V
Biggleswade United Colours: Red / Navy
Colours: Sky Blue
1
Robbie Ponting
1
Tom Wyant
2
Ross Taylor
2
James Towell
17
Kane Farrell
3
Matt Hall
4
Martin Russell ©
4
Carl Tappin
5
Jordan Wright
5
Tom Guiney ©
6
James Cooper
6
Dave Murphy
7
Tariq Aliyan
7
Lorell Smith
8
Matt Cooper
8
Alex O’Brien
9
Abraham Eze
9
Ashley Fuller
10
Jaiden Irish
10
George Boland
11
Gerard Martinez
11
Lewis McBride
12
Alix Girdlestone
12
Tom Silford
14
Joshua Muschett
14
Dom Marsala
15
Carlos Correia –Dias
15
Tom Bryant
16
Ricky Christie
16
Lea Coulter
GK
Ryan Haggerty
17
Carl Resch
19
Brodie Couzins
GK
Brad Kirkwood
20
Lu Ndovi
19
The legal name of the club is Biggleswade United 1959 Biggleswade United is a members club
Tuesday 3rd April 2018 Official Match Programme
20 Head Coach: Cristian Colas Becerra
Manager: Scott Reynolds
Asst Coach: Stuart Bimson Conditioning Coach: Albert Martinez
Asst Manager : Adam Kirkup
Physio: Ikera Williams
Physio: Marc Kaiser
Match Officials Referee: Mr M Mackey Assistants: Mr W Northcott and Mr T Burns
The Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division Biggleswade United FC V Leighton Town FC Visit us:www.BiggleswadeUnited.com Follow us:@Biggleswadeutd Support Us: Here
Biggleswade United Director of Football, Guillem Balague, writes the following weekly column for the Biggleswade Chronicle and our website. I have always said that it will take time for our style and ethos to come to the fore and start to pay dividends. But trust me, we will get there. Against Berkhamsted we dominated the first half but once again paid the price for avoidable mistakes as well as injuries to Lee Bilcock and Gareth Hunt. League tables may not lie but neither do they always tell the full story, namely that if you want to build a new style of play from scratch, create a new template then you will need patience, application, dedication, and above all - time. We will only really begin to see the benefits in two or three years times when the players that have been coached the right way begin to break through into the first team. At the moment, sometimes it pays off as it did in our home match against Welwyn that inflicted the only league defeat suffered all season by the champions in waiting and sometimes like all works in progress it comes up short which is why our season frequently has the look and feel of a game of snakes and ladders. We now have an Under 18 side that we can be proud of and their 4-0 win over Biggleswade Town FC U18s in the Bedfordshire Challenge Cup Final at Langford FC this week; a side that, hopefully, like Biggleswade FC can stick together and blend seamlessly into the first team in the future. Credit to their dedicated coaching team of Keith Castle and Sam Goodman and to all the time consuming work put in by Academy boss, Fran Constancio and the tedious but so very necessary administrative efforts of Lizzie Bruce. Defeat for the first team against Potton United was a real smack in the face and we now need to try to salvage something from our season by finishing as high up the league table as possible. If we can finish higher than last time around then we will at least be able to say that we have made progress and are heading in the right direction.
We have seven games and 21 points to play for so let's finish with a bang and not a whimper; our loyal supporters deserve nothing less.
