7 December 2004
FIXTURES
Alty's match against Vauxhall tonight was our first return fixture of the season; previously, we had played 19 different teams in Nationwide North. Only Hucknall and Stafford have not yet met Alty in the league this season.
Monday 6th
Ashton U. 1 Barrow 2
Tuesday 7th
Alfreton T. 2 Moor Green 2
Altrincham 3 Vauxhall M. 1
Gainsborough T. 0 Hucknall T. 1
Kettering T. 2 Worcester C. 1
Lancaster C. 0 Droylsden 1
Nuneaton B. 0 Hinckley U. 1
Redditch U. 1 Stafford R. 0
Runcorn FC Halton 0 Southport 2
Stalybridge C. 1 Harrogate T. 3
ON SALE NOW!
Pictured left is the cover of the new STAR (Altrincham Supporters' Trust) 2005 calendar, devised by Jo Ryan and Louise Band. Baring their all for Alty are (l. to r.) Peter Band, Chris Adams,
Gary Scott and Steve Lunt. Barry Shuttleworth also appears inside. The calendar, in which each month shows the re-enactment of a historic football moment, can be ordered here - and remember that all the proceeds go to good causes - Altrincham FC and Cancer Relief. The calendar is produced by Gavin Rathbone of GR Photography and can also be obtained at the Robins' Shop on matchdays.
CATCH THE BUS
Details of the STAR coach to Harrogate next Saturday are here.
OLD BOYS
NL Daily reports that "Much-travelled striker Leroy Chambers looks set to leave Matlock Town for rivals Frickley Athletic. The South Elmsall club have put seven days' notice in for the 31-year-old, who joined the Gladiators from Droylsden at the start of the season. But Chambers has failed to find his scoring boots with Matlock, scoring a solitary goal against Spennymoor United in his 14 appearances. The Matlock joint-manager Phil Brown said, "In his defence he's had personal problems including a family bereavement in the hurricanes in Jamaica, so there's been a reappraisal of what's important in life for him, and family always comes first. He's not been the same bubbly person in the dressing room and its clearly affected him more than he's probably let on". Leroy has had a previous spell at Frickley - scoring against Alty.
Martin McDonald, now 31, has moved to Leek Town from Cheadle Town.
NATIONWIDE NORTH
Our next opponents Harrogate Town are unbeaten at home and top of the home form guide but away from home they have earned only six points. Colin Hunter is their leading marksman with 9 league goals
"Redditch United won the race to sign striker Arthur Appleton from neighbours Bromsgrove Rovers and he immediately rewarded the Reds with a brace on his debut at Worksop Town on Saturday". His former clubs include Yeovil Town. "Redditch are also expected to complete the signing of wide midfielder Chris Gray from Gresley Rovers early this week".
"Hinckley United were successful in signing a player before the deadline for the FA Cup Second Round match against Brentford. Manager Dean Thomas has again used his Neil Warnock connection to
bring in 19-year-old Colin Marrison from Sheffield United. Marrison is a striker who... has been part of the England under-19 squad", reports the club website.
"Striker Gavin Knight has turned to an unlikely source in a bid to recapture his first-team place with Barrow before Christmas.The 24-year-old has been out on-loan... Following a month’s spell at Brigg Town, Knight is now at Bridlington Town until December 18th. But the striker has yet to find the net in five on-loan appearances. So in a bid to find the form which saw him finish top marksman for Barrow last season with 20 goals, Knight has this week turned to Scarborough,
Barrow’s opponents in the Third Round of the FA Trophy. 'I know the physio at Scarborough, and with me having a week off work I asked him if I could go down and train... I’m not looking for a move as I want to stay at Barrow'," he told the News and Star.
Leon Kelly of Worcester City has won the Nationwide North player of the month vote for November.
6 December 2004
MOOR GREEN 2 ALTRINCHAM 2
On a gloomy afternoon, Bridgewater (in blue, foreground, left) scores Moor Green's opener.
Match report here.
The Moor Green website sums up Saturday's game; "Moors let slip another late goal to deny them victory at the Moorlands, despite looking the better team".
