Coming off a World 90 Championship, and a Canadian second place finish in season 6, expectations were through the roof for the Royal Lions heading into season 7. Unfortunately, the FCW Lions crumbled under pressure, and got ousted in the second annual World 90 Tournament in a tough round robin pool. On top of that, controversy began to settle in among the staff, reporters, and players. As you know, the writers of the FCW Lions Weekly went on strike, but that was only the beginning. Many of the staff who worked for the Royal Lions also went on strike, and owner tute_fruy fired two head coaches before coaching the team himself for the remainder of the season. With an extreme lack of organization, re-negotiating expiring contracts was impossible during the season, and left the Royal Lions with only eight players under contract at season's end.
But more about that later. What we are really here to talk about is the results of season 7. The Lions finished 22-7-9 with 73 points and a +/- of 44. Although it was not their worst season statistically, it was their worst placement since the team's inaugural season. They finished sixth place, only 7 points out of second, but 25 points back of first place LJ Gang Green. Trevion Collins, one of the eight players still under contract, was named Team MVP for the second year in a row finishing in the top 5 for scoring in Canada with 23 goals. He also broke a milestone scoring his 100th career goal, currently having a total of 112 in his career. Hot prospect and starting goalkeeper Martha was also under contract at season's end. At age 20, he started in 34 out of the 38 season games and continues to develop.
But more about that later. What we are really here to talk about is the results of season 7. The Lions finished 22-7-9 with 73 points and a +/- of 44. Although it was not their worst season statistically, it was their worst placement since the team's inaugural season. They finished sixth place, only 7 points out of second, but 25 points back of first place LJ Gang Green. Trevion Collins, one of the eight players still under contract, was named Team MVP for the second year in a row finishing in the top 5 for scoring in Canada with 23 goals. He also broke a milestone scoring his 100th career goal, currently having a total of 112 in his career. Hot prospect and starting goalkeeper Martha was also under contract at season's end. At age 20, he started in 34 out of the 38 season games and continues to develop.
The messy situation within the FCW Lions organization is under a clean-up process assures owner tute_fruy. He would not let any player comment on the matter, but did release some facts himself:
"We are taking this as a sort of rebuilding year. That is not to say we do not want to be competitive. Currently we have re-signed, and signed new players in free-agency, and are one below the roster minimum. As the season goes on, we will likely use game revenue to purchase depth players for the team. I feel we may even have a stronger starting line-up than last season, and just need to fill out the bench. I will announce the signings once we have assured an 18 player roster for the upcoming season."
Season 7 Results:
World 90 Canada - 22-7-9, +44, Sixth Place
World 90 Champions Tournament - 2-4-0, -2, 4th Group D
Stay tuned for the Q1 article: Season 8 Preview, which will list the FCW Lion's off-season acquisitions.
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