St Neots Town Vs Frome Town

THE OFFICIAL MATCHDAY MAGAZINE £2.00

Southern League Premier Division V

Football Always Finds A Way

100 YEARS ON, REMEMBER THE FALLEN

Frome Town Issue 17

08 Rebel Victory / Read the match report from our previous home defeat at the hands of our old foes Slough Town FC

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18

Thank You Gary King / Acknowledging a terrific achievement

The 1914 Christmas Truce / 100 Years on, remember the fallen

Owner Mike Kearns

Club Secretary Gary Wilson

Physio Chris Budd

Chairman Mike Kearns

Fixture Secretary Marian Izzard

Managing Director Lee Kearns

Life President John Walker

Functions and Events Coordinator Louise Spark

Director Iain Parr

Team Officials Richard King (Goalkeeping Coach) Youth Liaison & Development Mick Hunt

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St Neots Town TV Editor Adam Ridley Club Merchandise Linda Walters Programme Editor Mark Davies Club Photographer

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Stews Views / A cracking read by Craig!

Claire Howes Site Manager Irmantas Sabaliauskas Chief Liaison Officer Mike Green Programme Sales Charlie Green Matchday Music / Scoreboard Simon Hutchinson Pitchcare Working Turf

Design & Marketing Blue Prawn Print XL Press Limited

INSIDE

Issue 17 V Frome Town Southern League Premier Division

Also Inside

Fe Ne at w ur e!

06 Action Replay 12 Mascot Feature 16 The Chairmans’ Views 19 Commentators Gaffes

14 The Greatest Defenders / We continue to count down from 10!

38 From the other side of the fence / Great stories about Brian Clough

20 Read All About It 22 The Beautiful Game 30 Pull-Out Poster 32 Greenies Greetings 36 Away Days 44 MD’s Views 48 Leagues Review 50 Report vs Chippenham Town 53 Season 2014/15 Fixtures Matrix 52 The Non-League Paper

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56 Season 2014/15 Statistics 58 Premier Division League Table 60 Home & Opposition Squads

Todays’ Visitors / A warm welcome to The Robins!

Introducing Max Yorke / Our attack-minded defender

Founded 1879 The Cozy Stadium Rowley Park, Kester Way St Neots PE19 6SL Telephone 01480 470012 Email enquiries@stneotstownfc.co.uk Official Website www.stneotstownfc.co.uk Official Forum www.stneotstownfc.co.uk/forum

Southern Football League Division One champions, 1 time United Counties League Premier Division champions, 2 times Division One champions, 1 time League Cup winners, 2 times Metropolitan League Champions, 1 time League Cup winners, 1 time Professional Cup winners, 1 time South Midlands League Champions, 1 time

Huntingdonshire League Champions, 4 times Huntingdonshire Senior Cup Winners, 37 times Hinchingbrooke Cup Winners, 2 times

WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 03

THANK YOU GARY

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WON THE HUNTS SENI WON THE SOUTH

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UNBEATEN AT HO

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WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 05

The first week in January 2015 we travel to Yaxley for a Hunts Senior Cup Tie. Seven years ago this week we met here in a league match.

UCL PREMIER DIVISION (22/December/2007) Yaxley

2-2

St Neots Town

St Neots finished off their first half season on the road with another draw and their thirteen matches unbeaten run away from home intact but it is debateable how much of a bonus this will prove put alongside their record at Rowley Park. ‘Today we lost two points rather than gained one’ said Chairman Bob Bridges and his assessment was spot on. St Neots dominated for long spells but missed chances and even a first goal for the club from striker Kevin Byrne failed to inspire his side. Yaxley never gave up and scored two excellent goals but by the time their second equaliser arrived nine minutes from time St Neots should have been out of sight. As a result St Neots went into their Christmas programme in sixth place in the table but have constantly lost ground on the leading sides with three of the five above then having matches in hand.

On a sticky top both sides created early chances with Luigi Rocco shooting across the face of goal at one end and former Saint Ricky Hailstone winning the ball in front of goalkeeper Jon Chatfield but he headed wide. The Referee kept a tight rein on the match booking three home players for fouls in the first half hour and St Neots prospered with Byrne heading

weakly at the home keeper after good work by Jon Hoggett and Rocco. Then after 17 minutes St Neots were in front as Steve Dogbe up for a set piece determinedly won the ball on the bye line to slip a short pass to Barrington Belgrave and his astute square pass was blasted into the net by Mark Burrows for his second goal in three matches. With skipper Jon Hoggett back in his favoured midfield role St Neots were bossing the game with Yaxley’s only shot a free kick from Hailstone that found the side netting. It was therefore against the run of play after 29 minutes when Ian Edge tight on the bye line slipped his marker to score from a narrow angle and level the scores.

Rocco had suffered a first half injury and failed to appear after the break but Ryan Francis his replacement soon made a telling contribution two minutes after joining the fray when he was involved in setting up Kevin Byrne on the left and he restored St Neots lead with a delightful chip over the home keeper. That should have signalled the opportunity for St Neots to press on and take full points but their approach was often laboured and clear chances few. Jon Hoggett almost increased the lead with

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a spectacular volley from Byrne’s cross and then Mark Burrows had a towering header scraped off the line for a corner.

Midway through the second half Tony Russell had the ball in the net but was guilty of leaning on a defender and the effort was ruled out. In a bid to add some extra pace St Neots replaced Mark Barry with Jon Hall and Ryan Francis brought a good save from John Feetham. The Yaxley point saving goal came after 81 minutes despite a hint of offside. A diagonal pass by Jimmy Dean played Ian Edge clear of the defence and he cleverly pulled the ball back to the unmarked Lee Blewett who gave Chatfield no chance with a well placed shot. Yaxley immediately brought on an additional defender clearly happy to settle for a point and this they achieved far too comfortably.

St Neots: Chatfield, Hoggett, Barry, Russell, Burrows, Dogbe, Marlow, Franklin, Rocco, Belgrave, Byrne.

Subs: Francis (for Rocco 46 mins), Hall (for Barry 69 mins), Kuhne (for Franklin 76 mins), Ashby & Fisk

DAVID HUTTON

ST NEOTS TOWN 0 SLOUGH TOWN 3 09:12:2014 / Southern Premier Division / Att 199 / Referee: : Lee Forrester (Luton) After the excitement of their dramatic Saturday victory St Neots let themselves and their followers down with probably their worst ever home performance in the Southern League.

On Saturday even in victory serious questions were aimed at the sides’ ability to defend and this match proved those fears to be fully justified. However it did not stop there because against a side happy to sit on a comfortable three goal half time cushion St Neots was handed the second half attacking freedom of the park and despite adopting a definitely positive approach with three strikers on the pitch they failed to create enough chances to seriously test the visiting goalkeeper once. Overall it was a totally inept performance against a visiting side still trying to establish themselves in the top flight and against more accomplished opponents the result could have been totally devastating.

It was difficult to identify one home player who emerged from the game with any real credit and it is beginning to look the start of a long hard winter if no improvement is found. Exactly half the league programme is now complete but with less than half their home matches ending in victory Manager Gary King with a talented squad on paper needs to pull some rabbits out of the hat – and soon. It had begun well with Chris Dillon heading over from a good David Hutton cross and Drew Roberts being pulled down inside the area by Guy Hollis. The Referee pointed to the penalty spot

but allowed himself to be overruled by his Assistant instead awarding a direct free kick on the edge of the area that was wasted. Meantime St Neots were looking anxious at the back as facing the strong breeze they tried to deal with a series of long throws hurled into the area and following one of these a shot from former Saint Adrian Sear was parried allowing Ed Smith to follow up to open the scoring. Drew Roberts work rate saw him create another chance for himself but his shot was comfortably saved by Jake Sommerville and then there was also a touch of ill fortune about Slough’s second goal six minutes before the break.

Helping out in defence Lewis Hilliard saw his clearance charged down and once again Ed Smith reacted the quickest moving outside his marker to unleash a clinical finish past the surprised Paul Bastock from a narrow angle. That was bad enough but worse was to follow on the stroke of half time when the visitors’ third goal that was the best of the bunch left St Neots with an almost impossible mountain to climb. Sadly the goal was totally unavoidable because it came when Matt Spring was far too easily dispossessed by Jake Parsons who moved the ball on via Ed Smith and his inch perfect

cross set up Scott Harris for a simple finish.

It was clear from the restart that Slough thought three goals were more than enough to take home all three points and they settled down to soak up any pressure St Neots could muster. Dillon had a shot blocked, Hilliard brought a comfortable low save from Sommerville and Ben Mackey on for the disappointing Jay Davies just failed to reach a Hutton cross. Joining the attack Dave Deeney sent a good low shot just a foot wide after 68 minutes and that was to prove the best effort of a very disappointing second half.

With Dean Cracknell on St Neots did look livelier in midfield as the half progressed but most of their attacks ended with high crosses being comfortably collected by Sommerville who was allowed to dominate his penalty area. Even the introduction of another fresh striker – Nathan Frater – did nothing to enhance St Neots efforts and when Mackey just failed to capitalise on good work by Roberts in the dying moments it was obvious that St Neots were not going to score.

With no goals scored in three of their last four home matches the evidence for urgent improvement is very obvious.

St Neots Town

Slough Town

Bastock, Deeney, Wilson, Hutton, Ward, Hoyte, Davies, Spring, Dillon, Roberts, Hilliard Subs: Mackey (for Davies 59), Cracknell (for Wilson 68), Frater (N) (for Dillon 77), York and Ford.

Cards: None Goals: None

Sommerville, Fraser, Parsons (R), Hollis, Rumbold, Edwards, Parsons (J), Sear, Harris, Smith, Knight Subs: Dyer (for Harris 85), Dobson (for Smith 90 + 1), Betts, Foulser and Phillips.

Cards: None Goals: Smith 2 (18 & 39 mins), Harris (45 mins)

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WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 09

PLEASE GO IN!

Mascot Fact File Name: Joshua Abbott Age: 10 Favourite St Neots Player and why: Lewis Hilliard and Lorenzo Ferrari because they are quick and skillful What position do you play in: Anywhere Who do you support: Arsenal, St Neots, Peterborough and Real Madrid.

