Awards Made & Dyton Stays - 24th May

Shrivenham FC held their Presentation Evening on Saturday 22nd May, the evening was well attended by players from all four senior teams, committee members and their families and also supporters. While enjoying the sunny weather, with a BBQ buffet and of course a few drinks, the season's awards were made as listed below:

1st Team
Supporters Player of the Year: Johnny Atkinhead
Players Player: Johnny Atkinhead
Managers Player: Rich Saunders

Reserves
Supporters Player of the Year: Paul Whitewood
Players Player: Paul Whitewood
Managers Player: Rich Tilling

A Team
Supporters Player of the Year: John Gosling
Players Player: Jack Dodd
Managers Player: Matthew Hampson

Veterans
Supporters Player of the Year: Mark Stevens
Players Player: Matthew Hampson
Managers Player: Andy Tranter

Clubman of the Year award was presented to Chris Rawle. Mark Peters & Matthew Hampson were both awarded lifetime honouree membership of Shrivenham FC.

Chairman Robb Forty also confirmed that Alan Dyton will be staying at Shrivenham FC next season in a new role over seeing all three senior teams.

Dyton Calls Time - 23rd May

Alan Dyton says he did not have the motivation to carry on as join boss of Hellenic League Premier Division club Shrivenham in the 2010/11 season.

The experienced campaigner re-joined the club at the start of the year to work alongside Mark Love at the helm, but has now stepped aside.

”I always went back on the understanding that it was until the end of the season and we would assess it from there,” explained Dyton. "I was hoping that in the games I was at the club, I would get a lot of enthusiasm back, but it was a struggle. It’s been well-publicised the way I felt about players’ unavailability, that hasn’t helped. And the results didn’t turn around as quickly as I felt they would.”

Having thought long and hard about how the last few months, Dyton felt his enjoyment levels had not been enough to drive him into another campaign.

“I don’t think what I’ve got out of the second half of the season has been sufficient to make me look forward to another season,” he said. “If I haven’t got a buzz about me then I think that’s the wrong attitude to take into a new season with the club. A year is a long time to commit and if you’re not into it now, what’s it going to be like if things go wrong?”

Meanwhile, Shrivenham have given their pitch at the Rec a complete facelift in preparation for the new season. The club have put up around £14,000 to replace their much-derided surface, with the work going ahead last week.

Chairman Robb Forty said: “We’ve been needing to address our pitch for some time but we’ve had to make lots of other improvements the FA have told us to make, like enclosing the ground and putting in new floodlights. We thought this year we would attack the pitch and that is what we’ve done. With the way it’s looking now, hopefully we’ll go from having one of the worst pitches in the Hellenic League to one of the best. Even without grass on it you can see it’s a vast improvement already. In the current climate the fact that we have done it is a credit to the club and the hard work of the committee to raise the money.”

New Season Work -11th May

Shrivenham FC are hard at work on their pitch in preparation for the 2010-2011 season as can be seen from the image supplied by Club Chairman Robb Forty.

The club will be holding a Sporting Dinner with Arsenal legend Paul Merson at The Blunsdon House Hotel on Monday 7th June.

The cost is £45.00 per head/ £450 per table and includes a three course meal plus an Auction of Sporting Memorabillia and Events.

All proceeds go towards the new pitch fund at Shrivenham FC, to book your place or table call Alan Thomas 07850511986 or James Dore 07775933076.

Easter With The Abbot's - 2nd April

Shrivvy take on their Oxfordshire counterparts Abingdon Town in the Bluefin Insurers Hellenic Challenge Cup tie at Abingdon Town tomorrow and follow it up with a Hellenic League Premier Division clash against the same side on Monday, albeit this time at home.

Rec joint boss Alan Dyton, pictured, says that despite the unusual timing of the cup fixture, it would not stop management and players wanting to emerge victorious. “I’d rather be playing the league fixture on a Saturday and the cup fixture on the Monday, but we’ll just have to take them one at a time,” he said. “We’ve always been of the same mind at Shrivenham, whatever we enter we want to win. Okay, there’s a bigger significance on Monday than there is on Saturday, but we’d like to progress to a cup semi-final. That would be nice to look forward to and would give the whole club a lift.”

Dyton warned of the threat of tomorrow’s opponents, who have enjoyed an upturn in fortunes in recent times. “In the last seven or eight games Abingdon have pushed themselves into mid-table, so on form they have improved quite a bit,” he said.
“But I’ve been saying all along that when we’ve got a decent side out we’re a match for anyone. We’ve not been able to do that because of the well-publicised unavailability we’ve had, but against Witney in midweek we showed what we’re capable of.”

