AFC CREWE PROGRAMME. ISSUE 6. 2023.10.14

AFC CREWE

OFFICIAL

MATCHDAY

PROGRAMME

SATURDAY 14TH OCTOBER | 14:00

MENS | vs BRERETON SOCIAL RESERVES

SUNDAY 15TH OCTOBER | 14:00

WOMENS |

vs EGERTON WOMENS

Feel lost in the crowd?

Remember CALM is always on your side.

Let’s #TackleItTogether

CO-CHAIR COMMS LIAM BOND & GARETH JONES Co-chairmen, Liam Bond & Gareth Jones, seemingly never without a beer in hand, give us a few words on all the goings on in the Nufan community in the last couple of weeks...

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.....ur last home game was special for everyone attached to AFC Crewe, with our family day being a huge triumph! It was amazing seeing new and old AFC Crewe fans come together to cheer us on to a great victory in front of a record attendance of 194.

We've now set the benchmark, and we now know as a club that this has to become the norm at Wood Park and in Holmes Chapel in the next year or two. Hopefully, that begins with locals coming back to cheer the men on against Brereton at Wood Park today, in what promises to be a really tricky game for the men.

It's a big weekend for both of sides, of course, with our women's team debuting in the Cheshire Cup against Egerton Women at Holmes Chapel.

I know it's a big ask for fans and board members to give up Saturday and Sunday to support both teams in person but, if you can, this weekend is a great weekend to do so. I really think we have two great fixtures on our hands!

Here's hoping that by the final whistle on Sunday we're celebrating two victories in two days! LB

I

t's an exciting weekend for the club with 2 home games. The Men’s team look to build on an impressive win, and more impressive local support, to go and show themselves, once again, that they are contender’s in this title race.

The Women's team are out of league action and have a game in the Cheshire Women's Cup, looking to bounce back from a frustrating loss. There were lots of positives to take from a heavily changed side, though. Regular followers of the team will spot a few recognisable names coming back to the squad as we look to name a balanced team, despite some players picking up knocks against Stockport County.

We send our thoughts to winger Daisy Mifflin, who will be a big loss to the team having suffered a knee injury. We hope it doesn't keep Daisy away from the game for too long and will be thinking of her in today's game.

Edgerton are unbeaten in the Cheshire Championship and are a really good test for us. Hoping for a good game as ever, but an AFC Crewe cup run would be fantastic.

Best of luck to both teams. GJ

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R E C L A I M T H E G A M E 4

MANAGER’S NOTES GARY TAYLOR-FLETCHER

H aving a weekend off doesn’t happen very often in football and it was one which we didn’t really need, or want, as we have been on a good run and the momentum built was excellent. Although, in the last game, we had a few injuries, so we have used this time to rest and give us superb options moving forward.

We have added to the squad again, and the quality and competition for a shirt is very strong and will mean no one is guaranteed a spot in the starting 11.

Moving forward, we play a team who have had good results and are up towards the top 6 in the league, so we need to have the right energy and mentality about us from the start. We as a group know what we can achieve and what we need to do to meet our own personal goals.

It is something which I will strive for to get our rewards come the end of the season.

Enjoy the game. GTF

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MEN'S MATCH REPORT | STAFFS COUNTY SENIOR LEAGUE | SATURDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER

AFC CREWE

ROSS AVIES AIDEN BROWN

HUNAIN RAOOF MICHAEL BLUNDELL

WARSTONES WANDERERS

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MATCH STATS 4 24 9 17 0 0 64

GOALS SHOTS ON TARGET CORNERS FOULS YELLOW CARDS RED CARDS POSSESSION %

0 15 4 11 1 0 36

AFC CREWE LINE UP 13 4 3 5 17 8 14 10 7 11 9

CHARLIE BURGESS KYLE WOOLRICH OLIVER BYRNE SAM MARSH DEC COLCLOUGH CHRIS HOLT AARON TARPEY AIDEN BROWN AARON MCGRATH ROSS AVIES HUNAIN RAOOF SUBSTITUTES 2 STELVIO DA SILVA 12 MICHAEL BLUNDELL 16 JUSTIN MANINI 21 KENYATTA MWALITETA 22 OLLY WILSON

As we hosted our first ever Community Day at Wood Park, the pressure was on the team to not only keep pace with the league leaders, but to put on a real show for what was due to be our largest attendance to date.

