SIMEON JACKSON WINS 2009 CANADIAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR

The Canadian Soccer Association announced today that Simeon Jackson is the male selection for the 2009 Canadian Players of the Year award. Jackson was honoured in a vote shared by Canadian media (50%) and Canadian coaches who have taken the Canadian Soccer Association’s national course at the B and A levels (50%).

Jackson of Mississauga, ON wins the award for the first time. His co-winner Christine Sinclair of Burnaby, BC – announced yesterday – is a five-time winner of the prize.

“This is a fantastic achievement for Simeon,” said Canadian national head coach Stephen Hart. “He had an excellent club season and performed admirably at the national level. Full congratulations to Simeon.”

In 2009, the 22-year old striker helped Gillingham FC earn a promotion to League One in England. In the second half of the 2008-09 season, he scored nine goals in 25 League Two appearances, including three goals in the final two playoff matches to earn Gillingham FC the promotion for the 2009-10 season. It was on 23 May 2009 in front of 53,706 fans at Wembley Stadium that Jackson scored the winning goal of a Gillingham FC 1:0 victory over Shrewsbury to secure the promotion. Jackson scored on a header in the 91st minute of play.

Just one week later, he made his international debut with the Canadian national team in a 1:0 victory over Cyprus in Larnaka. Again, Jackson scored the lone goal of the match, this one the first of his international career.

Over the summer, Jackson represented Canada at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He helped Canada reach the quarter-final stage. He was called up again in November for a pair of friendly matches in Europe, thus earning him seven national appearances by year’s end.

As for the start of the 2009-10 England League One season, Jackson has been in fine form through the first 18 games of the season. He has scored 10 goals including an opening-day hat trick against Swindon Town on 8 August. He scored two additional goals in League Cup matches against Plymouth and Premiership opponent Blackburn. The 25 August goal against Blackburn was Jackson’s second of the year against a Premiership opponent; his first was a 4 January 2009 goal against Aston Villa in FA Cup action.

While the media across the country and coaches from the community levels to national teams honoured Jackson and Sinclair as the top national players, Canadian coaches honoured two pairs of teenagers earlier this week in other 2009 player award announcements. Nana Attakora (Orangeville, ON) and Chelsea Stewart (The Pas, MB) were named co-winners of the Canadian U-20 Players of the Year award while Russell Teibert (Niagara Falls, ON) and Abigail Raymer (Victoria, BC) were named co-winners of the Canadian U-17 Players of the Year award.

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TG - I had the chance to vote and Simeon Jackson got my vote. We'll talk more about it on the show on Sunday evening. I am actually a little surprised that Jackson won. I thought for sure, the Toronto media would have swayed the vote with Dwayne De Rosario. My faith is renewed.

Simeon Jackson will join Full-Time in the weeks to come. Just trying to track him down. Simeon, answer your phone.

MM - I also voted for Simeon Jackson and - just like Tyler - am very surprised that he actually won the award.

That said, it appeared to be an incredibly tight vote. 1. Jackson (18.2); 2. Dwayne De Rosario (17.6); 3. Julian de Guzman (17.4).

My question is... WTF? How was it even this close. While I repeat, I am surprised that Jackson actually won (thinking that everyone would for some reason vote for the TFC boys), I'm still stunned that people made it this close.

What impact did Julian de Guzman make in 2009? Did Dwayne De Rosario really shine in 2009 for club and country?

Jackson had a spectacular year. He led his club to promotion, scored on his international debut, and provided some spark in the Gold Cup.

Tune in late Sunday night / Monday morning (midnight - Monday, December 21st) for more.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW

Here's how the actualy draw has broken down...


VfB Stuttgart v Barcelona

Olympiakos v Bordeaux

Internazionale v Chelsea

Bayern Munich v Fiorentina

CSKA Moscow v Sevilla FC

Lyon v Real Madrid

FC Porto v Arsenal

AC Milan v Manchester United

Teibert, Raymer named Canadian U-17 Players of the Year

Canadian teenagers Russell Teibert and Abigail Raymer have been named Canadian U-17 Players of the Year for the 2009 soccer season. The two stars were honoured in a vote shared by national-team coaches (50%) and Canadian coaches who have taken the Canadian Soccer Association’s national course at the B and A levels (50%).

Raymer is a member of Canada's women's U-17 team. She took part in the Canadian team's first camp in October as the team began preparations for the 2010 CONCACAF Women's Under-17 Championship in March. She started the 2009 season as a member of the Canadian Soccer Association's National Training Centre in British Columbia, but also as part of Gordon Head Gold in the Lower Island Soccer Association's 2008-09 Premier League. For the 2009-10 season, she joined the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Prospects development team.

In July, the Victoria, BC striker won a bronze medal with British Columbia at the 2009 BMO National Championships Nutrilite All Stars U-16 girls competition in Richmond, BC. It was her second medal at the national championships, having previously won a gold at the 2007 Nutrilite All Stars U-14 competition in Longueuil, QC.

As for Teibert, the Niagara Falls, ON midfielder is now a two-time winner of the Canadian U-17 Player of the Year award. He split the 2009 season between the national U-17 team and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency side. He served as Canada’s captain at the 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship in Tijuana, Mexico. He scored Canada’s first goal of the opening match, a 1:1 draw with Honduras. At the club level, he took part in Whitecaps Residency trips to USA (Dallas Cup), Germany and Spain. Teibert also scored one goal and added four assists in 14 matches during the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development season. He scored his first PDL goal on 5 June against the Seattle Wolves.

THE 2009-10 FULL-TIME CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW

As mentioned and previewed on the big show, we took some time post-program to do our own version of the round of 16 UEFA Champions League draw.

Our producer Keith Van Brabant selected the names out of the hat. Host Mike Martignago was the official master of ceremonies, and host Tyler Green was the official recorder of the draw.

