It is not fully known why Kap pursued his unorthodox method of recruitment, or if he seriously tried other avenues in his attempts to procure players. He could have contacted the hundreds of professional teams in Europe, whose stock-in-trade is players, many of whom are released each year. This route offered access to a regular […]
From The Publisher
PART FIVE: THE COMBINED TRAINING CAMP, WORLD TOUR and MINI-TOUR GAME RECORDS
Conflicting dates, scores and opponents’ names are entered in parentheses. Attendances are more difficult to confirm, I have used the numbers given in Billy Crosbie’s and Dave Morrison’s World Tour account. Also noted are those I have obtained through newspapers (Media reported), and left blank a number I was unable to confirm. Other publications have […]
PART THREE: THE 40 IN 125 + 4 – REALITY
The more intense part of the tour (post training camp) kicked off October 10 in Istanbul, Turkey, where the Tornado earned a credible 2-2 tie against Fenerbahce. It was one of a limited number of successes on a journey where defeats were more normal than wins or draws. From that point coaching sessions were fewer, […]
PART TWO: TRAINING CAMP – CLOSE CALLS – STILL RECRUITING
August 4, before the training camp (originally planned for five weeks, although it ran longer) began, the Tornado were allowed onto the hallowed turf of the Bernabeu, Real Madrid’s famous stadium. But briefly and only for publicity purposes; where they met the great Ferenc Puskas, Honved’s, Hungary’s, Real Madrid’s and finally Spain’s ‘galloping major,’ the […]
PART ONE: THE PROCESS BEGINS – COACHING CREDENTIALS?
While the USA and the NPSL, soon to be the NASL, battled for the North American sporting public’s allegiance in the summer of 1967, a group of very young, mostly inexperienced players, was beginning to assemble at a training camp on the other side of the Atlantic; preparing to represent the Dallas Tornado Soccer Club […]
Mamadee Sets New HPU Scoring Mark
By Ray Alley High Point University gave up two second-half goals in a two minute span of time which led to a 2-1 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers at home in Vert Stadium. But it was the Panthers’ single goal in that game that set a new record in HPU Division I soccer […]
Two Touches That Changed The USA’s World Cup……by Ray Alley
The U.S. World Cup team played four games in Brazil, a total of 390-plus minutes. There were thousands of touches and mis-touches. The ball moves and opportunities come and go. That is the game. Over the four games the U.S. won only once and was eliminated from the 2014 World Cup. But there were two […]
Orange Classic Is Where The Girls Are…….Again – By Ray Alley
One can trace the roots of the Orange Classic International tournament back to 1980. That first Florida girls-only soccer tournament was originally called the Junior Orange Bowl Soccer Tournament. That first year there were only 16 teams in the tournament, but that was a start. The late Don Tufts became the tournament director in 1983 […]
A Good Time To Start Planning A Soccer Trip Is Now! – By Ray Alley
Select An Experienced, Reputable Sports Tour Operator Once you have decided to take your soccer team on a trip abroad, select a tour operator who best meets your needs. Settling on a reputable tour operation comes before actually deciding where you are going to go. Do your homework. You aren’t looking for the local travel […]
Not All Soccer HOF Artifacts In Storage – By Ray Alley
NSCAA Has Displays In Kansas City The phone call was from Mickey Cochrane. No complaints from this faithful reader of Southern Soccer Scene. Just some observations and some suggestions. It was in reference to the first installment of Neil Morris’ outstanding two piece article about the demise of the National Soccer Hall of Fame that […]