SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of your Newsletter, if you have anything to contribute, please do get in touch by email- [email protected] You can keep up to date with all the news from around the League by following us on Twitter at - @Sydwessex You are more than welcome to use any material (excluding attributed photographs) but it would be appreciated if any material used is acknowledged. It is hoped you enjoy reading this each week. With readership quite widespread, not only within our own competition, but across the three counties and beyond- if ANY club has anything they’d like to have published in here, whether that be a request for helpers, promotion of forthcoming events, items required or available for sale please contact the Newsletter Editor. As a general reminder- Match Reports, player news and photos are always welcome- it is your Newsletter!

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SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

ARE YOU LISTENING ?

Now broadcasting on Sunday 14:00 to 16:00

The Sydenhams Show is the official podcast of the Sydenhams Wessex League. We’re on air live from the 103.9 Voice FM studios in Southampton from 14:00 to 16:00 every Sunday and you can also listen live on www.voicefmradio.co.uk from anywhere in the world. You can listen again afterwards, normally just one hour after the show has finished via the same website and there is also a Voice FM App you can download to your Phone I-Pad or Computer device. Our aim is to promote all local football but specifically the 38 teams of the Sydenhams Wessex League. So far, we have had managers, chairmen, players, press officers and secretaries joining us as studio guests and phone guests; from many Sydenhams Wessex League clubs, as well as guests from local teams both higher up and lower down the pyramid. This is your show and is a platform for your club to promote its events and raise its profile. If your club produces post-match interviews please either email us a copy of the audio or give permission for us to play them on air straight from your website or social media sites, as we will aim to play them on the show. Please come and join us one Sunday, at the moment, no guests will be allowed in the Studio, but please email [email protected] or [email protected] for more information. Friday, 12 March 2021 Page 2 of 12

SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

STAT ATTACK

LEADING GOALSCORERS – LEAGUE GAMES ONLY Details are based on clubs being up to date with records on Full Time at time of going to press.

PREMIER DIVISION Connor Duffin Horndean 11 Cameron Munn Hamworthy United 10 Dan Cann Hamworthy United 9 Lee Wort AFC Portchester 9 Ashley Elson Alresford Town 8 John McKie Cowes Sports 8

DIVISION ONE Russell Jones Laverstock & Ford 14 George Bowerman Alton 12 Clayd Roach Folland Sports 11 James Franklyn United Services 10 [four on] 9

WATCHING BRIEF – TOP THREE LEAGUE ATTENDANCES

PREMIER DIVISION AFC Portchester V Blackfield & Langley 300 31 October AFC Portchester V Hamworthy United 300 12 December AFC Portchester V Baffins Milton Rovers 286 15 December

DIVISION ONE Andover Town V Andover New Street 289 29 September East Cowes Victoria V Newport IOW 288 29 September Laverstock & Ford V Bemerton Heath Harlequins 287 13 October

SHARPEST AND MEANEST Leading goalscoring teams in the League and the meanest defences

PREMIER DIVISION SHARPEST MEANEST Hamworthy United 50 Lymington Town 4 AFC Stoneham 35 Christchurch 8 Fareham Town 33 Hamworthy United 9 Horndean 32 Fareham Town 12 Fleet Town 28 [three on] 15 Blackfield & Langley 27

DIVISION ONE SHARPEST MEANEST Laverstock & Ford 47 Romsey Town 13 Folland Sports 33 United Services Portsmouth 13 United Services Portsmouth 30 Alton 14 Alton 29 Folland Sports 17 Newport IOW 29 Verwood Town 17 [three on] 25 [two on] 18

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SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

ALL OFFERS RUN FROM 1 MARCH TO 31 MAY 2021. AVAILABLE IN BRANCH OR TO ORDER. OFFERS SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY

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SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

