Issuu

Issue 3

DERBY Sat 12th September 15:00 KO

v Cranfield United Anco Stadium MK45 2HX

DAY

AMPTHILL LADIES

Ladies continue to rise to the new challenges of playing at a higher tier. In an historic day on 6th September the Amps Ladies beat Frontiers fc 2-0 in Harlow, Essex to go through to the 2nd qualifying round of the Adobe Womens FA Cup, Goals from Kirsty Walker and Destiny Pap were enough to see them through. A local derby against old foes Hitchin Belles awaits them with a Home tie at The Anco Stadium on 20th September, 2pm KO.

TALK OF THE TOWN Eric Turner Esq.

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to today’s game against Cranfield United and we extend greetings to the players, officials and supporters from Crawley Road. Town return home after travels to Northants .and they have their third home game of the season against Stuart Robertson’s side in an FA Vase qualifying tie. The Amp swon 3-2 at Broadfields on a Friday night last month while Cranfield beat Edgware 5-1 to set up a Vase derby with a prize of a place in the first round for the winners. The Amps faced three SML DIV 1 clubs last year with Eaton Socon knocking us out on penalties after wins at Buckingham and Higham while the Cranes went out at Bedfont. The two clubs have had some entertaining clashes since the Cranes joined the league and with both teams enjoying good form this season this tie promises to be just as enthralling. The four league games in the last two years have all ended in away wins with Town winning 4-2 late last year after going down 1-0 in December. Previously Town won the last game of the campaign 1-0 following a 2-0 defeat here We will be looking far a change in that trend as we are overdue a Vase home win with our last success here coming against Walthamstow six years ago The Amps lead Div 1 after a tremendous start and they had a fine 2-1 win at SML newcomers Woodford United last Saturday. Town dominated the first half and headed goals from Phil Draycott and Jake Kissidue put them ahead at half time with both from James Lauder corners. The former Hellenic league side got a goal back but found Mitch Howe and his defence in superb form and Town opened up a four point gap. It was a different story 7 days earlier when Town staged a remarkable fightback in the rain at Burton Park to win 2-1. They trailed at the interval but sub Fred Knight levelled and Kevin OseiAddo scored the winner from the penalty spot in

injury time when Sam Holmes was brought down. That is four league wins already and it shows camaraderie, spirit, resilience after long trips and depth in the squad with guys still holidaying. Town are back here in league action on Tuesday when we host Letchworth GC Eagles who beat us 2-1 away late last year after a Gaz Hunt doubled helped us to a 3-0 win in December We then have a gap as our Gladwish Trophy tie has been moved to Tuesday 22 and we finally have a home weekend league match when Rushden come here on Saturday 26 before we go to Stotfold on the following Tuesday. October begins with two home games with Langford here on Sat 3rd followed by Huntingdon om Tuesday 6 with Cranfield here on Sat 24th. Town have a bye in the county cup and then go to Crawley Green or Cranfield, Finally congratulations to our Ladies team on their splendid FA cup away win and they now host Hitchin Belles on Sunday 20th. Your support is welcome home and away. COYA

CRANFIELD UNITED Cranfield FC were formed on 4th November 1903 , but due to its then remote location could not join the Bedford League as they would only accept teams within a 5 mile radius. Our early games were all friendlies. The first recorded entry into a formal league was during the 1920/21 season , when Cranfield joined the Bedford League Division 2. In 1931 they joined the North Bucks League. The first trophy came in 1935 when they won the North Beds Shield and followed this by winning the Division 2 Championship. After WW2 the club reformed , entering teams in the Bedfordshire League and the North Bucks League. In 1949/50 they joined the SML South Division 2 and finished with the following unique record; P22 W22 GF 98 GA 8 Points 44 , winning promotion to SML Division 1. The then Chairman James Bettle purchased the present ground at Crawley Road for approximately £500 , and donated it to the club for the ground to be held in trust ‘ for the furtherance of football in Cranfield ‘. The present clubhouse and changing facilities were built in 1980 and extended in 2000 , with the original four floodlights being erected in 1988 and upgraded to six in 2004. The club was awarded FA Standard Chartered Status in 2004 and accepted into the FA Vase in 2005. In 2011/12 Cranfield United beat Biggleswade Town FC 4-1 to win the North Beds Charity Cup in its 104th year. The following season , due to rising costs , the club took the difficult decision to withdraw from the SSML and return to the Bedfordshire County League, taking the place of the Reserve team in Division 2. A climb through the divisions saw Cranfield rejoin the Beds County Premier Division in 2015. A successful 22/23 campaign saw the club return to SSML Division 1 in the summer of

2023 , finishing in a respectable 9th place. Notable records include leading appearance maker Paul Bampton with 568 from 1971-1991 , and leading scorer Michael ‘ Mick ‘ Johnson , with 358 goals in 390 appearances , although due to missing seasonal records his actual scoring record is believed to be in excess of 550 goals for the club. Mick’s ashes are buried behind the goal at the Western end of the ground.

HELLO FROM HARVS Chris Harvey - 1st Team Manager

Good afternoon and welcome back to the Anco Stadium. A break from league action today as we host a very good Cranfield side who have also had a very positive start to the Season. Our form remains to be on the plus side, although a few things to sort out but generally Ive got to be happy with the start we have had to the season. There have been some very tough away fixtures over the last few weeks with teams really turning up and making it very difficult for us. But more than happy to sitting top of the pile at this early stage. The FA Vase is a distraction from the pressure of the league and were hoping for a similar result to our last outing, although I don’t think mine our Chairmans nerves could take such a climax to the game again. Beating Broadfields away from home was a fantastic achievement for this club, the same Broadfields side then went on to beat two step4 sides in the FA Cup the very next weeks. It certainly served us the belief that we can perform against top teams regardless of league positions. So, onto todays game. Cranfield have had a great start to the season and considering they are meant to be in transition with a new manager and lots of new players they are definitely going to be a team to watch out for throughout the season and will probably challenging the top positions at the play offs. We too have welcomed several new players and they are settling into the Amps Life well. I hope you have a very enjoyable day at the FA Vase and we will endeavour to make sure it is Ampthill Towns name that goes into the hat for Mondays draw. COYA