his talents to fully develop to the point where he has now surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton’s appearance record.

Every element of Manchester United bears the imprint of Sir Alex Ferguson upon it, none more so than the winning of the European Cup, and with it an extraordinary treble, in 1999. Apart from Turkey ‘08, can you think of any other side that could have come from a goal down to the disciplined might of Bayern Munich as the game entered injury time and not just forced an equaliser but actually won the game? But that was quintessential Ferguson, going to the last minute, going forward, scoring goals, cheating the inevitable. He’d have probably preferred a nice, serene 2-0 but if he was ever going to get his hands on that cup and go down in legend – and the honours list – as a consequence, that was the proper way. Him and his players against the world, and coming out on top.

That’s long been another classic Fergie tactic, creating a siege mentality, railing against injustices, real or perhaps, at times, imaginary, to bond his players ever tighter, giving them not just an appetite for points, but a cause to fight for, a common enemy. Over the years, that enemy has been the media more often than not, but also Arsene Wenger, Mourinho, the Premier League and, more recently, the noisy neighbours, Man City. And in time, Sir Alex has come out on top of them all, including beating Chelsea in a Champions League final in that symbolic victory in the rain of Moscow as United claimed a third European Cup in that most dramatic if penalty shoot outs.

In the aftermath of that triumph, Ferguson was interviewed, albeit briefly. But without prompting, in the course of a couple of sentences he summed up just why it is that he has endured at the top of the game for so many years. “I feel proud, very, very proud. Sometimes you have to pinch yourself, but we won’t get carried away with it. Tomorrow I’ll be thinking of next season. It drains away quickly for me. The euphoria evaporates almost immediately. The moment of that final penalty save from Edwin van der Sar, that was my moment, my euphoria and excitement, then you just carry on.”

A Cautionary Tale

bowlerPlenty of football revolves around “the banter”. Liverpool Everton, Spurs Arsenal, United City, Albion Wolves, it’s all about a bit of one upmanship and what, we are forced these days, to refer to as bragging rights. 

In the midlands at the moment, there is plenty of opportunity to invoke said rights if you are an Albion fan given the cataclysmic demise of Wolverhampton Wanderers, a story that has unravelled since the day, just 15 months ago, that the Throstles went to Molineux and came away with a 5-1 win that could have been ten.

In the wake of that, Wolves have gone into what amounts to a nervous breakdown. There are those who now argue that Mick McCarthy should never have been sacked in the wake of that defeat but anybody who was at Molineux on that day, who encountered the febrile atmosphere, the witch hunt there was for McCarthy that day, will know only too well that the idea that he could be leading the team in Wolverhampton a fortnight later is the stuff of fantasy. After a result, and a performance of that nature, he had to go.

Wolves’ problem was that they seemed to have no succession plan in place which appears laughable now given that it was obvious to anyone that McCarthy’s time was running out. Loyalty is a highly laudable thing, and there was great support for McCarthy within the corridors of power at Wolves, but in truth, his time had come months before. Having survived by the skin of their teeth the previous season, that was the time to remove McCarthy, a manager highly adept at getting teams promoted but largely unable to take them onto another level beyond that. Having earned them a third straight Premiership season, if Wolves had truly wanted to progress, the time to move him on was the summer of 2011. They did not and from there, all bets were off.

wolvesJust as extraordinary was the decision to build a new stand. Presumably, Wolves felt they were now settled and established in the top flight and in need of more seats, a conclusion that makes the decision to persevere with McCarthy all the stranger. As past experience shows – especially from the original redevelopment of Molineux – you cannot improve your stadium without first improving your team. Wolves failed to heed the lessons of history and are paying the price as a result.

All of the 2011/12 campaign was a long fight against relegation, as it was always destined to be under McCarthy. Only too late did they jettison him, under duress, and then they compounded the error in finding a successor. A deal was done with Steve Bruce, only for the board to lose their nerve once the message boards suggested the fans didn’t want him, thinking they could get a “bigger name”. Compare and contrast, as they used to say on exam papers, the differing fortunes of Wolves and Bruce last weekend.

They then dithered about before announcing that their number one choice had been Terry Connor all along. Firstly, he clearly wasn’t, which meant that from day one, he was undermined. Secondly, he was McCarthy’s assistant. Clearly they had concluded that the McCarthy era had run its course and, if so, clearly his staff were also a part of the problem. It wasn’t as if McCarthy had gone on to bigger and better things and they were looking for continuity in his wake. They were needing a fresh start, so why not have one?

