National Premier Soccer League

South Central Conference

Wednesday 11th May 2016

Kick off 19.00, 19.30 or 20.00  No one seemed to know. Actual 20.05

Dallas City F.C. 2 Liverpool Warriors 1,  attendance 200

18′ 1-0

42′ 2-0

90′ + 6, 2-1

@ Roffino Stadium

Bishop Lynch High School

9750, Ferguson Road

Dallas, TX 75228

$10 admission

No programme.

First impression here is that the club are a total shambles and little wonder the crowd was absolutely pathetic for a local derby. Apart from playing the match on the same evening as F.C. Dallas, although their crowds are also a complete joke, there was total confusion about what time the match was actually kicking off. The NPSL website said 19.00, Dallas City were saying 19.30 and the visitors had tweeted it was 20.00. In the end, none of them were right, although at least the visitors were nearest with their guess. To make matters worse, thunder and lightening was forecast  around 21.00, so to kick off late was absolutely ridiculous. We ended up missing the storm by a matter of minutes as it turned out.

The game was difficult to follow as there are American Football markings on the pitch and the goal areas don’t even have proper football markings at all in places, with many of the lines not painted on. I did ask the Referee at halftime how the pitch was allowed to stage matches at this level, as none of the officials would be able to give decisions 100 % certain that offences were in or out of the 18 yard boxes. Still, as its U.S.A we’re talking about, then I doubt anyone cares, although most probably don’t know what the markings are anyway.

Liverpool did themselves no favours by having a player red carded just before halftime and also had a penalty saved as we reached 90 minutes.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 1A (Spring Season)

Sunday 8th May 2016

Kick off 15.00 Actual 15.20

Santos F.C. 1 Matadors 2,  attendance 13

3′ 0-1

60′ 1-1

90′ 1-2

@ Harry S. Moss Park, Pitch 6

7874, Greenville Avenue

Dallas, TX 75231

No admission or programme.

Annoying that players can’t make a proper effort to arrive in time for kick off, given that they couldn’t use traffic problems as an excuse, or even working late, for the majority of them. Makes the hanging around worse when it was only about 10 yards travelling distance for me from the last match !

The game hinged on a red card for Santos F.C. after 57 minutes, although they had the better chances, even when playing with a man light.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 1B (Spring Season)

Sunday 8th May 2016

Kick off 13.00 Actual 13.03

Classics F.C. 2 Crusaders A.S.F. 1,  attendance 7

6′ 0-1

9′ 1-1

88′ 2-1 (pen)

@ Harry S. Moss Park, Pitch 5

7874, Greenville Avenue

Dallas, TX 75231

No admission or programme.

Harry S. Moss Park is a multi pitch complex, although only two of them are full size adult, Pitch 5 and Pitch 6. On site there is a central building that houses toilets and a refreshment stand. With the two pitches used in the NTPSA being parallel to each other, it offered up a very convenient double opportunity.

Third versus second and a draw would have been a fair result in a decent game, as you would expect, from two of the leagues top three teams.

National Premier Soccer League

South Central Conference

Saturday 7th May 2016

Kick off 19.30

Tulsa Athletics 1 Liverpool Warriors 1,  attendance 3,457

12′ 0-1

35′ 1-1

@ Athletics Stadium

4600, East 15th Street

Tulsa, OK 74114

$7 admission

No programme*

I had ample time to get from the baseball so plenty of time for a relaxed meal. Parking was adjacent to the stadium and free. The renamed Athletics Stadium, previously Drillers Stadium, had been home to Tulsa Drillers MiLB team from 1981 to 2009. There have been alterations to make the stadium more ‘soccer’ friendly, which included removing the 1st base bleachers, enabling the pitch to be lengthened. Capacity  here is 10,997, although that will surely never be tested. I am not sure who dreams up the attendance figures here, but I only estimated the turnout to be around the 600 mark ! There are plans for the stadium to be demolished and replaced by an indoor BMX arena, which is expected to be completed by 2019.

On entering the stadium, which had a proper professional feel to it, there was a programme being sold for $1, which apparently had been produced by the son of one of the Committee members. I declined the offer, but then decided to go back and buy one, only to find out they had sold out. Unlike some English Groundhoppers, who would have sulked, or even gone home,  it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the game by not getting one. As for the match, it was far too rushed and played at 100 mph. It was very physical and a surprise that the only red card, for the visitors, came five minutes into stoppage time at the end of the match.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 1A (Spring Season)

Thursday 5th May 2016

Kick off 20.45 Actual 21.32

Leon F.C. 1 Legends F.C. 3,  attendance 14

2′ 1-0

6′ 1-1

18′ 1-2

88′ 1-3

@ Premier Park, Pitch 3

11115, Elam Road

Balch Springs, TX 75180

No admission or programme.

This second part of a double sees the third pitch of seven done at Premier Park, so far in numerical order. The organisation here was pathetic, to say the least. Another game, due to start at a slightly earlier time than ours, had no officials, so the 3  from our game were moved to that. The obvious thing to do was then appoint the officials due to do the following game there, to our match, as they would be running late anyway. However, the 3 stood and watched the second half of that game, with our original officials then doing our match, once they had taken a rest break.

When it finally got going, top of the table Legends won it, despite having a man sent off in the 83rd minute.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 1A (Spring Season)

Thursday 5th May 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.18

Dallas City F.C. 2 F.F. Premier 2,  attendance 7

4′ 0-1

13′ 0-2

25′ 1-2

59′ 2-2

@ Premier Park, Pitch 2

11115, Elam Road

Balch Springs, TX 75180

No admission or programme.

Second visit to Premier Park having previously done Pitch 1.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 5 (Spring Season)

Tuesday 3rd May 2016

Kick off 18.45 Actual 18.55

Dallas Cosmos 1 Dot’s Hop House 5,  attendance 3

4′ 0-1

12′ 0-2

21′ 1-2

39′ 1-3

56′ 1-4 (pen)

66′ 1-5

@ The Colony Five Star Soccer Complex, Pitch 1

4100, Blair Oaks Drive

The Colony, TX 75056

No admission or programme.

Fourth visit to the complex having previously done Pitches 2, 6 and 7. Despite this being the bottom division it was a decent game as the league leaders won comfortably.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 1A (Spring Season)

Sunday 1st May 2016

Kick off 13.00 Actual 13.20

Somerset United 0 F.F. Premier 1,  attendance 8

84′ 0-1

@ The Colony Five Star Soccer Complex, Pitch 7

4100, Blair Oaks Drive

The Colony, TX 75056

No admission or programme.

This was my third visit to the complex having previously done Pitch 2 and Pitch 6. A really poor game, not helped by Premier playing the entire match with 10 players, despite having a substitute kitted out.