I-40 Cup 1st Leg

Friday 22nd April 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.07

Little Rock Rangers S.C. 2 Memphis City F.C. 1,  attendance 3,700

12′ 1-0

62′ 1-1

85′ 2-1 (pen)

@ War Memorial Stadium

1, Stadium Drive

Little Rock, AR 72205

$10 admission

Programme free, 4 pages, plus free team sheet.

This is a new competition to be played annually between these two clubs, with the cities of Little Rock and Memphis separated by the I-40, hence the name of the cup. It was the first game played by the newly formed hosts who will compete in the National Premier Soccer League, which is level 4 in U.S.A., whilst the visitors were formed in 2015 and also play in the N.P.S.L., albeit in a different region.

The official attendance was 3,000 more than my estimate, but even the more realistic crowd of 700 was pretty good for this level, although somewhat lost in a ground that holds 53,727. Although multi purpose, it is mainly used for American Football, being home to the Arkansas Baptist Buffaloes, Catholic High School Rockets and an occasional University Arkansas Razorbacks game. The stadium was built in 1948, but has undergone numerous renovations and nowadays has a synthetic pitch. Marked out primarily for American Football, it makes the ‘soccer’ lines difficult to see, despite them being in yellow and makes watching the game awkward at times. I prefer these old bowl type stadiums as they have a bit of character to them. Don’t know what to make of the lone flag draped at one end of the stadium. Very odd thing to see in U.S.A., let alone Arkansas.

This was the first game of a small road trip, starting off with a 320 mile drive via the I-30 E, staying overnight in Little Rock, AR.

Major League Soccer

Sunday 10th April 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.28

New York City F.C. 0 Chicago Fire 0,  attendance 22,930

@ Yankee Stadium

1, East 161st Street

The Bronx, NY 10451

Admission $30 plus $9.10 fees, print at home ticket *

No programme.

As stated earlier, there is a direct subway line, travelling north from Manhattan on Line 4 to 161st Street Station, where the Yankee Stadium is right in front of you as you exit the station. When my match ticket was booked, it was a print at home option, but this was then changed by Ticketmaster to an e-ticket accessible through your phone only.  I am not too keen on this method as if you lose your phone, or something prevents you getting a signal etc,etc, then you have no chance of getting into the match. Thankfully, after a phone call, I was able to change my ticket to ‘will call’, which was not an option for online bookings, and the ticket office is on the same side of the stadium as the subway station exit, so it took less than 5 minutes to collect. Very efficient in the end. Apparently the tickets are sent via phone to try and make it harder for touts to ply their trade.

The Yankee Stadium opened in April 2009 and is built one block north of the original home to MLB team the New York Yankees, who New York City share the stadium with, whilst waiting for their own stadium to be built, although whether they actually ever build a stadium of their own remains to be seen. Capacity here is 49,638 when used in MLS, although NYC are unlikely to ever see crowds of that number and today’s turnout looked much less than the figure given.

If NYC play this poorly every week then it is little wonder the crowds are staying away. They may scrape into the end of season play offs, but any half decent side will surely have no problem beating them as they were absolutely dreadful. The visitors were simply dire, which sadly seems to be pretty much what the standard of the league is these days.

Today was also the first time I have seen hooliganism here in the States. A group of around 20 home ‘fans’ attacked two Chicago supporters in the toilets, but swift action by stewards and police soon had it sorted and at least a dozen were led away.

Major League Soccer

Saturday 9th April 2016

Kick off 16.00 Actual 16.18

Montreal Impact 2 Columbus Crew 0,  attendance 22,053

48′ 1-0 H. Camara

86′ 2-0 K. Bekker

@ Stade Olympique de Montreal

4545,  Avenue Pierre-De-Coubertin

Montreal, QC H1V 3N7

Admission  $29 + $8 fees, print at home ticket.

No programme.

Quebec weather is too severe for early season home games in MLS, so Montreal Impact move their first couple of matches from their Saputo Stadium, just a few hundred yards away, to the much bigger Stade Olympique, which has one distinct advantage, it has a roof. This guarantees the game will go ahead, but as the pitch here is synthetic, it also means that star striker Didier Drogba will not be playing as his knees cannot take the pounding on these pitches compared to the much more forgiving natural grass. When I exited the airport on Friday evening to catch my hotel shuttle bus, it was snowing very lightly and was already down to minus 4 degrees, and it was only 8pm !

The Stade Olympique was opened in 1976, and as the name suggests, hosted the Summer Olympics of that year. It has a capacity of 66,308, some three times that of Saputo Stadium. Access to the stadium is easy if arriving on the subway as you enter directly from the station without going outside, which helps when the temperature was minus 9 degrees later that evening.

The first difference I notice here, is unlike in U.S.A., the fans actually watch the match, rather than go to eat and drink for the whole ninety minutes. So much better and means you can actually enjoy the match without constant interruptions of people filing in and out of their seats. Surely a visit to their local restaurant would be a better way of spending their time if the actual sport is of no interest to them ?

Great atmosphere, despite only being a third full, and pleasantly warm as well. Impact were always in control, but never totally comfortable until the second goal killed it off.

The match ticket also included admission for the F.C. Montreal match in the USL, but I didn’t fancy hanging around until 7.30pm for that one to start. I also had an option of ice hockey at Montreal Canadiens in the NHL, but despite being doable by subway, the starting price of $166 for tickets, even on the resale websites, put me off.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 1A (Spring Season)

Sunday 3rd April 2016

Kick off 17.00 Actual 17.22

Santos F.C. 1 Leon F.C. 3,  attendance 26

23′ 0-1

24′ 1-1

39′ 1-2

83′ 1-3

@ Samuell Garland Park, Pitch 7

11500, McCree Road

Dallas, TX 75218

No admission or programme.

Since opening, the entrance has moved to a different road, if the address on the sign outside is believed. There are a mixture of pitches here, six of them being full size. This pitch is floodlit and has a small section of metal bleachers.

North American Soccer League

Saturday 2nd April 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.28

Rayo OKC 0 F.C. Edmonton 0,  attendance 6,416

@ Miller Stadium

1777, South Yukon Parkway

Yukon, OK 73099

$10 admission

Programme free, 36 pages.

From Norman, it was a 45 minute drive for the second game of the day and debut of N.A.S.L. newcomers Rayo OKC. They have the same owners as Rayo Vallecano in Spain’s La Liga, who would perhaps be better off financing them, as they regularly struggle in the top flight, rather than set up another professional club in direct competition to Oklahoma City Energy F.C. who admittedly play in the U.S.L. at level 3.

Miller Stadium is home to the Yukon High School Millers American Football team,  who also play in red and white colours, so the stadium does look more like a proper home to Rayo. A pretty good crowd in a stadium that holds 6,500, although judging by the empty spaces, either the crowd was wrong or the stadium holds more than stated. I have to say the food on offer was of very poor quality, especially the cheese burger I sampled. One bite, which was of a cold bun and barely warm burger, saw it returned to the counter where the offer of a refund was gladly accepted. The pathetic excuse offered for serving sub standard fayre was that they only have one microwave to warm the food up. Disgusting. At least the mobile catering van on the far side of the stadium was better, especially the beef tacos.

Eventually, nearly half an hour late, made worse by having to endure two National Anthems, the match finally started. It certainly wasn’t worth the wait and was absolutely dire, not helped by a red card for the visitors after 30 minutes. There was a slight improvement when new signing Georgios Samaras, former Manchester City and Celtic striker, came on for the final 12 minutes and Rayo actually looked like they might nick it.