Rossvale Boys Club
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An SFA Accredited Quality Mark Club
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Visit of FC Amsterdamsche w/e 25th
May04
Last year our Under 13's travelled to
Amsterdam to play friendlies against FC Amsterdamsche, and both Clubs got on
so well that we built a close friendship between the two Clubs. This year it
was the turn of AFC's Under 17 team to travel to Glasgow, and they arrived
at 1pm on Thursday 20th at Glasgow airport. On meeting them I had to wonder
what they were feeding these boys on in Holland, as there were a few over
the six foot mark, with a couple bordering on the six foot five mark. Was it
a football team or a basketball team that had just arrived?
The boys were staying at the Nautical College
in the Gorbals, which was ideal for them as it was centrally located to
visit Hampden, Parkhead and the city centre. As the world over, with teenage
boys they were always on the lookout for pretty girls, and a few of them
fancied their chances. There were a few look-a-likes in the team, which was
mentioned every time the boys went out, Ronaldinho, Bobby Petta, and even
Enrico the team coach was likened to Lorenzo Amoruso.
For the first night a trip to Parkhead was
arranged by Brian Meehan when the Celtic pro youth team couldn't play them.
To Brian's credit he gave the boys a memorable tour of the stadium, which
ran for an hour, showing them the pitch, skybox, trophy room etc.. The boys
were taken in by the hospitality of Celtic, the stadium and history. Brian
gained Celtic a few more supporters due to the time he took with the boys
and parents.
The team managed to do some training in
Glasgow Green and were surprised how many people come up to talk to them,
asking the where they were from and what they were doing there. They found
everyone so friendly.
Friday afternoon, the group were taken to
Hampden Park, where they were given a guided tour of the stadium, by Sandy
who entertained the boys for an hour and a half tour. The group were taken
by the stadium and the history while touring the museum, and couldn't
believe people could be so passionate about football. To top off their visit
they saw Martin O'Neill and Jimmy Calderwood being interviewed at the
stadium, with some of the fathers be able to speak to the Dunfermline
manager. What they found funny was how well he could speak Dutch, but it was
in the dialect of the area that he managed in.
I had arranged a game against Partick Thistles
Under 16 Pro-Youth Team, at the Firhill Complex, and in what was a fiercely
contested match Partick Thistle won the game 4-1. What the boys could not
get away with at how physical the game was and that they were not as used to
it, but they all said that although it was hard, it was fair. Enrico the
manager said that the boys wouldn't fear anyone when they went home to play.
On the Saturday morning, they were to play
Rossvale 17's at Merklands on the grass, and this turned out to be a close
affair again with Rossvale winning 3-1, the game had come too quickly after
the Friday night game, with the boys tiring towards the end. Once again this
was a fiercely contested game, fair with no bad feelings at the end of the
match.
The boys had heard so much about the Scottish
Cup final, and wanted to saviour the atmosphere and it was arranged for them
to watch the game on a big screen. They couldn't believe how animated people
became and sang when they weren't even at the match. They enjoyed the
atmosphere and made many friends, with one or two them ending up with Celtic
jerseys as gifts, and being taught the words to many Larsson songs.
Stevie Gallacher and myself took the team back
to Glasgow airport on the Sunday morning and truth be told I was really sad
to see them go. It had been a hard four days, but it was worth it as this
was the nicest group of people you could meet, and I spent a lot of time
laughing and joking with them. I hope to meet these guys again next year,
with Enrico threatening to come over for the Scotland vs. Italy game.
With the visit of AFC Amsterdamsche, it put
into perspective many things that are wrong with Scottish Football, and why
we are so far behind in developing players that go on to a high standard. I
would recommend taking the time to visit their website, at
www.afc-amsterdam.nl , and looking
at the section with sportpark, velden and accommodatie. Look at the
facilities this club has and then reflect on what we have locally. Whilst
this Club doesn't own their facility it is solely theirs for a nominal fee
of around one pound a year, as they are providing a resource for the
community.
We are a proud Club and have been running for
28 years, with 260 players and 60 coaches, something worth celebrating. In
proportion to Scotland we are a big Club, however we are dwarfed by AFC, who
have 1800 members, with 500 on a waiting list. They know where they are
playing every week, unlike ourselves who try to beg borrow and steal
facilities anywhere, and are at the constant mercy of the council. Where
things differ is that in Holland the council recognises that AFC provide a
service for free, where they don't have to fund anything. In Scotland you
feel that you have to fight against red tape to provide something whilst
having to pay a substantial amount of money for it. We are the largest
football user in East Dunbartonshire with more than £10,000 going to the
Council to pay bills per year.
AFC have been running since 1895, and have a
significant head start on us, however while we accept the status quo, we as
a Club will never progress much further than we are at just now. AFC have
five pitches, significant changing facilities, a large social club, a small
enclosed ground, and I believe are about to build an astrograss pitch. I am
being constantly approached by people to get their sons into the Club, and
almost always know what the situation is with regards to the group they are
trying to get into, that they are full. The attitude of the Dutch is that
everyone is entitled to a game, and at some age groups they may have 6
11-a-side teams, playing at standards at an appropriate level to the players
in that team. This Club has 98 teams playing on a weekly basis, slightly
larger than us with only our 19 teams.
AFC are playing on a bigger playing field, if
their 1800 members are paying on average £15 per month, that is the
equivalent of £27,000 coming in each calendar month. This is topped up by
their Social Club as well. With that sort of money then it is understandable
why we are where we are, scrimping and scraping to get a Club sponsor for
£1500-2000, and they are being sponsored by Volkswagen, ING Bank, Tommy
Hilfiger, etc and their strips are specifically made by Adidas.
We have to start thinking bigger, because if
we don't keep trying to progress the Club we will stagnate and start
slipping back. We should be pulling together as a community, developing the
attitude that we are going to put in place something that is going to be
around for another 50 years. This requires commitment from not only the
people who are already doing their bit for the Club, but all of the parents,
and people who think they could do a bit for the Club. People need to
realise if they sit and wait for the council to do it they are going to have
a long wait, and the people who are running the Club are under constant
pressure to continually make things happen. We need people to come forward
and help, supply a bit of time every now and again which would make things
happen. This is all that happens in Holland and as you can see the results
are remarkable. Do something now and you could be helping not only your
children, but your grandchildren.
Ian Grey
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