Writeup by Ginny Coyles
Photos by David McBay
FOA Liverpool Canoe Polo Men’s Team topped their golden year by fulfilling a historic, career long dream of winning the European Club Championships in Bacoli, Italy last weekend.
Six of the eight-man team, including the four McCutcheon brothers, are Liverpool born and bred, beginning paddling from an early age at the Collingwood-Dock based Friends of Allonby Liverpool Canoe Club. They have grown togetherfrom small beginnings, as local ordinary young people, to elite sports player, to form the passionate and fiercely loyal backbone of the team. With the addition of Andreas Iverson from Denmark and Jack Winder (Salford), the line-up has been challenging for the title for the past 6-years. They were joined in 2023 by fellow Danish powerhouse Mathias Jenson,but sadly he had been hit by illness and was unable to compete. Despite their exceptional abilities, their journey has often been tinged with disappointment, having been runners up in two previous contests. However, across the 2024 season, they have pushed the boundaries of the modern game with their dynamic style, unique team ethic and quiet belief, resulting in a near faultless year of results. After winning the British League, Helmond International and Deutschland Cup (Essen), their eyes were on raising the prize at the pinnacle of club competition, the Champions League of Canoe Polo.
In the men’s competition, it was one of the strongest fields in recent history, with 25 teams from 12 nations competing. The opening round of the tournament gave the FOA team the opportunity to calm their nerves, but they still topped the group convincingly with wins over Linkoping (SWE, 9-2), Viking Venlo (NED, 6-3) and Thurgauer (SUI, 7-3) to give them a bye to the quarter-final. This was the first real test of their metal as they faced the recently crowned German Champions, KRM Essen. This was made more interesting given two of the FOA players (Shivan and Tana McCutcheon) also play for the Essen Club and were integral to their success. The FOA team showed their desire to win early, going four goals up before the German team challenged strongly marking man-to-man for much of the second half. Despite three latter goals from Essen, FOA took a decisive win, progressing one step closer with a semi-final against French Champions, Avranches. The French are passionate and skilful players, but FOA were tactically savvy and shifted gear to play a more front-footed defence that effectively disrupted the usual flow of the French attack. Suryan McCutcheon leading from the front with a typically agile display of interceptions. It was a tight game with FOA defending hard for much of the first half and struggling to break through in attack, on occasions very much relying on the lightening reactions of goalkeeper Shivan McCutcheon to keep the French shooters at bay. An excellently worked inside shot from Andreas put FOA ahead just before half time, followed by an exceptionally skilfulbreak by Tana McCutcheon to take the team to a 2-0 lead. The French rallied and scored with just over a minute to go, but it wasn’t enough to prevent FOA reaching the final they so wanted.
This was to be a re-match of the 2023 final in Arcos de la Frontera, where FOA heartbreakingly lost to German side,MKV Duisburg. The focus and passion from FOA was visible right from the first whistle, with FOA taking a 3-0 lead, including the opener from Andreas Iverson and two spectacular long-shots from Jack Winder and Shivan McCutcheon. However, Duisburg fought back to 3-1 at half time and the tides changed in the second half with two German goals taking it to a tense 3-3 score line. This was not a game for the faint hearted, with FOA edging ahead and then Duisburg equalising again. It was the FOA engine house of James Mallon, Kartik McCutcheon and Jack Winder that kept the momentum in FOA’s favour, with an incredible intensity of work at both ends of the pitch creating the opportunity for Tana McCutcheon to take the lead again. The FOA team held their nerve, controlling the game and defending fiercely for the final minutes. With the crowd holding their breath as the Duisburg team had a desperate shot in the dying seconds, one final save on the final whistle gave FOA the emotional end to the game that they had dreamed of. Team captain Lewis McVey proudly led the celebrations, made more special bybeing the first British team to lift the European Club Championships trophy in the modern era (over 24 years).
Speaking to Kartik McCutcheon – “It’s a dream to win. It’s something we’ve been trying to do for 10+ years. We made our first final in 2018 and this year was our 3rd, so to finally get one over the line it’s a difficult feeling to put into words. We’ve had such good momentum this year with two wins at international tournaments in Helmond and Essen, but this competition is historically so difficult to win because the level of the teams is incredibly high. We felt really good going into the final and started really well but Duisburg are a top side and made it really difficult for us. In the end we are so happy we came out on top especially after years of falling just short. The support we had in Bacoli and back home was incredible and none of it would have been possible without the full support given to us by the club. As a team we all worked so hard for this and we are going to enjoy this title for as long we can.”
Deserved winners amongst a field of World Class players and a wonderful reflection of their dedication over so many years and their unique team bond.
Congratulations!
Team
1: Kartik McCutcheon
2: Suryan McCutcheon
4: Lewis McVey
5: James Mallon
6: Shivan McCutcheon
7: Jack Winder
9: Andreas Iverson
10: Santanam (Tana) McCutcheon
11: Mathias Jenson
Head Coach: Michael Moffitt
FOA Liverpool History at European Club Championships:
Men
Winners: 2024
Runners-Up: 2005, 2018, 2023
Women
Winners: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2018
Runners Up: 2010