When England were drawn with USA at the World Cup 2010 draw in December, it gave me a great idea. Why not organise an England v USA football match with my SharePoint buddies, here and across the pond, prior to the most eagerly anticipated SharePoint conference this year – SharePoint Evolution?!
Well that’s exactly what I’ve done, and rather than just one match, I’ve hired a pitch for 2 hours so we can have a mini-tournament so as many people as possible can play, watch and have fun!! So let the games and the banter begin…..
Here’s a quick run down of the plans….
Date: SUNDAY April 18th
Time: 4pm – 6pm
Venue: Powerleague, Regents Place, 26 Euston Centre, London NW1 2JL
Format:
There will be 3 teams on the day:
– England, USA, Rest of the World
I’ve booked a 7-a-side pitch for 2 hours, which will give ample time for 4 matches of 20 mins each, giving everyone a run out and a breather at the same time. The matches will be as follows:
Match 1: England vs USA
Match 2: Rest of World vs England
Match 3: USA vs Rest of World
FINAL: Best 2 teams playoff for the SPEvo World Trophy!
Rules:
Rules will be very relaxed, but I have booked a qualified referee just in case 🙂
Players:
I still need players!!! If you want to take part, please email me (mark@id-live.com) or comment on this blog post. Players will get further info regarding kit etc via email.
Spectators:
If you’re not intending to play, why not come down and support your team? The more the merrier! There’s plenty of room for people to watch and chant and shout at the referee….
Sponsors:
Unfortunately, this event couldn’t happen for free. Intelligent Decisioning Ltd, the SharePoint/CRM/Workflow Consultancy I co-direct will be funding part of the day, and I very happy to announce that Combined Knowledge will also be sponsoring the event. As well as being a global premier SharePoint Training organisation, and a business partner of ours, they are also the brains and brawn behind the SharePoint Evolutions Conference! Big thanks to Steve, Zoe and the team!!
Afters:
Not those afters! I’m talking food and beer after the game at a good old London Pub. There are loads on the Euston Road near the venue, but I will be suggesting a specific one shortly. Watch this space…
So… please come along to what will surely be a very entertaining event and a real ice-breaker for the fantastic SharePoint Evolutions Conference which takes place the following few days. With people coming to London from all over the world, what better way to get everyone together than ‘the beautiful game’.
Please contact me if you wish to take part in any way, shape or form…
Mark Macrae: SharePoint/CRM/BI 
Hi,
This was a good idea i hope the England v USA football match with your SharePoint buddies went well. I am from the uk and was disappointed with Englands performance in the world cup but thought the USA did very well.
Mark,
I am a Trainer at CK and although it is a while since I played, I am ready to put on my boots for one last game.
(actually I am only interested in the food and beer afterwards!).
Tony.
Hi Mark,
I’m a trainer at Combined KNowledge, and Zoe mentioned the football tournament to me earlier today.
I’d love to get involved – I’m out in London the night before, but I’m sure I can drag myself around a football pitch.
Also, I hear Steve Smith was a keen footballer in his youth… I’ll try and twist his arm…
Russ
Mark – if you’re really desperate (and I mean scraping the barrel) for Englishmen let me know, I will happily step in, but be aware of the following:
Football isn’t generally played by 18 stone gentlemen with broken teeth and gnarled ears, and I am one of those.
I do not comprehend the rules of football, if someone has the ball (and is wearing a different coloured shirt than I) why can I not snap him in two and feast on the remains?
Maybe I shouldn’t step in after all… probably best to remain behind a lens snapping the games than getting dealt more cards than I did at #SPC09 in Vegas 😉