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Recent EventsWembley with Exeter City 2008Like last year, the week after the Presentation Event many Central parents and players had a day out at the Wembley to follow the City again. This time the performance on the pitch was more composed and the result went our way. It was another great day and this time the singing was tremendous. Unfortunately Steve Basham did not feature but at least next season he can star in Div 2. Chairman Nigel was projected briefly on the big screen as was Under 15 Joe Harrison. Here are some photos and please send me yours of the day: Shaun.
Presentation Event 11/05/08This day was a great success with a packed hall - Chairman Nigel had not only arranged the bar, the BBQ and the bouncy football pitch but also Steve Basham from Exeter City to present the prizes and a glorious sunny day. With Exeter City playing at Wembley the following Sunday a quick show of hands revealed that most of the hall would be going and we all wished Steve and his team mates the best of the luck. The presentation of the awards went smoothly although Nigel was the only one who appeared to be able to get the microphone to work. It was noted that a few of Tim Clotworthy's Under 15s preferred Exmouth beach but there was an excellent turn out anyway. The full list of trophy winners will be listed on the trophy page in due course. The Under 9s City team were congratulated on sharing the Cup the day before and the Under 16s were commended for their brave performance in their semi final. Photos of the day: Afterwards the managers presented each player a Central boot bag personalised their own initials. For the older players this was deemed of more use than another medal but some of the younger ones received both. Nigel grabbed the mike again for the now traditional draw - Under 15 Ben Burak gaining the star prize of a football signed by the City squad. Parents were quick to take bottles of wine off the slightly young winners. Steve Basham was good enough to have his photo taken with some of the award winners and stayed for a long time chatting to the parents and managers.
Many thanks for the day to Nigel (who had not been well during the week) and his family who helped out again, Treasurer Jackie for sorting out all the awards, Steve McShane who did a lot of the preparation work, Steve Bampton for the BBQ and all the businesses who chipped in with draw prizes. Most of all thanks to Steve Basham for sparing his valuble time for us. Words: Shaun Carter, Photos: Shaun Carter & Myles Taylor AGM 11/05/08In a canny piece of planning the AGM was held before some of the parents could escape from the Presentation Event with the result of there being an excellent turn out. Chairman Nigel's report was typically upbeat though he had a few issues about "respect" that he felt needed to be addressed. He also mentioned the hopes of getting the Club upto FA Charter Standard. Treasurer Jackie's report showed that the club appeared to be relatively OK financially though it was not clear how much the club would be charged for hiring KGV next season. The meeting voting unanimously to increase the annual Registration Fee by two pounds to £12 to pay for the expected costs of ID cards imposed by the Devon FA.
Treasurer Jackie intends to stand down at the end of next season and the club was successful in appointing a shadow Treasurer who will learn from her and maybe take over if all goes well. The club was less successful in finding a shadow web manager (who also intends to stand down next season) and a vice chairman but will continue to search. Nigel & Steve McShane (secretary) were unopposed in their roles and will continue for another year (at least). Any other business discussed the standard of the KGV pitches at the start of the season (Nigel explained some of the discussions the club had had with the City Council) and the standard of this years practice balls which may have been caused by a world wide shortage of good quality balls apparently (the Club would try harder next season to get round balls). The meeting went on until the booking time ran out. The full agenda and the minutes will appear on the downloads page in due course. Words: Shaun Carter, Photo: Myles Taylor Aston Villa vs Newcastle 09/02/08Chairperson Nigel organised this trip to Villa Park for players, parents and coaches of the club and we filled two Dartline coaches with 97 people. It involved a foggy 7:15 a.m. start - we made good time and a couple of quizzes made the time speed by (unfortunately the DVD player was broken in Coach A). We arrived near the ground with an hour and a half to spare before the 12:45 kick off and after a quick photo session we made our way to the ground. Photos of the day: We were in a block in the top tier in the North Stand with a good view behind the goal. The Newcastle fans were fairly noisy but the Villa fans only poured in just before Kick off and the stadium looked looked full with over 42,000. We were there in time to see the warm up routines and were especially impressed with one Newcastle staff who's job just seemed to be to supplying water bottles. The first half was mainly dominated by Newcastle who scored quickly from a Michael Owen header and they looked the more controlled for much of the half though Villa looked dangerous at free kicks. The Newcastle fans were also much louder than the home fans and we were impressed with a row of "nuns". Martin O'Neill used his Coaches Area frequently and nervously - King Kev less so. Photos of the day: The second half was completely different - Villa put on a couple of subs and must have gone on with a flea in their ear. They attacked immediately and within a a few minutes they had equalised with what looked like a mistake from Shay Given after a Bouma miss-hit shot and then took the lead with a header from Carew. Given was immediately replaced by Harper but Villa continued to dominate and the Newcastle fans were quietened. Carew got a messy second and then scored a last minute penalty after Stephen Carr handled in the area. Keegan must have been unhappy with Newcastle's defence - they were very poor. The journey home was relatively easy and traffic free and we arrived back in Exeter at 7.00 p.m. Many thanks to Nigel for organising this fun trip and next year we would like to go again - maybe Villa vs Liverpool? If you have any photos of the day please forward them on to me and I'll add them to this page: Shaun's contact details Shaun Fantasy Football 2007/8Shaun Carter is hosting a Central FC fantasy football league using the Channel 4 Website - all you have to do is choose your team (£55m to spend - no more than 2 players from any team - or press lucky dip) give it a name and there you are. If you would like to play in our league press the "enter new league" button and "join existing League" and enter the pin 9388 when asked. You can join at any time during the season as the League starts again each month. Guide for New Players, Forthcoming Events, Mission Statement, Fantasy Football, Pitches, Central Merchandising, Central History |
