AVDFC vsColneyHeath
Tuesday7thFeb2023
SpartanSouthMidlands-Premier KO7.45pm
Firstly, a very warm welcome everyone from Colney Heath.
Well…..what a couple of months it has been for the club. Finally we can say we are back home! Thanks for sticking with us, but as you may have seen on social media or BBC News, we have unfortunately suffered a number of issues within the club house following on from the deep freeze we had just before Christmas. Sadly we are unable to open fully at the moment, but works are progressing and we aim to be open, enjoying a pint in the club house very shortly! A huge thank you to everyone that has stepped in to support or offered to support, without good people this club wouldn’t be even able to host tonight’s game, so a huge thank you to everyone from the Committee.
Jordan & James have done a tremendous job since they took the reigns, bringing in some talented fresh faces and installing a way of playing that has seen have a good run of form. I really look forward to seeing what can be achieved over the next few months and seeing how high up the table we can climb.
We will have a number of games down Haywood way in the coming weeks, along with the first team the Devs and U18’s still have over half their season to play at home, so please come down and get a glimpse of our talented youngsters on their journey to the first team.
The Dynamos
The Greenfleets Stadium
Haywood Way
Aylesbury
Bucks
HP19 9WZ
Chairman:
Mike Borrett
Vice Chairman: Ryan Collings
Club Secretary: Iain Willcocks
Club Treasurer: James Moore
Head of Football
Development: Colin Young
Head of Youth Football: Kevin Woodstock
Head of Women’s Football: Toby O’Callaghan
Chief Welfare Officer: Paul Driscoll
Committee Members: Rosanna Martone
Adrian Green
After our first 11 league matches since taking over at the start of November, our points total sits at 20 points. We set ourselves an internal target, before our first game in charge, of an average of 2 points per game, so to be so close to that is great.
Due to the weather conditions and rearranged fixtures, this will only be our 5th game this year and 7th game since the start of December, so it’s safe to say we’re still finding our feet again from many breaks.
In recent performances, we had an end to end game which could have went either way away to Baldock Town, which we came away 3-4 winners, a hard fought 1-1 draw away to Cockfosters on a Tuesday night and tight 1-0 win away to Shefford Town & Campton on Saturday. We are looking to build on this good recent form as we welcome Colney Heath to Haywood Way.
We are pleased to welcome back Jack Empson from suspension and Charlie Jackson from injury, both will prove to be important players for us this season. We also would like to wish Jacob Williamson, the best of luck as he goes travelling and continuing his football career in Australia. Thank you all for your continued support.
James & Jordan
Aylesbury ValeDynamos is an amalgamation of Aylesbury FCand Bedgrove Dynamos, two local clubs with arich history in local football. Aylesbury FC enjoyed alonghistory in seniorand juniorfootball datingback to the 1930’s underthe previous names of Aylesbury Vale, Haywood United, Belgrave, Stocklakeand Negretti and Zambra FC, which was founded in the 1930’s by workers atthe Negretti and Zambracompany then based in London’s KingCross district. The company moved to the Stocklake Industrial Estate, Aylesbury.
in 1949 and by the mid 50’s the premises had abar, football, cricketand tennis facilities. The football club joined the Aylesbury DistrictLeague in 1954. The social club changed its name to Stocklake when Negrettiand Zambra sold the premises to the local council, who then leased the facilities;hence the differentsections adopted the name Stocklake. Underthe guidance of Chairman MrErnie Crotty, the club gained many honours including runners up in ADL’s top divisions, beforegainingintermediatestatus in the Wycombe and DistrictLeague first and seniordivisions. Sadly Ernie was killed in aroad accidentjustbefore the club moved premises to the present location atHaywood Way in 1987.
