Amigo's and Amiga's,

We had an exciting round of SPL games before the end of the season in a couple of weeks ! Great weather and the best pitch in Shanghai and all the surrounding bars and restaurants packed with people. Life is good in Green City especially on Sunday's !

Japan-ERS 3-1 It was an important game for both teams as a win could move either of them up on the SPL ranking. Unfortunately for the French Friends Japan's old generation of players were attending the "All Japanese Asian Championship" in Taiwan. So ERS had to face the Young Fast and Furious Japanese team which was to much to handle for them. They lost 3-1. In Taiwan the old guards ended second out of 10 Japanese teams denied by FC Japan from Seoul in the final.

Hard Days Night - Super 48 8-2 Here it was the same story as Super 48 went to Taiwan as well and the ended 8th out of the ten teams. Super 48 doesn't have the luxury of Young Fast and Furious players so it didn't make a difference however they managed to score two goals in the game. Jon Banks alias Bansky scored a hat-trick for HDN which makes you wonder why he played the whole season as last defender instead of striker ! By losing Super 48 are confirmed winners of the bottom of the SPL trophee but statistics are proving that they are having their best season ever ! Last year upto today they conceded 126 goals and scored 10 and this season the conceded only 94 and scored 12 / enough reason to celebrate on june the 19th at the end of the season party !

Pistolera Bulls - Galacticos 1-2 In the first 30 minutes of the game the Galacticos could have easily wrapped it up if only Ned Kelly or a stand in of Ned would have turned up ! But in the second half  the youngsters finally got their well deserved goal. Due to the hot weather the Bulls players started to get more and more exhausted but they got a penalty from Kevin and equalized. However the day belonged to Obi who scored the winner. Four years with the Galacticos and finally he found the net. It's said that he personally closed Latina in the late late evening hours after the game.

This coming Sunday we ask EVERYBODY who loves football in Shanghai to come over and watch the SPL Championships game between the Lions and the Flamenkos at 1200 PM. Throughout this season these two teams have proven to be the most consistent in winning games ! Knowing both their playing styles (attacking football) it will be a "Football Fiesta" with lots of goals. We expect a record crowd and tickets are selling out quickly !

Of course there are two other SPL games as well on sunday which are important for the overall standing.

1000 AM Pistolera Bulls - Japan

1400 PM Super 48 - Galacticos

See you all on Sunday ! Long live the SPL !

Cheers Freek / SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee

Amigo's and Amiga's,

The heat is back and we experienced an early taste of summer in Shanghai last Sunday ! Over 30 degrees and still our teams managed to score 23 goals in three games which is a record for this season ! All teams were having one minute silence before the game as we were sadly informed by ERS that their friend and sponsor suddenly passed away by a heart attack. We wish all players and friends of ERS strength and support in these difficult times.

Super 48 - ERS 1-11 ERS showed great team spirit and courage on the field and it was not easy for Super 48 who are now confirmed ending in the bottom of the SPL. However we have good news for Super 48 as well as they are leading our Fair Play Competition with only one yellow card throughout the whole season!

Galacticos - Flamenkos 1-4 The game was too important for the Flamenkos to lose points as they could close the gap with the Lions to two points only. That determination took the galacticos by surprise and they found themselves trailing 0-2 after 15 minutes. On a positive note the Galacticos had 18 players coming out for the game and in my opinion they have the best promising young squad of our league. They need a little bit more luck as well a bit more of leadership during the games. Flamenkos will be off to a 7 aside tournament in Bali in preparation of their Championships clash versus the Lions on May 22. Ticket for that game are selling faster than the I-Pads or the "White" I-Phones so pls hurry to book yours !

Hard Days Night - Japan 3-3  20 Minutes before kick off there were 20 Japanese players busy with their stretching exercises and only three HDN players were there.  But maybe the Japanese players overdid the warming up in the sizzling heat and were 2-0 behind in the first 5 minutes. Second half was great spectacle especially if you would favor Japan as they made a great come back ! Fitness level was playing a vital role especially towards the end HDN was struggling.
Japan took a 2-3 lead but in the very last minute had to share the points which in the end everybody could live on with !

This coming Sunday it will be hot again with over 30 degrees so drink a lot of warter before the games and a lot of ice cold beers after the games !

10.00 PM Japan - ERS Both teams will need a win to move out of the lower end of the SPL only one point differences between the two.  Small detail is that all the older Japanese players will participate in an all Japan soccer tournament in Taiwan this weekend. So ERS will face the young and fast ones only....!!

12.00 Super 48 - Hard Day Night Confirmed ending in the bottom Super might play freely and could cause an upset or ??

14.00 Pistolera Bulls - Galacticos Bulls have not played for a while so lets see if they still remember how to play !

Enjoy the heat and the final rounds of the SPL !