One big bonus for the club against Witney, in addition to the emphatic win, was the return of defender Darren Smart to first-team action after nearly five months out with a groin and abdomen problem. For tomorrow’s cup clash at Abingdon, goalkeeper Kurtis Sharkey and striker Alex Green are cup-tied while Scott Lane and Rory Sproule are suspended. John Peters has suffered a recurrence of an Achilles problem and Dean Flockton is on holiday. Injury doubts remain over Steve Bunting and Dan Martin, but Shrivvy welcome back Michael Silvanus and Chris Flanagan.

Attitudes Questioned - 19th March

Alan Dyton has questioned the attitude of a number of his Shrivenham players, believing their lack of commitment is preventing the club from moving forward.

Shrivvy find themselves looking nervously over their shoulder at the wrong end of the Hellenic League Premier Division, following a dismal run of just one win in 12 league games. Six away games on the trot have coincided with numerous drop-outs, leaving left Dyton and co-manager Mark Love a threadbare squad to select from.

And although they are still missing John Aitkenhead, James Blake and Mark Peters for tomorrow’s clash with Almondsbury United, seven players return for the home game - Michael Silvanus, Alex Green, Richie Saunders, Chris Flanagan, Steve Bunting, Jon Peters and Taylor Gill.

“We’ve played six away games in a row, and five of them have been the long trips to places like Hereford and Reading,” Dyton commented “The players who have made themselves unavailable for those games have put a real strain on the club, and I question the integrity of them. I know people have work commitments and things like that but they know the fixtures a month in advance and surely must be able to come to some sort of arrangement. Maybe the mentality is wrong, but we’ve had nine or 10 first team squad members unavailable recently, and what hope do you have of progressing when that is the situation? There are players who are trying to save the club week in, week out, and get us into a decent position, but it must be hard for them to have to watch other players pick and choose when they want to play. We are now at the stage of the season where we cannot really bring new players in, so will have to go with what we’ve got, but it is important to look at attitude as much as ability. You can always work with a committed player, but those without commitment make life very difficult.”

4th Game In 8 Days - 6th March

Shrivenham's frenetic run of fixtures continues today as they head to Hellenic League Premier Division leaders Reading Town.

Mark Love and Alan Dyton’s men are set to play their fourth game in eight days, and the team have another encounter against Binfield on Monday. In spite of the heavy fixture congestion, co-boss Dyton (pictured) is confident that the Shrivvy squad has the ability to get through the difficult period. “It’s not ideal to have five games in 10 days, and some of them play Sunday football as well,” he said. “This is a real testing week, but the squad really looks quite strong. We just have to get on with it. Our form has been quite good and we look like we’re capable of coping with the sides at the top as well as the mediocre ones.”

When it was put to Dyton that few within the local football community would expect Shrivenham to get a result at high-flying Reading, he said: “If I’m honest we’ve looked at it in that way. We’ve been looking to take points off teams around us and anything we take off the top teams is a bonus.”

But he added: “I saw Reading when they beat us 2-0 in the Berks and Bucks Senior Cup and they were miles ahead at the top of the division at that time. Since then we’ve played better sides lower down the table. They didn’t look like a side that deserved to be there, but I don’t know if they had their full team available.”

Shrivenham picked up three injuries in the league game against Fairford Town on Tuesday. Dan Martin looks like he could be out for some time with a knee injury, while Tate Hulbert and Richie Saunders are now both on the sidelines.
Shrivvy welcome back recent signings Taylor Gill and Lee Simms this weekend, but Ben Carter and Darren Smart are still out long-term.

Older Players Provide Benefit - 26th February

Stronger Squad Shrivenham visit beleaguered Hook Norton tomorrow without Rory Sproule, who is suspended, and Michael Silvanus, who has work commitments.

John Peters is on holiday and Ben Carter (hamstring) is out but Shrivvy welcome back Mark Peters, Chris Flanagan, Richie Saunders and John Aitkenhead.

Joint boss Alan Dyton said: “We took a decision about a month ago to bring back some of the older players because we felt we needed a mixture of youth and experience.We’ve done that now and that’s reflected in the last two results we’ve had against Highworth and Carterton.We believe we’ve made the squad a lot stronger and can now get some decent results.”

Shrivvy Strengthen - 11th February

Mark Love and Alan Dyton, the management duo at FTL Futbol Hellenic Premier Division club Shrivenham, have been busy in the transfer market.

