retired_sander

As good as first time around :thup:

retired_pahuja_satish

Superb promotion winning post mate. The inclination in JAG's voice was enough to know you'd got the promotion, classic stuff.

retired_eneko5613

Thanks guys Your support is appreciated...

It's party time at the Bower Fold. In comes Leo for the last game, swapping places with McEwen. He's going to get the fans player of the season, so he might as well play the final game. Woods comes in for the injured Crookes, having narrowly won a battle with both Williamson and Cousins for the place. It's Chester who are out to spoil the occasion though, and they have much of the early pressure. Mackenzie pulls the first save from the Chester keeper after ten minutes, but even if we can't score we can still showboat, as Batty proves by coming well out of his area to clear a long ball with a superb defensive header. Finally, after what seems like an age, Cameron gets onto the end of a Collins cross and heads home to break the deadlock. Hopefully, now we can really begin to enjoy things.

Leo starts the second half with a clear chance, but heads over the bar as if to prove that he is definitely not going to score another goal this season. Cameron steps up and does the job for him five minutes later, and the young lad misses a hattrick chance a minute afterwards. It's 3-0 before the hour, though, as Mackenzie cuts loose from a rebound. The crowd are well warmed up now! It's time to bring on some of the other players who've had an impact on the season, so McEwen, Peacock and Peters all get run outs. There are no further goals for the crowd to celebrate, but things do threaten to turn a little ugly when the referee turns down consecutive penalty appeals as Gavin Watts flattens Cameron in the box twice. The young scot gets Man of the Match. Many congratulation to him.

Conference Game 42. 3rd May 2003.
Stalybridge 3 Chester 0 Cameron 42,52 Mackenzie 55

2499 happy Stalybridge fans return home, glad to be putting conference football behind them. Meanwhile, a demoralised Dover draw their final game and concede second place to Barnet. Poor Hayes are relegated on the last day as both they and Blyth achieve 1-1 draws. That table in full reads:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English Conference - Saturday 3rd May 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C STALYBRIDGE 42 14 5 2 53 17 10 6 5 34 26 83 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Barnet 42 11 4 6 39 29 12 5 4 38 27 78 3rd Dover 42 13 3 5 37 20 9 7 5 28 23 76 4th Southport 42 11 5 5 31 20 11 3 7 33 28 74 5th Nuneaton Borough 42 12 2 7 40 32 10 3 8 27 33 71 6th Dag & Red 42 11 4 6 41 23 9 5 7 22 17 69 7th Slough 42 10 7 4 25 13 8 5 8 26 30 66 8th Boston Utd 42 10 5 6 27 18 8 6 7 26 26 65 9th Telford 42 10 4 7 31 28 8 5 8 25 29 63 10th Stevenage 42 11 5 5 41 28 6 5 10 33 38 61 11th Farnborough 42 9 8 4 35 19 5 8 8 23 31 58 12th Stafford R 42 10 6 5 41 27 5 6 10 32 40 57 13th Woking 42 7 11 3 25 20 5 7 9 24 32 54 14th Margate 42 9 8 4 30 21 2 12 7 20 28 53 15th Scarborough 42 6 5 10 33 41 8 6 7 25 29 53 16th Chester 42 6 8 7 18 18 6 7 8 19 28 51 17th Halifax 42 10 3 8 39 30 3 8 10 30 43 50 18th Morecambe 42 5 9 7 26 26 5 5 11 21 37 44 19th Blyth Spartans 42 4 10 7 30 33 4 6 11 20 34 40 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20th R Hayes 42 5 6 10 23 34 5 4 12 29 40 40 21st R Northwich Vics 42 8 3 10 28 32 0 4 17 16 51 31 22nd R Yeovil 42 6 4 11 28 38 0 2 19 16 51 24 </pre>

retired_eneko5613

It's the end of another season, so it must be time for another Stats Flash!

