By Ruth Ford — Correspondent
When Jon Dabora moved back to the States from Switzerland five years ago, finding a soccer team was a priority.
In short order, he signed up with the Concord United Soccer Club, part of the official Over the Hill Soccer League, which has been operating in the greater Boston area since the 1980s and is the nation’s largest veteran soccer league.
“The club I played in Switzerland was one of the biggest youth clubs in Switzerland. It was established in 1898. They had their own soccer stadium and restaurant and bar,” recalls Dabora.
Concord United isn’t nearly as old — it launched in 1994 — and it’s hardly as grand, but the five teams that make up the club are committed to keep playing for as long as they can.
“One thing the Concord teams really want is to win,” says Dabora, manager of the over-48s. “Last spring, we had our glory season where we won all our regular season games as well as the semifinals and the finals.”
It was particularly satisfying to beat rival Stoneham in the finals “because we had lost to them in 2023 and 2022 on penalty kicks.”
Concord United is “just a great club to be a part of,” he adds.
A lofty vision
That’s what Erik Jarnryd and Rob Morrison had hoped for back in 1994 when they decided to start their own club here.
“We were playing in Woburn. The team wasn’t very well organized, and the field wasn’t good,” says Jarnryd, who recalls finding a dead raccoon in the tree log that served as the team bench.
After some discussion, Jarnryd and Morrison moved the team to Concord, renamed it, and started playing at Emerson Field.
“We started in the over-30s club, and after about 10 years, some of the older players eventually realized they were getting too old for the team, so we started the Concord United Over 40s and then the Over 48s and then the Over 55s and now the Over 62s.”
Swelling rosters
Today, five teams are going strong with a total of 120 players, Jarnryd says proudly.
“Erik and Rob have built such a great tradition,” says Peter Fischelis, who grew up in Concord and coaches girls varsity soccer at Concord-Carlisle High School and manages the over-55s for Concord United. “This year, we made the playoffs and lost a close game in the semifinals, so hopefully, we’ll make it back on top next spring.”
From Thursday night practice to Sunday post-game barbecues and the end-of-season coat-and-tie dinners, Concord United has a tradition of celebrating its players for more than their abilities, says Morrison.
“I think it has been fantastic for us as a club because it gives us something, a third important part of your life,” says Morrison. People have families, they have work, “and then you have this third element — if things aren’t going well in family or work, you can lie there in bed and think about soccer instead.”
Concord globetrotters
Over the years, the club has been invited to play in Ireland, Iceland, Canada, and Argentina. And the level of skill players bring to the field is impressive, say Morrison and Jarnryd, who have counted former professional soccer players among their teammates.
For Jarnryd, playing soccer in the United States is different from playing in Europe. In Europe, the players focus on strategy and tactics, while in the United States, the focus is on physical ability. At Concord United, they work to meld the two, and the results have shown.
“We are a very competitive team,” says Morrison. “We stay fit and work on our skills. Our team has a very enviable record of being promoted from Division 6 to Division 1.” All the teams compete “at a very high level because we take it seriously.”
Morrison has worried about finding players who will be as dedicated to keeping the club going, but the younger players’ commitment has heartened him. Since he stepped down as assistant manager and board president, Morrison has been able to just enjoy the evening practices and games on Sundays.
“We take it seriously, and we also realize how important it is to have fun,” he says.
“We weren’t sure as we got older if the younger teams would maintain themselves, and I’m glad to say that they have,” says Jarnryd. “If you told me back in 1994 that we would have 120 guys in five teams across the club, I would have told you you were crazy.”
