THE OFFICIAL MATCHDAY MAGAZINE £2.00
Southern League Premier Division V
Histon FC Issue 04
08 The World’s Greatest Players Ever / Johan Cruyff and Diego Maradonna feature in this issue
Fe Ne at w ur e!
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Management Team / The latest news & views from the trio
Origins of Football on TV / An insight from the 1930s to present
Owner Mike Kearns
Club Secretary Gary Wilson
Chairman Mike Kearns
Fixture Secretary Marian Izzard
Managing Director Lee Kearns
Life President John Walker
Director Iain Parr
Team Officials Richard King (Goalkeeping Coach)
Football Managers Gary King Zema Abbey Assistant Manager Nathan Abbey
Youth Liaison & Development Mick Hunt
30 Official Team Poster / One for your bedroom wall!
Functions and Events Coordinator Louise Spark
Assistant Photographer Paulo Soares
St Neots Town TV Editor Adam Ridley
Site Manager Irmantas Sabaliauskas
Club Merchandise Linda Walters Programme Editor Mark Davies Club Photographer Claire Howes
Physio Chris Budd
PAGE 02 / ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V HISTON FC ISSUE 04
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 04 V Histon FC Southern League Premier Division
Also Inside 06 Action Replay 08 Match Report vs Truro 16 The Chairmans’ Views
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20 Read All About It 22 The Beautiful Game 28 News From The Youth 32 Greenies Greetings
Bank Holiday Match Report / Our recent win away to Corby Town
Old Footie Programme Covers / This issue we look at the 1970s
36 Away Days 44 MD’s Views 48 Premier Division Review 51 Season 2014/15 Fixtures Matrix 52 The Non-League Paper 56 Season 2014/15 Statistics
24 Todays’ Visitors / We welcome The Stutes to the Cozy 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
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58 Premier Division League Table 60 Home & Opposition Squads
Introducing Jay Davies / Focus on our Midfield Maestro 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
Huntingdonshire League Champions, 4 times Huntingdonshire Senior Cup Winners, 37 times Hinchingbrooke Cup Winners, 2 times
South Midlands League Champions, 1 time
WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 03
THE MANAGEMENT TEAM
GARY / ZEMA / NATHAN Good evening everybody and welcome to our opponents this evening, Histon FC. Since our last notes we have drawn at home to Paulton and away to Biggleswade. The Paulton game was a game where we all felt very much that we had dropped two points at home; it would be fair to say they came for a draw and left with one following a second half penalty. At 1-0 up we enjoyed lots of possession but failed to really penetrate. It is vital for us this season that when we go 1- up and are in control of a game that we are ruthless in going after the second and finishing games off. I have no doubt that if we had opened up a two goal lead against Paulton, and indeed Biggleswade, it would have killed off both teams; we must learn lessons quickly if we are to be successful. Footballing Suicide Those of you who were at Biggleswade on Saturday will have witnessed a very strange ending to the game. The first 80 minutes bared many similarities to the Paulton game in as much as Biggleswade dropped off us and were happy to surrender large amounts of possession, their mentality and game plan from the off was simply to stay in the game. My only concern on the day was could we break them down and get our noses in front, which I
felt would force them to play a different way. Nathan Frater scored midway through the first half and for me at that point it was all about getting the second. Unfortunately, they equalised from a long
PAGE 04 / ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V HISTON FC ISSUE 04
throw almost immediately. We took the lead again shortly after half time and if I’m honest I felt at this point we would go on and control the game-what we did, however, was the opposite, I would say football suicide. We conceded a second equaliser in what was a bad five minute spell for us and it’s exactly during this five minutes that we needed to be at our most resolute, to pull together, to think calm under a small amount of pressure would have been key and the fact we didn’t is an indication of how much work still has to be done here. We suffered some bad luck when Dave Deeney had to go off with an injury and having used all three subs we would have to see the last 15 out with 10 men. Over the years we have had to see many games out with 10 men for one reason or another and in at least 90% of these games we have had positive outcomes so at this stage I still felt we could go on and win. Of course, we went on to lose both Josh and Nath and for the first time in my career we were down to 8 men. Credit must be given to the 8 for hanging on to 1 point and, of course, a special mention to big Ryan for
saving the penalty, however, it must also be noted we had caused our own problems and this was hugely frustrating. Too early to call My feeling is we won’t really be able to consider whether we have had a good or bad start to the season for another two or three league games, after the Burnham game at home I feel we will have clearer indication of exactly where we are. It is interesting how teams’ mentalities have changed when playing against us this season in comparison to last. When you consider our squad is very similar, in that the players we bought in in many cases have been unable to feature, or are still in the process of getting fit -I noted the reaction of Redditch after their victory at our place-their celebrations were shall we say ‘over the top’ when you consider that all they had done was win the game. Both Paulton and Biggleswade showed no real desire from the off to actually try to win the game so I suppose this comes with being put up there as ‘title favourites’. How I see us certainly isn’t as ‘title favourites’; I would call us ‘play off contenders’ who have a chance, along with five or six other teams, of being in the mix when it matters. Having been at the club for less than a year now I take it as a compliment that opposing teams mentalities have changed from managers making statements such as ‘we should be beating teams like st Neots’ to celebrating when they
get a draw. The squad believing ‘we can achieve’ this season will be paramount to any success we have. Handling expectation aswell as pressure situations in the right way will be key. The squad, aswell as the management, need cool, clear
minds. We have come a long way in a short space of time and one thing I can assure you of is we will get where we want to go. Onwards and upwards... Kingy
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 05
(from the League Cup nine years ago) UCL KO Cup Round One - (Sat 10th Sep 2005) Higham Town
0
St Neots Town
St Neots player/manager Steve Kuhne is leading by example and if his players copy his success rate then the sky is the limit. He scored his first hat trick in St Neots colours since October 2003 to take his tally for the season to eight – six of which came in the eight days spell up to this game. No one will claim that the opposition for this League Cup match offered any significant resistance but there was a job to be done and although based on possession and chances the scored should have been doubled, St Neots will settle for being in Round Two of the KO Cup. Higham’s former glory days as the scourge of higher Division clubs in the competition are clearly over and gone as Saints keeper Stephan Shamlian will testify for he had only one serious save to make in ninety minutes. In their yellow and black change strip St Neots seemed almost embarrassed by the early amount of possession they enjoyed
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and Jon Hoggett, Cameron Clark and Craig Reynolds could all have put them in front as the Higham defence was easily breached. However the first goal did arrive on 17 minutes when Mark Franklin produced the perfectly weighted cross to find Steve Kuhne drifting past the square lying defence to score from close range. Shortly afterwards a very tight offside decision against Barry Dellar robbed the visitors of a second goal and with Higham’s only direct shot of the first half their leading scorer Karl King shot straight into the arms of Shamlian. Then two minutes before the break Dellar was fouled and Callum Brown’s free kick found Gary Walker at the far post and he netted with a low shot. With the slope in their favour Higham looked more positive and determined after the break and inside ninety seconds King found himself clear but Shamlian acrobatically pushed away his chipped shot for a corner.
The home side’s renaissance was short-lived and their teenage goalkeeper Jack Pinnock then produced a string of fine saves as St Neots threatened to overwhelm their hosts. He denied Craig Reynolds and Gary Walker three times although the latter will feel he should have at least trebled his first half goal. St Neots introduced three substitutes one of which Matt Endersby was only on briefly before his accurate corner found the head of Steve Kuhne who increased the scoreline to 3-0. In the last twenty minutes St Neots visibly eased the pressure playing the ball around casually at times in the knowledge that the job was done. Kuhne’s deserved hat trick came 14 minutes from time after a great cross from Jon Hoggett and there should perhaps have been more goals but St Neots will be happy with not only their Manager’s contribution but also very promising performances from newcomers Craig Reynolds and Callum Brown.
