retired_sandra

First Mini Update - Close season 2014

I've done the close season, and have just arranged my pre season friendlies, so a mini update before play this afternoon.

Valey scored 33 last season, top Conference scorer with 30 which was the same amount he scored in the league last season. Voted Fans Player of the Year again but is still around 50 goals short of the club record. Still, 60 in 2 years isn't bad!
My only summer signing is a D/DM RC on a Bosman from Division 1 side Sunderland.
The board spend £275,000 improving training facilities, which stay at good. Hmmm...
The board expect a respectable league position next season. I am pleased that I have a very patient board after finishing second the last two seasons.
Promoted to the Conference are Ashton United, Chesham United and Chippenham Town, all of which are making their debut. Chippenham's staff list reads 1 physio. Tempting though the challenge is, I have a job to do at Billericay.
One of my scouts retires, aged 63. To my surprise, the interested scouts list goes onto a second page, and three of them are actually pretty good. Should have no problem replacing him.
England draw with France and Mexico. A victory of Chile will see them progress to Round 2 in Switzerland.
I am ranked 55th average in England and 294th poor in the World.
Billericay have £633,647 with transfer funds of £375,000.
I have arranged friendlies with Friar Lane Old Boys, Chippenham (both away) and at home to Aldershot and Wolves. Wolves United and not Wanderers.
Two last things, my young Irish M C has played for the under 21s and my record signing has played for the Wales B side. Wales must have some **** players if they have to go to the Conference!

retired_scrappysim

your doing very well mate.. hopefully you'll be in div 3 at the end of the season!

retired_sandra

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CJB:
This surely must be Billericay's time to make it into the big time of Division 3...
Talking of Billericay... for my primary school team we played Billericay (primary school... not actual team), and we won 3-0 with a goal from me!!! We had an actual Billericay player come and congratulate our team, as his son was playing for them. I think his name was Tony...

_KUTGW!!!_<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've a very good idea of who this Tony is. If it's the one I am thinking off, then he's my current Assistant Manager. Of course, I can't name him though.

Update shortly

retired_sandra

Tenth Update - Football Comes Back Home

1966. Everybody knows England won the World Cup. (Geoff Hurst happens to have the same birthday as me!)
2014. The World Cup is played in Switzerland, where the biggest stadium is around 30,000 but FIFA is based there, so how convenient is that. 48 years have passed since England won at Wembley, the closest they have been since is a fourth place at Italia 90. Heck, even Ireland finished third in 2008.
Two uninspiring draws against France and Mexico, before the English spring to life and beat Chile 3-0 to top the group.
Two 2-0 wins against Tunisia and Portugal set up a semi final with Sweden. Extra time is played and England scrape a 1-0 win. Mighty Brazil await and a surprisingly boring match is played before... England win a penalty shoot out!!!

ENGLAND ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!

And the final was watched by... 9,974 people. :eek:

Shortly after the finals, Italy, Germany & England submit bids to host the 2022 finals.
Looks like I have some catching up to do with Ireland...


But then it's back down to earth and a small corner of Essex which houses footballing powerhouses of Third Division Canvey Island and successive runners up of Billericay Town. And er... nobody else of any note.

I breeze through pre-season, the poor Old Boys of Friar Lane leaking nine goals to a rampaging Billericay side. We're fed up of coming second. We mean business this season.