Aftergainingseniorstatus and promotion to the Chiltern League in 1988, Stocklake enjoyed many further successes includingDivision One runners up in 1991, PremierDivision and League Cup runners up the following season and Wycombe SeniorCup success in 1995. Cup success was also followed on in the followingseason, this time the Berks and Bucks Intermediate Cup beingadded to the trophy cabinet. BelgraveFCwas formed in 1983 by Jim Sullivan who lived in nearby Belgrave Road. Jim had two sons who were passionate aboutfootballbut were limited to where they could play, so formed ateam himself with the help of neighbours Lynne and David Hatcher. By 1990, underthe guidance of Danny Martone, Belgrave had grown to five youth teams providing football foroverninety boys fromthe Quarrendon and Haydon Hill areas of Aylesbury. 1996 saw the formingof two seniorteams underthe Belgrave FC name and by the turn of the millennium teams were represented atall levels fromUnder8’s through to seniors,
At the start of the 2000/2001 season, the seniorBelgrave FC team was renamed Haywood United followingan amalgamation with Stocklake FCwith Danny Martone voted in as chairman of the new club. Haywood United joined the Spartan South Midlands League and won promotion into Division One aftertwo seasons. Notable achievements duringthe 2001/2002 season included league awards forthe bestkeptand mostimproved ground;this included the erection of floodlights and perimeterfencing, which Danny and his hard working committee foughthard to establish. Season 2002/2003 saw a difficultstartin Division One, butwith the arrival of managerJon Franklin and his assistantKeith WalkerjustafterChristmas, the club eventually consolidated finishingin 9th place. Promotion was gained to the South Midlands PremierDivision the followingyearaftera campaign thatsaw 23 wins, 7 draws and only 4 losses. Haywood United proved themselves capable of stayingin the PremierDivision afterfinishing3rd in the 2004/2005 season in a campaign thatonly include one loss in the twenty matches afterChristmas. The club also entered the FA Cup and Vase forthe firsttime and won the BuckinghamCharity Cup in 2006.
Season 2006/2007 began with Haywood United becoming Aylesbury Vale FC and saw Keith Walkerand Steve Gleinstertake overas joint managers and steadily build asquad. This wasrecognised in the 2008/2009 season, underthe managementof Mark Eaton, with a good cup run in the FA Cup and FA Vase, winningthree rounds in the FA Cup losingto Level 4 side Gosport aftera replay, and losingoutin the 4th round of the FA Vase to Leiston Town. . AfterChristmas the side suffered due to longterm injuries and finished mid table. May 2009 saw a major new developmentin anew semi professional sidevote foraname change. Aylesbury FootballClub was formed underthe leadership of Chairman RogerDance and assisted by Vice Chairman Danny Martone
FormerChairman Bill Harrison was made Presidentof the club. Greatsuccess on the field of play was to follow, with the team havinga fantasticrun in the F.A. Cup. We were the last'level five'team in the country to remain in the competition and were rewarded with avisitto Haywood Way forthe F.A. Cup trophy, allowingthe team, supporters and local people to gettheirhands on this famous trophy and make the most of this memorable occasion. We were finally knocked outof the competition by Wealdstone in aclose game. A brave and superb display was witnessed by abumpercrowd of 800 plus.
Meanwhile, away fromthe midstof F.A. Cup drama, oursuccess continued, becoming'Double Winners'Winning both the Spartan South Midland League and League Cup cappingan extraordinary season and gainingpromotion to the Southern League Division 1Central. Steve Bateman took overin 2013/14, steered the club to safety in his first6 months in charge. Then in 2014/15 with Bateman at the helmFChas theirmostsuccessful season to date mostsuccessful to date. Playingatthe highestlevel in the club’s history, the team finished third in the League, havingbeen pushingforpromotion all season and narrowly lostoutin the semi final to Bedworth United having already beaten themtwice in the league. the 2015/16 finished with aflourish as the club finished justoutsidethe play off positions, buthad the consolation of ourfirstmajorCup Final, beatingChesham United in the Berks & Bucks Cup at Windsor. Steve Bateman and his managementteam resigned atthe end of the season and Danny Gordon & Gareth Risbridgertook the helm , supported by Paul Bonham , Ryan Wiffin &Aaron Norman. Davis Haule took overfromGordon & Risbridgerin December2016, appointed brotherBrian as his assistantand recruited formercoaches FraserMcLachlan, Aaron Wiffin and added Ryan Collings to his back room staff forthe 2017/18 season. In 2018/19 ScottReynolds was appointed managerand when he resigned midway through the season itwas leftto Paul Bonhamto take control but because of ground gradingissues the Southern League made the decision to relegate the club and so afterten seasons in the Southern League. Phil Granville and Ben Gill were appointed midway through lastseason and will kick off the 2020/21 season again in the Spartan PremierDivision. Steve Bateman was re appointed as managerin September2021 and replaced summer2022 by Michael East & Liam Dwyer
Bedgrove Dynamos
Alf Buckland, aresidentof FinmereCrescent, formed Bedgrove Dynamos in 1968. It was created to fill avoid in activities forboys within the Bedgroveareaon the south side of Aylesbury. In 1980, Dave Bayliss became involved when he broughthis Cub side to the Bedgrove Park. The teams amalgamated and Dave wenton to be the chairman for 21 years, steppingdown in the year2000. Within two years and barely a full strip between them, they managed notonly to win the Under12's Aylesbury &DistrictLeague (ADL), butwenton to win the 13's & 14's league in consecutive years and, by which time, they now had fourteams at various age groups.
