Author Archives: FWA editor

Vanarama National League column – April 4

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Easter by Luke Coulson, Ebbsfleet United and FWA member

On Easter weekend, children across the country ran round their gardens screaming and shouting as they tried to claim all the hidden Easter eggs. Similarly, but without the chocolate ending, teams from across the Vanarama National League ran around screaming and shouting as they tried to claim all the bank holiday weekend points.

With two games in four days and the end of the season closing in on us, Easter weekend provides a huge opportunity for clubs to establish their position in the league or move further up the table.

On Good Friday, I was excited at the prospect of playing against my former team Eastleigh; the club that introduced me to Vanarama National League football. However, a waterlogged pitch meant that the game was postponed, allowing my team mates and me to rest for the bank holiday Monday clash against Dover.

Before kick-off, our not so distant rivals were precariously sat in 7th position, seven points ahead yet having played two games more. Therefore, as we arrived at Stonebridge Road, we knew the game was vital to keep our aspirations alive of claiming a playoff spot this season.

It must have been clear to the 1,700 fans in attendance how desperate we were to win as we raised our performance levels to fit the occasion. Having not lost since early February, our confidence was high and we dominated the game, urged on by the Ebbsfleet faithful.

Dean Rance and Andy Drury were instrumental in the centre of midfield, while Danny Kedwell somehow, yet unsurprisingly, handled three central defenders allowing Whiteley and me the freedom to express ourselves in a must-win game. However, the score remained 0-0 at half time owing to a fantastic display by the Dover goalkeeper, Mitch Walker.

After the break, our constant pressure caused the breakthrough. An overhit corner allowed Sean Shields to take the ball on to his left foot and his low driven shot finally gave us the lead. I must admit that I expected Dover to begin to chase the game and pile on the pressure, yet we looked comfortable for the remaining half an hour until disaster struck in the 93rd minute.

Having been substituted with five minutes to go, it was agony to watch from the bench as the referee pointed to the spot and awarded Dover a penalty in additional time. I pulled the coat over my head and hoped to hear a cheer from the home crowd but it was the away fans that began to sing.

Watching helplessly from the bench, we were rewarded a free-kick with a minute to go. Myles Weston stood over the ball and his inch perfect delivery led to a scramble in the box before the ball fell to the hero, Andy Drury, whose composed left foot shot nestled in the far corner as the passionate celebrations began. A goal we deserved and most importantly, needed.

The final whistle blew and relief flooded throughout the stadium. The result continues our surge towards the playoffs, maintains our excellent current form and builds excitement for our next game live on BT Sport against league leaders, Macclesfield. 

Women’s Footballer of the Year shortlist

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Five members of Phil Neville’s England squad have been voted on to the shortlist for the FWA’s inaugural Women’s Footballer of the Year award. The short-list was chosen by a 22-strong expert panel, drawn from members of the Football Writers’ Association who report on women’s football.

The five are (in alphabetical order): Lucy Bronze (Lyon), Isobel Christiansen (Manchester City), Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal), Jodie Taylor (Arsenal/Melbourne City/Seattle Reign)

Two young English players, Millie Bright (Chelsea) and Nikita Parris (Man City) were very close to making the cut, as was Arsenal’s Dutch striker Vivianne Miedema.

Votes were also received by (in alphabetical order, English unless stated): Eni Aluko (Chelsea), Toni Duggan (Barcelona), Ji So-yun (Chelsea & South Korea), Hedvig Lindahl (Chelsea & Sweden), Maren Mjelde (Chelsea & Norway), Lucy Staniforth (Sunderland), Keira Walsh (Man City), Ellen White (Birmingham City).

The winner will be announced later in the season, after further deliberations.

SHORT-LIST

Lucy Bronze (Lyon) . Voted into the team of the tournament at Euro 2016 after which she left Manchester City for Lyon, the French and European champions. Defender who led England at the recent She Believes Cup.

 

Isobel Christiansen (Manchester City)  Maturing attacking midfielder who creates and scores goals. Joined from Birmingham City in 2014 and has been a key figure in Manchester City’s rise.

