Dallas Cup

Gordon Jago U19 Super Group

Sunday 20th March 2016

Kick off 12.30 Actual 12.38

Fluminense F.C. 1 F.C. Dallas U18 Academy 0,  attendance 600

79′ 1-0

@ Cotton Bowl Stadium

3750, Cotton Bowl Plaza

Dallas, TX 75210

$15 admission, day ticket for 3 Cotton Bowl matches.

Programme, yes, tournament brochure at $12 so didn’t bother.

I had been to the Cotton Bowl Stadium to watch an American Football match back in September (see American Football section), when there was a much bigger crowd, but this was a rare opportunity to tick off the stadium for a proper football match ! Sadly, ‘soccer’ is hardly ever played here anymore , so I thought I would get this one done today. The last non youth match played here was a Real Madrid friendly in 2014 as far as I can tell.

The stadium is beginning to show its age now, although improved from when it hosted the FIFA World Cup back in 1994. Today’s crowd was totally lost in the 92,100 capacity bowl, with only the west side open to spectators.

Dallas Cup

Gordon Jago U19 Super Group

Sunday 20th March 2016

Kick off 09.30

Fulham F.C. 3 TSG Hoffenheim U19 3,  attendance 100

6′ 1-0

15′ 2-0

18′ 3-0

23′ 3-1

26′ 3-2

82′ 3-3

@ Richland College, Pitch 8

12800, Abrams Road

Dallas, TX 75243

No admission or programme.

The Dallas Cup is an annual youth tournament. This year it will be hosted using three venues. The Cotton Bowl Stadium, Richland College and Moneygram Park, the latter two each using 10 pitches at their facility.

The early start gave me my earliest ever kick off time for a match. Less than 10 minutes drive from home and free parking to boot. As you would expect from a tournament of this standing, it was professionally run and the refreshment stand was open throughout the day.

A fantastic game to kick off with. Fulham were superb for the first twenty minutes with Hoffenheim getting two quick replies  after going three down. On balance a draw was pretty fair.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 1A (Spring Season)

Thursday 17th March 2016

Kick off 18.45 Actual 18.57

Somerset United 3 Dallas City F.C. 3,  attendance 15

15′ 1-0

35′ 1-1

62′ 2-1

69′ 2-2

81′ 3-2

87′ 3-3

@ The Colony Five Star Soccer Complex, Pitch 2

4100, Blair Oaks Drive

The Colony, TX 75056

No admission or programme.

Second visit to the Five Star Soccer Complex, having previously done Pitch 6 here.

Major League Soccer

Sunday 6th March 2016

Kick off 14.00 Actual 14.20

Orlando City S.C. 2 Real Salt Lake 2,  attendance 60,147

26′ 0-1 J. Plata (pen)

66′ 0-2 J. Plata

90′ + 4, 1-2 C. Larin

90′ + 5, 2-2 A. Winter

@ Orlando Citrus Bowl

1, Citrus Bowl Place

Orlando, FL 32805

Admission $23.55 + $7.53 fees, print at home ticket

No programme.

This was high on the priority list as it is the last scheduled season at the Citrus Bowl before Orlando City S.C. move to their brand new ‘soccer specific’ stadium in 2017. The stadium was opened in 1936 and has undergone two periods of renovation. The first was from 1999-2002 and then in 2014 the bottom two tiers were demolished, with the third tier remaining in place, and the lower section totally rebuilt. The stadium now has a capacity of 61,348 and has had an artificial pitch since 2010. It was one of nine venues used in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and will host games in the upcoming Copa America Centenario this Summer. With OCSC moving out, it will be primarily used for American Football.

Now, onto the match. Disappointed not to see Brazilian superstar Kaka in the home ranks, as were well over half the crowd judging by the number of replica shirts bearing his name. I should imagine Coach Adrian Heath was just as disappointed, as his team are woeful without him. Both teams had a man sent off in the first half and RSL will wonder how they managed to throw away a two goal lead in stoppage time. Apparently, today’s attendance was only bettered by four clubs worldwide this weekend. Can’t be too often that can be said about an MLS crowd and this one was genuine, unlike some of the joke numbers that the likes of San Jose Earthquakes and F.C. Dallas claim !

We had parked in a factory yard, less than ten minutes walk away, for $10 and were on the right side of the stadium for a quick getaway to the airport and a flight home at 8pm.

Friendly

Saturday 5th March 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.10

University South Florida Bulls 1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 3,  attendance 1,500

38′ 1-0 N. Bartman

63′ 1-1 D. King

83′ 1-2 F. Adu

90′ 1-3 T. Heinemann

@ Corbett Soccer Stadium

4800, Elm Drive

Tampa, FL 33617

$5 admission

Team sheet free, double printed card.

The Corbett Stadium was opened in 2011 and has a capacity of 3,000, with nearly 1,000 seats and has a bowl feel to it with grass banking on three sides. Apparently, the furthest seat from the pitch here, is nearer than the nearest seat was to the pitch at their former stadium, which is still in use for track & field.

Parked in the same car park as we had used for the basketball on Wednesday, but it was free tonight, as opposed to $10 charged then. A decent game that was played at a competitive pace throughout. Got a bit chilly towards the end so had to put on a jacket, but not bad for a night game in early March.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 1B (Spring Season)

Monday 29th February 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.09

Gamtex F.C. 1 Dartos 0,  attendance 13

32′ 1-0

@ Premier Park, Pitch 1

1115, Elam Road

Balch Springs, TX 75180

No admission or programme.

I had Googled ‘Gamtex’ and come up with what I thought was a ‘works’ team. However, it turns out they are immigrants from The Gambia, now living in Texas !

There are occasionally an odd game or two during midweek in this league due to pitch unavailability on Sunday’s or even due to cancellation due to weather. Apparently, if one complex is unfit for play, then the whole day’s schedule is cancelled and rescheduled the week after the last block of fixtures. At least it keeps all teams on the same number of games played.

Premier Park is a complex of seven parallel pitches, all floodlit. The only facility on site is the Groundsmans Shed that has toilets round the back. Tonight’s game, on Pitch 1, is nearest this and also the car park.