Chairman: David Morris
Directors: Jon Emmerson & Neil Johnson
Club President: David Morris
Senior & Matchday Secretary: Stuart Mann
Junior Secretary: Dave Hamilton
Finance Manager: Derrick Barrett
Groundsman: Adrian Barnes
CWO: Sade Palmer
Supporters Club Chairman: Mick Buckley Website & Programme Editor: Ryan Johnson
Head of Social Media & Marketing: Ryan Morris
Matchday PA: Mick Buckley
Lifetime Members: Keith Wright, Charlie Tissington Jnr, Ian Irving, Mark Pepper, Mick Buckley
Head Of Girls & Ladies Football: Neil Crowder
Head Of Junior Football: Mark Scrivener
Girls Secretary: Sade Palmer
Manager: Andy Gray
Assistant Manager: Pete Dunn
Coaches: Lee Barrett, Conrad Carrolan
Goalkeeping Coach: Vacant
Matchday Co-Ordinator: Lee Barratt
Lee Windrum, Chris Nettle, Glyn Andrews, Roger Birch
Tel: 01530 413140
Email: info@ashbyivanhoefc.co.uk Website: www.ashbyivanhoefc.co.uk
NFU Sports Ground, Lower Packington Road, Ashby De La Zouch, Leicestershire, LE65 1TS
Good afternoon and welcome to The NFU for today’s game against Hinckley AFC, we welcome their players, officials and supporters (of which I’m sure there will be quite a few) and hope they enjoy their visit to Ashby de la Zouch.
Well it’s been another busy week at the club with loads going on as usual. Last Saturday was non-stop, we had 5 junior games here as well as record attendance at the Soccer School, then the FA Vase game in the afternoon where I thought we were comfortable victors over Rocester to reach The First Round proper. If you haven’t heard we have been drawn away to Newark and Sherwood United (seems a bit harsh to be playing 2 teams ?) who are currently 3rd in Step 5 UCL Premier Division North, so should be a tough fixture but at our best I think we can do it ! Date is Saturday 22nd October and we will be running a bus for the team with places for supporters too, so details once finalised will be on the socials, away days are always good fun so hope you can get over and support the lads ! The Knights had a thumping 7-0 victory last weekend and if they can win today with others not playing they can go top of the league, they are at home next Saturday.
On Monday we erected some new signage around the ground which I hope you agree looks great & smartens the place up no end, these were supplied very competitively by one of our new sponsors Qualiprint Ltd introduced to us by a club member. This just shows that with the support of sponsors and people around the club we can all work together to improve the facilities here and continue to move the club forward, if you can help, let us know.
Also last week, we refurbished the clubhouse bar with new pumps and new beers. Due to public demand we have introduced Madri and would you believe we did a barrel in the first 24 hours (I blame Scriv & Emmo, hic !) we also now have Atlantic Pale Ale which has also gone down very well, so pop in and try one before or after the game !
Tuesday we were away at Wolverhampton Sporting Community and having taken an early lead we were then pegged back and heading for a defeat when Will Groocock grabbed us a 95th minute equalizer. We are at home next Tuesday against Coventry Copsewood and only a short trip to Coton Green next Saturday (can we avenge our recent 0-4 defeat, I do hope so) .
Right then I think that’s it as always follow, latest news on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, please “like and share” as much of our content as you can, it increases our reach and if it puts an extra 5 people through the gate due to increased awareness then that really makes a difference. Good luck to Andy and the boys today and thank you all for your support. COME ON IVANHOE !
Dave ChairmanIf you are visiting the ground by car please DO NOT OBSTRUCT the junction to Cambrian Way by parking on the grass/path verge as this is both dangerous and you could get a fixed penalty notice from the Council and or Police.
Hello all and welcome back to the NFU.
Last week we beat Rocester in the FA Vase and now progress to the first round proper. The 2-0 win was comfortable and fully deserved. We controlled the game from start to finish and the goals from our skipper Macauley Holmes and another from Danny Quinn capped off a solid performance.
We now face Newark and Sherwood Utd away in the next round and look forward to that challenge on the 22nd of this month.
On Tuesday we returned to league action with a 2-2 draw away to Wolverhampton Sporting.
It was a typical game of two halves. The first we were excellent and came in at half time 0-1 up after a great finish by Chrissy Acott.
We had several good chances to have bettered that scoreline and those missed chances came back to haunt us.
