Finch Will Give It A Go - 27th November

Finchampstead travel to Premier Division Kidlington this Saturday as the sole Division One (East) representatives in the SBJ Insurance Challenge Cup second round.

Finch beat Premier Division opponents in the last round when they saw off Harrow Hill and will be hoping for more of the same this time around. Manager Neil White knows it will be another tough test for his side but says his players will go into the game with nothing to lose.

He said: “It’s always good to pit your wits against a Premier League side. We’re not expected to win but we will go there and give it a go. I’m just going to be looking to see how we perform. We can go there and enjoy ourselves.”

Finch go into the game refreshed after their Reading Senior Cup game with Cookham Dean was called off last weekend. They will also be boosted by the signing of Steve Potter from Bedfont. The 28-year-old central midfielder will provide some valuable experience in the centre of the park for White’s team.

The boss said: “We’re really happy to have Steve here. He’s been around a fair bit, playing at a good standard, so he will be a good addition. He will steady the ship and take command of things which is important when you have a young team like we have.”

Team Effort - 20th November

Neil White says the transformation in his side this year is thanks to a collective effort from everyone at the club.

White refused to take all the credit for his side’s current form which has seen them win four of their last fives game and move nicely into a strong mid-table position.

The Finch boss has instead paid tribute to a number of others and insists everyone should take some credit for the turnaround in fortunes.

He said: “It’s a team effort. I suppose I’m the figurehead but Bobby Langridge (right) is great. He’s got so much knowledge and everyone respects his opinion.

“Then there is Jeff Dennis our coach. The guys probably hate how hard he works them but he does an amazing job. And there’s Scott Bursill, the captain, who’s got the lads socialising together.

“There’s just a good feel around the place at the moment. Even after the game, when the players used to just drift away, everyone is now staying for an hour or so to have a drink. It’s good to see.”

Finch Player Sidelined - 14th November

Finchampstead midfield man Dean Thomas (pictured) is waiting to hear how long he will be sidelined after suffering a badly broken nose last weekend.

Thomas was on the wrong end of a defender’s elbow during the first half of his side’s 2-0 Berks & Bucks Intermediate Cup win over Windsor Great Park.

Manager Neil White admits that his side will miss the influence of their nine-goal top scorer. He said: “Dean has got to have surgery today, so we’ll know then how long he’ll be out for, but it’s not looking too good for him. It’s a shame because he has been playing really well. His work rate is fantastic and he has chipped in with a few goals as well. We just hope to have him back as soon as possible.”

Despite that blow, White is hopeful that his squad is now strong enough to absorb the inevitable injuries that are picked up over the course of the season. In addition to Thomas, Sam Wyatt and Matt Wright are both doubts for the trip to Penn & Tylers Green tomorrow.

But with replacements coming into a winning side, White is hopeful of making it five wins on the bounce. He said: “It shows how healthy our squad is now because Dan Dudman came on up front and bagged the two goals. It’s just what you’re looking for, someone to come in and take his chance.

“I’ve always found that Penn & Tylers are a hard side to play against and they have got an added incentive this time because we are only just above them in the table on goal difference. They are a hard, battling side and they’ll know that they can leapfrog us with a win. We’re under no illusions about the challenge but we’re hopeful of getting something from the game.”

The Finch manager conceded that his side found the going tougher than they imagined last weekend against a Great Park side bottom of the East Berks Premier Division. White confessed: “You have got to give them loads of credit because they really battled hard for the whole game. Sometimes you can get carried away with league tables, because on this occasion it didn’t reflect their ability. We realised after 20 minutes that we were in a bit of a game, but then it all changed when Dean Thomas got an elbow across the nose.”

New Sense Of Belief - 6th November

Neil White says his side’s three match winning streak is down to a new sense of belief that is sweeping the dressing room.

White, saw his side follow up two consecutive 3-0 wins in the league with a thrilling 4-3 success against Harrow Hill in the League Cup last Saturday. It was the manner of that win that delighted the Finch boss the most. He saw his side pegged back from 3-1 to 3-3 but, rather than throw the towel in, they rolled their sleeves up and found a late winner.

White said: “If you take us back about five weeks we wouldn’t have gone on and won that game after they came back to 3-3. But there now seems to be a bit more about us. We don’t give up, we always think that there’s something still in the game for us. There’s quite a bit of belief about the team now. There’s a buzz in the changing room and that transfers out onto the pitch. It’s taken a while to get there but now it’s there it’s very pleasing. We’ve worked hard on that department, we’ve got the lads socialising together and it seems to be paying off.”

