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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESKIt’s  a  great  feeling  to  be  able  to  start  thecampaign  with  a  win,  and  it’s  a  bonus  whenyou score FIVE! Newcomers GUILDFORDnever recovered from that two goals in theopening three minutes, but they did forcetheir way back into the game. We missedquite a few opportunities, so the scorelinecould have been heavier, and the onlycriticism would be that two of their goalscame from sloppy defending.

The fact that they scored almost immediatelyafter we had, on two occasions, is food forthought. You will read elsewhere in theprogramme that we were missing MARCUSDUHARTY , who was hospitalised and will nowbe out of action for possibly a few months. Wewish him well.

One disappointing factor was the attendanceof just 118. True, our local rivals at LodgeRoad were also at home and did a little betterthan us (160), but even allowing for that,that’s a very poor attendance for opening day.It does make you also wonder when certainfans leave the ground with almost ten minutesleft, so that they can see the start of theSwansea v Man Utd game on television. Thoseparticular fans missed two goals as well.Sometimes I wonder, I really do!!!

Because of the Bank Holiday weekend, thisprogramme  went  to  print  before  Saturday’sgame at FLEET TOWN, so we cannotcomment on that but what we can tell youis that we will be hosting BITTON AFC onSaturday (31st) in the FA Cup PreliminaryRound, after they had beaten Pewsey Valeby 4-1.  It  is a  repeat of  last  season’s FA Cupclash  with  them.  Let’s  hope we can repeatthe scoreline, which was 2-0.

I certainly hope that none of you travelledto Penydarren Park on Tuesday evening.Loyal fan MIKE CHESKIN was quite upsetthat there was scant information, generallyspeaking, over the fact ‘The Martyrs’ wereplaying their early games at Cinderford.There certainly seems to be nothing onthe Merthyr website to tell you, and I dofeel that the Calor League should includethis information on their fixtures page.

However, as usual, we were able to inform youthrough  the  ‘Field  Review’  but I cannotimagine………………………continued

FIELD REVIEW -1

……..that any of our regular travellers would nothave known. It was all over the internet duringthe summer, but it really should be in the twoplaces that matter.

So, at Cinderford’s  Causeway  ground  onTuesday evening, ‘The Field’ were hoping topush on, but we  found  ‘The Martyrs’ were asstrong as predicted. They fully deserved theirvictory but it was frustrating that we werecaught twice at set-pieces and gave away apenalty.

It was not totally one-sided and we did createsome opportunities, but could not takeadvantage. It never helped either that we hadinjuries to JAMIE REID & JOSH EGAN, whichput immediate pressure on our trip to Fleet Town.

We extend a warm welcome to everyone whohas made the trip from CLEVEDON TOWN.Clashes between the two club are generally‘spicy’ affairs and always give us something totalk about.

Manager Micky Bell has brought severalnew players to the club over the summer,including the return of DANNY GREAVESand it was probably a surprise whenYate Town’s EDD VAHID made the trip down theM5 after eight years at Lodge Road.Disappointingly, the first two openingresults, have gone against them, althoughit must be said that their opponents,Swindon Supermarine and BridgwaterTown are both sides who are expectedto do well.

After the Bitton cup-tie we have two very difficultgames against TAUNTON TOWN, at The GlassConsultants UK Stadium, and a trip to highly-fancied CIRENCESTER TOWN.

Thanks for your support – we like the new flagson the dug-out side!

Finally, an extra game has been added to thefixture list when on Tuesday 10th September, aBRISTOL ROVERS X1 will visit for a friendly. Astrong squad is expected.

So, remember the cry…

“COME ON THE FIELD”

EDITOR

For Life Insurance, Pensions and SavingsContact 0117 9596526 or 01225 904777

Roman Glass, 332, Two Mile Hill Road,Kingswood BristolMarcus Hudd, 0117 9615499

MANGOTSFIELD UNITEDSECONDARY SPONSORS

MUFC would like to thank the following for supportingOur 2013/14 Stadium Draw

CARLING L.P. GENIUSARMOUR SEALED UNITS CURTIS DREWBYSTRONIC AVON TRUCK & VANWHITTAKER, GREGORY & CO LTD G.J.C. COMMERCIALSBRISTOL TRADE COMMERCIALS TRADE WINDOWSSOVEREIGN PREMIER ARCHITECTURAL GLAZINGB.I.S. GLASS CONSULTANTS UK LTDPRINCIPAL MORTGAGES S.M.GAUGE COMPANYDESIGN SCAFFOLDING ANDERSONS WASTE MANAGEMENT LTDBRISTOL TILE COMPANY FREAK OR UNIQUE CUSTOM TATTOOSPOPLAR INSULATION LEVEL CUTSDYNAMIC SIGNS BALSON & CO LTDTHE THREE LIONS ASHTON GLASS LTDTHE LORD RAGLAN JELFSWAN MOTOR COMPANY J B GLASS & GLAZINGPARK CYCLES EXPRESS GLAZING & SONSLANCERSCOTT URBAN WINDOWSSOUTH GLOS TAXIS LTD JOHN GEORGE DECORATORSPARK INSURANCE WEST STREET GLAZINGR.H.WINDOWS MR. JOHN LAWRENCEROMAN GLASS COPSON & GRANDFIELDGLOUCESTER ROAD GEARBOXES P J M SCAFFOLDINGSMARTHUDSONBRISTOL DRAINS LTDDOUG HILLARD SPORTS

The Winner was --- Glass Consultants UK Ltd

Cossham Street is to be known as

THE GLASS CONSULTANTS UK STADIUM

Monday 26th August 2013 Kick-off 3.00pmThe Calor League Division One South & West

Mangotsfield United v Clevedon Town FC"The Field" - Maroon & Sky "The Seasiders" - Yellow & Red

SquadsKevin Sawyer Danny Greaves

(capt) Neil Arndale Kaine GazzardShaun Lamb Conor O'Sullivan

Alex Kite Clayton FortuneRyan Bennett Ollie Barnes

Jamie Reid Edd VahidKyle Tooze Kye Mountford

Ashley Williams Adi Adams (capt)Ryan Bath Reeko BestBen Hunt Matt Thorne

Tom Parrinello Aron RobbinsLee Marshall Alex Hughes

Charlie Hitchings Joe SwiftJosh Egan Ben Murray

Dave Stone Szymon GromekRhys Baird (G/K) Ibrahima Sarr

Thomas Bannerman-Williams Sam TealeRoss MacNab

Richard Thompson MANAGER Micky BellLee Barlass ASSISTANTS AND Paul McLoughlin

COACHESDoug Pringle PHYSIO Dave Lukins

Today's officialsAssistant (Yellow Trim) REFEREE Assistant (Red Trim)

MARK DADDS ADAM MATTHEWS MICHAEL HALFORDBristol Stroud, Gloucestershire Bradley Stoke

TODAY'S MATCH SPONSORTHE SWAN MOTOR COMPANY

MATCH BALL SPONSORJ.B. GLASS & GLAZING

Next at Cossham Street - Saturday 31st August 2013 3.00pmThe FA Cup with Budweiser - Prelim Round Bitton AFCProgramme No. 2

FIELD REVIEW - 2

MUFC - SECONDARY SPONSORS

MUFC - SECONDARY SPONSORS

SPOTLIGHTManager MICKEY BELL is now into his 4th season at the helm of Clevedon Town. They finished 20th in both2010/11 & 2011/12, but last season there was a marked improvement on the pitch as the club finished in15thplace. It has been a difficult period for the club financially and the manager has worked hard to find players,who could keep the club at this level, with limited finances.

Having originally started playing in 1880, Clevedon are one of the oldest clubs in the West Country and werefounder members of the Western league ( now the Tools tation League ) in 1892. Their stayhowever, only lasted three seasons when they dropped back into local football before re-joiningthe Western league in the 1910/11 season. Their early years were spent at Dial Hill, still the homeof the local cricket club, but they moved to a new site at Old Street (later re-named TeignmouthRoad ) in 1895, where they remained until 1992.

When football resumed after the first World War, Clevedon found themselves in the Bristol andDistrict League and Bristol & Suburban league before a switch to the Somerset SeniorLeague in the early 1930’s helped the club to increase their status and they were to stay thereuntil World War Two brought a temporary end to the league. However, Clevedon stayed inbusiness and entered the Weston-super-Mare league, dominated by teams from nearby RAFLocking. This often meant playing against International stars stationed at the camp, althoughClevedon had their fair share of service personnel stationed in the town.

After the War, they again returned to the Western league and despite a moderate leaguerecord, built themselves up a reputation in the FA Amateur Cup, reaching the Rounds Propereight times in thirteen years, which in those days, was no mean achievement and their successbrought them to the attention of the National Press .There were many notable victories andthey also faced the mighty Pegasus and Wimbledon , who were then an Isthmian side. TheFA Cup also brought success with several tussles against Southern league opposition, butunfortunately, this success was not matched in the league and they spent several years indivision two before resigning, for financial reasons, at the end of the 1957-58 campaign. Theyjoined the Bristol & District league where they remained for fifteen years before rejoining theWestern league in 1973/74, after amalgamating with another local club, Ashtonians Utd, whowere already members of the Western league ranks. The club’s  name was  later  changed  toClevedon Town to reflect their new status.

With the breaking up of the old amateur status, Clevedon joined the professional ranks in1974 with Ray Mabbutt becoming the first paid player. The building of a new clubhouse andthe  installation of  floodlights  in  the early 1980’s nearly bankrupted  the club. Debts were wellover £100,000 and desperate measures were needed to save the club. The Board of Directorswere forced to resign and the introduction of new faces saved the club from total disaster,with the overdraft being reduced by careful budgeting and management. After many yearsas a mid-table side, things slowly began to change a few years ago when it was decided tosell the Teignmouth Road ground and move to a new site at Davis Lane on the edge of thetown. The club had the foresight to buy the Teignmouth Road site for £450 in 1949 and thiswise move enabled them to sell off the ground, pay off their remaining debts and have apurpose- built stadium from the proceeds.After the ambitious announcement to move grounds, it was only natural that the playing

ambitions should be raised. In 1991/92, Terry Rowles was recruited as manager fromMangotsfield  United  and  he  signed  a  whole  new  team  and  set  about  reviving  the  club’s fortunes on

the pitch. In their last season at the old venue, they finished as runners-up to Weston-super-Mare, playing the last game at Teignmouth Road on the 20th April 1992.