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Stalybridge Celtic 2002/03 club statsClub Goalscorers:-----------------1. 24-Leo Fortune-West (2nd in Conference)2. 14-Andrew Cameron (27th in Conference)3. 13-Neil Mackenzie (24th in Conference)4. 11-Sergio Ommel (35th in Conference)5. 10-Wayne Allison (37th in Conference)Club Assists:-------------1. 13-Steve Heaton (7th in Conference)2. 12-Lee Collins (6th in Conference)3. 10-Andrew Cameron (20th in Conference)4. 7-Sergio Ommel (40th in Conference)5. 6-Leo Fortune-WestClub Average Ratings:---------------------1. 7.90-Leo Fortune-West (2nd in Conference)2. 7.56-Sergio Ommel (13th in Conference)3. 7.47-Lee Collins (18th in Conference)4. 7.37-Andrew Cameron (37th in Conference)5. 7.31-Neil Mackenzie (30th in Conference)</pre>

To complete the stat attack, I made some phonecalls to check on progress of past Stalybridge players (or in some cases "players")

Goalkeeper David Fish, sold to Port Vale for £120k to keep the club afloat the day before I arrived, moved on, without playing, to 1st Division Derby County, where he kept the bench warm for most of a season which included an FA cup win over Manchester United and a failed playoff semifinal against the other half of Manchester. He managed two appearances. Maybe the first Stalybridge player in Europe?

Midfield "Player" Steve Wood finally realised he wasn't a footballer after his transfer to Queen of the South. He's now scouting locally for Macclesfield, and making quite a good job of it!

Next to go in 2001/02 was James Turley, who my contacts tell me is finding it hard to adapt to life in Spain. The 21 year old is missing his family and is unlikely to renew his contract at the end of next season. He isn't getting any games either. Not learning the hopeless footballer lesson quite as quickly is Andrew Scott, who has found some success. For United Counties League Northampton Spencer. Big venue!

It's a disappointment to see Steve Pickford, Matt Rose and Dean Byrne still out of work. The latter two were local lads who came through the youth system, but I can't afford to be sentimental!

Whizzing through this season's departees, young Leigh Bradley played a full season for Glenavon, which will probably do him more harm than good in the long term. Ged Murphy played regularly for Elgin City, albeit in the reserves. Perpetual moaner Kevin Parr after making the move to League football and playing twenty-odd games for Southend, has handed in a transfer request, saying he wants first team football!

As for ex Celtic lads making an impact, well Gerard Courtney has slotted into the Queen of the South side quite well, albeit not with the success he had in 01/02 with us. Steve Bushell has played a round dozen games for Wigan and may be playing 1st division football next season if his side beat Brighton in the playoffs. Finally, Chris Perkins played consistently for his new Spanish outfit until picking up a bad injury towards the end of the season. Which reminds me, they still owe me some money!

retired_eneko5613

The summer in review.

8th May 2003
It's time to break some hearts, though. Some of the youngsters, having maybe just grasped what it might be like to celebrate becoming a league footballer, are told that their services are no longer required. Defender Ryan Cole is let go immediately, as he never signed a full contract, whilst James Roberts (1 app), Darren Atkinson (no apps) and Carl Bird (1 sub app) are all listed.

9th May 2003
Defender cum Striker Ronnie Howells returns from Purfleet after a loan spell of some 19 games, making 2 assists with an average rating of 7.47. My coaches still think he is the bees knees, and he has a lot of time on his side at 16, so his future at Stalybridge is safe.

11th May 2003
Forward Alex Hutchinson returns from Folkestone after a highly successful loan spell where he played 20 games, scoring 7, making 13 assists and claiming 3 man of the match awards with an average rating of 7.95. Again, my coaches think he is the best young thing since sliced bread.

21st May 2003
Hitchin Town want Winfield Steele. I tell them that for £40k, he's theirs. He's not a Conference player, never mind a third division one!

23rd May 2003
Hitchin stump up cash, Steele agrees terms, done deal.

30th May 2003
Double honours for me, with the May Manager of the month and the Manager of the Year appearing on my desk.

3rd June 2003
With the transfer restrictions lifted, Chris Marsden arrives, with James Roberts and Winfield Steele leaving.

James Roberts (Stalybridge 23/3/02 - 3/6/03) Played 1 Rating 6.00
Winfield Steele (Stalybridge 1/8/01 - 3/6/03) Played 28 Scored 1 Assists 7 Rating 6.71

18th June 2003
Kevin Aitchison's loan period ends, with the young attacking midfielder having scored 4 and made 9 assists. Good stuff. The coaching staff still think a lot of him, and are urging me to give him first team action this time around.

19th June 2003
At the awards dinner, Leo Fortune-West receives the Fans player of the year award, whilst the chairman announces that he has just received a cheque worth a cool £1 million from the Football League for our TV rights. I nearly fall off my chair! He adds that he expects a brave battle against relegation. I'm certainly not saying anything about that after last years mixup!

21st June 2003
Midfielder Darren Bastow, the last of the wanderers, returns having had an absolutely cracking period at Stofold. In 31 appearances, he scored 10 and made 18. he got their man of the match award 7 times as well!

Not all the Stalybridge Celtic players are happy though, as Wayne Allison announces his immediate retirement from the game. I smell a rat, as the 34 year old striker had shown no sign of discontent up until now. Someone in the Lower Leagues must have something on him! The club wish him well, as he got some vital goals to help us on our way to promotion.

Wayne Allison (Stalybridge 1/7/02 - 21/6/03) Played 33 Goals 10 Assists 1 MoM 2 AvR 7.03

What the Chairman doesn't tell me, is that he is only giving me £400k of his now handsome £1.5m bank balance as a transfer kitty. I think the money is going to his head!

25th June 2003
It's good to see the youth system is still working, as three more students graduate. Of course, they graduate on third division wages now, which is more than most of the first team get!

29th June 2003
The big news at the Bower Fold is the appointment of John Aldridge as my right hand man. With the other coaches unwilling to take on the extra responsibility of the Assistant Manager post, I had to look for alternatives. What a coup this particular alternative was!

retired_eneko5613

1st July 2003
A whole £5k of my transfer kitty is shelled out for Yeovil's versatile fullback Andreas Elgert. He would appear to be a player of surprising ability for that amount! Another £3k is spent on our Northwich Victoria's young keeper Paul Hulse. A couple of players will find themselves leaving through the revolving doors I suspect.

12th July 2003
Woking attempt a smash and grab raid when I'm not looking. Midfielder Phil Salt is their target and £9k is their offer. No is my reply, as my coaching staff insist he is a high quality playmaker. At 24, this is probably his last season to prove it.

13th July 2003
With us now being a league club, the board decide it might be a good idea to have more than one scout. Finding someone who can tell a football player from a lamppost is still proving difficult, but one CV that is at least legible enough to read is sent in by Sean Rogers. The 48 year old has no previous experience, but I give him a quick aptitude test by taking him out onto the training field. He manages to identify 4 out of the 5 drunks I pulled out of the pub to run around with the lads. Good enough.

James Batty gets some good news as well. He comes running to me to tell me that he has received callup papers from the FA of New Zealand. Having missed friendlies in November, December, January and March I guess he thought his career was over. He will miss at least part of preseason. Unfortunately, that means his place might have gone by the time he comes back! New Zealand have another friendly in September, which I must remember about!

14th July 2003
Preseason training brings about it's first injury. Lee Collins falls on his shoulder and will be out for up to three weeks. With Marsden raring to go, there's another player who might find it difficult to get a start! Unlucky, for one of the best players last season.

18th July 2003
Northern Counties East League side Thackley are interested in the services of Darren Bastow for the season. I bet they are, if they've heard how he ran the midfield for similarly sized Stotfold. However, it is my opinion that Darren needs some experience at a higher level than that this year, so it's a polite no.

Preseason gets underway with a trip to conference newcomers Halesowen, the cup specialists of recent seasons. We won't underestimate a side which has beaten two league sides and taken Birmingham to a replay in the past two years! However, it's important at this early stage to make sure players aren't overworked.

The starting eleven (4-1-3-2) is: Hulse; Jaszcun, Hocking, Challinor, Elgert; Marsden; Harris, Mackenzie, Cameron; Fortune-West, McEwen.
Second half run outs for: Woods, Munro, Williamson, Bastow, Aitchison, Ommel, Peters, Willoughby

We win 2-1, with goals from Aitchison and Bastow in the second half. The two youngsters are easily the best players on the pitch, and show the perceived first teamers the way to play. Aitchison, especially, has a blinder, but I have doubts about his stamina as by the end of his 45 minutes he's struggling to remain upright. Ommel, too, shows signs of fighting for his place.

A few players didn't really do much to aid their selection, but it's early days as far as preseason goes.

20th July 2003
Farnborough are interested in Phil Salt as well. They're willing to pay £10k. Wow. No thanks. The other Halesowen side, Midland Alliance Halesowen Harriers, want Bastow for the year. I publicly say "No way" to perhaps deter this sort of offer.

Barnsley's Neil Cox, one of my early preseason transfer targets, is subject to an offer of £250k. He's not worth it, so I scratch another possible off my list. This is in addition to the fact that perennial bástard Sam Swonnell has had the cheek to reject a £400k move to Stalybridge as he is happy with his role at Barnet. I'm not really that surprised, as he's single handedly bankrupting them!

retired_eneko5613

It's time for a bit of gloating at the Bower Fold. I've sent three invitations out to Southport, Dover and Barnet for a competition called the SC LC Cup. I didn't mention to each of them who the other participants were, so it should be a surprise to them when they turn up and find out they're playing in the "Stalybridge Celtic, League Club! Cup", a new competition which this year at least features 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishers in the Conference.