Once Connor had completed McCarthy’s work and taken Wolves down with a whimper, the club finally decided on a change of course and to bring that freshness, appointed Stale Solbakken. The Norwegian was charged with bringing a more progressive style to a team schooled in the more rudimentary approach of McCarthy and after promising early signs when a push for the top six looked possible, things took a turn for the worse. Defeat at Luton in the FA Cup was the last straw and in January, after just seven months at the helm, he was removed, that experiment seemingly over.

In came Dean Saunders, rippling with Doncaster pedigree, his way with a one liner supposedly just the charm that was needed to lift the pessimistic gloom that hung like a pall over Molineux. That went well didn’t it? And now, Saunders is in the dole queue with his P45 in his hand and Wolves look to find a manager to take them out of League One. All over the Black Country, barely suppressed laughter can be heard tumbling from blue and white mouths.

But football lives on fine margins. That day at Molineux, 12th February 2012. Going into the game, Albion had taken four points from six games and had 26 points from 24 games. Wolves had just won at QPR, had 21 points from 24 games and were out of the bottom three. Albion murdered Wolves through the first half, but a last ditch Fletcher goal saw the sides in at 1-1. Albion’s domination continued in the second period, but the game remained tight. At 2-1 to the visitors, Foster produced a phenomenal save then, from a corner, Wolves looked to have equalised, only for Mulumbu to rise and head the ball off the line. From there, Wolves collapsed, lost 5-1 and nervous collapse followed.

Just imagine Mulumbu was two inches shorter. The ball goes in, it’s 2-2, Albion deflated, Wolves suddenly ascendant. They win the game, get a rush of confidence from it and string some points together. Albion, on the other hand, are crushed and go into decline, ending in relegation. Roy Hodgson not only doesn’t get the England job, but he leaves at season’s end with his contract at an end, leaving Albion to find a new boss to try and restore them to the Premier League. Meanwhile, a feelgood factor surrounds Molineux, season ticket sales go through the roof, the new stand is full, McCarthy leaves, they appoint a progressive manager like Steve Clarke, and suddenly they are pushing for Europe. Seems ludicrous now, but the skin on Mulumbu’s head – there’s a name for a fanzine if ever there was one – might just have been the difference between one future and another.

Back to the present, and just hold on a minute. Decline – like success – very rarely lasts forever. Let us take a look, for example, at the 1997/98 campaign, and focus up on the bottom tier. The five clubs that propped up the Football League were Swansea City, Cardiff City, Hull City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Doncaster Rovers. Manchester City and Stoke City had just been relegated to Division Two. They’ve all had quite decent seasons as it turns out.

And Wolves will rise again. Why? Because the club is too big not to, because, above all, it has history. That history pulled them out of the mire through the ‘80s and ‘90s when it was going catastrophically wrong and it will do so again. The financiers will tell you that you can’t find history on the balance sheet. Maybe not, but you can find it in the P&L account. When we all come back in August, look at the number of season tickets Wolves sell and the size of their crowd and those at Stevenage. Wolves’ numbers will be three or four times greater than theirs and why? Because of Billy Wright, Stan Cullis, John Richards, Derek Dougan, because they built the club, because supporters hope their like will come again. In the end, history will create a future for Wolves. And you can take that to the bank.

 

The View From 101

esclogoBy Tim Hall

In the world of professional soccer, there are a lot of players who have been branded, fairly or unfairly, as any number of things. Cheater, philanderer and racist are three that spring to mind immediately and are also fit to be printed. But for Americans emerging on the local, national and indeed global stage in football, there’s one thing absolutely no one wants to be called: “the next big thing”. 

In this nation so starved for stars we hold contests to elect more of them, soccer fans are not immune to the cult of personality surrounding players. When a massive European veteran comes to our little league, we stand in awe of their greatness and speak in hushed tones of plays that barely sound possible, but your friend’s cousin’s dad swears he heard it on the radio. When a middle-of-the-road player puts in workman-like performances for a few matches in a row, we hoist him to the pedestal of “one of our guys” while dreams of throwing an arm around his shoulder and sharing a beer with him dance in our heads. And when a young player shows a flash or two of brilliance, don’t we grownups come running to be a part of the spectacle.

