Win Or Condemned - 8th April

John Fisher believes his Shrivenham side will be condemned to relegation unless they win their next three games.

Currently third from bottom with four matches to play, and with their survival hopes slim, Fisher says, in the Swindon Advertiser,nothing less than victories against Bracknell tomorrow, Shortwood and Oxford will see them retain their Hellenic Premier status. “We’ve got Bracknell on Saturday and they are beatable,” said the Rec chief. “Saturday is a must-win for us quite truthfully. We can’t afford to drop points in the next three games, if we do that it’s the end of it. Shortwood away on Tuesday will be difficult but then we’ve got Oxford at home, so we’ve got an outside chance.”

The boss has a fully-fit squad ahead of this weekend, and like Highworth manager Dave Webb he is also eyeing a final day title-relegation showdown.

The teams could feasibly play each other with one playing for survival and the other for the league title, a possibility Fisher is relishing. “We’re ready now to take out HIghworth in the last game of the season,” he joked. "When the fixtures came out I didn’t really take much notice but the closer it’s getting, the more it’s panning out that there’s going to be something on it. If they win all their games they might have to beat us on the last day of the season to win the title.”

I Love Derbies - 11th March

Shrivenham manager John Fisher has launched an impassioned defence of local derbies ahead of his team’s relegation battle at Fairford this weekend.

Fairford boss Tommy Dryden recently stated his dislike of local clashes, but Fisher revealed he holds the opposite opinion.

“When you play football, everyone loves a local derby so he needs to take a reality check,” said the Shrivvy chief. “I love them and I always will do, it’s one of those fixtures you always look for.”

The hopes of survival for either team in the Hellenic Premier are remote, and Fisher admitted: “Games are running out and the two sides look like they are probably going to go down. Even if we beat Fairford we are most probably going to go down, but three points gives us a bit more of a chance.”

Patience - 1st October

John Fisher has called for patience as he bids to turn Shrivenham's flagging fortunes around. The new boss had a nightmare start to his tenure in midweek as the Rec outfit were thrashed 6-1 by Ascot United in the Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy.

Shrivvy must now regroup for tomorrow's FA Vase first round trip to Wantage Town and Fisher insisted: "We're going in the right direction but it's not going to be a sprint, it will be slow progress. It's going to be tough for the first couple of months because all the other squads have been playing together for a while. We've just got to keep plodding away and hopefully in two months we'll be where we want to be."

Fisher has already started the rebuilding process with the signing of Jimmy Griffin, and is hoping to bring in more by tomorrow. Several players have left the club including Nick McCrae, who has moved to Highworth Town, and Darren Smart, who has become assistant manager at Devizes Town, joining recently-departed Shrivenham boss Mark Love has been appointed manager of the Western League side.

Fisher Lands Shrivvy Job - 23rd September

Shrivenham FC are pleased to officially announce John Fisher as the clubs new first team manager. John will be joined by Kevin Maloney previously of Hungerford and Fairford as his Assistant Manager whilst also retaining the services of Martin Robinson as First Team coach and Andy Timbrell will also be staying as a member of his backroom staff

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Chairman Robb Forty and Director of Football Alan Dyton conducted several interviews in the past week. The Chairman himself stated that John stood out as the right man for the job at this current moment in time and met Shrivenham's ambitions and aspirations.

He went on to say "We as a club were really pleased with the quality of applicants that came forward and we went into the interviews with a completely open mind, there were a couple of top drawer managers who showed interest but like I said John was really professional and the ideas he had and what he has to offer suited us as a club for where we are now".

John Fisher is no stranger from the Hellenic Premier League, most recently guiding Highworth Town to the Championship back in 2004/05. After a couple of seasons out the game Fisher has his hunger back and is relishing the task of pushing Shrivy up the Hellenic League table. Alan Dyton will take charge of this Saturday's Hellenic tie v Abingdon Town, John and his team will take control as from Monday morning.