Favourite food: Cheeseburger Favourite television programme: Atlantis

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Mascot feature

The Saints Matchday Mascot Experience!

• Free entry for mascot and parents • Use of our hospitality room • Signed match day programme by your favourite player, which you will also appear in • Meet your favourite player and have your photo taken • Tour of the stadium • Have a kick about on the main pitch • Lead the Saints on to the pitch • Free portion of chips and drink for the mascot

To apply to be a Matchday Mascot contact Louise Spark on misslouises@yahoo.co.uk

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 13

WORLD’S BEST DEFENDERS 08. RIO FERDINAND (MANCHESTER UNITED) Rio Ferdinand may have lost the pace that he possessed in his former years, but he remains one of the most graceful and effective defenders in world football.

Manchester United won the Premier League title by some distance in 2012-13 and, in the extended absences of Nemanja Vidic, it was Ferdinand who ensured that the club dramatically improved on their defensive record to charge clear of their rivals in early 2013. Ferdinand has always been excellent at spotting danger before it occurs and his excellent disciplinary record is testament to his impressive understanding of how play will proceed. In possession, he is also an assured presence with the ball at his feet and has long been an important figure for United in terms of building attacks from deep. A few years ago, he would have been higher on this list. For now, though, he is well deserving of a place in the top ten.

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Defenders never really get the recognition they deserve we take a look at the 10 best defenders in the game today.

07. JAN VERTONGHEN (TOTTENHAM) Tottenham Hotspur took a real step forward in their progress towards challenging for titles last summer, with the capture of Belgian international Jan Vertonghen immediately improving their defence considerably.

Vertonghen, who is able to play in a number of positions, offered Spurs an assured presence in defence who could also contribute to the side in attacking areas, either by bringing the ball out from the back or scoring from set pieces.

Although not particularly quick, Vertonghen is positionally excellent and is among the better readers of the game on this list. On top of that, he has also shown himself to be brave when required to put his body on the line to stop a shot. Tottenham will need to qualify for the Champions League this year to avoid advances being made for their star defender, with Vertonghen approaching prime age at 26 years old.

WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 15

THE CHAIRMANS’ VIEWS

WE MOVE ON Welcome to the Officials, Players and Supporters of Frome for todays match, I hope you enjoy your day with us.

Well where do I start, with Social media and our own website having over 5,600 visitors each and everyday I assume that everyone is now aware of the departure of my good friend and first team manager Gary King. I will not go into in depth detail as we have already issued an official statement on his departure. I will say that Gary King is a really top man in everything he does a very personal friend and quite frankly a workaholic, in both his own business and the clubs. I am very sad to see him leave but fully understand the reasons behind his resignation.

So we move on as soon as the news was made public my phone has not stopped ringing with applicants for the job. There are so many experienced managers or very good budding ex professional football players ringing me that at times my head spins. Of course in

any business you always have to have replacements in mind for any position within the business set up and I have plenty of experience in that from my own business. To that end I do have in mind the person I want to take over and at present am in negotiations with the person.

Todays match will be a little weird as we will be playing without a manager but as I am writing these notes last Thursday I might just have been able to get the new manager in place.

I must say that owning this business is a very stressful one and I know that we all want the same thing and success, but I say again many need to have a reality check and look at where we are in football terms to where we were 5 years ago. I can assure you that if the circumstances all those years ago did not change for the good then I know that St Neots Town would not be playing at this wonderful stadium and the club would certainly not be playing football in the Premier division of the Southern League, (yes read that again please and pinch yourself that it is real). I know just how much it costs to be able to pay for the up keep of New Rowley Park and that’s before we even get to the playing budget. So keep calm enjoy your football and lets all be grateful that we are the ‘TOP’ non-league football club in the area, yes we really are and our league position reflects that.

Now on to the football, a great gutsy win last Saturday at probably

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the hardest ground to get a result at down in Chippenham. They know how to use the Slope or was it a “Hill” and really batter teams when they are kicking downwards.

However we managed to hold on to our one goal lead road the storm and come away with the points in what was probably the best win of the season. We are only half way through the season with plenty of games to go and I have no doubt that we will be in the mix at the end of the season.

We have strength in depth, quality and just need the effort and desire to win football matches that have for some reason been missing for a little while. Every team has a bad spell during the season and we certainly have had ours, lets hope we can turn the corner and start to make ground on the leaders of the division.

A personal thanks to all of you regular’s who came to the Chippenham match, you really are the very best there are and it’s a pleasure.

On to todays match and I know that you will give your full support to the team. It’s a shame many of you did not turn up early enough as I was looking for someone to take the team today, sorry but you were all too late.

Onto todays match and let’s hope we can get on a winning run.

ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL Mike

The 1914 Christmas Truce This year marks the centenary of WW1, and across the country numerous events have been hosted to remember the many sacrifices made in pursuit of peace.

Sainsbury’s have also offered an act of remembrance and teamed up with the Royal British Legion to tell the story of the 1914 Christmas truce. I expect you know it but let me remind you, just in case you don’t…It was Christmas Eve in the front-line trenches and the war had already extended longer than had first been imagined, with no obvious end in sight. As darkness fell the night air was pierced by the gentle sound of someone singing – the tune was a familiar one but not the German words, ‘Stille Nacht’ – ‘Silent Night’. As the singing continued so more voices were added to it until troops from both sides sang out in their respective languages. Then

some white flags appeared above the German trench and men began to emerge on to the tract of land that separated the warring sides.

Hands were shaken, greetings exchanged – and just as we see in the advert, gifts were given - small tokens of whatever the men had to hand, and in the absence of anything else a button or safety pin.

Some reports then suggest that an impromptu game of football was organised before the order came to return to the trenches and later to take up arms again. But the latter proved impossible and who can wonder at it. These men had sung together, greeted one another, exchanged gifts and shared a game

of football – those acts had forged bonds greater than any appetite for war. Peace had come to this small corner of the world through a game of football, a shared song and a small gift. As I think on that story it makes me wonder what gift of peace is within me if I will take the risk of offering it and focus on the things that we share rather than the things that make us different. Peace is the consistent greeting of the angel in the Christmas story – Peace is heaven’s gift to each of us and often to be discovered in the sharing of the simplest things, including the beautiful game – and perhaps by looking long enough at the child in the manger.

“Silent night, holy night All is calm, all is bright Round yon virgin mother and Child Holy Infant, so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace…

Christ the Saviour is born”

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ES!

COMMENTATORS FOOTBALL GAFF

You can always rely on the good old football commentator to come out with a classic during the big match! Here are a few howlers!

Phil Babb “Ireland need fresh impotence”

Ray Parlour “Is it the case that 50% of West Ham fans want Avram Grant sacked and the other half want him to stay? Or is it the other way around?”

Neil Warnock “We didn’t give them any opportunities, but unfortunately they took one.”

Michael Owen “England have players who can rattle anyone’s feathers”

Kevin Keegan “Every picture paints a thousand words and that one said ‘goodbye’”

Aidy Boothroyd “What’s changed is that nothing’s changed”

Glenn Hoddle “I don’t think that this clean sheet was a shut-out”

“When Gareth Bale opens his legs like that, it’s just a magnificent sight” Gary Neville

Jason Cundy

Matt Murray

“The one thing you get from Martin Allen is honesty. Ask him a question and he’ll avoid it”

“You either love or hate Neil Warnock and I like him”

Rob Hawthorne “Real Madrid came out the traps like a thoroughbred racehorse”

“We’ve won 10 out of 11. You can’t do any better than that”

Stan Collymore “Martin O’Neill rules with a rod of fear”

Alan Green “It’s Wolves 0, Swansea 2 and that is an accurate scoreline”

“It’s 2-2-all”

“Olsson has taken a large portion of Andy Carroll from behind”

Kevin Keegan

Harry Redknapp

Matt Le Tissier

Sam Matterface

“Jose Enrique’s strength is that he’s very strong”

Jimmy Armfield “The first half has gone how I almost half-anticipated”

Roy Hodgson “We had a setback against Stoke which set us back a bit”

Paul Merson “Today will open the title race wide back up”

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 19

READ ALL ABOUT IT We take a look at what other non-league clubs are doing that’s making the news this week.

CHESHAM UNITED

Chesham United signed 21-year-old Luke Allen on loan from Vanarama Conference South club Hemel Hempstead Town. Allen knows the league, having won it last year, and he has also had experience with Tottenham Hotspur, Cambridge City and Cambridge United. Allen will bring energy and hopefully goals to the midfield at a busy time of the season. He is versatile and fits the bill for the type of player we want in the club.

HEREFORD UNITED

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Having failed to comply with the orders of the Independent Regulatory Commission, both Hereford United and Alan McCarthy are suspended from all football and football activity with immediate effect. The Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division club and McCarthy, officer of Hereford United FC, were ordered to fully and correctly comply with their obligations under the Owners’ and Directors’ Test Regulations by 4pm on Thursday, 4th December 2014. Following consideration of a document submitted by the club, the Independent Regulatory Commission gave the parties until 4pm on Monday, 8th December 2014 to submit further documentation to satisfy the orders of the Commission.

Thursday’s FA statement read: “The suspension of Hereford United and Alan McCarthy from all football and football activity has been lifted with immediate effect. This follows their compliance with the orders of the independent regulatory commission.”

Having failed to provide the requested further documentation by the deadline, both Hereford United and McCarthy shall remain suspended until such time as the order of the Independent Regulatory Commission has been complied with to the satisfaction of the Commission. The FA understands the importance of football clubs to their local communities and will continue to work with all relevant parties to ensure senior football returns to Hereford at the earliest opportunity, although this will be contingent on the club complying with the Regulations and subsequent orders of the Independent Regulatory Commission. The club have since been reinstated to the league.

Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division club Truro City have signed Danny Greenslade from Vanarama Conference side Bristol Rovers on a month`s loan. Greenslade is a left-back and will stand in for Ryan Brett while he recovers from the recurring foot injury. A graduate of Rovers` Academy, Greenslade has been with the club since he was 10 years of age and worked his way up through every age group from that point. He was also a member of the under-18 side that clinched a league and cup `double` in 2012/13. He was offered a pro contract after spending two years as a scholar and spent the first month of this season on loan at Southern Division One South & West outfit Mangotsfield United.

ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V FROME TOWN ISSUE 17

TRURO CITY

CHIPPENHAM TOWN

to Conference North outfit Oxford City in November 2012.

BANBURY UNITED

Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division club Chippenham Town have signed attacking midfielder Ashan Holgate. The 28-year-old started his career with home-town club Swindon where he went on to make nine firstteam appearances. During his time at the County Ground he also spent time on loan with Basingstoke Town, Salisbury City, Newport County and Macclesfield Town.

At the start of the 2007/08 season, after being released by Swindon, he signed for Weston-super-Mare and then onto then league rivals Eastleigh the following November.

After a loan spell at Cirencester Town, Holgate returned to the Seagulls in March 2008. A switch to Newport County followed in October 2009. However, his contract was terminated by the Exiles in January 2010 and he signed for Swindon Supermarine. In the summer of 2011 he joined Conference South side Maidenhead United and then moved

Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division club Banbury United have confirmed the signing of former Oxford United scholar Duran Martin.The 18-year-old is a central midfield player and has been playing for Uhlsport Hellenic League side Old Woodstock Town this season after completing his scholarship at Oxford United at the end of last season.

Duran, the younger brother of the Puritans` Marvin.

and Josh Klein-Davies to league rivals Frome Town. He was delighted, therefore, to announce the signing of Mitchell Page from Southern Division One South & West neighbours Mangotsfield United. Page is a vastly experienced striker at Southern League level, his previous clubs include Clevedon Town, Yate Town and last season Bridgwater Town.

CAMBRIDGE CITY

PAULTON ROVERS

Nick Bunyard, manager of Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division club Paulton Rovers, has been looking for an additional striker to support Scott Wilson since the loss of Nick McCootie to Vanarama Conference South side Bath City

Defender Claudiu Vilcu has left Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division club Cambridge City. Vilcu joined the Lilywhites earlier this season from Essex Senior League side FC Romania and was in the squad for the abandoned match at Bideford on Saturday. Explaining the decision to release Vilcu, manager Gary Roberts said: “Claudiu joined us at a difficult time but since then Adam Murray has joined us and I feel that we have now got enough cover defensively which has lead me to make this decision. I wish Claudiu well for the future.�

WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 21

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

HOPES AND DREAMS Let’s be honest, we’d all like the lifestyle of a footballer wouldn’t we, especially one that plays at the very highest level.

Just look at Mario Balotelli, plying his trade at Liverpool, living it up, and in the process of having a crystal encrusted water feature built in his backyard at home. We’d all love one of those wouldn’t we? No – me neither!

Do you remember that madcap idea a few months ago when Macclesfield Town were trying to raise funds to remain a full-time outfit. They initially offered a supporter a chance to pay £20,000 to become a pro-footballer for the week and play at least 10 minutes in ONE game. Now if it were the other way around, and Macclesfield were offering me £20K to turn out in their colours for 10 minutes, I may well consider it – it depends if I was busy that day, I’d have to check my diary! Remarkably, after a lot of hoo-ha and the obvious health and safety aspects relating to the idea, it did actually happen! Sadly though, the guy who forked out a mere £10,000 for 20 minutes on the pitch only lasted 10 minutes in a pre-season game against Stoke City after getting injured. That’s £1,000 a minute he paid to play for Silkmen – the sillyman!

It makes you wonder if the signing of One Directions’ Louis Tomlinson was more of a publicity stunt at Doncaster Rovers than an astute business decision. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt; he could be a cracking footballer? He can’t sing, he can’t dance, perhaps he can spin on a sixpence and find the top corner with ease – I guess we’ll see when he turns out for the first team….if he ever does?? Donny have pulled

a similar to stunt to Macclesfield in the past when their Chairman fancies a chance to play for his beloved club. John Ryan became the oldest footballer to appear for a British club at the age of 52 when he fulfilled his dream and came on as sub for Donny against Hereford United in the 89th minute. Donny were 2-1 down at the time and Ryan smashed a hat trick in 60 seconds to make it 4-2 to Donny. That’s not entirely true, [other than the score line being 4-2 to Donny at the final whistle]. He was berated by the fans, ridiculed by the press, scoffed at, laughed at, and fell over a few times but having said, it was probably one of the highlights of his life! As for the kid from ‘1D’ [that’s ‘One Direction’ for any of you that aren’t ‘with it’], he’s not the first and nor will he be the last celeb to dabble in the glorious world of being a football player.

Over the years there have been the following Ian Botham –

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England cricketer turning out for Scunthorpe United. Boxer Curtis Woodhouse playing for a number of clubs including Sheffield United, Birmingham City, Hull City and others before returning to Boxing.

Foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay alleged that he played for three years at Glasgow Rangers although it is claimed that this was simply to drum up publicity for his restaurants.

The likelihood is, he played for the reserves, cleaned the first team players’ boots and then realised he enjoyed cooking a little more.

Former Doctor Who Matt Smith was also a signed Pro-footballer and turned out in some capacity for Leicester City, Northampton Town and Nottingham Forest before a knee injury scuppered his chance a career in the beautiful game. Then there’s the unforgettable Vinnie Jones who went the opposite way and had a successful career in football [albeit controversial] and then went into acting. Vinnie’s role as ‘Big Chris’ in Guy Richie’s ‘Lock, stock and two smoking barrels’ back in 1998 launched his acting career and he then went on to work in Hollywood Blockbusters ‘Swordfish’, ‘Gone In Sixty Seconds’, and ‘X-Men – The Last Stand’.

We’d all love a player like Vinnie Jones in our side. The ‘No nonsense’ – ‘get stuck-in’ tenacious player who fights for every ball and shows the same hunger to win as us fans.

Enjoy today’s adventure!

Ade

TODAY’S VISITORS

FROME TOWN

Currently at the wrong end of the table frome are struggling to put a run of successful results together after a disappointing first half of season.

Today we offer a festive welcome to our visitors Frome Town for our next engagement in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division.

Our Somerset visitors are currently struggling to get clear of the relegation zone in 21st place with 19 points from their completed 22 league matches this season. So far almost half of their points have been earned away from home with local victories at Biggleswade Town and Histon plus three drawn matches at Arlesey, Hitchin and Hungerford. So they seem to prefer their trips north of the M25 but our lads will be hoping to reverse that trend today. Last season Frome finished fourteenth in the final table two places and three points better off than our lads but they will remember the two games we competed last season that produced no fewer than thirteen goals between us. Our first meeting here two weeks earlier than this last season resulted in a 3-1 victory for our lads with goals from

Matt Nolan (2) and Simon Thomas with Rhys Baggridge claiming our visitors’ consolation reply. Our return meeting midweek in Somerset in March was a nine goals thriller with Frome coming out victors by the odd goal. Our lads led FOUR times before conceding the last two goals in this thrilling encounter and we were left with little consolation from a Shane Tolley hat trick and a well struck fourth goal from Lewis Hilliard.

Frome boasted five separate scorer including Rhys Baggridge once again.

I cannot promise another goal fest but remember our fans did see eleven goals here two weeks ago when Dorchester Town were our visitors. In the FA Cup Frome won a couple of matches before going out to Boreham Wood in a Third Qualifying Round replay and in the FA Trophy they lost in the First Round Qualifying at Chippenham Town. In the Red Insure Cup they won a nine goals thriller (deja-vu ?) at Larkhall before bowing

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out at Paulton Rovers. We hope they enjoy their brief stay at the Cozy Stadium before a safe journey back to Somerset in time for Christmas.

CLUB HISTORY Frome Town, known as the Robins, was formed in 1904 and played in the Wiltshire Premier League.

Early success came in the form of three Somerset Senior League Championships in between 1906 and 1911, whilst in between the Wiltshire League Championship was won in 1909-10.The Club reached the Fifth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup in 1911-12 under the old format of the competition, which was today’s equivalent of the Third Round proper. The team travelled to Southport Central, only to lose 4-1 in front of a crowd of 3,366. Frome entered the Western League in 1919 and immediately became Division 2 Champions while the Somerset FA Senior Cup was won in successive

Year founded: 1904 Nickname: The Robins Chairman: Jeremy Alderman

Website: www.frometownfc.co.uk Stadium: Aldersmith Stadium Capacity: 3,000 (500 seated)

Previous Meetings: 2013/14 St Neots 3-1 Frome 2013/14 Frome 5-4 St Neots

seasons 1932-22 & 1933-34 & for a third time in 1950-51. Frome have always played at Badgers Hill and the ground held its biggest gate in 1954 when 8,000 spectators saw Leyton Orient win 3-0 in the FA Cup First Round Proper. In the same season promotion was won to Division One of the Western League & was beaten finalists in the inaugural Western League Cup. Promotion was gained back into the Western League after a spell in the Wiltshire League again in 1962-63 where the club remained for some years. Success was gained in the Somerset Premier Cup in 1966-67 with victory over Yeovil Town in the final and the cup was shared by the same two teams in 1968-69. Frome’s greatest triumph came in 1978-79 when the club won the Western League. The Championship was secured by losing only once in the last 32 matches. The League Cup followed in 1979-80. Another vintage

year followed in 1982-83 with victories in both the Somerset FA Premier Cup and the Western League Cup, plus runners-up in the league. The next trophy to follow was the 1983-84 Western Counties Floodlit Cup & in 1984-85 the Club reached the second round proper of the FA Challenge Trophy. Following those heady days, Frome flirted all too often with relegation from the Premier Division, and were relegated in 1995-96 and the Club spent several years in the lower reaches of the First Division.

Frome won promotion back to the Western League Premier Division after a six year absence the following year & also reached the final of the league cup. The 2004-05 season saw the Club celebrate their centenary & events on the field saw the Robins reach the Quarter- Finals of the FA Vase before eventually losing 3-0 at Jarrow Roofing. In 2008-09 secured promotion into the Southern League

for the first time in the Clubs history.