It’s quite like the scene in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” where (spoiler alert) Charlie finds the last golden ticket. For the briefest of moments Charlie is in shock, playing out all the scenarios in his mind of what this meant. Then all the adults come rushing in to bear witness, to see if this is in fact the genuine article. Charlie, shocked by all this new attention and the crush of people against him, is not sure what to do, until one well-intentioned person in the growing mob screams “Run for it, Charlie! Run straight home and don’t stop til you get there!”

Maybe that’s what we should be telling the young upstarts that pop up from time to time in Major League Soccer. Run, kid. Run like hell. As fast and as far as you can.

Consider the first real child star of the MLS era in the United States, Freddy Adu. At the tender age of fourteen he was pushed to prominence as The Next Big Thing, the potential savior of US Soccer, and soccer in the US. He would dazzle us and do things that only the pantheon of greats could, such were the promises. He landed lucrative endorsement deals including a television commercial starring alongside Pele. Imagine that at fourteen. To his credit, Adu played well at first, for a 14 year old or anyone else for that matter. But eventually the sense of self and the weight of expectations caught up with him. Adu started to complain about lack of playing time. A loan bid to Manchester United of all places fizzled out due to paperwork issues. A year later he was traded from DC to Salt Lake, but a year after that he finally successfully moved to Europe, landing at Benfica, who then loaned him around Europe like he was a ballpoint pen, and being roughly as successful a player as a result. A return home to play for Philadelphia saw Adu pouting from the stands before long, and now he plies his trade in Brazil.

New York has certainly done their part to first bolster and then ruin young talent. Around the same time as Freddy Adu and a smiling old Brazilian man were being beamed into homes around the world, Eddie Gaven came onto the main stage for the then Metrostars. Comparatively ancient at the age of sixteen, local newspapers gushed when Adu and Gaven met for the first time on the field of play at New York’s 2004 home opener. While Gaven has certainly been a serviceable MLS player, he has not ascended to any great heights in New York or, now, in Columbus, and rarely figures into serious national team conversation.

Some time later came Michael Bradley, son of the Metrostars head coach at the time and later US National Team manager Bob Bradley. Many were the calls of nepotism both in New York and, later, when father called up son to don the stars and stripes. This may be the case where the ‘theory of running away’ is proven best. Before any serious positive buzz could build, Bradley was gone from American soil. After only two seasons for Metro, the team sold an eighteen-year-old Bradley off to Europe, where he toiled in some anonymity for a while in smaller leagues, but now is a US National Team stalwart, even recently being considered as a captain. And all of this long after his father’s guiding hand.

Not long after came Jozy Altidore, an undeniably gifted yet undeniably raw talent when he made his debut for the now rechristened Red Bulls at sixteen in 2006. Two-and-a-half years later he was sent to Villareal, but withered under the bright lights in Spain, and, like Adu before him, became a loan-out ping pong ball, becoming a bench fixture in England (for Hull City) and Turkey (at Bursaspor). Eventually Villareal came to their senses and sold Jozy to AZ in the Netherlands where, away from the spotlight of the biggest European leagues, Altidore has finally rounded into the form everyone knew he might have.

Juan Agudelo would come to New York next. Like Altidore and Bradley, he was a young player with local ties. The similarities to those two players end there, and then Agudelo’s career arc more matches Eddie Gaven’s: a good MLS player, but not much else, and in Agudelo’s case, a bit of an ego issue. Before joining MLS, he opted to spurn New York’s advances and instead trial for Millonarios in Colombia which failed, as did later hopes at Celtic and West Ham. Promising, if limited, time for New York led Agudelo to be trade bait and would see him land at Chivas USA, where he would do whatever the opposite of shine is. This week, the once bright star was traded for allocation money to New England, thereby completing the Dysfunctional MLS Clubs trifecta.

Each of these young men and more like them were hyped to the moon as potential stars for club and country, but none of them has really lived up to their potential. But who could? They were faced with stardom when what they should have been worried about was having acne issues on prom night. If it helps you sleep at night, you can blame them for buying in to their own hype as The Next Big Thing. You could, in theory, blame Major League Soccer’s desire to create and promote young domestic talent.

But in the end, we should blame ourselves. No matter the skill or the class, they were just kids, and we should just let them have fun and play before putting the weight of American soccer’s future on their shoulders.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday May 11: New York Red Bulls at New England Revolution - Yes, yes, we’re “shipping up to Boston”, aren’t you clever? Join the Empire Supporters Club at The Football Factory at Legends (6 W 33rd St. Manhattan) for a massive road game.

