FCL lose unbeaten home record

Dublin Shamrocks claimed an unlikely victory at FC London with a goal from Austrian Wolfgang Babatz.

This now means that FCL have lost at home for the first time this season.

Goals
FC London: none.
Dublin Shamrocks:Babatz 55'.

London United reach CSA England Cup Final

A solitary goal from Ergun Taykin helped London United was enough to beat FC London 1-0 and send the Black and Red through to the CSA England Cup Final.

German Taykin found himself clear after a through ball England superstar Craig Craico. Taykin rounded FCL keeper Christian Watson, and made no mistake in firing home.

Leicester Phantoms 1-2 FC London

FC London came back to win 2-1 at Leicester Phantoms.

Goals

Leicester Phantoms: Bellamy 72'.

FC London: Rhodes 84', King 87'.

FC London 1-0 Lightning

Saturday 1st May

T-Mobile Stadium, London. Att: 47,483.

FC London left it late to beat fellow form team Leeds Lightning, 1-0.

Jeremy "Jezza" Constantinidis's 25-yard rocket left Lightning's American keeper Mike Foster bamboozled.

Scott Casey made a fine tackle from Adam Stockwell, and played a lovely through ball for Jezza, who controlled it with the outside of his right foot and in the next motion lobbed the ball over the Foster and into the net.

Goals

FC London: Jezza 87'.

Lightning: none.

London United 0-2 FC London

Sunday 4th April

HMV Park, London. Att: 47,964.

FC London grabbed a priceless win over bitter rivals London United.

Scott Casey grabbed his first BritLeague goal, before Brian Nixon won it for MegaHoops.

Goals

London United: none.

FC London: Casey 36', Nixon 87'.

Clarke fumes at referee

London Town manager Ian Clarke has vented his anger on the referee after seeing his side surrender their 4-0 lead to lose 5-4 at FC London.

Clarke was unhappy that the referee gave FCL a penalty after Craig Palmer went down in the box when Town were still leading 4-0.

"The referee is disgraceful," Clarke said. "How can he not see that the boy (Palmer) clearly threw himself to the ground?"

He also had complaints about FCL's second penalty which led to keeper Marco Schuipers being sent off after he hauled down Craig Cinoli, saying it was "harsh."

"It's not Marco's fault, Shane (Macdonald) should have stayed with him. But in the end, the sending off was a bit harsh on the lad."

FC London 5-4 London Town

Saturday 27th March

FC London Stadium, London. Att: 46,680.

FC London completed possibly the biggest comeback in BritLeague history, downing London Town 5-4 in another BritLeague classic to give the reigning champions their second league defeat.

The Megahoops found themselves 4-0 down at half-time after a dominant London Town performance.

The Blues are exponents of scoring early goals and today was no exception as John Carey netted his fourth goal of the campaign after only four minutes.

And Carey stunned the red and white faithful at the FC London Stadium into awful silence as his stunning free-kick put Town 2-0 up after only ten minutes' play.

Poor width from FCL allowed Town left-back Ashton Reid to run the full length of the pitch and he let rip a 20-yard left-footer which had no chance for 'keeper Christian Watson.

Many predicted the game was already over in the first half, as FCL old boy James Douglas made it four without reply, silencing the fans who called him Judas and booed every single touch he made of the ball.

In fact, at half-time, many FCL fans left the ground in disgust.

But despite the scoreline, FCL were far from out of it.

Clearly inspired by a heated team-talk by manager Brian Young, FCL began to take control of the game in the second half and on the hour mark, Hoops winger Craig Palmer broke through into the box and threw himself to the floor on Niko Tomic. However, despite strong arguments from the Town players, the referee decided it was a penalty despite replays showing that golden-haired wizard Palmer clearly dived on the Croatian wing-back.

Young England CSA World Cup prospect Palmer took it himself and he buried it past Marco Schuipers.

FC London were given another penalty after Australian striker Craig Cinoli ran through on goal, 1 on 1 with Dutch stopper Schuipers, with the Town keeper clearly bringing Cinoli down for a penalty. Cinoli scored past sub Jeff Carter making the score 4-2.

Suddenly, the crowd were right behind their home team, and midfielder Ryan Welch scored two within nine minutes, making it 4-4.

Clearly stunned by FCL's comeback, Town not only lost their momentum, but also their focus and Jeremy "Jezza" Constantinidis scored his first FCL goal after running past the three central defenders Juanpa, Daniel Perry and Shane Macdonald, one-two-ing with Brian Nixon and shooting through Carter's legs to give FC London the most improbable win ever.

Goals

FC London: Palmer 61' p, Cinoli 67' p, Welch 73', 82', Jezza 90'.

London Town: Carey 5', 10', Reid 33', Douglas 38'.

Bookings

FC London: Trujillo 35', Jezza 77'.

London Town: Tomic 65', Schuipers 66', Perry 87', Juanpa 89'.

Dragons 0-2 FC London

Friday 12th March

Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff. Att: 14,685.

FC London swept the Dragons away with a brace from Craig Cinoli.

