CHERRY RED RECORDS

COMBINED COUNTIES FOOTBALL LEAGUE

OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAM

Held at Bedfont Sports Football Club

U18 Tony Ford League Challenge Cup

Friday 24th May 2019

Balham v Chessington & Hook utd

vs

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OFFICERS 2018 - 2019 SEASON President : Currently Vacant

Life Members:

Mr C.B.CONLON BSc, MBCS CITP (2006)

Mr A.B.J.CONSTABLE (2016)

Rev. J.O.ESAU (1992)

Mr D.HAVENHAND (2016)

Mr K.G.HUCKLE (1999)

Mr P.KELSEY ACMA (2013)

Mrs D.REYNOLDS (1996)

Mr C.TIDEY (2004)

Hon. Assistant Referees' Secretary: PHILL NASH (2008) Hon Registrations Secretary: STUART COLLINS (2018) Referees Observation Co-ordinator: IAN HART OBE (2010) Chartered Standard & Respect Officer: Mrs DEBBIE FORD (2018) Hon. Assistant Referees' Administrator: ROD CHATFIELD (2008) Fines Secretary: ROGER WELLS (2017) Hon. Youth Secretary: PAUL BLAIR (2018) Hon. Results Secretary: ROGER KING (2012) Hon. Development & Youth Fixtures Secretary: ROGER KING (2012) Hon. Youth Section Referees Secretary: LUCY CLARK (2017) Handbook Editor: CHRIS CONLON (1991) Hon. Minute Secretary: ALAN CONSTABLE (2001) League Website Maintainer: MALCOLM WILLIAMS (2013) Media Officer: VACANT CLUB REPRESENTATIVES ON THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE JERRY O'LEARY – Redhill (Retires 2019) BRIAN BARRY - Bedfont & Feltham (Retires 2019) DENIS HEALY - Abbey Rangers (Retires 2020) CHRIS GAY - Chertsey Town (Retires 2020)

Vice Presidents:

Mr S. COLLINS (2014)

Mrs B. FRIPP (2016)

Mr D. HENNESSEY (2003)

Mr R. INIONS (2000)

Mr C. JONES (2016)

Mr C. KNIGHT (2008)

Mr L. PHARO (2010)

Mrs J. PHILLIPS (2013)

Mr E. SMITH (2003)

Chairman & Director: Vice Chairman & Director:

CHRIS CONLON BSc, MBCS CITP (2012) PAUL BLAIR (2018) Hon. Treasurer, Company Secretary & Director: Hon. General Secretary & Director: PHIL KELSEY ACMA (1990) ALAN CONSTABLE (2010) Fixtures Secretary & Director: Hon. Referees' Secretary & Director: ALAN CONSTABLE (1996) MARTIN ETHERIDGE (2014)

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A word from the Combined Counties League Secretary

It has been a long season but we have finally arrived at the very last of

the season as far as the CCL is concerned and it is the Tony Ford U18

League Cup Final. The two finalists that have emerged are Balham

U18 and Chessington & Hook United U18. Both are fine young sides

and we welcome the players, officials and supporters of both clubs to

the Final here at Bedfont Sports FC. If the scores are level at 90 minutes, we go straight

to penalties.

Member in charge this evening from the League is Paul Blair, League Vice-Chairman as

well as being Secretary of the Youth Section. On hand also will be Roger King, who re-

cently took over the fixtures at short notice and has done a grand job, despite no previous

experience along with other officers. We are greatly indebted to Bedfont Sports for allow-

ing us to use their superb facilities, especially as they have come in at short notice, fol-

lowing the postponement of the original final at Banstead Athletic.

Next season, Roger will be issuing an annual fixture list before the season starts. Clubs

can then change the date of any fixture by mutual agreement but will only have so long to

do so. Any matches postponed will also be re-arranged and agreed by the two clubs

concerned within a set time period, the overall hope being that we will start and finish the

season in good time rather than matches dragging on until almost the end of May.

