Terras Times June 2020

Southern Football League Champions 2018/2019

TERRAS TIMES The newsletter of the Weymouth FC Supporters Association

ISSUE: June 2020

From the Editors Chair Hello everyone and welcome to the summer of 2020. We can’t call it the off-season or anything really at the moment!

Most people have used this as a period of reflection and I am no different. Recently my Wife Emily and I celebrated 10 years of marriage (locked down and socially isolated of course!) and it got me thinking and pontificating about our first date.

Stay with me, this is WFC related.

We worked in the same office building in Peterborough so didn’t want anyone knowing we were going to be going on a date to stop any chatter or outside pressure.

She is a football fan but I didn’t fancy going to see her beloved Newcastle United so a post Martyn Harrisons patch up Weymouth side meeting Burton Albion was the agreed venue.

We left Yaxley in the dark on the Saturday morning of the game and endured the icy motorways travelling South and around the Capital.

I think the treat of a Sea Chef lunch was a master stroke as was a stunning performance from the super Terras where Stuart Beavon scored (I think on his debut) to secure us a 1-1 draw.

We were keen to get on the road back up country so we can find a nice remote pub for a drink and dinner but a tackle by Ashley Vickers (spookily a former Peterborough player, so he could have recognized us maybe!!)

saw the match delayed quite some time. It was late in the evening when we got back.

However, despite watching Weymouth on a freezing cold day on her first date with me we stayed together.

So happy anniversary Emily !

And I would like to wish all the Terras fans out there who are still confined to their homes happy birthday, anniversary and any other occasions. We will all be back at the BLS soon and can celebrate then.

Elsewhere in this edition we have an interview with the club Chairman Ian White and an WFCSA update from Peter Nash. Enjoy.

James

Chairmans Chatter Welcome to the June 2020 edition of our newsletter! I hope that you are all keeping safe and well and managing as best you can in these undoubtedly challenging times. We all trust that reading this newsletter brings a little relief from this strange way we currently find ourselves living our lives. I have continued to work but the majority of my colleagues have been working from home for the past two months. This makes my workplace a very lonely place with often no one to talk to all day, not something I am at all used to. I do however have the luxury of going home at the end of my working day to enjoy the company of my wife and our pet dog! If you find yourself feeling the strain because you are cut off from the world, isolating yourself from Covid 19, then I implore you to reach out to speak with someone. The world can be a lonely place at the best of times so it is important to know that there is someone out there who is willing to listen and try to help if they can. Football fans are a big family so get in touch. Drop an email to weymouthfcsa@gmail.com or if you do not have access to the internet, then give me a call or text on 07864536808 and we can go from there. We are here for you if you need us, so do get in touch.

I would like to give a huge shout out and massive thank you to our fantastic media team who have worked wonders to keep us all entertained over the past couple of months. The Take Two feature has been brilliant to watch, if you missed any, you can still catch them on Youtube, and they have helped raise vital funds for the club at a time when income has dried up yet the bills keep coming! The quality and content on the Clubs website is also a credit to all involved and I would suspect it is the envy of many a full time club, such is the quality. All this content is brought to you by a hard working group of volunteers, brilliant stuff lads, it really is. Thank you!

For the first time in a long time live football was back on the telly with the resumption of the German Bundesliga! What a sad and pointless spectacle that was, in my opinion that is! As someone who is used to supporting their local side, I have always appreciated the value that fans bring, no more so than on the big occasion. Take our championship winning game last season with over 2600 fans packed into the Bob Lucas Stadium! The atmosphere created that day will live long in the memory, it is the people who make the occasion and spectacle, TV cameras merely feed that spectacle back to those sat at home! For me, the whole behind closed doors concept, (though it is needed for the safety of all involved so no argument from me there), just highlights how vital fans are at all levels of the game and I hope the Premier League officials were watching and realise their importance and learn from the experience. Fingers crossed!

We currently have no idea when we might be able to once again venture down to the Bob Lucas Stadium for our Saturday afternoons entertainment. As frustrating as it is, we just have to be patient. In the meantime, stay safe and if you are feeling isolated, remember the details above and do get in touch.

Best wishes to you all.

Pete Nash Chairman, Weymouth FC Supporters Association - 'The Terras Supporters Club'

Interview with Terras Chairman Ian White We recently caught up with ian White to ask him three killer questions about Weymouth FC for this newsletter, all safely socially distanced of course‌.

(1) How would you evaluate the season, or should we still say season to date?

I always felt that we would do quite well this season and I truly didn't believe we would be in a relegation battle. The squad was just to good and couple that with the great management team we have, to be honest we have done even better than I could have dreamed of. We were very unlucky with injuries this season but saying that every player that stepped up played their part. As I have said a couple of times we finished 3rd in the league that is 27th in the whole non-league pyramid which is an amazing achievement that we can all be so proud of.

(2) Do you still think wow! when you walk into the Bob Lucas Stadium like a fan, or is you head full of figures and the other challenges that a Chairperson has?

Oh this is great question. Being Chairman of our great club was never ever an option that I had even considered. As many will know I have been around the club for many years. Apart from the odd season here and there I have been the club's programme editor for 22 years so over the years I have become very aware of the ins and outs of this great club. I won't share why I took the role on, only to say that those who know me well knew there must have been a major reason why!!

It is a great responsibility and one that I am really enjoying. It helps to have a great team around you and I certainly have that with my board and the WFCSA who are also a very important part of this club. I have had to learn on the job and as the months pass I am becoming more and more confident.

It is a strange feeling when I think that I am the main man for this wonderful club. So back to the question, yes I am very much still a fan, as many will see I rarely sit in the directors box at home games I have so many friends that I like to spend some time with.

(3) What's your favourite ever Terras kit and what memories do you have that makes it so?

Favourite Terras kit. Well I really like the yellow kits, strange really as I have this thing about yellow.

My main kit would be either the claret and blue stripe shirt or the claret & Blue halved shirt which I also Like.

Of course both the striped & yellow shirt fit into my memories of them both as we won the league in the 1997/98 season under Fred Davis and of course we won the league at Baldock playing in the Yellow kit and I still have Paul Adcock's no 9 shirt.

Finally these are very strange times and I hope everyone is staying safe and looking after their families and loved ones. The club is in a very special place at the moment and through all our hard work we will come out the other side of this in really great shape. I can't wait to see you all again and together we will continue the re-build of our very special club.

We can’t wait to get back and see you and the team Ian. Many thanks for your time today.