From Rush Green Bowl to Millfield...

Karl Fuller

Description

From Rush Green Bowl to Millfield... is the story of FC Clacton's 2009/10 season as seen through the eyes of FCC's Matchday Programme Editor Karl Fuller.Follow the journey from Paul Hillier's Testimonial match against an Ipswich Town XI in pre-season to promotion as runners-up from the Ridgeons Eastern Counties League First Division to the epic 2-1 victory over Halstead Town in the First Division Knockout Cup Final.A month-by-month account of the season unfolds into one of the best seasons in the history of the Seasiders. Unbeaten at home, most number of league goals scored in a season, highest average attendance in Ridgeons One and there were just two league defeats all season away from the Bowl.Complete with photos and statistics, this publication is a must for all those connected to FC Clacton and for those that love Football at the non-league level of the game.

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 15 août 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781909143227
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page
FROM RUSH GREEN BOWL TO MILLFIELD...
The Story Of FC Clacton’s Successful 2009/10 Season

Written by Karl Fuller
‘The Fuller Flavour’



Publisher Information
Apex Publishing Ltd
PO Box 7086, Clacton on Sea,
Essex, CO15 5WN, England
www.apexpublishing.co.uk
Digital Edition converted and published by
Andrews UK Limited 2012
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © 2012 by Karl Fuller
The authors have asserted their moral rights
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition, that no part of this book is to be reproduced, in any shape or form. Or by way of trade, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser, without prior permission of the copyright holder.
All photographs in this publication are courtesy of Wendy Wootton to whom I am extremely grateful for her efforts, except for the following:
Front cover: Photo courtesy of Karl Fuller
Middle pages: Photo courtesy of the Colchester Gazette



Dedication
This book is dedicated to all those that I was fortunate enough to share the 2009/10 experience with at the Rush Green Bowl. From Stephen Andrews and David Ballard, to David Coyle, the players and the supporters - including my Dad Mick.
To you all, this is for you.



Foreword
By Paul Hillier


When Karl told me that he was thinking of writing a commemorative recollection of our triumphant 2009/2010 season, I thought it was a great idea. When he asked me to write a foreword, I was both flattered and slightly concerned - How do you write a foreword? What are you meant to write? Here goes...
I have known Karl for many years now, but mainly over the last eleven when he has been responsible for our award winning Clacton Matchday Programme and Website. Few people can have put as much time and energy into Clacton Town/FC Clacton over the past decade as Karl.
This season was a fitting way to end my non-league journey with the Seasiders. I started as a fresh-faced twenty year-old coming off the bench on the first day of the 1998/1999 season to score two goals in a 3-1 win and signed off by picking up the First Division Knockout Cup as Captain in May 2010o, a feat that was achieved along with promotion as Champions back in 1999.
I have been lucky enough to have enjoyed a fair degree of success over the last eleven years and have had many great times, as well as a few not so good ones. We have generally had enthusiastic owners, but most not offering the stability of the current chaps, good managers and really great players. I count myself lucky to have been able to play for a successful home town club making many good friends over the years, none more so than the current team.
Over these last few years and since my return to the newly formed FC Clacton, I consider myself lucky to have been invited by Karl to write a regular “Captains” log in our Matchday Programme. As I mentioned earlier, the Programme has been a regular award winner every season for non-league Programme of the Year in various polls. I recall a few years back going down to the beach with Karl in a Clacton strip with a football for the front cover - a picture which got me a bit of stick from my then team mates!
I suppose that when I comment on Karl’s hard work and dedication to the club, a special mention should be given to his understanding wife Pegga and their two girls Lola and Angel. Being a parent and husband myself, I know it is not easy to balance work and football with a young family, so “fair play to the Fullers!”
Anyway, back to this season, the main topic of Karl’s book. After a couple of years of near misses on promotion and some wonderful memories of FA Vase runs, FA Cup trips, cup giant-killing and exciting home victories, 2009/10 saw David Coyle assemble a familiar squad of old faces, with Andy Taylor rejoining and Darren Gould back in goal for his third or fourth stint - a move which greatly pleased me knowing what an asset he would be and how right I would prove to be. Chris Ribchester chose to stay with us after an offer from Ryman League Heybridge Swifts and most others we had we managed to keep or lure back, including our consistent ‘Danger Man’, Matt Waters and we even encouraged Tommy (The Goal Machine) Noble out of retirement to help out when required.
That was then (August 2009) and this is now (May 2010). I can reflect on an unbeaten home league record, as the highest scorers in the league (and one of the highest in semi & professional football), a cup win and promotion after the league evaded us by two points. I think over the season we probably deserved to win the title, only losing twice and taking four points from Great Yarmouth Town who won the league as well as four points from Brantham Athletic who finished third. We also managed to average the highest home attendance in the league, even though we did not play a home (Saturday) league game for three months at one point!
Which brings me neatly to our supporters, of which Karl is one of the most dedicated. Our loyal bunch followed us on the road during 2009/10 to places such as March Town United, Gorleston and Great Yarmouth amongst others and hugely outnumbered Halstead Town at the Cup Final - with the celebrations at the end one of the favourite moments in my Clacton career.
Being 1-0 down with ten minutes to go, I was not sure if we could do it, but our amazing players and awesome supporters snatched it with two minutes to play - I think it was fate.
With this book comes a new chapter in FC Clacton’s short history, their first journey into the Premier Division. They go into it without last season’s Captain and Manager, but I am confident that the remaining players, new manager and supporters will bring success and a bright future under the watchful and enthusiastic eyes of Stephen Andrews and David Ballard.
Who knows how long Karl will be able to maintain the Programme and Website, but as long as he does, we are lucky to have him and I hope you enjoy his look back at the 2009/10 season through this book.
Paul Hillier



