Leverstock Green FC Programme vs Colney Heath

Welcome to Leverstock Green FC

Today we welcome Colney Heath Players, Officials and Supporters to the LORDS Builders Merchants Stadium for SSML Premier Division game. We hope you have an enjoyable afternoon with us.

We also welcome our match officials Referee Josh Dear and his assistant’s Frank Van der Wens and Steven Pordes.

We wish a Happy New Year to our Supporters, Sponsors and Volunteers.

You are all welcome to use the clubs bar and tea bar before, halftime and after today’s game. You will be well look after by Sue and Michelle and our catering staff, Ioana and Nigel.

On the gate Tony and Keith will give guidance for car parking and selling 50/50 tickets. The entrance fee us £8 and £4 for concessions.

Our sponsor today is Dean Bradford our club secretary. We thank Dean for sponsoring today’s game.

Please use the car parking provided inside the ground, as this will avoid any unnecessary disruption to our neighbours. If you have left your car on ANY of the adjoining roads, please pop outside and bring your car in, the car parking is free.

Please follow any instructions or requests made by the club for your safety and enjoyment. The Club Management also reserves the right to refuse admission to the ground to, or to eject from the ground, any person who refuses to be searched by any steward, servant or agent of the Club or any Police officer.

The Club management accepts no responsibility for injury or loss of property. Fixtures, results, and league tables are shown within the programme or visit our web site http://levgreenfc.co.uk

Thank you for your co-operation https://lordsbm.co.uk

LGFC Club Information

Officers

President – Jamie Herd Chairman – Emma Smart Vice Chairman – Tony Smart General Club Secretary – Dean Bradford Treasurer – Tony Smart

General Committee

William Dawes, Keith Pym, Alan Brett, Scott Isaacs, Pete Jerram, Steve Ypey, Roger Lipscombe, Alan Lee

Match Day Secretary 1st Team - Alan Lee Match Day Secretary SCFYL Under 18 – Alan Lee Match Day Secretary EJA Under16 - Dean Bradford

Membership: Dean Bradford Tony Smart - Clubhouse Manager Club Welfare Officer/Charter Standard – Scott Isaacs

Media Officer/Website – Alan Lee Programme Editor – Tony Smart Accountants – Coyle & Co

Honorary Life Vice-Presidents

Mr. J Baldry, Mr. B Barter, Mr. C Bull, Mr. W Dawes, Mr. J Doble, Mr. S Robinson, Mr. R Saville, Mr. A Smart, Mr. P Taylor, Mr. J Williams, Mr. M Goodson, Mr. .J Lawes

Web: http://levgreenfc.co.uk Twitter: @levgreenfc

Leverstock Green FC Chairmans Report

Christmas 2022

A new Season and my Fourth as Chairman is underway and to this day what a proud achievement. I often sit back and look at what we are doing and what I have achieved personally so far and what a view I have got. All the hard work is worth it when I look at what we have done.

On The Pitch

Another season started swiftly in June as the boys were back training after what hadn’t seemed like long away. The first team were back and into pre-season with some fresh faces and a lot of faces we knew which was very exciting for the club. Pre-season results were a mixed bag of fortune but a good opportunity for the management team to make tough decisions on the season to come and who would be involved. August flies around and the Season begins with a 1-0 win on a warm Tuesday night over Risborough Rangers, what a way to start and could it be the signs of what’s to come…

The FA cup dreams starts well with a win over Halsted Town, which is unknown for Fergus and after 2 spectacular, memorable games we beat St Panteleimon on penalties allowing us to head to Billericay for an away day, which wasn’t meant to be sadly after an extremely good game of football, and we were out of the FA Cup. A trip to Edgeware in the FA Vase was a trip down memory lane for our management team and many of our players and we again bowed out, this time to a penalty shootout.

Back to league duties and we were flying, 9 games unbeaten and some tough games under our belts, we travelled to Hoddesdon midweek which saw a tough game and our unbeaten league run coming to an end. Draws, draws and more draws followed as we continued before finishing the year on some very good and well played wins. We’ve seen a lot of character from the first team, having to hold onto wins and pull themselves back into games that almost seemed out of reach.

Halfway through the season, 4 months gone already and sitting 5th in the league. What more can I ask for and what a great start it’s been on and off the pitch for everyone included in the first team set up. August rolls around and the Under 18s begin training and pre-season, which is varied in results but shows some very good football and very entertaining games. Season starts with the FA Youth cup and a trip to local rivals Berkhamsted, which would see us 3-2 winners in a very exciting and thrilling game from every aspect. However, this wasn’t to last, and we bowed out of the Fa Youth cup in a 6-1 defeat against Langley Youth. It was then onto the league which started much as the Pre-season had with results being very varied, some very unlucky results were seen, and some hard-fought wins were taken. A very close match against AFC Dunstable away was a highlight for me as the boys stood up and showed what they were able to do, A great game vs A very good AFC side. They do say football is all about luck, and I think this year so far that has very much been the key for the Youth lads. The boys have shown a lot of resilience and great football abilities and I know into the New Year this will continue and we will see lots more exciting football played by this talented group. Before we know it September rolls around and the U16 EJA team start again, although I’m not sure their season ever really ends. A few fresh faces on the management team and they start as they finished last season. Goals galore and games won, hard fought out games and always pushing themselves. It’s hard to believe, Lee and Stuart and these boys have been together for all the years that they have but it shows in their football and their belief within the team.

Another opportunity for the Youth of Leverstock to play under lights in the Midweek league cup which saw a 4 hour round trip for the away side, travelling from Fakenham. This game could have gone either way for both teams, but Leverstock held on and scored some great, team made goals to push through. The next round saw us under lights at Leverstock again and another win under the belt for the boys heading to an away trip in the next round. Some great football has been witnessed watching the Under 16s and lots of talent shining through and I look forward to seeing this again in the New Year.