Saints: Shamlian, Clark (Gatti 61 mins), Brown, Watts (Buckland 74 mins), Hurst, Hoggett, Dellar, Reynolds, Kuhne, Walker, Franklin (Endersby 61 mins). Sub not used: Fox Goals: Kuhne (3) (17, 66 & 76 mins), Walker (43mins). PAGE 06 / ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V HISTON FC ISSUE 04
MASON GETS A CROSS IN
TRURO CITY 2 ST NEOTS TOWN 3 23:08:2014 / Southern Premier / Att 503 / Referee: M Russell (Portishead) St Neots arrived in Cornwall on the day that hosts Truro City was celebrating their 125th anniversary but the visitors proved to be party poopers as they returned home from their lengthy 660 miles round trip with all three points. It was the perfect response from the team after their pallid home midweek defeat by Redditch particularly as they had to regroup after surrendering a two goals lead early in the second half. The one enforced team change due to the injury suffered in the Redditch game by Matt Nolan saw the return to the side of defender Mason Spence with Drew Roberts still on the bench awaiting his first start for his new club. It was St Neots second trip to Truro and by coincidence they repeated their feat the first time around by scoring the fifth goal in a tightly fought match. The start of the match saw some untidy play by both sides with the only early effort on goal being a speculative lob by Arthur Lee comfortably collected by home keeper Kyle Moore. Then after a quarter of an hour St Neots went ahead with the credit for the goal due to Martel Powell playing a revised role just behind the front two. He chased out to the right and beat two defenders on the right bye line in very limited space before picking out Nathan Frater at the near post and his shot across the keeper found the far corner of the net. Spence then had a teasing cross
acrobatically pushed over the bar but Truro came back with two good efforts. Ben Watson saw a shot well saved by Nathan Abbey and then defender Rob Farkins up for a corner was carelessly left unmarked at the far post but to St Neots’ relief he headed tamely over the bar. After 34 minutes Nathan Frater should had doubled the lead but after using his pace to round Arran Pugh he fired over the bar with only the keeper to beat. Two more Truro chances went begging as Cody Cooke saw his effort palmed away by Abbey and then Les Afful beat two defenders to set up Shane White but his shot was too high. There was an explosive start to the second half as Nathan Frater took full advantage of a total mix up between defender and goalkeeper to roll the ball into the empty net to double St Neots advantage but this slip encouraged a Truro revival as they had their best spell of the match. In a blistering nine minutes spell they scored twice to level the match and at that stage looked favourites to go on to win. Their first goal from Craig Duff came from a poorly defended corner and then Dan Green set up Cody Cooke for
a smart finish to level the scores with Abbey appearing unsighted through a crowded penalty area. St Neots responded quickly and just five minutes after surrendering their lead St Neots won a free kick when Nathan Frater was bundled over on the edge of the area and Arthur Lee produced a sublime curling free kick around the defensive wall and beyond the despairing reach of Kyle Moore to go in front again. With substitutes Drew Roberts and Ben Farrell on for the limping Nathan Frater and Powell St Neots now began to look more composed and there was a spell of midfield play with chances few. However in the final five minutes both sides created chances that could have changed the outcome of the match. Pressing forward in numbers with home favourite Barry Hayles on as a substitute Truro were awarded a free kick just outside the area but Duff sent his free kick wide of the far post and at the other end Lee set up Roberts for what looked certain to be the stikers’ first St Neots goal but Kyle Moore redeemed himself for earlier errors with the save of the match. Then the long trip home but happy to be back to winning ways.
St Neots Town
Truro City
Abbey, Spence, Lee, Bickerstaff, Frater (R), Hoyte, Davies, Spring, Frater (N), Ford, Powell Subs: Farrell (for Powell 54 mins), Roberts (for Frater (N) 66 mins), Ferrari (for Davies 83 mins), Ivey-Ward and Greygoose. Cards: Abbey (Y – 55), Ford (Y – 68) Goals: Frater (N) 2 (15 and 46 mins), Lee (66 mins)
Moore, White, Long, Ash, Farkins, Pugh, Green, Afful, Watson, Cooke, Duff Subs: James (for White 56 mins), Vassall (for Afful 65 mins), Hayles (for Watson 74 mins), Tully and Searle. Cards: Green (Y – 54) Goals: Duff (52 mins), Cooke (61 mins)
PAGE 08 / ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V HISTON FC ISSUE 04
WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 09
DREW PREPARES FOR THE PENALTY KICK
MARTELL POWELL
ENGLAND GOALKEEPING LEGEND PETER SHILTON COMES TO ROWLEY PARK To provisionally book your tickets please email enquiries@stneotstownfc.co.uk
Enjoy an evening in the company of England and Nottingham Forest legend Peter Shilton Date: Friday 3rd October Venue: St Neots Town FC, Rowley Park, Doors Open: 7pm
Ticket Price: (including Fish and Chips) £20 per head or Tables of 10 for £180
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 13
The World’s
!
EVER 04. JOHAN CRUYFF (1964-1984)
The outspoken Dutchman excelled for Ajax and Barcelona in the 1960s and 1970s and is considered by many to be Europe’s best ever player. His name was synonymous with Rinus Michels’ “Total Football” movement whereby players interchanged positions. Cruyff was effective in both wide and central positions, and was famous for his ability to turn players. Winner of three Ballon D’Ors (European Player of the Year awards), Cruyff won eight Dutch titles and three European Cups with Ajax, and also made a controversial move to bitter rivals Feyenoord.
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03. DIEGO MARADONA (1976-1997) Diego Armando Maradona is one of the greatest dribblers the game has ever seen. His ‘Hand of God’ goal against England at the 1986 World Cup and the stunning solo effort that followed sum up this flawed genius better than any words. Maradona did not always play by the rules, and confesses that his expulsion from the 1994 World Cup after testing positive for ephedrine is one of his saddest memories. But the Maradona that captained Argentina to the 1986 World Cup and helped unfashionable Napoli to Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990.
WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 15
THE CHAIRMANS’ VIEWS
ROAD TO REVENUE Welcome to the officials, players and supporters of Histon for tonight’s fixture. I hope you enjoy our very first league encounter at Rowley Park. Carrying on from my last notes, “who would own a football club” maybe I should say a little about how I see the difference between a non-league football club business and for comparison because I owned one, a manufacturing business. Is there a difference I ask, well if you have the sales and they must be profitable sales then you have a chance of making a successful business that is basically the bottom line for any business. My previous business was one of “convenience food” packaging, We designed the type of packaging I thought would sell in the sector like the cardboard sandwich packs you get in Tesco’s or the little cardboard sleeves you put around a hot cup of coffee you get in Starbucks or most of the “fast food” cardboard packaging you see in Europe was probably mine. 24-7 Sales You go out sell the product, manufacture them and deliver them, hopefully at a profit, there is of course more to it than that but in a nutshell that’s it. One major part of that process is that you can sell product twenty four-seven all year round to all parts of the globe.The market is there all day everyday.
and players, the product is the team, then you need to sell the product to make enough capital to break even, profit don’t be silly that’s never going to happen. Half Time Rush That’s where the comparison ends, The product (team) can only be sold in the first instance through the receipts you get from the turnstiles, you may get a small additional income from supporters buying food and drink but you need people through the turnstiles to have any chance of that, in any case most supporters arrive just in time for kick off, so not many sales there, half time everyone wants to be served in 15 minutes so revenue opportunity lost and at the end of the game most supporters make their way home. Not much coming in from that then, but hold on a minute there is a small window of opportunity, we can open the turnstiles at say
The Non League Football Club Business. What do the two businesses have in common, well lets see for a non league football club the design is getting the right management PAGE 16 / ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V HISTON FC ISSUE 04
12-30 pm, have live premier football on the big screen, give supporters a meal deal or say 50p off a pint and they will come in their droves and enjoy the experience of a full afternoons football, what more can a football supporter want on a Saturday? Well we done that and still do but no one comes, we can’t make you turn up early, it’s if you can or indeed want to, sorry there’s me going into one again now back to the real matter. What you do not have is the main ingredients of being able to sell at any time all year round, which is a serious restriction, there is a window of say 38 weeks between August and the end of April to make your annual accounts look presentable. Low Income 38 weeks I say but hold on that’s wrong it should be only 19 weeks as we play home and away on alternate weeks, also lets not forget there is the close season of 3 months to pay for with nearly zero income, hang on though we have a small savior at
the end of July and beginning of August, pre season friendlies, yes a much needed life line of income, reduce the admission, get more in sell more food and drink and we are on our way, we done that this pre season no good not much income so why reduce the admission cost? Yes of course who would have pre season in the middle of the holiday season, but is that the real reason maybe, maybe not, of course people can only do what they can afford and they are right football is secondary to other financial commitments and we all understand that, it’s not a moan by myself just a reality of course. Limited Opportunity So we have a very limited opportunity to sell enough of our product to make the business viable. Yes I know we have a small income opportunity from other outlets such as hall bookings, astro bookings (not so much now when you have nearly 500 young kids to train during the week). FA Cup runs are a real bonus but you need the luck of the draw, and splash out on a team capable of doing that. If your very lucky and if the moon drops from the sky maybe you might be able to “transfer a contracted” player for a reasonable sum. So what is the solution I ask, I doubt if there is any real solution to the plight of a non-league football club. But lets start with the main ingredient ‘BUMS ON SEATS’ money through the turnstiles, many supporters keep saying we need to
advertise more, we need to do this and that, maybe but we have tried all of that at a financial cost we cannot afford, it does not work. Match day leaflets put up around town, a download centre on the website where we can all print of the fixtures and get them up around town, in the office, in the factory, yep done that and from my viewing the stats on the download center of the web site that’s not happening either in any big way, it might help if we do it though. My view is that you go to football on a Saturday afternoon or you don’t its not an impulse buy. A great saying and it is the best way “bring a mate and double the gate” that’s what I call selling a product face to face not letting go until you have an order, if you don’t get it this time keep trying as it will eventually come. Of course the best form of advertising is success on the field, yes it is and you may just get the gates you need to survive. But hold on that means a commitment to more capital outlay on the best players to achieve that success “BEFORE” you get any income, its like going all on the black on the roulette wheel.
Eye Opener So a very strange business owning a non-league football club, like nothing I have seen before. How many are actually breaking even or dare I say making a profit, my answer to that is and you can put your house on it “NONE”. A fool and his money are soon parted so the saying goes, is that referring to myself, yes maybe but I love football and have a desire to make the finances work at this football club, so sometimes when I seem down and get frustrated looking at certain comments on the social media about how to run a business, take on board these notes (if you buy a programme of course) and say the bloke must be nuts to get into a business like that. Maybe I am but just maybe with your help we might see this through and enjoy the experience. We are going for it this season, I hope you are as well; don’t just enjoy the ride, help drive the juggernaut. So please get the bloody crowds in like now. ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL Mike
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 17
The Origins
of football on TV
We go back to the 1930s to the very first televised football match in the UK, and take us through to the present day. Some interesting reading in this fascinating series of articles.
The Early Years The BBC started its television service in 1936, although it was nearly a year before the very first televised match of football was screened – a specially-arranged friendly match between Arsenal and Arsenal Reserves at Highbury on 16 September 1937. This was followed by the first televised international match, between England and Scotland on 9 April 1938, and the first televised FA Cup final followed soon after, on 30 April the same year, between Huddersfield Town and Preston North End. In October 1946, the first live televised football match was broadcast by the BBC from Barnet’s home ground Underhill. Twenty minutes of the game against Wealdstone were televised in the first half and thirty five minutes of the second half before it became too dark. However, coverage of football television did not expand and for the next two decades the only matches screened were FA Cup finals and the odd England v. Scotland match. The first FA Cup tie other than the final to be shown was a
fifth round match between Charlton Athletic and Blackburn Rovers on 8 February 1947, but matches were sparing and only games in London could be broadcast because of technical reasons.
The dawn of regular coverage The advent of floodlighting led to the creation of the European Cup, designed as a midweek cup competition for the champions of European nations, in 1955. The newly formed British television station ITV saw televised football as an ideal way of gaining a share of the audience from their only rival broadcaster, the BBC. The BBC meanwhile, started showing brief highlights of matches (with a maximum of five minutes) on its Saturday-night Sports Special programme from 10 September 1955, until its cancellation in 1963. The first games featured were both from Division One - Luton Town v Newcastle United
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and Charlton Athletic v Everton, Kenneth Wolstenholme and Cliff Michelmore were the commentators. An early attempt at live league football was made in 1960-61, when ITV agreed a deal worth £150,000 with the Football League to screen 26 matches; the very first live league match was on Saturday 10 September 1960 between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers at Bloomfield Road. The match kicked off at 6:50 pm with live coverage starting at 7:30 under the title The Big Game. A major blow to the TV moguls was the absence of big box office draw Stanley Matthews through injury, and the game ended 1-0 to Bolton in front of a half-empty stadium. However ITV withdrew from the deal after first Arsenal and then Tottenham Hotspur refused them permission to shoot at their matches against Newcastle United and Aston Villa respectively, and the Football League demanded a dramatic increase in player appearance payments. ITV showed the Nat King Cole Show instead, while both matches received highlights coverage from the BBC on Sports Special.
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. SIMKIN GOES AT DORCHESTER The Board of Directors of Dorchester Town have confirmed that Phil Simkin has had his employment terminated with immediate effect. The Board of Directors would like to thank him for his contribution to Dorchester Town Football Club over many years as a player, reserve team manager, assistant-manager and latterly as first-team manager. enthusiasm and commitment has been first class. Assistant-manager Stuart Heath has agreed to take the team into Saturday’s home game against Chesham United. GENERALS BORROW TUDORS MIDFIELDER Chesham United have completed a loan deal with Vanarama
Conference South new boys Hemel Hempstead Town for attacking midfield player Dave Pearce to join on a month`s loan. Pearce joined Hemel in February 2011 after Windsor & Eton were dissolved. His previous clubs include Wycombe Wanderers and Bracknell Town (on loan from Windsor). BULLS BORO GORDON Vanarama Conference club Nuneaton Town`s defender Delroy Gordon has agreed to join Southern League Premier Division side Hereford United on loan.He will be with the Bulls for an initial one month loan to get some games under his belt after which he will hopefully return to Boro more determined than ever to make a first-team place his own. Gordon joined Nuneaton from Corby Town in July 2012, having been a double player of the year award winner in 2011/12 with the Steelman.
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DAVIS HANDED PERMANENT BANBURY POST Banbury United have issued a statement regarding their managerial position following the departure of Edwin Stein last week. The Management Board were happy how everything went last Saturday and with the work done since taking over team affairs by Paul Davis and his management team and offered him the position of manager The 28-year-old former Oxford City, Witney Town and Didcot Town coach had a spell at Spencer Stadium under Stein and says he is ready to take on the job as number one. But he comes in with United having lost their opening seven league games.
