Two bits of fun you may want to join in and compete against other AFC Wimbledon fans, or Ryman Fans. 1st The FA Premier League site has a fantasy football competition and an AFC Wimbledon league has been set up so far 86 teams have been registered, will you be heading for the Champions League or a Relegation battle? to register go to http://www.premierleague.com/ and select fantasy football once you have registered your team and kit you will be given the option to join a league at this point enter the registration number 31666-6657 the competition starts on 13th August is free to enter and you can make transfers through the season if your selection isn't that good.
Last season 'Old Isthmian' forecasting fun for Ryman 1 was very popular a prediction of number of points a team would end up with is given and you have to say if the team will get more or less, you can buy or sell your selection each day if you want or just track one team once again all a bit of fun but something for you to see how good you are at predicting to sign up and take part go to http://afcw.foto.co.uk/ and select forecast from the top menu.
Sorry for the delay in the poll question of 69 votes 75% of people said they were attending the game against Football club United of Manchester. This weeks question is to do with the new roof that is about to be put up on the athletics end of the ground, work should start tomorrow (Monday 1st August). so the question is "Do you think the Athletics end will become the new popular terrace to stand on once the roof is finished?" to vote please use the link on the left hand menu. I have added more than 2 options that should "cover" everyone.
This afternoon we played out a 1-1 draw at Ashford Town Middlesex, Of the two half's we played better in thee first half and on my limited knowledge of football I thought, ricci Crace and Richard Butler linked up well and Amadou Kouman worked hard during the game. The goal came about when Richard Butler managed to lift the ball over the oncoming keeper and into the back of the net.
in the second half with a number of substitutions made we seemed to lose our shape a bit. Ashford should off been awarded a penalty when one of the strikers was pulled back and stopped him reaching the ball but the linesman didn't give anything. He perhaps evened things up when Ashford crossed the ball into the box and scored and at least 2 players were offside and both touched the ball, the ashford people near me agreed that it was offside but it's the match officials decision that counts and he gave the goal.
With no first team action this midweek I would imagine that Dave will be taking another look at the squad and possibly signing a few more of the players up as he tries to put his squad together before the season starts in just 3 weeks time.
This afternoon we are off to Ashford Town Middlesex in a game that could be the first of two in the next 2 months as we could well face them in the FA Cup if they beat Whyteleafe. As usual the updates will be in operation and should get under way from about 14:30 with the team news. To keep up to date with the action please use the Matchday link above.
After 335 minutes, or over 5 hours, of action in pre-season this year the reserves finally scored their first goal of the season the honour went to Leon Mcdowall who scored from close range after a great cross by Freddie Myers who was one of a number of last years under 18's squad to be involved tonight. the second goal was scored by Joe Paris who hit a lovely goal from around 30 yards to seal a nice win against Westfield.
Westfield is a lovely club and the people who went down had a great evening and were made very welcome in the bar.
If you fancy watching some football on Friday evening the reserves are in action down at Westfield Football Club with a 19:30 kick off. So far this pre-season the reserve squad has had a large contingent of the Under 18's champion winning squad of last season as well as a few players who need added match fitness.
The bar at Westfield is always very welcoming and it's only a short walk down the hill to the ground. If you cant make the game I will be posting score updates on the matchday service.
The link to amazon has just paid out the commission earned for the period ending June 2005 and I am pleased to announce that the amount earn was £183.99 this will be passed directly on to the stadium fund so a big thanks to everyone who has used the link to purchase items.
Last night we secured a 2-0 victory over Kingstonian's in the 'Trevor Jones Memorial Trophy' we took the lead on 20 minutes when Wayne finnie took a long throw from and Steve Butler got his head to it and glanced it home. The second goal was a lovely finish by Sean Hillier.
Josh Lennie in goal made a number of good saves for us in the match but the only concern was Richard Butler going off in the first half after a number of hard challenges, he hopes to be ok for Saturday's game against his old club ashford Town Middx.
Radio Five Live have just finished a report (20:15) on saturday's game including comments from fans, Sports writers including Mick Dennis of the Express and Henry Winter off the Telegraph as well as Kris stewart if you didn't catch it you can hear it now by clicking here The file is 5.7mb and over 10 minutes long.
