We're off to Wembley!

As you might have read here a few months ago, I, along with 53,000 others or so, were in the process of buying English professional soccer club Ebbsfleet United.

We, from all over the world, finally took over the Blue Square Premier outfit in January. While most of us are from Britain and Ireland, there's 1,400 of us in the States, and a bunch of others from as far afield as Australia, Japan, China, Vietnam, Tonga, Qatar, Malawi and Panama.

"We" are members of MyFootballClub, a groundbreaking internet-based project with the stated aim of buying a soccer club and transforming its fortunes. To be part of the venture, we paid $71.35 for the pleasure and decided on southeast of England based Ebbsfleet after considering numerous clubs.

We get to vote on every key decision - from picking the side, to signing players, to the color of our new kit.

In fact, there is a big debate raging on the forums (www.myfootballclub.co.uk) as to how exactly we are going to pick the team. Some dads were saying they don't get enough time to watch online streams of games because they have diapers to change of new arrivals, while others think it's best to leave it to our coach Liam Daish until we have a better knowledge of the team.


A red toothbrush

That mightn't be such a bad idea for now as success hasn't been long in coming. We have just qualified for the FA Trophy final - and an appearance at Wembley Stadium on May 10 against Torquay United - for the first time ever. It is the major cup competition for clubs outside the English league set-up, and it's gotten quite a few of the owners pretty excited.

In fact, a letter from coach Liam this week revealed that after the first leg of our semi-final victory against Aldershot, a young lady dropped a red toothbrush into his pint of Guinness for luck.

"I was a bit miffed, but it seemed to work," he told me (and 53,000 others).
And among those to pay him a visit in the supporters’ bar recently were a cowboy, someone from Moscow "and a couple of lads who had popped over from Los Angeles to inspect their new purchase."

Speaking of which, the MyFootballClub North America Supporters' Trust Inc. has even organized a package deal to the Wembley game.

Up the Fleet!