'21 Season Review
The final whistle for the 2021 season has now been blown and the offseason for the Marksmen has now begun.
It’s now time to take a look at the season that was and the road ahead for the organization, a chance for you the supporter or casual observer to get a better understanding of the year that was and what’s to come. As club we want to be as transparent as possible and with the 2021 season having it’s moments shrouded in a mystery, the following overview should help to shed some light on all areas of the club.
The following overview will be broken down into four simple parts, Club Operations, BSSL League Play, OSSL League Play & the road ahead, 2022.
Part 1, Club Operations.
When the rebirth of the Marksmen kicked off in the summer of 2019, the club planned on entering into a full season of league play in 2020 with 2019 acting as a soft launch for the club by playing a series of friendly matches. 2019 went well enough but needless to say what came about in 2020 for the world, let alone the club was an unexpected surprise.
By using 2019 as a soft launch, including not participating in league play, it made 2020’s shut down that much more challenging to set up the future of the club and make inroads towards to the local community. The on field product was also forced into a static and stagnant status due to the lack of league play, another unexpected hurdle for the club to get over for the 2021 season.
With the club still not being able to forge a local connection due to the previous mentioned aspects, the decision was made to build on the club’s growing presence online and work itself backwards by continuing to build on our reach from points outside of the local community. Instead of bringing the community to the team the approach was bring the world to the Fall River.
With the club’s focus now on continuing to build connections from outside of the area, additional efforts were put into place to bring in companies/sponsors who held either a cultural tie to the community or provided a voice/energy that could be echoed by the club to help further a positive message or initiative. This process brought about four positive and unique partnerships, HKFP-Hong Kong Free Press, Stimulus Athletic, RD Sports & Prime Focus Goalkeeping.
*HKFP - Hong Kong’s small but important ties to the Fall River community was added onto thanks to the HKFP becoming the official jersey sponsor of the Marksmen for 2021. Jersey’s were sold in a combined marketing effort with HKFP with all profits going towards the news not for profit service. With the current status of Hong Kong changing rapidly, the opportunity to support a free and open press along with bringing a voice to the people was an easy choice to make. Sales of the jersey’s along with marketing assistance from the HKFP helped the club reach a new audience and further add to the club’s global presence. A few positive numbers from the joint effort was jersey sales reaching almost 500 in total sold and online metrics showing a large growth and steady audience of continued engagement from Asia on the clubs website and social media accounts.
*Stimulus Athletic - Stimulus Athletic, based out of Minneapolis came onboard as the clubs jersey supplier thanks to the above mentioned partnership with the HKFP. Stimulus was able to offer the club not only a competitive price but also a manufacturing plant based out of Mexico. Moving forward the club, in support of our venture with the HKFP, will no longer sell products being manufactured from China. The clubs continued work with Stimulus has been extremely positive as was responses to the new jerseys manufactured by them and has resulted in the Marksmen extending their partnership with Stimulus to be a supplier of club merchandise in 2022.
*RD Global Sports - Based out of Barcelona, Spain, RD Global Sports is training academy & agency fronted by a FIFA certified agent Ravi Daswani. RD’s ethical and logical policies and procedures of placing players into professional clubs throughout Europe is a key addition to the Marksmen as it helps to further cement our commitment to providing our players with avenue to the worlds game. With RD Global Sports now working alongside the Marksmen, the club can now send talented players abroad to further their professional aspirations, along with RD Sports sending skilled players to the Marksmen to further their development along with elevating the talent of the Marksmen roster. In short, RD Sports enables the Marksmen to provide an open door to the professional world to it’s players.
*Prime Focus Goalkeeping - PFG, a grassroots company based out of Charlotte, North Carolina founded by USL All-Star goalkeeper Brandon Miller. Miller’s hard work on the pitch (2x USL All-Star) as a respected professional along with his tireless work off the pitch drew the clubs attention and desire to work alongside a black owned business and staunch supporter of equal rights. PFG helped to outfit our keepers with their gear but more importantly Brandon & PFG provides an example to all of our players what hard work on and off the pitch can provide. A reduced league schedule in 2021 unfortunately curtailed the clubs plans on providing further marketing for PFG but will look to expand on it’s budding relationship in 2022.
**SATA/Azores Airlines - With Fall River having so many deep ties to the Azores in Portugal, SATA, now known as Azores Airlines was to be vital 2021 sponsor of the Marksmen. This relationship however was cut short due to the 2021 league season being placed on hold as well as travel restrictions at the beginning of the year curtailing travel between Boston/Providence and Portugal and the airlines own desires to reach out to a now grounded audience. Talks to resume the partnership are scheduled for 2022.
Additional inroads with sponsors and partners were also made during 2021 with a focus on bringing these partnerships to the public in 2022, in which should be the clubs first operational season of spring through fall play since the clubs reberth in 2019.
Another key aspect to the organization operations in 2021 was that of club historian Derek Goncalves. Derek’s tireless work through his social media account on Twitter, helped to keep the club’s historical significance at the forefront of our operations.