Finch will be looking to make it four wins in a row when they host Windsor Great Park this Saturday in the Berks & Bucks Intermediate Cup. Their opponents are currently bottom of the East Berks Premier Division and have yet to win a game all season but White has warned his side not to underestimate them. He added: “You would hope by looking at their record that there should be something in the game for us. We will certainly be hoping to extend our unbeaten run a bit further but that doesn’t mean we can just turn up and expect to win.”

Clean Sheets For White- 30th October

Neil White has praised his defence after seeing his side record three clean sheets on the spin. White’s men followed up two successive 3-0 victories in the league with an 8-0 drubbing of Hurst in the Reading Senior Cup last Saturday.

Whilst he is delighted to see his forwards amongst the goals, it is the defensive performances that have left the manager smiling. White said: “The most pleasing thing is the three clean sheets in a row. That shows the defenders are doing something right. They looked well drilled at the moment and they know what they are doing."

“That’s very pleasing to see and I have to say that Nick Rumsby (pictured) has been a very good asset in goal. He’s come in and given the defenders a lot of confidence. He encourages them and you can see he gives them a lot of belief.”

Finch will be looking to make it four consecutive clean sheets when they host FTL Futbol Hellenic Premier Division side Harrow Hill in the SBJ Sports Insurance Cup this Saturday.

White said: “I don’t know much about them but I’ve seen that they’re not doing very well at the moment. They’re bottom of their league and haven’t won yet this season so that gives us an opportunity. Our confidence is good at the moment and their’s won’t be sky high and when that happens there’s always a chance of an upset.”

"Any Chance Of A Game, Please?" - 27th October

There was a very special man amongst the spectators at Finchampstead Park on Saturday when Finchampstead met Hurst in the first round of the Reading Senior Challenge Cup. He was a Finchampstead player 56 years ago and played for Finch's opponents 14 years prior to that, or 70 years ago!.

Bob Watts, a Finchampstead Vice President, played for Hurst in 1938 before playing for Finchampstead when the club was founded in 1952.  Bob had a twinkle in his eye at the final whistle but would not say which team he had supported on the day! 

Bob is very active for his age and still enjoys his bowls at Wokingham Bowls Club.  Despite being a keen lifetime supporter of Reading FC, he rarely misses a Finchampstead match and is always able to recount interesting stories from his playing days.  We look forward to his continued support.

Praise For Axton-Hall - 24th October

Neil White has singled out youngster Luke Axton-Hall (left) for praise following a successful fortnight for his side. The young centre-back was brought into the side against Chinnor on October 11 and starred as Finch romped to a 3-0 success.

"Last weekend against Eton Wick he came off the bench to net the third goal in Finch’s second successive 3-0 win which moved them up to eighth in the table." White said: “Luke has been excellent recently. He’s been at the club for a few years now and we’ve always known he’s had real potential. But he was a bit impetuous when he played last season and got himself in trouble with the referees a couple of time. He seems like he’s matured a lot now though, he’s very focused and wants to do well.”

White added: “We brought him in against Chinnor and he played really well so it was hard to leave him out of the starting 11 on Saturday. But he took it really well which showed how much he’s matured. We brought him on for the last 30 minutes and he was excellent. He also scored a good goal so I was really pleased for him.”

This Saturday Finch take on Hurst in the Reading Senior Cup and will be looking to make it three successive wins.

New Reserve Management Team - 20th October

Finchampstead FC announces the appointment of Jon Laugharne as their new reserve team manager in place of Kevin Arnett, who has left the club. He is assisted by Paul Reynolds.

Jon and Paul are well known faces in local football, Jon having managed several of the club’s youth teams over recent years and Paul as a Finchampstead FC player until family and business commitments cut short his playing career. Several new players were signed by the new management team with some of them making their debut appearance in the 2-2 draw at Wootton Bassett Town on Saturday.

Finchampstead’s two FTL Futbol Hellenic League sides train at Sandhurst Sports Centre, Owlsmoor Road, Sandhurst from 7.15pm on Wednesday evenings. Anyone interested in joining the club should contact the first team manger Neil White on 07887 870400.

Meffert The Man For Finch - 15th October

Neil White is hoping his new teen striking sensation can help fire his side up the table. White snapped up Alex Meffert from Maidenhead United last week and the 19-year-old German netted a superb solo goal in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Chinnor to make his debut.

As well as the goal, the Reading University student produced a fine all round display and White feels he may be just the player he needs to lead his front line. He said: “I had an email from him saying he was at Maidenhead United but that they were looking to send him out to another club. So we got him here and he played really well on Saturday. He is very strong, just over six foot and has a very good shot on him. He hasn’t said if he’s going back to Maidenhead, he just wants to play football so hopefully we might have him here for a while."

