Meet FC Spare Tire, a Greater Seattle Soccer League institution

October 5, 6:41 AMSeattle Soccer ExaminerDavid Falk

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Our first installment in the ongoing saga of Greater Seattle Soccer League club FC Spare Tire debuts today. Spare Tire have been around since 2002 and have played over 250 matches in the GSSL. Players pay a yearly $25 fee to play in the league, and clubs are run in various fashions from organized to haphazardly and everywhere in between.

The GSSL is wildly popular in the region, with tens of thousands of players having competed over the years. We'll have more on the GSSL in a future story. Now it is time to pass the pen over to Tim Farley of FCST and get some questions anwered!

Get in on the ground floor: Join our new GSSL forum community over at GOALSeattle!

How / when / where / why did FCST get started?

FC Spare Tire came into existence in the winter of 2002, when Shoreline-area friends from high school, college and those they knew who could kick a soccer ball decided they had enough for a 15-man team. While none had any high school varsity soccer experience, all enjoyed the game at a co-rec or intramural level, and entered the GSSL in the spring of 2002 in the lowest of men’s open division levels. 

Have you always played league in the GSSL? Ever play anyone outside of the league?
We have only played in the GSSL. The Sunday time is a good one for us, the fees are reasonable, and the field locations are within a good distance from where we all live. We have played all of our 251 games only within the GSSL.

What's the story behind your pretty vast web presence? A nifty home site, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. Twitter? (visit: www.FCSpareTire.com)
It occurred to me (Tim Farley) that it would be relatively easy to create a free-to-use, two-page Web site: the main to offer news on the recent match, and the other to highlight any injuries players had so as to inform the rest of the team during the week if we’d be short players for any reason. Before long, the site literally blossomed to include five photos (again, easy to create from a clunky, 2-pixel $250 digital camera), jokes, links to soccer sites, and the now infamous Kangaroo Court (stolen from the Mariners). As time has gone by, more opportunities to showcase ourselves and our love for the game have cropped up in the form of extra Web site pages to the new social media site opportunities. Today, our site averages 500 page hits each week—10 times more than it did in the early days of 2002.

On a scale of "we couldn't care less" to "we'd sacrifice our first born," where would you say your club fits in terms of competitive nature?

We’re competitive, let there be no doubt. We all look increasingly forward throughout the week to playing on Sundays. After 250+ games, we have a good idea of the strength of our opponents and know what it will likely take to be successful in any given match. We always strive to come away with a good result (gritty tie or win) but we’d never sacrifice a thing to win. Others long-time players say:
“We play to win, but most importantly to have fun and for the camaraderie.” - defender Don Gill-More
“We’d sacrifice the second burger at a barbecue.” – midfielder Dean Lencioni
“We all enjoying winning more, but we have experienced enough blow outs to not really care, except maybe during that particular game.   So I would say it is right in the middle which is why we don't have a high roster turnover.” – forward Steve Lassiter

 What's more important: looking good or winning ugly?
While we covet the three points of a win anytime, we’d probably say it’s most important at this point to look good—that means we are effectively trapping, passing, moving to space and communicating—something we have struggled to succeed in doing in the past seven years of our club’s existence! Maybe it’s a combination of both. It’s a rare day when we win ugly or look especially good, for that matter. Others thought what is most important about being a member of the team:
“The camaraderie and sportsmanship for each other. We win a lot of games, but not because we look pretty doing it.  We are cohesive because we’ve played together so long.” – Gill-More
“Seeing the rest of the guys on a regular basis and getting a good game where we all try our best, which isn't always related to winning.” -Lencioni
“We have a group of guys who all get along, and that know the limitations each player has. As long has people are trying, we won't get frustrated with each other, or if they don't try to do more than they are cable to do.  We are really good at poking fun at each other when we do something dumb.” - Lassiter

Forward Steve Lassiter steps to thwart a launch upfield in Sunday's FC Spare Tire match.
 

About the club name...
Just as you would imagine—in early 2002, it almost was a prerequisite to have a ‘spare tire’ around one’s belly to even join the team. Today we loosely and in jest still hold true to that but have slimmed down, for the most part, if you can believe that, through the years!
 

