FOOTBALL CLUB FOOTBALL WALTHAMSTOW 1 vs GREAT WAKERING ROVERS Saturday 24th August 2019 // 3PM Wadham Lodge // FA Cup Preliminary Round WALTHAMSTOW FOOTBALL CLUB Match Day Centres, Wadham Lodge, Kitchener Road, Walthamstow, London, E17 4JP CLUB MANAGEMENT President: June Brazier Chairman & Secretary: Andy Perkins Vice Chairman: Steve Howe Company Secretary: Vacant Treasurer: Vacant Communications Manager & Assistant Secretary: Andrzej Perkins Club Historian: David Chapman Charter Standard & Veterans Secretary: Tony Brazier Life Members: A. Brazier M.B.E., J. Brazier, D. Chapman, D. Crabb, C.E. Gross, K.J. Harris, S. Howe, G. Larkbey, A. P. Perkins, D. Salmon, K. Thomas, C. Ward, D.E. Ward FIRST TEAM MANAGEMENT Player/Manager: Ryan Maxwell Assistant Manager: Nick Symons Physio: Lucelta Eugene MATCHDAY PROGRAMME 2019-20 Editor: Andrzej Perkins Contributors: Tony Brazier, David Chapman, Graham Larkbey, Steve Howe, Aaron Moore, Charlie Ward Photography: Vacant SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook: facebook.com/walthamstowfc Instagram: @walthamstowfc Twitter: @walthamstowfc YouTube: youtube.com/walthamstowfc Website: walthamstowfc.com ANDRZEJ PERKINS THE EDITOR ood afternoon everyone, welcome one game, you could see excellent partnerships being to Wadham Lodge for this FA Cup built with Dwade James and Emiel Aiken up front. Preliminary Round tie against Great Wakering Rovers. For all our good form in those first three games, this afternoon will be a whole different game. Against We continued our good form last Saturday with a 1-0 familiar step four opposition we’ll have to be at our win over Stansted. Although they’d only won one out very best again to be even in with a shout of getting of their first three games, it was always going to be something this afternoon. tough going against last season’s runners-up. Wakering started their season on Saturday, beating It was an especially niggly game, but we got the three Felixstowe & Walton (who we beat at this stage in points we deserved in the end. What impressed me the last season’s competition) 4-1. On Tuesday they beat most was our workrate and sheer levels of fitness. By Tilbury 2-0, and at the time of writing were top of the hour mark, Stansted really started to flag, and we whatever they’re calling the Isthmian League these were picking up almost every loose ball in midfield. We days. This will no doubt be our toughtest test of the were unfortunate not to score more than one. season so far. It was good to see how quickly new signing Callum Ibe Enjoy the game, settled into the team. He showed the same level of commitment and his team mates, and even after just Andrzej 3 CHARLIE WARD THE TREE SURGEON e are back on the FA Cup trail today Wakering started off their season in fine form as welcome our former Essex Senior (quite why the Isthmian North started a week League colleagues, Great Wakering later than the Isthmian Premier I don’t know), with Rovers, who only needed one season a 4-1 away victory, so they will provide us with to get themselves back into the Isthmian League possibly our toughest test of the season so far. at the first attempt in a three-way contest with Basildon United and Redbridge, with them Our own game last Saturday was a very tight emerging as champions with a couple of games to go. affair with a narrow 1-0 win against Stansted. The glory of the FA Cup is all very well but, the When I typed the programme notes the previous cynic in me says that we are much more interested Sunday, I mentioned that although they no longer had in the extra cash that comes with progressing. our former player, James Peagram, we still had to be wary of their other prolific marksman, Callum Ibe, little In the Wakering squad today could be our former captain did I realise that on Saturday he would be wearing the and player of the year from last season, Reece Conway. blue of Stow, rather than the white shirt of Stansted. I say could, as he missed last their League Although he obviously will take time to get game last weekend as he was on honeymoon to know everyone at our club, he must have (some players have no sense of priorities). been helped by the fact we already have four other ex-Stansted players at our club. 4 CHARLIE WARD But, he seemed to slot on pretty well, replacing the third of last season and with two different players departed Samrai, with a performance that saw him in the back four, this season, he has done exactly have several shots on goal and he provided a very nice the same this time and I think is the over ridding pass for Dee Jay to go on and slot home the winner. reason we have managed so many clean sheets. Perhaps his transfer left Stansted with no His authority in talking his fellow defenders real proven strikers to put out because they through a game must have helped Gus slot in seem content to sit behind the ball for long on Saturday, just as it obviously helped Jack spells allow us to try and break them down. settling into a new team at the start of the season. Certainly, they were not afraid to use the more physical He originally went with Reece Conway approach as their six yellow cards would testify but, to train at today’s visitors but, decided to we kept our patience and in the end, got our reward. come back to us and how glad we are he did. Mention also, for Hopefully, he will full debutant Danny show today just what McCullock who, after Wakering are missing. scoring when he came on against Sporting On another point, I Bengal, had a very notice in the closed good game from the season that we off and having one have been talking shot really well saved to Waltham Forest by the Stansted Council about keeper and several becoming part of other efforts on target, their “Sport In certainly he seems The Community” more than able to play programme and indeed at this level in our side. one of their Councilors came to our match One disappointment against Tower Hamlets. before the game was the sight of Jack Grosvenor on crutches with an injury that, it is That link can only help us achieve our aim of truly estimated will keep him out for about six weeks. being a community club and let us hope our relations with Waltham Forest Council continue to flourish. But, in came Gus Douglas and he once again showed what a dependable member of our Another step in encouraging interaction with the squad he is as we one more kept a clean sheet. local community is Ryan FC, who played a match before our match against Stansted I know that Ryan rated Kyan Gulliver as man of the match and who am I to argue with the “Gaffer” but, I see that someone tweeted on our site after I want to take a look at the influence that Vinny the Stansted game he has recently come to our Murphy has had to our defence, since coming games and is now hooked on watching the Stow. back to the club in the second half of last season. Let us hope he is the first of many and a win today would More used to playing in midfield or full back he go a long way to attracting even more new supporters. has taken up the role of centre half, in his stride and marshalled the defence superbly in the final 5 THE BIG PICTURE 6 Stansted used all their experience to try and get something from last Saturday’s game, but to no avail 7 today’s vistors great wakering rovers fter winning the 2018-19 Essex as the fans would have liked. Pressure started Senior League, Wakering were to mount on Kimble, as the possibility of a dealt a blow when manager Iain return to the Essex Senior became more O’Connell announced he was realistic. Three defeats out of four in January stepping down from the role for personnel saw Kimble step down. reasons. Fans’ favourite Stephen Butterworth was Gary Kimble was announced as manager, quickly appointed as Kimble’s successor, with and despite defeat on the opening day to the sole mission of keeping Wakering up. He Romford, two wins against Felixstowe and took four points from his first two games, but Walton and Leyton Athletic (in the FA Cup) followed that up with two defeats. didn’t make August too disappointing. Gradually though, Wakering picked up Wakering eventually went out to Wealdstone enough points to steer away from the drop two rounds later the in the FA Cup, and zone - spearheaded by Shomari Barnwell, September continued with some good who had provided similar relegation-avoiding performances. heroics for Waltham Forest just 12 months before. Butterworth’s heroics earned him the Inconsistency was the hallmark of Wakering’s manager’s job on a full-time basis, in what was first half of the season, and despite picking up Wakering’s centenary year. some important wins, they weren’t as regular 8 we’ve met before his will be the third time we have come close to derailing their title charge at met Great Wakering in the FA the end of the 2017-18 season, when a goal Cup. The other two came in the from Tony Da Silva made things pretty nervy 2009-10 season, at the same for the eventual champions.