 

Fran Kirby (Chelsea) . Leading scorer this season with 15 goals in 20 domestic appearances. Signed by Chelsea from Reading for a rumoured record fee in 2015 and scored consistently since.

 

Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal) England vice-captain who shone at Euro 2016 and has been at the heart of Arsenal’s revival. Midfielder with a penchant for spectacular goals.

 

Jodie Taylor (Arsenal/Melbourne City/Seattle Reign) Golden Boot winner at Euro 2016 who has since scored for Arsenal, Melbourne City (including the winner in the W-League Grand Final), and now Seattle.

The FWA’s panel will meet again to decide on the winner ahead of the Footballer of the Year dinner on May 10th

 

Football Book of the Year

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Biographies of some of the most successful football managers, past and present, dominate the Football Writers’ Association Book of the Year Award Longlist for 2018.

Now sponsored by Coutts, it is one of 10 categories within the Sports Book Awards Ceremony which takes place at Lord’s Cricket Ground on June 7th.

A total of 12 books made the shortlist, selected by members of the FWA’s books committee, and eight of the authors were present at Coutts’ offices on the Strand for a the announcement on Monday March 19th.

Sir Matt Busby by FWA Chairman Patrick Barclay and Quiet Genius (Life of Bob Paisley) by Ian Herbert will compete in the football book category with David Bolchover’s The Greatest Comeback, the story of Bela Guttmann. Each are European Cup-winning managers, a feat that remains elusive to Mauricio Pochettino, the exciting young coach at Spurs and subject of Brave New World by Sky Sports La Liga pundit Guillem Balague, another FWA member.

Stephen Constantine is a lesser-known veteran coach of six different national teams in four continents. His story, written with Owen Amos, From Delhi to the Den: The Story of Football’s Most Travelled Manager continues the strong managerial theme running through the list.

Last year’s Autobiography of the Year award winner at the Sports Book Awards, Michael Calvin who co-authored Joey Barton’s life story, is longlisted again with No Hunger in Paradise, the third part in his much celebrated trilogy of football writing. James Montague is another previous winner and his book, The Billionaires Club, takes a delve into the unstoppable rise of football’s super rich owners while Martin Lipton’s White Hart Lane provides football fans with a complete history of Tottenham Hotspur’s home  before it re-opens after redevelopment next season.

Tom van Hulsen’s Game Changers – The Remarkable Story of Dutch Masters Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen, celebrates  two great Ipswich Town midfield maestros while Doctor Socrates by Andrew Downie chronicles the maverick, iconic captain of the greatest Brazil side never to win the World Cup. David Tossell’s Alan Ball: The Man in White Boots completes the midfield quartet for the 2018 longlist.

James Corbett’s Faith Of Our Families: Everton FC –An Oral History 1878-2018 is a book told by the people who made the great Merseyside club and completes the long list.

David Willis, Chairman of the Sports Book Awards said: ‘We are delighted to be announcing the Football Writers’ Association Book of the Year Longlist and working in partnership with Coutts for the first time and the highly esteemed Football Writers’ Association.’

Simon Hopes, Director Coutts, in response said: ‘The business of football is very important to Coutts and we are very appreciative of the opportunity to partner with The Sports Book Awards and the Football Writers’ Association for the first time in FIFA World Cup year.’

Mike Collett, Chair of the Football Writers’ Association Books Committee, commented: “We’re incredibly impressed by the quality of this year’s football writing. So much so that we’ve decided to announce this longlist for the first time. We’re thrilled with the continued association with the Sports Book Awards team and by the new sponsorship from Coutts.

“Selecting the winner of this award gets harder every year” added Mike, “It reminds me of the Goal of the Season award — what is better a 30-yard screamer or a goal scored after a mazy run through the defence. ?  The same with these awards, the subjects are so diverse, how do you pick a winner ? The interesting part is that there are certain criteria we set, and the winner invariably meets all of them.
“The standard was so high this year that for the first time, with the backing of the Sports Book Awards organisation we have held a public Long List  launch with eight of the 12 nominated authors able to discuss their work on a panel chaired by FWA Book Committee member Philippe Auclair. It was a fantastic night at Coutts Bank, and many thanks to them and their staff for making the evening such a memorable one.”