Greeks Clinch East Title In CSL

cosmoyellowBy Jay Mwamba

Another “Mega” brace, another rout and another title. That was the story at the Metropolitan Oval a week ago Thursday when ten-man New York Greek-American/Atlas thrashed Hoboken FC 6-1 to clinch the East title in their penultimate game of the CSL regular season. 

Five days later, the Greeks returned to the Oval and could afford to take their collective foot of the pedal in a 3-2 loss to Jersey City Eagles.

 

GREEK COURAGE

The encounter with Hoboken was nothing short of dramatic.

Yahaya Musa drew first blood after five minutes and two minutes later, Nick Viaggio was ejected after conceding a penalty. Hoboken’s Javier Vegas tied the game from the spot.

Down a man for the remaining 83 minutes, Atlas responded courageously. Chris Megaloudis [two], Claudio Shala, Andre Fonseca and Diego Velasquez all scored to pull off another rout.

Player/co-coach Joe Ruesgen was predictably elated. “To score six goals, play so well, and clinch the division championship on one night, needless to say we are all delighted,” he said.

“ Hoboken are a strong team physically with a couple of very good players so it makes our performance even more impressive,” the defender added.

 

AFTERMATH

Megaloudis would later score again in the loss to Jersey Eagles Tuesday night — Josh Trott got the other – to bring his season tally in all competitions to 29 goals.

Raldino Powell, former Barnstonworth Rover Scott Waddell and Jonathan Jazo were the Jersey marksmen.

“Not too much to say as we knew we had already won the league and tried to get everyone in the squad in,” observed Ruesgen, before adding: “Although it was a meaningless result in the end, we never like to lose. Jersey came out and played hard and three defensive mistakes cost us in the end.”

With an unassailable 37 points from 12 wins, three losses and one tie, Atlas now continue their defense of the CSL championships in the first division playoffs May 19.

They face West runners-up, either Lansdowne Bhoys or United FC. New York Athletic Club, who will finish second in the East, are the other side in the playoffs whose winners advance to the CSL championship match June 2.

 

U.S. AMATEUR CUP

Before all that, however, Atlas tackle New England’s Battery Park Gunners in the U.S. Amateur Cup Region 1 semi-finals at the Met Oval this Sunday [4 p.m.].

 

JERSEY STREAK

Jersey Eagle’s Greek conquest, meanwhile, was their second win in 48 hours. Last Sunday, Jonathan Jazo and Navid Morad [two] knocked off Barnstonworth Rovers 3-0 on Randalls Island.

Rovers’ reserves succumbed 3-1, with Matt Weill, one of several players to play both games for his depleted club, on target.

“With only 15 players available we actually gave [Jersey] two good games,” noted Rovers coach Stavros Zomopoulos, who also had to suit up.

And in a first for Rovers, they came up against a former first team player in Scott Waddell, who, to his ex-teammates’ delight, was kept scoreless.

WESTERN FRONT

In the West, Lansdowne are on the cusp of a second successive division title after holding off Central Park Rangers [CPR] 3-2. This after the Irishmen won an appeal for points from their 1-0 loss to Jersey City Eagles April 14.

The two outcomes lifted the Bhoys [10-3-3, 33] atop the First Division West log, two points ahead of United FC and earned them a playoff berth. It also means they’ll need just a tie from Sunday’s regular season finale against United at Tibbetts Brook Park [6 p.m.] to win the division.

On course for a league and cup double, the Bhoys meet United again June 9 in the Manning Cup final.

Last season’s East titlists and CSL championship runners-up, Lansdowne led CPR at the interval through Stephen Roche [1st pen., 27th] and Craig Purcell [44th].

George Fenwick and Eli Vovsha pulled back two for CPR who also had a goal disallowed. But Lansdowne held on for the win.

Said CPR manager Yuval Lion: “We came out determined and unbowed for the second half, making some attacking tactical changes. We were the superior team and pulled two goals back, with one more questionably disallowed for offside.”

In the reserve tussle, Richie Hartnett and Greg King canceled out strikes by Tom Clark and Devin Roche to salvage a 2-2 tie for Lansdowne.

 

CELTS CRASH

United FC dispatched Manhattan Celtic 3-0 at Pier 5 on goals by Joseph Ovenceri, Walter Hines and Bryan Martinez.

United boss Alex Zaretser had props for his defense for shutting down Celtic.

Bohdan Matyushenko and Viktor Pamelko shot down Celtic’s reserves 2-0.

 

JERSEY DERBY

In an all-Jersey clash in Boonton, Hoboken’s reserves run off 5-0 winners over New York Croatia ‘B.’

Russ Suereth [3rd], Eric Brodfuehrer [11th, 32nd], Pat Occhiuto [19th] and Marco Zoppi [57th] tallied.

 

CASSIO TIME

Brazilian Cassio Costa notched a hat trick as New York Ukrainian demolished FC Japan 6-2 at the Verrazano Sports Complex to move back into second place in Division Two with one game remaining.

Ibrahim Diene [two] and Alagie Janneh got the other goals for Steve Kovalenko’s men [8-2-5, 29], who made the most of Stal Mielec’s 2-2 tie with champions-designate Manhattan Kickers. Ukrainians now take a two-point lead over Stal in the battle for that second promotion spot.

The Ukrainian reserves smashed Japan’s second unit 8-0 with Lukasz Prawozin netting the requisite hat trick.  Nazar Zarichnyy [two], Craig Thomas, Ruslan Almazov and Sergei Khaladzinski were the other marksmen.

 

ADVANTAGE STAL

Stal, however, still hold the advantage in the promotion race with a game in hand to Ukrainians who wind up against Tesoro Brooklyn Knights this weekend.  Stal play Japan on Sunday and FC Gwardia May 19.

Tomasz Groch and David “Boxer” Lis scored for Stal in the draw with Kickers, whose Alex Dawson and Damian Lopez struck.

Nick Bill had a trey in the Kicker reserves’ 3-0 romp.

SETTLING RESULT

On Roosevelt Island, Shamrock edged Flank United 2-1 on Englishman Tom Settle’s brace to keep their slim promotion hopes alive.

Flank’s David Lawrence scored a late penalty. The Rocks improved to 7-4-3, 24 in fourth place, three points behind Stal Mielec and five behind second place Ukrainians, with a game in hand to the latter.

John McDonnell, Marc Eisenberg and the prolific Sean McMullan led the Shamrock seconds to a 3-1 win, with Ghaith Abdullah the Flank scorer.

 

KNIGHTS CUFFED

Also in the second tier, NYPD blanked Tesoro Brooklyn Knights 3-0 at Flushing Meadow Park.

Jorge Bedoya, Nick Baum and Ugur Kahveci connected, with Baum also notching a brace in the Cop reserves’ 3-1 victory.  Mike Agolli was the other scorer in the curtain raiser.

 

COSMIC FIGHTBACK

BW G Cosmos’ second half fight back against Dynamo SC saw them erase a 2-0 deficit to triumph 5-2 in a Metro Div. One fixture at Kaiser Park.

The result moved Cosmos [6-6, 18] into second place in the East, 15 points behind runaway leaders CD Iberia.

“Without a goalie and legit center defenders [Cosmos] went down quick 2-0. It was not until the goalie and center defenders got settled in when [we] started to play dominating soccer,” said manager John Krische.

Michael Ledesma slotted in a through ball from his brother Kevin to start the fight back. In the end, the Ledesmas each got two before Julian Munera sealed the comeback.

 

DENNEHY BLOW

Mr. Dennehy’s Metro Div. One West title hopes suffered a major blow after a 3-2 defeat to Gotham Argo and Lansdowne Bhoys’ second consecutive forfeit win saw them fall five points behind the table topping Irishmen. Gotham’s Jacobo Campo [two] and Momo Diop were on target on Staten Island, with Mark Harris providing assists for both scorers.

 

 METRO TWO

Stanlley Cadet, Clifford Augustin, William Dorelien and Michelet Alexis kept leaders Grenadier Zenith a point ahead of Hicksville Stars with a 4-1 drubbing of New Amsterdam on Randalls Island.

Grenadier improved to [13-1-1, 4] while Hicksville are 13-2 [39] after a forfeit win over SC Eintracht.

Third place CPR blacks [32] had goals from Chris Valentine, Caleb Seeley, Kris Pritchett and Mike Sevchek in a 4-2 win over Nifa.

Barnstonworth Rovers outgunned NYPD 5-3 in their mid-table fixture with goals by Sergio Restrepo, Remo Enea, Michael Phillips and Trevor Titus.

 

ASO WINNER

Jaime Blanco and Miguel Perez Aso were the difference in New York Galicia’s 2-1 decision over New York Ittihad.

