What Might Have Been - 27th April

Letcombe Football Club finished the season in fifth place in Hellenic League Division One West, a position we would probably have accepted at the start of the season, but one which should have been much higher after a brilliant start to the season. We were top of the league in January, but one point from our next six matches saw us slide down the table.

There were a number of reasons for the change in fortunes but numerous players were missing throughout February and March. Mark Denny broke his leg, three lads went on world travels, and five players decided to go skiing for two Saturdays. Letcombe lost to Easington Sports and Trowbridge Town on those two weekends, both games we would have hoped to win. With three firemen in the Club, who are on duty two Saturdays in eight, it is also difficult to get continuity of selection. There were a number of individual performances worthy of praise.   Richard Claydon could not stop scoring at the start of the season, and finished as top league goal scorer with 38 goals. Adam Pendell was as determined as ever and set an example for others to follow. New signing Scott Hooper had a good first season and Steven Vaux made some excellent saves in goal.

There is also reason for optimism with youngsters at the club. Lyle Gifford returned in December from a short spell at College in America, and we hope to have him available full time next season. Tony Booker and Harry Trethowan joined us towards the end of January, and both have been very impressive and will hopefully be with us again in August. All three of our "world travellers" should be home before the start of next season, and with the recent new signings Letcombe have the basis of a very good side for next season. We will do all we can to strengthen the squad, but we will not change our policy of looking for local youngsters.

Finally, our grateful thanks to our sponsor, Tony Stock of Rentatent, and to all our supporters. I look forward to a short rest before it all starts again in August.

January is a month Letcombe will remember for a long time. Our first two matches, away to Trowbridge and at home to Headington, were both postponed because of frozen pitches. We had drained the water in the Clubhouse to prevent a broken pipe in the very cold weather, but when we turned it back on again, water came through the ceiling. Some water had remained in the pipe, causing it to freeze and break a joint. It was soon repaired, but we are still trying to dry out a very wet carpet, leaving a dank smell in the Clubhouse.

Letcombe then played Cheltenham Saracens at home, and captain Adam Pendell gave us an early lead. The game was very close until second half strikes from Richard Claydon and Iain Whatley secured all three points before the visitors replied with a late penalty. We learnt that evening that Hardwicke`s game had been postponed, and that we were now top of the league. We had been chasing the leaders all season, and at last we had overtaken them. Our elation soon turned to despair.

Letcombe had a top of the table clash at home to Hardwicke the following week, and after a good start, a late challenge from the visitors number 9 ended with Mark Denny suffering a compound fracture to both his tibia and fibula. A helicopter was called, and it took paramedics 45 minutes to deal with the injury before they could move him. The game was rightly abandoned. Mark has had two operations, and is in good spirits despite the seriousness of the injury, although the road to recovery will be a long one. We have received numerous messages from Hellenic League clubs wishing him well, although we would have liked to have received a similar message from Hardwicke and from the player who caused the injury. Being top of the league did not seem so important now.

The month finished with a very poor performance at Clanfield, where we lost 2-1 and surrendered our position as league leaders. The pitch had been played on three days before, and was badly cut up, but the hosts adapted to the conditions better than we did and deserved their win. They scored early in the second half, and although Lyle Gifford equalised, Clanfield scored a late winner when a cross cum shot hit the far post and rebounded into the net. A number of Letcombe players became frustrated at inconsistent refereeing decisions, but I should not enlarge upon that here. Suffice it to say that Letcombe boasted the best disciplinary record in the Hellenic League before this game, but had six players cautioned.

Sean Webb has now joined Pete Horswell on their world travels, and the injury to Mark leaves the squad very depleted. Work commitments and ski trips will also affect us in February and March. We will do all we can to regain top spot, but the injury to Mark has affected us all.His full recovery is more important than football, and we will do everything possible to support him throughout the next year.

