RHRFC 23/09

THE

23/09/23

HILL v AVONMOUTH 15:00

GLOUCESTERSHIRE COUNTY LEGUE

PYROTECHNICS AT FOOTBALL WARNING - THE DANGERS OF PYROTECHNICS AT FOOTBALL MATCHES The potential injuries sustained as a result of someone using a pyrotechnic include: Serious injuries, such as loss of limb or fingers Severe burns, due to temperatures of up to 2,000°C Breathing problems, due to smoke inhalation Loss of hearing or sight, because of the explosive power Action will be taken by the GFA if any club is reported to them by the Referee.

You have been warned

welcome CLUB OFFICIALS Chairman Wayne Lewis Vice Chairman Gareth Clowes Club Secretary Zack Coleman Treasurer Martin Coleman President Dave Elsmore Vice Presidents Nick Matthews Malcolm Jones Gareth Clowes 1st Team Manager Bobby Walding Reserve Team Manager Sid Martin

CONTENT 5 Wayne’s World 6 Club History 8 League

Third Team Manager Phil Cook

10 Our Squad

Ground Maintenance Paul Gibson

12 Avonmouth

Programme Designer & Editor Adam Cole

14 Ru-ar You?

WAYNE’S WORLD A very warm welcome to all attending the match this afternoon at the Recreation Ground, home of Ruardean Hill Rangers Football Club. We would like to offer a special welcome to the players, management, and supporters of Avonmouth for this Marcliff Gloucestershire County League Cup fixture.

We hope they enjoy their short stay with us and have a safe journey home.

Today’s visitors head the league table and are unbeaten from their first four games. They had a 3-1 victory over Wick in their last fixture. Aldam, O’Donovan and Pearce were the Avonmouth goal scorers.

Ruardean Hill’s first team travelled to Rockleaze Rangers last week and suffered an away defeat. The Hill were unfortunate to concede a corner from which Rockleaze scored their first goal to give the home side a 1-0 lead at half time. In the second half, despite a battling performance from the Hill, Rockleaze scored on a further three occasions, including two late goals from their substitutes, to finish worthy 4-0 winners Ruardean Hill Reserves drew 4-4 with Broadwell Amateurs Reserves, despite being 3-1 down in the game. The Hill goal scorers were Aaron Barnett (2) and Sam Rawlings (2).

Ruardean Hill A team travelled to local rivals, Harrow Hill. The game was abandoned after an injury to Hill player, Connor Dix with score at 2-2 with the Hill goal scorers Lee Johnson and Will Smith. We are pleased to say that Connor’s injury was not serious, and we look forward to see him playing for the Hill again soon.

Despite a difficult start to the first team season, we continue to seek opportunities to improve the football club both on and off the field at all levels.

The club is run by volunteers and is self-funded. We are constantly looking for helpers and ways in which we can improve our income. If anyone can assist, please contact one of the club officers listed in the programme.

Finally, we hope you enjoy today’s game and will continue to support Ruardean Hill Rangers throughout the 2023/24 season.

RUARDAEAN HILL

RANGERS HISTORY Ruardean Hill Rangers play their football on the highest point in the Forest of Dean, 920 feet above sea level.

Formed in 1919, Ruardean Hill played in the old Forest of Dean league until its termination in the late 1950’s. They then moved into the North Gloucestershire League and have remained there in some capacity ever since.

Ruardean Hill gained their first promotion to the Northern Senior League in 1994/95 and competed in this league for several seasons before being relegated in 2001. They immediately regained promotion the following year only to be relegated again in 2004.

In the 2011/12 season, they earned a last day promotion back to the senior league as well as reaching the final of the ‘Amateur Cup’. The 2012/13 season brought the club its first promotion to the Northern Senior League Division 1 from back-to-back promotions. ‘The Hill’ finished in the top eight for each of the next three seasons before finally winning the Division 1 title in 2016/2017 season. They scored an incredible 125 goals and conceded just 34 in 35 games.

Ruardean Hill’s current first team has a good mixture of youth, from our youth teams, and experience from the same core group of players. The core group players have been in the team for about 10 years. They now field 3 senior teams; the club’s promotions owe a lot to the depth of its other senior teams.

The club are now competing in their 5th season in the Marcliff County League having finished 9th and 5th in their first two seasons. They are now fully cemented in the County League and they are looking to push on and finish as high as possible.

