NEW COLLEGE ACADEMY NEWS

Charter Standard Retained - 17 May

New College Swindon FC have once again retained and been certificated as a Charter Standard Adult Club for the forthcoming season.

This is a great recognition of the hard work the Club and Academy put in throughout the season both on and off the field of play.

New College Academy Director Ian Howell stated " We are proud to have retained our Charter Standard Status. It shows our best practice. We strive to set the highest standards of coaching, administration and player welfare. It is a benchmark for our quality.

Tributes For Football Stalwart - 11 May

Tributes have been paid to Gary Else a popular youth football coach whose love for the game meant all players got a chance to improve, regardless of their ability.

Gary, 52, died peacefully at his home in Highworth on April 18. He was a well-known figure at New College, where he was known for his competitiveness, fairness and consummate attention to detail in building winning teams. He inherited his passion for the game from his father Fred, a professional footballer who played for Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End and England B.
Away from his day job as a business development manager, Gary helped scores of local youngsters rise though the local leagues. The football fanatic also managed the former Highworth Juniors, where his son Jonathan played, coaching them until they reached 16.

His widow Sue, 52, said: "Gary saw youth football as a chance to develop all the children, not just the ones who excelled. He made sure every child in the team got an opportunity to play, even if it meant taking off the more talented players. He was a quiet chap but he knew everybody and he was absolutely fanatical about football."

The Else footballing tradition is being continued by Jonathan, 22, who progressed to the Swindon Town Centre of Excellence and now plays for Cirencester. Gary was also a committee member on the South West Counties Youth League and helped organise the Highworth summer six-a-side tournament.

Paul Smith, a sports lecturer at New College, praised his seven-year contribution to the Academy, which ended in 2010. He said: "Gary was very supportive of the coaches and was very keen to improve every player. Gary had a meticulous eye for detail and knew every detail of local and national football which he passed on to players moving up the league ladder. He kept spreadsheets showing every facet of all the games he managed, including team-sheets, subs, scores, officials, costs and even the number of minutes each player spent on the pitch. But he balanced his eye for detail and competitiveness with a sense of fairness which earned him the respect of his players."

"The legacy of Gary's work will continue long into the future and all who have met him through football are honoured to have spent many hours in the company of a special man," Paul said. "His spirit and commitment will live long in our memories."
Gary who, away from football, was a committed family man, is also survived by his daughters Kayleigh, 23, and Rachel, 24 His funeral took place last week.

Bright College Future - 17 April

New College first-team coach Rob Hopkins says the future is bright if Saturday's performance at Trowbridge is anything to go by.

The visitors scored twice in each half to wrap up an easy 4-0 victory in Division One West, all the more impressive given that the squad that went to Woodmarsh was a depleted one.

Hopkins said: "We had a couple of drop outs late on as we had a bug sweep through the squad, and work commitments meant we were three or four players down. So we actually went to Trowbridge with seven under 18s players and weren't expecting to get the result we did. We were maybe hoping for a win but not the performance we got. The 4-0 scoreline was probably not a true reflection, if we had had a couple more that would have been fairer because we dominated 80 per cent of the game. We were the stronger side and if we had been a little bit more clinical then we would have got more joy. The young lads stood up and really performed well, which is a boost looking towards next year."

The New College coaching staff have always encouraged their team to play the passing game, an uncommon style in the Hellenic League. But Hopkins said the nature of Saturday's result vindicated that approach. He said: "If you go on the forums, we get stick from teams who say we overplay and that we should be a little bit more direct, but we don't do that. We set ourselves up to develop players so they become better technical players. We try to focus on possession football and it pays dividends two or three years down the line. Looking at the way the youngsters played yesterday, it does bode well for next season. It wasn't the best of surfaces and it could have done with a bit more grass on it. But we made the best of what we had and it was good to see we still passed the ball around and played from the back."

College Slackers? - 13 April

New College first-team coach Rob Hopkins admits his side have slacked off in Uhlsport Hellenic Division One West recently, but says this has been addressed ahead of the trip to rock-bottom Trowbridge tomorrow.

After a starting 2012 unbeaten in the league, New College have lost their last three outings, conceding 14 goals and scoring none in the process.

Hopkins revealed: "We had a chat about it with the players and I think it's a little bit of an end-of-season mindset. I think they realised Trowbridge and Malmesbury are going to finish in the bottom two, the relegation spots. They got a bit sloppy and lazy in their game play, so we have tried to address their motivation going into the last couple of games."

Ryan Elliot has recovered from a virus and will be available for tomorrow's journey to Woodmarsh.

College Benefit From Extra Training Time - 27 February

New College first-team coach Rob Hopkins is convinced his side's enforced fixture drought held the key to their 2-0 victory over Cirencester Development.

Saturday's Hellenic League Division One West game was the first time New College had played since January 31, when their Supplementary Cup clash with Newbury was abandoned at 4-4 due to freezing conditions.

But they showed no sign of rustiness as goals from Gio Wrona and Josh Gregory sealed an impressive home victory. "I think we benefitted from the break because we were able to get the lads training regularly because they were on site for their academic courses anyway," Hopkins said. "That meant they were able to spend a lot of time together which a lot of the other teams didn't, and that allowed us to work on a few things. There is obviously no substitute for playing games, but I think our break allowed us to secure a good win."

Hopkins was particularly pleased with his side's defending, and is hoping for a few more clean sheets between now and the end of the season. He aded: "I have to give massive credit to the defenders and the goalkeeper because they really were impressive and kept it tight for us for the whole game. I think Ciren had a little bit more of the possession in the game but we made it count. They came to stop us playing but we managed to score two good goals, and when things got a little more stretched towards the end we could have scored a few more, but I am not sure that would have been a true reflection of the game really."

Performances Not Points - 3 February

New College first-team coach Rob Hopkins insists his side will continue to play a technical, passing game and not adopt a 'win at all costs' strategy.

The Swindon outfit are fifth from bottom in Division One West after moving up from the Wiltshire League Premier Division at the start of the season, but Hopkins says it is performances, and not points, that count.

"We knew it would be an extra challenge when we came up, but we said it was not about the league table and more about the performance on the pitch," he said. "We don't play a style of football which is win at all costs. It's about possession and quality on the ball, which doesn't lend itself to making it easy against some opposition. Of course players and coaches want to win, but as long as we're playing the right way, then we're happy."

Hopkins (pictured) expects New College to be at full strength for their trip to Cirencester Development tomorrow, against a side that have blossomed in the last couple of months. "They didn't have the best of starts but recently they have rocketed up the league, whether that's because they have changed anything drastically I don't know," continued Hopkins. "It's certainly not going to be an easy game. It's a local derby and as a lot of the lads know each other that adds a bit of extra spice as well."

New College had their second-round Supplementary Cup game at home to Newbury abandoned on Tuesday due to the cold conditions. The game was locked at 4-4 after 90 minutes when the referee decided the pitch was too hard to continue, a decision Hopkins backed. "We should have had an extra 30 minutes for extra time, but the pitch had frozen solid," he said. "The temperature had dropped quite drastically with 10 or 15 minutes to go, and it was probably the right decision because it was becoming a little bit treacherous." The fixture has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 28.

No Contest For Purists - 20 January 2012

First-team coach Rob Hopkins is not anticipating a contest for purists when his New College side host rock-bottom Trowbridge.

The visiting Bees have won just one game out of 19 in the Uhlsport Hellenic Football League Division One West this season and Hopkins said: "It's a game we should be expecting to get a good positive result out of. The weather is going to play a part because the pitch will be heavy and could prove a little bit of a leveller. Trowbridge will probably park the bus in front of goal and see what they can snatch. They may take us on, but I think it's more likely to be typical winter football."

College left-back Ryan Stanners is suspended but Nathan Blackford returns to the fold.

Positive Tonic - 31 December

After providing a perfect get well cure for boss Mark Teasdale on the 27 December, College go into the game against Tytherington Rocks high on confidence but certainly not shocked by the result against Wootton Bassett.

New College had provided boss Mark Teasdale with a welcome tonic after coming from behind to beat Wootton Bassett 5-2 at Rylands Way earlier this week. Teasdale was laid up at home with a virus for the fixture on the 27th December so Ian Howell took charge for the Division One West clash, and the players gave the regular boss cause to smile with an impressive second-half comeback.

Bassett were 2-1 up at one stage after Daryl Charman and Sam Reason hit the net following Gio Wrona's early effort for New College. However, midway through the second half John Rees equalised and Josh Skeates bagged a double to put College in control, before Brad Stanners converted a late fifth to wrap up victory.

"We managed to get into a run of play where we got on top and took our chances," explained Howell. "From our point of view it was good to get the win because we've been struggling in the last few weeks and haven't got the results we deserved. I think we were worthy winners in the end."

Teasdale is expected to be back in charge on New Year's Eve when New College welcome Uhlsport Hellenic Division One West table-toppers Tytherington Rocks, but following the team's success in his absence, he joked: "Maybe I should stay away more often."

