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PREMIER DIVISION
London Tigers FC v
Biggleswade United FC Date Sat 18/08/2018 Time 3:00pm Kick Off Venue Northwood Park, Chestnut Ave, Northwood HA6 1HR
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Contents Welcome Message
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Today’s Line Up
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League Table
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London Tigers FC History
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Opposition Team History
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Tigers Hall of Fame
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www.londontigers.org facebook.com/londontigers
@london_tigers
youtube.com/londontigers1986 3
Welcome Message Welcome to all of our supporters, officials, players and fans of the opposition team. We hope you have an enjoyable game. We are delighted to start our 12th season in the Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier Division. Naim continues as our manager this season. We have developed many young talents who have come through our youth programmes and now have been provided the opportunity to play semi-professional football. This has led to many players over the past few years signing professional contracts with clubs in Portugal, Sweden, Wales, and League teams within the football league in England. We provide opportunities for young players to experience international football with our partners abroad. Along with the development of our football, we have the FA Chartered Standard Development Club Mark, a great achievement for London Tigers. We also achieved the Investors in People, Investing in volunteers, Matrix Excellence Award, recognising the quality, support and pathways offered by London Tigers not just in sports but for the wider needs of our members. We are one of the most diverse community football club in the country and our teams consist of many different nationalities and faith. Our organisation has expanded the range of services and activities and is now working across various London boroughs including Ealing, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Westminster. Our Sports Complex in Southall, developed in partnership with London Borough of Ealing and Southall Community Alliance, has been doing extremely well with many activities and members using the facilities which incorporate football, cricket, tennis, basketball and other multisport and create a hub for the local community. I hope today’s fixture will be a close game with plenty of action and quality football and hope you have an enjoyable day.
Mesba Ahmed Chairman London Tigers Football Club
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Today's Line Up LONDON TIGERS FC
BIGGLESWADE UNITED FC
Shirt – Orange | Short/Socks — Black
Shirts/Socks — Red | Shorts— Navy
ASHKAN ABBASI PAULO ALVES ALIEU KAMARA EDON MAJZINI LUCIANO MARTINS HERNANY MERCADO CRISTIANO NETO WILLIAM ROCHA DAYAAN SALIFOU ADAM SMITH GUSTAVO FERRAZ WILLIAM ABLE YUNESS EN-NOURU SEBASTIAN PHILOGENE NAIM BERISHA
DEAN BULL. BILLY PLUMPTON JOSH HOWARD-DOBSON IEUAN LEWIS CHARLIE BRIGGS JAMES SMITH DYLAN LOGAN LIAM ANDREWS GEORGE BRINKMAN © DAVE PARKINSON SAM HOLMES ROB NEWMAN RICKY CHRISTIE ADAM DRAKULIC TAZ ANDREWS JOE GUAGE JAIDEN IRISH JAMES COOPER OLLIE LESLIE
NAIM BERISHA
Manager/ Head Coach
JIMMY MARTIN
VALDEMAR AFONSO
Assistant/ Coach
EMILIO GUITTEREZ / DEAN BULL
KLEDIS RAMAS
Physio
IKERA WILLIAMS
TODAY’S OFFICIALS
Referees: WILLIAM CANNON, DERRICK COE, AIDEN FARRELLLY 6
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League Table 2018/19 Season League Table The Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier Division
P
W
D
L
GD
Pts
Potton United
2
2
0
0
5
6
Biggleswade FC
2
2
0
0
4
6
Crawley Green
2
2
0
0
3
6
Arlesey Town
2
2
0
0
3
6
Tring Athletic
2
1
1
0
2
4
Colney Heath
1
1
0
0
2
3
Biggleswade United
2
1
0
1
1
3
London Colney
2
1
0
1
1
3
Hadley
1
1
0
0
1
3
London Tigers
2
1
0
1
0
3
Oxhey Jets
2
1
0
1
0
3
Harpenden Town
2
1
0
1
-1
3
Edgware Town
1
0
1
0
0
1
Leverstock Green
2
0
1
1
-2
1
North Greenford United FC
2
0
1
1
-2
1
Wembley
2
0
0
2
-3
0
Leighton Town
2
0
0
2
-3
0
Baldock Town
2
0
0
2
-3
0
Cockfosters
1
0
0
1
-4
0
Stotfold
2
0
0
2
-4
0
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London Tigers FC History History of London Tigers
football expressing themselves. In 2006, having achieved success in the Middlesex County League, London Tigers joined the Spartan South Midlands League, providing opportunities to inner city young players to play football at a more challenging semi-professional level. Along with the challenge of a new league came the amalgamation of London Tigers with Kingsbury Town FC and a new management team of Eddie Cardoso to take London Tigers forward as a united Kingsbury London Tigers FC.