Goals

Dragons: none.

FC London: Cinoli 45', Cinoli 88'.

FC London 3-0 Edinburgh FC

Saturday 6th March

FC London Stadium, London. Att: 46,037

FC London got their new BritLeague season off to a flying start with an easy win over Edinburgh.

Ryan Welch scored in his first BritLeague appearance, having signed from E-League champions London City.

Craig Palmer scored one of the goals of match-week one, with a mazy solo run through the Edinburgh defence.

And young Australian striker Craig Cinoli scored a fantastic goal from 25 yards, flew into the top corner.

Goals

FC London: Welch 41', Palmer 68', Cinoli 75'.

Edinburgh FC: none.

FC London win BritLeague Cup

FC London won their first silverware since the 2007 CSA Champions League when they beat Sheffield Strikers 3-1 in the BritLeague Cup Final at the Vodafone Stadium on Saturday.

Brian Nixon scored a brace, before Chris Rhodes' long range chip in stoppage time.

The FC London team however looked scarcely recognisable as many new faces appeared in Brian Young's line-up, such as Clint van den Bergh, Ryan Welch and "Jezza" Constantinou.

Welch, a winger signed from London City, made a big impact in the first goal, setting up a cross for Nixon to head it in after 12 minutes.

However it wasn't all smiles in the first half as prolific winger Craig Palmer limped off after 34 minutes with a hip problem. He was replaced by Welshman Chris Rhodes.

And suddenly the Strikers found an equaliser straight after the kick-off, when Kevin Henderson, almost 32, took advantage of poor FCL defending and buried it past Christian Watson.

But however their joy was short-lived when Sheffield's Swiss full-back Paolo Baggola handballed in the box and Nixon buried the penalty.

The tempo of the game slowed down after that, but in the 90th minute, Rhodes spotted Andrea Rossi off his line, and from 40 yards out, chipped the ball over the Strikers' Italian custodian and into the net.

Aussie teen Cinoli off to FCL

Australian teenager Craig Cinoli has completed his transfer from Melbourne United to FC London today, in a deal believed to be £15m.

The 18-year-old caught the eye of many top BritLeague and ELF clubs, after impressing for his country in last month's MegaCup held in the Middle East.

And Cinoli is determined to help FC London turn around their recent misfortunes.

"I know the position that FC London are in, I'm here to sort it out," says Cinoli.

"This team belongs at the top of the table, not in the middle as is the case now."

FC London 0-0 Glasgow FC

Saturday 17th May - MLF Round 10
T-Mobile Stadium, London

A reserve FC London side failed to capitalize against Glasgow FC as they warmed up for Wednesday's CSA Champions League final against London United with 0-0 draw.

FCL reveal one-off kit

Craig Wisniewski (left), James Douglas (centre) and Bradley Hatfield (right) model the kit

After London United revealed their CSA Champions League Final kit, it was time for their opponents FC London to follow suit with their kit manufactured by Adidas and sponsored by Bwin.

The golden CCL Champions logo appears on the right sleeve and the words "21.05.08 LONDON UNITED v FC LONDON" appears on the right breast of the shirt as the Superhoops look for their third CL title in a row.

White shorts make a return to this FCL kit following the successful run-out last year, alongside white socks. FCL boss García believes white is lucky.

Krzystofski and Trujillo 'will be fit'

Karlo Krzystofski says he and FC London team-mate Juan Trujillo will be fit for the CSA Champions League Final against London United in Milan.

Both were injured in Saturday's 5-0 thumping victory at Cardiff Dragons, with Krzystofski hurting his knee and Trujillo dislocating his elbow.

But the Wales CSA striker told SCORE! Magazine there was "nothing serious" about his injury.

And of Trujillo, he said: "I've spoken to him. He will play in Milan. No-one wants to miss this gigantic match."

Krzystofski confirmed that the knee he hurt in Cardiff (just seconds after he came on for Craig Wisniewski) was the same one that had been operated on last November, but said: "I put ice on it immediately. I will be at training this week."

He called the Milan showdown so important that it was regarded in the FC London locker-room as "the match of our careers".

FC London go to Milan looking for a hat-trick of Champions League triumphs.

However, United will go to the San Siro looking to become CSA football's premier club, but Krzystofski said: "This Champions League match is different.

"It will play itself out over 90 or 120 minutes.

"We know that we can beat United, we proved it again in the league a fortnight ago."

The game itself will be a lot of heat with some of the players who were apart of the first two Champions League-winning FCL teams now on the other side (such as Kevin Warhurst, Neil Boyle, Simon Herding, Edward Redwood, etc).

Dragons 0-5 FC London

Saturday 10th May - MLF Round 9
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales

A Craig Wisniewski double, a thunderbolt from James Douglas, a world-class midfielder's goal from Bradley Hatfield and an absolute fluke from Paolo Lupatelli saw FC London thrash the Cardiff Dragons inside a stunned Millennium Stadium.

Lupatelli attempted to cross but the strong Welsh wind helped the ball fly past a bemused Kevin Jones.