C1 - Billericay 2 Hayes 1 (1899) Norweigan D/M L and Valey chip in with goals to kick our season off with a win, though the crowd is a bit disappointing.
C3 - Halifax 2 Billericay 2 (5805) Our first TV game of the season see Valey and Halifax AM C sent off on the half hour for a pushing contest, which saw the Halifax player on the floor. Halifax equalise with a stoppage time penalty.
Then it's my first competitive match with the Irish Republic. And it's away... to the new World Champions.
ECQ - England 2 Ireland 1 (89,989) We are overjoyed at taking the lead, but the English prove too powerful.
ECQ - Ireland 3 Albania 1 (47,989) It always helps when the opponent's keeper is sent off.
C7 - Billericay 1 Doncaster 2 (2130) The mighty Billericay Express is derailed with our first defeat of the season.
C9 - Billericay 2 Halesowen 0 (1780) Valey scores two penalties, the difference between two title favourites.
ECQ - Sweden 2 Ireland 1 (35,983) Plucky buggers, these Irish, but we lose again. The Oldham left back scores his first international goal.
I'm quizzed by the media on what I see as our title aspirations. The supporters and the board are pleased with my confidence we can achieve promotion.
FACQ - Billericay 2 Halesowen 0 (3633) Valey puts two in Halesowen's net for the second time this season. Record receipts of £25,431.
C15 - Billericay 1 Chippenham 0 (1926) Unconvincing against struggling Chippenham, who didn't have a single shot. It's only a result of significance as it notches up my 100th victory.
I then reject a bid of £325,000 from Aston Villa for my Norweigan D C.
F - Ireland 1 Hungary 0 (27,160) A goal from my 20 year old S C who now has 6 goals and 13 caps. Definately one for the future, he currently plays for Motherwell.
FAC1 - Watford 1 Billericay 0 (11,122) Stout defend but we created very little up front as we fail to make an impression on the Division 2 side.
More offers for Norweigan D C, highest now is £550,000 from Plymouth who are mid table in the First. I am forced to accept bids of £500,000 for my former record signing S C as it matches his release fee clause. Portsmouth and West Ham, both of Division 1 are the bidders.
FAT2 - Telford 2 Billericay 1 (1551) M C suffers shin splints and the sub gets sent off! Marvellous...
S C signs for Portsmouth.
VTS1 - Billericay 3 Exeter 1 (728) Hope we can do this in the league next season!
C18 - Southend 0 Billericay 0 (5492) It's mid December and we move top on goal difference as Telford lose the first match of the season in all competitions.
Southampton, another Division 1 club, bid a whopping £1.1m for my Norweigan D C. I decline as I have a similar amount in the club's bank balance anyway. When gate money roughly equals wage bills, you don't need to sell.

I think I've been in this position before...

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ********************************************** English Conference - Saturday 20th December 2014********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2014/5 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Billericay ******** 18 5 2 1 10 4 6 4 0 17 5 39 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Telford 18 6 3 1 17 10 5 3 0 13 5 39 3rd Doncaster 18 5 1 2 12 8 7 1 2 21 11 38 4th Hereford 19 5 3 1 15 6 5 4 1 17 7 37 5th Halesowen 19 7 2 1 19 10 4 0 5 12 16 35 6th Huddersfield 18 5 3 2 15 8 4 3 1 14 9 33 7th Halifax 19 5 2 2 17 12 4 3 3 10 9 32 8th Stockport 19 4 2 3 13 11 4 3 3 12 6 29 9th Southend 19 6 1 3 15 12 2 4 3 13 14 29 10th Bury 20 3 3 4 16 17 3 6 1 13 9 27 11th Hayes 18 4 3 1 20 10 3 1 6 16 21 25 12th Cheltenham 20 3 5 2 15 9 3 2 5 10 14 25 13th Crawley 19 4 4 1 13 8 2 3 5 13 21 25 14th Southport 19 2 2 5 8 11 5 1 4 14 12 24 15th Carlisle 18 5 2 3 14 14 1 4 3 11 13 24 16th Margate 20 3 3 4 14 16 3 3 4 10 13 24 17th Dagenham 18 3 5 2 11 10 2 2 4 11 14 22 18th Ashton 19 3 3 4 16 18 2 2 5 13 17 20 19th Hastings 19 3 3 4 12 13 1 3 5 8 16 18 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20th Hendon 19 0 2 7 8 21 1 5 4 12 20 10 21st Chippenham 20 0 2 8 7 21 2 1 7 8 17 9 22nd Chesham 20 0 2 8 10 26 0 0 10 7 28 2 </pre>

If the last two seasons proved to be nail biting, this one looks worse as any of the top seven look capable of making a serious challenge. Telford are the biggest threat, only one defeat all season so far though we've yet to face each other in the League.
At the other end, Chesham and Chippenham are really struggling with life in the Conference, and Chesham are on course to beat Weymouth's unwanted record of last year!
Posters in this thread seem to think I'll do it this season. All I'm saying is I'm fed up of finishing second!

retired_sandra

Eleventh Update - Deja Vu

I played two Internationals, both European Championship Qualifiers during my day's play. A home defeat to Belarus and draw with England see us with a mountain to climb.

Derby offer me £1.6m for my NOR D C. I decline, he's happy and we have a million in the bank anyway. What's the problem?
C20 - Hayes 2 Billericay 0 Keeper is sent off for a professional foul.
My young D R is off to Plymouth, a high riding Division 1 side, in the Summer on a Bosman.
Morecombe (Southern Leaguers!), Halifax & Southend all lose to First Division sides in the FA Cup 3rd Round whilst Telford beat fellow Conference team Huddersfield in a replay.
VTS2 - Aldershot 1 Billericay 2 On a frozen pitch a rejuvenated Scot scores and Valey ends a barren run.
C24 - Hereford 1 Billericay 1 Top versus 4th and a good result considering I had six players out.
C25 - Billericay 2 Chesham 0 Valey scored and is then harshly sent off. A youth team F RC comes off the bench for his debut and scores. Bless, look, he's all happy...

Telford lose 3-0 at home to Newcastle in Round 4.
C27 - Doncaster 1 Billericay 2 Vital win at fellow challengers, though Doncaster are now moving backwards.
VTSQF - Billiercay 0 Cardiff 0 It's freezing and it's boring. We win 5-4 on penalties and now I'm worrying about a fixture backlog. Our home match with Telford now gets rearranged for a fifth time and our first meeting this season will now be in mid March.
C28 - Southport 2 Billericay 1 Were going well before two penalties and another red for my keeper, getting him a four match ban. Bloody FA.
VTSSF - Northampton 1 Billericay 0 Thank Christ we lost, otherwise we would have had to cram in another two games.
C32 - Billericay 3 Cheltenham 1 We suddenly find some form, this coming after a 3-0 win at Halesowen. After stuttering for a while, we're finally heading the right way again.
C34 - Billericay 3 Hastings 1 Two goals from Valey and Southend surprise Telford at New Bucks Head, winning 3-2.
C35 - Billericay 2 Telford 1 We finally play Telford and deservedly win, Valey netting his 20th of the season.
C36 - Carlisle 1 Billericay 2 Telford lose their third in a row and it's suddenly a tight three way fight with Hereford having sneaked up, virtue of a 30 game unbeaten run that has become a league record.

My NOR D C is now unhappy that I'm not allowing him to change clubs. The bidding had restarted and now stands at £325,000. That's the problem!

Hereford are now the favourites as it's been an awful long time since they last lost in the Conference. Telford have lost more games in their last 3 than they had in their previous 33 and have somehow managed to lose the plot completely, having enjoyed a 10 point gap five games ago. Our season has been far from spectacular so far but we've been plugging away (not many defeats but plenty of draws) and have hung on in there...

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ********************************************** English Conference - Saturday 21st March 2015********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2014/5 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Hereford 36 11 6 1 32 14 11 6 1 33 14 78 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Telford 36 12 3 3 30 16 11 5 2 31 12 77 3rd Billericay ******** 36 12 5 1 29 12 10 6 2 29 14 77 4th Halifax 36 11 5 2 35 18 7 7 4 17 13 66 5th Doncaster 36 9 5 4 23 17 9 5 4 35 22 64 6th Halesowen 36 9 7 3 29 23 7 2 8 19 24 57 7th Hayes 36 7 8 3 36 23 8 3 7 33 31 56 8th Stockport 36 8 5 4 20 13 6 8 5 18 13 55 9th Southend 36 9 3 6 26 24 6 6 6 27 26 54 10th Dagenham 36 7 7 4 26 23 6 3 9 24 31 49 11th Huddersfield 36 8 6 4 24 14 4 6 8 20 25 48 12th Carlisle 36 10 2 6 27 24 3 7 8 23 31 48 13th Bury 36 7 5 6 26 26 3 10 5 20 22 45 14th Southport 36 6 6 6 23 23 5 5 8 23 27 44 15th Ashton 36 7 6 5 30 27 4 5 9 27 36 44 16th Hastings 36 9 4 5 27 21 2 7 9 14 27 44 17th Margate 36 5 4 8 25 28 4 7 8 18 24 38 18th Crawley 36 5 6 7 18 19 4 5 9 25 34 38 19th Cheltenham 36 3 11 5 27 24 3 5 9 15 27 34 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20th Chippenham 36 4 4 10 20 29 2 3 13 14 33 25 21st Hendon 36 2 3 13 15 32 2 6 10 19 32 21 22nd R Chesham 36 1 6 11 21 45 0 0 18 11 51 9 </pre>



What's the betting we'll finish second again?!

retired_brittni10

KUTGW

Don't worry Bridesmaid syndrome wears off eventually mate

retired_sandra

Twelth Update - Delight... or Despair?

OK, a little different this time. Here's what happened elsewhere before I update what promises to be a tight finish in the Conference.

