St Albans City Youth Under 18's West

Runners Up

Tinus Homburg Trophy

rsv Hion, Rotterdam, Holland.

 

After the amazing tour the boys had last year, it was always going to be difficult to live up to expectations this year. But it managed it. And beyond…

Early on a Friday morning in late March the boys set off for Holland. A couple of hours later, the boys were in Harwich, waiting to board the 9 o’clock ferry for the next stint of their journey.

Here everyone put their tour shirts on, with inventive nicknames on the back, such as ‘Italian Stallion’ and ‘I’m extremely drunk’. Reece May’s just said ‘Reece’. How original.

It is a well known fact that having a beer or two on a ferry where the seas are rough can help cure sea sickness, and the boys took full advantage of this fact. We found a quiet little secluded bar, and set about making it a lot less quiet.

Whilst in this bar, we came up with a list of challenges, with one per person. They would have to do their challenges or pay for a round. The challenges ranged from Matt Mawhood (managers son) having to disagree with everything his dad said, to Aaron Lumsdon having to shave the back of Zack’s hair.

A bit later in the journey, seven of the boys found themselves on an outer deck, slightly drunk, and having a good sing song. This was until the captain came out and told us to be quiet, which stopped us all. Except Christie Tyler.

At the end of the ferry journey we were greeted by David Wray and Wilfried (or as Christie preferred to call him, Winston). They took us onto the metro for the 45 minute journey to our hotel.

After the quality of accommodation we had last year, we were expecting the same this year, with decent sized rooms and amenities. This wasn’t the case, with rooms containing 8 beds, and… well that was about it. James Rosson said, “I wish I’d stayed at Greenwood Park”. He wasn’t enjoying his first experience of a St Albans City football tour.

Evening came and we decided to have a look around the local town. Many of the bars and clubs chosen by us as players were deemed as ‘unsuitable’ by the adults, so we set about looking for a suitable bar.

About 20 minutes from the hotel, manager Chris found a bar that he deemed as ‘suitable’. So we piled in. and then piled out again once we’d realised we were sat in the middle of a gay bar. The name ‘Meifel Bender’ then made a whole lot more sense.

After a quick McDonalds we retreated back to the hotel without having found a bar. Sitting in the front area of the hotel was Sleaford Rugby team from Lincoln, singing, shouting and drinking.

Everyone has heard the phrase, ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’. At first we attempted to chant back, with songs such as ‘rugby is a girls game’ and ‘football is a man’s game’, but we quickly realised what we were up against; 20 rough, tough, drunk, huge, northern teenagers. So we eventually decided to join them.

The rugby players eventually ran out of steam and went to bed, leaving us chanting and losing our voices on our own. We were eventually chased out of the bar by a strange old woman, who didn’t seem to enjoy our company.

The team woke up early Saturday morning and got ready for the Friendly that was arranged, and got on the train to the ground.

At the ground we met David Wray and Winston and had a look around. Unfortunately, the day before had been so wet that the ground was seen as not fit for purpose, so the friendly was cancelled, and we had a training session, on the same pitch, instead. Something about that still confuses me.

The training session was good and left us with half a day to decide what to do that night. Naturally this decision had to made in a bar, so we went into the club house. It had been planned that we would go to Amsterdam, but many players were very tired, and we would not have found anything in Amsterdam that we couldn’t find around where we were staying (except possibly a straight, suitable bar).

Winston suggested going to a professional Dutch football match, but this was quickly dismissed by some players.

We decided to check out the Harbour area, which we were told had bars suitable for teenagers. That weren’t gay. So we got the train to the Harbour. It was here we found a row of secluded, quiet bars, but many seemed to be full. All except one, which wasn’t overly busy. So we piled in and made the place our own. We chose the songs and rearranged the furniture, and had a good laugh singing and chanting.

Many of the people in the bar took a particular interest in what we were doing in Holland. When told we were there for football and had a tournament the next day, they were quite shocked. The majority replied, “This is your approach to a big tournament?” We saw nothing wrong with it, and continued.

One very drunk man said he would turn up at the tournament the next morning, at 9 o’clock. I don’t think anyone really believed him. After getting him to say “Smoke and a pancake’, we left the bar and went back to the hotel.


