Supreme Deluxe. The name won't mean much to many of you, but to a small group of footballers it is a label which will always remind them of dodgy pitches, very dodgy tackling and many laughs as well. The intial bunch of teenagers were christened Supreme Deluxe by their midfield maestro Joseph who, it is often furtively alleged, has shares in a pizza company and wanted some free advertising. In their debut year, the team managed no goals (bar a forfeited 3-0 victory) and only a shot by Roger, which cannoned off of the underside of the bar, could be described as a respectable effort on goal. A year which, like Anwar's full name, is often forgotten was very much a testing of the water by these eager youngsters, not quite ready to make that plunge into the world of success (a situation which has been occuring at Chelsea F.C. since the 1970s). With the second year came disappointment. The failure to submit an entry for the tournament was an unfortunate oversight which, diplomatically, was blamed on Anwar since he wasn't around anyway. However, in this period, the boys kept trying and improving (with the exception of Raj who just tried), and new players began to emerge from the embarrassed handful that had struggled in vain in 1995. The entry into the 1997 competition was submitted well in advance, and the team was able to display their talents once more. The added flair (not to mention hair in Ben's case) lead to a vastly improved team stunning audiences into silence and drawing gasps and praise at all other times. The comparisons with Brazil fell at the feet of Sandeep (the comparisons with a donkey were directed at Ben), but the team played well. Again, no progress was made past the group stages, but a three-nil victory showed the massive progress made in two short years. 1998 saw the introduction of Mark and Morgan into the squad, to replace Ben and myself who were enjoying the sunny climes of Holland on the day of the tournoi. They turned in useful performances which resulted in the best ever progression of SD, all the way to the semi-finals!!! A large posse of support surely aided this achievement, which showed a great improvement on previous tournaments, and Carl and Morgan went psycho in front of goal, contributing a huge chunk of the staggeringly high 14 goals in 7 matches.
1999 saw yet more squad changes as we were forced to draft in Cameron Busby as a last minute goalkeeping replacement for his father Dave, who was recovering from jetlag (he'd been to Eastbourne...). Cameron turned in sensational performances for a 15 year old, and it is no coincidence that we never conceded more than 1 goal in a game in the tournament. Other new faces were Ninos, our flamboyant foreign signing, and another 15 year old in the form of Kenny who deputised for both Joseph and Morgan when injuries struck. The tournament was held on a Saturday this year, in comparison to the previous years when Sundays had been preferred, and this could explain why there were only 10 teams entered. Our makeshift team went one step further than last year by reaching the final, but we were defeated by a golden goal in extra time, by way of a deflected freekick in off the post... our luck was OUT!
2000 marked the beginning of the new Millennium (although some would argue about that!), and saw Supreme in a new tournament as a result of the cancellation of the Walpole Festival due to lack of interest. The West London Festival in Barnes was home to astroturf pitches complete with surrounding walls and resulting in frenetic non-stop action! Four group games saw us lose just once, and contained 15 goals from assorted sources within the squad. Carl once again took the mantle of goalscorer, and Sandeep and Joseph were not far behind, while at the other end Cameron performed heroics that defied his Arse-nal upbringing to keep 2 clean sheets in the tournament. Our out of practice squad qualified for the semifinals where an error by the organisers saw us play again as soon as our final group game finished and, unsurprisingly, we went out 1-0 to the eventual winners of the competition. Another learning curve, but what a ride!
All that is left to say is that this overview must be read with an understanding of the author's tongue-in-cheek (and mildly warped) sense of humour, and that everyone involved in Supreme Deluxe deserves all the praise that they don't get.
