New Hampshire Ramblers were an American soccer club. In 1995, the club was originally called the Montreal Ramblers, but were forced to move by FIFA before playing any games. They are most notable for having Khalil Azmi as their goalkeeper.
The semi-professional soccer club was founded in the late 1980s as Ramblers de Montreal by Noel Okorougo, financier and sports rights agent who succeeded Pascal Cifarelli as President of Ligue National du Soccer Quebec (LNSQ) and was also former Commissioner East of Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL) 1, 2 . During its years in LNSQ and CNSL Ramblers de Montreal played its home games at the Montreal Olympic Stadium annex in a highly competitive semi-professional league that included clubs such as Toronto Italia and Toronto Croatia both with huge ethnic support base.
At the end of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in USA, Ramblers de Montreal fortified its squad by signing Khalil Azmi 3,4 , goalkeeper of Morocco National team in USA World Cup 1994 as well as other African and South American players with professional soccer experience. With higher quality players, some with World Cup and professional football experience, Montreal Ramblers quickly outgrew the competition available in its domestic league. In addition, the pool of professional soccer players and fan base in Montreal was not large enough to accommodate a semi-professional club alongside a professional team Impact de Montreal owned and financed by Saputo family and favored by the establishment in Quebec. Ramblers de Montreal made a cross border move to USA in 1995 as a USISL expansion franchise called New Hampshire Ramblers.[1] Soccer authorities in Canada initially refused to grant Ramblers the right to relocate the semi-professional football franchise. 5,6.
The move of Ramblers FC franchise from Canada to US destroyed its progress on the field as many important players could not move to USA either because of work permits or ties to Montreal. The club was dealt a final blow when its original founder and patron Noel Okorougo departed to Europe in 1995 to work on Nike’s Football aspirations in Africa. The USISL franchise lasted only one season in USA finishing 5th ahead of Connecticut Wolves and Boston Storm in Division 3 Pro League Capital Conference which also featured New York Fever, North Jersey Imperials, Pennsylvania Freedom and Albany Alleycats. 7 . Subsequently, John Motta converted the residue of the club to form New Hampshire Phantoms 5,6.
hampshire, ramblers, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templates, tools, availabl. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as Reflinks documentation reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation September 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources New Hampshire Ramblers news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message New Hampshire Ramblers were an American soccer club In 1995 the club was originally called the Montreal Ramblers but were forced to move by FIFA before playing any games They are most notable for having Khalil Azmi as their goalkeeper The semi professional soccer club was founded in the late 1980s as Ramblers de Montreal by Noel Okorougo financier and sports rights agent who succeeded Pascal Cifarelli as President of Ligue National du Soccer Quebec LNSQ and was also former Commissioner East of Canadian National Soccer League CNSL 1 2 During its years in LNSQ and CNSL Ramblers de Montreal played its home games at the Montreal Olympic Stadium annex in a highly competitive semi professional league that included clubs such as Toronto Italia and Toronto Croatia both with huge ethnic support base At the end of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in USA Ramblers de Montreal fortified its squad by signing Khalil Azmi 3 4 goalkeeper of Morocco National team in USA World Cup 1994 as well as other African and South American players with professional soccer experience With higher quality players some with World Cup and professional football experience Montreal Ramblers quickly outgrew the competition available in its domestic league In addition the pool of professional soccer players and fan base in Montreal was not large enough to accommodate a semi professional club alongside a professional team Impact de Montreal owned and financed by Saputo family and favored by the establishment in Quebec Ramblers de Montreal made a cross border move to USA in 1995 as a USISL expansion franchise called New Hampshire Ramblers 1 Soccer authorities in Canada initially refused to grant Ramblers the right to relocate the semi professional football franchise 5 6 The move of Ramblers FC franchise from Canada to US destroyed its progress on the field as many important players could not move to USA either because of work permits or ties to Montreal The club was dealt a final blow when its original founder and patron Noel Okorougo departed to Europe in 1995 to work on Nike s Football aspirations in Africa The USISL franchise lasted only one season in USA finishing 5th ahead of Connecticut Wolves and Boston Storm in Division 3 Pro League Capital Conference which also featured New York Fever North Jersey Imperials Pennsylvania Freedom and Albany Alleycats 7 Subsequently John Motta converted the residue of the club to form New Hampshire Phantoms 5 6 Year by year EditYear Division League Reg Season Playoffs Open Cup1995 3 USISL Pro League 5th Capital Did not qualify Did not qualify1995 Roster 2 EditGoalkeepers Khalil Azmi Scott MarshallDefenders Joel Ogbunamiri Jerry Cipriani Sinali Coulibaly Zold Lajos Tom Wicker Sebastian NedelcuMidfielders Torrance Colvin David Trickett Jean Robert Toussaint Thomas Kowsz Reggie DrewForwards Marcello Tapia Kevin Halid Edin Dukic James Dedeus Mostafa Sahrane Khalid Choukr Paul DaccobertHead coach Pierre MindruReferences Edit Reinert Bob June 18 1995 Ramblers are filling the soccer void Boston Globe gt Source 1 Histoire de la LSEQ 1 2 Marc Tougas Un peu de respect s v p 2 3 FIFA World Cup 1994 Team Morocco 3 4 Morocco goal keeper is carried off the field 4 5 New Hampshire Ramblers 5 6 New Hampshire Ramblers vs Albany 6 7 USL 2 History in 2013 USL Media Guide p 148 7 8 https groups google com forum topic rec sport soccer qQyBbzvXeDo Se connecter Soccer Quebec Clubs WordPress http www la90eminute com un peu de respect s v p dead link Morocco Players in the 1994 Soccer World Cup Moroccan goal keeper Khalil Azmi is carried from the field 19 June http archives hippopress com 060511 cover html http www oursportscentral com boards archive index php t 15591 html dead link 2013 USL Media gUide United Soccer Leagues Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title New Hampshire Ramblers amp oldid 1112463243, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