Cheers Freek SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee !

Amigo's and Amiga's,

I am sure all SPL players are ready for the final 4 rounds of this season ! The pitch is perfect and temperatures are rising in Shanghai. This weekend it will be over 30 degrees just to give you a taste of summer ! Looking at the current standing every team still has a lot to play for. A quick analysis below will show you what ranking each team still can achieve or end up to  !

Lions   (1 or 2)
Flamenkos  (1 or 2 or 3)
Hawks   (2 or 3 or 4)
Pistolera Bulls    (3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8)
Hard Day Night  (4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8)
Japan   (4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8)
ERS   (4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8)
Galacticos  (4 or  5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or......9)
Super 48            (8 or 9)

So we all still have a lot to play for ! To start we have 3 great games this Sunday !

10.00 AM Super 48 - ERS A must win game for Super 48 as otherwise they will end up in the bottom of the SPL !

12.00 PM Galacticos - Flamenkos A must win game for the Flamenkos to stay in the title race !

14.00 PM Hard Days Night - Japan A must win game for both teams as they need a win !

Enjoy the heat but always remember we are representing Fair Play at all times ! This is a true SPL asset especially if you compare us with the recent games in the Champions League ! SPL is much better !

Cheers Freek / SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee !

Amigo's and Amiga's,

We are reaching the final stages of our SPL season after a
great Easter Sunday round with not one single card.
Absolutely fairplayed and I believe that’s what we as SPL
teams stand for and we can be proud of that !
After Sundays results we can confirm that this season will
be a two horse race between the Lions and the Flamenkos ! We
will closely watch their actions in the final games. The
Hawks are right behind but lost too many points in the early
part of the season but they still can finish second in
theory. The rest of the teams will try to end up above one
and each others so you can expect good competitive games
throughout the end of the season !

Galacticos - Hawks 2-5 First half the Hawks were stronger
and took a comfortable lead 0-2 but the Galacticos after
their "English Tea Break" came out strong and managed to
equalize 2-2. To their horror as they thought they took the
lead as in their humble opinion the ball was clearly over
the line but the referee and lines man said no, they saw
their winner not given..... ! We are investigating the case
and suspect that there is a link between our referee's and
the Fifia and a pact against the Galacticos and England.
Maybe some smart cookies can develop an Apple application so
that we can put I pads in the goals and check whether the
ball is really behind the line or not.....! Hawks took all
three points in the end.

Flamenkos - Japan 7-0 We have two options here to explain
the result 1) The Japanese players were poisoned by the
Flamenkos either by Sangria or Belgian Waffles 2) The
Japanese players all went to karaoke until six in the
morning. Honestly I have never seen them play so bad and
they had only two shots on target during the whole game.
Well lets call it a bad day in the office and Flamenkos were
more than happy to take advantage !

Lions - Hard Days Night 2-0 Very fair game where the Lions
had the best of the football and ball possession. Two goals
in each half secured for them minimum the second place this
season !

We have the May Holiday break this coming weekend but we
will be back in full force on May 8th so make sure you come
and watch the games !

10.00 AM  Super 48 - ERS

12.00 PM Galacticos - Flamenkos

14.00 PM Hard Days Night - Japan

Enjoy the break ! See you all on the 8th of May at Green
City !

Cheers Freek / SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee
! 

Amigo's and Amiga's,

Now it's the time we have been waiting for. The Pitch is
perfect, the weather is perfect, the restaurants and pubs
surrounding the field are full with people enjoying the food
and beers outside. We can enjoy our favorite game while our
friends, wives and children are watching. This year a load
of new talents were born as the SPL is a strong breed and is
expanding very fast !

We had two games plus the formula 1 last Sunday !

ERS - Lions 1-3 Lions blamed it on the nice weather as they
started without any conviction. Soon they were punished as
Yannick managed to slice through the Lions mid-field +
defense and had no problem with the goalie. 1-0 half time.
Lions knew they needed a win to stay on top so they came out
stronger and equalized 1-1. Ten minutes before the end the
turning point turned out to be a deflected "lucky" goal plus
a quick goal there after.

Japan - Super 48 3-0 It looked like a J-League game and both
teams brought many supporters. First half was 0-0 and Super
48 started to celebrate already, however Japan claimed that
they fielded only over 40 players the first half. Don’t
think we can accept that excuse as the second half they put
their under 30 team and only managed 3 goals !

So we will hide some eggs at the field this coming Easter
Sunday and please do come and watch our games !