Season 1992/93 was to prove by far, the most successful in the club’s history and it was heralded by themove to the new Hand stadium. This superb development included an all weather pitch, training facilities,a 300 seater stand, tiered terracing around the whole ground with an excellent clubhouse and dressingroom facilities. Gates increased and the team ended up winning the league title in style, remaining unbeatenand scoring 137 goals in only 38 matches. The season ended with a first ever League cup appearance andelection to the Beazer Homes league followed to round off a superb first campaign at the new ground.

Continued…………..

FIELD REVIEW - 3

SPOTLIGHTIn their first season in the Beazer Homes league, Midland division, they finished a creditable fifth afterhaving to start the campaign with a new manager, Steve Fey, and a brand new team. After just one

season, the club were transferred across to the Southern division, finishing 9th in 1997/98before being switched back to the Midland division for the 1998/99 campaign. This switchclearly benefited the club as they managed to win the Midland division championship aftera wonderful season in which they also won the Somerset Premier Cup. In their first seasonin the Premier division, Clevedon finished a creditable eighth place and fully settled intothe Dr.Martens league with ambitious plans to develop the ground into a Sports and Socialcomplex to serve the local community. The club sadly suffered relegation back to the WesternDivision at the end of 2000/01, despite winning the Somerset Premier Cup thatseason, and again in 2001/02.

An era ended in September 2004, when manager Steve Fey left the club after 11 years incharge and he was replaced by former Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United manager, KevinHodges. He, in turn, left the club in October, with Clevedon top of the table, joining YeovilTown, and former Bristol Rovers player & Coach, Phil Bater took over the job,becoming  only  the  club’s  fourth  manager  in  19  years.  He  completed  the  job  started  byHodges and guided the club to the championship and back to the Premier Division.

In November 2006, the club played in the First Round Proper of the FA Cup for the first timein their history, losing 1-4 at home to League Two side Chester City before a record attendanceat The Hand Stadium of, 2,261. Manager Bater left at the end of the 2007/08 campaign, afterthe club had reached the final of the Southern League Errea Cup, but had lost to HillingdonBorough, and left the way open for his Assistant, Wayne Powell to take over the reins for2008/09. With several senior players leaving the club and operating on a reduced budget,the club ended the year at the foot of the table and so they then turned to Nick Tucker toavert relegation. This he achieved and many of the side were retained for last season –2009/10 – but as the recession started to bite, the budget was cut again. With theclub struggling against the drop, Nick tendered his resignation in March ’10.

Peter Beadle accepted the task of returning to the club for a second spell – he had been brieflyat the club as a Coach under Kevin Hodges. Once a prolific striker with both Bristol Roversand Bristol City, Peter used his experience as Manager with both Taunton Town and NewportCounty, but the financial demands of the job proved too much for the club and at the end of the2009/10 season,, Clevedon were relegated.

No history of Clevedon Town would be complete without paying tribute to the Hand family,without whom, the club would not exist today. H.G.HAND (Secretary 1895-1912) and A.W.HAND (Secretary 1918-1968) were followed by DOUG HAND, who retired as Club Presidentat the end of the 1994/95 season after 50 years service to the club, much spent in the sameway as his Father and Grandfather, as Club Secretary. Without their

enthusiasm and hard work over the years, the club would probably not be in the position it isnow and

it was only the wisdom of A.W. in buying the Teignmouth Road site, which laid the foundations for thepresent successful club. It was a fitting tribute that the new ground is named THE HAND STADIUMafter them and the families’ service to the club has been recognised by the Football Association.

Clevedon Town started the 2010/11 campaign with a new Manager. Ex Bristol City, Wycombe Wanderersand Northampton Town defender MICKY BELL, accepted the task of re-building the side. He assembleda young but inexperienced squad that finished in 20th place, in their first season back in Division OneSouth & West. In 2011/12, they again came 20th but it was in cup competitions that Clevedon achievedsuccess. They won the Red Insure Cup, beating Banbury United 2-1 on aggregate and were only narrowlybeaten 2-1, by Weston-super-Mare in the Somerset Premier Cup Final.

Last season,we won the Red Insure Cup game here, by 2-1 in late October following an abandoned 3-3draw. In the league we drew 2-2 at the Hand Stadium, and won 4-3 at Cossham Street.

FIELD REVIEW - 4

INTRODUCING ‘THE SEASIDERS’ADI ADAMS – Midfielder who rejoined the club in July 2012 after a previous loan spell at The Hand Stadiumin 2002/03, Adi has also appeared for Forest Green Rovers, Bath City, Swindon Supermarine and YateTown.

OLLIE BARNES – Ollie started his career as a youth player at Bristol City before moving on to BristolRovers and then for Dorchester Town, Gloucester City, Team Bath, Worcester City, Weymouth and PaultonRovers. He signed up for a second spell at Clevedon in June 2013 from Yate Town.

REEKO BEST – Started his career as a youth player with Bristol Rovers before moving on toMangotsfield United and Longwell Green before joining Clevedon in January 2011. Made one subsappearance  for  ‘The  Field’  in  2010/11.

GEORGE BRIMSON – Re-joined the club in March 2013 for a third spell after returning from a year inAustralia. He previously played for Bridgwater Town, Hallen, Yate Town, Shirehampton and Bristol Roversyouth.

JOE FLURRY – Joe started his playing career as a member of the Bristol City Academy, going on to playfor Team Bath and later Somerset County League side Nailsea United, from whom we signed him inNovember 2010. Left for a short spell before returning in Summer 2013.

CLAYTON FORTUNE – Signed for the club in September 2011 after playing at Aldershot Town theprevious season, Clayton has played for Spurs Youth, Bristol City, Port Vale, Leyton Orient, Darlington,Rushden & Diamonds and Weston-super-Mare during his career. Clayton left during the 11/12 seasonfor short spells at Mangotsfield United and Chippenham Town before returning this season. He made 9appearances for ‘The Field’ at the start of 12/13.

KAINE GAZZARD – Midfielder from the U-18 squad who made his senior debut in December 2012.

DANNY GREAVES – A great favourite at The Hand Stadium, Danny returned to the club for a thirdspell in July 2013 after earlier spells in the 2003/04 and 2006/07 seasons. He previously played forBristol Rovers, Forest Green Rovers, Cirencester Town and Mangotsfield United. He made 162 (2)appearances for  ‘The Field’.

SZYMON GROMEK – Szymon joined the club in March 2013 having previously played, amongst others,for Keynsham Town, Portishead Town and Seymour United.

ALEX HUGHES – Striker signed on the eve of the 2013/14 season from Devon & Exeter League side,Woodberry.

LIAM LESTER – Highly promising young defender who joined the club in August 2012 from Nailsea United,and the son of a former club captain.

ROSS MacNAB – Signed in June 2013 from local rivals, Bridgwater Town, after signing for them the previousseason from Taunton Town; also appeared for Wellington Town.

LLOYD MILLS – Signed in July 2010 from Somerset County League side Long Ashton. Lloyd, who canplay in midfield or defence, previously played for Backwell United and Brislington Under-18’s.

KYE MOUNTFORD – Signed in March 2013 from Bridgwater Town, Kye has also appeared, amongstothers, for Bristol Manor Farm, Brislington and Longwell Green Sports.

BEN MURRAY – Originally came through the youth team at Clevedon, making his senior debut in November2001, before leaving the club and eventually rejoining this summer from Bristol Manor Farm.

CONOR O’SULLIVAN – Former Southampton FC Scholar released by them in May 2012 and who hasalso had trials at Plymouth Argyle and Cheltenham Town.

FIELD REVIEW -5

INTRODUCING ‘THE SEASIDERS’ARON ROBBINS – Joined the club in July 2012 from Bishop Sutton and includes Fry’s Club and YateTown amongst his previous clubs.

IBRAHIMA SARR – Joined in July 2013 from Yate Town after a career in local football including spellswith Radstock Town, Old Georgians, Bitton, Cadbury Heath and St Phillips MAS, having started his careerwith the Lyon Youth side in France.

JOE SWIFT – Promoted from the Under 18 side at the start of the 2012/13 season.

SAM TEALE - Defender who was part of the Bishop Sutton under-18 side last season and who was firstsigned by Clevedon in August 2010. After leaving at the end of the 2011/12 season for a short spell atMangotsfield United, (10 appearances) he returned to the club in October 2012.

MATT THORNE – Matt signed for a third spell with Clevedon in July 2013 from Mangotsfield United.(made 32(6) apps and scored 6 goals). A former Bristol Rovers reserve player he went on to play forBristol Manor Farm, Team Bath, Weymouth, Almondsbury Town, Bridgwater Town and MangotsfieldUnited.

EDD VAHID - Ed started his career as a youth player at Ramsgate in the Ryman League before movingto the west of England and going on to play, amongst others, for Inter Cardiff and Yate Town, from whomwe signed him in June 2013.

DANNY WRING - Danny signed for Clevedon from local rivals Yate Town in July 2013. He started hiscareer at Bristol City, making one first team appearance, before joining Torquay United, Team Bath,Worcester City and Weston-super-Mare. Made 15 (1) appearances for ‘The Field’, and scored twice in2008/09.

MANAGEMENT PEN PICTURES

MICKY BELL (Manager) – Micky was appointed manager in May 2010 after the departure of PeterBeadle and took his first job as a football manager. He started his playing career at Northampton beforebeing sold to Wycombe Wanderers and was then transferred for £150,000 to Bristol City where he spent8 years before being released in the summer of 2005. Port Vale came in and signed him on a free transferand after a spell in the Potteries he joined Cheltenham Town, helping them to promotion as he had BristolCity. A series of injuries forced him to retire from the professional game and he moved to Team Bath asplayer-coach before moving on to Weston-super-Mare in February 2008 before leaving the followingsummer. He continued coaching youngsters in North Somerset and had a spell on the coaching staff atthe Southampton FC Academy before being appointed at the Hand Stadium as a manager in his ownright for the first time. Micky also made his playing debut for the club on 1 February 2011.