Des Williams

Letcombe Start Fund Raising For Injured Denny

FTL Futbol Hellenic Division One West club Letcombe has announced the clubs' first initiative to raise funds for player Mark Denney who suffered a compound Tibia & Fibula fracture in the clubs' fixture on Saturday 24th January.

After a delay of some 45 minutes whilst 'Para Medics' worked to prepare Denny for helicopter travel to the Oxford JR Hospital. The match, a top of the table clash with Hardwicke, was abandoned.

Letcombe FC have had SIX identical watches donated for auction to raise funds for Mark.

They are official England souvenir watches, Calcio Swiss made Quartz watches in Switzerland. The watch has the England "Three Lions" badge on the strap, which is finished blue, white and colours.

Bids should be advised directly to Letcombe secretary Des Williams, by e-mail to deswilliams45@btinternet.com

Closing date for bids is February 15th, the watches will then be allocated to the six highest bidders.

Match Abandoned After Serious Injury - 25th January

Saturdays FTL Futbol Hellenic One West's top of the table clash between leaders Letcombe and previous leaders for most of the current season, Hardwicke AFC, was abandoned with just ten minutes played.

Letcombe teenager Mark Denny (pictured) sustained a serious leg injury, almost certainly a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula, as a result of a late but not malicious challenge. A helicopter was needed, but it took the medical services some 45 minutes to sedate Mark before they were able to move him and air lift to the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford. In view of the seriousness of the incident, nobody really felt like continuing the match which would not have been able to be completed in daylight by the time he had been treated and removed.

Referee Brian Proffitt handled the situation superbly although there were heated exchanges after the challenge. Proffitt calmed everyone down in an assured manner. Letcombe were very fortunate to have three firefighters playing, Mark de la Coze, Paul Roberts and Iain Whatley, all of whom have done trauma training. They dealt with the injury brilliantly, leaving the Letcombe Therapist, Des Williams, to watch admiringly.

A further update was received Sunday morning indicating that as suspected, it was a compound fracture of both the tibia and fibula. An operation was undertaken Saturday night and the bones have been pinned. The wound has been left open and will require another operation next week. It is anticipated that Mark will be in hospital for about ten days, and is in a trauma ward of the JR in Oxford.

Mark was "temping" with an IT firm, and therefore will now have no income. Whilst there will be ongoing payments through the League Player Accident & Injury Policy Letcombe FC has already committed itself to offer all help and assistance possible. In such a case it is anticipated that a request for help from the League Benevolent Fund is likely.

Table Toppers Meet - 23rd January

In FTL Futbol Hellenic League Division One West there is a top of the table clash at Bassett Road where leaders Letcombe host Hardwicke.

Just two points separate the teams after Letcombe beat Cheltenham Saracens 3-1 last week while Hardwicke's game was postponed.

The clash sees the division's top scorers Letcombe, with 27 goal Richard Claydon (right) in attack, against the best defence in One West as Hardwick have conceded just 10 goals in 18 games.

Hardwicke, lost their last meeting with the Brooksiders at Green Lane in October and have yet to play a league game this year.

Onwards But Not Upwards - 1st December

Des Williams, team manager and holder of numerous other positions and responsibilties at the club, along with Russell and Dennis Stock. Gives his resume on the progress of his team in November.

November was another successful month for Letcombe, but in spite of a 100% league record, we have not managed to catch table toppers AFC Hardwicke. The month began with two free Saturdays. The dates were scheduled to be the next rounds of the Hellenic Challenge Cup and Berks & Bucks Intermediate Cup, but our exit from both competitions in October left us without a fixture.

The away game against Lydney Town on November 15th was switched to Letcombe because the Lydney ground was waterlogged, and the lack of matches in the previous weeks was obvious. After going a goal behind, Richard Claydon equalised from a penalty just before half time, and another Claydon penalty in the second half secured all three points. It was good to see new signing Scott Hooper commanding midfield, and we are certain that his game will continue to improve. Skipper Adam Pendell was welcomed back for our trip to Tytherington Rocks, having missed the previous match because of injury. Again Letcombe went a goal behind because of poor defending at a corner, but a Tom Patten free kick brought us level early in the second half. We had settled for a point when Richard Claydon stabbed home the winner from close range to give us our first ever win at Tytherington with just two minutes remaining.

