2025-09-01, 07:44 AM - Word count:
Word Count: 2113 (including 8 player usernames)
Apologies for the length again! No more big ones from me.
(Previous article referenced)
OOC Note: This is entirely an RP piece.
---
It is I, your once again beleaguered beat writer. You may be wondering what on earth I am doing back so soon after my recent exclusive with SSL goalkeeper James Asprey, and that would be a fair question given my penchant for only releasing media after significant periods.
It is day one of the latest free agency period in the SSL and a number of players will have woken up this morning without a club. One such player is the man I have been assigned to follow throughout his career in the SSL, the same man who gave me an exclusive first interview only a few days ago – revealing his intention to leave Seoul Mythic at the end of his contract and join free agency with a desire to remain without a team for Season 22 in order to work on himself. It felt completely out of character for a man who has kept himself to himself and avoided almost all media duties throughout his career thus far, but it seemed rumours and assumptions were enough to force him to break habit and surprise the SSL-loving World.
Which brings me to my own break of habit – not instigated by myself I must note. Late last night on the eve of free agency I received a call from Asprey – a call I figured would be a request to pull my published article given the publicity and subsequent heat it generated. But no. As I accepted the call I was greeted by an audibly excited Asprey, practically tripping over his words as he greeted me and asked about my plans for today. Upon learning that I only had a few errands planned, he politely requested I hold off and instead meet him at a location for another exclusive. “I have wonderful news.” he excitedly told me in response to my request for more detail about this ‘exclusive’. That’s all he could tell me, but insisted it would be worth me attending and that I should bring my notebook. Given that this was fairly out of character again for him, I agreed – though I have no doubt curiosity would have succeeded in any case.
So here I am, en-route to the location in the back of a private taxi arranged for by Asprey himself. Several questions and thoughts swirling around in my head, none of which really made sense the longer I thought about them. Was this another product promotion? No, he was too excited for that. Has he already signed for another club? No, he was adamant in our last interview that free agency was where he desired or even needed to be. Was he taking up a role as an Academy Manager at his beloved Port Royal? I just don’t see it for him.
Questions and theories continued to swirl the rest of the car journey, only growing in absurdity as time went on. Thankfully we arrived at our destination just as my mind had reached peak lunacy having contemplated the possibility that Asprey had won the lottery and wanted to share his winnings with me as thanks for the stellar article I released following our interview. I was heading into this meeting clueless, but as I walked through the entrance to the building absent-mindedly flashing my press ID to anyone who approached, I could feel a sense of excitement building within me now too. It felt like something significant was happening and I had been invited to be a part of it.
“Sir!” A voice called out behind me. I turn to see a smartly dressed member of the event staff gesturing towards a door with a sign for Press & Media. “This way please, it has started.”
As I squeeze into the room between security personnel and gathered members of the press, I notice Asprey sat at a table up front deep in discussion with others around him at the same table. It was difficult to make out what was going on but the room was abuzz with the sounds of chatter and the occasional clicks of cameras snapping shots. It almost looked like an actual contract signing. Wait. This looks like an actual contract signing?
Suddenly the room fell silent and all attention focused on the table up front where Asprey now had a pen in hand. Photographers up front were statues, poised with their cameras perfectly still waiting for the moment. IS this an actual contract signing?
Pen to paper. The room awash with a flood of camera flashes. Asprey with a beaming smile is whisked from the table over to a blank media backdrop where he takes position alongside a Shanghai Dragons official. Shanghai Dragons official? THIS IS A CONTRACT SIGNING!?
The official hands Asprey a rolled up, purple piece of fabric and steps aside. The room has gone silent again in anticipation, photographers arranged in rows before Asprey. A few camera clicks as Asprey shakes the hand of the official who steps aside, and with a smile still beaming, Asprey unveils the fabric.
