Ball Boyz pay off final debt

The Ball Boyz are now officially out of administration following two tough years in the red. The new Australian owners bought the club this summer and immediately saw the need to cover costs. The main source of debts for the Ball Boyz were the extremely high wage demands from Davide Ravaccia and former-winger Santiago Ferrari. The latter, who was a fan favourite, disgraced himself in last seasons defeat at Precotto by intentionally gifting the opposition with two goals, before storming off the pitch when substituted. When asked about the incident, the then First Team Coach, Mark Worden stated "He got frustrated when we sent on Piazzi instead of him. I can't deal with an ego like that, in a team everyone is equal, and everyone must respect the manager's choice. But he, instead, decided to walk on the pitch anyway, and he had to be pulled back. Never in all my years in football have I seen anything like that, I hope he takes a good, long look at himself, because there is absolutely no justifying what he has done out there today. If it were up to me, I would never let Ferrari play another second in a Ball Boyz shirt. He has let himself down, he has let the team down, but more importantly, he has let the game down, as what he did goes against all standards in football." The Filipino subsequently had his contract terminated and has since signed for Haileybury F.C. and looks impressing for the Hertfordshire club. Ravaccia, on the other hand, failed to sign a new deal at the end of last season, but nevertheless, he was offered a new contract in September which compensated on the wages. The defender agreed and is currently one of the first names on the team sheet for the Boyz.

Due to this, the team were able to pay off most of their existing debts, the greatest of which was their overdue kit supplier payments. A club statement from Director of Football Thomas Worden read "It is my great pleasure to announce that today, Monday the 23/12/2013, the Ball Boyz paid off their final debts with their kit manufacturers and are hence out of administration after two long years of economical crisis." 

It is good news as the Boyz head into the festive period in a comfortable 7th place, five points clear from the drop-zone with key striker Lodovico Rapisarda coming back from suspension. "This will clearly galvanise the team, and hopefully we can pick up the pace in the second half of the season with a few more encouraging results," added Worden.

Player Repors: Ball Boyz 5-8 San Simpliciano

Matteo Fumagalli 6: He didn't have too much to do at the start of the game, and most of the goals he conceded he could do nothing about. Nevertheless, half way through the first half, his lack of match-fitness was shown through a couple of poor mistakes. Firstly, it is unheard of for a keeper to conceed off a corner at this level, and secondly, his lack of concentration was shown again when he failed to clear a tame back-pass, allowing San's centre forward to score a soft goal off the resulting tackle. Despite these mistakes, Fumagalli persevered and showed his great beleif by pulling off a couple of fantastic diving saves which kept the Boyz's hopes alive, going back to the golden days of the Ball Boyz;

Davide Ravaccia 6: Overall, it was a pretty poor game for the defence, and the absence of Indaimo was felt by the back three. Ravaccia was the culprit for a couple of San's soft goals, but nonetheless he perservered and used his physique to push off his opponents and eventually claim a wonderful goal. The move started with him using his strength to tackle San's winger before doing a 1-2 pass with Gnocchi, dribling past San's defence, and placing the ball in the top right-hand corner of the net. It must be said that Ravaccia looked much more comfortable in the dying stages of the match, when the team played more freely and offensively;

Filippo Migliorisi 7.5: Not the best performance in a Boyz shirt by the centre-half, possibly due to the fact that starting the game in an unfamilar position preveted him from leading the defence. Despite this, he was able to show his true strength in the second half, with some towering headers and out-standing tackles to block the majority of San's attempts. This was primarily due to him moving back to centre-back for the second-half, resulting in the defence conceding fewer sloppy goals and overal acting as a more solid back line;

Gabriele Tabarelli 6: Tabarelli, like Ravaccia was the culprit for a couple of San's goals, with a couple of sleezy headers and the failure to close down the opposition being the main perpetrators. Again, like his counterpart, he looked more comfortable in the dying stages of the match, when the team played more freely and offensively. However, unlike his counter part, his miss at the end of the game was simply extra-ordinary. A cross from the left-wing saw him diving for the ball on the goal-line, and all Tabarelli had to do was tap it in. Despite this, the ball was sent flying high into the stands from a position where it was easier to score rather than miss;