In the second half Wolverhampton came at us and scored from a penalty and from an absolute 'worldie' for their second.
It looked as though the game had slipped away from us until the 95th minute when two of our subs, Will Robson and Will Groocock linked up to
score an excellent equaliser. The latter finishing superbly after a fantastic through ball.
Simply, we need to improve our return in front of goal if we are to progress further this season.
Today we host Hinckley AFC, who are one of the teams tipped to challenge this season. I'm sure it will be a tough game but one that we will do our best to win.
I hope you all enjoy the match.
Regards Andy Gray
Hinckley AFC is a community owned club that was established in January 2014, following the liquidation of Hinckley United. The club aims to promote football for all in the Hinckley and Bosworth community, and is built on a structure of one vote per member. The club is committed to investing its money into football at all ages in the community, with a constitutional promise not to take any profits out of the club.
The town of Hinckley has had a football team for many years, the earliest recorded team being Hinckley Town, who played in the Leicestershire Senior League in 1889. Following a name change to Hinckley Athletic, the club acquired land on Middlefield Lane, and in the mid-1990s they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Southern League on three occasions. Meanwhile, Hinckley Town were formed after changing their name from Westfield Wanderers in 1972, and they were promoted to the Southern League after a successful spell in the 1980s.
In the summer of 1997, the two chairmen, Kevin Downes (Town) and Mick Voce (Athletic) established that both sides had something positive to offer a merger. Thus, Hinckley Town and Hinckley Athletic became Hinckley United.
The intention of the merger was to create a higher standard of football in the town, something which was achieved when United won promotion to the Southern League Premier Division in 2001.
After finishing in 6th place in 2003/04, United were accepted into the newly formed Conference North. They moved into a new ground, on Leicester Road, in March 2005. After a successful start in 2006/07, tragedy struck when Matt Gadsby passed away while playing for the club at Harrogate Town on 9th September 2006. They went on to reach the play-off final, but lost out 4-3 to Farsley Celtic after conceding a last minute penalty.
Seasons of financial woe followed, and after being relegated from the Conference North in 2012/13, the club was liquidated six months later.
After appointing Carl Abbott as their first manager, Hinckley AFC’s first match was on 5th July 2014, a 4-2 win against landlords Heather St John’s. Abbott led AFC to a third-place finish in the Midland League First Division in their inaugural season, including setting a new league record for matches unbeaten. They
went 27 without defeat in all competitions from 21st October until 28th April, when they were defeated in the Leicestershire Senior Cup Final.
The on-field success continued into the start of the 2015/16 season, when they overturned a Redditch United side from three levels higher in the pyramid to reach the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup in their first campaign in the competition. That season, the club finished fifth in the league and won their first piece of silverware: going one better than the previous season by winning the Senior Cup with a 5-1 victory over Oakham United in the Final.
Continuing the theme of building on their success each season, 2016/17 yielded a new best league finish, with AFC ending as runners-up behind unbeaten champions Bromsgrove Sporting. Alongside that there were best ever runs in the FA Vase, where Abbott’s men reached the last 16 stage but were beaten in extra time by Buckland Athletic, and the Polymac Packaging League Cup, where they reached the final.
Abbott stepped down the following October, and the club had several managers for short spells between then and the present day – Dale Belford, Richard Lavery, James Jepson and John Ramshaw all with brief tenures before Dale’s son Courtney Belford took charge in the summer to give renewed optimism after a disappointing campaign.
Covid regulations prevented him being able to complete either of his first two seasons in charge, ahead of the club’s move to the United Counties League in 2021/22.
But there the club mirrored their second-placed finish of five years previously, setting numerous records along the way. They hit a new FA Vase record 18-0 win at St Martin's in the FA Vase and set a 13-match winning streak on their way to the play-off final. Ultimately, though, defeat to Belper United in the final meant another crack at step six and lateral movement back to the Midland League after just one season away. Belford stepped down due to work commitments, with his assistant Joe Conneely taking charge.
The memory of Matt Gadsby lives on through his wife Sarah and daughter Amelia, who hold the membership Number One of Hinckley AFC.
First of all, we would like to welcome Hinckley, their players, staff and supporters to the NFU sports ground for our match this afternoon.
In addition, we would also welcome everyone associated with Ashby Ivanhoe Football Club and any groundhoppers that may be in attendance for what hopefully will be an entertaining game.