Thankfully, AFC Crewe really turned it on in front of 194 fans! We came out of the traps really quickly, with Aiden Brown firing a couple of efforts over in the first couple of minutes, before Charlie Burgess, who had to be switched on moments later, making a wonderful point blank save after a deflection from Kyle Woolrich.

AFC kicked on from this, with Ross Avies’ taking his turn to test his shooting boots with a effort pulled wide and another decent strike turned away by the keeper.

Twelve minutes in and AFC have their first goal. Again, Burgess was called into action as some scrappy defending from a Warstones’ free kick had CB scrambling across goal, delivering a great block with his legs.

The ball was eventually cleared and Hunain Raoof’s powerful run, then tame effort, was knocked in to the path of the league’s top scorer, Avies, who wasn’t missing from 18 yards out. 1-0.

It was end to end from then on, with a few opportunities for either side, and the best falling to Warstones’ who, after being unable to beat the approaching CB at the first time of asking, turned him a second time only to see his effort cleared by the onrushing defenders. They were made to pay for this miss shortly after as AFC went up the other end, won a corner, which was easily knocked in by Raoof at the front post. 2-0.

The game followed the same pattern of play until half time, with AFC not taking their chances when they came, and Warstones’ knocking the ball around really well without creating too many chances of their own, bar one effort that was dragged just wide after some good work. The most notable moment in that final fifteen minutes was Sam Marsh catching an accidental elbow to the head to enter his Terry Butcher era. Put in some performance after this knock, too!

On to the second half, with fans refueled with pies and pints, the game played out just as it had in the first 45, with efforts either side of Woolrich taking a naughty high foot to the gut around 50 minutes, leading to the games first, and only, booking. Warstones’ once again failed to pull a goal back with their efforts, so up burst AFC to the other end to add to the score-line instead. A long punt up field from CB wasn’t dealt with by the defence, so in steps Raoof, who brings it down to then find Aiden Brown in space on the edge of the box, and after being forced wide slightly, ever-so-delicately dinks the keeper to make it 30.

From this point on, AFC really started to dominate and had plenty of chances to add to the tally. Chris Holt stung the keepers gloves, Avies flicked a corner wide, Raoof forced a decent save when he probably should have slotted, and a deflected effort from outside the box from Olly Wilson were the pick of the bunch. But it all started to feel somewhat inevitable that the next goal would come courtesy of one man...

In a match that not a single person dubbed “The Return of the Mouse Mike”, AFC’s cult hero and all time leading goal scorer, Michael Blundell, introduced to his adoring fans at half time, made it 4-0 with three minutes of normal time remaining, with a cute finish past the keepers right.

Never in doubt was it, was it?

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A second win on the bounce on what was a magnificent occasion for the club. Bringing together so many board members and locals, families and a (soon-to-be) mayor, was just what this project needed to spread the word and build the club’s profile in the local community. Here’s to the rest of the season and those fans, new and old, who come to watch the mighty AFC Crewe.

CAPTAIN'S NOTES C H R I S

H O L T

T

he lad’s are really looking forward to getting back on the pitch after a week off. Everyone's hoping to kick on after a good result on media day.

Every game is a 6 pointer now, as there's teams with games in hand on us and us on them. We’ve trained well and worked on stuff for the weekend.

We know when we play our game there isn't many teams that will cope with us. Hoping to get another 3pts on the board to get the momentum and keep us up at the top end of the table! CH

CLUB NEWS NEW SIGNINGS & SOME INJURY NEWS Following Mike Blundell’s comeback last weekend, fellow Crewe FC and ex-AFC Crewe midfielder Deon Chesters returns to us looking to pick up where he left off last season. For those of you who didn’t see him, in Deon we’ve got ourselves a brilliant, energetic box-to-box centre midfielder, adding competition to the squad.

