ASHBY IVANHOE
CLUB OFFICIALS
Chairman: David Morris
Directors: Jon Emmerson & Neil Johnson
Club President: David Morris
Vice Chairman: Bryan Smith
Vice President: Charlie Tissington Snr
Senior & Matchday Secretary: Stuart Mann
Junior Secretary: Steph Rawden
Finance Manager: Derrick Barrett
Groundsman: Adrian Barnes
Facilities Manager: Dave Buckley
Interim CWO: Sade Palmer
Supporters Club Chairman: Mick Buckley
Website & Programme Editor: Ryan Johnson
Head of Social Media & Marketing: Ryan Morris
Matchday PA: Mick Buckley
Turnstile And Pay Kiosk Operator: Liam Rawden
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
Community Liaison Officer: Dean O’Shea
FIRST TEAM MANAGEMENT
Manager: Andy Gray
Coaches: Pete Dunn, Lee Barrett, Conrad Carrolan
Goalkeeping Coach: Vacant
Matchday Co-Ordinator: Lee Barratt
RESERVE TEAM MANAGEMENT
Lee Windrum, Chris Nettle, Glyn Andrews, Roger Birch
MIDWEEK FLOODLIT UNDER 18's
Manager: Conrad Corrolan
GROUND STAFF
Mark Pepper, David Buckley
Tel: 01530 413140
CHAIRMAN'S WELCOME
David Morris gives his latest thoughts ahead of today's match
FIRST TEAM UPDATE
Andy Gray gives his latest thoughts ahead of today's match
FIRST TEAM LEAGUE & GOALSCORERS
Latest fixtures update IN OPPOSITION
Read about Paget Rangers history
JUNIOR & YOUTH UPDATE
Latest news from Mark Scrivener
KIDS CORNER
Quiz's, puzzles, competitions and more to keep the kids busy
LOTTERY
Enter our lottery to help raise money for our next project
CLUB HISTORY
A brief history of Ashby Ivanhoe Football Club
Email: info@ashbyivanhoefc.co.uk
Website: www.ashbyivanhoefc.co.uk
NFU Sports Ground, Lower Packington Road, Ashby De La Zouch, Leicestershire, LE65 1TS
DAVID MORRIS
CHAIRMAN'S WELCOME
Good afternoon & welcome to our first Saturday afternoon game of the season. Our visitors today are Paget Rangers who come to us with a perfect record of 4 out of 4 so far this season, we are off the back of a fabulous 7-0 victory on Tuesday so today promises to be a great game & we welcome Paget & their players & staff to Ashby.
As always pre-season has been a very busy time, not least because the football club is expanding very quickly and loads of positive news to report which I will cover in the coming weeks. For now the headlines are Ivanhoe will have 30+ teams wearing the blue next season ! Of course we will have the first team which you will see today, Andy Gray has assembled a terrific squad with a great atmosphere within it, we’ve had terrific support for the games so far & that has spurred the boys on to a good start which we hope continues ! After let’s just say a messy season last term The Knights have a new & experienced management team, they have also assembled a strong squad and they should really be worth watching this season ! On to the junior section which has grown amazingly over the Summer, Mark Scriveror has taken over the role of Head of Junior football & we will now run 26 boys teams & 4 girls teams which is a huge increase. Brilliant work by Mark, Dave, Sade & Steph on those many registrations, & by Mark Rowling, Lee & Neil on the many kits required, also Jon & Manny on where they will all play !!! Finally where it all starts is the Saturday morning Soccer School, Robbie Avins has taken this on & it’s grown from a small base up to attracting 35/40 a session, in fact so many attending we have added a “Development Squad” session which has provided the platform for the formation of 3 more new teams, wonderful to see.
Lots of other news but I’ll save some of that for future issues but much of which can be found on
our social media pages so please give us a follow so you’ll always know of developments at the club.
Last 2 things, we finally have a club shop for Ivanhoe wear & replica kits, visit that via our website (I’ll give you more info next time) etc & season tickets are available to purchase now, which if you attend most games at The NFU are great value.
Finally, if you are a sponsor, coach, parent, supporter old or new thank you for choosing to spend your Saturday afternoon at Ashby Ivanhoe we hope you enjoy the game, good luck to Andy & the boys, come on Ivanhoe !!
Dave ChairmanP.s. To Charlie Tissington who has not been too well recently, great to see you & best wishes for your continued recovery.
If 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.
ANDY GRAY
FIRST TEAM UPDATE
Good afternoon to everyone.
Firstly I’d like to thank every fan for their support so far this season.
The following has been fantastic both home and away. The players, my staff and myself really appreciate it.
Long may it continue.
We've had a decent start to the season with a draw and three victories.