To reach this stage Balham accounted for the U18 sides of Cranleigh and Manorcroft

United, both by a scoreline of 4-0 and then a 5-1 victory over Holmesdale in the semi-

final. Chessington beat AFC Croydon Athletic (3-2) and then Merstham (6-4) followed by

a narrow semi-final win over Godalming Town on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

This is one of two Under-18 cups that we organise. The other one, the Grant-McLellan

(GM Cup) can be entered by U18 sides who are not members of the CCL Under-18 Divi-

sion whilst the Tony Ford Youth Cup is solely for those clubs who have their U18 sides in

the League’s own youth divisions.

We are now taking applications from new clubs for the Under-18 divisions next season, with two definitely received and a number of others having asked for application forms.

I hope you all have a very enjoyable evening.

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Balham FC is run by a Board of Directors: Mike Allen, Greg Cruttwell, Derek Fordham and Jen-nie Molyneux. The club was founded as Balham Blazers FC by Greg Cruttwell in 2001. It started with one Under 10 team in 2001/02 playing in the London County Saturday Youth Football League. Following on from their success more age group teams have gradually been added and the club now offers a direct pathway from Under 7s up to Senior First Team semi profes-sional football at Step 5 in the football league ladder. Following a playing ethos of trying to bring a bit of Barcelona to Balham the age group section of the club has been extremely successful to date, winning or being runners up in over 300 League and Cup Competitions. The club, nicknamed “The Blazers”, has also been an unprecedented three-time winner of both the London FA Charter Standard Community Club of the Year Award and Wandsworth Sports Club of the Year Award. Following the launch of the Under 18 Youth team in 2010 the First team was founded as Balham FC in 2011. Having won back-to-back promotions in 2011/12 and 2012/13, Balham did the league and cup double in the Surrey South Eastern Combination in 2013/14. In 2014/15 Balham finished in a promo-tion position again, in the Surrey Elite Intermediate Football League, however promotion was denied due to Combined Counties League facility requirements not being met. Having moved to ground share with Cobham FC, in order to meet the facility requirements, Balham finished as runners up in the SEIFL in 2015/16 and as a result were promoted to Division One of the Combined Coun-ties League for the 2016/17 season. The club had an exceptional first league campaign at Step 6, finishing in a promotion position for the sixth consecutive season and winning the London Senior Trophy. In 2017/18 the club had an equally exceptional season, finishing 5th at Step 5 in the Premier Division of the CCL and winning the London Senior Cup. Having begun on Wimbledon Exten-sion, before moving to Cobham, Balham are currently ground sharing with Colli-ers Wood United at their Wibbandune Stadium. The Balham FC Under 18 Youth

Brief History— Balham FC

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+44 (0)1784 430000 or info@firstchoicebus.com

team played for seven seasons in the Southern Youth League, until it folded in 2017

In 2010/11 they were Central Division Runners Up. In 2011/12 they were SYL Invitational Plate Winners. In 2013/14 they were SYL Challenge Cup and SYL Invitational Plate Runners Up. In 2014/15 they were Central Division Winners, overall SYL Champions and SYL Challenge Cup Runners Up. In 2015/16 they were West Division Winners and overall SYL Runners Up. In 2016/17 they were West Division Runners Up. In 2018/19 the BFC Youth team will be playing for the second season in the Combined Counties League Youth Section. The Bal-ham Panthers FC Womens team, formed in 2014/15, will be playing for the fifth season in the Greater London Womens Football League Division 2 South.

The Balham FC Under 18 Youth team was started in 2010 and played for seven seasons in the Southern Youth League, until it folded in 2017. In 2010/11 they were Central Division Runners Up. in 2011/12 they were SYL Invitational Plate Winners. In 2013/14 they were SYL Challenge Cup and SYL Invitational Plate Runners Up. In 2014/15 they were Central Division Winners, overall SYL Cham-pions and SYL Challenge Cup Runners Up. In 2015/16 they were West Division Winners and overall SYL Runners Up. In 2016/17 they were West Division Run-ners Up. In 2018/19 the BFC Youth team will be playing for the second season in the Combined Counties League Youth Section, which was formed in 2017.

