Fictional History of SFL (AFA Universe) 1975: The SFL will return in November 2016

[Darknes]

Dublin looks great!

[Dan O'Mac]

A crowd that shows up drunk on Guinness? Well, that just puts me in the camp with the Gaels supporters!

[FFWally]

Helsingborg - Three points from winning their third Odin Cup a season ago, the Berzerkers came into 1974 on a mission, and wrapped up home field advantage in the Continental Conference, giving them a bye week and a home game only a week from the Odin Cup that will be played in Amsterdam for the first time December 28th.

The game started under dark rain heavy skies, and temperatures just above freezing, where they had hovered most of the week. In most cases this would be an advantage for the home team, but when you are playing Dublin, it almost felt like home to the Gaels. Kickoff was at precisely 15:00 and the Gaels had won the coin flip, so they took the ball first, expecting to dominate the 'Zerkers as they had in Dublin nearly 2 months ago, but Helsingborg had other ideas, and a mission to finish what they started a year earlier, and win a third Odin Cup.

The Gaels took the opening kickoff 45 yards to the Helsingborg 48, and picked up where they left off in Dublin, scoring on the games 5th play, a dive off the left tackle for a 22 yard TD for #22 Billy McGuire, his third of the playoffs, and didn't look to be his last.

On the ensuing drive for Helsingborg, it was the triplets who put the Gaels on their heels, and charged down the field, much as they had all season, with Taylor, Goldman and Carson looking like pros going against Joes all season, the Berzerkers had stormed through the Division and looked to be at it again, until an offensive pass interference call stopped them at the Dublin 19, after being 2nd and goal from the 4. this led to a field goal, and a 7-3 game halfway throug hthe first quarter.

Dublin took the next drive 87 yards for an almost too easy touchdown as McGuire scored his second TD of the day, and Dublin appeared to be in control of a scary Berzerker team. That was until the last 2 minutes of the first half, when Taylor froze the defensive backs with a hard fake to Goldman, and instead tossing the ball to little used RB #4 Ulfie Johansson on a wheel route, and a 78 yard TD reception. Suddenly, the game which had been all Dublin was a one score affair, with the clock running out on the first half... and the Berzerkers crowd was getting wound up into a frenzy.

Dublin could do little with their final possession and walked off the field with :15 seconds left to the roar of all 35,000 in the stands. What happened next was as shocking as the final two minutes had been. As the Gaels were trotting off into their locker room, a Berzerker fan poured warm goats blood onto several players white uniforms, setting off a near riot. This led to the game being delayed by nearly 30 minutes as Berzerker staff rushed to the Gaels locker room and too the white jerseys to try and get the blood out of them.

Second Half

After a nearly 45 minute halftime, the Gaels reappeared from the ir locker room with several players in new uniform numbers including QB Bob Reilly, now wearing #19, and Linebacker Kevin Cougan, normally #51 wearing #58. When the PA announcer noted the changes, thousands roared, and the entire feel in the stadium had changed.

The Third quarter began with Helsingborg taking the kick back to the 38, and Taylor found Carson for 35 on a quick slant, followed by Johansson grinding out 3-4 yards a carry and a 4 minute drive ended in a Touchdown by Taylor on a naked bootleg. 'Zerkers up 17-14

Dublin couldnt put anything together in the third quarter and allowed another long drive to end it with Johansson getting his second TD of the game on a 1 yard plunge as time expired.

The 4th quarter began with Dublin up 24-14 and the Gaels offense finally gaining ground again, and Dublin Tailback Billy McGuire scoring his 4th touchdown of the playoffs, to bring the game back to within a score, and momentum swinging back to the Irish.

Helsingborg got two quick first downs on the next drive, then stalled when # 54 Randy Kite, and #55 Jack O'Malley, the ARMY grad who was only months removed from combat in the jungles of southeast Asia, had back to back sacks on Taylor, and the 'Zerkers were forced to punt with less than 5 minutes remaining, giving Dublin a chance to steal a victory and a place in OC X.

Reilly willed Dublin down the field, and with under 1:30 left found now #11 Sean McGuire on a post route for the go ahead score!

HOLDING on the Offense...

The normally reserved Reilly lost it, and started screaming at the head official, about being paid off, not protecting them from fans, and what utter bull:censored: that call was. Steve Jacobi, was the lead official, and had come over from the AFA to assist in getting the Swedish officials up to speed a decade earlier, but met a Swedish girl, half his age and stayed, becoming the chief official for SFL, he had had enough of Reilly's accusations and tossed the star QB!!!

