Here is the table for UK Richmond the team that the IASA players play on. It is in the West Yorkshire League Division 2 which is the 13th division in the football pyramid. You can click on the team name, and match reports to get a list of more players (the ones we haven't heard about). As far as I know playing this low means anyone can play, no restrictions, eu passport or not. Kids who don't have eu passports get student visas which allows players to work up to 20 hours a week, this also applies to footballl. http://full-time.thefa.com/ProcessP...electedCompetition=0&psSelectedLeague=7516712 So a pretty low level but I believe they are promoted now (finished in 3rd) so they'll move to the 12th division.
Might be forming a partnership with Stabaek in Norway as another option for players most likely for the ones who don't have EU passports. In America they are looking to form a link with the NY Cosmos. http://www.internationalasa.com/headlines.php
Here's a profile of another player who will be joining them, Dylan Gillaspie: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/ar...e-s-soccer-sojourn-continues?odyssey=nav|head
Three matches into the season and the 1st team has a 1-1-1 record. Americans have scored 4 of the team's 7 goals (Spivack 2, Eissele and Esparza).
Devann Taylor scored a hat trick and won MOTM in RIASA's recent District Cup victory. The 1st team are 5th in the league and have a 3-2-2 record. Eissele leads the team in league goals with 4. That is 14th place in the league. Spivack will return from his suspension for the next match (League Cup) on the 24th. Side note: There is a team in this league called Robin Hood Athletic. This is up there with FC Santa Claus in the great names department. I wonder if they play in tights: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jaW5DtKxFE"]Robin Hood - Men n Tights Song - YouTube[/ame]
From Mark Ellis: "I have already had Leeds United call me about one player on the present RIASA first team and they will be getting a good look at him in our showcase against them later this month" Hopefully it is one of the Americans on the squad. We need Kool Herc to find out who this is
Americans have accounted for 10 of the club's last 11 goals over 3 matches (a 5-1 league win, a 2-3 league defeat, and a 4-0 showcase match victory against the Barnsley FC academy team). Eissele and Roanne have each netted 4 times, while McCabe and Spivack have 1 goal each. I haven't found any more info on which player Leeds are interested in. The showcase match against Leeds will be on the 21st. Perhaps something will emerge afterward.
lol, I'll see what I can find out but I wouldn't hold my breath, there's usually a not a lot of detail regarding trialists and the like.
Just at a guess I think Joey Spivack is the most likely candidate since he might have a passport, also since he played for Guiseley and Leeds have links with Guiseley being a local club. Further, Spivack had interest from local rival Huddersfield Town at some point.
Got a reply to my post, where I guessed it was Spivack: Edit: apparently Spivack scored in said game, person who posted will ask his mate if he remembers who the outstanding player was.
Spivack is probably the mlst likely candidate as he has drawn interest from a number of clubs, especially if he has a Euro passport. The other likely player is Eissele. He is getting good reviews, scoring a lot, has decent size (6'1"), and reportedly had interest from Carlisle earlier this year. I don't know if he has a Euro passport or can get one though. It would be nice if one or two of the Americans could duplicate Nakhi Wells' feat of signing a professional deal.
Not sure if you've seen this website but has lots of detail on the IASA team here. Eissele has 9 goals in 8 games. http://full-time.thefa.com/DisplayTeam2.do?id=8156297&divisionseason=9120065&seasonTeamID=7910975
Apparently the guy thought the good player was #21 (Jackson Patillo) but looks like he hardly played in the game in mention. Spivack looks like hes #23 so I'm guessing he just got the numbers mixed up (or maybe they swapped numbers or that the website is wrong.) Spivack definitely seems the most likely candidate.
I know Spivack is eligible for a passport but not sure if he has it yet. He had to stop playing for Guiseley because of visa issues IIRC. The students have a student visa and what you can do with it in terms of work (football is considered work) is limited. Guiseley said he would be playing at a lower level where the visa wasn't an issue. I know someone who is in England for school and he has the same visa. He can only play around the 8th-9th division. The FC RIASA team plays in the 12th division.
Latest comment on the Leeds front: “Leeds will provide a different type of opposition and will feature some of their more established academy players. I know the Leeds coaching staff are looking closely at one or two of our players having called me about the possibility of them training with them the other week; we couldn’t work that out due to the academic schedule. However, the whole squad is now in the shop window against a prominent club".
-The player Leeds is interested in is not American. Its Jae Yun Lee of S. Korea. -However, 4 Americans are going to train with Bradford City: Joey Spivack, Christian Eissele, CJ Lyle and Brandon Roane "We are looking for these students to show what they can do in order to see if we get them moving forward to our Scandinavian contacts – this is a great opportunity for them to show and prove what they can do over an extended period of time.” -The team is headed to Amsterdam in January to play Ajax http://www.riasa.org/blog?hid=281
RIASA beat the academy team for Blackburn Rovers. American's scored 4 of the team's 6 goals, with Spivack leading the way with 2.
Joey Spivack will go on trial with Stabaek in Norway. The program and Stabaek have an affiliation to help the students who are not able to get work permits for the UK. The article says he is still trying to get Italian citizenship. The article also has links to youtube videos of some of Spivack's goals http://blogs.dailyrecord.com/highschoolsports/2011/11/12/bend-it-like-beckham/
Awful grammar but good news : On Thursday of this week RIASA will be hosting a trail game for its academy players where top UEAFA agents will be in attendance to watch several of the American born players who have drawn interest form Professional in clubs in Europe. http://www.riasa.org/blog?hid=351
I posted previously that Spivack was due to have a trial with Stabaek; but it appears that now Eissele will be joining him there. Christian Eissele and Joey Spivack ... have already secured an extended trial period in Norway due to their performance over the course of the first semester.
This academy is a pretty interesting story. It seems to work at a level that won't benefit the USMNT, but anything that increases the "soccer capital" in the US has got to help.
Found some highlights of Joey Spivack from his time so far with the program [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3sur47Ozlc"]Joey Spivack Highlights - YouTube[/ame]