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Formed as Chessington F.C. in 1921, the club entered the Kingston & District League and within two years were the Division 4 Champi-ons. Further honours proved elusive through the divisions until 1961 winning the Premier Divi-sion. By 1968, the club had moved to the Premier Division of the Middlesex League, which was their first taste of intermediate football. They ended that first season as Runners-up and were consequently admitted to the Sur-rey County Senior League – a major milestone in the club’s history. Even more significantly, they became Division 1 Champions in the 1970-71 season. In 1972, the club joined the Home Counties League and continued to play in the League until the formation of the current Combined Counties League in 1978. That season, the most successful in the club’s history, when they brought home seven trophies! Despite the successes of the late 70’s, the club’s fortunes declined alarmingly in the early 80’s. Relegation to the Surrey Premier League was quickly followed by further demotion to the Surrey Combination, Bankruptcy was a real possibility. The introduction of a new management team in 1986, led by Chairman Graham Ellis, (of Hook United & Hook Youth) saw a rebirth of the club and return to former glory under the banner ‘Chessington & Hook United FC’ & ex-skipper Eric Wicks as Manager & Grahams son Paul assistant. By 1994, they were back in the Surrey Premier league, finishing 3rd and two years lat-er, go one step further, finishing 2nd behind Virginia Water by just one point to make a welcome return to Senior football in the Combined Counties League. Eric stands down due to work commitments, Paul takes the reins. Chessington played through to the League Cup Final in their first season versus Ash United at Woking, only to lose 6-1 They finished third in the Premier division ‘04/05 and the season after, made the 4th round of the F,A. Vase, beaten 2-1 by finalists Cammell Laird at home in front of some 500 supporters.

Brief History—

Chessington & Hook Utd

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Work was carried out during the close season to bring the ground up to level five stand-ard and they now possess a stand for 200 spectators and also erected a covered area behind one goal. Season 2006/07 had Chessington languishing in the relegation zone but 15 matches unbeaten saw them finish a creditable 10th position. 2007/08 season saw us use a huge number of players who had us playing some good attacking football, but the weather caught us napping, & with only one match in eight weeks, finally finished the season once again mid table. 2008/09 & we introduce a new manager after Paul Norris decided to step down after 10 years. Enter Glynn Stephens as manager. Glynn had been reserve team manager at Ashford Town (Middx) after a glittering playing career amongst some of the top Ryman teams, but he took to it admirably & took the team to its second highest finish, 6th, since we entered this competition. Four years later & sadly, Glynn found the going tough & halfway through the 20011/12 season, parted company with the Club. In for Glynn came once again……...Paul (Nogsy) Norris!! Nogsy changed the team around in an effort to save the Club from relegation, but all in vain as we finished third from bottom, only Banstead Athletic & Mole Valley SCR were below us, but our fate was in the hands of a relegated Whyteleafe team who were bot-tom of Ryman South but decided not to come down to CCL but enter the Kent League leaving us free to continue our quest for success in this League! 2013/14, Nogsy left the Club in October that year, leaving his assistant Andrew Ellis to take charge. Andrew brought in ex CHUFC player Darren Woods to assist him but to no avail as we were relegated to Division One finishing bottom of the Premier Division after flirting that position for the previous two years Division One was probably a breath of fresh air & Darren & Andy took it on the chin & set out to earn promotion back to the Premier Division but with 19 games to play, it seemed a bridge too far until a run of just two defeats & two draws & a dramatic final game of the season when, 1-3 down at HT v Alton Town & Worcester Park beating Ban-stead, it all seemed in vain until a strange twist of fortune as the lads scored four 2nd half goals & Banstead won at Worcester Park to send the mammoth crowd of over 350 delirious, that means we finish third in the table above Worcester Park & back in the Premier Division, unfortunately, we couldn’t sustain our Premier Division status, once again, our pitch lets us down leaving us to play 16 games in 34 days, a bridge too far as we end up 2nd bottom to be relegated to Div One.

