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The Mobile Revelers: Mobile’s Original Minor League Soccer Team

There’s no doubt that Mobile is a soccer town. The city is home to high quality men’s and women’s college soccer programs, a number of competitive local high school teams, quality youth clubs, and a burgeoning minor league team. However, AFC Mobile is not the first team to represent the city of Mobile. From 1995 to 1997, between the 1994 World Cup in the United States and the dawn of Major League Soccer, the Mobile Revelers staked a claim as one of the south’s best clubs.

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The team was the brainchild of former University of South Alabama men’s coach Roy Patton. Patton approached local soccer enthusiasts Steve Clements and Ken Kvalheim to form a new professional soccer team to play in the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues (USISL) Professional League, a multi-regional league sanctioned as a Division III Professional League by the U.S. Soccer Federation. The USISL was a predecessor to the modern day United Soccer League (USL) and Premier Development League (PDL). 

“At the time, the South Alabama [NCAA] program was just on fire and of course Mobile College [NAIA] had a really great program as well. Pretty much all our players came from those two schools,” Clements said. Patton’s goal was to give his college players and other local players the opportunity to continue playing soccer at a high level.  “We hated the fact that they graduated and left us,” Clements said. “That was one of Roy’s primary goals was to give these players an opportunity to continue playing soccer at a level that they might be seen in the bigger leagues.”

The Revelers roster, much like the roster of the South Alabama team at the time, was made up of players from across the globe. “We were not that international, compared to my 1995 season at South [Alabama], but we came from South Africa, England, Scotland, Denmark, Trinidad, and the US,” said former Mobile Reveler left back Søren Jørgensen.

Jørgensen was from Copenhagen, Denmark and earned a scholarship to play for South Alabama. Unfortunately, his high school credits did not properly transfer to the American system and he was unable to meet NCAA eligibility requirements. But he had fallen in love with the Mobile soccer community, and he decided to stay in Mobile and play for the Revelers.

Mobile Reveler left back Søren Jørgensen

Jørgensen said that even though the core of Revelers players graduated from South Alabama in 1994 or ’95, it wasn’t hard to break into the group. “It was easy to enter the group,” Jørgensen said. “As long as you can play some good soccer and drink a beer afterwards.”

Patton originally intended for the team to play its matches at South Alabama. He would coach the team at home and Tom Bierster, his assistant coach, would coach the team on the road. That plan never came to fruition, as behind-the-scenes politics at South Alabama could not be worked out.  “There were issues… I don’t really know exactly everything on that level, but at one point, Joe Gottfried went to Roy and said, ‘look, you can’t play at South… I’m getting too much pressure and if you coach this team, you may not have a job with the college,'” Bierster said.

Ultimately, Bierster took the reigns as the head coach of the Revelers heading into their inaugural season. Soon after, Patton left South Alabama to take the head job at the University of Vermont. He would eventually return to the Port City as the head coach of the University of Mobile.

Despite the talent in the city, not everyone in Mobile embraced soccer. This became apparent during the Revelers search for a home field.  “Some people didn’t understand it at all,” Kvalheim said. “I remember we were looking to do some practice, or some tryouts on the field – and I’ll never forget – a football coach told us that the soccer players would damage his field.”

Ironically, the Revelers finally found a home outside of Mobile at the Fairhope Municipal Soccer Complex, a venue that quickly gained a reputation as one of the nicest facilities in the USISL.  “My second season, everyone wanted to come to Fairhope because they heard how beautiful the field was, and it was,” Bierster said.  

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Mobile Revelers Inaugural Game Roster Sheet

With a stadium deal in place and a roster full of players ready to play, the only thing the club was missing was a moniker. “We wanted to make something that was synonymous to who we are,” Kvalheim said. “We were the first sports team to say ‘we need to capitalize on what makes us unique to the region, what makes us unique to being Mobile,’ and ‘Revelers’ just worked out.”

The Revelers finished their inaugural season in second place in the Southeast Division and were eliminated from the playoffs in the Divisional Semifinal round.  “We got a little bit known out there because our first season we were better than .500 and we got people wanting to come play for us,” Bierster said.  One of the players that Mobile added was Bill Elliott. Elliott is currently the head coach at the University of West Florida and the NPSL’s Chattanooga FC. Elliott said that the core of South Alabama and University of Mobile players were crucial to building the team’s success in the first year.  “All those guys knew each other really well…I think even when they were in college in the offseason they played together, you know, pick up games,” Elliott said. “By the time I joined they had a very good core and I was fortunate enough to be able to work my way into that and become a part of it and really enjoy my time playing there.”

