Eccleshall FC vs Maine Road FC

on as Se /22 21 9 20 e : u Iss

www.eccleshallfc.co.uk

Eccleshall FC vs

Maine Road FC Saturday 16th October 15:00 pm Kickoff ///master.unites.education

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Eccleshall Football Club - Season 2021/22 Pershall Park, Chester Road, Eccleshall, Staffordshire. ST21 6NE

Telephone 01785 851351 (match days only) Club Entity: Eccleshall FC is an unincorporated association.

Club Officials:

Chairman: Neil Washington Vice-Chairman: Antony Johnson Secretary: Jim Tunney Treasurer: David Heelis Programme Editor: Shaun Rogers Clubhouse Management: Bill Grinham Club Welfare Officer: Jim Tunney Commercial Manager: Media Officer: Shaun Rogers

Committee / Directors

Neil Washington, Antony Johnson, Jim Tunney, Bill Grinham, David Heelis, Paul Cox, Ernie Jackson, John Martin, Harvey Collins, Colin Leese, Diane Washington, Richard Marsh, Sid Kelly, Andy Gough, Paul Heler, Liz Leese.

Fundraising Sub-Committee Neil Washington, Antony Johnson, John Martin, Jim Tunney, Colin Leese First Team Management: Liam Kelly, Nathan Wilkes, Tom Farr, Evans Ofori Junior Section Chairman: Andy Gough Secretary: Gareth Davies Under 15s Team Manager : Paul Heler Under 13s Team Manager: Dave Hislop Under 13s Team Manager: Jon Edensor Under 12s Team Manager: Andre Parcian Under 9s Team Manager: Kieran Healey Members of the North West Counties League, Midland Junior Premier League, North Staffs Junior Youth League, Mid Staffs Junior League.

Affiliated to Staffordshire FA Eccleshall FC is an England Accredited Club

VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT

Good afternoon and welcome to today’s hugely important game against Maine Road FC. I know that the lads will be itching to bounce back from last weeks disappointing showing against Isle Of Man FC. That performance was not anywhere close to the standards we have set since we arrived at the club, and we will be looking to put things right today. Credit to IOM who were a well organised physical side who I expect to make the play offs, but after conceding the first goal we never looked ourselves. We could make excuses about having key players missing but we still had enough quality on the pitch that day to get a result. We are still a new side trying to take on new ideas and Saturday showed that there is still work to be done to get ourselves away from danger.

We’ve had two tough sessions on the training pitch this week and the reaction of the players has been exactly as I’d expect. Losing football games is never easy, but it’s important you learn from mistakes and put things right at the next available opportunity.

I can’t finish today’s notes without mentioning the anniversary of the passing of former player Jake Standbridge 3 years ago this week. I was fortunate enough to work with Jake during my last spell here and we immediately clicked. He was everything I love in a player, hardworking, tenacious and a winning mentality. I know Harvey and the rest of the lads continue to represent the memory of Jake in every game they play for Eccleshall, so it would be a great touch to dedicate a win this afternoon for him.

Liam Kelly

In Memory of one of our own

Jake Standbridge " we will never forget you "

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Eccleshall FC Club Honours 1973-74 Mid Staffs Div.3 Cup Winners 1973-74 Mid Staffs Div.3 Runners-up 1975-76 Mid Staffs Div.2 Cup Winners 1980-81 Staffs County (N) League Div.2 Champions 1981-82 Staffs County League (N) Premier Division Champions 1981-82 May Bank Cup Finalists 1982-82 May Bank Cup Winners 1982-83 Mid Staffs Div.2 Cup Winners 1983-84 Staffs County League (N) Premier Division Champions 1983-84 May Bank Cup Winners 1983-84 Staffs FA Vase Finalists 1984-85 Staffs FA Vase Finalists 1986-87 May Bank Cup Finalists 1987-88 Mid Staffs Borough Cup Finalists 1989-90 Staffs Senior League Champions 1999-00 Springbank Vending Midland League Runners-up 1999-00 Staffs County League Champions 2001-02 Springbank Vending Midland League Champions 2002-03 Springbank Vending Midland League Champions 2002-03 Staffs FA Vase Winners 2002-03 Staffs County League Champions 2002-03 Sentinel Cup Winners (under 18s) 2002-03 Sentinel Shield Winners (u/16’s) 2002-03 Leek Cup Finalists 2005-06 Staffs FA Vase Finalists 2017-18 Staffs FA Youth Cup Winners (Under 18s) 2017-18 Potteries Junior Youth Cup Winners (under 18s)