Off The Pitch

Off the Pitch has been a busy time as always for the officers and committee members of Leverstock Green which ended in May and started again in June. I was thrilled to welcome Roger Lipscombe and Steve Ypey to our committee team and couldn’t wait for them to start the new season with us. Alan Lee became Match Day Secretary, whilst Dean remains Club Secretary and Tony completes the Treasurer role after taking over from myself and we were ready for the season ahead. We started the season with positive news as Pancake Lane, home of our football, is to be named The Lords Building Merchants Stadium which cements the sponsorship and friendship we have created with Lords. We have started to negotiate a Lease extension which will push forward for plans for the futu re of Leverstock Green and continued the ongoing projects to ensure the Stadium continues to thrive. I’d like to take an opportunity to personally thank Lords for their continued support and sponsorship as they see what the club can be and the future, we are looking for build. I’d also like to thank those that have sponsored games and players and donations we have received over the season, without the help we receive from you, we wouldn’t be able to continue to provide what we aim to.

I would like to thank all the Management Teams, Players, Officers and Committee members for their effort and hard work over the last 4 months. The Supporters, some of which are very new to us, a huge thank you goes to you for your continued belief in us, the bar and tea bar staff for their efforts in ensuring no one goes without refreshments, and all the backroom staff that often get missed, thank you. I for one cannot wait to see what the new year has in store for us at Leverstock Green and I hope you will all be there with me.

Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year

Emma

Colney Heath FC History

The “Magpies” were founded in 1907 and played their early football in the Hatfield District League and, after the 1st World War, joined the Mid Herts League, where the 3rd team played until recently. Earlier records indicate the winning of a Harcourt Cup but in is believed that this was Junior football some 18 month earlier, 1905-6. Earlier matches were played on two grounds in Coursers Road (the Meadow and the Warren). Success was a long time coming - 1935-36 and was disrupted by the 2nd World War. The golden era of football came from 1946 through to 1960 when the club won the Mid Herts Benevolent Shield twice, the Bingham Cox Cup, Division 1 and Premier Division titles.

In 1952 the switch was made from Fuzzen Field to the Recreation Ground and into the Herts County League. Division Two was won at the first attempt and success continued with two Playing Fields Cups, the Aubrey Cup twice, Division 1 and Premier titles. This culminated over the Easter weekend in 1960 with the Herts Intermediate Cup and Aubrey Cup double. The Reserve side also completed a double in 1958 winning both Cup and League.

In 1965-66, 1968-69 and 1975-76 saw relegations and a slip down to Division 3. Promotions in 1979-80, 1983-84 and 198586 saw a return to the Premier Division after a 20-year gap only to be relegated back immediately. Odd trophies were picked up in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s but these were pretty barren years on the field.

Off the field, however, the club fought for permission to use its old clubhouse. This was secured with leases still running today.

In August 1988 while modernising the building, the club burnt down. Without a clubhouse, the Magpies, playing from a Portacabin, regained entry to the Premier Division winning the Division 1 title. A new clubhouse was built in 1989 and an extension added in 1993, along with post and rails. Floodlights were erected in February 2000.

The wish to play South Midlands football eluded the club with 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 4th finishes from 1994 - 1998, when second place would have been enough. Centenary Trophies back-to-back and another Aubrey Cup were won but the Herts County title only came in 1999/2000, when coming from 15 points behind in January to win by 10 points from rivals, Wormley. The club’s ambition was to gain Premier Division status and with-it FA Cup entry. Finishes of 5th 3rd 5th 6th and 5th were not enough in the initial seasons, despite numerous semi-final appearances and consecutive Charity Cup successes in seasons.(2001/2 and 2002/3) The South Midland Reserve Challenge trophy was collected in 2004/5.The First Division title eventually came in 2005/6. With this came the Premier Division and the FA Cup. We had 15 happy seasons and steadily improving picking up the Premier Division Cup in 2010/11 with a 2-0 win against Leverstock Green. Our FA Vase run of 2013/14 saw us to a 3rd round replay which we followed up by being thrown out of the competition in 2014/15 which was a troubled season with many managerial changes. Our last few seasons have continued with changes for the better with Ryan ‘Tomo’ Thompson installing a togetherness across the club and an FA Cup run that may take some beating in future years and the little reward of second and third Charity Shield wins in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Our aim of promotion was achieved by a FA restructure with the continuing of ground improvements to the fore. Turnstiles have been acquired and with the support of local authorities and sponsors we hope to continue to make the small village proud for many years to come.

THE MANAGERS AND THE PLAYERS

As with all clubs, the Heath - or the Magpies - as they are more commonly known now, had its own breed of characters throughout the years. The pre-war sides would have been drawn from entirely local players. Sides would have featured an Allen, a Franklin, or a Littlechild. In recent times a Whitehead or an Eames. The most well-known club man of yesteryear was the manager around the War Years who later went on to hold positions in The County League and

Herts FA whom he served for many loyal years. This was Jesse Saywell.

In the olden days it was eleven players and the manager, where a Committee picked the side. Assisting off the field were Messrs Pickett, Archer, Kiff and Costain. C S Kiff ‘Charlie’ later became Secretary of the club and the Mid Herts League producing the League Centenary brochure in 1993. Players of this time included Roy Turner who went on to Barnet and Jimmy Whiting and Dickie Last who went on to St Albans, then both top amateur sides in the Country. Last and Whiting both returned in the 70’s. They helped to win the trophies of the 50’s. Many players of the sixties were drawn away to the emerging London Colney and latterly Selby but had their roots and early times for the Magpies of this period. The foes of these years were North Mymms, Redbourn, Markyate and of course London Colney.

During the emergence of Sunday ‘factory’ football of the sixties the club slipped down the reconstituted County League. Con Patient had a few years at the helm where he had an up-and-coming star in Ian ‘Grumpy’ Whitehead. Grumpy went on to captain both St Albans and Stevenage and later returned to manage for a year in the early 90’s. Another of Con’s stars was Tony Chapman, who must have had the longest throw ever. It is alleged that Tony injured himself slipping in the Marble Halls at Highbury when he was with the other Magpies, Newcastle!

Geoff Blundell along with Jim Eames dragged the sides along after this with the assistance for a short period (6 games) of Ronnie Dukes. He was the famous City manager at the time of the Torquay United FA Cup tie. Torquay complained that they had no soap, so Ronnie took a case along for the replay.