10.00 AM Galacticos - Hawks

12.00 PM Japan - Flamenkos

14.00 PM HDN - Lions

One Note to the Captains ! From now on we will and can not
approve any postponements anymore as we are running towards
the end of the season and the school closes early this year
! Pls keep in mind !

Happy Easter in Shanghai !

Cheers Freek / SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee
!

Amigo's and Amiga's,

Nothing better than spring in Shanghai ! Don’t think anybody is particular fond of winters here except for the power companies of course, so we are glad its over for another year ! Spring means a comfortable 20-25 degrees and most of the time a blue sky. For the SPL Spring means that we are going into the final rounds which are always exciting and enjoyable. More people will come and watch our games and enjoy the nice environment of Green City in Jinqiao !

Last week we had two games :

Hawks - Hard Days Night 9-3 
The monster score didn’t reflect the whole game as it was a close game (first half 2-1) until the last 20 minutes when the legs of the HDN'ers were running full with lactic acid and they couldn’t move anymore. Maybe some of them had ran the 8km Jinqiao run in the morning just like Kevin our referee who ran very fast and finished below 30 minutes, these are his own words as don’t think anybody has a proof of his actions  !

Super 48 - Flamenkos 0-5
As usual Super got the first two chances but failed to score this time. Flamenkos will remember this game as the "most missed opportunities" however there will be an investigation whether something was "fixed" here as especially their manager Bart seemed to be heavy involved in the missing........ !

This weekend is F1 weekend that means parties and fast girls and cars however the SPL will take the centre stage with two games !

1200 - ERS - Lions Expect goals and an open game of (French) Football ! Allez Allez !

1400   Super 48 - Japan Lets see whether this all Japan game will lead to a surprise. Will they settle with a draw ?

Enjoy Spring in Shanghai enjoy the SPL !

Amigo's and Amiga's,

The Qin Ming festival is upon us next week and that means it should  be the arrival of Spring in Shanghai. Lets hope we get a long Spring and a short Summer ! Local people will be busy burning casino's , cars, villa's, schools, computers and I Phones ! I would not be surprised if the would burn soccer fields as well ! Don’t worry as they will be burning only paper replica's as its their believe that all their ancestors will need these things for their after life. I just wonder how the traffic would be there up stairs ?

We had two games last Sunday and recently we noticed some developments in the Top of the SPL. The teams who were in the sub-top started to lose points versus the lower ranked teams. On the other hand the Lions and the Flamenkos are now showing a few points distance with the rest of the team !

Galacticos - Hawks game was postponed as Galacticos were down we food poisoning and Hong-Kong 7's fever !

ERS - Hard Day Night 2-1 The French we losing the first half but were determined to make a come back. They increased the pressure on the HDN goalie Maxi and HDN was pushed back. We heard very loud cheers and celebrations in Jinqiao and it were the ERS players who were delighted with their three points.

Pistolera Bulls - Lions 0-3

The Tactics of the Lions was not to make the Pistolera Bulls upset so they started very slow and seems to take it easy.
However a sending off of one of the Lions players was needed to turn the game around. 0-0 half time but the second half the Lions showed their teeth with 10 man it looked if they played with 13 versus 9 Pistolera Bulls players. Charles of the Lions was a happy man with his Hat-trick moving him up to the shared second position of SPL topscorer 2010-2011 !

Enjoy the break next week it’s the right time to heal the injuries and get your squad in shape for the final matches of the Season !

Cheers Freek SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee !

Amigo's and Amiga's,

The world is shaking ! we have so many issues to deal with nowadays. The news stories keeps on coming earth-quakes,tsunami's, radiation, airstrikes, the largest moon since ages shining at us, injected pork in china you name it !
God Bless we have the SPL where people from all over the world can forget what is happening in the world for two hours and focus on the game they love the most Football !
All I can say enjoy these moments its really valuable what we have in Green City ! As well now that the weather is improving bring your friends and family to the field  and show them your skills !  
They are all part of our SPL family!

We had three games last Sunday. It rained the whole Saturday night but our field was in very good condition thanks to our Grasmaster Adam !

Super 48 - Lions 1-4
Good result for Super 48 as last time versus the lions is was 11-1. Their first attack they straightaway scored that’s what you call a wake up call.
Lions could have scored more but most shots were blocked by either the cross-bar or the Japanese Samurai Wall.

Galacticos - Japan 0-4
Finally Japan is getting back in form and they played very well today. A wonder strike (35 yards) gave them the 0-1 lead at half time. Galacticos kept fighting but they lack a bit of confidence in front of the goal ! Japan was very happy with the result esp during these difficult times.

Flamenkos - Pistolera Bulls 5-0
Back to back victories for the Flamenkos who are flying now second in the SPL and title talks floating around in Jinqiao ! Bilgin summed it up for
the Bulls who had a bad day in the office " My header was the only chance we got during the whole game !"

