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In addition to all the sporting action we are organising for our players, the EFCB social events have become an important part of our club's life. The annual Summer Fest & the EFCB Xmas Party are great opportunities for all our members to meet the other parents and to see all the club players perform. The events have also become a great source for our much-needed fund-raising activities. |
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BERLIN INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CUP 2009
U9s :1st Berlin Metropolitan School, 2nd Berlin British School, 3rd English FC
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THE GAME BEFORE THE GAME - EFCB CELEBRATES 5th ANNIVERSARY
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Berlin International Youth Cup 2008
U8 Charles Dickens School FC U10 Türkiyemspor Berlin
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EFCB players and the Corinthian Casuals meet British Ambassador and goalkeeper legend Bernd Trautmann
'All the CC parents agreed we had the best weekend and it was
made especially good by the warmth and friendship shown by all the children and
EFCB parents towards our group. We could not have asked for more support. What
an occasion, a trip to Germany to play European football, visiting an Embassy,
meeting an Ambassador (a first for everyone in our group!) meeting the football
legend Bernd Trautmann and seeing the Olympic Stadium - a very powerful and
moving experience. My wish is to return the hospitality and have your team and
parents come over to England to play and this is something that I hope to be
able to work on in the forthcoming months.'
Richard Becksmith, Corinthian Casuals coach
Fredi Bobic VISITS EFCB
As a child I played football wherever we could find a pitch, for instance in
parks or backyards. When I was seven I joined the Stuttgart football club VFR
Bad Cannstatt. My big hero at the time was Hansi Müller, who played for VFB
Stuttgart. Later I admired the Dutch super striker Marco van Basten. He was
world class.
I think that if you compare all the Leagues in Europe, the atmosphere in stadiums in England is the best. The fans are just fantastic. When I played for Bolton Wanderers, we played a crucial relegation game against Ipswich Town. I scored three goals, a hat-trick, and the fans went wild. We won 4 - 1 and my club stayed up in the Premier League. I was presented with the match ball with the signatures of all my team mates. This is tradition in England when you score a hat-trick. The ball is in a special frame now and is a nice reminder of that day.
Train a lot and have fun. Be patient when things don't work out straight away. Don't give up - even when you lose.
A former paratrooper who served at the Russian front, Bernd Trautmann was captured by the British army in 1945 and interned in a POW camp near Manchester. A natural athlete, Trautmann soon showed his abilities in matches between camps and started to play for St. Helens Town. In 1949 Manchester City saw his potential and signed him up. An estimated 40,000 people went on the streets to protest against the signing of a former German soldier. The hostility amongst City fans changed as they quickly noticed that Trautmann was actually a good goalkeeper and a good guy as well. Players of that period, like Sir Stanley Matthews or Tommy Docherty, always refer to Trautmann as the best goalkeeper of the time, if not one of the best of all times. The 1956 FA Cup final was the spectacular highlight in Trautmann's career. After picking up an injury 15 minutes before the end he continued to play until the final whistle. The injury was later diagnosed as a broken bone in his neck. But Trautmann doesn't dwell on these heroics - he plays them down:
"I didn't know that my neck was broken. Had I known, I don't
think I would have continued to play. After the game I was asked about my
injury and I always said it felt like toothache. I know that people always ask
me about it and that's ok. But I would rather talk about the fact that I saved
4 penalties. Those saves are the real heroics."
"I was on £10 a week when I played for Manchester City. It was
alright back then but you could hardly put anything aside. But one starts to
wonder looking at today's salaries. Wasn't Nicolas Anelka, former City striker,
on £50,000 a week?"
"Well,keep working hard. Don't get distracted and keep both feet
on the ground."
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At the end of May, a total of 23 teams competed in 4 different age groups at our annual EFCB Youth Cup. For the first time the tournament took place at Lippstädter Str. and the new venue seemed to have inspired not just our own teams but all the other participants as well, who either represented one of Berlin’s international schools or local clubs such as FC Schöneberg or Türkiyemspor. With plenty of sunshine and a staggering total of 99 goals scored in 46 matches, the Youth Cup was once again an exciting affair. Besides the familiar faces, like the British School, the JFK or the Berlin International School, it was the new kid on the block, the Metropolitan School, who left its mark on the 6th edition of our tournament. In the girls’competition the smallest team, Türkiyemspor Berlin, was also the most impressive and was a delight to watch. Former German international and Hertha BSC player Marko Rehmer was this years’ guest of honour and handed out the trophies to the happy winners:
The The EFCB teams played some good football and found it a bit easier this year to come up with the right results. For the first time in the tournament’s history, our U11s won the competition while the U9s finished 3rd. The U10s ended the event in 4th place, but were quite unlucky not to have reached the final before losing on penalties to the BIS in the end. Our new U11 girls’ team won one game and drew another and finished the competition fifth. As one of the youngest teams in the tournament, they showed tremendous spirit. Finally, a big ‘thank you’ has to go to all the club parents, coaches and children who helped to make this event such a great success. Thanks again to the trophy sponsors and for all the food donations, the cakes, salads, sweets, sausages and burgers, which were absolutely delicious.