LEAGUE TABLES

RANK PREMIER DIVISION PL W D L F A GD PTS 1 Hamworthy United 14 12 1 1 50 9 41 37 2 Lymington Town 12 11 0 1 23 4 19 33 3 Horndean 13 10 1 2 32 15 17 31 4 Fareham Town 11 8 2 1 33 12 21 26 5 Blackfield & Langley 13 8 1 4 27 20 7 25 6 Christchurch 11 7 2 2 23 8 15 23 7 Fleet Town 14 6 4 4 28 20 8 22 8 AFC Stoneham 12 7 0 5 35 15 20 21 9 AFC Portchester 12 6 1 5 20 15 5 19 10 Bashley 12 6 0 6 19 22 -3 18 11 Tadley Calleva 11 5 2 4 17 18 -1 17 12 Baffins Milton Rovers 13 3 4 6 21 25 -4 13 13 Bournemouth 14 3 3 8 15 39 -24 12 14 Hamble Club 13 2 5 6 16 23 -7 11 15 Brockenhurst 10 3 2 5 10 20 -10 11 16 Shaftesbury 12 3 1 8 19 34 -15 10 17 Cowes Sports 11 2 2 7 16 24 -8 8 18 Portland United 15 2 2 11 16 51 -35 8 19 Alresford Town 13 1 4 8 14 39 -25 7 20 Amesbury Town 12 0 1 11 5 26 -21 1

RANK DIVISION ONE PL W D L F A GD PTS 1 Laverstock & Ford 14 11 3 0 47 18 29 36 2 Alton 11 9 1 1 29 14 15 28 3 Folland Sports 12 7 2 3 33 17 16 23 4 United Services Portsmouth 10 7 0 3 30 13 17 21 5 Bemerton Heath Harlequins 11 6 3 2 25 18 7 21 6 Newport (IOW) 11 6 1 4 29 19 10 19 7 Andover Town 12 5 4 3 25 22 3 19 8 Ringwood Town 12 5 2 5 25 30 -5 17 9 Verwood Town 11 4 4 3 20 17 3 16 10 Hythe & Dibden 11 4 4 3 19 21 -2 16 11 Andover New Street 12 4 3 5 16 20 -4 15 12 Petersfield Town 10 4 2 4 15 19 -4 14 13 Downton 14 3 2 9 20 29 -9 11 14 Fawley AFC 11 3 1 7 15 27 -12 10 15 East Cowes Victoria 12 2 4 6 13 29 -16 10 16 Romsey Town 8 3 0 5 11 13 -2 9 17 Whitchurch United 11 3 0 8 18 32 -14 9 18 New Milton Town 11 2 2 7 19 27 -8 8 19 Totton & Eling 12 1 0 11 10 34 -24 3 Friday, 12 March 2021 Page 5 of 12

SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

BLAST FROM THE PAST

MATCH REPORT - WESSEX LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 2009 CHRISTCHURCH 0 MONEYFIELDS 3 Moneyfields entered this game still with an outside chance of finishing runners up in the Premier Division whilst Christchurch showed signs of tiredness from their recent fixture congestion. Moneyfields were away to a fast start and when they gained a free kick in the third minute, Blake and Murphy combined well and the Christchurch defence simply stood and watched as ELIAS poked the ball past Kearn for only his second goal of the season from barely a yard out. Christchurch had a good chance from the kick off but Green was wide with a powerful long distance drive that Tom Boyle was able to tip away. However in the eighth minute Moneyfields were two up. LAIDLAW had acres of space and was able to pick his spot with a close range header from Wooden’s corner. Just after the quarter hour, the lively MORGAN hit the upright but his chance was to come some six minutes later effectively putting the result beyond doubt when he bagged a third finding space in the penalty area. His first effort was blocked by Kearn but he pounced on the rebound to score. Christchurch looked shell shocked and they suffered further disruption when Costello limped off injured and Smith had to be replaced at half time. On the half hour mark the Portsmouth side almost scored a fourth when Prior was able to get in an accurate cross that left the home defence static. Just before the end of the half Christchurch had a chance to claw their way back into the game. A Rideout cross saw the visiting keeper Tom Boyle unable to hang onto the resulting powerful shot from Barnes. However he made amends by managing to scramble the ball away amidst protestations from the home side that the ball had crossed the line. HT 0-3 In the second half Christchurch showed no lack of effort in trying to get back into the game but Moneyfields were cruising and, with Blake pulling the strings in midfield, they put together some good football, never resorting to the long ball. Occasionally the pace of Price caused problems for the Moneyfields defence and, towards the end, one of his shots on goal was diverted into the net by Rideout, only for this intervention to be flagged offside. FT 0-3 CHRISTCHURCH: Stewart Kearn, Adam Costello (Steve Linpow), Mike Green, Dan Crutchley ©, Chris Dillon, Martin Lawrence, Mark Smith (Dan Taylor), James Burden, Gareth Barnes, Tom Price, Paul Rideout. Unused subs: Ben Osborne, Colin Dand, Paul Manning. MONEYFIELDS: Tom Boyle, Owen Elias [4], Kevin Murphy ©, Russell Rackley, Danny Boyle (Jamie Hore), Guy Rutherford, Dean Blake, Jake Morgan [22], Jamie Laidlaw [8] (Craig Hardy), (Jason Clements), Dan Wooden. Unused subs: Dean Arnold.

