Italy Tournoi Results - May 29th-30th 2009

Champions of Europe Once More.....

This year was the 17th Old Boy’s Railways European Tournoi and was held in Florence, Italy from the 29th – 31st May 2009.

There were only six teams taking part this year due to the continuing financial crisis with apologies from the Hungarians, the Polish and the Germans. The line-up consisted of defending champions and hosts Italy together with teams representing England, France, Switzerland, Belgium and Spain.



The format of the Tournoi was changed during the team meeting at the Hilton Hotel on the morning before kick-off. The end result was that each team would play the others in the group, which resulted in five 30-minute matches of fifteen minutes each way, with two matches on the Friday afternoon and the remaining three group games the following morning and early afternoon.

The positions in the group dictated that the 5th and 6th placed teams would contest a penalty shoot-out for final placing, as would be the case with the teams finishing 3rd and 4th. The teams finishing 1st and 2nd would contest a 1 hour final of thirty minutes each way followed by a potential penalty shoot-out should the scores be level, and this would complete the Tournoi.

It was further decided at the managers meeting that there would be yellow, blue and red cards with a blue card meaning a five minute sin bin. A big thank you was given to the Italians at the meeting when they gave each team a brand new 18 outfield and 2 goalkeeper shirt kit which will now be our away kit for next season.

Loko, who will be referred to throughout this report as England, had taken a minimal squad to Florence with only ten players travelling and contesting the Friday matches, with Stefan joining the team on the Friday night to compete on the Saturday. The squad we took was Dale, Chris, Steve, Pete, Ivan, Ismail, Mark, Andrea, Peggy, Stefan and Roger.

The Italians kindly provided us with two friends of friends who would play for with us for the duration of the Tournoi. The guys who joined us, Claudio and Alessandro (pictured below), were older players, in their forties and they did not speak English, but they gave 110% for the cause throughout the games and had every one of our players respect for the commitment, skill and effort they showed to help us win the Championship.

Friday 29th May 2009
Everyone arrived at the Hilton Hotel in fine spirits and gathered their things for the coming afternoon, hoping to get off to a good start to the Tournoi on day one. We boarded the buses and headed off to the artificial pitches with the new synthetic grass, adjacent to Fiorentina’s stadium at the other side of the city.

The mood was good and the boys changed into their kit, which was the England Home Kit 2007-09, already you could see the pride in everyone’s faces when we went out and started warming up in the three lions, and especially during the opening ceremony lined up with the flag of Saint George at the front.

A few photo’s and a speech from the hosts followed and the teams were ready to kick things off with the opening games, and that meant the English were first on the turf.

Group Stage - England v Belgium – 3.15pm
4-5-1 Formation

Team Line Up
GK Dale / RB Chris / LB Ivan / CB Steve / CB Pete (c) / DM Ismail / CM Andrea / CM Mark / LM Claudio / RM Peggy / CF Roger / SUB Alessandro

It was a fantastic start from everyone and the ball was being played around extremely well, we made use of the extra man in midfield and pressed the Belgians back from the first whistle.

We were using the wide men well and Peggy and Claudio kept finding themselves in space down the flanks, and were continually trying to work openings. Ismail settled into his defensive midfield role superbly and alongside Andrea and Mark, they were giving their midfield counterparts no time on the ball and allowed us to dominate possession and territory.

There was an early scare however, when Pete lost possession just inside his own half and the ball was played through to the striker on the angle who ran towards goal and hit a shot across the goal line which Dale dived to his right and parried the ball around the post for a corner, and he followed up by plucking the flighted delivery out of the air.

The England opener came from a set piece, the corner was swung in from the right by Peggy but was only half cleared back to him on the edge of the area, his ball back into the danger area was flicked on by Mark at the near post and bobbled in the area, and the defenders hesitation allowed STEVE to hook the loose ball over the keeper and into the goal.

There were no more scares and we took a deserved lead into the break.