ALTY YOUTH 2 EAGLEY YOUTH 1
Above: Action from the game against Eagley; the Alty players are (l. to r), Dion Depeiaza, Hassan Zareh-Ourang (b'gd), Adam Ball and James Monaghan.
There is a match report in the Youth section.
GATES
Terry Rowley's updated NN Attendance figures are here.
SOCIALS AND FUNDRAISERS
The Bingo Night at Moss Lane last Friday was a great success and a packed
Sponsors' Lounge produced almost £500 for the club. On Saturday around 160
guests attended the club's Christmas Dinner at the Cresta Court. Next
Sunday (12th) there is a Christmas Sale at Moss Lane which will include
Christmas items as well as the ever popular Chocolate Tombola, where every
prize is a chocolate product. Donations of Christmas goods for sale, chocolate, etc are very welcome and can be made via the club office.
NATIONWIDE NORTH
The Stafford Rangers unofficial
site
says that "Rangers' keeper James Lindley has left the club. With both Will
Smith and James Dormand injured, Phil Robinson has brought in Stuart
Tomlinson for a 5 week loan from Crewe, where he is apparently the 3rd
choice keeper".
"Allan Pearce has returned to New Zealand to take up a full time contract"
reports the BPA website.
Andy Crabtree (Nuneaton B. to Bedworth U.)
John Hough (Lancaster C. to Bamber B.)
Chris O’Brien (Vauxhall M. to Colwyn Bay)
5 December 2004
RESERVES OFF AGAIN
For the second time in three days an Alty Reserves match had to be postponed due to a double-booking of a pitch. This time it was on Friday at Gt Harwood where Accrington Stanley were to host Altrincham Reserves in the Lancashire League.
TROPHY
The Pink quotes Graham Heathcote on our January FA Trophy tie at Leigh RMI. "People must remember that Leigh are competing in a division which is a big step from ours. They also recently won at Accrington on the FA Cup, which tells me they must be a decent side. This is a tie we're already looking forward to but it's a dangerous one for us, nevertheless". Graham added, "Beating Gainsborough might not have ranked highly in terms of our Trophy history but it was a massive result in view of our present circumstances and so, too, would be a win over Leigh".
FUTURE STAR
The Pink has a piece on Manchester amateur side, Zurich. Their players include ex-Alty defender Paul Taylor and current Alty Reserve and youth team graduate Lewis Chalmers, who made his first appearance for the Alty first team yesterday as a substitute. The article says that Zurich "could have a star in the making in boss Steve Horan's 18 year-old nephew Lewis Chalmers". Also with Zurich is Matt Duffy, also briefly an Altrincham player.
OLD BOYS
Brian Le Boutillier has "parted company" with Andover, where he was manager. Peter Band is pictured on his Northwich debut in the NLP; Vics lost 2-0 at Woking. Danny Adams was back in the Stockport side after suspension. The Pink quotes the Leigh manager as saying that former Alty youngster Mark Drew was RMI's man of the match last week before his sending off on his Conference debut. Another ex-Alty youth, Lee Shillito played again for RMI yesterday whilst two more, Graham Tench and Ben Ashmole were on the bench. Lance Key was on TV yesterday in goal for Histon in the FA Cup; also on TV was Paul Ellender (Boston). Steve Hawes (Stocksbridge), Jamie Baguley (Rossendale) played yesterday whilst Jeremy Illingworth (Guiseley) also scored.
CORRECTED RESULTS
Ceefax and various newspapers gave the Runcorn result as 0-0 - it was actually 0-2.
Alfreton T. 1 Barrow 1
Ashton U. 1 Gainsborough T. 3
Droylsden 3 Hucknall T. 1
Harrogate T. 2 Kettering T. 1
Lancaster C. 0 Bradford PA 1
Moor Green 2 ALTRINCHAM 2
Runcorn FC Halton 0 Nuneaton B. 2
Worcester C. 2 Stalybridge C. 1
Worksop T. 5 Redditch U. 3
Sunday
FA Cup: Hinckley U. 0 Brentford 0
4 December 2004
TIMMS JOINS LINNETS
Former Alty keeper Ashley Timms has joined Runcorn FC Halton.