As you will read in the programme, on the field, the club is flourishing and the First team and The Knights have started the season strongly. We have seen a massive growth in the number of junior boys and girls teams and have a thriving Saturday Development and Soccer School. Personally, we would like to thank, all of the people involved on the football side, in making the summer and start of the season an enjoyable experience.
A lot of activity has been taking place off the field as well.
The date of 1st June 2020 was a significant milestone in the history of AIFC, as we reconstituted to Ashby Ivanhoe Football Club CIC, a company registered on Companies House. Several years of planning took place prior to this, in order that the new structure would provide sustainability to the football club, by diversifying and becoming a business.
Both myself and Neil Johnson became the named Directors with the responsibility to take the club forward, in the best interest of club and the community.
The formation of the CIC contributed massively in giving the club the ability to purchase the freehold of our ground. This had been put up for sale in the Autumn of 2019, as a result of the club’s landlord going into administration. At this time, the future of the club was in a precarious position, as there was another interested party in purchasing the ground, but as existing tenants, we worked proactively with the administrator’s to put our ourselves in a position to be given first choice as to whether we wished to purchase the ground.
Despite the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, which affected everyone’s lives in one way or another, the CIC started the process of raising funds to acquire the freehold and following a turbulent journey, the date of 27th May 2021, will always be etched in my memory as the date that we finally completed the purchase of the freehold of the ground. The future of the Ashby Ivanhoe Football Club, that has been in existence since 1948, was secured. Personally, having been in business for nearly 40 years, the purchase and everything involved in the process was one of the toughest challenges that I have been involved with. For all parties involved in assisting us getting this over the line, thank you.
With the freehold of the ground secured, plans are being put into place to redevelop the NFU sports ground and we wish to share that towards the end of this year, a planning application will be submitted to provide a 2nd floor extension to the existing clubhouse, new changing rooms and a new 3G pitch, which will be located on the existing junior pitch and training areas.
Before this, we are totally aware that as a result of the number of spectators, players, parents that use our facilities on match days and training nights, our existing car park is constantly at breaking point and as a result, off site parking is very common occurrence. We are mindful of the disruption and inconvenience to our residential neighbours that this may cause. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that this week, we have agreed a lease with the current landowner to have a portion of the adjacent field as an overspill car park, and subject to receiving the necessary planning permission for change of use, then we are hopeful that this will be in operation by the end of the year. Further updates on the progress of this will be provided at the appropriate times.
Other exciting initiatives are being considered and are developing at pace and further announcements are to follow, but hopefully you will see that AIFC CIC has ambitious plans to provide a facility that you and the whole community can be proud of, enhance the enjoyment of people
using the facilities and hopefully allow us to climb up the football pyramid.
Other key items that we wish to share, is that sponsorship is increasing and to date, we have over 50 sponsors, both new this season and existing ones that have supported the club over the years.
New signage to the front entrance is being manufactured ready to be installed, which will enhance the image of the club upon arrival.
From May 2022, the CIC became VAT registered and this month, we will be issuing our first VAT return to the HMRC.
The Knights bar is open from 4pm on weekdays and 12 noon at weekends and the number of people using the facility is continuing to rise. The catering team are performing very well on matchdays and we are constantly looking at ways of improving our offering.
With the partnership with LCFC Turf Academy and our groundsman’s infectious love of grass and white lines, we have obtain grants for new equipment and pitch maintenance, which is not an insignificant amount of money and will give us the impetus to hopefully continue to provide
improved pitches during the season.
We are very proud of the achievements we have made to date and the current position that the club currently finds itself in. As you will see exciting times are ahead of us. We have got here through a very committed group of individuals that are all pulling in the right direction and long may this continue, however as always, we need additional people to join us and should anyone feel that they could contribute to our plans above, then please feel free to contact either Neil or myself to discuss in more detail.
There are too many people to name in person, but for all that have supported both Neil and myself in driving the CIC forward and for their tireless work that people put into undertaking their roles within the club, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts, the support gives us the desire and strength to drive this club forward and to achieve new heights for all to enjoy.
Anyway, I’m off to the bar, hopefully the Chairman is in there to buy me a drink, and for all attending the game, enjoy the day and hopefully see you all back very soon.
Jon & Neil AIFC CIC Directors
"BLAST IT, go on HIT IT" how we guys on the sidelines love to cheer on the boys.. Fondly nicknamed the LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE GANG can't think by who?
