Tuesday, May 7, 2019.

Wednesday, May 7, 2019.

Manchester to LAX via Amsterdam using KLM 1072 / KLM 603.

Dep 09-00 and arriving L A at just before 15-00.

Out of Arrivals fairly quickly and Car Rental awaiting and away by 16-40.

Tiers I refer to below are my own work as there are no official tiers in USA football below tier 3.

A game had shown for the Tuesday evening at fairly short notice , in fact 2 in the U S Open Cup ( AKA Lamar Hunt) R 1 , both at Orange County Great Park , Irvine.

One on the Championship Stadium and one on the new ‘Field 25’ about 200 yards away. Field 25 is not a patch on the main show stadium , I’ll be back as Arnie said.

The game at the ‘Championship Stadium’ was Orange County FC ( National Premier Soccer League , Tier 4 )  v  F C Golden State Force ( USL Div 2 , Tier 4 ) and my choice of game was Cal F C ( United Premier Soccer League , Tier 5 )  v  FC Mulhouse Portland ( NPSL , Tier 4 ) which was at ‘Field  25’  both at 19-30 unfortunately , if  I was German I could have ticked the 2 .

US Open Cup R1. ( West Region).

Cal F C  5 v 1  FC Mulhouse Portland.

( United Premier Soccer League  v  National Premier Soccer League ).

19-30.

@ Great Parks ‘Field 25’, Skyhawk Way , Irvine.

Attendance  –  50.

Fairly local journey  for FCM Portland from Vancouver , Washington , just a mere 1,000 mile , 16 hour road journey for this tie. Obviously FCMP used the flying method in this instance , a 2 and a half hour non stop flight from Portland into LAX.  With an overnight stop it’s not a cheap competition to be in , but of course expenses are reimbursed.

2 away sides in other ties had problems with NTX Rayados flight to Little Rock being cancelled which resulted in them hiring a coach for a 5 hour road journey in lousy weather which involved a flat tyre, at least they won on penalties .

Also FC Denver suffered a cancelled flight to Midland , Texas , which  meant rebooking to El Paso and then hiring a coach for a 4 hour desert drive to the game at Midland-Odessa , they also managed a win beating the Sockers 2-1.

Love this Open Cup.

Whereas Golden State Force had a monstrous 35 mile drive for the other game taking place here at Great Parks!

FCMP do indeed have a tie with FC Mulhouse from France and they play in the West Region (N W Conference) of the NPSL. They claimed not to be match fit / tired after the journey at the post match interviews , they haven’t played a game yet this season , the first scheduled league game is this Saturday , May 18th. Excuses , excuses.

Fair point re match fitness as unbeaten Cal FC have an 8 match unbeaten start to their league campaign with 7 wins.

This Cal win has set up a fascinating game next Tuesday at Las Vegas Lights , I’ve changed my  itinerary to fit it in. ‘Fox’ presenter and ex Cal FC Coach / Scout  Erik Wynalda   who made a lot of recommendations for Cal FC’s  famous side that beat Portland Timbers in this cup in 2012 is now in charge of the ‘Lights’ and he later took some Cal players to Vegas.

Cal FC from Ventura County had visions of joining the USL Div 2 for 2020 but have had a rethink and will be a member of the NPSL Founders Cup starting in August 2019 , this a tester for the real thing a new Premier Division of the NPSL to join the USA  pyramid at tier 3 ?

This is Cal FC’s 4th home game so far in this competition and they’ve played at 4 different grounds !

1st Q Rd. 22/09/2018 v San Nicholas , 3-1 @ Calabasas High School .

3rd Q Rd. 18/10/2018 v California Utd , 2-2 @ Rolland Stadium , Carl Lutheren University. Abandoned 89 mins  (Weather issues).

3rd Q Rd. ( Take 2) 16/01/2019 v California Utd , 1-1 AET. 7-6 on pens @ Orange County Great Parks , Field 18.

Then the above game visited at Orange County Great Parks , Field 25.