PAUL McLOUGHLIN (Assistant Manager) – Paul originally joined the club from Forest Green Roversin 1998 after having played for Weston-Super-Mare, Bath City, Bristol City, Cardiff City, Hereford, Wolves,York City and Mansfield, along with spells in both New Zealand and Sweden. He went on to win theSouthern League Midland Division Championship with Clevedon before leaving the club but returningthis summer as assistant to Micky Bell after coaching Nailsea Juniors FC.

DAVE LUKINS (Physiotherapist) – Highly regarded physiotherapist who joined the club from BridgwaterTown in summer 2013, having had previous experience at Bath City.

JOHN ROBERTS (Kit Man) – “JR” is in his sixth season of looking after the kit for theclub.

FIELD REVIEW -6

COSSHAM CHATTERThe club are pleased to announce that PETER CODDINGTON is our officialphotographer. Many of you will have already seen some of his photos on ourwebsite. No doubt you will see him at matches and if you want a photo takenof you,  I’m sure he will oblige.

Peter says

“Ever since I was a kid I had an interest in photography, but until recently I haven'tbeen able to pursue it. I had that chance last season when Bristol Rovers allowedme to photograph their games to gain experience and during this time I discoveredthat I had a talent for sports photography and improved game by game. With BristolRovers I had several photos published in the match day program and on theirwebsite especially colour splash photos.

During this time I also had the opportunity to do a little bit of freelance work forthe Non League Paper and subsequently had photos published in the paper.Although primarily a football photographer I have recently photographed a

funeral, wedding with anotherwedding at the end of July, I willphotograph pretty muchanything so feel free to come andchat or contact me through theclub.

During my time at Bristol Roversi have met some great peoplewho have been there to guide mein the right direction of a cutthroat business.

Enough of me waffling on,here's to a great 2013/14

season for Mangotsfield.See you around.”

Peter Coddington ClubP h o t o g r a p h e rMangotsfield United FC

Mobile number. 07557 946678

E-Mail: [email protected]

FIELD REVIEW -7

NOT since he woke me up on a late-night Calais to Dover ferry at the end of an exhausting trip toEuroDisney with the kids have I been more surprised to see my old Ware team-mate Anthony Anstead’sgreying barnet.

As I devoured last Sunday’s NLP, there he was on pages 26 and 41, firing in a goal during HertfordTown’s FA Cup extra preliminary round win over Colney Heath. What’s unusual about that? I hear youask.Well, Ant used to be our goalkeeper…last seen trying to control a ball on his goal-line and flick it overan onrushing Potters Bar Townstriker’s head early  in  the 2007-08 season, only for it to be noddedstraight into our net!

He was always a confident lad, and I knew that after a brief spell in charge of Harlow Town four yearsago, he’d been playing up front in the Herts Senior County League for Wodson Park and then at Step5 for St Margaretsbury with prolific results.

A summer move has seen him switch to Spartan South Midlands Premier rivals Hertford, and fairplay to him – he’s now banging in goals in the world’s greatest cup competition at the age of 34.It got me thinking about other big position transitions. We can all reel off a Dion Dublin or a PaulWarhurst, who would alternate between centre-half and centre-forward from one week to the next –or even within the same 90 minutes if their side were chasing a game.

Then there are the likes of Staines Town manager Marcus Gayle, who played up front in the top-flightfor the original Wimbledon, but often played centre-half under Terry Brown at Aldershot Town and AFCWimbledon as his legs matured.

I also recall seeing Gary Hooper play right-back for Grays Athletic, although his destiny alwayspromised  to be  in  the opposition’s penalty area – as he has proved in the Champions League withCeltic and hopefully will now in the Premier League as a £5m Norwich City striker.

The best example for me, however, involves another player who cast off the gloves to play outfield.Step forward Matty Taylor , who was so good as a Non-League goalkeeper he won the FA Trophy withBurscough ten years ago with an outstanding display against Tamworth at Villa Park.

He also played for Matlock, Hucknall, Halifax and Guiseley, before TeamBath boss Ged Roddy – whoselected him as a centre-half for English Universities – signed him for the Students’ 2006-07 SouthernLeague Premier campaign.

Taylor proceeded to step up a division virtually every season up to 2011 by moving to Exeter City andbeing the rock at the heart of their defence as they rose from the Conference to League One, beforecaptaining Charlton Athletic in the Championship.

This summer the 32-year-old has dropped back – not in position but division, to join League Onenew- boys Bradford City – but there  can’t  be  many  who  have  enjoyed  as  successful  a  switch asman- mountain Matt.

Let me know via [email protected] or tweet @stuhammonds_NLP if you can think of anyothers.

FIELD REVIEW -8

MUFC – SECONDARY SPONSORS

MUFC - SECONDARY SPONSORS

LOOKING BACK – “SEASIDERS”Southern League – Midland Division - 1993/94

Rushden & Diamonds 42 29 11 2 109 37 98VS Rugby 42 28 8 6 98 41 92Weston-super-Mare 42 27 10 5 94 39 91Newport A. F. C. 42 26 9 7 84 37 87CLEVEDON TOWN 42 24 10 8 75 46 82Redditch United 42 19 11 12 79 62 68Tamworth 42 19 7 16 82 68 64Bilston Town 42 16 10 16 65 73 58Stourbridge 42 17 6 19 71 75 57Evesham United 42 16 8 18 50 60 56Grantham Town 42 16 6 20 77 73 54Bridgnorth Town 42 15 6 21 56 68 51Racing Club Warwick 42 13 12 17 53 66 51Dudley Town 42 13 10 19 64 61 49Forest Green Rovers 42 12 12 18 61 84 48Sutton Coldfield Town 42 12 8 22 53 75 44Bedworth United 42 12 7 23 62 81 43Hinckley Town 42 11 10 21 44 71 43Leicester United 42 11 9 22 34 73 42Kings Lynn 42 9 11 22 47 72 38Yate Town 42 10 6 26 48 86 36Armitage ’90 42 8 11 23 45 103 35

This was Clevedon Town’s first season at Southern Division level following their successful promotionfrom the Western league. At the end of the campaign, they were switched from this division to theSouthern division, along with Yate Town and Weston-super-Mare.

Rushden & Diamonds & VS Rugby were promoted to the PremierDivision. Tonbridge changed their name to Tonbridge Angels, RothwellTown joined the Midland Division and Moor Green & NuneatonBorough were relegated from the Premier to the Midland. IlkestonTown joined the Midland Division and Gravesend & Northfleet werepromoted from the Southern Division to the Midland.

Bashley were relegated from Premier to Midland and BuckinghamTown were relegated from Southern to Midland.

Last season’s league clash at The Hand Stadium followed immediatelyafter the League Cup-tie at Cossham Street. The game ended 2-2.SAM TEALE was back with the Seasiders after starting the campaignwith us, JORDAN WALKER & DAVE STONE were in the blue andwhite, as was REEKO BEST, who has been making great strides atthis level, after starring in our Youth set-up a few

seasons ago. DAVE STONE missed a penalty and BEST gave Clevedon the lead. RYAN BENNETTlevelled, we took the lead thanks to a Giani Kapika own goal and then STONE atoned for his earliermiss by levelling in the 80th minute.

FIELD REVIEW -9

ABANDONED MATCHESGraham Mills is based in St. Neots, Cambs. He produces the Eynesbury Rovers programme andpens articles for Bristol Rovers. He has very kindly passed on some very readable articles for theFIELD REVIEW.

Early last season Bristol Rovers lost three valuable points at Wycombe with the game abandoned with TheGas leading 3-1, but spare a thought for Newport County fans back on Friday 23rd March 1951. Their teamwere leading 5-1 against second-placed Norwich City in a Third Division (South) fixture at Somerton Parkwhen, with fifteen minutes remaining, the referee, Arthur Blythe, abandoned the match after Norwichdefender Reg Foulkes injured himself after heading the rain-sodden leather ball. Naturally the Newportfans were not pleased and many stayed to voice their disapproval. The referee could only escape theground disguised as an ambulance man with a police escort! That match was voided and the replayedfixture ended in a 1-1 draw. Not only were Newport denied victory but the scorers from the first match weredeleted from the records thus denying Reg Parker a goal. When he retired in 1954 he had 99 Leaguegoals to his name being denied the century by that postponed match!Colchester United’s record attendance at Layer Road was for a game that ended up being abandoned.19,072 were at the ground for a First Round FA Cup tie on Saturday 27th November 1948 against Readingwhich lasted just 35 minutes before the fog descended.Until they lost their place in the Football League in 1972 a midweek match in Barrow was always a longtrek. No more so than when Gillingham tried to get there for a Fourth Division match on Monday 9th