The new players have 'bedded in' very well and are proving to be great additions to the team and squad.
Game by game our performances have improved and our last game on Tuesday night was the best so far. The 7-0 victory was fully deserved and I thought we were impossible to play against. Every player worked to regain possession and helped to create many chances.
6 of them were of course converted by Sam Grouse who was unplayable and deserved his second double hatrick for the club!
Today we welcome Paget Rangers who have won all of their first four games.
I'm sure the challenge will be a tough one but
I hope we can keep our unbeaten record whilst ending theirs.
I hope you all enjoy the game and look forward to you all cheering us on to three more points.
Regards. Andy Gray.
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IN OPPOSITION TODAY
PAGET RANGERS
The club was established in 1938 by pupils of Paget Road School in Erdington, Birmingham and was accepted into the Intermediate Division of the Birmingham Juvenile Organisation Committee. In their first two seasons Paget enjoyed instant success, winning the league title on both occasions; however the outbreak of the 2nd World War brought a halt to progress. Following the outbreak of peace, Paget joined the Birmingham Youth and Old Boys AFA, before moving to the Central Amateur League in 1949 and then the Worcestershire Combination (now Midland Combination) in 1950.
In 1951 Paget Rangers purchased a site on Springfield Road in Walmley for a cost of £550. Springfield Road was to be Paget’s home for the next 42 years. The 1950s was a decade of consolidation for The Bears, before experiencing their first major success in 1960 when a unique quadruple was achieved. Paget won the Midland Combination League Title, The Midland Combination League Cup, The Birmingham Junior Cup and the Sutton Coldfield Charity Cup. Paget went on to retain the league title again in 1961. Further success followed in 1967 when Paget Rangers defeated Alvechurch to win the Midland Combination League cup (Alvechurch had beaten Paget in the previous year’s final). In 1970 Paget won the Midland Combination Premier Division for the third time, following that success with a second-place finish in 1971.
In 1971 the club erected floodlights at Springfield Road, becoming the first Midland Combination club to have floodlights in the process. The switching on of the lights was marked by a visit of Aston Villa to Springfield Road, drawing a crowd in excess of 2000.
Paget Rangers won their 4th Midland Combination League Cup in 1983 and a 5th success soon followed in 1986, earning Paget Rangers a place in the Southern League for the first time. Unfortunately a mass exodus of players following the departure of manager Eddie Caulfield to local rivals Sutton Coldfield Town undermined the club’s progress and after one season in the Southern League the club was relegated to the West Midlands (Regional) League.
Paget adapted to live in the West Midlands (Regional) League and achieved a top half finish in all but one season between 1988 and 1994. The highest place
achieved during this period was a second-place finish in 1992, when Gresley Rovers won the title. Success was achieved in the League Cup however in 1992, when Paget Rangers defeated Gresley Rovers in a thrilling final. The club also reached the final of the League Cup in both 1993 and 1994, but finished as runners-up on both occasions.
In 1993 Paget Rangers sold their Springfield Road ground for housing development for a fee believed to be in excess of £1.4million. Whilst a site for a new home was sought Paget Rangers began a groundshare agreement with local rivals Sutton Coldfield Town.
In 1994, following league restructuring, Paget were elected as founder members of the new Midland Football Alliance. Paget won the inaugural championship in 1994/95 by a twelve-point margin from Hinckley Athletic to once again achieve promotion to the Southern League Midland Division.
The 1994-95 season was an outstanding season for Paget as in addition to claiming the Midland Football Alliance Championship, they won the Lord Mayor of Birmingham's Charity Cup when beating Moor Green in the final, and finished as runners-up in the Staffordshire Senior Cup to Stoke City. The same season saw them reach the semi-final of the Birmingham Senior Cup, thus enjoying their best ever run in the competition which included a 2–1 victory over Coventry City in the quarter final. However, they were beaten by Aston Villa but not before putting on a spirited performance at Villa Park.
In all, throughout the 1994/95 season, a total of five Southern League Clubs were beaten in various cup competitions. The first season in the Southern League was an instant success, with a 5th-place finish, including memorable victories over both Tamworth and run-away leaders Nuneaton Borough. In fact, Paget Rangers were top at Christmas, but the sale of star striker Ian Bennett and midfielder David Campbell to Leicester United undermined any hopes of a second successive promotion.
After 5 seasons ground sharing with Sutton Coldfield Town, Paget moved to their new home at Vale Stadium, Castle Vale, for the start of the 1998/99 season. This moved proved to be a
disaster. The expected increase in attendances didn’t materialise, the new pitch was prone to flooding and boardroom disagreements due to the inheritance of £1.4m caused the team to struggle both on and off the pitch.