Champions Cup - Lokomotiv Moscow 0 Barcelona 3
UEFA Cup - Brondby 2 CSKA Sofia 0
FA Cup - Blackburn 1 Manchester United 3 (Rovers are in Division 1)
League Cup - West Ham 1 Crystal Palace 2 (Hammers are also a Division 1 side)
Vans Trophy - Bradford 2 Watford 0
FA Trophy - Southport 0 Southend 1
Premier League - Leeds champions, Fulham runners up. Portsmouth, Boltom & West Brom relegated.
Division 1 - West Ham champions, Southampton & Wolves promoted. Peterborough, QPR & Hull relegated.
Division 2 - Everton champions, Bradford & Birmingham promoted. Rushden, Lincoln, Crewe & Walsall relegated.
Division 3 - Woking champions, Brighton, Bristol Rovers & Hartlepool promoted. Rotherham relegated to Conference.


Back to the run in. First match, a single goal home win against Dagenham. Both Hereford and Telford draw so we go top by a point. Hereford's long unbeaten run ends next game, and they are out of sorts for the remaining games, scraping together a couple of results. It's effectively down to Telford and ourselves, the spectre of finishing second is looming again...
But no, we go on a winning streak and start to pull clear, then the 40th match of the season, a crunch encounter at New Bucks Head...

Telford United 0 Billericay Town 1. Valey scores on the hour, a victory which gives us a seven point advantage and therefore Billericay are Conferenc Champions!!!

Here's how the final table looks (those who don't like tables, look away now!)

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ********************************************** English Conference - Saturday 2nd May 2015********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2014/5 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Billericay ******** 42 14 6 1 33 13 13 6 2 35 14 93 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Hereford 42 12 7 2 37 17 12 7 2 36 17 86 3rd Telford 42 14 3 4 34 18 11 8 2 35 16 86 4th Halifax 42 13 6 2 40 21 8 9 4 21 15 78 5th Doncaster 42 12 5 4 32 20 10 6 5 39 27 77 6th Hayes 42 9 9 3 41 26 9 3 9 38 38 66 7th Stockport 42 11 5 5 24 16 6 9 6 20 16 65 8th Halesowen 42 10 8 3 32 25 8 3 10 24 29 65 9th Southend 42 11 4 6 31 26 7 6 8 29 30 64 10th Huddersfield 42 9 7 5 29 19 6 6 9 27 32 58 11th Dagenham 42 8 7 6 30 28 7 4 10 27 34 56 12th Bury 42 8 6 7 33 30 5 10 6 25 27 55 13th Carlisle 42 11 4 6 31 27 3 7 11 26 38 53 14th Hastings 42 10 5 6 31 23 3 8 10 20 31 52 15th Crawley 42 8 6 7 25 19 5 5 11 29 41 50 16th Southport 42 6 6 9 25 30 6 6 9 27 31 48 17th Ashton 42 7 8 6 35 35 4 6 11 29 40 47 18th Margate 42 7 5 9 30 33 4 7 10 20 28 45 19th Cheltenham 42 4 11 6 30 28 5 6 10 23 35 44 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20th R Chippenham 42 6 4 11 25 33 2 3 16 16 41 31 21st R Hendon 42 2 4 15 19 38 2 8 11 21 36 24 22nd R Chesham 42 1 7 13 25 53 0 0 21 11 56 10 </pre>Poor Chesham! I've never seen a team go all season without getting a single point away from home.
The partying on the streets and in the pubs of Billericay goes long into the night, but then shortly after the realisation that the ground isn't big enough for the Football League. Now we have to sit tight and wait and hope that the board do the right thing and make the stadium bigger.
In the mean time, Scot signs on a Bosman, moving to Colchester who are in Division 1. Valey is again Player of the Season and I make him a player/coach when one of my coaches won't renew his contract. Another won't either, so I sack them both and replace the second with a good Welsh coach in his 50s.
I decide M C is a weak area so I sign a M C from Wimbledon (D2) and smash my transfer record by raiding First Division Blackpool and paying £200,000 for one of theirs.
Ford United, Grantham Town & Runcorn FC Halton get promoted to the Conference...
The board increase our ground capacity and Billericay Town will play Division 3 football next season.

retired_brittni10

Told you :p

WAHGERTY!11 btw

retired_sandra

It was about time I crashed the Football League party that was going on in nearby Canvey Island

To be fair to Chesham, they did manage to get one more point than Weymouth did two seasons previous.

No matter who I play, whether it's Chesham or it's Chelsea, I always play attractive, attacking football as it's how I believe football should be played. After all, fans pay good money to watch their team, so they deserve to be entertained too.
Having said that though, both my D C's in my championship winning season averaged nearly 8, whilst my (now former) record signing has proved to be a better keeper than the one who had to retire with a back injury. Then of course there is Valey who bangs them in like there is no tomorrow.
At the end of the day, I met my criteria for my team (which I won't reveal as it's tipping) last season and then worked on the rest.

