Loughborough Students FC Programme Issue 16 by Loughborough University

FOOTBALL LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS

EASTWOOD CFC

UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE SAT 26 FEB 2022 KO 15:00

ESTABLISHED 1919

WHERE HISTORY BEGINS ISSUE 16

£2

CONTENTS 4

WELCOME FROM JAMIE CLAPHAM

TODAYS TEAMS

LOUGHBOROUGH LIGHTNING

TODAYS OPPOSITION

HOME FIXTURES

11 THE TEAM 12 SQUAD LIST 14 A BRIEF HISTORY 16 FIXTURES AND RESULTS 18 UPCOMING FIXTURES

LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC V EASTWOOD CFC

JAMIE CLAPHAM

DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL Good afternoon and welcome to today’s UCL Premier Division North game here at Loughborough University Stadium. I’m delighted to welcome Eastwood CFC management team, players, officials and supporters, too what will be another challenging encounter. . Today’s opponents had a good result at the end of January beating Holbeach 4-1 and although February has seen them take just one point from their fixtures this has included three of the top four teams in the league on current standing so I’m sure it is going to be a really tough and competitive afternoon as all these games are. Our last home game saw us progress through to the FA Vase Quarter Final in front of an incredible 870 supporters. I know the players and staff really enjoyed the occasion and a big thank you goes out to the football staff, volunteers, and support staff for organising this and making the day run smoothly. These volunteers and support staff are a fundamental pillar upon us building the club and taking it forward. Despite the horrific weather conditions over the last few weeks, we have still managed to play football. Last weekend we played out an entertaining 3-3 draw away at Melton Town in very difficult conditions. All though we came away feeling disappointed with the result it still keeps our momentum going as we come into the end of the season where we still have lots to play for. Over the last two weeks we have also had difficult midweek fixtures at home to Cardiff Met and away to Bath University in the BUCS Championship Cup competition. Winning these two games has put us into the Semi Final so I am incredibly proud of the players for competing so well at different levels of

the game. We will face Stirling away in the semi-final. Finally this is our first home league game without our outgoing Director of Football Richard Allen. I would like to thank him for all he has done in building the profile of men’s football, the Women’s Lightning and Futsal programme’s within Loughborough University. Thank you for your support and enjoy the game! Jamie Clapham Director of Football

LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC V EASTWOOD CFC

TODAYS TEAMS LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC BEN WHITING (GK)

SAM SMITH (GK)

TOBY LARSEN (GK)

MATTY BOWMAN

KIERAN SMITH

THEO SACKEY-MENSAH

DAMI AGBOOLA

EASTWOOD CFC 01

WARREN SQUIRES (GK)

LEWIS SCOTT (GK)

REFEREE: ALISTAIR HAYES

WILL FOLEY

JACOB STURGESS (C)

AR ANDY COLIN

CALLUM JONES

JOSH BURKETT

AR ADAM CROSBY

CONNOR WREN

FINN BRENNAN

LOUIS ANTHONY

OLLIE PARSONS

STEVEN BEEJAR

BEN LE ROUGETEL

CADEN MCGRATH

CHARLIE ALEXIOU

LAVELL WHITE

GEORGE WARD

SAM MEAKIN

PAUL FIELD

LUKE SMITHSON

MAX SMALLCOMBE

FINNLAY HUNTER

BILLY MYCROFT-EDWARDS

JOSH ROSS

SID KERR

JOE HARRISON

ETHAN O’TOOLE

KYLE DIXON

TOM IACIOFANO

ELLIS EVANS

JOE LLOYD

BITA KIZA

LUKE MARTIN

BEN HENDSERSON

GEORGE WILSON

JACK MESSOM

DYLAN EDWARDS

MCKENNA PARTON

TOPE FADAHANSI

NATHAN KELLY

CAM MOORE

KYLE STOVELL

TYRONE SHANNON-LEWIS

KAMANI WILSON

LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC V EASTWOOD CFC

LOUGHBOROUGH LIGHTNING

H: MATC NEXT March v’s ay 13 Sund es, Home Wolv 5.00 KO 1 With no game this weekend I’ll take the opportunity to shout out the teams success in recent weeks. 5 games unbeaten in the national league as well as our BUCS side booking themselves a spot in the national semi final. It’s frankly a remarkable turnaround for the team and a reward for all players and staffs commitment, work rate and desire to improve. A long road still to go and we know our battle for safety is huge, every Sunday an opportunity to keep the distance from the bottom three. But we are heading in the right direction. Huge thank you personally for all the support to lightning so far this season by Issy Martin

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LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC V EASTWOOD CFC

