We wish our guest an enjoyable stay but hopefully Springfield will win the twinning trophy this year.

Hope you all have a GREAT TIME

SPRINGFIELD TOUR TO BACKNANG EASTER 2007

 Saturday March 31st - Saturday 7th April 2007

Hi to everyone in Springfield F.C from your roving reporter, Mark Storkey, here in Backnang for the 2007 Easter Tour.

 So far we´ve been busy settling in and playing a little football. A long journey down here on Saturday night and Sunday morning which took 15 hours, partly due to our coach driver insisting on following his Satellite Navigation (which evidently had no idea where Backnang was !!). After losing our way about 3 times Peter Bull eventually put his foot down and smashed the Sat Nav !! We found our way in to Backnang for about 12.00am and were met by our hosts. We all wandered off to our host houses and returned for a fun kick around in the evening at the Backnang ground. Initial testing of the wheat beer (adults) and astro turf pitch (youths) went well.

On Monday we played our first round of the Backnang football tournament. The Under 12´s played in the second game and were unlucky to end up on the wrong side of a 1 - 0 defeat against SV Unterweissach. The Under 14´s ran out to play SV Unterweissach at 5.30pm and after a few early heart stopping moments (and some dodgy offside decisions) managed to run out 6 - 2 winners !!

Tuesday saw three coachloads of us make the trip down to Europa Theme Park in Strasbourg where we all had a great time, the weather was fantastic and most of the boys spent all day on the many rollercoasters and rides (including the Silver Star .... the highest rollercoaster in Europe). It was a great day out.

Wednesday most of the boys decided against the early morning swimming and opted to have a well deserved lie-in !! In the afternoon we played the second round of the football tournament, the under 12's played a very physical game but ended up on the losing end of a 3 - 2 scoreline. The under 14's played at 5.30pm and had a very good game playing some good football and found themselves 1 - 0 ahead (goal from Oliver Galley) with 5 minutes to go ! Unfortunately their concentration lapsed and allowed the Backnang C3 team to pull a goal back with only a few minutes remaining. Still a good result against a strong Backnang team.

Thursday was a trip out to Stuttgart, first a visit to the Mercedes Benz museum, newly opened in 2006. It was a fantastic place to visit, some great cars to see including the pope-mobile, cars from the film 'Jurassic Park', the German World Cup coach and many others ! There was even a fantastic F1 simulator which some of us got the chance to ride.

From the museum we then crossed the road in to the Stuttgart Stadium for a guided tour. Another great place to see, we spent time in the VIP lounge, visited the press centre and held a Springfield Press conference, then made our way in to the dressing rooms (Thomas and Mark Storkey and Taylor Ellis even had the privilege of making use of the Stuttgart players urinals !! It was an emergency !) Then it was the highlight of the trip running out of the tunnel and out on to pitch-side !! Lots of photo opportunities and plenty of fun was had, including the chanting of Springfield, Springfield ringing around the ground !!!

In the evening we visited the local school for an evening of indoor five-a-side football. Great fun was had with a little league competition with only downside being an injury to goalkeeper Scott Everett who dislocated and fractured a finger in saving a goal ! Scott spent the evening at the hospital getting plastered - Alan Cansell and Archie McLean spent the evening in the local Backnang bars doing the same...

Friday was the hike around the German countryside and it was a perfect day for the walk with the sun beaming down and a lovely breeze. A short coach trip took us to the startingpoint where we went for a leisurely stroll through the forests around Backnang, it was really relaxing. We ended the hike at a dry ski slope where it didn't take the boys long to discover the store for the tobaggans. Before long they were flying down the artificial slope at hair-raising speeds ! The owner then made things worse by watering the slope to make it that little bit faster,which also served to turn the slope in to a mud bath. You can imagine the fun that was had, even some of the 'older' children couldn't resist racing down the slope. The biggest cheer of the day came when Jake Bilton and Jason Bird(the only adult left not caked in mud) came a cropper on their last tripdown [Jason really should have sussed when we suggested he made his last trip down the slope going backwards !!] 

 We were then fed and watered with a traditional German meal (the name escapes me!) before the owner started up the ski lift and brought out the go-carts. There was some bemusement as the boys noticed that the carts didn't have any engines but their questions were soon answered as the first go-cart was dragged up the slope on the drag ski lift and released at the top of the hill and then came screaming back downon the go-cart track under it's own steam ! As you can imagine many more hours of fun followed with crashes, spins and wheel screeches now the order of play. We returned to Backnang exhausted and most of us caked in dried mud but having had a great time!

The evening was free to enjoy with each of our hosts, some of us chose to go ten pin bowling while others spent time in their hosts homes or Backnang bars.

Saturday morning was spent around Backnang itself for shopping and enjoying the Easter market before we returned to the club for the last round of the Backnang tournament. The younger boys played the Backnang D1 (1st team) and had an enjoyable match although they ended up on the wrong end of a 5 - 0 result. The Under 12's enjoyed the match even playing the scond half in Backnang colours having swapped shirts at half-time. The Under 14's played the Backnang C2 (2nd team) for the Twinning Trophy and were privileged to be able to play on the main pitch in front of the grandstand,filled to capacity with Springfield supporters. Jo Bilton and Jo Seward took charge of leading the Springfield chants from the terraces, amongst other chants (which were quickly stopped by Pete Bull !)