October 1961. With Barrow not having floodlights the match was due to kick off at 5.15pm. Gillinghamplanned on catching a train from London at 9.05am to arrive at the ground an hour before the kick off.Sadly the coach taking them to Euston Station was delayed and they missed the train. The next trainwould have got them to Barrow after the kick off time and road travel was too slow. As scheduled flightsto Manchester and Newcastle were both full they chartered their own plane. However, that was alsodelayed and it took them as far as Blackpool with another 70 miles to travel by car. The kick off wasput back by fifteen minutes and even with a police escort Gillingham only managed to get to HolkerStreet at the new start time still needing to get changed! By the 76th minute Barrow were leading 7-0but with the light fading Gillingham’s agony was ended when the match was abandoned.Thankfully the Football League took pity on Gillingham and did not order the match to be replayedletting the 7-0 result stand. One player that would have been pleased that the match was not replayedwas  Gillingham’s  Billy  Jervis.  He  was  making  his  only ever league appearance and that would havebeen deleted from the record books!One  of  football’s  most  famous  stories  involved  Manchester  United  stalwart  Dennis  Law.  Playing  forManchester City he scored the goal that condemned United to relegation to the Second Division in1974. Law did not celebrate the goal and was substituted promptly. The facts of the matter were thatUnited had to beat City at Old Trafford on Saturday 27th April 1974 to stand any chance of avoidingthe drop.  Law’s  back  heeled  goal  in the 81st minute gave City a 1-0 win but even if the match hadended 0-0 United would go down. United fans knew that and with five minutes remaining they invadedthe pitch, perhaps hoping for a second chance if the match was abandoned and subsequently replayed.Referee David Smith did abandon the game but the result was allowed to stand.In  season  1904/05  an  abandonment  changed  the  out  come  of  the  league  title.  Everton’s  match  atWoolwich Arsenal was abandoned due to fog in the 76th minute with The Tof fees leading 3-1. The matchwas rescheduled for the end of the season with Everton facing three matches in just four days. Evertonlost 2-1. If the original match had been completed and the score remained the same Everton would havebeaten Newcastle United to the League championship by a point.Back in 1898 a First Division fixture between Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa took four months tocomplete! The original game on Saturday 26th November was abandoned after 79 minutes due to bad lightwith Wednesday 3-1 up. Remarkably the league decided that the two clubs should resume the match atSheffield and play only the final eleven minutes. This they did on Monday 13th March when Wednesdayadded one more goal.The First Division match between Chelsea and Charlton Athletic on Christmas Day 1937 suffered anabandonment when heavy fog descended on Stamford Bridge. The fog was so bad that Charltongoalkeeper Sam Bartram was unaware that the match had ended and it was ten minutes before a policemantold him the game had been called off!I amnow glad that those potential three points lost at Wycombe by Bristol Rovers did not prove to besignificant at the end of the season!

FIELD REVIEW -10

DAVE’S DIARYGOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE & WELCOME TO THE GLASS CONSULTANTS UK STADIUM fortoday’s Calor League August Bank Holiday encounter against our old friends from CLEVEDON TOWN.Thank you for your attendance today & for buying this programme. I do wonder how long it will takeus Editors to get used to referring to Cossham Street under its new name in the FIELDREVIEW, but I’m sure we’ll get used to the name in time! Anyway, Clevedon are here this afternoonfor their 2nd away game of the season & they will be hoping to improve on their first one, which wasa 2-0 defeat at Swindon Supermarine. They were also beaten at home last Monday by BridgwaterTown. Rivalry between our 2 clubs goes back a long, long way, of course, right back to the 1950s &the Bristol & District League, so please give Our Boyz (in their new kit) all your support this afternoonas we strive to pick up the 3 points on offer – COME ON THE FIELD! COME ON YOU MANGOS!

THESE NOTES WERE PENNED BEFORE SATURDAY’S TRIP TO FLEET TOWN, so let’s hope thatwe came back along the M4 with at least 1 point, but preferably all three!

WE BEGAN THE SEASON, OF COURSE, nine days ago with that amazing 5-3 home win v newboys GUILDFORD CITY & what a first half it was! We were 2-0 up in 3 minutes, 3-1 up in 18minutes, 4-2 up at half time & then eventual 5-3 winners. Bearing in mind that Guildford weretotally unknown opponents for us, & appealed against being put into this division in the summer,I’d have taken any kind of win before the game, but I don’t think anyone here expected to see as many as 8goals in the game. Our forward play was a delight to watch, we created chances galore, could/shouldhave doubled our tally & there were many good performances throughout the team. Of course,if we were to learn anything at all from the game, it was to tighten up at the back more than wedid, as conceding 3 goals was the only blot on our copybook. Nevertheless, we can only hopethat more performances like that will lead to us having bigger crowds from now on, because ourgate of 118 was the 3rd lowest in our division on the day & that is disappointing, though notsurprising. It was peak holiday time after all, and Guildford didn’t bring as many as their website originallysuggested,  so  let’s  hope  there’s  a  good  few  more  here  today  for  this  afternoon’s  local  derby!

INTERESTINGLY, ONE FAN’S COMMENT ON THE GUILDFORD FORUM is worth reproducing here,as the writer said:

“Thank you very much FA. It wasn't just about the extra mileage, it was about extra cost and extracommitment. Our guys left Guildford at 1030 today and will get back at about 2100 and Mangotsfield isone of the nearer away trips, let alone travelling to and from home”.

One of our own supporters then commented that the AA mileage from Guildford to Mangotsfield is86 miles. That’s  a  lot  of  miles  admittedly,  but  we’ve  had  journeys  longer  than  that  in  the  WesternLeague years ago (to places like Barnstaple, Bideford & Torrington) & then in the Noughties, to clubslike Rocester, Sutton Coldfield & Shepshed Dynamo! Perhaps from Guildford’s point of view, it’s justas well,  then,  that Truro City aren’t  in our division this season!

MOVING  ON,  LAST  TUESDAY’S  TRIP  TO  MERTHYR  TOWN  (AT  CINDERFORD) brought us alldown to earth as we lost 3-0 to The Martyrs. I could easily say that it’s always hard to get anything atMerthyr, even  though  they’re playing at Cinderford for the moment until their new 3G pitch is ready,but the score-line says it all; it’s history now though & we have to learn from it. I am sure that Merthyrwill be up at the sharp end of the league again this season, but defensively, we need to tighten upafter conceding 6 goals in our first 2 games & I hope that we were able to do just that at Fleet onSaturday & again today.

DON’T FORGET THAT IT’S FA CUP DAY THIS COMING SATURDAY when we entertain old friends&  local  rivals  in  BITTON  here  at  (what’s  it  called  again??)  the  Glass  Consultants  UK  Stadium.There’s always a  few Mango connections at Bitton & seeing as we knocked them out of the FA Cuplast  season,  they’ll  be  after  their  revenge  today  as  well. For us, we have NEVER reached thePromised Land of the First Round of the FA Cup before, but local rivals Clevedon, Paulton & Yatehave all done it in recent years. Will 2013-14 see MUFC achieve that same glory?? DAVE S

FIELD REVIEW -11

MANGOTSFIELD UNITED FC - FIXTURES & RESULTS - 2013/14Date Fixture- HOME/ away Comp Score Att 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Substitutes used

** Own goals by opposition **Scorer in italics denotes penalty + Lost on penalties ++ won on penalties # after extra time

17 Aug H GUILDFORD CITY TCL-1S/W 5-3 118 Sawyer Arndale Lamb Kite Bennett Reid 1 Tooze Williams 1 Bath Hunt 2 Parrinello Stone 1 (9)20 Aug A Merthyr Town TCL-1S/W 0-3 175 Sawyer Arndale Lamb Kite Marshall Reid Egan Williams Tooze Hunt Parrinello Hitchings (6) Stone (11) Bannerman-Williams (7)24 Aug A Fleet Town TCL-1S/W26 Aug H CLEVEDON TOWN TCL-1S/W31 Aug H BITTON AFC FAC PR

03 Sep H TAUNTON TOWN TCL-1S/W07 Sep A Cirencester Town TCL-1S/W10 Sep H BRISTOL ROVERS X1 FRIENDLY New Fixture14 Sep A Alresford/Winchester City FAC 1QR17 Sep A Tiverton Town TCL-1S/W21 Sep H SWINDON SUPERMARINE TCL-1S/W28 Sep A Evesham United TCL-1S/W

05 Oct H THATCHAM TOWN FAT PR08 Oct H STRATFORD TOWN TCL-1S/W12 Oct H NORTH LEIGH TCL-1S/W19 Oct A Shortwood U /Beaconsfield FAT 1QR26 Oct A Bridgwater Town TCL-1S/W

02 Nov H CINDERFORD TOWN TCL-1S/W09 Nov A Wimborne Town TCL-1S/W16 Nov H BISHOPS CLEEVE TCL-1S/W23 Nov A Godalming Town TCL-1S/W26 Nov H SHORTWOOD UNITED TCL-1S/W30 Nov A Thatcham Town TCL-1S/W

07 Dec H YATE TOWN TCL-1S/W14 Dec A Didcot Town TCL-1S/W21 Dec H MERTHYR TOWN TCL-1S/W26 Dec A Clevedon Town TCL-1S/W28 Dec H FLEET TOWN TCL-1S/W

01 Jan H PAULTON ROVERS TCL-1S/W04 Jan A Guildford City TCL-1S/W11 Jan A Swindon Supermarine TCL-1S/W18 Jan H TIVERTON TOWN TCL-1S/W25 Jan A Stratford Town TCL-1S/W

01 Feb H EVESHAM UNITED TCL-1S/W Ryan Bath in action against Bath City in the pre-season friendly08 Feb A North Leigh TCL-1S/W15 Feb H BRIDGWATER TOWN TCL-1S/W Photo by Peter Coddington22 Feb A Cinderford Town TCL-1S/W

01 Mar H WIMBORNE TOWN TCL-1S/W08 Mar A Bishops Cleeve TCL-1S/W Today's Games -Monday 26th August 201315 Mar H GODALMING TOWN TCL-1S/W Bridgwater Town v Wimborne Town22 Mar A Shortwood United TCL-1S/W Cinderford Town v Merthyr Town29 Mar H THATCHAM TOWN TCL-1S/W Evesham United v Stratford Town

Godalming Town v Guildford City05 Apr A Yate Town TCL-1S/W Mangotsfield United v Clevedon Town 12Apr A Taunton Town TCL-1S/W North Leigh v Didcot Town19 Apr H CIRENCESTER TOWN TCL-1S/W Shortwood United v Paulton Rovers 21Apr A Paulton Rovers TCL-1S/W Swindon Supermarine v Cirencester Town26 Apr H DIDCOT TOWN TCL-1S/W Thatcham Town v Fleet Town

Tiverton Town v Taunton TownYate Town v Bishops Cleeve

FIELD REVIEW - 12/13

MANGOTSFIELD UNITED FC - FIXTURES & RESULTS - 2013/14Date Fixture- HOME/ away Comp Score Att 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Substitutes used

Scorer in italics denotes penalty + Lost on penalties ++ won on penalties # after extra time