Malcolm Waller a centre forward under Geoff Blundell had a spell leading the side of mainly Hatfield boys during the 80’s. Geoff did provide us with the ‘legend’ who served us well before departing to play for and later manage Hertford. ‘Lege is of course Dave Whitehead. Dave scored over 200 goals for Hertford before moving to Potters Bar and then back home, where he continued to score goals until breaking a leg in 2002. Tony Draper then had a spell before the most successful side of the late 80’s was managed by Ian Yule, who plucked stars from all over the place. He was a successful Sunday League manager but still ended getting the sack after failing to produce the goods with his aging allstars in the Premier Division of the County League.

Laird Budge (Spurs kit man) and Dave Lawrence ex City and Bishops Stortford skipper in their Trophy days had a spell before the club turned to ex Watford Coventry and Irish International, Pat Morrissey. Pat’s first job was to save the club from relegation. He kept the side up on a goal difference of one goal on the last day of the season back in 1993, at then Champion s Sandridge, after being 15 points adrift at Xmas after taking over from Frank Patrick. Pat was unable to fulfil the promotion dream but did bring Cup success with Centenary Trophies and a Charity Cup. ‘Grumpy’ had a year then Pat returned from Hemel leaving us with ‘Shag’ Jeggo. Pat is sadly no longer with us. Darren, to give (Shag) his correct name did not really possess stars, other than Welsh International Malcolm Allen and a talented group of Stevenage Trainees but kept us there or thereabouts in a plan to get us further up the ladder, both on and off the field. He introduced the club to ‘Sven’ O’Vell and since then between them the Aubrey Cup and the Championship, along with successful youth teams have provided us with what you have today. Geoff, like Pat gave us Cup successes and got us very close to the position we felt we ought to be in but handed the reins to Craig ‘Jonno’ Johnstone to pursue the grail.

Craig almost single handily fulfilled this dream in 2005/6 after an amazing unbeaten run of 18 league games (including 14 straight wins at the start of the season) that carried us to our first Senior South Midlands title. The title winning season saw us score 106 league goals conceding only 27, with 26 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats.

Going into our second Centenary having come a long, long way. The FA Vase was a regular feature; we had improved our league position to a best ever 3rd in 2013/14. We also won the Premier Cup in.2011. The managerial pair of ex-Magpie players, Scott Lacey (102 club goals) and Wesley Awad called it a day and we hoped to continue the pattern with Kevin Cooper and Glenn Draper. However, despite their best efforts and an indifferent start we had to turn to the experienced local ex-pro Gary Phillips. In the past he had donned the gloves for Barnet before managing at Aylesbury, Hemel Hempstead, and Grays before taking time out to refresh himself at the Rec. After a few months the ‘professional lure’ of a coaching position at League 2 Stevenage proved too much for him (and latterly Crystal Palace) and so we found ourselves with a Parry / Beels combo. Glen played over 250 games for Cheshunt before a caretaker spell gave him the whiff of a manager’s office and Mark was a former

number one at Broxbourne Borough who actually won a Challenge Trophy success at Colney Heath over London Colney in 2010. This didn’t last long for personal reasons!

Wes returned with Matt Chalkley a year later to give our best finish and another first. A Herts Charity Shield with a 2-1 win at Letchworth against St Margaretsbury.

The 2014/5 season was a bit of a nightmare. Great expectations ended with 4 managers and expulsion from the F.A.Vase (and subsequently the following two FA Cup entries) but a creditable runners up spot in the Premier Cup where we lost on penalties to Berkhamsted. The search for managers led us to a loss of an entire team twice in a season and the ones who did remain loyal went at the start of the following season. A new management team headed by Steve Rolfe with a new team then struggled to come to terms with the rigours of step 5 football. We saw the experience of Micky Nathan added and we stayed up on the last day of the season ironically at Broxbourne. 20th was our lowest table position. So onward and upward we were back in the Vase for 2016-17.

Micky was retained as manager with support from Mark Royal and Pete Waller and like previous generations wanted to make his mark but at the end of November 2016, he was relieved of his duties after a series of heavy defeats and replaced by Ryan ‘Tomo’ Thompson with assistance from Tony ‘Kavs’ Kavanagh.

This change saw us stay up in 18th place and the hope of continuing forward. A 10th place finish followed and was climaxed by a return to the FA Cup and a best ever FA Cup performance going out in a 2nd Qualifying Round Replay at Burgess Hill Town after wins against Tring Athletic, Shortwood United and Cockfosters. The seasons highlight was the addition of our second Charity Shield with a win over Welwyn Garden City at Hemel Hempstead by 2-0.With the fruit of the under 18’s being pushed forward and the re-establishing of the Reserves in the County League Premier Division it is believed we can go on to a brighter future as we forward. .In 2018-19 a finish coming 6th and an unbeaten 11 match run culminating with the retention of the Herts Charity Shield with a 1-0 win over Berkhamsted. We took that run forward to see where it led.

That run was indeed taken forward with an undefeated run of seven league wins at the start of the 2019-20 season and it continued in an amazing undefeated run of home games which stretched to over a year. Games in hand over Tring Athletic were caught up and with continuing success in both the Premier Division Cup and the Herts Charity Shield we looked forward to the possible of a treble. The League’s top scorer Jon Clements along with the League’s meanest defence were a possible 11 games from history. A Semi Final against Leighton Town (with the winners playing either Leverstock Green or Newport Pagnell Town) in the Premier Cup was up for grabs and we were already waiting for London Colney to play Ware Town in the Herts Charity Shield Final. We did become only the second side ever to reach three consecutive finals. Cheshunt did back in the mid 1950’s, but only won one out of three. That brings us back to the Spartan South Midland League Premier Division. Team of the month twice, top discipline side three times and top overall, top of the league for four months with a 6-point league and a game in hand and the world is hit by the worst pandemic for over 100 years. As at the time of writing, over 4 million people had died worldwide from Covid 19 Coronavirus, (nearly 130,000) from the UK including the SSML secretary, Mike Appleby. What is clear is that people and health is more important than football, but I can only write with the respect of the history of Colney Heath Football Club.

