Murder on the Pitch

The Cup Part 1

The conclusion of the 2007 Football Association Cup better known worldwide as the shortened FA Cup - was considered by many to be a spectacle of man. The two favorites play against each other in a competitive format where the winner receives the coveted Football Association Challenge Cup. An intricate silver trophy with two handles that when removed from their precisely welded places would form: A heart.

The finale would be played by the Great Britain team Rowland F.C. with the club's logo being a Banshee. They are managed by veteran and well-liked manager Gregory Keyes. Under Keyes Rowland FC –  has seen unprecedented club success where the year previously they got runners-up in the Premier League and UEFA Cup. C

Gregory was riding high. The grey-haired and speckled manager is called "Blind Bandit" as without his glasses he would be "blind as a bat" yet somehow he would still deceive his opponents with cunning strategies eventually winning the game. Lifelong Rowland fans or "Rovies" were at first apprehensive toward Gregory's hiring as he never had Premier League success even with 9-time English title-winning club "Tauton FC" better known as the Griffins where he served as manager for several years.

Rowland club presidents Patrick Fithe and Franklin Humphries were hired by English oil company magnate and eccentric Chester Gordon to head his newest investment when he bought the club in 2004 for what many football pundits at the time called "A bargain."

Patrick and Franklin were no slouches as they did have managerial experience heralding success as well as failure. Patrick was an assistant general manager but before that a scout for the French Ligue 1 team Premiere Rennes FC. There he convinced his boss Alfrin Bordaine to buy a mid-height Portuguese youth player from Germany called Friedrich Abt. Friedrich brought Rennes from the depths of Ligue 1 to becoming a top 5 team in 2 years when he was promoted to the first team.

That was Patrick's biggest accomplishment which got him promoted to general manager of the club when Alfrain retired. Patrick soon made transactions that blundered as quickly as can be and brought Rennes back down to their usual position at the bottom of the league barely evading relegation. Soon after the season, he was sacked.

Franklin Humphries came from a more stable position as Director of Football for Premier League team "Doncaster FC" for the best part of a decade. He held positions in multiple English clubs from the Premier all the way down to League 2. Franklin understood the perils of a club and what was needed for success and it all starts with the coaching staff. Which led to them selecting Gregory Keyes.