The Club continued to battle on valiantly in the Southern League Western Division for two more seasons before the seemingly inevitable relegation occurred at the end of the 2000–01 season. As the season was drawing to a close, a mass exodus of players due to the withdrawal of any financial support saw several youth team players see action. Their spirit and effort was not enough to help Paget avoid relegation to the Midland Alliance, but four wins from their final six games meant Paget avoided bottom spot.
Paget's first season back in the Midland Football Alliance saw further off field tribulations affect the composition of the team. Once again youth featured prominently as the Bears attempted to stabilise in new surroundings. Paget achieved a solid mid-table position in their first season back in the Midland Alliance, however, the club resigned at the end of the season and subsequently folded. The club’s final game was at home to Barwell on 23 April 2002. Paget won the game 3–1.
In 2011 lifelong Paget Rangers supporter Matthew Dainty set about reforming the club. After 18 months of planning Paget’s application to the Midland Combination for the 2012/13 season was rejected, thus meaning the Bears had to join the Birmingham AFA where they were placed in Division 2. Again, much like the original club Paget enjoyed instant success winning the Birmingham & District AFA Senior Cup at the first attempt, Paget defeating Athletic Sparkhill in a thrilling final 6–5. In total three Premier Division clubs were defeated in the competition. Paget also came top of their league, pipping second-place Aston Reserves by a few points, to secure the AFA Division 2 title, and a double haul in their first season back.
For the 2013/14 season, Paget's application to the Midland Combination was successful and the club was placed in Division 3. Despite establishing a twelve-point lead by Christmas, the Bears were eventually caught and overtaken by eventual champions Kenilworth Town and runners-up Coventry United. 3rd place however, was sufficient to see the club promoted to the Midland Football League 2nd Division for the 2014/15 season. Paget also reached the final of the Smedley Crooke Memorial Cup in 2013/14, going down by 4 goals 1 against Bromsgrove Sporting at their Victoria Road ground in front of a crowd of 408.
After consolidating during the 2014/15 season, Paget enjoyed a more successful season in 2015/16, securing a 4th place finish in the Midland Football League Second Division, which included a 15 game unbeaten run in the latter part of the season.
2016/17 Season Paget enjoyed a more successful season after gaining promotion as champions of Division 2. This was followed by winning the Les James Challenge Cup at the home of Walsall FC, against Redditch Borough.
After three seasons of consolidation in the Midlands Football League First Division, Matthew Dainty took the decision to step down as Chairman. Matthew’s legacy at Paget Rangers is assured having resurrected the Club and overseen the Club’s rise to Step 6 of the Non League pyramid.
And so it was that just prior to the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, a consortium led by James Parker took over the Club. Parker was already Chairman of Birmingham St Georges Junior Football Club, with teams from U8 – U18. In fact, following the takeover, all of those Junior Teams re-branded and so from the beginning of the 2020/21 season Paget Rangers had teams competing at every age group from u8 through to the First Team.
The 2020/21 season, like the season before, was heavily disrupted by the Covid pandemic and brought to an early finish but not before Paget had enjoyed some success in the FA Vase, with victory over Wolverhampton Casuals and a stunning away victory at Chelmsley Town, before their Wembley dream was ended by Radford.
In May 2021 and in anticipation of the 2021/22 season Paget announced the appointment of Steve Walker as their new First Team Manager, something of a coup for Paget. Walker who has spent the previous 8 years working at Step 3, with both Coalville and Stratford Town brings a wealth of coaching experience and a backroom team determined to continue Paget’s upwards journey.
Following the departure of Steve Walker towards the end of the 2021/22 season, James Parker and Kevin Smith took over the reigns as joint Managers, for the final 8 games of the season. The Managerial duo who have both been involved with the Club for many years, will be looking to oversee the continual development of our younger players from the Paget Juniors into the First Team as we head into the 2022/23 season.
MEET SPONSORS
MARK SCRIVENER
JUNIOR AND YOUTH FOOTBALL UPDATE
Here at Ashby Ivanhoe we have seen big changes I n our Junior and Youth section. On June 1st Mark Scrivener joined us to head up this important division of Ashby Ivanhoe FC. Since then the junior section has grown massively!! We now 25 Junior teams up from 14 this covers ages U7 to U18, giving us over 270 children playing in the new stunning Ashby Ivanhoe Junior Kit. We are looking forward to watching our team paly matches in several local leagues including Burton Junior and Tamworth Junior leagues as well as our U14 & U15 taking part in the regional Midland Junior Premiere league! There will be Junior matches on at the NFU every Saturday from September so why not come down and support the kids!!
