Sometimes in football, you have to ask yourself if all the hard is worth it and in the majority of cases you would agree that the grief and turbulence you go through supporting your team, whether as a fan, a coach, a player or as an owner, is worth the increased blood pressure and heart rate for the 90 minutes of the beautiful game.

However, on occasion, their are instances of head shakingly incredible decisions made by match officials or governing bodies that leave you in shock and bewilderment at their apparent lack of compassion and knowledge of the game.

Unfortunately in these instances, they seem to believe they have suddenly become god or mute in some cases, feeling the need to go completely against popular and public knowledge of certain laws within the field of play. Their word is law and is increasingly in the face of all others around them, no matter if it is crystal clear they are wrong in their decisions.

Sometimes you don't even have a course of action that can be taken to appeal decisions made by the so called law makers and sometimes, rarely, there appears to be elements of corruption. Happily, these are very few and far between.

Being someone that was born kicking a ball, I have always had football in my blood, playing in Scotland at Junior level for a short time before playing in Northern Ireland, I was born into a country that has passion for the sport. It wasn't something you could learn at school, you either had it or you didn't and sometimes that passion can overflow. It may get called aggression by some parts of Joe Public but it isn't, it's simply a passion for the game and if decisions go your way, you're happy, if they don't, you get upset.

In the USA, football or soccer as it's called there, is a relatively minor sport, taking its place behind US Football, Basketball, Baseball and Ice Hockey.

The passion is clear to see within the fans when supporting their teams and when their national team reaches the World Cup, all their supporters band together, cheering them on to victory and further enhancing the name of the sport in the country and building a reputation of an excellent unit of players that is capable of playing at the highest level.

However, due to the nature of the sporting background of the public in the US, very few are born with the passion for Soccer that you find in most other countries in the world. Sports are played by kids primarily sports that their parents and friends play but soccer is in peoples blood, it's bred into them and only people who play soccer now, will breed soccer into their kids.

Passion in soccer can NOT be taught, period. It's not life and death but the passion on the field is clear to see sometimes, especially in derby matches between two rival teams. Barcelona and Real Madrid, Inter and Milan, Rangers and Celtic, Man Utd and Liverpool, all derbies that can bring the best out in some players but sometimes it also brings out the worst as well.

On my travels in football, playing and reporting, I have seen many things and heard of many others that would set your heart racing, make your hair turn grey or just simply fill you full of joy. Sometimes though, you hear of something that dents your belief that the game will ever be governed properly and the pettiness and jealousy that small minded people have will ruin what should be a relatively simple sport, to make themselves try and look smart and intelligent for their own goals.

Its not rocket science to run soccer teams, and to build a franchise like the Americans have in their respective different tiered leagues, they need teams of leaders to build a reputation that will encourage sponsors and the paying public to take an interest in the sport and build it as a brand.

Many incidents come to my attention which seem to get swept under the carpet in the local and national press, due mainly to the influx of international club match competitions that take place meaning that information lasts about 10 minutes before becoming obsolete.

An incident occurred a couple of weeks ago that I feel that I must comment on within a new and upcoming league in Texas that could do without any small mindedness coming from the people in charge.

The Southern Premier Soccer League (SPSL) is based in southern Texas and sits in the fourth tier of soccer in the US. The league is in its infancy as it still tries to transgress through the teething bumps and trying to complete its first full year intact. It's difficult enough to run a team without trying to set up a new team, sponsorship, stadium and a fan base.

Galveston Pirates formed before the start of the season hoping to play in the NPSL which sadly folded before a game was played in the 2010/11 season and from the ashes, the phoenix of the SPSL was born. The Pirates team owner, Brendan Keyes, was born in Ireland, plying his trade in the Irish football leagues before moving to the US to play professional soccer before the days of MLS. Brendan has since set up coaching camps in the Galveston area, training and coaching kids and grownups alike, to help grow the love of the sport in the area.

Brendan was born into soccer and there can be no doubting his passion for the game, the type of passion that sometimes may look aggressive to the non passionate and one thing should be made clear, if you are not passionate about the sport or don't have the mentality to understand that others do have passion, you should not be involved. Go find something else to spend your time on, something you are passionate about and leave soccer to the people that care about the sport.

When a referee appears to be unable to control a match, it irks people, most notably the players and coaching staff. This seemed to be the case when local rivals Galveston Pirate met Regals FC on February 12th. The match was anything but boring, eventually ending with two goals apiece but it was the behaviour of the referee and opposition officials at the match that sparked some controversy.

