Shambles Football Team

------------------------------- GETTING THERE Buses will leave for the tournament as follows: SATURDAY, 20TH MAY 8.30 AM Shamrock 9:00 AM opposite Xi Nan Cai Jing Bei Da Men (For those who live in the wild west) Let us know if you will be at the Shamrock or at the other pick-up location (!). We need to know who will be where. Similarly, please let us know if you are driving there, or are getting a lift there. Contact numbers for emergencies: Andy Pask: 13880231914 (if you are being picked up at Xi Nan Cai Jing Peter 13882266575 Mark 13689009441 Foxy: 13980409390 Shamrock phone number: 85236158 ------------------------------- TEAM SHIRTS Please bring at least 2 different shirts, each of a different colour. Bring your Shambles red shirt, white shirt, and a blue T-shirt. Then, whatever opposition we come up against, we should at least look slightly organised. ------------------------------- FOOD There is a small shop there (please bring some money), but don't expect there to be a banquet. To be on the safe side, bring some lunch with you. It's a long day. You will be hungry. If not, give your food to me, please. ------------------------------- DRINK! Water is provided, but it would still be wise to bring your own bottle of water, just in case it takes a while for the water to be distributed. We will get 16 five-gallon bottles of water (2 drums for each team) and paper cups, as well as 12 cases of little bottles for staff. ------------------------------- BOOTS There's an astro turf pitch and a grass pitch, so bring football boots and trainers/sneakers, too. If you have large feet and a spare pair of boots/trainers, please bring them along (feet and shoes). ------------------------------- GETTING BACK INTO TOWN The buses will return to Chengdu after the trophy presentation ceremony. Every team gets a trophy! We won 3 last year, all labelled 'participant'. ------------------------------- CAPTAINS, VICE CAPTAINS SH is captain and Kaleb vice-captain of their team. Mark Allen is captain of his, and he'll appoint a vice captain on the day, or before (or after?). The captains and vice-captains will be in charge of substitutions. ------------------------------- DON'T BE NAUGHTY! Please turn up on time. We have lots of players. We really are on show (scary thought). Fox and his school have put an enormous amount of time and effort into this, so any 'dramatic arguments' will not be appreciated. It was great fun last year, good atmosphere etc. ------------------------------- ANY QUESTIONS? I'll put this info on www.eteamz.com/shambles. Any more questions, contact me on 13689009441 (editor@randomstuff.biz), or Peter on 13882266575 (peter@bikechina.com) Foxy: 13980409390 Andy Pask: 13880231914 ------------------------------- OTHER... Please bring cameras for lots of pictures of our athletic performances. There will be a few (lots of) beers in the evening at the Shamrock - more details later. If you think you can help in any way, or if you need more info, please get in touch. Do your hair nicely - there's an opening ceremony that is filmed for TV broadcast (Chengdu House of Horrors?) It should be a fantastic day. Good luck, Shambles! Mark-Goran Eriksson & Peter Beckenbauer

The team captains have been chosen. We have SH and Kaleb as captain and vice-captain, respectively for one team, and Mark Allen as the captain of the second team. The decision was to make an "A" team and a "B" team with the captains choosing from a pool of players. If you wish to play in the tournament on Saturday May 20 (all day), then tell Peter or Mark Allen. Do it as soon as possible, like right now, if you can. You MUST be a PAID-UP member to participate. Becoming a paid-up member involves paying the membership fee to Peter or Mark A. If you wish to join and have not paid your dues, see Mark Allen or Peter. To take part in the tournament, you need to supply the following details: Full name, passport number, job title. These are for insurance purposes. The teams at the tournament are Shambles A Team Shambles B Team Silver Ferns - Nat's team Police Nepalese Student Doctors Sichuan Foreign Students Fox's School Teachers Fox's School Students

List of members for the year 2006 If your details are wrong, let us know. Numbers are random - they are not shirt numbers. Mark 1 Andrew Scanlon 2 Andy Pask 3 Arnaud Huysentruyt 4 Carl Sladen 5 David Argyle 6 Forest Atkinson 7 Foxy Wei 8 Francois 9 Franz 10 Giggs 11 Jeff Hu 12 Joel Barrand 13 Jose Castro 14 Julien 15 Kaleb Mayfield 16 Kevin 17 Lee (Zhang Li Wu) 18 Li Bai 19 Luis de Freitas 20 Mark 10 21 Mark Allen 22 Mark Guan 23 Mark Wheeler 24 Matt Vegh 25 Norm McIntosh 26 Peter Snow Cao 27 Rich Barwick 28 Ryan 29 SH Eng 30 Simon Dawson 31 Skiddo 32 Will Beloe 33 Ype Vink 34 Guy Bojesen-Trepka 35 John (Chinese)

Sunday 30th April 2006 saw a bit of a change for the Shambles' Sunday games. GET OUT OF TOWN Due to the weekend switch to enable a 7-day working week before a longer holiday, many people were not available to play, in particular opposition teams. So the Shambles, as ever organised by Peter, went out to the grass pitches at TaiPingSi, just south of the 3rd ring road. POO, FOOTBALL, GUY Glorious sunshine and the deliciously aromatic waft of open sewage made for a memorable arrival at the pitch. After a bit of a kickaround, demonstrating our awesome crossing and heading ability, the assembled throng was split into two 9-aside teams (probably 9, anyway). The Reds and the non-Reds battled it out, with some great skill shown by some, and some copious amounts of sweat the most notable contribution of others. Guy's stunning header was the champagne moment - a swift cross was met shudderingly by the amiable Kiwi's head, and the ball powered downwards, crunching into the ground a metre from the goal line, bouncing up in to the back of the net. The goalkeeper had no chance. No, it wasn't an own goal. A fantastic header. We look forward to a repeat performance in the tournament. RESULT Tommy was kind enough to referee for us on the day. The result? Exhaustion, which was at least relieved by the free beer and coca cola at the Shamrock afterwards - a very good turnout at the pitch and at the pub. UPCOMING TOURNAMENT Captains for the tournament were chosen, so we hope we get enough players to fill the teams! Many thanks to those who drove out to TaiPingSi - Will, Mark W and Ypes and perhaps someone I've forgotten. Back to Chuan Da next week.

Since June 05 the Shambles have joined a local league, which has considerably raised the level of our game in no way whatsoever. Saturdays now have a new buzz about them, and it's always a pleasure to see the microlite club do their stuff as we put on displays of balletic bewilderment. We've won a few and lost a few and gained one or two yellow cards. A few keen members have even started practising, a new concept to most of us. The intense humidity of Chengdu is taking its toll, and our results should improve as things cool down. We hope our excuses will, too.