Manchester Football League – Premier Division Saturday 17th September 2011
Today’s Teams West Didsbury & Chorlton
Wythenshawe Ams
Ben Simpson Luke Lundy Neil Logan Scott Jones Dave Conlon (Capt) Dave Kilbride Callum Jones Danny Summers Paul Lewis Tommy Walsh Matt Eckersley Lee Hendley Tom Waring Gavin Lee Ellison Stephen Madden Ashley Farlow Andy Levendis
Martin Blain Chris Yates Dean Gibson Rob Kempton Jon Rand (Capt) Danny Appleby Dean Preston Craig Fluery Adam Tubb Peter Sidebottom Pat O’Brien Mike Turner Daniel Fradley Stewart White Stephen Smith Kaleem Ahmed Rob Parsonage Joe Power Alex Shirley Paul Albes
Manager: Andy Nelson
Manager: Matthew Quigley
Assistant: Dave Conlon
Assistant: Warwick Jackson
NEXT HOME GAME
WEST v Heywood St James th
Tuesday 27 September 2011 – Kick-off: 7.00pm
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
EDITORIAL
Wythenshawe Amateurs
What a difference a win makes! We mentioned the crammed August fixture schedule in last week’s issue and how we were glad to be back to the more regular Saturday fixtures aiming to improve our league position and a good 3-0 home victory over Prestwich Heys has helped move us up the table. After having 4 away games in our opening 6 fixtures of the season we were rather disappointed not to have gained another few points, but the victory and quality of our recent performance in the away win against Old Alts and the great home performance last Saturday sets things up nicely for today. We welcome the players and officials of Wythenshawe Amateurs to Brookburn Road for the first time for what will be another interesting test of our consistency and concentration. Wythenshawe have a long and distinguished club history and Wikipedia highlights their most famous moment in the 1950’s when they drew 2-2 with Manchester United. They opened the season in fine style with a cracking 4-0 away win at Springhead, since when they have played 4 of the current top 5 as the table stand at present. Hard earned home points were gained against AVRO and Walshaw, before a narrow defeat 2-1 against Royton Town and home and away reverse against East Manchester and a good away win at Dukinfield Town. So far that’s 8 points from the first seven games so they will be all out today to close the 4 point gap with WEST. The Premier Division is already appearing to be a very open contest this season with only 6 points separating the top 7 teams. Hindsford are the early front runners and only undefeated team with 18 points from 8 games but having already dropped 6 points from 3 draws. AVRO lie second with 17 points from 8 followed by East Manchester and Royton Town both on 16 points from 8 games. Then it is Walshaw with 14 points from 7, Old Alts th with 13 points from 8 and WEST lie 7 with 12 points from 7. Hopefully we can now consolidate our league position and put together a consistent run of results to stay in contention at the top end of the table. Next week is another first for the club with our debut in the Carlsberg FA Vase competition as we travel to Wallasey to take on Ashville FC, who currently lead the West Lancashire League Premier Division. There are some places left in the coach going to the game so if you want to travel with the squad then please let Richard Waring or myself know ASAP. We leave around 12 noon for a 3pm kick off. Finally it is CONGRATULATIONS to Tommy Walsh on his call up to join the Manchester League invitation squad after impressing manager Rob Brown during the recent home game against Gregorians. Tommy has given us 100% week in week out since he joined the club and it is nice to see his industry rewarded in this way. The Inter League game is st Wed 21 Sept at Trafford FC at 7.30pm so why not give the team and Tommy your support. In the meantime we trust you witness another quality game at the Recreation Ground today. ENJOY TODAY’S GAME.
Rob Turley
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
FROM THE DUG OUT Last week Andy talked about the importance or reacting positively to adversity when I referred to our coming back from being behind to beat last year’s Champions GREGORIANS 2-1, and it was pleasing to see another good reaction to the disappointment of our 4-5 penalty shoot out reversal in the Lancashire Amateur Shield when we secured all 3 points against Prestwich Heys last Saturday with another encouraging 3-0 win. It is always nice to keep a clean sheet and Tommy Walsh’s brace last Saturday demonstrated why he has been selected for the Inter League team. We all want to congratulate Tommy on his selection which is an honour both for him, the squad and the club. League manager Rob Brown has a huge pool of players to pick from so to make the squad is a significant achievement.
FA CARLSBERG VASE 2011-2012 – Sat 24 September We are delighted to have been accepted into the FA Carlsberg Vase competition for the first time in the club’s 103 year history, we have not been drawn in the first round, but and have been drawn away against Ashville FC from Wallasey from the West Cheshire League in the FA Vase 2nd qualifying round to be played on Saturday 24th September. This promises to be a challenging game as Ashville won Division 1 of the West Cheshire League last season to gain promotion and secured a very impressive 66 points out of a possible 78 points, losing only twice in the league last season.
Andy Nelson
They also won the Cheshire Amateur Cup defeating our friends at Old Alts from the Manchester League 2-1 in the final of that competition.
Well Done…
This is the first time we have competed in a national competition and is another sign of our progress. The full draw is on www.TheFA.com and the winners of our tie face a trip to Formby or Chadderton or Alsager in the First Round Proper.
Tommy in action during a recent game (right)… And with Ben (below) showing their trophies after the end of year presentations
The Carlsberg FA Vase replaced the former FA Amateur Cup competition some years ago and is open to clubs from Steps 5, 6 and 7 of the National League System with facilities of the appropriate standard. Our predecessors and previous owners, East Chorlton FC, played in the FA Amateur Cup for several seasons over 30 years ago between 1974-75 and 1979-80 and during that period 3 home ties were played here against Prescott, Kidsgrove and Stork FC. East Chorlton FC’s full record in the FA Amateur Cup during that period was as follows: 1974-75 v Liversedge [A] 0-1 1975-76 v Northern Nomads [A] 3-2, v Little Lever [A] 3-5 1976-77 v Prescot [H] 1-5 1977-78 v Wooley Miners Welfare [A] 2-1, v Warrington Town [A] 0-2 1978-79 v Kidsgrove [H] 1-3
1979-80 v Stork [H] 0-3 Our thanks to Mike Fryer for providing photographs to the club: www.mikefryer.com
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
First Team - Fixtures and Results Date Opponent AUGUST Rochdale Sacred Heart Sat 6 Prestwich Heys Sat 13 Walshaw Sports Wed 17 Manchester Gregorians Sat 20 AVRO Tues 23 Springhead Sat 27 Old Alts Wed 31 SEPTEMBER
H/A
Comp
Result
H A A H H A A
Cup L L L L L L
7–2 3–0 0–5 2–1 0–5 1–3 2–1
Wyre Villa
A
LFA Cup
Prestwich Heys Sat 10 Wythenshawe Amateurs Sat 17 Ashville FC Sat 24 Heywood St James Tues 27 OCTOBER Manchester Gregorians Sat 1 Stockport Georgians Sat 8 AFC Bury Sat 15 Old Alts Sat 22 Hindsford Sat 29 NOVEMBER Dukinfield Town Sat 5 Stockport Georgians Sat 12 East Manchester Sat 19 Wythenshawe Amateurs Sat 26 DECEMBER AFC Monton Sat 3 Royton Town Sat 10 Springhead Sat 17 2012 JANUARY AVRO Sat 7 Walshaw Sports Sat 14 East Manchester Sat 21 FEBRUARY Hindsford Sat 4 Royton Town Sat 11 AFC Monton Sat 18 Dukinfield Town Sat 25 MARCH AFC Bury Sat 3
H H A H
L L FA Vase L
A H H H H
L L L L L
A TBC A A
L L L L
H A H
L L L
A H H
L L L
A H A H
L L L L
A
L
Sat 3
2–2 (4-5 pens)
3-0
Please check the club website weekly at www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com and www.manchester-league.co.uk as fixtures will change.