Overthe years the club has grown and has won many tournaments and trophies, especially atcounty level. Many teams have toured abroad and the club has also entertained boys fromEurope and America. We can boostthat we are the only boys club to have a club pennanton display in Barcelona's trophy room. At the start of the season 2001/02 the club was the largestjuniorclub in the Aylesbury area, runningteams from under8's through to under18's. Atthe end of the season 2001/02 the club managed to win the coveted Berks and Bucks Cup at under14's, the Mayor's Cup at under12's, represented in two othercup finals, won 3league titles, gained 6promotions in total and all teams finished in the top 6 to the fairplay awards fortheirrespective leagues. In the last20 seasons across the age groups the club has won 25 divisionaltitles, and runners up 20 times.
In 2019 two became one when the sides amalgamated with the intention of allowingthe youth of the town to progress through juniorfootball to youth and then adultfootballand play atthe highestpossible level.
Jordan King – Joint Manager
FA Qualified Coach Jordan started his managerial careeratAylesbury Park Rangers in 2012, achievingthree promotions in consecutiveseasons and also led the side to the Tom Sparkes League Cup. Then at Aston Clinton between 2015 and 2018 the side achieved back to back promotion finishes and in 2017/18 Aston were runners up in Spartan South Midlands League Div Two and the Division Two Cup Runners up. In 2020 he joined Aylesbury Vale Dynamos as assistantmanagerand oversaw arebuild alongside Phil Granvillegaining19 points fromthe first10 games before Covid curtailed the season.
Jordan became jointmanagerwith James Green atWinslow United and the pairgave the club theirjointhighestfinish.
James Green – Joint Manager
James joined Winslow United atYouth Level, takingaside through all of the age groups from u7-u18. Honours included multipleLeague/Cup titles, winningthe Be & Bucks Cup, top 5 finishes in the JuniorPremierLeague &reachingthe FA Youth Cup 1st Round Properfortwo consecutiveseasons atu18 facingCharlton Athletic & Ipswich Town.
In 2021 James became jointFirstTeam Managerwith Jordan Kingat Winslow United and the pair gave the club theirjointhighesteverfinish. Finishing3rd place, with 80 points from 38 games, scoring104 goals alongthe way. James’ reputation has been builtovermany years, helpingto develop top youth talentregionally as they successfully transition into seniorfootball across the Non-League levels. Someof whom we’d hope to see at Haywood Way.
Ken Hazell – Coach
Successful playingcareer playingatOxford City, Witney Town and Kidlington. Vastly experienced having various management positions atHale Leys United, Aston Clinton FC, Winslow United FC, Aylesbury United U18’s and Penn & Tyler’s Green FC.
Charlie
JONES
Experience Goalkeeper signed from Dunstable Town where he started 10 games this season.
Charlie is an athletic, technical goalkeeper, who is excellent with his feet and offers superb distribution.
Jet DYER
Jet has a gifted left foot and is currentlyplaying in our U18’s Floodlit team.
Jet has also been at Aylesbury United.
Still only17, Jet has a bright future ahead of him.
Charlie
ATTWELL
Charlie is strong ballplaying defender who signed from Winslow United. He was Jordan & James’s Managers Player of the Season at Winslowafter making 45 appearances. Solid defensivelyand equallyas good going forward.
Jake
BALDWIN
Young striker who is another player who has progressed from the U18s side. Skilful on the ball and verycalm in front of the . Made a great impact in his first season where he became a regular and scored six goalsin a truncated season. Nowan important part of the first team, a realjoker and teamplayer
Dave
BROWN
Dave is a skilful and energetic midfielder who signed from WinslowUnited in 2020. Dave also started everygame for Aylesbury Flooring as they won the FA Sunday Cup in 2019.
Playes an important role in the centre of the Dynamos midfieldthis term
Max ROSNER
Max is a youngand verystrong defender currentlyon loan from Beaconsfield Town.
