Arundel muscle into title race County 1 Round Up

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Arundel and Redhill both won to improve their prospects of winning the closest title race in years.
Pagham missed the chance to go back to the top after they lost 4-0 at home to Selsey to leave the top six separated by just four points.

No 27 RFC WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

The easiest thing in football terms is to pass comment or write a newsletter on the back of a win. Unfortunately that’s not a luxury I’ve had for the last four successive games - getting no points from 12.

I think Whitehawk will have a big say in who wins the County league and the win against us yesterday proves their intention to climb the table and aim for Ryman football. Someone said to me yesterday that their weekly budget on players is guessed at around the 800 quid mark with the fella Gatting (the 9 yesterday) on an alleged 300 quid a week. Before I take in 2 dozen e mails from Whitehawk, let me say I’m not stating this as fact but merely conjecture. If its true, they are serious in their desire to win the County league. I would guess that would match the weekly wage bill Ringmer had in their centenary year when thousands upon thousands of pounds was spent on players wages by the directors’ in their efforts to gain promotion to the prestigious Isthmian League. Despite that cost to the club, Ringmer, as well might Whitehawk, failed.

On the game front we lost Aaron Last to a tackle from Whitehawks number 8 from which Lasty was fortunate not to have his leg broken. Now I never go on about ref’s but this fella got it wrong when he let this vicious tackle go unpunished. At our game yesterday there must have been 6 refs all watching and I wouldn’t mind hearing their view on it. But I’m not saying we lost the game through it - Jayson Sowter came on and did a great job as centre back - we lost the game through a few reasons. Our strikers are going through a lean spell currently and we have to be a bit patient. We have 4 or 5 great strikers at the club and we’ll be trying different formations to ensure we start scoring. Our midfield wasn’t great either to be fair and against Eastbourne United we intend to field an aggressive formation to take on the side who have lost only three times this term. One of those times was to us of course.

Looking back over the 28 points we’ve won this season lets recognise some things together. We have a playing budget that’s about 250 quid a week. We don’t get any help from Ringmer FC Limited (in administration). They didn’t do the kit for the first team or reserves. No support was given or offered from directors’ or the limited company when we bought the new tracksuits. We don’t pay wages, we pay expenses only. We don’t have any big time Charlies or prima donnas either - we have kids playing county football - most of which for the first time and most of which are new names to you. These kids got us 28 points in the first few months and they didn’t become a bad bunch overnight. Lets all have a bit of faith in me, Steve and the players and get a win under our belts and our attitude right and we’ll be just fine. Remember, form is temporary, class is permanent and we have a lot of class in our squad that’s just a bit short of self-confidence. Lets encourage these fellas and when they come off at half time or at full time lets give them plenty of encouragement.

So Eastbourne United for the front side next Saturday and Arundel away for the reserves. Both games 3pm ko. At the time of writing, I’m not sure whether we have the Falmer facility on Tuesday night for the reserves so training may or may not be on. Deb will text you to let you know if its on. The front side have a friendly against Mile Oak at the club on Tuesday night weather and frost permitting. Deb will text details.

Finally, Happy New Year to you all from the football management, players and support staff who help make football happen every week at Ringmer Football Club.

County League: Ringmer boss is generous in defeat

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By Bruce Talbot - The Argus Newspaper

EVEN beaten Ringmer boss Bob Munnery helped fund the celebrations after Pagham went back to the top of the first division.
Munney contributed £20 to the Pagham players’ Christmas party after his side had lost 2-0 at Nyetimber Lane.

No 26 RFC WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

First of all I’d like to wish everyone who hasn’t got their own little secret agenda or a blind ambition to kill Ringmer Football Club, a very Happy Christmas. I’d like to think that means the majority of you reading this.

There are bigger things going on at Ringmer than the results of either our reserves or first team but I’ve no intention of hiding our results or performances behind these sickening issues when I refer to the away defeat at Pagham. I’ve already said I like Pagham - Gary Block’s programme notes indicate that their club is close to being insolvent and I really feel for them, after all, they have no pitch to argue over. But they weren’t better than us on the day. However, we didn’t do enough to win on the day. In the first half - playing 4-3-3 for the first time in a league game, our fluency was absent (as it has been for several games) and we looked stale and impotent. Despite playing three aggressive strikers we managed one shot on goal. At 0-0 half time came and went and two mistakes later and the game was lost. No excuses, especially from me and Steve, I don’t care what anyone says, on paper we have the most exciting and positive squad in the Sussex County League but currently it aint happening on the pitch. Lets hope the problems are managerial and not the players as it’ll be easy to fix the management issues as its two people - me and Steve - and if it’s a player thing its 17 players and potentially 17 problems. At 28 points won and having beaten Shoreham, East Preston, Sidley, Worthing United, Wick, Hassocks, East Grinstead, Pagham, Oakwood twice and drawing to Lingfield we’ve done ok so far bearing in mind most had us relegated by Christmas.

Lets be clear. With all thats going on - the rows, the secret meetings, changing locks, the putting up of separate post boxes and then taking them down, the taking down of the Ringmer flag (twice) and god only knows what else - I’m amazed we even get onto the pitch. But get on it we do and there’s no other reason for our run of poor results other than we’re playing pretty crap. No excuses, a first team squad meeting on Tuesday will go a long way to re-installing confidence - something we’re certainly short of at the moment. A win against Whitehawk will put a positive slant (on the football at least) for the New Year.

But confidence is something we are not short of with our illustrious reserves. A rollercoaster ride for 90 minutes against the much fancied Eastbourne United Res ran us out winners 3-2. Fantastic result which pulls us 3 points closer to survival in the Res Premier division. Just on that point do the teams being promoted from either the Reserve east or Reserve west need to have floodlights to get into the top county flight? If they do, its worth keeping an eye on that issue too.
If you receive a text from Deb and it refers to a first team squad meeting, its at the Caburn on Tuesday night, 7pm. Dress is optional but you being there aint. 7pm sharp in the changing rooms.
Its gotta be confirmed but the reserves should train on Tuesday night at Falmer, 8-9pm. Geoff to run this one but Deb will text to confirm.

No game over Christmas for the reserves and although there are a few County one games on Boxing Day, we play our holiday fixture on Saturday 27 December, 3pm ko against Whitehawk at home. I really hope to see a lot of you there for the last game of 2008.

What I want at Christmas? 3 points against Whitehawk and whoever took the flag down twice to put it back up please.

No 25 RFC WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

I’m not aware of any County league games played over the weekend so our focus is re-directed to next Saturday’s encounter against Pagham at their place. I like this lot - they’re honest and you have to take them as you find them. The Chairman is Gary Block who, evidently, with his wife, runs the entire set up. He’s the manager, barman and groundsman. So lets reflect upon that when we consider (even in these times) that we have a few people involved and that its not down to one person. Pagham, who have been vying for a top place (on a very limited budget I hear) will meet our side in 5 days.

