You <i> Can</i> Come Home : But Midfielder Juli Veee Finds Something Missing on the Field and in the Stands With San Diego Sockers

Two moves, many years apart, have elicited similar feelings from Sockers’ midfielder Juli Veee.

As a young man growing up in Hungary, Veee became accustomed to living in the same apartment after 17 years. After leaving the neighborhood, he returned for a visit a few months later.

“When I went back, it just didn’t feel right,” he said. “I had wonderful, beautiful memories, but I came back and wondered what happened. It was not the same as I imagined it to be.”

Eighteen years later, the popular Veee has returned to the Sockers after a one-year hiatus with the defunct Las Vegas Americans. Veee became the Sockers’ all-time indoor leader in goals and assists from 1980-81 through 1984-85.

“This season hasn’t been like a homecoming,” Veee said. “Now half the team that I knew is gone. Jean (Willrich), Kaz Deyna and Ron (Newman) are still here, but the rest are missing. And the relationship with the fans is different. I didn’t feel anything special the first night back. It was like a job. The fans used to know us and there used to be a warm feeling with them. It’s difficult to bring the magic back.”

When Veee was reintroduced to Socker fans and his No. 22 was unretired at the home opener this season, there were actually a few boos among the 10,233 in attendance.

There is an explanation for the reaction, though. In a game against Las Vegas at the Sports Arena last season, Steve Zungul shoved Veee as the two players ran downfield. Veee countered with a head-butt to Zungul.

“It wasn’t a good incident at all, and I didn’t feel good about the booing that night,” Veee said. “But it is interesting that the year before the fans were booing Zungul when Martin (Donnelly) was hitting him. Maybe it’s good that the fans are so loyal to their team.”

Fans and friends are a big part of Veee’s life, and their support is what made playing in San Diego so special for him.

“Juli plays for us all that time and we win three championships, and people forget,” Willrich said. “I don’t like that. We were unbelievable.”

And Veee was the team’s leader. In his San Diego heyday, Veee waved his arms in an outstretched “V” for victory symbol when he was introduced. His fans loved it.

When he scored a goal, he raced around the Sports Arena field with arms outstretched in a “V.”

“I carried the public with me back then,” Veee said. Martin Donnelly, Gert Wieczorkowski, Volkmar Gross and I established this franchise. We made it what is was. When we had our first sellout, we all cried. It was magnificent.”

Veee shakes his head as a grandfather would when he speaks of the good old days.

“Games here used to be very exciting,” Veee said. “Now it’s a little more dry. It’s like an execution. Something is missing. There was a going away from active participation with the community. We have to show the community we care. On the other hand, the fans seem to demand big wins. I think the public needs some hard times to have fun again and to appreciate us.”

Although Veee felt hurt when the Sockers said he might be getting too old and thereby sold him to Las Vegas, he couldn’t wait to return. He has had feuds with Sockers owner Bob Bell, Newman and his teammates, but this also is where he had the most success and fulfillment in his career.

“I left San Diego once and it didn’t work out,” Veee said. “We were thrown together in Las Vegas and the team didn’t jell. It was a miracle we went as far as we did. Alexandra (Veee’s second wife) has her family here and I wanted to come back to San Diego.”

When the Americans disbanded last summer, Baltimore, Wichita, Dallas and Cleveland made generous offers to Veee, who had signed a four-year $750,000 contract with the Americans. He had 50 goals and 21 assists in 39 games for Las Vegas and was a highly marketable free agent. According to Scott Simpson, Veee’s agent, those teams offered more money than the Sockers.

But . . .

“San Diego is San Diego,” Veee said.

In August, Veee signed a three-year contract to play for the Sockers.

Seven games into the season, Veee has played just two games with only one assist. He missed the opening two games because he was suffering from the flu, returned for the home opener, and missed three games with a torn abdominal muscle that causes great pain whenever he coughs or sneezes. Veee played sparingly in the Sockers’ 6-3 win over St. Louis last Saturday night.

It has not been the kind of auspicious debut he hoped for. A player with a flair for the dramatic, Veee wanted to enter on center stage.

“It is a little disappointing start, but it’s not that bad,” Veee said. “I always miss 10 to 12 games a season. This year, I’m just missing them early in the season.”

His reputation for missing games is as much a trademark as his turnaround right-footer from the penalty box.

“One of the reasons we decided to let him go was we thought he might not recover as fast from his injuries,” Newman said.

What about when he is healthy?

“It’s going to be hard for him to come back,” Newman said. “The team is beginning to select itself. Juli has to earn a job now. I hope he’ll be there because we need all the players we can find when we have back-to-back games.”

When Veee rejoined the Sockers, there was speculation that there wouldn’t be enough soccer balls to satisfy Veee, Zungul, Branko Segota, Willrich, Deyna, Brian Quinn, Ade Coker and company.

“I don’t think there is a problem with egos,” Veee said. “It’s just that we have seven players who have the ability to make the last pass, which is the most important pass. That’s too many players. Other teams are happy if they have one player.”

Willrich agrees that too many stars can spoil an offense.

“We used to control the game more,” Willrich said. “It was fun to play that kind of soccer. Now, everybody wants to be a hero. We still win, but we never have a feeling of controlling the game. That’s why there is a feeling of disappointment.”

Veee agrees that he won’t be able to play his same game with this group of players. He is playing midfield instead of forward and is no longer the leading man or the team’s leading scorer.

He is a veteran who gets considerable satisfaction out of teaching.

“I like to give advice if the young player is there to take it,” Veee said. “I’ve played indoor so long that I feel I know the percentages. And I think they listen.”

However, don’t usher Veee to the coaching box just yet. He said he can play at least another three years.

After that, Veee might add more comic books and movie memorabilia to his growing collection. Or he might paint on a full-time basis.

Veee’s self-portrait is hanging in the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park and it was on the cover of a Sockers’ program earlier this season. He has painted portraits of Newman and Willrich and is continually getting new business ventures involving his art.

“Juli has a lot of interests,” Alexandra said. “A lot of Juli’s friends do not know him as a soccer player or care about soccer.”

He is not overly concerned about life after soccer, but he plans to do everything possible to ensure he doesn’t get stuck in the type of jam Donnelly did. Donnelly is a good friend as well as a former teammate on the Sockers and Americans. When Donnelly could not catch on with a team this season, he was forced to take a job driving a truck.

“That’s sad,” Veee said.

The memories live on, but Veee is determined to start another memorable era.

“I will try to bring the flair and the craziness back,” Veee said. “On the field, I can still give joy to young people and to the older folks when they have two beers in them. And I’ll do everything I can to bring back the human side and make the public part of us again.”