Half-Time England 1 v Belgium 0

The team talk at half-time was more of the same and to hold the shape as it had been very effective in the first half. Alessandro replaced Claudio on the left wing and soon got involved putting in tackles and retaining possession whenever the ball found it’s way over to the left hand side.

The second goal came not long after the break and what a great goal it was, the ball was passed through the midfield and Mark made his way out onto the left wing, turned and played a delightful ball to the far post where ANDREA (pictured below) came in late and hit the ball on the half-volley into the bottom left hand corner.

Straight after Andrea played Roger through on goal one-on-one with the keeper, and Roger had a little too much time to pick his spot, he beat the keeper but the ball hit the inside of one post, bounced onto the inside of the other post and fell just right for the defender to clear. It was a great start to the Tournoi.

Full-Time England 2 v Belgium 0

Group Stage - England v Spain – 4.30pm
4-5-1 Formation

Team Line Up
GK Dale / RB Chris / LB Ivan / CB Steve / CB Pete (c) / DM Ismail / CM Andrea / CM Mark / LM Claudio / RM Peggy / CF Roger / SUB Alessandro

The same team started the second game and this was more of a battle with the Spanish starting well and keeping the ball. Both Ivan and Chris started the game strongly, keeping the flanks well protected and communicating well with Pete and Steve at centre back.

Mark and Peggy both had long range efforts that didn’t trouble the keeper and once again the centre midfield three were restricting the amount of possession for Spain and were allowing Claudio and Peggy to get forward on the wings.

Ivan, Pete and Steve went forward for a number of corners but the ball wouldn’t land kindly for them and the Spanish defenders produced some good last ditch defending. The small centre forward was a nuisance and Spain had a couple of corners towards the end of the half, but Dale and his defence commanded the area and there was no real danger as the half drew to a close.

Half-Time England 0 v Spain 0

Alessandro replaced Mark at the break, who was feeling the effects of a few challenges on his neck, and took his place in centre midfield. Dale stressed to the players that they should not panic if that early goal does not come, keep playing football and that chance will come and we just need to take it when it does.

England were pressing from the whistle and won a few early corners which were uncomfortable for the Spanish but clear cut chances were few and far between, that is until Andrea played a peach of a ball from the centre circle in behind the defence which ROGER (pictured below) latched onto and appeared to have taken the ball far too wide but drilled the ball into the far left corner from the acutest of angles.

The team together with Denise and Marcus were cheering a fantastic finish but the job wasn’t yet complete and shortly after, their centre back drilled a forty yard shot a foot over the bar, although Dale appeared to have it covered.

Moments later the scores could have been level when the small forward cut inside two players, although he did use his hand to drag the ball, and was one on one on an angle, the ball sat up and he hit it across the goal towards the top corner but Dale tipped the ball over the angle of post and crossbar at full stretch.

Full-Time England 1 v Spain 0

With the football finished and England sat at the top of the table with maximum points overnight, the boys had dinner at the Hilton with quite a few bottles of red wine disappearing very quickly.

It was about 10.30pm when the Italians told us about a bowling alley that had pool tables and a late bar just around the corner, a few of us went around and sank some beers while playing killer, which was largely dominated by Dale and Peggy who kept picking up the winnings of one euro per person.

The lads who had gone out and Stefan who had arrived and joined us late on, finally made it to bed around 1am.

Saturday 30th May 2009
The morning came and everyone went down for breakfast early as the first match was due to kick off approximately 9.30am and we had to make our way on the other side of the city where the pitches were situated.

On arrival we changed into the famous three lion’s kit and Stefan was revelling in wearing the England kit as he had not had the pleasure the day before, and once again as the day before we kicked things off first.

Group Stage - England v Switzerland – 9.30am
4-5-1 Formation

Team Line Up
GK Dale / RB Chris / LB Ivan / CB Steve / CB Pete / DM Ismail / CM Andrea / CM Mark / LM Stefan (c) / RM Peggy / CF Roger / SUB Alessandro / SUB Claudio

We started well for a third game in a row which must have been a record, playing the ball around confidently and having greater width with Stefan now hugging the touchline on the left. Andrea was controlling midfield and with the slower pace was able to take his time on the ball and play some quality passes.