![[Image: Asprey-Magyar-Signing1.png]](https://i.ibb.co/xKKsQMZG/Asprey-Magyar-Signing1.png)
“What the FU-” my brief interruption of the silence is quickly drowned out by relentless camera clicking, flashing, and a cacophony of voices throwing questions from all angles of the room. None were answered. All were met with the same beaming smile Asprey has had stretched across his face since he put pen to paper moments ago, all while clutching a Rapid Magyar jersey with his name and favoured number on the back.
I was dumbstruck. Had he lied to me in our interview? I didn’t have him pegged for the type, but you never know with footballers these days. No. I needed to hear his reasoning and how this has happened. As my mind raced between excuses and reasons I had been making up on his behalf to explain everything, it dawned on me that this event was not an ‘exclusive’. An exclusive involving an assembled army of all the known press in the SSL World was simply not an exclusive. There had to be more.
And there was.
As the photoshoot wound down to an end, event staff began ushering members of the press and camera crews out of the event room – all while questions were still being hurled in Asprey’s direction despite none of them going answered so far this morning. Unwilling to wait to be told to leave, I turned to head for the door I came in through only to be met by another member of the event staff gesturing for me to turn back around.
“I’m glad you could make it.” came a voice from behind me, familiarly soft. I turn back around and James Asprey is stood amongst event staff protecting him from the other media as he approaches me. He beckons me over with a hand, still beaming from ear to ear.
“I couldn’t exactly say no,” I offered cautiously, unsure of Asprey’s true intentions given the conflict going on in my own mind. “-you sounded excited, you mentioned an exclusive – curiosity would have gotten the better of me in any case.”
As I reached Asprey we were immediately squeezed out of the crowd together and into vacant space in front of the media backdrop – now adorned with Rapid Magyar logos – where two chairs were positioned opposite each other, just like I had arranged for our first interview days earlier.
“I am indeed excited.” Asprey finally answered, taking a seat in one of the chairs while gesturing for me to take the seat opposite.
I take the seat opposite Asprey and realise I already have my pen and notebook out – some journalistic instinct I never knew I possessed having taken over without me knowing. Looking across at Asprey I see immediately a different character sat before me. He looks completely at ease, sat back, still smiling and evidently very relaxed despite the location and his aversion to all things media.
“I owe you an explanation after everything we discussed a few days ago,” opened Asprey, sincerity in his voice. “and so an exclusive today is my way of an apology, and my way of ensuring nothing but the truth – no rumours or nastiness – end up online. I trust you.”
Just like that any unease or conflict I felt towards Asprey or his intentions melted away. Something obviously had happened for him to perform a spectacular U-turn and I intended on finding out now.
“So, James, where would you like to begin?” I felt the best way to get an explanation for everything was for the man himself to lead the narrative without interference from me. Sitting back, I waited expectantly as Asprey cleared his throat and visibly prepared his thoughts before conveying them as words.
“I one hundred percent intended on becoming a free agent to sit out Season 22 at the end of my contract with Seoul. That was wholly the truth,” Asprey delivered bluntly, his smile dwindling as sincerity took over. “This was an opportunity I never dreamed would come along in my lifetime. It is only through the brutality of the expansion draft – great for the league no doubt, but so brutal for the existing teams involved – that the opportunity existed, and there was not a chance in hell I could pass this up.”
The opportunity he referred to must have been the vacant goalkeeper position at Rapid Magyar after the unexpected and surprising loss of ‘keeper Snor Lax (@GHamss ) in the expansion draft to new team Liffeyside Celtic FC. But I failed to see why this opportunity was too good to pass up. Rapid Magyar? It didn’t make sense to me.
“I am struggling to understand how this is an unmissable opportunity. Rapid Magyar are a young team behind Seoul Mythic in terms of development. Season 21 just gone, Seoul recorded the best defensive record in the league while challenging for top places for a second season in a row. You even completed the season with the best save percentage among your peers across both leagues, not just the Minors. To an outsider, this looks like a step backwards.”
Asprey looked a little surprised. I didn’t mince my words but I wasn’t exactly brutal.
