New VI season
The season for our senior side has gotten off to mixed start. We began with our first ever cup victory: A smashing 6-0 win on the road to Gtown Gamblers. Following that high-flying start we suffered a pair of crushing defeats that the boys are still trying to recover from. The first was our first VI.247 league match of the season against Broad Street. They are a class team and simply put we were overwhelmed. We hope to do better than the 7-0 loss when we play them again at Milburn Park. We faced another quality opponent in the midweek cup match Greater Poe FC from division V. Despite the fantastic home field advantage we were beaten by a superior team for the second time in a week. Since we've been able to focus on VI.247 better results have started to come. We have a few more weeks before our participation in the Mitropa Cup begins and hopefully we can use that time to build some momentum.
GCI season ends, new one begins
Our youth team has really found its groove on the field. We were the best team in the league for the second half of the Guild of Calamitous Intent season. Our boys went on a 6-game winning streak during which they scored 34 goals and didn't allow a single goal. During that stretch we thoroughly defeated league leaders F.C. Olimipc Youth and ROOS FC. It was enough to give us a chance to win the league on the last game of the season, but our boys came up short in the final match, falling 3-1 to mladi ribari.
We had speculated that we might not participate in GCI again next season, but we are pleased to report that negociations to continue are looking good. It looks like 10 of the 12 teams will be returning and we are pleased with the level of competition. We will report again when this deal is finalized.
Coaching change
After about a season and a half in charge of the senior team head coach Jamie Whittington has asked to be relieved of his coaching duties. He's recommended a replacement, Spaniard Sergio Torres. Torres will take over the job on a temporary basis until the club approves the move. As always Jamie did this for the betterment of the club: "I had a great run both on the field and as a coach during season 37. But the responsibility of both jobs really wore me down and it got to the point where I didn't think I was doing a good job at either. I've fallen down the depth chart at forward and as a coach I don't think I'm adding as much as I once was. Sergio is going to bring the best out of our players, particularly the younger guys. And I can go back to focusing on playing soccer. I'm 32 and have to admit that I'm on the downside of my playing days. But I think I can still make a run where I can have one last hurrah on the field. That's my goal."
Transfers
IN Allen Henry
Allen Henry was purchased from California Wildcats for $74,000. We're particularly pleased with the low price we were able to secure for a player of Allen's quality. He should bolster our defense and allow Larry Yazzie to move up to the wing.
OUT Adolfo Navarro
We've been excited about youth academy product Adolfo Navarro for a long while now. Jorge Leavitt and I agreed that Adolfo has a fine career ahead of him but that our club is not the best place for him to develop. We were able to arrange a transfer to Italian club La Scorza for $339,000. We're sad to see Adolfo go but can't complain about the transfer fee he brought in. We will be following his progress.
OUT Andrea Elba
Andrea wasn't an original member of our club but to most of us it feels that way. Despite playing briefly for Atlanta Arsenal Andrea basically began his career here at CPH and was a vital cog in our machine for 2 seasons. He had injury problems at the end of season 37 but was still valuable enough to fetch a $83,000 transfer fee. Club historians will remember that we acquired Andrea for $1000! He's having a tough time for his new club in France, Cahors. But we know he'll turn it around soon.
OUT Frank Whaley
Though he never received as much fanfare as Adolfo Navarro, Frank Whaley has the distinction of being our first youth academy prospect to be sold to another club. Frank is currently playing with Portuguese club Pacobilhas FC and has even scored a goal for them. We will be very interested to see what he can do.
Released
Nathaniel held one of the reserved spots on our roster for youth academy graduates but could never really acclimate to the pro game. He appeared 4 times for the reserves but has decided to not pursue a career in professional soccer.
Benny Porter has been with us since the beginning but has never claimed a consistent spot in the starting 11. Over the seasons he made 8 appearences for the first team and scored 2 goals. He's been a top notch reserve player and a great guy to have in the locker room, but in the end we had to make room on the roster for younger talent as his position. He will be missed.
Leonardo is another youth academy prospect who just hasn't been able to make the transition. After 4 appearences with the reserves we were all undecided about whether to continue with Leonardo on the roster. After he suffered a serious knee injury with the reserves the decision seems to have been made for us. We wish him luck.
Another original club member who always had more ambition that skill. He only appeared twice for the first team and by the second half of season 37 was not able to make the field for the reserve team either.
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