Ayr in Scotland and Galveston in Texas. Not two towns on the planet that you would immediately twin together but that's what has happened in the football world.

Ayr United Football Academy and Galveston Pirate Soccer Club are keen to announce an affiliation between both clubs with the initial phase dealing solely with cross Atlantic relations and public awareness.

The set up came about after Marc Roseblade, the resident AUFA journalist and social media specialist, was put in touch with Brendan Keyes, owner and head coach of the Galveston Pirate side through an American 'friend' on Facebook during the World Cup in the summer.

This online meeting led to Marc receiving pre and post match phone calls from the Pirate coach, translating these calls into match reviews and reports about the Pirates exploits, helping to promote them in cities across Texas, much like he does for the AUFA, all with a 6 hour time difference between the two towns.

Tulsa, Houston and Galveston make some nice alternatives to Prestwick, Dumfries and Peterhead for the Ayr man.

The Pirates play in the newly formed Southern Premier Soccer League which is the 4th tier of soccer in the USA. All the teams that play in this league are semi professional (part time) with the Pirates playing at the Courville Stadium in Galveston.

Galveston Coach Brendan Keyes himself moved from his native Ireland to the USA in the 80's, playing professional soccer with Kansas before moving to Texas, opening a Soccer Academy for youth development, just like Ayr United Football Academy.

The rest is history, Brendan's Soccer Academy has been promoting, educating and coaching children since its inception but the Pirates are a fairly new venture and are keen to raise awareness not only in their immediate area but all over the world.


The Galveston area seems to be booming with academies at the moment with Brendan's not being alone. Club America Academy who are the biggest soccer side in Mexico have recently sent a team to play in the SPSL, Houston Dynamo of the MLS also have an academy side playing in the area and word on the street is that Barcelona are looking to open an academy in the area as well in the near future. Ayr United Football Academies name makes a nice addition to that list.

It's a great tie up between the two sides and hopefully football/soccer fans from both sides of the Atlantic will start supporting the others clubs, keeping tabs on how they are doing. The AUFA would certainly welcome any fans from the Texas area should they ever be in Ayrshire with the people of Galveston being equally as welcoming to the people and fans from Ayr in the future.

Like the AUFA, this move benefits the Galveston Pirate club, if only in awareness stakes, with the hope residents of the towns involved visit each other websites and facebook sites offering support when matches take place with the hope of a further tie up and eventually a cross Atlantic football tournament taking place at some time in the future.

Ayr United Football Academy have already benefited financially from such a cross Atlantic match up as a current resident from Texas, Randall Scott Taylor and his family, who have Scottish descendants, currently sponsor Ryan Nisbet from the AUFA 15's side.

You can keep track of the Galveston side at www.piratesc.com, Ayr United Football Academy can be found at www.aufa.org.uk