“Sure,” Asprey replied after a few thoughtful moments. “-but outsiders don’t see what’s going on inside.”
Asprey had more to say, I had perhaps dived in too soon with my line of questioning. I sit back in my seat not realising I had leaned in at some point during our exchange and remain quiet, offering Asprey the space to speak once again.
“I explained last time how I felt I did not belong at Seoul. This is nothing against the guys there at all, they have some great folk there – Kawasaki (@Voodooman), de Giron (@aegis), Barr (@JeffreyDaniels) and Stain (@daveyboy) to name just a few. Like I said before, it was a me thing.” Asprey shifted in his seat, now looking less comfortable and almost as nervous as he did in this exact situation in our last meeting.
“However,” Asprey cleared his throat before continuing. “-unbeknownst to the Outsiders, Inside I get on really well with a number of Rapid Magyar and Shanghai players, and have done for a while. In a group with the likes of Voda (@Daleks), Hohenhahn (@norththegreatestshowman), Jimotheus (@Hero19) and Albinson (@scoous), again to name a few, I feel like I belong. They made me feel welcome among them, and this is something I treasure most in whichever team I am playing for.”
It was Asprey’s turn to lean forward now, his face and body language conveying sincerity as he continued.
“Hopefully by now you understand me and what I am all about. It is not trophies, wins, stats, money or fame that I chase. It’s a sense of belonging in a team, in a sport that I play for fun. I now have that with Rapid Magyar, so for me it is absolutely not a step backwards. It’s a giant leap forwards and I am so, so excited for the future.
He was genuine, it was clear to see. From the way he conveyed each message to the look in his eyes throughout, this was indeed a happy player now excited for the future. I too am satisfied with the explanation and answers today, and as we share a few closing words off the record, I also begin to feel the excitement Asprey is experiencing. I look forward to the new season ahead following the career of a re-energised player who I seem to finally have a working connection with. Perhaps my updates won’t be so few and far between in future. We shall see.
Thank you for reading,
Your excited beat writer.
Apologies for the length again! No more big ones from me.
(Previous article referenced)
OOC Note: This is entirely an RP piece.
---
It is I, your once again beleaguered beat writer. You may be wondering what on earth I am doing back so soon after my recent exclusive with SSL goalkeeper James Asprey, and that would be a fair question given my penchant for only releasing media after significant periods.
It is day one of the latest free agency period in the SSL and a number of players will have woken up this morning without a club. One such player is the man I have been assigned to follow throughout his career in the SSL, the same man who gave me an exclusive first interview only a few days ago – revealing his intention to leave Seoul Mythic at the end of his contract and join free agency with a desire to remain without a team for Season 22 in order to work on himself. It felt completely out of character for a man who has kept himself to himself and avoided almost all media duties throughout his career thus far, but it seemed rumours and assumptions were enough to force him to break habit and surprise the SSL-loving World.
Which brings me to my own break of habit – not instigated by myself I must note. Late last night on the eve of free agency I received a call from Asprey – a call I figured would be a request to pull my published article given the publicity and subsequent heat it generated. But no. As I accepted the call I was greeted by an audibly excited Asprey, practically tripping over his words as he greeted me and asked about my plans for today. Upon learning that I only had a few errands planned, he politely requested I hold off and instead meet him at a location for another exclusive. “I have wonderful news.” he excitedly told me in response to my request for more detail about this ‘exclusive’. That’s all he could tell me, but insisted it would be worth me attending and that I should bring my notebook. Given that this was fairly out of character again for him, I agreed – though I have no doubt curiosity would have succeeded in any case.
So here I am, en-route to the location in the back of a private taxi arranged for by Asprey himself. Several questions and thoughts swirling around in my head, none of which really made sense the longer I thought about them. Was this another product promotion? No, he was too excited for that. Has he already signed for another club? No, he was adamant in our last interview that free agency was where he desired or even needed to be. Was he taking up a role as an Academy Manager at his beloved Port Royal? I just don’t see it for him.
