Your first time

[dadman]

First TV game: ABC's Wide World of Sports coverage of Pele's first game for the Cosmos (though it's possible I'd seen a little "Soccer Made in Germany" before that).

First live game: Washington Darts at the local High School

First time playing: 1969 Annandale Boy's Club

First real game: Same year, but you could say that 1976 for Jefferson High School was the first with a professionally coached team (we had to pay for the coach). Played with Scott Norwood (later of the NY Giants of pointy ball fame) who was the typical two-sport player of the time.

Great memories. :D Too bad my mind is going.

dadman

[skipshady]

Originally posted by skipshady
First match on TV: Liverpool vs Everton, Charity Shields 1986
First match in person: Barnet vs Huddersfield (?), FA Cup 1st Round, sometime in the late 80's
First time I played: my neighborhood in Kobe, Japan, sometime in the early 80's.
First time I played in a real match: Woodridge Primary School, London, 1987 I'll add a few more to mine:
First J-League match in person: Gamba Osaka vs Yokohama Marinos, August 1993

First MLS match in person: Tampa Bay Mutiny (RIP) at DC United, Fourth of July 1997

First international match in person: USA vs Haiti, Gold Cup, Miami Orange Bowl, 2000

First goal/assist in a real match: Ravenscroft JV vs ?, Raleigh, NC, September 1990

[Chesco United]

First match played-U-7 league, Alexandria, VA, 1984.
First TV match-1986 WC final (ARG v. FRG), in Fort Belvoir hospital waiting room (as the only person cheering for Argentina) after my brother got a concussion.
First live match (that I paid to get into)-Doylestown, PA, Aug. 1996, A-League, New York Centaurs v. Colorado Foxes. I can be seen on the Prime Sports broadcast as the guy in the DC United shirt standing near Wolde Harris while surrounded by 12 year old girls doing the Macarena.
First MLS match-Washington, DC, October 1996 MLS Eastern Conference Finals, Game 1, DC United 4-1 over Tampa Bay Mutiny. Gorgeousness and gorgosity made flesh.

[Naco]

All I remember:

First game: US v Germany 90something at Stanford.

Sean

[otterulz]

First ever game, back in 2nd grade which was about 13-14 years ago. I even got a goal in my first game. An Own Goal. . . .

So 14 years later I watch my first ever soccer game after being personally scarred as a 6 year old and Korea beat Poland 2-0.

I have yet to attend a game, but my best bet is that it will be a Metrostars game since they're the home team.

[FootyMundo]

I'm in my mid 30's. I started playing when I was about 6. A kid down the street had a brother who played college ball. Very rare back then. First match was a Chicago Sting game. After the NASL folded I kept playing but there were few outlets to watch. Always followed the World Cups but not much else to watch until MLS. I followed it sporadically. Then in 1999 my wife and I went to Italy. We saw a Serie A game. I had the bug again. Upon our return I realized the international channel broadcasted games every weekend. I watched. My interest in MLS also started to peak more. Now with FSW and the shootout I'm back as a full time fan and loving it. I'm not leaving the game again. It was a bigger part of my youth than any other sport I played - baseball, hoops, track, etc.

[MassachusettsRef]

Originally posted by Ekelund4life
US v Germany 90something at Stanford.
Must have been the 1993 US Cup.

[BrianCappellieri]

I'm 16...
-First match on TV: Unforunately I can't remember my first match on TV although I know I use to watch EPL and Serie A matches when I was very young. Although I can remember specific matches from WC 94'
-First match in person:Wolves (A-League) when I was 8. First MLS match in person was the Revs home opener in 96'.
First International Match: US-Scotland at Willowbrook Park in 1995. Eric Wynalda scored in the first half on a PK and Cobi Jones scored the winner with a high left-footed shot from just outside the box.
-First time I played: I was 5 years old and I had just ran up the stairs for dinner one summer. My dad was reading the newspaper and saw an ad. He asked me if I wanted to play soccer and I said yes. I had no clue about the sport other than you can't use your hands. :) But for some reason I was obsessed and couldn't wait until the fall when the season began. After dinner I got a small basketball and started kicking it against a fence (which I still do to this day only with a soccer ball).
-First time I played in a real match: Rec. League at age 5, then onto travel when I turned a U-9.