Derek not only provided daily updates on his social media account but also began a project to help bring local recognition to the land that once housed Marks Stadium. Initial inquests to the town council of Tiverton, Rhode Island was warmly received and now his and the clubs sights are set on presenting to the town of Fall River. In the very least, we hope to get a plaque sitting on the site of Marks Stadium that helps to salute the accomplishments of the club along with educating the public of the significance of Marks Stadium at a local, national and international level.
Operational aspects towards the on field product will be discussed over the course of the next three sections, parts 2, 3 & 4.
Finding success on the field was a long and winding road thanks to the always changing environment that was 2021. Thankfully as the year progressed the roster started to find success that wouldn’t of been possible without the numerous contributions from our head coach, Stephen Morrison, a tireless worker who provided the club with his time, patience and infectious belief that the Marksmen can accomplish great things, from the front office to the last man of the roster, we’re all truly indebted to him for his efforts in getting the best out of our roster and the front office.
And now onto parts 2 through 4,
PART 2 - BSSL
The BSSL, Bay State Soccer League was slated to kick off the 2021 season in March with a summer break starting mid-June with the seasons second half returning to action in late August until the seasons completion in November.
Unfortunately with the pandemic still ongoing in late winter and state regulations prohibiting on field match play, the spring portion of the season was postponed and eventually turned into a exhibition format where the standings/results would not carry over to the fall season. Club owners from all divisions within the BSSL opted to turn the fall season into a traditional competitive format with promotion and relegation taking place in the shortened season. Clubs were given the option to sit out the spring portion of the season but the Marksmen opted to remain and play out the spring season.
Being an amateur club, it’s no surprise that our players must work outside of the club in order to earn a living but 2021 brought about some challenges when it came to the working/playing balance. Our players weren’t immune to the ever changing economy with many being forced to work long hours or being forced from one job only to frantically seek out another. This lead to numerous players not being able to make practices and/or matches, as well as two players leaving the club due to work commitments. The results on the field during the spring season suffered from these circumstances with the club finishing the spring season with a 3-5-1 record, well below expectations. Another key player picked up a season ending injury early on in the season, further limiting the potential of the club.
With the spring season consisting of exhibition matches, the public weary of congregating in numbers and a roster full of players being pushed away from the training and playing field due to work & life commitments, the club made the hard decision to pull back it’s overall marketing. Match reports, player interviews and community projects were curbed in order to ease the pressure on the players shoulders, along with not under performing in the public’s eyes or undering performing for club sponsors due to the limited local exposure and depleted roster. No club wants to sit primarily behind closed doors and curtains but the difficult choice allowed club personnel to focus internally with a mind set of preparing the club for the 2022 season. Furthering this decision to remain behind partial curtains was the transitional form of the league, with a new president and staff being installed, leading to some issues that further compounded the clubs ability to effectively operate, such as the lack of a media presence by league.
The BSSL fall season did kick off as planned in late August and wrapped up on time in November, however the fall season did have its issues. Three league matches were removed from the schedule due to opponents or the league cancelling matches. Two matches were cancelled day of and an additional match was removed by the league, leaving the club with only 6 matches played over the course of 3 months. The lack of weekly action hampered the roster from finding a rhythm, along with the club being able to confidentially advertise its home matches to the public. Both matches cancelled by the opposing team also forced the club to pay in full its home field rent, a total over $800, a sizeable figure when operating a club at this level. Further compounding the on field experience in both spring and fall seasons was a referee shortage in our region, leaving some matches to be officiated with only a center ref, not an ideal situation when trying to provide players and fans with an optimal experience.
When the fall season concluded, the Marksmen ended with a 2-2-2 record, 3rd best defense in the league and a league cup performance that pushed a D1 team into extra time. Additionally, the club partook in the State Amateur Cup and was drawn in the first round against former State Champions, Safira FC. Although the 1st round matchup against Safira went 2-0 in their favor, both goals for Safira came after the 80th minute and with the Marksmen playing a man down (red card) for over 60 minutes, we feel it was a great result for those on the field who pushed the former state champions to their limit.
With the pandemic weighing in so heavily on the experience of our first BSSL season, it would be unfair to place the main bulk of disappointments anywhere but at the feet of the pandemic. However, the club will be taking a deep look at remaining in the BSSL for the 2022 season as some negatives need to be realistically addressed.
PART 3 - OSSL
MAFC, Marksmen Academy Football Club, initiated in early 2020 to kick off in 2021, MAFC is the academy team of the Marksmen. Year one plans were to mix a group of U-18 players along with those from the Marksmen roster who needed further time on the playing field in order to develop. With the pandemic of 2020 being firmly in place, the potential to proactively recruit and advertise for U-18 players was severely hampered and although the club could of opted to use the hurdles that 2020 presented to halt its 2021 plans, the club opted to follow through with its plans to play out the 2021 season. The club did halt advertising for U-18 players but did receive interest from the public and wound up bringing in a handful of U-18 players into the squad, an encouraging statistic given the very limited exposure the club provided to its academy program.
The OSSL, the Ocean State Soccer League, was selected to be the home for the MAFC. Sunday kick offs (BSSL is Sat kick offs) and a geographical set up of teams that keep things more compact than the BSSL made for an ideal starting point for MAFC.
