THE CHARTERS COMMUNITY STADIUM
WINCHESTER CITY Football Club The Citizens Post Saturday October 8th 2022
Poole Town 3.00pm
Isuzu FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round
£2
The Citizens Post Spotlight: Club Chairman – Ken Raisbeck Continuing with our “Spotlight” theme, we are focusing on our Chairman, the individual at the Club ultimately responsible for making the key decisions, chairing the Board and mapping out the future of the Club. Still with a Geordie accent despite living in Winchester since being a student here, Ken Raisbeck tells us how he became involved in the football club and what we can expect going forward. As many of our Junior Managers can relate, Ken started out as a parent on the side-line supporting his eldest son Ollie at Winchester Youth FC. Gradually he began helping with the team, soon becoming Manager, moved onto the Committee and then before you could say “wey aye, man!” was Chairman of Winchester Youth. Ken took his league and cup winning side from Winchester Youth to City at U16s where he became Head of Youth, then shortly after in 2019 became Chairman of Winchester City FC. With a full time job in commercial real estate services and investments, four children and two dogs, Ken’s a busy man but his passion for our local community has led him to the position he now holds at the Club. When asked about highlights of his time as Chairman, the first team’s promotion to the Southern Premier League was at the forefront of his mind. All credit to the Manager and players who had exceeded expectations during last season and fully deserved their promotion to the highest level ever played by the Club. “The play off final was a remarkable game, both in terms of the result, but also the sheer number of local supporters on the day. Seeing Henry Brooks play his part in that winning team which demonstrated the real and tangible pathway from Youth to First team football was a highlight for me”. Ken drove the successful amalgamation of Winchester Youth FC with Winchester City FC in 2021 combining two successful Clubs to make one of
The Citizens Post Spotlight: Club Chairman – Ken Raisbeck the biggest all age football clubs in Hampshire. Invested in community, player pathway and inclusivity, Ken continues to work tirelessly to ensure that our Club becomes a sports hub the City can be proud of. With the successes come bountiful challenges both in terms of football and the operation of the Club. “Improving and modernising our facilities to create a sporting hub for the community and to keep in line with league requirements is a huge challenge”. Working with stakeholders to propose, plan, negotiate, secure investment and execute initiatives and requirements is a huge part of the Chairman role, one which he shares with a few others. “Finding volunteers in all areas of our operations is a continual struggle, our reliance on a small number of people who do the lion’s share of the work, is an ongoing concern”. Ken also recognises that the step up for the first team to the Southern Premier League has been a learning curve, “ensuring the Club remains financially secure whilst attracting the right calibre of players to the Club will remain a balancing act for the foreseeable future”. However, the future of the Club is exciting. The amalgamation of the Junior, Youth and Adult teams has demonstrated the value in connecting everything by having a proper pathway. “With the junior part of the Club more popular than ever, we are attracting players and coaching talent which will further strengthen our player opportunities going forward”. Ensuring we have an infrastructure fit for the future is top of Ken’s agenda. With plans to improve our facilities, initially by installing a 3G pitch, there is plenty of work being done behind the scenes by Ken and other volunteers to ensure that the vision becomes a reality. If you think you could help with bringing our future plans to fruition then we would love to hear from you, do drop Ken an email on kraisbeck@gmail.com
A
L
L
F
O
R
S
P
O
R
T
www.joma-sport.com
The Citizens Post malcolms musings WE welcome Poole Town to Winchester City for today’s F A Trophy tie, which means that our first ever Southern League Premier Division match is a home game against Poole Town, and our first ever F A Trophy game as a Southern Premier League club will be also at home to Poole Town. Poole earlier in the season gave an excellent display in winning 3-0 at Winchester and surprisingly followed that up by obtaining 1 win, 1 draw and 3 defeats from their next three league games, in addition to exiting the F A Cup at the first hurdle. However all four of their defeats were at home, and at the time of writing they were unbeaten away from home. They however made a welcome return to winning ways on home territory with a 5-0 victory over Yate Town. With forwards of the quality of Wes Fogden and Toby Holmes, plus an experienced manager in Tommy Killick one would expect Poole to be in the top half of this division. Wes has played 97 football league games for the likes of Brighton and Hove Albion, AFC Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Yeovil Town. For ourselves we will be keen to put right a poor recent F A Trophy record having in each of the last five seasons and remarkably in each they lost to former champions of the Hellenic League, with the sides who beat them in this period being Kidlington, Slimbridge, Thame United (twice) and Highworth Town. Former Hellenic League champions North Leigh, Yate Town, Swindon Supermarine and Cirencester Town were also kin the draw for this round, but we avoided all of them in the draw, Kidlington, Slimbridge, Thame United and Highworth Town who are now a division below us are all out of the competition. Out last win in this competition was in fact