A Dream Match To Precede A Dream Season
There comes a point in the life of a football fan when you feel that your team has propelled you to an all-time high or if you are really unlucky, which is more often the case, an all-time low. As you grow older and your mind decides to play games with you, you cannot remember what you did yesterday, let alone what you are meant to be doing tomorrow. But you will always remember, never forget, revert back to that occasion when you can say ‘I was there’ that day, that game, that season which rubber-stamped your affinity to your club.
I’ve been lucky enough to learn that this can happen with more than one club and on more than one occasion. The highest of highs, the lowest of lows, you have to accept them together, it’s what makes Football the game it is, it’s why we all go back for more. Good or bad, exciting or damn bor- ing, there’s always the next game, the next season to rekindle hopes of better times or to wonder ex- actly how your team can build on such success just witnessed.
For most of us involved with the game, we have grown up latching onto the team of those closest to us, or maybe the team that wins all the trophies, or just one with the right colour kit, or who knows, the team that plays the sexiest football. If that team happens to be a professional team, then it is rare to deviate away from them, to be unfaithful to them or to jilt them for another professional club. In fact it is a total sin and almost unheard of! Committing to a professional team is for life, a sacred bonding of man and team, for better or worse, together forever and the true fan will stick by these vows and more often than not, be doing so through worse and more in hope of for better.
I never dreamt that I would need to seek an alternative to Ipswich Town for my football pleasure and never thought it would be possible for my footie religion to allow me to stray elsewhere. From a Tuesday night at Portman Road in the late 1990’s when Stockport County left with a 2-0 victory in front of 8000 hardy souls, to the 40,000 of us among an 80,000 crowd that went to Wembley in 2000 to watch George Burley’s troops win the play-off final, I can firmly say ‘I was there’ and believed no other team could tease me, torment me, put the knife in when I was down or made me feel the King of the world.
But life changes, football can change - if you allow it to. My beliefs now are that for as long as your new-found venture is on a different platform, the chances of your chosen ones going head to head are as remote as possible, you can indulge in two loves and when your love is divided fifty-fifty to Ipswich Town and FC Clacton, you would hardly believe that you would ever get caught up in the web of deceit, where you are forced to stand in front of both your footballing wife and mistress and be expected to choose one or the other. And when you’ve been caught, its decision time, who do you want to win? Do you really care? Should you really care? What if you have brought it on yourself and maybe, just maybe, it’s kind of quite thrilling that for one night only, you get the chance to share your two loves together and then when you have literally brought it on yourself, you can afford a wry smile and believe that even in battle together, you really don’t care who wins, for you’re in love with both and you know that perhaps you’ll never be in this situation again, the o