Meffert should lead the line with Dean Thomas this Saturday as Thomas is fit again and is expected to start against Eton Wick. Another win for Finch would put them nicely into the top half of the table but White is warning his players not to underestimate their opponents. He said: “They’re not the whipping boys that they have been in previous seasons. They look much stronger so we will be expecting a difficult game.”

Crossroads - 9th October

Neil White senses his Finchampstead side is already at a very important crossroads despite the season only being 10 games old. After a fairly solid start, Finch have lost their form and have won just one of their last seven games in Division One East of the FTL Futbol Hellenic League.

Last weekend’s home defeat by previously winless Thame United saw them drop to 13th in the table and White knows they can’t afford to keep losing points against the league’s bottom clubs: “It’s a very sensitive position we’re in now. Two defeats in our next two games and we’re probably in the bottom three, but if we win the next couple then we’re back in mid-table. Our position is on a knife-edge now. I said last week that we seem to raise our game against teams at the top, but we seem to struggle against teams at the bottom. That happened again last Saturday, it was a dreadful defeat against Thame and I can’t put my finger on why it’s happening."

“We’ve drawn against three of the top four but we’ve failed to beat the bottom two. If we want to get to where we want to be this season we have to start picking up wins against the teams below us.”

Finch make the trip to mid-table Chinnor this Saturday and White is hoping to keep up a strong run of form against the Oxfordshire based club.

White said: “Chinnor will not be easy at all. They’ve had a decent start and have already held Ascot to a draw this season. But we took six points off them last season so we know we can give them a game. I’m sure they will fancy their chances after seeing our recent results, but if we work hard we can get something from the game.”

Pick Up Points - 2nd October

"Finch" boss Neil White says his team must start picking up points against the teams around them in the league if they want to start moving up the table.

Finchampstead have enjoyed a fairly decent start to the season but they have struggled to turn their impressive performances into wins. White’s men have lost only three times in the league but have won just once, drawing their remaining five games. Now the manager wants his side to kick on and start collecting maximum points.

He said: “The problem we have to overcome at the moment is that when we play against teams who are below or around us in the league we don’t seem to perform. Against the likes of Binfield and Wokingham we seem to do fine, but against the lower sides we’re a bit blase. We need to focus a bit more and I will be telling the lads that this week. It’s been a while since we last got three points, we’ve drawn a lot of games recently and we need to change that on Saturday.”

Thame United travel to Finch this weekend following a poor start to the season which has seen them slump to second from bottom of the league.

White added: “They haven’t had the best of starts considering what they did last season. These are games that we need to win – you need to take points off everyone who is below you.”

Something For The Weekend? - 25th September

Neil White will be trying out something new this weekend as he looks to get the spark back into his side. White’s men started the season in fine style but have gone off the boil in recent weeks, despite only losing one of their last seven league games.

So the Finch boss will be changing things round for this Saturday’s trip to Prestwood in the SBJ Insurance Brokers League Challenge Cup in the hope that it will breathe new life into his team.

He said: “The thing with the League Cup is that it’s always a Premier Division side that wins it so it gives me a chance to try out some things. I will change my approach for this game. I want to try something a bit different to see if I can unearth some sort of gem. We started the season well but I feel that we’ve lost our spark a bit and I want to try to get that back. So I will use this weekend’s game to look at some players in different positions. I just want to shake things up a bit.”

White will be boosted by the news that striker Carl Barrie (pictured) could make his first appearance since the opening game of the season at Englefield Green Rovers when he picked up a groin injury. Scott Bursill, however, will miss the trip.

Killer Touch Sought - 12th September

Finchampstead boss Neil White (pictured) is looking for his side to start turning draws into wins as they continue to impress this season.

White’s men made it five games unbeaten last weekend with a 2-2 draw at Wokingham and Emmbrook, but once again they let a lead slip and had to settle for a point.

They have won just once this season despite their encouraging start and the manager has urged his side to be more ruthless. He said: “We’ve started well and it’s great to be on a decent unbeaten run but we’re not really better off in terms of points than we were at this stage last season. I feel we’ve improved lots on last year but our points tally doesn’t really show that because we keep drawing games.

“We’re working so hard but not killing teams off. We just need to find that killer touch in front of goal and also start holding on to our leads.”

White’s men play their first home game of the season this Saturday when they welcome new boys in the FTL Futbol Hellenic League, South Kilburn, to Finchampstead Park.

The Finch boss admits it will be nice to sample home comforts again after seven straight games away from home, but he is not expecting an easy ride against the league’s newcomers. He said: “I was shocked to see their result last weekend. They beat Kintbury Rangers 5-0 so must have something about them, so we will have to really be at our best. Once again we’re down to the bare bones so it’s not going to be easy.”

