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2008 News Archive
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Make Mine a Double!!!!
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Hot on the heels of the 2’s storming 10 point winning margin as Champions of SAL Intermediate 1, the 1s completed a historic double on Saturday with a fine 3-0 win at West Wickham, coupled with Winchmore failing to win at Wilsonians.
All in all an absolutely fantastic performance by a 1s team who have been somewhat hampered by the success of the SAL team and a punishing post Christmas fixture schedule but one which Brian and the boys have steadfastly addressed, calmly and surely week by week. Hopefully most of the other SAL clubs will acknowledge the boys’ form this season and I know for a fact that the Wickham guys were very generous on Saturday in defeat and in handing over the Title crown and that was very much appreciated.
Once again I can only say how proud I am of Brian, Matt and the boys and indeed Pete and Andy’s 2s and all of the Club for all their hard work and dedication this year. I think they are a credit to the League and indeed to all amateur football. Well done.
A final quick note to mention the Vets Tour to Dijon last weekend which again goes to show that the original Nottsborough spirit is burning bright at both ends of the Club!! A bizarre rule meant that we narrowly missed out on getting to the Final even though we didn’t lose a game but we certainly won the “we can drink most/sing loudest” competition on the Saturday evening – and we all know how important that particular title is, especially on foreign shores… 8 of the tour 19 players played in the first ever 1988 season so I am fully expecting Violo and the boys to be proudly wearing the Red and Black in 2019 on some faraway pitch…. Many thanks to ex-Nottsborough 1st team boy, Ruey, who has lived and worked in Dijon for the last 15 years and who made the whole thing possible.
Vive La Nottsborough!!!
Jonty
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SAL first division/AFA Senior Cup double winners
1908-1909 New Crusaders (D1 and Senior Cup winners)
1926-1927 Ealing Association (D1 and Senior Cup winners)
1930-1931 Cambridge Town (D1 and Senior Cup winners)
1958-1959 Cuaco (D1 and Senior Cup winners)
1961-1962 Cuaco (D1 and Senior Cup winners)
1995-1996 Old Actonians Association (D1 and Senior Cup winners)
2008-2009 Nottsborough (D1 and Senior Cup winners)
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Nottsborough dine at the big table!
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The SAL Annual Dinner was held this year at the Imperial Hotel, Russell Square; a fine venue. The food and company were all good and there was a general air of bonhomie. Bob Leeds did his usual job of putting people in their place, and Ian Hunter of Civil Service was asked to introduce the main speaker. Ian should not give up his day job for a career in comedy, but on the other hand he made us laugh a few times which is all you can ask for. The main speaker was Brian Barwick, latterly the main man at the FA, but previously in charge of sport at the BBC and ITV. Brian gave a good speech, revealing quite a bit about how one gets in, or on, at the Football Association. It is a shame that one or two tables did not show a bit more respect for the main speaker.
The evening came to a crescendo, as far as Nottsborough were concerned, with the presentation of the League winners trophies. The Intermediate League Trophy was presented to Pete Morris and Andy Lea by John Miller, this being the first time that Nottsborough have won this title. The celebration from the players attending was in true Nottsborough style but nothing to the scenes that followed. When Matt Kerr stepped up to collect the Senior League Trophy the Nottsborough tables erupted and confetti was thrown in the air. The Nottsborough players, already pretty high on champagne, could not be contained in their celebration. It was very nice to see a number of other tables on their feet applauding this year's League winners. Choruses of "we've won our trophy back!" and the Righteous Brothers followed; all badly sung, but with great gusto.
This evening at the Imperial Hotel brought to an final end a wonderful season for the Nottsborough club. Six of our players represented England in Turin in October. This was a great honour and they were superbly treated by the FA. This helped to kick start the Nottsborough first team season. Back home the second team were already setting the standard by getting to training half an hour early for extra work. This set the bar higher for all our teams and the second team quite rightly romped to the Intermediate title by 9 points. At first team level we were also getting players in the AFA side so that in all we had 8 players selected for rep sides during the season. Following the Turin trip we went on a superb unbeaten run which ended disappointingly in the Surrey/Kent AFA Final where a determined West Wickham got their goal and then hung on. We bounced back in tremendous fashion to secure the AFA Senior title two weeks later against a good Polytechnic side that pushed us all the way on the day. Another great unbeaten run was started and an eye-opening win at Old Owens started the push for the SAL Senior title which was secured very appropriately at West Wickham, who have been our greatly respected rivals over the last 3 seasons. Thus the Nottsborough players secured their second SAL title in 3 years, hence starting the "we've won our trophy back" anthem. It also completed a double that has only been done 6 other times in 100 years.
It will never be easy to repeat any of the feats achieved this season. There are a number of very good teams in the SAL and there are many good individual players. The standard of the SAL Senior league will be very high next year with Old Salesians, West Wickham, Winchmore Hill, and Old Owens all being easy to identify as alternative candidates for the title. There will also be a surprise team, as there is every season, and maybe this will be one of the promoted sides. Nottsborough will be very keen to defend their titles and to provide players for the new Carlsberg Cup Rep side. It should be a very interesting season and we are looking forward to it !