They also had a problem after the 1st Q Rd when San Nicholas put in a protest re the eligibility of Cal FC.  The rules of competition said that competing teams have  had to be members of a league on a set date (Aug 13, 2018) and Cal FC were not playing on that date because their new season beginning in September . BUT they had merged with La Roma and formed a new club to begin playing again in 2018 and La Roma were a member of a league on said date so the protest was thrown out.

I chose the fixture as I don’t watch football in the USL Div 2 or its clubs  because this is the renamed PDSL from the previous season and is an age restricted team / squad / U 23 division.

Their words  ”USL League Two (USL2) is the leader in pre-professional soccer in the U.S. and Canada. USL2 franchises provide the elite amateur U23 player an opportunity to train and compete at the highest level while maintaining collegiate eligibility” .

In fact in season 2017 I visited a game at Western Mass Pioneers in the PDSL on 20th June , 2017, finished 3-2 v AC Connecticut , this does not appear as a tick of ground or a game seen in MY records  as the league doesn’t count on MY register , just the same as boys / girls / youths / Reserves etc.

Anyway Cal F C from the tier 5 ‘United Premier Soccer League’ totally outplayed their opponents from a league / division one tier higher and ran out 5 – 1 winners including a hat trick from ex Chicago Fire Orr Barrouch who’s an Israeli U23 International and still only 27 who starred in a result that flattered FCMP.

There was a scare on 30 mins when the floodlights went out , only here not at Championship Stadium , anyway it was 3-0 at the time and the FCMP players were taking it better than me with an odd plea (jokingly) to the referee to call it off ! Normal service was resumed a few minutes later.

The complex ‘Great Parks’ is impressive and brand spanking new. 30 odd soccer pitches inc 2 stadium pitches plus many other forms of sports venues.

Also its only a  50 mile , one hour drive from LAX , well that’s on a good day , on a Tuesday teatime it took about 100 minutes , bloody traffic was unbelievable. Still the SatNav was useful and arrived in plenty of time.

Anyway we found ‘Field 25’ easily , it has its own entrance off Skyhawk Way. The fixture / results sites we all look at still has both games at ‘Championship Stadium’ at the same time !!

After the game it was a 10 minute drive along the I-5 N to the overnight pit stop in Tustin at the Key Inn, a nice big en-suite , one Queen bed ( mine ) and a single , Wi Fi , Parking , Breakfast included all for £59. Cheap shopping next door and a Liqor Store , so we topped up the Duty Free with some hefty Craft IPA’s.

Had a 2 hour chill by the pool , yes even at that time of night.

Wednesday, May 8, 2019.

Lie in and after breakfast it was away to Fresno at 10-00. Rome2Rio has it as a 255 mile 4 hour 15′ journey. It took about 7 hours but at a leisurely pace and a pit stop in Santa Clarita.

Arrived in Fresno about 17-00 , time to check in at the Vagabond Inn on South East Avenue , $70 for en suite double , 2 x queen beds, b/fast and plenty of parking then off to the Grizzlies Ground for the game arriving at 18-30.

Capacity of 10,000 at the Grizzlies baseball ground Chukhansi Park which was not tested tonight just the 2,968 attending on a bad weather night.

Fresno were one of 2 unbeaten sides in the Championship the other being Tampa Bay Rowdies of the Eastern Conference. Sacramento were here to spoil the stats in the Highway 99 derby game , it’s only a 2 and a half hour 270 mile road journey.

USL Championship. ( Western Conference).

19-30.

Fresno F C   0 v 1  Sacramento Republic.

@ Chukhansi Park , 1800 Tulare Street, Fresno.

Attendance  –  2,968.

And Sacramento did spoil the party with a disputed headed goal on 29′ by Sam Werner , claims of handball against him went ignored , with pretty lino Salma Perez taking most of the flak from Fresno’s English coach Adam Smith who was eventually shown to the stand. The hat trick king ( hat tricks at all levels in England and F A Cup and International)  assistant coach Robbie Earnshaw was less vociferous but post match told me he was livid. Robbie is building a coaching career over here with an aim to get to the Premier League.

Friday , May 10 , 2019.

USL Championship. ( Western Conference).

19-30.

Phoenix Rising  3 v 1  Rio Grande Valley Toros.

@ Casino Arizona Field , 751 N McClintock Drive , Scottsdale .