Last Thursday night we played an Eastbourne Borough 11 that consisted of 4 or 5 of their first team and the rest were under 18s/reserves. The centre back who came on for them was Simon Johnson who is now in the final U18s England squad so we were up against some quality. In the game Joe Mactiffin went off with a suspected busted ankle but fortunately after a scan it turned out to be ligament damage. He’ll be out for a few weeks. Win lose or draw, I never report friendly game scores. It was a good workout and thanks to Paul and Shaun for coming over.

In Saturdays scheduled game against Chichester, we were no less than 6 players out. Med had a family do, Sam Sowter was, well, you’d better ask him about his trip and night out, Simon and Will were doing their level 2, Percy got dragged off to Venice and Pricey had to work. Dave Altendorf went on the missing but re-emerged Saturday morning. Next Saturday we have them all back and available and we have an ex-Ringmer player re-signing for us again this week having played for us last term. Who is he? E mail me at bobmunnery@tiscali.co.uk with your guess or go on the RFC forum and see if you can work it out. Give me the name of the player who scored our first goal in the County League this term and the name of the player signing and win £10 prize. First one in gets it.
Our pitch resembled a picturesque lake at 10am on Saturday when I checked it out for the reserves. I didn’t have to walk it - it was quite apparent that there’d be no activity on that day or on Sunday when Ringmer Rovers U14 side were due to use it. Sorry everyone. Not a chance.

Training is on Tuesday for all. Its an intensive hour 8-9 and is becoming relevant to team selection for the first eleven. Neil has a long standing arrangement on Tuesday which I knew about prior to him taking on the job but I’m hoping that Geoff Mactiffin will be available to be involved to view reserve players training too.

I have received an e mail in from the acting Chairman of Ringmer Football Club Limited regarding Herve King. I have said that Ringmer should be sorting this remembrance game out themselves. I’m pleased to report that Richard Soan has been speaking with Herve’s partner Sarah and a game has started to take shape to be held at the club next February. If this game is organised I can state that irrespective of whether the Limited Company is in Administration or if things have turned even worse for the directors’, the game, once organised, will take place.

I watched Lewes U18s fail in their attempt to get to the next round of the FA Youth Cup against Hull City and I know they’ll be disappointed with the result. I thought they could’ve changed the game and won it had they played their second year substitutes. To be fair, both sides were not particularly great but apart from the most outrageous piece of nepotism I’ve ever seen in youth football when it came to making changes, it was an interesting game. Bad luck Steve and your players.
I read somewhere that Lewes can now be bought for a reported £150,000 which sounds cheap but what exactly do you get for that? If they go into Administration and as they don’t own their pitch, I wonder if anyone will be wanting to sort that out?

We may be having a training game on a third generation pitch on Thursday but you’ll hear about that on Tuesday night. See you there.

No 24 RFC WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

I think our Ringmer Veterans play about once a month or so and on Sunday, knowing they were playing at the Caburn, I went along to watch some of the game. I was amazed at how many players playing I knew - too many too list - but there were a lot. Watching too must have been 30 or 40 spectators come to see the old man run out one more time I guess. To be honest, the football wasn’t great but you could see that some of those players had played at a higher level and the camaraderie between the fellas - from both sides - was great to see. You had all sorts playing in this game - and all enjoyed themselves which is vital when you get over 37 years old which is a pre-requisite of veteran football. I was surprised to see the ex-Lewes manager, Steve King, come out to play right wing in the second half too for Plumpton Vets.

Since we’ve been put into administrative receivership by the directors’ of Ringmer Football Club Ltd, I have been asked by two local papers and one national paper to give a statement regarding my view and as to why I didn’t take a directorship when it was offered to me. Having given it great thought so far I have declined to comment. To be honest, if the FA come back with a 10 point deduction due to this unprecedented action, apart from exploding, expect a statement at that time.
Having spoken to someone at the vets game who is very interested and very much up to speed with how this will end up, I’ve concluded that the future of Ringmer Football Club is safe and secure, irrespective of the damage a 10 point deduction may cause. With this in mind, you’ll soon be seeing the first team squad players wearing new tracksuits. They arrive today and after we have organised the sizes relative to each player, they go back and the initials will be put on each jacket. There are no pre-conditions to the issuing of the Nike tracksuits other than continued involvement with the first team squad. In short, if we see you as a first team squad member, you’ll be issued the tracksuit. If you don’t get one, its easy, get into the squad. By the way, there is no cost involved to neither players or administrators now in control of Ringmer Football Club Limited.

Disappointment is not a word to describe how we feel having thrown away a lead to lose to East Preston on Saturday. Gutted would fit better. The wrong formation perhaps - players not fit enough - thinking we’d won it at 85 minutes - not having Joe Adams, Alex Mikolay, Jo Tubon, Aaron Macmillan or Matt Percival available - be assured of a whiplash next week against Chichester. Sorry to the travelling fans - you made the effort and we didn’t come through - sorry.
I do have to laugh sometimes. At the start of the season they write us off. Then we win a few games and they reckon we’re gonna win the league then lose a few and we’re written off again. Honestly? I prefer it when we’re written off. With all the rowing and politics, lets keep our status in the County league. That’ll be enough to disappoint them trust me.

On Friday night our reserves looked good up till half time against third in the reserve premier league, Arundel. Don’t compare the loss at the end of the game to the run our ressies had last season. Not once did we play a side as high as Arundel and I thought for 45 minutes we were unlucky not to be in front. Bad luck Neil, Geoff and the players. Lets get it on and climb the reserve premier league now.

Steve Ibbotson at Lewes U18s has done a fantastic job getting his players through to the 3rd round of the FA Youth Cup. The next game is against the Premiership 18s side, Hull City and the game is tonight, ko 7-45pm at the Dripping Pan - get down there and get behind these fellas. Best of luck Ibbo and your boys.

Training for ALL squad players is at Falmer on Tuesday night. Then on Thursday night at the club, weather permitting on the Thursday night one.

No 23 RFC WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

With no football on for Ringmer lovers and no loss or draw for the Ringmer haters, we turned our attention to Christmas shopping on Saturday afternoon. Or at least you did if you told yer missus it was off. Not me - Off to Crowborough me mate lol.

Only Pagham were gaining points above us in the rain and we dropped to fourth place as a consequence of not playing (and getting three points) against Wick. I must admit both Steve and I would really have wanted to play this one and, trust me, I was over there forking it at 9 am. To be honest, I had it right at one point and when we came to the decision time just around 10-30 we called it on. Then I went home and during the journey it resembled a scene from a disaster movie with rain hail and all sorts coming down. When I got home I called Ringmer to check if they’d had been affected by the torrential rain and of course they had. Then a re-visit to meet a ref and bing bang bong the game was off. Within five minutes I’d received a call in from Arundel to say they had called theirs off - I bet they didn’t go through the trauma I did….