The winners of the 2018 Sports Book of the Year Awards will be announced at a gala awards dinner to take place at Lord’s Cricket Ground on the evening of June 7th.


The Sports Book of the Year Awards partners include Sky Sports, The Times, Thomson Reuters, AT Cross and Coutts. The final short lists for the 2018 Sports Book of the Year Awards will be announced at a further reception at Coutts Strand branch on May 10th 2018.

www.sportsbookawards.com

Vanarama Column March 14 – Dover Athletic

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Chris Kinnear’s remarkable journey – by Glenn Moore

Chris Kinnear was 31 when he first managed Dover, stepping up as caretaker with the Kent club between managers. Kinnear, who was still playing for the Whites at the time, thought it was a temporary appointment.

That was in 1985. Kinnear went on to manage Dover for ten years, leading them from the Southern League, Southern Division to the National League (then Conference). He then took a break for personal reasons, scouted briefly for Mick McCarthy at Wolves, then spent a dozen years across two spells at Margate – winning two more promotions into the Conference.

Early in 2013 Kinnear returned to Crabble, Dover’s ground perched on a hilltop outside the town. He soon took them them back into the Vanarama National League. Despite two factors which make it hard to attract and retain players – a small budget by the standards of the division, and geographical isolation – Dover are pushing for another promotion, this time into the Football League. They sit in the play-offs places ahead of hosting leaders Macclesfield on Saturday.

Kinnear is now 63. Throughout his time in management he has been a teacher, at Stepney Green, East London. This is possible as Dover are part-time, one of the few such clubs left in the Vanarama National League. Kinnear has said the day job has helped his ability to manage a football club;  many of the people skills are transferrable, and he has even taken ideas from other sports encountered as a PE teacher.

In their three seasons back in the Vanarama National League Dover have finished eighth, fifth and sixth. This despite having to regularly rebuild the squad. Stefan Payne was top scorer the first two seasons. He was out of contract and turned down the offer of a new deal to sign with Barnsley and is now at Shrewsbury Town. Ricky Miller took on the mantle scoring an incredible 45 goals in 46 matches last season. Similarly Miller also rejected the offer of a new deal and made the step up to join Peterborough (he is now on loan to Mansfield having failed to score in League One). Ryan Bird, 30 years old and released by Newport County, arrived. He is top-scorer with 13 goals so far, though Dover’s success this season is built on a parsimonious defence led by former Gillingham centre-back Conor Essam. Only Wrexham have conceded fewer league goals.

Remarkably Essam is one of only three players in the 16-man squad Kinnear has fielded for Dover’s three matches, who were at the club last season, and even he was then on loan. Goalkeeper Mitch Walker was the longest-serving, having joined from Brighton in 2012, while striker Mitchell Pinnock came from Maidstone late in 2015. The rest were newly signed this season, including three loanees.

Last month master-builder Kinnear reached 1,500 matches in management, with a win-rate above 50 per cent. It is surprising a Football League club never took a chance on him, but non-League managers are often typecast. Usually the only way into the league is to be promoted into it. Achieving that with Dover would fulfil Kinnear’s remaining ambition. It could happen this year, but if not, there’s always next year, and the one after.

“I’m a long way from finishing,” Kinnear told BBC Radio Kent last month. “I don’t feel tired by it. I don’t feel different now to when I started, except I don’t make as many mistakes because I now have the experience to draw on.”

For more about Dover Athletic visit: http://www.doverathletic.com

For more about the Vanarama National League visit: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/

For great deals on car and van leasing visit: http://www.vanarama.co.uk/

Vanarama National League Column March 7 – Snow

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Snowbound – by Luke Coulson, FWA and Ebbsfleet United

Great Britain descended into chaos last week with the arrival of the ‘Beast from the East’ and Storm Emma. The cold weather resulted in heavy snowfall, blizzards and the postponement of our fifth straight win in the Vanarama National League. 

