Icon FC Will Host
Stal Mielec of Poland
This Saturday In Clifton, NJ
- PostEagle
- June 13, 2016
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Game Highlights Soccer Festival Day
CLIFTON, N.J. (June 7, 2016) – The Icon Football Club is hosting FKS Stal Mielec, a Polish side who was recently promoted to I Liga (or the second division), on Saturday, June 18th at Clifton High School Stadium. The international friendly kicks off at 6 p.m. EDT.
It marks the first time Icon FC of the American Soccer League will host a friendly and is the centerpiece of a day featuring soccer and family fun. The day starts at 2 p.m. with activities geared for children and their families. Plus, there will be Clifton area vendors selling their international foods and services.
Go to www.iconsoccer.net for locations to purchase tickets.
It won’t be the first trip to New Jersey for Stal Mielec, which won 3-0 over the North Jersey Imperials (a third division team from the United Soccer Leagues) in 1995 before a crowd of more than 4,000 in Bayonne.
“What a great way to kick off the summer of soccer here in Clifton,” Icon President Greg Bajek says. “With the UEFA Euros and the Copa America Centenario being played in the United States, our event gives Icon solid footing in the global soccer community. Stal Mielec was a natural fit for its post-season American tour. In the Northeast and even locally there are plenty of fans who lived in or near Mielec, Poland.”
Bajek is a Clifton High School graduate who earned all-state honors for the Mustangs, and was a three-time All-American at Kean University before launching a long professional career in Poland and the U.S.
“Clifton will always be home. I was raised here, learned to play soccer here and now very proud to return with a professional team and the opportunity to showcase world-class soccer matches at Clifton High School Stadium. This is a big-time soccer town, one of the best in the country,” Bajek says.
This is not the first time that Bajek has entertained Polish soccer teams, including matches here. Others who have toured the United States under the stewardship of Bajek are LKS Lodz, Slask Wroclaw, Pogon Szczecin, Odra Wodzislaw, Cracovia, Korona Kielce and most recently Arka Gdynia. In 2004, Bajek’s Jersey Falcons stunned world renowned Cracovia, 1-0, before a boisterous crowd in Clifton Stadium.
Stal Mielec is one of Poland’s most historical clubs and twice won the Ekstraklasa Premier League in 1973 and 1976. This spring Stal Mielec earned promotion to I Liga after capturing the third division. Another solid season the White-Blues could vault back into Ekstraklasa. The squad is coached by Janusz Bialek and is nearly an exclusive all Polish squad (save one player from Serbia).
The White-Blues will touch down on American soil prior to the tour’s opening match in New York against an amateur side. Stal Mielec could play a fourth friendly, a midweek fixture again in New York, but concludes the 12-day trek in New Britain, Conn., taking on Connecticut United FC.
Through six matches this season, Icon is 3-2-1 sitting in sixth place, 12 points adrift of leaders Philadelphia Fury. Icon, which is playing their home matches at Rutgers-Newark University for the first half of the season, will stage home matches starting in late August on a long-term basis in Clifton Stadium.
For more information on the game and sponsorship opportunities, call Bajek at (732) 904-3191 or regarding game-day vendors, Paula LoBue at (973) 472-0386.
About: The American Soccer League is considered a United States Adult Soccer Association sanctioned league with 10 professional teams and professional players. The goal of the ASL is to develop and prepare talent for the higher professional levels. The ASL is featured on the fourth level of the United States Soccer Federation pyramid.
— ICONFC —