2007 - 08

ANNUAL REPORT 2007-08

Chairman’s Report

This was my 22nd season playing for Old Manorians, and I have lost count how many years I have been Chairman, I have also run the 1st , 2nd , 4th 5th and 6ths team at some point and also been fixture secretary and club secretary. This is where I have to be positive because there are lots of positives in this club, but increasingly the major jobs on the committee are being held by the same guys who have done so for many years, and they need a break.

Now if one or more of us steps down and no one steps forward to fill the positions then the club could go down from 6 sides to not very many and maybe fold within a few years. This is why we on the committee feel we cannot step down because myself, Mitchell, Bicknell and Coton enjoy our Saturdays down at the club it part of our life as has been for many years, and the thought of it not carrying on is not good, not least for all the hard work that has gone on throughout the last 20 or so years.

On the finances side, we have been running at either a loss or very little profit for the past few seasons. We run 6 sides and if we run less than that then the will always be running at a loss. We are not in it to be profitable we want to run sides, purchase new kit when it is needed, keep sky going in the club to increase the enjoyment to our members. Now we have 2 levels of fees, £7.00 for those working and £4.00 for those who are not, or students. Now we have noticed that many players are paying the £4.00 match fee when they are working and this is eating into any profit how every little it is, which always goes back into the club. We propose at the AGM for this to increase to £5.00 and the workers to stay at £7.00. Obviously the increase is due to those who do not pay or are paying the lower rate when they are working, we do understand that some people are in difficult circumstances and these will dealt with on an

ad-hoc basis. Just a reminder that we only pay for 2 pitches per week, and I manage to get the other pitches for free, now if this did not happen the fees would be even higher.

On a more positive note, I want to thank the 6 captains for all their work this year in running the sides, Jonesy, Marvin, Jason, Tony, Walshy and Anglo, they will of course be completing their own team report in detail.

I also want to thank Sue and John for doing the catering again this year, and also for Tracey for running the bar.

A very special thanks to Marvin, Neville, Bicknell, Mitchell and Coton for the important jobs they have done this year, they know what they are.

I would also like to thanks Steve Tucker for raising a huge £740.00 for Cancer Research on Cup Final Day which included Jones’s XI V

Tucker XI and another match between Tony Timthong XI and Elder XI. On the day a thanks to Clint for supplying the food and Jean and Keith for helping with the club, and also all the raffles donations.

We are still running a couple of Boxing Day teams which is a very historical event which we would like to continue with as long as we get the support.

Once again we had a very successful end of season dinner at the Cumberland Hotel in Harrow, attended by around 75 people. A big congratulations to the 3rd XI for receiving their 2 West League Winner Medals, and to all the players “player of the year”. A huge well done to Marvin for winning Clubman of the Year and also to the lovely Freddie Brooks for winning Young Player of the Year in his first season.

The start of this report was not very positive but with the amount of new young players being bought into the club by the likes of Joe Coton and Jason Frederik’s, Tony Timthong and Marvin, we can look to a brighter future and with new people coming forward to take positions on the committee it could be a new start for the Old Manorians.

Secretary’s Report

To follow:

1st Team Ratings - SOF (7.74)7.09 / ORG (7.30) 6.55 / FAC (7.20) 6.18 / HOS (7.11) 6.60 (2006-07 in brackets)

This year I felt we had a big opportunity to either win the division or more realistically gain promotion. The squad was fairly steady and the players were certainly good enough to progress in this league. Unfortunately we will look back on the season with a lot of regrets, 8th place is a massive under achievement for this side and the club as a whole.

We started the season poorly going out of the cups early, in our defence we drew teams from the highest division in all three cups. We also had key players missing during the opening weeks of the season and we were unable to compete at a level I knew we were capable of. We were also making basic mistakes especially against Salvo’s where we lead three times only to get beating 4-3 in the last minute.

Draws were another reason we didn’t challenge this year, in 5 out of our 6 draws I felt we should have come away with 3 points. However poor decision making and poor finishing from the usually reliable Paul Keegan resulted in us only taking a point.

During the middle of the season our results picked up and we managed to climb to third. This run of good results also saw the return to form of Dave Moriarty who had formed a strong partnership with Markus (the belly) Bissett at centre half. We also looked dangerous upfront when Emmanuel Papa discovered his goal touch. He was sporadically assisted by Paul Keegan playing a game here and there when his girlfriend would let him.

Sadly our results tailed off and we limped home briefly getting involved in a relegation battle but we were never really in any danger of going down. The team spirit I had hoped to build at the beginning of the season never materialised and I feel it was right for me to step down as captain. I had set myself some tough goals at the start of the year and although enjoyable at times I felt I didn’t come close to achieving any of them. I would like to say a big thank you to all the players to play for me this year with special thanks to Dave Barnsby and Steve Clarke who helped me keep my sanity.

There is a huge chance for a first team of real quality to be assembled within this club and I just hope that the chosen squad learns to play for each other rather than for themselves. Next season will present a great opportunity to gain promotion with the personnel available to the 1st team captain and I would like to pass on my best wishes and support to whoever takes over the role.

Gavin Jones

2nd Team Ratings - SOF (7.08) 7.17 / ORG (7.75) 7.33 / FAC (6.83) 6.33 / HOS (6.82) 7.11 (2006-07 in brackets)

Bloody hell we made it to the fa intermediate final. How! God only knows judging by our terrible final league position, a season that promised so much ended with a whimper. League champions is what I was expecting what a disappointment to only finish4th bottom avoiding the drop by 1 point.

Without a goalkeeper for 2 much of the season with yours truly having to pretend I could do an adequate job we struggled to keep goals against to a minimum. Going forward we maybe struggled to convert the multitude of chances we created apart from Runako in 70% of the games we played.

David my captain for the season proved WHEN he is fit that he doesn't just talk a good game he can actually play a good game too. Mitch, daisy, Steven, narcs became my mister dependable being there for 97% of games. Matthew Roberts a new comer to Old Manorians after 2 preseason became a quality part of the Team, joining in on and off field banter like he's known us forever. Anton always gave 100% although he only scored 3 goals ha ha (not 5) oh yeh Daisy 10 goals eh. Seedy moved from the 1st to the 5th before settling with us adding much needed experience, elbows head butts, late kicks an yes a winning goal against. Eli aka roadrunner a permanent fixture due to his pace and vocal talents guiding, how can I say erm; our lesser talented players.

Neville missed the start of the season but returned with his usual will to win, flamboyant goals an missed sitters. Joking. A mention to lee Whirly the CLUB goalie who never made any bloopers in the games we managed to get hold of him for.

Looking back to my first words, they were rubbish I DO KNOW how we made the final: with good effort hard work sprinkled with skill and determination unlucky GENTLEMEN next year winners!!!

Marvin Blake

3rd Team Ratings - SOF (7.47) 7.43 / ORG (7.55) 7.25 / FAC (7.18) 6.88 / HOS (7.45) 7.13 (2006-07 in brackets)

As my first year as team captain I would like to thank the whole third team for their support. The season didn’t start as we would of liked losing in the first round of the AFA cup to Lloyds TSB and losing our first league game away to Parkfield. Instead of the

squad falling apart we got together and put a run of wins together in the Old Boys cup and in the League.

One of our must impressive results was against the old enemy, Old Salvo’s, as we found ourselves 5-0 down with twenty-five minutes to go. Somehow must of the team still had belief that we were still in the match and if it wasn’t for two or three tremendous saves from the Old Salvo’s we would of come out with a victory after scoring five goals in the fifteen

minutes remaining.

Another stand out performance was and 11-1 victory away to Uxionians. Were we showed discipline and clinical finishing.

A low point in the season was a 5-0 defeat to Camdenians, which was the first time in two seasons we had gone a game without scoring a goal. We had many chances in that game, on a another day the result easily could have been 5-5.

After that result, we only had the league to concentrate on and we did concentrate to win the league without losing another game this season.

Once again thank you to all the players that played for the 3rd’s this season, if it was the whole season or just a substitute appearance your support was appreciated.

Jason Frederick

4th Team Ratings - SOF (7.28) 8.09 / ORG (7.30) 7.82 / FAC (7.10) 7.27 / HOS (5.40) 7.73 (2006-07 in brackets)

We've had another up and down season, starting slowly but things looked deceivingly good as we went 6 games unbeaten throughout November December but as last year it went downhill after Christmas (which might be telling me something) !!! We got to the quarter final of the LOB Nemean cup and were extremely unlucky to lose to our league champions Old Kingsburians 3's 6 - 4 aet with ten men. We've played some great stuff this year scoring lots of goals but too many mistakes have cost us games!! Thanks to everyone that’s turned out for the 4's and hopefully with more commitment from the players we'll push for a trophy next year !!!!!

Tony Timthong

5th Team Ratings - SOF (7.81) 7.63 / ORG (7.70) 8.08 / FAC (7.10) 6.83/ HOS (7.70) 7.75 (2006-07 in brackets)

This year has definitely been a season of two halves for the fives. With only 8 teams in the division this year we lost our first 6 games on the bounce to all but one of our league opposition. Most of the games were tight, but we kept getting piped at the post.

We needed some new blood. The recommendation by Marvin of an Australian to our ranks showed how desperate we had become in our search for a single point. Indeed when Scott, the Socceroo, turned up for the first time in the Vale Farm car park on a November morning, wearing surfing shorts and flip-flops - our confidence levels didn't improve. However, what he lacked in technical ability, he more than made up for in speed. Skippy would be proud.

The main difference to our side however was Neil Kennedy who joined us for a month before Xmas. This was the change that we needed and of the next eight league games, we lost only one, winning six and drawing one. We were climbing through the table and were the only team to beat the leaders Cardinal Manning. We were due to play each side in the division 3 times to make up the league games for the season. This rule was changed back to two and so the league finished for us at the start of February.

To keep up the competition a spring cup competition was created which we have been competing in since March. We managed to scrape through the group phase on goal difference, ahead of Smithy's 'Lord of the Ringers' sixth team. After a massive 12-1 victory against Vaughanians we are now in the final tomorrow at Vale Farm (Sports Centre) against Cardinal Manning, kick off 3:00pm

So come down and support us.

Tony Walsh

6th Team

At the last AGM, it was thought the 6s would struggle for players this season and the decision was made to pull us out of the league. However, come October, a sudden influx of new, young members, along with a few old timers meant that we had enough to get a team on the pitch, so a number of friendly games were arranged.

The season didn’t start too well with a 3-1 defeat in the first game against Polytechnic 6s. Despite the loss, it was evident that we had enough ability in the side to be competitive and so it proved with us winning the next three games on the spin against UCL (4-3 in the cup), Goff Old Boys (5-4) and Enfield (5-0), with Freddy scoring the first hat-trick of the season.

Actonians were our next opponents in the second round of the cup. This game was memorable for everyone involved, not for the result (we lost 6-0 by the way!), but for the now infamous quote “You bottled it in the war and you bottled it today” (Roy Marett slightly upset with the French referee for sending him off!!).

With us now out of the cup we could concentrate on the friendlies!!

Our only draw of the season followed, 4-4 at Goff Old boys, then two easy wins against Enfield (5-3 & 5-0) brought us to the New Year.

The next few weeks saw us amass our biggest win (10-0 v Enfield) and suffer our heaviest defeat (9-1 v Danes 2XI) of the season.

The spring cup started at the end of March, with our first game against the Manorians 5XI. In what could be described as a fiery encounter, we came out on top with a 3-1 win (‘Psycho’ on the score sheet…with a header!!!). Uffingtonians beat us convincingly 5-2 in the next match which meant we just had to draw against Isleworthians to go through to the semi final. A below par performance and some terrible refereeing contributed to a 6-4 defeat which meant the 5s finished above us and progressed through to the semis.

The final game of the season ended with a convincing 4-2 win against Kingsburians, with Damon scoring his third hat-trick of the season and ending up top scorer with 14 goals.

Despite not playing in the league, availability was generally good and selection was consistent. We had a good mix of youth and experience in the side this year which contributed to a great team atmosphere both on and off the pitch and made it an enjoyable season for everyone who played.

Hopefully we can keep most, if not all of this team together for a crack in the league next season.

Barry Webb

Vets

Prior to the start of the season there was much debate as to whether we should actually bother with a vet’s side this season at all. Our cup defeat at Hampton the previous year may only have been the 2nd time our vets had ever lost since Steve Tucker formed the side. But the nature of the defeat convinced a sizeable chunk of our cup winning squad of a few seasons ago to decide to call it a day.

But although it was only a friendly, the 'cancer research' charity game on cup final day saw us back to something like our best & with the likes of Marv, Stephen, Del O'B & Rob Rahman all having recently turned 35 & therefore available for selection, we decided to give it a go.

I think what the season proved is that we are still one of the very best vet’s teams around & it takes a really good team to beat us. We reached the quarter final of the cup & only went out to a superb Mill Hill side (much stronger than when we played them in the final 3 seasons ago). Even then, it was goalless going into the last quarter when 2 absolutely abysmal refereeing decisions knocked the stuffing out of us.

But our 5-2 thrashing of the much fancied (mainly by themselves) Owens vets in the previous round was probably the best we have ever played & although our lungs & legs are definitely not what they were, those players still around from the cup winning side of 2004 (Simon, Charlie, Bobby, Edey, Mitch, Headers, Paul McD, Cecil & myself) are all still pretty useful. Marv, Stephen, Rob Rahman & Dolpho all came in & all did brilliantly & with Neville also turning 35 next year, I think we might just have one more season in us.

Special mentions must go to Cecil for his 2 consecutive hat tricks, Rob Rahman was the pick of the new boys (in fact the pick of the whole squad in my opinion & my player of the year) & Keith Coton, who was one of those that said he would be hanging up his boots, but he helped us out twice when it looked like we would be short & even chipped in with a couple of goals.

Thanks to all who turned up, played & paid. See you all cup final day.

Clint Anglo

Club Ratings 2007-08 - Marks are out of 10, 96 Clubs

Spirit of Football 7.44 (86th) / Organisation 7.43 (59th) / Facilities 6.71 (82nd) / Hospitality 7.30 (71st)

Club Ratings 2006-07 - Marks are out of 10, 101 Clubs

Spirit of Football 7.54 (71st) / Organisation 7.61 (41st) / Facilities 7.16 (72nd) / Hospitality 7.13 (78th)