Attendance  –  6,715.

Beer night . $1 a can / bottle.

Adam John scored twice in the first half followed by a James Musa strike to give the home side a 3-0 lead after 70′ only for RGVT to pull one back with a Maalique Foster goal immediately after but they never looked like making any further additions and it was easy for Phoenix to play the game out.

Decent crowd of 6,715 in a ground with a capacity of 7,707 , so not too much spare room and the atmosphere was good especially when the $1 beer started to kick in , the beer garden was well populated.

Saturday , May 11 , 2019.

NPSL. West Region , (S W Conference).

19-00.

High Desert Elite F C   2 v 1  Riverside Coras.

@ Adelante Stadium , 12000 Stadium Way , Adelanto.

Riverside took the lead on the half hour through Brayan , 5 minutes later Sergio Buenrastro equalized .

On 85 came the game changer when Cora’s Mike Mercado was sent off which led to a siege on the Cora goal and an Omar Mattute winner on 90 +4.

Sunday , May 12, 2019.

NPSL. West Region ( S W Comference).

17-00.

Albion SC San Diego  0 v 2  F C Arizona.

@ Mission Bay High School Stadium , 2475 Grand Avenue , Pacific Beach .

F C Arizona with ‘Scouser’ Dave Rogers ( https://sportcareersagency.com/profile.php?id=38 ) in charge took command in the first half with a double by Cesar Mexia on 5′ & 22′ after which they were in full control , a few more chances at either end but the keepers never really troubled.

Tuesday , May 14 , 2019.

U S Open Cup R2. ( West Region).

19-30.

Las Vegas Lights F C   2  v 0   Cal F C.

( USL Championship  v  United Premier Soccer League).

@ Cashman Field , 850 Las Vegas Blvd N.

Attendance – 2,536.

Nearly 42 years after visiting Vegas for the Quicksilvers v Rochester Lancers NASL game on the 17/07/1977 at the Las Vegas Stadium ( 1-0 , 5,615 ) it was back to visit the Lights .The Quicksilvers were a one season wonder , brought to Vegas by owner Frank Keegan  who had bought Baltimore Comets for the  75 season and relocated to San Diego (Jaws) for 76 season and then to Vegas for 77.Following a reasonable 1977 season with a mainly Portuguese line up inc Eusebio , Coelho , Toni & Abel ,  in fact the opening home game that season pitted Eusebio against Pele’s Cosmos on April 9 , 1977 , this resulted in Pele putting Eusebio out of the game with a slide tackle on 38′. Quicksilvers won the game 1-0 with an Arbelez goal in front of 11,896 , the capacity was 14,926 in them far off days. For the 13 game home season Quicksilvers averaged a reasonable 7,092 but still ended the season in financial crisis , owing the stadium rent of $32,000, with all this debt Keegan sold out and the club was moved again , this time back again to San Diego and the ‘Sockers’ were formed , they stuck around for a further 18 years in San Diego. 7 years till 84 as a member of the  NASL then the remainder of their life as an Indoor League team.

So now it ‘s off to Cashman Field for the US Open Cup game v Cal FC . Cashman being very centrally located unlike Vegas Stadium , that was a 13 mile trek with limited transport , had to hitch back.

Tonight the game was a tester for me , the home league game on May 11th v Colorado Springs  had a crowd of 7,023 and on the 5th of May v Sacramento Republic there were 7,487.  So as is the norm elsewhere in the world , cup crowds are down but then again the opposition were not a big draw for the fans despite being a big thing for the players  with lots of connections . Lights coach was ex Cal and 2 of the 4 cup tied players were due to being at Cal previously.

Goals by Sammy Ochoa on 13′ and one by Victor Rojas on 50’ won the game for the  ‘Lights’. Both resulted from runs down the left and crosses , the first seeing a header in by Ochoa and the second a nice flick in by Rojas.

At times a bad tempered affair spilled over at the end ( 92′) and ‘Lights’ Jonathan Levin and the substituted Cal player Romario Lomeli were both sent off after a fracas.

Wednesday , May 15 , 2019.

U S Open Cup R 2. ( West Region).