The referee appeared to be turning a blind eye to the manic tackles being made upon the Pirate players. And when players are being deliberately 'attacked' without repercussion by the official in the middle, it only points to two things occurring.

1. The referee doesn't know the rules of the game and lacks the passion to react.
2. The referee has been asked to turn a blind eye to the antics of one side whilst penalising the other for protesting.

The referee apparently lost control of the match and angry at seeing his players being physically abused on the field, Pirate coach Keyes, reacted the way anyone would react when seeing his players being treated in a manner that most would see as being cheated by an official.

When approached by coach Keyes, the official appeared to send the Pirate coach off the field but failed to produce a card and failed to ask him to leave the stadium but anyway, its a football game, for grown ups, but when the official seems to be blatantly favouring one side over the other, it was no wonder that Brendan Keyes had words to say to the man in the middle.

What wasn't required was the interference of an opposition official, whispering unknown mutterings in the referees ear. Perhaps he was trying to influence the referees report of the incident with Brendan and if this was the case, the person involved really has no business being involved in soccer or any sport for that matter. This is a form of cheating, you see big name players from big name teams doing it week in week out in major leagues throughout the world, trying to get players booked, this is the same thing, leave you petty mindedness at home.

If a manager or coach feels his team is being unfairly treated, he has a right to question the decisions of the ref. If his team is being attacked on the field, he has a right to complain strongly about the refs handling of the incidents but when the opposition officials try to act childishly in response to a coach trying to protect his players, it is just not acceptable. Its like running to the school teacher telling lies about someone, its unacceptable. These people have no place in the involvement in any soccer league in the world.

Brendan Keyes may seem like a fiery character at times but do not mistake fieryness for passion as there is a huge difference between these two emotions and what some in the league believe is acceptable behaviour. Brendan cares about his players, his team and the league, meanwhile some within the SPSL seem to want to crucify the league before its even got off the ground.

The body in charge of the SPSL need to take a long hard look at themselves and ask if they are capable of governing without prejudice. They also need to look at the standard of officials, if they are not up to the job or need proper training, they need to implement this immediately before someone gets more seriously hurt than the cracked and bruised ribs received by Pirate players during the offending match. If the governors and officials have not got the passion for the game or know the rules, they should step down as they have no place in their current position.

Soccer is a way of life, maybe they don't see it like that and if not, get lost, let people run the league that care about the welfare of the players rather than their own petty needs.

17'S GO MARCHING ON

The 17's returned to the field of play this week for the first time since clincing the league title and facing them were a strong, physical Stirling Albion side who were determined to end the United league unbeaten run of 13 games. 

Stirling dominated the first 15 minutes without really causing the United defence many problems and as the half progressed, the Ayr side started to settle into their usual passing game that has served them so well over the season but the first half saw very little in the way of real chances with both teams being very workman like in their performance.

United started the second half the stronger and on 58 minutes Forsyth was played through the middle and the outrushing Stirling keeper handled outside his box to save Forsyth's effort and consequently resulted in a straight red card for the Stirling keeper. 

From the resultant free kick the replacement keeper made a great save to his left, punching the fierce Hutchinson drive away.  Ayr started to make the one man advantage count by moving the ball quicker and using the pitch width to their advantage. In 63 minutes United gained a free kick midway into the Stirling half on the right hand side, which was flighted into the box by Muir to be met with a superb header from Dean Marshall to give United a deserved lead.

United continued to press and control the game and on 74 minutes some great link up play between Milligan and Forsyth saw Forsyth slot the ball past the Stirling keeper to make it 2-0.  With less than 10 minutes to play Stirling got a free kick on the edge of the area and scored a good curling shot into Kinniburgh's left hand side for a consolation goal.

United saw out the remainder of the game to extend their unbeaten league run to 14 games. 

Head Coach Davy Adams was delighted with the victory "The boys showed great character and spirit again, working hard for each other and scoring two well worked goals."

Hi guys,

We are looking at various avenues of promotion for the new IRN BRU Tops for youths campaign and would like to ask for you help and hopefully you'll partner up with us and help the AUFA win the top prize of £10k.

The campaign is all about collecting caps from the BARRs range, most notably IRN BRU. It needs to be advertised as the IRN BRU campaign due to their sponsorship of the SFL but caps from any of their products count as well.

