Terras Times February March 2020

Southern Football League Champions 2018/2019

TERRAS TIMES The newsletter of the Weymouth FC Supporters Association

ISSUE Feb/Mar 2020

From the Editors Chair Welcome to what will understandably be a shorter and more somber edition of the WFCSA newsletter.

What should be a time of great excitement and drama in sport is turning into a nightmare for everyone.

Rightly at this time all of our focus is on protecting our loved ones and the vulnerable in society and despite me starting to plan this newsletter with the feelings that it should be business as usual, it clearly isn’t.

So as with the messages coming out from all of the official bodies and even our own football club, stay safe and follow all of the government advice.

WFC is something that we are all incredibly passionate about and will do our utmost to keep it the same size and shape of football club that it is now ahead of a return to competition, whenever that may be.

When there was football to talk about it was interesting to see that we were starting to put together a really good run of form and the crowds at the BLS were something to be rightly proud of.

We have also seen a lot of media interest in the club with Mark Molesley featuring in the Daily Telegraph, Four four two and a football podcast on Youtube in which he explained in forensic detail the levels of commitment that go into coaching a part time team.

The parts that particularly interested me were the fact that water bottles had a certain place around the pitch to ensure less time was wasted in a drinks break and that the club operated an app where players could see clips of their opponents.

It was jaw dropping stuff and shows that the aggregation of marginal gains isn’t just something that top level sport uses to make a difference.

I am just hoping that Eddie Howe survives at AFC Bournemouth as I don’t’ want the current status quo to change and leave Mark with a different role at that club affecting his ability to manage ours so effectively.

It only remains for me to say hold tight and see you all as soon as we can.

James

Chairman’s Chatter CHAIRMANS CHATTER Welcome to our latest newsletter. It has been a very busy period both on and off the pitch! The second annual Hall of Fame evening inducted another four players, Phil Stocker, Brian Lawrence, John Waldock and Stewart Yetton on an evening that was enjoyed by all who attended it. Held at Weymouth College, the football club is making positive strides in projecting itself out into the wider community, great to see.

On the pitch, the team have put a really strong run of results together which have cemented our position firmly in the play off places. We are very much jostling for final position at the moment and I personally hold out great hopes for an historic home play off tie! We shall see, fingers crossed!

The Supporters Association recently presented two pictures to the Veterans Hub Weymouth, who are the football clubs nominated good cause for this season. Founded by former soldier Andy Price, seen here pictured with yours truly, the Hub provides vital support services to veterans as well as providing a focal point for them to meet and socialise. They rely entirely on donations to keep going and the local community has really taken the hub to it’s heart as there is a very large veterans community within the local population. The club have already hosted Hub veterans for the November ceremonies and we are planning a bucket collection for our Easter bank holiday Friday game, so do make sure you have some spare change to throw in the pot that day! Your support is really appreciated.

One final thing before I sign off, we have a new Membership Secretary! You can contact Ken Willis via membership@wfcsa.co.uk for all you membership enquiries. Welcome aboard Ken and thank you for volunteering.

Thanks for reading, until next time.

21 years on…

Sadly this issue was going to have a special feature on the Terras anniversary trip to Chelmsford City away.

Back in 1997/1998 this saw the start of the clubs run towards the Southern League Southern division champtionship.

At that time we had been in a bit of turmoil with the appointment of Neil Webb failing before turning to John Crabbe and then David Laws on a caretaker basis.

Fred Davies came in to steer us to the title a long string of wins in that run in.

Winning the league was a way off out thoughts that blustery and damp Sunday (the game had been moved due to Chelmsford sharing with Maldon) as Terras fans poured into the ground for a festive footballing fix.

The ground was not particularly well developed at that time (unlike when Maldon were on live TV in the FA Cup last year) and to get a good view of the game we were perched up the top of a muddy bank exposed the North Sea winds for most of the game.

As the match started more mini buses full of the Weymouth faithful arrived and despite Chelmsford being the league pacesetters of the time it was a home game ifor us in terms of atmosphere. Neil Housley (2) and Mark Robinson, a new signing still at that time, were the scorers in a comprehensive win and despite a few dodgy results over the rest of Christmas and late winter it was that game that lit the spark and ultimately come the Easter of that year saw us overhaul Chelmsford for the league. Great memories. It’s a shame we aren't going back for now.