Great feet and vision has forced Max into the first teamsquad
Terry
GRIFFITHS
Imposing Central Defender who re signs this season as Club Captain. Has now made 50 Dynamos appearances since joining in season 2020/21 in the pandemic affected season. when he made an immediate impact shuring up the Dynamos defence.
Jack EMPSON
Jack is a youngand talented fullback, who is strong and creative and like to drive forward with the ball. Jack previously played for MK Dons Academyand hassigned on loan from Kettering Town.
Harvey
MATTHEWS
Harveyhas worked his waythrough the youth set up and played every game in the Development team in the 21/22 season.
A great central defender who is hoping to get his chance in the 1st Team set up soon.
Jacob
WILLIAMSON
Box to box midfielder joins from AFC Rushden & Diamonds after a short spell with Newport Pagnell
Another MK Dons academyplayer, highlytechnical player who is great on the ball and covers a lot of ground.
Jacob hasa famous sister in Arsenal and England international Leah.
Charlie JACKSON
Creative midfielder resturns to Dynamos after beinga member of the 20/21 season. Previouslyspent 7 years in the MK Dons academy before movingto Oxford United. A highlytalented player who adds qualityto the team.
Rio DEALL
Rio, who previouslyplayed at MK Dons academyfor 6 years, has impressed throughout the season and is a keyplayer in the squad. Rio is a fantastic attacking midfielder who createsand scores goals. A great addition to the team.
Antonio IANELLI
Antonio hasbeen a target of ours across pre season and after a recent break he has joined and featured in our FA cup game at the weekend. Despite his youngage his versatility, technical abilityand football intelligence will be a great addition to the club.
Curtis BROWN
An athletic, wide player, who’s pace, strength and power makeshim very difficult to play against.
Curtis burst onto the scene scoring 23 goals in 25 starts for Winslow in his first season in senior football. Also scoringagainst Ipswich Town in the FA Youth Cup.
Evans LAMBOH
An all round attacking midfielder with lots of flare. Evans waspreviouslywith Tring Athletic and AylesburyUnited and joins the squad fromRisborough Rangers.
Abu Khan
Young exciting player who can play wide or through the middle. Has had spellsat Winslowand Thame recentlybefore returningback to The
Dynamos
Sadibo CAMARA
Sadibo hasbeen with the club from U8’s and worked hiswaythrough the system. Currentlyan U18’s Floodlit League player, his fast pace and skill causes defencesproblems from the start. One for the future…!
Kris COLLIER
An athletic, strongmidfielder who currentlycaptains the U18’s teamat the club.
Kris has made a handful of 1st team appearances and is a box to box scoring midfielder.
Chris STAPLETON
Experienced striker who joined in 20/21 from Dunstable Town where he was club captain. Chris is very much a leader on the field and made an immediate impact with his non stop running and aerial ability. He adds goals and qualityto a young forward line
Dan LAMBETH
Powerful center forward returns to Dynamos after a year out. He was a member ofthe 20/21 season squad where he scored an impressive 17 goals in 15 games.
A nightmare for anydefence to deal with.
SHEFFORD TOWN & CAMPTON 0-1 AVDFC
BY IAIN WILLCOCKSSHARE
Lambeth strike defeats Shefford !
Shefford Town & Campton 0-1 AVDFC
Team: Charlie Jones; Max Rosner, Jet Dyer, Charlie Attwell, Terry Griffiths; Dave Brown, Rio Deall, Abu Khan, Jake Baldwin; Lewis Workman, Dan Lambeth
Subs: Antonio Ianelli, Evans Lamboh, Curtis Brown, Charlie Jackson, Jack Empson
Coming off the back of a hard fought 1-1 draw at Cockfosters on Tuesday, the team travelled to Shefford to play the mid-table side.
Jack Empson was back from suspension and Charlie Jackson back from injury as we named a full squad for the match.
Dynamos created the first half chance as Baldwin played a ball through to Lambeth but it hit his heel and the keeper gathered.
Lambeth was involved again on 7 minutes as a long throw from Dyer found him with space for a shot which went wide of the mark.
Rosner had to be on his toes with the effective No.10 from Shefford looking a livewire. A Dynamos corner was cleared and Rosner just nipped in to beat him to the ball to thwart a breakaway.