What had appeared to be the game winning drive was now reduced to a field goal attempt, in horrible conditions on a grass field that had been used for soccer the night before, and was in no shape to handle a kick of this importance.

The O'Day kick didnt just go wide right, it barely cleared the line of scrimmage and with less than a minute left, rookie defensive back #18 Kevin Hinderman picked it up and rushed 90 yards for the game sealing TD, and a 31-21 win for Helsingborg!

Helsinki - After a last minute bargain with the SFL opened the door for Helsinki to make the expansion cut, the Tarisas stormed throug hthe league behind the crushing defense line of #68 Greg Ellers and #79 Samu Saari, and sure all SFL linebacker #53 Jim Yungblud (FL State). Players who couldn't get a tryout in Stockholm or Uppsala a year earlier, combined with the All World, Ellers to form the best interior 6 in the history of the league. Allowing less than 10 points a game on average, and leading the SFL in sacks with 78, including 21.5 from the master of disaster Ellers.

Eskilstuna was coming off a shocking come from behind win over arch rivals Uppsala, and played like they had already won everything they wanted to in '74, and going against that defensive front of Helsinki would prove to be a tall task, even for the best of teams, and this was not the week to take a game off.

Helsinki on the other hand, had something to prove, and set about proving not only that they belonged in the SFL, but that they were the best team in the Old School Nordic Conference, having taken a page from the Orebro playbook and the Jon Stark led Eskilstuna defenses of the late 60's and just beat your opponent down until their will to play was gone.

Helsinki has a solid offense, with USC's #8 Billy Hart (Texas) at QB and former Butchers FB #44 George Lahti leading a ground and pound offense, this team would have fit in the old Black and Blue Division prior to expansion, and the blue collar style of football played in Helsinki was built for the playoffs in crappy weather.

The game began with a thud when #3 Pardue took the first snap and dropped back, only to be sacked by Jungblud for a 12 yard loss, and it was only the games first play.

Over the next quarter, the Turisas defense would sack Pardue 6 times and allow -26 total yards of offense, while Billy Hart was steadily driving the Blue and White down the field, for the games first touchdown, a 3 yard Lahti dive.

The second quarter was even worse for the Steelmen, as Pardue was lost for the game on the 8th sack of the first half, an Ellers special.

With Pardue out, it was more vanilla football from the Tarisas, and after yet another time consuming drive, it was Helsinki's original kicker, Miko Salo who hit a 47 yard Field Goal late in the half, for a 10-0 lead and it felt like a 40-0 lead.

Helsinki 14 Eskilstuna 0 - Half

As the second half rolled along, it was Hart who continued his solid if unexceptional play, taking what Eskilstuna would give, and finding #4 Patrik Jokel on a post route for a 32 yard touchdown late in the third, and a 17-0 lead. And yeah, it was really this boring...

The Fans in Helsinki were dancing and singing as the fourth quarter got underway, at 17-0 it never felt like a comeback was possible, and with Eskilstuna still south of 100 yards total offense for the game, it was over long before the final whistle blew.

Midway through the 4th, Hart scrambled from his 26, and while a very mobile QB, no one would ever have called him a breakaway threat, but that is just what he was on Sunday, as he felt pressure and darted for the first down marker, when he saw daylight on the right and tucked the ball and flew down the sideline for a 74 yard TD run, and the game was out of reach at 24-0 with under 6 minutes left.

Helsinki pulled the entire defense, and put in the second team for the last 6 minutes, and Eskilstuna made it look respectable, and even eclipsed 200 yards of offense, with the rookie #32 Simpson scoring on two long runs to end the game.

[Darknes]

Mennä Turisas!

[FFWally]

Amsterdam - Sundays Odin Cup X features the top two teams in the league for 1974, and the leagues best defense and Defensive POTY,Greg Ellers in Helsinki.It also features a Helsingborg team with a high powered passing game, and an offensive line that has given up a total of 9 sacks through 15 games. Ellers alone tallied over 20 in the regular season, and an amazing 4 in the Conference Championship game, something has to give here, and while Helsingborg won in week 14, 30-13, that was against a defense missing #79 DE Samu Saari, and All SFL Safety #27 Jon Williams due to injuries.

So where is the money on this game?

The Monoco Line has Helsingborg opening at -4.5, and Atlantic City has the game at .1.5 for Helsinki. Two pretty drastic differences of opinions, and former SFL star and Victory Bowl winner Johnny Rosenberger is telling anyone who will listen, that Helsinki is the most sound team in the SFL.

