North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 2 (Fall Season)

Sunday 9th October 2016

Kick off 13.00 Actual 13.03

Goodfriend United 3 Young Guns 2,  attendance 13

13′ 1-0

35′ 2-0

52′ 2-1 (pen)

82′ 2-2

90′ + 1, 3-2

@ Campbell Green Recreation Center, Pitch 4

16600, Park Hill Drive

Dallas, TX 75248

No admission or programme.

This is the only pitch at the complex that hosts matches in the N.T.P.S.A. There are no facilities here, apart from a couple of portaloos , although the centre may be open when more people are here using the other pitches.

The match was 4th v 1st and the first defeat of the season for the league leaders.

The following photos are poor quality due to camera malfunction.

International Friendly Match

Saturday 8th October 2016

Kick off 17.00 Actual 17.39

Mexico 2 New Zealand 1,  attendance 40,287

29′ 1-0 G. dos Santos (pen)

46′ 1-1 M. Rojas

56′ 2-1 M. Fabian

@ Nissan Stadium

1, Titans Way

Nashville, TN 37213

Admission $48 + $9.95 fees, Print at home ticket.

No programme.

Nissan Stadium is home to Tennessee Titans of the N.F.L. as well as Tennessee State University Tigers American Football team. It was opened in 1999, as the Adelphia Coliseum, then named The Coliseum (2002-2006) and then LP Field up until 2015 when it took on its current name. Capacity here has increased very slightly from when it opened and currently seats 69,143.

I opted for flying into Nashville and doing an overnight stop, as this worked out cheaper than a day return, despite the extortionate hotel prices. Airport hotel was again the best option for accommodation. Despite this being a 25 minute drive to the city, it was easily done by catching the local bus into Downtown Nashville for a very reasonable $1.70 each way. The return bus, which has a stop across the road from the footbridge linking Downtown to the Stadium, passes here at twenty minutes past the hour, so very convenient, even though the match was very late kicking off, but that just seems to be what happens for matches involving Mexico, along with the usual problem of most of the crowd still having not learnt how to read, so once again we had the first half hour of the match looking like an attempt at the Guinness World Record for highest number of participants playing ‘musical chairs’.

I thought the crowd for this was very impressive. There can’t be too many countries in the world that could pull in 40,000 plus for a friendly versus New Zealand, let alone when hosting it in another country. Next up for New Zealand is a game versus U.S.A. on Tuesday. I’m not a betting man, but I think I can safely say that the crowd for that one will barely be a quarter of today’s turnout, especially as it is midweek. Good to see, that despite it being a friendly, there weren’t wholesale substitutions. Mexico only made three, on 61, 66 and 73 minutes, whilst New Zealand made six, two of which were in the final five minutes.

The following photos are poor quality due to camera malfunction.

National Junior College Athletic Association

Friday 7th October 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.01

Jacksonville College Jaguars 1 Coastal Bend College Cougars 2,  attendance 85

10′ 0-1

29′ 1-1

53′ 1-2

@ Washington Avenue

Jacksonville, TX 75766

No admission or programme.

I had seen the visitors earlier this season, albeit in a friendly, but they were just as impressive, especially going forward.

The following photos are of poor quality due to camera malfunction.

National Junior College Athletic Association

Tuesday 4th October 2016

Kick off 16.00 Actual  16.20

Ranger College Rangers 2 Eastern Oklahoma State College Mountaineers 1,  attendance 60

14′ 0-1

21′ 1-1

66′ 2-1

@ 1100, College Circle

Ranger, TX 76470

No admission or programme.

Another late kick off due to the women’s game beforehand overrunning. Oklahoma had a man red carded two minutes after going behind, with Ranger having a man sent off themselves with ten minutes left.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 4 (Fall Season)

Sunday 2nd October 2016

Kick off 15.00 Actual 15.11

El Diablo Blanco 0 Lone Star Republic 1,  attendance 13

73′ 0-1

@ Samuell Garland Park, Pitch 15

11500, McCree Road

Dallas, TX 75218

No admission or programme.