Andrea Tanzi 8.5: He is the man of the match, showing us once again his incredible ability with the ball and the unstoppable power behind his shots. His four goals lifted the team's morale and his pressing, especcially in the closing stages of the match, helped the team dominate the final few minutes. In the last few games he has been the team's best player and yesterday's performance reflected upon this fact;

Andre Benjamin Frangi 6: His performances are still not at their best. He presses well in the openening stages of the match, but he continues to dissapoint the fans as he has done in previous performances. He simply needs to find more space whilst the team is attacking, as well as going back to the positioning sense he adopted at the start of the season. The red card simply reflected on his frustration of the evening. Overall, a perforamnce he should reflect upon as his ban will see him out until March. In addition, his lack of physical presence was once again shown last night. Despite this, there were some positive signs from the captain, things which he will have to work on in training, as his current match-ban sees him out until March;

Uberto Gnocchi 6.5: His performance still doesn't match his "top player" status. A couple of times he should have tried to shoot rather than ineffectively dribble past his strong opponents. Nevertheless he showed pride whilst wearing the armband following his captains dismissal, and was one of the major contributors to the Boyz's attempted comeback, setting up Ravaccia nicely for his finish. He also had a positive impact in the first half, with his rebounded shot finding the feet of Tanzi for his tap in. However, you can sense that he is still missing his strike partner Rapisarda, who is coming back from suspension for the next game.

Boys game moved for TV

Boys vs. Ball Boyz has been moved to Thursday the 3rd October at 18 30 instead of Saturday the 28th of September at 15:00. The cup fixture has been moved as it has been scheduled to be televised on Sky TV.

Diaz, Migliorisi and Tanzi poised to sign

Ball Boyz are set to unveil three new signings by tomorrow. It is believed club officials have agreed personal terms and the players have all completed medicals successfully. The deals have not yet been finalised as the club are still awaiting the necessary work permits to be accepted by the Centro Sportivo Italiano FA.

Kevin Diaz, who last played for Spanish Giants, Barcelona's youth academy, is set to have smashed the club transfer record and will certainly be one of the top players in this year's Juniores division. The winger has also featured for the Spanish Under 16s.

Filippo Migliorisi is set to have signed a one-year contract with the option of a further year. The defender seems to fit the Ball Boyz requirements for a new centre-back. "We need someone tall and strong. Our back three were great last year, but you just have to wonder how many more games we could have won, had we had a little more height in the middle," says Ball Boyz secretary Leanne Indaimo.

Elsewhere, Andrea Tanzi is believed to have signed a similar deal.  It was believed the defensive midfielder opted to join Turchino Road despite being overloaded with offers during the course of the transfer window from other clubs.

Ball Boyz Transfer latest

The Ball Boyz are closing in on three new signings, believed to be a winger, a midfielder and a defender according to newly appointed Club Secretary, Leanne Indaimo.

"We can talk about the strength of our squad and the attitude all day, but nevertheless, we need three or four signings. We are very close to two, a defender and a midfielder and we are closing in on a wide-man to add to our strike power. We would also like to add a keeper to our squad, but so far we are miles off. Tommaso is doing a great job but we do need a back up in case of injury or suspension."

The Ball Boyz can also confirm that Thomas Worden and Federico Torti have departed the club on loan to Oakham F.C. and F.C. Gordonstoun respectively.

New season to kick off

Its that time of year when the summer ends, the transfer window closes and a new season of football begins. Its been a very busy summer this year at Turchino Road, with many veterans departing and a few new faces appearing. The Boyz bid farewell to veterans Matteo Fumagalli, Jacopo Fioravanti, Santiago Ferrari, Alfredo Macchi and Thomas Worden. In addition the team would like to thank Chirolles Khalil and Cristoforo Tarantelli for all their efforts for the club and would like to wish them the very best after one productive year at Turchino Road. Furthermore, this season sees a change in the directors box as well, with former chief secretary Maria Rosaria D'Amico stepping down from her post, being replaced by Leanne Indaimo. In terms of new faces, the Ball Boyz have yet to confirm any signings following the closing of the transfer window on the 2nd of September, however, it is beleived the BB's are very close to signing up two yet unknown free-agents, a midfielder and a defender.