I wouldn't normally promote something like this but already over 50 people have entered in a AFC Wimbledon supporters league, this is your chance to try and beat the best and Rob Ursell :) in picking a team throughout the season that will get the most points via a fantasy football league.
the competition is free to enter and to join all you need to do is sign up at the following link http://fantasy.premierleague.com/info.html once you have entered your team it will ask you if you wish to join a league at this point enter the following code 31666-6657 and you will be added to the list of participants, you wont be able to view other teams line up's yet but you can see the team strips people have selected.
Sky Sports news have today been showing a 2 minute feature and thanks to the Donsonline team you can view it by clicking here this includes the goal but it is 28.8mb in size, I will try and produce a lower quality version for people who may not be able to download such a large file.
Saturday was a great day, I will admit in advance I thought it was going to be very one sided game but thee FC United set-up is very strong perhaps they have even learnt from our first season and know they need to get off to a very strong start to gain promotion. The FC United fans were in excellent voice all afternoon whilst the fans who didn't make the trip listened to Radio Wdon and enjoyed every minute of it.
We played better in the second half and a well worked goal was set up by Amadou Kouman who played a lovely ball through to Ricci Crace who with the help of a deflection lofted it over the keeper and into the back of the net.
At the end of the day a good day was had by everyone present and with a nice number of journalists present some good media coverage for both teams.
If your looking to purchase items that you would usually buy on the high street, for example, books, cd's, DVD's or even electrical items don't forget that if they are sold via AMAZON you can earn commission for the Stadium fund all you need to do is click the amazon link on any page and then make your purchases and commission is added to the account before being passed on directly to the fund.
This afternoon the long awaited FC United game is taking place, and it looks like a full house is on the cards. The game is due to start at 15:00 but kick off may be delayed even though the turnstiles are being opened early, if you are coming to the game please arrive early so that everyone who volunteers can get in and what the whole game.
If you cant make the game both the text update service and Radio Wdon will be in operation, to view the text updates please click the matchday link at the top of the page or if you are able to listen to sound as well please click the Radio Wdon on the left of the screen, the Radio Wdon broadcast will be up and running from around 14:00 and the text updates from around 14:15. once the starting line ups are known.
On Tuesday evening we beat Hanwell Town 4-1 thanks to goals from, Nathan Stamp, Michael Woolner, shane smeltz and Ricki Crace. It seemed a fairly comfortable evening work out although in the second half we were tested a bit with the pace of a number of french trialists. the pick of 4 good goals was a ball down the middle that Shane Smeltz ran on to from the half way line and fired home past the keeper.
Dave Anderson has said that after tonight's game he would sit down and work out which players would remain to be considered for the start of the season, well I reckon it could be a tough choice, but best of luck to him.
Tonight we take on Hanwell Town who play just of the A40 in West London. If your planning on going to the game the suggested route is central line "Underground" to Greenford and then 1 stop on the "over ground" to South Greenford from there it looks like its about a 5 minute walk and you can see both the station on the left of the map and the ground is just below the word WEST of the big green road going down the middle of the page and can be seen here
If you cant make the game the text updates will be in operation from around 119:15
Well tonight was a good run and a chance for a bit more game time for the players picked in tonight's squad. The score line was always going to be a bit one sided but these games are more about individual performances and how players can play as a team than the over all score line.
Cobham is a nice ground but with no stand to sit in and do the updates for both here and The Official Site we had to improvise and so with the help of a strategically placed picnic table almost on the edge of the pitch I had a great view and only one moment that looked like the laptop would be in lots of bits as the ball came flying towards me. Below is a picture taken via my mobile that shows how close I was to the pitch.
The Main talking points were 2 goals for Scott forrester who then went on to have a penalty saved by the keeper. A Richard Butler goal followed by possibly one of the worse missed open goals you will have of seen in the last two games, Richard rounded the keeper was about 6 yards out and just had to tap it in but somehow he managed to put it wide. The other two goals in the second half were from Matt Yorke and Amadou Kouman.
It was nice to see a few of the Reserve players get a chance as well and Mark King almost got on the score sheet but his effort was turned away from goal just before crossing the line.