"Helsingborg has great skills players, but only won on offense. The defense is good enough to take them to a Championship, but if it comes down to a sub 30 point output by "The Triplets", put your money on the Turisas Defense"

Other GM's around the league tend to agree with Rosenberger, including Carl Bergstrom, who thinks Helsinki is set up for a long run at the top. "They built a team ready to compete for championships in the SFL, and that was two years ago, which is evident in their 28-0-1 record their last two years in the FFL. Helsinki is what Eskilstuna, Orebro and Helsingborg all strove to be, a team built around their defense, but with enough skills players to put points on the board in bunches, when needed."

For Helsingborg, many of the traditional SFL fans see this game as a reflection of just how far the rest of Europe has come. Eskilstuna seemed happy to be in the Championship game, and the score did not show the sheer dominance of Helsinki's defense. Now, how will that defense do against Helsingborg's offense at full strength.

The 'Zerkers handled a pretty "stout" Dublin team, and the game was never truly in doubt, much like most of their games this season, when the offense clicked, it was a rout, and even when they relied on defensive stars LB Bubba Williams, and rookie FS Kevin Hinderman, they were up to the task. The big question is how does the interior 6 deal with a power running game, as the strength of the defense is like the offense, in the skills positions.

Prediction:

Helsinki 24

Helsingborg 21

[FFWally]

Uniform Change Rumor #1

Stockholm - Rumors are surfacing of a drastic change in the Vikings look for 1975. From what we are hearing, the look is more aggressive and gives the Vikings a modern look, with the Horn being a standard around the USA on high school and college teams, the ownership felt it was time to move forward, and in addition to the change of helmet adornments, add a new primary color to their Uniforms.

Green and Grey are not going anywhere, but a complimentary color will be added, according to sources close to the Vikings.

In addition to the Vikings, at least one other team has formally requested a change to their uniform for 1975, and at least 2 other teams are looking at changes for the 1976 season.

[LA_Angels]

Read through the whole series today. I love it all. Great Work, and great backstories in particular. Go Malmö!

[FFWally]

Read through the whole series today. I love it all. Great Work, and great backstories in particular. Go Malmö!

Thanks for that. Its been fun, and interesting to keep going. Some interesting stuff coming up overt the next 2 years

[Bomba Tomba]

How are the two teams abbreviated? Both HEL?

[FFWally]

How are the two teams abbreviated? Both HEL?

Helsingborg was always HLS, so Helsinki became HEL, could have gone HLK, but just used HEL.

[FFWally]

Stockholm - After a three year stretch where the hapless Vikings made the playoffs with a 500 record, and won Odin Cup IIIV, played like OC Champions and earned a #1 seed, then missed the playoffs on a tie breaker, the Stockholm Vikings have announced that they are changing not only their trademark horns, but changing their primary color as well.

After Gabe Roman led the turnaround in Stockholm, and a first OC, the 1974 season saw his health decline rapidly, and on doctors orders he decided to take a year away from football to get his health back, and after seeing Anders Bergstrom's heath struggles, took the doctor seriously.

On December 26th the Vikings announced, that Uppsala OC would be replacing Roman as the Head Coach of the Vikings, and that Roman would take a role in the front office upon his return in 1976.

Stockholm will introduce their new look during pregame festivities in Amsterdam, with new Coach Toby Watts and RB Darryl Lowe present for the unveiling.

[FFWally]

Amsterdam - The Stockholm Vikings took to the pregame shows, to introduce their new look for 2015, as well as introducing their new Head Coach, Toby Watts, the former Hammers TE, and then receivers coach, before taking over as OC two seasons ago, and seeing his high powered West Coast Offense bring the Hammers back into relevance.

Coach Watts introduced all three Uniforms for the fans, but two time OC and Victory Bowl winning QB Johnny Rosenberger commented on the SFL rule about one home and one away primary uniform, they can wear either pant, but that a third jersey was unheard of, and how were they going to decide.

Vikings running back, Darryl Lowe said, "funny you should mention that Johnny, we wont keep both home uniforms, and the supporters will get to decide!"

JR, "how exactly are you going to do that?"

DL, "Well... H&M is putting out voting boxes as we speak across Stockholm Lan (county) and in counties with Vikings supporters in large numbers. They will have a week to cast their votes, and each H&M will give 25 Vikings Jersey tees with my number on them, to lucky voters after the contest ends.

JR "that's a pretty cool way to make a selection, and I'm sure you aren't upset about hundreds of Darryl Lowe #32 jerseys running around Stockholm!"

DL "no, I'm Not Johnny..."

JR, "OK folks, there you go, a new Gold Helmet and Logo for the Vikings, and a chance to vote on the home jersey... sounds like Stockholm is pulling out all the stops to put out a great uniform!"

Voting will run through Midnight next Saturday!

[FFWally]

Amsterdam, Nederlands - On a day that started with news of a catastrophic earthquake in Pakistan (5200 killed) the 10th Odin Cup brought a diversion to the constant looping of the disaster, and the pregame show featured a performance by Paul McCartney and Wings that saw the band play, "Jet", "Band on the Run", and the previous years "Live and Let Die". The last one a nod to the recently released "The Man With the Golden Gun", featuring Johnny Rosenberg's former love interest Britt Eklund. Rosenberger, who was working the game again for BBC Television was seen in Amsterdam at the Dutch premiere of the movie with Eklund, though both said they were there as friends...

Weather was good for Amsterdam, with a high of 44 Fahrenheit, and relatively calm winds, broken overcast, and only a slight chance of rain.

Helsinki came onto the field in their white jerseys, royal pants and sporting the 10th anniversary patch on their left chest, a first in the history of the league. Helsingborg was in their new gold pants, and black jerseys, adorned with the 10th anniversary patch.

The Game

The opening kickoff landed at the 5 and Helsinki's #2 Paul Johnson (Miami draft pick) took off to the right and a jump step set him free down the sideline, where he scored a mere 11 seconds into the game, but a block in the back at the Helsingborg 35 meant the Turisas would start at midfield.

Helsinki QB #8 Billy Hart wasted no time in getting the ball back in Johnson's hands on a go route, and just like that it was 7-0 Helsinki.

The Triplets took over at the 23 and methodically worked their way downfield, mixing in Johansson runs, to set the 'Zerkers up at the 8 yard line midway through the first quarter. Casey Taylor took the next snap and rolled around to the left, faked a pass to #8 Carson, then took the ball in to tie it up at 7.

The rest of the first quarter played out in typical fashion, 15-25 yard drives, followed by punts, as both teams defenses settled in for the long haul, and the quarter ended on a sack by #68 Ellers that put Helsingborg in a 3rd and 18, and now going into the wind to start the second quarter.

Helsinki 7 Helsingborg 7 - End 1st

The second quarter didn't begin any better for the Berzerkers as Ellers found Taylor in the backfield for his second consecutive sack, and broke the league record at 27.5 (including playoffs), and his 6th of the playoffs, eclipsing the great Jon Stark (ESK). Helsingborg punted from their 24 and after a short kick the Turisas took over in 'Zerkers territory for the second time today.

Helsinki was built to drive the ball, and when former Butcher #44 George Lahti took a toss off left tackle #78 Sampo Nikula to the 'Zerkers 15, it was the Turisas who gained the momentum, and 5 plays later Lahti took a dive into the end zone for a 14-7 lead.

Helsingborg responded this time with a screen pass to #12 Arni Goldman, and when #7 Juho Kari missed a sure tackle at the 30, Goldman took the ball 70 yards to the house and a tie game at 14.

Helsinki couldn't do anything with the next drive and punted the ball to the 'Zerkers 20 with a little help from the now blustery wind. Leaving Helsingborg less than 90 seconds to get a score, and things went wrong quickly, as Casey Taylor fumbled the first down snap, and rather than covering it up, scooped it up and ran deep into the backfield to get the pass off.

#68 Ellers already impressive game got better as he crushed Taylor at the 3 and the ball came loose, rolling into the end zone, where #71 Olaf Bengtsson covered it for a safety, and the first half ended with a 16-14 Turisas lead.

Helsinki 16 Helsingborg 14 - HALF

After a long halftime production, the teams came back out to a far different stadium, with now freezing fog, and no wind. Both teams were from areas that this weather type was more the norm than a shock, but the formerly boisterous crowd was now huddled under blankets and looking for excitement to warm their bodies.

It didn't take long.

Helsinki kicked off and like the first half kickoff, rookie #18 Kevin Hinderman took the kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown, in which he was hardly touched. The difference was no yellow flag, and the Turisas were suddenly down 5, as the Berzerkers took a 21-16 lead.

Where the Turisas had controlled the clock with their ground game in the first half, the second started with Hart throwing the ball all over the field, and this time it was the Helsingborg defense that stifled the Helsinki offense.