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A message from Belly in Australia
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Just wanted to drop all the guys at the club a quick note from over here in Australia.
I have been following the season via the SAL and Notts homepage and it’s great to see that the club seems in rude health. I have only been away a year and I hardly recognise half the names in the 1’s so you must be attracting a good class of player.
Fantastic to see so many Nottsborough players in the rep sides too – Recognition of both the status of the club within the SAL and also the style and standard of football we play.
Looks like the boys will struggle in the league due to fixture congestion and the stupid points dropped at the start of the season, but it’s great to see that we are in the Semi’s of both the Surrey and most importantly the AFA cup finals.
Anyway, I want to get into work the Monday after both cup finals and see Matty Kerr and the boys with trophies held high on the Notts Homepage
Good luck for the rest of the season for all 4 teams
Pass on my best to Brian too, hats off to the guy for his commitment – Unbelievable….And although Australia has decent weather and nice beaches, there is still nothing better in the world than a Saturday in England, going through the usual routine before getting to Tolworth and playing a good, competitive game of football with a great bunch of blokes.
All the best
Belly
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Four Nottsborough players selected for the AFA Representative side
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Nottsborough Coach Brian Williams was pleased to hear that Dan Ashley, Dave Howson, Chris Kerr, and Nathan Violet have all been selected to play for the AFA against the Army at Hanwell Town on Wednesday 14th January. "I cannot remember the last time we had four players in the AFA side". "Obviously it is a real honour to have 4 players selected for the top Representative side at our level". With so little football being played over the Christmas period it is important for players to be playing again. However there is also a concern that nobody gets injured before Saturdays AFA Senior Cup tie against Broomfield away.
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Saturday 3rd January round up
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A very happy New Year to all Nottsborough footballers !
I had a feeling Saturday could turn out to be a disaster but somehow we managed to avoid the worst. Even so the 1's only had 11 fit players, the 2's had only 10 for 70 minutes, the 3's had a very difficult away tie with players missing, and the 4's had a very tricky game at Civil Service to overcome. Quite why all 4 sides were away I am not sure, but it probably did not help.
I could not believe I had not had a call on Saturday morning because the ground in Beckenham was rock hard and frost covered even at midday. When I got to Wilsonians I was surprised that the ground was almost playable but far too slippy for my liking. The ref and the refs assessor took the decision away by deciding that the ground was not safe. We may have got away with it since Wilsonians had a full squad including their students whilst we had the bare 11 plus a still unfit Nick Stavri. We did however, thanks to Wilsonians, get in a 1 hour training session that went very well.
The 2's produced the performance of the day for me winning their Surrey AFA Cup Quarter Final despite being a man short for most of the game. The 2's have already provided Simon Webb, Ben Hughes, Nick Green and Ted Datta to the 1's so to keep winning is a big achievment and testament to the good new players we have coming through. Having said all that we cannot allow a situation like this to occur again because the 2's could have gone out in a Cup that they can clearly win.
The 3's had a very difficult task against last season's league winners but a 5-2 away defeat is not a good result. I know we had plenty of players missing. Until we get players regularly coming training we will find it difficult to put things right.
The 4's produced a great win away. I watched the home version of this match and it was the best game I have seen at this level for many years. We could only draw at home so an away win is a bonus. Although we are 2 points behind Old Actonians we have played away 8 times in our 10 games. This obviously means we have 8 home games at Fortress Tolworth to come. We can definitely take this title boys provided we get all our good players regularly available.
The forecast for the early part of this week is very cold so players need to put in some treadmill or gym work to prepare for Saturday where the 1's have a hard away tie at Broomfield whilst the 2's have a big game against West Wickham.
Brian
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RECORD NUMBERS AT TRAINING!
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41 players joined in training at Tolworth on Tuesday, which is a record, surpassing the 38 from the previous week. Extra help is having to be drafted in and Jo Phadmis this week ran an excellent session for the 3's and 4's players. Nottsborough Coach Brian Williams could hardly contain his enthusiasm. "Things are going very well for the club at the moment. We had 5 players selected for the AFA Representative side against The Navy and we are getting players from all our sides attending training". Training every Tuesday starts at 8.00. It is held on a full size pitch at the Kingston University sportsground under floodlights. Nottsborough are still on the lookout for new players
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CHRISTMAS BASH
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The club Christmas bash will be taking place on Saturday Dec 13th
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Vito's Bar & Restaurant, 175 Northcote Road, SW11 6QF Nearest mainline Clapham Junction (10/15 min walk) Tube - Clapham South (10/15 min walk) 7.00pm start £35 per head - drink on arrival, 3 course dinner, coffee, 1/2 bottle wine (payment to the club account, referencing Xmas party and your name).