17 Aug H GUILDFORD CITY TCL-1S/W 5-3 118 Sawyer Arndale Lamb Kite Bennett Reid 1 Tooze Williams 1 Bath Hunt 2 Parrinello Stone 1 (9)20 Aug A Merthyr Town TCL-1S/W 0-3 175 Sawyer Arndale Lamb Kite Marshall Reid Egan Williams Tooze Hunt Parrinello Hitchings (6) Stone (11) Bannerman-Williams (7)

01 Feb H EVESHAM UNITED TCL-1S/W Ryan Bath in action against Bath City in the pre-season friendly

15 Feb H BRIDGWATER TOWN TCL-1S/W Photo by Peter Coddington

08 Mar A Bishops Cleeve TCL-1S/W Today's Games -Monday 26th August 201315 Mar H GODALMING TOWN TCL-1S/W Bridgwater Town v Wimborne Town22 Mar A Shortwood United TCL-1S/W Cinderford Town v Merthyr Town29 Mar H THATCHAM TOWN TCL-1S/W Evesham United v Stratford Town

Godalming Town v Guildford City05 Apr A Yate Town TCL-1S/W Mangotsfield United v Clevedon Town 12Apr A Taunton Town TCL-1S/W North Leigh v Didcot Town19 Apr H CIRENCESTER TOWN TCL-1S/W Shortwood United v Paulton Rovers 21Apr A Paulton Rovers TCL-1S/W Swindon Supermarine v Cirencester Town26 Apr H DIDCOT TOWN TCL-1S/W Thatcham Town v Fleet Town

Tiverton Town v Taunton TownYate Town v Bishops Cleeve

WHERE THEY PLAY………….2013/14The Calor League - Division One South & West

BISHOPS CLEEVE Grd Kayte Lane, Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham, Glos GL52 3PDTel. 01242-676166 Col. Green shirts / Black / BlackBRIDGWATER TOWN Grd Fairfax Park, College Way, Bath Road, Bridgwater. TA6 4TZTel. 01278-446899 Col. Red & White Stripes / Black/ RedCINDERFORD TOWN Grd Causeway Ground, Edge Hills Rd, Hilldene, Cinderford GL14 2QHTel. 07896-887162 Col. White shirts / Black/ BlackCIRENCESTER TOWN Grd The Corinium Stdm, Kingshill Lane, Cirencester, Glos GL7 1HSTel. 01285-654543 Col. Red & Black / Black / RedCLEVEDON TOWN Grd The Hand Stadium, Davis Lane, Clevedon, North Som. BS21 6TGTel. 01275-871600 Col. Burgundy & Blue stripes / Burgundy / BurgundyDIDCOT TOWN Grd Loop Meadow Stadium, Bowmont Water, Didcot, Oxon OX11 7GATel.01235-813138 Col. Red & White / White / Red & WhiteEVESHAM UNITED Grd Jubilee Stadium, Cheltenham Road, Evesham, Worcs WR112LZTel.01386-442303 Col. Red & White stripes / White / RedFLEET TOWN Grd Calthorpe Park, Crookham Road, Fleet, Hampshire GU51 5FATel. 01252-623804 Col. All BlueGODALMING TOWN Grd Wey Court, Meadrow, Godalming, Surrey GU7 3JETel. 01483-417520 Col. Yellow / Green / YellowGUILDFORD CITY Grd The Spectrum, Parkway, Guildford, Surrey GU1 1UPTel. 01483-443322 Col. Red & White stripes / Black / BlackMERTHYR TOWN Grd Penydarren Park, Park Terrace, Merthyr Tydfil CF47 8RFTel. 07980-363675 Col. White & Black / Black / BlackNORTH LEIGH Grd Eynsham Park, Woodstock Rd, North Leigh, Witney. OX29 6SLTel. 07583-399577 Col. Yellow/Black/YellowPAULTON ROVERS Grd Athletic Grnd, Winterfield Road, Paulton, Nr. Bristol BS39 7RFTel. 01761-412907 Col. All MaroonSHORTWOOD UNITED Grd. Meadowbank, Shortwood, Nailsworth, Stroud GL6 0SJTel.01453-833936 Col. Red & White stripes / Black / BlackSTRATFORD TOWN Grd DCS Stdm, Knights Lane,Tiddington, Stratford-u-Avon CV37 7BZTel.01789-269336 Col. All BlueSWINDON SUPERM'E Grd Webbs Wood Stdm, Supermarine Road, South Marston SN3 4BZTel.01793-828778 Col. All BlueTAUNTON TOWN Grd Wordsworth Drive, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 2HGTel. 01823-254909 Col. Claret shirts / Sky Blue / Sky BlueTHATCHAM TOWN Grd Waterside Park, Crookham Hill, Thatcham, Berks RG19 4PATel. 01635-862016 Col. Blue & White stripes/Blue/BlueTIVERTON TOWN Grd Ladysmead, Bolham Road, Tiverton, Devon EX16 6SGTel. 01884-252397 Col. Black & Gold stripes / Black / BlackWIMBORNE TOWN Grd The Cuthbury, Cowgrove Road, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 4ELTel. 01202-884821 Col. Black & White Stripes /Black /BlackYATE TOWN Grd Lodge Road, Yate, Nr. Bristol, South Gloucestershire BS37 7LETel. 01454-228103 Col. White/ Navy/ White

DIVISION ONE SOUTH & WESTUp to and including Weds 21st Aug 2013

Pos Team P W D L F A Pts GD Results

1 Paulton Rovers 2 2 0 0 9 0 6 9 x

2 Cinderford Town 2 2 0 0 8 0 6 8 x

3 Shortwood United 2 2 0 0 8 1 6 7 x

4 Bridgwater Town 2 2 0 0 7 2 6 5 x

5 Swindon Supermarine 2 2 0 0 5 2 6 3 x

6 Cirencester Town 2 2 0 0 4 2 6 2 x

7 Yate Town 2 1 1 0 4 3 4 1 x

8 Merthyr Town 2 1 0 1 4 2 3 2 x 0-3

9 Stratford Town 2 1 0 1 5 5 3 0 x

10 North Leigh 2 1 0 1 3 3 3 0 x

11 Wimborne Town 2 1 0 1 3 3 3 0 x

12 MANGOTSFIELD UTD 2 1 0 1 5 6 3 -1 x x x

13 Thatcham Town 2 1 0 1 4 5 3 -1 x

14 Fleet Town 2 1 0 1 2 6 3 -4 x

15 Taunton Town 2 0 2 0 6 6 2 0 x

16 Evesham United 2 0 1 1 5 6 1 -1 x

17 Clevedon Town 2 0 0 2 1 4 0 -3 x

18 Didcot Town 2 0 0 2 3 7 0 -4 x

19 Guildford City 2 0 0 2 3 8 0 -5 5-3 x

20 Tiverton Town 2 0 0 2 1 6 0 -5 x

21 Godalming Town 2 0 0 2 1 7 0 -6 x

22 Bishops Cleeve 2 0 0 2 1 8 0 -7 x

FIELD REVIEW - 14

THAT WAS THE MONTH THAT WAS!Time now for a nostalgic look back at a particular month in recent or not-so-recent years & see howwe fared in that period. Today we go back & look at AUGUST 1997.

MUFC RESULTS IN AUGUST 1997

16-08-97 MANGOTSFIELD UNITED 2, WESTBURY UNITED 0 SCREWFIX LGE19-08-97 MANGOTSFIELD UNITED 10, KEYNSHAM TOWN 0 SCREWFIX LGE23-08-97 MELKSHAM TOWN 2, MANGOTSFIELD UNITED 2 SCREWFIX LGE26-08-97 MANGOTSFIELD UNITED 4, ODD DOWN 0 SCREWFIX LGE30-08-97 MINEHEAD 0, MANGOTSFIELD UNITED 1 FA CUP PRELIM

THE 1997-98 SEASON OVERALL

This was a disappointing season for MUFC, but it was also to prove to be a season of transition, asthe Club elected to change its priorities. Following  2  campaigns  of  “cheque  book”  football,  duringwhich we kept finishing 3rd behind Taunton & Tiverton, manager TERRY ROWLES was forced tobuild a squad within a much lower financial budget with a view to bringing success to Cossham St,but despite a good start to the season, it just didn’t happen. Poor attendances were partly to blame.In February 1998, with the Club still looking to re-direct its finances towards ground improvementsinstead, TERRY ROWLES stood down & was replaced by NICK TANNER. The Club were in mid-table going nowhere, (the Big Two were so far ahead of us, you needed binoculars) & NICK TANNERspent the rest of the term assessing his squad in the hope of doing better in 1998-1999.

THE GAMES IN QUESTION

We began the season with a decent 2-0 home win v The White Horse Men of WESTBURY UNITED.Goals from MIKE BROOKS (13) & SIMON WINSTONE (50) – whom we all knew in those days as“Scrapper” – settled the game, but a pitifully low opening–day gate of just 135 had the alarm bellsringing straight away. Having said that, it was in the middle of the holiday season, so there you go!

But if we ever needed a great bit of publicity to boost the Club, then it came just 3 days later as wedemolished hapless local rivals KEYNSHAM TOWN by an amazing TEN goals to nil! It was one ofthose performances where everything went right & here’s who bagged the goals:

SCOTT HENDY 1-0 (8), TONY BENNETT 2-0 (13), GARY HEWLETT 3-0 (15), WAYNE MORRIS 4-0(28), TONY BENNETT 5-0 & 6-0 (60 + 64), GARY HEWLETT 7-0 (64 pen), SIMON WINSTONE 8-0(69), TONY BENNETT 9-0 (75) & BRETT GREADY 10-0 (88). For the record, our line-up was:

RICHARD WESTON, WAYNE MORRIS, PAUL CICHY, DYLAN DALE, SCOTT HENDY, GARYHEWLETT, SIMON WINSTONE, MIKE BROOKS, JUSTIN PRITCHARD, TONY BENNETT & BRETTGREADY. Subs who came on: MARK BROWN, DARREN WELSH & RALPH HUSBAND.

