An American in Nepal and Nepal Football Club investment discussion

We've already exported.

Espen Baardsen, who was born in the US and played in the US through high school, was Norway's backup keeper in 1998.

 

An American in Nepal

Next time there's an opportunity to submit fan questions to Arena, someone should ask him if he's following the progress of these two and if they have a shot to be called into the next camp. I'd love to hear his reaction.

 

Neither Jackson nor Williams is on the Louisiana College roster for this season.

Here's a copy of an email I sent to their athletic department:

Ugh. And as I read that post, I realize I screwed the names up at the end. Oh well. I'm sure they'll understand.

 

how they taken the score of the last South Korea vs Nepal?

 

I'm on a crusade. It is my mission to get to the bottom of this. And then write a script for a made-for-TV movie. I may have to fudge some of the details -- like how he fell in love with a princess, whose corrupt father owned a rival club and bribed Jackson to throw a game, and that game came down to a penalty, to be taken by Rayamajhi, who just happened to have been promised the hand of the fair Nepalese Princess in marriage, and Jackson was suddenly faced with the decision of a lifetime. Oh, and the part about how Jackson befriends a young Nepalese footballer, who wants to use his incredible talent to find a better life in India, but his parents want him to follow the family tradition and be a Sherpa. And that young Sherpa happens to idolize Clint Mathis, who he discovered while reading Jackson's back issues of 3-6-1, and Jackson must decide whether he should tell the Sherpaboy about Clint's penchant for beer and dorritos and crush the Sherpaboy's dreams, or let the Sherpaboy revel in ignorant hero-worship bliss...

 

Anyone have anymore info on both these guys? Any recent stats or anything?

 

Don't leave out the part about how Rayamajhi actually left Nepal for India with his twin-brother, Rayamajhello. But when they shipped themselves via crate to India, after some Bangladeshi Postal-carrier hijinx, Raymajhello ended up in Indiana, USA.

 

sadly, it appears that nepal lost to south korea 16-0 in an asian cup qualifier this past week. hopefully, our boys can get a draw with vietnam and a win against oman to advance on goal differential (which currently stands at -30).

on a brighter note, some dude named holger obermann says that "nepal's football [is] on the way up." i don't know about the rest of you guys, but i'm excited.

http://fifa.com/en/display/article,6858.html

 

and you guys complain about fieldturf:

 

Nepal needs to host the World Cup the next time it is being held in Asia. I see no reason that we shouldn't put in an application to FIFA on their behalf. We are their biggest fans, after all.

 

Notice also: "Bolivia on the up". Must be something about high altitude nations always being on the way up.

 

cue the Nepal national anthem

 

Holy Sh!*

I can't believe that I never came across this thread.

I actually run the NepalSport.com website and I am very good friends with the chairman and coaches of Kathmandu Club. I also helped start the Nepal Football Fan Club, but was kicked out as the General Secretary last May (complicated Nepali politics!)

If you guys have any questions, fire away. You can also reach me at webmaster@NepalSport.com

About Nirajan Rayamajhi, the reason he was left off of Nepal's squad for the Asian Cup is because he is playing in the German 4th division and our FA did not want to pay for his airfare. As you might guess corruption is rampant in Nepali football.

FYI - I live in NYC and am a MetroStars season ticket holder. The guys in the ESC know me ;-)

 

On another note

On another note, I am working with investors to start a professional football club in Nepal. Currently all Nepali club sides are amateur.

If anyone is willing to help my endeavors give me a shout.

webmaster@NepalSport.com

 

god, i love bigsoccer.com! and a damn metros supporter too. what a small freaking world!

nepal_footy, if you could supply us with some updates on our american friends at kathmandu club (and some info/history about the club and nepalise soccer in general) then it would be much appreciated.


btw, this has to be a the best thread of the year.

 

Re: Re: TWO Americans...

I'm sure he jumped at the chance to play for a team that was so far above the one he was on.

 

Kathmandu Club

The American guys were with the club just for the Martyr's League. To be very blunt about it they played very poorly and I doubt any Nepali club would sign them.

I think Kathmandu Club felt that since these guys were American and played college soccer they would be better than most Nepali players. Unfortunately, it did not turn out that way.

Re: Kathmandu Club (KC) - despite its name, KC is one of the weaker clubs in Nepal and has almost no following. The club is run by a passionate football fan, but they have few resources and funding. They have not won any tournaments at all (Nepali soccer is like youth soccer in America - you have a league that lasts three months, but the clubs participate in all sorts of different tournaments).

KC actually asked me to buy into the club, but I declined because they were trying to swindle me (long story).

 

Re: Kathmandu Club

This is so cool. Looks like Italy is going to have a difficult time holding their edge in problems with corruption in the soccer leage. Nepal is right on their tails!!! Mabye Nepal Footy is the newest investor in MLS? I mean what can be the difference between Nepal and the MLS

 

here is the difference

The difference is about 20 million dollars!!!!

A top Nepali clubs annual budget is about $20,000. Kathmandu Clubs budget is probably around $5,000.

They were looking to get me to pitch in around $5,000 a year. This would have basically doubled the budget of the club, but in reality most of the money would have gone into the pockets of the current Board.

For the record, $5,000 a year would be a big investment for a recent college grad like myself, but it's something I am passionate about so if the right opportunity presents itself, I'll jump. Right now I am working with a group of investors in Nepal and we are trying to start our own professional club. In the meantime we have a club (Samakhusi Youth Club) in the third division that just qualified for the third division playoffs. The problem with this club is that it is registered as a social youth club, so all the assets of the club belong to a Trust and thus if we invest in the club we will are not able to keep any of the proceeds.

 

Re: here is the difference

I have a beautiful piece of oceanfront property in Nepal that I would be willing to sell you for a mere $5000. Please PM me.

Come on, Samakhusi Youth Club!!! Best of luck!

 

Re: Kathmandu Club

So glad you found this thread!

This thread got me really interested in Nepal football (I don't know why, but who cares). Could you elaborate on the club structure in Nepal? I get the sense they aren't fully professional clubs -- do the players get paid? Who runs the Martyr league? Who runs the different tournaments? Is the league run by the FA? How in the world did those Americans end up at KC?

Finally, what kind of return on investment could one reasonably expect from Nepal Football? If $5,000 is the operating budget for a year, the people have read this thread could probably fund a team. We could pitch in and own a team. I'm only half joking.