THE NUMBERS GAME

4 Number of FA Vase Final appearances by a member club at the end of the 2019/20 season. 23 The number of goals scored by Wimborne Town in their FA Vase title winning season. 700 The approximate round trip mileage travelled by Lymington & New Milton for their FA Vase 5th Round tie with Dunston Federation Brewery.

The League are looking at having lapel badges available for sale. You may well have seen this proposal announced on our Social Media platforms earlier this week, but please let the Editor know your thoughts?

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SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

H Hamilton Academical. Often known as The Accies, the club claim to be the only remaining professional club in British football to have originated from a school team; being formed in late 1874 by the rector and pupils of Hamilton Academy. The South Lanarkshire side currently compete in the Scottish Premiership, having been promoted as Runners up at the end of the 2013/14 season. The club have won the Scottish Challenge Cup twice and currently play their home games at New Douglas Park, one of a handful of artificial surfaces in the top flight with the current home shirt being of a red and white hoop design. The previous Douglas Park had been home for over a hundred years, being sold to Sainsburys in the mid-90s with proceeds going towards the new one. In October 2017, the club were defrauded out of club funds in an elaborate phishing attack, sadly only managing to recover a small amount of their losses in the ensuing months. A stark warning to all about such scams. S Skonto Riga. Following financial problems, the club was demoted to the Latvian First League in 2016 and went bankrupt in December of that year. The club only had a relatively short life, having been founded as late as 1991. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in the capital city, Riga. By winning some 14 national championships in a row, they set a European record, and often provided the core of the Latvia national football team. Arguably their most well-known player was Ukrainian Marian Pahars, who played for Southampton amongst others during his career before moving to the hot seat at the club.

CLUB NEWS

Folland Sports require an enthusiastic new Club Secretary to handle administrative matters for their Wessex League One, Combination and CSYL teams. This provides an exciting opportunity to take a route into local football administration with a very long-established and respected club. The outgoing secretary will provide all necessary instruction and support to the successful candidate. Would those interested please contact Jason Simmonds (Vice Chairman) on 07920 513552 or [email protected] Heading to our westerly outpost, Portland United announced last week the appointment of Matt Lucas as their new Chairman. Matt takes up the position that has been vacant since the previous Chairman, Robin Satherley, stood down at the club’s last AGM. Commenting on the appointment, Vice Chairman, Gary Bailey, said “It’s a fantastic appointment for the club; Matt brings a wealth of experience to this role. He has an extensive knowledge of non-league football and what is needed both on and off the field to run a club successfully”. “He has been involved with the club for most of this season as a supporter and has also been helping out in a committee role. It’s plain to see he has a real passion for football at this level and an enthusiasm that is infectious”. “After we had approached Matt and spoken to him about the prospect of him becoming Chairman, it really was an easy decision for us to make”. “We have some exciting plans in the pipeline and although unfortunately there hasn’t been any action on the pitch recently, plenty of hard work has been going on behind the scenes. I and the rest of our hard- working committee are very much looking forward to continuing to take the club forward under Matt’s stewardship”.