Our final November match was at home to bottom club Cirencester United. We totally dominated the opening exchanges, but failed to convert any of the numerous chances we created. As often happens in these circumstances, we then conceded the first goal for the third successive week. Frustration began to set in, but Richard Claydon side footed the equaliser, and Iain Whatley took advantage of an excellent Scott Hooper pass to put Letcombe ahead as the interval approached. The second half was one way traffic, and Pete Horswell and Mark Denny both scored twice, with an own goal giving us a comfortable 7-1 win.

In our wildest pre-season dreams, we would not have expected to be in this position at the end of November. The lads deserve great credit, especially for their fighting spirit after coming from behind in our last three matches. There are difficult games ahead in December, especially against Malmesbury Victoria and Wootton Bassett. Malmesbury inflicted our only defeat at Letcombe earlier in the season, and we always seem to struggle against Wootton Bassett. Nevertheless, we will go into both games with confidence after setting up a club record of seven successive league victories.

Striker Peter Horswell sets off on his travels around the world at the end of the year, and centre back Sean Webb is doing likewise a month later. We will miss them both, but it will be an opportunity for other people at the club to impress me. We wish them both "bon voyage", and hope to see them back at Letcombe when they return from their travels.

After a worrying few weeks, Letcombe are looking forward to the new season in the FTL Futbol Hellenic One West and are confident that they will again have a squad good enough to be pushing for honours in Division One West.

Keeper Stuart Game will not be available regularly until October because of his forthcoming wedding on September 20th. Last seasons top scorer Richard Claydon has had offers from other clubs, but he also has a knee injury and is seeing a specialist in the near future. Talented youngster Lyle Gifford has won a football scholarship at a University in Tennessee, and will be leaving for the States in early August. We are told that it is a very religious college! Watch your language, Lyle! Thou shalt not swear at referees! You travel with our thanks and best wishes.

Centre backs Sean Webb and Tom Patten have been training with Wantage Town, but both have now committed themselves to Letcombe, and all other members of last seasons successful squad have re-signed. With former player/manager Liam Breen getting married in Canada, Letcombe will have a number of players missing for their opening fixture at Pewsey Vale, but are pleased to have made some promising new signings.

Keeper Steven Vaux has returned from Plymouth University where he had some games for the Argyle youth team. Robbie Fairchild has changed jobs and should be available on a regular basis. New midfielder Scott Hooper will be taking up a PE teaching post in Wantage in September, but will not be available until then. Youngster Tom Stone is on a one year work placement from Aston University, and is hopeful that he will be able to play most weekends. Forward Pete Horswell made a good impression in his first friendly for the club, and youngster Adam Sell has shown great talent and maturity as sweeper in two first team fixtures, but he can also play as a wing back.

There is likely to b a keen competition for places, and Letcombe look forward to the coming season with optimism.

Letcombe FC of Hellenic League One West have achieved FA Charter Standard status. Club Secretary Des Williams was advised in an e-mail from Soho Square yesterday that the club has achieved the requirement for the award of 'FA Charter Standard' - Adult Club status. The Club will receive a formal letter and Certificate in due course. This is yet another achievement for Letcombe who are renowned for their hospitality on the Hellenic circuit.

The club is in the throes of raising funding for their proposed new clubhouse. Already received are offers from the Football Foundation and Football Stadia Improvement Fund, as well as the club raising some £50K from their own efforts but are still a considerable amount short of their target. Letcombe have registered with varioud bodies in an attempt to source further funding of substancial suns of money for mutisport use, Football, Cricket, Tennis and Pony Club.

No doubt with the tenacity of the leading lights at Letcombe FC they will overcome, however, if anyone is able to offer possible funding leads they have used within their own organisation please contact Des Williams, details as shown on Letcombe FC information page.