London Tigers began life as a small local football club in 1986, under the name Marylebone FC. This was run by a handful of dedicated volunteers with a passion for football, who organised training at North Westminster Upper School (now known as Westminster Academy). The training sessions engaged young people from deprived inner city areas from across Westminster to enter into all types of sporting activities and to realise their dreams and aspirations around sports in general.
Valdas Dambrauskas managed seasons 2007 – 2010, which also marked the beginning of our youth development strategy and progression within the club. Valdas and Eddie combined forces to achieve the greatest period of success in London Tigers history, seeing the team playing some superb football, finishing 5th in 2009 and narrowly missing out on promotion. Under their stewardship, London Tigers FC also created history in 2008 by becoming the first club in Westminster for over 100 years to play in the FA Cup and win their first qualifying match.
Marylebone FC competed in local, regional and national small-sided competitions and became a renowned and dominant force within the Asian sports scene. By the mid 90’s the membership and activities of the club became so diverse, there was a clear a need to set up formal structures and processes to ensure the legacy of the work within a quality assurance framework. London Tigers was therefore formed to cater for the health and sporting needs for people living in the North Westminster area. Two youth teams were set up who participated in the Lillie Road 5-a-side league. As the club grew and the young players became older, London Tigers joined mainstream leagues.
After Valdas progressed to a professional club, FK Ekranas, Giorgi Minashvili took over as manager for season 2010 – 2012 with the additional task of developing London Tigers’ under 18 players so that there was a conveyor belt of players being readied to play in the senior team. This was a period of consolidation as the structure of the team developed. 2011 was a defining year for London Tigers as we moved to our own home ground in Greenford, setting up as an independent club away from Kingsbury, forming a Football Committee and a formal constitution under the brand of London Tigers FC.
In 2002 London Tigers FC joined the Middlesex County Premier League. During this time we won the Alex Smith Premier Divisions Cup 2006 and were one of the dominant teams in the league. We played an exciting brand of football that focused on the ethos of players enjoying playing 9
International Youth Tournament ¨ UK Asian Community Cup – final at Loftus Road (home of QPR) ¨ Harrow Youth Football League U13’s BANG Edutainment Team of the Year ¨ Asian Super Cup at Chelsea FC Stadium MCFL ¨ Alex Smith Premier Division Cup
Armand Kavaja came on board for seasons 2010 – 2016 with new players to replace the ones that left, with many leaving to take up professional contracts abroad or their own homelands. The team settled into their new home ground which required considerable renovation over this period.
2006 – 2010 ¨ International Youth Football Festival Semi Finalist – Dana Cup (Denmark) ¨ UK Asian Community Cup at Chelsea FC Stadium 2006, 2010 ¨ Represented England U16 at Adidas FIFA World of Football in Berlin ¨ Tower Hamlets Safer Neighbourhood Tournament (SNT) Cup 2007—2011 ¨ KCB Youth Cup BIFA Ipswich Cup 2004-2007 consecutive and 2010 ¨ Asian Premier League ¨ Stephen Timms & London APSA Community Cup ¨ UKBSF Champions Cup 2011
In 2015/16, Tigers succeeded in progressing beyond the 2nd qualifying round of the FA Vase Cup. Season 2016/17 started off with a new management team through a joint venture that saw London Tigers work with external partners for the first time. This proved to be a difficult process and saw significant shifts in structure and playing styles that impacted on the performance levels on the pitch. We stabilised the structure of the team in 2017/18 with a substantially new cohort of players and a new management team.
2011 – 2018 ¨ ILFL Super Cup 2016 ¨ ILFL Veterans League Champions 2015/16 ¨ ILFL Premier Division Champions 2015/16 ¨ U17s won the Challenge Cup in the London County Saturday Youth Football League ¨ Won the UK Bangladesh Championship National Football Competition 2015 ¨ Musical Association League Division Cup 2014 ¨ Team of the Month Award from the Spartan South Midlands Football League March 2014 ¨ ILFL Super Cup 2014 ¨ Tower Hamlets Safer Neighbourhood Tournament (SNT) Veterans Cup 2013 ¨ Sports4Wellbeing MK Dons Tournament 2013 ¨ U17s Harrow Youth League Trophy Cup 2013 ¨ U17s Harrow Youth League Premier
Season 2018/19 begins with the structure cemented from a position of consolidation from last season with an established cohort of players and continuation of the management team, led by ex-Kosovo national team player, Naim Berisha. This season looks set to be an exciting year for London Tigers as we aim to progress from our upward curve from last season. London Tigers FC Accolades 1986 – 2000 ¨ Chicksand 5-a-side Cup (Brick Lane) ¨ Metropolitan Police 5-a-side Cup ¨ Westway League Cup Champion ¨ Musical Association League Winner and Cup Musical Association League and 2 Cup (treble) 2001 – 2005 ¨ Inner City World Cup Winners – representing Bangladesh ¨ Winner of the Watford and London
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Biggleswade United FC History
Biggleswade United – Our Club History Biggleswade United Football Club was reformed 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 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. 11
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 Premeir 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 260seater 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. Cristian was assisted by former professional player, Stuart Bimson, and under their guidance the team finished in eighth spot in the Premier Division in 2017 2018 - the highest position in the club’s history. Having built a strong reputation for their outstanding coaching ability and playing philosophy Cristian and Stuart moved up to Step 3 level club, Staines Town, for the start of the 2018 2019 season. Guillem was again in search for a high quality coach and Jimmy Martin came highly recommended by his predecessor, Colas, who worked with Jimmy at Stevenage FC Academy. Jimmy was appointed Manager in May 2018 and will be assisted by a former United playing legend and well respected character in SML football, Dean Bull. Also on the coaching staff is Spanish coach Emilio Gutierrez. 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 - not just the football season - 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.
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London Tigers Hall of Fame Name of Coach
Current Club
Current League
Giorgi Minashvilli
Dynamo Tbilisi
Georgia Premiership
Valdas Dumbraskas
Vilnius FC
Lithuania Premiership
Eddie Cardoso
Estrela 1 de Maio de Benguela
Angola National Team
Name of Player
Current Club
Current League
Guy Tahin
East Sterlingshire
Scottish Division 2
Mohamed Bettamer
Staines Town
Adil Salih
IK Arvika
Ryman Prem Football League Sweden Division 3
Wadah Ahmidi
Staines Town
Jefereson Cavalahs
Neftcala FK
Ryman Prem Football League Azerbaijan Championship
Henry Emenike
Kongsvinger
Norway Division 2
Ivan Forbes
AE Kouklion
Cyprus Premiership
Marco Tagbajumi
Ermis
Cyprus Premiership
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Home Ground Northwood Park, Chestnut Avenue, Northwood, Middlesex, HA6 1HR Head Office 1st Floor Office WECH Community Centre Athens Gardens, Chantry Close, London W9 3RS Tel: 020 7289 3395 | Fax: 020 7266 5281 Email: info@londontigers.org | Web: www.londontigers.org Charity Registration No: 1100019
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