20 minutes and what a chance…Jones cleared the ball upfield and Lambeth headed on to Baldwin who was through on goal…his shot was saved and the ball fell to Workman, a couple of yards out but his effort went over the bar. A few minutes later Rosner picked up a loose ball and stormed forward, avoiding two challenges, finding Lambeth. He beat his man and fizzed in a decent effort which the keeper saved. 36 minutes in and Dave Brown looked in some discomfort after a challenge. His shoulder was the issues and has had problems previously…Ianelli came on for him.
Shefford almost scored with a couple of minutes of the half remaining as their No.10 again, proving a real handful as he beat Griffiths to the ball and hit a low effort which Jones tipped wide.
Less than a minute left and Ianelli collected a ball out from Dyer and played a superb ball, splitting the defence, for Abu to run onto. He controlled well, but his shot wasn’t strong enough and the keeper saved.
Half time: Shefford 0-0 AVDFC
The second half saw an early half chance as a Shefford free kick was sent straight to Abu who controlled and hit a long range effort….not hard enough and the keeper scampered back to save.
Lambeth and Deall both had shots in the next 10 minutes with Jones making another decent save at the other end as both teams searched for the opener. On the hour mark Jordan and James made a double substitution. Baldwin and Workman were replaced by Lamboh and Curtis Brown. Curtis was straight in the action as a lovely pass from Deall found him free on the right, cutting in and hitting his shot well, but the keeper saved. 65 minutes and a penalty claim, Abu, having a decent game, sent a lovely ball through to Lambeth, he clashed legs with the defender, but referee said play on. It was clear that one goal would win the game, if either team could find it. Shefford had a decent period of pressure but Dynamos were defending well. On 80 minutes…the goal finally came…! Ianelli won a decent header and Abu was bundled to the floor. Free Kick Dynamos. Deall stepped up and floated it in, Griffiths and defender battled for the ball and it ended up falling to Lambeth on the edge of the box…and he smashed it home. 0-1 Dynamos.
A couple of minutes later Shefford had a free kick in a dangerous position, but Jones was equal to it, tipping it over the bar.
Lambeth managed to hold the ball in the corner well as the time ebbed away and past 90 minutes.
The last 3 minutes was end to end action. Firstly Shefford thought they had equalised when a corner came in and was headed on goal from 5 yards out but Jones somehow managed to claw it away from goal. A truly outstanding save!!!
Then Dynamos went down the other end after Rosner had cleared the ball and it fell to Lambeth, he beat the last defender, with only the keeper left. He curled the ball round the keeper and inches past the post…so, so close…!
Final score: Shefford Town 0-1 AVDFC
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So.. we head into what we hope will be a busy period for the U18’s Southern Counties Midweek side. With a much curtailed season to date having played 7 league games and a handful of FA Youth and County Cup matches, the group are looking forward to getting back to league action this week at home on Thursday evening versus Luton Town (Cedars) Academy Shadow Squad.
The lads having won all their league games including the expunged game 9-0 win v Crawley Green, losing their last game away to a competitive Oxhey Jets (PDA Academy) from 2-0 ahead, their only league loss of the season so far. This result, the only blip on the season so far, was a timely shot in the arm, we’ve been lucky enough to put on 2 full on sessions per week with our games being lost to weather, the lads are raring to go in what will be a concerted push to the season end. Only 7 points behind with 4 games in hand on 1st & 2nd place teams we are focused on winning those games in hand and regaining our place at the top of the table when possible.
The break in play has allowed both Chris & Myself the opportunity to have a closer look at the U17’s and U16’s squads in competitive games, utilising Veo to look in detail at what’s coming through into the 18’s next season, a real benefit using the analytics tools Veo affords, building an early picture, great for all concerned.
The change in management within the 1st team has seen an instant uplift in the inclusion of a number of the U18’s playing regularly in the Spartan Premier, some of which will be involved this evening v Colney Heath, the 5 lads involved so far have benefited hugely and won’t be the only ones to taste Senior football this season.
We have strengthened our playing group over the last couple of weeks with the addition of 2 highly recommended 2nd year players in key positions, both will play a large part in our push as we go through the forthcoming 3 months or so to the season climax. Let’s see where we go from here, Luton Town (Cedars) Leverstock Green and Colney Heath up in quick sucession – We cannot wait!
Colin Young - Head of Youth Developmentand then Colney Heath are next up in quick succession.. we can’t wait !!
The “Magpies” were founded in 1907 and played their early football in the Hatfield District League and, after the 1st World War, joined the Mid Herts League, where the 3rd team played until recently. Earlier records indicate the winning of a Harcourt Cup but in is believed that this was Junior football some 18 month earlier, 1905-6.