The Under 14's found themselves 2 - 0 down by half-time but weren't dispirited and two goals from Mirco Baur-Haerer (on loan) and Daniel Grant saw them pull the game back to 2- 2 (Could the twinning trophy be heading back to Chelmsford ?!). Sadly it was not to be and a goal by Backnang in the last 10minutes saw the twininng match finish 3- 2 to Backnang. Our trip ended with presentations in the Backnang clubhouse and each of the boys receiving a medal and a Backnang scarf or cap before we started the long coach trip back to Springfield. We arrived safely back at the clubhouse at 10.00am.

Many thanks to Peter and Jean Bull and to Dieter Schaupp as well as to all our friends in Backnang for a really enjoyable weekend, we look forward to seeing you all again in Springfield next year !  

April 2nd 2006

TSG Backnang D2 (Under 12 B-team)   2       v     4      TSG Backnang D1 (Under 12 A-team)

Springfield FC U12                            0      v      1      SV Unterweissach    D1

TSG Backnang C2 (Under 14 B-team)  6       v      1      TSG Backnang C3  (Under 14 C-team)

Springfield FC  U14                          6       v      2      SV Unterweissach   C2

April 4th 

TSG Backnang D1 (Under 12 A-team)     10    v    1        SV Unterweissach    D1

Springfield FC U12                              2    v     3       TSG Backnang D2 (Under 12 B-team) 

TSG Backnang C2 (Under 14 B-team)     8    v     1       SV Unterweissach    C2

Springfield FC  U14                             1    v     1       TSG Backnang C3  (Under 14 C-team)

April 7th

TSG Backnang D2 (Under 12 B-team)      6    v   0         SV Unterweissach    D1

Springfield FC U12                               0   v    5        TSG Backnang D1 (Under 12 A-team)  

TSG Backnang C3  (Under 14 C-team)     4  v    2         SV Unterweissach    C2

Springfield FC  U14                               2   v  3          TSG Backnang C2 (Under 14 B-team)

Weeks Schedule

Sunday 1st April 2007 - Arrive at Backnang club, welcome meeting, meet hosts and go back to their homes for a wash and brush up. In the evening it is back to the club for some socialising and a fun kick about.

Monday 2nd April 2007 - Visit the town in the morning, meet the backnang Mayor at the town hall. Part 1 of the football tournament in the afternoon.

Tuesday 3rd April 2007 - Day Trip to Europa Theme Park, leave at 7am back at 7.30pm. Evening is free to socialise with hosts.

Wednesday 4th April 2007 - Morning is free, afternoon is part 2 of the football tournament. In the evening there will be games and a party at the clubhouse followed by a meal and then watch Man Utd v Roma on the clubhouse big screen !

Thursday 5th April 2007 - Day trip to Stuttgart - visit to Daimler Benz museum, guided tour of the Stuttgart stadium, visit to the town centre and then back to the clubhouse. Five A side indoor football in the evening.

Friday 6th April 2007 - The infamous Good Friday hiking tour. A walk around the mountains around Backnang ending up at the ski lift in Grosserlach where we will have a typical German meal, then some sports, tobaggoning and games. Evening is free.

Saturday 7th April 2007 - Go to the Backnang easter market, lots of shopping ! In the afternoon play the final games in the football tournament. Evening in the clubhouse for Spaghetti Bolognese (where is Arthur ??) the trophy presentations before we lave for the return journey.

Sunday 8th April 2007 - Arrive back in Chelmsford.

Back in 1987, after many years of discussion, Chelmsford Borough Council  agreed to twin the town with a town of a similar size in what was then West Germany. Chelmsford's twin town was to be Backnang, a town  just outside the City of Stuttgart. Many local organisations were canvassed in an effort to try to get them involved in the twinning process. naturally many local sporting clubs were asked and Chelmsford swimming club was the first to visit Germany. A number of football clubs were invited and the council hoped to get the local non- League side, Chelmsford City involved. The council's ideas were not going according to plan and it was getting very near to the time when a local football club was expected to visit Germany. Almost as a last resort  it seemed, the Council asked Springfield Football club  and our chairman at the time Colin Arnold visited Backnang  to see how our Club could get involved, as a result of this, the first visit took place.  The following year Springfield visited T.S.G.Backnang with a junior team and thoroughly enjoyed the trip, making many new friends. Since this trip Springfield have  visited Backnang every other year with children from Germany coming the year in between.

It is a great drain on the club's resources when our visitors come to Chelmsford. Not necessarily from the point of view of finances, more the amount of hard work that has to go into organising entertainment for our guests, finding host families to look after them for the week and generally 'keeping them amused'. However the week is usually great fun with a football tournament being organised for our visitors, ourselves, and  usually two other local clubs. In 1994 the first visit by our senior team took place and this was followed by another in 1997.  On the second visit, the Seniors entered the 'Rems-Murr Cup', a competition organised by the Backnang club each year. Many of the teams that took part were semi-professional and although Springfield gave it their best shot' the teams from Germany were too strong for them. However, the players from Springfield thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. The facilities of TSG Backnang are pictured.

In the summer of 1999, Chelmsford Borough Council signed a town twinning agreement with Annonay, France. Already, Springfield Football Club have been asked whether they would be interested in being involved in this new venture which will open up more opportunities for travel and sporting competition with our club and other members of the European Community.

In our last visit to Backnang last year 2005, we had a great time and even better we came back with the twinning trophy.  I'm sure our Backnang guests will this year be trying their best to win the trophy back.