Day One
Nine of us (Brodi, Thomas, Ben, Tanner, Ryan, Coady, Sam, Taylor, and Austin) met in Kansas City and flew to Chicago. From their, we met Doug, Sam, and Matt and the twelve of us flew together from Chicago on the red eye to London. The plane was practically empty allowing many of us to lie down in the rows on the plane. Also, the TV’s had multiple movies, shows, and games making the plane ride much more fun. We landed in London and everyone was exhausted from practically no sleep. We met Whit and Cole at the baggage claim and our team was complete.
After grabbing our bags, we hopped on the bus (Mid Wales Travel with Gerry the driver) which took us to Stamford Bridge home of Chelsea FC. The Futbol stadium was huge holding 42,000 people and we had the privilege of going into the locker rooms and walking through the tunnels just as the players do on game days. After our awesome tour we went to the museum and kicked soccer balls at targets and walked around to see the exhibits. As we left, our bus driver, who had masterfully backed into a tight space, accidentally hit another buses side mirror which slammed into the glass and made quite a large break (minor wreck #1).
Next we went to Covent Garden where we had lunch and walked around watching all the shows and acts. On the way back we drove passed Buckingham Palace and headed to our hotel. We finally reached our hotel and had the chance to comfortably lie down and relax. Everyone is tired after a long, long day!!
Doug Lowe 23/7/2011 (date as written in UK)
Day Two
Today we had to wake up at 7:15 to have breakfast at 7:45. We left for our tour of London at 8:45 in our bus with our tour guide, Gayle. We stopped at Daigon Alley which were where part of the Harry Potter movies were filmed. Next, we stopped for a photo opportunity of the London Bridge. After this, we stopped for another photo opportunity at Saint Paul’s Cathedral. We were not able to go into the cathedral because it was a day or worship but the outside was still very cool. We next went to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards. Then we walked through the park and made it to Picadilly Circus to eat lunch. After lunch, we shopped at Lilly Whites. It is a huge four story sports store with a ton of stuff. We also were able to shop at a store called Britianna. They mainly had London and England souvenirs and such. Later, we walked back towards Buckingham Palace to take pictures with the horses and guards. We then had to walk over by the London Eye and Big Ben to take more pictures. Next, we walked back to the London Eye and we got some free tine to get a snack. After that, we went to get in line. The line was very, very long when we got their but luckily we had bought our tickets in advance so we were able to get on quickly. We got done with the eye in about 30 minutes and had almost 40 minutes to kill so we were allowed some free time around the Eye. Our bus got their at 7 but we had had another slight delay because our driver managed to back into another mirror on another bus (minor wreck #2). It shattered the outside pane of the rear window on the bus. We finally got on our way and got back to the hotel. Our day ended with an 8:00 dinner at the hotel.
Sam Waggoner 24/7/2011
Day Three
On the morning of day three we woke up early to eat breakfast at the hotel, so we could get an early start on our drive. We ended up leaving the International Hotel in London around 8:45.
After about two and a half hours on the bus we ended up stopping in Stratford upon Avon (home of William Shakespeare). We walked by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, beside the river Avon, and then to the house he was born in. After seeing this house we ate in the city then walked back to our now dented bus!
We then drove to Keele University – site of the soccer tournament. We all got to our rooms (Lindsay Halls of Residence) and put our belongings in them. After this we took a walk to the hall that we were to eat our meals in during our stay here (Keele Hall). Upon arriving back in our residence hall we got our soccer stuff and got back on the bus to go to Manchester City Academy.
We then traveled via coach to Manchester to the Academy at Manchester City where we got to spend one hour training with Ralf (Youth academy coach). The Academy was at Platt Lane and the facilities were excellent. There were several full sized fields with different surfaces (grass, synthetic). There were also some indoor fields and a gym.
When we finished our training session we then got back onto the bus to drive back the university when we arrived we were given sack dinners since we had missed dinner. After we were given these we all went to our rooms and ate.
Once we ate we mostly just laid around and went to sleep fairly early.
Thomas Goerke 25/7/2011
Day Four
We went to Manchester United’s stadium, Old Trafford. The stadium was awesome; it holds 75,000 people and is the largest stadium in Britain besides Wembley. They showed us the player’s lounge where they hang out before a game and the tour guide told us that that’s where David Beckham met Victoria. Then we went to where the team and managers sit during a game. The seats were Audi racing seats and were pretty nice. We also got to walk out in the player’s tunnel and played some music that resembled the noise the fans made on match day. There was also the Munich tunnel that’s a memorial to the plane crash that happened in 1958 where 23 people died including 8 players. After we were done with the tour we went to the shop (Megastore) where everybody got something. Then they had a museum that held all their trophies and memorials to their past players. Some of us got to see the 2010-2011 Premier League that they won.