COUNTY LEAGUE TABLE POS TEAM

P

W

D

L

F

A

GD

PTS

1

Avonmouth

4

2

Bromley Heath United

5

4

0

3

2

0

13

2

11

12

0

15

6

9

3

Stoke Gifford United

5

3

11

2

0

14

6

8

4

Rockleaze Rangers

5

3

11

1

1

21

3

18

10

5

Broadwell Amateurs

4

6

Sharpness

5

3

0

1

10

7

3

9

2

2

1

6

5

1

8

7

Frampton United

4

2

1

8

Little Stoke

5

2

0

1

9

9

0

7

3

10

6

4

6

9

Hanham Athletic

5

2

1

10

Wick

5

1

1

2

13

10

3

4*

3

8

13

-5

11

Almondsbury

5

1

4

1

3

3

10

-7

4

12

Hardwicke

5

13

Cheltenham Civil Service

5

1

1

3

8

16

-8

4

1

1

3

4

15

-11

14

Gala Wilton

4

5

1

0

4

14

19

-5

15

3

Quedgeley Wanderers

4

1

0

3

2

13

-11

16

3

Ruaredean Hill Rangers

3

0

1

2

1

11

-10

1

COUNTY LEAGUE TOP Scorers POS TEAM

P

G

1

Karim Kendall

Hanham Athletic

6

9

2

Aidan Noble

Bromley Heath United

5

5

3

Declan Clark

Cheltenham Civil Service

6

4

4

Michael Hardiman

Little Stoke

6

4

5

Timothy Hill

Gala Wilton

4

4

6

Dillan Kerr

Avonmouth

5

4

7

Josh Pearce

Avonmouth

4

4

8

Antonio Pirelli

Gala Wilton

3

4

9

Benjamin Shepherd

Stoke Gifford United

3

4

10

Daniel Webb

Rockleaze Rangers

5

4

MEET OUR SQUAD AARONUNDERWOOD

BOBBYWALDING

MATTCOOK

A top goalkeeper, who has been keeping us in games for many years. Proper clubman.

A hard working, committed player, who will never be outbattled. Club captain.

A great player to have in the squad. Works hard and will never let the club down.

TOMLANDON

connordallimore

TOMMYCOLEMAN

An experienced defender who has a good turn of pace.

Good on the ball and is a natural leader. First season at the club, joining from Gloucester Athletic.

A great character who can play anywhere central. Works hard and is good on the ball.

New signing from Gloucester Athletic, who also has County League experience.

An asset to the team. He reads the game well and uses his pace to get out of danger. Decent on the ball and loves a challenge. Has caught the eye of Cinderford Town in recent months.

KaneSansom

tomcosheril

tyAdams

Into his second season with us now and has been an excellent addition, strong target man who will brings others into the game.

First season with the club, Tom has impressed in preseason. A quick winger who will cause defenders some problems for sure.

Been a regular in the reserves for a few years now making several first team appearances, can play wide or through the middle.

CharleyMason

JORDANTURNER

danMatthews

Confident on the ball and never stops working for the team. Leads by example. First team captain.

A versatile player, with a great engine, who follow instructions well. Joins this season from Viney St. Swithins.

Proper Clubman. Gives his all, displaying superb work ethic.

His progress has been temporarily halted, whilst he recovers from an injury.

CharlieTaylor

maxtelling

benball

A young player with lots of potential and a great left foot. Keen to learn. Recently joined from Soudley.

A young talent, who will be playing his first season in Senior football. Decent on the ball and not afraid to get physical.

An energetic and intelligent player, who has impressed during preseason. Debut season in the first team.

KANEFELLOWS

OLLIEMASON

ALEXSTEPHENS

A natural leader who has recently started to rediscover his love for playing. Quality on the ball and loves a challenge.

Ollie is an exiting young talent who is comfortable playing at fullback or on the wing. Dual signed with Pegasus.

A young player with plenty of pace and energy. Has more time to play now he has finished University. Debut season in the first team.

MARK REID

welcome TO

First played for Avonmouth in 1998 as a 15-year-old and was soon a regular part of the first team squad. He left in 2005 to go and play for AFC Hallen in the Western/Hellenic Leagues.

Reider returned to Avonmouth in 2018 to play for the reserves as he started winding down his career, but he was soon thrust back into the first team as the club tried to push for promotion to the County League. Mark was part of the squad that got the club promoted to the County League in 2023. Amazingly the Bristol Suburban League title in 2023 was the first league title of mark’s career.