Elliott took the University of West Florida job in 1995 and has been there ever since. He has lead the Argonauts to nine conference championships. He took the managerial position at Chattanooga FC in 2011 and has been the runner-up in three of the last five NPSL National Championships. Elliott thinks the biggest change in the American lower league landscape is the amount of professionalism shown from the clubs at this level.

“In those days, everything in the league was very ‘Bull Durham-ish.’ I think now there’s a lot more professionalism in those leagues… I think there was a lot more gimmicks and minor league baseball marketing tricks to kinda get people out,” Elliott said.  Mobile wasn’t above using wild promotions to draw fans out to the stadium. The Revelers were able to draw 2000 fans to a match by bringing the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in town to perform a halftime show.

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Mobile Revelers with Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders

Bierster said that Mobile’s greatest game came against one of the USISL’s powerhouses, the Minnesota Thunder. The Thunder had won four consecutive league championships and boasted the likes of future MLS star, Bundesliga regular, and U.S international Tony Sanneh as well as current Minnesota United sporting director Manny Lagos and his brother Gerard.

The Thunder were playing in New Orleans on a Friday night before making the trip to Fairhope on Saturday. Bierster drove to the match in New Orleans and devised a game plan that took the Thunder to the wire. Instead of going at the Thunder head-to-head, Bierster told the Revelers to absorb pressure from the Thunder attack before trying to hit them on the counter. The Thunder found themselves shell-shocked. The Revelers took the game to double-overtime and were mere seconds from a shootout when Tony Sanneh turned a Revs’ defender, launched a shot with his left foot, and won the game 1-0 with five seconds left.  News of the Revelers’ unexpected success against the Thunder spread quickly. Days after the last-second loss, Bierster received a phone call from Bob Gansler, former manager of the US Men’s National Team during the 1990 World Cup in Italy and the head coach of the Milwaukee Rampage at the time, asking Bierster how his Revelers took the Thunder to double-overtime.

The Revelers returned to the playoffs in the 1996 season, but failed to move beyond the Conference Semifinals. Bierster left the team following the 1996 season. The Revelers did not qualify for the playoffs in 1997, which turned out to be their final season.

“The biggest problem with professional sports from our standpoint back then was that we were required by the league, and by conscience frankly, to provide these kids with workers comp insurance and the cost of it became absolutely oppressive to say the least,” Clements said. “With that in mind, with the travel that was involved, we simply couldn’t generate enough money between ticket sales and sponsorships to make it viable.”

The Revelers only lasted for three years in the Mobile area, but their impact on the game in the area can be felt today.  “I really believe that what we did, we created an opportunity to expose a lot of people to a sport that they didn’t know very much about,” Kvalheim said.

AFC Mobile will be paying tribute to the city’s original minor league soccer team by holding Mobile Revelers Night this Saturday, July 1st. Kickoff against Gaffa FC of Jackson, Mississippi is at 7:00 p.m. All tickets are only $5, and kids 12 and under are admitted free. AFC Mobile is also auctioning off an original limited edition Mobile Revelers Inaugural Season Commemorative Poster.  All auction proceeds will be donated to USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital. Click here to participate in the auction. Come out and honor Mobile’s soccer history while supporting your local grassroots soccer team!

AFC Mobile Loses 2-1 to Louisiana Fire

AFC Mobile gave up a one goal lead late in the game after the Louisiana Fire’s Dante Oliver scored two goals in the final minutes to seal a comeback victory.

“We just didn’t have enough moxie to see it through. Gave up two questionable goals, might have been offsides, but regardless we’ve got to to do a little bit better job defending those,” AFC Mobile coach Nate Nicholas said. “I think from the top by me as a coach to the players we’ve gotta find a better way to finish it out and come out with a victory. But the boys fought hard, it was a well fought game for us, we just didn’t capitalize on the chances we were given.”

Mobile started the match strong. In the opening minutes of the match, Matt Merrill sent a free kick over the crossbar. Minutes later, Chisom Ogbonna cut in from the left hand side of the pitch to test the Fire keeper, Pepe Serrano.

Nine minutes into a frantic first half, AFC Mobile goalkeeper Brent Grube saved a penalty from the Fire’s Igor Siscov to keep the score level.

Minutes after, Ogbonna was taken down in the box, but neither a yellow card nor a penalty was awarded.

Ogbonna left the field, but returned shortly thereafter. In the 26th minute, Ogbanna gave Mobile its best chance of the match when he bicycle-kicked a shot from the middle of the box that sailed just wide of the far post.