Questions and theories continued to swirl the rest of the car journey, only growing in absurdity as time went on. Thankfully we arrived at our destination just as my mind had reached peak lunacy having contemplated the possibility that Asprey had won the lottery and wanted to share his winnings with me as thanks for the stellar article I released following our interview. I was heading into this meeting clueless, but as I walked through the entrance to the building absent-mindedly flashing my press ID to anyone who approached, I could feel a sense of excitement building within me now too. It felt like something significant was happening and I had been invited to be a part of it.
“Sir!” A voice called out behind me. I turn to see a smartly dressed member of the event staff gesturing towards a door with a sign for Press & Media. “This way please, it has started.”
As I squeeze into the room between security personnel and gathered members of the press, I notice Asprey sat at a table up front deep in discussion with others around him at the same table. It was difficult to make out what was going on but the room was abuzz with the sounds of chatter and the occasional clicks of cameras snapping shots. It almost looked like an actual contract signing. Wait. This looks like an actual contract signing?
Suddenly the room fell silent and all attention focused on the table up front where Asprey now had a pen in hand. Photographers up front were statues, poised with their cameras perfectly still waiting for the moment. IS this an actual contract signing?
Pen to paper. The room awash with a flood of camera flashes. Asprey with a beaming smile is whisked from the table over to a blank media backdrop where he takes position alongside a Shanghai Dragons official. Shanghai Dragons official? THIS IS A CONTRACT SIGNING!?
The official hands Asprey a rolled up, purple piece of fabric and steps aside. The room has gone silent again in anticipation, photographers arranged in rows before Asprey. A few camera clicks as Asprey shakes the hand of the official who steps aside, and with a smile still beaming, Asprey unveils the fabric.
“What the FU-” my brief interruption of the silence is quickly drowned out by relentless camera clicking, flashing, and a cacophony of voices throwing questions from all angles of the room. None were answered. All were met with the same beaming smile Asprey has had stretched across his face since he put pen to paper moments ago, all while clutching a Rapid Magyar jersey with his name and favoured number on the back.
I was dumbstruck. Had he lied to me in our interview? I didn’t have him pegged for the type, but you never know with footballers these days. No. I needed to hear his reasoning and how this has happened. As my mind raced between excuses and reasons I had been making up on his behalf to explain everything, it dawned on me that this event was not an ‘exclusive’. An exclusive involving an assembled army of all the known press in the SSL World was simply not an exclusive. There had to be more.
And there was.
As the photoshoot wound down to an end, event staff began ushering members of the press and camera crews out of the event room – all while questions were still being hurled in Asprey’s direction despite none of them going answered so far this morning. Unwilling to wait to be told to leave, I turned to head for the door I came in through only to be met by another member of the event staff gesturing for me to turn back around.
“I’m glad you could make it.” came a voice from behind me, familiarly soft. I turn back around and James Asprey is stood amongst event staff protecting him from the other media as he approaches me. He beckons me over with a hand, still beaming from ear to ear.
“I couldn’t exactly say no,” I offered cautiously, unsure of Asprey’s true intentions given the conflict going on in my own mind. “-you sounded excited, you mentioned an exclusive – curiosity would have gotten the better of me in any case.”
As I reached Asprey we were immediately squeezed out of the crowd together and into vacant space in front of the media backdrop – now adorned with Rapid Magyar logos – where two chairs were positioned opposite each other, just like I had arranged for our first interview days earlier.
“I am indeed excited.” Asprey finally answered, taking a seat in one of the chairs while gesturing for me to take the seat opposite.
I take the seat opposite Asprey and realise I already have my pen and notebook out – some journalistic instinct I never knew I possessed having taken over without me knowing. Looking across at Asprey I see immediately a different character sat before me. He looks completely at ease, sat back, still smiling and evidently very relaxed despite the location and his aversion to all things media.
“I owe you an explanation after everything we discussed a few days ago,” opened Asprey, sincerity in his voice. “and so an exclusive today is my way of an apology, and my way of ensuring nothing but the truth – no rumours or nastiness – end up online. I trust you.”
