Groningen is not really even a city, but a large cooperative farm in the rural area of eastern Frysk. The don't have roads so the team has to ride to field on tractors. that way the get the plowing done as well as get cheap transport - and one thing the Fryslan folk have even over the Dutch is the ability to stretch a guilder. Because they ride tractors to the stadium, the are known as the tractor boys. (it's just Frisian silliness. Groningen calls themselves "pride of the north," Heerenveen calls themselves "super-frisians" and they call each other "farmers" or "hicks" or "tractor boys" - that kind of thing.)
Oh, cool. Made me google something I guess. Turns out I've been pronouncing it wrong all this time too. That "g" sound is really freaking hard to say. It sounds like an "h" on wikipedia.
Shameless trolling of @freisland alert. People persist in thinking that Dutch is a language. It is not, it is a severe throat disease that has been known to metasticize fatally, especially in the case of tourists from the east attempting to pronounce the name of the town of Scheveningen.
depending where you are the "g" is anything from a soft "ha" kind of sound to getting ready to lugie. V's are also fun. Because I'm a 12 year old in a grown man's body, I particularly like to listen to some Dutch speakers say van der Vaart and then giggle like beavis.
I actually don't know how official it is, but my wife's cousin quite enjoys called "the pride of the north" the "tractor boys" but it might be because they seemed to be the only two words of english he knew - it seems to be used a bit as a nickname in west frysk for the Gronin team.
Groningen defeated second-tier FC Emmen 5-1 on Saturday Payne scored the first goal of the game. Watch here
After watching Chandler turn the ball over like crazy all gold cup, right back help can't come soon enough.
Watch this kid's stock soar this season. Piggybacking off a strong U20 WC, I have a hunch Payne is going to come into his own, solidify the RB spot at FCG, and turn a few heads in the process.
Picked up a knock... http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads...t-johan-cruijff-schaal.2023123/#post-32709012
FC Groningen reports that Payne has signed a contract for 2 years with the option for the club to extend that in 2018 with an extra year.
Very weird...I am trying for days now to find an update on his injury, but it is like trying to see something in a very thick fog....nothing
Marseille-Braga-Liberec are the teams Fc Groningen meets in the Europa League. Payne has to recover quickly to get this xperience in his pocket.
An update on Desevio Payne now: 4 weeks into a 6 week recovery stint. Doing well, has begun training again with team this week. #USMNT— Joe Gould (@twelfthyank) August 31, 2015
man, people complain about the lack of yanks abroad and I have to go 6 page deep to find this thread (and I pass an languishing Hyndman Fulham thread, playing harmonica next to an empty tin cup on the A1 roundabout...) Anyway, Des "isfeelingno" Payne went 62 mins for Jong Gron as the lost to Jong Utrecht (no Rubin - he's still hanging with the big boys) 3-2. Two subs were made at 62 and tho I haven't bothered to translate any match reports, I'd guess he was subbed for fitness/tactics not a further injury issue. (according to the semi-colons he played FB in a 4...)
Looks like he did not make the bench for today's AZ game. (It's so odd to have an AZ game and no Yank-watch.)
Yeah, things have changed since I left there for Rotterdam. I'm waiting for the next Yank in Rotterdam.
I know. AZ only moved the training grounds and academy to a spot 5 minutes walk from where I lived in order to get more exposure on Bigsoccer. They expected me to make video posts of YA@AZ and thus sell more shirts etc. It was even whispered they were busy pulling in an elusive Yank kid roaming around in North Holland to explode eyeballs numbers of the video posts Now that I'm no longer there they thought: What's the use and cleared the shop
Well, AZ is going to tease you with Deron Payne, his younger brother. He's about 12, is a US citizen, but isn't eligible for the US under current rules.
He's not cap-tied. But he wasn't born in the US (unlike his brother) and neither his parents nor grandparents were either. Since he hasn't lived in the US either, he's not eligible right now. Here's the post earlier in this thread where I quoted the rule: http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/desevio-payne-at-fc-groningen.1986149/page-5#post-32334398
So, for him to eligible he would need to meet the 5-year residency requirement? That would be a major commitment from him and his parents.
2 years. He is one of those rare people for whom that provision applies. Has the passport at birth by heritage, but doesn't have a parent or grandparent born there. He could come over for school, but that's means he misses out on the Dutch training. A couple of later years in NASL might work, but is he missing his chances for Eredivisie time? No easy answer unless you do it while they are very young.