Tonight we visit Cobham in our Second pre-season game and the updates via the matchday link will be in operation from around 19:15 tonight where I will bring you all the action as it happens. If you haven't used the updates before click the Matchday link above and you can follow the game on your screen.
With us back at Kingsmeadow on Saturday the Dons Trust table will once again be collection the spare change boxes, old mobile phones and any old printer cartridges that you may have, the phones and printer cartridges (laser type) are recycled and raise funds for the stadium fund. If you do have any of these or can get any from offices you may work in bring them to the Dons Trust table in the back bar and they will be more than happy to take them off you.
At this time of year games come thick and fast and the game is on Monday night when we visit Cobham FC the nearest train station is Cobham & Stoke D'Abernon the two recommended trains from Wimbledon are either the 18:19 or the 18:49 these are due to arrive at 18:44 and 19:11 its a good 20 minutes walk from memory so it may be worth getting a cab from the station to the ground although if you get the early train and it's a sunny evening it's a very pleasant walk. A map showing the route from the station can be found here. In terms of the Journey home trains Depart Cobham & Stoke D'Abernon station at 58 and 28 minutes past the hour and arrive back in wimbledon 22 minutes later.
Just like to remind people about the benefits of ordering items from Amazon after pressing the links on this site, not only do you make some nice savings on normal high street prices but every sale sees a commission paid to me which is passed directly on to The Dons Trust stadium Fund. so if you are looking for any items, from Books,CD and DVD's through to household appliances click the link and then any subsequent purchases in that visit will earn commission.
Thanks to Stuart Deacons below are some pictures that he took at the game yesterday. By clicking on any of the pictures a new window will open with a large version of the picture 800 by 600 pixels.
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The first pre-season game and a trip to the coast was very nice, the good thing about pre-season is that all the normal rules go out the window. where subs are usually limited to 3 players from 5 in pre-season it would appear that if you bring your boots it's possible you may get a game.
Before the game started I was given a sheet of paper that listed the line up at the bottom of the sheet was the second half team this would end up being 9 new players before the two other were replaced and then just for good fun a player from the first half came back on, add in a case that one shirt number was used by two players and if you weren't confused by the start you will be now.
It's always difficult to judge pre-season games but our first goal came about on 10 minutes when Sonny Farr latched on to a Antony Howard ball up the pitch and finished nicely. We had to wait until about the 8th minute of injury time (This was very strange) when Andy Douglas scored a cracker of a goal when he curled the ball in from around 25 yards out and from almost near the touch line, it was a brilliant goal and rounded off a very good performance.
So a nice early start today with our first pre-season game away at Bognor Regis and being a lunchtime kick off (12:30 BST) the text updates will be starting early, I would guess at round about 11:45 when I will try and keep you up to date with the line up and the traditional pre-season fun of almost unlimited substitutions.
If you haven't used the matchday live service click the 'matchday' link above and that ill bring you text updates direct from the game the page should automatically refresh every 2 minutes with the most recent events at the top of the page. so even if you cant make the game you can keep an eye on the action as it happens.
As mentioned with large groups of substitutions it can be difficult but you will be able to follow all the major action as it happens.
The official site has put together a basic pen pics section of the players that will be involved over the next few games and then possibly during the season. It's worth remembering that all players have to re-register for the new season and therefore it's possible that some of the players mentioned may not be involved when the season starts on the 20th August.
saturday Morning will involve an early start for out 12:30 kick off at Bognor Regis Town. The train route from Wimbledon sends you via Clapham Junction and also requires a quick change at Barnham station. But for an arrival by 11:30 the suggested departure times from Clapham Junction the 09:08 and after a quick change of trains at Barnham should arrive in Bognor at 10:48 Once in Bognor the ground is about 1 mile from the station and here are two maps for a route the first one shows you street level and can be found here the second one is a satellite map and shows how close the ground and station with the same route is to the seaside to view click here. With the game kicking off at 12:30 it will be finished mid afternoon trains depart Bognor at 8 minutes past the hour and after another change at Barnham arrive back at clapham Junction about 1 hour 40 minutes later.
