[VMSL Premier] Who will come out on top in the VMSL 2009/10

[Herb Jr.]

I know its hard to think of with the great weather we've had this summer, but with training and exhibition games starting, I guess summer is officially over....

With that said, looks like the off season has stirred up a little drama which may or may not affect teams this season....soooo how are teams going to size up this year???


1 Columbus FC-always a good team with a good mix of veterans and youth, and the addition of SFU kids come November will give them the depth to contend for the title come year end...Eggy will have them in a top 4 finish for sure....

2 Coquitlam M-Ford Wolves-this team is always solid and with Freddy and Joey Scigs joining last season, adding to an already good group, + the addition of Ollie, they should be in contention all year...not to sure about depth after the top 11 and 1 or 2 off the bench...we'll have to see....

3 Croatia SC-not to sure what to think about the boys with the best supporters in the league. With management making open casting calls on TTP (looking for a diamond in the rough), loss of some players and rumours of Johnny S not starting the season, coupled with a new coach, could be an interesting transition...maybe a long needed one. They will still be a tough team to play and the addition of Cravzy from SUFF will help...middle of the pack...

4 Delta Metro United/Sporting-The biggest news this off-season being the defunked CSL's "Mr October", taking over the abondoned whitecaps reserve spot. Thrilla Miller has taken his old bones (and his suitcase) and has landed back where the legend began!! He has also managed to convince the Gomes bro's to bring the sporting boys over to aid in his latest endevour. IMO this amalgamation could be the most genious move or the dumbest move in recent VMSL history. I can understand the motivation for the Sporting lads to keep there team together and play at the highest level in the VMSL, but with Millers track record this could be an experiment gone horribly wrong. Stating that, and based on the talent, this team could be very good....middle to top of the pack....

5 ICSF Inter-- This is always a good team with some very good players, but their end result is always the same. Top 4/5 in the league but can't get over the hump come clutch time. This year could be different...not sure what they've added or lost but based on last year they will compete all year in the league...cup time will be the question....

6 ICST Pegasus-The 1st of the newly promoted teams this season will be skilled and quick. Reedie will have these lads ready to go for the beginning of the season. The key to this squad IMO are the middle months when commitment starts to wean, the weather becomes shitty, and the fear of implosion sets in. I've heard of Maysam(sp) from West Van and Nico Marcina(sp) from Croatia joining this group which will definately help...I see them in the middle of the pack with potential of upsetting some good teams...

7 Norvan Pacific "A"-no idea what this team will look like after the mass exodus but if recent history serves me correct anywhere hurricane Miller touches down, results in complete decimation...the transition may lead to a long season in the bowels of the VMSL...wish the lads the best but, it could be a relegation battle all year...

8 Rich. FC Hibernians "A"-this team knows its limitations and also knows what it needs to do to stay in the Premier division. Last year they came out fit and structured while other teams were slow out of the gate. This allowed them to gain enough points to stay out of relegation all season. Not knowing what additions they made this year, they will probably have to do the same thing this year and rely on their hard work and seasoned vets to get them through this season...middle/bottom of the pack....

9 Sapperton Rovers "A" -welcome back WAB and congrats on the promo. Not to lick balls, but something has to be said of a group that gets relegated, sticks together, and gets themselves back into premier the following year....without a merger!! I think Croatia did it years back as well. Job well done...stating that, this team will need some work. I'm sure WAB is aware of this, and signing vets like Woody and Blakeway this season is a great start. One thing most teams in this league know....there will be no free points when you play Sapp, they will make you earn every blade of grass (artificial turf) come season time....middle/bottom of pack....

10 Surrey Utd. Firefighters-after a struggle and a hard fought transition for the newly merged club,SUFF fought back in true fashion and battled to end the season on a good note. This year brings promise of a successful season with quite a few quality additions, return of Rizal a healthy Skinner, and a full season of Clarke. With the talent and depth, SUFF could compete for the title this year. The biggest question will be whether the, arguably most talented team on paper, can translate that success on the field. Can everyone buy in and put the team 1st for the common goal? The job of managing ego's will fall on the lap of the biggest ego of them all....THOMO....contending for title/top 4 finish

11 West Van FC "A" -The team to beat...period. This was the best "TEAM" all last season. They are well coached and they have a mix of veterans and youth that all buy into a system...and this translates into winning. The standard was set last year and this group of North Shore boys knows every team in the league will be gunning for them this season. Good luck at the Nationals lads!... They will hang around the top of the table all season.

12 Westside FC "A" -Don't know of any off season activities for Smally's group (if he is still coaching?) They struggled last year, and they will probably struggle this year barring quite a few quality additions...relegation contenders all season.

These are just my humble opinions, and since I was bored, I thought this may get the pre-season banter going. It already looks better having WAB back in the premier discussions on a regular basis. I'm sure he can't wait to piss peeps off!! Good luck to all the teams this season and again to West Van at nationals.


Ltr homeskillets!
Herb Jr.

 

[Regs]

Herb Jr. - great topic to get things going!

My top 4 predictions are:

Surrey
West Van
Metro-ford
Columbus

Norvan & West Side will finish bottom 2 - but do they go down?

 

[reedie]

Norvan & West Side will finish bottom 2 - but do they go down?

Regs, if you are referring to the BC Premier League, I think there is a lot to still to be determined on this front. I have heard there are several Premier teams that, in the event that they finish top 4 this season, will actually decline the offer to join this new "super league". It makes sense when you think about it and it's not difficult to figure out which teams would do so...it all comes down to dollars and several of the "independent clubs" simply cannot afford to travel to the island several times per year. How would a so-called BC Premier League look without teams like WVAN, Inter, Columbus, Croatia, etc. etc....In my view, the only clubs that would accept the offer 100% right now would be Surrey United and Metro Ford...but I guess I could be wrong.

I'm not sure if there's a different thread for this topic or not, or whether I'm repeating what someone else has previously stated...but I do think the BC Premier League is doomed to fail, in part due to this reason, as it defeats the entire purpose of the league, and for other reasons that may or may not have already been discussed in this forum.

It makes you wonder how this concept got passed through our league, if in fact it officially has been passed??? I have not attended any meetings to date but, again based on speaking to others in the Premier Division, the new league appears to have been passed without total final support of the PREMIER teams...Perhaps others could offer their opinion.

 

[ghouse]

Will be a great year for sure..Even thoe I am a FVSL guy I love to come out and support the battles in the VMSL..Always great soccer..and this year the battle for top 4 should be interesting to say the least...Did I read that Maysam(sp) left WVan for Peg? I do know Dez has also left WVan for Denmark so that leaves a huge hole to fill up front..
Could be any of 6 who finnish top 4..
Look for Peg to squeek in...
Good luck to all and hope we see you next year as we are makeing a push aswell.

 

[ghouse]

Regs, if you are referring to the BC Premier League, I think there is a lot to still to be determined on this front. I have heard there are several Premier teams that, in the event that they finish top 4 this season, will actually decline the offer to join this new "super league". It makes sense when you think about it and it's not difficult to figure out which teams would do so...it all comes down to dollars and several of the "independent clubs" simply cannot afford to travel to the island several times per year. How would a so-called BC Premier League look without teams like WVAN, Inter, Columbus, Croatia, etc. etc....In my view, the only clubs that would accept the offer 100% right now would be Surrey United and Metro Ford...but I guess I could be wrong.

I'm not sure if there's a different thread for this topic or not, or whether I'm repeating what someone else has previously stated...but I do think the BC Premier League is doomed to fail, in part due to this reason, as it defeats the entire purpose of the league, and for other reasons that may or may not have already been discussed in this forum.

It makes you wonder how this concept got passed through our league, if in fact it officially has been passed??? I have not attended any meetings to date but, again based on speaking to others in the Premier Division, the new league appears to have been passed without total final support of the PREMIER teams...Perhaps others could offer their opinion.