Fifth in the following season meant we’d be once again playing Division One in 2017/18

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Pen Pics — Chessington & Hook Utd Jamie Cosway - is a goalkeeper, 16 years old. Has been with our club since start of the season. A

very good shot stopper who saved 3 penalties in the semi final to help us get to final.

Archie Coles-Withey – is a goalkeeper, 16 years old. Archie has shown great promise in his first

year of mid week football, has shown great attitude and will to learn throughout the duration of the

season/

Cameron Black – is a defender, 16 years old. Cam has excelled this year and has got better and

better each week. He has played numerous U23 games and made his debut for the first team where

he was deemed man of the match.

Josh Watson – is a defender, 18 years old. Josh has been with the club for 2 seasons now and has

played for the first team and U23s plenty of times. A true leader with plenty of determination and

gives everything for the team.

Junior Yasi-Pepin – is a defender/midfielder, 17 years old. Has been with the club for 4 months. A

natural winner with speed, power and strength who has caught the eye of U23s and first team man-

ager.

Reece Tierney- is a defender, 17 years old. Has been with the club for 2 years now. A player also on

wokings books who brings composure and a calming influence whenever he plays. Also involved in

the U23s on plenty of occasions.

Cassius Dunstan – is a defender, 16 years old. Has been with the club now for 2 months. A natural

athlete who shows ability with the ball. Quick and strong and has shown real promise with a bright

future.

Jack Douse – is a defender, 16 years old. Has been with club for 10 years. A product of the amazing

youth system we have, he has got better each year and has not looked out of place in his first year at

mid week football.

Eddie Kochev- is a defender, 16 years old. Has been with club since start of the season. He started

the season really well but a series of injuries has slowed him down. Showed real determination to

get back fit and show what a good player he is.

Josh Gange – is a defender, 16 years old. Has been with club for 3 years. A tenacious player who

looks to drive forward at every occasion. Very strong with any set piece. Has been the most frequent

player for the under 18s this season.

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Max Maguire - Plays in midfield, is 18 years old. Has been with club for 2 years. Our captain and

leader, he gives 100% in every game and drives everyone around forward. He has played U23s

football a few times this season and never looked out of place.

Shane Clarke – Plays in midfield, is 16 years old. He has been with club for 3 months. Technically

very gifted and keeps the ball at every opportunity. He has shown great promise and made his first

team debut this season against Ash United, and played very well.

Mofe Ejike- Is a forward, is 18 years old. Has been een with the club for 3 years. He is a powerful,

quick and very direct player. He has featured in the U23s and first team and played very well in

both.

Wilson Palomeque-Bernal – is a forward, is 16 years old. Has been with club 4 months. Very quick

and skilful player who has showed a lot of promise and progression. He made his first team debut

this year against Ash and scored our goal that day.

Sasha Feshitan – is a forward, is 18 years old. Has been with club for 3 years. He is very intelligent

player who can run in behind or drop into clever areas. Shots on sight and very prolific in front of

goal.

Jason Kaate – is a forward, is 16 years old. Has been with club for 4 months. Very composed in

front of goal and works hard going forward. Very good with back to goal or very happy to run in

behind.

Trae Cook – is a forward, is 18 years old. Has been with club for 3 years. Extremely quick and di-

rect player who has featured in the first team playing in the FA cup. Been injured most of season

but has worked very hard to get back into this squad.

Declan Hutton – Plays in midfield, is 16 years old. Has been with club for 2 months. A very hard

working midfield player who never backs down from a challenge. Always shows loads of energy

and 100% commitment.

Pen Pics — Chessington & Hook Utd (continued)

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A Little bit about your match officials today: Referee: TBC

Assistant: Martin Etheridge

38 years as an active football official coupled with an extensive background in sports administration and development of umpires and referees This includes being a former Chairman of the Association of British Tennis Officials and Referees Secretary of one of the largest youth leagues in Surrey and current Secretary of the Badminton Line Judges Association. International tennis umpire with over 25 years experience at Wimbledon and around the world.

