Jamie Rodgers' Goalscoring Goalkeepers - table of contents: .MD15/16. Why he's doing this, Saoirse Bennett (Bramblewood Community School); .MD17/18. David Worrall (Occidental Olympic); .MD19/20. Richard Gill (Eastern Fell Community School); .MD21/22. Hannah Brunton (Independence 1975); .First group game. Ralexaleva saWemotolera (Broadlands Community School); .Second group game. Lily Houston (Saint Benedict's Catholic School); .Third group game. Julia Atherton (Eleven Retinues SC); .Round of sixteen. Katherine Carey (University College)
All other WC92 roleplay: Nyowani Kitara 3-4 Saint Eleanor (MD1), concerns surrounding SEFA's "Diamond 10" plan
Priscilla Evans: "I have the squad behind me... We'll do just fine, I promise"
Chief Football Correspondent Jamie Rodgers talks to the national team manager about how she manages, why she manages, and what she managed to do
Originally published on Wednesday 3rd January 2001
Priscilla Evans is, of course, the manager of the Eleanorian national team - but that is far from the only nation where she is widely, if not universally, admired. In Tinhampton, the land of her birth, she overcame multiple challenges: a criminal record for assaulting future national teammate Harry Porter (since pardoned by the Mayor), recurring back problems, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. "I was actually quite happy working the bar at the Red Lion! Literally the only reason I was ever in the national team was because I won a raffle of all of Tinhampton City's season ticket holders; they could have chosen somebody even less match-fit than I was. What happened with Harry was no problem and we ended up liking each other. My back... there was very little I could possibly do about that, other than very strong tea, a bit of willpower and whatever those creams they sell over the counter at the pharmacy are. ADHD is something I've been medicated for since I was a schoolgirl, which must be something like over 25 years now, although I left it in Cassadaigua by mistake when we went to the Cup of Harmony final and I think everybody knows what happened there. Yes, I can spout off and do ridiculous things - I still do - but not that much, I promise."
Evans was a constant for all seven of Tinhampton's World Cup cycles, most of which were contested while the national team retained amateur status. "You've asked this of my players, but I had so many good times that I could not just choose three of my best games with a clean conscience. We all got out there, tried our best, had fun - except during the 78th and 81st cycles when we were all panicking for a bit towards the end because we were so close to making the World Cup and then we didn't - and what have you. What stands out? The 1-0 loss to Electrum in the first ever one - aren't they co-hosting this version? - the 1-0 win against Audioslavia in the next one, holding Cassadaigua to 0-0 at home in the 81st cycle, and very little else. Those were our only three cycles of note, other than the 82nd when we became a professional team and got some Qusmi in the hotseat instead of Ian Jones... actually, the Qusmi was the 83rd cycle. Ignore me!"
And there is Equestria. Although just one of Tinhampton's seven games on the road to Cup of Harmony glory took place in the nation, that game was arguably the biggest in Tinhamptonian history, . Although many fans have argued that she and not midfielder Peter North scored the Miners' second on the day, the fact was not official until very recently. "Should I feel honoured? The credit is nice, but it wasn't a situation like the quarterfinal where it was poised at 1-1: we all had to pull together to get the team in the lead, to keep us there, perhaps even to have a fighting chance against what was a relatively much better team - Cups of Harmony are much more competitive these days and if Saint Eleanor got there this time, we'd be extraordinarily lucky to draw one and win all the rest." The manager of that legendary Tinhampton side, Rachel Coltfield, is now with Squidroidia, the 11th-best nation in the world according to the World Cup Committee. "God bless her; I'm told she was the only candidate and she'd been out of a job since she left Tinhampton for the second time. She's definitely defensive, maybe not the biggest on discipline but I reckon she'll deal with it well."
At the time a free agent, Evans became the only Tinhamptonian player to play overseas until the Saint Eleanor League saw an influx of her teammates in the early 1990s, contracted to Crystal Fair HC of the Crystal Empire - and, arguably more importantly, the United League. "It was hardly Freeport United but I definitely feel like I enjoyed it there, not only in terms of how the league was possibly at its best at the time, but also the quality of the team. The first example that comes to my head is how we were regularly turning up for IFCF competitions, something I'm glad Athletic Saint Eleanor did in the Champions' League last year. That and I didn't miss two crucial penalties in important shootouts in international competition like I did for the national team. Although that might be because Crystal Fair lost... one of them in the IFCF? I'd have to check."
