Post by sandbachhatter on Mar 12, 2017 20:11:47 GMT
Evening folks
It's Maccy's turn to adopt hosting duties, so here's the man himself...
First off, we find ourselves Mexico-bound - and, more specifically, to the city of Aguascalientes where Club Necaxa ply their trade in the Premier-equivalent Liga MX - having gained promotion from the second-level Ascenso in 2015/16.
The Heroes hold a place in history as being the inaugural winners, in 1945, of the prestigious DCM Cup - after putting no less a team than the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (who included among their ranks two England wartime internationals) to the sword. The trophy's initials stand for 'Delhi Cloth Mills' - but no tinpot award is this. In fact, it is invitational... with clubs from Australia, China, Iran, Russia and both Koreas tending nowadays to ensure that domestic outfits no longer get much of a look in!
Delhi's Heroes have also spent their life in regional combat - albeit not without success, especially in 2011/12 when they topped the DSA (Delhi Soccer Association) League without losing a match. And, as members of the Delhi Senior Division, their next step upwards would find them in the National 'i-League'.
They play at the Ambedkar Stadium, which missed out on some lucrative ground-sharing income in 2010/11 when i-League club, Indian Arrows, were on the lookout for a new home.
Ambedkar fitted the Arrows' bill nicely in terms of its facilities and 35,000 capacity, but the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, who owned the ground, scuppered the deal by hiring it out for a series of parties and weddings that made a mess of the pitch - leaving the Arrows to shoot off instead to play at Gurgaon!
Down under, finally, to Tasmania - and to Clare Street, where we find the Eagles, who play in the island's second-level Tasmanian Southern Championship.
Established as White Eagle in 1961, the club owes its existence to the Polish community that was working on the giant dam-building schemes of the time. And, dare one say, the team was poles apart from a good few of its competitors in the early years - winning the State Championship no fewer than eight times.
But in 1997, when all Australian clubs had to end any ethnic affiliations, the Polish flag's White Eagle name was dropped - as were the players of the day (although the rebranded New Town Eagles still sport the white and red colours of Poland) - and the Clare Street faithful have had to content themselves ever since with watching regional Southern Championship football, without so much as a hint of a return to the Tasmanian big time.
It's Maccy's turn to adopt hosting duties, so here's the man himself...
Necaxa (Mexico)
First off, we find ourselves Mexico-bound - and, more specifically, to the city of Aguascalientes where Club Necaxa ply their trade in the Premier-equivalent Liga MX - having gained promotion from the second-level Ascenso in 2015/16.
Heady heights for an outfit that was, until the immediate post-War years, purely amateur - and a club that struggled for many years with its finances after turning professional in 1950.
Necaxa started life in 1899 under the name of the Light and Power Company belonging to British engineer William Frasser, who founded the club and proceeded to populate much of its squad with members of the Cornish community working in the area until the Mexican Revolution of 1910 drove them away (although Cornish pasties remain to this day a local delicacy in the surrounding Mineral del Monte area!).
The club changed its name to Necaxa, after the local river, in 1923 when the Mexican Football Federation decreed that its clubs should not be named after private companies. And from 1971 to 1982, after being sold to a Spanish business, it operated as Atlético Espanol before getting back on its feet financially, reverting to its current name, proceeding to chalk up three League Championships in the 1990s and, perhaps most remarkably of all, finishing third in the 2000 FIFA World Club Championship.
As well has having three different names, Necaxa have had even more nicknames! They were dubbed Los Rayos ('The Thunderbolts') and Los Electricistas ('The Electricians'), by way of a nod to their origins. Their red and white colours prompt some to cheer them on as Los Roji-Blancos. And, coinciding with times when our beloved County swept many before them, their all-conquering amateur team of the '30s (Los Once Hermanos - 'The 11 Brothers'), as well as the title-winning '90s side (El Equipo de la Década - 'Team of the Decade'), are fondly remembered with special designations.
New Delhi Heroes (India)
Onward to North India, where, in 1939, the New Delhi Heroes were formed. They have just the one nickname - and, presumably, only since the late '60s - but it is a good 'un, as the club colours lend themselves to 'The Yellow Submarine' moniker!The Heroes hold a place in history as being the inaugural winners, in 1945, of the prestigious DCM Cup - after putting no less a team than the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (who included among their ranks two England wartime internationals) to the sword. The trophy's initials stand for 'Delhi Cloth Mills' - but no tinpot award is this. In fact, it is invitational... with clubs from Australia, China, Iran, Russia and both Koreas tending nowadays to ensure that domestic outfits no longer get much of a look in!
Delhi's Heroes have also spent their life in regional combat - albeit not without success, especially in 2011/12 when they topped the DSA (Delhi Soccer Association) League without losing a match. And, as members of the Delhi Senior Division, their next step upwards would find them in the National 'i-League'.
They play at the Ambedkar Stadium, which missed out on some lucrative ground-sharing income in 2010/11 when i-League club, Indian Arrows, were on the lookout for a new home.
Ambedkar fitted the Arrows' bill nicely in terms of its facilities and 35,000 capacity, but the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, who owned the ground, scuppered the deal by hiring it out for a series of parties and weddings that made a mess of the pitch - leaving the Arrows to shoot off instead to play at Gurgaon!
New Town Eagles (Australia)
Down under, finally, to Tasmania - and to Clare Street, where we find the Eagles, who play in the island's second-level Tasmanian Southern Championship.
Established as White Eagle in 1961, the club owes its existence to the Polish community that was working on the giant dam-building schemes of the time. And, dare one say, the team was poles apart from a good few of its competitors in the early years - winning the State Championship no fewer than eight times.
But in 1997, when all Australian clubs had to end any ethnic affiliations, the Polish flag's White Eagle name was dropped - as were the players of the day (although the rebranded New Town Eagles still sport the white and red colours of Poland) - and the Clare Street faithful have had to content themselves ever since with watching regional Southern Championship football, without so much as a hint of a return to the Tasmanian big time.
Still, the Eagles are not alone in lamenting the loss of silky skills from expatriate European players of years gone by. They continue to rub shoulders with the likes of Glenorchy Knights, who were compelled to give up their Glenorchy Croatia name 20 years ago. Both clubs can, however, take heart from the example of Hobart Zebras, who - as Hobart Juventus - arguably had most to lose when they ceased to be a wholly Italian job, but have since re-earned their stripes and are now striding majestically around Tasmania's division of the National Premier Leagues!
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