away to Phoenix Sports in 2016/17, and to discover our most recent home victory one has to go back to our 3-0 victory against Taunton Town in 2018/19 to discover our most recent home success. Actually we have played 12 home games in this competition and only won 2 of them, although 3 of these games led to replays, one of which we won. Let us hope today we can achieve our first victory in this competition on home soil for 14 years. Poole in 2020/21 reached the 2nd round proper of this competition for the first time, where they lost to Maidstone United, although prior to this they had reached the 1st round proper on five occasions. Poole have also reached the 1st round proper of the F A Cup on four occasions and have played current championship clubs Queens Park Rangers (twice) and Watford in this competition. In 1989/90 they drew at home to Bath City and went into the draw for the 1st round proper where the winners were drawn to play Fulham, but Poole lost the replay, although I think they were just pleased to be in the draw for the 1st round proper. Poole also reached the semi finals of the F A Vase in 2010/11 when they lost to Whitley Bay and one of their supporters was one of the first to tell me of the expression Win or Lose We’re on the Booze, even if this needs also to be done in moderation. In the league game against Poole we were given great support from a group of Merthyr supporters whose coach broke down on the way to Gosport. Today Merthyr are at home to our local rivals AFC Totton, 11 days after we played there. and so I think it is safe to say that there will be no Merthyr supporters here today. One thinks of this competition being dominated by clubs from the National League, National League North and National League South. However in 2020/21 this competition was won by AFC Hornchurch of the Isthmian Premier League, the same level as ourselves and Poole. Entering the competition at this stage they won through eight ties of the competition to reach the final, with two of their victories coming against Kings Lynn Town and Nott’s County, both of whom were playing in the National League at the time. Actually AFC Hornchurch was bought down to earth in this competition last year when they lost at this stage to Wingate and Finchley, even if the loss was only on penalties. From my past experiences of Poole I have always found them in the past to be a friendly club and although today there is a rail strike which may or may not affect local services, but unlike in the league game between the two clubs when I had to rush back from cricket at Salisbury or more precisely Skew Bridge, Bemerton which was the first home of Bemerton Heath Harlequins when they first joined the Wessex League, I should have more time to socialise before the game today. Enjoy today’s game and hope Poole enjoy their visit today apart from the result which with no replays will go one way or the other. This will be for us the first of three home games in a week.
Todays Visitors poole town The Long and Illustrious History of Poole Town Beginnings: Poole FC were formed on 20th September 1890 by the merger between two local sides, Poole Rovers and Poole Hornets, who can trace their origins back to 1880, thus the club celebrated their centenary in 1980 with some high profile games against the likes of Manchester Utd, WBA and Manchester City. The Recent Years: 2000 – 2008: The new millennium saw the club continue to stride forward but further silverware remained just beyond their grasp despite becoming a force in every league they played in. Starting in the Hants Premier division the Dolphins finished runners-up in 2000-01, 5th in 2001-02, 4th in 2002-03, and 3rd in 2003-04. Re-alignment of the leagues for the 2004-05 season saw them join the newly formed Wessex Division 2 and gain promotion at seasons end finishing runners-up to Lymington Town FC, the two clubs being 21 points ahead of the rest of the pack. 2006-07 Poole joined the top flight of the Wessex and gained a credible 8th in the much tougher league. For the 2006-07 the division was renamed Wessex Premier and Poole started promisingly again but their challenge for honours faded with a series of poor results over the Christmas period, however they recovered to finished strongly in 4th. In this period there has been some good cup runs too. Poole reached the Trophyman League Cup quarter-finals in both 2002-03 and 2003-04 and the latter year also saw the Dolphins reach the semi-final of the Dorset Senior Cup losing 1-2 to Gillingham. They repeated the feat again in 2006-07 losing the semi-final to Sherborne by the same margin. 2005-06 saw them get to the Dorset Senior Cup final but the gods contrived to deny them success against Hamworthy on the night. Their first year in the Wessex in 2004-05 saw them reach the semi-finals of the League cup against all the odds losing to Thatcham Town over two legs, and the following season they reached the semi’s again, losing out to Andover that year. The club moved to its current home at Tatnam Farm during this period and continual ground improvements saw the erection of a stand and bar and refreshment facilities and great improvements to the club house and area in general. Poole led the way in the league for much of the 2007-08 season slipping up early in the new year to eventually finish 4th once more. They also had a good run in the F.A. Vase reaching the 4th round but again suffered disappointment on their other cup competitions. 2008 to date - Sustained Success at last: - That elusive Silverware finally arrived in the 2008/9 season. Poole Town won the Wessex Premier title and were to finish as the second best team of 1,600 Football Association clubs in the whole of England, based on points per match, with the following record: played 42, won 38, drawn 2, lost 2. At the time of securing the title they had been unbeaten in the league and were the top team in the country, but then they inexplicably lost their last two league games! They also won the Dorset Senior Cup (beating Dorchester 2-0 aet), in a thriller at Weymouth’s Radipole Lane ground and reached the semi finals of the League Cup. They were, however denied promotion to level 4 due to