The first match is between Dover and Barnet. I hand out a few fivers and bags of rotten fruit to the few Stalybridge fans who turn up. They're obviously bored and don't have anything else to do, so I ask them to liven things up by pelting Swonnell.

It's a 2-1 win for Barnet. Swonnell plays the whole game, but with little impact and will hopefully be knackered when he plays us!

Southport, therefore, are our first opposition, and their dangerman looks to be on loan Danny Invincibile, nowadays a Derby player.

Our starting eleven shows just one change from the Halesowen game, with Ommel coming in for McEwen. The bench has a few newcomers, with Munro, Williamson, Bastow, Peacock. McEwen, Peters and Hutchinson getting runs.

We lose 3-2. More worringly Mackenzie and Hocking get injured. Leo and McEwen score, whilst Marsden fails to keep Invincibile quiet and he scores and sets one up. Jaszczun impresses, as does Hutchinson. Many players do not. The result isn't that disappointing as nothing is at stake, but the performance is.

Hocking's thigh strain costs him a week, and therefore the rest of the competition. Mackenzie strains his ankle and will miss the rest of preseason.

21st July 2003
Farnborough come back with a £20k bid for Salt. Still no, but lets publish his asking price at £40k and see what that does.

Barnet vs Southport, and the fruit throwers are at both ends, targetting Swonnell and Invincibile. 1-0 to Southport, and whilst it doesn't do much for the competition as a spectacle, I'm happy with the result. Swonnell, curse him, was cráp again!

There isn't much to hate about Dover. They've signed John Eyre, who I had considered signing but decided against it, but that's about it. The problem we have is fielding a fit eleven. Those who start are Batty; Elgert, Jaszczun, Howells, Lewis; Woods; Watts, Aitchison, Clemence; Ommel, Fortune-West. Subs who get a game: Hart, McNeil, Cousins.

A 1-1 draw just demonstrates that we have a long way to go yet. Leo scored with his only chance, which is good I suppose, but the makeshift defence couldn't keep Tommy Tyne out. Watts and Elgert were the best players from our perspective.

22nd July 2003
Halesowen Harriers don't give up asking for Bastow. No, FFS!

Dover vs Southport ends with a 3-1 victory for the team from Kent. Players from all sides are getting tired now.

Mental note to self. Never, ever, under any circumstances, organise a four team league competition over 3 days again. With no fit players at all, it's a mix and match team that faces Barnet. The only thing to cheer about is a scything challenge by Jaszczun on Swonnell which results in the bástard whimpering from the field in the second half. Unfortunately we are already 3-0 down at that point, and two further Barnet strikes make it 5. Jaszczun then gets a second yellow, and it's John Still who has the last laugh.

So, we handily finish bottom of our own competition. The price you pay for trying to show off, I suppose.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * SC LC Cup - Tuesday 22nd July 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2003/4 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Barnet 3 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 7 1 6 2nd Southport 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 5 5 6 3rd Dover 3 1 0 1 4 3 0 1 0 1 1 4 4th STALYBRIDGE 3 0 1 2 3 9 0 0 0 0 0 1 </pre>

25th July 2003
Dominic Crookes joins our lengthening injury list, and will be out for three weeks. The defender does not feature in out long term plans, as his whinging attitude is a disrupting influence.

I'm invited to the Football League headquarters for the League Cup draw. It's the first time Stalybridge have been entered into the competition in their history. We are rewarded with a home tie against Hartlepool, and given our record against third division sides, I have to be hopeful of progress.

27th July 2003
Congratulations from the whole club to Jason Batty, who became the first player to pick up an internation cap under my management. For some reason, he only played 24 minutes as New Zealand beat Guinea 2-1.

28th July 2003
Bridport are the latest club to request Bastow's services. No, nein, non!

retired_pahuja_satish

Poor old Sammy Swonnell! He was superb for me in CM4 I must say, him and Danielsson in midfield for my Orient side...Huckerby on the right, Rankin on the left....

Anyway, great stuff, KUTGW. I didn't read this first time round so its like a new story for me.

retired_brinker317

Oh yes, another helping of one of the best stories in a long time :thup:

Looking forward to discovering the 'new' bits

retired_loubou

Didn't read the first story I think

but this is certainly quality stuff :thup: