Letter From The Manager - Richard Kay

A warm welcome to the players, staff and committee of Long Crendon for today’s Hellenic Division 1 league game at Bobby Hancocks Park.

It’s a club we know well from our time in Hellenic 2, having played the First Team in a cup match in 2019 and the reserves in the league. Our cup game against the First Team was very competitive, where we narrowly lost away from home at Oxford City.

Long Crendon had a very good season, finishing 8th in the South Spartans Midlands League, so today’s game will be a very tough opening test. Every game in this league will be tough. We will simply have to be on it, week-in and weekout. Otherwise, we won’t win games.

We have had a really successful last 3 years, but the mindset, mentality and expectations are now completely different. We will lose more games and be put under pressure. How we react and shift our mindset quickly will be key.

I would like to also welcome our supporters, friends and family back to BHP for our first competitive game at Step 6 since 2016. We have come full circle in 3 years on the pitch after the first team folded. Enjoy the semi-professional football on offer this season.

Preseason, like most preseasons, has been disjointed. The preseason training programme has probably been the

best I have overseen as a manager. We have really put on a very high level, modern programme, with the odd boot camp session thrown into the mix. The players look at peak fitness for the limited contact time we have. A huge thank you to my staff and Coops for putting together a very high level programme.

It was great to play our first competitive game Wednesday night where we managed to retain the Bobby Hancocks Cup against Bishops Itchington. It was a highly physical, high-tempo, local derby and great preparation for today’s game. The 200+ crowd to honour Bobby and Wayne was exceptional. It was a night to celebrate local football and two local legends, and sadly other local legends that have passed on recently.

The club is moving forwards like a steam train. Our aim on and off the pitch is to keep moving forward, keep developing and make the local community proud. Our aim on the pitch is simple. As a newly promoted club we want to be competitive, week-in and week-out, play the brand of football we have played for the past 3 years, have no fear and see where it takes us with a young talented squad of players and management team.

Thank you for your continued support.UTS

Rich Kay