New Hampshire Ramblers were an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club. In 1995, the club was originally called the Montreal Ramblers, but were forced to move by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

before playing any games. They are most notable for having

Khalil Azmi Khalil Azmi (born 23 August 1964) is a Moroccan former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played ten seasons in the Moroccan League, two in the USISL, two in the National Professional Soccer League, and one in the A-League. Career In 1 ...

as their goalkeeper. The semi-professional soccer club was founded in the late 1980s as Ramblers de Montreal by Noel Okorougo, financier and sports rights agent who succeeded Pascal Cifarelli as President of Ligue National du Soccer Quebec (LNSQ) and was also former Commissioner East of Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL) 1, 2 . During its years in LNSQ and CNSL Ramblers de Montreal played its home games at the Montreal Olympic Stadium annex in a highly competitive semi-professional league that included clubs such as Toronto Italia and Toronto Croatia both with huge ethnic support base. At the end of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in USA, Ramblers de Montreal fortified its squad by signing Khalil Azmi 3,4 , goalkeeper of Morocco National team in USA World Cup 1994 as well as other African and South American players with professional soccer experience. With higher quality players, some with World Cup and professional football experience, Montreal Ramblers quickly outgrew the competition available in its domestic league. In addition, the pool of professional soccer players and fan base in Montreal was not large enough to accommodate a semi-professional club alongside a professional team Impact de Montreal owned and financed by Saputo family and favored by the establishment in Quebec. Ramblers de Montreal made a cross border move to USA in 1995 as a USISL expansion franchise called New Hampshire Ramblers. Soccer authorities in Canada initially refused to grant Ramblers the right to relocate the semi-professional football franchise. 5,6. The move of Ramblers FC franchise from Canada to US destroyed its progress on the field as many important players could not move to USA either because of work permits or ties to Montreal. The club was dealt a final blow when its original founder and patron Noel Okorougo departed to Europe in 1995 to work on Nike’s Football aspirations in Africa. The USISL franchise lasted only one season in USA finishing 5th ahead of Connecticut Wolves and Boston Storm in Division 3 Pro League Capital Conference which also featured New York Fever, North Jersey Imperials, Pennsylvania Freedom and Albany Alleycats. 7 . Subsequently, John Motta converted the residue of the club to form New Hampshire Phantoms 5,6.

Year-by-year

1995 Roster

Source: ;Goalkeepers *

* Scott Marshall ;Defenders * Joel Ogbunamiri *

Jerry Cipriani Jerry Cipriani is a Canadian former soccer player who played in the USISL Pro League, Canadian National Soccer League, and the Canadian Professional Soccer League. Playing career Cipriani began his career in 1995 with the New Hampshire Ramble ...

* Sinali Coulibaly * Zold Lajos *

Tom Wicker Thomas Grey Wicker (June 18, 1926 – November 25, 2011) was an American journalist. He was best known as a political reporter and columnist for ''The New York Times'' for nearly three decades. Besides writing non-fiction books about U.S. ...

* Sebastian Nedelcu ;Midfielders * Torrance Colvin *

David Trickett David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

* Jean Robert Toussaint * Thomas Kowsz * Reggie Drew ;Forwards * Marcello Tapia * Kevin Halid * Edin Dukić * James Dedeus * Mostafa Sahrane * Khalid Choukr * Paul Daccobert ;Head coach * Pierre Mindru

References

* Histoire de la LSEQ * Marc Tougas “Un peu de respect s-v-p” * FIFA World Cup 1994 Team Morocco * Morocco goal keeper is carried off the field * New Hampshire Ramblers * New Hampshire Ramblers vs Albany * USL – 2 History in 2013 USL Media Guide, p. 148 * {{Reflist Defunct soccer clubs in New Hampshire USISL teams 1995 establishments in New Hampshire 1995 disestablishments in New Hampshire Soccer clubs in New Hampshire Association football clubs established in 1995 Association football clubs disestablished in 1995