The best Idea for soccer in BC to date...Period.
If you cant afford to play in the best div then you wont...and your players will leave your team and play for a club that can...thats soccer..stronger teams means BC does better at Nationals.
I must also say that every team in Premier can afford this anyways...
With the Leagues subsidizing and teams traveling together on one bus playing double headers..Its doable..
The 3 leagues made a hell of a good move and soccer will be better for it.

 

[whataboutbob]

At 1st glance, I thought Herb's list was his predictions with WVan near the bottom!

Tier 1
Surrey
West Van
Columbus
MF has the inside track for top 4 but it'll be a battle to get it.

Tier 2
Most others

Tier 3
Gutted Norvan
Westside

Story lines going into the Season

1. How will Croatia & Inter do with some key players sitting a year or leaving for other teams?
2. How will newcomers Sapp & Peg fair against better competition?
3. Is Surrey really that good?
4. Is WestVan really that much better than everyone else?
5. What Sporting will show up?

 

[robino]

It is sad to see Sporting players bail out on their team, and move on to a new one just to play Premier. Thats the loyalty to your club. You should have stayed with your team, win your division and come back to Premier. This is what teams like Sapperton did. It is sad when you see that.

 

[Sir M]

West Van just might be significantly improved this year. Or not . Of course, there is the post Canadians curse to contend with.

 

[Sir M]

A friendly result from this evening:

West Van FC 4, Inter 0.

Next up is WVFC vs Cap College (University) which pits the current BC Champs against the current Canadian College Champs, with a lot of crossover of players and staff.

Friday eve.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Good topic........ I will just post a random order of finish and see how it goes.

1) West Van
2) Surrey United
3) Columbus
4) Inter
5) Metro Ford
6) ICST Pegasus


7 - 10 - anyone could finish in this order


11. Norvan
12. Westside

On the Richmond F.C. front, there are a couple of new younger players who will likely play on the Premier team this year. Two of them play college ball and obviously won't be available until November....but there are a couple of others who will likely come in and make a decent impact to the Premier team. The team will play as hard as anybody in the league but definitely will need some early season success to get things going in the right direction........

 

[Kevin Hector]

Surrey United

 

[club_i_champ]

Richmond FC Hibernians "A" ??

That's the first time I've read or seen our new club name, interesting...

 

[gomesy_jr]

It is sad to see Sporting players bail out on their team, and move on to a new one just to play Premier. Thats the loyalty to your club. You should have stayed with your team, win your division and come back to Premier. This is what teams like Sapperton did. It is sad when you see that.

Don't talk to us about loyalty Robino. We are not a group of players that have jumped from team to team. I played 12 seasons for Sporting and I am still a director of the club. I already played 4 years of div.1 with them and helped them get promoted to Premier. All of our core group at Sporting has never played with any other Premier team in the VMSL. We were very dedicated to Sporting and we will still support the club. After a very frustrating season last year and talking to lots of guys who have told us Div.1 is the shites except for a few teams, why would we want to go through that? This is amateur ball and we play soccer because we love the game and want to play at the highest level possible. We were given the opportunity to stick together and still play at the highest level. We looked into trying to buy a spot with Sporting in premier, but there was nobody selling, so we decided to join Delta.

 

[whataboutbob]

We looked into trying to buy a spot with Sporting in premier, but there was nobody selling, so we decided to join Delta.

No one talked to me.

Sapp is up for sale for $18,764.37 (The exact amount of money directors dumped into the club since we won the BC's back in 2006)

I don't think Inter will place as high as 4th this year.

 

[reedie]

The best Idea for soccer in BC to date...Period.
If you cant afford to play in the best div then you wont...and your players will leave your team and play for a club that can...thats soccer..stronger teams means BC does better at Nationals.
I must also say that every team in Premier can afford this anyways...
With the Leagues subsidizing and teams traveling together on one bus playing double headers..Its doable..
The 3 leagues made a hell of a good move and soccer will be better for it.