Three games ahead of us with perfect weather in the forecast 20 degrees and sunny !

10.00 AM Galacticos - Hawks

12.00 PM Pistolera Bulls - Lions   

14.00 PM ERS - Hard Days Night

Enjoy these games and for two hours just forget about the world !

Cheers Freek / SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee!

Amigo's and Amiga's

Before our games on Sunday we held one minute silence in honour of the victims of the horrific earthquake and tsunami which happened in Japan last Friday. The heart breaking images on the TV I will never forget. I had never seens such an amount of mass destruction in just a few minutes. I didn’t realize how fragile we actually are as human beings against the force of natural disasters. On behalf of all the players and friends of the SPL I wish all the people in Japan a lot of strengths and power in order to overcome this disaster !

We had a full program of 4 games and good weather finally.
All games were played in the right SPL Spirit, only one yellow card and 19 goals !

Japan - Hawks 0-1
Japan was showing their fighting spirit throughout the whole game and made this game the most entertaining game to watch.
Hawks got a lucky goal in the last minute of the first half. Second half both sides were attacking both goal keepers and Japan thought they had the equalizer in their pocket only to see their jumping stiker missing the header in front of an open goal !

Flamenkos - Pistolera Bulls 5-1
First half 1-0 for the Flamenkos and second half the Spanish and belgium mix started to enjoy the goal fiesta. Flamenkos looking strong this season and aiming for a top spot in the SPL this season.For the Pistolera Bull the new yellow jerseys doesn’t seem to bring them a lot of luck as they have not won a game with those.

Galacticos - Lions 1-6
First Half a comfortable 0-2 lead for the Lions however a fast second half goal from the Galacticos could have turned the game around but the Lions had other thoughts and netted another 4 behind Santi the great goalie. Not sure whether It would have made a difference if Ned Kelly would have played........!

ERS - Super 48 5-0
No Surprise here but would have expected Super 48 to score at least a goal

This Sunday we have perfect weather in the forecast 18 degrees and Sunny !

10.00 AM Lions - Super 48

12.00 PM Galacticos - Japan

14.00 PM Pistolera Bulls - Flamenkos

Enjoy our lifes Enjoy the SPL ! Cheers Freek SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee 

Amigo's and Amiga's.

Many league's around the world are running into their final rounds and the SPL is no exception! We cannot ask for more excitement you all need to come down and watch ! I would like to say a big thank you to all the teams and captains to display the most entertainment pieces of football in Shanghai ! It doesn’t matter whether you are in the bottom or the top of the SPL all of us want win and it shows in the scores ! We stand for attacking football and and fairplay where can you find that nowadays !

Super 48 - Galcticos 0-5
Well I Can tell you that the Supers 48 scared the hell out of the Galacticos after they went into half time with 0-0 / No tea for the British but a commando talk form Ned at half time that they cannot be the first team to lose versus the Supers was enough to change the tide...........
5 goals followed but the fear factor was surely there !

Hawks - Pistolera Bulls 5-2
Hot game as per the SPL history but an outstanding game from Kevin the referee resulted in a fair game without any cards ! Even Bigin failed to get his usual yellow card !
3-0 win half times for the Hawks / Both teams were missing their star strikers which weighed on the result but the Hawks overall were the better team / Pistolera Bulls kept on fighting until the final whistle but on the day the gap was too big !

Flamenkos - Hard Day's Night 3-1
Important win for the Flamenkos who from the start showed their intentions that it was a "MUST WIN" game for them / Hard Days Night had no answer to the fast attacks from the Flamenkos and found themselves 3-0 behind at half time !
Excuse of the HDN was the veteran  tournament in Manila leaving them without their star "Old and Experienced" players......!
Haven't we heard that before ?

Weather this coming weekend will be surely warmer ! So no excuse to stay back home ! Please come and see the action  !
We have a 4 game program and as we are going forward each game becomes important !

11.00 AM Hawks - Japan Absolute topper as Japan needs to come out of their crisis and Hawks cannot afford to lose any more game to clinch the title !

11.00 AM (rugby pitch) Pistolera Bulls-Flamenkos Well no need to say that this game is key to either team and we expect open play and a lot of goals and hopefully no cards !

13.00 PM Galacticos - Lions Classic games and Lions will need to play their best to get all three points against the "Angts Gegner"

15.00 PM ERS - Super 48 Come on Super 48 one point is enough to write history !!!

Lets enjoy the fact that we have 8 teams in action and we can show Shanghai that we are the most entertaining and fair league in Shanghai !

Looking forward to see you all at the Fields !

Cheers Freek / SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee !