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Eddie Park: Contact
Email:Eddie
Welcome to the 1995 Squad SYFL
Wales Trip
The 1995's left Bishopbriggs on Friday (April 20th) full of
excitement as we set off on our bus trip to Prestatyn, North Wales to take part
in the Sports International football tournament.
With 25 players and 26 parents and guardians in attendance we bade our farewells
to the Mum's and Dad's left behind and set off on our new adventure.
Five minutes into the journey and the first calls of "are we there yet" could be
heard from some of the Boys and only one thousand questions and several hours
later could all the coaches and adults shout "Aye!".
The chalet keys were quickly sorted and after unpacking & attending a manager's
meeting we settled down for a couple of refreshments before chilling out and
preparing for tomorrow's games.
The first matches began at 9.00am so it was a 8.30 start to travel a few miles
down the road to Rhyl sports centre where the action was taking place. Our
coach driver Stuart Marshall from Marshall's coaches in Baillieston was to be
our chauffeur for the weekend and no chore was too big as he welcomed everyone
with a friendly smile and offered to pick us up when required. This was
particularly helpful to us as initially Stuart was planning to travel back to
Glasgow and return on the Monday morning for our departure. Stuart's help
throughout the weekend was something that all the
parents agreed added to our time away.
As we arrived at the pitches the skies were blue and the weather was
surprisingly warm and the boys started preparing themselves for the games ahead.
First on the pitch was Rossvale Villa whose opponents would be local Welsh team
Aston Park Rangers. The boys started quietly probably taking a little time to
adjust to the new surroundings but soon came on to a game to earn a 0-0 draw in
what was a fair result for both sides. Villa would be in Group A with five other
teams and in Group B would be Rossvale Thistle and United who as events would
have it would face each other first. The players know each others games inside
out and games between all three teams are always close and so this one would
prove again with Michael Reilly's two goals to Andrew Woods one earning United a
2-1 victory over their club mates.
Villa were due up next and their opponents would be Liverpool team NRBI. The
Liverpool team were a quality outfit with some of their play quite outstanding
and they found themselves deservedly 3-0 ahead at half-time. The boys trooped
off the field understandably disheartened but a few words of encouragement and
the good old Scottish fighting spirit soon came to the fore and although they
would lose the game 4-0 their second half performance was exceptional and they
can count themselves unlucky not to have scored a couple of goals. With the
talents of NRBI there for all to see it came as no surprise to find out that
they were in fact Everton's development team!!
United's next opponents were another Liverpool side in Crosby Youth and as we
would find out later on this young team recently lost 5 players to Liverpool and
Man Utd!! United would lose by six goals to nil but this would be nothing to be
concerned about bearing in mind that Rossvale had taken three balanced teams and
at times were up against the cream of the crop from north west England. Thistle
would play at the same time against a local Welsh team and after
playing well, particularly in the first half when the boys had opportunities to
score, would eventually lose 3-0 a physically bigger team.........something I'll
come onto later on.
The last games of the day would see all three teams lose their final games
against not just excellent teams but also physically far stronger. On the
physical aspect, for some strange reason the youth levels in Scotland do not run
in parallel with the English and Welsh FA's.
In Scotland we run our teams using the calendar year which means that everyone
of our Under 9's are born in 1995 but in England and Wales it runs from Sept 1st
1994 to Aug 31 1995. This resulted in a minimum four month age gap between the
older boys in our team and almost a one year gap between our opponents and the
majority of our players.
So while the results during day one may not have been as the players had hoped,
encouragement was gained from the fact the not only were some of our opponents
representing top quality teams but a number of their players were
older and considerably bigger and stronger.
With the day's matches finished by early afternoon this allowed the players and
adults to make the most of the exceptional weather and enjoy the sights of the
local area. While some decided to head back to the resort others made
their way into Rhyl to enjoy the seaside town. First stop was for something to
eat and then onto the kids fair at the beach front. The most common sound that I
heard all weekend was "Da, gonny geez some money" and after speaking to the
majority of the adults this appeared to be a common theme!
After a shot on the massive bouncy castle it was a quick retreat as the castle
started deflating at the point where our boys had been playing! Next stop along
the way was the crazy golf and this is where my own son Robert and Alec's boy
Kyle would be joined by Alan 'Aldo' Clark. For those unaware Aldo is the Del Boy
Trotter / geezer / gallus one of the group and can usually be heard well before
he's seen. Aldo's only played a couple of holes before he sinks his first crazy
golf hole-in-one. Rather than the usual "Yes" or "Ya Beauty" normally associated
with a great shot the wee man decides that "Who's the Daddy" was the comment
best fitting for a tremendous putt.
This of course would be Alan's catchphrase for the entire weekend and before you
know it half the team were shouting out "Who's the Daddy" at anyone within
earshot!!