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3rd TEAM MODEL NEW AWAY STRIP
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Back Row: Paul Haigh; Simon Owen; Matthew Beckett; Christian Sellars; Tom Blackmore; Rory Pullinger; Robert Cootes; Paul Noon; Michael McCoy.
Front Row: Robin Taylor; Michael Corcoran; Simon Butler; Lewis Darvill; Luke Kelly; Matthew Taylor; Sean Rigby.
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THE DOC
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The Club, and in particular all within the Club who came from Loughborough University, is sad to have to note another untimely death, namely of Mike “The Doc” Holliday, who has true Legend status with everyone at Loughborough having coached the football team there and been associated with the football club for over 50 years. The number of stories connected to The Doc only underpins that status and the high regard everyone who played under him held him in. Those who knew him may want to pass on their condolences to his surviving family at Kay, Phil and Kim Holliday, 3 Ratcliffe Close, Ashby de la Zouch’, Leicestershire, LE65 2GU.
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MARTYN GREEK
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The Club can confirm that Parky, who died in tragic circumstances on Wednesday 23rd September 2008, was buried on Monday 29th September. He was 38 and had played for Nottsborough for 14 years. He will be forever in our thoughts. Thank you to everyone who has passed on their condolences. If anyone else wishes to please send them to the following e-mail address - webmaster@nottsborough.com ….
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NEW PLAYERS WANTED!
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Welcome to Nottsborough FC’s website if this is the first time you have visited. We do pride ourselves on having a ‘home-designed’ and therefore unique website which will be kept up-to-date throughout the season and we hope this reflects our commitment to excellence across the whole Club.
That commitment is articulated best in our desire to win titles and Cups across all five of our teams on the pitch and, to do that, we firmly believe that we need a new influx of quality players at the start of every season. New faces increases competition and competition leads to improved attitude and performance – particularly from those who begin to think of themselves as ‘regulars’.
So if you like the site and you like the look of our footballing ‘e-card’ and ambition then please get in touch, whatever level you are. To help we see first team level as being in effect … semi-pro and we have indeed taken quite a few players from teams like Basingstoke Town and Hanwell who enjoy that level of football but who do not want the commitment of 2 training sessions a week and matches 100 miles away on a Saturday.
Below the 1s we have an extremely competitive 2s where all players are good enough to represent the 1s and so on down to the 4s. But basically we have a team for anyone who is proficient at the game!
Please contact us at info@nottsborough.com if you want to find out more. Training is on Tuesday evenings and, from October, back at our home ground of Tolworth, Kingston University.
Welcome to Nottsborough!
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Nottsborough 20th Anniversary Dinner - the Spirit lives on!
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Twenty years to the day after the first ever Nottsborough Summer Dinner (16 people in a strange restaurant on the Fulham Road), it was fantastic and fitting to enjoy the Club’s largest ever turn-out for a Dinner (121!) to celebrate our 20 year anniversary.
A great mixture of Old Boys and Players from all four current sides saw a nostalgic return to the Polish Club in Kensington who, unbelievably, cast aside the reservations of three legendary past Nottsborough events, and welcomed us with open arms! Our thanks to Michael and his team for their sterling work and our apologies for the now ruined portrait of Rula Lenska… (I blame Andy Cattells’s picture who ‘Straddled’ her for the night…). Attendees came from far (Dubai in the case of Aidie Samms) and wide (in the case of Jim McDonald’s girth) to hear the collective wisdom of the Chairman, Coach Brian and, er, Steve Whitclock who has now passed into Nottsborough … as probably the most long-winded person in amateur football history. Colin Riggs – the original Nottsborough Trigger and resident Nottsborough Board – opened the evening with one of his brilliant odes (attached) and so the tore was set for a suitably drunken evening of Nottsborough tales and goals scored….
Too many people to thank but of course a special mention to Brian, who received a framed shirt and lots of much deserved … and thanks a fine night and to all our sponsors who made the evening both more affordable and certainly more enjoyable – amongt those AUS, Setanta, E.ON and many others who also provided Action prizes on the night.
Finally, a thanks to all the players, ex-players and partners who turned up on the night and helped us to celebrate everything Nottsborough – as the saying goes, none of it would have been possible without you!
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New Webmaster announced
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In true Doctor Who style Steve Beckett is being pensioned off to the Outer World Wide Web after having done an absolutely fantastic job on the Nottsborough FC website over the last three years. Our heart felt thanks for all of his hard work and dedication over a period that included a total re-vamp of the original site.
The new ‘Doctor’ is Guy Willett, an old mate of mine and Davey H’s and indeed he has already helped us with the design of the new site. Guy, however, lives in Northhampton so will need to be fed stories on a regular basis which is where all of us come in! If you do have anything you want on the site then please send it to webmaster@nottsbrough.com
Guy is setting up a system that will allow individual teams/Captains/the appointed author to upload scores and reports in the 24 hours after the game happens which should mean we are one of the most up-to-date sites in AFA football. We will see! But it absolutely needs your help so please get writing!
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Queries & website contributions: webmaster@nottsborough.com
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