The latest manager to take part in "Get To Know The Manager" is David Van Gaal.
Please see to his Q & A's below:
Q. How long have you been playing Sunday League? A. I played from 2003 to 2005 and recently rejoined in October 2015.
Q. What got you in to Sunday League to begin with? A. There was a link on the Man United website back in 2003 which I clicked on. That took me to the game and many hours of distraction ever since.
Q. Were you on any other servers before the merge on to one server? A. I played on the Man United Server and the Arsenal Server. I was on Arsenal because the two clubs were huge rivals for the Premier League title in those years and there was an influx of Arsenal Fans on to the United server. They came to Flame us, as throwing insults was known then, and we had some great debates and traded a lot of fun banter . A bunch of us United fans invaded the Arsenal server to get our own back. I once entered a team on Smokey when a vacancy became available but the standard on there was way higher than on the club servers and I gave up after a couple of seasons of getting nowhere in a lower division.
Q. What are some of your biggest achievements on Sunday League? A. I’ve won 411 twice now since I came back. I also count reaching the Elite Cup final a few seasons ago as a big achievement.. Winning the managers table on the Arsenal server one season back in 2004 was also fun given the rivalry we had.
Q. Who is your biggest rival on Sunday League at the moment? A. I like to have a friendly rivalry with anybody who plays in Conference 4. Delboy and I enjoy a bit of banter in there and it would be great to see others join us.
Q. Why did you choose the team name you have? A. I thought I might attract too much attention if I used my real name so I substituted David for Louis and called us DVG ( David Van Gaals) Stars.
Q. What goals do you have for the future on Sunday League? A. I would really like to win FL1, although it’s incredibly difficult, the Champions Shield and the Elite Cup. If I ever do all of that I will retire to my paradise satisfied.
Q. What would you call your biggest loss on Sunday League? A. There have been quite a few disappointments. Probably the worst was in the run in to last season’s FL1. I’d been in the race for the title all season, interchanging at the top with Seg and Super Imps but then in the third last game of the season I lost to Floriana which made me dependent on other results. They didn’t go my way and I was out of it. I lost an Elite Cup final a few seasons back but that FL1 defeat was the worst.
Q. Which Conference would you say is the toughest right now on Sunday League? A. Last seasons’s UCB, when adjusted to original format, showed that Conference 1 and Conference 2 get the best results from their top 4 teams. I have to give the honour of being toughest to them, therefore. Conference 4 were 3rd. I still think Conf 4 is incredibly tough, especially in the mid range and at the bottom. SLB Aguias won FL4 this season but were relegated from 411.
Q. Which Football team do you support and why?
A. Manchester United. I grew up in Manchester and it was either United or be a Blue . I preferred Best, Charlton and Law to Bell, Lee and Sumurbee. I live near London now but still go to matches. I was a season ticket holder but didn’t renew it this season because we will be living in Spain this winter.
Q. What is your favourite Football memory? A. The 1984 Cup Winners Cup Quarter Final second leg v Barcelona at Old Trafford. United had lost the first leg away 0-2. I was standing just behind the goals where Robson headed us 1-0 up in the first half. Maradona and Schuster were playing for Barca. We scored two quick goals early in the second half to put us in ecstacy but then had to watch for an eternity as wave after wave of Barca attacks bore down on the goal I was standing behind. Once I was sure Maradona had scored but Bailey reached out a hand to push it around the post nearest to me. Barca only needed one goal to through on the away goal s rule. We hung on and it was amazing night. Maradona was so drained he said he was going to give up football. The fans invaded the pitch and Robson was carried off on their shoulders.
Q. Lastly, If you could change one thing on Sunday League, what would it be? A. I’d leave it as it is. It’s the classic game that we enjoy and changes might spoil it like SL2. The most annoying thing for me is that your gelling drops on the nights you are not in a Champions Shield or Elite Cup game which makes it difficult in FL1 the next day if you face one of the teams who is still in those competitions. We can’t all be in the champions shield if we want to play in an X11. But real football as its quirks too ( European away games before a Premier league game..or a trip to Salford for a pub team from Ashton) and I think Sunday League is very good.
Thanks to David for taking the time to fill this out