TODAYS OPPOSITION

EASTWOOD CFC

As Eastwood Community Football Club enters its eighth year as a club we are enormously proud of what we have achieved. For the past 5 seasons we have operated out of a new “state of the art” 3G Stadia, at the newly named Halbrooke Stadium, up there as one of the best facilities in the East Midlands. This is allowing us to develop our players and teams at grassroots through to the first team and beyond. It allows for all of our training sessions and games to be played, as we will not be relying on a traditional grass surface and the problems that can bring due to the ‘British weather’ during the football season. The 2014/15 and 2015/16 saw us finish in the middle of the Central Midlands table, however moving forward to the season 2016/17 we improved our management structure with Jez Corthorn and Jonathon (Toddy) Wass and background staff moving across to Eastwood CFC en–mass. We started that season well with a full, ambitious pre-season programme, and we saw some impressive results and more importantly, some superb signings. This all culminated in a second placed position behind Selston, missing out on promotion by just a single point. 2017/18 season saw Jez move ‘upstairs’ as General Manager and the introduction of Dave Marlow as manager/coach. Dave bought with him some more quality additions to the club, giving more competition for places. These additions were crucial as the first half of the season saw us through to the 2nd round of the FA Vase, the third round of the County and league cup, as well as challenging for promotion. Promotion was achieved in the last game of the season against Sherwood Colliery who

had held top spot since Christmas. In addition to the main first team, we have the Under 21 side currently playing in the North Midlands Development League, and several younger teams whose players aspire to be in the first team. Our Reserve team that ran from 20142019, also had a fantastic run that season winning the league and cup double. Season ‘18-19 saw us have an excellent FA Vase run, but for a variety of different reasons, it was decided by the club to have a change in First Team management. James Jepson was introduced in February 2019, we finished 6th in the season and then 4th in the curtailed ’20-’21 campaign. Following the FA’s re-structuring and promotion, it was hoped that James, his Management Team and players can replicate this success as we move forward into a new exciting venture in the UCL. Following Jepson’s departure in August Steven Kirkham from Newark FC was appointed to carry on the Stewardship. Kirkham returned to his Alma Mata just before Christmas with Zander Shayler and Paul Rockley taking over the joint Management reins. Off the pitch, the club has a thriving club house with two superb function rooms that are at the heart of the community. “We’re a club like any other that want to progress through the leagues, but we also pride ourselves on our rapidly growing and expanding football development plan where we aim to bring the community together at all ages and abilities. We hope that you will join us in our exciting football adventure.

LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC V EASTWOOD CFC

LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC 2021/2022 SEASON

HOME FIXTURES

DATE

TIME

OPPONENTS

RESULTS

TUE 03/08/2021

KO 19:45

MELTON TOWN

2-1 LOSS

SAT 14/08/2021

KO 15:00

NEWARK

7-0 WIN

SAT 21/08/2021

KO 15:00

NEWARK

3-2 WIN

FRI 10/09/2021

KO 19:45

SLEAFORD TOWN

2-0 WIN

SAT 02/10/2021

KO 15:00

GRESLEY ROVERS

1-1 DRAW

SAT 06/11/2021

KO 15:00

DEEPING RANGERS

5-1 WIN

TUE 16/11/2021

KO 19:45

SELSTON

3-0 WIN

SAT 20/11/2021

KO 15:00

GRESLEY ROVERS

2-0 WIN

SAT 04/12/2021

KO 15:00

LONG EATON UNITED

0-3 LOSS

SAT 11/12/2021

KO 15:00

SANDBACH UNITED

4-0 WIN

TUE 04/01/2022

KO 19:45

LEICESTER NIRVANA

1-0 LOSS

TUE 18/01/2022

KO 19:45

HEATHER ST. JOHN’S

5-0 WIN

SAT 22/01/2022

KO 15:00

SKEGNESS TOWN A.F.C.

2-1 WIN

SAT 29/01/2022

KO 15:00

HEANOR TOWN

4-1 WIN

SAT 05/02/2022

KO 15:00

QUORN

4-2 WIN

SAT 12/02/2022

KO 15:00

ABBEY HEY

3-0 WIN

SAT26/02/2022

KO 15:00

EASTWOOD

TUE 01/03/2022

KO 19:45

HOLBEACH

SAT 05/03/2022

KO 15:00

ANSTEY NOMADS

SAT 26/03/2022

KO 15:00

BOSTON TOWN

SAT 02/04/2022

KO 15:00

PINCHBECK UNITED

LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC V EASTWOOD CFC

LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC

THE TEAM

RICHARD ALLEN Director of Football

JAMIE CLAPHAM Head Coach

MARGARET FOLWELL Secretary

HARRIET SIMES

Programme Manager Media & Press enquiries h.h.simes@lboro.ac.uk

SPORT SCIENCE

CALLUM FOSTER MEDICAL TEAM

ELLA HUDSON PERFORMANCE ANALYST

OLIVER FAIRS VICE PRESIDENTS

ALAN GOODLEY GRAHAM HERRING GORDON WATSON PETE SIMMONS SHIRLEY HORNER ALEX ACKERLEY MATT STOCK LAURA DALES

TARA PHETHEAN

LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC V EASTWOOD CFC

LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC

SQUAD LIST GOALKEEPERS

TOBY LARSEN

BEN WHITING

SAM SMITH

DEFENDERS

DAMI AGBOOLA

CHARLIE ALEXIOU

PAUL FIELD

MATTY BOWMAN

BEN LE ROUGETEL

FINN BRENNAN

OLLIE PARSONS

DEFENDERS

THEO SACKEYMENSAH

KIERAN SMITH

GEORGE WARD

MIDFIELDERS

TOM IACIOFANO

SID KERR

LUKE MARTIN

JOE LLOYD

BILLY MYCROFTEDWARDS

ETHAN O’TOOLE

MAX SMALLCOMBE

GEORGE WILSON

FORWARDS

DYLAN EDWARDS

TOPE FADAHANSI

CAM MOORE

LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS FC

A BRIEF HISTORY 1919-20 Earliest records of Loughborough Men’s football date-back to 191920 side, under the name of Loughborough Technical Institute and guidance of Principal Herbert Schofield. In 1920 it became a college of Technology, with the football side winning its first silverware on record in the Northern Junior Cup in 1922.