Mark ran through on the angle and forced the keeper into a save and Roger was pulling their defence left, right and centre. Chris was advancing down the right which allowed Peggy to come inside and attack the defence and everyone was playing really well.

England broke the deadlock when a corner bounced kindly for STEVE (pictured below) at the back post and he again hooked the ball home, this time with his left foot and we once again took a deserved lead into the break.

Half-Time England 1 v Switzerland 0

Alessandro replaced Ivan at the break, and the boys came out for the second half but for the first time in the Tournoi the level of performance dropped and we allowed Switzerland to come onto us and they were playing some decent football through midfield without ever penetrating the back four.

We didn’t really attack much in the second half and aside from having a couple of corners we failed to create any chances. Claudio replaced Ismail as the half wore on.

Switzerland had a couple of long range efforts that Dale easily saved or saw past the post and didn’t look troubled until two minutes before the end of the match when they got in behind Alessandro at left back and a ball to the back post eight yards out saw the striker mistime his shot back across goal, wrongfooting Dale, and the ball hit the post and was cleared by Pete to safety.

Full-Time England 1 v Switzerland 0

Group Stage – France v England – 10.10am
4-5-1 Formation

Team Line Up
GK Dale / RB Chris / LB Ivan / CB Steve / CB Pete / DM Alessandro / CM Andrea / CM Mark / LM Stefan (c) / RM Peggy / CF Roger / SUB Ismail / SUB Claudio

This is a game that we always enjoy because a number of the French boys have played for Loko in the past and we get on really well with them.

Alessandro came into the defensive midfield position and immediately made an impact, putting in tackles and dropping deep to pick the ball up off the defenders and dictate play. It was England pressing once again and with a triangular midfield three of one defensive and two more attacking midfielders, the French were unable to pass their way through our midfield five.

Peggy kept attacking his full-back down the right and continually got the ball into the box but with only Roger up front on his own we needed to get the two more attacking midfielders forward in support.

Numerous corners came and went with the most to show a drilled header by Ivan clearing the crossbar. The defence was solid and the foundation was set to attack in the second half.

Half-Time France 0 v England 0

Ismail replaced Alessandro and Claudio came on for Mark as we gave some players a rest after two games back to back, Stefan and Peggy switched wings and Peggy was instructed to come inside occasionally as the defenders had sussed that he enjoyed going outside and hitting the touchline and we went at the French, having two efforts cleared off the goal line early on.

With less than ten minutes of the match remaining we finally broke the deadlock when a corner was cleared to STEFAN (pictured below) on the left edge of the box and his scuffed half volley bobbled into the bottom right corner.

The English defence was not under pressure and the French didn’t look like scoring until their striker penetrated the backline, although appearing to be over two metres offside, and beat Dale to the ball who had slid out and got his body in the way, but the ball spun over him and rolled over the line into the bottom corner.

The French had scored with their first real effort with about three minutes to go, but England still had time to win it when Roger ran through on goal but miskicked his finish and the keeper made a block, Stefan followed up with two defenders and couldn’t get a clean strike away, but when he did hit the ball goalwards the keeper made a full length save to parry the ball wide.

Full-Time France 1 v England 1

Group Stage - England v Italy – 11.20am
4-5-1 Formation

Team Line Up
GK Dale / RB Chris / LB Ivan / CB Steve / CB Pete / DM Alessandro / CM Andrea / CM Claudio / LM Stefan (c) / RM Ismail / CF Roger / SUB Peggy / SUB Mark

Peggy and Mark were rested as we had already qualified for the final and Claudio started well in the centre of the park dictating play and splaying the ball about the park.

We dominated possession but didn’t create too much in the first half, we made plenty of inroads into the Italian penalty area but we weren’t able to take our chances.

The Italians did not register a shot of any note in the first half and the back four were once again dominant against the Italians counter attacks, and Dale came and gathered a high looping free kick, and a corner, moments later without any problems.