Todays Visitors poole town inadequate ground grading at the Tatnam. They won the Wessex League Title again in 2009-10 by an impressive 18 points and reached the final of the League Cup, but again failed to gain promotion after the plans to build a new ground at Bracksome Rec fell through. The real coup for the 09/10 season was more personnel, Top goalscorer, Charlie Austin made the successful leap from Poole to Swindon Town in the Football League Division One and is now lining up for Burnley in the Championship, as an established talent. 2010/11 and Poole reached the F.A. Vase semi finals losing out to Whitley Bay. They also won Wessex Premier title forthe third successive season once more by a huge 20 point margin and at last gained Promotion back to their spiritual home in the Southern league after a 15 year absence having finally been given permission to make improvements to the ground to take advantage of the offered Promotion. The first season back in 2011-12 saw them make a late charge to secure second place behind Champions Bideford .They beat Hungerford convincingly in the play off Semi’s and were minutes away from winning the Final against Gosport. But hopes of a second straight promotion were dashed by two late goals from Steve Claridge to send Gosport up to the Southern Premier. 2012-2013 saw the club win the Southern South & West Division by 14 points in addition they won the Dorset Senior Cup, being 4 – 1 winners over Wimborne Town at The County Ground, Hamworthy and finish up with a treble winning the Southern League Championship Trophy match beating Central Division champions Burnham – 1 – 0 on their own ground. Thus for 2013/2014 promotion to the now named Calor League Premier Division was achieved. 2013/14 saw a 7th place finish and also disappointment coming so close to a FA Cup 1st Rd spot losing out to Conference South side Staines Town in a replay at Poole. Off the field by the end of March a new clubhouse, dressing room improvements, new covered standing, new seating installed, new boardroom, new office, new tea bar and new toilets were in place. 2014/15 saw the club in the mix for promotion to Conference South throughout the season unfortunately the final results sawthem fall short losing a final day match to Corby Town who won the title. Tuesday 31st March the club won the Red Insure Southern League Cup for the first time drawing 0 – 0 with Corby Town at Tatnam, Poole taking the trophy on the away goals rule after their 1 – 1 at draw at Corby on the 18th March, they were also the winners of the Fair Play award for the Premier Division. The newly formed U21 side also won the Dorset U21 Development League and the U18’s reached the 1st Rd Proper of the F.A. Youth Cup finally losing out to Torquay Utd. The players from the previous season stayed together and 2015/2016 saw the club go one better and achieve promotion as champions of the Southern Premier Division winning the title by a margin of 9 points from 2nd place Redditch Utd thus yet another new challenge now awaits in the National League South, the club lost out v Whitehawk in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Rd down in Brighton. Which means over the last 9 seasons the club has won 5 league titles and been runners-up on 2 occasions. 2016/17 saw a 5th place finish in National League South but no play-off place due to ground grading issues despite major ground improvements
Todays Visitors poole town once again at Tatnam to stave off threats of demotion. Tatnam was also now re-named the Black Gold Stadium. Poole Town U18’s also reached the 2nd Rd Proper of the FA Youth Cup losing out to Leyton Orient at Poole in front of a 300+ crowd. 2017/2018 saw a final day relegation with the club dropping back into the Southern Premier after 2 seasons. 2018/2019 saw the club reach the Southern League – Premier South play off final after securing 5th spot in the table, after winning the semi final away at Taunton Town which went to a dramatic penalty shoot-out AET only to lose out at Metropolitan Police by a 1 – 0 score line. They did secure the Dorset Senior Cup v Wimborne Town winning 5 – 0 at Dorchester Town in April. During the close season more improvements have been made at the ground in regard to the catering arrangements for 2019/2020. As well all know the 2019/2020 was curtailed by the Covid-19 virus in March 2020 and come September 2020 football but not as we know it is due to start again. The club through a sponsorship deal changed their 1st kit to Black & Gold with the famous Red & white now being used as their change kit. As we all are aware the 2019/20 season was curtailed in March 2020 due to the Covid 19 virus. 2020/21 starts in September 2020 but football not as we know it. The club changed their 1st team strip after many years to Black & Gold which related to a sponsorship deal. 2020/2021 saw the team play just 7 games in the league with the side unbeaten and top of the league the season was once again brought to an early finish. A full season was played as we know in 2021/2022 once again under the disruption and threat of Covid. Town finished the campaign in 10th place after a up and down season results wise while the Cup success came in the Dorset Senior Cup defeating Hamworthy Utd at their ground 2 – 1 AET. 2022/2023 plans have been announced on the new ground and several new signings have also been announced to supplement the present squad.