14-30.

El Farolito  F C   0 v 1   Fresno F C.

( NPSL   v  USL Championship ).

@ Boxer Stadium , 166 Havelock St, San Francisco.

Attendance – 205.

Reason for the kick off being 14 – 30 was that Boxer Stadium has no lights and ESPN needed an afternoon live game and this suited the bill. Who am I to complain ? $ 10 admission again.

El Farolito are past winners of the US Open Cup , winning it when still a semi pro competition in 1993 when they were called CD Mexico . The final against Oakford PA side United German Hungarians was played at the neutral Kuntz Stadium in Indianapolis on Saturday July 17 , with CD Mexico winning the 80th year of the Cup by 5 -0.

Tonight Torros coach Adam Smith played a dangerous game having 7 first teamers on the bench  for Fresno  , pre match the talk was he’s made a mistake. Fresno lived dangerously but scored the only goal after  75 mins , first teamer Qudus Lawal brought on at half time pounced on a blunder by El Farolito keeper Luis Castro who dropped the ball at Lawal’s feet and he shot home.

Had to decline an offer of a free dinner / drink at the teams restaurant ( El Farolito )after game  , great shame but needed a quick getaway to get to Sacramento for the second game of the day Sacramento Republic v Reno 1868 @ 19-30.

Have just arrived at Papa Murphy’s Park 45 minutes before kick off and have settled down in press box writing these  notes , estimated journey time of 1 hour 45 ‘ became 2 hours 30 ‘ , the traffic is dreadful over here. Report of Republic game to follow below.

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U S Open Cup R 2. ( West Region).

19-30.

Sacramento Republic F C  1 v 0  Reno 1868 F C.

( USL Championship  v  USL Championship ).

@ Papa Murphy’s Park , 1600 Exposition Blvd , Sacramento.

Attendance – 2,014.

Last time I was in Sacramento was for Sacramento Gold v New York Apollo on 20 / 07 / 78 for a 0-0 (A O/T) , 2,116 @ Hughes Stadium in the American Soccer League.

From Andy Crossley ”Fun while it lasted” – ”After the 1977 season, a California cabinet manufacturer named John Andreotti bought the Sacramento Spirits franchise and re-branded it as the Sacramento Gold for 1978.”  – The fun while it lasted site , teams and grounds =

Defunct Team Index

Also the previous season on 03 / 07 / 77 I visited for Sacramento Spirits v  New York Apollo (Again) for a 2-1 , 3,640 @ the Sacramento State Stadium in the American Soccer League .

Well tonight was an easy chance to compare the League with the Open Cup as Reno won 4-1 here 4 days earlier in a league game.

Tonight the Republic started with 7 players the same as Saturday Reno only 4 , some were cup tied of course and some rested , those rested were mainly on the subs bench.

Attendance tonight was 2,014 compared with 10,630 on Saturday , the weather tonight was horrendous , heavy rain for most of the game , so glad I had a nice dry seat in press box.

The game was played on a very heavy field with lying water in parts and was a dour struggle between the Interstate-80 rivals. Republic just about worth their win but Reno had a couple of good chances to win the game. So the Republic put Reno out of the Open Cup for the third successive season.

Sam Werner scoring the vital goal on 82′ , scoring easily when set up by a right wing centre by Drew Skundrich

Tyler Blackwood a name for my readers to ponder , at QPR in 2015/16 and had a 3 match  loan period at Newport .

Off in 4 hours for L A F C.

Thursday morning en route to LA the plan was book into our room at the Vagabond Inn South in Bakersfield for 3 nights , handy mid journey between venues for next 4 days.  So Deluxe No Smoking 2 Queen was booked on line a few days ago. En Suite , B/fast included , Parking and as it says on the tin 2 x Queen beds. So no quibbles , 1 each.

$170 / £133. Bargain.

3 or 4 micro brew pubs on Friday in Bakersfied to visit , sounds like a plan

Thursday , May 16 , 2019.

Major League Soccer. (Western Conference).

19-00.

Los Angeles F C 2  v 0   F C Dallas.

@ Banc of California Stadium,  3939 S Figueroa St, LA.