We stayed in the bar for a bit, but went up to bedrooms fairly early, and had a sing song up there.

We got up early Sunday morning to find the first victim of shaven eyebrow. Conor Casey, the team mascot, had had his shaved off in his sleep.

Everyone seemed fairly tired Sunday morning, but over breakfast you could sense that people were getting up for the day ahead. We got to the tournament, and started to get focussed on the football.

Now to get yourself up for a big game, you need a good firing up from your manager. When your manager’s team talk starts, “Now I know a lot of you will think I’ve got this wrong…”, you know you could be in trouble. Arron Shaw kept up his impressive record of starting every day of football on every tour as sub, because of his actions on the night before.

Our first game was against v.v.Lyra, and we started well. We immediately noticed the differences between the English game and how it is played on the continent, with players going down left, right and centre. Far too easily for any of our liking. 15 minutes into our first game it looked like we might struggle to get a goal until a defender turned in a Nick Glasgow freekick to give us the lead just before half time. After the break we continued to press and James Rosson’s cross-goal pass was met at the front post by Aaron Lumsdon to turn in his first of the tournament. Minutes later James Rosson got his first for the team, beating a defender and slotting home from a superb pass by Arron Shaw. First game final score 3-0 to city.

The second game was not long after, but this one promised to be a lot tougher than the first. This team was bigger, tougher and gave away the ball far less cheaply. Harold Chodeva, back with the team after half a year away, made his own first goal, jinxing into the box before being taken out, and finishing the penalty with remarkable composure. After the break we had a lot of pressure to withstand, but never really looked like conceding until v.v.Groeneweg equalised with 5 minutes to go when the ball struck Reece May’s arm, giving them a way back into the game via a decent penalty. Although still being put under pressure, we knew it was a game we had to win, so set about getting a winner. We managed to snatch a late win just minutes from the end when Jamie Peters’ searching cross found James Manfre, who slotted home a superb strike across the keeper. Second game final score 2-1 to city.

We then had a short wait until our next game, to walk around and check out the competition. There were girls playing, so a few lads made it their business to check out them too. It was during this break that we were told that whatever we did in our last group game, we would finish the group stage top.

Aaron Lumsdon then decided to lock Zack into our changing room toilet with a broom, which he wedged behind the handle. This was hilarious until, with one big push, he managed to unhinge the door completely and take it straight off. I’ve watched it again on video and it is still just as funny.

Our last game saw us face RSV Hion, the hosts of the tournament. This was always going to be a difficult game, but we did well to come in at half time at 0-0. Playing against 11 men was hard enough, but when the ref joined in, it got harder and harder. Decision after decision went against us, and this was topped off when Hion were awarded a dubious penalty, when James Rosson slid in in the box and made contact with the ball. Despite the best efforts of keeper Matt Bennett, fingertips could not save the well placed penalty, and the boys lost their third game 1-0. during the game, Jamie Peters got 2 yellow cards, but in a bizarre ‘Graham Poll-style’ twist, was not sent off.

The semi-final was played under blizzard conditions against Wippolder. Snow drove onto the pitch and began to settle, but we continued playing. With a white ball. We took the lead early on when Martin played Manfre through to score his second of the tournament. Half time score 1-0 city. Aaron Lumsdon also got his 2nd of the tournament when James Rosson played him through to calmly tuck the ball away. Arron Shaw got the third with a tremendous screamer from 2 yards, capitalising on a keeper save from an Aaron Lumsdon effort. He doesn’t score many, so you have to make them sound amazing when he does. Aaron Lumsdon topped off the win when Harold played him through 1 on 1 with the keeper, to score his second of the game. Semi Final score 4-0 city.


Winston came into the changing room to congratulate us afterwards, and told us that Mervin Morgan, the St Albans chairman would be there for the final, and that we would be lead onto the pitch like a professional game. We got prepared, and then went for it. The final was against the hosts, RSV Hion, that we had lost to in the semi-final. Their twelfth man, the referee, was the same man that had lost us the group game. We ignored that, and managed to take the lead about half way through the first half when James Manfre scored his third of the tournament, latching onto a pass from Aaron Lumsdon and finishing superbly. But, just minutes after a “world class save” (as he described it) from Matt Bennett, the boys found themselves at 1-1 when a goal went in directly from the resulting corner. With the same ref as the semi, he somehow missed the blatant impediment on our keeper as he was dragged to his knees.