On Saturday, Stonebridge Road lay hidden under a thick layer of snow and therefore our home fixture against Wrexham was cancelled because of the poor weather conditions. 

However, the cancelled fixture meant that our manager, Daryl McMahon, rewarded us for our recent winning form with an unusual but well-received weekend off. 

Before the unscheduled time off, our longest consecutive winning run of the season was extended to four games after a 1-0 away win against Hartlepool. 

In the week leading up to the game, the former League Two side sacked their manager, Craig Harrison, following a midweek loss to Halifax. Therefore, we were fully anticipating Hartlepool to start the game on the front foot with their players trying to impress potential future managers. Yet, knowing what to expect and with our confidence soaring high after our three previous wins, we put on another dominating display. 

By our own admission, we weren’t ruthless enough in the first half as we missed four or five good chances and in all honesty, I was the culprit for a few of those missed opportunities. 
For one of those chances, a slight hesitation in the box led to the ball bobbling up off my left shin pad which allowed the defender to clear the ball. Luckily, that embarrassing moment didn’t cost the team. But, unfortunately for me, the highlight has since become a memorable video for the team to laugh about. 

However, I redeemed myself after 17 minutes when I assisted Dean Rance for his first goal of the season. Noticing his late run into the box, my cross to the back post found the head of Rance as he angled his header back across goal and gave us a deserved lead. 

Coming in at half-time with the score at 1-0, booing echoed around Victoria Park as the home fans voiced their disappointment at watching a commanding Ebbsfleet performance.

The second half was a dull affair compared to the first 45 minutes, but we didn’t care as we collected all three points for our journey home. 

In celebration of our victory, Nathan Ashmore blasted out some classic 80s tunes; much to the delight of our old school assistant manager, Steve Gritt. After my powerful and emotional initiation song at the start of the season, Rick Astley has remained a favourite in the changing room after a win. Hopefully, the words of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ will be sung again this coming weekend when we travel to Leyton Orient.

For more on the Vanarama National League, go to: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/

For great deals on car and van leasing visit: http://www.vanarama.co.uk

FWA members clean up at SJA Journalism Awards

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FWA Members scooped some of the top prizes once again at the Sports Journalists’ Association’s annual awards ceremony at the Park Plaza Westminster on Monday February 26.

Danny Taylor of the Guardian led the way with the most prestigious prize, as Sportswriter of the Year, as well as being voted Football writer of the Year.

Danny’s predecessor as Sportswriter of the Year for the past two years, Paul Hayward, won the Columnist of the Year category this time, while his Telegraph colleague Jeremy Wilson was voted Investigative Sports Reporter of the Year for his groundbreaking work highlighting the links between football and dementia.

The Mail’s Matt Lawton won Sports News Reporter for a remarkable fourth successive time, while the Regional Journalist award went to Chris Wathan who has just joined the BBC from Media Wales.

And there was a special award for David Walker, the outgoing Mirror sports editor, who won the Doug Gardner award for services to sports journalism.

Numerous FWA members were also shortlisted and commended in many categories. You can see a full list of the prize-winners at the SJA website here:

 https://www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/awards-news/the-guardians-taylor-takes-top-sja-honour/

Danny Taylor receives his Sportswriter of the Year award from FWA Life Member and SJA President Pat Collins

Vanarama Column Feb 28 – Boreham Wood

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by Glenn Moore

Meadow Park, Borehamwood, may not be the first stadium that springs to mind as a Champions League venue hosting international footballers, including world and Olympic champions. But that is because most of the above have been stars of women’s football, with Arsenal Women playing the majority of their home games at the 4,000 capacity stadium on the outskirts of London.

Now, though, it is the men who are aiming to put Meadow Park on the map. Arsenal’s hosts, Boreham Wood FC (the Hertfordshire town was originally spelled with two words, and the club has done so since formation in 1948) are beginning to dream of playing in the Football League.

