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Cammell Laird Saturday 21st August 15:00 pm Kickoff ///master.unites.education
Admission Adults - £6.00 Concession - £4.00
www.eccleshallfc.co.uk
Eccleshall FC
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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: Dave Dale 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: Dave Dale, Jake Robinson, John Hamnett 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
MICHAEL WINCOTT PHOTOGRAPHY www.michaelwincottphotography.com
The Dugout View Good afternoon, Welcome everyone to Pershall Park and I hope you enjoy our hospitality and of course hopefully an entertaining game of football. Our start to the season has been for players and management a disappointing one, of course we can look at where we were in terms of player quality last year and without doubt we are light years on from those times, however one win in five indicates that we have much work to do. The pleasing aspect to this is that the players, coaches and myself fully understand where we are right now and no excuses are being given, only the desire to get it right. There is one very important factor with this group of players and it is not a single one of them look to pass the buck, a strength of character that will eventually pay back the rewards for their continued belief in their own levels of ability and the overall desire to achieve the goals we are confident we can attain at the club. We have three new faces in the squad today, due to our keeper Ryan Browns injury on Tuesday night we welcome very experienced keeper Conrad Betton previously with Main Road, striker Callum Parker from Nantwich Town, I spoke with Dave Cooke and the coaching staff at Nantwich and all feel that Callum can progress to a high level of the game, and we welcome back to Eccleshall George Woodroffe who played in the team that finished in the top eight a couple of seasons ago. We appreciate your support as always
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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MICHAEL WINCOTT PHOTOGRAPHY www.michaelwincottphotography.com
Welcome to Cammell Laird Cammell Laird 1907 FC can trace its history back to 1899 when a team from the Upper Boilers Shop of Laird Bros played in Birkenhead Park, before turning to the rugby code. It was not until June 1907 that the Cammell Laird Institute AFC was established, with its first fixture taking place on 2nd September 1907 against Tranmere Rovers, finishing 9th in the West Cheshire League in their inaugural season (1907/08). In the early years, the Club played at a number of grounds and won their first trophy, the Shipley Cup, in April 1921, before in the summer of 1922 they moved to St Peters Road (which still remains their current home) as Kirklands FC. They disbanded in 1939 but reformed in 1946. The Club had their most successful period during the 1970s and 80s, winning the West Cheshire League on a regular basis. 1994/95 saw the club reach the FA Vase quarter-finals before losing to Arlesey Town. The early part of the new millennium saw the Club reach new heights. They started the rise through the pyramid, making history by becoming the first Club to win the championship of the Second and First Divisions of the North West Counties League, which they achieved in 2004/05 and then 2005/06. In the same year as that First Division triumph, the club reached the FA Vase semi-finals, losing to eventual winners Nantwich Town, and two years later, the Club gained promotion to the Unibond Premier League. However, they were relegated after just one season due to ground grading. Having fought relegation battles successfully, the Club finished bottom of the Evo-Stik Division One North in 2011/12, but were reprieved, and bounced back the following season by finishing league runners up before losing on penalties in the play-off final against Trafford. Season 2013/14 saw Lairds finish 11th, but the decision was taken to resign from the EvoStik NPL and form a new Club: Cammell Laird 1907 FC. The new Club was formed on 28th May 2014 and entered the NWCFL Division One for their inaugural campaign in 2014/15. In October, the Club lost manager Tony Sullivan to Witton Albion, and appointed Paul McNally in the same month. He ably guided the team to promotion, which was achieved on Saturday 4th April. In the end, Lairds finished 21 points clear of 3rd placed AFC Darwen.