We have been given permission by Ayr United chairman Lachlan Cameron, to give away tickets for kids under 12 to any upcoming Ayr United home match and we have came up with the idea of a collection voucher for kids.

What we were thinking was asking the kids to collect 15 caps, get a free ticket for an Ayr home game. We would suggest a small voucher with 15 areas to sellotape/stick the caps to and they can take them to the club office to exchange for a ticket.

We understand that space is a premium in your publication and we would really appreciate your help with this as the top prize could go a long way to help our yearly budget.

We would like to keep the suggested voucher uniform across all publications so would ask for some help with design.

If you would like to help us with this venture, please get in touch.

I have attached a rough draft voucher of the kind of thing we would be looking at using.

Kind regards

                        
20th Feb 15s SFYI Cowdenbeath Away Armadale Academy 3pm
                           
20th Feb 16s SFYI Dumbarton Away Argyll Park - Alexandria- 2 pm
                           
20th Feb 17s SFL U17 YD Stirling Albion Home Prestwick Academy 11am
                           
20th Feb 19s SFL U19 YD Ross County Home Prestwick Academy 2pm

In the afternoon sunshine of Somerset Park, Ayr United 19s side took to the pitch champions league style, with both teams lining up, side by side near the centre circle.

With the photographers flashbulbs and near 500 crowd cheering them on, the importance of this match to the young AUFA players suddenly sunk home as they realised what it meant to the Academy followers.

Rangers certainly started the better of the two teams and took the lead after only 7 minutes with a cracking shot from 20 yards out that nestled in the net behind Ayr goalkeeper Darryl Jones. Not exactly the start the players had wanted an it took a further 10 minutes before Ayr were to make any impact on the Rangers defensive backline.

Dale Moore was unlucky when his well struck shot from 18 yards out, took a deflection, taking the sting out the ball as it headed goalwards. Moore knew this opportunity had slipped past as his disappointment was clear as he held his head in his hands.

Despite the eventual scoreline, Ayr keeper Jones was to have an some inspiration saves during the 90 minutes, the first of which came after 20 minutes of play. From just outside the box, the Rangers number 11 was to curl in a Yuri Gellar style freekick round the defensive wall only for Jones to pounce to his left, clearing the ball one handed to safety.

It was on 22 minutes though that Ayr were to drag themselves back into the match. A corner was whipped in with pace in the Gers danger area which Ian Aitken met with a shot which was cleared but only as far as Sean Kelly on the edge of the 'D', who fired in an unstoppable effort to make it 1-1 and showed Ayr's intent on bringing the game to Rangers.

Some 6 minutes later Ayr were to take the lead.

In a piece of pinball action around the penalty spot of Rangers box, the ball broke right to Aitken who turned his defender, making a bit of space for himself, and fired a daisycutter of a strike into bottom corner of the goal to give side a 2-1 lead .

However this lead was only to last 3 minutes as a mix up in defence led to a sliced shot from the Rangers attacker that seemed to squirm its way past a sprawling Jones on the 6 yard line. This goal was to lift the Rangers team and they dominated the rest of the first half.

Jones was again called to make a spectacular save when a corner was dropped over the top of everyone in the penalty area and although unsighted, Jones managed to drop on the ball like a bag of cement before it trickled into the goal at the last second.

Ayr were really playing backs to the wall stuff, protecting their goalie from an onslaught of Rangers attacks and were limiting the strike force to long range efforts but the Ayr defensive wall was breached right on the half time whistle. A perfectly struck shot from the corner of the box whizzed through the air like a scud missile into the top far corner of the net giving Jones no chance of saving it and gave the visitors a 3-2 lead to take into the second period of play.

The second half was never going to be as exciting as this first and although there were three goals still to come, as far as chances were concerned, there were never going to be the barrel load that were produced in the first half.

Moore had a penalty claim waved away shortly into the second half which could have equalized the match had it been scored and a minute later a perfectly placed pass was played into the path of the ever busy Roddy Paterson who had ran through from the half way line to meet the ball but his angle was closed down by the out rushing Rangers keeper and Patersons shot went agonisingly close but scuttled past the post much to the relief of Gers coach, Billy Kirkwood.

Jones in the Ayr goal was called into action another couple of times in the next few minutes, firstly saving bravely at the feet of an attacker then saving with a peter the cat like agility dive to keep the score as it was.

However the pressure was telling on the Ayr players as they started playing slightly deeper and their full time opponents fitness was starting to tell on the home side.