The decision to null and void the seasons 2019-20 and 2020-21 and at a very late-stage use points per game (ppg) over the two seasons and a restructure at all levels of the non-league pyramid enabled us to be promoted to Step 4. The Southern League Central Division One was as incredible adventure for season 2021-22. We missed the familiarity of the Spartan but enjoyed the highs and lows of the Southern League. We reluctantly leave behind many new friends at Step 4. So, this season we go back to the future, and with a new style and largely a new footballing side under Ant Burns compared to the one that achieved promotion 14 months before.

As we begin a new campaign in the Spartan Premier League is hoped that when the Saywell’s, Kiff’s, ‘silver fox’ Morrissey, Shag Jeggo and the numerous Littlechild’s look down on us they approve of what they started and what continues today. After all, it’s still only a game!

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SSML Premier Division Results & Fixtures

Saturday 10th December

GCT Milton Keynes College 1 2 Potton United

PREM St Panteleimon 1 3 Baldock Town

Tuesday 20th December

PREM Shefford Town & Campton 1 5 Cockfosters

Wednesday 21st December

DLC St Panteleimon 2 2* Dunstable Town

Saturday 27th December

PREM Arlesey Town 1 0 Baldock Town

PREM Cockfosters 3 4 St Panteleimon

PREM Colney Heath 2 1 London Colney

PREM Dunstable Town 2 0 Crawley Green

PREM Harpenden Town 2 2 Hoddesdon Town

PREM Leighton Town 3 3 Ardley United

PREM Shefford Town & Campton 1 2 Stotfold

PREM Tring Athletic 0 0 Leverstock Green

Monday 2nd January

PREM Ardley United Aylesbury Vale Dynamos

PREM Baldock Town Dunstable Town

PREM Crawley Green Arlesey Town

PREM Harpenden Town St Panteleimon

PREM Hoddesdon Town Cockfosters

PREM Leverstock Green Colney Heath

PREM London Colney Tring Athletic

PREM Potton United Shefford Town & Campton

PREM Risborough Rangers Leighton Town

PREM Stotfold Biggleswade United

Alan Lee Reporting Premier Division

Leverstock Green 2 Harpenden Town 1 Saturday 3rd December 2022

It was a third league win in a row for Leverstock Green as they overcame a strong Harpenden Town side in Saturday’s game at the Lords Builders Merchants Stadium. Suspension, illness, and injuries meant that it was a somewhat different looking side to last week’s. Goalkeeper Tautvydas Poniskaitis was drafted in to cover for the suspended Austin Byfield, and defenders George Alfieri and Joshua Yoane were brought in on loan from Hadley to play in defence, where Brad Robinson, Adrian Pitfield and Alvin Kyeremeh were all out injured. Skipper Dan Pett was also absent through illness. All three of the newcomers gave excellent performances.

Both sides were playing some good football in the early stages, but without much end product. Chris Blunden brought a good save out of visiting keeper Alex Desmond in the 11th minute but had already been flagged offside. George Mitchell-Gears had an effort from the edge of the box in the 20th minute which went just over the bar.

In the 42nd minute a pass from Alfieri put Ethan Mooney through on goal. Mooney squared for Blunden, but his shot was saved and he was flagged offside again. However, in the 44th minute a big header from Ryan Carruthers gave Blunden a run at goal. Blunden couldn’t get his shot away, but held onto the ball until support arrived, and squared into the six-yard box where Mitchell-Gears was there to stab home the opening goal.

Having scored just before half time, Leverstock added their second just after half time. A foul on Blunden gave Leverstock a free kick in a dangerous position 25 yards out, and just as he did last week, Ibrahim Nagheeb produced a superb strike into the corner of the net. It was also a third goal in successive games for Nagheeb.

However, just over a minute later Harpenden were back in the game. A cross from the left was palmed away by Poniskaitis, but the ball fell for Josh Setchell, who drove home a shot to pull the score back to 2-1.

For the remainder of the game it was end-to-end stuff. The nearest that Leverstock came to extending their lead was in the 76th minute when a header from a corner was well saved by Desmond. Harpenden had a couple of good chances from headers in the 77th and 80th minutes but both efforts were off target. A cross from Rio Beach in the 86th minute set up a shooting chance for Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica, but his well-hit effort was blocked. A minute later Harpenden had the ball flashing across the face of the Leverstock goal but with no-one on the end of it.

Leverstock used every tactic during stoppage time to run more seconds off the clock, and unlike recent games where they have surrendered a single-goal lead late on, this time they closed the game out for a crucial three points which takes them up to 5th in the Premier Division table.

Leverstock Green (1) 2 (Mitchell-Gears 44, Nagheeb 48)

1. Tautvydas Poniskaitis, 2. George Alfieri, 3. Rio Beach, 18. Bobby Armstrong, 5. Joshua Yoane, 6. Ryan Carruthers, 7. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica, 8. Ibrahim Nagheeb, 9. Chris Blunden (12. Elgeniy Daalberg 90 mins), 10. George Mitchell-Gears, 11. Ethan Mooney. Subs not used: 14. Freddie Newing, 15. Ayomide Oke, 16. Sean Walsh, 20. Scott McGleish.