Next up was Rhyl's equivalent of Blackpool's pleasure beach, although a lot
older and a lot smaller and really quiet. In fact it was nothing like
Blackpool's pleasure beach! The boys were joined at this point by Conor and
Andrew and they went on to have a ball
That evening in the holiday camp the boys were having a great time. With so many
pals to play with this allowed the adults an opportunity to have a beer and get
the opportunity to relax all except Connie Reilly who was adamant
there must be a five-star chalet on the site and Karen who like all good social
workers is in her element bossing the kids and adults around. Only joking
ladies.
Mary McArthur had been given her orders by hubby Neil working away in far-off
India not to drink too many Breezers and Gary Love had by this time pitched up
his own stall in the bar selling top of the range portable DVD players.
Robert McBain was telling everyone he wasn't sure if Guinness was for him as he
finished his sixth pint while Byron's uncle Kevin was Rossvale's very own John
Travolta as he showed all the players his Disco Stu moves from the 70's.
The following day was to prove another scorcher and we all set off more
determined to give a greater account of ourselves. Throw in's instead of
kick-in's and keepers being allowed to punt the ball out were other aspects that
the players weren't used to and all being well with a days practice them they
would start to get accustomed to the new rules.
First on the field again were Rossvale Villa whose opponents were Leicester team
Thurlo Tigers. The boys started the game absolutely magnificently against a team
who were second in the group and looked determined to show our opponents how
good they are.
Not having scored a goal the previous day we were really hoping the boys would
gain some confidence and so it proved when a great one two between Robert Park
and Alan Clark ended with Robert placing the ball past the keeper to put Villa
1-0 up. Our opponents came back strongly during the second half and earned a
deserved draw with a good performance.
Thistle's opponents would be Crosby Youth who would go on to win the tournament
by beating NRBI 5-4 on penalties. Again our boys had a determination about their
play and were winning the majority of challenges against a bigger team. With
Anton outstanding in goals it looked like our boys would hold out until half
time but from a corner one of the Crosby
players scored from a header. Crosby would go on to win the game 3-0 but Thistle
put on a tremendous show and can be proud of their performance.
On the other pitch United were playing against Great Crosby A (Liverpool) and
would put in a terrific performance. Highlight of the game had to be Marc
McLune's 30 yard effort which stoated into the top corner of the net. This would
not be enough as the boys would go down 3-1 but again their performance was
first class.
The last games would see United losing to Manchester team Denton Youth 3-0 and
Thistle lose to Great Crosby A 5-1.
Villa's last game was against Great Crosby B and now full of confidence after
scoring their first goal in the previous match the lads would put on an
excellent second half performance and win 2-1 with goals from Kyle Cameron and
Robert Park. Their celebrations at the end said it all and it was great to see
the boys get the win that their play deserved.
With the football now over it was back to the resort and
preparation for the evening's award ceremony.
In attendance to hand out the awards was ex-Scotland coach Craig Brown now
plying his trade along the road in Preston. Each team had their name read out
and it was great to cheer them all as they made their way to the stage to
collect their trophies after a handshake from Craig Brown before taking their
place for team photos.
Another funny moment happened when Aldo Clark somehow managed to make his way up
to the stage three times and get himself in all three team photos. The look on
Craig Brown's. face was a picture as he shook hands for the third
time in as many minutes with Rossvale's very own diamond geezer!
Thereafter it was time to relax and enjoy our last night in the resort. As the
night wore on it was great to see Ian McClune trying to make the hucklebuck
trendy again and Lee Davison's dad Jim show that all the rumours about him being
a big Abba fan were indeed true.
In amongst all this it was also great to see young Derrick, McClune and Park
show Byron's uncle Kevin and Aldo's uncle Gary that 8 year-olds can be better at
dancing than some adults! It was soon the wee sma' hours and time for everyone
to make their way home in preparation for tomorrow's journey back home.
The faces on some of the adults was a picture in the morning with Kevin
McCluskey now looking like Harry Redknapp's older brother and Gary's dad Danny
making a great attempt at sleeping all the way from Wales to Scotland!
Two stops and six hours later we were back at Huntershill where our adventure
had begun.
The weekend was a great success with the people that matter most, the players,
having a great time. Their time with each other at training and on a Saturday
morning is limited and it was great to see a number of new friendships made and
existing friendships cemented.
Before departing it would be safe to assume that a number of thoughts go through
your mind most notably that the boys all behave and have a great time. I can
honestly say that all the boys were a credit to Rossvale and that this trip will
be the first of many that the 1995's will undertake over the years ahead.
Finally, a special thank you to Stuart Marshall from Marshall's coaches in
Baillieston who couldn't have possibly done more to help. Stuart was an absolute
gentleman and made himself available at all times to assist us in our travels,
which was especially good when the Saturday and Sunday pick-ups were not part of
our agreement and that he was making a 40 mile round trip each day from his digs
in Llandudno to assist us.
As a result, Marshall's will now be our first point of contact when hiring a bus
at all times in the future.
Eddie Park
|
Rossvale Boys Club
