BEDFONT & FELTHAM FOOTBALL CLUB FOUNDED 2012 e Bedfont & Feltham v Walton & Hersham Saturday 4th January 2020 Official Programme p D FORf.Jn The Orchard, Hatton Road, Bedfont, Middlesex TW14 9QT Tel: 020 8890 7264 [email protected] www.bedfontandfelthamfc.co.uk Twitter: @BedfontFeltham Facebook: /BedfontFeltham Affiliated: Middlesex FA Members: Combined Counties Football League Middlesex County Football League (Sunday) The Surrey Youth League Club Colours: Yellow & Blue Change Colours: Red & White Programme Cover Design: Rob Healy Management Committee: President: Alan Hale Vice President: John Cronk Chairman: Brian Barry – [email protected] Vice Chairman: Alan Hale Treasurer: Rob Healy General Secretary: Derrick Smith Director of Football: Scott Savoy – [email protected] Membership Secretary: Jane Rescorla Media Manager / Photographer: Joanna Ginger – [email protected] Media Manager / Programmes: Rob Healy – [email protected] Match-day Coordinator: Andy Smith Additional Members: Adam Bessent & Chris Beauchamp Bedfont & Feltham v Walton & Hersham0 The Cherry Red Records Combined Counties Football League, Division One th Manager’sSaturday 4 NotesJanuary 2020. Kick-Off: 3.00pm Volume 7, Issue 17 Good afternoon everyone, and Happy New Year. Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the Orchard. I hope our match officialsWelcome and to The all Orchardassociated for ourwith seventeenth Jersey Bulls home enjoy match their of season short 2019stay- 20.with us. This afternoon, we welcome the players, officials and supporters of Walton & WeHersham turn our FC; attentionand our three back match to the officials league for campaign this Division today One after fixture. exiting We trust two you enjoy your brief stay with us and have a safe journey home afterwards. cup competitions over the last week or so. Our FA Vase run came to an end onOur Saturday visitors haveat Welling been through. Going aaway big rejuvenation to a Step 5 overside ,the we past were few never years going. They tosaw be themselves dubbed as relegated favourites from but the after Isthmian taking League the tie after to extraa 45 year time stay; and movedmore thanfrom holding their previous our own home it wasof Stompond a sombre Lane bus into journey an all home.-purpose The sporting boys hub;worked and incrediblyat the same hard time, for they120 minuteshave had buta committee they will takeoversay themselve and ats thethat end despite of last us season, Walton & Hersham were further-relegated to Division One of the Combined working the home keeper, eventual man of the match, several times we th neverCounties really Football hit our League. best levels. The Swans’ It was most a record recent-breaking league runmatch for was the onclub, 14 December which saw them draw 1-1 with Tooting Bec. but ultimately, we know we could've gone even further. Last Saturday, we visited Bagshot in the league. Both clubs had seen an identical Fiverun ofgoals, form aleading clean upsheet to that and match, 3 poin andts a partiallyfortnight due ago to atsome Eversley unavailability, was much we neededwere unable as we to look get tooff edgethe starting up the blocks.table nowThe matchthat our was squad held atis looking0-0 up to the the healthiestfinal whistle. it's been all year. Today, we welcome the champions elect to the Orchard. We won’t be favourites for the second week running as they Next weekend sees Tooting Bec visit us in the league. We’re away to Walton & look to make it 14 wins from 14 games. We will have to thbe at our best to Hersham in the Division One Challenge Cup on Tuesday 14 ; away to Cove on getSaturday something 18th and from away the togame. Hillingdon Borough in the Middlesex Premier Cup on Tuesday 21st January. We’re awaiting a new date for our home match v Westfield due to the original pre-Christmas fixture falling foul to the wet weather. ThankAn updated you for fixture your list support. can be foundI hope on you the enjoymiddle the pag esgame. of this programme and on our website. Adam. Today’s programme has been produced online only due to our regular printer being on holiday. Today’s programme is also my last. I have had to step down from the editor’s role due to work and family commitments. I will still be lurking around behind the scenes assisting Scott Savoy with matchday administration and also keeping our website updated. I would like to quickly say thanks to everyone for the feedback I’ve received whilst compiling the Feltham, then Bedfont & Feltham programmes. I’ve tried to make them as interesting as possible. I’ve been editor since 2008 this time around, and was editor back in 1989-1992 of the programme for Feltham, (and then Feltham & Hounslow Borough) back in the day! Enjoy today’s match and see you again soon. Rob – Editor. Manager’s Notes Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the Orchard. I hope our match officials and all associated with Walton & Hersham enjoy their short stay with us. It has been a month since our last home game and in that time we have continued our good run of form and pushed ourselves back up to the right end of the table. We had 2 good away wins at Tooting Bec and Epsom & Ewell respectively and in between Christmas and New Year we gained a valuable point on a tough surface against in form Bagshot. We were disappointed coming away without the 3 points as we spurned more than enough chances to win the game but we take the positives and move on to today. The reverse fixture in November at the Xcel was a brilliant game for any neutrals watching, it had pretty much everything. Coming out the right side of that game gave our lads an injection of belief which was sorely needed. We have been on a good run since then and we hope to continue that today, but we are under no illusions that we will have to be at our best against a good attacking side who are also very much in the promotion hunt. Happy New Year to you all. Thank you for your ongoing support. Adam Introducing Our Visitors – Walton & Hersham FC Walton-on-Thames F.C. was formed in 1895, and in 1945, following World War II, amalgamated with Hersham F.C. to form Walton & Hersham F.C., the present club. The united club immediately joined the newly formed Corinthian League and followed a poor first season with a hat-trick of Championships and a runners-up position. They also won the Surrey Senior Cup for the first time in 1947-48, beating Isthmian League neighbours Kingstonian 2-1 at Crystal Palace. Election to the Athenian League soon followed and in their first season, 1950-51, Swans finished runners-up and again won the Surrey Senior Cup at Palace, defeating the much vaunted Dulwich Hamlet 2-1. Great days, big crowds These were halcyon days for the Stompond Lane side and the FA Amateur Cup Semi-Final was reached in successive seasons, 1951-52 and 1952-53, only for Swans to go out to Walthamstow Avenue and Harwich & Parkeston respectively. During this period the club enjoyed a tremendous following, and a record crowd of 10,000 were at the Lane in 1952 when the famous Crook Town were the visitors for an Amateur Cup tie. Stars of this era included Swans’ most famous player, England and Great Britain Olympic defender C.R. ‘Jack’ Neale, and the prolific Reg Sentance, still the club’s all-time top scorer. Some lean years followed, although the FA Cup First Round was reached for the first time in 1957-58, Southampton winning 6-1 before 6,000 people at Stompond Lane. Don Stoker’s popular sides of the early 1960’s brought cup fever back to the Lane and there were fine runs again in the FA Amateur Cup. Two late goals by the prolific and popular Brian Jenkins beat the star-studded Wimbledon side in the Surrey Senior Cup Final of 1960-61, and the trophy was retained against Sutton United the following season. After several years of mid-table respectability the appointment of Allen Batsford as manager in 1967 heralded the beginning of the most successful period in the club’s history. At the end of his first season, a superb victory over a powerful Wimbledon side in the two legged Final secured the Premier Midweek Floodlit League title, the first of three, followed a year later by the winning of the Athenian League championship for the first time. The FA Cup First Round Proper was again reached in the following two seasons, only for Swans to lose to Barnet 1-0 in 1969-70 and Telford United 5-2 in 1970-71, both games being played at the Lane. The runners-up spot in the League was achieved in both those campaigns and the Surrey Senior Cup came back to Stompond Lane in 1970-71, Woking being defeated 3-0 in the Final. Election to the Isthmian ranks followed, with third place attained in the first season, 1971- 72. Wembley at last Then followed the most memorable season in the club’s history, 1972-73. The FA Cup First Round barrier was overcome for the first time with Exeter City being defeated 2-1 amid tremendous excitement at the Lane, only for visitors Margate to win by the only goal in the Second Round. Kingstonian were beaten 2-0 in the Surrey Senior Cup Final and the runners-up spot achieved in the League. Then on the 14th of April 1973 the ultimate prize was gained at Wembley when 41,000 people saw a last-minute Roger Connell goal against Slough Town bring the FA Amateur Cup to Stompond Lane, the trophy being won without a goal being conceded, a record never to be equaled.