Admission started @  $22 . Me – Comp.

Attendance – 22,001. ( Yeh sure). Capacity 22,000 (There were plenty of empty seats, announced as sell out).

The rain cleared by mid day then the rest of the day was warm and windy.

Got to ground early to enable finding Reserved Parking / Comps / Pre match dinner.

Both squads nearly at full strength , no petty squabbles to carry over to Sunday for the return game.

Decent game , LA F C were totally dominant and should have scored more.

Star home man Carlos Vela declined to play for Mexico in Gold Cup and so is gracing LAFC with his presence at the moment  , scored the opener and ran the show. He tired a bit towards the end when he had a couple of good chances to widen the scoreline. Uruguayan Diego Rossi added a second towards the end and it finished 2-0.

This tickled me = Remember kick off is 19-00.

Pre match schedule-

19-03 . Falconer / Falcon flight.

19-05. Scarves up.

19-07. Teams enter pitch.

National Anthem.

LAFC team introduction.

Kick off. ?

Friday , May 17 , 2019.

Bakersfield.   Chill and a drink. ( Brewery pubs ).

Temblor Brewery. (12-00)

3200 Buck Owens Blvd.

10 oz ‘Snifter’ of Diamond Dogs Barley Wine @  9-0% ABV.

Pint of Bakersfield IPA @ 7-0% ABV.

Lengthwise Brewing Company. (14-00).

7700 Distance Blvd.

Pint of Citra/Simcoe Centennial Ale @ 6-5 %.

12 oz bottle Zeus Imperial Stout  @ 9-7 %.

Crusader Brewery Tap , 5880. On Industrial Estate. (16-00, Opening time).

500 ml of Jester @ 4-3 % ABV.

Stein of ‘Dunkel Brot’.

Beer is not cheap in the USofA.  Glass sizes are also a problem , there seems to be no normality to glass sizes that the beers are served in with many different names for the different sized glasses , baffling at times . 

Size has always been a problem for me.

There was a sporting alternative for the Friday evening , the LA Temptation were at home @ 19-00 at Citizens Business Park Arena in Ontario , Ca , against the Atlanta Steam in the American Football Lingerie Legends League , only a 2 hour drive away but the driver had had a couple so we had to give it away.

Saturday , May , 18, 2019.

Well rested after a nice day in Bakersfield on the Friday with a few beers and lunch outdoors with an early night by my standards.

Had an early Continental breakfast with a couple of rolls in a doggy bag and away just after 07-00 for the projected ( Rome2Rio ) journey of 3 hrs 34′. This was a reasonable guess and we arrived at Avaya at 11-00.

Major League Soccer. (Western Conference).

12-30.

San Jose Earthquakes  4 v  1 Chicago Fire.

@ Avaya Stadium , 1123 Coleman Avenue , San Jose.

Attendance – 15,232.

Another nearly 42 years since last visit , that time it was for San Jose Earthquakes on 27/ 06 / 77 with the visit of Tampa Bay Rowdies in the NASL  , Rowdies winning 4 -1 @ Spartan Stadium in front of 17,612.

The early kick off as is the norm around the world was for TV purposes.

It was to be a MLS history making game , all season long 36 year old San Jose striker Chris Wondolowski has been after a goal to equal Landon Donovan’s goals total of 145 in MLS games. Today after 20 minutes he did just that.

Not to be content with that he went on to beat that record to stand all alone as the MLS’s leading goalscorer with an assist by Chicago Fire keeper David Ousted on 47 minutes , Ousted kindly dropping the ball at Chris’s feet so he could tap the ball in for 146 . Two more followed and now the record is 148 with more to follow. Only 2 players are anywhere near him and still playing , they are Colorado Rapids striker Kei Kamara with 119  and Bradley Wright Phillips on 107 for New York Red Bulls , both are aged 34 and nearing their American’s end.

Chicago Fire , rubbish on the day pulled a goal back but the 4-1 certainly flattered them !