Chris got our first blue card in Loko history when he fouled his man for the 1,346th time and his winger went down extremely theatrically. Chris (pictured below) was having none of it and tried to roll him over the byline and off the field of play.

Half-Time England 0 v Italy 0

The changes at the break saw Peggy take over from Stefan, Mark replaced Claudio and Chris came back onto the field of play.

A couple of early Italian corners were well cleared by the defence and the midfield continued to look solid, Andrea again quietly getting the important job done of nice easy passes and closing down the ball. Dale again had nothing to do in the second half apart from control his area with confidence.

Roger twice got to the byline and cut the ball back into first Andrea then Mark’s path but the shots were blocked by the defenders. Roger then played a nice one two with Mark and hit a rasping drive from the edge of the area which the keeper tipped over the bar with a great save at full stretch. From the resultant corner Ivan had a free header which just cleared the angle of post and crossbar by inches.

Mark unfortunately picked up a severe groin strain that ultimately ruled him out of the final and Peggy was booked for chopping down the full-back when he shielded the ball out of play for the second time in as many minutes.

Full-Time England 0 v Italy 0

The table finished as follows:

		PL	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1.	England	5	3	2	0	5	1	+4	11
2.	Italy	5	3	1	1	5	3	+2	10
3.	Spain	5	3	0	2	12	3	+9	9
4.	Belgium	5	2	1	2	5	5	0	7
5.	Switzerland	5	1	0	4	4	10	-6	3
6.	France	5	0	2	3	3	12	-9	2

The final against the second placed Italians was not scheduled until 5pm and the temperature was slowly rising well over 30 degrees. Everyone went for lunch and sensibly drank Coke and kept off the beer, and after lunch a few people went off to explore Fiorentina’s stadium whilst others sunbathed or slept in the shade.

The 5th and 6th place penalty shoot out took place between Switzerland and France which the Swiss won 4-3. The 3rd and 4th place shoot out took place between Spain and the Belgians and the Spanish won 2-1.

The boys gathered around 4.15pm and got changed for the final time, amid rumours that the Italians had waited all afternoon for some players to arrive who hadn’t played in any of the previous matches, and that rumour turned out to be true with two or three new players taking the pitch for the final.

Final - England v Italy – 4.40pm
4-5-1 Formation

Team Line Up
GK Dale / RB Chris / LB Ivan / CB Steve / CB Pete / DM Alessandro / CM Andrea / CM Ismail / LM Stefan (c) / RM Peggy / CF Roger / SUB Mark / SUB Claudio

The game began and for the first time in the Tournoi England began nervously and allowed a much younger than the group game and brighter Italian team to get on top, playing some good football.

They didn’t create too many clear cut chances until a goal out of the blue when their striker was given too much time to pick his cross from the right and what a cross it was, pinpoint to the two players coming in at the far post unmarked and Dale who had come for the cross before realising he wouldn’t get there left stranded as a looping header hit the back of the net.

England heads didn’t drop and we were soon attacking them and finding some momentum, Peggy got in behind on numerous occasions and played some fine balls into the box, Stefan was doing the same and Alessandro started to control midfield alongside Andrea.

Andrea won the ball in midfield and played the ball out to Peggy who fainted to go outside his man but delayed and delayed until his ball into Roger on the edge of the box appeared, Roger turned his man and was through on the angle only to be dragged back by the defender.

The Italian referee was not going to give it but the French linesman signalled penalty. PETE (pictured below) coolly stepped up and drilled it past the keeper for a deserved equaliser and the boys found renewed momentum controlling possession and playing much the better football, playing the ball across midfield side to side looking for an opening.

Ismail was replaced just before the break by Claudio, as he was looking a little jaded.

Half-Time England 1 v Italy 1

The second half started and this was when we really began to take control with some superb football and as the half wore on the Italians became unable to clear their lines and started hitting hopeful long balls up towards their technically gifted centre forward.