Isuzu FA Trophy Second Qualifying Round Results Tavistock AFC Cirencester Town AFC Totton Bristol Manor Farm (5-4 on pens)
1-0 3-2 2-1 2-2
Didcot Town Paulton Rovers Berkhamsted Bideford AFC
Thatcham Town Evesham United Thame United Bashley (4-5 on pens)
0-3 1-0 1-2 2-2
AFC Dunstable Lymington Town Binfield Melksham Town
Third Round Ties Ties to take place 08/10/22 Hendon Grays Athletic Horsham Billericay Town Beaconsfield Town Met Police Lewes Corinthian Casuals Enfield Town
v v v v v v v v v
Binfield Faversham Town Aveley Margate Hartley Wintney Hastings United Sevenoaks Town Harrow Borough Chesham United
Bognor Regis Town Canvey Island Plymouth Parkway Merthyr Town Truro City Yate Town Tavistock AFC Swindon Supermar Bristol Manor Farm North Leigh WCFC
v v v v v v v v v v v
Bowers & Pitsea Bracknell Town Dorchester Tow AFC Totton Salisbury Weston-Super-M Melksham Town Cirencester Tow Gosport Boroug Tiverton Poole Town
The Citizens Post
DAVOs diary Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to everyone for todays FA Trophy match against Poole Town, not an easy game against one of the form teams in the league but one we look forward to, I wish their players, staff and supporters a pleasant afternoon and safe trip home. We have already played them this season on the opening day, a nightmare of a start put us a goal down early and we didn’t ever really get going and ran out 3-0 losers, we didn’t get into the game and as their manager said after they will have much tougher tests than that!! Let’s hope todays one of them tougher tests, we know it’s a very tough game and they will fancy a repeat or opening day but let’s see if we can do things a bit differently and see how it goes, they have an abundance of stellar footballers and so we will need to put something very special in but we are looking forward to it! We have had a long gap since the long trip to Merthyr, we were soundly beaten there which was disappointing, I won’t hammer the lads for it though as they are a decent side but the 12 hour round trip on a Tuesday night scheduled by the southern league is a complete disgrace and we were short of a few players but take nothing from them they were decent. What we have done though is train very hard this last 10 days and recovered a few lads physically, we have also managed to add 2 big players in the return of Callum Chugg and Ollie Griggs, absolute heart and soul players from last year and delighted to add them back into the group, welcome back lads!! We are getting closer to full fitness within the squad, with Torns and IK Hill nearly there which is great news! Enjoy todays game, give us a loud cheer and push us on as we will need it! Up the winch!
Davo=
Match Report By Malcolm Clarke
WINCHESTER CITY 1 - 1 HENDON FC Winchester City shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Hendon. Hendon started off the season with six successive losses in the month of August, but since the month of September have won their last three games, with two of the victories coming in the F A Cup and they are at home to Herne Bay in this competition on Saturday. Hendon are one of the best-known clubs of the amateur era and in the last 10 years of the F A Amateur Cup they appeared in three finals, winning two of them and in the 1973/74 F A Cup they held Newcastle United who reached the final that year to a draw at St James Park before losing the replay. In more recent times they have been members of the Southern Premier League since 2018, having left the Isthmian League after 55 years of membership which was always spent in the top flight of that league. Saturday's encounter was believed to be the first ever league encounter between the clubs. The match attracted a crowd of 296 with a group of 13 on a stag weekend from Deal in Kent contributed that number and wearing blonde wigs contributed to the atmosphere around the ground. Winchester made one change to the starting line-up from the previous Saturday with Warren Bentley replacing Luke King who dropped to the bench. Hendon started off the brighter oof the two sides and looked dangerous on the flanks. However, Winchester came more into the game and Silvano Obeng headed just over and a powerful shot from Max Smith was also just off target. It was Hendon though who took the lead in the 15th minute when Liam Brooks played the ball into the area and Tarik Moore-Azille was on hand to score. Remarkably in all seven of Winchester's Southern League matches this season the opposition have scored the first goal. Winchester had a great chance to level the scores midway through the half, but although Warren Bentley and Simba Mlambo came close to scoring in the same attack the ball somehow stayed out. Alex McAllister had a goal disallowed for offside in another attack, but Winchester did draw level in the 36th minute when Silvano Obeng headed home a cross from Warren Bentley. Right at the end of the first half Charlie Philpott in the Winchester goal makes a good save from Rohdell Gordon at the expense of a corner. Winchester came close to scoring in the 51st minute when Marcin Brzozowski in the Hendon goal did well to tip an effort from Simba Mlambo over the bar for a corner and Warren Bentley forced another excellent save from Brzozowski. Warren Bentley had a further shot saved and Archie Wilcox also came close, but Hendon then had a good passage of play with both Lian Brooks and Rohdell Gordon forcing saves from Philpott and in addition a misunderstanding in the home defence provides a chance, but his first time effort was narrowly wide. Max Smith and White have shots saved for their respective teams, and both White and Luke King shoot narrowly wide for their respective teams, with King being the second of three second half substitutes being used by Winchester, with the others being Henry Brooks and Claudio Herbert, with the players they respectively replaced being Sivano Obeng, Simba Mlambo and Jamie Barron. The match finished 1-1 which was probably a fair result in a game in which both teams had spells of dominance. Winchester under 23 team beat their Hamble counterparts 2-0.