College are un-changed for the visit of The Rocks and certainly will not be shocked if Rocks return home with nothing from the game.

A Full 90 - 9 December

In Uhlsport Hellenic Football League Division One West, coach Rob Hopkins has urged New College to perform for 90 minutes against Winterbourne.

He said: "We're not putting together 90 minutes of football at the moment, we're just playing in fits and starts. I suppose we're not taking advantage when we're in the ascendancy in games. But we're not panicking, we just need to be more consistent over the whole game."

New College should be back at full strength for the clash.

College Look For Points - 2 December

uhlsport Hellenic Football League Division One West New College make the trip to midtable Cricklade Town as they search for their first league win since November 12.

First-team coach Rob Hopkins said: "Cricklade are a good set of lads who like to get the ball down and play. "They have been playing together for quite a while and are always challenging, and in striker Ben Carter they have a good player who should really be playing two or three leagues higher."

New College's Aaron Paprocki is injured but Ben Wells and Dan Wilson are fit again after spells on the sidelines. Jake Johns is available again after playing for Wiltshire Under 18s last weekend.

Technical College - 4 November

New College are to take the unusual approach of using video technology as they bid to improve their performances in Division One West.

While post-match video analysis is commonplace in the upper echelons of professional British football, these methods are virtually unheard of at Hellenic League level. First-team coach Rob Hopkins has taken on the role of cameraman for this weekend's home game against Brimscombe & Thrupp, and if the experiment proves successful, video work could become a regular part of the team's matchday preparations.

"We've got some software at the college called Dartfish so we're going to see if we can get it done," explained Hopkins. "It's good if we can show the players what they have done right and where they have gone wrong, whether it will work or not I'm not sure, because I'm not the best cameraman. We'll probably just look at certain phases of play like attacking and defensive corners. If we can show them what happened on a screen then that is more advantageous than just telling them."

New College took another unusual step this week, playing Hellenic Premier Highworth in a midweek friendly as they aimed to get minutes under their belts. Hopkins believes the result stands his side in good stead leading into their clash with Brimscombe at Supermarine tomorrow. He said: "In terms of the guys' development we thought it would be good for them to play against one of the better sides in the Premier. They rose to the challenge and they should take a lot of confidence from that. It has given them a good boost going into the next few weeks. Brimscombe will be another test. They will be a good footballing side, there's a few players in there that I know personally and they will look to play."

New College Mid-Season Friendly - 3 November

New College took the unusual step of moving away from the traditional mid season training schedule to play in a friendly game versus Uhlsport Hellenic Premier side Highworth Town on Tuesday night.

The game provided a good challenge for the Academy players and is a vital part of their development through the New College programme.

It certainly gave the players a good experience of what playing in a higher league versus more senior players would be like. The players should be aiming to play at Uhlsport Hellenic Premier level as a minimum and this gave them an opportunity to experience that level of play against on of the top teams in that division.

Overall there were several positives to take away from the game and the management, coaching and playing staff have given themselves a good base to work with and build on for the next games, starting with the game at home to Brimscombe on Saturday.

Start Of A New Period - 9 September

The busy part of the season has now begun for New College Academy as now all three representative teams are now in regular action meaning the 50 players registered with the Academy are now playing week in week out.

Fielding three teams across three leagues is a massive challenge for the academy but a vital part of the development of the players. Through this system the Academy provides a clear developmental pathway with sides from under 17's right through to open age.

On Thursday the under 17's played the first game in the Wiltshire Youth Floodlit league and earned a creditable point with a three all draw versus Chippenham Town.

On Saturday the Under 18's will play the first South West Counties Youth League fixture versus Cirencester Academy.

Finally on Saturday afternoon the open age side will play the 8th league fixture of the season in the uhlsport Hellenic League Division One West with an away trip to Carterton.

C+ Could Do Better - 2 September

New College Swindon have now completed the first month of the Uhlsport Hellenic Division One West. After the first month of the season is now complete its time to take stock of the performance so far.

The overall view is that we are happy but we could be doing better. The college end August with a record of played 6, won 3 lost 3 and sit happily at 6th in the league. However this could and should be a very different story. The college has not been outplayed or easily beat in any of the 3 losses. In fact if it had cut out the silly errors which cost the side and gifted the opposition the goals in these games it could well be a very different story. Overall the performances have been good and are improving game on game at a consistent rate that is pleasing to all of the coaching and management staff. The staff and players are looking forward to the on going challenges in the month of September and the continued improvement of the performance levels on the pitch.