The Beautiful Game
Logo of the Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic
The Americans call it “Soccer” to distinguish it from their home grown version of Football, but the rest of the world calls it Football. Some people, however, call it “The Beautiful Game”.
Now, I have never been very keen about soccer, although I am happy to watch the odd game. Maybe this is because I wasn’t very good at it and never got picked for the team. In my teens, I gravitated to Rugby where I found myself accepted more easily and my limitations more easily overlooked. There was less competition for places in the Rugby team as more players were needed, (15 as opposed to 11), and it was seen as a “rough” game. I remember being told by Major Rowsell, the coach, not to worry about that: “Whereas Rugby is a game for hooligans played by Gentlemen, Football, (Soccer), is a game for gentlemen played by hooligans.”
I did play in a couple of matches for the staff team against the school, in the days when those matches were not frowned upon as unfair and potentially dangerous with adults playing against teenagers. Needless to say, I wasn’t a first choice for the team, but it was known that I was prepared to turn out and have-a-go if the need arose, and the kids really looked forward to these occasions, (and, it the truth be told, normally hammered us). Although I was just there to make up the numbers, and hidden away somewhere on the wing, on one occasion I actually almost scored. Notice that: “almost” scored … in fact, I should have scored … the goalie was out of position and I’ll never forget the look of horror and astonishment as he stood looking at me turn to relief and delight as my mis-kick went wide of the post – very wide. At least I didn’t fall over and land up flat on my back on the floor and a complete laughing stock. However, with that kick I not only missed the goal, but also may chance to be a hero.
I do, however, support a club: Chelsea; but that’s simply because everyone else had one. My brother supported Burnley – I have absolutely no idea why, we lived far away from this Northern city – but most people supported the giants of the day, another Northern club, Leeds United. Under pressure form the kids in the Church Youth Group where I helped out, who all supported Leeds and wanted to know who I supported, I picked a team at random. I wasn’t going to choose Leeds simply to be awkward, but I didn’t find them, attractive in their all white strip and what I took to be arrogance. Chelsea had a number of young players who looked good and were often in the news on the fashion and other non-sporting pages … and I preferred their blue strip rather than all white of Leeds. So I chose Chelsea.
I took a lot of ribbing; Chelsea were seen as bit of a joke. There was even a 1930’s Music Hall song poking fun at the club for its lack of success, called: “The Day That Chelsea Won The Cup”. That year, however, Chelsea did indeed win the FA Cup, beating Leeds in the final; which went to a replay – the first time this had happened since the 1911/12 season – and which wouldn’t happen these days because they now have penalty shoot-outs to decide a match which is still tied after extras time. I wasn’t allowed to enjoy the glorious victory, however, and, for a time, I became a pariah.
There’s also the dark side of the club – the hooligans that support it and, unfortunately, also make the news.
I still support Chelsea, at least nominally, and it still draws a smile if it comes up in conversation. History has a tendency of repeating itself and when I started teaching in North London, Leeds United had given way to Manchester United as the leading club in the English game and my affiliation to the Blues, as opposed to the Reds, often led to interesting banter. Even here in Kyrgyzstan it sometimes draws pitiful looks, although there isn’t the same antipathy towards the club, perhaps as a result of its association with the Russian millionaire Roman Abramovich.
There is some controversy as to where football originated. Association Football, the current version of the game played all over the world, was first codified by the English FA.
Now, today happens to be the anniversary of the first ever official “international” Football match, back in 1872, which was between England and Scotland.
There had already been some “challenge” matches between England and Scotland, (five of them in the years 1870-72), but they are not recognized as the Scottish team was chosen from players who belonged to London clubs. In 1872 the English FA decided to send a team to Scotland to play against a Scottish team. At that time there was no Scottish FA, but the Queens Park club decided to accept the challenge and fielded a team. The match took place on St. Andrew’s Day, November 30th. It ended up a 0-0 draw.
Football is popular here in Kyrgyzstan. People take a great interest in different competitions such as the European Cup and the World Cup. That does not mean to say, however, that you will see lots of people “kicking a ball around” in their spare time …
The sport is governed by the Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic, (FFKR), which was established in 1992 and became a full member of FIFA in 1994. The same year they also joined the Asian Football Confederation.
The national team has participated in a number of competitions – but has yet to reach the finals of a major one. The team has, however, showed signs of promise and potential.
Their first international match was played against Kazakhstan in September 1992, which resulted in a draw, 1-1. They recorded their highest win against Maldives (6-0) in 1997 having suffered their worst ever result a week earlier, (losing 7-0 to Iran – which was, at least, considerably better than American Somoa’s 31-0 loss to Australia in a 2001 World Qualifying match!)
In the 2004 Asian Cup they surprisingly lost their first match against Afghanistan who were just returning to international football and even their subsequent victory against eventual group-winners Nepal was not enough to help them proceed further. However, they reached the semi final of the 2006 competition.
In the qualifications of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, their performances left no one in doubt that there is a potentially bright future for football in Kyrgyzstan. Grouped with Bahrain, Syria and neighbours Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan matched their rivals, and recorded a 1-0 win away from home against Syria who were ranked nearly 70 places above them.
The country’s ranking in the FIFA/Coca Cola World Rankings have fluctuated somewhat – starting at 165th in August 1994, falling to 175th in November 2003 and then rising to their best ever position of 119th in August 2006. At the moment they are ranked 188th – which is a new record low for them having just dropped two places in the rankings – and their average position in the rankings is 157th.
At least that is better than American Samoa, who are ranked the world’s worst team. They recently won their first match, (against Tonga, 2-1), after some 30 defeats in almost two decades; they also hold the record for the worst ever defeat, 31-0 against Australia.
The Federation faces many difficulties in trying to harness the skills of young players, but with the help of FIFA, they have a program for the game’s development amongst the country’s youth - and have 60 youth trainers throughout the country. However, limited funds to finance the high cost of travel and accommodation for international matches means that it is difficult for the national teams to gain experience, apart from in official competitions. Of course, they are not alone in this respect … and in 2006 they participated in the ELF tournament (ELF=Equality, Liberty, Fraternity) in Northern Cyprus. It is hoped that this will become an annual tournament – for mainly non-FIFA registered teams who lack the opportunity to play competitive international football. As well as Kyrgyzstan, the teams in this initial tournament included: Northern Cyprus, Greenland, Tajikistan, Tibet, Zanzibar, Gagauzia (an autonomous region of Moldovia), and The Crimea. (Afghanistan were also supposed to participate – but they withdrew).
The national team play all in red – shirts, shorts and socks – when at home in the Spartak Stadium in Bishkek, and all in white when playing away.
As well as running the national team, FFKR operate a Championship league and a knockout cup competition.
The Federation also support Women’s football – and the Kyrgyz team Azalea represented the republic in the USSR championship as early as in 1989. They went on to win the CIS championship in 1992 – the high spot of their history. Since then they have participated in several other international competitions – including the Kazakh Open Championship. There are some three hundred players in the Bishkek area alone, and the Federation plan to hold a regular championship.
Mini-Football is also popular … and the Kyrgyzstan have even recorded a win against Australia in the 2006 Asian Cup competition.
Bishkek