NEWSLETTER	Issue 3     September 2001 http://www.fc-crusaders.co.uk

You’ve been having a blissful dream … the season is under way, England have beaten Germany 5-1 and Albania 2-0 to lead their World Cup Group … Man Utd haven’t yet taken their place at the top of the Premiership … FC Crusaders Lions and Dragons have acquitted themselves well in their first league matches at The Field of Dreams … IT’S SUNDAY AND YOU’VE OVERSLEPT – wake up, the match starts in ten minutes and the kit’s still in the wash ! 

Yes, after a long hot summer’s training, the season has now started and reports of our two exciting league matches so far and various pre-season friendlies make up the back page of this month’s newsletter.

DRAGONS FIXTURES/RESULTS

All home matches kick off at 11 am at the

Field of Dreams, Boxgrove School.

GSDL Division 1 unless stated.

Jul 27       (F) Burpham 6 Dragons 0
Sep 8       (F) Dragons 3 Fleet Spurs 1
Sep 9       Dragons 0 Burpham 3
Sep 16    (F) v FC Crusaders Lions                Kick off 10.30, Field of Dreams
Sep 23     Home v Worplesdon
Sep 30     Away v Windlesham Village (k.o. tba)
Oct 7        Home v Stanford
Oct 14      Cup First Round (Away league match v Hampton Cardinals to be rearranged)
Nov 4       Home v Byfleet
Nov 11     Away v Claygate Royals (k.o. 10 am)
Nov 18     Home v Guildford FC 2000 (or Cup Second Round)
Nov 25     Away v Wood Street Village                (k.o. 12.30 pm)
Dec 2       Home v Hampton Hawks
Dec 9       Away v Guildford FC 2000                (k.o. 12 noon)
Dec 16     Away v Stanford (k.o. tba)
Jan 6        Cup Third Round
Jan 13      Away v Byfleet (k.o. 11am)
Jan 20      No fixture yet
Jan 27      Away v Burpham (k.o. 9.30)
Feb 3       Home v Claygate Royals (or Cup Fourth Round)
Feb 10     Away v Worplesdon (k.o. tba)
Mar 3       Home v Wood Street Village
Mar 10     Home v Hampton Cardinals
Mar 17     Home v Windlesham Village
Mar 24     Away v Hampton Hawks (k.o. tba)
Apr 7       No fixture yet
Apr 21     League Cup Final

We really like this badge of the Crusaders soccer club in Calgary, Canada, which you can find on our website along with all sorts of interesting things.  All the boys’ photos are there, with profiles.  Why not have a look ?

LIONS FIXTURES/RESULTS

All home matches kick off at 10 am at the

Field of Dreams, Boxgrove School.

GSDL Premier Division unless stated.

Aug 26     (F) Lions 6 Burpham 3
Sep 8       (F) Lions 2 Fleet Spurs 3
Sep 9       Lions 1 Hurst Park Herons 4
Sep 16    (F) v FC Crusaders DragonsKick off 10.30, Field of Dreams
Sep 23     No fixture yet
Sep 30     Home v Guildford FC 2000
Oct 7        Home v Molesey Juniors
Oct 14      Cup First Round           
Nov 4       Home v St Francis
Nov 11     Away v Hook Youth(k.o. 10.30 am)
Nov 18     Home v Meadow Sports                (or Cup Second Round)
Nov 25     Away v Milford Pumas                (k.o. 11 am)
Dec 2       Home v Claygate Royals
Dec 9       Away v Spelthorne Sports                (k.o. tba)
Dec 16     No fixture yet
Jan 6        Cup Third Round
Jan 13      Away v Molesey Juniors (k.o. 10.15 am)
Jan 20      Home v Milford Pumas
Jan 27      Away v St Francis (k.o. 2 pm !)
Feb 3       Away v Meadow Sports(k.o. 10.30 am) (or Cup R4)
Feb 10     Away v Hurst Park Herons(k.o. 10 am)
Mar 3       Home v Spelthorne Sports
Mar 10     Away v Guildford FC 2000                (k.o. 10.30 am)
Mar 17     No fixture yet
Mar 24     Away v Claygate Royals (k.o. 11am)
Apr 7       Home v Hook Youth
Apr 21     League Cup Final               

Boxgrove School signs up in support of Crusaders’ cause

Management Committee

contact numbers (01483):

Dean Hollands (Chair/Lions)   826355 

Roger Smith (Dragons)           503387

Penny Bolton (Secretary)        457998

Andrew Potterton (Treasurer)  457998

The kit naming and numbering is pretty much sorted out now and we think the boys look fantastic.  A big thank you to parents for the shirt sponsorship, which has been very successful so far and will go a long way to helping us with our aim to provide each player with a fleece sporting the Club logo in time for the colder weather.  Penny has a sample fleece for everyone to have a look at. 

Having purchased and taken possession of our own set of mini-soccer goals, we can return those we gratefully borrowed from Meadow Sports FC for the summer. We have applied for a grant from the FA Youth Trust to buy another set of goals so we may run tournaments at Boxgrove and have also applied for funds from The Football Foundation to buy training equipment. 