[vmax71]

First Match I ever saw on T.V.: 1982 world cup ( I was 11) England Vs. France on Canadian Broadcast Company - I lived in Detroit- they showed like 40 of the matches - I was so amazed that England scored a minute into the match I thought this is how it always happened - I saw the match again that night on PBS! - They would show a one hour highlight of each of the two matches earlier in the day!!!!

First Match I ever saw in person: 1994 world cup US-Switzerland in Detroit - Wynalda's free kick to tie the game!!

First time I ever played - 6th grade

[BrianCappellieri]

Originally posted by vmax71
Wynalda's free kick to tie the game!!


I remember that goal like it was yesterday. I can even remember writing out USA 1-1 Switzerland on a typewriter after the match, as I was keeping track. :D

[LeeS]

First match on TV: I know I watched NASL games before this, but the first specific game I remember watching was Tampa Bay v Vancouver in Soccer Bowl 78 or 79.

First match in person: This really surprised me but I think the first pro game I attended was a North Bay Breakers (USISL) game in in Rohnert Park, Ca in the early 90's I think. I get my years mixed up so maybe my first game attended was the SJ Clash in '96. I attended a US Qualifier in '96 at Stanford (Estadio de STAN-fooord, god I love saying that!) v Canada also, my first USMNT game.
In I think '97 I went to England and saw a Manchester United v Leisister (w/Kasey in goal, 2-2 draw)

First time I played: Organized I played in junior high like around 79 I think. I was terrible. I mostly played defense because I was slow with no skills. I backed up some fat girl!

First time I played in a real match: Uhhh, I have NEVER played in a "real" match. I am 36 now, so I don't see it happening!

[Metro]

First exposure to soccer..My neighbors first exposed me to soccer. They played in their backyard using goals their father made. I must have been about 4 or 5. They let me join in every now and then even though I had no idea what I was doing.

First game..I played my first game at about 6 years old in a summer parks and recreations league in Dallas. This was around 1973. I played goalkeeper and had 6 goals scored on me. I was moved to the field for the next game.

I was 7 when I joined a 'real' team. I played for Caillet Tigers. We wore old Birmingham replica jerseys though I didn't know it at the time. They were blue long sleeve with a big white stripe down the middle. I joined late so I didn't have a number on my jersey. My first goal was with this team the following season.

First pro game..The first pro game I attended was an NASL exhibition between the Dallas Tornados and get this...Manchester United. I must have been about 8 years old. I got them free at a kick, juggle, dribble contest. Dallas lost 1-3, I think.

First pro game on TV was the NASL championship between the Atoms and maybe the Cosmos. I don't remember the year.

First international game..I saw the national team play around 1975 against Honduras at Texas Stadium. USA won 14-1...I'm not kidding.

[Dave216J]

First game on TV: World Cup 94, although I didn't know what I was watching.

First game that I understood: 1999 Arsenal-ManU FA Cup match on the day of the Superbowl, during a "cultural exchange day" spent in a bar with my two best friends (FC Kopenhavn and 1FC Nurnberg fans) while studying abroad in Amsterdam. They explained what was happening, and it was much more exciting than the game I brought them to the bar to watch, Denver-Green Bay.

First game in person: Ajax 5-0 Sparta Rotterdam, later that semester at the ArenA

I still haven't played a serious game since I was 10 years old, although a drunk junkie showed me how to hit corner kicks at the park across from my dorm. It was amazing how much every Dutchman, whether drunk, high, biking, using a walker, etc., could all make the ball do what they wanted--like telekinesis.

[sydtheeagle]

First match on TV: Hard to say because the telly was always on football. The first match I distinctly remember watching from begining to end, however, was the 1968 European Cup Final between Manchester United and Benfica, and being allowed to stay up over my mums objections to watch extra time. My dad had the right priorities.

First match in person: 1967/8 season, Palace vs. Blackburn at San Selhurst (if I remember the opposition right). I was only seven, and I spent most of the game running up and down the grass bank that is now the Arthur Wait Stand with my mate. First game that I watched the entire 90 minutes totally absorbed by football was 1969, Palace vs. Cardiff in the League Cup, third round. We won 3-1. John Sewell scored two penalties. What a great start for a kid! That was the first year I had a season ticket with my dad.

