John Cunningham

Saracens Bid Farewell To Mark

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After 5 years as football coach and manager of Southwell City Saracens, Mark Gardner has decided to move on to another challenge with his son Alex. The two will move over to join City’s Under 11 Dynamos, with Mat Bell stepping up to manage the Under 11 Saracens, with coaching assistance from Adam Rayns.

The players and coaches recently got together to celebrate all the hard work Mark has put in over the past few seasons for the team. Mat Bell is keen to take on the new role and said that he is “looking forward to continuing the excellent work that Mark has done over the past 5 years.”

Mark said “I would like to thank to Southwell City for helping me to achieve my FA Level 1 coaching qualification. It has really helped me in my time training the boys.  I also wish Mat and the team all the best for the future.”

The Saracens have had a very respectable start to the new football season after being promoted to Division 2. So far, they have won 4 and lost 3 in an exceptionally competitive league. Clearly, Under 11 football at Southwell City is in very good hands right now!

Pictured: Back Row (L to R): Alex Gardner, Mark Gardner (Outgoing Manager), Mat Bell (New Manager), Adam Raynes (Chief coach) Front Row: Joe Walker, Freddie Raynes, Rory Allen, Joe Bell, Henry Allen, Sam Higman and Logan Dykes Brierley

Whites Looking to Recruit

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Southwell City Whites are looking to recruit new players to join their U12 football team in the new year. The boys currently play 9-a-side matches in the Young Elizabethan League every Sunday and are now looking to grow the squad as they will be moving to 11-a-side games next Summer.

Manager Paul Sharpe has always run the team using a small number of players. This has allowed him to offer maximum playing time to all the boys in the squad. This philosophy has seen him develop a well has run team that been very successful. In the last two years, they have won two league titles and one league cup!

The boys are pictured wearing a new kit for this season, which has been kindly provided by County Flooring & Supplies Ltd.

Paul can be contacted on 07969 202747 or by email on [email protected].

Pictured: Back Row (L to R): Harry Barker, Robbie Sharpe, Sam Pierpoint, Ted Winterbottom, William Manning Front Row: Charlie Heal, Matthew Jelley, Ernie Andrews, Joe Frost, Lawrence Burton

Big Plans for Southwell City FC

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The 2017/18 season is now well underway. As a club we are proud to have started the new season with 32 teams, 6 Senior, 20 Boys & 6 Girls. This makes Southwell City one of the biggest clubs in the East Midlands.

The growing popularity of football in Southwell is great but does cause us some problems. Training and playing facilities are under tremendous strain as we try and accommodate all age groups and needs. Our two clubhouses both need improvement to meet the increasing diverse requirements of the football teams that use them.

This continued growth has meant that the executive committee has had to put together an ambitious plan to best manage the future development of our football club at all age groups.

We have big plans for the future

Over the next 3 years we are planning to relocate all senior football to Brinkley, into a small stadium that will allow our adult football teams to thrive. This will allow us to focus on junior football in the town. Our aim is to create a fantastic clubhouse at the Memorial Ground, with catering and improved facilities. We also plan to upgrade the pitches to offer the best possible football experience for everybody.

Unfortunately, big changes like this are a great drain on the club’s resources, at a time when we are also facing increased costs in running the club on a day-to-day basis. It is for this reason that subs have been increased this season. However, we do feel that the price we charge to play football at this club still offers great value and compares well with other clubs in Nottinghamshire.

We are looking for funding

We are also aiming to raise money through sponsorship, grants and other funding opportunities. Right now we are applying for community funding from Aviva. To achieve this we need all club supporters, as well as their friends, family and colleagues, to vote for us so that our bid is considered. Voting is free and only takes a few seconds, so please click on this link to vote for Southwell City’s bid now[/url].

As an executive committee we would like to thank all members for their continued support. We hope that you will shortly be able to see some of the positive changes we are making to the club and its infrastructure, creating the best football club that we can be for all of our players!

John Cunningham
Vice Chair

Great Start For Cougars

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Southwell City Cougars have had a great start to the season. After seven matches, the U12 team are sitting proudly at the top of the YEL Saturday Winter Division 5.

The latest match for the team was an 8-1 home victory against Willington Sports and so far this season they have won six of their seven league matches.

After two seasons in the Newark League, the Cougars joined the YEL at the beginning of last season and have been making steady progress since. Tom Shevlin and Darren Stevenson train the boys and both are very proud of the improvement of the team over the last few seasons. The parents have also been great, supporting and helping every week.

Pictured (Back Row, L to R) Darren Stevenson (Coach), Leo Brown, Luca Kemish, Archie Stevenson, Daniel Pollock, Flynn Shevlin, Charlie Ball, Tom Shevlin (Coach). Front Row: Daniel Lane, Freddie Corbett, Harvey Kilborn, Oliver Rockley, Charlie Heal, William Wagstaff, Ollie Wagstaff. Players missing are Max Holland and Jack Bloomfield.

Sabres Winning Run Continues

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Southwell City Sabres have started the new football season in the same positive way the finished the last. After winning the league title last year, the U15 boys have won all three of their opening Notts Youth League Division 2 fixtures.

The latest triumph for the team was a 3-2 home win over AFC Vernon Red.  Other victories have come against Ravenshead and Calverton. The team has also progressed in the cup, pushing past Dunkirk in the last round on penalties.

The players, coaches and parents would like to thank Paul Rigby, director of local building company GPR Construction, who has for the 3rd time sponsored the team with a new kit.