For more news visit www.southern-football-league.co.uk/ league-news
BEN FARRELL
THE BEAUTIFUL GAME
MEDIA Isn’t technology great? Tap something into a YouTube search relating to a goal you missed, a dirty tackle, a penalty shoot out or an end of season celebration and you can more or less guarantee that it’ll be there. You can then watch the footage that some random geezer uploaded on his mobile phone. It’s unreal. The BBC and Match of The Day camera’s missed it (or were not present at the game) but Dave down the road, he caught it all in full colour with Dolby digital sound to accompany the footage. That’s the positive side of all this social media stuff. There are also many clips that you’d rather not watch relating to the game, although I do like to watch the clips of nasty tackles and legs and ankles bent where they shouldn’t bend as a result of the said tackles. It’s a little twisted I know but we all have weird little things don’t we. It’s no different to seeing an ambulance at the scene of a crash, en route to an away game and then slowing down to see what’s kicked off – we all have a look to see what we can see don’t we? As well as the ‘You tube’ facility, there’s Facebook and Twitter with which we can keep up to date with Celebs and even the players. It’s almost as if we’re their bestmate- ever when we make a little comment and they reply! You’ve got to remember that all this is brand new to some of the older fans (like me). The best we used to get, if we couldn’t make it to the match was a crackling transistor radio held firmly against the lughole whilst fighting with a telescopic rod (also known as an ariel) which never did what it should. It always crackled more when our boys were in attack and
goal-bound. Let me tell you, these were frustrating times! Nowadays, it’s a click here and there or a touchscreen tap and within seconds you have LIVE action, blow by blow accounts of the entire game. Even football betting has been revolutionised and you can now bet on how many cups of tea the ref has at the half-time interval amongst other things. Once upon a time, to place a bet on the football, you had to walk to the bookmakers shop, fill in a slip with a pen that rarely worked, stand in a smoke filled environment polluting your lungs and all you had as options on the outcome of a game were H,A&D. Home win, Away Win or Draw. You placed a cross in a box, paid your stake PLUS TAX, and then waited until Monday if you were lucky enough to win to be able to pick up your fortune. (Bookies were shut on Sunday’s back then). In this day and age, you can cash out at various stages of the game (if you’re chicken!) and should you win, the ‘cash’ goes straight into your electronic account until you lose it the next day on the Man Utd v Southampton result which never goes to plan! How things have progressed eh? With the ‘selfie’ phenomena going strong currently, Social media technology has reached a new height / low? During a match in America featuring Sporting Kansas City, their English striker Dom
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Dwyer was yellow carded after celebrating a goal. Not because he took off his shirt (jersey) and shorts (pants) and ran the length of the pitch somersaulting. No, he was booked for taking a ‘selfie’ with a mobile phone that he’d strategically placed behind the opposition goal before the kick-off! He must have been confident of scoring to have done that. Or, the phone had been there for each of the previous 10 games, he just happened to score at this one! Personally, I blame the producers of the world cup coverage on TV. They were asking for us to send them our ‘goal-face’ selfies throughout the world cup so he thought he’d have a bash at one. Perhaps if England had scored more than just the ONE goal over their 270 minutes of their Brazil World Cup existence, more of us may have sent in a goal-face selfie? I probably wouldn’t have done one due to the broken ariel on my 1980’s brick sized mobile. I probably tried to use the ariel on my transistor radio last week! Hopefully, there’ll be no silliness from the players today trying take ‘selfies’ after scoring a dramatic goal. If the bloke next to you in the stand tries to take one of his goalface, make sure you get in behind him before he does it and smile. More importantly, let’s hope we’re all smiling after these 90 minutes resulting in a victory for the boys! ADE
TODAY’S VISITORS
HISTON FC
After relegation from the Conference Histon have found the going tough with just two draws and five defeats in their first seven matches. A very special welcome to Histon our visitors this evening who are making their first ever visit to the Cozy Stadium. The two clubs last met in a competitive match 42 years ago in the 1972/73 season when both competed in the Eastern Counties League. At the time these notes were penned Histon had taken two league points from drawn matches away at Biggleswade Town and Slough Town and were in 23rd place in the table. Next Saturday like our lads they are to be involved in the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup when they visit Newmarket Town of the Thurlow Nunn League. After seven years in the Football Conference Histon now find themselves in a ground share with neighbors Cambridge City thus giving their Bridge Road ground
Southern League football every weekend. Our scheduled visit for the return league match is on Saturday 24th January 2015. CLUB HISTORY The start of the 21st century for Histon was slow, and in the first three seasons Histon managed 4th spot twice and a disappointing 10th which momentarily halted the fast rise they had experienced with Steve Fallon up the non-league pyramid. The 2003–04 season saw Histon finish 2nd in the Southern League’s Eastern Division to claim promotion to the Premier Division, and they followed this up by winning the Premier Division championship at the first attempt, and with it promotion to Conference South, the highest level at which the club had ever played.
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In the same season, Histon took on League Two side Shrewsbury Town in the F.A. Cup 1st Round Proper, setting up a 2nd Round tie at home to Yeovil Town with a 2–0 victory. They lost to Yeovil in the 2nd Round, but they clinched the Southern League Premier Division title on the last day of the season. In their first season at Premier Division level Histon finished in 5th place, enough to secure a place in the play-offs for promotion to the Conference National. They won their first game away at Farnborough Town 3–0, but lost 2–0 in the playoff final at Broadhall Way against St. Albans City. In the FA Cup they managed to reach the second round proper after beating Hednesford Town in the first round. The team
Year founded: 1904 Nickname: The Stutes Chairman: Russell Hands
Website: www.histonfc.co.uk Stadium: Bridge Road Capacity: 4,300 (1,700 seated)
Previous Meetings: 1969/70 to 1972/73 St Neots: Five wins, one draw and two defeats.
managed a draw away at Nuneaton Borough but were defeated in the replay at Bridge Road 2–1. They would have played Premier League club Middlesbrough if they had won. The second round replay saw 3,077 people at Bridge Road, the highest attendance of the whole season. The season was also notable for a 5–0 win against local rivals Cambridge United in the FA Trophy. On 14 April 2007, the Stutes beat Welling United 1–0 at Bridge Road to secure promotion to the Conference National for the first time in their history, Adrian Cambridge scoring the winner in the 89th minute. Two days previously, officials from the Conference had passed Bridge Road as fit for Conference football, paving the way for promotion—the club’s fourth in 7 years—to the
highest point in the football league pyramid reached in the club’s history. In the same season striker Neil Kennedy got his 300th goal for the club with a hat-trick against Havant & Waterlooville. In Histon’s first season in the Conference National the Stutes played their first televised game, Setanta broadcasting their 1–0 home win against Oxford United. Later in the season the club broke their record home attendance when a crowd of 3,721 saw Histon beat local rivals Cambridge United 1–0 on 1 January 2008. Histon finished the season in 7th, two places and nine points away from the play-offs, and bade farewell to the club’s record goalscorer, Neil Kennedy. He played his last competitive game against Forest Green Rovers on the last day of the season in a substitute
appearance. Histon’s second season of Conference started well, and the Stutes were top of the division during November. In the FA Cup, Histon reached the third round for the first time after beating Football League opposition in Swindon Town 1–0 at home in the first round, and Leeds United 1–0 at home in the second round, the first time Leeds had lost to a non-league side. They lost 2–1 to Swansea City at home in the third round. In 2010/11 they finished the season bottom of the Conference and were relegated, being allocated a place in the Conference North for 2011–12. Histon finished their first Conference North season in 16th, and manager Livermore left the club and was replaced by Dennis Greene.
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 25
WHO’S WHO
THE STUTES
ENOL ORDONEZ
JOE BURGESS
HARRY O’MALLEY
STUART WALL
ASHLEY WHITE
LEWIS MCDONALD
DANIEL RUMENS
ELLIOTT GIBBONS
BRIAN PAGE (MANAGER) Page has been the Scholarship Lead Co-ordinator at Histon for the last four years and was also Assistant to David Livermore for two seasons from 2010-12. Rejoined the First Team in December 2012 as Assistant to interim Manager Nacer Relizani before accepting the top job in May of this year. Page remains Head of Youth at Histon and combines this with the First Team Manager’s job and has had a major impact on the team since his return. ENOL ORDONEZ (GOALKEEPER) 26 year old Spanish keeper signed from neighbours Cambridge City in the summer of 2014. He spent two years with City although much of that time was spent out on loan with spells at Godmanchester, St Ives and Soham Town Rangers last season. Will be looking to stake his claim to the Number 1 shirt this season.
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JOE BURGESS (DEFENDER) Young right sided defender who was initially with Norwich City before moving to Peterborough United in 2012. Released by Posh in the summer he joined Histon for preseason and was offered a deal for 2014-15 soon after. HARRY O’MALLEY (DEFENDER) Another ex-Scholar that contnually impressed for the youth teams all the way up through the age groups. The young defender’s versatility saw him operate in the centre as well as on the right at youth team level but it is at right back that he has made a place in the senior side his own. STUART WALL (DEFENDER) The 27 year old can play on the right but is most comfortable at the heart of the defence where his experience is a vital asset to the team. Originally with Coventry City as a youngster he had spells at Peterborough United, Corby Town, Stamford and Bedford Town.
ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V HISTON FC ISSUE 04
ASHLEY WHITE (DEFENDER) Completed his Scholarship in the summer of 2014 and signed his first contract with the club soon after. The young left back has been a mainstay of the club’s youth teams for some time now and gained First Team experience last season on loan at St Ives Town, where he excelled. LEWIS MCDONALD (DEFENDER) Left sided defender who joined the club’s Academy as a youngster and then progressed through the Scholarship before leaving for First Team football elsewhere two season ago. He enjoyed successful spells with Ely City and Soham Town Rangers during that time but rejoined Histon in the summer. DANIEL RUMENS (DEFENDER) Versatile defender signed on a Work Experience deal from Dagenham & Redbridge on deadline day in March and impressed during his time at the club. Manager Page was quick to react and signed the 19 year old
One to Watch: Eugene Libertucci (Midfielder) Another graduate of the Histon FC Scholarship, Libertucci left for pastures new at the start of 2012-13 and became a regular starter for Bedford Town. Returning to Bridge Road for the start of this last season, the 20 year old suffered a series of niggling injuries that hampered his season but when finally fully fit he started to show the range of passing and quality of dead ball delivery that made him such a stand out player at youth team level. Fit and raring to go the midfielder will be looking for a big season this year and is sure to be a regular at the heart of the Stutes midfield.
EUGENE LIBERTUCCI
JOE PEACOCK
HENRY RANDALL
NICK FREEMAN
CHARLEY SANDERS
MATEU KUZIMSKI
SALIM RELIZANI
BRIAN PAGE
to a deal at Bridge Road and will be looking for him to partner the experienced Stuart Wall in the back four. ROGAN MCGEORGE (MIDFIELDER) Rogan started his career with Cambridge United before spells at Soham Town Rangers, Wisbech Town and more recently, Hitchin Town. He was close to signing a professional deal with Cypriot side Akritas Chlorokas early in 2014 but it fell through at the last minute and he was signed by Stutes Manager Brian Page in August to bring some steel to the centre of midfield. JOE PEACOCK (MIDFIELDER) Initially joined the Stutes in March 2013 but left at the end of that season. Invited back for pre-season this summer he earned a place in Page’s squad with a number of impressive performances. HENRY RANDALL (MIDFIELDER) 19 year old midfielder who was
on the books at Norwich City, progressing through their youth ranks to become a key member of the team that won the FA Youth Cup in 2012-13 against Chelsea. MATT LOWE (MIDFIELDER) A central midfielder with plenty of ability on the ball, Matt joined Histon on loan from Cambridge United in August. NICK FREEMAN (MIDFIELDER) A key player for the youth teams he made the step up to First Team level during the 2012-13 season and has featured regularly ever since. Able to operate wide on either flank or centrally when required, his ability to run at defenders combined with a fearsome shot on either foot make him a threat to any opposition defence. CHARLEY SANDERS (FORWARD) A 19 year old striker who has progressed through the youth set up at Boston United and made his
senior debut for the Pilgrims in 201213. He has over 20 appearances for Boston under his belt and spent time on loan at King’s Lynn Town last season before joining Histon on loan in August 2014. MATEUSZ KUZIMSKI (FORWARD) Polish striker who was briefly with Cambridge City towards the end of last season. Manager Page invited the 21 year old to pre-season and was rewarded with goals against Cogenhoe and Stamford and the Manager was sufficiently impressed to offer a place in the squad for this season. JAMES AKINTUNDE (STRIKER) Pacy and direct striker signed from neighbours Cambridge United on loan. A prolific scorer with the U’s youth teams, the 18 year old made an impression on the Histon supporters with a second half hat trick against us in the Cambridgeshire FA Invitation Cup earlier in the year. WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 27
News from the Youth... BIGGLESWADE TOWN U18 1 ST NEOTS TOWN U18 3 03:09:2014 / Thurlow Nunn Youth West Division St Neots recorded their first league victory of the season at the expense of newcomers Biggleswade Town. All the St Neots goals came in an 18 minutes first half spell but thereafter they did well to fight a rearguard action to maintain their victory. The St Neots hero was goalkeeper Dan Huff who made half a dozen important saves with Biggleswade forwards also guilty of some glaring misses. Manager Steve Pickering will be particularly pleased with his defence that held out well especially in the second half but the new team is coming together quite nicely with their important FA Youth Cup match now just three weeks away. In the opening ten minutes Dan Huff produced two outstanding saves to keep his goal intact. In the first real action of the match after three minutes Lee Northfield set up George Bailey for a snap shot but Huff narrowed the angled and saved confidently and then he produced an acrobatic back bending save to push a net bound shot from Northfield over the crossbar. At the other end Ebey Marango was leading the St Neots line with pace and imagination and he brought two saves from home keeper Mitch Waters before beating his man to set up Chris
Lewis for St Neots’ first goal after 12 minutes. He was also responsible for the second goal six minutes later when his pace allowed him to leave a defender in his wake before crossing over the last defender to pick out Blake Rivers whose crisp shot gave the keeper no chance. The third goal had a touch of good fortune as Rivers and Jordan Stewart combined neatly on the left before Stewart’s looping cross was misjudged by the keeper as the ball went through his outstretched hands and in at the far post. It could have been even more of a first half whitewash because the lively Marango once again outwitted the home defence but this time Waters dived bravely at his feet to win the ball. Towards the end of the half the home side had two good chances to reduce the arrears but Huff saved well from Oliver Fortune and substitute Stewart Jones wriggled clear but fired over the bar. It took Biggleswade just three minutes into the second half to give themselves a chance of a comeback as Lee Northfield forced the ball home from close range after the St Neots defence had failed to
deal with a corner. Marango broke away to bring a good save from Waters but now Biggleswade were in the ascendancy. They began to dominate possession and although St Neots looked threatening on the break much of the play was inside the St Neots half of the field. Dan Mattin produced a great last ditch tackle to rob Fortune but the home side was wasteful putting several free kicks high and wide of the goal. They were not helped by almost countless substitutions utilising the roll on/roll off method and their play lacked rhythm and belief. A 71st minute outstanding save by Huff from a fierce volley by home skipper Liam Beech characterised the St Neots determination to hold on to their advantage and they were unlucky not to increase their lead when Chris Lewis won a race to the ball but sent his shot just the wrong side of a post. Huff rounded off his evening with a brave save at the feet of substitute Jovan Mavers and Biggleswade were left without reward despite a fairly solid performance.
John Walker
St Neots Town: Huff, Loader, Stewart, Ball, Mattin, Jefferson, Rivers, Benham, Marango. Stephens-Abbey, Lewis Subs used: Davis, Galbraith, Nkaza. Cards: Ball (Y – 31), Benham (Y – 76) Goals (St Neots): Lewis (12 mins), Rivers (18 mins), Stewart (30 mins)
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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
ST NEOTS TOWN FOOT
Back Row (Left to Right): Lewis Hilliard, Matt Nolan, Lorenzo Ferrari, Sa Middle Row (Left to Right): Chris Budd (Physio), Matt Spring, Ben Farrell, Bruce Wilson, Ryan Frater,
Front Row (Left to Right): Mason Spence, Martell Powell, Drew Roberts, Nathan Abbey (Asst. Mana
OTBALL CLUB 2014/15
ari, Sam Wyer, Chris Dillon, Jamie Greygoose, Nathan Frater, Theo Davis
rater, Gavin Hoyte, Arthur Lee, Josh Bickerstaff, Jordan Ivey-Ward, Richard King (Goalkeeping Coach) Manager), Gary King (Manager), Zema Abbey (Asst. Manager), Dave Deeney, Ben Ford, Jay Davies
GREENIES GREETINGS
I REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY... Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Rowley Park – The Cozy Stadium, for tonight’s Southern League Premier Division game.