Rob, Doug, John, David and I are usually there rain or shine.... We shout, we cheer, we could always make a better pass lol and we goad the Assistant Referee on our touch line... “NEVER LINEO, NEVER!”
Above all, the guys go back years with the club you could say they have blue hearts!
Last Saturday against Rocester we knew it was a tough challenge, first team coach Andy Gray came over to thank us and give us the lowdown as we stood pitch side. He always thanks us for our support, something we all appreciate.
Well off the pitch our small club continues to develop and in conversation with Chairman Moggy and Director Emmo they tell me there are now 27 teams, 2 senior teams and when I asked how is the Womens football progressing something I feel passionate about since pushing that Agenda when I ran Sport as part of my remit as a College Director, they both proudly told me 4 teams and growing, pointing out the Womens coach pitch side at half time.
Off the pitch develops apace too since becoming
a CIC as Emmo outlined the exciting new developments which will be gradually unveiled during the course of the season.
PASSION for the Club both on and off the field, enjoy today's game always a friendly welcome.... I'm off to store my flip flops now...
COME ON ASHBY Regards Martin Cooper
Wow! What a scorcher of a summer we’ve had some great weather.
Not so great for the grass though!
Well they say football is a game of 2 halves and that’s certainly true as far as looking after the pitch is concerned.
During the summer, we’ve had the challenge of trying to keep the pitch green and trying to get water ON the pitch.
Now as we go into Autumn / Winter we have the challenge of trying to keep the pitch green and trying to get water OFF the pitch.
Certainly a game of 2 halves
We’ve been doing a lot of work on the pitch over the summer months to try to give the boys the best possible playing surface.
And will continue to improve as we move forward through the season.
Our next planned activities are to apply granular autumn winter fertiliser and then to carry out
verti-drain aeration to the pitch to help with de compaction of the soil.
I would like to thank a couple of our partners in particular who have provided fantastic service and support over the last few months.
Leicester City FC Turf academy in particular Ben Sadler, who has been a great support to me sharing his vast amount of knowledge on pitch care.
And Mark Parnham from Kilworth machinery, who has done a fantastic job helping provide service repairing our ground care equipment.
People often ask me am I happy in my job? My answer is always How can I not be happy, dealing with grass and white lines all day.
George Ezra has even written a song about it, Green green grass blue blue sky I will be a grounds man to the day I die, or something like that.
As far as I’m concerned this is the best job in the world, working for a great club with a great team of people in all aspects of the club.
Anyway good luck to the team today, get behind the boys and enjoy the game.
Here’s to a great season ahead.
Step
Step
Ashby Ivanhoe Football Club was founded in 1948 and play their home matches at the NFU Sports Ground, Lower Packington Road, Ashby de la Zouch in Leicestershire. This is the clubs new home from the beginning of the 2012/2013 season. Since being founded in 1948 up until the end of the 2011/2012 season the clubs previous home was at Hood Park also in Ashby de la Zouch.
The club currently consists of Two adult teams and Twelve sides in the Junior section. The first team play in the Midland Football League Division One, with the Knights in the Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division. In the 2008/2009 season the club formed a Youth Team (Under 18’s) side who play in the Leicestershire Midweek Floodlit Youth League on Wednesday nights. A Sunday team was reintroduced for this season and they play in the Burton Sunday League Division Four.
The club’s junior sides ranging from Under 7’s through to Under 18’s play in the Burton Junior Football League and the Tamworth Junior Football Leagues. The junior section came after the club merged with the David Hunt Soccer School at the beginning of the 2009/2010 season.
In February 2004, Ashby Ivanhoe became an FA Charter Standard football club. The club is very ambitious and has plans to progress further up the league pyramid system. The club is run by an experienced management team and enjoys the support of some very prestigious commercial partners.
Ashby Ivanhoe had one of their most successful seasons in 2010/11 as they completed a league and cup double by winning the Leicestershire Senior League by nine points and also lifted the Coalville Charity Cup for the very first time after producing a superb second half comeback to beat Bardon Hill 3-2 in the final. They have also reached successive Leicestershire Senior Cup finals in 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 but
had to settle for runners-up on both occasions losing 3-1, firstly to Ibstock United and then Aylestone Park.
The 2013/2014 season saw the first team achieve a long-term ambition as they won promotion into the Step 6 of the Pyramid system playing in the East Midlands Counties League for the 2014/2015 season after finishing third place in the Leicestershire Senior League. It was a close title race with the top three all finishing level on points with Ashby third on goal difference. The Reserves were also promoted to the Leicestershire Senior League Division One.