The Somerset Premier Cup was also won with a 3-1 win over local rivals Paulton Rovers. After a poor start to life in the Southern League and a quick change of manager Frome went on an incredible unbeaten run and finished the season in sixth place and just three points from a play-off place. Season 2010/11 saw Frome go even further when they beat Sholing 1-0 in the promotion play-off final to secure another promotion as the Robins start another new era in the Southern Premier Division. 2011/12 was another excellent year for Frome as they had a credible mid-table finish in the Premier Division in their first season and were also named as the Somerset FA’s Charter Standard Community Club of the Year.

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 25

WHO’S WHO

THE ROBINS

DARREN CHITTY

DYLAN BONELLA

DARREN CHITTY (GOALKEEPER) Experienced goalkeeper who has played for Melksham Town and Team Bath and now in his fifth season with the Club and was last year’s supporters and managers player of the year for the second year running.

LEWIS PIERRE (GOALKEEPER Formerly with Paulton Rovers and Odd Down. Joined in the summer to provide competition for Darren Chitty.

MARK COOPER (FULLBACK) Former Bristol Rovers and Newport County fullback who has performed superbly for the Robins over the last two seasons.

RHYS BAGGRIDGE (DEFENDER) Now into his second season with the Club having had an impressive debut season last campaign. Formerly with Yeovil Town, Swansea City and Salisbury City.

JACK VALLIS (DEFENDER) Former England U18’s schoolboys and also played for Eastleigh. Joined Frome in January from Gillingham Town.

MATT SMITH (MIDFIELDER) Now in his fourth season with the Club having joined from Westbury United. Been a consistent performer

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MATT SMITH

for the Reds in midfield and liable to add a few goals at times.

KRIS MILLER (MIDFIELDER) In his second spell with the Club having also previously played at Bridgwater Town, Paulton Rovers, Radstock & Odd Down.

JON VANCE (MIDFIELDER) Adrian Fosters first signing at the Club who scored a 35 yard goal on his debut. Previously played for Taunton Town, Tiverton Town, Bridgwater Town and Gillingham Town.

BRANDON MUNDY (MIDFIELDER) Now in his second season with the Club and was previously with Forest Green Rovers and Downton.

AARON RODRIGUEZ (MIDFIELDER) Exciting prospect who signed in the summer from Gillingham Town. Has spent time on trial with Exeter City & Yeovil Town.

JACK TWYFORD (MIDFIELDER) Joined in the summer from Dorchester Town where he progressed through their youth ranks to the first team.

DYLAN BONELLA (MIDFIELDER) Former Hereford United midfielder who joined Frome via Cinderford Town in September 2014.

ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V FROME TOWN ISSUE 17

JON VANCE

BEN WORLOCK (MIDFIELDER) Formerly with Bristol Rovers and currently studying in Bath University under the banner of Southampton FC. Young midfielder who has impressed in his early appearances for the Club.

CAMERON BROWN (MIDFIELDER) Joined Frome in October from Winterbourne United in the Toolstation League.

JOSH KLEIN DAVIES (STRIKER) Signed for Frome from Paulton Rovers in October. Formerly with Bristol City and Bristol Rovers along with spells at several non-league sides in the area LEWIS HALDANE (STRIKER) Formerly of Bristol Rovers and Port Vale who retired from the professional game through injury.

Non plying his trade in non-league football and had been prolific for Yate Town before a switch to Frome in November 2014.

OMAR SIMPSON (STRIKER) Signed from Chippenham Town in November and was formerly with Yeovil Town. Part of the Team Bath 200m and 400m athletics squad and can play either as a winger or a striker.

Ben Thomson (Striker) Joined Frome with manager Adrian Foster from Gillingham where he was a prolific scorer for the Gills in their rise from Dorset Senior football to the Premier of the Western League.

AARON RODRIGUEZ

BEN WORLOCK

OMAR SIMPSON

BRANDON MUNDY

WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 27

News from the Youth...

There has been plenty of activity lately with the Young Saints leading up to the Christmas period.

Andy Davies has resigned from managing the Under 21 team to concentrate on the Apprentices and Scholar’s; we thank Andy for all his hard work.

Whilst we have mentioned the Academy we have over 20 young hopefuls and their parents at todays match as guests of Iain and Lee. Hopefully they will join the club as part of next September’s intake.

Following on from Andy we would like to welcome Adrian Fife as the new under 21s manager / Coach.

Adrian is a UEFA qualified coach

and a CYQ level 2 sports instructor so it looks like we will certainly have the fitness team in the league that’s for sure.

St Neots Youth and Saints have an opportunity for a Goalkeeper for their Under 10s (Saints) team, this is a great opportunity for a good young keeper to play in the top tier team at that age group.

The Young saints frequently play development matches against similar progressive and professional clubs, for example Cambridge Utd, Peterborough Utd and Stevenage Borough FC. They currently play in the U11 Hunts Youth league on Saturday mornings.

Players are expected to train twice per week and be available for all

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matches. Each week the goalkeeper would train once with a specialist goalkeeper coach (currently Wednesday) and once with the team (currently Thursday).

The team embraces the ethos of player development and enjoyment through football.

Please contact the managers Mike Joyce (07528 345914) / Howard Williams (07854 067661) for further details and an informal chat.

Finally as this is the last programme before Christmas everyone connected with the young Saints would like to wish all of our young players and there are many of them a very happy Christmas and a great football in the coming year.

Sponsored by Steve Ridley

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Official TV Channel

Extended Match Highlights Post-Match Analysis and Interviews All the Goals, Outtakes and Behind the Scenes Coverage Tune in to your club... www.stneotstownfc.co.uk

PENALTY AND THEY KNOW IT!

GREENIES GREETINGS

A WIN EARNED BY GRIT AND DETERMINATION Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Rowley Park – The Cozy Stadium for today’s Evostik League Premier Division game.

Today we extend a very warm welcome to the players, officials and of course, the travelling supporters of Frome Town Football Club and we hope you enjoy our hospitality here at the Cozy before travelling safely back down to Somerset later this evening.

Saturday saw us end our somewhat dismal run in the league with a win down at Chippenham Town.

Not just a win but a win built on the foundation of a clean sheet, something we haven’t managed to achieve since we played, and beat, Hereford United 1-0 at the Cozy Stadium. By all accounts it was a win earned by grit and determination from every single player in what was a much changed line-up, as Hardenhuish Park is never the easiest place to go and come away with any reward.

This result came just four days

after our home defeat to Slough Town, which was, shall we say, very disappointing to say the least. Let’s hope that we can now push on and everyone now knows the levels of performance expected when the blue jersey is pulled on. I know I was very critical of every player that evening, maybe over critical, who knows, as they almost all have day jobs to get through before even thinking about playing football but there has been a noticeable difference between Saturday and midweek performances this season, something we haven’t really encountered before.

As the festive season is almost upon us, I’d just like to remind everyone that we are due to play Corby Town here at the Cozy Stadium on Boxing Day and this fixture will kick off at 15:00, so everyone gets a bit of a lay in after what is usually a hectic time full of over indulgence on the TwentyFifth. We then head down the M1 on

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New Years Day when we travel the relatively short distance to Dunstable Town, again kicking off at 15:00 then on Saturday 3rd January, we travel up the A1 to face Yaxley in the Huntingdonshire Football Association Senior Challenge Cup semi final. This game was arranged when we pulled the Hereford United home game forward to October. With this game now happening on a Saturday, this should ensure that there is a bumper crowd present at Leading Drove.

Ok then, onto today’s game. Let’s get behind the boys and drive them on.

This just leaves me now to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I hope everyone gets everything they have asked Santa for this year, starting no doubt with the three points we have all requested here today.

Have a great Christmas GREENY

TRYING TOO HARD

AWAY DAYS

CREASEY PARK The Christmas period sees us visit one of our local rivals Dunstable Town for our next away day.

This is our second recent meeting with Dunstable as we played at Creasey Park last season in the Red Insure Cup where we came away with a 3-0 win on the night.

Having won back to back promotions at steps 5 and 6 Dunstable find them selves in the Southern League Premier Division for Season 2104/15.

The club won the southern League Division One Central in Season 2013/14 with the distinction of not having lost a single league came all of that season. Under the guidance of Darren Croft the club not only hope to consolidate its position in the Premier Division but also push for a play off position.

The clubs playing record for season 2013/14 is as follows W 28 D 6 L 8 F 94 A 44, a very impressive record in the Central Division last season.

Dunstable are currently sitting in 11th place in the league.

DIRECTIONS TO THE GROUND From the South: When traveling north on the A5 go straight across the lights in the centre of Dunstable. Turn left at the next main set of lights into Brewers Hill Road. You will immediately pass the fire station on your left. Carry on until you hit the first roundabout. Go over the roundabout, and take the immediate right into Creasey Park Drive.

From the North: When travelling south on the A5 go through the chalk cutting and over the first set of traffic lights. At the next set of lights turn right into Brewers Hill Road. Go over the roundabout, and take the immediate right into Creasey Park Drive.

From the East: Turn right at the traffic lights in the centre of Dunstable. Turn left at the next main set of lights into Brewers Hill Road.

You will immediately pass the fire station on your left. Carry on until you hit the first roundabout. Go over the roundabout, and take the immediate

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right into Creasey Park Drive.

From the West: When coming into Dunstable go straight across the first roundabout you come to.

Then turn left at the mini double roundabout into Drovers Way. Follow this road for about 3/4 of a mile as it bears to the right and becomes Brewers Hill Road. Go over two mini roundabouts, and just before you hit the larger roundabout, turn left into Creasey Park Drive.

CREASEY PARK Brewers Hill Road, Dunstable Bedfordshire LU6 1BB Adults = £10 Concessions = £6 Children under 16 = £3 Capacity: 3,200 Wheelchair Access: Yes Car Parking: Yes Matchday Magazine: £2.00 Round Trip from (PE19 6SL): 77 Miles

FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE

BRIAN CLOUGH Some great stories about the people who knew and worked under the great man Knotty Problem Commentator Clive Tyldesley The day of 21st August 1976 is one that will stick with me forever. It was the opening game of Nottingham Forests promotion season away at Fulham.

