Dubai Allstars leading the way for football in the UAE

Jay Asser 16:27 04/12/2014
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  • Strong start: The Allstars third team are riding high in the DAFL third division.

    With five teams at various levels, the Dubai Allstars aren’t so much a football club as they are a football family. Founded in 2002, they’ve grown to now include over 100 members from more than a dozen nationalities.

    Dubai Allstars take part in the five-division Dubai Amateur Football League (DAFL) and are highly competitive, but haven’t strayed from their initial aim of providing a fun environment for expats.

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    “We started as a group of guys who basically wanted to play some football amongst their friends and happily, we’ve maintained that ethos,” said Euan Megson, chairman for Dubai Allstars. 

    “We pride ourselves obviously on the football and competitive side, but also on the social side. Football can often be a nice catalyst for finding those extended social circles.

    “It’s a well-structured, solid club, but based on a very grounded mentality.”

    Megson has been with the club for seven years and prior to taking over as chairman, was the manager for two seasons for the second team.

    The club’s other sides, which also play in the DAFL are the firsts who play in the Premiership, the thirds in Division 3, and the newly-launched Vets team in the Over-35s Vets League.

    Another new addition has been the social side, Allstars Armadillos, who play friendly fixtures every weekend. The club sport black and yellow colours, which they moved to after starting with red and white.

    The latter were found to be too common in the DAFL so the change was made and embraced during the time when Wiz Khalifa’s hit single ‘Black and Yellow’ was popular.

    Colours aside, the increase in the club’s players and teams has brought with it more and more success.

    Dubai Allstars captured the DAFL Division 2 championship in 2010 and the first team finished as runners-up in the ultra-competitive Premiership in 2013/14. “The standard has gone up considerably,” added Megson.

    “We have some very good people in the club in terms of experience and they have a very big network and rolodex of football contacts.

    “We encourage football. We like to play quality football. I wouldn’t say we’re at ‘tiki-taka’ level, we’re no Barcelona, but we knock the ball about well.”

    The first team play their home games at Dubai Sports City and the Vets play in Jebel Ali, while most DAFL matches take place at The Sevens Stadium.

    Off the pitch, club members get together at quarterly socials and monthly when awards such as Player of the Month and Manager of the Month are given out.

    Megson encourages anyone interested in joining Dubai Allstars to drop a message on the club’s active Facebook page.

    Though everyone is welcome, opportunity will be given to the highest quality players and earned through training.

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