Assistant: Jason Lidbetter

I am now coming up to my 15th year as a referee and each year gets better and better. I got into refereeing after finishing my career as a goalkeeper for many years in non league football but still played 5a side for a few years more. My son played for afc Wimbledon at the time and they struggled week in week out to get referees so I thought I’d have a go.i must admit I was one of the dads that gave the referee grief from time to time but when I took up the whistle it change my attitude towards referees. I’ve had some great games in my time from Chelsea academy to Fulham academy even refereeing in the u16s premier league tournament. My biggest highlight was when I was asked to be assistant referee for a friendly game between Crystal Palace 1st team against Queen’s Park rangers but sadly no spectators as it was behind closed door.im looking forward to tonight’s game as both teams like to play football so should be a good game, well done to both teams on reaching the final and enjoy your evening.

4th Official: Mike Day

Mike has been refereeing on the league since the 1970’s and this match will be the last as Mike intends to retire at the end of this season. A fantastic achievement I am sure you will all agree—Thank you

MIND YOUR LANGUAGE

The use of ‘Inappropriate Language’ on the football pitch is likely

to get you sent off and reported!

It will cost you MONEY.

So for everyone’s sake, please do your bit and watch your language! That ap-

plies to the spectators too!!

The Cherry Red Records Combined Counties Football League support

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JOHN BENNETT DEVELOPMENT DIVISION CASE STUDY COBHAM FC U23’S

Why did the club do it? After significant effort to rebuild the

facilities and infrastructure at Cob-

ham FC, engage with the local com-

munity and gain promotion into the

CCL Premier Division, we sat down in

May 2017 to discuss a pathway for

our youth players into Senior football.

Most of our committee had experi-

enced playing Senior football from

the age of 16+ and typically starting

off in Reserve teams. This had mostly

been a positive first experience, however it was not necessarily successful for

our development. Typically, reserve players were made up of older players

coming down rather than young blood going up. So, we liked the idea that CCL

U23’s would only allow 4 over age players on the team sheet, who could then

pass on their experience to the next generation. We were also acutely aware

that young players need to play and not sit on the 1st team bench, so the U23’s

gave us the opportunity to give them game time and a reason to continue their

development at the club.

The FA stats tell us that the number of 16-18-year olds who drop out of foot-

ball is extremely high. Academies have

helped to keep some players in further

education, fit and healthy and to pursue

their football dreams, yet not every play-

er wants to go to down this route. Prob-

ably like your own club you have wit-

nessed youth players with great ability,

gradually slip away from football and

spend more time on other pursuits that

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teenagers like to do! At Cobham FC, we were very keen to keep our local play-

ers engaged in football, be part of the club, and on a pathway to achieve more

from the game and for themselves.

Were we ready as a club for U23’s? Like most clubs at our level we get plenty of young players looking to break into

Senior football and climb up the football ladder. We also knew we had

players of ability amongst our U16’s who

could progress with the right coaching and

mentoring, together with the current young

players in our 1st team

squad, who needed more game time. During

the 2017-

18 season the U16’s trained at the same time

and alongside the 1st Team, so they could

watch and be closer to the Senior set up, and

for our 1st Team to see how our next genera-

tion were developing. Towards the end of the

season we did one or two training sessions

together to make both squads more familiar

with each other.

As well as the Manager and Assistant Manag-

er, we also secured match evening volun-

teers in advance. We needed someone to run

the clubhouse, take money at the gate and

help-out with the match admin. Just like your

1st Team, you will need a team of people

around you on match evenings to help-out.

How did our players and parents react to U23’s? We did not have an U18 team at the time and so it was a bold decision to bring

our U16’s into the U23’s. During the membership and registration process we

made it transparent to U16 parents and players what our intentions were at

Cobham FC, and that we were here to offer players a pathway to Senior foot-

“For me, having been at the club for

nearly 10 years as a player, committee

member, Junior Manager and Men’s

First Team Manager, the whole club

ethos and engagement with the com-

munity is very important. Creating the

pathway from Junior football for our

local families into Senior football is an

obvious way of creating a one club link.