PROGRAMME AWARDS 2020/21

Given our season is over, the Programme Award for 2020/21 will be announced within the next month. There were several clubs who entered and the decision will be quite difficult. More next week all being well. Friday, 12 March 2021 Page 7 of 12

SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

WESSEX LEAGUE CUP 2020/21, THE STORY

First Round AFC Portchester 2-3 Horndean Alresford Town 0-4 Hamworthy United Andover Town 2-2 Bournemouth [5-4 on penalties] Cowes Sports 0-0 Brockenhurst [2-4 on penalties] Hythe & Dibden 1-1 Newport IoW [8-9 on penalties] Lymington Town 3-4 Baffins Milton Rovers Whitchurch United 3-1 Portland United Second Round Alton 6-1 Totton & Eling Amesbury Town 3-0 Horndean Bashley 4-1 Andover New Street Bemerton Heath Harlequins 6-1 Shaftesbury Brockenhurst 3-1 Ringwood Town Downton 1-3 New Milton Town East Cowes Victoria 0-1 Andover Town Fareham Town 0-1 Christchurch Fawley AFC 2-3 Folland Sports Fleet Town 1-2 Romsey Town Hamworthy United 3-2 AFC Stoneham Laverstock & Ford 0-4 Blackfield & Langley Newport IoW 4-3 Baffins Milton Rovers Petersfield Town 0-0 Verwood Town [2-4 on penalties] United Services Portsmouth 3-0 Tadley Calleva Whitchurch United 4-1 Hamble Club Third Round Amesbury Town 0-1 Folland Sports Bemerton Heath Harlequins 3-1 Christchurch Blackfield & Langley 2-3 Andover Town Newport IoW 2-3 Bashley Romsey Town 5-0 Alton United Services Portsmouth 1-0 Brockenhurst Verwood Town 0-1 Hamworthy United Whitchurch United 1-0 New Milton Town Quarter Final Andover Town 1-4 United Services Portsmouth Bashley v Folland Sports Hamworthy United v Whitchurch United Romsey Town 0-4 Bemerton Heath Harlequins

The tie between Bashley and Folland Sports will be reversed and played at Folland Park due to ground work being undertaken at Bashley. The Sydenhams League Cup Semi Final draw was made at the beginning of the week, and whilst dates for the two outstanding Quarter Finals remain outstanding, we are waiting for further guidance over the relaxation of restrictions over fans attending games before a decision as to dates for the last four as well where Bashley or Folland Sports will play Hamworthy United or Whitchurch United in one and United Services Portsmouth will play Bemerton Heath Harlequins in the other. Dates and venue for the Final have also to be determined.

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SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