BIGGLESWADE UNITED – OUR HISTORY (continued) The next eleven years saw the first team led by Steve "Snowy" Wright and under his management the club continued to enjoy a very high level of League and Cup success ultimately achieving promotion to the Molten Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division and with it the opportunity to compete in the FA Cup. And under Snowy the club made three Beds FA Senior Challenge Cup final appearances, winning two of the three with victories over Stotfold (4-1) and Leighton Town (1-0) but missed out in 2006/07 going down 2-0 to Dunstable Town. Snowy's other cup successes came in the form of the Hunts Premier Cup, North Beds Charity Cup, Hinchingbrooke Cup, the SML Division One Cup and the SML Special Achievement Award once again. The end of the 2006 2007 saw Snowy step down as manager with his assistant, Nick Burton taking over the first team reins. January 5th 2009 saw the club embark on further ambitious ground improvements. With financial backing from Biggleswade Town Council, Mid Beds District Council and the Football Foundation we installed a 260-seater stand, fully enclosed the ground with a double turnstile entrance and players' secure walkway which raised the ground to Grade E status. After several years of stability in terms of first team managers the next six years saw a regular turnover of first team and reserve team managers with Nick Burton, Dave Elkin and Phil Childs all taking over the first team reins for a time. At the start of the 2013 2014 season we appointed Mick Reardon and Mark Royal as first team managers both of whom had enjoyed success as coaches at the higher levels of football. Their disciplined approach was quickly adhered to and responded to by the players and under their stewardship we achieved the highest Premier Division position in nine years and first silverware in seven years winning the North Beds Charity Cup for the first time in the club’s history. In November 2014 the club took a further positive step to realise our ambitions with the appointment of Sky Sports Presenter and renowned author, Guillem Balague as Biggleswade United’s Director of Football. Following Mick and Mark’s decision to step down at the end 2014 2015, Guillem was quick to act and recruited a new Head Coach in Cristian Colas Beccera who at the age of just 23 gained his UEFA Level 3 Pro License and went on to become assistant coach at CD Masnou and later C.E. Europa both of who play in the Spanish 3rd division the equivalent of the English League Division Two. He then moved to Finland where he worked for Finnish third division side PK.K-U as head coach and with the club’s academy. This season Cristian will be assisted by Stuart Bimson and Conditioning Coach Albert Martinez. The club has certainly come a long way in relatively few years but we could not have done it without the help of a very supportive Town and District Council who clearly understand the benefits of having a community based club in Biggleswade. Our success is also very much down to a very hard working committee who throughout the year continue to volunteer their time and commitment to the club, to help it continue to thrive and be a source of enjoyment for our supporters and the Biggleswade community.
BIGGLESWADE UNITED – OUR HISTORY (1) Biggleswade United Football Club was re-formed on the 16th July 1959. However, local history records indicate that there was a Biggleswade United side playing at Second Meadow as early as 1929. Our first season (1959/60) saw us competing in Division Three of the North Herts. League (NHL). After 10 successful years in the NHL the club made the step up to South Midlands League (SML) football. But towards the end of a 15year association with the SML the club began to struggle and after three years of finishing in the bottom three of Division One we sought fresh fields. The club joined the Herts. Senior but the club continued to find the going tough. In 1986 we elected to return to local League football, joining the Bedford and District Football League and began to build again. The appointment of Brian Swords as first team manager in 87/88 proved to be the turning point in the club's fortunes. During the next ten years the club achieved a tremendous amount of success on and off the football pitch. Our record of League and Cup honours speak for themselves but aligned to this a great deal of work went on behind the scenes to match the on-field success. The club now boasts one of the best clubhouse and ground facilities in the Mid-Bedfordshire area. The success of the club has also attracted many new players as well as commanding a great deal of loyalty from those players who helped the club progress from Division Three of the Bedford and District League to County Senior Club status in just 15 years. The 1995/96 season was the most successful in the club's history - winning five major honours; the Beds Intermediate County Cup, Bedford and District League Championship, League Cup Championship and as the League's representatives the club won the Beds. FA Centenary Cup. Having won every major Bedford League honour the club felt it was time to move on and made the decision to make the step up once again and returned to Division One of the SML. In an exceptionally successful first season we celebrated a Division One "double" by winning the Championship and the Division One Cup. We also retained the Beds. FA Intermediate County Cup, only the second club in the competition's history to achieve this feat. To crown our success the club were awarded the SML Special Achievement Trophy in July 1997. In the season 1997/98 we finally achieved Senior status. This was achieved not only through the endeavours of the players on the field but ultimately as a result of an extremely hard working committee. With the help of the Biggleswade Town Council a new stand was erected and perimeter fencing installed. And two seasons later the club erected floodlights and on the evening of 26th October 1999 we played our first-ever floodlit game at Second Meadow, Ryman League side Leighton Town were the visitors in the Bedfordshire Premier Cup.