Earlier matches were played on two grounds in Coursers Road (the Meadow and the Warren). Success was a long time coming - 1935-36, and was disrupted by the 2nd World War. The golden era of football came from 1946 through to 1960 when the club won the Mid Herts Benevolent Shield twice, the Bingham Cox Cup, Division 1 and Premier Division titles.
In 1952 the switch was made from Fuzzen Field to the Recreation Ground and into the Herts County League. Division Two was won at the first attempt and success continued with two Playing Fields Cups, the Aubrey Cup twice, Division 1 and Premier titles. This culminated over the Easter weekend in 1960 with the Herts Intermediate Cup and Aubrey Cup double. The Reserve side also completed a double in 1958 winning both Cup and League.
In 1965-66, 1968-69 and 1975-76 saw relegations and a slip down to Division 3. Promotions in 1979-80, 1983-84 and 1985-86 saw a return to the Premier Division after a 20 year gap only to be relegated back immediately.
Odd trophies were picked up in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s but these were pretty barren years on the field. Off the field, however, the club fought for permission to use its old clubhouse. This was secured with leases still running today.
In August 1988 while modernising the building, the club burnt down. Without a clubhouse, the Magpies, playing from a Portacabin, regained entry to the Premier Division winning the Division 1 title. A new clubhouse was built in 1989 and an extension added in 1993, along with post and rails. Floodlights were erected in February 2000.
The wish to play South Midlands football eluded the club with 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 4th finishes from 1994- 1998, when second place would have been enough. Centenary Trophies back to back and another Aubrey Cup were won but the Herts County title only came in 1999/2000, when coming from 15 points behind in January to win by 10 points from rivals, Wormley.
The club’s ambition was to gain Premier Division status and with it FA Cup entry. Finishes of 5th 3rd 5th 6th and 5th were not enough in the initial seasons, despite numerous semi-final appearances and consecutive Charity Cup successes in seasons.(2001/2 and 2002/3) The South Midland Reserve Challenge trophy was collected in 2004/5.The First Division title eventually came in 2005/6. With this came the Premier Division and the FA Cup. We hadur 15 happy seasons and steadily improving picking up the Premier Division Cup in 2010/11 with a 2-0 win against Leverstock Green. Our FA Vase run of 2013/14 saw us to a 3rd round replay which we followed up by being thrown out of the competition in 2014/15 which was a troubled season with many managerial changes. Our last few seasons have continued with changes for the better with Ryan ‘Tomo’ Thompson installing a togetherness across the club and an FA Cup run that may take some beating in future years and the little reward of second and third Charity Shield wins in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Our aim of promotion was achieved by a FA restructure with the continuing of ground improvements to the fore.
Turnstiles have been acquired and with the support of local authorities and sponsors we hope to continue to make the small village proud for many years to come.
THE MANAGERS AND THE PLAYERS
As with all clubs, the Heath - or the Magpies - as they are more commonly known now, had its own breed of characters throughout the years. The pre war sides, would have been drawn from entirely local players. Sides would have featured an Allen, a Franklin, or a Littlechild. In recent times a Whitehead or an Eames. The most well known club man of yesteryear was the manager around the War Years who later went on to hold positions in The County League and Herts FA whom he served for many loyal years. This was Jesse Saywell. In the olden days it was eleven players and the manager, where a Committee picked the side. Assisting off the field were Messrs Pickett, Archer, Kiff and Costain. C S Kiff ‘Charlie’ later became Secretary of the club and the Mid Herts League producing the League Centenary brochure in 1993. Players of this time included Roy Turner who went on to Barnet and Jimmy Whiting and Dickie Last who went on to St Albans, then both top amateur sides in the Country. Last and Whiting both returned in the 70’s. They helped to win the trophies of the 50’s. Many players of the sixties were drawn away to the emerging London Colney and latterly Selby but had their roots and early times for the Magpies of this period. The foes of these years were North Mymms, Redbourn, Markyate and of course London Colney.
During the emergence of Sunday ‘factory’ football of the sixties the club slipped down the reconstituted County League. Con Patient had a few years at the helm where he had an up and coming star in Ian ‘Grumpy’ Whitehead. Grumpy went on to captain both St Albans and Stevenage and later returned to manage for a year in the early 90’s. Another of Con’s stars was Tony Chapman, who must have had the longest throw ever. It is alleged that Tony injured himself slipping in the Marble Halls at Highbury when he was with the other Magpies, Newcastle!
Geoff Blundell along with Jim Eames dragged the sides along after this with the assistance for a short period (6 games) of Ronnie Dukes. He was the famous City manager at the time of the Torquay United FA Cup tie. Torquay complained that they had no soap, so Ronnie took a case along for the replay.
Malcolm Waller a centre forward under Geoff Blundell had a spell leading the side of mainly Hatfield boys during the 80’s. Geoff did provide us with the ‘legend’ who served us well before departing to play for and later manage Hertford. ‘Lege is of course Dave Whitehead. Dave scored over 200 goals for Hertford before moving to Potters Bar and then back home, where he continued to score goals until breaking a leg in 2002.. Tony Draper then had a spell before the most successful side of the late 80’s was managed by Ian Yule, who plucked stars from all over the place. He was a successful Sunday League manager but still ended getting the sack after failing to produce the goods with his aging all-stars in the Premier Division of the County League. Laird Budge (Spurs kit man) and Dave Lawrence ex City and Bishops Stortford skipper in their Trophy days had a spell before the club turned to ex Watford Coventry and Irish International, Pat Morrissey. Pat’s first job was to save the club from relegation. He kept the side up on a goal difference of one goal on the last day of the season back in 1993, at then Champions Sandridge, after being 15 points adrift at Xmas after taking over from Frank Patrick.
Pat was unable to fulfil the promotion dream but did bring Cup success with Centenary Trophies and a Charity Cup. ‘Grumpy’ had a year then Pat returned from Hemel leaving us with ‘Shag’ Jeggo. Pat is sadly no longer with us. Darren, to give (Shag) his correct name did not really possess stars, other than Welsh International Malcolm Allen and a talented group of Stevenage Trainees, but kept us there or thereabouts in a plan to get us further up the ladder, both on and off the field. He introduced the club to ‘Sven’ O’Vell and since then between them the Aubrey Cup and the Championship, along with successful youth teams have provided us with what you have today. Geoff, like Pat gave us Cup successes and got us very close to the position we felt we ought to be in but handed the reins to Craig ‘Jonno’ Johnstone to pursue the grail.
Craig almost single handedly fulfilled this dream in 2005/6 after an amazing unbeaten run of 18 league games (including 14 straight wins at the start of the season) that carried us to our first Senior South Midlands title. The title winning season saw us score 106 league goals conceding only 27, with 26 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats.
Going into our second Centenary having come a long, long way. The FA Vase was a regular feature; we had improved our league position to a best ever 3rd in 2013/14. We also won the Premier Cup in.2011. The managerial pair of ex-Magpie players, Scott Lacey (102 club goals) and WesleyAwad called it a day and we hoped to continue the pattern with Kevin Cooper and Glenn Draper. However despite their best efforts and an indifferent start we had to turn to the experienced local ex-pro Gary Phillips. In the past he had donned the gloves for Barnet before managing at Aylesbury, Hemel Hempstead and Grays before taking time out to refresh himself at the Rec. After a few months the ‘professional lure’ of a coaching position at League 2 Stevenage proved too much for him (and latterly Crystal Palace) and so we found ourselves with a Parry / Beels combo. Glen played over 250 games for Cheshunt before a caretaker spell gave him the whiff of a managers office and Mark was a former number one at Broxbourne Borough who actually won a Challenge Trophy success at Colney Heath over London Colney in 2010. This didn’t last long for personal reasons!
Wes returned with Matt Chalkley a year later to give our best finish and another first.
A Herts Charity Shield with a 2-1 win at Letchworth against St Margaretsbury. The 2014/5 season was a bit of a nightmare. Great expectations ended with 4 managers and expulsion from the FAVase (and subsequently the following two FA Cup entries) but a creditable runners up spot in the Premier Cup where we lost on penalties to Berkhamsted. The search for managers led us to a loss of an entire team twice in a season and the ones who did remain loyal went at the start of the following season. A new management team headed by Steve Rolfe with a new team then struggled to come to terms with the rigours of step 5 football. We saw the experience of Micky Nathan added and we stayed up on the last day of the season ironically at Broxbourne. 20th was our lowest table position. So onward and upward we were back in the Vase for 2016-17.
Micky was retained as manager with support from Mark Royal and Pete Waller and like previous generations wanted to make his mark but at the end of November 2016 he was relieved of his duties after a series of heavy defeats and replaced by Ryan ‘Tomo’ Thompson with assistance from Tony ‘Kavs’ Kavanagh.