Another player returning to AFC Crewe is Blake Stubbs. Again, a big part of the squad last season that won the league, Blake brings real grit and work rate to our central midfield, whilst further adding depth to an area that we struggled to fill earlier in the season.

Further new signing’s this week sees one of GTF’s former players’, Jacob Farleigh, join the club from Bangor City FC. Jacob is a dynamic player who comes highly rated by the manager, having previously had spells at TNS in Wales and Whitchurch in England, and can play in multiple positions to add further versatility and quality to the team.

Finally, signing number four is left back Jordan Long. Formally of Nantwich Town and Alsager Town, Jordan is a strong, left footed player who is good on the ball with bags of energy and a combative nature. He will add cover and competition to the left back position, especially with Declan Colclough potentially picking up a bad injury against Warstones’ two weeks ago.

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Blake and Jordan go straight in to today’s matchday squad.

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G E T T O K N O W O L L Y W I L S O N Up next in the player ‘get to know’ series is Olly Wilson, a player who came through the AFC Crewe ranks (if we can say that), having been part of the 22 Reserve’s during last season’s Crewe & District League.

Who Olly Wilson Age 22 Born Stafford Position Mainly CM, with stints at CB, FB and GK. Pretty much everywhere Previous Clubs… Eccleshall Under 18's. Brocton Under 18's. Stafford Town. AFC Crewe 22 (Reserves) Earliest Football Memory… Must be playing football in the pouring down rain when I was 4/5 at a summer football camp Team(s) I Support… West Ham. And before I player football on Saturday’s, I used to watch my local non-league team, Stafford Rangers, home and away since I was a kid Player That Made You Fall In Love With Football… Weird one, but Clint Dempsey. I loved his style Favourite Current Player… Lucas Paquetá

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Best Moment of Your Career So Far… Got a few, but it’s probably got to be having my first team debut for Stafford Town, playing Congleton in the Cup a few seasons ago

Stadium I‘d Love To Play & Score In? Personally, it would be Marston Road (home of Stafford Rangers), but big stadium’s I would say Old Trafford Toughest Opponent Training… Ross or Declan

in

Most Annoying Teammate… Stelvio (off the hook this week Holty) Person Who Has Had The Most Influence On Your Career…

Tough one... Either Harry Farmer, manager of Stafford Rangers Under 21's, for giving me a lot of chances, or manager of AFC Crewe 22, Andy Baker, for really helping me get into this team and the support he still gives me Best Piece of Advice I’ve Received…

The minimum you can do every game is be the hardest worker every game Other Sports I’m Good At… I was decent at Handball and played Futsal for Stafford County as a GK Something Not Many People Know About Me… I love going mountain running in pre-season and when I have time off Why AFC Crewe? I’ve always been a massive Football Manager player myself, so I knew about the club since the start and there really isn’t any other club like it. Thankfully, Andy got me into the club and now I’m enjoying every minute of it Ambitions This Season in Football… Personally, I want to try keep as many clean sheets as possible, but for the club it’s got to be trying to secure promotion And in the Future… Hopefully in the future we can get as many promotions as we can and try to work our way up the leagues

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MANAGER’S NOTES C H R I S

S T O K E S

S unday sees us return to action after last week’s league game with a first time entry in to the Cheshire County Cup.

It’s a big weekend in the club’s history and I’d love nothing more than to get back to winning ways but, as in any cup competition, there is always a chance for an upset.

This weekend we need to be on it, play our football and do what we do best.

Unfortunately, we have possibly lost Daisy Mifflin for the season. Daisy is a big loss on the pitch, but I’m sure she will be around for us and support the girls over the coming months.

We can finally welcome the club captain, Jen Jarvie, back in to the squad on Sunday, though, so fingers crossed that we can do what we have done plenty of times before now and win!