After their third failed drive of the third quarter it was Helsingborg that took advantage and finally got the punt block by #89 Bengt Svensson, setting up the 'Zerkers at the Helsinki 22, late in the third.

Three plays later, Taylor found Carson in the end zone and a 28-16 lead with time ticking away in the third.

On the next offensive play for Helsinki, Billy Hart scrambled under heavy pressure, but this time escaped for a 28 yard gain before being drilled by Hinderman at the Berzerker 42.

28-16 - End 3rd

Hart was slow to his feet, but waived off the trainer and limped back to the huddle.

#4 Patrik Jokula took the next pass for 15 yards and a first down at the Helsingborg 27, but the drive stalled and Helsinki's Salo missed the 44 yarder when the ball slipped, and the Berzerkers took over with less than 11 minutes left in the game.

10:46 4th

Taylor came onto the field to a roar from the now partisan crowd, and after two quick first down passes, made the mistake that would change the game.

After the 'Zerkers crossed midfield, Taylor, normally a machine with little emotion, put the ball in #53 Jim Jungblud's face and was floored by Eller in response. Eller took a 15 yard penalty, but Taylor kept yapping.

On the next play, Jungblud blitzed and flushed Taylor into a waiting Ellers crazed rush, and the hit separated the ball from Taylor's grotesquely broken arm, and it bounced into Jungblud's hands as he as heading to make a sandwich out of the QB. Jungblud cut to his left and raced 54 yards to the endzone, and a game only moments before headed for a blowout, was now 28-23 and far from over.

The game was stopped for a full 15 minutes as a screaming Casey Taylor was put on a stretcher, and immediately rolled into an ambulance. The QB who as about to etch his name next to 'Zerkers legend Zak Wahlström was now en route to the hospital, and receiving the morphine he badly needed.

When play resumed, it was the Helsinki squad, only months from playing in the Finnish Football League who were a touchdown away from shocking the SFL and becoming Champions in their first year,

Backup QB #11 Barry Davis, the Helsingborg prodigy had won at every age group level since childhood, and was what everyone saw as the future of the franchise when Taylor retired in the next few seasons, but now with less than 20 attempts in his rookie season, was tasked with not giving the game away, and just giving the team a chance to hang on.

On the other side of the ball, Finn, #79 Samu Saari had wound himself into a frenzy, finally he could prove that the Finnish league was good enough to produce a Champion across the sea in Sweden. Years of tryouts with Swedish teams led him to Aalborg, where he made a name in L2, and when Ellers was hired, he felt envy at the Americans huge payday, and knew he was good enough to play beside the AFA star. Tonight in Amsterdam, he would show the world that he was every bit the star Eller was...

Davis stood behind center looking at the bloodshot eyes of the Turisas defensive players and knew he was going to roll away from Ellers, and try to get the ball to Arni, he liked Arni, and had developed a friendship that had given him comfort when he as called upon in the biggest game of his life.

6:13 4th

Davis took the snap and rolled to his left, but #27 Williams was on a corner blitz and he reversed field, seeing a seam off the right guard and took off for it, but Saari had seen it first and was on him like a cat, and took him down for a 3 yard sack, then growled at the pup and went back to the huddle.

5:45 4th

The next play was a draw, and Johansson rumbled out to the 35 and a first down.

5:22 4th

Saari beat his tackle badly and got to Davis just as he was releasing the ball, causing it to wobble and go wide of Goldman setting up second and 10 at the 'Zerkers 35.

5:15 4th

Davis was mad at himself for the throw, he'd made that throw a thousand times in practice, and knew he just had to get it off a little quicker, but damn that big end was fast.

Craig Carson was open on a slant, and Davis hit him in stride, giving Helsingborg another first down at the Helsinki 41, and the clock was rolling

4:37 4th

Having gained confidence, Davis waited until the play clock hit 3 to call for the ball, and dropped back, scanning the field and feeling the rush from his backside, and threw the ball over his deepest receiver and into the stands.

Saari had been close again, and let the rookie know. Not hitting him, but rubbing as he went past. He wanted the kid to be worried.

4:26 4th

It was 2nd and 10 and Helsingborg needed to run clock, but the dive to Johansson went right into Jungbluds hole and suddenly it was 3rd and 10.

3:42 4th

Davis looked to the sideline for the play, Carl Hanson went conservative, knowing the clock was his friend, and another run to the middle would eat clock or cost a timeout. Both options were in his favor. So he called 31 Heavy, and waited. Davis looked over the defense and saw it, Goldman was uncovered, and a quick slant would give them the first, and force Helsinki to burn three timeouts before they could get the ball.