Ayr made a couple of changes in the hope to brightening things up in the middle with Robbie Crawford and Cammy Marlow coming off, Stuart Milligan and Darren Baird coming on to replace them. Before they could get a touch of the ball though, Rangers were to go 4-2 in front.

Another well struck effort was parried by Ayr goalie only for it to land at the feet of another of his opponents feet who drove home a thunderbolt that Jones could only deflect into the top of the net. The keeper was unlucky to lose this goal after such an outstanding string of saves and with this goal came a slight resignation that the game was lost as it would be difficult to score another three goals against a team the calibre of Rangers.

The Ayr boys kept plugging away, never losing the belief that they could score but time was running out for them to salvage this match.

With 20 minutes remaining, Ayr's final throw of the dice was made with Lee Lockhart replacing Ayr's second goal scorer, Ian Aitken.

The game was soon to come to an end with another two goals for the Glasgow giants, first from a deflected header and the sixth and final goal coming in stoppage time at the end with a curling effort round the out rushing Jones.

Ayr were to get a couple of chances near the end from Paterson and Lockhart but neither bulged the net and with this came the end of the match.

It was always going to be a tough ask to defeat a performance level side at this stage of the competition, let alone that it was against Rangers. The Ayr players performed admirably throughout this match, never giving up even when it looked impossible to draw any hope from it. Its a tremendous achievement for the Academy that after last years 2nd round exit, that they reached this stage of the event.

The emotionally drained Ayr coach Stephen McMillan said afterwards, "We are really disappointed today, I thought first half we competed very well, to lose the goal right before half time was a real blow for us. I think in the end trying to get back into the game and Rangers superior fitness due to full time training showed."

"6-2 flattered Rangers I thought but this was a good experience for the boys and they can be proud of their effort and commitment."

 

Final score from Somerset Park

Ayr United 2 Rangers 6

by Marc Roseblade

Tiff Makes the Grade

Ayr United right back, Jonathan Tiffoney, has been called up to a closed door friendly match for the Scotland under 21 squad tomorrow night.

In a quiet move, Billy Stark contacted Ayr about calling on the 19 year old defender for this match, hopefully with an eye of playing him on a regular basis.

Its a fantastic chance for the young player and will be fulfilling the promise that the Ayr United coaching staff and fans have seen in the player all season since stepping up from the Ayr United Football Academy.

All at Ayr United, from Chairman Lauchlan Cameron down to the kitchen staff will wish the player their best wishes for this match, with hopefully more to follow.

Perhaps he could even follow in fellow ex Ayr defender, Stevie Nichol, as his career progresses.

The 19s took to the field on Sunday at Prestwick Academy with one eye on next weeks Youth Cup match against Rangers.

After a tremendous start to the match which looked like being a walkover, the Ayr side seemed to take their foot of the gas, allowing Montrose back into the game, eventually losing out on a seven goal thriller.

Ayr had got themselves off to a great start, peppering the Montrose goal with chance after chance with the first goal coming on eight minutes from new Academy striker, Ian Aitken. His strike from 20 yards out was unstoppable as it trimmed the 3G turf, bulging the back of the bottom left hand corner of the net.

It was a changed team that the coaches had placed on the field, with promoted spots for 17s players Cammy Marlow, recent convert Lee Lockhart and new player Ian Aitken. Normal starters Roddy Paterson, Dale Moore, Sean Kelly, Robbie Crawford, JJ Hawjshaw and Gareth Armstrong were all sidelined, whether through injuries or protection for next weeks match which may have altered the balance slightly of the team but Ayr were dominating the match in the early stages with goalkeeper Daryl Jones literally having nothing to do for the first 35 minutes.

Ayr's Scott Johnstone was to add a second for the home side sliding the ball under the keeper after receiving an excellent through ball from the midfield on the half hour mark. It looked like the Ayr side were coasting to victory as they were in total control of the match in every corner of the pitch.

The ball was being controlled, passed, struck and headed with ease and composure in every direction with some excellent play coming from Fisher, McIntyre, Murdoch, Lockhart, Marlow and Aitken to name a few but there had been little to do defensively in the first half but they caught napping with only two minutes to go of the first half.

A rare break up the field for Montrose left Jones exposed in the goal area and when he rushed out to clear a long ball, the attacking striker flicked it over the out coming keeper and into the goal for a little deserved goal for the visiting team. As if that didn't deflate the home side enough, they lost another on the stroke of half time to a simply stunning free kick strike from the edge of the box that was postage stamp and unreachable from the outstretched Ayr keeper.