From a Runcorn FC Halton Press Release, courtesy of Press Officer, Martin Fallon:
Runcorn FC Halton Manager Alvin McDonald has added yet another new face to the Linnets' increasingly competitive squad with the signing of goalkeeper Ashley Timms from Manchester City. Timms is the twelfth signing that McDonald has made since being appointed manager just over six weeks ago... Timms has also had some experience of playing at this level after making a few appearances for rivals Altrincham last season, and has more recently played for Mossley. McDonald decided to bring in Timms to increase the competition for the number one jersey at the club, with Tony McMillan previously the only keeper on the Linnets' books. He said "We have been waiting for the right person to come along and when we found out that City had released Timms, we were interested. He is 6ft 3 and again is a young lad and will be a good addition to the squad.
Tony has been playing very well of late and will remain first choice at the club. Timms has to bide his time and when the opportunity of a run in the first team comes, he needs to grab his chance and make the jersey his own".
WHY BANDY WENT
Northwich Vics report that "Manager Steve Burr is delighted to have signed Peter Band from Altrincham. Peter is a utility player who can play in midfield or as an out and out defender and was captain at Altrincham. Contrary to reports, Steve adds that Peter's decision to join Vics is purely a football one and nothing to do with finance. He is looking forward to the opportunity to play in the National Conference... Peter goes straight into the squad for Saturday's game at Woking".
STAR'S BIG COMMITMENT
STAR "is delighted to announce that it will be making regular monthly payments to Altrincham FC to pay the Club’s historic Inland Revenue tax bill. The Trust will be paying £500 per month to Altrincham Football Club to give it the security of meeting its monthly tax debt repayment schedule to the Inland Revenue" STAR Chairperson, Brian Flynn, was interviewed on BBC Radio GMR on Friday night - though the radio station rang the Witton manager instead of Flynny by mistake, before getting hold of Brian! Brian was "responding to a recent article in the match programme, subsequently reported in the Pink, by Altrincham FC Chairman, Geoff Goodwin". He also explained the attraction to him of non-league football, including the "fantastic camaraderie" between players and supporters at Altrincham. He also outlined various STAR fundraising initiatives including the calendar which STAR describes as "involving tastefully naked Alty players re-enacting great England football moments", which was organised by Jo Ryan. It can be obtained by ringing the club (928-1045). It costs £9 plus p&p. The club's board still has a monthly commitment of £750 towards outstanding historic VAT debts, in addition to the STAR payment.
LITTLE SPEAKS
Colin Little has told SAM why he joined Altrincham. "I'm a local lad and Altrincham has always been the biggest non-league club, not just round here, but in non-league itself. As I was finishing my career, I thought I would like to be at Alty". The article adds that "as a friend of midfielder Danny Murphy, he had watched the Robins play at Moss Lane". Whilst with Crewe, Colin enjoyed promotion in both 1997 and 2003 but his career highlight was scoring at Maine Road against Manchester City, the team he supports - indeed, he is named after City's Colin Bell. Before playing professionally, Colin had played for Wythenshawe Town and Cheadle Town. Colin now "is making the most of the property boom, buying houses, having them renovated, and selling them on". Colin also spoke out about the "obscene" salaries of some professional footballers today, compared with the likes of nurses and hospital staff. Colin has two sons, Brodie (5) and Lewis (11) but they are "not yet showing signs of following in his footsteps".
NATIONWIDE NORTH
IC Coventry confirms that the mystery target of Roger Ashby, manager of Nuneaton Borough, is "vastly experienced centre-half Craig Gaunt, but whether the deal will go through before Boro’s trip to Runcorn FC Halton on Saturday is in doubt. Gaunt is 31 and began his career at Arsenal before enjoying successful stays in the early 1990s at Scarborough, Bromsgrove Rovers and Kettering Town". Gaunt has recently been at Leigh RMI.
3 December 2004
BANDY GOES
Peter Band, captain of Altrincham, has signed for Northwich Victoria and his registration with Altrincham was cancelled at 2.40pm this afternoon to meet the 3pm deadline. Graham Heathcote had received a written notice of approach from Northwich last week and both he and chairman Geoff Goodwin spoke to Peter and indicated to him that they wanted him to stay at Moss Lane. Last night Peter went to Northwich and trained with the Vics; he also signed a form to play for them. So, despite further discussions between Graham and Peter today, the club had no alternative but to sign his release forms.
The club appreciates the great contribution that Peter made to Altrincham in his time with the club. He made his Alty league debut early in 2002-03 season and since then has played in every outfield position except left-back. In all he made 127 appearances and scored 17 goals.
Peter's departure means that Alty's selection problems are heightened for tomorrow (see below).
TEAM NEWS
Manager Graham Heathcote has a lot of injury headaches to resolve before he can name his side for tomorrow at Moor Green. Val Owen and Marcus Hallows are very doubtful whilst Eddie Hussin and Gary Scott are also carrying injuries. In addition, Steve Torpey is sidelined by pleurisy.
CSC SEMI-FINAL DATE
IC Cheshire writes
that Vauxhall Motors have this Saturday off as their opponents Hinckley
are
still in the FA Cup, so their next game is away at Altrincham next
Tuesday.
"The clubs will also be meeting again on Tuesday, January 18, for a
Cheshire Senior Cup semi-final at Rivacre Park", it adds.
RMI KEEN TO GET PAST ALTY
The BBC reports on our Trophy
opponents
on 15 January.
"Leigh RMI insist they are not ready to throw in the towel - on or off the
field. The Railwaymen have plunged to the bottom of the table and
attracted
a crowd of just 225 for Saturday's game against Farnborough Town... But
the
club say they will fulfil their fixtures this season... 'It would be a
terrible blow to the Conference if we packed in and we did have a meeting
to see if we should do that,' chairman Bill Taylor told BBC Sport. 'But
the
answer I got from everybody was 'no' and we all put a few extra quid in to
battle on. We are trying our best and we will not give up yet'.
Significantly he added, "The lifeline is that we are at home in the Trophy
[against Alty!] and hopefully we can have a good run in that and pick up
some points in the league".
SOCIAL EVENTS
Please support the club's fundraising events if you possibly can:
Friday, 3 December, 2004. BINGO EVENING. The club's
Christmas Bingo Evening will be held in the Sponsors' Lounge at 7.30pm. If
you can donate items such as biscuits, tinned food, wine, Christmas items
(crackers, wrapping paper, tags, etc) for this event, they will all be
welcomed.
Saturday, 4 December, 2004. CHRISTMAS DINNER at the
Cresta Court Hotel, 7.30pm.
On 4 December at 7.30pm, there is a Christmas Celebration Dinner at the
Cresta Court Hotel. Tickets are £40. For details of both events please
contact the club on 928-1045.
NEXT WEEK
On Saturday week, Alty travel to Harrogate, whose website reports that "The FA has
confirmed suspensions for two Harrogate Town players. Mark Haran will miss
this Saturday's fixture against Kettering Town... At Redditch, Dominic
Krief was shown a yellow card in the first half, followed by a straight
red
card in the second half. The yellow was his fifth this season, and this
results
in a 1 match suspension. The red card results in a further 2 match
suspension. Therefore, he will miss 3 matches... [including the game
against] Altrincham on 11 December... Danny Holland, who scored 4 goals in
Town' County Cup win against Armthorpe Welfare during the midweek, will be
at
Wetherby Road for another month. An extension to his loan spell has been
agreed with Hucknall Town... [but] Clayton Donaldson has returned to Hull
City... [However,] Lee Morris will be available... following the end of
his
loan spell at Wakefield-Emley".
OLD BOYS
Non-League Daily states, "If
you were asked to nominate which side contained players of the calibre and
experience of former Altrincham... defender Paul Robertson, prolific
non-League goalscorer Tony Carroll and ex-Blackpool... midfielder Karl
Marginson, the name of... Flixton would probably be pretty low down the
list... [They] are rapidly becoming a home for a plethora of well-known
names of
north-west non-League football. Manager Paul Wright... has [also]
attracted
the likes of young forward David Holt, who played for Stockport and
Altrincham... [as well as three more ex-Alty men] Ryan Hutchinson, Anthony
Hargreaves... and well-travelled midfielder Steve Tobin".
NATIONWIDE NORTH
Non-League Daily reports that
"Drew Roberts is staying at Kettering Town. The young striker... had made
himself a target of Borehamwood. But despite the transfer speculation
Roberts shows no interest in a move to a lower level". He said, "I am
determined to stay and show what I can do". Kettering manager Kevin Wilson
said: "I can't understand why anyone would want to leave Kettering Town
out
of choice". But Wilson has released former Rushden & Diamonds and Oldham
Athletic goalkeeper Steve Corry. 'I have released Steve Corry simply
because I have not been happy with his form in goal this season'" said
Wilson. Making his debut for the Poppies against Nuneaton was 22-year-old
‘keeper Gary Hateley", from AFC Telford United".
NLP also quotes Alfreton FC's press release which says that "Should the
Reds gain promotion to the Conference National at the end of this season,
it would be a history making feat as they would almost certainly be the
only club ever in English football - League and non-League - to have been
promoted four years running... Alfreton are now just waiting on formal
confirmation that they are equipped to make the step up to what would be a
big new world of many clubs seeking to regain lost Football League
places".
Lancaster City quote manager
Phil Wilson: "The last four games have seen us win two very important
matches and lose in two minor cup games... Sully ... has been out of the
side for a long time with injury and now he is fit to play, however he is
not 100% match fit. He has always been a great change from the bench (I
should know
he has played for me for over six years at three clubs) and needs to be
match fit to start games. He is now close to this fitness and he should be
pushing for a starting place... We have signed another young player with a
lot of potential. Brian Moogan has been a young professional at Everton
for
the last two years. As a midfield player he will add competition for
places". This is Lancs
adds that "Tony Sullivan owned up that his spectacular FA Trophy winner
was
a fluke" last Saturday.
The NW Evening Mail says that
Barrow
"chairman Brian Keen has admitted being 'very worried' about a dramatic
fall in attendances at Holker Street... after just 320 fans... took to the
terraces for the Bluebirds' National Conference Cup second round tie
against Runcorn FC Halton"
On the contrary, Hinckley
United report that their "FA Cup 2nd Round tie against Brentford on
Sunday has already been sold out. Tickets for the match, which will be
broadcast live on BBC's Match of the Day programme, were all sold within a
couple of hours. The FA's decision to pick Hinckley's match to televise
means a cash windfall of £75,000 for the club, on top of the £34,750 they
have already earned from the cup run so".
Redditch chairman Pat Cremin said of their Trophy draw away at Carlisle in
January "What an experience it's going to be for us, a 17,000 all-seater
stadium - it's just unbelievable we couldn't have asked for a better
draw... Carlisle is definitely the biggest club we've ever travelled to in
this club's history... but we won't be frightened of going there". This is Worcs adds that
"The Reds have also teamed up with the Kingfisher Centre and will be
showing off their trophy cabinet in the Centre on Saturday morning and
Sunday from 10am".
IC Coventry says that a
"vastly experienced centre-half is being targeted by Roger Ashby but
whether the deal will go through before... Saturday is in doubt. The
player
is in his early 30s and began his career at Arsenal before enjoying
successful stays in the early 90s at Scarborough, Bromsgrove and
Kettering... Ashby continued: "We are not the only ones interested but as
he lives out Nottingham way, we are not that far away and I know he would
have no problem coming to Nuneaton if the deal suits".
Worksop Today reports that the
Tigers have a "selection crisis" with Paul Dempsey banned and "other first
team regulars have been struck down with injuries. "As well as long term
absentees Dene Cropper (knee) and Ryan Davies (groin), Simeon Bambrook is
expected to be out for up to four weeks as he receives hip injections.
Added to this list are influential defenders Kevin Davies (hamstring) and
Antony Jackson (knee) as well as Miles Thorpe (ankle)... while Mark Wilson
is battling with family problems as his daughter has been taken seriously
ill. To compound Glavin's woes, Craig Mitchell has returned to Leigh RMI
after ending his one-month loan period".
FOR EARLIER NEWS, CLICK HERE
Copyright: ©
Compiled by John Laidlar