The game was deadlocked at zero to start the second half. Mobile was tested early when a shot from the Fire bounced out of Grube’s hands. The ball fell to a Fire player whose shot at the open goal was cleared off the line by newcomer Dawson Jellenc.

“Dawson played centerback the whole 90 minutes, and we needed him out there—especially with Memo [Lumbreras] taking a knock there at the end of the game.” Nicholas said. “Overall he did pretty well, but you could also see he’s a young kid who’s still learning some stuff. But for a debut with a semi-pro team, being with the guys for only two practices, I thought he played really, really well.”

In the 67th minute,  Ogbonna played a ball across the face of the goal to Amos Ndikumana, whose shot went just over the crossbar.

Minutes later, Sherman Winchester headed the ball to Moses Muhubao, who slotted it home to break the deadlock and give AFC Mobile the lead. The go-ahead goal was Muhubao’s second of the season.

In the 77th minute, AFC Mobile nearly doubled its lead when Batevya Mediateur found Ogbonna on the right hand side, but he couldn’t convert.

The Fire’s Dante Oliver managed to get past the Mobile back line in the 89th minute to equalize. Minutes later in stoppage time, Oliver scored the game winner for the Fire, in spite of impassioned cries from the crowd that he was offside.

The loss gives AFC Mobile an 0-0-2 record on the season. The Fire move to 1-0-1 after falling to Jackson, Mississippi’s Gaffa FC last week. Next Saturday, AFC Mobile will head to Jackson to take on Gaffa FC, who beat the reigning GCPL champions, CD Motagua of New Orleans, 4-2 on Saturday night.

AFC Mobile will play its next home game on June 10th at the Archbishop Lipscomb Athletic Complex against Biloxi City FC. Tickets are only $5.00, and kids 12 and under will be admitted free of charge. RSVP today and invite your friends!  Be sure to follow AFC Mobile on all your favorite social media platforms: Facebook: AFC Mobile; Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat: @AFCMobile.

Select Players from Open Tryout to Join Invitational

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TWELVE PLAYERS FROM AFC MOBILE’S OPEN TRYOUTS INVITED TO THE INVITATIONAL TRYOUT

Last Saturday, AFC Mobile held its first ever Open Tryout with close to 50 people gathered at Herndon (Sage) Park in Mobile. After that session, the following players are being invited to to the club’s Invitational Tryout. They will join other invited players competing for the opportunity to be part of AFC Mobile’s inaugural roster.

  • David Blake
  • Jorden Cruz
  • Mathieu Dazet
  • Jorge Fuentes
  • Brent Grube
  • Austin Hilyer
  • Greg Hosford
  • Christopher Rumsey
  • Guillermo Lumberas
  • Jason Mallis
  • Troy Willman
  • Sherman Winchester

These players will join other players invited for the opportunity to be part of AFC Mobile’s inaugural roster.

ABOUT AFC Mobile

AFC Mobile was formed in 2015 to strengthen the soccer community in Mobile by bringing a high level soccer team to the largest municipality along the Gulf Coast between St. Petersburg and New Orleans. AFC Mobile aims to provide local players an opportunity to continue to play the game at a competitive level, as well as to give the soccer community and City of Mobile a team to call their own.

CONTACT:

Mitchell Kahalley
mkahalley@afcmobile.net
(251) 272-9507

-END-

AFC MOBILE AIMS TO RAISE $5,000 THROUGH CROWDFUNDING PLATFORM GOFUNDME.COM

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AFC Mobile Aims To Raise $5,000 Through Crowdfunding Platform GoFundMe.com

Mobile, Alabama January 3, 2017 – Mobile’s newest sports team, AFC Mobile, announced today that it will be launching a seed round funding campaign using the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe.com effective immediately. The club is targeting to raise up to $5,000 to help in its first competitive season in the Gulf Coast Premier League.

“As an organization, we are ambitious and want our whole community behind us. We are hoping for a few people to donate small amounts – really no more than five to ten dollars,” said AFC Mobile board member Abram Chamberlain. “Our goals are modest but our ambitions are huge.”

AFC Mobile is expected to help grow the already flourishing soccer scene in Mobile, Alabama by providing players aged 16 and older a local club competing in a nationally qualified league. If you would be interested in reading more about AFC Mobile’s GoFundMe campaign, or donating to it, you can find more information at http://www.gofundme.com/afc-mobile.

