Season 2009-10
73RD SEASON
SEASON REPORT
The 2009-10 season was always going to be a difficult one. The loss of a number of key first team players before the start of the season meant the club was likely to struggle and this proved to be the case but it says much about the Club that despite the results on the pitch a full side was always fielded and morale remained generally good.
There was also a further problem before the start of the season when one of the goal posts was vandalised – the second time this had happened in recent seasons. With the help of a grant from the Football Association a new set of posts were purchased but these arrived only a few days before the start of the Veterans Cup. The Club were grateful for the assistance given by Corinne Merricks in applying for the grant.
The season did not escape the weather with a number of matches postponed particularly in December and January with the Recreation Ground covered in snow early in the new year.
On a positive note, the first team retained the League Sportsmanship Trophy with the second team finishing in third place. With over eighty teams in the League this was an extremely creditable performance of which both sides could be proud and demonstrated that the traditions of the Club were being well maintained. The 1st XI earned a financial reward of £150 from the League with the 2nd team picking up £75. Keith Swallow was in third place for the Assistant Referee Award.
1ST TEAM
The first team were unlucky to lose a number of close games early on before achieving a 5-3 victory over Wheatsheaf (Willingdon) in October. This, though, proved to be the only win of the season and perhaps inevitably the side finished bottom of Division One. The team scored forty three league goals which was a better return than many sides in the division but struggled defensively with seventy seven being conceded. Phil Badrock finished leading goal scorer with 19 in all competitions. The season did finish on an encouraging note with a 3-3 draw in the final game against runners-up Robertsbridge United.
1st Team v Crowhurst
Crowhurst Recreation Ground – Saturday, 12th December 2009
1st Team v Crowhurst
Crowhurst Recreation Ground – Saturday, 27th March 2010
Michael Beaumont and Stuart Pearson appeared in 24 out of 27 matches with Phil Badrock and Martin Tytherleigh making 23 appearances each. Stuart Pearson deservedly won the 1st Team Players’ Player of the Year Award, George McEwan was Manager’s Player of the Year with Nigel Sellman winning the Bert Glazier Cup.
1ST TEAM PLAYING RECORD
| DATE | OPPONENTS | VENUE | COMPETITION | RESULT | GOAL SCORERS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/8/2009 | Hastings Elite | Away | Friendly | 2 – 4 | George McEwan, Bob Baker |
| 22/8/2009 | Sandhurst | Away< | Friendly | 2 – 4 | Phil Badrock, Jimmy McGachy |
| 5/9/2009 | Hollington United II | Away | League | 2 – 3 | Phil Badrock 2 |
| 12/9/2009 | Wadhurst United | Home | League | 2 – 4 | Phil Badrock 2 |
| 19/9/2009 | Oakhill Tigers | Away | A F A Intermediate Cup Preliminary Round | 0 – 7 | |
| 26/9/2009 | White Knight | Home | League | 0 – 4 | |
| 3/10/2009 | Worthing Leisure | Away | Sussex Junior Cup 1st Round | 1 – 6 | Phil Badrock |