I was a year out of university in my first ever job at Radio Trent and I had reported on some Forest games towards the back end of the previous season. Basically, I was the rookie reporter who, during the summer, had then been assigned to cover Forest home and away the following season.

This was the first time radio Trent had been allocated a place with the official Forest party. It was a bright, sunny, typical opening day of the season. A beautiful August day and I was embarking on my first “proper” trip with Nottingham Forest for the match at Craven Cottage.

Because it was my first trip, I was comfortably the first person to arrive at Nottingham railway station. I had my ticket for Forest’s private carriage and so I took my seat and sat there reading the newspapers, waiting for everyone else to arrive.

They came in dribs and drabs and about 15 minutes before we were due to leave, Cloughie appeared in his smart blue-cloth blazer with the club emblem on it.

I was only a year out of university with hair possibly too long to get me in the Forest team. But I had been around socially, to golf clubs and suchlike, with my dad so I had a sense of what attire should be acceptable. I was wearing a nice double-breasted blazer, a pair of grey slacks and a smart light blue shirt with a button down collar.

Accordingly, my casual black shoes had a healthy shine too.

I looked at him and apologized for the slip and assured him it wouldn’t happen again. But he didn’t move.

He just stood over my table and repeated the same words.

“Young man, you are very welcome to join the official Nottingham Forest party today but when you join the official Nottingham Forest party, you should wear a tie” By now I was blushing and apologizing profusely and I promised him that as soon as we got to London, I would find a shop and purchase a tie.

He said a hearty “Good morning” to everyone before moving towards me, sitting on my own at a small table.

He slowly put his hand out as he addressed me.

He paused, but didn’t move and for the third time, repeated said exactly the same thing he had said before.

Now, at this point, he puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a £5 note and slaps it into my hand. “the train leaves in 10 minutes young man!”.

“Young man, you are very welcome to join the official Nottingham Forest party today but when you join the official Nottingham Forest party, you should wear a tie”

So, I ran down the platform and, as chance would have it, there were a gentleman’s outfitters just outside the station. It was around 9.15am and it had just about opened. I

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“YOUNG MAN, YOU ARE VERY WELCOME TO JOIN THE OFFICIAL NOTTINGHAM FOREST PARTY TODAY BUT WHEN YOU JOIN THE OFFICIAL NOTTINGHAM FOREST PARTY, YOU SHOULD WEAR A TIE” dashed in, thrust the fiver into this guy’s hand and blurted, “I need a tie”. He started to try and direct me towards a large rack, but there was not time for that. I just grabbed one and said, “Is this ok?” He sort of nodded and looked on in amazement as I rushed out to get back on the train. I was now sweating and looking considerably less presentable than I had done 10 minutes earlier. About five minutes

after the train pulled out, Cloughie came down past my table and glanced across at me. “Very smart, young man” he said with an approving nod.

Typical Clough and a moment in my career that I will never forget. There is a nice postscript to this story, which underlines the effect a brief moment in the presence of someone like Clough can have.

I think the only time I have NOT worn a tie to cover a football match since that day was for the 1994 world cup final in Pasadena when the temperature was around 100 degrees. I still wore a proper shirt. I’m sure I was still half-looking around fearing he would suddenly appear around the corner pointing a finger at me…

INTRODUCING

MAX YORK A Strong agile defender who can attack as well as defend. Max started his senior career as a scholar with Histon and progressed to the first team under manager Brian Page.

Showing some great performances he was soon wanted by a whole host of clubs and decided to move to Biggleswade Town where he stayed for nearly two seasons. Having watched Max on many occasions the Saints knew he was a player that would suit our style of play. Max finally joined the club in September 2014, he has been an ever present since and made the right back position his own.

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ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V FROME TOWN ISSUE 17

WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 41

PAUL BASTOCK

MD’S VIEWS

FLOODLIGHTING I have to say that sorting out the floodlighting has been a pain.

It’s not that the lights are bad (although they are not great) it’s the fact the one bulb has blown and over time the lighting has moved so much so that those queuing for a burger have more chance of seeing their juicy snack then those that are playing football on the pitch.

I have to say that the last two home games have been poor. Poor defending, poor applications, poor understanding. It’s not a reflection of any one individual but an overall malaise of indifference. Is it an accumulation of a number things, time will tell?

OK I hear you say so maybe that’s why we haven’t been at the races over the last two months. Could be, who knows. We have a hydraulic machine that helps lower the entire floodlighting column which having tested it works a treat, however there is one small problem, you see the 18metre floodlighting columns are too long for the space they need to be lowered down to, or in other words we can lower them but the main stand gets in the way.

The thing for me is that I’m the idiot who is trying to get the books to balance by introducing a whole raft of initiatives that over time I believe will make a financial difference.

Bugger you think you’ve got it licked because the hydraulic machine actually fired into life having not been used (ever) you work out how it’s deployed and then realise that the bloody pole is too long and the main stand gets in the way. Any suggestions please put on the back of a postcard.

I’ve not been alone with these endeavours and as such other feel the same angst that I currently have breathing over me. It’s not rocket science, it’s not complicated it’s quite simple really, you either want to be here and justify to all involved that you deserve your wages by applying yourself to the task in hand or you go somewhere else and let some other poor bugger pay you money for old rope.

It’s not even a mistakes thing as

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quite clearly these things do happen during the course of a football match (Mistakes that is) it’s the complete lack of drive, commitment and desire that really gets my goat. So for those that have or are thinking about cruising through the next couple of games I would suggest looking at yourself in the mirror and spare a thought for those who are working hard behind the scenes and for those that are paying hard earned cash to watch you.

As a club we will get where we want to with or without you, we’d of course like you to be part of our current and future success but that will depend on you.

ST. NEOTS TOWN F.C APPRENTICESHIP

A big welcome to our potential 2015 scholars, welcome to our club and welcome to your immediate future.

LEE

STEWS VIEWS

THE SNOBBERY AND INVERSE SNOBBERY OF SUPPORTING A NON-LEAGUE CLUB Good afternoon, fellow non-league football fans. Today’s column is courtesy of Mike Bayly, for When Saturday Comes, part of the Guardian Sports Network.

On a recent pre-season visit to Boreham Wood FC, my eye was drawn to the programme notes detailing the match mascots. Each one supported a Premier League club, with a secondary mention of their favourite Woods player shoehorned in. This may seem a trivial observation but imagine a local Salford lad stumbling out on to the Old Trafford pitch, with an outsize shirt flapping round his knees, being introduced as a Barcelona fan. Learning that your matchday mascot supports a different team took me back to a past life following Kidderminster Harriers.

There, a similar story was frequently played out in the Conference.

Although a predominantly semiprofessional league in those days, it still featured strong sides capable of pulling in four-figure crowds.

But in all my years following the club – and this may be the output of a selective memory – the only mascot I recall pledging a primary allegiance to the Harriers was me. Even my friend and co-mascot on the day (who, as the excitable PA announcer,

Captain Crazy, remarked, “comes all the way from Ludlow!”) kept a safe distance, declaring himself to be an Aston Villa fan.

It was a curiosity that manifested way beyond the then-corrugated stands of Aggborough. Supporting a non-league team in a school obsessed with Liverpool and Manchester United, the stock response when you said who you supported was usually either “who

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are they?” or, even worse, “but who is your real club?” It’s unclear why revealing primary allegiances to nonleague teams elicits so much incredulity.

Maybe it’s the dated image of beer bellied forwards hoofing the ball into neighbouring gardens, or the stigma of following “park football”, but sometimes you imagine confessing to such activities will lead to a cross being painted on your door.

THE WEALDSTONE RAIDER PROUD TO WEAR HIS LOCAL COLOURS ;)

Nowadays, as a regular follower of Wingate & Finchley of the Isthmian League, I find myself offering an almost apologetic justification when asked who I support, followed by a pre-emptive “you probably wouldn’t have heard of them”. Usually I’m right.

Declaring these loyalties to smaller clubs is like a high-stakes card game. Supporters are often faced

with a deal or bust decision: stick to your guns and hope for the best or choose a big side with tenuous connections and suppress feelings of desertion and treachery. Non-league devotees often lead a duplicitous life, where who they say they support and who they actually support can be two vastly different things.

To cite an example, a Stourbridgesupporting acquaintance of mine wrestled with this conundrum on starting a new job in Birmingham.

Having never had an affiliation to a “big” team, he mulled over replying “West Brom” or “Aston Villa” if anyone asked, as he would “feel a bit silly saying Stourbridge”.

Further afield, a seasoned follower of Halifax Town I know resorted to saying “Leeds United” when asked the question abroad, to avoid the inevitable looks of confusion.

On the other hand, there are distinct advantages to following clubs at this level of the pyramid. Non-league paraphernalia are like magic amulets.

I was challenged on the Tube once about the claret and blue scarf round my neck. Once I had revealed that it was emblazoned with “Colwyn Bay FC”, the demeanour of my would-be assailant changed and he threw in a congratulatory “good for you”, as if addressing someone recovering from a critical disease.

Inevitably, most non-league clubs and their followers accept all this as an occupational hazard. But an

inverse snobbery is on the increase among fans of lower-league or non-league sides. In a commercially driven age where the British football supporter appears increasingly homogenised and brand-driven, it is sometimes the fan of the top-flight club being asked who their “real” team is.

Of course, you could forgo the need to acquiesce to external pressures or one-upmanship and replace conventional wisdom with simple pragmatism. As one Telford United fan I met resolutely states: “When asked ‘but who else do you support?’ I say ‘Witham Town’. This usually ends the conversation.”

I must say that I have had similar experiences when talking about enthusiastically following the Saints fortunes, this column for me hit a nerve.

May I also take this opportunity to wish all supporters, staff and players at the club a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Yours Aye Craig

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 47

Scorelines..

Action from the the recent league matches in our division.

Premier Division Midweek (w/c 8th December) On Monday, two first half strikes gave Hungerford Town a 2-0 victory at Redditch United to move up two places to seventh in the table while Hitchin Town scored just after the hour to claim a 1-1 home draw after Chippenham Town had taken a ninth minute lead.