Welcome to Second Meadow…. Good evening and welcome to Second Meadow for this Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division fixture. Tonight we welcome the players, supporters and officials of LEIGHTON TOWN FC. We also welcome our three match officials and hope that you all enjoy your short stay with us. Today’s match preview courtesy of Leon Waite. After Saturday’s second edition of ‘El Wadeico’ fell victim to the weather, United renew their search for a first win in five games at home to Leighton Town tonight. Four of the remaining six fixtures are at Second Meadow so there is the opportunity to finish an inconsistent season strongly. Head Coach Cristian Colas guided his side to a record points tally and a tenth-place finish in his inaugural campaign as manager followed that up by placing ninth last term. And as this season approaches its climax, the eighth and even seventh positions are well within the team’s grasp so there’s plenty to play for still. Leighton Town The Reds struggled to impose themselves at this level last year as they slumped to a sixteenth place finish after their relegation from Southern League Division One Central. But a strong FA Vase run combined with superb league form that leaves promotion in their hands as they sit third has made this a far more memorable campaign. Scott Reynolds’ men appear set to rival Berkhamsted for second spot and have recorded three consecutive victories to establish themselves in this promising position. Prior to that, one win in four may have raised concerns amongst the ranks of the Bedfordshire-outfit as they were held by Berkhamsted as well as Biggleswade FC with Hadley subsequently inflicting a 2-0 defeat on them before they embarked on this positive run. United have failed to beat Leighton since their relegation as they were vanquished 4-0 at Bell Close back in December. And in the sides’ two meetings last term, the Reds prevailed 1-0 at Second Meadow with the reverse fixture concluding 1-1. Up next… On Saturday we welcome St Margaretsbury to Second Meadow Kick Off 3pm followed by the visit of Hoddesdon Town on Saturday 14th April. Let’s hope for an enjoyable and entertaining game this afternoon.
Tracey James, (Secretary and Programme Editor)
Berkhamsted 2 Biggleswade United 0 United suffered their third defeat in four games across all competitions as they were beaten 2-0 by high-flying Berkhamsted on Tuesday night. The Comrades have only lost once on home turf this season and that was against league leaders Welwyn Garden City so the task of overcoming them at Broadwater was likely to be difficult. Therefore, it was imperative that the visitors began the contest strongly and within minutes Jaiden Irish found space centrally before unleashing a strike that drifted just wide of the left-hand post. The host’s response to that effort proved emphatic, however, as Ashley Morrissey collected the ball to the left of the penalty area and produced a magnificent curling shot that nestled into the top corner. United were not disheartened as they continued to create openings and could have equalised when Tariq Aliyan’s floated cross was turned narrowly over the bar by the head of James Cooper. Robbie Ponting had already been beaten once in the away goal but he was determined to not make any more concessions as he reacted well to prevent Jon Munday from doubling his side’s goals with a header from close range. Midway through the half and Irish threatened with another long-range strike that spiralled towards the topright corner as it just evaded the post. And soon afterwards Gerard Martinez laid the ball into the number eleven and he found the target his occasion only to
be denied by a good save from Berkhamsted keeper Carl Tasker. United continued to probe whilst maintaining their defensive stability with the single goal separating the two teams a fair reflection of the action. But Berkhamsted are not in second place for no reason and they established a commanding position in the match on the stroke of halftime, punishing United for their carelessness at the back as within seconds of them losing the ball Matt Bateman had found the bottom corner. Operating with a makeshift back four in the second half, the away side’s prospects of recovering the two goals they had conceded without succumbing to further damage were low and Bateman probably should have added to his tally as he squandered two chances in quick succession. Those were two of numerous opportunities the Comrades had to embellish the scoreline with Ponting stoically refusing to be beaten- most notably when he stretched to palm Morrissey’s low shot away. Abraham Eze could have found an unlikely route back into the contest for United when he burst beyond the Berkhamsted rearguard and attempted to lift the ball over Tasker but the keeper was equal to the effort. That completed an arduous half for Cristian Colas’ men as they became the latest side to depart Broadwater with nothing to show for their efforts.
KICK OFF 3pm
FIRST TEAM FORTHCOMING FIXTURES Date
Comp.
H/A
KO
LEIGHTON TOWN
League
H
7.45
Sat 7 Apr
ST MARGARETSBURY
League
H
3pm
Sat 14 Apr
HODDESDON TOWN
League
H
3pm
Sat 21 Apr
OXHEY JETS
League
A
3pm
Sat 28 Apr
COCKFOSTERS
League
H
3pm
Sat 5 May
HOLMER GREEN
League
A
3pm
BIGGLESWADE FC
League
A
??
Tues 3 Apr
???
Opponents
UNDER 23 FORTHCOMING FIXTURES Sat 7 Apr
HOLMER GREEN
League
A
3pm
Sat 14 Apr
BUCKINGHAM ATH
League
A
3pm
Sat 21 Apr
ST MARGARETSBURY
League
H
3pm
HERTFORD TOWN
League
A
7.45
Tues 24 Apr
MIND YOUR LANGUAGE DELETE THAT EXPLETIVE!
Our club is fully supportive of the League’s “Mind Your Language” initiative, to eradicate offensive behaviour within our ground. It is our wish for everybody to feel comfortable here and to encourage everyone, especially younger people, to enjoy their time with us. This won’t happen if they are listening to constant foul and offensive language.