Reformed 1971 Nickname The Eagles Ground Pershall Park Chester Road Eccleshall ST21 6NE Telephone 01785 851351 (Matchdays Only)

Record Attendances: League - 2,011 vs FC United 5.11.05

Cup - 368 vs Wisbech Town FA Vase Rd2 11.91 Previous Leagues Mid Staffs League Staffs County League (N) North Staffs Alliance Midland League (formerly known as Staffs Senior league, Refuge Assurance Springbank Vending)

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BITS AND PIECES Getting the Boys Back Together Today’s game sees a reunion at Pershall Park of a number of former players, management and committee members from the late 80s – 90s. Organised by former manager, Kenny Roberts, they get together once a season to chat about old times, see the changes to the ground and, of course, to watch the current Eccleshall team in action. At the last count, twenty-five are coming along, ten of which are from the 1989/90 Staffordshire County League title winning side. It will be great to see them all again and they are all more than welcome to Pershall Park this afternoon.

Talking of former players, we also remember this week our battling midfielder, Jake Standbridge, who was tragically lost to the club three years ago (on Wednesday last). Jake is still missed by all who knew him at Pershall Park, but his memory lives on, and this is witnessed by the flag which is on display behind the Chester Road End goal at every home game and is taken to every away match and put up at our opponents’ grounds. Our thoughts are with dad Brian, mum Karen and sister Lauren this week. Rest In Peace, Jake – as the flag says: Forever in our Hearts.

BITS AND PIECES Minibus to Pershall Starting at our last home match against FC Isle of Man, the club made a new move to encourage more people to come along to Pershall Park and watch North West Counties League football. Using the club minibus and having The Old Smithy pub as the pickup point, we started running a free minibus service for potential supporters to the ground for the match and returning them to Eccleshall straight after the game. It will also be operating for today’s match against Maine Road and the club committee will monitor the success (or otherwise) of this on a game-by-game basis. With Pershall Park being a little way out of the middle of Eccleshall, it is a hassle-free way to support your local club.

Welcome on board Ben Gamble

At this week’s club committee meeting, a new member was added to our gradually expanding band of volunteers. Ben Gamble, who is an auctioneer in his working life, will hopefully bring new ideas and expertise to assist in taking the club forward. Ben has been watching The Eagles and bringing his young son, Jim, to matches – programme readers will recall Jim receiving a signed ball to celebrate his eighth birthday at the Abbey Hey game. Welcome to the committee, Ben!

Congratulations to Callum Our home match against FC Isle of Man last Saturday saw Callum Feeney receive his League Player of the Month award for Division 1 South from NWCFL official Ian Williams.

Eccleshall FC There has been football in the town of Eccleshall for over 100 years but very little archive material is available from those early years. However, we do know that Eccleshall Football Club was reformed in 1971 with the team being made up of locals and staff from the Eccleshall Secondary School which also provided training and playing facilities. At that time, the club was called Eccleshall Old Boys Football Club.

In 1974, the team won their first trophies; the Mid-Staffs 3rd Division Cup and were also runners-up in that division, gaining promotion to Division 2.

Old Boys was dropped from the club’s name and in 1979 the first team joined the Staffordshire County League (North) and a third team was formed.

In 1981, with the help of grants, fund raising and a loan, a four-acre field was purchased at Pershall. Then manager, Ted Dickinson, was the driving force behind the fund raising. In the same year, the first team moved into the Premier Division of the Staffordshire County League (North). Work began converting the field into a football ground. In 1982, a building was purchased from British Telecom and, with a lot of hard work over the next couple of years on the building, car park and pitch, Pershall Park, as it was christened, was ready.

In the 1983-84 season, the first team won the Staffordshire County League Premier Division Championship, the Premier Division Cup and the May Bank Cup. During the 1989-90 season, the first team won the Staffordshire Senior League title and the 1990-91 season saw the club entering the FA Vase for the first time.

In 1991-92, the club reached the FA Vase 2nd round having gone through all the preliminary stages but lost at home to Wisbech Town 2-0 in front of a then record crowd of 368.

The first team fared well in the league in the mid to late 90’s, finishing 3rd (97-98), 6th (98-99), 2nd (99-00) and 3rd (00-01). Eccleshall reserves won the Staffordshire County League (North) in 1999-2000 moving to the West Midlands (Regional) League Division One (North) for the start of the following season. In the 2001-2002 season, the first team won the Springbank Vending Midland League Championship.

Eccleshall FC In 2002-2003 Eccleshall’s first team joined the North West Counties Football League after securing both the Springbank Vending Midland League title and Staffordshire FA Vase. In probably the most successful season in the club’s history, our second team were also Staffordshire County League champions and our Under 18s won the Sentinel Cup. For good measure, our Under 16s won the Staffordshire FA County Cup, the Mid-Staffordshire League Cup and the Sentinel Shield. Regarding the Sentinel competitions, the last time a club had won both trophies in the same season had been some twenty five years previously – a great achievement.

The 2012-13 season marked the completion of 10 years in the North West Counties League and saw the club achieve its highest ever placing of sixth in Division 1.

In 2017-18, our Under 17s had a very successful season, winning the Potteries Junior Youth League Cup, Staffordshire FA Youth Cup and finishing runners up in the league.

Over the years since 1981-82, significant work has been undertaken to develop both the ground and the facilities to the required standard of the National League Pyramid which the club now enjoys. This includes enclosing the ground, the installation of floodlights, building a covered seated stand and pitch levelling. In 2019, a new toilet block was installed and previously the clubhouse was refurbished and upgraded with the addition of a treatment room and a security system. Prior to the 2018/19 season, a new kitchen and refreshments bar was added. For the 2021-22 season the team dugouts have been replaced and more spectator improvements made. Further developments to the ground are planned for the future. All of this has been achieved by a strong committee management team behind the scenes, a number of which have given many years of service to Eccleshall FC together with the addition of new members who are helping to take the club forward.

The club has now added a number of junior teams as we look to develop a junior section. Our second pitch has been upgraded and improved to accommodate this.

2021 sees Eccleshall Football Club celebrate its 50th anniversary and, as can be seen from the above, much has been achieved over that time. We look forward to seeing what the future brings. We consider ourselves a friendly club and look forward to welcoming you to Pershall Park in the future and hope you will enjoy the facilities and the football.

Welcome to Maine Road FC The club was formed in 1955 as ‘City Supporters Rusholme’ when our past Chairman Frank Thompson and a few friends formed a team and after playing a few friendlies, joined the local Rusholme Sunday League. In the late sixties the club changed to the Manchester Amateur Sunday League and also moved its headquarters to the newly built Maine Road Social Club and hence the new name Maine Road FC was born. Ronnie Meredith was now running the club and in 197172 we won the Manchester County Sunday Cup and both the club’s sides won their respective leagues. This prompted Ron to look for a new challenge and he changed the whole future of the club by moving to Saturday football in the form of the Manchester League. Success followed success on the field and after several years of moving grounds we settled on our present home at Brantingham Road in 1980.

After a lean spell, one of Ron’s ambitions was realised in Season 1983-84 when we won the Manchester League Premier Division. In fact, we won the league four years running. Derek Barber took over the managerial reins in 1986 and the clubs progress continued so much that, when the Manchester County FA’s new complex at Brantingham Road was built, Ron’s other ambition was achieved; entry to the Bass North West Counties League. In only our second season (1989), we finished runners up to Vauxhall Motors. Regrettably we were denied promotion due to ground grading, so in 1990 we went one better to win the 2nd Division Championship and take our rightful place in Division One. In Season 1987-88 we beat Irlam Town 1-0 at Maine Road (home of Manchester City) in the Manchester Premier Cup to complete a unique record in the Manchester County Competitions by winning all five County Cups. The five Manchester County Cups are Premier Cup (1), Amateur Cup (5), Sunday Amateur Cup (1), Intermediate Cup (2), Challenge Cup (4).

At the end of Season 2001-02, after twelve seasons in the top division, Maine Road were relegated to the 2nd division. After two seasons in the 2nd division under the guidance of Chris Simms when our very young side finished 3rd and runners up, we returned to the top division, (2004) and the club finished 8th and 10th in the following two seasons.

Welcome to Maine Road FC The arrival of Ian Walker as manager (2006) saw Maine Roads improvement continue with 3 top 6 finishes in 4 seasons and the winning of the prestigious League Challenge Cup (2008). In 2012-13 John Morrey/Chris Thomas took over the managerial reins and in 2 seasons continued the improvement with a magnificent runners up spot (2013), followed by a 4th position (2014). Chris Hirst took over in November 2014 & ran the club until Oct 2017 when he resigned due to a change in personal circumstances. Hirsty ran a very young inexperienced side and finished mid table. Matt Barnes took over until the end of the season when the club was relegated to the 1st Division South.

At the start of the 2018-19 season Calum Sykes took over the reins but at Christmas he left the club. We then went back to our normal policy of promoting from within & promoted Ray Barnett from the Reserves along with Jeff Newman and from being down in the relegation zone ended up finishing in 14th position and winning the club of the month in January. 2019-20 was quite an extraordinary season ended early by the COVID-19 pandemic which saw Maine Road finish a respectable 9th position and win the Fair Play award along with the best program award for the 1st Division South and a bit more consistency particularly early on in the season would have see us knocking on the door of the top 4.

Maine Road has a long and proud reputation for attracting young players to the club. This began in the late 1980’s, which brought a succession of fine young players to the club. This success in spotting and nurturing the best young talent has continued over the past decades with Maine Road’s domination of the Umbro International Tournament at Under 19 level. Over 11 seasons our Under 19’s have taken on and regularly outplayed talented youngsters from around the world.

They have won the competition an amazing 6 times and been runners up 3 times.

The record set by the team of 2003 may never be surpassed when 8 of the squad regularly played 1st team football in the same season. Another factor in the continued success of the club is the outstanding loyalty shown by many players.

The best examples are the appearances made by the following players Ian Walker 637, Chris Simms 556, Gordon Woods 465, John Morrey 421, Neil Chappell 391, Robin Gibson 386 and Alex Jay 382 (The top 5 players have also gone on to run the first or reserve teams). Another amazing record is that in our 65 year history we have had only 12 managers of which 8 have been ex players

MAINE ROAD FC 2021 /22 Player stats Players Name Amir Aden Abdullahi Ahmed Sam Barnett Zac Bell Youssef Bellatar Jack Blundell Daniel Burgess Kayde Coppin Zachary Curtis Bruno Da Silva (GK) Ben Davison Paul Earlam Louis Edwards Ryan Eiselt Sajjad Elhassan Niall Fallon Sakib Islam * Joseph Keyworth Thomas Keyworth Marcus Lane Reece Lyndon * Euan Melia Peter Monteith (GK) Ben Mooney Ronny Pepe Benjamin Phillips Finlay Phillips Jake Pogson Owen Pollitt Brice Pouamoun Mitchell Robinson Jamie Roe Reece Skelton Ryan Smith Ismail Suleiman Matthew Wilson Yousif Yousif

Starts

Sub

Goals

0 5 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 6 1 8 11 9 7 6 2 16 0 7 9 8 10 15 6 1 2 12 0 2 0 11 0 1 12 0 5

0 2 1 1 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 5 3 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 3 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 3 1 1 0 0

0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 6 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 3

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0-4 09.10.2021

LAST TIME OUT

ATT : 88

MATCH REPORT

RAVENS’ DOYLE STUNS THE EAGLES

FC Isle of Man were making their first ever visit to Pershall Park for this NWCFL fixture. With Jordan Benton injured, new signing Callum Collinson was in the starting line-up. Before the game, Eagles’ Callum Feeney received his September divisional Player of the Month Award from League official Ian Williams.

An early Louis Downs effort brought a good save from Ravens keeper Matthew Quirk then, after a cross by Luke Lewis, Downs had another effort blocked. The visitors were coming more into the game, and from a corner, Daniel Simpson fired over. On 22 minutes, Luke Murray worked his way into the box before his powerful drive flashed wide of the post.The Ravens took the lead on 24 minutes when a square ball from Furo Davies found Sean Doyle and he had an easy tap in to score. Minutes later, Murray missed a great chance when he miskicked in the box, allowing Eagles keeper Aaron Woolrich to collect. Eccleshall than had a great chance to equalise but Jake Langdridge blazed over when it seemed easier to find the net. The keeper then prevented Ravens skipper Jack McVey adding to the score with a fingertip save.

With half time approaching, Collinson was booked for blocking a free kick.