On Tuesday, Corby Town moved back to second in the table when, having opened the scoring with an eighth minute penalty and doubled their lead by half time, they scored three times after the break to complete a comprehensive 5-0 win at bottom of the table Banbury United while Weymouth, behind six minutes from the interval, scored twice in six minutes to secure a 2-1 home victory over Bideford with seven minutes remaining and move up to fourth replacing St Neots Town who conceded three first half goals to go down to a 3-0 home defeat by Slough Town.

Chesham United took the lead midway through the first half and

went on to complete a 3-1 win at Biggleswade Town while Histon opened the scoring in the third minute and doubled their lead before the break to set up a 2-1 home victory over Burnham who scored eight minutes from time.

On Wednesday, Frome Town went ahead five minutes before the break and secured a 2-0 home win over Paulton Rovers with a second eight minutes into the second half.

Premier Division Weekend (13th December) Cirencester Town took the lead eight minutes after the break but missed the chance of going back to second place when hosts Hungerford Town scored five minutes from time to secure a 1-1 draw but fourth in the table St Neots Town scored after thirteen minutes to win 1- 0 at Chippenham Town while Redditch United, ahead after five minutes, moved up to fifth when they completed a comprehensive 5-2 victory at Biggleswade Town and Truro City also stayed in touch

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with the leading pack when, despite going behind in the twelfth minute, they completed a 3-2 win at second from bottom Arlesey Town Hitchin Town were held to a 0-0 draw at Burnham while Dunstable Town, trailing after twenty minutes, scored twelve minutes from time to secure a 1-1 home draw with Hereford United and Slough Town equalised seven minutes after going behind early in the second half to also share a 1-1 draw at Frome Town.

Histon, a goal ahead at the interval, scored twice in he second half to complete a 3-0 home win over bottom of the table Banbury United while Paulton Rovers, trailing two goals behind at the interval and again just after the hour mark, scored twice in the final ten minutes and completed a remarkable 4-3 win at Dorchester Town with a goal in the second minute of time added on. Cambridge City’s long trip to Bideford came to an abrupt end when the floodlights failed thirteen minutes from time with the home side leading 2-0.

BEN MACKEY

CHIPPENHAM TOWN 0 ST NEOTS TOWN 1 13:12:2014 / Southern Premier Division / Att 285 / Referee: : Mark Russell (Bristol) After their very poor performance in midweek a much changed St Neots side confounded their critics by returning from their trip to Wiltshire with all three points.

Their opponents were Chippenham who were unbeaten in their previous five league matches (all drawn) so they were the side in form but a gutsy battling display by St Neots deservedly earned them the points with the fates seemingly stacked against them. With Jay Davies and Ed Adjei suspended they had to be team changes and then the news that skipper Gavin Hoyte had joined his fellow defender Ryan Frater on the sidelines with a hamstring injury meant that a root and branch reshuffle had to take place. Into the defence alongside Tom Ward came Dave Deeney but he lasted just 33 minutes before yet another hamstring pull forced another on field shuffle with Max York moving into the centre of the defence and Dean Cracknell employed as a full back. With a total of four changes in the starting line up there were recalls to the side for Ben Ford and Ben Mackey and the early injury meant a debut substitute appearance for an hour for full back Ryan Plowright. The sending off of home keeper Kent Kauppinen seventeen minutes from time inspired the home side to throw everything forward in search on an equaliser but the visiting defence stood firm to record only its second clean sheet since 9th September. St Neots began brightly in a 4-3-3 formation and after neat work by David Hutton

Ben Mackey had a shot deflected for a corner. Then after 12 minutes as Hutton worked his way into the penalty area he was upended by a clumsy Greg Tindle challenge allowing skipper for the day Drew Roberts to open the scoring from the penalty spot. Immediately from the kick off Chippenham could have equalised when a poor defensive clearance by Deeney went straight to Ashan Holgate but his finish was far too high. St Neots thought they should have had a second penalty when Tom Ward up for a set piece looked to be shoved over but the Referee waved play on. Clearly struggling with injury Deeney was replaced by Plowright after 33 minutes and the reshuffle left St Neots on the back foot for a while with both Holgate and Alan Griffin wasting good openings for the home side. In fact the only real save to be made by Bastock in a low key first half came eight minutes before the break when he did well to get behind a Griffin volley. From a long throw in the first minute after the restart Greg Tindle fired into the side netting as both sides sought to up the pace and at the other end Mackey only just failed to reach a cross from Ben Ford in front of a gaping net.

However Mackey did bring the save of the match from Kent Kauppinen after good work down the flank by

Dean Cracknell. Nathan Frater was sent on to replace Mackey and he was involved in the first of two second half incidents that were to have a bearing on the outcome. After 71 minutes Frater was involved in an incident with Jon Beeden that saw the Chippenham player throw himself dramatically to the ground in an attempt to get his opponent sent off. However Referee Mark Russell was perfectly placed to assess the situation and after the pushing and shoving ceased he rightly booked both players. Two minutes later Drew Roberts broke clear of the defence and Kauppinen ten yards outside his area brought the striker down as he attempted to go past him earning the keeper a straight red card. The home side brought on a substitute goalkeeper and he was equal to St Neots best efforts saving a Matt Spring free kick and a narrow angled effort by Frater. Chippenham went looking for an equaliser but this just gave St Neots more possession especially in midfield and they were able to slow the pace and dictate play in the last ten minutes. It was a much needed but well deserved haul of three points and now the main attention prior to the holiday period will be focussed on the treatment room.

Chippenham Town

St Neots Town

Kauppinen, Harvey, Beeden, Smith, Tindle, Preece, Ferguson, Francis, Griffin, Pook, Holgate Subs: Osman (for Ferguson 58), Edwards (for Griffin 69), Phillips (for Francis 73), and Clarke.

Cards: Kauppinen (RED – 73), Beeden (Y – 71) Goals: none

Bastock, York, Ford, Wilson, Deeney, Ward, Cracknell, Spring, Mackey, Roberts, Hutton. Subs: Plowright (for Deeney 33), Frater (N) (for Mackey 65), Hilliard (for Wilson 81), Ferrari and Greygoose.

Cards: Frater (N) (Y – 71) Goals: Roberts pen (12 mins)

PAGE 50 / ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V FROME TOWN ISSUE 17

WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 51

LEWIS CONTROLS

21-Mar

04-Apr

3 -- 0

06-Apr

0 -- 4

1 -- 1

21-Mar

3 -- 0

28-Mar

3 -- 2

03-Jan

Bideford

Biggleswade Town

Burnham

Cambridge City

Chesham United

Chippenham Town

Cirencester Town

Corby Town

Dorchester Town

2 -- 0

31-Jan

4 -- 1

20-Dec

14-Feb

07-Feb

18-Apr

tba

Redditch United

Slough Town

St Neots Town

Truro City

Weymouth

0 -- 0

3 -- 2

2 -- 1

06-Apr

03-Jan

6 -- 2

3 -- 1

Poole Town

4 -- 0

1 -- 0

Paulton Rovers

26-Dec

29-Nov

07-Mar

Histon

Hitchin Town

3 -- 0

4 -- 1

Hereford United

4 -- 2

2 -- 3

5 -- 1

17-Jan

Frome Town

17-Jan

Dunstable Town

Hungerford Town

6 -- 2

25-Apr

4 -- 2

18-Apr

5 -- 1

3 -- 0

2 -- 3

2 -- 1

26-Dec

28-Mar

4 -- 1

7 -- 2

21-Mar

06-Apr

28-Feb

3 -- 2

tba

14-Feb

24-Jan

03-Jan

3 -- 3

14-Mar 29-Nov

26-Dec

3 -- 0

25-Apr

07-Feb

tba

2 -- 2

10-Jan

28-Feb

Arlesey Town

0 -- 2

Banbury United

Arlesey Town

Bideford

Banbury United

Biggleswade Town

20-Dec

07-Mar

17-Jan

1 -- 1

18-Apr

1 -- 0

14-Feb

28-Mar

14-Mar

3 -- 0

2 -- 1

1 -- 2

1 -- 0

0 -- 1

tba

29-Nov

03-Jan

07-Feb

1 -- 1

24-Jan

11-Apr

2 -- 2

01-Jan

21-Feb

Burnham

28-Mar

31-Jan

3 -- 1

03-Jan

0 -- 0

08-Nov

3 -- 0

26-Dec

18-Apr

2 -- 1

2 -- 5

1 -- 2

4 -- 2

1 -- 0

07-Mar

25-Apr

14-Mar

06-Apr

17-Jan

1 -- 0

07-Feb

29-Nov

Cambridge City 10-Jan

1 -- 0

0 -- 1

07-Mar

2 -- 4

28-Mar

1 -- 1

2 -- 0

06-Apr

26-Dec

2-0

2 -- 1

25-Apr

2 -- 2

24-Jan

14-Feb

11-Apr

4 -- 4

1 -- 2

21-Feb

13-Dec

2 -- 0

0 -- 2 0 -- 3

Chesham United tba

0 -- 3

2 -- 3

0 -- 3

2 -- 2

13-Dec

07-Mar

11-Apr

24-Jan

21-Feb

14-Mar

14-Feb

04-Apr

0 -- 0

1 -- 1

2 -- 2

1 -- 1

1 -- 0

01-Jan

1 -- 3

17-Jan

20-Dec

1 -- 2

Chippenham Town 0 -- 0

24-Jan

tba

18-Apr

2 -- 2

2 -- 1

29-Nov

26-Dec

10-Jan

1 -- 1

1 -- 3

07-Feb

06-Apr

5 -- 1

0 -- 1

14-Feb

1 -- 1

28-Mar

1 -- 1

tba

0 -- 2

20-Dec

21-Feb

1 -- 4

07-Mar

1 -- 2

tba

2 -- 1

2 -- 1

1 -- 1

0 -- 0

11-Apr

01-Jan

14-Mar

0 -- 3

07-Feb

2 -- 1

17-Jan

31-Jan

1 -- 3

20-Dec

04-Apr

0 -- 2

0 -- 5

Cirencester Town

07-Mar

Corby Town 18-Apr

10-Jan

26-Dec

07-Feb

21-Mar

25-Apr

31-Jan

3 -- 0

03-Jan

06-Apr

1 -- 2

1 -- 2

1 -- 2

2 -- 1

0 -- 0

0 -- 2

0 -- 1

2 -- 2

0 -- 3

28-Feb

04-Apr

0 -- 5

1 -- 2

Dorchester Town 2 -- 0

24-Jan

6 -- 5

20-Dec

3 -- 0

01-Jan

18-Apr

31-Jan

07-Mar

1 -- 0

4 -- 0

19-Nov

14-Feb

28-Mar

6 -- 1

28-Oct

10-Jan

04-Apr

1 -- 5

4 -- 1

21-Feb

2 -- 1

1 -- 0

24-Jan

Dunstable Town 07-Mar

28-Mar

06-Apr

0 -- 3

10-Jan

1 -- 0

2 -- 2

0 -- 0

3 -- 2

1 -- 2

18-Apr

tba

1 -- 2

2 -- 2

1 -- 1

31-Jan

29-Nov

20-Dec

2 -- 0

26-Dec

1 -- 2

21-Feb

2 -- 2

Frome Town 4 -- 2

tba

20-Dec

18-Apr

2 -- 0

7 -- 0

21-Feb

1 -- 1

29-Nov

1 -- 2

28-Mar

28-Feb

21-Mar

11-Apr

3 -- 1

01-Jan

3 -- 0

31-Jan

3 -- 1

1 -- 2

4 -- 0

10-Jan

Hereford United 04-Apr

6 -- 0

1 -- 0

2 -- 0

26-Dec

0 -- 0

1 -- 2

21-Mar

25-Apr

0 -- 0

1 -- 3

1 -- 1

3 -- 0

21-Feb

06-Apr

2 -- 1

3 -- 0

28-Feb

10-Jan

31-Jan

3 -- 3

1 -- 5

1 -- 1

2 -- 1

Histon 31-Jan

20-Dec

4 -- 0

1 -- 1

2 -- 0

2 -- 0

04-Apr

1 -- 0

07-Feb

17-Jan

03-Jan

1 -- 3

28-Feb

01-Jan

2 -- 0

1 -- 0

2 -- 1

6 -- 0

21-Mar

1 -- 1

14-Mar

18-Apr

0 -- 2

Hitchin Town 2 -- 2

3 -- 0

21-Feb

2 -- 1

31-Jan

11-Apr

3 -- 0

2 -- 1

1 -- 1

20-Dec

04-Apr

21-Mar

2 -- 1

2 -- 0

10-Jan

28-Feb

0 -- 1

01-Jan

0 -- 0

3 -- 7

2 -- 1

0 -- 3

Hungerford Town 3 -- 1

2 -- 1

14-Mar

01-Jan

0 -- 2

1 -- 0

20-Dec

14-Feb

2 -- 1

0 -- 2

07-Mar

07-Feb

1 -- 0

17-Jan

18-Apr

0 -- 1

1 -- 2

2 -- 1

2 -- 2

1 -- 1

1 -- 0

24-Jan

04-Apr

11-Apr

Paulton Rovers 18-Nov

2 -- 0

1 -- 1

4 -- 2

07-Feb

1 -- 0

25-Apr

1 -- 0

29-Nov

24-Jan

2 -- 0

17-Jan

3 -- 4

4 -- 1

03-Jan

1 -- 1

2 -- 2

14-Mar

28-Feb

1 -- 0

01-Jan

28-Mar

Poole Town tba

21-Feb

3 -- 2

24-Jan

0 -- 1

4 -- 5

0 -- 0

1 -- 0

14-Feb

07-Mar

26-Dec

14-Mar

06-Apr

20-Dec

tba

04-Apr

18-Apr

0 -- 2

1 -- 3

10-Jan

18-Nov

0 -- 1

31-Jan

Redditch United 14-Feb

29-Nov

0 -- 3

1 -- 7

17-Jan

1 -- 0

21-Feb

4 -- 0

28-Mar

1 -- 2

0 -- 4

2 -- 1

14-Mar

0 -- 0

24-Jan

1 -- 2

0 -- 1

03-Jan

11-Apr

2 -- 5

07-Mar

01-Jan

25-Apr

Slough Town 3 -- 2

1 -- 2

0 -- 3

28-Feb

2 -- 1

2 -- 2

06-Apr

28-Mar

10-Jan

2 -- 2

1 -- 1

11-Apr

25-Apr

1 -- 2

21-Mar

21-Feb

26-Dec

3 -- 3

0 -- 2

3 -- 3

31-Jan

tba

1 -- 0

St Neots Town 20-Jan

2 -- 3

04-Apr

2 -- 0

28-Feb

10-Jan

15-Nov

3 -- 4

24-Jan

0 -- 2

25-Apr

01-Jan

11-Apr

1 -- 3

1 -- 1

0 -- 1

3 -- 3

21-Mar

14-Feb

2 -- 2

1 -- 1

1 -- 1

1 -- 3

2 -- 3

Truro City 01-Jan

0 -- 2

14-Mar

04-Apr

3 -- 0

1 -- 2

2 -- 0

17-Jan

25-Apr

11-Apr

07-Feb

1 -- 2

1 -- 2

1 -- 0

28-Feb

21-Mar

03-Jan

1 -- 1

2 -- 2

3 -- 2

1 -- 3

14-Feb

06-Apr

2 -- 0

17-Jan

1 -- 1

07-Feb

21-Mar

03-Jan

0 -- 3

3 -- 0

29-Nov

tba

1 -- 3

26-Dec

13-Dec

0 -- 3

2 -- 3

28-Feb

0 -- 1

1 -- 2

25-Apr

tba

11-Apr

14-Mar

Weymouth

In their infinite wisdom, The NLP’s bigwigs decided to give me a weekly column in the paper – with the pressurised title of It’s a Funny Old Game.

The task: To scour Non-League football for the lighter side of football.

Here are some of our favourites so far this season.

IT won’t be difficult to work out who ate all the pies at Glossop North End – the North West Counties have got their very own loyalty card. The North West Counties are rewarding their hungry fans at their Surrey Street home.

Hillmen supporters will get a stamp each time they buy a pie. When they get ten stamps, they’ll get a free pie.

Altrincham duo Kyle Perry and Tom Marshall know their band Stubblemelt is getting bigger – even referees are asking them about it.

“It’s the first thing managers ask me about now – ‘How’s the band going? I see they’re flying’,” Perry said. “Even a referee said to me, ‘Oh I watched your video the other day, it’s fantastic.’ “When it first started I really wanted to keep it a secret and keep it separate from football, but I can’t now!”

Evergreen striker Barry Hayles has often been a cut above the rest, but the Truro City man had to put the record straight over his absence from their game with Slough Town.

It was first thought he cut his thumb while peeling an apple. In fact he had the nasty accident, which required stitches and meant he missed their Southern League clash, while drying

PAGE 54 /

up a sharp knife! “I showed the Truro physio and he said I should get to the hospital – unfortunately I couldn’t get back in time for the game! It was quite a bad one but I’m sure I’ll survive,” he said.

There was an amusing story in one of the many laugh out loud moments during the funeral of Gordon Cox, a councillor in Haverhill, Suffolk, who was heavily involved in local football.

He had a mischievous sense of humour, perfectly illustrated by an anecdote from his refereeing days told by his son Stuart. Taking charge of a match with a player known to frequently cause problems in games, he found the perfect way to keep him under control. After a foul was committed, he blew his whistle and called the player in question over to ask him if he’d like a red or a yellow.The player, the tale goes, protested before again being asked whether he would like a red or a yellow.Reluctantly he went for yellow, whereupon Cox reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag full of jelly babies – all yellow.

The rest of the game passed without incident.

Boston United thought they had a bad night when they were walloped 7-2 by Oxford City – but for one angry betting punter it was even worse. He wrote to the Vanarama

ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V FROME TOWN ISSUE 17

Conference North club furious they had cost him £90 and demanded the players chip in to refund him!

There’s no excuse for any Ryman League changing room to be dirty this season – the league has given every club two brooms and a dustpan and brush! There had been complaints that some clubs were leaving opposition dressing rooms in a state after games. The league even printed laminated notices to put up in dressing rooms before going the extra mile. Chairman Alan Turvey got on to League Cup sponsors Robert Dyas, so when all the usual paperwork was dished out at the pre-season meeting, club officials also went home with the necessary tools. Now that’s a clean sweep.

We’ve all heard about fans or even chairmen turning up at the wrong ground, how about a whole team?

Cornard King’s Head played CFC Bury in the Suffolk Sunday Trophy recently. But they had a sat-nav nightmare before the game – they turned up at the secretary’s house!

Their day got even worse after finding the right venue when they were hammered 15-3.

Matt Badcock Follow us on twitter: @NonLeguePaper @SamElliott_NLP @Stuhammonds_NLP

Opposition in CAPS denotes home fixture. Player name in BOLD CAPS denotes goal scorer.