Saari was lined up 2 yards off, and saw #12 uncovered, he hoped the rookie had too.

Davis called out the cadence and dropped back three steps and fired, knowing Goldman would be 10 yards downfield when the ball got there, but...

He hadn't seen the big Finn dropping into coverage, and the ball was going to hit him in the hands.

Saari had always been the biggest and fastest kid in school, and his speed was deceptively fast. He wasn't watching the receiver, he knew the rookie had locked onto #12 and he was in the path.

The ball hit his hands and stuck, Samu was already headed for the sideline, and no one was going to catch him.

Helsinki was up 30-28 with

2:59 4th

Helsinki kicked off to the middle group, and it was downed by a big linebacker after a short return.

2:52 4th

Davis trotted onto the field, still in shock.

1st and 10 at the 37 yard line.

Helsingborg needed 40 yards and their kicker would win the game for them.

Davis dropped back and hit #48 Stephens on a flair out of the backfield, but he didnt get out of bounds and the clock ran.

2:09 4th

1st and 10, 49 yard line of Helsinki... it was possible.

Davis knew he needed to get the ball out of bounds and threw a quick hitch to #8 Carson who got out of bounds at the 41

1:38 4th

Ellers slanted on the next play and stopped Johansson at the 44, and Helsingborg called a timeout.

1:33 4th

Saari knew his tackle was tiring, and made an inside move that forced his hand. The big tackle bit and took a sidestep to keep the DE from crossing his face, he was beat. Saari saw Davis scanning the field, 2 steps and he was his, then he saw his arm go back... bingo!

Davis' arm was just about to come forward when the Finn hit him hard. The ball came out and he wasn't going to get on it before Ellers got to it. Nooooo!

Greg Ellers saw the ball and dove head first, covering it and curling into a ball.

Helsinki had the ball and there was only 1:22 on the clock.

1:22 4th

Helsinki's offense trotted onto the field, and lined up in Victory formation... the Helsinki fans were dancing and chanting, all of Finland was going crazy, and it was over.

0:00 4th

Helsinki 30 Helsingborg 28

Helsinki was Champions, and Samu Saari was named Odin Cup X MVP.

After the Game, Greg Ellers told reporters it was his proudest moment, and that management had better figure out how to pay Saari to stay, as he was on a one year contract, and several SFL teams were looking at him.

Casey Taylor had broken his throwing arm in 2 places, and was expected to need surgery to repair the damage, his recovery was expected to take up to 8 months.

George Lahti announced that this had been his last game, and he would be retiring and returning to the USA to coach Running Backs at Illinois.

Thanks for reading... on to the off-season!

[Burmy]

AMAZING...quite a way to cap things off for this season! Helsiki's season will go down as one of the best in SFL history (first team to win Odin's Cup in their first SFL season, and first non-Swedish team to win it too!)

And to think the best is yet to come...

[cubsfan2015]

What an amazing finish to the 10th SFL Season! Congrats to Helskinki!

Man,their season is one of the greatest in professial American Football.

[FFWally]

Stockholm - H&M has reported heavy voting on the new Vikings jersey, and amazingly the vote is incredibly close. No front runner yet...

[LA_Angels]

What a great "Finnish" (excuse the pun), this one will surely go down for the ages.

[FFWally]

What a great "Finnish" (excuse the pun), this one will surely go down for the ages.

Well played!

[FFWally]

Stockholm started the off-season dominoes falling when they hired Toby Watts away from the Uppsala Hammers staff, and it took only 4 days after the Tenth Odin Cup for Gavle to make the next move, when Owner Knut Knutsson announced he was in talks with a prominent Head Coach currently in the AFA about bringing the Goats back to prominence. Allen O'Doul had led the Goats since their inaugural season, but had never recovered from Rosenberger leaving for the AFA, and was the leagues least known coach outside of Gavle.

O'Doul married a Swedish girl, and was not going to return to the US where he had led the Notre Dame offence in the early 60's, and was entrenched in Gavle, but he knew it was time for a change at the top, and asked for reassignment within the Goats. As a two time OC winner, he was respected, and with 3 sons now playing in the Gavle Academy program, he resigned, and became the Head of all youth football within the Gavle organization.

Knutsson was relieved there was never going to be a conversation with O'Doul about needing new blood, and scheduled a press conference for early in the week to announce the reassignment of his only head coach, and the search for a new man to lead the Goats.

[FFWally]

Will just over 3 days until the Stockholm Jersey vote ends, the more traditional B option has 70% of the vote.