Horndean FC
Five Heads Park
Five Heads Road
Horndean
Hampshire PO8 9NZ
Clubhouse Telephone: 023 92 591363
Clubhouse Email: horndeanfc@yahoo.com
President: Ian Sheppard
Chairman: Mick Catlin
Vice Chairman: Tony Devaney
Secretary: Lisa Bailey
Manager: Michael Birmingham
Assistant: Jason Mann
First Team Coaches: Dutchy Holland, Darren Robson, Chris Wye, Ollie Bennett
Goalkeeping Coach: Phil Braithwaite
First Team Physio: Hannah Meaden
Chief Scout: Andy Vernon
Commercial Director: Lea Jackson
Head of Media: Jack Norris
Club Development Officer: Paul Sexton
Cover Photo: Martyn White
@horndeanfcoffical
@Horndean_FC
Horndean FC
Horndean FC
Good afternoon and welcome back to Five Heads Park for the first fixture of the 2023/24 season. This afternoon we welcome Wessex Premier Division side Portland United, who make the trip from Dorset for this afternoon's Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie. We wish all of Portland's travelling players, staff, committee members and supporters a pleasant stay with us and a safe journey home.
We would also like to thank today's Match Sponsor, John Norris. Your support is grealty appreciated!
SUNDAY MIDDAY-9PM
VENUE HIRE COST: £125
There are many different volunteer roles in non-league football and Isthmian League football clubs need your help with them.
The Trident Leagues and Pitching In’s online Volunteer Hub is the place where you can find opportunities and contact your local football club.
Please visit Pitchinginvolunteers.co.uk to find out more
HARRY JACKSON
JOHN MERRELL
CONNOR DUFFIN
CAMERON SCOTT
STANLEY CHASE
STANLEY CHASE
TOMMY TIERNEY
JACK BREED
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HARRISON
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ASH HOWES
ETHAN ROBB
EDDIE WAKLEY
RUDI BLANKSON
CAMERON SCOTT ELLIS GRANT
LIAM KIMBER
CABLE
TOMMY SCUTT
DAN SIBLEY
Nigel Biddlecombe’s ‘A History of Weymouth FC’ mentions ‘The Blues’ as early as 1902/03 when the club was referred to as Portland and Grove and they were also called that in 1905/06 (In 1904/05 we were just mentioned as Portland ) 1906/07 we were then Portland Prison Officers. In 1910/11 there was reference to Portland Prison Officers and Utd. In 1907/08 a combined team entered the FA Cup under the name 'Portland Prison Officers and Portland United' They were exempt from the preliminary and 1st qualifying round and were drawn in the 2nd QR to Longfleet St Marys. The game was played on 19 October 1907 in Poole (at Eastlake) and the score was 2 - 2 The replay resulted in a 3 - 1 win for Portland In the 3rd QR they were drawn at home to Whiteheads losing 0 - 2 (2nd November 1907)
They entered again the following year and in 1909/10. There were then two more seasons when the Prison Officers part of the team did not play After that, the next entry was after the war when the club reformed in 1921 playing at Grove Corner and in 1925 joined the Western League Div. Although winning this division twice before World War II, the club never achieved promotion to Div one They regularly played in front of crowds of two and three thousand – a period when they were unbeatable at their Grove Corner ground. During this period, the club won the Dorset Senior Cup on four occasions and the Dorset Amateur Cup three times. Following World War II, the club turned semi-professional and re-joined Div One of the Western League, where they remained for the next 24 seasons. During this time, the ‘Blues’ lifted the Dorset Senior Cup a further six times.
The record attendance at Grove Corner was set in January 1949 when 4,127 watched the League match against neighbours Weymouth - which Portland won 4 - 1. One of the most successful seasons in the club’s history came in 1965/66 when they finished as runners-up in the Western League Div One and progressed to the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup where they held Yeovil Town to a 1 - 1 draw at Grove Corner in front of a crowd of 3,069. In the replay at Huish, in front of 6,005 spectators, The Blues were beaten 3 - 1 In 1994 the Crown decided it needed the original ground
for mineral extraction and the club was provided with a new home a couple of hundred yards along the road – hence the name at the time of ‘New Grove Corner’! The last game at the ground took place on 9 May 1994, when neighbours Weymouth were the visitors in front of a 500 plus crowd. It was, however, vastly different from the record attendance, on 27 January 1949 when 4,127 saw Portland defeat Weymouth 4 - 1 in a Western League Division One match
During the winter of their first season at the new ground, the entire island of Portland had to be evacuated whilst an unexploded wartime bomb - found underneath the penalty area of their old ground - had to be defused! Although Portland did step up to the Wessex League in 2001, they struggled and returned to the Dorset Premier League in 2006 where they were phenomenally successful League winners: 2007/08, 2008/09, 2012/13 and 2013/14 and runners up in 2014/15 They also won the Dorset Premier League cup in 2008/09 finishing as runners up on three more occasions. Portland’s promotion was approved by the Football Association in 2015 (new floodlights were installed) and Portland Utd FC were promoted, much to the delight of everyone connected with The Blues, to The Sydenhams Wessex Football League Division One.
The Blues won Division One in their first season, losing just four games in the league, amassing 84 points with a +72goal difference from 34 games Portland also reached the semi-final of The Wessex League Cup losing to eventual winners Team Solent in extra time. The Blues also knocked out three other Wessex Premier Division sides on route to the semi-final The start to the 2016/17 season in the Prem Div saw Portland Utd FC win six, lose two and draw 2everyone supporting The Blues were looking forward to hopefully ending up in the top ten at the end of the season. However, following an unbeaten league run of 27 league games, Portland Utd FC had everything to play for in their last match home v Bemerton Heath Harlequins - needing all three points to have a chance of winning the league.
With the game at 1 - 1 at 90 minutes itnlooked like The Blues would have to settle for second place - but a 95th minute goal from Ryan McKechnie saw the Blues clinch victory achieving a remarkable first season in the Prem Div under Manager, Gary Bailey Portland Utd FC's once again received the Programme of the Season Award and Portland also topped the highest average attendance table.
Four years of overseeing The Blues, Manager, Gary Bailey, made the decision in the beginning of May 2017 to step down In those four years, Gary's squads had been league champions three times and runners-up on the other occasion. Simon Browne (former Manager of Dorchester Res, Salisbury Res, Hamworthy Utd and Wimborne Town FC) was appointed to take on Gary's role The 2017/18 season saw mixed results for the First Team and following some disappointing results, it was decided to relieve Simon of his duties with Gary Bailey stepping up as Interim Manager at the beginning of February. The Blues ended up in 15th place; although the attendance had dropped slightly, Portland were still 2nd in the league attendance table
For the third year running, Portland received the Programme of the Season Award for the Premier Div. Gary Bailey also picked up an award for Outstanding Contribution as a Manager in Dorset at The Dorset County Football Association Awards 2018 At the end of the season, Gary decided that with work commitments, he would not be able to continue as Manager of the First Team but joined the committee. 2018/19 Brendon King was appointed manager with Mark (Reggie) Carter as his assistant and Stuart Heath as coach The Blues reached the final of The Sydenhams Wessex League Cup v Baffins Milton Rovers. The only goal was scored in injury time and that was by Baffins. Portland ended up 4th in the table. At The Sydenhams Wessex League Presentation Evening, for the fourth year running Portland Utd FC were award the Programme of the Season Cup
Today’s visitors Portland United were the opponents for the Deans’ last league game of the 22/23 season, which saw a 95th minute winner from the head of Zack WIllett dramatically claim the Wessex Premier Division title for Horndean, earning promotion to step 4 of non-league for the first time in the club’s 135 year history The Deans finished with 98 points, 3 points clear of second place Bemerton Heath Harlequins, who also secured automatic promotion. The Champions Horndean would also boast the finest goal difference across the entire top 9 tiers of English football, with a GD of +105, made up of 126 goals, with only 21 being conceded all season in the league. Horndean marksman Zack Willett would also finish the campaign as top scorer in the league, finishing with 46 league goals.
A week on from the title success, Horndean would face PO title rivals AFC Portchester, in a Portsmouth Senior Cup semi final tie at Five Heads Park Connor Duffin opened the scoring in the first half, before a Rudi Blankson strike late on wrapped up a 2-0 victory, sending the Deans to the final at Fratton Park, where they would face Fareham Town, who had beaten Fleetlands on penalties.
With many of the first team players and staff returning from an end of season trip to Benidorm the same morning, the Deans would enter the hallowed turf of Fratton Park for the Portsmouth Senior Cup final. It was Fareham who took the lead, as Jones opened the scoring in the first half. Horndean looked to be out of the tie until late on, when Tom Jeffes lashed home a stoppage time equaliser, dashing the Creeksider’s hopes of silverware and sending the tie to a penalty shootout. Deans’ keeper Ellis Grant kept out the opening Fareham spotkick, as Horndean clinically scored all 5, with Ethan Robb delivering the knockout blow, and claiming the Portsmouth Senior Cup trophy for Horndean. Skipper for the day Luke Dempsey and fellow centre half Tom Jeffes would together lift the cup in front of the Fratton End, in what would be the duo’s final appearances for the club.
IT SEEMS like only yesterday when FC Halifax Town’s Jack Senior held aloft the FA Trophy at Wembley to signal the end of the 2022-23 season. And what a campaign it was!
At the very top of the pyramid, we’ll probably never see of the like again; Wrexham and Notts County trading blows at the top of the National League table, both reaching well in excess of 100 points and scoring well in excess of 100 goals. The Hollywood juggernaut stationed at the Racecourse Ground reached destination Football League first before the Magpies had to negotiate a few twists and turns in the playoffs before eventually joining them in dock Under Phil Parkison and Luke Williams, both sides were absolutely outstanding, raising the bar for the rest to follow.
But it wasn’t just the National League which benefitted A rippling effect from Step 1 all the way down took NonLeague football to another level. All of a sudden, it wasn’t just Wrexham A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney getting all the attention, Non-League football had captured a wider audience – and for all the right reasons So, with Wrexham and Notts County now switching their focus towards their League Two campaigns – where they are expected to compete at the top end once again – the question is can Non-League football use that platform to push on and raise the bar even further? Well, it’s certainly made an encouraging start. With this week’s FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round in mind, nine leagues at Step 5 kicked off the new campaign last Saturday, July 29, drawing in decent crowds up and down the country
Undoubtedly, the biggest story of the day came at Bury FC, where almost 5,500 turned up to watch the newly-merged model of the old Bury FC and Bury AFC play their first ever league game at the town’s spiritual Gigg Lane home for the first time in three years
The biggest story of the summer, however, has centred around another famous old former Football League club –and sadly not for positive reasons At one point, longsuffering Southend United fans feared the club’s proud 117year history may grind to halt this summer amid debts of £2.5 million. As fans protested outside the home of underfire owner Ron Martin, the club were given extra time to clear a £275,000 tax debt and efforts to keep the Shrimpers
in the National League were being made Despite boasting a squad of just 10 senior players at one point, manager Kevin Maher finally got the go-ahead to begin the club’s preseason preparations and thanks to the hard work of supporters in tidying up the run down Roots Hall ground last weekend, a safety certificate was issued ensuring Southend could at least host their opening day game against Oldham Athletic this afternoon.
Maher, of course, performed miracles in keeping Southend competitive in the top half of the National League last season amid impossible restrictions, but the Shrimpers will need to pull out all the stops once again if the Essex club are to challenge for honours again this time round. That said, with last season’s big two gone, Non-League’s top-flight has a much more open look to it this time around with a number of former EFL big guns eyeing a route back into the top four tiers.
Chesterfield has spent well in the summer and will start as favourites, but cash injections at the likes of Oldham, York City and Eastleigh will certainly keep the Spireites on their toes. Last seasons relegated clubs – Rochdale and Hartlepool United – the former competing in Non-League for the first time – have got their houses back in order and will be desperate for an immediate return, while National League North and South champions, AFC Fylde and Ebbsfleet respectively, have momentum and ambition on their side.
The North, too, is wide open with Scunthorpe United spending big in a bid to put right the wrongs of last season’s relegation, similarly Torquay United, Maidstone United and Yeovil Town who make the South division as competitive as it has been in years
So, in the blink of an eye, August 5th is upon us and battle can at last commence. At the NLP, we feel your anticipation and will be with you every step of the way, taking you through the thrills and spills, the highs and the lows
It promises to be another cracker so let the games begin.
By Jon Couch
Horndean PortlandUnited Manager: Michael Birmingham Manager: Kyle Critchell
Cameron Scott
Robbie Taw
Ethan Gee
Cade Dyer
Ethan Robb
Chad Field
Eddie Wakley
Ash Howes
Liam Kimber
Jack Breed
Tommy Tierney
Tommy Scutt
Harry Jackson
Rudi Blankson
Connor Duffin
Dan Sibley
Zack Willett
Ellis Grant
Harrison Cable
Daniel Aitken
Sam Godfroy
Aaron O'Brien
Fin Walsh-Smith
Jordan Pile
Next At Five Heads Park: Horndean v Sittingbourne 26/08/23 | 3pm | Isthmian League
South East Division
Harrison Bruton
Shaun Bessant
George Stuttle
Troy Walbridge
Lance Wilson
Jack Delves
Matt Harvey
Gregory Borthwick
Hayden Scott
Ben Morris
Brinley Doyle
Connor Callow
Bailey Rowe
Matt Harvey
Josh Williams
Ryan McKechnie
Liam Sayers
Toby Diaz
Harry Thomas
John Pritchard
Jamie Cleaver
Sam Gadsby
Luke Sheehy
Jack Steele
Sam Moggeridge
Today's Match Sponsor:
John Norris