Boreham Wood attract the lowest gates in the Vanarama National League averaging around 700. This reflects a relative lack of footballing heritage, strong local competition from established London league clubs, and the 32,000 population of Borehamwood. Yet crowds have more than doubled in the last three years and could be set for another boost. The club lie fifth in the Vanarama National League after taking 13 points from the last 15. The play-offs beckon. Having won their past two promotions through that route Boreham Wood can approach such a scenario with confidence, improbable though it would have seemed only a decade ago.

This is The Wood’s third season at the elite non-League level having not played above the Isthmian (now Bostik) League until 2010. Former Arsenal player Wayne Allinson steered them into the National League but quit early in the first season at the top after a poor start convinced chairman Danny Hunter the club needed to go full-time. This did not fit with the work commitments of Allinson who now manages Vanarama National League South promotion contenders St Albans City.

Assistant manager Luke Garrard, three weeks into his 30s, stepped up. Though Garrard had only recently retired as a player for Boreham Wood he had eight years’ coaching experience at the club’s academy. The relegation struggle went to the final day, but The Wood stayed up. Last season they rose to seventh before finishing 11th. The upward mobility has continued this season, fired by the goals of Portuguese Bruno Andrade, a former QPR academy graduate.

For Hunter, who has a background in the film industry (the world-famous Elstree studios are nearby), it is a family club, literally. His father Mickey managed it and there are several other relatives involved with Hunters filling a variety of roles from groundsman to academy manager.  Danny Hunter himself has been chairman since 1999 and the club would not be in its current positon without his regular investment.

The club recently agreed a 10-year extension to their hosting agreement with Arsenal. The women’s game may be much better known by 2028, but Boreham Wood hope if the crowds are finally filling Meadow Park their men’s team will be the draw.

For more on Boreham Wood FC please visit http://www.borehamwoodfootballclub.co.uk/

For more on the Vanarama National League, go to: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/

For great deals on car and van leasing visit: http://www.vanarama.co.uk

Defoe, Benitez, Lascelles and Pickford collect awards

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Jermain Defoe led a star-studded awards evening at the North East Football Writers’ Association annual dinner at the Ramside Hall in Durham on Sunday night.

The Bournemouth striker collected a special award from the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation for his work with Bradley Lowery as the young Sunderland fan fought an ultimately unsuccessful fight against cancer.

Defoe was presented with his award by Bradley’s mum Gemma, in an emotional moment on  a glittering evening.   Rafa Benitez was rewarded for winning the Championship title with Newcastle last season, while United captain Jamaal Lascelles collected the NE Player of the Year trophy, which he won in tandem with team-mate Matt Ritchie.

Jordan Pickford was named NE Young Player of the Year for the second season running, and there were also awards for two of the North East’s finest journalists – George Caulkin of the Times and Ray Robertson, who organised the dinner for many years and was honoured with Life Membership of the FWA.

Congratulations must go to Colin Young for organising another successful evening in his tireless way, and also to our title sponsors William Hill for their support.

Watch out for more reports and video from the event…

Vanarama Column Feb 21 – Highs, Lows and Winning Goals

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Highs and Lows and Winning Goals

By Luke Coulson, FWA and Ebbsfleet United

Throughout my childhood, misbehaviour was greeted with the usual disheartening punishment of spending a weekend behind closed doors. Those miserable days were spent peering out of an upstairs window watching my brothers and friends play football; the ultimate torture.  

Similarly, sat on the bench at 3pm on a Saturday watching my team mates play brings those feelings of frustration flooding back.

Two weeks ago, I was dropped from the starting eleven and forced, once more, to feel those disappointing emotions as I watched my team mates face an in-form Solihull Moors side. However, with 30 minutes to go and the game finely balanced at 0-0, I got the nod from my manager to get my shirt on. Taking my disappointment and frustration on to the pitch, I attacked the opposition full back at every opportunity to hopefully make an impact and prove a point.