Enjoy. CS

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WOMEN'S MATCH REPORT | CHESHIRE WOMEN’S & YOUTH LEAGUE | SUNDAY 8TH OCTOBER

STOCKPORT COUNTY DEV AFC CREWE

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MATCH STATS 1 6 5 3 0 0 47

GOALS SHOTS ON TARGET CORNERS FOULS YELLOW CARDS RED CARDS POSSESSION %

0 16 5 5 0 0 53

AFC CREWE LINE UP 1 2 5 4 3 11 10 8 12 7 9

ISSY BRAND EMILY TRESIZE TIERRA BROOKES PIXI BOO NICKLASS-MOONEY IZZY MCGEE ANNA LINGHAM Our women’s team were back in action at the weekend, with the return fixture against KATIE KING Stockport County Development Ladies team. This is following our abandoned season opener back in September, where we took a 2-0 lead before a potential serious injury to a Stockport ELLIE PRICE player forced the game to finish at the 55 minute mark.

ELLIE RICHMOND There was an eagerness for the team to prove DAISY MIFFLIN themselves again, but we found ourselves short on TEHILLAH NDHLOVU numbers this week due to university commitments, as SUBSTITUTES well as a couple of players still waiting for international clearance from the FA. Not only that, it seems that we 1 ALICE ELMAN might have been underestimated first time around, 20 KATIE HOLDER which saw a few of their main squad players dropping down into their development side.

Stockport County edged us out 1-0 in the end, which absolutely didn’t reflect the game, as it was even and balanced throughout. Arguably, AFC creating more chances, but failed to nail the end product on a number of occasions. We we’re direct from the start, with Tehillah Ndhlovu tenacious as ever across the entire frontline, Katie King controlling the midfield, with the support of new signings Ellie Price (everywhere) and Anna Lingham (composed), both putting in impressive debut performances. Shout out to the two other defensive recruits Tierra Brookes and Izzy McGee, who were solid at the back alongside Pixi Boo Nicklass-Mooney and Emily Tresize.

Stockport did ask questions of our defense every now and then, and ultimately it was a defensive lapse and lack of communication between GK Issy Brand and Pixi at the back that let in their speedy No.9 to tap in from 6 yards and break the deadlock not long after the restart.

That didn’t interrupt our game, and heads stayed up, as we continued to create openings, with King hitting the bar midway through the second half in what was our best chance of the game.

Unfortunately, there was a sad footnote to the game as winger Daisy Mifflin picked up a serious knee injury following an innocuous looking challenge to win the ball back, which looks like it’s going to keep her out for the season.

The result is a minor set back for this team as they still get to know each other, and we know when we’re at full strength, with the new signings we’ve made, we’ll be a test for everyone we come up against this season in league and cup.

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CAPTAIN'S NOTES J E N

J A R V I E T

his week should be one that everyone is excited for. As a team, we are ready for the first cup game of the season, and I am definitely ready for my debut game as captain for the club. It’s been a long few weeks on the sidelines for myself. I’ve been itching to get back.

Every week, I tell the girls in our pre game huddle to be selfless and work hard for each other, putting the extra run in for your team mate. I think that after having a tough game last week that this message is extra important for Sundays game.

Playing a team that is in a lower league will hopefully allow us to be more creative on the ball. As I said, this week’s game is an exciting one. I’m looking forward to it. JJ

CLUB NEWS PLAYER RETURNS, NEW SIGNINGS & INJURY NEWS After weeks of patiently waiting, some more than most, we have two players returning and ready to make their first league appearances for our Women’s side. Following their international clearance being granted, Jen Jarvie and Maria Elio After making appearances last week in the defeat to Stockport County, Izzy Magee (LB) and Ellie Price (CM) will be staying with us for the season, and we have a new signing registered in time for Sunday’s fixture, in Isabelle Owen Unfortunately, we’re a few players down. Alice Elman (GK) injured her index finger in the warm up last week, Pixi Boo Nicklass-Mooney (CB) has a pulled muscle and Ellie Richmond (ST) is still unwell, despite her best efforts to put in a shift last week.