| 10/10/2009 | Robertsbridge United | Away | League | 0 – 3 | |
| 17/10/2009 | Catsfield | Away | League | 1 – 5 | Mike Beaumont |
| 24/10/2009 | Wheatsheaf (Willingdon) | Home | League | 5 – 3 | George McEwan 2, Val Newman, Gavin Moor, Pete Gumbrell |
| 31/10/2009 | Bexhill Amateur Athletic Club | Away | Blacklands Finance Challenge Cup 2nd Round | 2 – 3 | George McEwan, Own Goal |
| 7/11/2009 | Mountfield United | Away> | League | 3 – 4 | Stuart Pearson, Jon Walker, Own Goal |
| 21/11/2009 | Catsfield | Home | League | 1 – 4 | Martin Tytherleigh |
| 28/11/2009 | Wadhurst United | Away | League | 1 – 5 | Stuart Pearson |
| 5/12/2009 | Cinque Ports | Home | Hastings F A Junior Cup 2nd Round | 0 – 6 | |
| 12/12/2009 | Crowhurst | Away> | League | 4 – 4 | Stuart Pearson, Mike Beaumont, Phil Badrock, George McEwan |
| 16/1/2010 | Hollington United II | Home | League | 3 – 3 | Phil Badrock, Mike Beaumont, Val Newman |
| 30/1/2010 | Wheatsheaf (Willingdon) | Away | Friendly | 3 – 3 | Phil Badrock, Steve Tytherleigh, Martin Tytherleigh |
| 13/2/2010 | Eastbourne Town III | Away> | League | 2 – 2 | Phil Badrock 2 |
| 20/2/2010 | White Knight | Away | League | 2 – 3 | Phil Badrock, George McEwan |
| 27/2/2010 | Wheatsheaf (Willingdon) | Away | League | 2 – 4 | George McEwan, Jon Fitton |
| 6/3/2010 | Mountfield United | Away> | League | 1 – 5 | Phil Badrock |
| 13/3/2010 | Bexhill Amateur Athletic Club | Home | League | 5 – 6 | Phil Badrock 5 |
| 20/3/2010 | Bexhill Amateur Athletic Club | Away | League | 1 – 3 | Val Newman |
| 27/3/2010 | Crowhurst | Away> | League | 2 – 3 | George McEwan, Jon Walker |
| 3/4/2010 | Eastbourne Town III | Away> | League | 3 – 6 | Phil Badrock, Nigel Sellman, George McEwan (pen) |
| 10/4/2010 | Robertsbridge United | Home | League | 3 – 3 | George McEwan 2, Mike Beaumont |
NEWSPAPER REPORTS
2ND TEAM
The second team had an even worse start to the season than the first team – as the loss of players had a knock-on effect – and lost their first nine league matches. The only victory coming in the Hastings F A Lower Divisions Cup – a 5-4 success against Sandhurst II thanks to a last minute winning goal after being 4-2 up with only five minutes to go. It says much about the spirit of the club that player availability continued to be good and the side managed to avoid relegation by remaining unbeaten in its last seven games and a final position of eighth out of ten teams in Division Four was achieved. The unbeaten run included a draw with Division Champions Eastbourne Fishermen, who lost just one match all season, and a double over third placed St. Helens by an aggregate of ten goals to nil.
2nd Team v Pebsham Sibex
Buxton Drive, Sidley – Saturday, 6th February 2010
2nd Team v St Helens
William Parker School, Hastings – Saturday, 10th April 2010
2nd Team v Burwash
Swan Meadow, Burwash – Wednesday, 14th April 2010
Dale Glazier was top scorer with 10 goals. Steve Bellhouse appeared in 21 of 22 games with Jimmy McGachy (19), Dan Goodsell (18), Jon Fitton and Rob Potter (17 each) all appearing regularly. Jimmy McGachy was 2nd Team Players’ Player of the Year, Dan Goodsell Manager’s Player of the Year and Ollie Janman won the Young Player of the Year Award.