Training this week for everyone at Falmer 7.30 till 9 pm. On Thursday night for the first team squad we planning a friendly against a Crowborough X1 at Ringmer which is going to be more of a training game for the benefit of players and management. 7.15 on this one.

The next night - Friday - we play our reserve game against Arundel Reserves in the Sussex Intermediate Cup, which was postponed twice - lately last week. As they’ve had two pops at it and it being postponed on both occasions we get a chance to get it on. This is the cup our illustrious reserves got through to the semi-final last term and I’m sure both Ian and Geoff will want to replicate that run. No pressure there then Neil huh? No reason why we cant go one step further and get to the final. 7.15 pm ko on this exciting encounter.

On Saturday our front side make the long journey into East Preston to meet the West Sussex side who have vastly improved since our 6-0 win early in the season. They’ve already taken the scalps of teams that have underestimated their ability to upset teams. So we go there with a full and fit squad with 5 subs who will be busting to get on and do damage.

Writing this on Sunday evening I have just returned - with a lot of other people - from the planned Herve and Oliver King Memorial Game which to be honest took weeks of planning and yeah, cost too. We got there at 1-45 to see a copper on the gate who announced that the game was off. Off. Off?? “Are you mad?” I said to the copper. “They’ve been trying to reach you and its been on the local news…” I’m aware that kids read this Newsletter so I’m not gonna say what I said to Dixon of Dock Green but rest assured it wasn’t “Really mate?”. Detecting my annoyance I was directed to the clubhouse. Within a few seconds I found it was true. They called it off at 1pm but felt that they’d let us come up and have a drink etc.

Lets be clear. Andy Brogan - who sorted all this out with me - was not to blame for the game getting called off - this has to be with Croydon Athletic I’m afraid. Around 3000 people were due to be coming and two hours notice a game is off is not on Croydon. The ref said he’d have played it and from where we were it certainly looked playable.

Ok, we’re not going back to play a game there. We're going to get re-organised and sort out a game at the Caburn very soon. A lot of people have said that Ringmer Football Club should have already sorted a game in memory of Herve and as this has not happened perhaps we can all pull together on this one and actually do this without the animosity and ill feeling that surrounds our club.

In short, lets forget about who owns the pitch. Herve King died on it. Sort it out Ringmer.

Ringmer FC placed into administration

Click title above for full story by the Sussex Express

Published Date: 24 November 2008
Ringmer Football Club have been placed into administration, it has been announced.
The move comes after a long-running dispute about the ownership of the ground between the club's directors and the trustees.

COUNTY ONE ROUND UP

Click Title Above for full round up, from the Argus

BRIAN DENNIS insists he will not get carried away after his Eastbourne United side went top of the division one table.
Brad Manton scored twice as United beat Worthing United 4-0 to climb above Ringmer at the summit.

,

No 22 RFC Weekly Newsletter

Our reserves recorded a great win on Saturday beating Hailsham reserves 2-1 at the Caburn. A lot has been said about our reserves this season and I hear that it wasn’t too pretty in this hard fought battle - who cares a? - I don’t care how we did it to be honest. We moved 3 points closer to safety and although it’s a long way to go, it was a move in the right direction. Well done to all involved especially Neil and Geoff who have not had it too easy of late.

Our first team travelled to Surrey (Sussex County League? I’ve never understood that one) and we met a Redhill side now managed by John Crumplin, the ex Ringmer manager. John strikes me as a manager who desires football management at a higher level - hardly surprising when you consider his playing experience I guess. The Redhill side is geared up to have great pace - particularly up top. We lost the game 2-1 and not actually due to their pace as we matched them in every department. I think a draw would have been a fair result but because of a defender unfortunately losing his footing a draw was not to be.

The Ringmer haters (in particular the train spotters on the Nonuthin Forum), will tell you we’ve won 3 from 10 but if you look at the statistics you’ll see that all teams are winning and losing hence our league position which is now third from top. Lets not forget too we don’t pay wages either - yeah we pay expenses but the majority of players could play for clubs and earn wages but they choose to stay with us. I hear of one County League side playing £300 a week for one player and I’m reliably informed that the average County league weekly budget is £700 a week now. Incredible huh? I spoke with one manager recently and he commented that he was disgusted that at the end of a game (which they lost) he’d have to pay his players when quite clearly he felt that his players weren’t worth the big money being paid.

There’s two training sessions this week. On Tuesday night 7.30 till 9pm at Falmer for a workout then on Thursday night at the club. It may well be a training game again, we’ll see.
Next Saturday our front side play Wick who will come to the Caburn having lost to us earlier in the season. 3 points in this one could see us move back to top place and yes, it would mean 3 points closer to safety too (yawn).

Our ressies travel to Arundel to play the Sussex Int Cup game postponed from a few weeks ago.
See you all on Tuesday night.

SATURDAY'S COUNTY ROUND UP

Click title for full story from the Argus 15th Nov round up

No 21 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Saturday came and Saturday went and we find ourselves back top of the County League dispatching Oakwood 1-2 at their place. Without Jayson Sowter, Chris Greatwich, Craig Brown, Dan Craghill, Dave Altendorf and Ryan and Aaron Macmillan absent we still pulled ourselves from a one nil deficit to win the game. We should all recognise the strength of our squad.

We meet Redhill next at their place next Saturday which will prove to be a big test. The ex-Ringmer manager John Crumplin manages Redhill now having left Crawley Down recently for the Division one outfit. Redhill, very much like Ringmer, have had their own ground issues and I read somewhere that they had sold their ground for about £700,000 I think. One imagines they now have somewhere to go when the deal goes down? Horsham, I recall, sold their ground and now play their football at Worthing. I guess the lesson there is be careful with your ground if you own it…….

Lewes don’t own their ground and we all watch with interest as to what potential investors actually buy when (and if) they do a deal. I dunno much about these things but if you were buying something surely it has to have a tangible asset and if you were big into football you’d buy a side perhaps that weren’t looking at probable relegation. If and when its sold I wonder what’ll happen to their 18s, ladies and reserves?

Sorry - went off on one there. Training is for all squad players on Tuesday night at Falmer 7.30 till 9. Everyone is to attend this session to be in consideration for either senior side. Be aware we are leaving out around 12 players each week now - work hard, train and you have every chance of being involved. On Thursday night, weather permitting, we will have a training game behind closed doors. This is not an open game for all to see - it’s a training game that we’ll be doing assessments from. You’ll be notified if you’re involved.