TOMMY TAYLOR Our captain. Tommy joined Avonmouth in 2018, 18 years old, where he spent his first season in the reserves. In his second season he stepped up to the first team with ease. Tommy was named as captain for the 2022/23 season and led the team to and unprecedented treble.

CHARLIE ALDOM

KYLE O'DONOVAN

Charlie Aldom joined Avonmouth for the 2021-2022 after recovering from a knee injury. During his first season the Club narrowly missed out on the league title. 2022-2023 Charlie helped claim the league title and promotion for the Club. As well as winning the Gloucester Senior Amateur Cup and the Alf Bosley Cup, where vital goals from Charlie claimed an incredible comeback in the semi-final. Charlie's former clubs include Portishead, Winterbourne and Cribbs FC.

Kyle O'Donovan joined Avonmouth in 2013 having previously played for AFC Hallen, Shirehampton and Clevedon Town.

Apart from a hiatus where he managed the 'A' team for a season. Kyle has been a massive part of the first team since joining and after a few Runners- up trophies over the years, Kyle finally picked up 3 winners medals during the 2022-2023 season. Kyle refers to himself as the Vinnie Jones of the Club

ALFIE TAYLOR

MARK WILLIAMS

Alfie joined the Club in 2018 and spent his first season slumming it in the reserves before stepping up to the first team the following season and become an integral part of the team. Alfie was part of the treble winning team that finally saw the Club gain promotion to the Gloucester County League in 2023 scoring some high-pressured penalties along the way. Alfie wears his heart on his sleeve and is Avonmouth through and through.

Mark rejoined Avonmouth FC for the start of the 2022-2023 season to help strengthen the defence and soon became a regular starter. Mark had a short spell at the Club previously before leaving for his local Club Olveston United. Mark was part of the treble winning 2022-2023 team that gained the club promotion to the Gloucester County League

BEN ALLISON

BEN HARVEY

Ben first started out playing football for Oakengates Colts after moving to England. Telford and joined A.F.C Telford Academy.

Ben joined Avonmouth FC First team last season after playing for Lawrence Weston FC and Port of Bristol. Ben was part of the 2022/2023 squad that secured the treble and promotion to the Gloucester County League

Ben originally joined Avonmouth FC in 2016 and where he played for the 3rd team alongside his father Darren Harvey. He left in 2018 to join Roman Glass before rejoining Avonmouth FC First team in 2021. Ben had suffered a few injuries since rejoining, but managed to put that behind him for the 2022/2023 season where he hardly missed a match in the Treble winning season

MATT GROVES

JACK WILLIAMS

Grovesy’s former teams include Weymouth FC, Mangotsfield FC, Yate Town FC, Gloucester City FC and AFC Bitton. Matt joined Avonmouth in 2023 where he helped push the team onto Promotion to the Gloucester County league and part of the treble winning team

Jack joined Avonmouth FC First team at the start of the 2022/23 season after spending 3 years at Hallen FC and 8 years at Bristol Manor Farm prior. Jack has become a key player for the Club in a short space of time.

JOSH PEARCE

SAM FORD

Josh played for Lawrence Weston FC before joining Avonmouth First team during the 2021/22 season. Josh ended the 2022/23 season as the Club and Leagues top goal scorer helping the Club gain promotion to the Gloucester County League and securing two Cup winners medals along the way.

Sam joined Avonmouth during the 2021/2022 season which was his first experience of Saturday football as he use to be a City season ticket holder. Sam was a brilliant squad player for 2022/2023 treble winning season including 4 goals from the bench in the League Cup Final

ROB ALLEN

GEORGE BROWN

Started playing for Avonmouth aged 15 before moving onto AFC Hallen and Axa (Cribbs) before taking a break from football for a few years. Came back to Avonmouth to win the treble during the 2022/2023 and get the team promoted to the Gloucester County League.

George is a new signing for the 23/24 season. Having played for Bristol City Youth for ten years, he took a season out at 16. He then returned last season playing County League football for Henbury. A welcome addition to our squad with his versatility giving us many options

CODY WINKLER Cody joins us for the 23/24 season having previously played for Shirehampton first team and reserves. A very promising player who has bags of ability and an eye for goal. He is also currently plying his trade for Portishead U18’s in the Floodlit League.

JAMES ELLIS James started playing for Avonmouth during the 22-23 season in the reserves. During pre-season with the 1st team he has shown great attitude and quality. He’s very new to grass roots football having been at City and Rovers Academy for most of his footballing career. A great lad who will no doubt go on to play a higher level of football.