So the idea is to get players constantly moving from team to team? I totally disagree. One of the best things about playing on a team or within a club is playing with your mates...and it doesn't get much better than winning a title together. I would say this factor far outweighs any desire to play at what amounts to, very questionably, a higher level of amateur soccer in BC. Besides, when the players see the teams and related players from the VMSL that will be declining the offer and deciding instead to stay in the VMSL, they may rightly conclude that the VMSL is still the most competitive league for them to play in. And if it's a very close call, they will stick with their mates. Let's keep in mind here...we are talking about amateur soccer in Canada.

And you're also saying the ultimate goal of the super league is for BC to have better performances at National Championships? Has there been an inquiry by the BCSA as to why we have not achieved better results at the amateur level? Probably not. The first step in improving our results at this tournament would be to change the timing of our league so that it matches up with the rest of Canada and our provincial champion heads into that tournament on a roll instead of 5 months later with a summer hangover. At the end of the day, the national tournament, which is played just barely in front of family and close friends, only matters to the BC team that has qualfied, so I don't really understand who has initiated the goal for us to get better results? Don't get me wrong, it is a great achievement for any BC team...but is this really the purpose of the "BC Premier League"? That seems unlikely to me.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Richmond FC Hibernians "A" ??

That's the first time I've read or seen our new club name, interesting...

You probably weren't aware, CIC, that Club Ireland was called Richmond Hibernians before it became Club Ireland.


Premier/CAT and Division One/CAT have to have different names attached for 'CAT' purposes.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

So the idea is to get players constantly moving from team to team? I totally disagree. One of the best things about playing on a team or within a club is playing with your mates...and it doesn't get much better than winning a title together. I would say this factor far outweighs any desire to play at what amounts to, very questionably, a higher level of amateur soccer in BC. Besides, when the players see the teams and related players from the VMSL that will be declining the offer and deciding instead to stay in the VMSL, they may rightly conclude that the VMSL is still the most competitive league for them to play in. And if it's a very close call, they will stick with their mates. Let's keep in mind here...we are talking about amateur soccer in Canada.

And you're also saying the ultimate goal of the super league is for BC to have better performances at National Championships? Has there been an inquiry by the BCSA as to why we have not achieved better results at the amateur level? Probably not. The first step in improving our results at this tournament would be to change the timing of our league so that it matches up with the rest of Canada and our provincial champion heads into that tournament on a roll instead of 5 months later with a summer hangover. At the end of the day, the national tournament, which is played just barely in front of family and close friends, only matters to the BC team that has qualfied, so I don't really understand who has initiated the goal for us to get better results? Don't get me wrong, it is a great achievement for any BC team...but is this really the purpose of the "BC Premier League"? That seems unlikely to me.

Well said, Reedie........there is NO way to argue your points.

 

[Acid Tongue]

Herb Jr.

You sound like a bitter little herb.Maybe you should change your name to Dandylion.

What happened?Are you the only ex Delta lad who wasn't ask to play in the old stompin grounds? Or did they hold tryouts already and you didn't make it?

Yanked from the squad like a dandylion from a grass football pitch eh.

Good luck with S.U.! I guess you'll never see a dandylion on the the homeground turf fields at C.A.P.

Don't worry about it ,you played in Surrey for Fraser Valley in youth too when we were younger and you got cut from the Delta sqaud(DYSA).

Maybe you'll get back to Delta with NDU Alumni in the Masters in a few more years!

Who knows Maybe Millar will be there too. Should make for an interesting old guys vs really old guys inter sqaud. I'm betting on Junior( Millar) can't wait.

You must really idolize him to call yourself Jr. after him!

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Acid Tongue....are you sure you're talking about the right guy in Herb Jr.?

 

[robj]

If it's the herb jr I think it is then it's quite normal for a guy to make predictions and slam a guy he watched and idolized from the bench. I think he may have seen a whole half of a Premier game as a player. So his comments really don't mean much .