We all went to watch the reserves play in some cup or the other on Friday night. The outcome was that we can continue to focus all our efforts on our league programme and climbing up the table to ensure we stay in the reserve premier league. Some of you might expect me to say more about the game - but you’d be wrong.

On Saturday the reserves are at home against Hailsham Reserves in what will be a 6 pointer. I have a feeling this one will go our way. We’ll see a?

I read that the ex Lewes Bridge View and Ringmer player from last term, Matt Davies, has been selected for the England 18s selection finals. Matt is a great fella and a great talent, and his dad Roger is a good friend. I know they get this Newsletter and from all of us at Ringmer Matt, well done. Its your talent and nothing else that brings you success.

The Herve and Oliver King memorial game is now confirmed to be played on Sunday 30 November at Croydon Athletic’s ground, 3pm ko. There is a coach going which will cost £10 each and the tickets are £5. They expect 3000 people there including (I’m told) Ian Wright and John Salako. Call me asap if you want to come - I have only got 100 tickets. For the record, a game will be held soon at Ringmer in which all proceeds will be given to Sarah, Herve’s partner.

County Round Up 08/11/08

Click Title above for full story

By Bruce Talbot of the Argus
THREE Bridges scored twice in the last 15 minutes to beat Chichester and take over at the top of division one.

Charity match being held in memory of tragic West Croydon brothers

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FORMER teammates of tragic Croydon footballers Oliver and Herve Kingonzila will be going head-to-head later this month in a special memorial match.
The talented brothers died within months of each other earlier this year, and money raised from the game will go to their stricken family.
Herve, 27, died from a heart attack in February while playing for Sussex team Ringmer FC, while 19-year-old Oliver was stabbed to death outside the E Bar in South Croydon this September.

by Dave Burke

This is Croydon Today

No 20 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

On Friday afternoon we looked at the pitch, the water that laid on it and the weather forecast and knew we’d have a tough time getting the first team game with Arundel on. Overnight rain and a second look meant we had to call a ref to confirm that the pitch was unplayable. Arundel may feel that they would have really wanted to play having come off the back of seven (I think) winning games on the bounce. But we too felt good about the encounter as we had 5 players back after suspensions, holidays etc. So we’ll meet them another day.
On the subject of Arundel I think they must be candidates to be somewhere at the top come the end of the season. I’ve seen them play twice in the last few weeks - against Selsey and against Pagham - where they came out winners twice and I have to say though I thought they didn’t look world beaters. I thought that their passing and movement was not as quick or effective as some I’ve seen at this level but I guess that can be a mark of champions - winning games but not necessarily playing great. I think they are a good side but I think all teams in division one will lose games and it should make for a tight finale at the top of the table.
At the other end of the table I went to watch Hassocks take on Horsham YMCA. YM running out winners 0-2 and Hassocks, I have to say, are in a bit of trouble. They have to be very careful or they’ll be in a fight for survival come the second part of the season after Christmas. I look at the league table and see that we are 15 points away from safety and Hassocks seem to be 30 points away from the same assurance of County one football next term.
Our scheduled game for the reserves against Arundel (by coincidence) followed ours in the no chance stakes. To be fair although they’ve spent a fortune on their pitch it is still situated next to a river. Which is wet. So it was off. The next reserve game is next Friday night against Peacehaven reserves, 7.45 ko. Apparently they’ve spent a load of dosh on their pitch so it’ll be interesting to see if it looks like Wembley or a ploughed field after the recent weather. We all look forward to this fixture. I think all reserve games should be on Friday nights. You’d get all the clubs supporting their sides on a Friday night then all the club with the first teams on Saturdays. In these days of clubs trying to do stuff to generate better revenue, this surely would be a good option.
On Saturday the first eleven travel to Oakwood in the County League division one and both me and Steve will be pleased to see Si Greatwich, Aaron Mac, Dave Altendorf, Craig Brown, Dan Craghill, Ryan Mac and Chris Greatwich all return . Problems with selection in front of us no doubt.
Training is at Falmer 7.30 till 9pm. See you there.

County League title race hots up

Click title above for full story

By Bruce Talbot of the Argus
PAGHAM are back in the thick of the title race after toppling leaders Ringmer.
The Lions won 3-2 to go level on points with Ringmer in an increasingly competitive title race.

No 19 RFC WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Most of you will know that Herve King’s brother Oliver was killed recently. I have been contacted by a friend of mine, Steve Ibbotson, who in turn has put me in contact with Andy Brogan of Croydon Athletic who has made arrangements to play a charity game in memory of Herve King and his brother Oliver. It will be at Croydon Athletics ground on Sunday 30 November at 3pm. They are sending me down 100 tickets that they are asking us to sell. They are £5 each so e-mail me a nes-sales@btconnect.com if it’s a game and an event that you can be at. We are organising a coach and there will be a charge of £10 per person for those travelling. The squad on that day will be as close as possible to the squad that played on the day Herve died, with the exception of Jack Johnson who is in the USA. Steve Johnson, Paul Thompsett and Ian Fairs will manage events on the day as they did on that Saturday. Croydon expect some 3000 people to be in attendance.
I went to look at our pitch on Sunday after the game on Saturday which resembled a game of water polo. The pitch is damaged but hopefully with a bit of TLC we’ll get it back into good condition for the next home game which is against Arundel next Saturday, 3pm ko. I wish I’d called it off before we started, as the ref certainly wasn’t going to as the game progressed. The trouble is that if I go on about it “should have been stopped” people say its sour grapes but the Pagham bench and I agreed that it should stop when the game was all equal at 1-1. Any road up Pagham to got the rub of the green in the last 15 minutes and scored twice to our one goal. Pagham winning the event 2-3. For the record, we had Dave Altendorf, Craig Brown, Simon Greatwich Aaron Macmillan, Ryan Macmillan, Dan Craghill, Chris Greatwich and Jayson Sowter all unavailable for the game.
Our reserves battled out a contest in equally Noah’s Ark type conditions running out second best in this (apparently) dire contest.
So not a great day for Ringmer FC on the face of it. BUT with Redhill losing we still remain the top side in the County, adding to the frustrations of the Ringmer haters that are so desperate for us to fail.
I went to watch Selsey play Arundel during the week. Mate that is a long way down there innit. Talk about the back and beyond. By the time you get there its time to come home. Gotta say though what a lovely place. Nice pitch and nice civil people from both sides. Arundel ran out winners 3-1(?) and I’ll reserve my view on the game till later as we play Arundel next as I said earlier.
There is a members meeting tonight at the club to have a vote regarding a move and re-location. Most of you already know about this meeting and you are advised that if you want to have a say in the clubs future, its 7.30 for 8 at the Caburn. Bring your Members card if you’re coming.
Training is not yet confirmed for this week. A text will be sent tonight to notify you all.