Jamie at Watford

Our very own Jamie was a mascot at the recent Watford vs Hull at Vicarage Road

Date

First Team Results and Goal Scorers

Venue Opponents

Score Goalscorers

02-Aug SSML Home Risborough Rangers 1 - 0 Won Blunden 06-Aug FAC Home Halstead Town 3 - 0 Won Mitchell-Gears, Blunden, Durnin 13-Aug SSML Away Baldock Town 0 - 2 Won Kyeremeh, Blunden 16-Aug SSML Home London Colney 1 - 0 Won Kyeremeh 20-Aug FAC Home St Panteleimon 2 - 2 Draw Beckwith, Beach 24-Aug FAC Away St Panteleimon 3* - 3 Won Pett, Carruthers, Daalberg 27-Aug FAV Away Edgware & Kingsbury 2 - 2* Lost Kyeremeh, Beckwith 03-Sep FAC Away Billericay Town 4 - 1 Lost Blunden 06-Sep HSC Away Bishops Stortford 0 - 5 Lost 13-Sep SSML Home Ardley United 1 - 1 Draw Blunden 17-Sep CT Away Rugby Borough 0 - 2 Lost 24-Sep SSML Away Stotfold 1 - 1 Draw Collins 27-Sep PDC Home London Colney 2* - 2 Won Pitfield, Mooney 01-Oct SSML Away Arlesey Town 1 - 1 Draw Collins 04-Oct PDC Home Coney Heath 0 - 1 Lost 08-Oct SSML Home Shefford Town & Campton 3 - 0 Won Blunden, Kyeremeh, Mitchell-Gears 15-Oct SSML Home Dunstable Town 2 - 2 Draw Blunden, Beach 25-Oct SSML Away Hoddesdon Town 0 - 1 Lost 29-Oct SSML Away Leighton Town 1 - 1 Draw Mooney 05-Nov SSML Home Biggleswade Utd 2 - 2 Draw Pett, Blunden 12-Nov SSML Home Aylesbury Vale Dynamos 3 - 3 Draw Blunden 2, Mooney 16-Nov SSML Away St Panteleimon 1 - 2 Lost Blunden 19-Nov SSML Home Baldock Town 4 - 1 Won Stefanoaica 2, Nagheeb, Blunden 29-Jan SSML Away Crawley Green 4 - 1 Won Nagheeb, Pett, Stefanoaica, Moore 03-Dec SSML Home Harpenden Town 2 - 1 Won Nagheeb, Mitchell-Gears 27-Dec SSML Away Tring Athletic 0 - 0 Draw

02-Jan SSML Home Colney Heath 07-Jan SSML Away Cockfosters 10-Jan SSML Home Crawley Green 14-Jan SSML Away Aylesbury Vale Dynamos 17-Jan WHFA Home Chipperfield Cor 21-Jan SSML Home St Panteleimon 28-Jan SSML Away Harpenden Town 04-Feb SSML Home Potton Utd 11-Feb SSML Home Arlesey Town 18-Feb SSML Away Dunstable Town 25-Feb SSML Away Ardley United 28-Feb SSML Away Potton Utd 04-Mar SSML Home Hoddesdon Town 11-Mar SSML Away Biggleswade Utd

18-Mar SSML Home Stotfold

25-Mar SSML Away Risborough Rangers

01-Apr SSML Home Cockfosters 08-Apr SSML Away Colney Heath 10-Apr SSML Home Tring Athletic 15-Apr SSML Away Shefford Town & Campton 22-Apr SSML Home Leighton Town

* Won on Penalties

Gary Fullwood Design Living.

They are sponsoring the Under 18 and First Team warm up tops. Our thanks to Gary and Karl.

First Team Appearances

APPEARANCES

Player SSML PDC CC HSC FA Cup FA Vase Total

Ryan Carruthers 15 2 1 1 4 1 24

Rio Beach 16 1 1 1 4 0 23

Alvin Kyeremeh 15 2 0 1 4 1 23 Ethan Mooney 15 2 1 1 2 0 21 Chris Blunden 14 1 1 0 4 1 21

Ibrahim Nagheeb 14 0 1 1 3 0 19 Bradley Robinson 13 0 1 0 4 1 19

Dan Pett 12 2 1 0 2 1 18

George Mitchell-Gears 11 2 0 1 3 0 17

Austin Byfield 12 1 1 1 1 0 16

Lewis Collins 9 2 0 1 4 0 16 Elgenly Daalberg 9 1 1 1 3 1 16 Scott McGleish 8 2 1 1 3 1 16

Bobby Armstrong 12 1 0 0 0 0 13 Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica 10 2 0 0 0 1 13 Adrian Pitfield 9 2 1 1 0 0 13

Sean Walsh 7 2 1 1 1 1 13 Luke Beckwith 5 0 1 1 3 1 11 Josh Mollison 3 0 0 0 3 1 7 Dan Weeks 2 0 0 1 3 1 7 Luke Durnin 2 0 0 0 4 1 7 Ayomide Oke 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 Kai Stonnell 1 0 1 0 1 1 4 Kurainashe Musanhi 2 1 0 0 0 0 3 Brian Testolin 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 Oscar Frost 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 George McCluskey 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Kraig McLeod 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Tyrig Hunte 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Rawn Seale 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

Tautvydas Poniskaitis 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 George Alfieri 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Joshua Yoane 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

Danny May 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Callum Moore 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

Sean Lockehart 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 Robbie Emanuels 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 James Collins 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

GOALSCORERS

Player

Photos from Harpenden Town by Tony Smart

THE INANE RAMBLINGS FROM UP NORFF

‘NOWT SO QUEER AS YORKSHIRE FOLK’

BY KAREN BROWNE

The Views Expressed Are Solely My Own, Are Written Tongue In Cheek And Should Be Taken With A Pinch Of Salt

SATURDAY 10th DECEMBER

WEEKEND STATISTICS

Weekend Stats: 4 games played of which 1 were home wins and 3 away wins.

Weekend Stats: The 4 games produced a total of 15 goals, an average of 3.75 per game. Jordan Brown (Real Bedford FC) netting a hat trick.

THE GLADWISH CHALLENGE TROPHY Second Round

Potton United booked a home tie with Arlesey Town in the next round of the Gladwish Challenge Trophy with a 21 success at Division Two side Milton Keynes College Football Academy. Full result and goalscorers are listed below.

1-2 Milton Keynes College Football Academy v Potton United (Davis [pen]) / (Etheridge, Willis) Attendance: 70

PREMIER DIVISION

The only Premier Division fixture to beat the freeze saw Baldock Town claim three vital points with a 3-1 win at St Panteleimon. Full result and goalscorers (where known) are listed below.