Former Dragons striker Karlo Krzystofski came on in an FCL shirt for Wisniewski late in the game, and got a rousing applause from the Dragons fans, but seconds after he came on he done his knee and is a doubt for the CSA Champions League Final against London United.

And that was minutes after Juan Trujillo displaced his elbow after landing heavily on the Millennium turf.

Monsters 2-0 FC London

Tuesday 6th May - MLF Round 8
Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough, England

Middlesbrough Monsters pulled off a stunning 2-0 upset of FC London to stop the Superhoops from getting top spot in the table.

Bobby Bricke scored a delightful free-kick for the one-nil.

And then Quique Sánchez doubled the lead after a great through-ball from Darren Watkinson.

And believe it or not, this was the Monsters' third game in only six days.

FC London 2-0 Mighty Mice

Saturday 3rd May - MLF Round 7
T-Mobile Stadium, London

Jim Douglas and Chris Rhodes scored the two goals that helped FC London beat Merseyside.

United defenders in farting row

London United captain Mark Strickland and fellow centre-back John Macdonald have been accused at farting at the FC London groundstaff after the 2-1 defeat at the T-Mobile last Sunday.

The England CSA duo were involved in a post-game warm-down when the incident happened.

Video report (plus exclusive CCTV footage):

FC London 2-1 London United

Sunday 27th April - MLF Round 6: The London Derby
T-Mobile Stadium, London

James Douglas's late penalty ended London United's unbeaten start as they lost to their old nemesis FC London 2-1.

Douglas put FCL 1-0 up with a precise header after Umit Kubilay's sweet cross.

But Edward Redwood capitalized on a defensive error from Paulo Silva to equalize.

But John Macdonald handballed in the box after another cross from Umit, and Douglas buried home from the spot to take all three points for the Superhoops.

Juan Trujillo and Paulo Silva looked colossal in the centre of the red-and-white defence but their counterparts in the black John Macdonald and Mark Strickland on the other hand were in for a torrid afternoon.

The exceptional pace of Bob Harry exposed Macdonald and Strickland for the first time this season after the duo had a exceptional start to the season but Simon Herding saved comfortably, after returning from a back problem.

However Silva had one horror error when he passed it straight to Redwood who tucked past Christian Watson after Juan Trujillo crept behind him but virtually had no chance of stopping him legally.

Redwood had an unusual celebration. Instead of his usual 'Rifle' celebration he just used his body language to say get off me, Redsy appearing to struggle with a groin or a hip injury.

And it was clear that he was struggling, because five minutes later, the red-headed assassin limped off for Lionel Nunez.

And FC London could have scored more had not it been for two top goal-line clearances from Ashton Reid and Rodrigo Santos.

Karlo Krzystofski knocked the ball past Herding but Reid was on the line and a frustration from Trujillo as he wrestled with Strickland and Macdonald which looked more like World Class Wrestling than Major League Football.

And Brazilian forward Santos was there to clear ball from Brad Hatfield's hit, resulting in a hug with him and Reid.

Minutes into stoppage time, handbags erupted between both teams, as you would expect in London derbies like these, but referee Martin O'Brien handled the situation well and when the final whistle blew, both sets of players shook hands with each other in very nice scenes.

---

FC London: Watson; Umit Kubilay, Paulo Silva, Trujillo, Lupatelli; Rhodes, Hatfield (Capper 83), Douglas, Steiner; Krzystofski, Harry (Wisniewski 88).
Subs Not Used: Edmundsson, Andersson, Blake.

Booked: Douglas, Trujillo.

Goals: Douglas 33, 87 pk.

London United: Herding; Mitchell, Strickland, Macdonald, Reid; Cristiano Costa (Parker 81), Warhurst, CraiCo (Adam Stockwell 89); Redwood (Nunez 72), Boyle, Rodrigo Santos.
Subs Not Used: Knott, Croussant.

Booked: Macdonald, Strickland, Reid.

Goals: Redwood 66.

Att: 31,563

Ref: Martin O'Brien (Hampshire).

---

Panasonic Man of the Match: FC London midfielder James Douglas.

Magic 3-0 FC London

Sunday 20th April - MLF Round 5
Old Trafford, Manchester

FC London fell to their first defeat of the season as the Manchester Magic beat them with ease in the first MLF match staged at Old Trafford this season.

50,000 fans turned up for the Sunday afternoon game, however most of the crowd were decked out in red and white rather than gold and green.

But Juan Antonio García's Red and White Army didn't seem to help the Superhoops as FCL's Spanish manager García saw the Magic thrive.

Andrew 'Cezza' Corne scored the opener, but did not celebrate. Instead, the former FCL wing-back had his head down after scoring against his beloved old club.

A bleach blond Kevin Simms - another ex-Hoops player - scored the 2-0 and ran down the pitch to his knees, feeling he wasn't wanted at FCL despite winning Rookie of the Year with them in 2004.

And Rob Walton finished off FC London with a 'daisy-cutter' on the edge of the area.

FC London did create some chances with Craig Wisniewski and Bob Harry but they screwed up badly.