So now we have the fixture list and a chance t see the squad back in action it should be a great day out.
The suggestion was that the 2005/06 season fixtures would be announced first thing on thursday morning but following the release of the first few games and a bit of detective work the complete fixture list has been announced and has now been added to the fixture page above. For the moment I need to tidy it up but it's a start.
Just wanted to wish best of luck to a number of players that have recently departed the club the first three are Gavin Bolger, Steve Gibson & Joe Sheerin it's a great shame that they have left the club where they all played a huge part of our history, although a suggestion is going round that Gavin and Steve could be joining Joe at Croydon Athletic next season.
Next to go is Keith Ward not only scored the winning goal in our first Combined Counties game at Sandhurst, cleared the ball off the line with an overhead kick, against AFC Wallingford in the 3-2 victory when some wallingford people thought it had crossed the line. Then last season he was assistant to Nicky English and the Under 18's team it was clear to see the respect the players had for Wardy and one of the funniest moments was when a picture of Keith in his playing days was bought in and the lads had a good laugh at him. Keith is going to Raynes Park Vale next season so will still be in the area lets hope we see him down at Kingsmeadow some time, and cheers for all your help Keith.
It would appear that Chris Gell has returned to Northwood a club where he was at for 10 years. 'Gelly' has always been involved with events at Northwood and seeing him at the Charity game at the end of last season it was clear he still gets on with everyone at the club. For someone who only played 1 season with us he made a big impact and lets hope we meet Northwood in the Trophy so we can pass on our thanks.
Just to give you a plan of action for the next week, as well as updating the calendar and Fixture list one the full list is announced I will also be putting up Travel details for the games on Saturday Lunchtime, as well as Monday and Tuesday evenings. Then of course from saturday the live text updates will be starting if you haven't used them before they bring you live text updates from any game that I attend and update every 2 minutes automatically or when ever you refresh your screen so if you cant make the games you can always follow the action as it happens.
It looks like by the end of the week we will have the fixtures for the 2005/06 season. I believe one of the reasons for the delay was that the Ryman and Southern Leagues needed to check that they didn't have Northwood and Wealdstone both playing at home on the same date as they are sharing Northwood's ground this season.
The Southern League announced their fixture list on Monday Morning so hopefully Thee Ryman League are just putting any last minute changes before issuing the full fixture list.
Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll when the question was "Where do you think we will finish in the Ryman League In The 2005/06 season" The result was as follows: -
1. Champions 15 Votes (14%)
2. 2nd - 5th Promoted 45 Votes (42%)
3. 2nd - 5th Not Promoted 31 Votes (29%)
4. 6th - 10th 17 Votes (16%)
5. 11th - 15th 0 Votes (0%)
6. 16th - 19th 0 Votes (0%)
7. 20th - 22nd 0 Votes (0%)
The link to amazon on the right hand side is a good way to raise funds for the club whilst picking up a bargain or two in the process. Everything you buy from the amazon store after clicking the link raises funds for the club so click the link and have a look around, not forgetting it's not just books amazon sell.
A couple of bookmakers are offering odds on the winner of the Ryman Premier League for the 2005/06 season and they have come up with the following prices: -
AFC Wimbledon 4/1 - 3/1 --- Billericay Town 15/2 - 7/1
Braintree Town 7/1 - 6/1 --- Fisher Athletic 13/2 - 10/1
Heybridge Swifts 12/1 - 12/1 --- Leyton 16/1 - 14/1
Margate 16/1 - 16/1 --- Chelmsford City 18/1 - 14/1
Hendon 20/1 - 20/1 --- Slough 20/1 - 20/1
Hampton 25/1 - 16/1 --- Staines Town 16/1 - 25/1
Worthing 25/1 - 20/1 --- Bromley 33/1 - 33/1
Folkestone 33/1 - 33/1 --- Redbridge 33/1 - 33/1
Windsor & Eton 33/1 - 33/1 --- East Thurrock 25/1 - 40/1
Harrow Borough 41 - 34 --- Maldon Town 20/1 - 40/1
Walton & Hersham 25/1 - 50/1 --- Wealdstone 50/1 - 66/1
One of the two bookies prices shown above originally had Fisher at 25/1 and then the price came in to 14/1 and now you can see it's a lot lower.
