Eccleshall FC vs Ellesmere Rangers FC

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Ellesmere Rangers FC Saturday 20th November 3:00 pm Kickoff

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) Legal Entity: Company limited by shares - Eccleshall Football Club Limited (c/n 13365015). Subsidiary of Eccleshall FC Sports Foundation Limited (c/n 13359263) - company limited by guarantee.

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

Directors

Neil Washington, Antony Johnson, Paul Cox, David Heelis, Bill Grinham, Richard Marsh, Jim Tunney.

Committee

John Martin, Colin Leese, Sid Kelly, Ernie Jackson, Diane Washington, Harvey Collins, Liz Leese, Andy Gough, Ben Gamble, 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, Phil Bruce, Harry Pickering 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 back to Pershall Park. I’d like to wish all players, management staff, and committee members of Ellesmere Rangers a safe journey over to us.

There is only one place that I can start today’s notes with and that is to reflect on Tuesday's remarkable performance and victory over Port Vale in the Staffordshire Senior Cup. A wonderful occasion for the club not only on the pitch but off it too as we welcomed our largest crowd of the season so far. I'm sure everyone who came through the turnstile on Tuesday left the game highly entertained. Our players were fantastic on the night and matched Port Vale in every department. I’d stick my neck out and say in fact we were the better team and in the end, were unlucky not to win the game in normal time! We stuck to the game plan perfectly and as I instructed the lads at halftime, we had a real good go at them in the last 25-30 minutes. What followed in the penalty shootout is something I’ve never seen in all my years of managing sides. Our latest signing in goal, Eric Merner, saved all 5 penalties from Port Vale to see us win the shootout 1-0. Eric was superb during the 90 minutes and this capped off a wonderful night for him. Eric’s been brought in as cover for the injured Aaron Woolrich, I’d now argue we have the best two goalkeepers in the league.

Although Tuesday was a night to remember, our focus quickly returns to league safety. Today is another tough home fixture but one we are confident we can get a result in. I’m very happy with the squad I now have at my disposal and I’ll be making use of everyone we have available over the coming weeks to keep things fresh. We have a run of fixtures between now and Christmas that could define our season.

Enjoy today’s game and once again thank you for your continued support.

Liam Kelly

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MICHAEL WINCOTT PHOTOGRAPHY www.michaelwincottphotography.com

BITS AND PIECES Our Staffordshire Senior Cup match against Port Vale on Tuesday evening picked up all the media and press headlines for the way it ended as Eccleshall won a penalty shoot-out when the game finished 1-1 after 90 minutes to go through to the third round. In only his second match for the Eagles, new goalkeeper Eric Merner became an instant hero to home supporters by saving all five Vale spot kicks, something that will live long in the memory of all those who were at Pershall Park on the evening. Port Vale programme editor, Phil Sherwin, who was at the game, commented: “I’ve never seen a penalty shoot out like that. It was quite remarkable that their keeper saved all five”.

Later, in the article on the Sentinel website, he also said: “You can’t compete with a bloke that saves all five”. Regular Sentinel Port Vale reporter, Mike Baggaley, commented on Twitter: “This can’t have happened very often”. Eagles team manager, Liam Kelly, also said on Twitter: “Unbelievable night for the club. First time I’ve seen anything like it. All 16 involved were brilliant on the night but Eric rightly stole the headlines”. Perhaps the best line about Eccleshall’s victory was the header for the Sentinel website article: “Remarkable end to cup tie as Port Vale bow out to Eccleshall”.

Eric earned the opposition ‘man of the match’ award for his performance on his debut last Saturday against Cheadle Town and, to date, has proved to be an outstanding replacement for regular keeper Aaron Woolrich who sustained an injury to his hand at work which will keep him out for a number of weeks. Well done Eric – keep up the good work!

Supporters present at the game on Tuesday evening will have noticed that the new hard standing in the Chester Road End stand was completed. Formerly only having an earth base, a successful application for funding earlier in the year to the Football Stadia Improvement Fund for the stand improvement, together with the new dugouts, provided the finance for the work to be undertaken. Club committee member and Junior Section Chairman, Andy Gough, has done the work which also include spaces for wheelchairs for disabled spectators and provides further improvements to the facilities already in place at Pershall Park.

BITS AND PIECES Eccleshall Football Club Limited After considerable time and effort involving an accountant, solicitor, the Land Registry and both the League and FA, our club has now changed its legal entity from that of an unincorporated association (members club) to incorporated – becoming a limited company.

The club received notice this week that the FA in London has approved its change in status – the final step in the process. Following specialist advice, the club is now, in fact, two companies – Eccleshall Football Club Limited, responsible for all of the football aspects and this will be a subsidiary of Eccleshall FC Sports Foundation Limited which will cover all the assets of the club and will be a company limited by guarantee.

This change will offer a level of protection to those volunteers who have been / are running the club, which previously didn’t exist and left them vulnerable to possible legal action if anything went wrong.

The companies have seven directors: Neil Washington, Antony Johnson, David Heelis, Paul Cox, Bill Grinham, Richard Marsh and Jim Tunney.

The remaining members of the club committee under the old entity, will still play a role in the running of the club. Becoming a limited company is another step forward as Eccleshall FC progresses and is an important requirement for the future.

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)

Proud members of

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 Ellesmere Rangers fc Ellesmere is a historic market town nestling in the North West corner of Shropshire on the Welsh border. Its large number of lakes or meres gives it its name of Shropshire’s “Lake District” and makes it a popular place for tourists. The club badge of a swan represents an affinity with the large number of these birds that populate the local waterways.

The club in its present form was founded in 1969, although there have been football teams in the town since the early 1900s. These early teams played their games on the Wharf Meadow, which at that time was within the grounds of the local dairy (where Tesco is now). The Railway pub in the town was the venue for the first meeting of the soon to be Railway Rangers playing in the Oswestry and District League in their first season. The club moved its headquarters to the Market Hotel in 1974 and the club name was changed to Ellesmere Rangers. They remained in the Oswestry & District League until the following season when they gained promotion into the Shrewsbury and West Shropshire League.

The Rangers’ first major honour was in 1981 when, managed by our present club secretary John Edge, the club lifted the Shropshire Junior cup at Shrewsbury Town’s Gay Meadow Stadium beating Weston United 2-1. Further moves upwards were achieved, and by 1988/89 Rangers were in the Shropshire County League. 2004/5 saw them in the West Midland League Division 2 where back to back promotions were achieved, and 2005/6 saw the Rangers competing in the West Midland first division. In the 2008/9 season a strong challenge for promotion was mounted. This was narrowly missed by a couple of points and 4th place was achieved, putting the team in a strong position for the following season. The 2009/10 year saw the club get promotion to the Midland Alliance. An incredible season was capped off during a memorable night at the Prostar Arena, the home of Shrewsbury Town, when the Rangers beat Market Drayton Town (two leagues higher) to win the Shropshire Challenge Cup. The 2010/11 season was very much one of consolidation, finishing a very creditable 13th position in our first year at this level and also reaching the final of the Walsall Senior Cup at Walsall’s Banks Stadium. For the 2013/2014 season Rangers were now back in the West Midland Regional League Premier Division and finished the season in 11th place.

During the 2015/2016 season the club saw some major changes to the Beech Grove facility, the old clubhouse was demolished and replaced with a new one and the changing rooms were extended and refurbished. The 2018/2019 season again sees major changes at the club, after 14 years, (11 in the West Midland League and 3 in the Midland Alliance League) we were moved into the North West Counties First Division South. The 2020/2021 season sees Matt Burton return to the club as joint manager with Connor Courtney.

We also have a womens team who play in the Shropshire Womens Midweek League and Ellesmere Rangers Sunday. who play in the Premier Division of the Shrewsbury and District Football League.

The club also has a thriving junior section.

The club is proud to be a close knit family unit and the progress on the pitch can only be achieved because of the efforts of the backroom people who put in a huge amount of work to push the club on to further success.

Welcome to Ellesmere Rangers fc

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1-1 16.11.2021

LAST TIME OUT

ATT :229

MERNER HEROICS GIVE EAGLES VICTORY OVER THE VALIANTS

Eccleshall’s 20 year old ‘keeper Eric Merner was the hero of the night by remarkably saving all five penalties in the shoot-out after the game finished 1-1 after ninety minutes, which meant that the one scored by Jordan Hall was enough to send the Eagles into the third round of the Staffordshire Senior Cup. Jake Langdridge and Kyle Johnson returned to the Eccleshall starting line-up against Port Vale as the match kicked off in front of a season best attendance at Pershall Park.

Vale took the lead in the opening minute of the game. James Plant had a good shot tipped round the post by Merner for a corner and from the flag kick Ellis Jones headed home.

Eccleshall levelled in the 15th minute. The ball broke to Jay Lovatt on the left and his cross shot was palmed out by Joe Collinge only for Kyle Johnson to steer the rebound into the net.

The game was end-to-end with Johnson having a shot saved whilst at the other end Plant struck the post before Merner produced a superb save to keep Abdi Osman’s shot from the rebound out of the net. Five minutes before the interval Nelson Agho had a close-range effort blocked by Merner.

HT: Eccleshall 1 Port Vale 1 After the break Cele Filho cleared an Eccleshall effort off the line before Merner continued his man of the match performance by tipping a 20-yard shot by Tommy McDermott on to the bar. In the 72nd minute a wayward McDermott pass allowed former Vale youngster Luke Lewis a clear run on goal but his shot was well saved by Vale keeper Joe Collinge.

Moments later he then tipped a shot by Lovatt over the bar. Then Festus Chale made a last-ditch tackle to prevent Lewis from netting.

Vale almost snatched victory in the 79th minute when a Bobby Flitcroft header was cleared off the line by Jordan Benton. With four minutes to go, Collinge was forced to come out to collect as both Lovatt and Hall advanced on goal.

FT: Eccleshall 1 Port Vale 1 The game then went straight to penalties with Merner excelling himself although Collinge also saved one for the Vale with Benton hitting the post and Callum Collinson striking his over the bar.

The league result against Cheadle Town coupled with this cup victory over Port Vale should put the Eagles in great spirits for the upcoming league match against Ellesmere Rangers.

Eccleshall: Merner, Tomlin, Taylor, Benton, Langdridge, Collins, Lewis, Carr (Collinson 71), Johnson (Hall 81), Downs (Redford 61), Lovatt Subs not used: Dundas, Rowe Port Vale: Collinge, Jones, Chale, Clarke, Filho, Billington, McDermott, Flitcroft, Osman (Stinton 46), Agho, Plant Subs not used: Ilori, Lomax Referee: Mr Ryan Grandison Att. 229

SATURDAY'S FIXTURES Abbey Hulton United v Brocton Barnton v Alsager Town Cammell Laird 1907 v Wythenshawe Amateurs Cheadle Heath Nomads v New Mills Cheadle Town v Rocester Eccleshall v Ellesmere Rangers Stafford Town v St Martins West Didsbury & Chorlton v Stockport Town FC Isle of Man v Maine Road

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Eccleshall FC | 2021/22 Fixtures and Results

Eccleshall FC | Player Apperances & Goals Players Name

Sub

Goals

6 0 18 1 3 4 0 16 1 1 3 1 16 9 8 14 6 0 3 4 0 3 14 14 0 6 2 3 4 6 1 2 4 0 3 1 8 15 0 0 12 8 0

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

2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 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 Ashley Colclough Harvey Collins Callum Collinson Conor Docherty Andrew Dodd Lewis Doughty Louis Downs Jack Dundas Lewis Dunn Callum Feeney Jack Flanaghan Christopher Gilpin Kyle Goodwin Jordan Hall Joshua Hall Kyle Johnson Jake Langdridge Luke Lewis James Lindop Jay Lovatt Eric Merner (GK) Joel Mills Peter Murphy Zak Noble (GK) Callum Parker * James Redford Thomas Riley Liam Robinson Ryan Rowe Louis Sherwin Daniel Taylor Liam Tomlin Thomas Wakefield Andrew Walklate (GK) George Woodroffe Aaron Woolrich (GK) Owen Yewdall

Starts

Libra FMC Ltd is an industry leading supplier situated in Stokeon-Trent, equipping individuals and businesses with the products and services they need.

ASHLEY SPITTLEHOUSE (GK) JACK BOSWELL (GK) CONNOR COURTNEY RYAN HICKMAN DAVID HOWARTH DAVID HOWELLS OWEN LLOYD BLAKE ROBINSON CARL ROGERS KARL BAILEY BRANDON TANOMJIT NIALL THOMAS HARVEY HOWELL STEVEN HOLE RYAN MORGAN MARCO ADAGIO HARVEY LEWIS AARON POWELL

Manager : Liam Kelly

Manager : Connor Coyrtney & Matt Burton

Today's Match Officials Ref: Kyle Lines Asst A: Martin Williams | Asst B: Edward O'Donnell

Both Managers will select from the following players

AARON WOOLRICH ERIC MERNER HARVEY COLLINS CALLUM FEENEY JAKE LANGDRIDGE LIAM TOMLIN DAN TAYLOR JAMES LINDOP CALLUM COLLINSON JORDAN HALL JACK DUNDAS JORDAN BENTON KYLE JOHNSON ASH COLCLOUGH RYAN ROWE BRAD CARR JACK FLANAGHAN LOUIS DOWNS JAMES REDFORD JAY LOVATT LUKE LEWIS LEWIS DOUGHTY GEORGE WOODROFFE TOM WAKEFIELD LEWIS DUNN TOM RILEY