Next fixture for the team is a cup match at home against Toton Tigers. We wish them all the best!

Pictured (Back Row, L to R): Stuart Burbidge (Assistant Manager/Coach) Josh McCool, Tom Ballentyne, Alfie Walker (Captain), Toby King, Sam Manning, Ewan Jan, Dan Winterbottom, Doug Wright (Manager/Coach) Front Row: Jacob Adams, Roman Priestley-Nangle, Jamie Sharpe, Lewis Burbidge, Joe Wright, Ryder Wyatt, Ted Benson

Southwell City Presentation Day a Success!

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Southwell City Football Club celebrated the success of their junior section with their annual presentation day last month.

Over 20 junior boys and girls teams came to together to celebrate the club’s achievements, represented on the day by over 300 players.

A huge turnout of families and friends was present to witness the players collect their much deserved awards. Each player received a participation medal for what they had contributed to the teams and the club throughout the year.

For each team, trophies were also awarded to the Players’ Player of The Year, Manager’s Player of the Year and Most Improved Player.

As well as awards there was also lots of fun to be had with refreshments and a bar, wet sponge throwing, bouncy castle, football shot speed test, beat the goalie and lots more.

So thanks again too all players, volunteers, families and friends. The managers and coaches at Southwell City will now be looking forward to a well-deserved summer break before the start of another new season in August!

Strikers are League Champions!

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Congratulations to Southwell Strikers u14 girls football team, who recently became joint winners of the Notts FA u14 league.

It was a nail biting end to the season, with victory needed in the final match to clinch the title, jointly with Derby County FC. Despite going 1-0 down to third placed Stanton Ilkeston, the girls battled hard, as they have done all season, and won 3-1.

The team have only lost 1 league match all season. This achievement is all the more remarkable as injuries to players have meant that several matches have been played with a team of only 10.

The girls also progressed to the final of the County Cup, where they were narrowly beaten by close rivals Sherwood-quite an achievement with only 9 players for the final 10 minutes!

The team train on a Monday evening and play matches on Sundays, and are always on the look out for new players. If you are interested in joining, please contact Ted Miller on 07854 624544.

City Girls Win County Cup

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Southwell City U16 Girls football team is celebrating after winning the County Cup at the end of April, beating Rolls Royce 2-1. Scorer of both goals was Jess Fudger.

Their route to the finals saw them take on Mansfield Town in a thrilling semi-final, which City won 4-3.

Coached by Andy Mollet and Mike Langdon, the girls are having a great season. They finished 3rd in the Sunday Notts Girls and Ladies League and soon they will be looking to add another trophy to sit alongside the County Cup. In May they play Woodhouse Colts in the NGLL Plate final and we wish them all the best!

Meanwhile, our Under 14 Girls team have also been doing well. They also progressed to the County Cup final but were unfortunate to lose out to a strong Sherwood Youth team.

Southwell City has a number of successful girls football teams that are all run by FA qualified coaches with first aid certificates, high level DBS check & safeguarding qualifications. All new players can come and try training for free before committing to the team if they want to play in matches.

Any players who are interested in joining one of our girls’ teams should contact Ken Brown at Southwell City ([email protected])

Romans Are Champions Again

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Southwell City Romans are having a great season. The Under 12 football team has just picked up their first silverware of the current campaign after winning their YEL Winter League Championship.

The team hit form just at the right time. They went into the final stages of the winter season knowing that wins in their final two games would hand them the title. An impressive 3-1 win at title rivals Gedling Southbank, was followed by a 5-2 victory at Bingham Town to secure top spot.

The latest trophy continues an excellent run of success for the boys in the last couple of years. As Under 10’s the boys were crowned Spring League Champions. Last year, as Under 11’s, they finished league runners up after being promoted to a higher division.

One of the main reasons behind the team’s success is that the squad is made up exclusively of local boys who are in Year 7 at the Minster School. This lends to a great spirit amongst the players as they all enjoy being able to play football with their mates.

The team now turns its attention to possible cup glory. At the end of April they face Blidworth in a cup semi-final at Brinkley. It will be a tricky tie, but the boys will be up for it!

Photo: Back Row, L to R: John Cunningham (Coach), Olly Wild, Matthew Cunningham, Lennie Blagg, Jacob Higman, Toby Short, Thomas Harding, Harley Fenton, Lyndon Short (Coach) Front Row: Daniel Jones, Lewis Durham, Luke Burn, Sam Kumar, Matthew Timms, Fintan O’Loan.

City Focus on Safeguarding

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24 members of Southwell City Football Club recently attended an FA Safeguarding workshop held by the club, as part of its ongoing commitment to the safety of all children and young people who come into contact with the club.

Many of those who attended the workshop had already been on FA Safeguarding courses and the event gave them a chance to renew their qualifications. For others, this was a first chance to learn about all aspects of safeguarding and to earn a qualification, which is valid for three years.

Southwell City has embedded a culture of responsibility for the well-being and safety of all children and young people who are under the club’s care or utilising the club’s facilities. It is the duty of all adult members at the club to safeguard the welfare of children and young people by creating an environment that protects them from harm.

The Child Welfare Officers at Southwell City are Richard Miller (07545 425147) and Richard Wilson (07773 942132). Both promote awareness of safeguarding best practice across the whole of the club. They can be contacted at the football club and any matter can be discussed with either of them in complete confidence.

Photo: Back: Coaches Mark Timms and Lyndon Short with their FA Safeguarding certificates.  Front: Players Matthew Timms and Toby Short.