If a complete stranger who loves soccer showed up at one of your matches to watch, what impression do you think they'd come away with?
A soccer-loving stranger would leave the match with the thought that we play hard, might tire late, but mainly enjoy ourselves out on the field -- win, lose or draw. We’re definitely in the near-bottom tier of open play for a reason, but we can hang with nearly anyone and have fun in the process. Others say:
“They would want to play with us and get to know us because we look like we are having a good time and competitive at the same time without going overboard.” – Gill-More
“They're not the most talented bunch, but they give it their best effort.” - Lencioni
“I think generally it would be ‘how did those guys stay in that game?’. It is obvious that other teams have more individual skill than we do, but we play better as a team. Since we know each other so well, we are generally able to cover for some one if a mistake is made.  As most soccer players know, if you hang around for a while it only takes one chance to get a result in a game.” - Lassiter

Forward Mike Gill-More eludes two defenders with a dribble around the left of the center circle.

Why do you think the GSSL is so popular? (Has so many teams)
The GSSL is as popular as it is because it has a long-standing history in the Seattle area. A few of our players have been GSSL-involved for nearly 20 years. The GSSL provides a good, consistent product that allows teams and players an avenue to play the game they love. The GSSL provides trophies to divisional winners and prizes for top goal scorers and keepers each season – this incentive is always something to shoot for that other leagues may not provide. The league takes into consideration where and when teams prefer to play their games. And despite rising costs, fees are relatively inexpensive. Others had to say:
“Because soccer is a popular sport that anyone can do at a wide variety of ages and is good exercise and competition.” – Gill-More
“Because anyone, including past their prime (if they ever had one) wanna-be soccer players get to enjoy the beautiful game.” - Lencioni
“It is the longest running men's league that I am aware of, and it has the name recognition.  Also, with the longevity of the league, they have been able to keep some of the prime playing times on Sundays.  I also thinking people are looking for somewhere to play that has similar rules (FIFA) to what we see on TV.  There are other leagues where you can get called for a foul if you look at an opponent incorrectly.” – Lassiter

Forward Isaiah Harris eyes a ball at the sideline. Spare Tire edged Seattle Assault 1:0 on Sunday to take over first place in the division.

MATCH REPORT: Spare Tire edge Seattle Assualt 1:0 on October 4th

SHORELINE (Oct. 4)—FC Spare Tire converted its only corner kick of the morning just ahead of the halftime whistle for the game-winner, and the defense held steady throughout in a 1-0 shutout over Seattle Assault late Sunday morning at Shoreline B.

The result became first-time opponent Seattle Assault’s first loss in its last six contests dating back to early May. 

The win was important as an under-the weather keeper Shelby Dobbs earned his division-leading second clean sheet on the season and in the process dropped his career goals against average to 1.55. It also keeps Tire ahead in the standings without a loss after four weeks of fall play (2-0-2).

Going into the game, the Assault had notched a 3-2 win over Gunners FC at Lower Woodland just 15 hours earlier—and despite losing one player in the second half to a hamstring injury, the team showed little if any signs of fatigue.

A look to the Tire sideline at the opening whistle produced no substitute players but within 20 minutes, sights for sore eyes arrived: forward Isaiah Harris, midfielder Matt Galvin (for his second game since winter session), and defender Shawn Menning, who had to be summoned by phone minutes earlier to remove himself from his football couch lend his team a hand.

Midfielder Matt Galvin looks at available space with the ball.

Tire lost the coin toss (whistle-in-hand guess) and was destined to have Dobbs look into the sun for the first half, and go into the win in the second. Both teams showed decent ball control and penetration into the other’s half during opening moments, with Tire at a small advantage with the looks on goal it saw, but couldn’t convert: A great early chance came as a bouncer to an open forward Matt Loesch in the box that was volleyed just high over the crossbar. 

For the most part, the Assault physical play led to Tire dispossession and breaks of their own—but the Tire defense was there each time to turn chances away or watch shots roll ever so slightly wide of posts. Defenders Scott Strasser, Don Gill-More, Burger and Menning were busy stepping to balls and clearing man away to prevent Dobbs from having to make any spectacular saves. 

