Here we are, at the penultimate home gameof the campaign, entertaining ‘The Peacocks’of TAUNTON TOWN, who have, secured aplay-off spot. It’s been a tremendous seasonfor them and we extend a warm welcome toeveryone from the club, and trust that theyenjoy their short stay with us.

Our last game here saw us defeat ClevedonTown by a solitary goal, but we were all leftwondering at the end how we managed not tohave added to that. We missed so manychances, but credit is also due to their keeperGlen Murley, who was making his debut for‘The Seasiders’, and who produced a stringof superb saves to deny us.

It was a completely different story lastSaturday at Penydarren Park, where abumper crowd of 1013 turned out to see ‘TheMartyrs’ put one hand on the title. Wesuffered a crushing 4-0 defeat, which, in allhonesty, could have been heavier. We werenever in the game after conceding two earlygoals, and Merthyr looked like a teamplaying at a higher level. They will be nextseason!

What was particularly disappointing was thatwe failed to impose ourselves on the gameas we have done in recent matches, buthaving to chase the game from so early on,meant that we were never given thatopportunity.

Monday’s visit to Bridgwater Town was toface a side who did have success atPenydarren Park, just a few weeks ago,when they won 2-1 there. Well, we took apoint in a drab goal-less draw, and it wouldbe fair to say that it was the usual end ofseason fare, where neither side has anythingto play for, except pride!

A bumpy surface with a crosswind, saw theball in the air for a lot of the time. The Robinshad the better chances, whilst we rarelythreatened their keeper. It was not a greatjourney home either with the M5 and A38clogged up with Easter traffic. Our travellingsupport, who took the train, with some of ourplayers, fared better.

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The top of the table has now sorted itself outsomewhat with MERTHYR TOWN taking thetitle. Stratford Town, Evesham United &Taunton Town will occupy three of thepositions whilst Larkhall Athletic need tofight off the close attentions of Didcot Town& Yate Town.

With SHAUN LAMB making a playing returnat Bridgwater, it means that his nextappearance will be his 100th in the Maroon &Sky. That could well be today, so well doneShaun.

Next Saturday, we entertain SHORTWOODUNITED in our last home game of thecampaign. ‘The Wood’ have had anothergood campaign and were not far away from aplay-off place.

It will be a welcome return to Cossham Streetfor JOSH EGAN, together with LEWISSOMMERS and JOSH KLEIN-DAVIES. I feelsure that it will be another difficult game forus as ‘The Wood’ have a good record againstus since they were promoted from theHellenic League.

Just to remind you that we will be presentingthe Supporters Player of the SeasonAward with the Belcher Trophy, before nextweek’s game, on the pitch. You can still votethis afternoon, if you have not already doneso.

The last game of the season, sees us travelto FLEET TOWN. A Coach will be runningand leaves the ground at 11.30am. There isstill time to book a seat from behind the bar inthe clubhouse. We hope as many of you willgo as possible.

A tough game in prospect this afternoon then,and we hope that the last three games canyield maximum points, so that we can stay ina top ten position.

Thanks for your support,

Remember the cry…….COME ON ‘THE FIELD’Or…MANGOS, if you prefer.

EDITOR

How do you define grass-roots? And what do you consider to be the lower leagues? The PremierLeague say they will share £1bn of the record £5.13bn UK TV deal to those areas of the game.

What, where and who they actually mean remains to be seen and is still to be announced.The problem comes with a misunderstanding of what Non-League football actually is – and a largechunk of it currently falls in no man’s land.

Football Conference clubs receive solidarity payments from the Premier League – £6.9m is being sentdown over three seasons. Which is good. Could it be more? Probably. But below that clubs don’treceive a penny in the same way.

In last week’s NLP Northern Premier League chairman Mark Harris called on the three leagues atSteps 3 and 4 to put on a united front and show why they need some help themselves.

Harris rightly points out that grass-roots and Non-League wrongly gets lumped together. Grass-rootsfootball – youth development etc – receives funding. Whether it receives enough funding is anotherdebate.

Harris describes the NPL League, Southern League and the Isthmian League as the meat in thesandwich. There isn’t much meat.It’s not a case of doling money out to clubs so they can go off and give £800-a-week to a top Non-League striker.

But the cash could help clubs fund more community schemes and programmes. Conference clubs arealready able to apply for grants thanks to the Premier League’s payments. What about the rest?

As Harris says: “If there is £1m made available to each of our three leagues, that might createopportunities for every club to access a bursary to start a community programme or employ a full-timeFootball in the Community officer.

“The biggest challenge faced by all clubs at our level is the lack of volunteers. Clubs having the abilityto create their own programme and people to do it would transform our level of the game.“We are the meat in the sandwich. All we’re asking for is a bit more meat in that sandwich.”It’s hard to argue. Just like proposed cuts to the FA Trophy prize money, it is this level of the game tosuffer.

There’s an attitude of: They will cope and muddle along, they always do.Whenever a club starts struggling, someone will inevitably bring up the Premier League footballer’sweekly-wage argument. Unfortunately it’s a flawed one. It’s not Wayne Rooney’s fault club X haveoverspent on their wage budget and now might go bust.

But it is important to recognise what Non-League does for football in this country. You are only asstrong as your foundations.

Let’s hope we see that addressed when the Premier League reveal where they will be sending thismoney. And if lower leagues also includes the bulk of Non-League, rather than just boostingparachute payments for clubs higher up the food chain.

Matt Badcock

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This is TAUNTON TOWN’S 13th season in the Southern League, since winning promotion from theScrewfix Western league in 2001/02, when they finished runners-up, to Bideford AFC.

The present Taunton Town Football club was formed in December 1947 by afew local businessmen and played their first friendly fixture duringEaster 1948. They then played on a number of grounds such as,Mountfields, French Weir, Victoria Park, Huish Old Boys andfinished up at Denman’s Park, Haines Hill.

Having joined and played in the Somerset Senior League, 1953became a notable year. The Town club gained admission into theWestern League and moved into Wordsworth Drive, their presenthome,(now named the Viridor Stadium), on a lease agreement with the TauntonBorough Council. In recent years, the club have made numerous attempts to relocate,but have always failed to obtain the necessary planning permission and it meant thatwork had to be carried out to ensure that their subsequent promotion would be assured.Their ground now fits the bill should they progress to the Premier division, but they arecontinuing with improvements.

The club struggled financially and depended heavily on a very active supporters clubduring the late 50’s and early 60’s. The 1968/69 season saw an upsurge in the club’sfortunes with manager Doug Hillard securing the Western League Championship for thefirst time. During the middle 70’s, Ron Gingell became manager and they finished asrunners-up for four consecutive seasons. The 1970’s was also highlighted by the clubpurchasing the ground from The Taunton Borough Council and the installation offloodlights. During 1977, the club gained promotion to the Southern League (Southernsection) and in 1979 transferred to the Midland section with the opening of the M5Motorway. This came as a result of the re-organisation of the leagues, following theformation of the Alliance League (Conference).

The administration of the club was transformed in 1981 with the club becoming a LimitedCompany. The new board soon found that Southern League football was too expensiveand dropped down into the Western league at the end of season 1982/83. It was anotherseven years before the Championship pennant returned to Wordsworth Drive. This timeKeith Bowker’s team was successful.

Under manager Terry Rowles, the team battled their way through to the Final of the FA.Vase at Wembley in May 1994 only to cruelly lose to Diss Town in extra time.