Match Report By Malcolm Clarke
MERTHYR TOWN 5 - 2 WINCHESTER CITY Winchester made the long trip to Merthyr in midweek and suffered their first away of the defeat of the season as they went down 5-2 to a Merthyr side that had won three and drawn one of their last four matches. Merthyr had a fortunate reprieve from relegation last season having finished second from bottom, with only 26 points but under last season's Yate Town manager and former Cinderford boss Paul Michael they are making the best of the reprieve, and this was their fourth league win of the season and they have also won through two rounds of the F A Cup. Merthyr Town were first promoted to the Southern League Premier Division at the start of the 2015/16 season. The new version of the Merthyr Town was formed in 2010 following the demise of Merthyr Tydfil, but the old Merthyr Town club were in fact members of the football league from 1920/21 to 9929/30, before being disbanded in 1934 and replaced by Merthyr Tydfil. Winchester's 16 for this match saw two changes from Saturday with I K Hill returning from injury and Dan Walster who has recently rejoined the club from Gosport, both making welcome returns to the substitutes bench, and they replaced Silvano Obeng and Luke King. However, the only change to the starting line-up saw Henry Brooks come in for Silvano Obeng in the forward line. In the 4th minute Warren Bentley came close for Winchester but his effort went just wide. However, two minutes later Merthyr took the lead when after Winchester were only partially able to clear the ball Tom Handley shot powerfully into the far corner. Winchester however drew level in the 8th minute when Max Smith won the ball and following a good run was able to slot home. Merthyr regained the lead in the 16th minute when Alex John set up Ricardo Ress to score. Charlie Philpott makes a good save to keep out the home team and Archie Willcox has a header from a corner saved, but Merthyr scored a third when Frazer Thomas cut the ball back for Lewis Powell to score. Winchester were desperately unlucky not to pull a goal back when from a Danny King cross, a header from Alex Macallister header hit the cross bar. However just before half time Merthyr score a fourth when John turns from provider to scorer when his curling shot flew into the top corner. Winchester bought on Josh Bertie and Dan Neild as substitutes at the start of the second half, but a ball from Ricardo Rees found Frazer Thomas who became Merthyr's fifth scorer of the night after 63 minutes, but despite being 5-1 down Winchester kept battling and both Callum Baughan and Simba Mlambo shot narrowly wide, and Mlambo also came close to getting a decisive touch from a cross from Baughan. Winchester bought on Claudio Herbert as substitute replacing Henry Brooks in the second half and he scored his first league goal for the club with an excellent finish having been, put through by Dan Neild, and he also came close on another occasion, but in the end, they were beaten 5-2. However great credit to the players and supporters who travelled by coach for this long midweek journey, leaving early afternoon and returning in the early hours of the morning. Winchester's last three matches at Merthyr's ground which also include a 10-0 league defeat in 2012/13, and a 4-1 F A Cup victory in 2018/19 have now produced a total of 22 goals.
3 metre x 2 metre Heavy Duty Promotional Banner
£90
Printed on 190gsm tear resist material. Supplied with Eyelets Valid until 31st October 2022
Proud to be sponsoring
WINCHESTER CITY Football Club
Digital Printing High quality print solutions using the latest digital printers for short to medium run jobs Brochures - Flyers - Business Cards Posters - NCR - Programmes g
Litho Printing High quality print solutions for longer run jobs Brochures - Flyers - Business Cards Posters - NCR - Programmes
Large F L Format P Printing i i We offer a range of products printed using different techniques, suitable for just about any project you are undertaking - Indoor or Out Posters - Signs - Banners - Exhibition - Stickers Vehicle Graphics - Point of Sale
Made simple.. Ketts House, Winchester Road, Chandler’s Ford, Hants. SO53 2FZ
Tel: 02380 268080 Email: info@dekgraphics.co.uk dekgraphics.co.uk
The Citizens Post the trouble with travelling.. Malcolm Clarke I have already written about the distribution of home and away midweek fixtures in a previous programme. I think it is frustrating that for the second time in three seasons we have an away fixture with a travelling distance of more than 100 miles (the 102 mile trip to Cinderford in 2019/20 was the other) scheduled for midweek, with the away trips of teams visiting us for scheduled midweek games being less than 100 miles. However I would also say that apart from the frustration of having to leave at 2pm and return at 2am for the Merthyr fixture our fixture list is quite reasonable. Salisbury and Gosport are the right teams for us to play at Bank Holiday period,. the balance between home and away fixtures is fair, and our matches against individual clubs are reasonably spaced out. I think one can divide the league into three groups. Those from London and the Home Counties who are Chesham, Hendon, Metropolitan Police, Hanwell, Bracknell, Beaconsfield, Harrow Borough and Hayes and Yeading, the 10 teams from western counties who are Weston Super Mare, Truro City, Dorchester, Poole, Salisbury, Merthyr, Tiverton, Plymouth Parkway, Yate and Swindon Suoermarine with ourselves, North Leigh, Hartley Wintney and Gosport Borough roughly in the middle. In fairness most of the midweek games do involve teams from the same group playing against each other. I believe that there are five teams in our division more than 100 miles from Winchester and all of these belong to the western group. As a long standing fixtures secretary of the Southampton Chess League I realise that the logistics associated with the fixtures are more complex than many people realise and that on occasions there will be teams on a geographical limb and more than 100 miles away from the majority of teams kin a division, which mean that one team will have to draw the short straw and play away to them in midweek. However the fact that Merthyr’s two games with Weston Super Mare (a distance of 72 miles, as opposed to our distance of 137 miles) are both on a Saturday, as are our games with four of the teams in the Western group where the travelling distance is less than 100 miles. My views are certainly not sour grapes and I believe Merthyr are a great club whose support of our club on the opening day of the season when their coach broke down was superb and our supporters who attended the game at Merthyr
the trouble with travelling.. found the club a friendly one and they have recruited an experienced manager and scored some good goals on the night with five different players finding the net., and are clearly determined to make the best use of their reprieve. However it is worth stating that well before the Merthyr fixture was scheduled I wrote to the non-league paper thinking Leatherhead were very unlucky to be relegated from the Isthmian League Premier Division having obtained 10 more points than Merthyr and finished higher in their own division. Leatherhead are in fact located only 11 miles from Walton Casuals whose withdrawal created the vacancy in our division. In fact for more than half the clubs in our division Leatherhead is a shorter journey than Merthyr (In fact 60 miles as opposed to 137) and it is a question of whether Leatherhead should have been allowed the opportunity to switch. I am sure we would have not minded travelling to Leatherhead in midweek. I recognise the fact that if you reprieve a club who play in a different division to where the vacancy occurs, you can end up forcing another club to make an involuntary move to a division where they do not want to play in, and in 2015/16 Cinderford’s initial desire to refuse promotion would have meant Evesham transferring from a Southern Division to a Northern Division. However I think that the problems arise when more teams want to come into a division than come out and reprieving Leatherhead would have avoided that problem. I am not sure whether the National League has been governed by the same rules as the Southern League, but there have been examples of issues like this at National League level. In 2005/06 both Carshalton and Leigh RMI finished in relegation positions, but with the vacancy occurring in the Northern Division it was Leigh RMI who were reprieved despite the fact that Carshalton had a higher points per game. However with Carshalton seemingly in a position where they could have mounted a legal challenge the next time this issue came up the team with the highest points per game was reprieved. Therefore following in the 2010/11 season when a vacancy occurred in the Northern Division it was filled by reprieving Thurrock from the Southern Division who had a better points per game than the bottom three clubs in the Northern Division. This meant that Bishops Stortford, a club based in Hertfordshire had to transfer to the Northern Division despite finishing well above the relegation places which was understandably a decision they were not happy with. I would imagine that National League North clubs Brackley Town and Gloucester City and probably Hereford would prefer to play in the southern division if given a chance to do so.
WINCHESTER CITY FC PLAYER PROFILES
2022/- 2023
CHARLIE PHILPOTT – Young Goalkeeper who has made the number one berth his own in his third season at the club, on loan from National League side, Eastleigh. A Wales Futsal International with a bright future ahead of him. JORDI VALERO - Jordi is a Young Goalkeeper who is also dual-registered with Blackfield and Langley. Jordi has featured heavily for our Under 23s and also played at Romsey Town last season. A good, young goalkeeper with a bright future ahead of him. DANNY KING - Left sided defender, the clubs longest-serving player currently and a real fans favourite. A teacher by trade, he has played for Chelsea and Southampton in his youth. Danny reached his testimonial year last season and had his testimonial at the end of the 2017-18 campaign. ‘Kinger’ also skippers the side in the absence of Jamie Barron. JAMIE BARRON – Re-signed from Gosport Borough Jamie has played for Salisbury, Andover, Sholing and Folland Sports. A winner of a Schools National Cup medal. Appointed Captain for another season and a really important player for us. ‘Baz’ has remained loyal to City despite interest from elsewhere and was integral in the club securing promotion last season. SIMBA MLAMBO – Also signed from Davis’ former club, Fleet Town. Mlambo has spent some time in North Hampshire and was an Alton Town player before this. Can play wide or up front and a player with immense speed and power in the air. Another playing starting his sixth season with City. Simba works tirelessly for the cause and scores important goals as well. MAX SMITH - Max Smith - Max has previous experience at Moneyfields and most recently and, Alton Town, before joining City ahead of the 2019-20 season. He started his career at the Portsmouth FC academy. Max scored some vital goals last season, including the fourth and final goal in the play-off final against Bristol Manor Farm. A dynamic Midfielder that we have high hopes for in the season ahead. WARREN BENTLEY - 'Wazza' returned 'home' last season, after scoring over 100 goals during his last spell at The City Ground. Bentley left in 2016 to join Gosport Borough and has since played for Hungerford, Poole Town, Weymouth, Salisbury and most recently has a second spell at National League South side, Hungerford Town. A prolific striker and a firm fans favourite. Bentley netted a penalty in a pre-season victory at neighbours and rivals, AFC Totton. HENRY BROOKS – Young midfielder that made his senior debut for the club away at Mangotsfield United in December 2021. Brooks came off the bench that day, got an assist and a goal and has never looked back. At the end of his breakthrough season, Brooks signed a contract and has once again impressed throughout season as he gears up for his first full season at in the first-team. PAT COX - Cox has returned for a third-spell at the Charters Community Stadium having previously been registered with Camberley Town this season. 'Coxy', a target man, is a popular character amongst the City supporters. He lists Fleet Town, Farnborough, Staines Town, Basingstoke, Salisbury and Hayes and Yeading United amongst his former sides after starting out at Reading U18s.
WINCHESTER CITY FC PLAYER PROFILES
2022/- 2023
RYAN PRYCE – The former AFC Bournemouth Goalkeeper has registered once again for another season. ‘Prycey’ who also lists Fleet Town amongst his former sides, along with the Cherries, has spent many seasons at City now and is a First-Team Coach as well as being Manager of the U23s and he is back-up goalkeeper for Philpott. CONNALL BARK – Connall joined the club several seasons ago having previously played at Alresford Town. He has been a key part of the squad and started the final game of the league season at Bristol Manor Farm last campaign and has once again featured throughout pre-season. JACK TORNIAINEN – Jack joined the club this summer having left Eastleigh, where he had been part of the Development Squad. He started out as a youngster at AFC Bournemouth, where he served Dorchester Town on loan before switching permanently to Eastleigh. 20-year-old right back with a bright future ahead of him. ARCHIE WILLCOX – Archie joined City this summer from Wessex Premier League side, Fareham Town. Willcox has also had brief spells with AFC Portchester and Gosport Borough last summer before returning for Fareham for a second spell, where he had a successful campaign, scoring lots of goals from central defence. Another young player with a bright future expected in the game. CLAUDIO HERBERT – A tricky, pacy, wide player that excites and entertains. Herbert joins City from National League South side, Hungerford Town. Claudio’s career has seen him turn out for Salisbury, Poole Town, Fleet Town, Frome Town, Andover Town, Hartley Wintney, Basingstoke and Sholing. DAN NEILD – Young midfielder that has joined the club this summer having receiving several accolades last campaign whilst playing for Weymouth U23s. Exciting prospect that has looked lively during pre-season. JOSH BERTIE – Josh is a highly-sought after talent that joined City this summer from Andover Town. He did sign for Dorchester Town last season, but his campaign was hampered by injury. A versatile player that can play in several different positions and is a powerful presence. Hails from the British Virgin Islands. ALEX MACALLISTER – Alex has signed for City on loan from Aldershot Town. MacAllister had an impressive campaign previously for the Shots U23s and is highly regarded at the North Hampshire club. Scored an impressive goal at Corsham Town in pre-season and set up two goals in a pre-season victory at Baffins Milton Rovers. SILVANO OBENG – Silvano is a powerful centre forward that joined City in the summer from Brockenhurst. Formerly at AFC Totton and Kettering Town, Obeng has impressed in pre-season and scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 win at Baffins Milton Rovers. Another player with an exciting future. IK HILL – IK is a fans’ favourite that has returned to the club following a spell away at Westfield FC. IK is a pacy, skilful wide player that excites supporters and scored an impressive solo effort at AFC Totton in pre-season.
WINCHESTER CITY FC PLAYER PROFILES
2022/- 2023
OLLIE GRIGGS - Combative Midfielder who we are pleased have re-signed. Griggsy has played for both City and Dorchester in recent years and has now signed for City once again for the remainder of the 2022-23 season having started the season, once again, at the Avenue Stadium. Integral in City’s promotion winning campaign last season. CALLUM CHUGG - ‘Chuggy’ re-signed for City in October 2022 from Wessex Premier League side, Hythe & Dibden. Callum is a local lad who played an integral role in City’s promotion winning campaign, in central defence. Lists Wimborne Town & AFC Totton amongst former sides. Aged 24. DAN WALSTER - Central defender who also returned to the club recently, in late September 2022, from Gosport Borough. Dan was involved in City’s promotion winning squad last season, dual-registering from Aldershot Town U23s. A former AFC Bournemouth Academy defender.
STAFF PROFILES CRAIG DAVIS – Player-Manager who came to City from Fleet Town after relinquishing his position as Manager. Took over as Interim Manager until the end of the 2016-17 season before taking over the reins permanently. His playing career started off as a pro at Cardiff City before spells at Bashley, Salisbury, Gosport Borough and AFC Totton. Has won both the Southern League South and West and Premier as a player. ‘Davo’ has had several opportunities to move on from City, including an opportunity at a higher level, but he has shown his commitment and loyalty to City and we are delighted to have him at the helm. LUKE MIDDLEWICK – Luke joined the club this summer, with Sean Birchnall moving on to take charge at Farnham Town. Luke was Assistant Manager at Wessex Premier League side, Brockenhurst, and is a knowledgeable coach that will be a valuable asset and a key part of Craig’s coaching staff. CRAIG MARTIN – First Team Coach. Craig has been at the club for several seasons now. He played with Davo at Fleet Town and is based locally. MARC COLE – Goalkeeping Coach. ‘Coler’ has been an ever-present on matchdays for the First Team since his arrival at the club from Alresford Town. JO BROCKSOM - Jo is in her 7th season now at Winchester as Sports therapist, this is her 3rd season taking a leading role though, has been integral in keeping our players on the pitch and delighted to have her with the club again this season. MIKE CARTER – Mike was formerly Club Secretary and is now part of Craig’s First-Team staff and he is also Assistant Manager of the clubs’ U23s.
Ground Regulations Welcome to the Charters City Ground. Please respect the staff and the facilities: ◊
Please do not enter the field of play before, during or after the game.
◊
Ball games are not permitted around the ground whilst matches are in progress
◊
Please do not use rude, obscene, racial or abusive language or gestures that are likely to cause offence.
◊
Please do not take glasses outside. Alcohol may now be consumed outside, but in plastic glasses only (in accordance with new Hampshire FA ruling).
◊
Please do not climb floodlights, pylons, fences, stands and other club structures.
◊
Please do not stand in the hatched areas around the pitch.
◊
No offensive objects are permitted (including bottles, cans, glasses, smoke bombs, flares etc.) or throwing any objects on the field of play.
◊
Please note that all vehicles parked on the club premises are at owners/driver's risk.
◊
The club accepts no responsibility for any damage to vehicles.
◊
Any supporter who encroached on to the playing area will be arrested.
◊
Comments or items in the programme do not necessarily represent those of Winchester City FC.
◊
The club reserves the right to refuse admission, eject from the ground, or prosecute any person in breach of the rules
Te lemarketing lead genera tion Data-led business intellig ence Marketing autom ation
www.linkcreator.co.uk
WCFC STAFF BEHIND THE SCENES CHAIRMAN – KEN RAISBECK JUNIOR CHAIRMAN - STEVE CARTER DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL – ELLIOTT TRODD CLUB SECRETARY – JOHN MCLAREN TREASURER – PHIL GOUGH PRESIDENT – JOHN MOODY
CONTACT AND SOCIAL MEDIA
@wincityfc
Winchester City is a member's owned club. The Board of Directors are the members
Winchester City FC
DIRECTORS KEN RAISBECK ELLIOTT TRODD JOHN MCLAREN ALI HENDERSON STEVE RAINBIRD PHIL GOUGH SIMON HARMER
winchestercityfc Winchester City Football Club on YouTube for Interviews The Charters City Ground, Hillier Way, Abbots Barton, Winchester, 07825 828918
ON THE PITCH FIRST TEAM MANAGER – CRAIG DAVIS ASSISTANT MANAGER FIRST TEAM COACHES – RYAN PRYCE, CRAIG MARTIN SCOUT – PETE MILLARD BACKROOM STAFF – MIKE CARTER, JAMIE GOUGH SPORTS THERAPIST – JO BROCKSOM BSC (HONS) U23S MANAGER – RYAN PRYCE U23S ASSISTANT MANAGER – MIKE CARTER HEAD OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT – JAMIE RICKETTS CLUB WELFARE OFFICER - ALI HENDERSON PROGRAMME/SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR MATT RICHBELL MATCHDAY STAFF WAYNE ELKINS, SALLY STATHAM, GEMMA PERCIVAL, JUDY MALONE, STEVE RAINBIRD, MARGARET MOODY, DAVE GREEN.
ticket prices Adult
£11
Concessions (65+ & Armed Forces–with id) £8 Students and U18 (Yr 12 and 13)
£5
U16 (Yr 8-11)
£3
U12 (Yr 7 and below)
Free
EVERY GOAL EVERY CELEBRATION EVERY MOMENT EVERY TEAM FOLLOW THE ACTION LIVE ON
FREE www.faplayer.tv
proudly supports
THE TRIDENT
TRUST FUND
Providing access to grants and funding for your club, in your community
@PitchingIn_
TODAYS SQUADS
Charlie Philpott Callum Baughan Danny King Max Smith Mark Jamison Archie Willcox Claudio Herbert Jamie Barron (c) Silvano Obeng Warren Bentley Simba Mlambo Alex MacAllister Henry Brooks Dan Neild Dan Jones Jack Torniainen Dan Walster Callum Chugg Ollie Griggs Josh Bertie Jordi Valero
Luke Cairney Declan Rose Harry Hutchinson Will Spetch Jamie Whisken (Capt) Luke Holmes Adeoye Olumuyiwa Corby Moore Tony Lee Will Fletcher Jack Dickson Riley Greenwood-Neate Will Butler (GK) Toby Holmes Jake Andrews Luke Pardoe Marcus Daws Wes Fogden Harvey Woods
The UK’s no.1 parking app