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| NEWSLETTER |
Issue 6 February, 2002
http://www.fc-crusaders.co.uk |
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| NEWSLETTER |
Issue 6 February, 2002
http://www.fc-crusaders.co.uk |
WITH EVERY NEW YEAR COMES A NEW FASHION:
BLACK AND WHITE IS THE NEW RED AND BLACK !
You may just notice the alarming lack of colour in this edition (except the web page!) , which, inevitably, will be a crushing blow to us all. As the harsh realities of running even a successful football club such as our beloved FC Crusaders plc begin to kick in, questions have been raised at board level as to whether Newsletter output of the quality we have become used to may be sustained for the entire length of the season. The Chairman established a focus group to evaluate the value-added proposition of the existing colour supplement format. The Finance Director performed the obligatory cost-benefit analysis (without a safety-net), taking into account our apparent sponsorship of Hewlett Packard as we replaced printer cartridges at an alarming rate and cost. The potential lost income from TV rights if we don’t get into Europe or stay in the Premiership next season also needs to be considered. And the outcome of it all was … well, take a look. Drab, we know, but cheap and, in its own way, quaint and effective.
Enjoy if you possibly can …
Squad news Sorry to have to make a serious plea here. You may be aware of the problems we have had putting out a team on a couple of Sundays lately. Looking ahead, we have some important League and Cup matches coming up over the next few months; Clacton of course beckons in June and we have also entered teams in three May tournaments (including our own, of which, more later). The Management Committee is very keen that the boys have every chance of success in these competitions and believes this comes from regular training and match experience. The Club is committed to developing the boys to their full potential and would ideally like them to miss as little football as possible. To help Dean and Roger plan and ensure they field a full side for each match, they ask you, please, to inform them as early in your planning as possible if your son is unlikely to be able to play in any game. If you know already that your child will not be available for team selection during any weekend up to the end of May, they would be very grateful for confirmation sooner rather than later (even if your plans are only tentative at this stage). A big thank you to those parents who have given us some dates to work around already.
It has become apparent that the Lions squad, particularly, is not sufficiently structured to weather the effects of injury, illness or those weekends when other commitments take priority. The Management Committee has therefore decided to restructure the squads by transferring two players’ League registrations from Dragons to Lions, before the GSDL February cut-off date for doing so, to give us a better chance of putting out a full team for every match. Both squads will then have twelve players, which may mean that on occasion we have more than the ten we may select for a match. Hopefully, we can co-ordinate with your plans and the teams will select themselves naturally. If things change and we find we have the luxury of 100% availability each week, Dean and Roger will rotate selection so that no player misses out in consecutive matches in which he wants to play. Dragons have operated a rotational system since the start of the season to good effect – Roger reports that parents inexplicably welcome the occasional football-free Sunday !
We hope you will appreciate the need for us to get ourselves organised and to change things around a bit. The alternative - to withdraw the Lions from the League as they will be unable to satisfy their match commitments - is unthinkable to us. If you have any questions at all about this, please do not hesitate to talk to one of the Management Committee members at training. (Contact numbers are on the back page.)
Dragons are currently missing Andrew, one of their key defenders, who has a fractured foot, and Lion’s midfield dynamo Pete is also carrying an injury at the moment. We wish them both a speedy recovery.
Results news
A glance at the GSDL Premier Division table in this edition will give you an idea of how 2002 has started for the Lions. The lads haven’t had much luck so far. The silver lining for our boys in red and black halves is that the League Cup semi-final against Spelthorne Sports, thought to have been scheduled for early January, is actually to be played in March, so there is time for us to improve ! Surprising League losses last month away to Molesey (5-0) and home to Milford Pumas (4-0) followed promising new year warm ups against Burpham Juniors (4-4) and our own Dragons. Repeats of the goals that helped the team achieve results in those friendlies are very much needed in the campaign to rise up the League and win two Cup competitions, all with a smile on the face and an ever-sporting outlook. Not much of a challenge, really, when you think about it.Having picked up 3 away points from 6 in their January matches, beating Byfleet Boys 3-0 in a terrific performance and losing to Burpham Juniors 9-1 in a frustrating encounter, Dragons sit comfortably in sixth place in Division 1, with 11 points from 10 games. They should pick up more points on the run-in to the end of the season to consolidate or even improve on this position. A top four spot is not impossible if the boys work hard at their game and play well as a team, as we know they can.
