Thank You

Our trip would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors, the many hours of fund raising by the boys and parents (special thanks to Kathi Lucas and Mark Warren) and the efforts of Mark Franchi and SoccerTours.net

Our Sponsors:

Dr. Podhauser; Drs. Regan and Russell; Gilead Rowing Club; Atlantic Sportswear; Norway Savings; Play it Again Sports - Portland; Olympia Sports; Hildreth & White; The Beech Family; The Plumber's Wife - Fine preserves; Verrill & Dana; Birch Rock; Mittel Asen; Peace=Progress; Human Dimensions; HOJO2GO; Seth F. Johnson Sales Co., Inc.; Catalyst; Glen Johnson LLC; Pond Cove IGA; Nancy Pond; The Elms; Key Bank; Downeast Beverage; Swedish Imports; Downeast Energy; MidCoast Hospital; Gertrude Rosner; T.D. Banknorth; Sitelines; Foot & Ankle Associates of Maine; Anchor Realty; Tim Jameson Agency: Play it Again Sports - Topsham; Bath Subaru; Scandia Yacht Sales; McLaughlin, Hallee and Associates; Delco Management - Cod Cove Inn; E.M. Wood Construction; Discount Tire and Alignment; LeBrecque Construction, Inc.; Greater Portland Driving Academy; Approved Home Mortgage; Tim Flahery Real Estate; Grampa's Garden; Saco Biddeford Savings; Newcastle Motors.

Day 12 Travel Home

It took us 19 hours but we finally made it home. After 12 days and nights, here is a partial accounting of the trip:

• 6,979 air miles
• 535 photos uploaded to blog
• 250 pounds of dirty laundry
  
• 93 soccer jerseys (strips) purchased
• 56 1/2 family gifts (1/2 credit to Bill for the Man U air freshener)
• 48 "Spencers" (ask the boys)
  
• 42 hours on the bus
• 26 blog entries to date
  
• 13 goals scored, 6 conceded in 4 matches
• 12 ice cream stores
  
• 11 soccer stores
  
• 6 castles
  
• 6 lost soccer balls
  
• 4 matches (3 wins, 1 draw)
  
• 4 cathedrals
  
• 4 hotels
• 4 bus drivers
  
• 4 professional matches attended
• 4 stuffed dogs for Brooke
  
• 3 training sessions
• 3 airports
• 3 boys in "coaches' jail"
  
• 2 Roman walls
• 2 lost iPods
• 1 London Show
  
• 1 sheep caught
  
• 1 terrific tour guide
  

Day 11 Aston Villa vs Liverpool

We left Jurys Inn at 9:30 AM for the 3 hour bus ride to Villa Park in Birmingham for the Aston Villa vs Liverpool match. Arriving at 1 PM, we were met by Russell, Aston Villa's head of public relations for a private tour of the park. Kick off was at 5:15 and the park was buzzing as we toured the locker room and pitch. Imagine touring Fenway Park and the clubhouse the day of a game. This was a rare treat all made possible by one of Irl's contacts.

Aston Villa is one of England's oldest and most storied clubs but has not won anything of consequence since winning the European Championship in 1992. American ownership of English football teams is a growing trend with Villa joining Liverpool and Manchester United now under the direction of American owners.

After the tour we visited the club store for more shopping. As we were gathering in the parking lot heading back into the stadium, a couple of our boys purchased some Liverpool flags (opposing team). Russell warned us not to show the flags, or opposing team colors of any kind, in our our seating area for our own safety. This is no idle warning. There was a large, obvious police presence and great pains were made to separate the away from the home fans. The stadium seats approximately 43,000 fans and only 3,000 tickets are sold to the away team, and all of them are stuffed into one corner of the stadium. For safety purposes, away team fans are not allowed to purchase more than the allotted amount of tickets, even if the game is not sold out. On the way into the game we bumped in to Graham Taylor, former Aston Villa and England national team coach, emerging from his Jaguar and I was able to snap a picture of him with Seth and Irl.

Our seats were in the upper grandstands near midfield. It was a very exciting game featuring the debut of Liverpool's Fernando Torres, the most expensive signing of the summer. The home team was on the ropes for most of the first half. As the TV announcer colorfully put it "Liverpool is moving forward with the menace of a great white off the Cornish coast" and took the lead in the 40th minute on an own goal by a Villa defender Martin Laurson. In the 85th minute Gareth Barry evened the match on a penalty kick only to have Liverpool win the game on brilliant goal from Steven Gerrard in the 87th minute. What a great way to end our trip.

Day 10 London

Note: the slide show function is not working so I'll trouble shoot it when I get home. In the meantime you can see the slide shows by clicking on the Photobucket link to the right.

We departed the hotel at 9 AM for the twenty minute ride into the city. The bus dropped us off at the Eros statue near Piccadilly and from there we picked up a double decker tour bus. We decided to split the team into four groups because it would be difficult to keep track of such a big group in the city. We spent twelve hours in London and the groups visited all the major attractions (Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, the London Eye, Tower of London, to name a few.) Our tickets were for a hop on hop off bus, including a boat ride on the Thames, so traveling around was easy. There was a lot to see and I think all the groups managed to get to most of the major sites. It was a beautiful day and with Europe on holiday, London was very busy. Not surprisingly, the boys were most interested in the soccer shops. A game has emerged among the boys to see who can get the "sickest" shirt at the lowest price. I did a rough tally and believe the group has purchased over 90 replica jerseys. Now I'm not sure which one is the sickest but I'm sure sick thinking about it.