Some great names from the past there, eh? I recall one MUFC fan having a MOAN about the onesthat TONY BENNETT actually missed – as  if  scoring  4  wasn’t  enough!  Anyway,  4  days  later,  weheaded to The Conigre to face MELKSHAM TOWN, who were a hard side to play against, particularlyon their own ground. The tie ended 2-2, with TONY BENNETT (22) & MARK BROWN (85) nettingfor us, with Gordon Saunderson (21) & Brent Murden (88) replying for the home side. We felt it agood point, as MTFC had won their first 2 games, which led to a good gate of 310 at The Conigre.

Next up was another home win, this time 4-0 v ODD DOWN, a side who always gave us a hardmatch, home or away. TONY BENNETT, DYLAN DALE, GARY HEWLETT & MARK BROWN wereall on target for us. The successful month of August 1997 ended with a 1-0 FA Cup win atMINEHEAD, with MARK BROWN netting the winner to earn us a tough trip to Gloucester City inthe next round, but little did we know at the time, whereas August 1997 had been a great monthfor us, September 1997 would prove  to be  the exact opposite!  More  from “TWTMTW” again soon.

FIELD REVIEW -15

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WHAT THE PAPERS SAYWell, we continue the new season with one or two quotes that never made it into the FIELD REVIEW atthe back end of last season due to lack of space, so waste not, want not – and besides, there wasabsolutely no way I was going to leave this first one out:

“I  ASKED  THE  PLAYERS  AFTER  THE  BOLTON  GAME  IF  THEY  COULD  GIVE  ME  THAT  SAMELEVEL OF PERFORMANCE v BIRMINGHAM AND THEY ALL SAID YES. YOU COME INTOTRAIN ON THE FOLLOWING MONDAY & YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT DEFEAT, YOU TALK ABOUT WHATWAS A GOOD PERFORMANCE (v BOLTON). IT IS ALL ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE,PERFORMANCE, PERFORMANCE. WE HAVE NOT TALKED ABOUT RELEGATION. ALL WEHAVE DONE IS SAY WHAT THINGS YOU NEED TO DO TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

WE HAVE NOT MENTIONED THE LEAGUE POSITION. WE KNOW WE WILL TAKE STICK FORDOING THAT , BUT IF YOU ARE IN MY POSITION, YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO FOCUS ON THOSETHINGS. IT  IS NEGATIVE AND THERE  IS NO POINT  IN BEING NEGATIVE” . These werethe  words  of  Sean  O’Driscoll,  Bristol  City  Head  Coach,  as  quoted  in  the  (Evening) Post on 16 April2013, just hours before the home game v Birmingham, which – thanks to a 1-0 defeat – condemnedCity to relegation to League One last season.

Sean  O’Driscoll!  This  is  the  manager  who – last season - talked in riddles, put commitment &performance above all else & never looked at the league tables, so he claimed. He is also the managerwhose radio interviews make the dulcet tones of Mick McCarthy sound exciting because he himselfsounds bored stiff most of the time. Here we were, hours before the final nail was hammered intoCity’s coffin  &  he  STILL  didn’t  change  his  way  with  words,  even  if  “I”  suddenly  became  “we”  morethan usual! And then after the Brum defeat, he was interviewed on the radio & came out with all thisstuff again! He also didn't like "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" being played on the tannoyat the final whistle, he said it was crass & "would sort it out". I can see why they played it, but maybethis time, SOD did have a point & they could have perhaps played something more akin to City.

Bottom line for City is that relegation had been coming ever since they went up 6 years ago. 4th placein the 1st season & a play-off final was a massive over-achievement, but you take it while you can - butclearly, they were unlikely to ever reach that level again. It would have been a huge ask to do so. Thenthey came 10th, 10th, 15th, 20th & lastly 24th, so the spiral continued to be downwards.The farcical Steve Coppell situation 3 years ago speeded up the process. Even if they had survivedrelegation last term, it would probably have happened this season anyway because the Premier Leagueparachute payments have been increased again for 2013-14, so relegated teams now get even moremoney for failing to stay in the PL, which makes the Championship an even more un-level playing fieldthan it already is!

But as for SOD, well, he’s had a busy summer at Ashton Gate & his new-look squad, featuring playershe wants rather than ones he inherited, have a lot to do to prove themselves at the lower level. I don’tthink even the staunchest of City fans expects too much in 2013-14, as the club tries to sort itself out,both on & off the pitch. But there must be no more of  this “I never  look at  the  league tables” rubbish& he needs to come across better with the media, which is easier said than done, but if the teamstruggles  this season & SOD continues  to baffle  the  fans with his methods, he’ll  lose  them & he’ll  begone sooner rather than later. He is highly rated elsewhere, but City fans are yet to be fully convinced.

“IT WAS A BITTER DAY BEING RELEGATED, BUT MY FULL DEBUT AND A GOAL SOFTENED THEBLOW. NOW I JUST WANT TO GET BACK TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP WITH BRISTOL”. The wordsof Bristol City (full) debutant Bobby Reid, as quoted in The Sun on 6 May 2013, after he netted for Cityin their final day 4-1 defeat away to Charlton, bringing a truly lousy season to an end.

Three comments from me: (1) You play for Bristol CITY, Bobby, not  “Bristol”…(2) Yes, it was a bitterday, but City had had 2-3 weeks to get used to the idea of relegation….(3),  you  don’t  get  manyplayers  called  “Bobby”  these  days  either  do  you?  That  name  belongs to past eras, featuring MessrsCharlton, Moore, Collins etc, but apart from Bobby Zamora, are there any other Bobby’s these days?

FIELD REVIEW -16

Blaine Nolan, Unit 27A, 71, Whitchurch Lane,BishopsworthBristol BS13 7TE. Tel: 0117 9643388

Dave Salter, Bristol Tile Co,543-551 Fishponds Road, Fishponds, BristolBS16 3AF0117 965 8000

HALF-TIME LAUGHTERA blind man claimed that he could tell which club any football came from! He was therefore put to thetest ‘YOU BET’ style, and given four footballs to assess. He took the first one in his hands and sniffed.“BRISTOL ROVERS – I CAN SMELL THE GAS”, he said. Correct. He was then passed the second ball.“GRIMSBY TOWN – I CAN SMELL THE FISH”. Right again. Third ball. “NEWPORT COUNTY- I CANSMELL SHEEP DROPPINGS ON THIS ONE”. Right again. At this point, some wag suggested that thelast ball should be cleaned so that there wouldn’t be any trace of an odour. The ball was taken awayand cleaned and handed back to the blind man. At the same time, a faint hissing sound could just beheard. “SO WHAT ABOUT THE FOURTH BALL, THEN?” asked the sceptic. “ WIGAN”, said the blindman. The amazed sceptic asked him how he knew. “EASY”, said the blind man, “IT’S GOING DOWN”!!!

The following questions and answers were collected from recent Junior exam results. These are GENUINEresponses from 16 year olds. (Ed- all our fears have been realised)

Q : Name the Four SeasonsA : Salt, Pepper, Mustard and Vinegar.

Q : Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.A : Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutant like grit, sand, dead sheepand canoeists.

Q : How is dew formed?A : The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q : What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on ?A : If you are buying a house, they will insist on you being well endowed.

Q : In a democratic society, how important are elections ?A : Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election.

Q : What are steroids ?A : Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q : What happens to your body as you age ?A : When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.

Q : What happens to a boy when he gets to puberty ?A : He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.

Q : How are the main parts of the body categorized ? (e.g. Abdomen)A : The body is consisted into three parts. The Brainium, the Borax. The Abdominal Cavity.

The Brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs and the abdominalCavity contains the five bowels, A, E, I, O, U.

Q : What is a terminal illness ?A : When you are sick at the airport.

Q : What does the word benign mean ?A : Benign is what you will be after you be eight.

FIELD REVIEW -17

YOUTH TEAM NEWS & STATS 2013/14SOMERSET FLOODLIGHT YOUTH LEAGUE 2013-14 - FIXTURES

04/09 WESTON-SUPER-MARE SFYL H11/09 KEYNSHAM TOWN RSMC-1 H19/09 Odd Down Athletic SFYL A23/09 BRISTOL ACADEMY FAYC 1QR H

02/10 TAUNTON TOWN SFYL H08/10 Tiverton Town SFYL A16/10 ASHTON & BACKWELL SFYL H

06/11 BRIDGWATER TOWN SFYL H12/11 Brislington SFYL A20/11 GILLINGHAM TOWN SFYL H26/11 Gillingham Town SFYL A

09/12 Weston-super-Mare SFYL A18/12 ODD DOWN ATHLETIC SFYL H

06/01 Taunton Town SFYL A15/01 TIVERTON TOWN SFYL H22/01 Ashton & Backwell SFYL A

05/02 Bridgwater Town SFYL A12/02 BRISLINGTON SFYL H

Following BITTON’S withdrawal from the league, there was no relegation from the Premier Division andthe two clubs coming in are ODD DOWN (North Div) & BRIDGWATER TOWN (South Div).

WINTERBOURNE UTD & YATE TOWN have been added to the NORTH Division, whilst FROME TOWNhave withdrawn from the South Div.

Therefore, the constitution of the league is:PREMIERAshton & Backwell, Bridgwater Town, Brislington, Gillingham Town, Mangotsfield United, Odd Down Athletic,Taunton Town, Tiverton Town, Weston-super-Mare.

NORTHBristol Manor Farm, Clevedon Town, Hengrove Athletic, Keynsham Town, Larkhall Athletic, Paulton Rovers,Portishead, Welton Rovers, Winterbourne Utd, Yate Town.

SOUTHBath City, Chard Town, Cheddar, Cullompton Rangers, Elmore, Glastonbury, Street, Wells City, Winscombe.

Pre-season results for the Youth Team saw them play the Olveston Town Senior side, and whilst goingdown 0-2, put up a credible showing. They recently took on the Larkhall Athletic Youth side, winning 7-1 athome. Goals came from Liam Monell (2), Jamal Collins (2), Kyle Ford, Josh Campbell and Lewis Wyatt(triallist).

The Roger Stone Memorial Cup game has been brought forward from the 25th to the 11th September.

http://full-time.thefa.com – This is the website for all the information you need. Go to the letterS and click on the SOMERSET FLOODLIGHT YOUTH LEAGUE.