1-3 St Panteleimon v Baldock Town (Unknown) / (Kane, Abe, Buchanan) Attendance: 21

DIVISION ONE

Real Bedford FC maintained their position at the top of the Division One standings with a 5-2 win at bottom club Wellingborough Whitworth while in the other game that survived the frozen conditions a solitary first half strike was enough for Lutterworth Athletic to defeat visiting Langford. Full results and goalscorers (where known) are listed below.

1-0 Lutterworth Athletic v Langford (Smith) Attendance: 52

2-5 Wellingborough Whitworth v Real Bedford FC (Taylor, Bivens [pen]) / (Brown [3], Uttridge, Knight) Attendance: 82

AND FINALLY

The Non-League Show on Three Counties Radio (Herts, Beds & Bucks) has returned with a new day and time. It will air live between 12-2pm every Saturday. The show presented by Ollie Bayliss will reflect on the previous week’s big news and stories as well as promoting and reviewing matches later that afternoon. For those who missed it then you can catch up here:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dhy2wm

Man of the Match vs Tring Athletic Austin Byfield

Photo by George Bogdon

Alan Lee Reporting Premier Division

Tring Athletic 0 Leverstock Green 0 Tuesday 27th December 2022

Leverstock Green came away with a point from their visit to Tring Athletic on Holiday Tuesday, and it was a very hard-fought point in terrible conditions. Goalkeeper Austin Byfield was the hero for Leverstock, pulling off a string of brilliant saves to keep the game level and ensure that his side continued their unbeaten league run. For both sides it was their first game for three weeks after the postponements caused by the recent cold snap.

There was a debut for new signing Danny May, an experienced defender who started at Northampton Town before going on to play for a number of non-league clubs, including Hemel Hempstead Town, Royston Town and Colney Heath. There was also a return from injury for Luke Durnin, making his first appearance since September, although his return was cut short after a head injury in the first half. Luke Beckwith also made his first appearance since September, having been playing for AFC Dunstable in the meantime.

It was May who had Leverstock’s first effort on goal of the game, hitting a shot from distance just over the bar in the third minute. There was a scare for Leverstock in the 16th minute when Bogdan Marian put the ball across the face of their goal, but no-one was on the end of it. There was another escape two minutes later when the ball was again in the Leverstock six-yard box, but George Carbery couldn’t get his boot on the ball.

Leverstock’s best effort of the game came in the 35th minute when Chris Blunden’s shot from the edge of the box struck the bar. Byfield pulled off the first of his great saves in the 44th minute, turning a closerange shot from Godlove Oppong over the bar. In stoppage time Leverstock went close again when former Green keeper Oscar Frost flapped at a corner, but Eli Hearn headed the loose ball off the line. Further into stoppage time Byfield pulled off another great save as he dived full-length to turn a free kick from Marian round the post.

The conditions deteriorated in the second half with heavy rain being blown sideways across the pitch by strong winds. Leverstock were playing up the slope and had difficulty keeping the ball out of their own half for any length of time. There was a succession of chances for Tring, but Byfield denied Leo Farruch three times, twice at his near post and once with his feet. There were also a number of goalmouth scrambles, but the Leverstock defence never stopped battling and kept the ball out. Having not created any chances during the second half, Leverstock had a chance to win the game in stoppage time as Blunden got past a defender in the box and had a shooting opportunity open up for a second, but his eventual shot was off target. In the end Leverstock were very happy to come away with a point from a game where they were under the cosh for long periods in the second half by a very good Tring side. Leverstock and Tring remained fifth and sixth respectively in the SSML Premier Division table after today’s results.

Leverstock Green (0) 0 1. Austin Byfield, 2. Brad Robinson (16. Sean Walsh 84 mins), 3. Rio Beach, 4 Luke Durnin (12. Luke Beckwith 28 mins), 5. Alvin Kyemereh, 6. Danny May, 7. Radu-Mihai Stefanoaica (14. Elgeniy Daalberg 77 mins), 8. Dan Pett, 9. Chris Blunden, 10. Ryan Carruthers, 11. Ethan Mooney. Subs not used: 15. Ayomide Oke, 20. Scott McGleish.

Leverstock Green FC 1998

Bill Dawes Programme comments

November was another really busy month with kit either leaving or arriving at the containers most days. Here are the monthly totals

Total items sent in November - 13,850

Total items sent so far in 2022 - 106,130

Total items sent since 1998 - 927,082

Countries supported - Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Ukraine, Colombia, DR Congo, Tanzania, The Philippines, Libya.

Even though I say it myself, I do think this is quite impressive for a volunteer-run charity, with a minimal budget and little recognition, to reach so many different countries. We are also edging ever closer to the milestone figure of 1 Million items of donated kit. My guess is that we will reach this by next July.

25th Anniversary 2023 calendars

Hopefully you will have seen the email I sent out last week with the link to order your copy. It is a really nice calendar with pictures representing our work across the globe. If you are still to order or have lost the email, here is the link to Ask Calendars site https://www.askonline.shop/collections/kitaid

Please support this fundraiser if you can as we do need to sell as many calendars as we can to help meet our running costs.

England Netball

I have attended a couple of meetings with England Netball in November to discuss running a netball kit collection across Hertfordshire. This has now been agreed and plans are in place for one collection to be held at the National Schools Netball Tournament on 28 January, where schools from across the whole of the UK will compete at Stanborough School in Welwyn Garden City.

A second collection will be held with all Hertfordshire based Netball Clubs in early February. This is a great opportunity and hopefully a lot of kit will be collected to support the new Netball League in Mulanje, Malawi.

Interestingly we also received a great donation of kit from the England National Badminton centre, and it is lovely kit which can also be used for netball.

KitAid Supporters Cup

Due to a 92nd minute equaliser by Aylesbury Vale Dynamos, against Leverstock Green FC, the inaugural KitAid Supporters Cup could not be presented to either team. It finished 3-3. I don't think I have ever been so frustrated by an injury time goal! However, a few of the KitAid team had an enjoyable afternoon at the game and as we also sponsored the game, we had the pleasure of joining the club officials in the boardroom at half time as well as choosing the Man of the Match. We will look to carry the trophy over to the return match in January.

