FC Eagles is a team that has been a serious contender in St. Michael’s Soccer Club throughout their modest tenure. I remember receiving a call on our opening day of the 2015 season from their team captain. It was a very busy time as games were taking place and we were finalizing rosters with team captains. He asked if there was any space for him to play. At first I thought he wanted to register as an individual and was about to ask if I could take his number and call him back after the games were finished. However, he explained that he wanted to register his competitive team in the league. Fortunately for us, we were looking for another team to help round out our A Division. The team captain said he had checked out the fields and the level of play and was serious about entering his team.
The 2015 regular season was somewhat of a challenge for the FC Eagles. They ended up 7th out of 8 teams and had a record of 3 wins, 8 losses and 1 tie. However, little did the teams in the league know that FC Eagles knew how to turn it up a notch (or two) to the next level during the playoffs. In their Quarterfinal match up against the 2nd place Dominica United, they ended up tying them 2-2 and ended up defeating them during penalty kicks. In their Semi Final Match Up, the ended up beating Been There Done That (yes, that was actually the name of a team in the league) by a score of 3-0.
It was amazing to see a team with 3 wins during the regular season playing some real impressive soccer during the playoffs and make it to the Championship finals. In that game, they were scheduled to take on the top ranked Gunners who had a very impressive season.
Throughout the game, both teams had their chances but were unable to score during regulation time. The game then went to 2 – 16 minutes periods of Golden Goal in which the first team to score would win the championship. The Gunners were able to capitalize on an offside trap that didn’t work out for FC Eagles and Kenil Campbell ended up scoring the goal to give the Gunners a 1-0 victory over the FC Eagles.
Despite the disappointing outcome, the FC Eagles had much to be proud of. Their playoff run was a huge contract to their regular season performance and showed that the team was capable of competing at a competitive level, especially when it counted the most.
The team returned for the 2016 outdoor season. After that impressive playoff run, we thought that they were going to have a dominant regular season and pick up right where they left off. However to the league’s surprise, the team had a disappointing regular season and ended up with 0 wins, 8 losses and 4 ties during the regular season. However, to the team’s credit, all of their losses were by a very small margin and they were never ever outclassed in any of their games. However, their team captain reminded me right before the start of the post season that they were a team build for the playoffs. And true to his statement, the team were juggernauts during the Quarterfinal and Semifinal matches. They ended up convincingly beating the 3rd place Pumas by a score of 3-0. They then went on to convincingly to beat 2nd place Bafana by a score of 2-0.
This was the second time in as many years that FC Eagles had made it to the Championship Finals. MS United was the only team now standing in their way. MS United had tasted Division A championship in the past as they were the 2014 Division A Champions and were hungry to win another title.
However, that year, FC Eagles were not to be denied. They were very dominant in their play and convincingly beat MS United by a score of 4 -1 to win their first Championship in the league.
2019 was also another fantastic year for the FC Eagles. This year, they ended up 2nd overall in the standings and ended up beating the odds on favourite, York Young Boys, to clinch their second playoff title in 5 years.
The FC Eagles will jokingly complain that they are too old to be playing competitive soccer but just like fine wine, these guys are getting better with age. Congrats to Fc Eagles and we look forward to seeing you defend your title in 2020!