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
Manchester League – Premier Division 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Hindsford AVRO East Manchester Royton Town Walshaw Sports Old Alts West Didsbury & Chorlton Stockport Georgians Springhead Manchester Gregorians AFC Monton Wythenshawe Ams Dukinfield Town AFC Bury Prestwich Heys Heywood St James
P 8 8 8 8 7 8 7 8 7 7 7 7 8 7 7 8
W 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 0 1 0
D 3 2 1 1 2 1 0 2 1 0 3 2 0 4 1 1
L 0 1 2 2 1 3 3 3 3 4 2 3 6 3 5 7
GD PTS 12 18 17 17 10 16 6 16 9 14 -2 13 -4 12 -1 11 0 10 2 9 1 9 -1 8 -6 6 -7 4 -18 4 -18 1
Walshaw Res Wythenshawe Ams Res AVRO Res Old Alts Reserves AFC Monton Res Stockport G Res Manchester Gregorians Res Dukinfied Town Res Prestwich Heys Res Rochdale SH Res Leigh Ath Res West Didsbury & Chorlton Res E Manchester Res Elton Vale Res
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
P 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5
W 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 0
Originally founded as Wythenshawe lads Club in 1946, Wythenshawe A.F.C. was established 4 years later to provide football for all ages. To this day, the club has provided football at all levels to juniors and seniors alike. st
Wythenshawe A.F.C. senior 1 team has a long and proud history, winning over 44 competitive trophies; the club takes prides by bringing team players through the ranks from an early age right up to senior level. Wythenshawe A.F.C. junior section currently have 18 teams aged 7 to 16, both boys and girls, each and every season we provide players for the inter league teams and have regular trophy winning teams Affiliated to the Lancashire FA and based in South Manchester they have now set their sight on building and developing much needed facilities on their newly acquired Hollyhedge Park site. The Ammies have long been a leading light in the Manchester League with a hat –trick of Premier Division titles to their name as well as half a dozen successes in the Gilchryst Cup.
Manchester League – Division 2 (Reserves) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Our Visitors Wythenshawe Amateurs
D 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 2 1 1 0 0 1
L 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 2 4 4 5 5 4
GD 13 11 6 5 4 -1 1 2 4 -7 -11 -7 -12 -8
PTS 15 13 13 12 12 11 10 9 8 4 4 3 3 1
They were first crowned Premier Champions in the 1989/90 season followed by further successes in 1992-93 and again a decade later in the 2002-03 season. Their Gilchryst Cup record saw them lift the trophy for the first time in season 1985-86, retain it in 1986-87 and complete the hat trick a couple of years later in the 1989-90 season. It has since been won by the Amateurs’ on a further 3 occasions in 1998 - 99, 200-01 and 2008-09. All in all an impressive record of honours demonstrating that the reference to their long and distinguished record spans the last 30 years in Manchester League competitions.
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
OUR SPONSORS
OUR SPONSORS
We would like to express our sincere thanks to our current sponsors for their support. Without you we wouldn’t be where we are today.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to our current sponsors for their support. Without you we wouldn’t be where we are today.
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
Vets and Vets B West seal a second win of the season in the Premier Division… A battling one-nil win thanks to a cracking effort from Kinney inside the last few minutes, somehow lifting it over Grappenhall Sports 6'6" keeper from well over 30 yards for an early GoTS contender. We probably couldn't have complained about getting only a point from this, having been second best for most of the first half. Grappenhall’s 3-5-2 formation caused a few problems although as the half went on we matched them up in the middle and our superior fitness and attacking prowess started to come through, we hit the bar and had the odd thrash around their box, they hit our post and generally created a lot more than us, so it was a relief to get through the half on level terms, thanks to a very solid performance from Andy and the back line in general. We were much stronger in the second half, although they were never out of it and the back-5 continued to hold out well. We had most of the possession but struggled to make in-roads. There was some pin-ball stuff in their box from a few corners and we came close with a header from a quick-thinking cross but this could have easily ended in any result until Kinney put things straight late on. Sam Hickey
Cheshire Veterans League – Premier Division 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
West Didsbury & Chorlton Flint Town Cheadle Star Old Boys Sale Town Bedians Bollington Grappenhall Sports Hursts
P
W
D
L
GD
PTS
2 2 2 2 0 1 1 2
2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 0 1 1 2
6 2 2 0 0 -1 -1 -8
6 6 3 3 0 0 0 0
P
W
D
L
GD
PTS
2 1 2 1 1 1 2
2 1 1 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 1 1 2
4 9 1 1 -2 -3 -10
6 3 3 3 0 0 0
Cheshire Veterans League – Division 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Grappenhall Sports B Moore United MCYA Barnstoneworth United West Didsbury & Chorlton B Burtonwood Albion Old Boys Stepping Hill Presidents XI
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
CLUB NEWS, DEVELOPMENT and FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Reserve Team …the season so far
This is the first of a regular feature to keep you up to date with what is happening off the field.