Date

ATT

COMP

R

Pos

2

3

4

Sat 09 Aug

Opposition Hereford United

568

SLP

2-0

7

Abbey

Spence

Lee

Ford

F

Tue 12 Aug

Chesham United

331

SLP

3-3

5

Abbey

Spence

LEE

Spring

F

Sat 16 Aug

WEYMOUTH

312

SLP

2-0

2

Abbey

Powell

LEE

Bickerstaff

F

Tue 19 Aug

REDDITCH UNITED

310

SLP

0-3

9

Abbey

Powell

Lee

Bickerstaff

Sat 23 Aug

Truro City

503

SLP

3-2

8

Abbey

Spence

LEE

Bickerstaff

Mon 25 Aug

Corby Town

518

SLP

3-1

6

Abbey

Spence

Lee

Bickerstaff

Sat 30 Aug

PAULTON ROVERS

298

SLP

1-1

7

Abbey

Spence

Lee

Bickerstaff

Sat 06 Sep

Biggleswade Town

301

SLP

2-2

6

Abbey

Spence

Wilson

Bickerstaff

Tue 09 Sep

HISTON

401

SLP

4-0

4

Abbey

Spence

Lee

Farrell

Sat 13 Sep

DEREHAM TOWN

312

FAC

1-1

-

Abbey

Spence

Lee

Spring

Sat 20 Sep

Banbury United

281

SLP

1-1

5

Greygoose

Spence

Lee

Farrell

Tue 30 Sep

Arlesey Town

217

SLP

3-1

2

Greygoose

Spence

Bickerstaff

Hilliard

Sat 04 Oct

BURNHAM

282

SLP

3-1

3

Greygoose

York

Lee

Wilson

Mon 06 Oct

Hitchin Town

291

SLP

4-3

2

Greygoose

York

Lee

Wilson

Sat 11 Oct

POOLE TOWN

619

SLP

3-2

2

Bastock

York

Bickerstaff

Wilson

Sat 18 Oct

Cirencester Town

141

SLP

1-1

2

Bastock

York

Bickerstaff

Thorne

Tue 21 Oct

CHESHAM UNITED

233

SLP

2-3

2

Bastock

YORK

Bickerstaff

Thorne

Sat 25 Oct

HEREFORD UNITED

329

SLP

1-0

2

Bastock

York

Bickerstaff

Wilson

Mon 27 Oct

Redditch United

141

SLP

0-2

3

Bastock

York

Lee

Cracknell

Sat 01 Nov

ILKESTON TOWN

330

FAT

2-1

-

Bastock

York

Bickerstaff

Ford

Sat 08 Nov

TRURO CITY

299

SLP

0-2

3

Bastock

York

Bickerstaff

Ford

Sat 15 Nov

DARLINGTON 1883

715

FAT

3-1

-

Bastock

Deeney

York

Ford

Tue 18 Nov

CAMBRIDGE CITY

322

SLP

0-1

3

Bastock

Deeney

York

Ford

Sat 22 Nov

Bideford

199

SLP

1-1

4

Bastock

Deeney

Adjei

Ford

Sat 29 Nov

AFC SUDBURY

431

FAT

1-1

-

Bastock

York

Adjei

Ford

Tue 02 Dec

AFC Sudbury

229

FAT (R)

0-1

-

Bastock

York

Adjei

Ford

Sat 06 Dec

DORCHESTER TOWN

292

SLP

6-5

4

Bastock

Deeney

York

Hutton

Tue 09 Dec

SLOUGH TOWN

299

SLP

0-3

5

Bastock

Deeney

Wilson

Hutton

Sat 13 Dec

Chippenham Town

285

SLP

1-0

4

Bastock

York

Ford

Wilson

Sat 20 Dec

FROME TOWN

SLP

Fri 26 Dec

CORBY TOWN

SLP

Thu 01 Jan

Dunstable Town

SLP

Sat 03 Jan

HEREFORD UNITED

SLP

Sat 10 Jan

Paulton Rovers

SLP

Sat 17 Jan

BIGGLESWADE TOWN

SLP

Tue 20 Jan

Weymouth

SLP

Sat 24 Jan

Histon

SLP

Sat 31 Jan

BANBURY UNITED

SLP

Sat 07 Feb

ARLESEY TOWN

SLP

Sat 14 Feb

Burnham

SLP

Sat 21 Feb

HITCHIN TOWN

SLP

Sat 28 Feb

Poole Town

SLP

Sat 07 Mar

CIRENCESTER TOWN

SLP

Sat 14 Mar

HUNGERFORD TOWN

SLP

Sat 21 Mar

Cambridge City

SLP

Sat 28 Mar

BIDEFORD

SLP

Sat 04 Apr

Slough Town

SLP

Mon 06 Apr

DUNSTABLE TOWN

SLP

Sat 11 Apr

Dorchester Town

SLP

Sat 18 Apr

CHIPPENHAM TOWN

SLP

Sat 25 Apr

Frome Town

SLP

PAGE 56 /

ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V FROME TOWN ISSUE 17

F

T

B

Player name in these colours denotes substitute

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

14

Frater (R)

Hoyte

Spring

Davies

Dillon

Hilliard

Powell

NOLAN

FRATER (N)

15

Frater (R)

Hoyte

DAVIES

Ford

Nolan

Hilliard

Powell

FRATER (N)

Frater (R)

Hoyte

DAVIES

Spring

Nolan

Ford

Frater (N)

Spence

Hilliard

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

Nolan

Frater (N)

Ford

Roberts

Ferrari

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

FRATER (N) 2

Ford

Powell

Roberts

Ferrari

Farrell

Frater

Hoyte

Ford

Spring

Frater (N)

ROBERTS 2

Farrell

FERRARI

Davies

Powell

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

ROBERTS

Farrell

Ford

Ferrari

Wilson

Powell

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

FRATER N

ROBERTS

Powell

Deeney

Nolan

Farrell

FRATER

Hoyte

DAVIES

Powell

Nolan

ROBERTS 2

Hilliard

Wilson

Ferrari

Bickerstaff

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

Wilson

NOLAN

Roberts

Hilliard

Ferrari

Farrell

Powell

Frater

Hoyte

DAVIES

Wilson

Nolan

Roberts

Hilliard

Ferrari

Ford

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

THORNE

FRATER N

ROBERTS

Wilson

Ferrari

Spring

Nolan

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

Frater N

ROBERTS 3

Hilliard

Thorne

Nolan

Peacock

THORNE

Hoyte

Farrell

Spring

FRATER N

ROBERTS

Hilliard

Ford

NOLAN

Ferrari

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

Frater N

ROBERTS 2

HILLIARD

Ford

Nolan

Thorne

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

Nolan

Roberts

HILLIARD

Ferrari

Ford

Frater

Hoyte

DAVIES

Spring

Nolan

Roberts

Hilliard

Cracknell

Ford

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

Nolan

ROBERTS

Hilliard

Frater N

Cracknell

Lee

Bickerstaff

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

Frater N

Roberts

Ford

Farrell

Hilliard

Ferrari

Deeney

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

FRATER N

Roberts

HILLIARD

Ferrari

Deeney

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

Frater N

Roberts

Hilliard

Ferrari

Dillon

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

Frater N

ROBERTS

HILLIARD 2

Cracknell

Dillon

Frater

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

Dillon

Roberts

Hilliard

Ferrari

Nolan

Frater

Ward

Davies

CRACKNELL

Dillon

Roberts

Hilliard

Mackey

Frater

Ward

Davies

SPRING

Dillon

Roberts

Hilliard

Mackey

Ferrari

Nolan

Frater

Ward

Cracknell

Spring

Mackey

Roberts

Ferrari

Hoyte

Hilliard

Davies

Ferrari

Hoyte

Ward

Davies

Spring

DILLON

ROBERTS 3

HILLIARD

Wilson

MACKEY

Cracknell

Ward

Hoyte

Davies

Spring

Dillon

Roberts

Hilliard

Mackey

Cracknell

Frater (N)

Deeney

Ward

Cracknell

Spring

Mackey

ROBERTS

Hutton

Plowright

Frater (N)

Hilliard

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 57

SOUTHERN PREMIER DIVISION / 18.12.14

P

W

D

L

GF

GA

+/-

Pts

01

Poole Town

19

15

2

2

37

12

+25

47

02

Redditch United

24

13

5

6

48

25

+23

44

03

Corby Town

23

13

5

5

40

25

+15

44

04

Cirencester Town

24

11

9

4

48

24

+24

42

05

St Neots Town

24

12

6

6

46

38

+8

42

06

Weymouth

17

13

2

2

37

21

+16

41

07

Truro City

23

13

2

8

43

33

+10

41

08

Hungerford Town

24

11

6

7

32

19

+13

39

09

Hitchin Town

25

10

6

9

39

35

+4

36

10

Chesham United

23

9

8

6

44

30

+14

35

11

Dunstable Town

24

10

5

9

43

37

+6

35

12

Slough Town

24

9

8

7

43

43

0

35

13

Cambridge City

24

7

9

8

36

35

+1

30

14

Hereford United

25

8

6

11

35

42

-7

30

15

Chippenham Town

22

7

8

7

27

25

+2

29

16

Biggleswade Town

24

7

8

9

35

42

-7

29

17

Histon

24

8

4

12

27

36

-9

28

18

Paulton Rovers

24

6

7

11

38

41

-3

25

19

Bideford

22

6

4

12

38

56

-18

22

20

Dorchester Town

23

6

3

14

32

47

-15

21

21

Arlesey Town

24

5

4

15

26

51

-25

19

22

Frome Town

22

5

4

13

26

51

-25

19

23

Burnham (-3)

23

5

5

13

29

44

-15

17

24

Banbury United

23

3

4

16

21

58

-37

13

PAGE 58 /

ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V FROME TOWN ISSUE 17

Don’t succumb to just putting up a bookshelf, show your walls some love!

Wall Art

Wallpaper

Wall Stickers

www.ilovemywalls.co.uk

Manager: Adrian Foster Assistant Manager: Paul Thorpe Goalkeepers

Darren Chitty (C)

Paul Bastock

Kris Miller

Jamie Greygoose

Mark Cooper

Defenders

Rhys Baggridge

Josh Bickerstaff

Jack Vallis

Ryan Frater

Jon Vance

Tom Ward

Ricky Hulbert

Max York

Matt Smith

Ryan Plowright

Lewis Haldane

Midfielders

Ben Thomson

Dean Cracknell

Aaron Rodriguez

Jay Davies

Ben Worlock

Matt Spring

Josh Klein Davies

Lorenzo Ferrari

Brandon Mundy

Ben Ford

Cameron Brown

Lewis Hilliard

Jack Twyford

Edd Adjei

Dylan Bonella

David Hutton

Omar Simpson

Forwards

Matt Cowler

Ben Mackey Bruce Wilson Chris Dillon Nathan Frater Matt Nolan Drew Roberts

Colours Dark Blue Shirts, Shorts & Socks

Colours Red Shirts, Shorts & Socks

The match line up will be displayed on the electronic scoreboard Referee: Ian Corner Assistants: Jeffrey Aldous / Douglas Lawson Next Home Game: St Neots Town v Corby Town Southern League Premier Division / Friday 26th December / KO 15:00

As a Club we support Grass Roots Football and stand firm against racism within football, visit www.thefa.com for more information on playing your part.