Just like that any unease or conflict I felt towards Asprey or his intentions melted away. Something obviously had happened for him to perform a spectacular U-turn and I intended on finding out now.
“So, James, where would you like to begin?” I felt the best way to get an explanation for everything was for the man himself to lead the narrative without interference from me. Sitting back, I waited expectantly as Asprey cleared his throat and visibly prepared his thoughts before conveying them as words.
“I one hundred percent intended on becoming a free agent to sit out Season 22 at the end of my contract with Seoul. That was wholly the truth,” Asprey delivered bluntly, his smile dwindling as sincerity took over. “This was an opportunity I never dreamed would come along in my lifetime. It is only through the brutality of the expansion draft – great for the league no doubt, but so brutal for the existing teams involved – that the opportunity existed, and there was not a chance in hell I could pass this up.”
The opportunity he referred to must have been the vacant goalkeeper position at Rapid Magyar after the unexpected and surprising loss of ‘keeper Snor Lax (@GHamss ) in the expansion draft to new team Liffeyside Celtic FC. But I failed to see why this opportunity was too good to pass up. Rapid Magyar? It didn’t make sense to me.
“I am struggling to understand how this is an unmissable opportunity. Rapid Magyar are a young team behind Seoul Mythic in terms of development. Season 21 just gone, Seoul recorded the best defensive record in the league while challenging for top places for a second season in a row. You even completed the season with the best save percentage among your peers across both leagues, not just the Minors. To an outsider, this looks like a step backwards.”
Asprey looked a little surprised. I didn’t mince my words but I wasn’t exactly brutal.
“Sure,” Asprey replied after a few thoughtful moments. “-but outsiders don’t see what’s going on inside.”
Asprey had more to say, I had perhaps dived in too soon with my line of questioning. I sit back in my seat not realising I had leaned in at some point during our exchange and remain quiet, offering Asprey the space to speak once again.
“I explained last time how I felt I did not belong at Seoul. This is nothing against the guys there at all, they have some great folk there – Kawasaki (@Voodooman), de Giron (@aegis), Barr (@JeffreyDaniels) and Stain (@daveyboy) to name just a few. Like I said before, it was a me thing.” Asprey shifted in his seat, now looking less comfortable and almost as nervous as he did in this exact situation in our last meeting.
“However,” Asprey cleared his throat before continuing. “-unbeknownst to the Outsiders, Inside I get on really well with a number of Rapid Magyar and Shanghai players, and have done for a while. In a group with the likes of Voda (@Daleks), Hohenhahn (@norththegreatestshowman), Jimotheus (@Hero19) and Albinson (@scoous), again to name a few, I feel like I belong. They made me feel welcome among them, and this is something I treasure most in whichever team I am playing for.”
It was Asprey’s turn to lean forward now, his face and body language conveying sincerity as he continued.
“Hopefully by now you understand me and what I am all about. It is not trophies, wins, stats, money or fame that I chase. It’s a sense of belonging in a team, in a sport that I play for fun. I now have that with Rapid Magyar, so for me it is absolutely not a step backwards. It’s a giant leap forwards and I am so, so excited for the future.
He was genuine, it was clear to see. From the way he conveyed each message to the look in his eyes throughout, this was indeed a happy player now excited for the future. I too am satisfied with the explanation and answers today, and as we share a few closing words off the record, I also begin to feel the excitement Asprey is experiencing. I look forward to the new season ahead following the career of a re-energised player who I seem to finally have a working connection with. Perhaps my updates won’t be so few and far between in future. We shall see.
Thank you for reading,
Your excited beat writer.
![[Image: SSL-Signature-Asprey-v2-Sep25.png]](https://i.ibb.co/LDnLr2Yv/SSL-Signature-Asprey-v2-Sep25.png)
![[Image: 4q9DY7I.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4q9DY7I.png)
![[Image: sDcGmjT.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/sDcGmjT.jpeg)