With a week before the first pre-season game get's under way I thought it would be a good time to go down to the training ground and see how the team is settling in for the new season.
Things look like they are shaping up nicely. As well as the new boys of Andy Little, Matt Yorke and Barry Moore a number of trialists were present and it's going to be a difficult job to pick a team for the season.
The session lasted from 10:00 to about 13:30 and started off with a warm up run before a number of small sided exercises were undertaken involving 1 touch passing and headers. They were then split into three groups and as one group sat out the next exercise the other two played a game on a small pitch where the aim was to progress the ball up the pitch via different areas i.e. a defender could pass to a midfielder and the midfielder to attacker but all the time the player could only progress forward one area.
Once each team had played against the other group a full size practice game was played and then the session came to an end with a warm down session. It looked a good session that although was hard work the players seemed to enjoy.
With the first pre-season game taking place next Saturday this week will see a lot more activity on the site as we build up to the start of the 2005/06 season.
Congratulations to Matt Couper and the cast of A Fans Club who put on a brilliant show in front of approximately 500 people at Wimbledon Theatre. It was nice to see not only supporters, new players, and some old heroes as well including Roger Joseph who was well chuffed with his mention he got during the show.
The cast seemed amazed at the reception it got especially at the end when they got a well deserved standing ovation. Lets hope we get a chance to put the show on at Kingsmeadow at some time as for people who saw the original version but missed this one a fair amount of the show has changed.
Although the fixture list for the 2005/06 season was due to be announced on Thursday reports on a few message boards suggest that they have been delayed and they now hope to get them announced by Thursday 14th July. As soon as I am aware of them various parts of the site will be updated.
This Friday sees the show "A Fans Club" performed in the main Wimbledon Theatre in a one off performance so lets pack the theatre out and support this brilliant show more information can be found by clicking here. Ticket prices are £10 and £15 for the show.
At the end of last month another Amazon reporting period came to an end and therefore shortly commission will be paid to me and then passed on directly to the stadium fund. Early indications are that around £175.00 has been raised which is a new record and even beats the christmas sales from the end of last year. So a big thanks to everyone who has used the store and don't forget that every purchases after clicking the amazon link earns money.
With the preparations for the new season about to go into full swing I thought I would post a new poll question. So first of all the result of the poll that has been running.
The question was "Are you pleased with the Signings so far?" and the results were: -
1. Yes - Good signings. 39 Votes (64%)
2. Not Sure Don't know the players 14 Votes (23%)
3. OK But need more signings. 7 Votes (11%)
4. No - Not Good enough players. 1 Vote (2%)
The new question is "Where do you think we will finish in the Ryman League In The 2005/06 season" the options are: -
1) Champions
2) 2nd - 5th Promoted
3) 2nd 5th Not Promoted
4) 6th - 10th
5) 11th - 15th
6) 16th - 19th
7) 20th - 22nd
To vote in the poll please click the link on the left hand menu or click here.
A potential 7 cup games were announced today in FA Competitions for the first team and Youth side so lets try and break these down starting with the easy ones first.
THE FA Cup This year we enter at the First Qualifying round where we will get a chance to play a team we play only a month earlier in a pre-season game, in Ashford Town (Middx) or our friends from Whyteleafe Football Club, either way it should bee a good day at Kingsmeadow.
The FA Trophy In the FA trophy we have had the first two rounds announced in the first qualifying round we have been drawn at home to Kings Lynn, who for a large part of the end of last season was suggested that they could be in the Ryman Premier division for the 2005/06 season, The winners of that are then away to the Winners of either Northwood or Ramsgate.
The FA Youth Cup Right this is where it get confusing as all the rounds up to the 1st Round Proper have been drawn and the route we would need to take to get that far is a complicated one.
To start with a game away to Camberley Town The winners then progress I am sure someone will work out the total number of different permutations that we could face if we progress all the way through.
By this time next week we should have the league fixtures to work out as well. The confirmed games have been added to the Calendar section of the site.
And play Erith & Belvedere if we were to win the first two games we the progress and play Sandhurst Town or Thatcham Town