Fixtures news
PLEASE NOTE: There are several changes to previously published lists.
FEBRUARY
Sunday 3 LIONS Away v Hurst Park Herons (GSDL Premier Division) (k.o. tba)
DRAGONS Home v Claygate Royals Swans (GSDL Division 1) (k.o. 11 am)
Sunday 10 LIONS Away v Chipstead (Inter-League Challenge Trophy) (k.o. tba)
DRAGONS Away v Worplesdon Rangers (GSDL Division 1) (k.o. tba)
Sunday 17 LIONS Home v Spelthorne Sports (GSDL Premier Division) (k.o. 10 am)
DRAGONS No fixture yet
Saturday 23 DRAGONS Away v Worplesdon Pumas (GSDL Division 1) (k.o. tba)
Sunday 24 LIONS No fixture yet
MARCH
Sunday 3 LIONS No fixture yet
DRAGONS Away v Wood Street Village (GSDL Division 1) (k.o. tba)
Sunday 10 LIONS v Spelthorne Sports (neutral ground) League Cup Semi-Final (k.o. tba)
DRAGONS Home v Worplesdon Pumas (GSDL Division 1) (k.o. 11 am)
Sunday 17 LIONS No fixture yet
DRAGONS Home v Windlesham Village (GSDL Division 1) (k.o. 11 am)
Sunday 24 LIONS Away v Claygate Royals Griffins (GSDL Premier Division) (k.o. 11am)
DRAGONS Away v Hampton Hawks (k.o. tba) (GSDL Division 1) (k.o. tba)
Sunday 31 No fixtures (Easter)
APRIL
Sunday 7 LIONS Home v Hook Youth FC (GSDL Division 1) (k.o. tba)
DRAGONS Home v Worplesdon Rangers (GSDL Division 1) (k.o. tba)
Sunday 14 No fixtures yet
Sunday 21 League Cup Final
TO BE ARRANGED
LIONS AWAY League matches v Milford Pumas Youth, Guildford FC 2000 “A” and St Francis Sports
DRAGONS HOME League match v Hampton Hawks
Tournament news
The FC Crusaders 6-a-side tournament will be held at the Field of Dreams, Boxgrove School, on SATURDAY 18 MAY. Three Crus teams will be fielded, so everyone should get to play. The invited clubs will, we think, allow for evenly matched competition and good-spirited play. There will be more detail closer to the day, but we can already see we shall need help with organisation, refereeing, team management and general support. We’ll be in touch !
The Club has entered two teams in each of the following tournaments in May:
Saturday 11: Farncombe FC Saturday 25: Molesey Juniors FC
League tables
Premier Division Pld Pts Division 1 Pld Pts
HURST PARK HERONS 8 22 BURPHAM JUNIORS 11 30
SPELTHORNE SPORTS 8 22 HAMPTON HAWKS 9 22
CLAYGATE ROYALS Griffins 9 21 WINDLESHAM VILLAGE 8 22
MILFORD PUMAS 9 19 CLAYGATE ROYALS Swans 10 18
MOLESEY JUNIORS 8 10 STANFORD YOUTH FC 12 12
HOOK YOUTH FC 7 7 FC CRUSADERS DRAGONS 10 11
FC CRUSADERS LIONS 9 6 WOOD STREET VILLAGE 7 10
GUILDFORD FC 2000 A 7 1 WORPLESDON RANGERS 6 6
ST FRANCIS SPORTS 8 1 GUILDFORD FC 20000 B 9 6
BYFLEET BOYS 10 5
WORPLESDON PUMAS 7 1
League results
|
PREM DIV. |
CRG |
Lions |
FC2K |
Hook |
Heron |
Milfd |
Mlsey |
Sp Sp |
StFran |
|
ROYALS |
---- |
3-0 |
5-1 |
3-2 |
5-0 |
||||
|
LIONS |
2-8 |
---- |
3-2 |
1-4 |
0-4 |
4-6 |
4-1 |
||
|
FC 2000 |
---- |
1-1 |
1-4 |
1-2 |
0-1 |
||||
|
HOOK |
3-1 |
---- |
0-1 |
2-4 |
5-1 |
||||
|
HERONS |
1-0 |
6-1 |
---- |
5-2 |
0-0 |
||||
|
MILFORD |
3-1 |
0-0 |
---- |
3-2 |
2-1 |
||||
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MOLESEY |
5-0 |
2-4 |
---- |
4-4 |
|||||
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SPELTH |
2-1 |
4-1 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