2ND TEAM PLAYING RECORD
| DATE | OPPONENTS | VENUE | COMPETITION | RESULT | GOAL SCORERS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/9/2009 | Travaux | Away | League | 2 – 4 | Dale Glazier, Alfie Weller |
| 19/9/2009 | Pebsham Sibex | Home | League | 1 – 3 | Alfie Weller |
| 26/9/2009 | Cranbrook Town | Away | League | 2 – 6 | Jon Walker 2 |
| 3/10/2009 | Hastings Rangers II | Home | League | 0 – 6 | |
| 10/10/2009 | Burwash | Home | League | 3 – 4 | Dale Glazier 2, Jon Fitton |
| 17/10/2009 | Sandhurst II | Home | Hastings F A Lower Divisions Cup 2nd Round | 5 – 4 | Jimmy McGachy 2 (1 pen), George McEwan 2, Dale Glazier |
| 24/10/2009 | Sedlescombe Rangers II | Away | Robertsbridge Charity Junior Cup 1st Round | 0 – 2 | |
| 31/10/2009 | Travaux | Home | League | 2 – 5 | Dale Glazier, Dan Goodsell |
| 7/11/2009 | Cranbrook Town | Home | League | 0 – 7 | |
| 21/11/2009 | Eastbourne Fishermen | Away | League | 0 – 8 | |
| 12//12/2009 | Punnetts Town II | Home | Hastings F A Lower Divisions Cup 3rd Round | 1 – 5 | Sean Banford |
| 16/1/2010 | Victoria Baptists | Away | K and P Motoring World Challenge Cup 2nd Round | 1 – 10 | Sean Banford |
| 6/2/2010 | Pebsham Sibex | Away | League | 1 – 3 | Dale Glazier |
| 6/3/2010 | Punnetts Town II | Away< | League | 3 – 1 | Rob Potter, Sean Banford, Dale Glazier |
| 13/3/2010 | Ninfield United II | Away | League | 1 – 4 | Dale Glazier |
| 27/3/2010 | Punnetts Town II | Away< | League | 3 – 1 | Sean Banford 2, Dale Glazier |
| 10/4/2010 | St Helens | Away | League | 4 – 0 | Jimmy McGachy 2, Tim Hambridge, Ben Rootes |
| 14/4/2010 | Burwash | Away | League | 6 – 0 | Phil Badrock 2, Jimmy McGachy, Greg Palmer, Ben Rootes |
| 17/4/2010 | Ninfield United II | Home | League | 3 – 3 | George McEwan 2, Jon Fitton |
| 20/4/2010 | St Helens | Home | League | 6 – 0 | Phil Badrock 2. Jon Fitton, Dale Glazier, Ben Rootes, Own Goal |
| 24/4/2010 | Eastbourne Fishermen | Home | League | 3 – 3 | Jimmy McGachy 2, Sean Banford |
| 27/4/2010 | Hastings Rangers II | Away | League | 1 – 1 | Dale Glazier |
NEWSPAPER REPORTS
VETERANS
The veterans reached the semi-final of the Hastings F A Veterans Cup, recovering from losing the first game against Peche Hill Select Veterans to record victories over The Junior Club Tackleway Veterans and Westfield Veterans to finish top of their group. The team went down 2-1 to Little Common Veterans in the semi-final played under floodlights at Sidley United’s County League ground in a game in which even Little Common admitted the veterans were the better team. Thanks were due to Stuart Adams for all his work in managing the side.
VETERANS PLAYING RECORD
| DATE | OPPONENTS | VENUE | COMPETITION | RESULT | GOAL SCORERS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26/8/2009 | Peche Hill Select Veterans | Away | Hastings F A Veterans Cup | 0 – 2 | |
| 2/9/2009 | The Junior Club Tackleway Veterans | Home | Hastings F A Veterans Cup | 7 – 0 | George McEwan 3, Vernon Deller, Pete Gumbrell, Martin Tytherleigh, Steve Tytherleigh |
| 9/9/2009 | Westfield Veterans | Home | Hastings F A Veterans Cup | 3 – 2 | Martin Tytherleigh 2, George McEwan |
| 30/9/2009 | Little Common Veterans | Neutral< | Hastings F A Veterans Cup Semi-Final | 1 – 2 | Mike Beaumont |
SEMI-VETERANS
SEMI-VETERANS PLAYING RECORD
| DATE | OPPONENTS | VENUE | COMPETITION | RESULT | GOAL SCORERS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13/9/2009 | Viking | Home | Jon Fuller Memorial Shield | 5 – 4 | Bob Baker 3, Felix Sullivan 2 |
SEASON AWARDS
JON FULLER MEMORIAL MATCH
The fourth annual match between Icklesham Casuals and Viking in memory of former player Jon Fuller took place at the Recreation Ground on Sunday, 13th September. It was good to see many old friends again with the game marking the first appearance of both Hugh Sullivan and Keith Swallow.