Russell Musker was appointed in November 1994 and so began a very successfulperiod for the club –finishing in the top three during his first year. Champions in season 1995/96,runners-up for the next two seasons, then back to Championship wins in 1998/99, 1999/2000 andagain for the third consecutive year in 2000/01. To cap it all, another FA Carlsberg Vase Finalappearance - this time at the magnificent Villa Park Stadium, played on Sunday 6th May 2001 whenthe club finally lifted the FA Carlsberg Vase Trophy after beating Berkhamsted 2-1 !! This ended asequence of 18 defeats in cup finals since the 1950’s and in 2003, the club lifted the SomersetPremier Cup with a 2-1 win over Yeovil Town. After a brief period, in 2005, with Peter Beadle asmanager, Gary Domone took over the reins and the club enjoyed another SPC victory in 2005/06,with a 3-2 win over Mangotsfield United. The club won the SPC for a 3rd time in 2013/14, beatingFrome Town 1-0 at Paulton’s Winterfield Rd.

Gary Domone resigned in December 2007 and was replaced by former Goalkeeper Ian Jones. Histenure lasted until April 2009, when Taunton stalwart Paul West became manager. Just over a yearlater, there were changes off the field as well, with Tom Harris stepping down as Chairman after 29years to become Club President, and the new Chairman being former Commercial Manager KevinSturmey. Continued…………..

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Continued from overleaf…..The club suffered a clubhouse fire in July 2011, which resulted in it being demolished. However, newfacilities are now in place. Paul West was not retained as Manager at the end of the 2011/12, andafter a spell with Dave Pople and Kevin Milsom in charge, Leigh Robinson took over in June 2012.This is his 3rd season in charge. With Mo Hopkins as Assistant Manager and Head of FootballDevelopment.

Taunton’s Southern league placings, since their promotion, all in the Western/Division One West or/South & West, have been 10th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 5th, 18th and 20th. That best placing of 5th was in 2006/07,when they lost the Play-off final 0-2, to Swindon Supermarine. In 2009/10, they again finished in 18th

place, 9th in 2010/11, 17th in 2011/12, 18th in 2012/13, and improved a lot to 8th in 2013/14.

The Peacocks have pushed on from last season and are currently in a very good position and only acollapse will prevent them taking a place in the play-offs.

Currently, the club have again reached the semi-final of this 14/15 Somerset PremierCup competition, defeating Frome Town 3-1 in the quarter-final, thanks to a hat-trickfrom Aaron Ward-Baptiste.

WESTERN LEAGUE - 2001/02

PREMIER DIVISION

Bideford AFC 38 28 7 3 105 37 91TAUNTON TOWN 38 26 5 7 104 43 83Brislington 38 24 11 3 72 32 83TeamBath 38 22 7 9 74 36 73Devizes Town 38 22 4 12 72 51 70Dawlish Town 38 21 6 11 86 56 69Paulton Rovers 38 18 11 9 77 54 65Bridgwater Town 38 17 9 12 53 45 60Backwell United 38 16 9 13 56 41 57Melksham Town 38 15 9 14 47 46 54Odd Down 38 13 11 14 49 45 50Barnstaple Town 38 12 8 18 57 66 44Keynsham Town 38 11 9 18 47 71 42Elmore 38 10 7 21 47 96 37Bishop Sutton 38 9 8 21 53 89 35Yeovil Town Reserves 38 10 4 24 57 86 34Bridport 38 9 6 23 51 86 33Welton Rovers 38 7 9 22 46 67 30Bristol Manor Farm 38 7 8 23 30 80 29Westbury United 38 7 4 27 35 91 25

This was the campaign that saw ‘The Peacocks’ make a return to Southern League football.Champions Bideford AFC had to wait until 2009/10 before they were ready, despite winning the titleanother three times.

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LOOKING BACK – THE PEACOCKS

THE PEACOCKS

LEIGH ROBINSON - MANAGERTook over in June 2012. Formerly in charge at Wellington and had a spell as joint manager at BridgwaterTown.

MO HOPKINS – ASSISTANT MANAGERJoined the club as Assistant Manager in March 2014, after his departure from Tiverton Town where hehad held the same role from the beginning of that season. Injury forced him to give up playing at the ageof 21 and he turned to Coaching. He worked with Somerset Schools, then Yeovil Town in 2006,establishing an Academy there. He was Head of Youth & Assistant First-team Coach. In 2010, he took upCoaching the Youth at Bristol Rovers and coached Boys & Girls at Winterbourne International Academy,before linking up with Tiverton.

JAMIE PRICEDefender & Team captain recently returned from W.S.M. & formerly with Bridgwater.

BEN MAMMOLADefender. Signed from Willand Rovers in July 2012. He started his football at Shortwood United in 2006,where he won the Players’,Manager’s and Supporters’ POTY awards, before joining Willand in 2009 andrepeated the feat of winning all three trophies Towards the end of the 2010/11 season, he played forWeymouth for a while. In 2012/13 he was Players’ POTY and scooped the Supporters’ Award in 2013/14.

OWEN IRISH -Defender. Club captain. Signed four years ago from Yeovil Town. Supporters’ Best Playertwo seasons ago.

RODNEY MARSHMidfield. Signed four seasons ago from local football. Top scorer for the last 2 seasons.

JAMIE SHORTMidfielder and one of the club’s longest-serving players, despite only being in his early 20s. After anapprenticeship at Exeter City, he made his debut for the Peacocks as a 16 year old in 2009 and has sincegone on to represent the club in over 150 games, whilst playing in a variety of positions, including winger,full-back and central midfield. Jamie was the winner of the inaugural Chairman’s Award in 2013.

ROB NORRISHRob began his football at Cullompton Rangers, where he won the Supporters’ POTY award in 2003/4. Hethen moved on to Willand Rovers, helping them to win the Western League Division One title in 2005/06and the Les Phillips Cup a season later. His performances at the Devon club earned him two Supporters’POTY accolades in 2007 and 2011, as well as being appointed Captain. Rob signed for Taunton in July2012 and his no-nonsense displays have since added steel to the midfield. He won the Players’ POTYaward in 2013/14.

CRAIG HERRODLeft-winger Craig is in his second spell at the club after rejoining from Street in September 2014. His earlycareer was spent at Wellington, playing there from 2007 until signing for Bridgwater Town in 2010. Hethen rejoined Wellington before playing for Bideford during the 2011/12, scoring against Taunton in a RedInsure Cup-tie in November 2011. He signed for The Peacocks in July 2012, until leaving in December2013, to return to Street.

JOSH WADHAMMidfield/Forward, signed two seasons ago from Exeter City. Played for American team Portland Timbersduring the summer.

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THE PEACOCKS

AARON WARD-BAPTISTEStriker who originally joined on a month’s loan in December 2014 from Bristol Rovers and scored on hisdebut against Cinderford. He has continued to find the net and bagged a hat-trick against Frome Town inthe Quarter-Final of the Somerset Premier Cup.

GRAHAM MERCIECADOB. 11/9/89, so 25 year old who originally joined Bridgwater Town in 2008/09 for several seasons andthen joined Taunton in 2011/12. He moved back to the Bridgers for a spell, before joining Bideford. Hasplayed with the Robins this season but now back with the Peacocks.

STEVE MURRAYForward who signed during last summer from Street.

BRETT TROWBRIDGEBrett became the first close-season signing of 2014, from Weston-super-Mare. The cultured midfielderspent the first six years of his career at Bridgwater, from 2004 and helped the Robins reach the South &West Play-off Final in 2010. He has been at Weston-s-Mare for four seasons, before joining Taunton inMay 2014.

STEVE KINGDONDefender, who joined The Peacocks in August 2013 after spending three seasons with Clevedon Town.Aversatile defender who was being used as a central defender with Clevedon, but switched to full-back.Began his career at Bristol Rovers Centre of Excellence and was awarded a professional contract.Released by Rovers in 2010.

LLOYD IRISHGoalkeeper, brother of Cub Captain Owen, rose through the ranks at Yeovil Town and was on the benchin a Carling Cup-tie at Middlesbrough in August 2008. Joined Taunton in November of that year and intwo seasons won Supporters Player of the Year, in 2009. Moved on to Conference club Weston-super-Mare and spent four seasons as first choice keeper, which included a run of 119 consecutive games.Went on loan to Tiverton during 2013/14, and then joined Bideford. Stayed for just a short time and re-joined The Peacocks in October 2014.

BEN CARTERLively midfielder Ben, signed for Taunton in January 2014 from Western League side Buckland Athleticand made his debut for The Peacocks the following month at Didcot Town. After playing Youth football atKingskerswell, until aged 17, he joined Liverton United, spending two years there before moving on toPeninsula club Bovey Tracey and then Buckland. Ben was named Man of the Match in Taunton’sSomerset Premier Cup final victory in April 2014.

AIDAN CHAINEYMidfielder who signed for The Peacocks a few days before the start of the 2014/15 season and made hiscompetitive debut in the opener at Wantage Town. He began his career at Yeovil Town’s Centre ofExcellence and played for the youth team until 2013. Aidan then had spells at Weymouth & GillinghamTown before joining Tiverton during 2013/14, where he made 20 appearances until leaving at the end ofthe season.

BEN KIRK –Defender/midfielder, signed from Bideford this season – also played for Bridgwater & WSM.

LAMAR POWELL – signed this season from Frome Town.

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WEDNESDAY 20TH OCTOBER 2010 OAKLANDS PARK, ALMONDSBURY

SOUTHERN LEAGUE – DIVISION ONE WEST

ALMONDSBURY TOWN …3 MANGOTSFIELD UNITED…3 Attendance: 111

The Thompson/Barlasspartnership had brought ‘The Almonds’ into the Southern League from theHellenic League and this was to be their only season at this level. Despite finishing in a credible 8th

place, the club folded at the end of the season as they could not find a place to play, following theireviction from the GFA’s OaklandsPark.There were a few players in the‘Almonds’ side who had, or would,play for the Mangos – Matt Beadle,Nick Dunn, Dean Griffiths, DavidAnyinsah, Stuart Jones, and recently,Marcus Mapstone, but it was MichaelWhittington who had the most impact.Despite the fact that he neverrecorded a goal when he played forus, he always seemed to find the netwhen he was part of the opposition!

It was Michael who gave the hosts a26th minute lead, but we levelled onthe half-hour with a strike from MATTGROVES. Goals at the hour marksaw HARLEY PURNELL give us thelead, only for Whittington to equalisea minute later.

Dean Griffiths gave the home side a3-2 lead two minutes later, but withjust four minutes left, MATTGROVES saved the point with hissecond.

Apart from the six goals, this was athrilling game with plenty ofexcitement and end-to-end stuff. Bothgames with Almondsbury hadfinished all square (1-1 at CosshamStreet), and of course, The Mangos

ended the season in 3rd place which gave us a play-off finale with Frome Town.

ALMONDSBURY TOWN:Lee Matthews, Stuart Nelson, Marcus Mapstone, Scott Brice, Dale Peckham, Joe White, Matt Beadle,Nick Dunn, Dean Griffiths, Michael Whittington, David Anyinsah.Subs: Aaron Blakemore (85), Tony Davis (90)Unused: Ben Willshere, Scott Dixon, Stuart Jones (G/K)

MANGOSDanny Greaves, Neil Arndale, Andrew Hughes, Eugene Keary, Gary Colborne, Rob Moore, KyleTooze, Harley Purnell, Michael Meaker, Mitchell Page, Matt Groves.Subs: Jack Pitcher (75)

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DOWN MEMORY LANE

LEWIS HOGG is pictured on the front cover of the Bristol Rovers Match-day programme with GoalkeeperNICK CULKIN. Taken from a game against Everton in the 2nd leg of the Worthington Cup. Rovers had

drawn the first leg at Goodison Park, 1-1.

CRAIG LAIRD has been named as the new Manager of ourlocal rivals YATE TOWN. Craig has had managerialexperience with Bridgwater Town, Weston-super-Mare andmore recently, Weymouth. He will be joined by ROB BOYD,who was with him at Weston, as Assistant Manager. NIGELHAWKINS, who has been caretaker/Manager in the interimspell since ROB COUSINS & MICHAEL MEAKER left theclub, will be Director of Football.

Champions MERTHYR TOWN have announced that thenew lease to their Penydarren Park ground, has now beensigned. This was the final legal formality needed tocomplete the £1.8m development of the ground and will seethe club working in partnership with the Welsh Government,through their ‘Vibrant & Viable Places programme.

The Grant will fund the creation of a new Community Multi-Functional Facility and will enable Merthyr Town to provideexcellent sporting, educational, training, recreational andbanqueting facilities for the community of Merthyr Tydfil, fordecades to come. With the club already using their new 3Gpitch, they will be looking to push forward and use thisseason’s promotion as a springboard to further

advancement up the Pyramid.

The forthcoming PREMIER PROGRAMME FAIR, is set to be held at the Royal National Hotel, WoburnPlace, LONDON WC1H 0DG, on Saturday June 6th 2015 from 11am to 4pm. This event is the largestgathering of football traders and collectors in the country every year, providing a perfect opportunity for

football memorabilia buyers to browse through hundreds of thousands of items,ranging value from a few pence to hundreds of pounds. Admission is just £1 foradults with schoolchildren free. Advice will be on hand for those who wish todevelop an interest in the hobby of programme collecting, or if they have items tosell or to be valued. With so many collectables purchased by mail or on theinternet, thisannual gathering gives football collectors and ideal opportunity to view a massiverange of items.This is a must for the serious collectors.

On Friday 27th March, a special charity night was held at Charlie’s Bar,Knowle, in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association. The night was agreat success with over £1700 being raised for such a great cause. One of theauction prizes was a Mangotsfield United season ticket for the 2015/16 seasonand was won by Mr. John Lidett (pictured in background – sorry poor picture).We thank John for supporting the event and look forward to seeing him atCossham Street next season.

FIELD REVIEW -8

M

Up to & including March 30th 2015League and League Cup scorers only

PREMIER DIVISION L/LC

STEWART YETTON Weymouth 27DREW ROBERTS St. Neots Town 25MARK DRAYCOTT Hungerford Town 24NATHANIEL JARVIS Cirencester Town 20SPENCER WEIR-DALEY Corby Town 20EDWARD SMITH Slough Town 19JERMAINE HYLTON Redditch United 18RYAN BLAKE Chesham United 17CRAIG DUFF Truro City 16ASHLEY SAMMONS Redditch United 16GREGORY MILLS Corby Town 15KELVIN BOSSMAN Biggleswade Town 14ANDREW PHILLIPS Cambridge City 14NICKE KABAMBA Burnham 13

DIVISION ONE - CENTRAL

JOSHUA HUTCHINSON Potters Bar Town 23LEWIS PUTMAN Aylesbury United 22DAVID KOLODYNSKI Kettering Town 22LEE BARNEY Marlow 22DANIEL DUBIDAT Bedworth United 21WILLIAM HEALEY Hanwell Town 18KESHI ANDERSON Barton Rovers 17ALEX KNAUGHTON Bedworth United 17REIS STANISLAUS Egham Town 16DUBI OGBONNA Kettering Town 15JACK MAZZONE Godalming Town 15ELLIOT SANDY Kettering Town 15

