Eccleshall FC vs Stockport Town

on as Se /22 21 2 20 e : u Iss

vs

Stockport Town FC Saturday 7th August 15:00 pm Kickoff ///master.unites.education

Admission Adults - £6.00 Concession - £4.00

www.eccleshallfc.co.uk

Eccleshall FC

MATCH SPONSOR

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

UP THE EAGLES Hello and welcome back to our next match here at Pershall Park and Issue 2 of our NEW digital matchday supplement.

How good did it feel to get league football back here on Tuesday night just gone and to top the night off come away with the 3 points as well against a very good Brocton FC side.

Today we extend the welcome to Stockport Town and their new manager Matt Jansen who for those that recall Matt he played for Blackburn Rovers between 1999-2006 after a 4.1 million pound move.

Welcome to all of Stockport Town's club officials, supporters, players, and management and hope that you have an enjoyable afternoon with us here in Staffordshire

The Dugout View Good Afternoon, A very warm welcome to Pershall Park, and yes the games our coming thick and fast, with both a Saturday and a mid week fixture throughout the month of August, this equates to three games, Saturday, Tuesday and Saturday, plus a training session on a Thursday. Throw into the mix personal family life, work schedules, injury and rehab issues, holidays and of course our friend the pandemic and it is clear and obvious that a reliable and healthy numeric squad is essential to compete at this level.

So far as management team we cannot have any complaints from our squad who have shown a fantastic standard, both from their commitment and communication, and this really helps us to monitor our players performance levels, availability and matchday squad.

Tuesday nights game with Brocton was a big lift for the squad, three points, coming from behind on two occasions, playing well and the noise from the dressing room after the game shows the togetherness of the group, Today our visitors Stockport Town will provide a different challenge, and we will need to adapt our game to this challenge more quickly than we have done in our opening two games, something we talked over with the squad on Thursday night at our session.

Our matchday sponsors today are Ken Jervis Kia and we thank you for the support you have given to us, we hope that you enjoy the game!!

It was great to see a healthy crowd too on Tuesday night, your support means so much to clubs like ours……. the players really appreciate it too…….it makes such a big difference, and I would like to thank you all for your continued support.

Enjoy the Game.

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

MICHAEL WINCOTT PHOTOGRAPHY www.michaelwincottphotography.com

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 Stockport Town Stockport Town Football Club began life back in February 2014 and developed a first-team squad in preparation for the 2014/15 season.

The club, lead by manager, Calum Sykes, proceeded through a campaign of friendly fixtures and the club's first ever noncompetitive match came against Stalybridge Celtic on 12th July 2014, and despite losing 5-0 at Stockport Sports Village, the club had begun its journey.

In July 2021 Stockport Town Football Club who is owned solely by Pro Football Academy was purchased by Mark Stott, Matt Jansen was appointed Manager and amongst others, ex Stockport County legend Paul Turnbull was recruited as Player/Coach on a 2-year contract

2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

Division One - 4th (Defeated in Playoffs) Division One - 10th Division One - 10th - Cheshire Senior Cup (Runners-Up) Division One - 10th Division One - 11th (Season cut short due to COVID-19) Division One - 4th (Season cut short due to COVID-19)

t r o p e R 's n a m r i a The Ch We have all gone along way since I became Chairman of Eccleshall Football Club, and 2019-20 period particularly challenging due to the COVID restrictions and lockdown, but we as a club have stayed positive throughout.

I would especially like to take this opportunity to thank the committee members, volunteers and all who have helped at Pershall Park for their dedication and tireless hard work.

Throughout the lockdown we have been extremely pro-active in applying for grants to sustain our club financially and to improve our beautiful ground. I am happy to say that the new dug outs and stand look amazing, plus we have improved facilities for our disabled visitors. We have also electronic payment facilities for the bar cafe and gate.

I would like to thank the senior management and wish them well in going forward for the season.

The manager Dave Dale has worked hard to recruit new players and to retain players already at the club, I am impressed with the performance from the squad with the pre season friendlies that have been played and am confident they will achieve good results in the league.

I will continue to work on projects to develop the facilities at Pershall Park to secure the clubs long term future.

I would also like to wish Eccleshall juniors continued success, well done lads for your achievements this season, you have all worked very hard.

May I take this opportunity in welcoming friends look old and new to our lovely friendly ground, and wish everyone a safe, happy and fulfilling season.

Neil Washington

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The club had its annual Ground Grading assessment on Monday. North West Counties League Ground Grading Chairman, Geoff Wilkinson, and League Secretary, John Deal, visited Pershall Park to inspect all our facilities to ensure they met the requirements.

Other than a couple of minor points which can easily be put right, we got a clean bill of health. While here, John Deal took the opportunity to present our Chairman Neil Washington with the League Respect Award plaque for the clubhouse which we won for the period January-March back in the 2019/20 season. Due to the Covid situation and lockdowns, we never received it back then but the monetary award had been forwarded to us. After every game, clubs are required to complete a Respect questionnaire which covers such items as confirmation of fixtures, club hospitality, dugout and player behaviour and condition of changing rooms by the away team after a match, among others. This was the second such award won by our club since it was introduced and it sets the standard for us to follow in the future.