This was my second visit here, having previously done a game on Pitch 7. Today’s game was on a pitch only used occasionally for N.T.P.S.A. matches and easy to see why. There are at least 2 plastic manhole covers on the pitch and the pitch markings themselves are certainly not done to correct measurements.

Lone Star Republic remain top of the league with this win, but left it late. According to their Manager they had five regulars missing today, but still had too much for the team in 4th place.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III

American Southwest Conference

Saturday 1st October 2016

Kick off 19.30 Actual 19.31

University Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders 2 Concordia University Texas Tornados 0,  attendance 348

4′ 1-0

41′ 2-0

@ Cru Soccer Field

University Drive

Belton, TX 76513

No admission

Programme free, 4 pages.

This was a perfect double with this afternoons game as it was on the way home and only a few miles off route. It always looked like a home win once the hosts went in front early on and it may have made for an interesting finish if Concordia had converted a penalty five minutes from time.

National Association Intercollegiate Athletics

Red River Athletic Conference

Saturday 1st October 2016

Kick off 15.00 Actual 15.10

Huston -Tillotson University Rams 3 University of the Southwest Mustangs 0,  attendance 85

3′ 1-0

17′ 2-0

85′ 3-0

@ Onion Creek Soccer Complex, Pitch 4

5600, East William Cannon Drive

Austin, TX 78744

No admission or programme.

Onion Creek Soccer Complex is a multi pitch job, Pitch 4 perhaps being the main one as it has the grass banking along the side giving it  a slightly more enclosed feel than the other pitches. One thing of note was how the crowd thinned out once the women’s game finished , having played on the same pitch our game would be on- they were into the last 10 minutes when I arrived.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II

Heartland Conference

Thursday 29th September 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.02

Midwestern State University Mustangs 2 Texas A&M International University Dustdevils 0,  attendance 729

38′ 1-0

55′ 2-0

@ MSU Soccer Field

Louis J. Rodriguez Drive

Wichita Falls, TX 76308

$6 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

After visiting S.M.U. Mustangs on Tuesday, it was a trip to M.S.U. Mustangs tonight. For me it was a mere 136 mile drive northwest, but for the visitors, based in Laredo, on the Mexican border, it was 537 miles. This just shows how vast the state of Texas is.

M.S.U. won it more comfortably than the score line suggests. Having already missed a penalty after 16 minutes, they then missed a second after 75 minutes following a red card for the visitors, the result of this one being awarded.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I

Tuesday 27th September 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.02

Southern Methodist University Mustangs 3 Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles 1,  attendance 603

32′ 0-1

67′ 1-1

75′ 2-1

87′ 3-1

@ Westcott Field

6000, Ownby Drive

University Park, TX 75205

$6 Admission

Team Sheet, free, double sided.

This is the first University ‘soccer’ match I have attended where car parking wasn’t free. $7 seemed a bit steep, parked in the multi storey that backs onto one end of the stadium.

Westcott Field hosted an F.C. Dallas match in this years U.S. Open Cup and is a venue under threat as S.M.U. are looking to build a new ‘soccer’ stadium elsewhere on the campus.

As for the game, despite trailing for most of the match, S.M.U. always looked like going on to win it once they had drawn level.

National Junior College Athletic Association

Monday 26th September 2016

Kick off 16.00 Actual 16.05

Paris Junior College Dragons 1 Hill College Rebels 3,  attendance 30

11′ 0-1

50′ 0-2

71′ 1-2 (pen)

89′ 1-3

@ Noyes Stadium

1230, 24th Street Southeast

Paris, TX 75460

No admission or programme.

I was only able to confirm the venue for this one at around 1.30pm, which was cutting it fine as it is a 108 mile drive northeast. It was well worth the effort though, for a stadium that was obviously used for American Football originally and also Athletics, judging by the old track round the pitch.

Hill were always in control and even missed a penalty of their own a minute before adding their third goal.