First to put pen-to-paper was young James Blake, who has joined from Wiltshire Leaguers Wroughton and made an impressive debut in the 2-1 defeat at Kidlington on Saturday. Next to sign was highly-rated midfielder Shaun Wimble, who joins from Zamaretto League Division One South & West outfit Hungerford Town. The well-travelled Wimble numbers, Swindon Town, Woking, Fulham, Yeovil, Witney Town, Oxford City, Cirencester Town and Canadian side Calgary Storm amongst his previous clubs.

Also joining from Hungerford is Shrivy`s former prolific goal-scorer Alex Green. Although both Wimble and Green were on the books at Hungerford, both had signed Hellenic League forms with Wootton Bassett Town, who had to agree to their transfers before the moves could be finalised.

Shrivvy Showdown - 5th February

Shrivenham management were last night set for showdown talks with three players over their respective futures at the club, reports The Swindon Advertiser. The trio, which includes striker Blaine Fitzgerald (left), were unhappy at being left on the bench for Tuesday’s 5-0 thumping at Highworth Town.

Now those players could be heading for the exit door, depending on the outcome of last night’s planned discussions. “Blaine wasn’t happy at all at being left out of the side,” revealed Shrivvy joint boss Alan Dyton. “We have since had a discussion and he has put his side to us and we’ve put our side to him. “He’s considering it and we’re going to be talking to him about it later today (yesterday).”

Dyton (right) also confirmed that two more players were among the dissenting voices having been left out of the starting eleven.
“There were one or two others that were upset. We didn’t have a happy bench,” he said. “They all want to play but we’re building the squad and not everyone can play all of the time. The players have got to understand that we are doing things for the good of the team as well as in their interests.”

The revelations come as Shrivvy attempt to prepare for tomorrow’s Hellenic League game at home to Oxford City Nomads, as they aim to end a league run of three straight defeats. “Tuesday wasn’t a good evening for us,” said Dyton, of the loss to Highworth. But we won’t pine about that for too long, we’ll look at what went wrong and correct it for Saturday.
“We know the players are capable of better than that and we are confident that the personnel improvements we have made will improve us.”

Shrivenham have recently completed the triple signings of Alex Green, Shaun Wimble and James Blake, and the trio will be chasing their first win in club colours against The Nomads. Richie Saunders (hamstring) is out for tomorrow while striker Ben Carter is a doubt with a hamstring injury.

In better news, Darren Smart is on the mend from the stomach and groin injury that has kept him out for the last three months, although he is still probably a week away from fitness. Nomads have only played one game in the league this year, which was a 2-2 draw at Ascot United. They have only won one of their last five away games in the league.

Dyton Back With Shrivvy - 15th January

Ex Shrivvy manager Alan Dyton has been coaxed back into football by Shrivenham chief Mark Love.

The 58-year-old has returned to his former club as joint manager alongside Love as part of a reshuffle that sees Wootton Bassett Town’s Andy Brien (right) become player-coach at the Rec. Under Dyton’s tutelage, Shrivenham were promoted to the Hellenic League Premier Division in 2005, but five years on, find themselves on a downward slope after a positive start to the season.

Arresting the slide was what motivated the former Swindon Supermarine boss to return to Shrivvy. “Them drifting down towards the relegation zone bothered me because of the hard work the club have put in,” he said. “After managing to get out of Division One, I’d hate to see that go to waste.”

Working as a management partnership will be a new experience for Dyton and Love (bottom left) but the former is confident that they can make the arrangement work. “I’m very set in my ways and ideas,” admitted Dyton. “That’s one of the things I spoke to Mark about, I felt if I couldn’t manage this with him then I wouldn’t have taken it any further. I won’t always be right and he won’t always be right, but I’m sure we can come to a compromise.”

Dyton will initially be part of the Shrivvy setup until the end of the campaign, but he has the option to stay further. “I’m not ruling it out,” he said. “Mark has left that open to me. He said he would like me to stay as long as I want to, provided it goes well.”

Meanwhile, Love was delighted to get his man, saying: “I’ve been chasing Alan for a while now and it’s great to have him on board. He’s a vastly experienced manager and very much a positive person. Hopefully I will learn from him. He’s got so much to offer and I’d be a fool not to bring him in. He had his doubts when I first asked him but now he can’t wait to get back into it.”

On Brien, Love added: “He’s not got any coaching experience but he’s another ex-Shrivvy player. “I’ve got to know him quite well over the last few months and he’s working very well with the players at the moment.”