 

BRAVEHEART

Elsewhere in Metro Two, Fidelis Idoko’s double secured a 2-2 tie for FC Braveheart against NYC Metro Stars.

 

 RICHIE WEBB

In a top-of-the-table clash of academic importance, Over-30 Div. One East winners Manhattan Kickers succumbed 4-3 to runners-up New York Dinamo despite a hat trick from Richie Webb.

Fourth place Kickers Over-30s edged SC Eintracht 3-2 thanks to Dylan Dodd and a late flurry by Dave Stopforth and Paul Cowler.

Eintracht led twice through Eric Oram and Andres Garcia.

“However, we ran out of gas and Manhattan scored two in the waning minutes,” said Tom Strumpf.

 

CELTIC EXPRESS

Hannu Korhonen, Jacob Long, Chikezie Punnette and Youcef Mami tallied for Over-30 Div. One West champions-designate Manhattan Celtic Legends in a 4-1 romp over Barnstonworth Rovers Premier at Kaiser Park.

Stephen Foster, John O’Hagan, Mickey Mason and Tyler Fransen had the assists, while the dependable Nedgy Nazon got Premier’s consolation goal.

 

GOLDEN GLOVER

On Randalls Island, outgoing CSL senior champs Shamrock had a brace from ex-New York Daily News Golden Gloves boxer Thomas Maher in a 3-0 win over Rovers’ other O-30 team to preserve their Div. One status.

Burim Ljuta had an assistant and a goal.

 

COSMOS THRASHED  

In Over-30 Div. Two, Sascha Maric [two] led the charge as Hoboken FC 1912 thrashed BW Cosmos 5-2 on Randalls.

Kyle Caler, Kerry Hall and Omar Ramos added a goal apiece, while Edison scored both for Cosmos.

 

TOUGH VETS

Also on Randalls Island, a late blitz by Jersey City saw off gusty Hoboken Veterans 6-3 in a free scoring Over-30 Div. Two affair.

 

Hoboken’s Lucian Ciulla canceled out an early Jersey goal but it wasn’t until the last 30 minutes of the game that the floodgates opened.

Chris Vataj [three], Laurence Piturro, Mark Shkreli and Vuksan Djoljevic tallied for Jersey, while Bryan Wippich struck twice to make it respectable for Hoboken.

“Eagles are a very strong team and we wish them well in the National Cup,” said Ciulla.

 

ANDY MURRAY

Elsewhere, the Manhattan Celtic Bhoys’ famously named Andy Murray had the solitary goal [62nd] in a 1-0 decision over Argo Silver. Sebastien Thiol had the assist.

And Chris Holterhoff scored for Nieuw Amsterdam in 1-1 tie with Troy Turkish United FC.

 HELP WANTED

The CSL is looking for workers for this summer’s COPA Tournament games. Duties include keeping stats and assisting with field and game management. Work hours will be Saturday and Sundays in June and July. The CSL will pay an hourly rate plus travel expenses. If interested, submit an email application to: cslnysoccer@aol.com .

Champions League Final at Wembley Questions

keano1 – Who lost to AC Milan in the first European Cup final at Wembley in 1963

2-  How many finals have been staged at Wembley prior to this year’s final?

3 – What was the score of the last CL final to be staged at Wembley?

4 – Who scored the winning goal for Liverpool in their 1978 Wembley final?

5 – Which club appeared in both of the first two European Cup finals to be played at Wembley?

ANSWERS

Champions League Final at Wembley Answers

keano1 – Who lost to AC Milan in the first European Cup final at Wembley in 1963

Benfica

2-  How many finals have been staged at Wembley prior to this year’s final?

six

3 – What was the score of the last CL final to be staged at Wembley?

Barcelona 3 – Man Utd 1

4 – Who scored the winning goal for Liverpool in their 1978 Wembley final?

Kenny Dalglish

5 – Which club appeared in both of the first two European Cup finals to be played at Wembley?

Benfica

LAST FEW PLACES! Fly To England For Jamie Carragher’s Final Match! May 16th-20th

 

flytoanfieldFirst Touch/First Touch Online and Quest Sports Travel are excited to present a rare opportunity for US Liverpool supporters. Join over 45,000 other passionate fans at Anfield for the season finale vs. QPR and say thanks to Jamie Carragher for 16 years of dedicated and distinguished service to the Club and its fans.

Tickets to the Match include a 3-course Pre-match meal at a private Hospitality venue.  Return to the Hospitality room after the game for coffee and sandwiches.