BITS & PIECES

As you will have seen from our first home match against Brocton on Tuesday, the club have taken the decision this season to no longer produce a hard copy match day programme, opting instead to now have a free online one. The code to access the programme via our website was available at both entrances as well as in the clubhouse and at the tea bar.

We had found that, in previous seasons, we were left with a number of unsold copies after each match and it was felt to be financially unviable for the club to continue with it. Our new Media Officer, Shaun Rogers, who has also become the programme editor is responsible for the design and production. We hope you were impressed by both the style and the content. Unfortunately, football groundhoppers who travel the length and breadth of the country visiting non-league grounds are less enthusiastic and prefer the traditional programme to take away as a souvenir of their visit. There were a couple of groundhoppers at our match on Tuesday. It is interesting to note that Shaun was able to monitor the number of people who looked at the programme. It was viewed 223 times last night, including by someone as far away as Australia! Clearly, our sponsors and advertisers will benefit from the wider coverage.

Did you see the interview on Facebook with three of our young junior players who were taking part in the recent UK International Cup at St George’s Park?

They came across as very level headed and represented our club very well indeed. For such a young age, they were not fazed at all by the microphone or camera. I am led to believe that they went out of the competition on penalties at the quarter final stage but the club should be proud of them.

LAST TIME OUT

3-2

After Saturday’s opening day defeat at Rocester, the Eagles were quickly back in action with another local derby against league newcomers Brocton. In front of a healthy crowd, they were looking to bounce back and make amends.

They got off to the worst possible start, going behind after two minutes when Brad Rolston hit a deep cross into the box which evaded Eagles ‘keeper Zak Noble and went in at the back post. Stung by this, Eccleshall came back and Brocton keeper Josh Moreton had to make a couple of saves in quick succession. Soon later, skipper Harvey Collins hit the bar with a header. Then Noble had to make a save from a twenty yards effort by Jack Weldon.

Jack Dundas equalised on 16 minutes when, after a long ball from Jordan Benton had found Liam Tomlin, his cross was met by Dundas to fire home. Minutes later, Brocton were back in front when Dan Evans curled his shot into the bottom corner past Noble. Then, a Jake Thomas effort hit the top of the bar. Back came Eccleshall and, on 33 minutes, they equalised again. A pin-point free kick into the box by Dundas was powerfully headed home

by Peter Murphy, giving Moreton no chance. On 38 minutes, Eagles took the lead when a free kick was cleared by the Brocton defence only to find Tomlin and his screamer volley flew past Moreton. With half time approaching after a breathless first half, a through ball found Louis Downs who went clear. Moreton came out towards the edge of his box but then hesitated and the resultant lob went over the keeper but also cleared the bar.

HT: Eccleshall 3 Brocton 2

After the all-action first half, the game settled down with play going end to end and the defences tighter. Brocton were pushing for an equaliser, but Eccleshall broke with Dundas, Jack Flanaghan and Kas Azam combining but the attack was cleared. Dundas then drilled an effort over the bar when laying the ball to Benton may have been the better option. At the other end, Jake Thomas hit the bar whilst Noble could only watch. Dave Dale brought on Joel Mills, Andy Dodd and Jordan Hall during the half, with Dodd looking strong and, as time ticked away, Thomas had a last-ditch chance but the ball went wide of the post.

FT: Eccleshall 3 Brocton 2

Eagles: Noble, Collins, Dunn, Murphy (Mills), Langdridge, Flanaghan (Dodd), Tomlin, Benton, Dundas, Azam (Hall), Downs Unused subs: Riley, Lovatt.

Tables correct as at Tuesday 3rd August 2021

Wythenshawe Amateurs v FC Isle of Man Abbey Hulton United v Barnton Alsager Town v Maine Road Brocton v Cammell Laird 1907 Cheadle Heath Nomads v Abbey Hey Eccleshall v Stockport Town Ellesmere Rangers v Sandbach United Rocester v Cheadle Town St Martins v Stafford Town

NEXT UP ///master.unites.education

Saturday 21st August Cammell Laird 1907 Kickoff 3pm

ROAD TRIP ///conspire.wake.wicked

Saturday 14th August Sandbach United Kickoff 3pm

Zak Noble Liam Tomlin Lewis Dunn Samir Azam Jake Langdridge Harvey Collins Luke Lewis Jordan Benton Jack Dundas Jack Flanaghan Louis Downs Thomas Riley Jay Lovatt Peter Murphy Jordan Hall Thomas Wakefield

Josh Schofield Ted Bentham Scott Holding Jamie Wrench Paul Turnbull Matthew Grimshaw Raeece Ellington Harold Essien Max Greenhalgh Mike Elstone Max Dickov Tom Beckett Leighton Egan Kai Johnston Josh Edwards Bader Al-Akkad Jamie Walsh Matt Jansen

Manager : Dave Dale Coach : Jake Robinson

Manager : Matt Jansen Assistant : Mike Jeffries

Today's Match Officials Ref: DANIEL PARKES Asst A: EWAN PATRICK | Asst B: ADAM HALL