Then it was an 85 mile / 2 hour slow drive to Napa for Saturday game number  2. Arrived at planned 3253 Browns Valley Road , Napa and the Hop Creek Brew Pub. Good hour to kill and had a couple of ‘Cheater’ pints , one of their own ‘Sucker Punch’ IPA @ 7-5% ABV  followed by another ‘Cheater’ of ‘Block Party’ @ 7-8% ABV.  ‘Block Party’ brewed and paid for by host Stacey. Ta.

Driver not impressed with my drinking but at least his coffee was only a $1 for as much as he wanted. Had a quick sandwich as well , bloody hell I had to take half to the game as it was enormous.

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N P S L . West. ( S W Conference).

19-00.

Napa Valley 1839  1 v 4  Sacramento Gold.

@ Dodd Stadium, Justin Siena H S , 4026 Maher St , Napa.

Arrived at 18-15 and settled down in Press Box , mate got himself in too, then just to rub it in , it was ‘Tannery Bend Beerworks’ day at Dodd Stadium with free samples upstairs for officials , although it was in half pint plastic glasses. It did not affect the alcoholic effect of the 7-0%  ABV ‘North Eastern IPA’,  in olden days I would have been a meess , today just happy.

Sacramento Gold made short work of Napa winning easily , first half was a fair contest with Gold only 2-1 up at half time but they were well on top for the second half and won easily 4-1 . Rainy night and the far side of ground not being used.

Long drive back to Bakersfield , the sandwich went down well. Got back at 01-50 and in bed by 02-00 with a decision in morning as to how we feel whether to do the morning game which means a departure of about 08-00 . I went to bed with a feeling of why not , last day with an early finish and in hotel on Sunday  night by 20-00 with no rush to get up on the Monday , just the driver to convince now !

Sunday , May 19 , 2019.

IF  make it in time ,  2 and a quarter hour drive from Bakersfield Vagabond  , won’t be any traffic on a Sunday morning will there ?. ( Crunching at this one).

We did and there wasn’t.

SoCal Premier League. Div 3.

11-00.

Vikings  1 v  O C Lions.

@ Westgrove Park , Cerulean Avenue, Garden Grove.

See what Spanner means about ‘Crunchers’ standing in fields , must desist.

Awful game with Vikings beating bottom of the division side O C Lions easier than the score suggests.

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SoCal Premier League. Premier League Cup Final.

14-00.

Buena Park  2 v 0   Cali Gators.

@ Nogales High School Stadium, Nogales St , South San Jose Hills. (Neutral venue).

One of the highlights of the Southern California League season pitted Premier Div  sides the ‘Fighting Irish’ Buena Park who are 3rd in the division at the moment with 5th place FC CaliGators , Buena Park have ambitions to finish as runners up to already champions FC Golden State Force , they’ve won the league already being unbeaten at the moment with a W16 D1 LO record , below them is a  2 or 3 team battle for runners up . Such is the gap that the next best team with least losses is Buena Park with 5. Although FCGSF did slip up in the last 16 of this cup losing at home to FC Golden State Industry 1-0 @ Monrovia High School Turf.

The difference in the side was leading goal scorer Nate Da Rosa who scored a goal in each half for the Irish, Nate is currently also playing for NPSL side Temecula in a level above this and could go higher still.

This was Finals day for SoCal with Finals @ 09-00 , 11-30 , 14-00 & @ 16-30 with the showcase Final being the game mentioned , the admission was free .

The ‘Fighting Irish’ with their Trophy =

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NPSL. West ( S W Conference).

17-00.

Riverside Coras  0 v 2   A S C San Diego.

@ J W North Stadium, 1550 3rd St , Riverside .

Goals either side of half time , firstly on 34 by Elijah Rice with a deft chip over the home keeper and then Dallin Cutler on 60 wrapped this up for San Diego and kept their hopes up of progression post league.

Then check into Motel 6, Riverside West , Jurupa Valley . It took 15 minutes so checked in by 19-15 , few bottled beers from brew pub  trips into fridge and have a lie down.

$68. Double en suite, 2 x double beds, No Smoking , Parking etc. Good lie in in the morning , no rush to LAX.

Monday , May 20 , 2019.

Back to Manchester from LAX with Aer Lingus via Dublin using EI144 / EI 3326.

HOME.

Till Thursday and then Wizz bang and another blog !

FACT.