FIELD REVIEW –18

MANGOTSFIELD UTD SUPPORTERS CLUB(2009)

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Thankyou everyone who have supported our events and fund-raising last season. It is a great help to theclub and also helps the Supporters Club, who will be helping the club, in many ways, once more.

The 50 Club draw, (For APRIL), was held during the final home game with Clevedon Town.Winners:£100 4 SHAUN LECRASS£50 30 BRIAN GOLLEDGE£25 5 GARY MARKSThe Supporter’s Club Player of the Season was KEVIN SAWYER.

The AGM was held on July 2nd and the main points of the meeting were the election/re-election of committeemembers. Both ANDY MILNE and CAROLINE SMARDON have stood down from their positions and thecommittee is now as below.

Chairman DAVE WILCOXSecretary GARY MARKSTreasurer JAMES PACKWOODCommittee members TRACY LECRASS, TERRY STEVENS, JOHN PACKWOOD.

OLLIE MARKSThe committee would like to recognise the hard work that both Andy and Caroline have given to the causeover the last three years.

The CLUB SHOP are re-stocking this season. Already, we have received some replica shirts and we canorder more. Also Polo shirts have been delivered and we can obtain training tops and track-suit tops.Supporters Club members of 10% can be applied.

It has also been noted that the FOOTBALL CLUB will take over the funding of match-travel and 3-matchpool sales this season. However, MUSC (2009) will continue to organise Matchday’s GOLDEN GOAL, The50 CLUB and the PREDICTION LEAGUE.

The Football club have finalised details of the next Sportsman’s Evening, to be held at the club. The event,on Thursday 26th September will feature former Denmark & Liverpool star JAN MOLBY, as guest speaker.In his playing career, Molby made 33 appearances for Denmark, but is probably more well known for his12 years at Anfield, where he won three league titles and three FA Cups. He also played for Ajax, Barnsley& Norwich City and had spells as Player/Manager at Swansea City and as Manager of Hull City.Now as a regular pundit for Radio 5 Live, & TV commentator for Danish TV, Molby is a’mean’ poker playerand regularly plays in professional events.Commercial Manager SHAUN HONOUR who is tasked with bringing such events to Cossham Street,told MUFC ONLINE – the  club’s  official  website – “Jan was one of the finest midfielders of hisgeneration  and  this  event will  be  another  evening  not  to  be  missed”.Tickets are £40 per person or £400 for a table for ten (VAT inclusive) and doors open at 6.30pm. Interestis expected to be high so contact either Shaun on 07795533120, Mike Richardson on 07836376971 or ValGrzesiczek on 07970266924

The next Monthly Committee Meeting is scheduled for Monday 2nd September 2013, in the clubhouse, at7.45pm.

FIELD REVIEW -19

Fundraising

2013/14

VILLAGE GOSSIPOn Sunday 18th August, the main stand was formally named after RALPH MILLER – a fitting gestureto someone who did so much for the club, as Chairman and the longest-serving manager at seniorlevel. The ceremony was performed by SID PACKER, who himself was a Chairman of the club andwas responsible for bringing Ralph to Cossham Street – now known as The Glass Consultants UKStadium. We would like to express our thanks to PA T McNAMARA of PJM SCAFFOLDING of Warmleyfor kindly arranging the scaffolding FREE OF CHARGE which enabled DYNAMIC SIGNS to fit thesignage. In  the arranged Legends Match,  ‘The Field’ defeated Cadbury Heath 3-1. Goals came fromEION BAILEY, DANNY THORPE & ADAM SIMS. For Cadbury Heath, DAVE SCUTT was on target.Also playing for the legends were ANDY BEATTIE, DENIS McCOY, ANDY CUETO, ALLAN THOMAS& DAVE JARVIS. Thanks to both managers NICK TANNER & BRIAN KNIGHTON and also thanksto BOB BOYD, ROBERT BOYD and BRAD MAYNARD for their help with the match.Ralph  Miller’s  son,  DAVID  said that his family were very proud that his Dad had been honoured inthis way. Well done everyone.

The THREE-MATCH POOL will see some changes for the new season. To give everyone a better chanceof winning, the minimum prize will be £100. As usual, you have to predict three scores correctly, and ifthere are no winners each week, it will roll over, BUT only until week 8. If there are no winners after theeighth week, then the tickets will go into a draw and three prizes of £500, £200 and £100 will be drawn.Only those who enter on week Eight will be eligible.

OUR NEW Commercial Manager SHAUN HONOUR, has been a very busy man since he came tothe club and he has already lined up another big DARTS event at the club. On Sunday 29th September,the two-time PDC World Champion and current World ranked number three ADRIAN‘Jackpot’  LEWIS will  be giving a  darts  exhibition.  In  his  last major  tournament,  Lewis  made his wayto the final of The World Matchplay, losing 18-13 to World number one, Phil Taylor, averaging justunder  106  and  hitting  19  maximums!  The  event  which  is  Lewis’s  first  in  Bristol,  starts  at  8pm  andwill also feature leading MC PAUL STARR, and a full stage set. Bruistol’s very own PDC star STEVEBROWN will now also be appearing and will go head-to-head with Lewis over the best of 11 legs.Tickets are on sale now, priced at £20 and can be bought from the club on 0117 9560119 (24 houranswering machine) or by contacting SHAUN on 07795 533 120.

ALSO on the 29th September, WRESTLING comes to the Glass Consultants UK Stadium. CSFWRESTLING are hosting the Professional Wrestling Show and two wrestling legends from the‘World  of  Sport’  glory  days  are  set  to  collide  and  settle  some  old  scores!  Bristol’s  own  PETERCOLLINS  faces  Luton’s  JOHNNY  KIDD.  Collins,  a former CSF Heavyweight champion, now residesin Stratford upon Avon and last entered the ring 6 years ago. London born Kidd has also hadsuccess, in the ring, winning several belts over the years. The bout will be contested over six roundsof five minutes under traditional British Wrestling rules of two falls or a knockout.

Our thoughts are with the family of our ex-player WAYNE THORNE, (picturedleft) who was seriously injured recently, in a car crash, as he wason  his  way  to  his  wife  Mandy’s assistance, after she had broken down.Wayne is currently manager of Larkhall Athletic and he is going to be outof action for some time. Nevertheless, he was very fortunate as it was avery serious road accident. Ex Mango, LEE COLLIER is taking over the

Managerial duties at Plain Ham.

Another Mangotsfield player has been in hospital recently. MARCUSDUHARTY  was  missing  from  the  season’s  opener  against  Guildford  City  aftersuffering from a heart problem. After being kept in hospital, he has beenadvised to avoid strenuous exercise for a few months. Obviously a big blowto the lad who is a Strength & Conditioning Coach at the University of theWest of England. Obviously, we all wish Marcus the best and hope that this

problem can be quickly solved for him.

FIELD REVIEW -20

THE WORLD OF SOCCERWelcome once again to THE WORLD OF SOCCER – the column that brings you news stories fromaround the globe. This column is all about showing you how The Beautiful Game exists beyond theseshores, sometimes via serious moments & sometimes via funny or bizarre moments, so let’s crack onstraight away with an April story from ARGENTINA:

“ARGENTINE  FOOTBALL  FANS  ASSAULT  PLAYERS  AFTER  CUP  EXIT” screamed out the newsheadline back in April. So what happened exactly? Well, dozens of fans of the Argentine club HuracanFC stormed the club's changing rooms after a training session & assaulted some of the players! Theyalso stole players' belongings & damaged their cars outside the stadium in Buenos Aires. The maskedfans carried out the attack after a disappointing result which saw 2nd division Huracan knocked out ofCopa Argentina by First division opponents Godoy Cruz on penalties a day earlier. "We were in theshowers after Thursday's training session when the disguised fans stormed the rooms and threatenedthe players," said coach Jose Maria Llop. He said some of the players had been physically beaten."When we left the stadium, we also found out that 8 cars had been damaged," he added. The club'spresident, Alejandro Nadur, said the fans had arrived in two buses and entered the stadium. “Whatthey did would not have been justified, even if we had lost 15-0 to Godoy Cruz," he said. Quite righttoo, it wouldn’t happen here, would it, but the fans down in some Latin countries in South America area funny lot when they want to be & it’s best not to get on their wrong side!

Meanwhile, over in Africa, a referee in KENYA is  suing  the  FA  there  after  his  testicles  were  “man-handled” by an angry manager!  Referee Martin Wamalwa has sued  the Kenyan FA for over £150kbecause  the  attack  left  him  being  “unable  to  enjoy  his  conjugal  rights”. The media there describedthe attack  as  a  “dangerous squeeze in the most sensitive of parts”. Ouch! The alleged assaulthappened in a game in September last year, when Wamalwa was kicked & hit by members of theSparki Youth team  before  being  ‘attacked  in  my  private  parts’ by one of the coaching staff. CoachDaudi Kajembe came onto the field & assaulted him after a decision to send a Sparki player off. “Hepulled my testicles. He actually pressed them & I was hanging on to him when he was pulling me. Iwas crying & could not get myself out from his hands,’ Wekesa said. ‘I remember Kajembe told me, raising hishand, “I can kill you in a minute,” & came directly to my testicles.’

Wamalwa was rescued by a police officer, but slumped to his knees in pain on the pitch before beingtaken to hospital. He is now unable to have any conjugal rights with his wife, he claims, saying it is‘impossible’. Kajembe appeared in court in Mombasa in April on a charge of assault & causinggrievous bodily harm, (he pleaded not guilty) while Wekesa is claiming the compensation from thefederation for his expensive medical bills & the problems the assault has caused him and his wife,Mary. ‘We used to live as wife & husband. Nowadays we don’t, so that’s how the life has changed,’Mary Wamalwa said. And the outcome?? Having Google’d the story in July, it seems to be ongoing!

Now returning from pre-season can be hard for many players, whether they’re  joining  new  teammates, or are a little bit overweight or just reluctant to go back to work. But in NORWAY in April,4th division club Norwegian club side Ny Krohnborg returned from their winter break to find the motherof all obstacles standing in their way – a new ROAD! The players & management turned up for theirfirst training session after the break, ready to press on with training in preparation for their next gamewhen it was clear that a road had been built through the middle of their pitch! Without informing anyof the management at Ny Krohnborg, the local council had gone ahead with plans to build a supplyroad to the new Khron psychiatric hospital on the site of the Helse Bergen University. Unfortunately,for Ny Krohnborg, this is situated only yards away from the first team's home pitch!