We invest in our young players as part

of the future sustainability of the club

and leaping from U16 to U23 football

has been a fantastic way of encourag-

ing development. Many of our U16’s

from last year have enjoyed First Team

action this season and have had a great

year in terms of results and develop-

ment in the U23’s readying them for

Senior football. I also know these play-

ers will have the same values and play-

ing ethos running through the club”

Sam Merison,

Cobham FC 1st Team Manager

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ball. By the end of January 2017 and having had time for our Senior coaches to

assess the U16’s ability and team performance, we were confident our players

could progress and indicated to players and parents that we were thinking of

moving to U21’s or U23’s the following season. This gave players and parents

time to digest, ask questions and consider what they wanted to do going for-

ward.

In March 2017 we then called a meeting with our players and parents and told

them about our plans to register an U23 team in the CCL. It was a decision not

taken lightly, and it required our players and parents to trust in the Cobham

management and to believe in the decision. From the eighteen players we had

registered in the U16’s, all but three came pre-season training the following

season.

What learnings can we pass on? Make sure every player and parent know your club policy and pathway to

Senior football.

Assess your U16-18’s ability, desire and dedication throughout the sea-

son and

engage them and their parents with your plans in advance.

Make sure you have volunteers in place to help for match evenings.

Have a unified approach between the Men’s 1st Team and U23’s. Our

squads did preseason together, travelled and played friendlies together,

and trained as one group throughout the entire season.

Does your U16-U18’s need to be playing Premier Elite? From our experi-

ence the answer is no. Our U16’s finished runners up the SYL Premier

Division and we have boys in our latest U16’s playing in a lower division.

Some of whom can progress should they wish. Professional coaches will

be able to spot ability and potential.

Remember you still have a care of duty and no young player should be

training or playing with senior players unless you are 100% satisfied, they

can benefit from the experience.

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Our success to date For some players U23’s can pro-

vide up to 5-years development

programme, so immediate suc-

cess is not the way to measure success. What we can say so far is that our

young players belief and confidence has grown significantly in twelve months.

The squad has developed a very good understanding of how we play tactically

and a good understanding between players. They have a respect for our senior

players and are no longer intimidated training and playing with adults. Our 1st

Team have really embraced

the younger players and

avoided a “Them and Us” sce-

nario, so most of the credit

must go to them.

Of the fifteen U16’s that came to pre-season, ten made it into the U23’s squad,

and four have already played league games for the Men’s 1st Team this season.

Our older players (18-23yrs), have forged relationships with the younger play-

ers and taken responsibility to set an example and to lead them on match days.

As for results, as of 21st April 2019, Cobham U23’s is second in the John Ben-

nett Development League, and in the Final of the League Cup. They also put in

an outstanding performance away to Sutton Utd in the Quarter Final of the U21

County Cup, losing 2-0.

Written By: Mark Cornish

Committee Member and U23’s

Assistant Manager

Cobham Football Club

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League Standings

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CHERTSEY TOWN FC

The road to Wembley

It took Chertsey Town 840 minutes of football in nine ties, plus a semi-final penalty shoot-out to win themselves a game in North West London! The long journey was made even lengthier in terms of miles as it involved two trips to Cheshire, and another to County Durham on the way. Combined, their ties must have generated the greatest distance than any other for, even when at home, opponent St Austell in Round Four was no local derby!

As can often occur, the early rounds for the Curfews were some of the more problemati-cal, with Step 6 Woodley United leading before succumbing to a late goal. It was a stop-page time winner from nowhere at Tadley Calleva that gave progression to the competition proper. Comfortable wins over Flackwell Heath (6-1), Horndean (2-0), Redbridge (5-0) and St Austell (5-0) set up the fifth Round tie at Irlam, near Manchester.

Foul weather thwarted the first attempt to play but the following Saturday saw a relatively comfortable 2-0 win, with a goal scored in each half. The Gods were not with Chertsey Town as they were next required to travel to the north east, and to top it all, enter the lair of the then competition’s favourites and last remaining Northern League side West Auckland Town.

