RGS Footballers Tour the USA

New England is rightly regarded as one of the most beautiful regions of the United States. Combining stunning natural landscapes and areas of charming architecture, it is a must see for any tourists travelling around the north east of America. However, when the 25 strong RGS football touring party arrived for their two week tour of the region, it was football, not tourism, that was at the forefront. Travelling across New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maine and finally New York City, the squad faced a gruelling twelve matches in the space of the next two weeks.

Things started off as they were to continue, when at Newark Airport, the whole squad was delayed by Adam “Greek Keps” Linardatos, who realised when in the queue for immigration, that he had left his wallet on the plane. The airport staff were not amused. Eventually the lads set off to New Jersey. After a night of fantastic hospitality from the host families, the lads finally got down to the business at hand, playing the first matches of a round robin tournament against West Essex and Milburn High School. The RGS won both games, 4-0 and 2-1 respectively.

In New Hampshire, the lads stayed with players from Oyster River High School, who were to be our first opponents. Once Martin Bagnall scored an impressive diving header, the RGS began to dominate the game, eventually winning 5-0.

That afternoon, the lads went down to Tom Johnston’s house and spent a few hours on the lake that it backed onto. At the end of a long swim, all the squad got out. Except one. It was not until five minutes before we were due to leave, that anyone noticed that Keps was missing. The Greek had fallen asleep on a lilo and drifted a mile away down the lake. Whilst most of the lads found this hilarious, Mr Shelley was unimpressed, as there was no substitute keeper should Adam drown. That evening, the RGS faced their toughest test on the pitch so far, with a game against New Hampshire state champions, Exeter High School. In what was a tight affair, the lads picked up a credible 0-0 draw, with Rory Morris and James Robson at the back particularly impressing.

The penultimate leg of the tour saw the lads travel to Casco in Maine to take part in the highly respected Team Prep Camp, which consists of professional training sessions, and matches against other schools, all on a residential camp site. The lads literally won everything at Team Prep. After a disappointing performance against Phillips Exeter, which we scraped 3-2, the RGS showed more dominance by bossing games against Pingree (2-0), a highly rated Suffield side (4-0) and finally Tabor (3-0).

The final stop on our travels was in New York City, where we had only one match scheduled. In the blazing sunshine, the lads went down 3-1 at Rye School. Martin Bagnall wrapped up the top scorer award, with a well taken finish, moving his tally to seven for the tour. An injury to Andy Carling, playing in goal for the final 15 minutes, meant he had to spend the sightseeing days in a hospital. However, the hospital was more luxurious than the hostel accommodation the rest of the squad stayed in.

The trip was made all the more special by Old Novo Peter Walker (52-60) and his wife, who kindly hosted a party at their luxury apartment on 5th Avenue. Another Old Novo, Bill Nixon (52-59), had brought his Colours blazer from 1958 (!) to the party, which was declared ‘better than the current blazer’ (if slightly heavy)! The boys fared well in a quiz constructedby their hosts and left the evening feeling well fed and watered, as well as more knowledgeable about their city of residence.

New York City itself was spectacular, and all the lads managed to go sightseeing and shopping, including James Douglas purchasing himself a pair of female Ugg boots and subsequently being told to walk 10 yards behind the group! However, undoubtedly it will be the memories of visiting iconic places such as Times Square, Wall Street and Ground Zero that will live on.

After such a successful pre-season tour, the lads hit the autumn term ground running and progressed to the quarter final in the ISFA knock-out competition, losing 4-1 to a very strong side from Shrewsbury School.

Sean McGregor (U6)

Bottom left: Mr & Mrs Walker and Mr & Mrs Nixon with the RGS Football squad.

Bottom right: Bill Nixon showing off his 1958 colours blazer.