Biggest and worst news is that Daisy Mifflin will be out for the season, with a serious knee injury. As an ever present since we got started, this is going to be a big loss for the team. We’ll be with Daisy every step of the way during her recovery.

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FULL STEAM AHEAD POD

NEW EPISOPE EVERY FRIDAY

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BOARD MEMBER S P O T L I G H T One man who has been pivotal in keeping AFC Crewe ticking over this season is under the spotlight this issue. Andy Baker, our Match Day Operations Manager, who also previously managed our reserve’s team last season. Now, we he leads and runs the team when opening up Wood Park for all of our men’s home fixtures. And some job he does...

Age 30 Born Keighley, West Yorks Position Social Media Team Leader Three Words That Best Describe You… Bubbly. Loud. Proud.

Earliest Football Memory… My best and earliest I will never forget is Blackpool getting promoted to the Premiership. The game against Nottingham Forest in the Play Off’s was crazy, too Team(s) I Support… Blackpool, AFC Crewe and England Player That Made You Fall In Love With Football… I used to love watching Beckham and Rooney Favourite Current Player (AFC Crewe and Professional)… For AFC Crewe, it’s Olly Wilson, he’s my lad. Current player is Jordan Rhodes at Blackpool What Made You Become a Board Member at AFC Crewe? I was already involved having managed the reserves side last season. I then took on a more senior management role before this season started Highlight(s) So Far… Has to be our first win at Wood Park AND out huge success in running the community day event, followed by the 3 points

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Ambitions This Season for AFC Crewe… It has to be promotion for me, as well as growing our fanbase. Getting people through the doors every week is so important for us and our growth.

Ambitions Outside of Football... I’ve always wanted to run my own personal bar / restaurant. I’m having some time away from hospitality but, who knows, maybe it’s still in the pipeline for future...

Something Not Many People Know About Me... I used to be an actor and singer when I was younger! He did enjoy using the PA system far too much, so this makes sense Something You Thought Was Cool in the Past, But Isn’t… Smoking. Everyone thought it was cool back then. It’s really unhealthy, so I quit.

Favourite Place in the World… Torn between Africa and Australia. Having visited both, I can’t decide Views on the Current State of Football… I think everyone makes mistakes. VAR is a good idea; but needs to be consistent. The referees are OK. Football is football. Sometimes it is your day. Sometimes it isn’t...

What Would You Change? Not much to change. Maybe bring VAR into the EFL. I think that brings in more consistency then, too Where Do You See AFC Crewe In 5 Years? I really want to see us up there. We have the base for a really good project here. Brilliant staff team. Great players.

Brilliant manager with knowledge etc. If we just stay consistent on the pitch, I have no doubt we’re gonna keep climbing that ladder. I also want us to have our own ground in the future, too

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MEN’S FIXTURE BRERETON SOCIAL RESERVES CURRENT FORM W4 - D1 - L3 TOP SCORER CHRIS DEAKIN (5) Brereton Social Reserves team are up next for AFC Crewe at Wood Park Stadium. Brereton Social has a long footballing history, having been founded in 1899, and is a FA Charter Standard adult club.

Last season, this reserves team finished top of the Staffs Division Two South league and looked to have settled into Division One seamlessly, currently sitting fifth in the league, just three points behind us in the league.

They will poss a difficult and physical test for us this weekend, especially if their disciplinary stats are anything to go by.

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WOMEN’S FIXTURE EGERTON FOOTBALL CLUB CURRENT FORM W2 - D2 - L0 TOP SCORER SABRINA EGERTON & MEGAN PICKERING (5) Egerton Football Club was formed in 2002 to promote and co-ordinate all football-related activities at Egerton Youth Club, with the ladies team being founded in 2014, and have been part of the Cheshire Women’s & Youth League ever since.

Although currently residing in the Championship, one division below us, they come into this Cheshire Ladies Cup fixture this Sunday unbeaten and in great form, with two wins and two draws in their opening four fixtures.

It’s worth noting that they also finished with a record of 15 wins from 16 last season, scoring 73 goals along the way, so we’ve really got to be at our best to ensure we make it to the next round.

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