HT: Eccleshall 0 FC Isle of Man 1 Samir Azam came on for Luke Lewis, but the Ravens went two up on 52 minutes when Doyle was left clear for a free header. Eccleshall’s task became much harder on 58 minutes when referee Elliott sent Collinson off for a second yellow card. Jack Dundas then tried to place his shot into the top corner, but it curled wide. Tom Wakefield and Lewis Dunn were brought on and then Stephen Whitley, running through, chipped the ball over the advancing Woolrich but his shot came back off the bar and was cleared. On 67 minutes, it was three when Doyle was too strong for a tiring Eagles defence, and he slotted the ball home. Now the Ravens were looking for another as first Murray screwed the ball wide of the post and then Lee Gale blasted the ball over the bar. With five minutes to go, Woolrich made a superb triple blocking save to prevent the fourth goal, but it did finally arrive two minutes later when Doyle rounded off a good afternoon’s work to capitalise on a Downs mistake and slot the ball past Woolrich.

It was then a matter of playing out time to the final whistle.

FT: Eccleshall 0 FC Isle of Man 4 After the recent battling performances against Wythenshawe Amateurs and Abbey Hey, Eagles did not match that level of effort and were well beaten on the day. With other results falling against them, they now drop back into the bottom three places. However, with another home match next week against Maine Road, just above them in the league placings, this game now takes on added significance. The management team of Liam Kelly and Nathan Wilkes will have plenty to think about over the coming week. The Islanders, on the other hand, will fly back home well pleased with both the result and the points.

Eagles: Woolrich, Tomlin (Dunn), Woodroffe, Flanaghan, Langdridge, Taylor, Lewis (Azam), Feeney, Dundas (Wakefield), Downs.

Unused subs: Redford, Collins.

Referee: Mr Tom Elliott Attendance: 88

Abbey Hulton United v FC Isle of Man Abbey Hey v St Martins Alsager Town v Cheadle Heath Nomads Cheadle Town v Barnton Eccleshall v Maine Road New Mills v Brocton Sandbach United v Wythenshawe Amateurs Stafford Town v Stockport Town West Didsbury & Chorlton v Ellesmere Rangers

The definitive podcast covering the North West Counties Football League!

Eccleshall FC | 2021/22 Fixtures and Results

Eccleshall FC | Player Apperances & Goals Players Name

Sub

Goals

6 0 12 1 3 1 11 1 1 3 13 8 6 11 5 0 3 2 12 8 3 3 4 6 1 0 3 0 1 2 12 0 8 4

3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 2 0 1 0 3 2 0 1 3 2 2 0 0 2 3 1 2 1 1 2 1 0

2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0

* Indicates player is no longer a member of the squad

# Indicates player is awaiting International Clearance

Samir Azam Tyler Barnes * Jordan Benton Conrad Betton (GK) Ryan Brown (GK) Bradley Carr Harvey Collins Callum Collinson Conor Docherty Andrew Dodd Louis Downs Jack Dundas Lewis Dunn Callum Feeney Jack Flanaghan Christopher Gilpin Kyle Goodwin Jordan Hall Jake Langdridge Luke Lewis Jay Lovatt Joel Mills Peter Murphy Zak Noble (GK) Callum Parker James Redford Thomas Riley Liam Robinson Louis Sherwin Daniel Taylor Liam Tomlin Thomas Wakefield George Woodroffe Aaron Woolrich (GK)

Starts

Aaron Woolrich Zak Noble Liam Tomlin Lewis Dunn George Woodroffe Samir Azam Jake Langdridge Harvey Collins Luke Lewis Daniel Taylor Jordan Benton Jack Dundas Jack Flanaghan James Redford Callum Feeney Louis Downs Thomas Riley Bradley Carr Jay Lovatt Jordan Hall Christopher Gilpin

Manager : Liam Kelly

Peter Monteith Ismail Suleiman Ryan Smith Louis Edwards Ryan Eiselt Joe Keyworth Jamie Roe Ben Mooney Euan Melia Abdullahi Ahmed Yousif Yousif Sajjad Elhassan Marcus Lane Niall Fallon Jake Pogson Youssef Bellatar Jack Blundell

Manager : Ray Barnett / Rees Welsh

Today's Match Officials Ref: Justice Jacobs Asst A: Ethan Murray| Asst B: Lewis Atkinson