An enjoyable and competitive encounter saw an Icklesham victory for the third year in a row by 5 goals to 4 with a hat-trick from Bob Baker and two goals from Felix Sullivan. Mike Beaumont, appearing on the losing side for Viking, was named as man of the match, much to the consternation of hat-trick hero Bob Baker!
Photographs from the game…..
The presentations…..
Stuart Adams and Martin Tytherleigh were again instrumental in organising the game which raised the sum of £231.50 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
CHRISTMAS RAFFLE
Queen’s Head, Icklesham – Saturday, 19th December 2009
A Christmas raffle was also held which raised £182 for the pavilion fund and saw Keith Swallow win the first prize of a Christmas hamper.
The get together at the Queen’s Head to draw the raffle also gave an opportunity to present Sean Baker and John Ensell with shields to mark 200 appearances for the Club
HASTINGS HALF MARATHON
Sunday, 21st March 2010
Mike Beaumont, Nigel Sellman, Keith Swallow and Martin Tytherleigh represented the Club in the Hastings Half Marathon where Mike again won the Ron Sellman Award for the fastest local footballer to finish and the Club won the team award – a great achievement and well done to all four.
EAST SUSSEX FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESENTATION EVENING
Little Common Football Club – Monday, 24th May 2010
Two stalwarts of the Club were honoured at the East Sussex Football League Presentation Evening in May with both Jack Brown and George Potter receiving Fifty Year Service Awards from the Football Association. The congratulations of the Club went to both of them on these richly deserved awards as well as thanks for their services to the Club over the years.
ICKLESHAM CASUALS v ICKLESHAM CRICKET CLUB
Icklesham Recreation Ground – Sunday, 30th May 2010
The sun shone down on the annual cricket match against Icklesham Cricket Club on Sunday, 30th May and both players and supporters alike had a really enjoyable afternoon.
The football club, having suffered heavy defeats in the previous two games, were strengthened by the inclusion of Tim Hambridge and Alfie Weller as well as Nigel Sellman’s cricketing colleague from Udimore, Del Longley who became an ‘Honorary Casual’ for the afternoon.
The cricket club went into bat first but were soon in trouble at 7-3 with Del Longley taking all three wickets, one to a great catch in the deep by Nick Soan. Kevin Earl then led the recovery before falling to a catch taken by wicketkeeper Mike Beaumont at the third attempt off the bowling of Tim Hambridge. With further contributions from Dean Earl and Sean Baker the cricket club ended on a total of 153 all out. Sean Baker was last man out, caught behind off Alfie Weller, having allowed father Stuart to face just one ball at the other end!
Del Longley finished with five wickets and Tim Hambridge, George Potter, Jason Soan, Nigel Sellman and Alfie Weller took one wicket each. This puts George one ahead of Bob Baker in the ICFC wicket-taking records. Mike Beaumont took three good catches behind the stumps.
The Casuals went into bat shortly before tea and by teatime were already three wickets down, having lost David Mayne, Steve Tytherleigh and George Potter – all falling in one over from Aaron Leech.
Tea, kindly supplied by the cricket club and organised by Mags Baker, was lovely and proved to be the boost needed by the Casuals as they continued their innings. After losing two more early wickets after tea, Alfie Weller joined Tim Hambridge in a seventy-odd run partnership to take the score up to the 100 mark. Tim fell for 31 but supported by Mike Beaumont, Alfie continued the run chase.
When Alfie fell, Jason Soan helped Mike to add further runs, but when Jason was eighth batsman out, over 30 runs were still required to win. Del came to the wicket and with Mike they gradually reduced the target, well assisted by a few timely and well-placed edges. Del won the game in style with a six over long on.
