New Season = New Faces

September 15, 2009 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comment

As I enter my fifteenth season with the club I’m realizing that there have been a lot of changes over those 7.5 years. Most noatably we’ve added 4 teams along the way. With a grand total of seven teams now we don’t often get to know many of our club compatriates. With this in mind I’ve decided to begin a feature where we showcase the new faces.
If all the managers can send me pics of their new players we can cover everyone but since I only know St Andrews XI (aka. “The Giants”) I’ll start there.
St Andrews XI plays in the O30A division for those who don’t know:)

Darren York - Forward

Darren or “DY” as he’s becoming known to his teamates joined us as part of the “Chris Craine Army” of former highschool greats from Leesburg H.S. Darren is a tall, rangy, athletic kid with good speed and an eye for goal. He scored in our opening game against Revolution which was a great way to kick off the campaign.

More importantly as one of his teammates his said “he improves the overall looks of our team” which will hopefully rejuvenate our diminishing female fan base

What?? Did you guys think this was going to be completely serious??

Thomas Boyd - Defender

Thomas represents the second member of the “Chris Craine army” from Leesburg.. I realize three people don’t really make an “army” but its Leesburg for crying out loud. I didn’t think they allowed anything but Football, NASCAR and coleslaw wrestling there.

Thomas is a “big lad” as the Brits would say but don’t be fooled by his size as he possess good quickness and has shown early on to be an excellent on the ball defender. With the flexibility to play centerback or fullback a la Micah Richards he adds instant depth to the squad. While we’re on the subject is is My-Kah or Me-Kah??

I prefer the former but I digress

Joe Curnette - Def / Mid

Joe “Cool as the other side of the pillow” Curnette was my first signing of the summer and I was instantly impressed with the guy because when I told him where we trained he got online and downloaded a map of the complex..not “directions to the complex” but of the actual NW recreational layout. My God someone who uses technology for more than porn!! On a side note I’m the one who did that graphic for Shitty of Apopka so brownie points there.

He also impressed me with his honesty. Right off the bat he told me he hadn’t touched a ball since the Clinton administration. Immediately I thought..oh God here we go but the guy continued to look better and better the more I saw him. Not in the way a girl looks better the more desparate and drunk you get but the boy is a quietly a quality player.

He marketed himself as a defender but I’ve used him in the midfield and the first time I put him upfront in training he scored!! Obviously now I realize the line about not paying since ‘96 is a bit of an urban legend but who cares.

Josh Stewart - Attacking Midfield

Much like Joe, Josh is another young man I found on the Internet. Be careful when you do that though, especially if its on Craigslist and you have to go to Polk County.

St Andrews has several officers of the law but I believe Josh is the first firefighter we’ve had in a long time. What’s the significance of that?? I have no idea but it might pop up again on quiz night and having a trained EMT on the squad is always a nice luxury.

As for his game Josh shows a lot of confidence on the ball with the strength and athletic ability to hold off defenders. He’s one of those guys i classify as a “tweener”. Not a true midfielder or center forward but has a really good feel for the game and there’s always room for guys like that on the pitch.

He also got his St Andrews career off to a good start by setting up the game tying goal in the second half. My favorite thing about the guy though is he doesn’t have the standard firefighter “pornstache” which is refreshing in this day and age.

Erkan Atmacan - Forward / Mid

Last but not least we have Mr. Erkan Atmacan. After reviewing all my signings I realized they were a pretty “waspy” group, good guys and players but not a lot of ethnic diversity. So for fear of Al Sharpton showing up on my sidelines I went out and found a player from Turkey. Between managing the coeds, O30A and B I’ve had 18 different nationalities represented so now this makes 19!!

I’ll be honest, I’m sure there are Turkish guys who can’t play football but much like Brazilians I’ve yet to come across one. Oh wait a second there is that Lucas guy who plays for my Liverpool. Anyway they play with a lot of confidence and flair, two things I admire mainly because they are so lacking in my game!! All jokes aside though, football is the world’s game and its always awesome to have as many corners of the globe represented as possible which is something we definitely have here at St Andrews.

As for his game he possess good feet, vision and an obvious feel for the game. I didn’t get to see his debut over the weekend as I was filming the sequel to “Deliverance” but from all reports he’s going to be a quality addition.

To all of you I want to extend a huge welcome to the club. We try to create a family environment here, all be it dysfunctional at times but show me a family that isn’t !! If you’re wondering where we get the name “St Andrews”, its not a church but actually is another place of worship..an English Pub. Check out there site to learn more and when you get a chance we encourage all our players new and old to come back and hang with your teammates. It always helps to build camaraderie.

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