It is clear that this story is a one-off, but even chairman Radney Thomsen didn't have a clue this wasgoing to happen either. He told the media, “We were stunned when we discovered that the path wascut. The start of the season is around the corner, but no-one informed us. It's downright scary that thevarious sports clubs that use the pitch have not been told. They have "forgotten" to give notice for the2nd time in three years! This is not good enough. I realise that politicians have adopted a plan for thearea. However, it should be possible to safeguard the sport needs in a better way. We feel simply runover," added Thomsen (with no pun intended). More stories from the WOS again soon…..

FIELD REVIEW -21

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Contact MIKE HAMILTON on 07955 - 687 - 180OR E-Mail Mike at -- [email protected]

FIELD REVIEW - 22

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AND ANOTHER THING!! -1FIRST BATCH OF QUICKIES: So  who’ll  be  the  first  Premier  League  manager  to  get  the  sackthis season?? For  me,  it’s  got  to  be  Paulo  di  Canio,  who’s  a  fruitcake  at  the  best  of  times. I justdon’t  see  him  lasting  too  long. Now when he took over at Sunderland last season, they were 16th

& he  claimed  Martin  O’Neill  was  taking  them  down. So what happened? Di Canio kept them upadmittedly, thanks to big wins v Newcastle & Villa, but he actually took them DOWN to 17th in theend!...... Now I did like the 2-page poster in the Currant Bun last May which advertised the all-German Champions League Final at Wembley & which showed a Borussia Dortmund player with thewords  “Wir  Kommen”  across  the  pages……well,  the  Germans  certainly  did  “kommen” to Wembleythat  weekend,  but  if  any  of  you  out  there  know  your  history,  then  you’ll  know  that  just  before  theBattle of Britain began in June 1940, Hitler uttered those same words at one of his rallies…… Andyou always know when “TalkSport” have nothing to talk about when they start asking the listenersfor their 5 favourites to be relegated from the Premier League this season – and this began lessthan TWO HOURS after Crystal Palace beat Watford in the Play-Off Final at Wembley!

NOW IT ALWA YS MAKES ME SMILE when some of our top footballers “complain” about having hada long season & they’re in need of a rest, etc. Happens every summer & this past one was nodifferent. Sometimes  you  need  to  read  between  the  lines  in  some  of  their  comments,  but  there’salways someone who moans about being “tired”. Yeah, right. Now look at Manchester City &Chelsea players at the end of last season.They had a busy season, both clubs, & then at the end ofthe season, they jetted off to the USA to face each other in 2 meaningless friendlies. OK, that’s notthe players’ doing, that’s all about sponsors & corporate stuff & all  the rest of  it. So the players nipoff to the States for a week or two, some of them come back to a couple of internationals each & afterthat, they go on holiday themselves – probably back to the USA in many cases, or somewhere hot& exotic. Then, before they know it, they are back in pre-season training & 5 minutes later,they’re  off  to  the  Far  East  or  somewhere  else  just  as  far  away on a pre-season tour, which is allabout raising their clubs’ profile, sell a few shirts, fill the local grounds & so on.Yes, it sure is a “hardlife” being a top footballer, but you don’t half get around the globe – and someone else pays for it too!

AND TALKING OF PRE-SEASON TRIPS, that was indeed an unusual one that Bristol City had linedup in going to Botswana – except that it was eventually cancelled in late May as the stadium outthere  “wasn’t  ready”. More like they had second thoughts in my view! I think if you asked mostpeople to “name 10 countries in Africa”, there’s a good chance that Botswana wouldn’t be one of them.Now City say they might go out there next summer instead. We shall see……

NOW PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS HAVE DIFFERING OPINIONS on how any football match goes – wasit a good game, was it a bad game, or whatever. Take England’s 1-1 draw v the Republic ofIreland in late May. England’s performance was (generally)  lambasted by  the press. Even GaryLineker said that our showing that night was, tactically,  a  “step  back  to  the  Dark  Ages”  &  I’m  suremost of us can recall one or two England shockers in years gone by. I know I could – I’ve criticisedthem enough in this column down the years for all kinds of reasons! But back to the Ireland game.Was  it REALLY that bad??!! I’ve seen us play  far worse  than that! To be honest,  it wasn’t brilliant vIreland, no argument, & we are never going to win the World Cup again in a month of Sundays (justqualifying is hard enough!) but I thought, generally, we did OK & looked like the only team that actuallywanted to win the game. Ireland showed little interest in trying to win the match, after Lampard’s equaliser,& they seemed more than happy to keep it to 1-1 all the time. The pace ofWalcott & Oxlade-Chamberlain was always a threat to the Irish & their Championship keeper musthave made maybe 5 or 6 good saves in the 2nd half alone to keep us out. Some people tend toforget the chances that we created, but was it really as bad the critics made out afterwards?

SECOND BATCH OF QUICKIES: So when did the 2012-13 season finally end? Internationals, theU-21 tournament & the Confederations Cup in Brazil took TV football right to 30 June (!!) & thenwe had  the women’s Euro 2013.... but I think as soon as all the Premier League & Football Leaguefixtures came out on 19 June, the new season began then, as everyone began planning ahead….. Andwhy does it take the Bristol (Evening) Post so long to publish team photos? The Rovers teampic first appeared on 13 August – THREE games into the new season. Shoddy! PTO

FIELD REVIEW -23

AND ANOTHER THING!! - 2IT’S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH FOOTBALL!! 3 things today:

(1) DOES THE LOCH NESS MONSTER REALLY EXIST?? Had to smile a few months backwhen Jacobite Cruises, based in the Scottish Highlands, insured its entire fleet againstcollisions with…… the Loch Ness Monster! But if the monster did bump into one of theirboats, how would they exchange details with it??? Could be just a big porky of course, butbesides, I suspect if the Monster truly did exist, then our old pal GARY WARREN, up thereat Inverness Caley Thistle, must surely have seen it for himself by now!

(2) MEIN GOTT! ZWEI DUMKOPFEN!! It was the April holiday that got away for 2 Germanfishermen from Hamburg. They were going by car to St Gallen in AUSTRIA, but insteadthey drove 700 miles to St Gallen……in SWITZERLAND! After their sat-nav error, theybooked a hotel – and then drove home!

(3) SO HOW ARE COMPANIES LIKE W**** ALLOWED TO KEEP ADVERTISING when pay-day loan companies like them are allowed to charge up to 4,000 per cent (so the paperssay) on these quick-fire loans?? They do all these TV & radio ads with the old grannypuppets & they even sponsor Blackpool & Newcastle, (and in the summer, Boltonannounced a sponsorship with another similar company, but they soon ditched them afterpressure from fans) but come on, you  wouldn’t  touch  these people with a barge pole,however desperate you were for cash! It just amazes me how they get away with it.At least Dick Turpin wore a mask when he robbed you……

SO, I WONDER HOW MUCH THIS PROGRAMME WILL BE WORTH IN 100 YEARS’ TIME? It couldbe a few quid, I guess, maybe more, but it will not break the world record which was re-set thissummer. Turns out that between the pages of an old scrapbook was found an 1882 F A Cup Finalprogramme between Blackburn Rovers & Old Etonians F C played at The Oval Cricket Ground on 25March 1882. The scrapbook was found in a box with papers & a diary belonging to an Old EtonianBarrister (Sir Berry Cussack-Smith) from Horsham who died in 1929 & who had witnessed the 1882FA Cup Final. From his diary, it said, “Gigas came to lunch, went with him and Guy to the Oval andsaw Eton win 1-0 in a very exciting match in the presence of about 5000 persons". The 131-year-oldsingle sheet programme fetched £35,250 at auction & was bought by Old Etonians FC. They mustbe absolutely LOADED!  Now when I’ve  finished reading  today’s proggie,  I’ll put  it  in a cavity  in  thewall & keep a watchful eye on it  in 100 years’ time from somewhere up in the Great Beyond!

AND TALKING OF PROGRAMMES, a big well done to TalkSport reporter Tony Incenzo, who is ahuge QPR fan. By the end of last season, he calculated that QPR had produced 1,803 homeprogrammes since the end of WW2 – and he had 1,799 of them! The 4 he was missing were allfrom the  40s  &  50s,  but  I  guess  they’re  out  there  somewhere & sooner or later, he will get them.But collecting like that is fantastic dedication for you & harmless fun & I guess every professionalclub in the land will have a collector like that in their midst. Do we have one here at MUFC? Iwonder! Meanwhile, I’ve often wondered whether professional players, and especially the top ones, actuallycollect  programmes  of  the  games  they’ve  played  in,  so  that  they  have  a  permanent  record  of  theircareer in print. I’m sure that when a young lad makes his First XI debut for any professional side, hewould SURELY keep a copy of that programme as a souvenir. But do the likes of, say, FrankLampard, collect programmes of his games played in when you’ve played 600-odd league games &around 100 games for your country?? He might not, but  I’ll bet his dad, Frank Senior, does!

ANYWAY,  I’VE JUST REMEMBERED THERE WAS A DAFT COMMENT made by Mark Lawrensonduring the Brazil v Spain Confederations Cup  Final  that’s  worth  a  mention  here. Spain were(unusually, admittedly) 3-0 down  &  he  comes  out  with,  “I WONDER IF SPAIN WILL CARRY ONPLAYING  THEIR  PASSING  GAME??” Well,  what  else  were  they  going  to  do,  ML??!!  That’s  howthey play their football ALL THE  TIME,  that’s  why  they’ve  dominated  world  football  for  a  few  yearsnow! What does he think the likes of Iniesta, Xavi & Co do for 90 minutes??!! Dear, oh dear……

AND FINALLY: So what do you think of social media message boards? Personally, I’m all forum!Come on, it’s not that bad! THE FIELD MARSHALL.

FIELD MARSHALL -24

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