Tonight, we extend a very warm welcome to the Players, Officials and of course the Supporters of Histon FC and we hope you have an enjoyable, if brief, stay with us here in St. Neots before travelling back along the A428 after the game. BAD TASTE Well I’ve just got in from Biggleswade and really don’t know what to say........apart from it being a game that had almost everything apart from a pitch invasion (which was very unlikely to have come from the home supporters who, in my opinion, turned out in very low numbers). Yet again, a fantastic show of support from yourselves, the travelling fans, who pushed the attendance to 301 and were, in all honesty, for the second game running after last Saturday’s bore draw with Paulton Rovers, served up a very tasteless dish of football with a side salad containing hints of flowing football but the overall taste was a bad one, with poor decision making and ill discipline costing us dear in the end
and it could of course have been much worse had stand in keeper Ryan Frater not made a superb save from the resultant spot kick following Nathan Abbey’s dismissal. Let’s hope we put this right this evening with a display of flowing, fast, attacking football which we played last season and something we have become well known for in recent seasons. UP FOR THE CUP Saturday sees us entertain Dereham Town in the FA Cup First Round Qualifying here at The Cozy Stadium and admission for the game will be our standard prices of £10 / £6 / £3 for Adults / Concessions / 12 -18years of age. Children under the age of 12, as per normal ,will be free of charge as long as they are accompanied by a paying adult. Please try and encourage your friends, relatives or complete strangers to come along and experience the magic of the FA Cup or you can even download the Match Poster from our website and put them up at work, in your local shop etc. Whilst we were down the A1 at Langford Road on Saturday, St. Neots Town Youth and Saints were
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playing in their first ever FA Vase tie at Godmanchester Rovers and unfortunately the lads were on the end of an 8-0 defeat at the hands of a vastly experienced Goddy outfit. Regardless of the result, I’m sure Andy and Jason will have been pleased with the lads’ efforts and it’s another step forward in their development. The Under 18’s season is now well underway and last Thursday the lads bounced back from their opening day defeat against Royston Town here at The Cozy by travelling to Biggleswade Town and returning with all three points. This Thursday, they continue their Thurlow Nunn League programme when they entertain Blackstones FC here at the Cozy, kicking off at 19:45 and as ever, home league fixtures are FREE ADMISSION so come down and have a look at the youngsters as they really are entertaining to watch. Right then, on with tonight’s game which I’m sure will be a tight encounter as our visitors will come looking to throw a spanner works as we look to keep a pace with the top 5. Play your part people, as I know you will and perhaps, just perhaps, we may just get out of this rut and turn the corner.
Onwards and Upwards..... GREENIE
THAT’S A LITTLE HIGH REF!
AWAY DAYS
THE SPENCER STADIUM Next up for the Saints is a trip to the Spencer Stadium the home of Banbury United. The club at the time of writing were managerless as Edwin Stein parted company with the club after a disastrous second half to last season of which carried on to the current season. The club are very firmly placed at the bottom of the division with no points at all having lost their first seven league matches. Plenty of action on the transfer front over the last week or so with the Puritans signing no less than eight new players. Banbury have of course a long history dating back to 1931 where they were formed as a works club. Friendly matches were played on a ground on the town’s Middleton Road. The club joined the Banbury Junior League for the 1933-34 season and won the championship at their first attempt. The following years were played in the lower leagues until 1966 where they were elected to the southern league. They had 24 years unbroken
run in the southern league where in 1970 United’s fortunes dramatically changed as debts mounted. Things went from bad to worse until the club appointed The ex QPR player Kevin Brock for the 1999-2000 campaign. The club finally won back their place in the southern league and have stayed there ever since. Last season the club finished in 19th position narrowly missing out on relegation after being in the top half of the league for the first five months of the season. For those of you travelling to the match Directions are as follows.
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DIRECTIONS TO THE GROUND BY ROAD From M40, Junction 11, head towards Banbury, over first roundabout, left at next roundabout into Concorde Avenue. Straight on at next roundabout, taking left hand lane, and turn left at traffic lights, turn first right into Station Approach. At station forecourt and car park, take narrow single track road on extreme right and follow to Stadium.(Direct SatNav to OX16 5AB)
THE SPENCER STADIUM Station Approach, Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX16 5AB 2,000 (250 seated) Adults £10 Concessions (Over 60s and Full Time Students) £5 Under 16 £1 Programme £2-00p Free parking for up to 200 cars and free seating in the stand.
RYAN HEADS CLEAR
OLD ‘FOOTIE’ PROGRAMMES
1970s
PAGE 38 / ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V HISTON FC ISSUE 04
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 39
INTRODUCING
JAY DAVIES Jay Davies started his career with Peterborough United in August 2010 as a trainee, leaving them for then Blue Square Conference club Woking Town a year later Jay continued his progression with a loan to Farnborough Town. Jay’s performances came to the notice of the Saints who were in need of a creative midfield player. In August 2011 Woking agreed to loan jay to the saints where he was an instant success, his debut was against Cambridge City away where his control of the midfield helped the saints to an astounding 5-0 away victory against our local rivals. Unfortunately Woking recalled Jay after the month’s loan and it was then a case of us pursuing our target. We set up negotiations for his transfer from Woking of whom we paid £4,000 for Jay’s services dependent on a minimum 18 month contract. Jay is an excellent central midfield player with an array of passing
that pleases the eye. Season 2013 was undoubtedly Jay’s best and with the introduction of the Saints new management team, Jay’s performances moved to a new level. Scoring 15 goals was a great return from a midfield player, Jay was vital to the clubs different formations and is able to adapt and excel in where he was asked to play. A player that can be unplayable when he is on top of his form, Jay controls the tempo of the game with his slick skills and an eye for that telling pass. There is plenty more to come from Jay as he progresses his career with the Saints.
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WWW.STNEOTSTOWNFC.CO.UK / PAGE 41
DEENEY’S BACK!
MD’S VIEWS
HOW TO RUN A SUCCESSFUL SWEET SHOP Candy Corner at the bottom of Leys avenue Letchworth is having a makeover!! My sweet shop of choice in Letchworth is getting its first lick of paint for 30 odd years. Not insignificant as far as I’m concerned and once again demonstrates that nothing stands in the way of progress. I remember my mate Dave Healy getting caught nicking a walnut whip from Candy corner, not because his sleight of hand had left him but because the buggers had fitted camera’s while we were stealing from somebody else’s sweet shop!. Cameras I ask, couldn’t believe that that sort of technology was available. Dave’s mum was well impressed and actually asked if the video could be downloaded onto her Betamax machine, (this was also nicked). We used to have a Betamax machine, a toploader and if you catch me in a drunken haze I’ll tell you a story about it. OK START, MIDDLE, FINISH We as a business are somewhere between start and middle. Everything that has or is being put into place is all about trying to move us towards a finish line that, like the proverbial goal posts, keeps changing. The St Neots Town FC Learning and Sports Academy and everything that is associated with this educational arm of the club is all about generating opportunities that would not be available to us otherwise and I’m not just talking about educating and developing talented, well rounded young footballers. Our industries accepted and historical income streams are not going to be enough to take us towards a successful and financially stable football club.