This change saw us stay up in 18th place and the hope of continuing forward. A 10th place finish followed and was climaxed by a return to the FA Cup and a best ever FA Cup performance going out in a 2nd Qualifying Round Replay at Burgess Hill Town after wins against Tring Athletic,Shortwood United and Cockfosters. The seasons highlight was the addition of our second Charity Shield with a win over Welwyn Garden City at Hemel Hempstead by 2-0.With the fruit of the under 18’s being pushed forward and the reestablishing of the Reserves in the County League Premier Division it is believed we can go on to a brighter future as we forward. .In 2018-19 a finish coming 6th and an unbeaten 11 match run culminating with the retention of the Herts Charity Shield with a 1-0 win over Berkhamsted. We took that run forward to see where it led.
That run was indeed taken forward with an undefeated run of seven league wins at the start of the 2019-20 season and it continued in an amazing undefeated run of home games which stretched to over a year. Games in hand over Tring Athletic were caught up and with continuing success in both the Premier Division Cup and the Herts Charity Shield we looked forward to the possible of a treble. The Leagues top scorer Jon Clements along with the League’s meanest defence were a possible 11 games from history. A Semi Final against Leighton Town (with the winners playing either Leverstock Green or Newport Pagnell Town) in the Premier Cup was up for grabs and we were already waiting for London Colney to play Ware Town in the Herts Charity Shield Final. We did become only the second side ever to reach three consecutive finals. Cheshunt did back in the mid 1950’s, but only won one out of three. That brings us back to the Spartan South Midland League Premier Division. Team of the month twice, top discipline side three times and top overall, top of the league for four months with a 6 point league and a game in hand and the world is hit by the worst pandemic for over 100 years. As at the time of writing, over 4 million people had died worldwide from Covid 19 Coronavirus, (nearly 130,000) from the UK including the SSML secretary, Mike Appleby. What is clear is that people and health is more important than football but I can only write with the respect of the history of Colney Heath Football Club.
The decision to null and void the seasons 2019-20 and 2020-21 and at a very late stage use points per game (ppg) over the two seasons and a restructure at all levels of the non league pyramid enabled us to be promoted to Step 4. The Southern League Central Division One was as incredible adventure for season 2021-22. We missed the familiarity of the Spartan but enjoyed the highs and lows of the Southern League. We reluctantly leave behind many new friends at Step 4. So this season we go back to the future, and with a new style and largely a new footballing side under Ant Burns compared to the one that achieved promotion 14 months before.
As we begin a new campaign in the Spartan Premier League is hoped that when the Saywell’s,Kiff’s, ‘silver fox’ Morrissey, Shag Jeggo and the numerous Littlechild’s look down on us they approve of what they started and what continues today. After all, it’s still only a game!
To join the ever growing band of local businesses who are supporting the Dynamos please mail us at infoavdfc@gmail.com
The Dynamos Colney Heath
Yellow & Blue White & Black
Charlie JONES (GK) 1 Liam STUDLEY (GK)
Jack EMPSON 2 Bradley DIXSON-SMITH
Jet DYER 3 Ricky BRENNAN
Max ROSNER 4 Myles JOHN
Terry GRIFFITHS © 5 Taran RATTREY
Charlie ATTWELL 6 Vassili MANDEVILLE
Abu KHAN 7 George TABAN
Dave BROWN 8 James SAMWAYS
Jake BALDWIN 9 Jayden SILCOTT-BROWN
Dan LAMBETH 10 Hadley GLEESON
Rio DEALL 11 Alex CATHLINE
Antonio IANELLI 12 Marco GEREMIA
Kris COLLIER 13 Vlad SIGHIARTAU
Curtis BROWN 14 Shimron EATON-BONNICK
Charlie JACKSON 15 Kamel EL-MAGHUR
Evans LAMBOH 16 Jack MONGEY
Chris STAPLETON 17
Cam COOK 18
Sadibo CAMARA 19
Prince Will MADU 20
Lewis WORKMAN 21 22 23 24
Manager: Jordan KING & James GREEN Manager George Georgiou
Spartan South Midlands Premier
Tuesday 7th February 2023
Match Officials:
Neil Angus John Wynne
Mark Mellor
Featured Sponsor:
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Next Up:
Crawley Green v 1st XI
Sat 11th Feb – KO 3:00pm SSML - Premier