County LeagueRound Up Bridges go goal crazy

Click Title above for full report
Ringmer could not match Three Bridges’ goalscoring feats in the league but still managed an emphatic 4-1 victory over Oakwood to go back to the top of County League division one.

No 18 RFC NEWSLETTER

I hear through David Ruffles that depending on other results it looks like the Philippine national side may be out of their competition so I would assume that the Greatwich brothers may soon be back with us. We’ve not been able to pick up too much info on Simon but Chris scored for his side the other day. It sounds like they are having a good time.

And our reserves had a good time on Saturday too. This squad have been unfortunate not to have picked up wins in their league programme this term and with Neil Thorneycroft away it was left to Kev Wood and Geoff McTiffin to take the team through the day. First, thanks to Geoff who came forward to help manage/coach/support the squad. Then a special word of thanks to Louis Brown who stepped in to be the keeper for the day after no less than 3 club keepers said they couldn’t play. And from this they won 1-4 to take 3 points and lift off the foot of the Premier Reserve league. Next week our rezzies play Crawley Down Reserves away and this one is another six pointer with Crawley Down sitting one place above.

I want some help with some things. I’m looking for people to go to the ground during the week (anytime) and clear the dugouts out of bottles tape etc. Then take a look in the stand and if there’s fish and chip boxes, cans of beer or bottles can you just pick them up and put them into the bins I have put there. This is one of those jobs that you can do - people often ask if they can do anything and this would help a lot. I’ll come around and clear the bins if someone just does the first bit. Thanks. I’ll leave it to you then.

For the first time in weeks, we have no game on Tuesday night so the first team squad will train at the club, 7pm till 9pm – this is for first team squad players only. No training at Falmer on Tuesday night. On Thursday night we are having an “in-house” game for 18s players not playing and reserve players too. All management and coaches will be there and you’re expected to come if selected.

As I said earlier, the reserves play away at Crawley Down next Saturday and our front side take on Pagham. We beat Pagham in some cup or the other earlier in the season 4-0 I think it was. To be fair I thought the ref had an absolute mare in this game and 4 goals probably flattered us but nevertheless I thought we were worthy winners overall, although I know that Gary Block’s fellas will think otherwise. We look forward to Gary, his team and vocal supporters coming back to the Caburn and a great game of football. 3pm ko on this one.

Our first team returned back to the top of the Sussex County League on Saturday dispatching Oakwood 4-1. I thought it was a fair result as Oakwood struggled to stay with the pace of the game. On the Tuesday prior to this we took on the might of Horsham Town in the Sussex Senior Cup and unfortunately we lost the game 1-2. Our performance on that night was nothing short of superb and we saw our squad play with exuberance and vitality normally associated with sides that play full-time and for serious money.

We don’t do or have either but we play like we do sometimes. See you during the week.

Crumplin leaves Crawley Down to take reins at Redhill

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For those who remember him

Crawley Down say they are "disappointed" after John Crumplin agreed to take the managerial reins at Redhill.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion player joined the Anvils in the summer but has decided to leave them after just a few months in charge.
He will replace Stuart McIntyre, who resignation as

County Round Up 18/10/08

By Howard Griggs » The Argus
Paul Faili is not getting carried away despite seeing his Three Bridges side go top of the table.
Bridges took over at the summit after beating previous leaders Ringmer 2-0 in a cracking game at the Jubilee Field thanks to goals from Carl Dunk and Dean Wright.

No 17 RFC WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Last Tuesday our front side went to Lingfield for a big mid week test and we came away sharing the points. I think that if we’d not lost Jo Tubon with a shoulder injury and if we had had Ryan able to start, we may have taken all three points - but I’m not taking anything away from Lingfield - they have ex AFC Wimbledon players and the majority of their players have played at Ryman level. A good game though and we played some good stuff which kept us top of the County League.
That lofty position was not maintained on Saturday however when we met the second place side Three Bridges. Despite our majority possession for probably an hour, we were unable to convert - Bridges winning the game 2-0. We’ll all be disappointed at this loss but I think we’d be wise to remember that Three Bridges are as good as we’ll meet this term and they are in good form at the moment winning their last six games. At the start of the season many people who know about these things tipped them to win the title - these were the same people I hasten to add that said we were dead cert for relegation.
So we now sit in second place and about five wins from safety. On Tuesday we play a game that’ll have no bearing on our league status when we entertain Horsham from the Ryman League in the Sussex Senior Cup. This is a 7.15 ko so a meet at 6pm sharp will be essential. If you are coming to watch, I understand that Horsham are likely to bring a strong fan base so if you wanna park get there early.
Our reserves lost to some mob in the Vernon Wentworth Cup on Saturday. Before we all jump on our high horse and bark on about the fact that it would have perhaps been more appropriate to field a “more experienced” line up, let me say that we selected no fewer than 5 first team squad players before we realised that you cannot play players that have, in total, played more than 8 first team games. So we had to change it completely. What we are doing playing games like that I dunno. Why don’t we all agree that we are all gonna work hard to put things right with this squad - there’s more and more quality coming in.
I have to report that we are pulling our 18s out of the County Youth section. As a big supporter of football development you’ll all know that I take it pretty personally when I’m forced to make this call. I’m not gonna detail all the reasons why in this newsletter as I feel its more appropriate to give all the reasons to the directors and the trustees first of all. Suffice to say that the majority of 18s will get opportunities at some stage in the senior set up. If I am involved with Ringmer next term then of course with the Development centre we obviously will be running our 18s again.
Next Saturday our reserves are away to Southwick and our front side are at home to Oakwood. Deb will text you to notify you of your involvement.
I hope to see as many of you as possible on Tuesday night.

No 16 RFC WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

They state that our “bubble has burst” on the Nomad site and that its all over at the Caburn. They blag on that we’ve lost 5 out of our last 7?? I might get a bit carried away (sometimes deliberately) and go on about winning the County one title. In reality, the truth is that in this season of political turmoil (which it seems we are close to resolving, I am told) we’d take survival in County one as favourable and secondly the last time I looked, we were still top. Don’t be deceived about people. There’s a lot of history at Ringmer football Club and there’s loads of vultures just waiting to rip the heart out of our club at the first opportunity. This is not just about this season you know and not just about our pitch. Do me a favour all the people who read this. Boycott that Nomad site. You’ve made a lot of friends along the way in your travels as a club but I’m finding that you’ve made enemies too. But don’t be too concerned as the majority will run and hide after we’ve survived this season.
The next game is a tough test away at Lingfield. This newly promoted side will have all guns blazing as we go there, as we did at Wick, with a tough test before us. This game is on Tuesday night at their ground 7.45 ko. I’ve been there once before with the reserves last term and we turned it on that night to get promotion and we need a similar performance to stay top of the County league.
Chris Greatwich left us on Saturday morning to join Simon in the Philippine International competition and we wish them both every success and a safe trip. We await the return of our two international players next month. Meanwhile we have made two seven-day approaches to two different county one sides for players. We never make a seven-day approach unless the player approaches us and this has happened twice this week. We already had a seven day approach lined up for Luke Huggett the Worthing Utd striker but couldn’t follow it through as a suspension was in force.
On Saturday the reserves play Montpelier Villa in the Vernon Wentworth Cup. There’s a few restrictions on selection in this cup so we’ve gotta get it right. It’s a 3pm ko at home and Montpelier Villa play their football in the Brighton Premier League.
At the same time the front side play away at Three Bridges, 3pm ko. This is followed by Steve Olivers’ birthday party and I hear there’s about a thousand people tipping up. Happy birthday on Monday coach. 50 I hear, is that right?
On Thursday night our 18s play at away at Crowborough and on Sunday away to Uckfield. I am currently looking for someone to take on our 18s for the rest of the season - give me a call if you wanna become involved. Bob M