On 18th November, one day before the Germany vs. England game in Berlin, our club and its partners hosted a memorable football evening. Part of the programme was an international girls' tournament comprising 8 international club and school teams and with an 11-a-side game between the DFB Fan Club Nationalmannschaft, the FA’s Englandfans and the 'Wunder von Bern Filmteam'. The night concluded with a 5-a-side event featuring 20 teams from Germany and the UK, including the British Embassy, Auswärtiges Amt, Bundeskanzleramt, Coca Cola, Rolls Royce, Media teams such as Bild Zeitung, RBB, FourFourTwo and 11Freunde Football Magazine as well as the Fredi Bobic All Stars.
The U14 girls' tournament was won by Turbine Potsdam which showed tremendous skill and pace on the 5-a-side court. Our own EFCB teams finished the tournament in 4th and 6th place. The trophies were presented by former German international Fredi Bobic. The 1996 European Champion and co-presenter of the evening also entered a team of ex-professionals including Marko Rehmer, Thomas Helmer, Jörg Heinrich, Rene Tretschok, Axel Kruse and Pascal Borel into the competition. Not surprisingly, his All Stars won the tournament despite facing stiff competition from the 'Wunder von Bern – Filmteam’ and FourFourTwo. Our club's U100 team finished the tournament in 3rd place in their group, losing to Berliner Polizei, Bild Zeitung and Kickerworld.
With a win against the Englandfans, pride was restored. We have to thank everybody involved with the evening for their support. It's a great achievement and an honour for a small club like ours to be able to initiate and host an event of such scale. The evening was also well covered by the national and international media and has helped to spread the word about the English Football Club Berlin. I am sure it gave all of us a big boost as our search for funding and support for our own football field continues in the months to come.
Without a doubt, this year's Youth Cup was one of the best competitions we have ever had. With plenty of sunshine and a total of 30 teams competing in 5 different age groups, the 5th edition of the event was a big success. All major international schools, including the British School, the Berlin International and the JFK, had sent their teams and competed alongside international clubs such as Stern 1900, FC Internationale and Türkiyemspor Berlin. The team that had travelled furthest to participate was the US Youth Soccer team from Kaiserslautern. The US boys played in the U12 section of the tournament and finished with a respectable 3rd place. The tournament was played at a high standard and all teams displayed a great deal of fair play. In the end, Fredi Bobic, former German international player and club parent, happily handed over the trophies to the following winners:
As for the EFCB teams, all our players adapted well and represented our club in the best possible way. Both our U12 and U11 league teams finished 2nd, the Girls came 3rd, the U10 team finished 5th and the two U8 groups shared 5th and 6th place. A big thank you has to go to all the helpers, the mums and dads who assisted with the snacks and t-shirt tables, and hats off to the EFCB coaches who put in an extra shift to coach and referee throughout the blazing hot day. Well done everyone!
For a small group of U10 players, the weekend of the Berlin International Youth
Cup 2006 kicked off with a reception at the British Embassy. The EFCB players
met the Ambassador as well as the players of our guest team, the Corinthian
Casuals, who had just flown in from London. A panel of speakers, amongst
them the Ambassador, headed up a small press conference introducing the concept
of the 2006 Youth Cup and the launch of the Kick & Think academy organised
by the Trautmann Foundation. The highlight was certainly the presence of
Manchester City goalkeeper legend Bernd Trautmann, who came to Berlin especially
to kick-start the Academy and to hand over the trophies at the tournament. The
players also learned interesting facts about the British Embassy and got an
insight into the Embassy's work. It was also the first time that our EFCB has
played host to a guest team from abroad. During the three-day visit of the
Corinthian Casuals, the oldest amateur club in the world, we had a chance to
exchange a lot of ideas and got a taste for more. The club from Surrey has
written a letter of thanks to all EFCB parents and players for their
hospitality.
As well as training and tournaments, we
organise visits from international players and coaches. We spent a memorable
afternoon in spring with German international Fredi Bobic. Confident in English
and German, the top goal scorer trained with the EFCB players and answered all
questions patiently. He signed well over 100 EFCB t-shirts, and all the teams
got a special photo taken with him. It was a very inspiring afternoon for
everybody, and Fredi has without doubt won over a 100 new fans. Read on to find
out about his beginnings.
In 2004 German goalkeeper legend Bernd
Trautmann was invested as an honorary Officer of the British Empire (OBE) at
the British Embassy in Berlin. We had the pleasure to meet up with him. 
From his home in Spain, Trautmann, aged
82, still keeps in touch with England and of course international football. He
visits his three children who live in England on a regular basis. He has also
just helped to launch a new project, the Trautmann Foundation. With the British
ambassador, Sir Peter Torry, and the German interior minister, Otto Schily, as
patrons, the foundation aims to promote youth exchange between Britain and
Germany through football. I am sure our club will be able to cooperate with the
foundation in the future. What advice would he give our EFCB players?