West Reserves started their league campaign against last year's league champions Stockport Georgians and they immediately received a reminder of how tough this division will be when they found themselves 2-0 down within the first 10 minutes. To West's credit the team didn't crumble and they fought back to lead 3-2 with Bobby Ashcroft bagging 2 goals, however, another defensive lapse just before half time meant that the scores were even at the break. The intensity of play by both teams seemed to drop in the 2nd half but it was Stockport Georgians who grabbed the win with a goal 10 minutes before the end when their striker smashed a low shot into the bottom corner. Although West could count themselves unlucky not to gain at least a point there was a lot of positives to take from the game.
FURTHER GROUND IMPROVEMENTS will continue through the autumn and into next spring as we have acquired additional land to extend the margins around the main pitch. In the autumn we also hope to start preliminary work on the former playing fields adjoining the club. This will provide NEW GRASS PITCHES which will be used by the A team, veterans and youth teams and our partner junior club at Oswald Road. This will reduce the usage and wear and tear of the main pitch at Brookburn Road which from next season will st be used for 1 team and reserves games only. COMMUNITY CLUB discussions with Oswald Road resume in September with the intention of the new club being in place for the start of the 2012-13 season. We are making good progress on this through our sub group representatives Glyn Meacher, Rob Madden and Davy Iredale and will keep you posted with further news throughout the season. AGM NEWS and new COMMITTEE MEMBERS – We mentioned the need for some new blood to strengthen the club Committee at the AGM in July and we are delighted to report that Steve Eckersley, Ben Simpson and Danny Summers have all offered to assist. The new trio was unanimously co-opted onto the Committee. All this is part of a long term plan to ensure a sustainable future for the clubs but it means some energy has to be put into fundraising events during the next few months.
Our next match was a midweek fixture at home against Wythenshawe Amateurs who were promoted with West last year. Despite a 3-0 win against Wythenshawe Amateurs in preseason, West knew they would be in for a tough game. A promising display in the first half meant that West went in at half time 1-0 but again the team's performance levels dipped in the 2nd half and West eventually lost 3-2 conceding a bizarre goal in the last kick of the game. West's next fixture at home was to Rochdale Sacred Hearts. Within the first 20 minutes West raced into a 3-0 lead with goals from Scott Kinsella, Nathan Wakelam and Steve Madden, West never really managed to reach the level of play displayed in the first 30 minutes and only one more goal was scored by Jordan Casey in the second half.
There are 2 main events – the SPORTSMANS EVENING on Thurs 13 October and the COMMUNITY BONFIRE NIGHT on 5th November.
Next up was Old Alts and a defeat 0-1, this was the fourth time this season the reserves have slipped to an odd goal defeat, however, Walshaw changed that last Saturday, giving us a good hiding to run out 7 – 0 winners.
SPORTSMANS EVENING – The full page advertisement has all the details and make it a priority to attend. We want each team squad to take at least one table so put the date in your diary, take a few flyers from the clubhouse and invite your friends also.