Sponsorship Link - 3rd August

Finchampstead Football Club, members of FTL Futbol Hellenic One East, are pleased to announce a sponsorship link-up with Finchampstead Community Sports for the 2008- 2009 season.

With this tie-in comes a commitment to buy one of the club’s popular 'Flying Banners' that are on display every match day throughout the season at all the club’s youth and senior home matches. In addition Finchampstead Community Sports will sponsor several FTL Futbol Hellenic Football League Division One East matches during the season. Finchampstead Community Sports is run by Glenn Rose, the club’s Community Officer, and is responsible for providing multi-sports and football coaching in regular weekly sessions to over 180 boys and girls. These sessions are aimed almost exclusively at nursery and primary school children aged from 2½ to 11 years of age.

These hugely popular sessions operated by Finchampstead Community Sports include the unique Sports Tots programmes run for Under 3 and 4 year olds, the highly successful Soccer Schools for Under 5s and 6s, advanced Soccer Skills sessions, and midweek multi-sports sessions for children aged from 4 to 8 years of age. In the past two years all money collected by Finchampstead Community Sports has gone to either charity or community based projects, and this new commitment takes the total given beyond £20,000. The main beneficiaries over the past two years have been Leonard Cheshire Disability and various local Primary Schools in order to enable them to purchase sports and play equipment.

Finchampstead Prepare for New Season - 3rd July

With two training sessions under their belt, Finchampstead Football Club head coach Jeff Dennis and first team manager Neil White are delighted with the turn out of both old and new players. Almost the entire first team squad from last season has now been registered with the club for the 2008-2009 season with club captain Scott Bursill the first to sign up.

Armed with the very latest training equipment, Jeff Dennis has designed a special training regime to get the players in peak condition before the commencement of the pre-season matches on Saturday, July 19th and the first FTL Futbol Hellenic League match in the midweek commencing 11th August. Every player is provided with a heart monitor so that their fitness progress can be monitored and charted by Jeff. Several of last season’s youth team that competed successfully in the Reading Football League will be progressing through to the reserve team and hopefully challenging for a first team squad place for the coming season, evidence of the success of the club’s player development programme. However the club is always looking to strengthen its three senior sides, so any players wishing to join the club should contact first team manager Neil White on 07887 870400 who will be pleased to discuss the training and playing details.

Finchampstead Football Club has unrivalled facilities, with superb playing surfaces and clubhouse sport and social facilities. It provides football for all age groups, starting from the Soccer Tots Play Scheme through to teams ranging from Under 7’s through to Under 18’s competing in the East Berkshire Youth League and North East Hampshire Youth League. Players can then progress through into the three senior sides competing in the FTL FUTBOL Hellenic League and Reading Football League. Each team is managed by FA qualified coaches to ensure that the best possible coaching is available to our players.

The club has a number of promotional opportunities for the 2008/09 season. More details can be obtained from the club’s website www.finchampsteadfc.co.uk or by calling the club’s president Richard Whitchurch-Bennett on 07740 283210 to discuss these.

Finch Pre-Season News - 23rd June

FTL Futbol Hellenic One East Finchampstead return to pre-season training on Tuesday, July 1st, and have eight friendly matches arranged so far in preparation for the start of the 2008/09 season on Monday 11th August.

Finchampstead Football Club has unrivalled facilities, with superb playing surfaces and clubhouse sport and social facilities. It provides football for all age groups, starting from the Soccer Tots Play Scheme through to teams ranging from Under 7’s through to Under 18’s competing in the East Berkshire Youth League and North East Hampshire Youth League. Players can then progress through into the three senior sides competing in the FTL Futbol Hellenic Football League and Reading Football League. Each team is managed by FA qualified coaches to ensure that the best possible coaching is available to our players. Any players wishing to join the club’s three senior sides should contact the first team manager Neil White on 07887 870400 who will be pleased to discuss the training and playing details.

At the club’s Award Presentation Day for the 2007/08 season, Harry Levey won the prestigious Clubman of the Year award. The first team players to win awards were Matthew Wright (Managers Player of the Year), club captain Scott Bursill (Players Player of the Year) and Dean Thomas (Leading Goalscorer). The reserve team award winners were Lewis Frostick (Managers Player of the Year & Leading Goalscorer) and Richard Evans (Players Player of the Year). The A team (Under 20’s) awards went to Andre Kelly (Managers Player of the Year), David Blackmore (Players Player of the Year) and James Osborn (Leading Goalscorer). Junior Arquimbau won the Young Player of the Year award.

The club has a number of promotional opportunities for the 2008/09 season. More details can be obtained from the club’s website www.finchampsteadfc.co.uk or by calling the club’s president Richard Whitchurch-Bennett on 07740 283210 to discuss these.

Previous Season News