The package also includes a separate tour of Anfield Stadium, as well as tickets to the famed Beatles Story Museum.

Thursday 16 May, 2013
Depart USA on overnight flight to Manchester

Friday 17 May, 2013
Arrive in Manchester; private mini-van transfer to Liverpool
Free time to discover Liverpool; 4-Star hotel check in

Saturday 18 May, 2013
Anfield tour / Beatles Museum tour

Sunday 19 May, 2013
MATCH DAY – private transfer to Hospitality Suite @ Anfield with former player in attendance, match ticket, post game reception.

Monday 20 May, 2013
Private mini-van transfer to Manchester Airport and flight to USA

$2175 per person** includes: – Airfare & departure tax allowance – 4-Star hotel accommodation w/ breakfast in double occupancy – Airport transfers in England – Match Day Hospitality package – Anfield tour – Beatles Museum tour – Taxi transfers to and from Anfield 

For more information contact Ken Solomon: ksolomon@questsportstravel.com

Telephone: 781.929.4113

Quest Sports Travel: PO Box 419, Malverne, NY 11565: www.questsportstravel.com

Gareth Bale Interview

baleGareth, how do you feel after being voted the PFA’s Player of the Year?

It’s a massive honour. To be voted by your peers is one of the biggest things in the game. It’s great to win it and I am delighted.

How special is it that you have won both awards?

When you look at the list there are some massive names on it but I couldn’t have done it without the team. They have been fantastic this year and so has the manager. I couldn’t have won it without them so I would like to give them all a big thank you as well

 

The likes of Robin van Persie, Luis Suarez and Juan Mata were also on the shortlist.  What do you think gave you the edge?

I don’t know really. The other nominees have been unbelievable, they have been outstanding for their clubs and it’s a massive moment to win, especially as it’s both awards and it’s something that I’m extremely proud of.

 

Which players have impressed you this year?

I think the same as everyone – Van Persie, Suarez, just to name two. They have been outstanding this season and it’s been a great season for everyone to watch. There is still some time to go.

 

What has been your favourite goal so far this season?

There are a few. The one against Norwich was one of my favourites, the West Ham one… Those two are my favourites from this season.

 

Your previous best goal tally was 15 in one season.  You’re now on 29 goals for club and country this season.  Why have you improved so much in front of goal?

Probably more shooting to be honest! I think I have come inside a lot more. I have a few less assists this year but I am in more scoring positions these days and that has obviously helped my scoring tally as we have seen this season.

 

Nobody has ever won the PFA Player of the Year award three times before.  Is that an aim for you in the future?

I don’t really look to individual awards. The biggest thing is playing for your team and going well. If you do well then these awards come along. I don’t think individual awards are something you strive for, it’s just a bonus.

 

Do you think you are in the best form of your life?

Yeah, definitely. As I am getting older I am getting more experienced, more confident and I think I am taking that on to the pitch so hopefully I can continue playing in that kind of form and hopefully continue improving as a player. Hopefully I can get better.

 

You’ve played in more positions this year.  Has that helped you become a more rounded footballer?

I definitely think it can improve you. You learn all different parts of the game. If you are struggling on the left you can go to the centre, and if you are struggling there you can move to the right so it’s obviously great being able to play in a lot of positions and it does make you a better footballer. I have enjoyed playing all the positions. My favourite is probably the central role where you play behind the striker. There you can go left, right, short, deep… It’s a role I have enjoyed and hopefully can keep improving on.

 

What are your ambitions for Spurs?

We have been doing fantastic this season. We still have quite a young squad when you compare us to a lot of the other teams. A lot of us are around a similar age. We have been together now for three or four years. We have grown up together and the confidence is there. We are still young, we are improving every season and hopefully we can reach our ambitions, which we know we can achieve.

 

Do you feel you can improve further?

Definitely. I can still improve in everything. There is still a lot for me to do. I have only just moved in to that role in the centre so there is still a lot for me to learn and hopefully I can continue to do that. As long as I keep working hard on the pitch and in training hopefully that will come true.

 

So it bodes well for a successful future for you?

Hopefully.  I think obviously it’s a massive honour to win both awards. It’s surreal. I’m still young. I still have to keep my feet on the ground and keep working hard, keep striving to work hard as a player and there is a lot more to come from me in the future.

Would you trade both awards in now for a top-four finish with Spurs?

Definitely.

www.tottenhamhotspur.com