Royal Blues F.C.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

N.B. league regulations have imposed no foreigner limitations for the Chinese Taipei Intercity Football League Season 2015/16.

Technical staff

Achievements

In 2014/2015 "Royal Blues" were crowned champions of BML the League title of the second division in Taiwanese football. TaipeiFootball.com.tw

History

The Beginning

The Royal Blues were once called Rogues FC, founded in 2009 and named after an infamous bar in a country residing in Asia. The ‘New’ Royal Blues was renamed by Matt Underwood and Robert Iwanicki and was brought back to life ready for the 2012/13 season with big ambitions in mind. The first tournament to be entered was the 2012/13 BML League (Businessman’s League) which is the highest amateur league in Taiwan and can also be regarded as the 2nd strongest league in the country. Ex -International and top tier league players populate this league and with strong sponsorship and league backing, teams have the chance to play on one of the best maintained pitches in the country. This first BML season for the Blues saw them finish in 6th place and would set the benchmark of development for the seasons to come.

2013/14 Season

The 2013/14 BML season saw current Manager and Joint Head Coach Robert Iwanicki team up with other current Head Coach, Matt Ward. A 3rd-place finish saw an improvement with disappointment by losing out on a 2nd-place finish by a narrow margin but still, no more could have been expected after inconsistencies running through the squad with players dropping out and motivation for the game decreasing throughout the city. Things had to change and on the back end of 2014 the Blues took their chance. After an unsettled 2013/14 campaign the squad was now becoming more organized with each passing week, and most of the reasoning being down to setting a culture of excellence. By giving players opportunities to train, by giving effective training sessions and by building a team philosophy that became bigger than any individual, the small steps were starting to be taken that with hard work would lead into something bigger. These steps were fast forwarded sooner than expected.

Registration for the Intercity Division 1 (Highest level league in the country of Taiwan) came around in 2014 and with the Royal Blues’ efforts to modernize the club and proof that the positive ambition was in place, the Blues were accepted into the Division 1 play-offs. This was to be the start of a new adventure and a huge step for the club and all involved with it but there was one drawback; All teams would be limited to playing only 3 foreign players on the pitch at any one time. The Royal Blues were a team made up of foreign players! The foreign limitation rule for the upcoming playoffs and league season meant that one of the Blues’ would be rivals dropped out – Taipei City Dragons. The Dragons were also a foreign team and had competed in Division1 the previous year finishing bottom of a difficult league and under testing circumstances. An interesting Taipei rivalry wasn’t to be and the Royal Blues continued with the plan ahead and started to recruit local Taiwanese players – All to be done in the space of 6 weeks to be ready in time for the qualifiers.

Qualifiers for the First Time

With a lot of hard work, training 3 times a week and player deals sealed that would have entitled players to performance bonuses, the qualifiers started and the Blue’s fate would be sealed after 2 matches against 2 other teams – 1 of them relegated from Division 1 and the other a college team from the South of Taiwan. With limited preparation time and only a small selection of local players to choose from, it was never going to be an easy task. The trials that were held before hand attracted many Taiwanese players with between 20–30 players coming to each of the trials and showing their skills. This was a sign that football needed to be used more as a social weapon and to bring people together, showing to everyone that there are still a large number of players in the country who get overlooked for a number of reasons. This was to be one of the most satisfying achievements so far – giving people a chance to play football. A chance to join together and play the most popular sport in the world. The first match came and flew by so fast. We was 3–0 down at half time and managed to pull it back to 3–3 in the 2nd half, only to lose it in the final stages 3–5.

The second match saw the Blues lose 4–1 and at the same time ended any hope of qualification into Division 1 but with heads down, the heart could be full because the effort by everyone in both matches was one to be proud of. In the end, the lack of preparation time and player availability were big issues but at the same time, it was maybe a sign that the Blues should wait a bit longer to find their feet and continue their development. Another finding from the qualifying attempts was the crowd size that came to watch these matches. People turned up and produced bigger crowds than almost all of the actual Division 1 matches themselves, something that would need to improve if the league was to become a power in the AFC.

The Next Development – 2014/15 Season

After learning that there would be no Division 1 football this season, another BML season it was and it would turn out to be the start of things to come for the Blues. This year any team from four could have been tipped for the championship and after a very close battle with rivals Carnegies FC, the Royal Blues were crowned BML champions after losing only 1 match and a result that all the players deserved. Finally the pieces were starting to come together and with a mixture of player ability, commitment and desire, the development of the team was plain to see. The Royal Blues identity was growing and so too their wanting of developing football across the whole of the country. So what does a developing club need next? One who has a kid’s academy and licensed coaches who also wish to build the sport at grassroots level...... their own managed training pitch and facility.

A setback only to make desire burn harder After putting together an in-depth presentation translated in both English and Chinese, the Royal Blues were invited to a football pitch selection hearing, where they would put forward their case to manage maintenance of their own pitch and facility. After showing plans for football growth for the city of Taipei and with resources to count on professional turf care advice, the Blues’ facility presentation was unsuccessful and given again to the previous owners who have been the owners for many years, regardless that the same group can only hold a facility for a period of 2 years. This was a huge setback and showed the difficult task of finding somewhere to play in the city of playable quality. 3 of the main pitches are accounted for by teams who have been running for many years but apart from Fritz Taipei (Organizers of the BML), the others are reluctant to share the pitches in their possession for other football lovers. There was one time at a pitch which was booked out by the Blues through the city’s Sports Office, when a training session didn’t even start. As the Royal Blues prepared to start a friendly match as part of match preparation, players from the group who maintain the pitch came onto the field and started to pull down goalposts. It was crazy behavior by people who were meant to be ‘maintaining’ the playing fields. Needless to say, this only increased the motivation of an already motivated club and its staff.

Division 1 Qualifiers Round 1 of 2

The time was here again. After becoming BML champions the Blues had an even stronger case to register for the Division 1 qualifiers and when finalized, they would compete against 3 other teams in the 1st round, for the right to go into the final round and play last year’s relegated teams. The big differences this time would be the cancelling of the foreign limitation rule and a longer time period for preparation, giving the club a better chance of success . Regular training sessions were increased and a strong team of players recruited with additional help from Sponsors. Conti (The sports brand) and San Marco (the Italian company with ties to Serie A) became the first official sponsors of the Royal Blues and gave a good indication of the direction the club would be aiming for; the want and need to professionalize the club and make better playing environments for the players and coaches. With everything finally falling into place a great opportunity came along to hire a brand new astro turf pitch at a Taipei University, in turn giving available trainings regardless of bad weather. At the same time as being a great place to train for the Royal Blues Players, the club have now also opened up access to other players from across the city who wish to play in a social kick-about, giving people a chance to play and meet other players.

Division 1 Qualifiers Round 2 of 2

With a slightly modified team, in a competition 2 out of 3, Royal Blues started the second round with a 1:0 win against Tainan City F.C. (last place in last season) and drew in the second game Taichung City F.C. on the next day, which meant that they surely were going to qualify, regardless the result of last game between Taichung City F.C. and Tainan City F.C. (6:2 win and qualification for Taichung City F.C.)

First leg as newbie

Royal Blues started well into the league, beating MinChuan University team and drew the best team after first leg Tatung Taipei – this was the only time the league leaders drops points in this season. With 3 wins, one draw and 3 losses, Royal Blues are sitting in the sixth position, only 2 points away from the 3rd place and 7 points ahead of the relegation places, which to avoid is the main goal of the Blues this season.

First leg as newbie The Blues finished the league in 5th place, avoiding to play relegation games for the season 2016/2017.