We had dinner at 7 PM in a one-priced pizza and pasta restaurant. At 7:15 we decided to take in a play and Irl raced off the discount ticket place. Amazingly, by 7:30 he was able to get 27 tickets, all together and at half price, and by 7:45 we were seated in the theater to see Stomp. The boys loved the show and the bus ride home was chaotic. Now I know these are very good athletes but don't ever confuse athleticism with rhythm. It was a auditory train wreck. Lights out at 12.

Day 9 Theater of Dreams

Today we traveled from Durham to Manchester to tour Old Trafford, Manchester United's football stadium, or as Sir Bobby Charlton has dubbed it, the "Theater of Dreams". Man U is the most valuable franchise in all of sports and one visit to the stadium reveals that it's all business. The park has all the charm of a mega Vegas hotel. Everything was big - the biggest sports store, the biggest seating capacity, the biggest TV contract. From the manager on down to the ticket taker, the club has a certain swagger - think New York Yankees on steroids (sorry for the bad baseball analogy). The stadium tours run on a schedule that would make a Swiss watch manufacturer envious and our elderly guide kept whisking us along at brisk pace; at one point he shot out so fast that our group was split in two and the back half ended up lost in a maze of halls.

I was struck by the security procedures. There are cameras everywhere, even on the heads of the security personnel, and surprisingly, no trash receptacles in the stadium. No trash bins means fewer places to hide bombs. All fans are encouraged to throw trash on the floor and the entire stadium of almost 70,000 can be evacuated in a matter of minutes. While it's hard not to marvel at the Man U facilities and the success of the club, I came away from the tour longing for a return visit to Newcastle, where you have an overachieving city in which the people are better than the think they are. After the stadium tour we visited the club store and had a snack in the cafe before departing on the three hour trip to the Jurys Inn in Croydon, twenty minutes outside of London. Along the way we stopped at a carvery for an all you can eat buffet. We finally checked into the hotel at 10 PM and it was lights out at midnight.

Day 8 Coastal Thunder vs Norton & Stockton Ancients

Coastal Thunder 2 Norton & Stockton Ancients 2

This was our final game of the trip and, sadly, the 40th and final game of the 2007 season. It's hard to believe just how much the boys have accomplished this year. Just step back and try to remember all the indoor training sessions, the trip to Score at the Shore in Jacksonville, winning the Oakwood Tournament, the Region One league, winning the State Cup, the Coastal Summer Challenge, the Region One Tournament, all leading to this final game in England against a very good squad from Norton & Stockton. And enough ice cream was eaten along the way to feed a small country. How can we possibly thank Seth and Irl enough. We are now in downhill stage of the trip and in the coming days will enjoy a visit to Old Trafford Stadium, then on to London to be topped off by some sightseeing and Liverpool vs Aston Villa. Phew!

Today's match was a worthy conclusion to the year. Once again we played a competitive and well organized team. The local players demonstrated a high level of skill with and excellent touch on the ball and tough (yet fair) ball tackling ability. One of the boys from the Ancients is being looked at by the Middlesborough professional team. The game was played evenly for the first half with our boys having the better of possession but not breaking down the Ancient's defense for many threats on goal. We gave up a goal in the 40th minute against the run of play when the Ancient's top player stroked a left footed shot from the top of the box into the side panel of the net.

Following halftime, the Ancients took a 2-0 lead in the 50th minute on nice shot off a ball played forward into the box. Down 2-0 the boys seemed to rally and were unwilling to have the season end on a down note. In the 60th minute Ben blasted a shot from 25 yards out that was deflected into the goal. With the momentum solidly behind us, HoJo tied the game in the 70th minute, tucking the ball in the net off a cross from Gabe W. We continued to press hard for the remaining 10 minutes and had a few good chance to win the game. Final score 2-2.

It was a hard fought game. At the conclusion of the game the referee was overheard quipping that this was "not a very friendly, friendly match." But all was soon forgotten as the Norton & Stockton parents and coaches hosted a pizza party in the clubhouse.

Day 8 Visit to St James' Park

Howay the Lads.

Today was a very special day. After a late breakfast at 9:30, the boys toured Durham Castle before heading off to Newcastle to visit St. James' Park, home of Newcastle United, or the Magpies as they are known for their black and white jerseys. We met Gary, Newcastle United's head of public relations and an an acquaintance of Mark. Incredibly, Gary spent 90 minutes showing us around the stadium. We visited everything - ranging from the pitch to the dressing rooms for the referees, visiting team, and the home team (complete with game jerseys hanging in the lockers) to the press room. After leaving the stadium we visited the museum compliments of the club and finished off the tour with some heavy shopping at the team store. Gary photographed the team and will include the picture in an upcoming game program. It's very unusual for outside groups to get such an intimate view into a Premier League stadium. Imagine a 90 minute private tour of Fenway Park, including the clubhouse. Thank you Gary.

St James' Park is unique in English football because it's one of only a few stadiums located in the center of the city, almost as if the city itself grew outward from the stadium. In addition, Newcastle is one of the few major cities that only has one team, most other major cities have at least two. We were on hallowed football ground today.

So you are probably wondering what "Howay the Lads" means. You see it at the beginning of this post and you'll see it again in the side show in the tunnel leading to the pitch. Loosely interpreted, it is a Geordie (of or from the Newcastle area) expression meaning "Come on Lads".

Here is an example of one of the milder Newcastle United chants: "We are the Geordies. The Geordie Bootboys. Oh we are mental. Oh we are mad. We are the loyalist, football supporters the world has ever had."