1930-1970 Loughborough Men won their first University Championship in the 1938/39 season and the Leicestershire Senior League in 1940, after the war they returned to winning ways in the University competition (UAU) from 1947 – 1953, 1955, 1957 and 1959-1963, 1965, 1966 and 1969. In 1966 Loughborough became a University and also competed in the Leicestershire Senior League Division Two until 1972. The 1970s was an extremely important decade for the Club. Three more University titles followed and former student and then lecturer, Mike Holliday, took up the reigns of Head Coach, a role he would continue into the mid-90s. Early signs of

Mike’s rein included an away victory over a Manchester United XI.

THE 35 YEAR WAIT The side waited 35 years for a return to non-league football, entering the Midland Combination for the first time in 2007-08. After silverware in their first season in the shape of the Midlands League Cup, in 2009 Loughborough won promotion as champions to the Midland Football Alliance. 2011/12 Stuart McLaren’s first term ended with a 5th place finish in the Midland Football Alliance and victory in the League Cup, the club’s highest ever honour so far. The League Cup was retained in 2012/13 as the side equalled their highest ever league finishing position in the MFA of 4th. In May 2012 the Loughborough University Stadium was opened with a showcase game against a Spurs Academy team. Many Loughborough Football graduates and staff also started to carve extremely successful Coaching roles in the Professional Game – a trend that continues to this day.

Former players include Bob Wilson (former Scotland & Arsenal), Bradley Pritchard (Former Charlton & Leyton Orient), Robbie Simpson (Cheltenham City former Coventry City, Exeter City, MK Dons), Leon McSweeney (Former Northampton Town & Leyton Orient), George Williams (Mk Dons & Former Barnsley). Other former players and staff are littered throughout the Premiership and EFL, in a coaching and support staff capacity including Kieran McKenna & Eric Ramsay (Manchester United), Sam Erith (England & Manchester City), Nathan Gardiner (formerly Spurs, Fulham), Matthew Prestridge (formerly Sheffield United), Matt Reeves (Leicester City). In 2014 Loughborough University joined the Midland Football League in its inaugural year. The 2016/17 saw the Scholars have one of their most positive starts to the MFL season in a number of years. However, a disappointing run in from December saw the 16/17 season fall away with the club finishing in 18th out of 22. The 17/18 season also saw the appointment of Richard Allen as Director of Football,

LOOKING FORWARD

in January 2018. Richard joined from the FA where he was head of Talent ID. He has extensive knowledge of academy football with previous roles as Head of Academy at QPR and Head of Recruitment at Tottenham.

PROGRESSING Progressing onto the 2018/19 season Alex Ackerley was appointed Head Coach continuing to work alongside Jamie Hawthorne, who has since moved in 2019/20 to work as an Academy Coach at Southampton FC. 2018/19 season ended in a County Cup Final appearance against Coalville Town, with the Ravens, who play at Step 3, winning the game 4 – 1 at Holmes Park. The 2019/20 season saw the Scholars celebrate their Centenary as well as a new

challenge having been moved laterally during the off season into the Uhlsport United Counties Football League. The scholars were sitting in 4th place in mid March when the 19/20 season was deemed null and void due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Yet again the 2020/21 season was affected by the Covid19 virus and Alex Ackerley and his student coaches, Joel Bonner, Callum Crockard and Ben Day saw the season curtailed in January 2021, whilst sitting at the top of the league. Joel moved to Liverpool’s academy during December 2020 to work with the U16s and Ben to Burton Albion shortly after at the turn of the year. Callum will start 2021/22 on his course placement at Southampton, where he will be working in their academy.

The 2021/22 season sees the club return to using the Loughborough Students name across all the teams, both in the leagues and BUCS competitions, with the addition of a reserve team playing in the Leicester Senior League, the U21s will continue in MFL U21s East. This is a new chapter for the Scholars, with experienced, former professional player and pro-licence coach, Jamie Clapham arriving in the preseason as the new University Men’s Head Coach, together with the appointment of a new University Football Programme Manager, Harriet Simes, joining from Birmingham City Women, following the departure of Mat Stock to Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy and Alex Ackerley to pastures new. As always with Loughborough Students FC, you will see some new faces, not necessarily new students, but players who have worked their way through the programme from U21s to earn their place in the performance squad. Everyone is looking forward to the new season, continuing to build on the foundations that Mat and Alex have put in place.

SAT 25/09/2021