Everton FC

At the boxing up session in October we handed over some Everton FC kit to a volunteer who was about to go out to Ghana to work at a school. He sent photos back of the kit being used and Richie, the Regional Co-ordinator, submitted a story to the Everton press office. They then released the story across their official social media sites and this really showed the power of a good photo and story. There were thousands of views, and the story was also covered by the Liverpool Echo and the FC Business magazine.

This is why photos are so important for KitAid as well as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Do Not Scratch Your Eyes podcast

This podcast is run by Watford FC supporters, and it is becoming one of the main voices for Hornet fans.

I was given 30 minutes to tell the KitAid story a few months ago and since then, the guys who run the site have been very supportive of our work. Last week they announced they are moving on to a bigger platform, which hosts some of the really big sites and is linked to Talk Sport. They will also be releasing merchandise and half of the proceeds will be donated to KitAid.

Couriers

We are looking for another courier company as back up, as the companies we currently use are struggling with driver shortages. If you know of a reliable and good value company who cover the UK for collections and deliveries, could you please let me know.

25th Anniversary Celebration

We have started work on planning for the big 25th Anniversary/1 Million donated items event for 2023.

We are still waiting to hear if Affinity Water can help with sponsorship, and this is critical in terms of the type of event we hold. Depending on sponsorship, it will either be a hotel-based buffet event, similar to the 20th Anniversary, or a garden party/club house event. As it is such a significant milestone, we would prefer to make it a hotel type event.

If you have any suggestions on sponsorship, venue, entertainment, auction items we would love to hear from you.

25th Anniversary merchandise

We have ordered some polo shirts with the new special logo, and these will be available for £15, including p&p.

There will also be special badges, available for £5. More information will follow with photos in the next monthly update, but if you would like to place an order in advance, please reply stating the required size.

Well, I think that is everything for November and I hope you find this update interesting and of use.

Many thanks for your support, which is what makes KitAid exist.

Very best wishes

Derrick

Leverstock Green FC Supports Kit Aid

SCYFL U18 Corinthian Division Results and Fixtures

Date Venue Opponents Score

Goalscorers

15-Aug FAY Away Berkhamsted 3 - 2 Won Hobbs, Roberts, Payne

01-Sep FAY Home Langley 1 - 6 Lost Payne

08-Sep SCYFL Away Berkhamsted 3 - 2 Won Payne, Kenyon, Hobbs

15-Sep SCYFL Home AFC Dunstable 2 - 3 Lost Roberts, Moore 22-Sep SCYFL Home Crawley Green 3 - 1 Won Payne 2, Sullivan

29-Sep SCYFL Away Harpenden Town 2 - 5 Lost Payne, Sadler

06-Oct SCYFL Home Kings Langley 0 - 2 Lost 12-Oct SCYFL Away Dunstable Town 3 - 4 Lost Payne, Sullivan, Roberts

20-Oct SCYFL Home Leighton Town 0 - 3 Lost 24-Oct SCYFL Away Luton Town Cedars P - P

03-Nov SCYFL Away Oxhey Jets 0 - 1 Won McLean

10-Nov SCYFL Home Colney Heath 1 - 2 Lost Payne

17-Nov SCYFL Away Aylesbury Vale Dynamos P - P 24-Nov SCYFL Away AFC Dunstable 1 - 1 Draw Moore 28-Nov SCYFL Home Berkhamsted 1 - 3 Lost McLean 08-Dec SCYFL 15-Dec SCYFL Home Harpenden Town 05-Jan SCYFL Away Kings Langley 09-Jan SCYFL Away Luton Town Cedars 19-Jan SCYFL Away Leighton Town 26-Jan SCYFL Home Luton Town Cedars

02-Feb SCYFL Home Oxhey Jets

09-Feb SCYFL Away Colney Heath

16-Feb SCYFL Home Aylesbury Vale Dynamos 23-Feb

SCYFL U18 Corinthian Division

Appearances & Goalscorers

APPEARANCES

Daniel Payne

League Merton League Cup HFA U18 FAY Cup Total

11 0 0 0 1 12

Finn McLean 11 0 0 0 1 12

Archie Roberts 11 0 0 0 1 12 Callum Moore 10 0 0 0 1 11

Stanley Kenyon 10 0 0 0 0 10

Reece Marchant 9 0 0 0 1 10

Bilal Mohammed 8 0 0 0 1 9

Archie Wood 8 0 0 0 1 9

Shad Rasha 8 0 0 0 0 8

Billy Hoar 7 0 0 0 1 8

Charlie Hobbs 7 0 0 0 1 8 Ellis Webb 6 0 0 0 1 7

Kai Sullivan 6 0 0 0 1 7

Callum Maloney 6 0 0 0 1 7

Liam Fortune 5 0 0 0 1 6 Tom Rutherford 5 0 0 0 1 6

Jamie McIntosh 5 0 0 0 0 5 Sean Lockehart 5 0 0 0 0 5 Luc Dischamps 4 0 0 0 0 4

Oliver Clark 4 0 0 0 0 4 Charlie Waugh 4 0 0 0 0 4 Jack Nicholl 3 0 0 0 1 4 Lenny Hopwood 3 0 0 0 1 4

Fergus Murray 3 0 0 0 0 3 Edward Thackeray 2 0 0 0 1 3

Pete Samnakhon 2 0 0 0 0 2 Joseph Sadler 2 0 0 0 0 2

Freddie Borroughs 1 0 0 0 1 2 George Edwards 1 0 0 0 0 1 David Barbakdze 1 0 0 0 0 1 Raul Imbre 1 0 0 0 0 1

GOALSCORERS

League Merton League Cup HFA U18 FAY Cup Total

Daniel Payne 6 0 0 0 1 7

Archie Roberts 2 0 0 0 1 3

Kai Sullivan 2 0 0 0 0 2

Callum Moore 2 0 0 0 0 2

Finn McLean 2 0 0 0 0 2

Charlie Hobbs 1 0 0 0 1 2 Joseph Sadler 1 0 0 0 0 1 Stanley Kenyon 1 0 0 0 0 1

SCYFL U18 Results & Fixtures

Week commencing 2nd January 2022

Berkhamsted AFC Dunstable

Dunstable Town

Luton Town Cedars Harpenden Town Colney Heath

Kings Langley Leverstock Green Leighton Town Oxhey Jets

Week commencing 9th January 2022

Colney Heath FC U18

Luton Town U18 (Cedars)