4-2 |
---- |
4-2 |
||
|
ST FRAN |
0-5 |
2-4 |
---- |
|
DIVISION 1 |
Bph |
Byflt |
CRS |
GFC |
Drgs |
WP |
Hks |
Stfd |
WdV |
WSV |
WR |
|
BURPHAM |
---- |
9-3 |
6-0 |
9-1 |
3-2 |
3-1 |
5-1 |
||||
|
BYFLEET |
2-6 |
---- |
0-7 |
0-3 |
0-10 |
3-6 |
1-0 |
||||
|
ROYALS |
1-4 |
---- |
5-1 |
2-0 |
2-3 |
5-3 |
2-4 |
3-2 |
|||
|
GdFC 2000 |
4-0 |
---- |
8-2 |
3-10 |
1-3 |
||||||
|
DRAGONS |
0-3 |
1-1 |
4-2 |
---- |
6-2 |
||||||
|
PUMAS |
0-8 |
0-0 |
---- |
0-9 |
0-7 |
||||||
|
HAWKS |
8-0 |
---- |
8-1 |
3-3 |
|||||||
|
STANFD |
1-2 |
6-2 |
13-0 |
0-7 |
---- |
3-9 |
|||||
|
WIND VLG |
4-2 |
9-1 |
4-1 |
6-0 |
---- |
4-0 |
|||||
|
WOOD ST |
3-3 |
6-1 |
3-1 |
---- |
|||||||
|
RANGERS |
3-4 |
4-0 |
2-4 |
---- |
Answers to the Christmas soccer quiz:
1. Les Ferdinand 2. Alan Shearer 3. Alan Shearer 4. Manchester United 5. Fulham 6. Luis Figo 7. Alex McLeish 8. Leeds United 9. Argentina, Nigeria and Sweden 10. Osaka (vs. Nigeria)
Answer to the puzzle: 3 4 5 8
4 5 9 2
7 8 4 1
6 3 2 9
CLACTON 2002
Can you feel the weather getting warmer yet ? It will soon and thoughts will turn to sunny Essex and the feast of fun and football that awaits us. We are currently sorting out final details of the trip with R&T Tours and should have news of the payment amounts and due date shortly. We shall probably ask for final payment during March. Watch this space in future editions for more information. You can’t wait, can you ? Oh, all right. First Clacton facts coming up:
Did you know:
… the resorts just a mile or so down the coast from Clacton-on-Sea rejoice in the names of Great Hollands and Little Hollands ? Is this an omen ?
… Frinton-on-Sea, very near to Clacton-on-Sea, was until recently the only town in the UK without a pub ?
… there are two theatres in Clacton, for those of us keen on culture ? One is on the pier. (The other one isn’t.) Plays and performances by well-known entertainers run throughout the summer season.
PHOTO-CALL: FC Crusaders 2001/2002 season
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Quiz night
The next Crusaders fund-raiser, our quiz night, will be held on Saturday 2 March. Tickets for entry and food are likely to be £5 per person. The Management Committee would really like this to be an occasion for Parent Members and their friends, so, before deciding if we need to open it up to “professional” quiz teams, take-up among parents needs to be established.
Can you please let Penny know by Sat 9 Feb how many of you will be coming ?
Inter-League Challenge Trophy
We are informed by GSDL that the Lions are now at the stage of this until now confusing competition where they have the chance to play against teams from other leagues in Surrey. February 10 sees the lads travelling to Chipstead of the Tandridge League. This is a large league with teams from the London Boroughs of Croydon and Bromley as well as East Surrey and Kent. We know nothing about Chipstead (not even where it is yet); it’s a bit like travelling to Europe to play in the UEFA Cup. We wish the boys the best of luck and hope they don’t need it.
Management Committee (01483): Dean 826355, Roger 503387, Penny/Andrew 457998