The teams went in at half time with Montrose feeling like they had won the world cup and Ayr feeling like they had lost a tenner and found a pound.

Ayr started the second half on the front foot again, attacking at every move. Shots from Marlow, Lockhart, Murdoch and Baird all tested the keeper in the first 20 of the second period but the scoreline stayed the same.

Ayr brought on Roddy Paterson and 16s player, Mark Shankland to shake things up a little. This pairing up front unsettled the Montrose defence when they attacked but it was Montrose that were to make the breakthrough and take the lead though with a move down the left, into the middle and bang, a third goal for the away side.

It was a shock to the system for the players to find themselves currently a goal down after dominating the game so much in the time up to now but Ayr were to hit back immediately with a move up the right which was cut back to Aitken who fired in from 6 yards to equalize the match again. This was maybe what Ayr needed to punch themselves back into the match with only 20 minutes remaining.

Paterson tried his luck next from 20 yards but his shot was easily save by the keeper.He then linked up well with Lockhart who played and excellent ball through the defence but an alert keeper rushed out, blocking the strikers effort.

Paterson and Shanklands pace was causing a tiring Montrose defence some problems but the team just didn't seem to be able to make the possession count and the home team were to pay for it as Montrose who had been working their way more into the game scored the winning goal and their fourth of the day after what seemed like a foul on the Ayr keeper.

Ayr tried hard to get the equalizer again, with defender Murdoch making a tremendous interception in his own danger area, breaking out of his own half past midfielders and Montroses' back line before laying off for Paterson whose strong shot was well saved by the keeper. With four minutes remaining, Ayr's last chance came from a corner which went right over the keepers head only to be knocked past the back post by a tiring Aitken.

It was a good all round performance from the Ayr side; On another day they would have scored a bucket load. Lets hope they are keeping them for next weeks Scottish Youth Cup Match against Rangers.

Score Ayr 19s 3 Montrose 19s 4

IRN-BRU gets its Tops off to invest £70,000 in Youth Football.

IRN-BRU has today announced a PHENOMENAL investment of £70,000 in youth football with an exciting new initiative, Tops for Youth Teams.

Until 7th May 2011, people across Scotland can return their IRN-BRU plastic bottle tops to help their local SFL club grab a larger share of the cash.  It’s simple - the more bottle tops a club collects, the more money they receive. 

Every club will get a share of the investment, and the team with the most bottle tops gets a whopping £10,000.  

Ayr United and Ayr United Football Academy are putting their full weight behind this but need your help.

Collect the tops from work colleagues, collect them from your schoolmates, collect them at the pub.

After last years successful 'Text for Votes' campaign, this is another way of showing support for the AUFA for simply keeping and collecting the tops from something that you would normally throw in your blue recycle bin.

Collection points will be set up throughout the Ayr and surrounding areas with the initial point being the Ayr United Club Shop.

Start collecting and keep track of how you are helping the club by checking out the Irn Bru website http://www.phenomenalfooty.com/ who will be tracking collections with a weekly table.

If you think you can help collect bottle tops at work, at school, at a leisure centre, at a pub or at any social gathering, get in touch for promotional display items and we will help promote your business through our websites, facebook, match programmes and press releases about where tops can be dropped of and collected.

Contact marc.roseblade@aufa.org.uk for more details.

Scottish Youth Cup Quarter Final
Ayr v Rangers

After the magnificent efforts made by the 19′s team at Somerset Park beating Clyde in the last round, the only thing that was left to be decided was who their opponents were going to be and when the draw was made at Hampden Park  they were drawn out along with Rangers. Rangers are a SFL Performance level side and Rangers have made the Youth Cup final for the past five years, only being beaten by Celtic last year.

To be the best, you have to beat the best and that’s what Ayr will have to do to progress in this competition but they have the talent so why not?


The match is scheduled for Sunday 13th February, 2pm ko.

Due to the numbers expected, stewards are required and as such a £3 entry fee for adults will be charged at the door to cover the costs, kids entry is free. The entry fee will include a half time draw ticket and we are also expecting 2 or 3 of the senior squad to be in attendance for photos and autographs with the children in attendance.

The food and drink stall will also be open in the main stand for tea, coffee, sweets & crisps.

Get yourself along early with your kids and see the future of Ayr United try and progress to the Semi Final of the Scottish Youth Cup.