SPORTSMANSHIP & MOTM AWARDS

27 July:

BURPHAM HOLD DRAGONS’ FIRE

In their very first Crusaders game, Dragons worked hard, defended stoutly and created some excellent chances, despite the heat of a mid-summer Friday evening at Sutherland Memorial Park. But they went down undeservedly 6-0 to local rivals Burpham, despite fine performances from Tomas, Andrew, Harrie, Paul and Liam, who all worked together well.  We were really unlucky not to get some goals back.

26 Aug:

BURPHAM FALL AS LIONS’ ROAR

This match was intended to be a friendly workout but Lions quickly got into their stride with Andy striking a couple of excellent goals to warm things up on a bright Sunday morning at Sutherland Memorial Park. Tommy and Ben guested for Lions and acquitted themselves well. James had a shot from midfield crash against the bar and Richard had an excellent game too.  As the boys tried out their set pieces and got used to playing together again, they let the home side back into it a little, but eventually, with Jordan netting four, we finished 6-3 winners.  There was a fun penalty competition after the game about which there is not much to say except: Let’s hope Lions don’t get too many penalties this season !

8 Sep: DRAGONS’ TAKE THE SPURS WHILE LIONS SHOW GREAT HEART

Crusaders played host to two Fleet Spurs teams as the final piece of their gruelling pre-season preparation.  Dragons were excellent in their game, having too much skill and tenacity for Fleet as they ran out 3-1 winners. Alex, Jake, Ted and Liam had solid displays, Adam was strong in defence, Ben was brilliant in midfield and Shreyas’s and Oliver’s performances were worthy of mention.  In fine sportsmanlike spirit, some of the boys took turns to play on Fleet’s side, as Spurs did not travel with a full squad.

The other Saturday morning game saw Lions fight like … well, lions, almost overhauling a strong Spurs seven.  They lost 3-2, but Jordan and Putera caused major problems for the opposition defence.  Stuart, Richard and Thomas were determined as they formed a solid back line in rotation in front of Edward’s goal, Pete and James showed great promise in midfield alongside Jordan and Robert ran his socks off as he partnered Andy and Putera in turns up front.

It was all so exciting, we forgot to record the scorers on the day.  If anyone wants to claim the goals – honestly – we shall be delighted to recognise their efforts in October’s FC Crusaders Newsletter.

9 Sep:

DRAGONS’ BRAVE SHOW ISN’T ENOUGH TO STOP BURPHAM

The Field of Dreams hosted the first derby game of the season as the proud Dragons turned out against local rivals, Burpham.  The red and black “Crus” engaged their opponents in a titanic and courageous clash of skill and determination yet, despite some brave defensive battling by Tommy and the heroic goalkeeping of man of the match, Jake, our defences were eventually breached when the yellows took a shock lead midway through the first half.  Then, just before half time, disaster struck as Burpham netted a second to make it 2-0.  The second half saw the “Crus” rally to the roars and cheers of the Boxgrove faithful, producing some valiant football with Harrie shooting wide, Shreyas testing the agility of the Burpham keeper and

Alex working hard to create chance after chance.  The half was full of incident and drama as the midfield trio of Liam, Arjun and Ben worked hard to close down the counter attacks of the Burpham midfield.  Burpham, under pressure, defended well and eventually broke through the seemingly impenetrable Dragons defence to score a third goal just minutes from time.  Well done Dragons !

9 Sep:

LIONS ROBBED BY HERONS’ BREAKAWAY GOALS

Bafflingly and quite against the run of play, Lions went down 4-1 in their first league game, against twice Champions Hurst Park Herons.  The “Crus” kept up the pressure on the Herons’ goal for most of the game and were unlucky not to bag two goals in the first half. Instead, they went into the break 1-0 down.  Scores were levelled by Jordan’s superb rocket of a shot early in the second half and Lions looked set to build on that recovery to take the points. They threw everything into the attack, but, exciting as this tactic was, it inevitably left the back line exposed and the ever heroic man of the match Edward had to save them in a number of one-on-one situations.  Thomas played very well on his birthday and Putera’s running on and off the ball was magnificent. His attacking partnership with Jordan looks set to be dominant this season.  But, for each chance we agonisingly did not convert, Herons seemed to come back on the break to score.  This was a brilliant effort and Lions should take great heart from their opening league performance.  The wins and the points will surely come.

The support from parents (and grandparents in some cases) has been brilliant at all the games so far.  We shall instil just the right amount of fear and foreboding in our opponents as we take the GSDL by storm. You’ve seen the corner flags, now watch out for the red and black army’s scarves, maybe hats and, who knows, even a club song !  Where will it all end ? 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Training: Saturdays from 10 to 12

13 October

FC Crusaders Jumble Sale

at Boxgrove School, 11am to 1pm

16 December

FC Crusaders Players’ Christmas Party (to be confirmed).

15 June 2002

FC Crusaders Presentation Evening (to be confirmed). 

FC Crusaders

“The Friendly Football Club”

Newsletter written by

Roger Smith, Andrew Potterton, Penny Bolton and Dean Hollands.

Feedback and other contributions from members are welcomed by email to:

webmaster@fc-crusaders.co.uk