Iceland 2006
04 Sep 2006

The team goes global and plays in the cold wilderness of Iceland. New international signings include James "Godfather" Brown, Chris "Marley" Male, Guy "Wazza" Warrillow and "Disco Stu". All the boys play well on their international McEwan debuts. The team have a guest appearance from Bruce Grobalaar for one of their matches. The highlight was receiving the ball from Bruce from a goal kick, looking up and seeing him run pass me towards the half way line looking for a return pass!!

London 2007
04 Sep 2007

The McEwan franchise branches out and the UK boys (Chris, Stu, Guy and James) are joined by friends and play in Wembley on a cold rainy night and win a few games while making new friends.

We rounded off the evening with our best performance, albeit against a weak team. Everyone was desperate to get on the score sheet, and by the midway point, nearly all outfield members of the team had registered at least 1 goal in the tournament. This left Warrillow as the remaining player to register. Despite a couple of set-ups, it just wasn’t happened. Barry managed to beat three players, have an open goal and still have time to shout “where’s Warrillow?!” and try to play him in. Unfortunately he was too far back and Si just pinged the ball in the back of the net himself! With time running out, Waz picked the ball up at the back, ran through two challenges before smashing the ball into the top corner from an impossible angle! The boys jumped on him in celebration, even the subs!! It was a great way to round off a good performance from everyone.

The drinks and prize-giving in the bar was a good laugh, there were a few US teams (although mainly co-ed) and while we had a chat with a few of the girls, there wasn’t any worth chasing! The boys even managed to walk away with a trophy, “Hunks of the Tournament” as voted by the girls from DC, which we proudly accepted! There is a photo attached with Niall and some of the US girls, I should have more photos soon as the American girls promised to mail some to us.

London 2007 (Again)
27 Dec 2007

Michel makes his debut in the London tournament with the McEwan London Branch, including a guest appearance from "Stealth". Jon, Chris, Pope, James and Warren all play well whilst Stu is on-hand as official cameraman.

Las Vegas 2007
04 Sep 2007

The biggest tournament so far, the boys perform well on the pitch and once again even better off it! McEwan throw the best after party ever with Limos and Canadian Girls in tow. The football was played in excellent spirit and although some refereeing decisions were questioned, the boys generally behaved themselves!

Post Vegas Analysis from the Gaffer:

I was disappointed that we blew 2-0 and 3-1 leads in the first two matches but very proud of the way we came back in the 2nd day; playing some fantastic stuff and really showing tremendous team spirit. It looks like, given how we've done in these tournaments, our strength appears to be the ability to bounce back when we're down and the fact that we refuse to quit. A lot of that is because of the camaraderie and tremendous team spirit we've fostered; clearly evident in the 3rd Place match when every single one of us played very well and worked for each other. And we managed to help Trev get his first tournament clean sheet; thoroughly deserved because we have a fantastic goalkeeper and should feel very lucky at that. Now we have to find a way to hold a lead.

A special mention has to be made for Disco Stu coming along even though he's on the injured list. I know how it pained him to watch and not be able to play but it shows how commited he is to the team that he went along to support us.

I've re-read Godfather's Fat Footballers bio and, unfortunately, his streak has ended in that he only scored in two of the five matches. He'll have to make up for it in the next tournaments! Start your training, boy. But he's still idolised by the ever growing group of fans.

So how about a top 10 list for the tournament?
Cowdery (in no particular order):
1. Incredible comeback in the 2nd day to win both matches and, especially in the 3rd Place game against a very good team, playing the complete game, an outstanding effort, even noted by our #1 fan, Jessica.
2. The great McEwan FC team spirit. A welcome comeback for Matt Garner (one of the original members) and the smooth integration of Parky (our token psycho Irishman), The Pope and El Sid. I know the two new UK members didn't quite know what to expect but I'm delighted that you really enjoyed it and that you're now part of the team. Thanks to Marley for convincing you to come along and the rest of us are very happy to welcome you to the McEwan family.
3. The unbelievable night out on Friday. It all started so innocently with a meal, a few drinks, a bit of gambling and then, well, decadent debauchery. A Hummer limo with 7 lovely Canadian girls, a strip club, Parky drinking vodka from the bottle, the Guv'nor doing the double motorboat and other sordid details.
4. Who can forget the "broke-back" moment at Von's supermarket?

I'm already working on the next tournaments so keep an eye open for information on: Iceland and London in November (a long shot but we'll try it), Miami in January (more for the U.S. based lads) and the big one, Ireland and England in February/March.

Having the chance to play with you lads and be a part of something truly unique and incredible, which is this international band of delinquents travelling the world playing tournaments and representing the blue and white of McEwan FC. Let's keep this thing going 'til our legs fall off.

Many thanks to all of you for travelling from four different cities to play in a wonderful tournament. I'm lucky to consider you my team-mates and my friends.

Cheers,
The Guv'nor