Unlike the BSSL, the OSSL opted to kick off as normal in the spring and take each week as they came in regards to the potential of state or national laws forcing postments to match play due to the pandemic. The spring season for the MAFC brought about numerous challenges, many of which mirrored those in the BSSL. Sunday morning kick offs became a large hurdle as many players were working or having family/religious commitments and resulted in some lopsided score lines going against the club, with some matches the club only being able to field 7/8 players. While on paper the results were discouraging, there were some positives to pull from the spring season that saw the club end the 1st half of the year close to the bottom of the table. The club managed to knock off the league champions from last year and put in some spirited performances while playing with no substitutes and less than 9 players on the field at times.
The lack of numbers on the pitch, although showing some positives, did bring about some difficult negatives. Those who did play started to lose their confidence in the club and their teammates, with some players opting to leave the club (keeping in mind there was no BSSL play until the 4th week of the OSSL) and others selectively showing up to matches, a major issue when trying to build chemistry, a new program (MAFC) and form a new relationship with a league (OSSL) and its respective clubs.
Closing out the spring season, MAFC managed to grab a vital 1-0 win over St. Mendez and along with closing out the BSSL spring season with a win, the players were finally starting to get into a positive mental shape and were ready to take on the 2nd half of the season with an aim at reaching the League Cup Final and a strong finish in the league table.
The fall season started off with the league leaders, Newport FC, who in the spring dominated a MAFC team with only 8 players, losing 7-0. This time around, a full strength MAFC grabbed the win over Newport FC and the club would go onto win 8 of 10 matches and reach the League Cup Final, losing in penalty kicks and finished in 3rd place, 4 points off of the leaders. If not for the poor start in the spring, the club could of conceivably of been crowned league champions, a point the staff has tried to convey to the roster, every match matters, along with a belief that when everyone is on the same page the club can compete on a high level.
Overall, the experience in the OSSL was a positive one for the club in that only one match out of 20 was postponed. On the other hand, although the fixtures for MAFC went off as scheduled, the hurdle of early morning kick off on a Sunday remain an issue when trying to market the team to the public, as well as drawn in sponsors.
As with the BSSL, the club hopes to remain with the OSSL in 2022 and will make a decision on continuing in the OSSL in early January.
*BSSL & OSSL NOTEABLE STATS
Combined league (BSSL & OSSL) Spring Season Record : 6 W - 9 L - 2 D
Combined league Fall Season Record : 10 W - 4 L - 2 D
Fall Season combined Goals Against 14 in 16 matches
0 pts deducted for the entire year from either league, Fair Play & Club obligations met
Offensive end of year totals in both leagues, bottom three, needs improvement
Part 4 - 2022
2022 will bring about numerous exciting ventures for the Marksmen, including a new league.
The Marksmen will be joining the NISA backed New England Champions League, NECL. The NECL is aligned with the EPSL and NISA Pro, a pyramid and actual path that allows clubs to promote to the pros, similar in nature to how the rest of the world operates. Joining the NECL also allows the club and it’s players to take on some of the best teams in New England within an environment of established clubs who can provide a consistent match day experience. This in turn will allow the club to begin to aggressively market itself to the public and begin its long awaited outreach to the community.
The summer of 2022 will also bring about two other additional elements of excitement. The first being the club’s 100th anniversary and the second item being included in the Egri Erbstein Tournament in London, England, which will coincidentally take place on the club’s 100th anniversary. Starting in January, the club will begin to unveil it’s plans for both its anniversary and its European tour, two matches in Spain and/or Portugal are also in the works but remain very tentative due to the ongoing and ever changing travel restrictions.
With the Marksmen set to kick off in the NECL in 2022, the club will be making a decision on keeping MAFC in the OSSL or BSSL or a potential third option, placing MAFC into a local adult league which has held talks with the front office. A decision on MAFC will be made in January.
The reach of the Marksmen will also continue to grow in 2022 with the club looking to form a partnership with at least one professional team based in Asia. Ambitious in nature, the club will be looking to build on its successful foray into Hong Kong and will look broaden its visibility and education of the clubs history in the Asian market. Talks have also commenced about the potential of the Marksmen travelling to Hong Kong for series of friendly matches against Hong Kong D1 & 2 clubs in 2023.
Wrapping it up
2022 is looking to finally be the breakout year for the Marksmen, it’s first full season of competitive match play since it’s rebirth way back in 2019. A welcomed opportunity to finally get ingrained in the community and a chance to share the culture of the game with players and supporters alike.
2021 taught us numerous lessons, some we hope to repeat, others we’ll look to leave in the past but the last two and half years of waiting for our chance to let the football do the talking has us excited beyond belief for the 2022 season.
More to come soon, we’ll be kicking off a campaign for equality on/off the pitch, keep your eyes open for our “Be Iconic & Elevate Fall River” campaigns where we’ll be helping to provide free training sessions to the youth of Fall River along with helping to bring racial equality to the highest levels of the game.
Thank you for taking the time to take in our overview of 2021 and we hope to have you along for the ride in 2022. We’ll be opening our club up like never before, so get ready, it’s about to be a year of footballing bliss for you and ourselves.
#FRMFC