This is what our knockout round would look like:

Real Madrid v Lyon

Sevilla v CSKA Moscow

Arsenal v Inter Milan

Manchester United v Bayern Munich

Barcelona v Olympiakos

Bordeaux v Stuttgart

Chelsea v AC Milan

Fiorentina v Porto

So there you have it. Plenty of very interesting match-ups. Let's hope we improve on our 1 out of 8 performance from last year.

Your thoughts? As always, email us at fulltime@teamradio.ca.

Donovan close to January loan deal at Everton

Everton are expected to sign USA international Landon Donovan on a three-month loan deal in January.

Donovan, a Los Angeles Galaxy club-mate of David Beckham, needs to play competitive football at the end of the Major League Soccer to maintain his fitness for the World Cup finals in South Africa in June.

His move is similar to the one that Beckham has agreed with AC Milan. Sources at Everton have confirmed that negotiations are at an advanced stage with the 27-year-old, who is the USA's all-time leading scorer.

Donovan has previously had spells with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, but failed to find his best form in the German league.

Stephen Hart named Canada’s new men’s head coach

As expected, Stephen Hart was named Canada's new men's head coach. It has been expected for a while and the CSA finally does something right. The players all seem to like him (Will Johnson reiterated that fact when he joined us a few weeks ago), the fans seem to like him and it would also appear the CSA seems to like him. So that's one thing the CSA has officially gotten right. Can they get something else right and move in a forward direction? Can David Hoilett be tempted to lay for Canada? Will Canada play for friendlies? Will Canada make the World Cup in 2014? I guess we will wait and see. In the meantime, it looks like the CSA might actually be making moves in a positive, forward direction.



Here's the official release:

Stephen Hart named Canada’s new men’s head coach

The Canadian Soccer Association announced today that Stephen Hart has been appointed head coach of Canada’s national team. Hart will be in charge of Canada’s qualification efforts as Canada works toward the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™.

"Stephen Hart is the man in charge with the task to lead Canada to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil," said Canadian Soccer Association president Dr. Dominic Maestracci. "He delivers an exciting brand of football that has proven to be successful against our CONCACAF opponents. He will have full support of our country as he builds a winning team that will qualify us for Brazil in four years time."

“I am honoured to be chosen for this prestigious and very important position,” said national head coach Stephen Hart. “I am fully aware of the expectation and look forward to the challenge of building a team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers and beyond.”

Hart most recently served as Canada’s interim head coach for the 2009 season. He helped Canada compile a record of four wins, one draw and three losses, including a quarter-final finish at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. In the group stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Hart led Canada to a first-place finish in its group. In the quarter-final stage, Canada lost 0:1 to Honduras who scored on a penalty kick.

In 18 career games over two stints as Canada’s head coach (2006-07 and 2009), Hart has posted nine wins, two draws and seven losses. His 50% ratio of wins to games is the highest in Association history, ranking ahead of Barrie Clarke and Tony Taylor who each won six of 14 games for a 43% ratio. In those 18 games, Hart's teams have averaged 1.33 goals scored per game and 0.94 goals allowed per game – both the second-best totals behind Clarke’s teams from the early 1980s (1.57 goals scored and 0.93 goals allowed per game).

Hart has been the Canadian Soccer Association’s Technical Director since March 2008. In this role, he oversaw the Association’s long-term player development program (Wellness to World Cup presented by BMO) and was in charge of directing and monitoring the national development teams, the coaching education program, the National Training Centres, and the sports medicine program. This vacancy will be filled in the coming months.

CONCACAF’s next round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers™ is scheduled to begin in 2012, which will take place after the next CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2011. To date, Canada’s men’s national team has won two CONCACAF championships – the 1985 CONCACAF Men’s Championship (which qualified Canada for the 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico™) and the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup (which qualified Canada for the FIFA Confederations Cup Korea/Japan 2001).

THE THREE LIONS CAFE

Our good friends at The Three Lions Cafe have a new website to tantalize your tastebuds along with getting your football/soccer watching fix. You can check it out here.

WHITECAPS GOALKEEPER JAY NOLLY SIGNS NEW DEAL

VANCOUVER, BC - Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced today that they have re-signed Jay Nolly. The goalkeeper has agreed to a new one-year deal - plus an option - with the North American Soccer League outfit.

Nolly, 27, will be entering his third season with the 'Caps in 2010, having initially joined the club on January 24, 2008. During his first two years with Vancouver, the shot-stopper has amassed a 31W-21L-18D record in 71 appearances for 6,355 minutes of action. This includes 23 shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.16.

Last season, the native of Littleton, Colorado, was named the Whitecaps Most Valuable Player after playing in every minute (3,600) of the club's 40 United Soccer Leagues First Division (USL-1) and Nutrilite Canadian Championship matches. His efforts made him the first Whitecaps goalkeeper to play every minute in a single season since Arnie Mausser achieved the feat during the 1977 NASL campaign. Nolly compiled a 16W-13L-11D record in 2009, earning 12 shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.18. This included three clean sheets and a goals-against average of 0.25 in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, as well as some stellar performances during the Whitecaps playoff run to the USL-1 Championship Series.

In his first season with the 'Caps, Nolly was named 2008 Whitecaps Defender of the Year after recording 11 shutouts in 31 appearances. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound keeper was instrumental in leading the men's team to their second USL-1 Championship title in three seasons that year.

Before joining the Whitecaps, Nolly spent three years in Major League Soccer with Real Salt Lake and D.C. United after being selected by RSL in the second round (22nd overall) of the 2005 MLS SuperDraft. At Indiana University, Nolly was instrumental in helping Indiana win back-to-back NCAA Division I championship titles in 2003 and 2004.