Love Departs Shrivenham - 17th September

Shrivenham announce that they have parted company with manager Mark Love, and are now inviting applicants for the managers job.

Official Club Statment

It is with regret that the club would like to announce we have parted company with first team manager Mark Love with immediate effect. Due to the poor run of results and finding the club down at the wrong end of the table the executive committee felt that something needed to change quickly to avoid finding ourselves in a relegation battle for the third consecutive season, after speaking with Mark he decided to step down so the club could move on quickly and try get something else in place whilst the season is still young.

The committee have worked tirelessly off the pitch for the last two seasons to push us on as a club, enclosing the ground and relaying of the pitch being the main improvements, we must now go forward on the field to make this worthwhile and reward all that time, effort and money, in order to do this it's felt a fresh approach is needed.

As a club we'd all like to thank Mark Love for his efforts during his spell at the Rec, his commitment, passion and willing to learn and succeed were never questionable. We are genuinely disappointed it didn't work out for us or him.

The club would like to officially advertise the job to anybody who wishes to apply and will sit down after this weekends Vase game to look at a possible successors. To apply for the role please contact chairman Robb Forty on 07767371414 or Alan Dyton on 07540787637.

In the meantime Director Of Football Alan Dyton and Assistant Manager Andy Timbrell will take care of first team affairs for Saturday.

Lucky Break Hoped For - 3rd September

Mark Love hopes his Shrivenham side will get a lucky break when they take time out from a difficult start to the season to play Potton United in the FA Vase first qualifying round tomorrow.

Shrivvy have lost five of their first six matches in the league, the majority of which have come by narrow margins, and Love believes his team have not had the favour of the footballing gods during that run. With the Vase acting as a timely interlude from the early stresses of their Hellenic Premier Division campaign, the Shrivenham boss is optimistic a few wrongs can be put right this weekend. “It has been a tough start for us, and it has been the thinnest of lines between winning and losing,” said Love. “Lady Luck has not been on our side so far, and every little mistake that we have made has been punished. We’re playing well but it’s not quite been going our way, but this weekend is a nice chance to turn things around.I know this group of players have it in them to be winning games, and it will come sooner or later.”

A lack of cutting edge in the final third has plagued many of Shrivvy’s performances thus far, with Love’s forward line managing just four goals, whilst the defence has conceded 14. But the Rec chief said the atmosphere within the camp remained positive, and with a sprinkle of good fortune here and there, his outfit can kick-start their season tomorrow against an opposition from a level below.

“We don’t know much about Potton, but they are a Step Six club so we are expected to beat them,” he said. “We need to be more clinical in front of goal, but that will come and when it does winning will become a habit. This week is a big one for us, with the Vase game and then Pegasus in the league, who haven’t been doing so well either recently. The squad is fully fit, we’re training well and the team spirit is good. It has been disappointing to have had the results that we’ve had at the start of the season, but I’m happy with the squad and the way they’ve been playing, and there’s no reason why we can’t turn it around soon.”

Dyton Takes On Communication Role - 24th June

Alan Dyton is to remain at Shrivenham in an upstairs role that will see him given the task of improving links between the club’s teams.

The former Supermarine manager quit as joint boss at Shrivvy last month but was keen to keep putting his efforts in at the Rec.

Dyton, pictured, explained to the Swindon Advertiser: “Since I came back at Christmas I noticed there’s definitely a problem in the way the first, second and A team communicate with each other. I believe they are not in unison and it’s all down to communication. The chairman (Robb Forty) has too much to do in the club to be running that as well, so I’ve agreed that I’m happy to sit over the three teams. The second team are there to feed the first team and the A team are there to do the same for the second team. We don’t have that understanding at the moment so it’s about working on bringing them together as a club.”

Dyton successfully guided Shrivenham to the Hellenic Premier Division during his first stint in charge at the Rec and later acted as a co-boss and mentor to successors Pete Horwat and Mark Love.