The Northern league have dominated the FA Vase for many a season, but not this time! Two early Chertsey goals dampened their opponents challenge, despite a second half rally by the home side. The semi-final was also beset with weather problems. It was not snow this time but the strongest storm seen in decades that threw plans into havoc and delayed the two legged tie by one week. This also hit Chertsey Town’s domestic programme of matches with games piling up all over the place.

Chertsey’s away journey to Northwich Victoria, just a few miles away from their excursion conducted two rounds earlier, was their biggest challenge. In a windswept exchange, Chertsey took first half lead that was pegged back in the second. Seven days later, a simi-lar tight contest took place, this time with no goals scored in the 120 minutes of open play. Five well placed ‘penalty’ kicks were despatched by the CCL side but the northerners missed their second, to create a 5-3 advantage and passage through to the final.

It is still hard for Chertsey Town fans to realise that their side will actually be there on the day. Linking the titles, Wembley Stadium and Chertsey Town, together will only become a reality when the blue and white stripes are seen striding on to the famous turf with just Cray Valley (PM) being the last barrier between them and lifting the biggest prize in the club’s 129 year history.

FOOTNOTE: Chertsey Town beat Cray Valley (PM) 3-1 AET in the FA Vase final. The first Combined Counties League Club to win The FA Vase

WELL DONE CHERTSEY TOWN

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Here are 12 interesting and bizarre facts about the FA Cup competition:

1. Spurs is the only non-league team to have won the FA Cup. They won it in 1901, and then 60 years later they became the first team to win the league and cup double.

2. The highest score line in the final is 6-0, when Derby County was beaten by Bury in 1903.

3. The longest FA Cup tie lasted five games. This incredibly long game was finally ended when Bury beat Stoke in the 4

th replay in 1954. Talk about

exhausting!

4. Leicester City has reached the final four times. Of those four times, none of them resulted in victory. Now they look like winning their first Premier League title.

5. The fastest goal scored in the FA Cup final was 42 seconds. This amazing goal was scored by Roberto Di Matteo, who played for Chelsea, and later managed them to a Champions League title.

6. The first player to be sent off in the FA Cup final was Kevin Moran of Man-chester United in 1985 in the match against Everton.

7. Arsenal has lost 6-0 three times in the FA Cup. The first was against Sun-derland in 1883, the second against Derby in 1889, and the third against West Ham in 1946.

8. West Brom was the first team to win the FA Cup with a completely English-born team in 1888.

9. Blackburn had an amazing run of 24 consecutive games in which they were undefeated during the FA Cup between the years 1884 and 1886.

10. Ashley Cole holds 7 winner’s medals. No one else has previously won so many for himself before.

11. In 1990 the three semi-final matches had a total of 16 goals. The goals were scored by 16 different players, which is really quite bizarre.

12. In 1946 and 1947 the ball actually burst in both finals, something which has not occurred since. This is likely due to the poor materials used to make the balls in post-wartime Britain and the lack of back-up balls we have today.

Today’s Match Officials:

Referee:

Assistants: Jason Lidbetter

Martin Etheridge

4th Official Mike Day

TODAY’S SQUADS 24th May 2019

U18 Tony Ford League Challenge Cup

Balham (White\Black\Black) V Chessington & Hook (Royal

Blue)

Nick Gardner Archie Coles-Withey

Pedro Santos Cameron Black

Lukas Thiel Jack Douse

Ryan Kaou Cassius Dunstan

Anthony Thompson Junior Yasi-Pepin

Jude Le Net Reece Tierney

Naseem Bakare Max Maguire

Marlee Cooper Declan Hutton

Dom Simpson-Last Joshua Watson

Lewis Lembikisa Shane Clarke

Finn Moore Mofe EJike

Luke Hedges Wilson Palomeque-Bernal

Fred Fordham Sasha Feshitan

Gus Colfer Jason Kaate

Sebastian Fallowfield Trae Cook

Javier Aguilera Joshua Gange

Sirak Negassi

Andre Cruz-Rosa

Nabil Bakare

Tom Appleton

Manager— Greg Cruttwell Manager— Ben Ewing & James Deacons