First time I played: I've got photos of me with a ball at my feet at 14 months old. I have a 14 month old of my own, now, and though he's not really speaking yet, say the word "kick" and he knows what to do! My older boy (now 2 years, 7 months) saw his first live Palace game at the princely age of 11 days old. It was a reserve match, Tottenham vs. Palace at St Albans (where Spurs play their reserve games). We got the pram in through a hole in the fence to avoid paying as we were a bit brassic at the time, and spent the game pushing him up and down behind the goal. We did, however, take him out for a good look at Clinton Morrison. By the way, his first three words were "mummy," "daddy," and "palace".

First time I played in a real match: Probably at school, and probably when I was around 5 years old if you are talking about something approximating an organised match. That would have been the mid sixties.

[Gar7]

First time on the tube: 1976 or 1977 watching All Star Soccer and then Soccer Made in Germany on PBS. This was a staple for me after church on Sundays as much as getting comic books. Also, used to watch the Cosmos on WOR-TV, channel 9.

First live match : USA vs Partisan Belgrade prior to Italia 90 at Yale Bowl in New Haven. Vermes scored for a 1-0 victory.

First League Match: 1992, Spurs vs Crystal Palace at White Hart Lane. 2-2

First MLS match: Metrostars home opener, a loss(big surprise)

First World Cup Match: Ireland vs Italy USA 94.

First World Cup Qualifier: USA vs T&T June 2001

First US Open Cup Match: CT Wolves vs Tampa Bay Mutiny, 3-2 Wolves

[Golazo]

I was lucky enough to grow up in Brazil and Mexico, so I can't pinpoint first match on TV. Soccer on the tube was sortof like a lava lamp in my house. Always on.... being stared at by some.... a mysterious glow....

I was also lucky enough to have my first match watched in person to be Ireland v. Italy at the Meadowlands during USA 94. Can't beat that with a stick.

My first USA match on TV was the qualifier against T&T in a dank college basement in Vermont.

My first USA match live, was far too recent to admit.

(My daughter's first match on TV was the opener of the WWC when it was here, and her first match live was the Silverbacks v. the Battery here in town. She slept through most of it.)

[Father Ted]

First TV match: The first one I remember was the 1977 FA Cup final between ManUtd and Liverpool, though I used to watch Match of the Day long before that.

First live match: Galway Rovers V Bohemians 1978-ish (League of Ireland)

First live match in England: West Ham V ManUtd March 1985 (on a school trip)

First intl match: Ireland V Russia 1990

First time I played with an organised team: 1978

[Treetaliano]

First game on TV
Cosmos vs. ?? on ABC's Wide World of Sports when I was 6 or so

First Game in Person:
Netherlands : Saudi Arabia WC 1994 Washington D.C.

First USA Match
USA-Ecuador 0-0 Columbus, OH 2001

First Serie A match
Fiorentina - Milan 2-0 1998

First MLS Match
Columbus - DC United 2001
Columbus wins on Cunnigham Golden Goal despite being 2 men down. Also Quaranta's first ever goal

http://mlsnet.com/games/01/0519dcclb.html

First game played
AYSO league in Ojai, California when i was 6 (1981)

[AmoebaCulture]

1st match on TV: USA vs Columbia '94

1st match live: Korea vs AC Milan '95 at Jamsil Olympic Stadium

1st K-League on TV: Pohang Steelers vs Jeonnam Dragons '95

1st K-League live: Suwon vs Ulsan '99

1st MLS on TV: DC United vs ??? '??

1st MLS live: MLS All-star match...if that counts I forgot which year Donovan scored 3 goals i think

1st J-League on TV: Jubilo Iwata vs Cerezo Osaka '97

1st WC Qualifier: Korea v Japan '97 at Jamsil

1st WC match: Korea v USA '02

1st time I played: when i was in kindergarten around '90

1st real game: I first played a team game when i was in the 7th grade. Unfortunate.

1st Varsity match: my freshmen year in '99

[burning247]

First Match on TV- I'm told it was 1990 WC Argentina-Cameroon, but I prolly didn't pay attention since I was only 5. So, the first game I payed attention to was WC '94 opener Bolivia-Germany.

First live game- CONCACAF Gold Cup '93 in Dallas, US VS Panama I believe then saw US beat Costa Rica in the Semi's a couple days later.

2 WC Games- Spain VS South Korea, South Korea VS Germany. Both in Dallas

First MLS Game- Dallas-Tampa '96 L 1-0 :(

First time played- when I was 5 in the local kids rec league. Me and my friend took turns scoring goal after goal, we kicked ass :)