Matt Geard at YM

Matt Geard has left Lewes to join County League side Horsham YMCA after finding opportunities limited in recent weeks.
Manager Kevin Keehan said: “Matt wasn’t getting a regular game and that is what he wants. We respect that.
"He has worked hard and put in a lot of effort but it hasn’t worked out for him.”

No 15 RFC Weekly Newsdletter

A mid week defeat against St Francis Rangers was a reality check for me and Steve, but more importantly, the players. I thought we were slightly fortuitous to go in at half time two goals to the good. The half time chat obviously had little impact as the visitors found their target and converted four times to run out worthy winners. Fair play and a fair result for a good footballing side in St Francis.
With the rest of the week to contemplate and plan, by the time kick off came at 3pm on Saturday we thought we would be ready. Up till that moment we had planned for Si Greatwich not to be with us, but all other squad players were expected to be available. Craig dropped out due to work commitments, Chris Greatwich failed a fitness test and Dave Altendorf remembered a wedding he was due to be at (not his I don’t think). So a re-vamped first placed side met the third placed side Pagham in the Senior Cup. I felt sorry for Gary Block’s side. Without putting too much emphasis on the questionable performance of the referee, its my view that once again with an assessor present, (how many times have we had these people at Ringmer games?), the referee put in a strange view on the game, seemingly pulling up the Pagham players for indiscretions that, frankly, were petty.
I read a lot about the “Respect” issue regarding referees and of course its something that we should all give naturally. Equally, football clubs and officials alike should respect the paying spectators too. The players and referee’s should remember that the spectator pays money to watch the game and we should respect that and let the game be played without unnecessary interruptions for petty issues from refs.
What a fantastic win for our reserves on Saturday. In the reserve section cup, we travelled to Dorking in Surrey and won the game 3-6 having been 3-1 behind at one stage. I’m yet to read Robs report but I hear that we played some great stuff going forward at times and we showed real gutsy spirit to overcome this side and move into the next round. I know that in truth, Neil and Kev would have swapped it for three points but I know they all believe they can use this win to kick-start their Reserve Premier league start. Well done everyone.
Football this week goes like this. On Tuesday night our first team attempt to hold on to first place against Hailsham Town who visit us for a 7.30 ko. On Thursday night, once again at home, our 18s take on Eastbourne Town 18s, again 7.30 ko.
On Saturday the first eleven play Rustington in the RUR Cup away, 3pm ko. The reserves play Arundel at home at 3pm and on Sunday the 18s play somewhere but the web site doesn’t show it yet.
Training is on Tuesday night at Falmer for the 18s and reserves only. There is no training Thursday as the 18s play.
I have discussed with our Chairman the issue of youths watching our games and we have decided that if a youth wears his or her football club’s waterproof top bearing the name of the club they play for, they will be granted free admission. I hope this encourages youth players to come to the Caburn in future.

Leaders Ringmer are beaten (Round up from Argus)

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Chris Maynard scored twice as St Francis Rangers won 4-2 away to leaders Ringmer in division one of the County League.

RFC WEEKLY NEEWSLETTER

We’ve been a casualty of our own success with regard to our reserves. For those of you involved I wanna say keep going - give this a chance and if you believe in how far we’ve come together, then believe that as a club we’ll get it right. We’ve got a great guy and a real Ringmer fella in Neil Thorneycroft and with the right level of support we’ll find that success together. Getting promoted from the Reserve section east, to some extent, has blown up on us insofar that we have taken so many players forward into the front side we’ve left us really light at a time when we need to meet a higher standard. Players - trust that we, all of us, will get it right. You’ll be amazed what a win will do to your outlook. And a win is just around the corner, but it needs to be a win that’s had by you guys, not by me putting in half of the first team in a mid week game. We’ll sign players and you’ll get support. Hey, make sure that YOUR game is better than the guy in the opposition.
Another part of this problem is this. Neil cannot do a training session on Tuesday nights and when I ask Kev to do the session at Falmer SOME of you act like kids and mess about. If me or Steve take the session they’d be no messing about and you know it too or you’d be out for good. So if we’ve a first team game on a Tuesday, the reserves and 18s don’t train. Then we have a session on Thursday night at the club if we can get everyone there. Its tough but you can see that some of these problems we can deal with - others are down to the Tuesday night antics.
Football this week goes like this - On Tuesday night the front side play St Francis Rangers at the Caburn, 7.30 ko on this one then Saturday meet Gary Block’s Pagham in the Sussex Senior Cup. The reserves play Dorking Wanderers Reserves away on Saturday and the 18s play away at Westfield on Sunday.
Before I mention the first team and their performance I just want to thank our travelling away fans. More and more are coming and we are all really grateful for the level of support we are getting. I keep saying to people to remember we are in the entertainment business. No? Yes we are - don’t doubt it. When you charge people to come to watch you play - you are in the entertainment business. I remind every referee of this before every game and also remind them to enjoy themselves. I hope they are, we certainly are.
The midweek game was a hard fought slog that we ran out winners and the win put us into first place in the County League.
The game against East Grinstead went our way too and the three points took us to 21 points and the cynics remind me we need about 5 more wins to be safe this season. Well I’m really sorry everyone. I don’t want to talk about survival. I’m here to win the League.
We want to win it and so do the players. Lets stop talking about not getting relegated. Lets start talking about winning the County League.
See you Tuesday night. Massive game. If you’re not involved, come and watch us.

Safety first for leaders Ringmer - County 1 News

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3:56pm Sunday 28th September 2008 THE ARGUS
By Steve Hollis »
Ringmer joint boss Bob Munnery saw his side open up a three-point lead at the top of division one and declared: “That’s a step nearer staying up.”

RFC Weekly Newsletter

’m trying to find a positive take on the games over the weekend and I’m struggling to be honest. The FA Vase game against Lordswood didn’t go to plan as we went behind in the first few minutes. The second goal followed the first and the Ringmer haters will be pleased to record that we lost the tie 4-0. Well, as a cup game we decided that we could either roll over at 2-0 at half time or we could really shake it up and go three at the back - then in the end play four up top. All to no avail however - they withstood our pressure and we got caught on the break in the second half and bing bang bong we’re out. Yeah, it would’ve been good to do something in this national competition but when alls said and done its now viewed that we return to our main objective, surviving in the County League.
Beating Wick 0-2 last Tuesday night took us three points closer to that goal. Wick are as good a side as we’ll meet this term and its fair to say that we were pretty good in this County one encounter. The Ringmer haters will not be happy with this result but the purists in our club - and there’s only a handful of us, believe me- will be impressed. I certainly was.
The 18s played on Sunday and we had two sent off. The ref came over and said he’d been threatened by a player and that he was considering abandoning the game. Shocking stuff? Yes undoubtedly. We embarrassed ourselves - no, the player embarrassed himself actually - and I await an explanation. The club, outside of the FA, will impose a ban on players that threaten anyone, let alone the ref and then the player gets dismissed and sit outside the refs room. Grow up or play park football, its one or the other. No more chances Ryan.
Neil Thorneycroft saw his reserve side lose against a very good Eastbourne Town side on Friday night. Lets not confuse ourselves though. This Town side had 4 first team players competing - and competing for places in the Ryman league - and we had 5 sixteen year olds playing. Neil will encourage a few older players to become involved with the reserves and I expect first team squad players to play when selected.
Football this week looks like this. The front side play on Tuesday night against Hassocks. On Saturday they play East Grinstead away whilst the reserves play at home against Pease Pottage in the Sussex Intermediate Cup. On Sunday the 18s play Bexhill away. No training on Tuesday night as it apparently last Tuesday a few of our stronger minded but stupid players thought it’d be a hoot to mess about like little kids. That wont happen again. That’s another issue we’ll be dealing with at the next training session. The whole squad is expected to train on Thursday night 7 till 9.
Lastly, just to keep you all up to speed, over the last few weeks we have signed Kiefer Ardaen-Webb the ex Withdean player and Will Broomfield from Hassocks. The ex Uckfield Town striker Jo Tubon signed last week and yesterday we signed Chris Greatwich the ex Bognor Regis midfielder. Good local talent of the highest quality . Welcome fellas.
See you all Tuesday night at the Caburn.

13/09 County SCFL Round Up

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County League round-up: Worthing United hope to appoint a new manager this week and his arrival cannot come soon enough after they were hammered 14-1 by Ringmer.

RFC Weekly Newsletter

A lot of people have asked me about the Ringmer Football Development Centre which is planned to open next season. Although there was some high degree of secrecy about this, the rumours have been flying about and I feel I should make some sort of a comment. Its been noted by a lot of top quality coaches (mainly from Eastbourne and Burgess Hill clubs) that there is a total void of quality coaching in this area for young and up and coming players. With outside sponsorship, its true that we intend to start a Development Centre for footballers in this region. We plan for it to be totally innovative and be run by top invited coaches in Sussex. The details of all of this will emerge later in the season but suffice to say it’ll wipe the floor clean in coaching terms in this area and we plan on having the top players coming through our Development Centre. Exciting times huh?
On Tuesday our first team travel to Wick to play a SCFL Div 1 game. Winning it will mean a lofty second place in the County League but to me and Steve it would mean three points closer to safety. A 1-14 win secured third place and I have to say I felt sorry for Worthing United. They worked hard and didn’t deserve to get spanked but hey, we were written off at the beginning of the season so we are all out of sentiment. Give me the game again and we’d do the same in reality.
Just a word about Simon Greatwich’s selection for the Philippine national side to tour Cambodia. Its great to have international players at Ringmer and we wish Simon every success and wish him a safe and enjoyable tour - we have to wait and see if he returns back to the UK as there are rumours that they may ask him to be part of their newly formed league. We’ll wail and see how it develops.
Having taken a 2 nil lead against the academy side from Margate, you’d think that our 18s were favourites to progress in the FA Youth Cup. Before I’d got back to the safety of the dugout for the second half, we’d conceded twice and were very much on the back foot. We lost the game 3-5. To be honest we were (in my opinion) the better side. Their coach remarked that our youth side was “a really great side” and the Reading scout there was astonished that we lost having dominated the game so thoroughly. Hey its about learning and development - I think we learnt in this game but I’m not sure we developed.
As I was with the front side on Saturday I didn’t see the reserve game on Saturday. We lost 1-3 to Pagham reserves and our new manager Neil Thorneycroft probably felt he had a baptism of fire. The next reserve game is on Friday night and I’m confident of a reversal of fortunes for our illustrious rezzies. They’ll do well - you’ll see.
So football this week goes like this. Tuesday night training for the reserves and 18s at Falmer, 7.30 till 9pm. A training game will be the order of the day up there on that night. The front side travel to Wick on the same night. Deb will text you your involvement if selected. On Thursday the 18s play at home to Eastbourne Borough and on Friday night the reserves play Eastbourne Town at the Caburn. On Saturday we travel to Kent to play in the FA Vase game against Lordswood. They are level nine and stand in our way if we are to succeed in competing in the next round.
Check Malc’s details on kick off times etc on the web site together with Rob, Steve’s and David’s detailed deliberations for each game we play.
If they just get the politics sorted this could become a golden era for our club…….

Double Tragedy for Herve's Family

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A talented young footballer stabbed to death outside a nightclub is the 26th teenager to be murdered in the capital this year.
Oliver King-Onzila died after a fight outside a bar in Croydon, South London, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