GASLIGHTS REVIEW

This week we are taking a look at BOURNEMOUTH GASWORKS ATHLETIC, of course they are not a Wessex League side past or present and a Club that went out of existence some fifty years ago, but a Club whose name will always be remembered in Hampshire and football writes John Gorman. The Club was formed in 1899 as Bournemouth Gas and Water Company, a works side, who joined the West Division in 1904/05. The Division consisted of just nine teams, the other eight being Bournemouth (champions), Boscombe, Bournemouth Wanderers, Poole (who seemed to have the suffix Working Mens Athletic that season), Longfleet St Marys, Ringwood, Fordingbridge Turks and United Banks (Bournemouth). They joined the County Division, effectively Division One, as Bournemouth Gasworks in 1921/22 and finished seventh out of fifteen which included such sides as Bournemouth Tramways, (a club no doubt run along the right lines) and Wellington Works (Aldershot). A year later they added “Athletic” to their name. During the 1920’s they entered the FA Amateur Cup – in many ways the forerunner of the current FA Vase – and reached the Final in 1930. This involved no fewer than nine games simply to reach the Final, In the four Qualifying Rounds they overcame Blandford, RE Southampton, RM Portsmouth and Fareham (not the present Fareham Town Club). Rounds One, Two and Three saw victories over Wycombe Wanderers [2-1], Welton Rovers [4-0] and Barnet [3-1] and in the Quarter Final they entertained Percy Main Amateurs from Tyneside, which must have been a very long round trip for the visitors. The Lights won 2-0 and were drawn against Wimbledon in the semi-final with the match being played at Portsmouth and resulting in another 2- 0 victory. Gasworks’ victory was something of a rarity as the Finalists usually came from the Home Counties and the North East. The Final was staged at West Ham’s Upton Park Ground on 12 April and an attendance of 21,800 saw Ilford take the Trophy, winning by five goals to one- having won in the previous season as well. It was level at one apiece at the interval, Tom Pettey attributed with the Gasmen’s goal. Incidentally Percy Main Amateurs are still “alive and kicking” today playing in the Northern Alliance League, whilst the win over Wycombe took revenge for the 5-2 loss in the second round a year before. The Lights nearly repeated that success in 1933 reaching the Semi Final stage before going out against Stockton by the odd goal of three in a tie played at New Cross, in the vicinity of Millwall’s old Den ground. During the 1930’s the Lights took the Hampshire title on four occasions with the Reserves once winning Division Two and after the Second World War they were a permanent force in the Hampshire League. They won the Hampshire Senior Cup in 1952/53 and retained the Trophy the following season, and twice reached the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, on one occasion losing out to Portland, 4-1 in 1953/54 (the fourth time since the War that they had been paired together). Their two successes in the Senior County Cup both came at the expense of sides from the Island. In the first they beat the then all-conquering Newport after being 3-1 down before scoring the winner in the dying seconds, and in the following season it was Cowes who were the beaten finalists. Both Finals took place at The Dell and attracted attendances in excess of 4,000. In the process they became the first Club from outside the County Boundary to take the Trophy. However in 1956/57 they finished bottom of the table, some eight points adrift and having conceded in excess of one hundred goals and were relegated and after finishing sixth in Division Two the following season they resigned from the League and returned to Dorset football where they enjoyed further success. They were Dorset League Champions on no fewer than nine occasions and won the Dorset Amateur Cup a similar number of times yet topped both of those feats by winning the on no fewer than ten occasions, all before World War 2 though. Friday, 12 March 2021 Page 9 of 12

SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

Then circumstances beyond their control meant the loss of their magnificent Alder Road Ground (opposite Branksome Recreation Ground and with a 15,000 capacity) in Poole which, with a decline in playing fortunes, caused the Club to disband on 10th March 1973. The ground no longer exists but one boundary wall is still visible and was the venue for the 1947 Dorset Senior Cup Final between Poole and Hamworthy that attracted a crowd of around 3,000 to witness a 4-2 win for Poole. Further back in time, between 1904 and 1932, they played on a ground called Eastlake, parallel to the main Ashley Road through Parkstone, in an area bounded by Weymouth Road and Pearson Avenue, before they left for the impressive Alder Road ground. Those with an interest in Southampton FC and long memories, will no doubt recall Derek Reeves who played for Saints between 1954 and 1969 and scored 145 goals in 273 appearances before playing a handful of games for Bournemouth. Saints actually signed him from Bournemouth Gasworks Athletic – quite a step up. (The very first occasion on which I saw Saints play, Reeves missed a penalty and over the years I saw them miss far more spot kicks than they scored.) A good Club and an interesting story and a Club that certainly made their mark in the history of Hampshire Football. There are connections to member clubs that include players Joss Jenkins and Ernie Stimpson. Both had careers with the Lights. Joss was of course President at Christchurch in fairly recent years whilst Ernie was “Mr. Bournemouth Poppies” for many, on the pitch and after retirement, behind the scenes at the Victoria Park club. It was former who scored the winner for the Lights in the aforementioned Hampshire Senior Cup win back in 1953, his career also including captaining the Dorset County side on a number of occasions as well as amateur International trials for both England and Wales.