Alessandro was playing fantastic in centre midfield and as the half wore on Claudio became more involved and he was dominating proceedings, and nearly scored what would have been the goal of the Tournoi when from the edge of the box he volleyed a yard wide of the top corner from a Peggy centre.

England had a let off when another cross was headed home by the same player who had scored the first with Dale at full stretch but the linesman flagged for offside immediately as he was offside by quite a distance. Dale made two long distance saves but that was the final attacking moment of the match for the Italians.

Stefan then had a shot cleared off the line and Pete had a drive tipped round the post by the keeper, Ivan and Steve got in each others way for a volley with the goal in sight but the English lads did everything but get the winner.

Ismail replaced Andrea late on after he went off with what appeared to be another knee injury, and due to Mark’s injury he wasn’t risked in the final, which was a shame and the manager apologised to him afterwards, but with the game so close it was a risk that couldn’t be taken.

Full-Time England 1 v Italy 1

Penalties were to decide the outcome and as the penalty takers had been decided before the final Dales final words to the individuals were to believe in themselves, and he told the team that no matter what had happened he was proud of everyone of them for giving 110%.

The Italians won the toss and decided to go first, hitting their penalty over the bar, Roger stepped up and hit the top right corner, 1-0 England. The Italians scored low to Dale’s left, and Pete hit his penalty to the middle left of the net also, 2-1 England.

The Italians scored their third to the bottom left then Peggy missed when the keeper dived to his right and parried, Drawing 2-2. The Italians scored again to Dale’s bottom left then Ismail hit his shot wide of the right hand post, Italy lead 3-2 after four penalties each.

The Italian stepped up knowing that if he scored they would win and he sent Dale the wrong way but the ball cannoned off the left hand post and away, meaning Stefan had to score to keep England in the game, which he did in the bottom left had corner, 3-3 after five penalties.

The Italians immediately sent out number six and he didn’t hit the ball cleanly and Dale (pictured below) had an easy save low to his left that meant one more penalty would win England the Championship. Confusion rained as England didn’t know who to send up, some players tried to send Mark who wasn’t on the pitch at the end and Dale rightly sent him back, and after discussions in the centre circle stepped up himself.

He placed the ball on the spot, with shouts of ‘Come on Daleo’ from his teammates behind, he took a long run up and the referee blew his whistle. The nerves were ripe but he drilled the ball low to the keepers right, it hit the inside of the post but smashed into the back of the net and Dale ran to his right screaming and celebrating, he turned around and saw twelve players running towards him and everyone piled in hugging, smiling and kissing each other.

This was followed by a big chant of championes which rang out around the pitch with everyone jumping up and down and enjoying the moment together in a group celebration.

Photos were had and the chanting continued in the changing room with everyone very happy and the club finally got their hands on some silverware for the first time since 1994, ironically the last time we won was also held in Florence.

Penalties England 4 v Italy 3

Once back at the hotel, eight of the players went straight to the bar, chipped in and bought champagne and beers. The presentation night was a slow affair starting at 8pm and the presentations didn’t take place until shortly after 10.30pm with England receiving that first placed trophy with then another rendition of championes followed by 'You'll never walk alone'.



The Player of the Tournoi award was a close affair with Dale taking the accolades, most likely for his penalty shoot out contribution, but every single player played fantastic and could have been the winner. The award was voted for differently this year with private voting and the votes being opened all together and none of us knowing who had won, Dale got six, Steve four, Pete two and Roger one. The champagne was duly shared with everyone.

Well done to Steve for being England top scorer and a committed performance in the back line alongside a wonderful defence who conceded less than any other team in the Tournoi.

Please enjoy the picture slideshow (click play and remove cursor from picture to view, and you can also make them full screen) and the video, and a copy of the Italians video of the Tournoi will be circulated to the thirteen players when received.

Thank you to Ivan (pictured below) for all his organisation and help and we look forward to next years Tournoi in Switzerland on the 21st and 22nd of May 2010.

Tournoi Report by Dale Mellor.