ABOUT AFC Mobile

AFC Mobile was formed in 2015 to strengthen the soccer community in Mobile by bringing high level soccer team to the largest municipality along the Gulf Coast between St. Petersburg, Florida and New Orleans, Louisiana. AFC Mobile aims to give local players an opportunity to continue to play the game at a competitive level, as well as giving the soccer community and city of Mobile a team to call their own.

CONTACT:
afcmobilewanderers@gmail.com
(251) 272-9507

 

AFC Mobile

AFC MOBILE TO JOIN THE GULF COAST PREMIER LEAGUE IN 2017

GCPL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

AFC MOBILE TO JOIN THE GULF COAST PREMIER LEAGUE IN 2017

Mobile, Alabama, January 3, 2017 – AFC Mobile is proud to announce that it will join the Gulf Coast Premier League for the 2017 Summer season. This will be the first time Mobile has played host to a United States Soccer Federation sanctioned soccer team since 1997.

“There has been a lot of excitement since we first came up with this idea,” said AFC Mobile board member Abram Chamberlain. “Since we launched the club in 2015, we have spent a lot of time trying to figure out where Mobile fits best into the interesting dynamic that is America’s soccer pyramid. When it came down to all aspects considered, the Gulf Coast Premier League felt like the best, most exciting fit for us. We are thrilled to be entering an accredited USASA elite league that gives us fantastic local competition and a shot at playing in the [Lamar Hunt U.S.] Open Cup.”

The Gulf Coast Premier League was founded in 2016 to foster high level competitive soccer and grow the burgeoning soccer community along the Gulf Coast. The GCPL is one of 12 leagues sanctioned as an Elite Amateur Premier League by the United States Adult Soccer Association. Each year, the GCPL’s champion is awarded a place in the Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup, the second oldest soccer tournament in the world which every amateur and professional team in the country is eligible to compete in. The league currently features teams in New Orleans, Biloxi and Lafayette. 

ABOUT AFC Mobile

AFC Mobile was formed in 2015 to strengthen the soccer community in Mobile by bringing a high level soccer team to the largest municipality along the Gulf Coast between St. Petersburg and New Orleans. AFC Mobile aims to give local players an opportunity to continue to play the game at a competitive level, as well as giving the soccer community and city of Mobile a team to call their own. Like AFC Mobile and the Gulf Coast Premier League on Facebook and follow @AFC_Mobile and @GCPLsoccer on Twitter for further updates and announcements.

 

CONTACT:

Mitchell Kahalley

afcmobilewanderers@gmail.com

(251) 272-9507

 

Coming Soon

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MOBILE, AL – The Association Football Club Mobile is on the verge of a major announcement about its future. Stay tuned on Twitter, Facebook, and here at our official site for this story to develop.

Additionally, AFC Mobile is continually looking for local sponsors to help push this movement for soccer in Mobile. Sponsorship information can be found here by clicking on the hyperlink.

News of AFC Mobile will continue to come in the next few weeks. These announcements from AFC Mobile follow a study from Deloitte that encourages promotion and relegation in leagues across the United States Soccer Federation.

Louisiana Premier League rebrands as Gulf Coast Premier League

GCPL

Baton Rouge, Louisiana – As of August 1st, 2016 the Louisiana Premier League, sanctioned and operated by the Louisiana Soccer Association, has folded to make way for the newly formed Gulf Coast Premier League. The league will now operate as it’s own entity as a non-profit organization while expanding itself to clubs outside of Louisiana along the gulf coast.

The Gulf Coast Premier League will keep it’s USASA Elite Amateur Premier League status and look to further grow into a recognized regional league. “We wanted to test the waters before jumping in head first with this project.” said league President, Jeremy Poklemba “With all of our teams from the prior two years itching to get back out on the field, and the ambitions of our newest clubs, we feel this is just the beginning.”

The league is set to kick off on November 5th and end in late March 2017.

[Read More Here]

Why the LPL could be greater than the NPSL for AFC Mobile

mobile flag

When AFC Mobile was founded just under a year ago, we knew that we wanted to build a new team in Mobile. We had no intention on being another failed invention of a team that existed on the outskirts keeping certain parts of our community at bay. Beyond a team, we wanted to build a community of players, coaches, supporters, kids, adults, and more.

Our board spent a large amount of time discussing where Mobile would best fit into the skewed soccer map of the United States. I will not bore you with the insane details of how the soccer system in the US works, but the discussions we had were lengthy. Did we want to be a fully professional team? Did we want to be a fully youth team? What was the primary age of people we wanted to have? All of these things were examined, argued, and considered. When the dust settled it came down to two options: the National Premier Soccer League and the Louisiana Premier League.