Division 3 update shortly...

[This message was edited by Nobby_McDonald on 12 February 2003 at 23:05.]

retired_sandra

OK, OK... the debate has been raging on concerning update threads, with the longer standing members preferring short updates and newbies preferring long updates. I like writing and think I am good at it and I like league tables - it shows people how you're doing compared to other teams (such as teams who were previous promoted ahead of you) and someone's favourite team might be in there too. So I'm going to be stupid and aim for a happy medium... No more match reports... a written update every session which will be probably 20-30 lines in the posting box with a league table and closing comments... which no doubt in due course will end up pleasing nobody... so any comments which way or what will be welcome...

That said...

Thirteenth Update - Essex's Newest League Club

The close and pre season saw around half a dozen or so first teamers and squad members refusing to sign a new contract, so off they went. Valey, my new keeper & the club captain are all happy, however, NOR D C is no longer happy I want him to stay and has requested a transfer. I reluctantly say yes but am demanding at least half a million and have replaced him with a young Englishman.
The League campaign started at home to York, New Lodge's first ever League match. We drew 1-1 with our first victory coming in the next game, a 4-1 win at Wycombe. This set up pretty much how the rest of the session went, New Lodge proving to be a place where teams don't want to visit whilst we've not done too bad on our travels either.
Gates have risen dramatically, average around 4,300 with our highest being 5,325 against Macclesfield.
My new M C's have fitted in well, young English D C is playing very well and is now keeping out the NOR D C on merit rather than the fact I'm at him. And Valey keeps knocking them in, he's past 100 for the club and he's got a new partner, a player who couldn't get into Darlington's side but he's proving a snip at £30,000.
In the cups, we beat Wycombe in the League Cup 1st Round before losing to Millwall at home. In the FA Cup we upset QPR at Loftus Road and face another Division 2 side away in the very next match, we're off to the seaside to play Brighton. In the Vans Trophy we beat Wycombe for the third time this season. They must hate us!

The important (or dreaded depending on your opinions) league table...

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ********************************************** English Third Division - Tuesday 8th December 2015********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2015/6 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Wrexham 20 8 1 1 19 8 4 2 4 18 14 39 2nd Aldershot 20 7 0 4 22 13 5 2 2 17 15 38 3rd Crewe 20 6 2 2 14 7 4 5 1 20 14 37 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4th Billericay ******** 20 6 4 0 23 8 4 2 4 13 9 36 5th Mansfield 20 6 3 2 20 13 3 5 1 11 8 35 6th Wimbledon 20 6 1 3 14 8 5 1 4 13 10 35 7th Preston 20 7 1 1 15 3 3 3 5 11 11 34 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8th Chesterfield 20 8 1 1 18 8 1 6 3 6 8 34 9th Rochdale 19 6 4 0 15 5 3 1 5 6 10 32 10th Kidderminster 20 5 3 2 14 10 4 1 5 14 16 31 11th Canvey Island 20 6 3 1 16 7 3 0 7 11 19 30 12th Lincoln 20 4 3 3 12 7 3 5 2 11 9 29 13th Barnet 20 4 4 2 15 10 4 1 5 15 19 29 14th Wycombe 20 3 2 5 11 17 4 5 1 14 11 28 15th Torquay 20 5 1 4 10 8 3 2 5 10 16 27 16th York 20 4 3 3 13 11 1 4 5 10 18 22 17th Walsall 20 3 2 5 11 15 3 2 5 6 12 22 18th Scarborough 20 2 5 3 13 17 2 2 6 10 14 19 19th Cambridge 20 2 2 5 10 13 3 2 6 11 23 19 20th Rushden 20 1 5 4 10 14 3 1 6 9 13 18 21st Macclesfield 19 4 2 2 9 8 0 4 7 7 18 18 22nd Shrewsbury 20 1 3 7 6 21 4 0 5 8 9 18 23rd Exeter 20 1 5 4 10 14 2 2 6 10 20 16 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------24th Port Vale 20 2 0 8 12 24 1 2 7 8 16 11 </pre>

It makes very nice reading to me. A very good start to life in the League and we are 4th in the table nearly halfway through. Nobody is proving too strong for the rest so there is every chance of a playoff place at the end and I'm hopeful for promotion.
As a bonus, the bottom makes excellent reading for a Stoke fan such as myself. Especially as Stoke are currently mid-table in the Premier League

In closing, there are two ways I can post my tables. One is like I am doing, the other is via a link to my Geocities site, providing it's still active as I've not used it for ages. A decisive majority will rule... cast your vote!