Eleven Degrees of Separation: Carlyle Mitchell, From Joe Public to Indy Eleven's First League Goal

Joe Public FC at Mapfre in 2010. Carlyle Mitchell Back row right #19 (photo Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

By: James Cormack

I am sure you have all heard of the "Six Degrees of Separation" where the theory is any two people or things can be connected through other people or incidents. It's one of my favorite things to do especially with players in US Soccer where contracts are often short and the soccer landscape can change regularly, is to find connections between various players and Indy Eleven.

It's one of those things when you start you can for sure get lost down a rabbit hole and find literally hundreds of connections, some are uninteresting, some are funny and occasionally you get some mind blowing wow moments. With me it usually starts by looking at a players club history and finding an interesting starting point in their career or an unusual club name... and then I start clicking until my mouse batteries need replacing.

You can find these connections in football all over the world of course, a good example would be Daniel Sturridge. How many of you knew he began his playing career at Cadbury Athletic, a team Affiliated to Cadbury's Confectionary and nicknamed "The Chocolate Men"? 

So from there you look at other former players or connections from Cadbury FC and follow a paper trail that can lead you to anything from Carlyle Mitchell playing against Lionel Messi in an international friendly or even former Indy Eleven assistant coach Paul Telfer. I won't go into how I arrived at those but needless to say its a lot of fun and at times fascinating, and maybe a little bit nerdy.

So welcome to the very first Eleven Degrees Of Separation, 'Eleven' of course in reference to our team name, the number of degrees may vary from less than six to way too many. As always I try to be as accurate as possible in sourcing information but it is a Bloody Shambles after all.

Carlyle Mitchell And Indy Eleven's First League Goal...

Joe Public Crests.

I know what you are already thinking, the obvious connection between Carlyle Mitchell and Indy Eleven is Martin Rennie and the fact he is now part of our roster. Where is the fun in that? 

A quick glance at the playing history of Carlyle brings you to his first professional club Joe Public FC. Now a team name like that is going to attract my attention right away, its fantastic, almost as amazing as their club logo at the time when Mitchell played for the team in Trinidad.

In 2010 Joe Public FC played in the CONCACAF Champions League and were drawn into Group B with Municipal of Guatemala, Santos Laguna of Mexico and Columbus Crew from MLS. A tough group for any team, Joe Public finished the group with one draw against Municipal and five defeats.

Carlyle received a red card in the 5-1 defeat against Santos who finished top of the group and missed the final game against the Crew. Santos moved on to play Cruz Azul in the first playoff round and suffered a 5-1 defeat over two legs. Cruz Azul captain and former Indy Eleven midfielder Gerardo Torrado featured in both matches. 

Cruz Azul in turn were dismissed from the competition by Monterrey who went on to defeat Real Salt Lake in the final round. In the second leg of the final, five minutes before the final whistle another former Indy Eleven player, Paulo Junior came off the bench for RSL.

Kareem Moses was also included in the Joe Public roster who you may be familiar with from his time at FC Edmonton and North Carolina FC, Moses started in place of Mitchell in the final 4-1 defeat against Columbus Crew. Almost the entire Joe Public FC roster for this tournament were from Trinidad and Tobago, except for two players, Yu Hoshide of Japan and Gayson Gregory of Antigua and Barbuda.

Information on Joe Public FC is a little sketchy after this, it appears this was their final year as a club. Carlyle Mitchell moved on to Vancouver Whitecaps where he began his relationship with coach Martin Rennie. Gayson Gregory returned home to play for Antigua Barracuda in the newly announced USL Pro division.

Okay I know I am stretching things a bit here but if the name Antigua Barracuda sounds familiar to you Indy Eleven nerds, it was the club where former Eleven goalkeeper Nathan Sprenkel played before signing with us in 2014. From the limited records I can find Sprenkalenk started one match for Barracuda against Orange County Blues FC (now Orange County SC) in 2012.

Nathan Sprenkel (photo Reid Sprenkel)

That match ended 1-0 to Orange County and also saw an appearance from Indy Eleven defender and former OCB player Cory Miller. Matt Fondy who people may remember from Louisville City, Jacksonville Armada and North Carolina was an unused sub for Orange County. The only goal in that match that got past Nathan Sprenkel was scored by Orange County forward Maxwell Griffin.

Sprenkel as we know moved on to Indy Eleven (eventually) and in 2013 Maxwell Griffin was signed by former NASL side Minnesota United. Griffin made 14 total appearances for the Loons that year including 8 starts and scored one goal for the club, against Fort Lauderdale Strikers on August 11th at Lockhart Stadium.

Minnesota won the game by three goals to one, Griffin scored the opening goal after the game had been tied at 0-0 for almost 75 minutes, it finished in a goal flurry. Alongside Griffin in the starting lineup in Florida were Indy Eleven new guy Kevin Venegas and Indy Eleven old boy Siniša Ubiparipović. Ubi however was subbed out in the 82nd minute and replaced by.... wait for it.... MIKE AMBERSLEY!

After the 2013 NASL season Ambersley moved on to sign up for Indy Eleven's inaugural season in 2014 and scored their very first league goal in the home opener against the Carolina Railhawks (North Carolina FC). The match ended 1-1 and the rest, as they say, is history. Carlyle Mitchell is now an Indy Eleven player and brings with him a wealth of experience playing at the very highest levels and hopefully he will help bring success to Indianapolis.