DIVISION ONE - SOUTH WEST

JOHN MILLS Didcot Town 39TYLER SIBBICK Larkhall Athletic 28LEWIS POWELL Mangotsfield United 27JORDAN ROGERS Yate Town 23LUKE HOPPER Swindon Supermarine 21JAMIE COOK North Leigh 21IAN TRAYLOR Merthyr Town 20KAYNE McLAGGON Merthyr Town 20GEORGE LLOYD Cinderford Town 20CRAIG FEENEY AFC Totton 19TOM KNIGHTON Bridgwater Town 19MARK GAMBLE Wimborne Town 19ROSS LANGWORTHY Shortwood United 16

FIELD REVIEW - 9

EVO-STIK

LEAGU

E STRIKERS

“”NEXT SATURDAY AT MACCLESFIELD IS ANOTHER BIG GAME FOR US. IT WOULD BEGREAT TO WIN, BUT I WILL BE CONTENT WITH A DRAW THERE AS IT WOULD MEAN THATTHEY WOULD NOT HAVE GAINED GROUND ON US”. The words of Bristol Rovers resident fancolumnist Dennis Payter, as quoted in the Bristol Post on 23 March 2015, as he looked ahead to theRovers match at Macclesfield Town the following week – mind you, the Rovers report v Aldershot onthe previous Saturday was almost LOST in a predominantly Bristol City-orientated issue of the BristolPost, with loads of articles & pictures about Wembley 24 hours earlier!

Well, we all know from reading the Rovers column in the Post every Monday & from this programmeas well, that Dennis has not been a Conference fan whatsoever all season & he’s taken managerDarrell Clarke to task every so often as well! But now we are at the business end of the season, it isall about WINS. It is all about one from Rovers, Grimsby or Barnet for automatic promotion – or willsome other side suddenly join the fray as well?

Darrell Clarke said on TV recently that, with 7 games left, they needed to win all 7 games and if theydid that, they would be promoted. I should imagine the Barnet & Grimsby managers have saidsomething similar to their teams too. Darrell Clarke always sounds positive though – as well ascautious. So, Dennis, I think most Rovers fans wanted 3 points from Macclesfield, and would not becontent with one, because you just have to assume that Barnet & Grimsby will win all their remaininggames as well & the last thing Rovers want now is to end up in the dreaded play-offs. But somebody,somewhere, out of Rovers, Grimsby or Barnet, WILL drop points along the way, because that’s whathappens in football. Rovers did impress well v Chester last week though, which put immediatepressure on the other 2 sides who didn’t play until the following day. Personally, I think it will probablyall go to the final day of the season, when Rovers entertain Alfreton, Barnet take on Gateshead &Grimsby are at home to Aldershot. It will be nerve-wracking!

Now this was an interesting tweet from Clevedon Town boss Paul McLoughlin, which found its wayinto the Bristol Post on 3 April 2015:

“HUGE JOB TO DO AT @CLEVEDONTOWNFC. MORE TEAMWORK AND EFFORT IS NEEDEDBOTH ON AND OFF THE PITCH #WHOSUPFORIT? TIME TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED.”

This message was tweeted after Clevedon’s 6-0 defeat at Stratford Town a few days earlier, whichitself came after they lost 1-0 here, which – in all honesty – could have been a similar score line asStratford, had we taken all our chances, but that didn’t happen. Clevedon lost again last Saturday,this time 4-2 at home to Shortwood, but it made little difference as they have been in 18th place forabsolutely ages, because Wantage, Fleet, Bashley & Bishops Cleeve have had even worse seasonsthan Clevedon – and remember, by the end of the campaign (if not already, those 5 clubs will have allconceded over 100 goals each (well over, in the case of Bashley & Bishops Cleeve), which doesn’treflect well on our division, if I was truly honest. You always get one club in most divisions thatconcedes goals for fun & go past the ton with ease, but FIVE of them! Hhmmm……

But our old rivals at Clevedon have had another poor season. There have been a few seasons ofstruggle in recent years. Visits to the Hand Stadium these days are nothing like they were years ago,when they had decent crowds, experienced players, even the dreaded drums, but now gates havedwindled, their side is very young indeed & the drums are long gone. Clevedon is a sizeable town, sothe punters are there, but it’s the old, old story of getting more local people into the ground to supportthe team. Tell us about it! Judging by his comment, Paul McLoughlin is just trying to get everyone atthe club to pull together & maybe get the people that used to go, interested again. I actually met oneof those ex-fans last weekend by chance down by Ashton Gate; someone who I knew from yearsago, but when I asked him about Clevedon, he admitted that he hadn’t been to a non-league game(let alone Clevedon) for at least 2 years & hadn’t really followed their progress in that time. I soon puthim straight – but I guess he was typical of many fans who used to go to non-league football yearsago, but just got out of the habit, for whatever reason. We all know someone like that. But overall, I dohope that the Seasiders can bounce back again in 2015-16, though not against us of course…….

FIELD REVIEW -10

GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE & WELCOME TO COSSHAM STREET for today’s Evo-StikSouthern League clash versus our old friends from TAUNTON TOWN. Thank you for yourattendance today & for buying this programme. With Merthyr Town clinching the league title lastMonday (if not Saturday!), the Peacocks must now use their remaining 3 games to prepare for theplay-offs, for which they have qualified. Well done to them for that, and good luck in the play-offs aswell, but even if they do have one eye on the play-offs in 3 weeks’ time, I think we’re still in for a veryhard game today, so please, then, give Our Boyz all your support this afternoon as we strive to pickup the 3 points on offer & get back to winning ways – COME ON THE FIELD!!

OUR LAST HOME SAW US EDGE HOME 1-0 AGAINST OLD RIVALS CLEVEDON TOWN, but inall honesty, it was a continuation of the WIMBORNE TOWN home game where we created so manychances & could (should) have scored a hatful of goals! We could have been out of sight by halftime, but Clevedon’s loanee keeper Glen Murley kept out at least 4 efforts, plus other chances wentbegging & we hit the woodwork on one occasion as well. It was one of those games that had most ofthe crowd frustrated, because of all the missed chances & at 1-0, Clevedon were still in with a shout,but fortunately for us, they were weak up front & LEWIS POWELL’s 1st half strike was enough toclinch the points. Clevedon’s youngsters gave their all, however & played some good football inwhat has been another difficult season for them & they deserve credit for their contribution towards alively game with plenty of goal-mouth action.

WE WERE THEN BROUGHT DOWN TO EARTH LAST SATURDAY by champions-elect MERTHYRTOWN, who cruised home 4-0 up the Valleys, after going 2-0 up inside the first 10 minutes. Maybe itwas the 1,013 crowd urging on the home side towards promotion, but I gather we simply neverturned up on the day! To coin a safe, editorial-style phrase, I’m just going to say, then, that this was aproverbial “disappointing performance” & I’ll leave it at that because, once ahead, Merthyr alwayslooked comfortable because we created little up front to ever threaten their lead & that wasfrustrating. The defeat in Wales also ended even the slimmest of hopes that we had of making animpact on the top 5. But well done to Merthyr on their success this term – credit where credit’s due!

EASTER MONDAY’s 0-0 DRAW AT BRIDGWATER TOWN was at least an improvement on theMerthyr result, although not necessarily a classic tie on a difficult pitch & it had an air of “end-of-season” to it – so I was told. I’m sure it was – I was watching an almost identical sort of match atnearby Bitton at the same time! But we didn’t lose, we got a point & now we turn to today’s game.

AFTER TODAY, ALL THAT’S LEFT IS OUR FINAL HOME GAME OF 2014-15 next Saturday (18th)v neighbours SHORTWOOD UNITED & then on 25 April, we end the season at Calthorpe Park, thehome of north-east Hampshire outfit FLEET TOWN, so come along & cheer Our Boyz on to 2 wins!

SEASON 2014-15 HOME ATTENDANCES STATS (up to & including v Clevedon 28-3-15)

TOTAL HOME EVO-STIK LEAGUE ATTENDANCES (19 GAMES) = 2700Average Home Evo-Stik League Attendance = 142TOTAL HOME FA CUP ATTENDANCES (2 GAMES) = 457Average Home FA Cup Attendance = 160TOTAL HOME FA TROPHY ATTENDANCES (1 GAME) = 123Average Home FA Trophy Attendance = 123TOTAL HOME GFA TROPHY ATTENDANCE (1 GAME) = 050Average Home GFA Trophy Attendance = 050TOTAL HOME ATTENDANCES (ALL COMPETITIONS – 23 GAMES) = 3330Average Home Attendance (All competitions) = 144+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++THE OFFICIAL MANGOTSFIELD UNITED WEBSITE! Yes, if you have access to the Internet, whynot log on to one of the BEST websites in the Southern League? You can find the website onwww.mufc-online.co.uk so check it out every day for all the latest news on your favourite club! Weare also on Facebook via https://www.facebook.com/groups/MaroonAndSkyBlueBoys/DAVE SMALE

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09/08 North Leigh ESLS-1SW A 2-6 82 Davies, Powell12/08 Cinderford Town ESLS-1SW A 3-2 147 Davies, Arndale 2 (1pen)16/08 FLEET TOWN ESLS-1SW H 4-0 117 Arndale 2 (1pen), Powell, Page19/08 BISHOPS CLEEVE ESLS-1SW H 3-1 113 Powell 2, Arndale (pen)23/08 Clevedon Town ESLS-1SW A 1-2 125 Lamb25/08 YATE TOWN ESLS-1SW H 2-2 301 Powell, Page30/08 CRIBBS FC FAC Pr H 4-1 160 Powell 3, Page06/09 Didcot Town SFL/1SW A 2-2 153 Powell, Best09/09 Tiverton Town SFL/1SW A 0-3 16013/09 WEYMOUTH FAC 1QR H 0-3 29720/09 SWINDON SUPERM,NE SFL/1SW H 2-3 142 Powell, Collins27/09 WANTAGE TOWN SFL/1SW H 5-0 121 Powell 3, (2p), Evans, Page04/10 Larkhall Athletic SFL/1SW A 1-1 175 Powell07/10 Taunton Town SFL/1SW A 0-1 19711/10 STRATFORD TOWN SFL/1SW H 2-4 141 Mapstone, Page18/10 Clevedon Town FAT PR A 3-0 75 Davies 2, Powell25/10 Shortwood United SFL/1SW A 0-3 9028/10 EVESHAM UNITED SFL/1SW H 3-0 121 Hogg, Colborne, Powell01/11 BISHOPS CLEEVE FAT 1QR H 5-1 123 Powell 4, Best05/11 CIRENCESTER TOWN GFASC-1 H 1-3 50 Powell15/11 Hereford United FAT 2QR A 0-2 33922/11 Sholing FC SFL/1SW A 1-2 129 Powell29/11 LARKHALL ATHLETIC SFL/1SW H 0-1 16306/12 Wimborne Town SFL/1SW A 0-1 19309/12 Bashley SFL/1SW A 1-0 83 Powell13/12 TIVERTON TOWN SFL/1SW H 2-0 105 Powell, Hogg16/12 AFC TOTTON SFL/1SW H 6-0 77 Powell 2, Mapstone, Rendall, Lamb,

Colborne26/12 Yate Town SFL/1SW A 2-4 307 Powell, Mapstone

01/01 BRIDGWATER TOWN SFL/1SW H 2-1 173 Bath, Powell06/01 MERTHYR TOWN SFL/1SW H 0-0 20710/01 CINDERFORD TOWN SFL/1SW H 3-1 169 Hogg, Groves, Powell (pen)24/01 Evesham United SFL/1SW A 0-1 26331/01 BASHLEY SFL/1SW H 4-1 147 Powell 2, Shipp, Rendall07/02 Stratford Town SFL/1SW A 4-3 212 Lamb, Groves 2, Bath14/02 DIDCOT TOWN SFL/1SW H 2-1 144 Mapstone, Davies21/02 NORTH LEIGH SFL/1SW H 2-3 118 Groves, Powell (pen)28/02 Wantage Town SFL/1SW A 2-1 63 Arndale (pen), Rendall07/03 SHOLING FC SFL/1SW H 1-1 122 Powell14/03 WIMBORNE TOWN SFL/1SW H 2-0 101 Powell, Arndale (pen)17/03 Swindon Supermarine SFL/1SW A 2-0 103 Hogg, Shipp21/03 AFC Totton SFL/1SW A 2-0 255 Davies, Groves24/03 Bishops Cleeve SFL/1SW A 2-1 64 Mapstone, Powell28/03 CLEVEDON TOWN SFL/1SW H 1-0 118 Powell04/04 Merthyr Town SFL/1SW A 0-4 101306/04 Bridgwater Town SFL/1SW A 0-0 15011/04 TAUNTON TOWN SFL/1SW H18/04 SHORTWOOD UNITED SFL/1SW H25/04 Fleet Town SFL/1SW A

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Saturday 11th April 2015

Bishops Cleeve v BashleyBridgwater Town v AFC TottonCinderford Town v Clevedon TownDidcot Town v Evesham UnitedLarkhall Athletic v Tiverton TownMANGOTSFIELD UNITED v TAUNTON TOWNSholing v Wantage TownShortwood United v North LeighStratford Town v Fleet TownWimborne Town v Swindon SupermarineYate Town v Merthyr Town

Saturday 18th April 2015

AFC Totton v Bishops CleeveBashley v Fleet TownCinderford Town v Bridgwater TownClevedon Town v Stratford TownEvesham United v Tiverton TownMANGOTSFIELD UNITED v SHORTWOOD UNITEDMerthyr Town v Larkhall AthleticNorth Leigh v SholingSwindon Supermarine v Didcot TownTaunton Town v Yate TownWantage Town v Wimborne Town

Saturday 25th April 2015

Bridgwater Town v Evesham UnitedClevedon Town v North LeighFLEET TOWN v MANGOTSFIELD UNITEDLarkhall Athletic v SholingMerthyr Town v Stratford TownShortwood United v Bishops CleeveSwindon Supermarine v Cinderford TownTaunton Town v Wantage TownTiverton Town v AFC TottonWimborne Town v Didcot TownYate Town v Bashley

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FORTHCOMING FIXTURES

Moving on through April 1988, next came a 1-1 home draw v TAUNTON TOWN, who were always abogey side of ours in those days, though in 1987-88, they were pretty much a mid-table side. It was agame of two halves, however, with MUFC in control in the 1st half & Taunton dominated the 2nd

period. DARREN TILLEY gave us the lead on 10 minutes when he collected the ball out on the left,beat 3 defenders & fired a low shot into the net. We didn’t press home our advantage after that & fellaway badly, with the Peacocks levelling on 75 minutes through Jamie Ward, who beat keeper MARKSTEVENS to a through ball before firing home.