Thanks to Gary Day for providing the information that my limited abilities could not find. Thanks also to Twitter, in particular Hants Football Progs @HantsProgs for permission to use the Gasworks’ programme cover image from a game back in 1946.

LEAGUE NEWS

The Football Foundation has this week announced three grants that are available to support clubs to "get football ready for kick off" later this month writes Laura Smith. Further details can be found at https://footballfoundation.org.uk/news/game-on-football-foundation-launches-new-funds-to-get-football- ready-for-kick-off 1. The return to football fund 2. The grass pitch maintenance fund 3. Small grants (offering up to £25,000) Clubs are encouraged to take a look at the detail of each grant on the Football Foundation's website. In addition to this, and in order to identify how we can best support clubs within our league over the coming months, it would be appreciated if clubs complete the short online survey which has been supplied to each Club Secretary. It will only take a few minutes to complete and clubs are requested to please do so before the end of March. The feedback will help inform what support is provided. For example if a large proportion of clubs specify finances as an area where support would be appreciated, we will focus on developing resources and guidance on this theme. Similarly, if governance is of interest, we will prioritise producing support in this area, and so on. Please engage in this process so we can ensure all clubs in our league are able to benefit from this programme. As with the Winter Survival grant Laura would be very happy to answer any questions that the clubs may have regarding the new grants announced by the Football Foundation as well as the above Survey. She may be contacted on 07851 445704 or by email, [email protected] to discuss eligible for any of the Foundation grants as well as the Survey.

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SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

The Hampshire County FA in conjunction with ourselves are planning to run the Hampshire Invitation Cup- entry to which is optional for all Hampshire based Southern League clubs and all clubs in our League. However the news on Wednesday evening that, under the current guidelines, spectators would not be allowed until at least May 17th is a serious problem. However there are on-going discussions between the Government and The FA to see if there can be any earlier alleviation of the rules to permit spectators to attend games. The group agreed to put the organisation of the competition on hold for a week in the hope that there will be some better news in the coming days. Having said that, our Fixtures Secretary would appreciate a response from the clubs that are in favour of the competition as to whether they would still be prepared to go ahead, even if some of the matches were to be played behind closed doors. To assist with that decision a few previous issues have been ironed out: 1. START DATE - We would not start the competition before April 12th a week later than previously planned. 2. REFEREES FEES - Throughout the competition the inclusive fees would be Referee - £45, Assistants - £20. This is a lot lower than previously indicated. 3. SUBSTITUTES - Five rolling subs 4. DISCIPLINE & REGISTRATIONS - Players serving a suspension for standard charges - players could play in the competition but matches would not count towards their suspension. Players suspended under "Misconduct" charges, could not participate. Discipline matters picked up in this competition would be handled by the appropriate County FA. For Wessex League clubs, registrations (but not transfers) would be permitted after March 31st but only for matches specifically in this competition.

FA VASE UPDATE

We have had details of the revised date for the 2019/20 Buildbase FA Trophy and Buildbase FA Vase Finals, the re-start schedule for the 2020/21 Buildbase FA Vase and a date for the 2020/21 Buildbase FA Trophy and Buildbase FA Vase Finals. Although we are not involved, the 2019/20 Buildbase FA Trophy and Buildbase FA Vase Finals, which sit under the banner of The FA’s Non-League Finals Day, will now take place at “ connected by EE” on Monday 3 May 2021. Despite best efforts both the Buildbase FA Vase Final between Consett and Hebburn Town and the Buildbase FA Trophy Final featuring Harrogate Town and Concord Rangers will be played behind closed doors.