Fixtures and Results
th
th
COMMUNITY BONFIRE NIGHT – This not surprisingly will be on Saturday 5 November commencing from 6.30pm when the bonfire is lit. We need volunteers to assist with stewarding as in the past few years this event has attracted crowds of about 500 adults and children which means the club needs 10-15 people in addition to the Committee helpers. CLUBHOUSE IMPROVEMENTS – Following your suggestions a new flat screen TV was installed at the end of July and we will now be screening live Premiership games after our Saturday home games. This has involved considerable ‘investment’ in new equipment and subscriptions for ESPN and Sky Sports 1 and 2. With increased running costs and membership subscriptions at the same low level the additional funds we need must come through the clubhouse and other events…SO… PLEASE SUPPORT all these initiatives at your club as we all have a stake in its success!
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
Date AUGUST Sat 20 Thurs 25 Sat 27 SEPTEMBER Thurs 1 Sat 3 Sat 10 Sat 17 Sat 24
Opponent
H/A
Comp
Result
Stockport Gregorians Res Wythenshawe Amateurs Res Rochdale Sacred Heart Res
A H H
L L L
3–4 2–3 4–0
Old Alts Res AVRO Res Walshaw Sports Res East Manchester Res Old Alts Res
H H A A A
L L L L L
2–3 0–1 0-7
Please check the club website weekly at www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com and www.manchester-league.co.uk as fixtures can change.
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
TOWARDS 2012‌ DELIVERING OUR VISION and REALISING OUR POTENTIAL Five years ago in 2006 we reaffirmed our VISION for the club to continue to develop and aim to play at the highest possible level and announced our plans to move from the Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League to join the Manchester Football League and aim for Step 7 status in the National League System. Since then, year on year, we have put in place significant management and coaching capacity for the first and reserve teams and further improved our facilities. We anticipated the move to the MFL would mean playing away at a number of better facilities of comparable standard to our home ground at Brookburn Road and we also made enquiries about moving to the next level, the North West Counties Football League, about two years ago. The current position is that the Manchester League have written to us some months back to confirm that they would support such a move when we were in the Step 7 Premier Division. In recent months all the member clubs have recently been advised by the MFL that the FA have suspended its Step 7 status this season as the majority of the Premier Division grounds do not meet the necessary FA grading criteria. Fortunately this does not apply to our facilities at Brookburn Road where in the past 2 years we have invested heavily in improving our changing rooms, providing a new medical room and dedicated separate changing rooms for male and female referees, all designed to ensure we would comply with the relevant FA and NWCFL ground grading requirements.
All of these initiatives are part of the outworking of our Vision and we will be continuing to work towards membership of the NWCFL for next season 2012-2013. This will mean making an application for membership of that league later this year and awaiting a further grading inspection visit by officials of that league. All being well our application will then go forward to the member clubs for a decision at the Counties AGM next June. Whilst all of this may seem a long way off we are planning a series of further and hopefully final improvements to the ground including new dug outs and a new entrance gateway and turnstile. This all puts additional pressure on our finances which is why we have 2 major fundraisers in October and November, details of which you will find elsewhere in this programme. Please support these events and if you are aware of any other potential sponsors interested in supporting the club then please pass their details to John Churchman or myself. We are indeed fortunate to have so many sponsors who have supported us in recent years and who continue to do so this season. Finally we are encouraged by the recent increased numbers watching our home games in July and August and this is something we want to develop and build so that we have a core support base in Chorlton and the wider area. The plans to join forces with local Chorlton junior club Oswald Road are another key part of the jigsaw so that together we become recognised as a first choice FA Charter Standard Community Club in this area of Manchester and work together to establish a thriving and viable grass roots club providing football from boys and girls through youth, adult and veterans age groups with a strong first team maintaining excellence and attracting people to come and watch.
Then, in the close season, with the help of the Football Foundation and Football Association we completed installation of our new floodlights. This season we are also competing in the FA Vase competition for the first time with a challenging game in Wallasey in a couple of weeks time.
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
This has been part of a Vision formulated in 2003 and although it has taken years of steady progress and the overcoming of several obstacles on and off the field it is now within our grasp as a reality.
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC