Thursday 28th July 2005
 
Third deal seals trio from rivals
 
Having already sealed the transfers of full-back Michael Murphy and young ‘keeper Shaun Allaway, Staines Town boss Steve Cordery returned to local Berkshire rivals Slough Town to steal away last
seasons’ double ‘player of the year’, defender James Saulsbury. Much admired by the ‘Rebels’ support, 23 year-old Saulsbury was virtually ever-present last season and made a big impression during his first campaign, having been recruited from Thame United . Also with brief experience at Marlow and having enjoyed time ‘Stateside’ on a soccer scholarship, Saulsbury is seen as a fine acquisition to Cordery’s squad, particularly in light of Peter Barnsby’s recurring injury problems and so the likelihood of Saulsbury teaming-up with former ‘Rebels’ team-mate Michael Murphy in a new-look ‘Swans’ back-four looks very exciting. (Stuart Moore)
 
 
Monday 25th July 2005
 

Quiz Night

There will be a quiz night for the Supporter's Club on Friday 5th August at the Ship Hotel in Weybridge in aid of the Hospital Radio Wey Studio appeal. It would be great if we could raise a team for this event and help Clive who commentates on Staines matches for the station and also to establish ourselves as a proper members club.
Thursday 21st July 2005
 

'Glovers' are just too strong

Gary Johnson brought his League One outfit Yeovil Town to Wheatsheaf Park last night for another pre-season friendly. A match brought about originaly from Kezie Ibe's transfer to the 'Glovers' exactly a year ago, and despite being strongly linked with a return to the Swans, Kezie did not appear in this match as he trialled for Aldershot the previous night in his continued search for a professional contract.
 
The Swans played a fairly experimental side and Yeovil played two different line-ups, one in each half. Remaining in goal was James Courtnage, despite the signing of Shaun Allaway (who is suffering with a knock) and returning in his first pre-season outing was Michael Currie, who partnered Tariq Nabil up front whilst Jermaine Hunter was rested.
 
Yeovil started the strongest and raced to a two goal lead courtesy of Terry and Bastin although Currie could have pulled a goal back for the Swans as the pros took a 2-0 lead going into the interval. The second half started well for the Swans when Tariq Nabil was brought down in the area after a good run and he converted the penalty himself. Despite this, Yeovil had other ideas and Matt Harold regained the two goal advantage with a header following a corner. Matt Flitter then found himself in the book for some colourful language as the Glovers played out the rest of the game.
 
On the player front, Fiston Manuella is still on holiday and there was still no place for Richard Gell who has not reported back to the club this pre-season. News on Peter Barnsby is not so good as his knee again flared up in training and will now be referred to a specialist in an attempt to salvage his career. (Laurence Wakefield)
 
 
Monday 18th July 2005
 

Supporter's Club meeting

The next Official Supporter's Club meeting will be held at the Thames Club this Thursday (21st 7.30pm) where lots of exciting news about the new Supporter's club will be released. We will be nominating board members and also the 'not to be missed' privileges you will receive as a member.
 
Get yourself along this Thursday, all welcome!
 
 

Swan's reveal No. 1 signing

Having lost regular ‘keeper Matt Lovett to local rivals Hampton & Richmond Borough just three weeks ago, Staines Town manager Steve Cordery is delighted to have secured the signature of one of the Ryman League’s top, young goalkeepers for the coming campaign.
 
Arriving at Wheatsheaf Park, agreeing a deal after having watched the ‘Swans’ play Reading at Wheatsheaf Park (on 13th July,) 22 year-old Shaun ALLAWAY has transferred from Slough Town where he’d quickly become a favourite with the ‘Rebels’ supporters having been recruited from Coca-Cola Championship side Queen’s Park Rangers in the Autumn of 2004.
 
A former Reading Academy graduate, he hit the headlines when transferring to Leeds United in March 2000 for £200,000 and whilst at Elland Road, the young ‘keeper represented England at under-19 level, whilst also serving Grimsby Town, Walsall and Blackpool in short ‘loan’ spells to gain experience.
 
Last season, his first in the senior non-league game, he hit the headlines with Slough Town, making his debut in the 1st round of the F.A. Cup as the ‘Rebels’ defeated Paul Merson’s Walsall before going out to Yeading (and thus missing out on a home tie against Newcastle United.)
Young Allaway joins former Slough Town colleague Michael Murphy at Wheatsheaf Park, the recently recruited full-back having already shown-up well in pre-season matches against Brentford and Reading. Indeed, a third ‘rebels’ player from last season Ryan Spencer has also been in training with the ‘Swans’ and appeared in the exciting 3-6 defeat at the hands of Coca-Cola Championship side Reading. (Stuart Moore)
 
 
Friday 15th July 2005
 
Commercial opportunities for Businesses
 
Now is the time to take advantage of the opportunities presented to your business or organization through one of the South East's leading Semi-Professional football clubs. Take advantage of one of the following sponsorship packages and you will not only be helping your company but also the 'Swans' with some much valued revenue.
 
Opportunities for exposure include:
Main kit sponsor for new ladies team
Match day sponsors (includes 5 guests into boardroom)
Match ball sponsors
Player sponsorship
Programme & website adverts
Banners (boards) around pitch
For details contact Commercial Manager Louise Moss on 07740 336766 or e-mail loumoss@gmail.com
Thursday 14th July 2005
 
Opening fixtures will be big test for Swans...
 
The Swans couldn't have asked for a more demanding start to the 2005/06 campaign with a series of testing matches against all the top sides.
 
They start off the campaign on August 20th with a trip to last season's play-off finalists Leyton, before hosting Margate the following Tuesday. The next three matches sees visits from pros Billericay Town and big spenders Fisher Athletic. Sandwiched inbetween is a mid-week trip to AFC Wimbledon!
 
Although we couldn't have asked for a tougher start, the opening couple of weeks will tell Swans boss Steve Cordery an awful lot about his squad and could give us a good idea as to the season's expectations.
 
 
Swans are more than a match for Reading
 
The over-riding comment following this excellent run-out for the ‘Swans’ was the clear gulf between ‘Championship’ opponents and, with all due respect, League One Brentford, who visited Wheatsheaf Park four days earlier.
The Berkshire side, under the charge of former Manchester United and England legend Steve Coppell came to the home of the ‘Swans’ with a full strength squad and were, like the previous visitors, able to field a different team in each half, both, however, of undoubted quality.
 
‘Swans’ manager Steve Cordery was also able to add to his hand, with the returning Peter Barnsby (from holiday) and, to the surprise and delight of the ‘Staines Massive’, Kezie Ibe in the No.9 shirt (the striker has been in training with the ‘Swans’ whilst he hopes still for a pro’ contract somewhere.) New signing Dwayne Plummer debut’d in midfield as did triallist Ryan Spencer, formerly of Slough Town and Hayes.
The game started in a whirl for the home side, who found themselves a goal behind after just 42 seconds as triallist Luke Muldowney from Brentford (who appeared for the ‘Swans’ towards the end of last season,) scored with a neat header from Curtis Osano’s cut-back cross. With the visiting support, seemingly effected by traffic problems on the local A30, given that early boost then the ‘Royals’ quickly ceased control of the game and before the home side really knew what was happening, it was 0-4 within 20 minutes! Andy Hughes added the second touching home from
Shaun Goater’s cross and then striker Dave Kitson took over scoring his first two of the night, in both cases stripping the ‘Swans’ defence for pace from both left and right and firing home emphatic finishes. There was some hope for the home support during this blistering period of Reading play however, as Jermaine Hunter could have notched twice himself as first he just failed to connect with Plummer’s delightful cross-box ball to the back-post and then former Arsenal ‘keeper Graham Stack smothered well to prevent Hunter’s sliding effort from registering.
 
Bouyed by these efforts and undeterred by the swash-buckling Reading forward line, the home side managed to claw their way back into the game with two goals in a three minute spell on the half-hour, of course the script was written for fans favourite Kezie Ibe who first despatched a penalty under the body of Stack, the award given following a trip on Tariq Nabil as he weaved his way into the box. However Ibe’ second goal was a sublime lobbed effort on the run from twenty yards, which left the Irish international ‘keeper grappling at fresh air above his head.
 
It was rather a shame then when the resurgent ‘Swans’ conceded a sloppy fifth on the stroke of half-time as Kitson sealed his hat-trick with a finish from a tight angle which bounced in off the far-post, this after Courtnage in the ‘Swans’ goal had failed to gather cleanly at the feet of Kitson when earlier given the opportunity.
 
In the same vein as the previous game, Manager Steve Cordery kept the same starting XI after the re-start, whereas Coppell had the comfort of changing the line-up completely. It was the home side though who again clawed back at their lofty visitors as Michael Murphy’s clever run into space to collect Clement James’ corner-kick brought a pin-point cross which Peter Barnsby gleefully headed past Stack (who continued between the sticks on his debut.)
 
The final goal of the game came as Reading found themselves four-on-two against the home defence and Czech triallist Lubomir Blaha finished neatly on the hour. However, the game had largely ‘died down’ by this time and Cordery was able to make five changes to give further triallists a chance. There was one final, less desirable note when Hunter’s late and untidy challenge on Mullins caused him to be ‘retired’ by Cordery and the young Reading full-back to limp-off. The ‘Swans’ striker was yellow-carded for the incident, as was Hayes for his protestation.
 
All in all, an excellent run-out for both sides, the only disappointment for the Wheatsheaf Lane club being the rather disappointing attendance of 557 which, may well be blamed on local travel chaos on the A30 as reported by late arriving supporters of both clubs. (Stuart Moore)
 
* The match is available to buy on DVD (£5) from Julian Fox and Lee Carpenter. E-mail julianfox@lineone.net or lee@lemarsh.co.uk
Saturday 9th July 2005
 

Swans Hold Bees

Staines Town have drawn 0-0 with a full strength Brentford squad in a pre-season friendly at Wheatsheaf Park this afternoon.
 
In front of a bumper crowd of nearly 1,500 people, the Swans fielded goalkeeper James Courtnage who was at Leyton last season and also represented the Isthmian League. He pulled off a number of remarkable saves to keep the Bees at bay as they hit the post twice. The closest The Swans came to scoring was a Jermaine Hunter header which the keeper did well to save and also an Andre De'Lisser effort in the first half.
 
Other notable appearances for the Swans were the returning Jermaine Hunter and Dean Green. All in all, a solid opening performance by Staines on a playing surface which was quoted as being better than Brentford's own!
 
Wednesday 6th July 2005

New Women's Team Launched

Staines Town now have their own ladies branch with the official unveiling of the new women's team.
 
Manager Mark Callaghan started out training Chelsea's reserves before moving to Hampton & Richmond Ladies where he put a lot of his own money into the club. It is from Hampton where he has brought virtually the whole of the squad and will play their games on the Wheatsheaf Park pitch. His aim is to reach National pyramid status (one division below the top) within the next 10 years and at Wheatsheaf Park, have the facilities to progress.
 

Next Season's Odds

The odds for next season's Ryman Premier division have been released by the two major on-line betting agents and sees the Swans placed at 16/1 and 25/1 respectively.
We feel that 'Skybet' is the most accurate as far as the Swan's are concerned, but if you're after a flutter then Bet 365's odds definately look a good bet at 25/1. Last season the Swan's were favourites for relegation with both bookies and we ended up finishing 9th, which just goes to prove how little they know about Non-League football!
Sybet
AFC Wimbledon 3/1
Fisher Athletic 11/2
Braintree Tn 7/1
Billericay Town 13/2
Heybridge Swifts 12/1
Margate 16/1
Leyton 16/1
Staines Town 16/1
Chelmsford City 18/1
Maldon Town 20/1
Slough Town 20/1
Hendon 20/1
Hampton & Richmond 25/1
Worthing 25/1
East Thurrock Utd 25/1
Walton & Hersham 25/1
Redbridge 33/1
Bromley 33/1
Folkestone Invicta 33/1
Windsor & Eton 33/1
Harrow Borough 40/1
Wealdstone 50/1
 
Bet 365
 
Dons 4/1
Braintree 6/1
Billericay 7/1
Fisher 10/1
Heybridge 12/1
Chelmsford 14/1
Leyton 14/1
Hampton 16/1
Margate 16/1
Hendon 20/1
Slough 20/1
Worthing 20/1
Staines 25/1
Bromley 33/1
Folkestone 33/1
Harrow 33/1
Redbridge 33/1
Windsor 33/1
East Thurrock 40/1
Maldon 40/1
Walton 50/1
Wealdstone 66/1
 
Monday 4th July 2005
 
Welcome!
 
To the first 'Official' website of Staines Town Football Club!
As a webmaster, it gives me extreme satisfaction to be honoured in this capacity for Staines Town after nearly three years of producing an 'Unofficial' site, and now that they've finally asked for it to be made 'Official' I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and working with the club on a more personal level in order to improve this publication for you, the readers.
 
Having obtained a software upgrade for my trusty old G4 Apple Mac, I have a whole new set of design tools at my fingertips and after the usual teething problems that all new software brings, hope to maintain the site to an even higher standard which is why I have kept the degree of content to begin with at a manageable level so as to avoid any major problems that will no doubt creep in during the following weeks.
 
I believe a site such as this should be about 'quality' rather than 'quantity' in order to give the best impression possible for Staines Town Football Club.
 
UP THE SWANS!!!
 
 
 
"Most exciting pre-season for years"
 
The 2005/06 campaign could not have started on a higher note for Swans fans with a host of professional League clubs to visit Wheatsheaf Park....
Our first visitors this Saturday, most appropriately will be Martin Allen's full strength Brentford outfit, who did superbly well last season to reach the play-offs in League One and so will see plenty of local interest with fans of both clubs having very close links.
We have forged a great relationship with the Bees over the last couple of years and we can now very much be classed as a feeder club to them with a number of friendlies and loan signings now the norm, and I know they like the set-up we have down here as they would not keep coming back!
The following Wednesday in another high profile game we welcome Reading of the 'Football Championship'. The 'Royal's' could well have found themselves in this season's Premiership but for a last minute Hiccup and so missed out on the play-offs and this will be their first ever visit to Wheatsheaf Lane.
July 20th sees League One new boys Yeovil Town make their first visit to Wheatsheaf Park since 1989, when a 1000 + crowd visited for an FA Cup 4th Qualifying round tie (my first ever Staines game incidentally!)
The club who ex-Swan 'Kezie Ibe' joined last summer, did visit us back in 1997 for an Icis Premier League fixture when we ground shared with Chertsey Town. The Swans did well to hold the eventual champions to a 1-1 draw and could have taken all three points after Phil Grainger blasted a late effort over the bar with only the keeper to beat! The away fixture at Huish Park in front of over 4,000 spectators saw Jim Williams give the Swans a half time lead but eventualy lost out by three goals to one.
Our final Football League opposition on July 30th come in the shape of League Two side Leyton Orient in a re-match of last season's friendly which was switched to Yeading as our pitch was not quite ready.
The O's are a former club of our very own Craig Maskell and will be interested to see our new stadium after missing out last year. - A match that saw the O's come out on top in a closely fought contest....
 
Saturday 2nd July 2005
 
Squad back for Pre-season
 
The bulk of the squad reported back for pre-season training on Saturday with a number of new faces on show including Jermaine Hunter and Michael Murphy.
Dwayne Plummer, Richard Gell and Marien Ifura amongst others were excused on the day with family matters at hand which included both a wedding and funeral. Training again takes place on Tuesday with the build up to the Pre-season campaign beginning on Saturday at home to Brentford.....
 
View the action here
 
 
All Home ties in FA competitions

The Swans have been handed home ties in all three FA competitions. In the FA Cup First Qualifying round we have been drawn against either Haringey Borough, Felixstowe & Walton United or Dunstable Town and this match will be played on Saturday 10th September at Wheatsheaf Park.

In the FA Trophy First Qualifiying Round, we have been drawn against Wivenhoe Town on Saturday 12th November at Wheatsheaf Park and the winner of that match will be away to Cray Wanderers.

The Academy side have been drawn at home to Stotfold or St Alban's City in the FA Youth Cup First Qualifiying round, again at Wheatsheaf Park, week commencing Monday 26th Sept.