That relentless and positive mindset had its desired effect and with 15 minutes to go, I scored the winning goal. Collecting the ball on the left side of the penalty area, I cut inside on to my right foot and bent a fierce shot into the far corner. I don’t write these blogs to promote myself but I have to say the goalkeeper had absolutely no chance.

Scoring the winning goal of a football match is exhilarating. The elation and passion that overcomes you as you celebrate in front of thousands of applauding fans is unforgettable. Yet, the ecstasy extends even deeper than that when you see what it means to your fellow team mates who have worked hard every day with you to be in that position.

Subsequently, that positive cameo performance and winning goal was enough to get my name back into the starting eleven for our following match against Halifax. For the long journey up North, there was a new face amongst us with the club announcing the signing of Corey Whitely from Dagenham and Redbridge, and he made an immediate impact.

Despite us being own top, a dubious penalty decision for the home side meant we ended the first half trailing 1-0. However, after coming on as a substitute, Whitely opened his Ebbsfleet account and started the comeback with a close range finish at the back post.

The equaliser gave us all the momentum and with 58 minutes on the clock, I was able to score the winning goal again, my second in two games. However, the joy of scoring that winning goal was delayed as it came early in the second half and for all we knew; it may not have been the last. Yet, when I heard the sound of the full time whistle and my goal separated the teams, that unforgettable feeling washed over me again. 

For more about the Vanarama National League visit: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/

For great deals on car and van leasing visit: http://www.vanarama.co.uk/

Vanarama National League column

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Financial reality checks . by Glenn Moore

The collecting buckets are still shaken, with fans implored to throw in their loose change, but like everything else in football fund-raising has moved on. It was a supporter’s JustGiving page which raised the cash to pay off Hartlepool’s tax bill. The deed, announced on Facebook, staved off a High Court winding up order.

Pools are still in trouble though, and they are not alone in the Vanarama National League. At Chester they are preparing for Thursday’s celebrity match with Michael Owen and Colin Murray involved. At Dagenham & Redbridge there is a firesale of players. At Macclesfield the immediate crisis is over, with delayed wages paid, but Moss Rose is rarely flush with cash.

The crowds and headlines may be smaller but non-League football attracts just as much devotion as the Premier League – and without another fat TV deal to attract potential saviours the pain is greater when things go wrong as the likelihood of rescue is more remote. With four clubs facing problems this week’s The Non-League paper had echoes of the London Gazette, where insolvencies are traditionally listed.

It would be wrong, however, to deduce that the fifth tier’s financial model is inherently unstable. As in every division there are clubs living beyond their means as they ‘chase the dream’ of a place in the Football League (or a return to it) but in recent years the league has generally been in reasonable financial health.

Indeed, it can be argued each of the current quartet are a special case, rather than symptomatic of a wider malaise. Hartlepool, the most seriously threatened, are freshly relegated from the Football League. They thus receive parachute payments for two years totalling around £700,000 with two-thirds paid in the first season. That would normally ameliorate the impact but Pools came down carrying a debt burden reported by the local media to be £1.8m. That is more than a year’s turnover in this league and new investment has been elusive.

Chester are fan-owned having re-formed after going bust eight years ago. With the initial rush of triple promotions replaced by an annual slog against relegation interest had tapered away leading to a drop in membership and attendance. That seems to have caused cash flow issues, perhaps exacerbated by management decisions.

At Dagenham the owner, quoting anger at fans campaigning against his managing director, has stopped putting his hand in his pocket. This is not the place to debate the rights and wrongs, just to record the consequence which has a slashing of the squad to cut the wage bill by three-quarters to meet the club’s unsubsidised income. At Macclesfield the owner blamed ‘technical problems’ at his bank, which were resolved after players confronted the club chairman at a local country club.

Macclesfield’s budget is tight at the best of times yet the Silkmen are top of the Vanarama National League. It is some achievement by John Askew and his players. With the wages paid they resumed their winning ways. The dream that drives all these clubs was back on.