Kings Langley FC U18

Leverstock Green U18

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos Harpenden Town U18 Oxhey Jets U18 Berkhamsted FC U18

Week commencing 16th January 2022

Dunstable Town U18

Colney Heath FC U18

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos FC Leighton Town U18 Leverstock Green U18 Oxhey Jets U18

Kings Langley FC U18

Luton Town U18 Shadow (Cedars)

Harpenden Town U18 AFC Dunstable U18 (SC)

Week commencing 23rd January 2022

Colney Heath FC U18

Berkhamsted FC U18

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos FC U18

AFC Dunstable U18 (SC)

Leverstock Green U18

Leighton Town U18

Harpenden Town U18

Dunstable Town U18

Kings Langley FC U18

Luton Town U18 Shadow (Cedars)

Sunday 4th December

CC Hemel Hempstead Town Whites

Tuesday 6th December

Sunday 11th December

CC Leighton Town Youth U16 (EJA)

P Dunstable Town U15 Lions L Barton Rovers U16

P Harpenden Town U16 EJA L Leighton Town Youth U16 (EJA)

Sunday 18th December

Cup Barton Rovers U16 Burnham Ramblers Youth U16 EJA Cup Colney Heath Youth U16 EJA St Margaretsbury Youth U16 Reds Cup Fakenham Town F.C. U16 EJA Hemel Hempstead Town Blacks Cup Leighton Town Youth U16 (EJA) Walthamstow Youth U16 EJA Cup Leverstock Green U16 Brantham Athletic F.C. U16 (EJA)

APPEARANCES

Freddie Burroughs 7 1 3 1 12

Shae Robinson 7 1 3 1 12

Joshua Weidner 7 1 3 1 12

Jamie McIntosh 7 0 3 1 11

Kaylan John-Baptise 6 1 3 1 11

Leo Goldschmied 6 1 3 1 11

Joseph Sadler 6 1 2 1 10 Sid Young 6 0 3 1 10 Ryan Barry 5 1 3 1 10 Brandon Bowie 5 1 3 1 10 Shay Kelly 6 0 2 1 9

Kaashan Darr 5 1 3 0 9 David Barbakdze 5 1 1 1 8 Sam Kin 4 1 3 0 8 Lucas Georgiou 4 0 3 1 8 Yuvraaj Pangali 4 1 2 0 7 Sameer Salique 4 1 1 1 7 Levi Young 4 0 2 1 7 Arther McLaughlin 5 1 0 0 6 Oscar Martin 3 1 1 0 5 Roshan Hirani 3 0 0 1 4 Raul Imbre 2 1 1 0 4

GOALSCORERS

Jamie

EJA U16 Results & Fixtures

Date Venue Opponents Score Goalscorers

18-Sep EJA Home Harpenden Town 3 - 4 Lost Kelly, Darr, McIntosh 02-Oct EJA Away Ware 5 - 2 Won McIntosh 2, Barbakdze, Weidner, John-Baptise

09-Oct EJA Home Leighton Town 2 - 3 Lost Bowie, Imbre 10-Oct Cup Away Arlesey Town 3 - 4 Won Imbre 2, Sadler, McIntosh 16-Oct Cup Away Stanway Rovers 0 - 1 Lost 30-Oct EJA Home Hertford Town 2 - 3 Lost Georgiou 2 06-Nov CC Away Broadhall Youth 11 - 0 Won Georgiou, McIntosh, McLaughlin, Pangali, Young s, Barbakdze, Barry, Sadler, Weidner, Young L

13-Nov EJA Home Ware 2 - 2 Draw McIntosh 2 20-Nov EJA Away Colney Heath 1 - 4 Won McIntosh 4 22-Nov Cup Home Fakenham Town 2 - 1 Won McIntosh 2 27-Nov EJA Away Hemel Hempstead 2 - 2 Draw Kelly, McIntosh

04-Dec EJA Away Cheshunt Youth 1 - 2 Lost Georgiou 06-Dec Cup Home Aveley 3 - 0 Won McIntosh 2, Weidner 08-Jan EJA Home Barton Rovers 15-Jan EJA Home Colney Heath 22-Jan EJA Home Brantham Ath 29-Jan EJA 01-Feb EJA 12-Feb EJA 26-Feb EJA 12-Mar EJA 19-Mar EJA 21-Mar EJA 26-Mar EJA 02-Apr EJA 09-Apr EJA 23-Apr EJA 30-Apr EJA * Won on Penalties

VICE PRESIDENTS CLUB 2022-23

Leverstock Green Football Club would like to thank the Vice Presidents for their help and assistance pledged for last season. Colin Bull, Peter Dennis, Jim Doble, Peter Frasier, Roger Stokes

As in previous seasons the donations made by our Vice Presidents have assisted us in providing many improvements. Would you like to join, £25 will secure your place.

Step 5 and Step 6 Promotion and Relegation

Changes have been made to the promotion and relegation guidelines given in the summer for Step 5 of the FA’s National League System. This is due to vacancies that have arisen in the NLS for a variety of reasons.

At Step 4, the 8 Clubs finishing 4th bottom and 2 clubs ending 3rd bottom with the highest PPG now do not have to take part in the Inter-Step Play-Offs.

This leaves 6 eligible Step 4 Clubs for the Play-Offs and 16 eligible 2nd placed Clubs at Step 5. As a result, the Clubs finishing in 2nd position at Step 5 are ranked on PPG with the 10 highest being automatically promoted.

The 6 remaining Step 4 Clubs and 6 remaining Step 5 Clubs are placed into geographical groupings and paired by PPG as per the Play-Off Criteria

12 Clubs finishing in the bottom two across Step 5 will now be reprieved from relegation ranked on PPG. It has to be noted that the above situation is the current position and could change if the Committee feels there is a valid reason in the best interest of the NLS.