Akira Fitzgerald looks on as Mike Ambersley celebrates (photo Indy Eleven)

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Railhawks Flip The Script, Defeat Eleven With Injury-Time Winner (8/20/2016)

The bright lights of Carolina proved too much for the Eleven on this night.

By: Brandon Cockrum (@brew_wallace)

After a three game homestand that saw Indy Eleven claim three victories and nine points, the club hit the road for the first of three away matches. Game one found them in Cary, NC, at WakeMed Soccer Park taking on the Carolina Railhawks.

At the start of the 2016 campaign, the Railhawks were tabbed by many to be a dark horse playoff candidate, and they lived up to the hype, initially. After winning their first four games in the spring season, the Carolina club lost the plot, managing only two more points the rest of the way. The club used the break between the Spring and Fall seasons to add attacking talent with the addition of starting forwards Matt Fondy and Omar Bravo, a Chivas Guadalajara legend. Their results have improved since the break but the Railhawks have still struggled, largely due to the league’s most generous defense gifting goals to opponents.

Indy began the match with the same lineup as seen in the previous week's home victory over RayoOKC, with the exception of Cory Miller replacing a hobbled Colin Falvey in the center of the back line.

After kick-off both teams began testing each other, resulting in a few half chances and two dirty goalkeepers. At the 20th minute the game began to reveal itself when Eleven defender Greg Janicki rose above three Carolina defenders and goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald to direct a beautifully served corner kick from Dylan Mares into the back of the net.

Janicki scores his fourth goal of 2016. 

Carolina forward Matt Fondy answered quickly, with a languid turn at the top of the box followed by low drive that snuck past a diving Jon Busch and inside the far post. After being shut out in his half season playing in Jacksonville, the Armada castoff has now scored four goals in five matches for the Railhawks.

An eventful ten minutes wrapped up with Indy forward Souleymane Youla earning a penalty kick for the Eleven. After winning a duel in the Carolina box the Guinean forward was pulled down by Carolina defender Drew Beckie. Facing a boisterous RaiIhawks supporter’s section, Indy’s talisman, Eamon Zayed cooly knocked his kick above a diving Fitzgerald to put Indy up 2-1 in the 30th minute.

For the remainder of the first half both teams continued attacking primarily from wide positions, Carolina testing Busch with long range efforts and the Eleven able moving a bit deeper into Railhawk territory.

The second half saw the home side come out on the front foot and find an equalizer in the first ten minutes. After a Carolina cross that Busch punched high and wide to his left, Railhawk defender Stephen Miller volleyed a looping ball back into the mixer, only instead of finding a scrum of players the ball found the inside of the side netting. Game tied, 2-2, 54th minute.

Intentional or not, it still counts.

The 64th minute saw the game's first controversy as match referee Mark Kadlecik reversed his initial penalty call following a conversation with his linesman. The resulting free kick was a blast on frame from the top of the 18-yard box that found Busch ready with a stout save.

Carolina paced the game’s second half and threatened Indy’s goal throughout, with the Eleven unable or unwilling to maintain sustained possession and able to muster just a few chances on goal. This pattern broke up a bit around the 70th minute after both teams made substitutions and the visiting club began looking a little more likely to find a third goal.

Across all of their 2016 contests, Indy had scored 11 goals in the final 15 minutes and allowed only 2. A poor Carolina defense came into the match having allowed 29 goals in 18 games. Despite being ineffective in the second half of the match, the table was set for Indy to do what they do best and earn it’s second road victory of the season, and also begin to change the narrative that they can't win away from home.

Carolina, however, had other plans and flipped the script on Indy. In the second of three posted minutes of injury time, a sliding Brad Ring incredulously used his hands to knock the ball of the foot of a Carolina attacker deep in Indy’s box.

No denying this penalty shout.

On the ensuing spot kick, a diving Busch correctly guessed the direction of Omar Bravo’s penalty effort but was unable to get a hand on the shot. A minute later the match was over, a deserved 3-2 victory for Carolina.

With the loss, the Eleven drop to third place in both the fall and combined season standings, trailing FC Edmonton and New York Cosmos.

The loss also continues Indy’s road woes. Since an April 30 victory over RayoOKC, the club has recorded four draws, three losses and zero wins away from Indiana. 

The club is on the road for their next two matches, first away to Ottawa on Sunday, Aug. 28, and then at New York on Wednesday, Aug. 31. They return to the friendly confines of Carroll Stadium for a Sept. 3 match versus the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Will they return to Indy from two tough road matches having remedied their home sickness, or will they be in desperate need of three points and a warm embrace from the Brickyard Battalion?

While possession and passing accuracy weren’t necessarily the downfall of Indy on Saturday night, it certainly played a key role in the team being unable to finish off an inferior foe, and, ultimately, allowed Carolina to remain in the game until they found their injury-time match winner.

Red: Carolina // Blue: Indy

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As always Bloody Shambles and Permanent Relegation are supporting Playworks Indiana children's charity with our #EamonZayedRule initiative. We are donating money for every goal Éamon Zayed scores this year and you can choose to play along or just make a one off donation to help us reach our target of $2000. Click Here for More Information.