EDUCATIONAL FUNDING Every year 11 (5th Form for us old farts) has to remain within the educational system for at least 2 more years with government funding available for an additional 3rd year. That’s three years’ worth of funding available to educational providers, schools and Colleges. By the time the funding comes down to us it has been diluted by the primary (College or school) and the secondary (the programme provider) and so as a result of this “diluting” we need a certain number of learners to: • Give us enough funding to provide an educational programme that is both attractive, enjoyable and most importantly give the learner the strongest education pathway. • Give us enough funding to provide a safe and productive environment that will give the lads the best opportunity to make the most of their talent. • Give us enough funding to pay for the educational Tutor, the football coach and to pay all associated costs. Last season we made a loss but we believe we provided (at our first attempt) a fantastic and productive programme for the 21 lads we recruited. However we are not ones to sit back and take the easy option and so this year we have two educational providers with the new one offering academics that are a step up from last year and so we now feel we are at the very least an equal to any college or school programme. We also have our very own Tutor, a local man with 40 year’s worth of teaching experience! The education the lads receive is the single most import aspect of everything the St Neots
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Town Learning and Sports Academy stands for. Our aim is to be the place to send your talented child, safe in the knowledge that he will be given every possible opportunity to develop and fulfil his talent as a footballer while at the same time get an education that will afford him University opportunities and give him life skills that will not be available through school or college programmes. This year we will break even!! QUESTION What if we can get to the stage when we no longer have to draw down funds via a college (the primary) or the programme provider (the secondary)? The benefits to us as a business, if we can get to the stage where we are an accredited centre that can deliver BTEC and NVQ awards, are limitless. Not only can we continue to build our reputation as the club that has one of the best youth development polices, the best grassroots football for all policies and one of the strongest educational programmes it will also allow St Neots Town FC learning and Sports Academy (as the main site user) to put provisions in place and pay rent/ hire for the use of Rowley Park and all its great facilities. PS we also do sports curriculum support for Primary schools, after school sports clubs and a Monday night development centre and we have now finalised our agreement with Stevenage Borough FC which will allow a cross pollination of Academy footballers and coaching staff that will reap rewards for both parties. With three lads being given recommendation by Stevenage to join our Scholarship programme already I believe we are well on the way to running a very successful sweet shop.
ARTHUR LEE
Scorelines..
A brief round up of the recent results from the teams that matter Southern Premier Division Weekend Action (30th Aug) Poole Town stayed at the top of the table when a goal after just five minutes was sufficient to secure them a 1-0 home victory over Biggleswade Town but Redditch United, who took a first minute lead, went down 2-1 at Dunstable Town and forfeited second place to their hosts and Corby Town scored three minutes before the break to defeat visiting Truro City 1-0 and move up into third. Hitchin Town dropped their first home points of the season when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Cirencester Town but Chippenham Town lost 1-0 at home when Hungerford Town struck four minutes before the break and an eighth minute goal gave Weymouth a 1-0 victory at Cambridge City while Slough Town, ahead mid-way through the first half, conceded a goal eight minutes before the end to give visitors Histon a share of the points from a 1-1 draw. Chesham United continued their uncertain start when they drew 0-0 at Dorchester Town and St Neots Town, ahead from a first half penalty, drew 1-1 at home with Paulton Rovers who scored, also from the spot, with nine minutes remaining but Burnham raced into a three goal lead just after the half hour mark and went on to complete an emphatic 5-2 victory at Hereford United
while Frome Town, trailing by two goals just four minutes before the break, recovered to take the points with a 4-2 home win over still pointless Banbury United.
FA Cup Preliminary Round On Friday, Division One Central Beaconsfield SYCOB took a two goal lead just after the half hour mark and, despite conceding a minute before the break, went on to complete a 5-1 home win over their South & West counterparts, Didcot Town while Barton Rovers added three goals after the break to the five they scored in the first half to cruise through with an emphatic 8-1 win at Combined Counties Staines Lammas and Wantage Town, two ahead at the break, secured a 3-2 home win thirteen minutes from time after Hellenic League Kidlington had drawn level with two goals in four minutes early in the second half. On Saturday, there were home successes for AFC Totton, who scored a goal in each half to overcome Gillingham Town, Bishops Cleeve with a goal twelve minutes from the end defeating Ascot United 1-0, Bridgwater Town who beat Brisllngton 1-0, Evesham United, who came from behind to win 3-1 against Kidsgrove Athletic, Mangotsfield United who won 4-1 after being three up at the interval, Sholing who dispatched Bristol Manor Farm 3-1, Swindon Supermarine who
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defeated Hallen 1-0 with a strike in the sixth minute, Taunton Town who beat Clevedon Town 4-1 with two goals in each half, Tiverton Town who conquered Plymouth parkway 1-0 with a first half strike, and Wimborne Town who recovered to beat AFC St Austell 3-2 with two goals in the closing sixteen minutes. Fleet Town went through with a 3-1 victory at Cheltenham Saracens and there were also away wins for Kettering Town, who scored twice in each half to defeat Cogenhoe United 4-1, Aylesbury won 3-2 after twice trailing to Aylesbury United, Yate Town who secured a 1-0 success at Cowes Sports with a strike eight minutes from time, Rugby Town with a goal in each half giving them a 2-0 win at Westfields, Godalming Town who won 2-0 at Windsor with both goals coming after the break, Larkhall Athletic who struck after just ten minutes to progress with a 1-0 win at Merthyr Town, Shortwood United who struck three times in each half to come away from Shrivenham with an emphatic 6-1 scoreline, and Chalfont St Peter who scored midway through the first half to defeat Slimbridge 1-0. Seven clubs earned replays on Tuesday with AFC Hayes being held 1-1 at home by Holmer Green while Bedford Town drew 1-1 after hosts Rushden & Diamonds struck five minutes from time in front of a gate in excess of 700.
JOSH BICKERSTAFF
CORBY TOWN 1 ST NEOTS TOWN 3 25:08:2014 / Southern Premier / Att 518 / Referee: David Avent (Northampton) Handed his first start for St Neots following his summer move from Chesham, striker Drew Roberts took just three minutes to claim his first goal for the club and that proved to be an invaluable buffer as St Neots struggled in an unimpressive first half performance. This certainly was a game of two contrasting halves as Corby failed to take advantage of at times first half domination before being made to pay for it by a rejuvenated second half performance by the visitors. With several key players still sidelined by early season injury this was a St Neots performance of great character and determination against an unbeaten Corby side protecting a 100% home record prior to this match. In their first attack St Neots took the lead with a slickest of moves to produce a goal. Ben Ford swept a long pass over the defence to the left flank where Arthur Lee went confidently past his marker to pick out Drew Roberts and his crisp finish gave home keeper Paul Walker no chance. For almost twenty minutes that was as good as it got for the visitors who were seriously hampered by an early challenge that left Nathan Frater limping heavily and he was forced off after 25 minutes with Lorenzo Ferrari substituting. Meantime Corby had an excellent spell as they took full, advantage to draw level after twelve minutes when Cleveland Taylor showed some clever footwork to release Greg Mills
