Another Park Another Sunday

I coached soccer for many years and I still have a love for the game. But I don't follow much of the comings and goings. I'm a Manchester United fan and watch their English Premier League games regularly (Thanks, NBC!) but the rest of the machinations of international soccer make my head swim. I can't get my head around teams playing for several different championships simultaneously. But I am interested in the World Cup. And I'll remain interested as long as one of my four rooting interests remain alive....Germany, Portugal, Italy and the USA. Those three European clubs represent (most of) my blood, the USA is, well, America!

And today the US takes on Portugal. Looks like a crucial game for both teams. They both are looking for that second spot in their group behind Germany. I'll be watching at a park in downtown Houston probably. Watching in a group, with a couple of brews, is a lot of fun.

Anyway, that's a drawn out intro to these fabulous Manchester United cards from the Topps English football set of 1975/76 sent by Chris of Diamond Cuts and Wax Stains. Obviously they are based on the colorful 1975 Topps baseball design. Even the various color schemes match, at least in the cards I've seen.

These cards came out in the wake of Man U's season of relegation to Division 2 of English football. The club spent one season mired in the lower echelon as they struggled to recover following the end the 'glory days' of Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law.

I'm showing the back of one of the cards to point out a unique aspect of the set. The stat line for the previous season (74-75) is blank and below the totals is an instruction to 'fill in season's record'. Kind of a do-it-yourself card edit. I don't know if the fact that this is Topps' first foray into English football has anything to do with that little quirk (they took over the work of A&BC Footballers).

I know next to nothing about English soccer cards but I do know where to go to find info...this neat little site has all the background you'd ever want. 

Pro Set made Soccer cards? Who Knew?

Certainly not me. But Fuji knew. Fuji knows a lot of stuff including how to buy a box of cards to finish a set he hadn't started. And he sent me these examples out of the 1990/91 set. There was a set issued the following season as well.

All are Manchester United players. That's my team and I make no apologies. One day I hope to make it to Manchester to see a match at Old Trafford. They are certainly struggling this season as they adjust to a new manager. It just doesn't look to be their year.

Man U. is touring here in the States this summer with matches in D.C. and Denver. I'm trying to figure out a way to make it to one of those. I've only seen Man U play live once, here in Houston against the MSL All Stars. I'd love to see them in an EPL setting.

Anyway here are the cards. None of the three players were stars but all had notable careers. Danny Wallace laft the game after it was discovered he suffered from MS. That hasn't slowed his post-career life any.

Mike Phelan came back to coach and manage with Man U under Alex Ferguson in 2008. He was let go when Sir Alex retired.

Thanks for the cards, Fuji. I hope you get the set(s) finished soon.

Oh Puleeze!

Not that it'll draw much sympathy from anyone but Man U got hosed with a verrrry questionable red card in yesterday's match with Real Madrid. The ref called Nani for a 'studs up' challenge which he decided was intentionally dangerous. Bullshit. It was pretty obvious that Nani had no intention of hitting anything except the ball. I don't think his eyes ever left the ball. All this shouldn't have been a surprise, though. There was an interesting column in the Daily Mail Online published before the match which profiled this 'trigger happy' Turkish ref.

Even Real's coach Jose Mourinho said "I doubt that 11 against 11 we can win that match" and "'I try to be honest and in my honest opinion the best team lost." But it was what it was and RM came from a goal down to score twice to a now shorthanded MU squad and gain a 2-1 win.

But life goes on. Here are a few more of my soccer/futbal/football Manchester United set from Panini.

Edwin van der Sar.... the Dutch goalie who is considered one of the best in history. Now retired from active play I was lucky to see him in action in Houston against the MLS All Stars in 2010.

Nemanja Vidic... the Man U Captain.

Rio Ferdinand...English player who has been with MU since 2002 I think.

WARNING: Soccer/Futbal/Football Post, you may keep moving on if you choose to.

Most of the teams I root for are routinely also-rans. The Orioles had a nice season in 2012 but had been lousy for nearly two decades prior to that. The Rangers have one Stanley Cup in my 50+ years as a fan. The Texans have improved but are still not at an 'elite' level. My Houston Cougars have more 'downs' than 'ups' in all sports. And so on.

But that's not true of my favorite soccer club, Manchester United. I know that the are sort of the "Yankees" of the Premier League and are hated as much by opposing teams' fans as the Yankees are, for much the same reasons. But that's OK by me.

I've been a soccer fan since the days of the 'Game of the Week' that ran on US television in the mid-60s. There was also occasional soccer shown on ABC's Wide World of Sport back them. Somewhere along the line I picked Man U as 'my' team. I'm not sure why but when they started going by the Red Devils moniker I became a true fan.

On Tuesday night Real Madrid comes calling at Old Trafford in the second of the home and home with Man U this year. They played to a 1-1 draw a few weeks ago in what has to be considered an upset 'win' for my team. We'll see how this one goes. I don't pretend to understand all the why's and wherefores of European soccer. These clubs seem to play in multiple leagues (or at least for multiple titles) at the same time. I can't follow all of it. I concentrate on the English Premier League mostly.

I was lucky enough to see Man U play against the MLS All Stars in Houston in 2010. It was really a great night as I figure that it will be my only shot at ever seeing the Red Devils live and in person. I took my wife and sons and we loved the atmosphere of 70,000+ passionate fans packing Reliant Stadium. While the MLS All Stars had many more fans in attendance there were quite a few Man U supporters around. I was one as was one of my boys while his brother couldn't understand how we could root against our 'homeboys'. Whatever. Man U scored a minute or so into the match and we went nuts.

Although Wayne Rooney didn't play we did see my favorite player, Ryan Giggs and Mexico's Javier Hernandez aka "Chicharito". He was the big draw for many of the local rabid soccer fans and a hell of a lot of female fans. He put on quite a show and when he scored late to put the icing on a 4-1 win that place was electric. It was one of my most memorable events to ever be a part of.

I picked up this Panini team set off eBay because it was cheap and it contained most of the club's current stars. I'm usually not a fan of  'player on a crazy background' cards I really like these because they are probably the only Man U cards I'll ever pick up. Most of the nicer sets seem to be going for more than I want to pay or are sold as boxes which I don't care to buy.

Ryan Giggs is an amazing guy, when he takes the pitch on Tuesday he'll have played in 1000 matches for his 'club and country' as they say. He's been a consistent high quality star for many years. I see him as a Cal Ripken type. He's had his moments as the EPL's best player but mostly he's been one of the most steady.

It's Chicarito! Chicks dig this guy. And there is no more attractive group of fans than female soccer fans in Houston. Trust me on this.

Wayne Rooney. I love watching him play. Not so crazy about him otherwise.

Nani. Another one name player. This is some sort of insert card I guess. The set is supposed to be a game that you can play. Beats me. I just thought the cards were fun.

Go Man U.

Who's that team they call United?,
Who's that team they all adore?
They're the boys in red and white
And they play with all their might,
And they're out to show the world how they can score!
So bring on Sunderland and Arsenal,
Bring on Spaniards by the score,
Barcelona, Real Madrid,
They may make a gallant bid,
But they'll only find the reason why we roar.