Next up & unusually on a Thursday night as well – because of the lack of available dates in the hecticmonth of April 1988 – we drew 2-2 at home to PLYMOUTH ARGYLE RESERVES in the Great MillsLeague Cup Semi-Final, only to lose 3-0 in the dreaded penalty shoot-out following the end of extratime! In the main match, Steve Cooper twice gave Argyle the lead (42 & 50), but each time, wequickly equalised through DARREN TILLEY (46) & ANDY LOHMANN (55). Extra time couldn’tseparate the sides, but things went pear-shaped for us in the penalty shoot-out, with RICHARD ILES,DARREN TILLEY & STEVE FOSTER all missing their kicks, whilst Nicky Law, John Uzzell & DougieAnderson all scored from the spot even though Jason Rowbotham had missed their first kick!

So we failed to make it to one final, but 6 days later, we were in another one anyway, as TAUNTONTOWN made a quick return to Cossham Street, drawing 3-3 in the 1st leg of the Somerset PremierCup Final. It was a thrilling game too, though you would never know from the subsequentprogramme because MUFC programmes in 1987-88 never talked about the previous game –nevertheless, DAVE SPENCER (25) put us ahead, but Dave Awcock (29) & Jamie Ward (47) put thePeacocks in front, only for DAVE SPENCER to make it 2-2 on the hour. EOIN BAILEY quickly put usahead again (62), but Steve Butt levelled it at 3-3 with 14 minutes to go.

Three days later & DAWLISH TOWN were sent packing to the tune of 4-1 to keep up our bid to getinto the top 3. ANDY BLACK put us ahead (7), but a MARTIN ARCHER own goal (26) gave theDevon side an equaliser. The effervescent DAVE SPENCER (43 & 61) then made it 3-1, before aDave Bath own goal (85) wrapped up a comfortable 4-1 win for us.

24 hours later, we were back at Cossham Street to witness a 2-2 draw in a re-arranged fixture vCornwall’s SALTASH UNITED. Because the game was played on a Sunday, the Club had to followstrict Sunday laws for football (at this level) in those days & no admission fee was officially charged,but admission to the game was by programme only & the programme therefore cost £1 on thatSunday instead of the usual 20p! All of this was explained in the programme.

As for the game, all the goals came in the 1st half, with STEVE HARDING (9) giving us the lead, butDerek Fowler (31) levelled with a penalty & then Tiv Lowe (I believe he was a serving soldier backthen) put the Ashes ahead (37) only for EOIN BAILEY to equalise in first half stoppage time.

Two subsequent away wins to complete our league programme then followed in the final week ofApril, first by 3-2 at SWANAGE TOWN & HERSTON & then 2-0 at TORRINGTON, but I have nodetails of who the goal scorers were.

The season ended in the right possible way, however, as we clinched the Somerset Premier Cup witha 3-0 2nd leg win away at TAUNTON TOWN. After a tight first half, IAN FOSTER put us ahead within60 seconds of the re-start & we never looked back after that, with DARREN TILLEY making it 2-0 onthe hour & then IAN FOSTER bagged our 3rd goal in the 81st minute. For the record, our line-up was:

MARTIN ARCHER, RICHARD ILES, ANDY LOHMANN, ALAN McDOUGALL, STEVE HARDING,EOIN BAILEY, CHRIS SMITH, ANDY BLACK, IAN FOSTER, ROGER EDBROOKE & DARRENTILLEY. SUBS WHO PLAYED: IAN McDONALD & DAVE SPENCER.

Some great names there, don’t you think, including our old pal ANDY BLACK who is still involved inlocal football at Cadbury Heath, but I wonder where all the others are? More TWTMTW again soon.

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SOUTHERN LEAGUE HISTORY (6B)Into the 50s & 60s…….

1959-60

Clacton Town (pictured), were the First Division Champions, but it was initially announced that onlythree clubs would be promoted as a result of Exeter City Reserves leaving, but then 5th placedGuildford City were allowed to go up. A late rally had pushed them above Sittingbourne on goal

average and it marked asuccessful managerialdebut for Albert Tennant,who had been appointedafter failing to secure theservices of Newcastleskipper Jimmy Scoular.

Yiewsley improved afternew manager BillDodgin (snr) recruitedconsiderable ex-Leagueexperience, includingMike Powell and MikeTomkys from QPR, andBilly Dare from WestHam. Continental soccerarrived at the LeasStadium with a floodlit

friendly against Italian side, Rapello. Hinckley Athletic opened their Southern League account bybeating Ashford Town 8-1 at Middlefield Lane. Jackie Lane scored four goals, including a first-half hat-trick as Hinckley led 5-0 at the interval.

Cambridge City signed prolific goalscorer Derek Weddle from Wisbech in October and his two goalshelped City to beat Peterborough United in the East Anglian Cup Final in front of 8,178. After ManagerIan Jamieson left at Christmas, Rugby Town were run by committee. Gloucester City employedhypnotist Henry Blythe to help the team but he was not called upon again after a 3-1 defeat byCheltenham, and Player/Manager Ollie Norris and top scorer Bob Coldray left Horton Road – Caldraymoving the short distance to Cheltenham!

Kidderminster Harriers failed to improve under Amos Moss and rejoined the Birmingham League forthe 1960/61 campaign. Deprived of lucrative ‘derby’ games with Hereford, Worcester, Wellington,Cheltenham & Nuneaton, the Southern League proved to be an uneconomic proposition.

FIRST DIVISION LEADERS.

Clacton Town 42 27 5 10 106 69 59Romford 42 21 11 10 65 40 53Folkestone Town 42 23 5 14 93 71 51Exeter City Res 42 23 3 16 85 62 49Guildford City 42 19 9 14 79 56 47

BOTTON CLUBS

Kidderminster Hrs 42 14 6 22 59 97 34Corby Town 42 15 3 24 75 91 33Burton Albion 42 11 10 21 52 79 32Rugby Town 42 10 11 21 67 91 31

(More Southern League History soon…….)FIELD REVIEW -17

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mangotsfieldunitedsupportersclub2009/

Our GOLDEN GOAL winner at the home game with CLEVEDON Town was LES FRY, thanks toLewis Powell’s 28th

minute opener.

Obviously not allsupporters can travel toaway games, but thetravelling support is verymuch appreciated byboth players and club.However, you can stillhave a voice by makingsure you vote for theBELCHER TROPHYAWARD – theSupporters Player of theseason. TODAY IS THELAST CHANCE YOUWILL HAVE TO VOTE.There is a voting slip inthe club shop. Also, don’tforget your Golden Goal& Three Match poolTickets!!!

The Supporters Club arehopeful of backing theCLUB SHOP nextseason and getting moreitems available for sale.

The Three-Match Poolticket for Saturday 4th

April, was won by ANDYREED, winning himself anice sum of £400. Theticket was sold byChairman MikeRichardson.

The MARCH ‘Player of the Month’ and ‘50 Club’ draws will take place in the club house lounge barafter today’s game at 5.30pm. The 50 Club draw for APRIL will be held after the away game at FleetTown.

The Football Club are seeking nominations for the ‘Goal of The Season’. Please go to the Club’sFacebook page to cast your vote - https://www.facebook.com/MangotsfieldUnited/timeline

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Welcome once again to THE WORLD OF SOCCER, the column that brings you news stories fromaround the globe. We begin with a recent story from SOUTH AFRICA:

Now March 20 saw the death of former South African player Steve Mokone, aged 82. His was a storyI was not familiar with, but I was alerted to it by a Dutch report which outlined his life, which saw himplay in various countries. Mokone attracted much attention in his native South Africa, making hisdebut for a South Africa Black XI aged 16. The Durban Bush Bucks player nearly joined NewcastleUnited but for the intervention of his father, who wanted him to continue his studies. However,Mokone began his professional career in 1955 with Coventry City, where he made 4 leagueappearances, scoring one goal in the process. He later played in Holland with Heracles Almelo, forwhom he scored twice on his debut & won the 1958 Tweede Divisie title to become a club legend. Hewas the first foreign professional player in Dutch football & a stand in Heracles' Polman Stadion isnamed after him!

He later joined Cardiff, making a goal-scoring debut on 22 August 1959, during a 3–2 win v Liverpool.He made just 2 more league appearances for the side, before being signed in 1959 by Spanish sideBarcelona! However, because Barcelona had filled their quota of foreign players, he was loaned toFrench side Marseilles. Mokone later played in Italy for Torino & in Spain for Valencia CF, beforefinishing his career in Australia with Sunshine George Cross FC and later in Canada.

In 1964 Mokone moved to the USA. Not a good idea! There he was convicted & jailed for separatefelony assaults committed in 1977 against his then wife, Joyce Maaga Mokone, & the 34-year-oldfemale attorney who was representing Ms. Mokone in divorce & custody proceedings at the time. InOctober 1978, Mokone pleaded guilty in New Jersey to the crime of atrocious assault for havingpersonally attacked his wife in November 1977. He was subsequently sentenced to serve between 8& 12 years in New Jersey State Prison. In 1980 Mokone stood trial in New York, accused of havingorchestrated an attack on his wife's lawyer, Ann Boylan Rogers, in which acid was thrown in her faceoutside her Manhattan home in October 1977. Ms. Rogers was left disfigured & blind in one eye.Mokone was found guilty of assault in May 1980 & later sentenced to serve 5 to 15 years after havingcompleted his New Jersey sentence. He was released from custody in August 1990..In 1996 he founded the Kalamazoo South African Foundation. Dutch sports journalist Tom Egberswrote a novel based on Mokone, which was made into a movie in 2000; both novel and movie arecalled The Black Meteor (De Zwarte Meteoor). Mokone died in Washington on 20 March 2015……

Now we all know that football gets bigger in the UNITED STATES every year & more games from ourPremier League (and other leagues) are televised there than ever before, but on the final day of thePL last season, TV giants NBC showed all 10 PL games on their main sports channels – with theexception of Southampton v Man Utd, which went out on the SyFy channel instead, presumablyalongside repeats of Star Trek & stuff like that. Perhaps they thought the United game would be “outof this world”??

Meanwhile, down in Bucaramanga in COLOMBIA in May 2014, a school teacher got into hot waterafter allegedly stealing stickers from his students to complete his own Panini World Cup album! Kidsbeing kids, they would try & swap their doubles during lessons, as well as in break times & the like,(and I expect we all did that sort of thing ourselves years ago) but the teacher started confiscatingstickers from the pupils & then used them to complete his own album! He was spotted by one of thepupils through a staff room window, putting stickers into an album & the alarm was then raised. Thestory soon reached local, national & worldwide media attention, with parents condemning theteacher’s actions, saying how it was such a poor example to set by someone in authority. Theteacher’s name was never made public by the school, so presumably, they kept their job & were justreprimanded. The story also happened at around the same time as a Panini delivery lorry, containingover 300,000 packets of stickers, was stolen in BRAZIL & the stickers were sold on the black market.

And in the meantime, there will be more from THE WORLD OF SOCCER again soon

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SIGNS SEEN in THE USA

IN A BAR“Those of you who are drinking to forget, please do pay in advance”

Behind every great man, there is a surprised woman.

The reason men lie is because women ask too many questions.

IN A RESTAURANTAll drinking water in this establishment has been personally passed by the Manager.

IN A BARBER’S SHOPWe need your heads to run our business.

The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe,Is the fact that it has never tried to contact us!!

Jokes about German sausage are usually the wurst!!

Alcohol and calculus don’t mix, so don’t drink and derive!

DID YOU KNOWIn the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and freighters carried iron cannons and they fired roundcannon-balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply as near as possible. However, to prevent themfrom rolling around the deck, the best storage method was a square-based pyramid, with one ball on thetop, resting on four, resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus a supply of 30 balls were handy tothe cannon. The only problem was how to stop the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under theothers. The solution was a metal plate called a ‘monkey’ with 16 round indentations. However, if thisplate was made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to rusting was to make ‘BrassMonkeys’.However, brass contracts much more and faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when thetemperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon-ballswould come off the monkey. Thus it was, quite literally, ‘Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brassmonkey’All this time, you probably thought that this expression was improper, eh?

ANOTHER TRUE STORY FROM AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLA pilot of a Cherokee 180 was told by the Tower to hold short of the active runway while a DC-8 landed.The DC-8 landed, rolled out, turned around and taxied back past the Cherokee.A quick-witted comedian in the DC-8 crew got on the radio and said, “What a cute little plane. Did youmake it all by yourself?”The Cherokee pilot, not about to let the insult go by, came back with a real zinger : I made it out of DC-8parts.Another landing like yours and I’ll have enough parts for another one”.

COLEMANBALLS“We’re not used to weather in June in this Country”“If England are going to win this match, they’re going to have to score a goal”“That’s a wise substitution by Terry Venables – Three fresh men, three fresh legs”“They are still in the game and they are trying to get back into it.”“I would undoubtedly pick him in the next England squad, if I was the England manager, and he wasn’tactually Bermudian”

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HALF-TIME LAUGHTER

Bimey, only 2 programmes to go & this is one of them! So much to say, so let’s crack on:

FIRST BATCH OF QUICKIES: So Celtic are well on course to do the treble in Scotland, afterwinning the League Cup last month……there’s a surprise……Meanwhile, Manchester City lost 4-1on aggregate to Barcelona last season & then lost 3-1 to the same side this season. Nice to seethat Man City are improving then…… And on that subject of Euro defeats, it was the first time inyonks that not one of our sides made it to the last 8 in any European competition. Room forimprovement next season then……. Never leave early, I always say – and there were no less thanSEVEN goals in the 90th minute in the Championship back on 21 March, and there were SIX in thelower 2 divisions as well, including a surprise one from Adam El-Abd at Bury, an loaned-out BristolCity defender who never really looked the part at Ashton Gate…… And an interesting comment bypresenter Adrian Durham on TalkSport the other week; he happened to be looking at theConference North league table for some reason & then said on air, “WHAT THE DEVIL AREGLOUCESTER CITY DOING IN CONFERENCE NORTH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD??” Goodquestion! If I’d had the time to text in a reply, I’d have done so, but then I thought it would takeforever to explain it – and it’s not just the Tigers either; what about Oxford City, Lowestoft Town orBrackley? Not exactly Northern clubs either. Perhaps it’s about time some re-shuffling was done bythe powers-that-be – can you imagine having to go up to Workington on a Tuesday night?? Did ourvery own MATTY GROVES ever have to do that when he was a Tiger??

UNUSUAL REASONS FOR POSTPONEMENT! Here’s a good one I spotted recently – it appearsthat Wessex League side Brockenhurst had to call off a game v local rivals Bournemouth Poppieslast month after the groundsman accidentally mowed down one set of goal posts whilst mowing thepitch! (As you do…) The club immediately contacted the manufacturers, but were told that a newone couldn’t be delivered until the following week, so postponement on the Sunday was the onlyoption!

And in case you were wondering, yes, that was the same Bournemouth Poppies that we played inthe FA Cup in 2005-2006. We drew 1-1 down there, but then won the replay 7-0 & I recall that theDorset side certainly put themselves about a bit in both games, but hey-ho, 7-0 says it all!