who netted from a narrow angle. The Corby pressure continued as Paul Malone glanced as header narrowly wide from a Lewis Jackson corner and then he saw a second set piece header blocked on the line. Roberts was looking a lively front line leader and he was denied a second goal when Walker dived bravely at his feet to block and then St Neots had a let off when a pile driving shot from Jackson went off Nathan Abbey but flew over the bar. However the keeper did produce one excellent save to deny Mills after good work by Taylor. Ironically after looking second best in the first 45 minutes St Neots should have gone to half time in front when after 43 minutes Ben Ford played Ferrari clear of the home offside trap but clear on goal he delayed his shot and Walker got down to deflect the ball for a corner. After one early second effort for Corby by Wilson Carvalho that only just cleared the crossbar St Neots took over and settled into a neat attacking rhythm. Ferrari playing an unaccustomed role as a striker should have done better with a near post header from a Spring cross that he glanced wide and Roberts showed good speed to create a
chance which was blocked on the line by Edi Appleton. With Jay Davies and Martel Powell on for St Neots in a reorganised midfield they were beginning to dominate both the play and chance creation and the lively Davies brought a full length save from Walker after unselfish play by Roberts. Corby’s only real chance came from a 25 yards free kick sent over the bar by Mills and then seven minutes from time Lorenzo Ferrari picked up the ball some 20 yards in his own half and set off on a blistering run going past two defenders before shooting low past Walker to put St Neots ahead. His extravagant celebrations with travelling supporters earned him a booking. Corby threw everything forward in a bid to salvage a point but was caught short in defence and Jay Davies wriggled into the penalty area to be brought down from behind by Paul Malone. Drew Roberts confidently despatched the resultant penalty kick to give the visitors a hard earned three points to move nearer the top of the congested League table
John Walker
St Neots Town
Corby Town
Abbey, Spence, Lee, Bickerstaff, Frater (R), Hoyte, Ford, Spring, Frater (N), Roberts, Farrell. Subs: Ferrari (for Frater (N) 25 mins), Davies (for Ford 51 mins), Powell (for Bickerstaff 71 mins), Wilson and Greygoose. Cards: Farrell (Y – 81), Ferrari (Y – 83) Goals: Roberts 2 (3 and 90+1 mins), Ferrari (83 mins)
Walker, Thomas, Jackson, Malone, Appleton, Daramola, Mills, Milnes, Carvalho, Byrne, Taylor Subs: Weir-Daley (for Byrne 66 mins), Wright (for Daramola 86 mins), Kennedy, May and Clarke. Cards: Taylor (Y – 40) Goals: Mills (12 mins)
PAGE 50 /
ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V HISTON FC ISSUE 04
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 51
‘SPRINGY’ SETS OFF
THE summer transfer window slammed shut last week with the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal still looking to bolster their squad. Of course, for teams below the Vanarama Conference, the window does not exist with transfers allowed all year round. But this hasn’t stopped us at NLP HQ looking at the quirkiest of moves involving clubs from the lower end of the English Pyramid. England legend Paul Gascoigne has been hitting the front pages in recent weeks with the former Tottenham midfielder facing his toughest battle yet with the bottle. But Gazza could be set to lace his boots up again and play in the Bournemouth Sunday League.Abbey FC, in Division Four, have opened their doors to the troubled 47-year-old, although we are all full aware that it may be some time before Gascoigne is ready to play again. Gazza isn’t the only big name to drop down the Pyramid over the years though. Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie is currently plying his trade with Basford United in the Midland League, having already turned out for Kidderminster, Tamworth and Corby Town among others. Hampshire Premier League outfit Four Marks was the destination of
PAGE 54 /
Arsenal’s former double-winning winger and ex-Fulham Luis Boa Morte last season, although coaching limited Boa Morte’s availability. In 2004, Garforth Town had the pleasure of welcoming Brazilian legend Socrates to these shores for a one month player-coaching deal. The late attacking midfielder made one appearance for the Northern Counties East League side, coming on as a substitute against Tadcaster Albion. Garforth seems to be the place to go towards the end of a career with another former Brazilian in Careca playing a friendly for the side in 2005. Former Manchester United man Lee Sharpe was another to return to football with the side in 2004. Edgar Davids is a name that immediately springs to mind when looking back at these types of thing. The former Dutch international became player-manager at Barnet when the Bees were in League Two and stayed with them as they dropped into Non-League. He resigned in January this year, having made nine appearances for Barnet
ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V HISTON FC ISSUE 04
in the league in the 13-14 season, remarkably being sent off on three occasions. A couple of years back we had the likes of Ray Parlour, Martin Keown, Graeme Le Saux, David Seaman and Brian McBride all join Wembley FC’s FA Cup campaign. And although they beat Langford in the extra preliminary round, they struggled in the next round, losing 5-0 to Uxbridge in a replay.
So who knows? Maybe by the time the next transfer window closes, we could be talking a former legend strolling through the tunnel and walking onto your team’s hallowed turf! Joshua Peck Follow us on twitter: @NonLeguePaper @SamElliott_NLP @Stuhammonds_NLP @MattBadcock_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
SLP
Sat 13 Sep
DEREHAM TOWN
FAC
Sat 20 Sep
Banbury United
SLP
Tue 30 Sep
Arlesey Town
SLP
Sat 04 Oct
BURNHAM
SLP
Mon 06 Oct
Hitchin Town
SLP
Sat 11 Oct
POOLE TOWN
SLP
Sat 18 Oct
Cirencester Town
SLP
Tue 21 Oct
CHESHAM UNITED
SLP
Sat 25 Oct
Weymouth
SLP
Mon 27 Oct
Redditch United
SLP
Sat 01 Nov
ILKESTON TOWN
FAT
Sat 08 Nov
Truro City
SLP
Sat 15 Nov
Hungerford Town
SLP
Tue 18 Nov
CAMBRIDGE CITY
SLP
Sat 22 Nov
Bideford
SLP
Sat 29 Nov
SLOUGH TOWN
SLP
Sat 06 Dec
DORCHESTER TOWN
SLP
Sat 13 Dec
Chippenham Town
SLP
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
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 HISTON FC ISSUE 04
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
Ferrari
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STNEOTSTOWNFC / PAGE 57
SOUTHERN PREMIER DIVISION / 06.09.14
P
W
D
L
GF
GA
+/-
Pts
01
Poole Town
8
7
1
0
16
2
+14
22
02
Dunstable Town
8
5
2
1
15
10
+5
17
03
Cambridge City
8
5
1
2
16
7
+9
16
04
Weymouth
7
5
1
1
15
9
+6
16
05
Corby Town
8
5
1
2
10
9
+1
16
06
St Neots Town
8
4
3
1
16
12
+4
15
07
Redditch United
8
5
0
3
13
9
+4
15
08
Chippenham Town
8
4
2
2
12
6
+6
14
09
Hungerford Town
8
4
2
2
11
7
+4
14
10
Hitchin Town
8
4
2
2
11
9
+2
14
11
Truro City
8
4
1
3
13
11
+2
13
12
Chesham United
8
3
2
3
13
8
+5
11
13
Cirencester Town
8
2
4
2
15
8
+7
10
14
Slough Town
8
2
4
2
12
13
-1
10
15
Biggleswade Town
8
2
3
3
10
10
0
9
16
Dorchester Town
8
2
1
5
10
11
-1
7
17
Paulton Rovers
8
1
4
3
9
11
-2
7
18
Burnham
8
2
1
5
14
21
-7
7
19
Frome Town
8
2
1
5
12
22
-10
7
20
Bideford
7
2
0
5
14
20
-6
6
21
Hereford United
8
1
3
4
7
15
-8
6
22
Arlesey Town
8
1
2
5
6
16
-10
5
23
Histon
8
0
3
5
5
16
-11
3
24
Banbury United
8
1
0
7
7
20
-13
3
PAGE 58 / ST NEOTS TOWN F.C. V HISTON FC ISSUE 04
Don’t succumb to just putting up a bookshelf, show your walls some love! Wall Art
Wallpaper
Wall Stickers
www.ilovemywalls.co.uk
Manager: Gary King / Zema Abbey Assistant Manager: Nathan Abbey
Manager: Brian Page Assistant Manager: Lance Key
Goalkeepers
Goalkeepers
Nathan Abbey
Enol Ordonez
Jamie Greygoose
Defenders
Defenders
Joe Burgess
Josh Bickerstaff
Harry O’Malley
Ryan Frater
Stuart Wall
Gavin Hoyte (C)
Ashley White
Jordan Ivey-Ward
Lewis McDonald
Arthur Lee
Danny Rumens
Midfielders
Midfielders
Dean Cracknell
Eugene Libertucci
Jay Davies
Rogan McGeorge
Matt Spring
Joe Peacock
Ben Farrell
Henry Randall
Lorenzo Ferrari
Matt Lowe
Ben Ford
Nick Freeman
Lewis Hilliard
Forwards
Martel Powell
Charley Sanders
Forwards
Mateusz Kuzimski
Bruce Wilson
James Akintunde
Chris Dillon Nathan Frater Matt Nolan Drew Roberts Colours Dark Blue Shirts, Shorts & Socks
Colours Black/Red Shirts, Black Shorts & Socks
The match line up will be displayed on the electronic scoreboard Referee: John Steel Assistants: Peter Howard / Colin Warn Next Home Game: St Neots Town v Dereham Town FA Cup First Round Qualifying / Saturday 13th September / 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.