FrankSkinneris ontouracrossthe
UK and Ireland from September 12 –
more details at frankskinnerlive.com
Oakland,Californiaisn’tassociatedwith‘soccer’.
TheNFL,NBAandMLBhavelongdominatedsports
fans’attentioninthearea.Buttimesarechanging.
Inthesummerof2016,a groupofpassionatelocals
gatheredtodiscusstheideaofa semi-professional
footballteamtoengagethecommunity.Fast-forward
threeyearsandthatambitiousdreamfromco-creators
EdreeceArghandiwalandBennoNagel,a formercoach
withDinamoZagrebandTwente,hasbecomereality.
TheirideahasproducedOaklandRootsSportsClub,
a professionalteamonthebrinkoftheirdebutseason
inthefourthtierofAmerica’sfootballpyramid.
Theirtimingcouldn’tbemoreperfect.Twoofthe
threemajorfranchisesareontheirwayoutofOakland:
theNFL’sRaidersareofftoLasVegasin2020,andthe
NBA’sGoldenStateWarriorsareheadingacrossthe
bridgetosunnySanFrancisco.A sportingvoidexists
and‘TheRoots’wanttofillit.
‘Thisis aboutOaklandfirst,
always’is theclubslogan,andwith
goodreason.Inthepastfiveyears,
twoclubshavetriedandfailedto
createa professionalteaminthe
area.Runninga clubisn’tcheap,
andif youdon’tgetthefansonside
early,yourstadiumwillsitempty
regardlessofresults.Oakland
Rootsunderstandtheimportance
ofcommunityties,andthey’ve
marketed the team in a way that’s
attractive to investors and fans.Taketheclub’screst,designedbyMatthewWolff,who
alsocreatedNigeria’sinternet-breaking 2018 WorldCup
kit.Themosaiccoloursdepictthecity’sdiversity.Sturdy
rootsconnecteachcolourtogethersteadfastunder
Oakland’sfamousoaktree.Nothingis arbitrary.Thekits
arealsowovenwithnodstoOaklandthroughout.
InFebruarythisyear,theRootsmadetheirfirst
signing:26-year-oldOaklandnativeDevanteDubose
(above).It wasa marqueemoment.In2018,Dubose
waswinningpromotionalongsideDidierDrogbaat
PhoenixRising,yetherehewasnow,backinhis
hometown,lookingtomakea difference.
“Igettobea partofthefutureofOakland
professionalsoccerforyearstocome,andI getto
impactmycommunityandbeanexample,”the
defendersaid.“Igettobea bridgetotheyoungkids
whohavedreamsofbecomingprosoccerplayersin
Oakland.”Themaraudingfull-backnotonlyunderstands
theclub’saimsandambitions;he
embodieseverythingthatTheRoots
arestrivingtoachieve,notjuston
thepitch,butoffit aswell.
OaklandRootsSportsClubwillplay
theirfirsteverprofessionalgame
thismonth,intheNationalPremier
SoccerLeagueFoundersCup,with
theleaguetofollowearlynextyear.
Creatinga clubisn’teasy.We’llbe
keepinga watchfuleyeonhowthe
Roots fare after planting their seed.
Hunter GodsonWhyyoushouldcareaboutOaklandRootsstartingintheUSA’sfourthtier
THE WORLD’S nEWEST CULT CLUB
me said, “The poor bugger – he’s had to
sit through this lot and now he’s got to
go home and make his own tea.”
What’s the best food you’ve ever had
at a game?
The chicken balti pies at West Brom are
incredible. I’ve had some fancy meals in
hospitality, but nothing like those pies.
Tell us something about your
managers that we won’t know?
Slaven Bilic has a law degree. Adrian
Chiles told me that; it had better be true.
Where’s the strangest or best place
you’ve ever met a player or manager?
I once bumped into Mick McCarthy in
an airport toilet. He was with Wolves at
the time, so it was a bit awkward.
I probably could’ve killed him and got
away with it. But he was very friendly.
There aren’t many men who
have the confidence to hold
a conversation at the urinal,
but Mick’s one of them.
If you could drop yourself
into your all-time team,
who would you be
playing alongside?
I’d be in the 1980 West
Brom team that finished
third in the league, with
Cunningham, Cyrille
Regis and Bryan
Robson. Very, very
occasionally you see
a team that, if they
weren’t professional
players, would have
been happy in the local
park, playing together
- they take joy from
each other’s ability. Ron
Atkinson encouraged
them to play freely. Success wasn’t the
norm at the club and suddenly we had
these fantastic players.
Who’d be your favourite room-mate?
Willie Johnston, who played for us in
the ’70s. I interviewed him once at
Birmingham Town Hall, and he was
hilarious. He said that when he bought
Bobby Gould’s house, Bobby took the
interior doors with him, in the same
way people take furniture. [Willie] also
kicked a referee up the arse in a League
Cup game. Later, he said, “I didn’t
mean to kick him up the backside, but
he turned around at the last minute.”
Who should we speak to next?
I would say Adrian Chiles but you don’t
want West Brom twice. Do you know
Tim Key, the comedian? He’s a massive
football fan and he has encyclopaedic
knowledge. You’d be very pleasantly
surprised by him.
UPFROnT