The NPSL is the most “prestigious” of these leagues; it is also the most expensive. NPSL travel is, in many cases, prohibitively expensive. While looking at a team like the New Orleans Jesters, who would be our closest competitor and would play in the NPSL conference that we would play in, it became fairly clear that that is a path that would not work for what we wanted. The club would be faced with extreme travel, fatigue, and a quick, short season that would not benefit the players, the coaches, or the supporters who wished to travel. Indeed, as seen in the chart below, the travel would be the ultimate hurdle.

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Distances between NPSL Southeast teams if AFC Mobile were to join

Part of what we are building, or want to build, has to do not only with the play but also the game day experience. Coming down off the back of the first semi-competitive game in Mobile during my time here, I was more than excited about this possibility for AFC Mobile. The social media chattering with the Gulf Coast Armada and players and fans of Biloxi City FC was fun; however, at the game it was even better. Chanting and mildly disorganized chants from the GCA and back and forth with Biloxi City FC was part of the atmosphere. It was never vile, or evil, or hurtful on either half, it was fun. Post game, we even talked with some of the Biloxi players who gave everyone a good ribbing.

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If you play in NPSL, you get to do that with New Orleans. However, if you do it in the LPL, you get to do it for nearly every game. Maybe not everyone travels to every game. Maybe you can’t get up to Shreveport and maybe their fans can’t make it back to Mobile, but there will be mutual respect/disdain on the fan’s half. The travel is far less for players and supporters, which makes for more competitive games and better conditioning for players. Additionally, the LPL season is longer. The league already goes to Mississippi and there are plans of further growing that league to reach as far East as Tallahassee, Panama City Beach, Dothan, AL, and Pensacola. This is really kind of perfect.

The Gulf Coast soccer experience is growing. The level of players that competed at Sage in the friendly between a local Mobile team (Legion FC) and the closest LPL team to Mobile (Biloxi City FC) was impressive. The fact that Biloxi was actually missing some of their regular first teamers let’s you know that they are going to be a team to deal with in the upcoming LPL season. This is also true of Mobile. Legion FC represented Mobile well, but there are more players. There are players on other SASA teams. There are players who play in local adult leagues in Daphne, Fairhope, and even Foley.

And sure, the National Premier Soccer League has a level “prestige” to it, but the teams there also fail and fold at an alarming rate due to incredibly high costs of ownership and travel. In regards to the travel, Mobile would be in an awful location (see the aforementioned chart).

But why does the prestige of a league matter anyway? It should be about the prestige of the team. The community inside and surrounding the team is what should matter. And with no option to progress through promotion and relegation, a team should be more concerned with itself than its league.

LPL Map
Potential LPL map with AFC Mobile included

However, the LPL is following along the path of the Premier League of America, and in just a short time they are pushing themselves into that exceptional, elite category that the NPSL has garnered. The winner of the PLA even earns a berth in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, which is the largest and oldest soccer tournament in the country featuring teams from MLS, the NASL, the USL, the PDL, the NPSL, and more.

The LPL is growing. In fact, they too have a berth in the US Open Cup. Imagine a team from Mobile playing a game with Kaká or Clint Dempsey, or Michael Bradley, or Frank Lampard at Ladd-Peebles. Unlikely? Maybe. Impossible? No.

Additionally, the LPL is a far better fit travel-wise and eventually, maybe even quickly, it will become a prestigious league if enough clubs and communities can prove that they are exceptional

Mobile is. AFC Mobile will be. The LPL will be too.

AFC Mobile is going to be a team that represents the region, and after much thought and consideration of the different variables, we hope to represent it in the LPL.

 

 

AFC Mobile announces Legion FC and Biloxi City FC friendly

summer mobile unit legion

Mobile, Alabama — Biloxi City FC, the newest member of the Louisiana Premier League, will be traveling to Mobile, Alabama to play the South Alabama Soccer Association Division One champions Legion FC in the first part of a two-legged friendly series.

The game will be played 9 July 2016 at Herndon (Sage Avenue) Park (2900 Dauphin Street) in Mobile. The start time is 4:00 CST with a pre-game tailgate hosted by AFC Mobile beginning in the Sage parking lot at 3:00 CST. The game will be free to all those interested in attending. There are currently plans for a family friendly post-game party as well – details to follow.

About AFC Mobile: AFC Mobile is a Mobile-based organization dedicated to bring a soccer team to the Port City. AFC Mobile has working with the South Alabama Soccer Association to further promote soccer culture in Mobile, Alabama.