Tuesday, 14th October 2008

News Archive

6th January 2007
Leaders Buxton opened up a twelve point lead when they squeezed home at Kidsgrove Athletic whilst closest challengers Stocksbridge were being held at Skelmersdale United.

The next four teams all closed up on Stocksbridge with wins although third place Cammell Laird needed a late winner to take the points at lowly Wakefield. The shock of the day in the UniBond League Challenge Cup came at Hednesford Town who again found themselves down to ten men as did First Division Woodley Sports. Despite leading at half-time Hednesford's miserable cup form continued when Woodley bounced back to grab a 2-1 win. Grantham Town staged the come back of the day to win 3-2 at Goole after being two down at the interval whilst elsewhere there were wins for Witton Albion, Harrogate Railway, Fleetwood Town, Marine and Whitby Town.

Gresley Sell Leading Scorer O'Connor

First Division Gresley Rovers sold leading goalscorer Aaron O'Connor to Conference National club Grays Athletic on Friday in a deal described by Rovers as "undisclosed mutually agreed terms". The 23 year old striker had scored seventeen times this term and last season had finished top of the First Division goalscoring charts after finding the net 35 times. The move was remarkable as Grays parted company with manager Andy Gray on Thursday and former Spurs player Justin Edinburgh was only appointed hours before O'Connor's move.

Marshall Out At Bridlington

First Division strugglers Bridlington Town have parted company with manager Paul Marshall less than three months after he took over the reins from Chairman Peter Smurthwaite who had been running team affairs until October. However, results didn't improve greatly and after twelve games under Marshall's stewardship had produced just four points Smurthwaite acted as he tries to turn the ship around. The Chairman said: "It was always going to be difficult for whoever came in and we thank Paul for his efforts in the short time he was with us".

Bridlington have now appointed a joint management team of Paul Stoneman and Ashley Berry. Stoneman has been playing with another struggling First Division side this season Wakefield. He made around 150 appearances in the full time game with Blackpool, Colchester United and Halifax Town and Bridlington secured his release as a player in time for him to face Ossett Albion today. Berry, who holds a UEFA "B" coaching badge, was also with Wakefield earlier in the campaign as Assistant Manager but left to take up a similar post under Chris Stammers at Clitheroe.

David Takes Changes To Sixteen

Paul David became the sixteenth UniBond managerial change of the campaign when he resigned following Paul Stoneman's decision to quit and join Bridlington. David, who has been at the club sixteen years as a player and on the management side, said he is disillusioned with players and has no wish to ever manage again. He will not, however, be quitting the club he obviously loves and he will join the Board to offer his wealth of experience to help try and guide the club back to the higher echelons of the semi-professional game.

David is best known as being part of the Emley (as Wakefield were then called) side that were holding a West Ham United team containing the likes of Frank Lampard, John Hartson and Rio Ferdinand until the 82nd minute with David having scored his side's equaliser in a 2-1 Upton Park FA Cup 3rd Round defeat. He is, however, not averse to "getting stuck in" and when the club moved to their new College Grove ground this year David played his part including getting his hands dirty on the mountain of manual work that was required to bring the site up to standard.

Taking over from David is midfielder Gareth Stoker who has been influential in Wakefield's recovery from a dreadful start since he joined the Yorkshire outfit from Leigh RMI in October. The 33 year old played around 150 games in his full time career with Hull City, Hereford United, Cardiff City and Rochdale after starting off as a trainee with Leeds United. When his Football League career finished he moved in to the Conference with Scarborough.

Clitheroe Pocket Undisclosed Four Figure Fee

Clitheroe have pocketed an undisclosed four figure fee from the sale of striker James Dean to Northwich Victoria. The 21 year old was signed during the summer from North West Counties 2nd Division side Great Harwood Town so has made a meteoric rise through the pyramid in a very short space of time. Defenders in the Conference should note that Dean is not to be messed around with - he is a former English kick-boxing champion! However he recently gave up his title to concentrate on furthering his football career and it has obviously paid dividends.

UniBond "Fair Play" Award

Gresley Rovers received some consolation for narrowly missing out on the December "Club of the Month" award announced last week by lifting the First Division "Fair Play" prize with two cautions in five games that takes them to fourth place overall. Kidsgrove Athletic continue to lead the First Division season to date tables by some distance and must be hopeful of securing the £1,000 first place prize. At the opposite end of the table last month's bottom two Clitheroe and Ossett Albion had thirteen cautions each and making matters even worse the former had three players dismissed and Albion four.

The League Sponsors, UniBond, put up £5,000 prize money each season on top of the agreed sponsorship to encourage fair play with £1,000 on offer to the winners of both Divisions. The two runner-ups pick up £750, third place clubs £500 and fourth place teams £250.

UniBond TV Is Go

Later this month UniBond League fans will be able to download recorded highlights of UniBond matches from their PC's, laptops and PDA's with the launch of UniBond TV. The League has teamed up with Onside Sports - the company behind Charlton Athletic TV and production company for Sky TV's Hong Kong Soccer 7's and International Masters Football - to launch a service that will be available to anyone with broadband internet access.

Visitors to the League website will be able to download a 20 minute highlights package from a Premier or First Division match filmed by Onside within 48 hours of the final whistle complete with interviews and match analysis. A second 45 minute programme is expected to come on line in the coming weeks showing highlights from UniBond clubs able to film and supply their own games. Each programme will be available for just £2 with season tickets available to reduce the cost even further.

It is the first time that a Step 3 league has launched its own TV service with the initiative having come from the League's Marketing Committee following the hugely successful pilot scheme at the end of last season when more than a thousand fans in three days downloaded the highlights of the Play-Off Finals. Peter Brooks, a former MD of Manchester United and now Chairman of Onside Sports, said "Semi-Pro football has suffered from a lack of TV coverage for many years. This is a great opportunity for fans who follow their local side to enjoy key action via the internet and it covers the gap between the main broadcaster's excellent coverage at the top end of the game for those fans who want to pictures from grass roots level".

Eastwood Sell Kerley

Eastwood Town have sold striker Adam Kerley to Northern Counties East Premier Division club Retford United for a significant four figure fee plus an add on clause. The 21 year old had been with Eastwood for eighteen months since being released by Lincoln City for whom he made one Football League appearance as a substitute in 2004. He had found the net ten times this season for the "Badgers" but in recent times had been having problems due to a serious family illness as reported in last week's Press Release.

Skelmersdale Take Barlow On Loan

Veteran striker Stuart Barlow has joined league newcomers Skelmersdale United on loan from Fleetwood Town. The 38 year old made over four hundred appearances in the full time game scoring more than a century of goals in a career that took in Everton, Oldham Athletic, Wigan Athletic, Tranmere Rovers, Stockport County and Bury.

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Rovers Make A Point On The Road

New Signing

At home to:
Willenhall Town (UniBond President's Cup 2nd Round)

This evening, 7.45pm

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