On an administrative front, Chairman Mark Jonathan Cameron Worden has confirmed that the Ball Boyz should participate in the CSI Juniores category for a second-year running, following a brief stint in the Allievi category three years ago.

"We are very confident we can strike a deal with the Centro Sportivo Italiano within the next couple of weeks. We have got the personnel and we have got the backroom staff and administration board. We are ready to go for another season, and we are really looking forward to it."

This year may even see the Boyz participate for the first year in the CSI Cup.

"We wanted to sign up for the cup last year, but a lack of players dented our hopes that time, and we are determined not to let the same mistake catch us out again. I appreciate that we may not have the same squad depth as last year, but it is the character that counts. We still have our belief and our 'never say die' attitude. Like I said the core of the squad is still very similar.

"All that is missing is for us to take that determination out on the field and get us some points. We were very unlucky last season as a couple of bad injuries and lack of fitness cost us some dear points. But this year our fitness levels have improved drastically, so hopefully we should be more consistent this time round.

"In addition, this year our boys will be in the right age group and so have a better chance to excel. I admit things haven't gone according to plan on the transfer market. We still have the Indaimo transfer saga to sort out, but no matter what I still remain optimistic that this year will be the greatest ever that this football club has seen."

Worden calls for final push

Ball Boyz Director of Football, Thomas Worden, says the BBs are "down but not out" following their heavy defeat to Nord Ovest.
"Obviously no one likes to get stuffed like that but considering the circumstances, we deserved it. We gave up after they'd scored five, we had many injuries and the pitch was too small for those goals. But the goals were the same for everyone and we can't just keep using excuses to defend our poor results. However we can't concentrate on the negatives and get down, we have to pick ourselves up, we played some good football at times and scored 3 good goals. We're finally creating up front and with a full team we are good enough to beat anyone on our day. Just look at COC when we managed to beat them 6-4 away. Those are the kinds of displays we should be concentrating on without getting over confident."
COC was the Ball Boyz's only victory this season, and the BBs are hoping to pull out such a performance this Saturday when COC come to the Turchino Ground.
"Obviously things have changed since we last met, but I believe if we can work well enough we can pull out a few good results and show off our fighting spirit. We have four games now, three of which we can realistically win if we put our minds on it. We have to shift things round a bit and pull of coragious performances. We need to be fighting for survival, we need to get dirty and we most importantly need points. The performances come second, the most important thing is the points, we need victories, the performances are just a bonus. We need to get more physical in defence and be the first ones to the ball. We need to apply pressure on the opposition at every instance, our marking must improve, we must close down shots but we also need to be more creative while attacking. I think that's something we've lacked this season. We need to string together some beautiful passes and show whose boss from the start. We have to command the game and the way it's played. We need to be the ones controlling the game and we mustn't alter the way we play according to how they play, it is them that should alter, we need to play top dog from the start and the results will come. It's an important change  in our mentality but it is one that could be the difference between survival and relegation. We need to treat this like a relegation battle, and il only be satisfied with 13 points, thus meaning we have to win 3 games which is a tough task, but it is imperative for our salvation. I hope we can grow some bo***cks and show the CSI and everyone who we are. We need to be detrmined and we have to be brave. We have 2 home games in which we need to get our passing gambling right from the start and showing that although we are underdogs we can also be top dogs. We then have 2 away games ona a rubbish pitch, but we have to adapt our game to the pitch and play dirty, dropping the passing the game replacing it with a more physical aggressive style of play. We need to be versatile in our game and we need all our players to be present all the time. I hope we can do it, this is massive, we need to turn our season around as soon as possible before it is too late. I'm hoping we can get out of the bottom three although we are define rely not going to be last thanks to Assisi's administration, so that's a step froward from last year. However, I'm hoping to go further, 7th wouldn't be bad, and that's our aim, I hope we can fulfil it. I'm calling for a final push in which we must sacrifice everything to win, the players must be present, concentrated and motivated to win. We need to join the dots, and as long as we give everyone a run for their money i will be pleased. I meanid prefer to play badly and win than play well and lose, but I just want my players to have fun and most importantly show me something's that have been missing so far this season. We need our fans to back us and we need our players to deliver as much as they can, I want to see us united, ready to face anything, no fear wahtsoever whoever we are playing. Come on Ball Boyz! We can do this! Let's avoid relegation!"