Tire’s break came with about five minutes to play in the half. A ball over the end line became Tire’s only corner kick of the match. Midfielder Tim Farley stepped up to offer a Beckham imitation, lefty-style, into the box. 

His hard, slight-curving drive entered the box and found the head of Loesch who knocked it in off the Assault keeper for the score. Loesch had anticipated his defenders didn’t think he’d jump as he did to meet the cross.

“It was a perfect ball,” Loesch said of the kick in. “It was right on my head. I just had to be there and redirect it. The defender was on my back—he wasn’t coming around—and it was perfect.” 

Loesch has scored goals four in his past five and nine of his past nine games played. His goal was also his fourth of the season, 14th of the year (two behind Mike Gill-More in 2009), and 27th all-time, which ties him with former player Dave Kalinski for seventh place on the all-time team scoring list.

Defender Scott Strasser controls in the FCST zone.

What may have been the most special about the goal is that due to a substitution snafu a moment earlier, Tire only had 10 men on the field at the time.

So if the first half involved getting up for a few high-ball lofts and cleaning up any trash that came Dobbs’ way, the second was a pretty much opposite. Dobbs was tested nearly a dozen times in the second half, mainly by working with his defense to clear decent corner kicks and long throw-ins away from the area.

Tire had chances to pad its lead in the second half, but they came at a lesser clip, for sure. Crosses from the wings were intercepted by the SA defense, and a Galvin takedown by two SA players in the corner of the box went uncalled. And possibly the best chance came from a 20-yard tailing blast from Mike Gill-More that just sailed wide of the upper right V.

Seattle Assault had chance after chance to equalize or quite easily take a lead by the flurry of chances it had in the last segment of the game. A combined eight corner kicks and deep throw-ins kept the Tire defense alert, and after lots of pinball action, each look resulted in a clear away. Twice the Assault supporters let out collective groans when defenders Loesch and Stern cleared away balls inches away from the goal line late in the match, which in hindsight, were true game-savers. 

After the game, the team commented on the physicality of play, and praise for teammates ran the gamut.

“This was great,” Stern said of the game. “It felt real good—I mean, this was a solid team but, you know, we just seemed to have it over them by playing real well and beating them to balls. The defense did real well. They were a solid offense, I’ll tell you, that tall guy, he had a lot of weight to throw around, but we kept it together pretty well. Shelby did awesome—last second save—he’s getting better every game, I think.”

“These guys were tough,” defender Scott Strasser said, “and we’re very fortunate to come away with a 1-0 win today. But we stepped up, had some great shots up front, had some great opportunities, and some great defense. A great game overall.”

“It was a tough game,” thought defender Phil Burger. “They were really good. Staying with them was tough, so was running with them a lot. We were all getting pretty tired toward the end there, I think, but we stayed with them. We did a great job marking up, when they were switching or whatever, just talking. We stayed with them, and Shelby had some awesome saves back there.”

“It was awesome and fun,” Menning said. “It was a nice, physical game—I like these games. They’re good. They were good, and it was good going up against a team that was our size—or bigger. And it was all about Shelby, baby. All Shelby.”

“Jim kept number 11 in check all game,” Shelby said in deflection of the praise. “He’s the reason, I think, we win this game.”

“It was good playing a tough team like this,” commented Loesch. “They were a very excellent team where we had to play tight. They were rough—not dirty—but it was a nice, physical game and was a lot of fun to play. It was nice seeing Galvin out again. IT was great to have him on the field, and he played well. And our defense played great. We had at least two or three that we cleared off the line, and my hat’s off to Dobbs who had a lot of great saves, and he went out for a lot of balls, which is good.”

“Thank goodness for Matt Loesch,” said Hodson. “That’s all I gotta say. He got that one sweet goal in the first half, and that’s all we needed. But those guys were pretty good. We did match up well with them, and had the mental toughness to handle their physical strength. The defense was solid, man—hats off to Phil, Strass, Gill-More, Jim, Menning, Strass and Shelby—all those guys—who played a good, strong game today.”