Evans took over the Eleanorian national team at a time when struggle would barely begin to describe its position. "Oil-rich? Certainly. Wasting its potential? Only in the sense that, until the mid-90s, it was just not entering international competition. I could not possibly tell you whether or not pride was a factor - although for the first three or so years, pride was definitely one of the biggest sins I saw from the players. There were some good guys - I'm not naming them because they're the ones I've kept my faith in for this World Cup cycle - but there were also a few particularly noxious members of the squad, the ones who'd make up rumours, blame other players, try and call me a traitor for no apparent reason and even convince the FA that I shouldn't replace them with other players. Mr Newbridge can vouch for that last one." Some argue that Evans' early selections only exacerbated the inter-club rivalries from the Saint Eleanor League. "SEFA had my hands tied a bit. They were mostly the best players we had, but I can't help but think we could have gotten a few better players in and it would never have gotten this bad."
Although the 89th World Cup qualifiers were unusually good - a then-surprising run to the Baptism of Fire quarterfinals was followed by fourth place in a strong qualifying group - the following Cup of Harmony was no better. The following cycle was not only the worst of Saint Eleanor's three so far, but was also plagued by many of the intra-squad issues that Evans acknowledges. But by the time the 91st cycle came along, she had jettisoned a third of the squad and crafted a strong starting lineup, despite a patchy list of reserves in some areas - strong enough that they could, and (according to some diehards) should, have overtaken first-seeds Kandorith at the top of the table. Instead, a weak pair of final games led the White Stars to the playoffs: all those years after Dudu Madeiros faced Evans on that magical night in Canterlot, the two faced off, again - this time in the Juven and Eleanorian dugouts, to determine which of them would make the World Cup - and the Tinhamptonian won, again. "You've talked about the connection more than once but I was hardly thinking about it. At all! What I did know was that Juvencus was fairly evenly-matched compared to us but we were getting more match fitness in, I think, and - sorry to use the cliche - just wanted it more on the pitch when it came down to it."
Was the World Cup itself a disappointment? "A little bit. Nyowani Kitara was a feast but Squidroidia and Græntfjall were about as good as each other, better than the Kitarans, and we lost to both by a single goal. We should definitely have gotten one point from those other games but it is what it is; there was never any point in just sitting on it and I'll be thinking of ways to get us to the last sixteen and perhaps beyond in 2002." How does she plan to do that when Saint Eleanor are the third seeds in their qualifying group behind the Kitarans (again) and the Holy Empire (who had not even submitted a roster for the WCC's attention when this interview went to press)? "I have a plan. I always have a plan. It'll work out and I have the squad behind me on this. We'll do just fine, I promise."
Speaking of the squad, does she think that any of her current flock would be particularly well-suited to management when they retire? "All of them! Obviously not all of them, if we're talking about reality - I know Cathy Winchester and Sylvia [Hollenberg] have very well-documented jobs lined up for after their careers are over - but, as far as I'm concerned, the squad I have right now is fairly composed, they know where they've gone wrong and sometimes tell others where they've screwed up if they have enough headspace after the game, they don't make overly rash or unthinking decisions - and I was guilty of a bit of that when I started out. In those regards, I'd definitely say they all have the tools and the potential to end up in a chair that looks something like... this twenty years from now. A few of them even like to talk to me, or their respective club managers, about tactics. Stephen Mitcham's the real tactics person in the setup, but I talk to him, the players sometimes talk to both of us and they're getting a good idea of what's going on, really."
It is, by now, clear that Priscilla Evans is getting the best out of her players - perhaps because she already sees the best in her players. At a time when criticism of Eleanorian players can be rife at worst and bubbling under the surface at best, she has gotten an already-diligent team to become even more cohesive and ready to challenge for greater things on the international stage - for which she must be commended, especially having never taken up a managerial job before Saint Eleanor. First Nyowani Kitara, for the second time in six months... then the world?
Odysseus