SAM JACKSON Sam joins us for the 23-24 season having previously played for Hengrove and Mendip. Sam is a fiery forward who gives us different options going forward and improves the quality we have in the squad. His work rate and goals will hopefully push us onto the next level.

ASH BENNETT A formidable player for Avonmouth and AFC Hallen, took over the reigns as the first team manager for the 2021/2022 season.

His ambitons were made clear to the Club at the time that promotions were expected. In 2022/2023 he managed the team to a League Championship title, GFA Cup win and Alf Bosley Cup win in. Not losing a single match during the season.

He then lead the Club to the Gloucester County League after winning promotion via a three team play-off. Ash has lead by example, not only on the field but with his expectations off the field.

DILLAN KERR Dillan joins us for the 23/24 season having had spells at Cribbs, Portishead and Tytherington rocks. A young striker who holds up the ball extremely well and has an eye for goal. A great signing for the team and I’m sure he will go onto score plenty of goals TOM COX Loyal servant to the Club. Has been with the first team for over ten years.

Tom Cox is a fierce cm whose not afraid to leave it all in all tackle. Put some monumental labour into the renovations of the Clubhouse over the past decade. Finally rewarded during the 2022/2023 winning the treble and promotion to the Glos County League.

avonmouth history Avonmouth Football Club started as Avonmouth St Andrews back in 1919, when many clubs were formed straight after the horrors of the First World War with strong links to their local Church and many of the Avonmouth Rovers side who played in the early 1900s joined St Andrews.

Over the years on the playing side there have been several professional footballers who commenced their careers at Avonmouth, including brothers Ernie and Jack Brinton, Tommy Wright, Josser Watling, and probably the most famous, Roy Bentley who captained Chelsea to their first ever English Division 1 title and who also played for England as a centre forward.

Over the years the club has won many honours at both junior and senior level including the Bristol and Suburban League top division title eight times.

The club has experienced the ups and down of amateur sport and most significantly had to vacate its West Town Road ground in 1967 when the Ministry of Transport compulsory purchased the King George’s Trust site for the run-up to the M5 River Avon Road Bridge. This meant playing fixtures at other grounds including Sea Mills Park, Portway Playing Fields and Canford Park, enabling two senior and two junior sides to continue.

The King George’s Field Trust was given a site at the end of Barracks Lane as compensation but due to its poor construction was never going to be suitable for football. With the agreement of the rugby and bowls clubs, that make up the Trust, and after considerable and difficult negotiations with the City Council, Avonmouth FC returned to Avonmouth Road in 1986 utilising the pitch vacated by Avonmouth Old Boys RFC and a clubhouse that had originated as a US Army building on the Kingsweston House estate.

This last year has seen the club have its most successful season in over 100 years going unbeaten in all competitions, winning the Premier Suburban League, winning every game plus one draw.

In addition, the first team won the Suburban Bosley Cup and the first combined north and south Gloucestershire Senior Amateur Cup, which included county league teams for the first time.

The First team has been promoted to the Gloucestershire County League after winning both of their play-off games.

The reserve team had a successful season gaining promotion to Div 1 of Bristol Suburban league The under 16 had a good season finishing 3rd and will now play in the U18 Bristol Combination league We have also added a A team for next season playing in Div 4 Off the field the club has carried out numerous improvements since 2018, including new dressing rooms, social club extension, new roof, the installation of latest technology floodlights, new patio, driveway and hard standing, these will provide better facilities for club members and for local community events. These developments have been supported by several local companies, and we would like to thank them and they are listed in the programme.

ru-ar you?

Who is the RHRFC man?

Lino/Target Man Scored a penalty in his first game on the Hill Ball player Every club needs their VILLAN First official season in the A team

SQUADS Tyler Adams Ben Ball Brian Burke Adam Cole Tommy Coleman Tom Cosheril Kane Fellows Tom Landon Charley Mason Ollie Mason Dave Matthews Kane Sansom Alex Stephens Charlie Taylor Max Tellingr Jordan Turner Aaron Underwood Bobby Walding

Charlie Aldom Ben Allison Tom Bradley George Brown Tom Cox James Ellis Sam Ford Matt Groves Dillan Kerr Sam Jackson Kofi Martin Kyle O’Donovan Josh Pearce Alfie Taylor Tommy Taylor Jordan Whittaker Jack Williams Mark Williams Cody Winkler

Neil Holmes

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