The winning side was Nigel Sellman (captain), Bob Baker, Mike Beaumont, Del Longley, Tim Hambridge, Alfie Weller, George Potter, Steve Tytherleigh, Nick Soan, Jason Soan and David Mayne.
A big thank you to the cricket club for such an enjoyable afternoon and to Nigel for skippering the side so well.
Photographs from the game…..
A few ‘Awards’ from the game…..
- The Persil Award for the Whitest Trousers – George Potter
- The Vanish Stain Remover Award for Greenest Trousers – Nigel Sellman (Bob borrowed his clean pair!)
- The Simon Cowell Award for Highest Trousers – David Mayne
- The Angling Times Award for Catch of the Day – Nick Soan
- The Billy Smart’s Circus Award for Best Juggling – Mike Beaumont
- The Prince Harry Award for Inappropriate Dress – won jointly by Mike Beaumont and Steve Tytherleigh
- The Cristiano Ronaldo Award for Best Dive in the Outfield – Bob Baker
PRESENTATION EVENING
Fairlight Lodge Hotel – Friday, 18th June 2010
The presentation evening was held at the Fairlight Lodge Hotel with England playing Algeria in the group stage of the 2010 World Cup on the same night. Once the presentations had been completed everyone settled down with beer in hand to watch the match.
The attendance for the evening was disappointing and the England game ended in an uninspiring 0-0 draw!
GLOBAL CHALLENGE COMPETITION
The ‘Global Challenge’ Competition, to take photographs of items of Icklesham Casuals memorabilia in different places throughout the world, continued in season 2009-10 with a vote being carried out via the Club website to find the best entries to date. Awards were made to the top three at the Christmas Raffle held at the Queen’s Head in Icklesham on Saturday, 19th December.
Other Global Challenge photographs from the 2009-10 season…..
GENERAL MATTERS
During the season, Bob Baker made his 700th appearance for the 1st team, Stuart Adams his 300th appearance for the Club and Dale Glazier, Pete Gumbrell and Steve Tytherleigh all passed 200 games. Greg Palmer and Jamie Walker both reached the 100 appearance mark. In addition, the final second team game of the season, was Jon Fitton’s 250th for the Club.
Off the field, the season saw the introduction of the a handbook which included results, appearance records, photographs and much more information about the Club, while the website was still proving popular and thanks went to Dave Harding for all his work in maintaining this. Stuart Baker again organised a successful quiz night which raised nearly £300 for Club funds.
In November David Mayne appealed in the local press for help in indentifying players in an early team photograph but with little success!
There were two golf events during the season, a summer meeting at Wellshurst Golf and Country Club near Horam where Tim Linch was victorious and a Christmas team competition at Horam Park and the Club was grateful to Bob Baker for organising both of these.
It is perhaps in seasons like 2009/10 when you fully appreciate the hard work that is put in by the Officers and Committee of the Club. The Club owed its thanks in particular to Martin Tytherleigh, Mike Beaumont, Michael Hambridge and Keith Swallow, whose efforts in keeping the teams going in such difficult circumstances cannot be underestimated, to Keith, in whom the Club had one of the best, if not the best, secretaries in the League and to Bob Baker for his tireless work as chairman. Thanks were also to everyone else who contributed during a hard year and to all those who came along to support the teams.
Every Club has its good and bad times and one of the strengths of the Icklesham Casuals during its history has always been the loyalty of the players and despite the lack of success during the season on the pitch, membership of the club remained at a good level. The Club would seek to improve the on-field fortunes and continue to develop. With the support of existing members and the addition of new players it was hoped that it would be only a matter of time before success returned.
The Annual General Meeting took place at the Fairlight Lodge Hotel on Friday 8th June 2010.
With further restrictions being introduced by the East Sussex League regarding the number of cup competitions that could be entered it was regrettably decided at the AGM that, after xxx years, the first team would no longer be entering the A F A Cup. Keith Swallow advised the meeting that he had contacted the Amateur Football Alliance explaining the situation and that the A F A were understanding of the position.