■ Veterans -vs- Muubaan Kumar 2010 fiber_new
■ Veterans -vs- Francophones 2009 fiber_new
■ Veterans World Cup 2009 fiber_new
■ Vets League @Pataya 2009 fiber_new
■ Vetserans -vs- Japanese 2009 fiber_new
■ Vetserans -vs- Thailand Seniors 2008 fiber_new
■ Veterans -vs- RBSC 2008
■ List of all previous annual Traditions
Inspired by the success of the 7-a-side Vets League, played on natural grass, we decided to branch out to the Futsal edition of the “Beautiful Game”, played as 5-a-side on astroturf.
Originally floated by Eralp the Organizer during the beginning of Vets League 3rd season in 2007, and after much intense debate and discussion, the Vets Futsal got its inaugural kickoff back in LINK:Jun/2007 with 4 (new) visionary “Founding Fathers”:
■ LeCoq French (led by Dominique)
■ Campioni Italians (led by Thierry)
■ Hotspot Spotters (led by Preben and Gonzague)
■ BSL Veterans (led by Roland)
plus, the hodgepodge:
■ Team-X Volunteers (staffed by Eralp, Graham, Chris, Keith, Ralf)
It is intended much in the same “Vets Spirit” as the monthly Vets League tournaments, but in a smaller scale field, simply to show-off our dribbling and ball control skills 😁
Report Date: 06/Aug/2007
After trumpeting the event for almost 3 months, we were finally able to hold our inaugural Vets Futsal tournament at the newly built Futsal Park on Rama-2 Road.
It was rumoured we would have 7-8 teams; however, a flurry of cancellations in the days leading to the event, including 1 more on the very same morning, we ended up starting the Futsal extension of the Vets League with the following 5 visionary “Founding Father” Vets teams:
■ LeCoq French
■ Campioni Italians
■ Hotspot Spotters
■ BSL Veterans
plus, the hodgepodge:
■ Team-X Volunteers
All the setup and amenities for everyone was all ready to go, and with a little of re-jigging the match fixtures due to cancelling teams, we got started about 25 min late, but still allowing plenty of football for everyone — in fact, too much of it, having to play back-to-back games, because of reduced number of teams but not reduced number of hours or futsal courts due to our reservation.
Following the group draws, it was obvious that Thierry’s Campioni Italians brought a formidable team, as they got off to a quick 2-0 victory against LeCoq French.
Gonzague and Preben’s Hotspot Spotters also had a strong squad on the day, with some very nimble players in the midfield, who could move the ball around efficiently.
Roland’s BSL Veterans were in it just for the honour of being a Founding Father; however, their 5-0 drubbing of LeCoq raised a few eyebrows and intimidated many.
With only 4 players of their own, and constantly having to borrow a goalkeeper from the other teams, Dominique’s LeCoq French instinctively knew this was going to be a long day at the office!
And, the hodgepodge Team-X Volunteers had a few skilled players from various Vets teams in the Vets League, namely, Winking Frog Graham, Irish Xchange Chris, (now disbanded) Sunbelt Keith, German Allstar Ralf, and Eralp the Organizer.
Having 2 futsal courts reserved lead to playing many back-to-back games which really took a toll out of all the players, and they couldn’t wait for the Group Stage to be over, the end of which naturally demonstrated the rankings of the strongest to weakest teams.
With only 5 teams competing, Organizers wisely decided to allow one last change to the bottom ranking team (i.e., LeCoq) to have a shot at the Top Cup by devising a “Play-Off” match against the 4th ranking team (i.e., BSL), the winner of which would enter as the last team in the SFs; otherwise, LeCoq was more than ready & willing to head home right away! This was exactly when the whole complexion of our inaugural futsal tournament thoroughly changed.
After this point, we all witnessed a LeCoq which we have never seen before. They somehow transformed themselves in another team.
They took on BSL in the Play-off game, went down 2-0, came back to equalize at 2-2, and finished them off skillfully in the ensuing penalty-shootout to find themselves in the SFs, confining BSL to another BadCup! — even in futsal !
Next up for LeCoq in SF1 was the group-toppers Campioni. No worries at all! They went down 1-0, came back to equalize 1-1, and also finished them off masterfully in the ensuing penalty-shootout to find themselves in the Grand Final, relegating a stunned Campioni to a lower class of teams.
