Third season reports

971001 : Daily Birkenhead writes:
"THIRD SEASON ROUND-UP"

One season after FC Birkenhead demoted to Fourth division, they're back
again in  the Third division. The team begun their previous season with
a five week long  streak  of not being defeated.  Generally, Birkenhead
stayed in the upper half of the bottom division through the season, and
managed to end on the fourth place, which ensured promotion.

Among the players, both last-season  rookies David  Koulenz and Richard
Spinbone have  turned into important players for the team, and Spinbone
actually  won the scoring  competition  of the division. Current rookie
Victor Nievale, marking  midfielder, has during the off-season  changed
his particular skill to be a team player instead.

Birkenhead's cup run in the third  season was slightly  better than the
previous two, as they went to second round, knocked out by Indy Miners.
However, there was no World Cup  this year (although the challenge held
after the second season saw Team Sweden reaching the fourth place).

Tomorrow is the kick-off for fourth season, with FC Birkenhead  back in
the Third division. Manager Carlsson is quite nervous about whether the
team will perform good  enough to avoid relegation yet  again, but will
look forward for another exciting season.

Fourth season reports

980602 : GOD-FCB (playoff to Second Division), Daily Birkenhead writes:
"FC BIRKENHEAD PROMOTE TO SECOND DIVISION!"

Eight months since the last report, FC Birkenhead have finished another
season, this time with a brilliant play-off game vs Gods of Death. With 
a nice attendanace  of  60590 fans, FCB  produced a number of excellent
chances, e.g. by the two rookies this season, Felix Martinez and Andrew
Gloscage.

At the Gods ninth scoring opportunity, a direct free kick which Koulenz
almost saved, they took the  1-0 lead. This was the 35th minute, but it
only  took another nine minutes for Tom Hitteral to equalize,  assisted
by Victor Nievale. Prior to that, the referee had awarded Kalle Granath
and an GOD defender a yellow card each.

Second half  started off with the GOD  goalkeeper, Finnish Kalma, being
sent off after cynically bringing Birkenhead sweeper Cordinal down. The 
Gods now had to shuffle their  lineup and bring an old keeper with only 
seven played games and a rating of 45%. Even more amazingly, the backup
goalkeeper nine minutes later got a yellow card.

By now, Birkenhead had full control of the game, and Martinez scored on
a long-range  shot in the 65th  minute, assisted by Gloscage. The  Gods
went ball controlling and rough for ten minutes before pressing forward
for that last equalizer. Richard  Spinbone took a mediocre free kick in
the 78th minute, but  got his revenge five minutes later by scoring the
third FCB goal, which was the last goal of the game.

FC Birkenhead was, after a long season and failing to secure one of the
automatic  promoval spots, promoted  again. The shot count 13-11 to FCB
might look tighter than the final score, but the disciplinary  count of
4-26 pretty much tells why Birkenhead won the play-off.

Final score: Gods of Death - FC Birkenhead 1-3 (1-1)

Stars awarded: *** Richard Spinbone, FC Birkenhead (FW)
	        ** Victor Nievale,   FC Birkenhead (MF)
    	         * Felix Martinez,   FC Birkenhead (MF)

980623 : Daily Birkenhead writes:
"WORLD CUP II HAS BEGUN!"

Parallel to the France'98 championship, the WEFS World Cup II is played
with twenty-five participating countries. Follow the competition at the
FC Birkenhead site.

Like any other paper, the Daily Birkenhead picks the final bracket:

(A1)  (B2)	(C1)  (D2)	(B1)  (A2)	(D1)  (C2)
SWE - IRL	FRA - ENG	USA - FIN	GER - HOL
  5 - 3		  4 - 2		  6 - 3		  3 - 1
	\       /			\	/
 	SWE - FRA			USA - GER
	  3 - 2				  3 - 1
		\			/
		  Bronze: FRA - GER 4-2
		  Final : USA - SWE 5-3

Some comments: Sweden will  likely win  group A, and face the runner-up
from group B, Ireland. Likewise  will France win their group C and face
a reducted English squad  compared to last time. Finland will be cannon
fodder for U.S.A. and Germany will do what is expected of them. In  the
semis, Sweden  will get their revenge for  the 1-3 loss in World Cup I,
and U.S.A. should this time get themselves together and go to the final
and eventually win the whole thing. Remember where you heard it first!