The 2020/21 Buildbase FA Vase will re-start with outstanding matches in the Third Round Proper on Saturday 10 April 2021 and the competition’s subsequent schedule is as follows: Fourth Round Proper – Saturday 17 April 2021 Fifth Round Proper – Saturday 24 April 2021 Good luck to our three remaining member clubs Sixth Round Proper – Saturday 1 May 2021 still with an interest - Christchurch, Fareham Semi Finals – Saturday 8 May 2021 Town and United Services Portsmouth. Final – Saturday 22 May 2021

The 2020/21 Buildbase FA Trophy Semi Finals are scheduled for Saturday 27 March 2021 with the FA’s 2020/21 Non-League Finals Day featuring both the Buildbase FA Trophy and Buildbase FA Vase Finals will be held at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 22 May 2021 with limited spectators in line with the UK Government’s ‘roadmap out of lockdown’ and further information will be provided at the earliest opportunity. The four Finals will be broadcast live by BT Sport with respective kick off times and further details to be announced in due course. The FA will continue to monitor the national COVID-19 situation alongside the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and would also like to thank the remaining clubs in these competitions and their supporters for being patient and understanding during this challenging time. Friday, 12 March 2021 Page 11 of 12

SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEWS 2020/21 EDITION NUMBER 37

As an aside, It will soon be time for clubs to enter the FA competitions for 2021/22, we note that the current plan is for the Extra Preliminary Round in the FA Cup to take place on Saturday 7 August 2021. Clubs will be supplied with the necessary details in due course.

BUSH HILL

We are aware of the merger of Bush Hill FC and Oakwood Youth from Season 2021/22 and going forwards will be known as Millbrook FC. Their five successive Southampton Titles, a thing no team had achieved since the League was formed in 1908, is a Record all associated with the Club should be proud of. The immediate ambition for the First Team is to secure promotion to our League whilst providing Youth teams with a pathway to Senior Football; the merger will create a Club with 31 teams and almost 500 Players. They will be based at Test Park, owned by Solent University and leased to the new Club and of course is consistent with Step 5 criteria. Their facilities on Mansel Park are hoped to see improvement over the coming years as well. This merger brings together a wealth of experience in Grassroots Football and they will continue to invest in their Coaches supporting the fantastic infrastructure created, so is also an opportunity those associated with the club whose input, over two decades, has propelled them to where they are now, the very many League Titles from Junior Leagues, Senior Leagues and Hampshire Leagues, the Hampshire AND numerous other Cup wins in their history will never be forgotten.

THE LAST WORD

This Sunday’s Football Radio show guests will be DAVE COX- Chairman Hythe & Dibden, NEIL WALTON- Senior Sports Correspondent Dorset Echo, LOUIS LANGDOWN- Assistant Manager Weymouth he will be discussing the work of www.thefootballfamily.co.uk who look after the wellbeing of young players rejected from the academies they have played with, and EUGENE McMANUS- Manager of Bush Hill talking about the merger with Oakwood Youth (mentioned above) to form Millbrook FC. There have been a number of “phishing” emails of late, clubs are warned to be alert to any that may purport to be from someone known to them and should check the address, and to be wary of any requesting personal and or financial details. We hear that a decision has been made to curtail the FA County Cup competition for season 2020/21. This is a huge disappointment to Wiltshire FA and has profound financial implications to the association, at a time of sustained financial uncertainty. Nevertheless, they feel it is the correct approach; with all the above in mind, both the Premier Shield and Senior Cup competitions will be cancelled with immediate effect. In terms of next season, Wiltshire FA will offer free entry into the County Cups, in order to offset the costs incurred by clubs during season 2020/21. We have not heard any news as regards Dorset or Hampshire in this respect. It is often necessary to either fine or warn clubs for breaches of FA Standardised Rules or League Directives writes our Chairman, Nick Spencer. “It is too easy to overlook those clubs that do not come to the attention of the League Discipline Panel, this was mentioned during the league’s recent monthly meeting, rightly so. The 14 clubs listed below have a ‘clean bill of health’ with the league for the curtailed 2020/2021 season and therefore deserve recognition. The question I ask myself is, if 14 clubs can achieve this, why can’t the other 25 clubs do so, perhaps those clubs should ask themselves the same question! Andover New Street, Baffins Milton Rovers, Bournemouth, Christchurch, Cowes Sports, Fareham Town, Fawley AFC, Hythe & Dibden, New Milton Town, Petersfield Town, Portland United, Ringwood Town, Verwood Town and Whitchurch United.” Friday, 12 March 2021 Page 12 of 12