We left Manchester and headed to Chester. Everybody got a good nap on the bus. The town has a wall around it that was built by the Romans that we got to walk on and see most of the city. Chester also has a big race track that’s grass. After that we got some free time around the city. As we left we picked up some great English food at a store for after the game the next day. Our next stop was back to Keele to have a smashing English dinner and a good sleep in the dorms.
Ryan Harlow 26/7/2011
Day 5
On day five, we ate breakfast at 8 o’clock. The breakfast was okay just a normal British breakfast. We left breakfast at 8:30. We met outside at 9:45 to walk to the fields. The fields were about 10 to 15 minutes away on foot. Our game was at 11 a.m. We started to warm up as soon as we got over to the field. We played against a Kenyan team (Ligi N’Dogo). Our game started and Whitaker Buckler took the first goal to put us up 1-0. Quite incredible! They scored a great goal to tie it up (scorer was Ogle Rizak). The game ended up a tie 1-1. This was a great result seeing as it was our first game playing together.
Our second game was at 2pm. We only had an hour in between games. We played a northern England team (Hartlepool Schools FA). They had won their previous game 8-1 and had not been beaten for two years! They were a top class team. They scored the first goal, it was a one-on-one chip (Scorer was Robert Noddings). Cole responded with a goal to tie it up. They scored again through Nodding (they were off-sides but there were no linesmen to call it). We continued to play hard and Ben Avery scored a great goal to tie it up at 2-2. They continued to attack very hard and we continued to defend. However, Ben scored again to put us up 3-2! We had beaten a very top class English team, that hasn’t lost in 2 years! Everyone just relaxed in our rooms, than we ate dinner at 8. We had chili, noodles and rice – a very quality dinner.
Austin Place 27/7/201
Day Six
Today was a swell day. We started off with breakfast around 8am which was an early day for everyone after two games. Everyone was sore and tired but we ate our food and got ready for our 3rd game of the week. We played the other American team from our pool (365 Sports). It was a close game, but we should’ve won the game. The final score was 0-0.
After our game we hurried off to our bus, without a shower, and headed off to Liverpool. We made a quick stop to get drink and food and got there within an hour. We got a tour of Anfield (Liverpool’s home field) and got to see the museum and go buy some merchandise.
After Liverpool we went to a Stoke City vs. Hajduk Split (from Croatia). The game was crazy – nothing like American sports. Stoke scored early and managed to hold off Split for the rest of the game. Everyone had a blast. The Splits had some crazy fans that got really intense, but all in all it was a great day.
Tanner McCarthy 28/7/2011
Day Seven
We started out with an early breakfast, after that we headed straight to the soccer fields. At today’s game we had to play a very skillful Norwegian team. We finished to first half in a 0-0 tie. Once the second half started it became very physical quick! Then with about 5 minutes to go we had taken the lead with a goal from Whit Buckler and the assist from Tanner. The game ended 1-0 and we finished the group play with a W2 T2 L0 record.
After that we had an hour drive to Liverpool, where we ate lunch then headed to The Beatles Story (in the Albert Docks beside the River Mersey), where we learned all about Paul, Ringo, George and John. Then after we got done with that we headed down to the world’s most famous bar, The Cavern! We heard a very high-quality Beatles cover band.
Then we headed back to the dorms to get dinner, after that we all just chilled and had entertaining at the disco! Then we had a team meeting then headed off to bed to call it a night.
“WE ARE THE BEATLES FROM LIVERPOOL!!!!”
Cole Rinke, Thomas Goerke, Dougie Fresh, and Brodi Sabiston 29/7/2011
Day Eight
Saturday July 30, 2011
It’s the 8th day of our England trip; fortunately enough we got to sleep in till about 8:15 and for the last time we shared the same “delicious” English breakfast at Keele University, the menu never changed! After breakfast the team headed back to our dorms and began pilling our clothes back into our suit cases. Some how we all managed to fit all of our new souvenirs, even though a few had to buy an extra bag or two. Once everyone was packed it was time to get into game mode and we all prepared ourselves for our 5th game of the tournament, the semi-final match.
We faced another talented opponent from northern England, Hull FC. Hull was by far the hardest team we faced through out the cup. After competing in the first half and putting up a strong battle, Hull was on top two-nil. As a team, we struggled to hold possession in our attacking third of the field, so to accommodate for this we strategically switched up our formation. Unfortunately we were unable to put anything in the back of the net and Hull walked away with a three-nil win.
After the disappointing loss we all cleaned up and checked out of Keele. On the bus ride back to our hotel to stay for our last night in England we couldn’t help but be satisfied with our success. After all we were just a team of players thrown together, in the end we represented our country well and showed everyone Americans can play SOCCER!
Taylor Walker 30/7/2011
sdwaggoner 