Added to this we consistently have over 25 budding young players in our soccer school ( ages 3-6) which is run on a Saturday morning 10-11am under the guidance of Rob Avins and is continuing to grow week on week!! The Club also recently started the Development school which give children ages 7-16 a chance to get involved with a football team if there are no spaces in any other clubs at their age group. This has been a huge success as due to the number of children attending this school we have successfully created 4 brand new teams within the Junior Section and given 39 children the opportunity to play league football this coming session!
As you can see its an exciting time here at Ashby Ivanhoe for Junior and youth football, if you or someone you know has children looking to get into a great club please contact us on via our social media or website below.
Mark Head of Junior & Youth FootballJOSH KAY
IVANHOE VS SMETHWICK REPORT
Ashby Ivanhoe 7-0 Smethwick Rangers
Sam Grouse scored a sensational double hat trick in a performance which manager Andy Gray described as ‘the best since I’ve been at the club’’ as Ivanhoe thrashed Smethwick Rangers for seven.
Facing a side they did the double over last year; Ashby started the game confidently and immediately looked the more physical side in midfield. First to every ball and playing with a high tempo, they stretched the visitors defence from minute one.
Their efforts were rewarded when Will Robson, who would go on to grab four assists played a defence splitting pass to Grouse, who in a repeat of last weeks game, was taken down by the goalkeeper as he looked to round him.
For the third time this season, Grouse converted from 12 yards. His strike narrowly finding its way past the diving Ryan Williams, who couldn’t reach the perfectly placed spot kick.
Smethwick provided little threat throughout the first half. Striker Junior Enongene caused havoc for Ivanhoe last season, on this occasion however he was thwarted by Joe Neal and Macauley Holmes, who were able to match his physicality and prevent him from holding up the ball.
Gray’s side would double their lead on the half our mark. In a piece of play similar to the penalty, Robson once again played Grouse in on goal. This time, he rode the challenge of the goalkeeper, and slotted home past the sliding defender.
Incredibly, Ashby’s number 10 would double his tally for the match before the end of the first half. A shot from the left side of the box deflected past the goalkeeper gave him his hat trick, and a first-time volley arrowing into the bottom corner after a flick from Robson gave him four before the break.
After a relentless first half, Ashby would’ve been
forgiven for taking their foot of the gas in the second. The intensity remained high however, and it was not long before they added to the score sheet.
Robson, once again being the driving force in midfield played a sublime 30-yard pass over the defence, using the pace of Chris Acott who ran onto the ball and finished across the goalkeeper into the bottom left corner.
Five minutes later, Grouse added his fifth. This goal all of his own making as he put pressure on the Smethwick defender who failed to get the ball under control. Grouse pinched the ball off him and ignored the run of Acott at the back post to fire the ball past the goalkeeper.
Acott was subsequently replaced by Will Groocock who immediately began to link up with Grouse, who was looking to score his second double hat trick for the club.
As time was running down Groocock picked the ball up on the edge of the penalty area and played a pass to Grouse. The goalkeeper looked favourite to get there first however the desire from Grouse to get there first meant he was able to poke the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to complete the double hat trick and round off a perfect night for Ivanhoe.
‘’The way we performed; we were horrible to play against. We don’t get carried away four games into the season, but if we can replicate that we will be okay’’ said a delighted Gray after the match.
Saturday sees the visit of unbeaten table toppers Paget Rangers who will provide a stern test for Ashby who will be full of confidence following Tuesday’s result.
KIDS CORNER
CLUB HISTORY
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
CLUB HISTORY
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
Coalville Charity Cup Winners: 2010/2011 Runners Up: 2002/2003 IVANHOE
Reserves league also had all results expunged.
As a club we are now looking to but our ground and have since the end of the previous season become a CIC club.
CLUB HONOURS
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
ASHBY
MANAGER: Andy Gray
COACHES: Pete Dunn, Lee Barrett, Conrad Carrolan
MATCHDAY CO ORDINATOR: Lee Barratt
PHYSIO: Elise Watts
Chris Acott
Jake Conkay
Liam Donaghy
Tommy Dyche (Gk)
James Grouse
Sam Grouse
Macauley Holmes
Ross McGarry
Jack Robinson
Will Robson
Harry Stewart Gabe Webster Ashley Garner Joe Neal Ciaran Hughes
Tom Simms
Josh Thomas
Daniel Miguel Pastor Will Groocock
PAGET RANGERS
Kyle Ambris
David Anani
Daniel Barrett Mitchell Barrett Niall Brennan
Ryan Butler
William Case Oliver Clifford Resharn Donegan Resharn Donegan
Tommy Doyle Donald Egbon Dominic Ellington Emils Fedotovs
Oliver Gethin
Mckenzie Humphreys Jamie Hyland
Fahme Ibrahim Nabiel Iyob Harry Jackson
Ryan Kimberley Kieran Luke Mcelwaine Tobias Marshall