2015/16 saw the Club finish 15th in its first season in the NWCFL Premier Division. Early on, Lairds didn’t get the results that their performances deserved, drawing or even losing games that they largely dominated. However, they soon found their feet in the Premier Division. Their best result was an emphatic 4-0 victory against eventual champions Colne in October. In February, Tony Sullivan returned to replace Paul McNally as manager, and the Club ended the campaign with a solid mid-table finish. At the end of the season, Sullivan departed and was replaced by former Prescot Cables and AFC Darwen manager Neil Prince. The new man in charge made an excellent start, two fine performances deservedly seeing off the challenge of AFC Darwen in the FA Cup. It is fair to say that luck was not on the side of Prince’s team at the start of the league campaign, with several fine performances not getting the results that they deserved. However, after the 3-1 defeat to Squires Gate in September, Prince resigned on good terms with the Club, who were very appreciative of his efforts, and both parties wished each other well for the future. Prince was replaced by former Lairds striker Mick McGraa, who had taken over the Reserve Team in the summer. McGraa has worked tirelessly to assemble a very promising young side, and again with a tad more luck in games that Lairds dominated, they could have picked up more points. Everything finally came together on Saturday 18th March 2017, as a brilliant performance saw Lairds beat AFC Darwen 4-1 to record their first league win of the season, which they followed up three days later with a 2-1 victory against in-form Hanley Town. Ultimately, results elsewhere consigned Lairds to relegation by the end of March, but the Club was now in a much stronger position ahead of the Division One campaign to follow in 2017/18. Last season started off perfectly, the 4-1 win against a higher-ranked Maltby Main side in the Emirates FA Cup a sign of things to come! Lairds were eliminated from that competition despite a valiant effort at Evo-Stik League outfit Leek Town, but after a slightly shaky start, they went from strength to strength in the league. From 5th September to 21st April, they dropped just two points at Kirklands, also defeating Premier Division Congleton Town with ten men on their own patch in the Macron Cup. Lairds initially struggled on the road, but also improved on that front after the turn of the year. They finished the regular campaign as one of the division’s form teams, securing the final play-off place courtesy of a sensational 4-1 victory over champions-elect Silsden. The Cammells also enjoyed a run to the final of the LWC Drinks Cup, recording a notable 4-0 triumph at fellow top six challengers Alsager Town along the way. In the final against Prestwich Heys at Runcorn Linnets FC, Joe Malkin’s header drew Lairds level at 1-1 just before the hour mark. Despite hammering at the Prestwich door for much of the second half, there was a sucker punch as a brilliant late strike from John Main, followed by an even more incredible save by Heys’ Russell Saunders, saw McGraa’s men on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline.
However, Lairds responded brilliantly in the play-off semi-final just three days later, stunning the division by going to a Prestwich side, who had hammered them 3-0 on the opening day and finished the season on 91 points, and coming from behind to win 4-1. That set up an all-or-nothing midweek play-off final away at Whitchurch Alport. There was to be more heartbreak as a nightmare start saw Lairds fall 2-0 behind within ten minutes. It just didn’t click for the visitors on the night, and despite Charlie MacInnes giving them hope late on, it was a case of so near yet so far. Two defeats in finals were a horrible ending to what was an outstanding campaign which saw McGraa’s team restore the pride around Kirklands, and deliver long-lasting memories. An eventful close season saw McGraa depart for Vauxhall Motors, who re-joined the Hallmark Security League. The majority of the squad followed the manager to Rivacre Park, but the Committee acted swiftly and made a very exciting appointment in Phil Burton. He guided the club to a solid 15th place finish in the new First Division South, two cup quarterfinals, and extraordinarily Lairds became the lowest ranked team ever to reach a Cheshire Senior Cup Final, where they lost out to Nantwich Town. The 2019/20 campaign started off brightly for Burton’s team, and they were just outside the promotion places at Christmas, but their form then dropped off and only began to pick up shortly before the league was suspended in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lairds were 13th after the final fixtures were played, but the decision was made by the FA to null and void the season. The premature end to the season meant that Lairds missed the opportunity to compete in the Wirral Senior Cup Final, which they had reached courtesy of victories over Poulton Royal, Ellesmere Port Town and Mersey Royal. For the 2020/21 campaign, the club’s home at Kirklands was been renamed the Prabhu Ventures Ltd Arena as part of a new sponsorship deal, while former player Stuart Humphreys was appointed as Director of Football. After a solid start to the delayed season, the North West Counties Football League was suspended from the start of November until mid-December as lockdown restrictions were re-imposed. During that time, Phil Burton and his backroom staff resigned after two-and-a-half years in charge. Captain Colm Lynch, Assistant Director of Football James Standing and Under-21s Coach Josh Hine were the interim management team as the season briefly resumed in December, but the season was soon curtailed due to Covid-19 after Lairds had played just seven league matches, with them placed 13th in the table. With Lairds unable to play competitive football until May 2021, the club took their time before making a permanent managerial appointment. Stuart Keir was chosen as the man to take the club forward, the former AFC Liverpool boss’ CV impressing the committee as well as his strong reputation for developing youth players. Andy Jones was appointed as Keir’s assistant manager, with Standing and Hine continuing as coaches, Judd Lewis being promoted to goalkeeper coach and Gina Williams returning to the club as physio. The ever-popular Colm Lynch will also continue as the club’s first team captain, and Lairds have an impressive combination of players retained and new additions which provide an exciting blend of youth and experience. A new clubhouse is also close to completion on the Prabhu Ventures Ltd Arena site, and as a result, things are seriously starting to look up in CH42.
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.
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It was good to see Richard Marsh at our opening games at Rocester and back at Pershall Park against Brocton. After over thirty five years at Eccleshall, serving the club with distinction as secretary, programme editor, hospitality manager as well as undertaking pre-season maintenance tasks at the club, his time spent behind the scenes and on matchdays has been less frequent over the last two-three years. That said, he still retains his links with the Eagles and has helped with sponsorship for the club from his work in recent times.
BITS & PIECES
Richard now spends more time up in the North-East, whilst retaining his Stoke-on-Trent base and has taken up a new hobby of bowls. Demonstrating his continued link with Pershall Park, this hobby has resulted in our first team training kit for this season bearing the name of Whitley and Monkseaton Bowling Club as headline sponsor on the front of the shirts. You will recall that, before the start of the season, manager Dave Dale as part of his commercial activities, ran a fundraising card to raise money to purchase new training kit for the first team squad. The winning entry would bear the sponsor’s name. Despite not being a regular at the club for a while, Richard paid for a number of entries and when the card was full and Dave revealed he was the winner, he decided that his Northumberland bowls club name would feature. Clearly the club are grateful for his support, even from a greater distance these days and it has helped the players to look more professional on match days. Richard is hoping to get along to Pershall Park again in the not-too distant future. As many of our club supporters will be aware, former manager Kenny Roberts organises a reunion of former players to come along as match sponsors for a game, giving them the opportunity to watch the match and re-live games gone by. Richard is planning to come to that game and he knows that he is always welcome back at the club when his time now permits. The photo shows first team coach, Jake Robinson, with one of the sponsored training kit shirts One of the things which has stood out on our travels to date is the work that has been undertaken at the away grounds in preparation for the new season. Rocester had new perimeter rails installed, Sandbach United had a new bar area and new dugouts (like ourselves), electronic scoreboard and, this week, were due to take delivery of a new fifty seater stand. Our opponents on Tuesday, Ellesmere Rangers, have plans for new LED floodlights in the near future. Pershall Park too has seen further development work with the new stand and dugouts and, as you look at the stand behind the goal at the Chester Road end of the ground, you will now see the work being done to install new hard standing for spectators, together with a couple of spaces for disabled visitors to our ground. This should be completed in the near future. Our club submitted an application for funding to the Football Stadia Improvement Fund some time back and was successful. It provided just under £11,000 to help with the necessary groundworks and the dugouts as well as the stand development, all aimed at improving our base. More recently, club chairman, Neil Washington and Junior Section chairman, Andy Gough, met with Kevin Staples of Staffordshire FA to discuss further planned developments in the future. We will be exploring these and submitting applications for funding to help take these plans further. Watch this space!
Tables correct as at Friday 20th August 2021
Cheadle Heath Nomads v FC Isle of Man Abbey Hulton Utd v Abbey Hay Barnton v New Mills Cheadle Town v Wythenshawe Amateurs Eccleshall v Cammell Laird 1907 Ellesmere Rangers v Brocton Maine Road v Sandbach United Rocester v Stockport Town Stafford Town v West Didsbury & Chorlton
NEXT UP ///master.unites.education
Monday 30th August Stafford Town FC Kickoff 3pm
ROAD TRIP ///gestures.flick.award
Friday 27th August Barnton FC Kickoff 7:45 pm
Ryan Brown Conrad Betton Liam Tomlin Lewis Dunn George Woodroffe Samir Azam Jake Langdridge Harvey Collins Luke Lewis Jordan Benton Jack Dundas Jack Flanaghan Louis Downs Thomas Riley Jay Lovatt Peter Murphy Callum Parker Jordan Hall Thomas Wakefield
Casey Shakeshaft Ben Kerr Jack Lloyd Daniel Stephens Jake Hulley Ryan Smith Regan Rubin Joseph Downey Kieran Hamm Cameron McGregor Ben Summers Nick Lynch Ellis Bolton Matthew Diaz-Rainey Jack Wood Nathan Haynes
Manager : Dave Dale Coach : Jake Robinson
Manager : Stuart Keir Assistant : Andy Jones
Today's Match Officials Ref: MATTHEW KNIGHT Asst A: ANDREW MARTIN | Asst B: ANTHONY HEATH