A moment of brilliance won Hion the game when their fast striker shimmied into the box and slotted neatly into the net. Hion brought on their super-sub, the number one female Dutch goalkeeper, who came to play up front. I remember saying to my defenders, “We don’t concede any more, but especially not to her”. I had my wish, but the final score was 2-1 to Hion, who just managed to finish their chances better. Special mentions must go to Harold Chodeva and James Manfre, who both missed absolute sitters. After the game, Harold said, “Even Benjani would have missed it!” He was right, but it was still an easy chance.

The boys were devastated after the game, having come so close. We were worn out, with 3 of the boys playing over 200 minutes of football in the day. That’s just the time when you need David Wray to come round with his camera and say, “Come on, give us a smile!”

The devastation lasted an entire 7 minutes or so, and the boys went back to the clubhouse for the presentations. Even sixth place got a hefty sized trophy, and all of the boys were sporting and clapped everyone. Reece May was announced as player of the tournament for playing consistently well in every game, playing over 3 hours of football.

We then had dinner with the hosts. To be fair, there was no tension, no mention of the final, just two teams of lads who had had a good day of football. We ate dinner, had a few beers, and had a sing-song. The boys felt even better after the announcement that the girls team had finished 3rd out of 8 in their tournament, so for the second year in a row, the boys laid claim to the title of best St Albans team on tour.

We chanted and sung with the Dutch boys, and we all joined in with chants of “England”, and then “Holland”.

We also chanted Mervin Morgan’s name, to which he replied, “Tossers”. A bit too much to drink, perhaps? Or perhaps just correct.

We went back to the hotel and got ready to go out. We went back to the place we went the night before, but this night was much more chilled out, with no singing or shouting. Just 17 knackered players and 2 knackered coaches. There was also no sign of the drunk man that had promised to come and watch us. We then went back to the hotel, and up to bed.

Well, not bed. But we went upstairs. Anyone who fell asleep did so at their own risk. Eyebrows were being targeted.

We woke up the next morning and packed. We were out of our rooms by 10, so had 2 hours to fill. We got the train to the McDonalds 1 stop away. On the way back, a female train officer threatened players with a “40 Euro fine per person” because we all ran through the barriers on 1 ticket, even though we had 19 valid tickets that we showed her. As is often the case when a woman is involved, common sense did not prevail, and we wasted 20 minutes explaining that the valid tickets were in front of her eyes.

When we got back, it started snowing and settling, so we went outside for a typical childish snow fight. We all lost, and headed back into the hotel, freezing cold. We collected our bags, said goodbye and were on our way.

On the train on the way back, one man missed his stop. But it was so much funnier than that. He ran, about a minute after the stop, pressed the button, swore in Dutch and then turned to all our laughing faces and smiled. It was classic.

The ferry was slightly more subdued than on the way out, with no one having the energy to get up and sing. Christie Tyler fell asleep, so in permanent marker, we drew on him and wrote obscenities all over his arms and forehead. Surprisingly he found it funny, and walked around the ferry normally.

The final player to lose their eyebrow was Matt Bennett, on the ferry. It was already half gone from the night before, and when losing at cards, his dare was to have the whole thing shaved off, to the amusement of practically everyone else on the ferry.

Eventually we were off the ferry and back on English soil. A quiet drive home saw 17 players and 2 coaches return with 6½ less eyebrows than when they left, and more importantly 1 more very large trophy.

Of course the tour didn’t go without its stupid comments, and I always like to make a note of some of the better ones in the tour reports:

Christie Tyler: “Wouldn’t it be funny if boats could float?”

Zack Zachoria: “We could play foreign teams from England!”

Matt Bennett: “We’re not in Dutch any more!”

James Manfre: “They’ve put my name back to front!” (Looking in the mirror)

Steli Iasonos: “What do they sell in a bakery?”

Arron Shaw: “I won two Euros on a vending machine!”

We all had an amazing time on tour and have to thank Tony Peters and Chris Mawhood for putting up with us all, David Wray for all the help and work he put in, Wilfried for the jokes he gave us, and Simon and Judith for driving us down there.

By Matt Bennett