2014/2015 saw Ashby compete at Step 6 for the first time and they had a very good season and secured a top six finish in the East Midlands Counties League which featured victories against all of the sides above them. The Reserve side were involved in a tight title race and it went down to a last day decider against Lutterworth Athletic Reserves but despite the result going against them on the day they were still promoted for the second season in succession and will play at Step 7 in the Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division for 2015/2016.
2015/2016 saw Ashby have another fine season and they mounted a strong title challenge and they led the East Midlands Counties League for the majority of the season before finally finishing in third place. That saw them assured of a first ever appearance in the FA Cup for the 2016/2017 season where the aim again will be to push for promotion to Step 5.
The 2016-17 season was the most memorable in the history of Ashby Ivanhoe Football Club. For the very first time in the clubs history they were accepted to play in the most famous club competition in the world, The FA Cup. It turned into a thrilling journey with higher ranked opponents of Quorn and Loughborough Dynamo knocked out before Ashby fell to Ilkeston in the 1st Qualifying Round. Prior to the Ilkeston defeat Ashby received a visit from the
FA Cup which was paraded through the town centre visiting local sponsors before players and spectators had the opportunity to view the cup at the NFU Sports Ground.
The league season was inconsistent with a strong finish to the season seeing the team finish in tenth place. The season did end with a first appearance in the final of the Jenkins & Jenkins League Cup but Dunkirk overturned a one goal deficit late on to see Ashby end as runners-up.
The 2017-18 season saw the 1st team finish Seventeenth in the East midland Counties and the Reserves finished in the bottom Two and relegation to Division One.
2018-19 saw the 1st team finish in the bottom half of the East Midlands Counties Football League and The Reserves now called the Knights finish runners up in the Senior League Division One and promoted back to step 7 in the Senior League Premier Division.
In the 2019-20 season Ashby first team faced a fresh challenge when they were moved to the Midland Premier League Division one by the FA in a shake up of the NLS, the season as we all know was expunged due to the pandemic. The Reserves league also had all results expunged.
In the 2021/22 season, the club secured their highest ever league finish, finishing 4th Place and securing a place in the play-offs, where we faced local rivals Stapenhill in the semi-finals and lost 4-2.
The club has now re-constituted as a Community Interest Club (CIC) and made another fantastic step forward as we secured the purchase of our ground on Lower Packington Road, paving the way to develop our facilities further and provide a community hub for the town.
East Midlands Counties Football League League Cup Runners Up: 2016/2017
Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division Champions: 2010/2011 Division One Runners Up: 2007/2008
North Leicestershire Football League Premier Division Champions: 1994/1995, 1996/1997 1998/1999, 2002/2003 Premier Division Runners-Up: 1997/1998, 2004/2005
Cobbin Trophy Winners: 1996/1997
Chairmans Shield Winners: 1995/1996, 1996/1997
Leicestershire Senior Cup Runners Up: 2011/2012, 2012/2013
Coalville Charity Cup Winners: 2010/2011 Runners Up: 2002/2003
MANAGER: Andy Gray
ASSISTANT MANAGER: Pete Dunn COACHES:, Lee Barrett & Conrad Carrolan MATCHDAY CO ORDINATOR: Lee Barratt PHYSIO: Elise Watts
Ashley Garner
Chris Acott
Ciaran Hughes
Daniel Miguel Pastor Danny Quinn
Gabe Webster Harry Stewart Jack Robinson Jake Conkay
James Grouse
Joe Neal Josh Thomas Liam Donaghy Liam Storer Macauley Holmes Ross McGarry
Sam Grouse Sam Taylor Tommy Dyche (GK) Will Groocock
Will Robson
MANAGER: Joe Conneely COACHES: GOALKEEPER COACH: PHYSIO:
Isa Nasibu Abrahamu Jeremie Agholor Brandon Bache
Adam Barber Ethan Taylor Baynham Jack Beasley
Emile Beckford Nick Brandish Joseph Cairns
Christopher Paul Camwell
Lewis Collins Alex Davies Matthew Dawson
Jack Edwards
Thomas Foley
Kai GIBBS
Kyron Green Paul Hathaway Alec Hill
Reece Jacobs Perri McCullough
REFEREE: ASSISTANTS:
