Varsity Football Build-Up

Featuring an interview with Blues Captain Michael Johnson

Blues Blues football football michael johnson Varsity

This Friday the Blues will face “the scum” in the 126th men’s football Varsity match at Abbey Stadium.

CUAFC will look to end the season on a high note after the disappointment of defeat in the BUCS midlands cup final.

They will certainly have to pull out all the stops to beat an Oxford team that plays in the league above them. But the Blues do have the talent to overturn last year’s loss to the Dark blues. In striker Matt Stock they have a proven goal scorer and Michael Johnson is noted for his ability to control the midfield.

Tab Sports has interviewed Blues captain Michael Johnson on his thoughts on the Blues season and the upcoming match.

After a Lent term of mixed success is the team feeling confident going into the match?

It was actually a great lent term with one difficult week which ended in 2 draws and took the title and promotion dream out of our hands. You can blame lots of things: 3 games in two days, a crucial decision the referee got wrong with a minute to go or maybe we thought we were so good we didn’t have to try … Despite that week though, the stats are impressive: 3 goals a game and 55% of those games were clean sheets. So, of course we are confident.

During the BUCS cup final last month a number of good chances were spurned that the team was made to rue later in the match. Has the team been working on its finishing?

We do a lot of finishing practice, yes, but the two lads up front, Matt Stock and Chris Gotch are lethal. At times our problem has been creating chances due to a lack of urge and tempo, but that won’t be a problem come varsity. The cup final was just one of those days – everyone watching knew we were the better team.

Do you think the fans will see any goals similar to Ross Broadway’s Tony Yeboah-esque strike in the Falcons’ victory?

Well, he’s made the team and his potential to score from range is one of the reasons for that although we usually prefer to try and pass our way into the net first. So expect some slick team moves and goals.

The wags (wives and girlfriends) have often been cited as one of the reasons for England’s failure to come good in big matches. Is there a wag culture in the Blues?

Not at all. No one and, in particular no girl, has come in the way of the Blues’ success this season. Alex Ferguson prefers his players to settle down and find a wife but I have gone to the other extreme and girlfriends have been actively discouraged which is probably why everyone is struggling to find a date for Varsity dinner.

Who’s your player of the season?

Matt Stock is our top goal scorer (14) and is the obvious choice. Mark Baxter has made a huge contribution too (10) and Paul Hartley has really added some steel to the midfield. The back four have also been tremendous and have played together since the first game of the season. I’d have to say Stocky though. He’s frighteningly good at University level.

Has the team been working on any special celebrations like Gazza’s dentist’s chair for the match?

Not really. No one does them any way (apart from Gazza and the Cameroon team). If anyone does, it will probably be one from Fifa 2010 – look out for it.

The 126th Varsity match will take place on Friday 30th April at Abbey Stadium. Kick off 7 pm. CUAFC are sponsored by Cantab Capital Partners and the Varsity match is sponsored by a2om.