FC77 Home Page

New Soccer Adventure for Club Members

July 17, 2020. If you've been reading Club news about the very successful La Paz, Mexico tournament (see the news article below), you're aware that more of us than ever are heading out for soccer destinations/tournaments that provide a cultural experience along with the footy.
   In that spirit, Club Prez Andy Groeneveld has researched and coordinated a new soccer adventure for all Club members to consider.
   In coordination with Cruise and Travel Specialists of Lake Oswego, FC77 can now offer the following::
   "Join your fellow club members as we discover the sights, sounds and soccer history in Ireland and Scotland. In addition to the local attractions found in Ireland and Scotland, our tour will include training sessions with FAI coaches, meet and greets with local players, stadium / pitch tours, a Traditional Irish Sport Experience and a few matches with some of the local teams!"
   The Tour is scheduled to begin September 10, 2021 or, if necessary, early 2022. Organized matches played would be for Over 40 players and older. Trip duration would be 10 days. Pricing posted does not include air fare.
   Take a look at the details here.
   The official Friendship Tour web page is here.

Spring Season 2020 - It's Done

April 14, 2020. The GPSD has decided that it must end the Spring 2020 Season, effective immediately. A number of factors led to this decision, including player safety and the availability of referees and playing fields in the next few months under social distancing rules.
A tricky aspect of this cancellation is the status of team fees paid to the league. A number of costs incurred by GPSD are non-refundable. This means that the league can't return 100% of the monies to signed-up teams. Some on our FC77 Board feel this may amount to roughly 15% of what was paid by our teams.
Your team manager will keep you up on developments.

La Paz Tournament A Big Success!

April 12, 2020. Thanks in large part to organizer Mike Calder and the cordial cooperation of La Asociación Sudcaliforniana de Futbol (ASFA) (our La Paz counterparts) the La Paz Tournament was a very enjoyable experience for all players and significant others who made the journey. The last FC77 stragglers pulled out of Baja on March 17th. Mike and Mary Anne are now back home in Portland.

Thanks to Old Nick's Richard and Tammy Black, you can vicariously experience the tournament through their excellent picture-taking.

For those who think web sites and even blogs are hopelessly old fashioned, your Club also has a FC77 Facebook page. Mark Zuckerberg will be so pleased!

MLS Is Back For July Tournament

June 12, 2020

MLS Is Back Tournament
July 8th - August 11th, 2020

GROUP F - Western Conference
LAFC
LA Galaxy
Houston Dynamo
Portland Timbers FC

* Portland wins its first match on 7/13/20, 2-1 over LA Galaxy.

Group stage matches will count in the MLS regular season standings and the tournament winner will earn a spot in the 2021 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League. In addition to matches that count in the regular season standings and the Champions League berth, players will have the opportunity to earn additional bonuses as part of a $1.1 million prize pool.

Brave New World

Virtual Bier Wagon

April 22, 2020. It's not known at this point if they're the first FC77 team to do it, but Old Nicks now provides a virtual replacement for the cherished "Bier Wagon" post-game gathering using the Zoom meeting app. Wednesday evenings the team coalesces round their communication devices; cracks open beverages, and forgets for a moment about our social isolation. Pretty impressive for the old-guy team of the Club! Many thanks to Glenn Fithian-Barrett of Old Nicks for making this happen.

GPSD Calendar:

8/10/2020:   GPSD Board meeting 6:45pm
9/14/2020:   GPSD Board meeting 6:45pm
10/12/2020:   GPSD Board meeting 6:45pm

July 1, 2019. We'll let Manager Sean Ingersoll tell the tale:
"The final score was 3-1. Centennial FC had pipped us twice this season, 1-2 each time, so we knew it was going to be another competitive match. It had been 11 years since Rangers hoisted a trophy so we really, really wanted it.

CFC scored around the 38th minute on a great solo effort, but we kept the plot and huddled up at half time. My head is still a bit of a blur, but I seem to think my team talk went something along the lines, “There is no reason to panic. We’re playing good soccer. We’re going to score once early on in the second half to tie it up. And then we score again late to win this f**king thing!” (I swear a lot during team talks.)

Kyle Dunscomb got the equalizer in the 65th minute off a cross from the right side. It was like an adrenaline shot to the heart and we really started putting the pressure on after that.

Noah Sharpsteen, who had been playing holding midfielder all game, asked to go up front and do a shift as a striker. Five minutes later he took on their center backs and blasted the sh*t out of the ball to rocket it in near post around the 75th minute. Our fans, some two dozen or so and most of them wearing yellow, went wild.

Ahmed Hamlawy netted the third with eight minutes remaining. Ahmed finished the season with a Rangers record 18 goals and 5-6 assists."

And that trophy in the picture? "I promised my crew a proper trophy hoist if we managed to pull off a win…but the Over 30 Third division doesn’t have a trophy. A few years ago Mike Calder gave me the trophy you see in the picture but we came up short then…so I’ve had this thing in my garage since maybe 2016 or 2017. I refused to touch it until this Saturday so when the final whistle blew, my wife ran out to the car and brought it out to the field. Rangers got a proper trophy hoist."