And finally, next up for LeCoq in the Grand Final was the lowly Team-X who survived another penalty-shootout themselves against Hotspot in SF2. No problem at all! They went down 1-0, came back to equalize 1-1 virtually in the last second, and also finished Team-X off beautifully in the ensuing penalty-shootout to find themselves the Champ! of the inaugural Vets Futsal tournament.
On a day that saw all teams get plenty of football but the final standings a reverse of the group rankings, the group bottom-enders LeCoq went from rags to riches with only 4 players on their roster, playing 1 extra game for Play-Off to win the championship without even winning in open-play and bringing home the victories on penalty-shootouts, clearly indicates that they were focused in the competition as a true tournament team. Cheers to a great achievement!
At the end of the day, everyone agreed that this was a fantastic start to the futsal extension of the Vets at a fantastic new venue, which we hope to continue with future similar tournament every 2 months or so.
Many thanks to everyone who took their time to show up and make the day memorable. Having a list of complete new “Founding Father” teams (in comparison to Vets League’s beginnings) perhaps indicates a change of guard in the face of Vets football to come in Bangkok. Time will be the judge of it!
Hope to see more teams competing in the next edition on Sep/22nd.
Kind regards,
-Eralp
Picture 1 — LeCoq and Campioni get the proceedings going.
Picture 2 — Hotspot (in Barcelona colours) and BSL (in their distinctive Ronaldinho Orange) put on a high-tempo group clash.
Picture 3 — Hotspot came back to go up against the hodgepodge Team-X.
Picture 4 — Hotspot -vs- Team-X match was a cracking game.
Picture 5 — BSL’s clinical 5-0 group match against LeCoq.
Picture 6 — Mad-rush for liquids.
Picture 7 — LeCoq in the process of stunning BSL in the Play-Off game for the BadCup! honours, coming up on top on penalties.
Picture 8 — Crowd is intrigued by the quality of the Play-Off game.
Picture 9 — Campioni waiting for their SF challenger.
Picture 10 — Gilles’s penalty seals the victory for LeCoq, and confines BSL to another BadCup! — even in Futsal!
Picture 11 — The Play-Off finalists, BSL and LeCoq, take time for a photo-op.
Picture 12 — Team-X and BSL after their SF2.
Picture 13 — Marc’s penalty against Team-X wins an unprecedented Futsal championship for LeCoq.
Picture 14 — A very cordial end-of-day group photo.
Picture 15 — All the silverware, raring to go!
Picture 16 — Captains from LeCoq, Campioni and Hotspot — Dominique, Thierry and Preben, respectively.
Picture 17 — Roland seems humbled by another BadCup! for BSL.
Picture 18 — (Now disbanded) Sunbelt’s Keith collects Team-X’s 2nd place trophy, witnessed by his team-mates — Winking Frog’s Graham and Irish Xchange’s Chris.
Picture 19 — A proud (but exhausted) looking Dominique receives LeCoq’s “first-ever” championships trophy in the “first-ever” Vets Futsal tournament.
Picture 20 — The 2 key LeCoq members captured with the Champ! trophy.
Picture 21 — A heartfelt end-of-day “Bye” from everyone.
From: Thierry
Team: Campioni Italians
Date: 05/Jul/2007
EG,
Thanks for your organising the first Futsal tournament (although the ball was not!).
It was indeed a great day, superb friendly ambiance of guys who want to spend a good afternoon together . . . but aching muscles are these are not the same working as usual!
Anyway, thanks again as you are changing the face of football in Bangkok.
We all hope that we can get 8 teams next time, that would be a nice recognition for all your efforts.
Best sporting regards,
Thierry
From: Dominique
Team: LeCoq French
Date: 05/Jul/2007
Hi EG,
Thanks for the Beautiful and Tough day, and when the going gets tough, the tough get going!
We were 4, and we played 6 games of 16 minutes and one game of 17 minutes, and kicked 10 penalties. We had no substitute other than borrowed ones to whom we are thankful (Gonzague, Thierry, Eric, Eric and Stefan of BSL for the Semi Final and the Grand Final).
So what is it you disbelieve? Can I help you if there is anything you do not understand? 🙂
List for Jul/15th Vets League looks good. It would look better and easier if Cosmos and LesGaulois could take a well deserved holiday too. Summer this year is beautiful in France and Switzerland. Airlines are giving cheap offers, don’t miss it!
Cheers,
Dominique
Feel free to e-mail to me (contacts at the footer), if you would like to voice your take on the above event report, or have more photos from the event to be posted on this page.
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Legend: “(3B)” means finished 3rd in Group-B