SECOND BATCH OF QUICKIES: Now then, knowing that Bristol City & Swindon fans don’treally get along, did any of you realize that some of the 60+ coaches that City took to Wembleyactually came from a SWINDON company??......And even better was the fact that one or twoWembley coaches also came from EASTVILLE…….Meanwhile, it was good to see that Wiltshirepolice took some social media “threats” seriously & parked a police car or van on each M4 motorwaybridge around Swindon, just in case some Swindon idiots decided to brick any passing Bristol Citycoaches en route to or from Wembley…….And how many of you noticed that the Bristol Postincreased the price of their 23 March “City win at Wembley” edition from 60p to 75p, because theyknew demand might be high & as far as I know, they didn’t say beforehand that they were going toput the price up – crafty isn’t the word for it…….And was Villa manager Tim Sherwood TRULY offhis trolley the other week when he said that England would win Euro 2016 in France???!!!

THIRD BATCH OF QUICKIES: Now Notts County sacked manager Shaun Derry back on 23March. After that sacking, I bet you didn’t realise that City’s Steve Cotterill, who has only been atAshton Gate since early December 2013, is now in the TOP 30 LONGEST SERVING MANAGERSin the country??!! What a joke. Surely something needs to be done about the continual sacking ofmanagers during the season? But don’t ask me what!....... Meanwhile, I watched a bit of Scotlandv Northern Ireland the other week. What was that all about? Scotland wore their all-white strip withyellow hoops & one red hoop (you know the shirt, it looks like something you’d buy in Asda for £6 towear on the beach on your holidays), whilst the Irish wore all-BLUE! It didn’t look right at all. Whydidn’t they wear their main strips? Didn’t they have enough washing powder to wash the kits prior totheir Euro qualifiers that weekend…..,And worrying times indeed for Bolton Wanderers, after 11seasons in the Premier League, the famous Championship club now find themselves over £170m indebt. Are we looking at another Portsmouth here? I hope not, but that debt is huge…….. (Continued)

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THIRD BATCH OF QUICKIES: Interesting comment on TV during the England v Lithuaniagame, about the fact that there are around 100,000 Lithuanians living in this country. That’s just it,no matter who England play at Wembley, it’s never really that much of an away game for theopposition because so many of their nationals live here in the first place – and usually in ourcosmopolitan capital, not too far from Wembley itself!....... And what about a big well done toNorth Ferriby United, shock winners of the FA Trophy 2 weeks ago (on penalties) after a 3-3 draw vWrexham. Seeing as they took around 3,000 fans to Wembley, as part of a near-15,000 crowd, youdo wonder how quiet the village was on the day, seeing as the population of North Ferriby is said tobe less than 4,000! But what a great day for the little teams, & for North Ferriby, who compete at thesame level as Weston-Super-Mare & (of course), Bath City, but it is proof that you don’t have to be inthe Conference Premier to win the FA Trophy!.......Great to see Gibraltar bag a goal the otherweek, in the 6-1 defeat in Scotland, but I do wonder what the Scots fans thought at the precisemoment the Gibraltar goal hit the back of the net……And staying with the Euros, it was no surprisein the end to find the Montenegro v Russia match abandoned following trouble on & off the pitch, butwhen you have a player HIT ON THE HEAD BY A FLARE thrown from the crowd in the very firstminute, then I do wonder why the referee didn’t abandon the game there & then – or was he fearfulof doing so? But once again, these problems are USUALLY caused by East European fans &there’s plenty of countries to choose from! In the past, it’s been the likes of Turkey, Serbia, Croatia &Greece causing problems – now it’s Montenegro. Start getting tough, UEFA!

IT’S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH FOOTBALL!! Three things today:

(1) WHO GOES TO A CLASSICAL CONCERT? Well, I just HAD to reply to a friend’scomment on social media the other week when HE said: “You know you are getting oldwhen you see someone actually younger than you at a classical concert”……..to which Ireplied, “I know I am getting old when I actually GO to a classical concert in the firstplace”!! Absolutely!

(2) BOY DOES HE SWEAR!! Watched a BBC4 documentary recently about Black Sabbathlegend Ozzy Osbourne, who could swear for England! The F-word was in virtually everysentence he said all through the 90-minute programme & I did start to count all the Fs atone point, but quickly gave up as there were zillions of them! Then his wife Sharon &grown-up kids all started effing & blinding as well. Nice family – the Jeremy Kyle Showwould love this lot! Oh, & the Sabs have now announced that they will play “one more gig”(in November) & then go into retirement. We’ll see……but come on BS, your final gigshould be in the place where it all began – in BIRMINGHAM, and certainly not Tokyo!

(3) HAVE YOU EVER VISITED THE PLANET EARTH, ZAYN? That was a laugh the otherweek, when Zayn, or Zac or Zeus or whatever his name is, quit One Direction because he“wanted to be a normal 22-year-old”. NORMAL 22–year-old? How many “normal 22-year-olds” do you know who will now have a high-profile solo musical career, is already a multi-millionaire, has his picture in the papers every day & who will no doubt re-join OneDirection in about 3 years’ time when they will no doubt stage their Reunion tour – bywhich time they will probably include Bristol Arena on the tour dates too???

THE GOOD OLD DAYS - 1 Apparently, back in the early 1900s, there was a football reportersomewhere in this country who was sent to report on matches with no more than just a bicycle & twocarrier pigeons in a cage, so he could get his match report back to his office in the quickest possibleway. I suppose there must have been occasions when the pigeons never made it back, either bygetting lost or getting killed by birds of prey on the way, so no match report for the locals to read inthe next day’s paper! At least things are done a bit better these days…….

THE GOOD OLD DAYS – 2 Premier League sides only played 1 game over the Easter period. Whatabout back in the day when ALL CLUBS played Good Friday, Saturday & Easter Monday?????????

AND FINALLY: Read this in a Glaswegian (or Scottish) accent: What is the difference between BingCrosby and Walt Disney?? Bing sings and Walt disnae……… THE FIELD MARSHALL

FIELD REVIEW -24

'ON THE FIELD TODAY'Saturday 11th April 2015 Kick-off 3.00pm

The Evo-Stik League Southern Division One South & WestMangotsfield United v Taunton Town FC

"The Field" - Maroon & Sky "The Peacocks" - Yellow/BlueSquads

Joe Perry 1 1 Lloyd IrishLewis Shipp 2 2 Jamie Price

Tom Parrinello 3 3 Steve Kingdon ©Shaun Lamb 4 4 Owen Irish

Alex Kite 5 5 Ben MammolaGeraint Bater 6 6 Brett TrowbridgeKarim Rendall 7 7 Jamie Short© Lewis Hogg 8 8 Ben Carter

Ryan Bath 9 9 Aaron Ward-BaptisteLewis Powell 10 10 Rodney MarshMatt Groves 11 11 Graham Mercieca

Steve Davies 12 12 Steve MurrayIbrahima Diallo 14 14 Craig Herrod

Marcus Mapstone 15 15 Lamar PowellElliott Gibbons 16 16 Lewis Waldy

Neil Arndale 17 17 Josh Wadham18 1819 19

Richard Thompson MANAGER Leigh RobinsonDavid Mehew ASSISTANTS AND Mo HopkinsLee Barlass COACHES Paul EdwardsJohn House KIT MANAGERMegan Weston PHYSIO Karl Lindsay

Today's officialsAssistant REFEREE Assistant

John Okole Benjamin James David NicholsonBanbury, Oxon Carterton, Oxon Bicester, Oxon

TODAY'S MATCH SPONSORSJelf Group & HMP Storage

TODAY'S MASCOTBen McClean

Next game at Cossham Street - Saturday 18th April 2015 3.00pmThe Evo-Stik League Southern, Div.One South/West Shortwood UtdProgramme No. 23