RFC Weekly Newsletter

To win or even to do ok in the Sussex County League, chances and opportunities need to be taken. If you watched the game against Horsham YMCA you’ll have seen a good account of the passing game which, frankly, we excel at. However, when we get in front of goal we need to finish at this level. And finish we didn’t. It’d be easy to be over critical but we’re still finding our way in the Sussex County first division and a 2-1 defeat to YM, whilst is unpalatable, it should be recognised that we played one of the fancied sides of the division and of course we are, in a lot of peoples eyes, already relegated. We move on from the disappointment to play Sidley on Tuesday night in the RUR Cup and Worthing United away next Saturday. We will be addressing our deficiencies in the next two games to ensure a next cup round in one and 3 points in the other.
The reserves third encounter of the season, due to take place on Friday night, had no chance of being held as the River Ouse took a new route through the middle of our pitch. So a postponed game followed by a similar postponement for the youth side against Wealden on Sunday, left for a very unhappy and dissatisfied 30 odd players. Sorry fellas. Your time will come.
I’m pleased that our way of playing has caught the attention of the youth players of Lewes. Some of these players are top class and its been easy for Lewes “coaches” to have had success with them over the last two years - lets not forget they were talented players before they even got there though - and I’m pleased that so many of them are wanting to join our progressive club.
I have been a critic of attitudes and the restrictions there however and once again I find the antics of Jason Hopkinson deplorable. I asked a Lewes U18s player to run the line for our reserves last week and Mr Hopkinson couldn’t help but have a view on this and advised the player not to do it. This kid has no job and the 15 quid payment would, no doubt, have helped his financial position. But Mr Hopkinson said that he’d prefer it if he didn’t. With an implied threat of being dropped no doubt, the player withdrew his offer of lining. Unfair and unnatural control over a youth player in his private life? You decide. The player, who will remain nameless, has now been banned by Mr Hopkinson from Ringmer, similarly Hopkinson now been banned by me from the Caburn.
Next week we have a youth cup game on Thursday night at home against Hurstpierpoint. This is a prelude to Sundays FA Youth Cup game against Margate in which we will play mainly second year termers in what will be a tough encounter. 3pm ko on Sunday - hope loads of you come. Our Cub Secretary advises me that spectators will be charged as per normal FA Youth Cup ties - £2.50 adults, kids etc £1. This is an FA rule by the way - not a Ringmer thing. The rezzies play Pagham at home on Saturday BUT I’m trying to rearrange this fixture for Friday night.
Training goes like this. The 18s and the reserves go to Falmer on Tuesday night 7-30 till 9 pm. On Thursday the first team only will train at the club whilst the 18s play their cup game against Hurstpierpoint.
See you all on Tuesday night at the Caburn.

SCFL Round Up 06/09/08

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GOALS from Martyn Flack and Tom Lawley saw Horsham YMCA bounce back from a 5-0 loss at Whitehawk with a 2-1 win over Ringmer.

01/09/08 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

The next game of football we have is against Sidley in the RUR Cup on Tuesday evening, note the kick off time, 7.15 pm. There was some deliberation as to whether this game would be on as they were playing Eastbourne Town on Sunday in the FA Cup and if it had been drawn they’d have played on Tuesday - but evidently they lost 2-1 - so our game now goes ahead.
Our 18s had their first work out during the week taking on a very talented Whitehawk 16s side. Thanks to them for coming over and for the session. On Friday night our reserves went to Whitehawk to take on the lost the game 1-0. Despite the scoreline I was pretty impressed with our game and the way we played. We were 3 key players light in this game and when we come up against Southwick rezzies next Friday night at our gaff we’re gonna have it right.
The 18s start their league programme next Sunday away to Wealden, 11am ko. I’ve not spoken to Dave and Grant who run the side but with Tommo doing their front side, they’re sure to be well organised and motivated. I look forward to going up there. The following Sunday our 18s play Margate in the FA Youth Cup and we’re gonna have to be on it that day. I’m told Margate Youth is run by Neville Southall and Terry Yorath. I expect a competitive game. In between the two games we meet Hurstpierpoint in some cup or the other.
I want to thank Crowborough for their wonderful hospitality on Saturday. Nice people and a club run properly is my impression having taken a side up there. They certainly have harmony throughout the club as their chairman shook everyone’s hand as they came off the pitch. The game? Well we played some great stuff in the first 45 and at that point perhaps looked the better side. Half time came and we had to make a change due to injury and a couple of individual errors resulted in us going out of the FA Cup. If we take any consolation it has to be from the conversation I had with Steve Johnson on Sunday when he commented that he felt we could be a top six side this term. It was a great day for some of the players who’d not been involved in the FA Cup before. Good luck to Steve and his side in the next round and I hope they have a good run.
We have a training session planned for Thursday evening at the club, 7-9pm. Deb will call you to verify and also to notify you of your involvement throughout the next seven days of football.
Our first team game on Saturday is against Horsham YMCA. They stand in our way from keeping our 100% record in the Sussex County League. With St Francis Rangers losing on Saturday, we are now the only side with 3 wins out of 3 and a win against Horsham could see us take top place at 5pm on Saturday.
See everyone on Tuesday night. The meet time will be 6-00pm sharp if you are involved.

Bob's Weekly Newsletter - 25/08/08

Football this week starts on Tuesday night in the John O’Hara cup at home to Peacehaven, kick off 7.30 pm. Then it’s an 18s game on Wednesday evening against Whitehawk youth, then on Friday night the reserves play away to Whitehawk - check the web site for ko time. On Saturday the first team travel to Crowborough in the FA Cup, ko 3pm.
A big thank you to Mickey Farmer and Malc Sowter who stood in and took our reserves to Hastings Utd. Hey, we may have lost the game 2-0 but if you knew the problems we had across two sides with a total of 11 (yes eleven) players unavailable, and we played many new first year players, we did really well. Steve Frost’s report is on the web site and I ask that you read it to have a good insight to the trials and tribulations of the day. Well done to everyone. We’ll be ok in the Sussex County Premier Reserve League with this kind of motivated people behind it. Well done everyone involved.
The first eleven played at home and moved into joint top position with St Francis Rangers after defeating East Preston 6-0. East Preston came without Danny Mac who I think they could have done with to be honest. I spoke to their coach and he told me that they had lost around 8 players so no one expected them to do well this season, but with a young side trying to play football, they hoped to get somewhere. 8 players gone, young side coming through….. We wish them well.
I said earlier about the web site and I want to mention it again. Some football web sites are crap, lets face it. I went on one the other day and it hadn’t been updated for around 12 months. Our web site, I gotta say, is brilliant. Its run by Malcolm Crouch who is a great guy and is one of the many unsung heroes of Ringmer FC. It has everything on there from results, fixtures, news, a forum for your views and a fantastic photo section. Malc’s latest addition is a video trailer set against pictures taken from the Rye game. Get on there and see how cool it is. www.ringmerfc.co.uk
I have received many e mails asking for my take on the statement made by the Board of Directors to the Press. I have no comment other than I now look forward to any statement that is positive and informative. If we’re gonna do our washing in public then can we at least occasionally put one out with that message. Keep talking people - every day if necessary.
See you on Tuesday night, home to Peacehaven.

County League Round Up 24/08

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County League: Ringmer's kids hit six
4:56pm Sunday 24th August 2008
By Bruce Talbot »
Joint manager Steve Oliver believes there is more to come from his high-flying Ringmer kids.
The Blues maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign by thrashing East Preston 6-0 and are locked at the top of the table with St Francis.
Joe Dryer (2), Sam Sowter, Ryan MacMillan, Kieran Patel and an own goal were Ringmer’s scorers and the game was over as a contest at half-time when they led 4-0.
Oliver, pictured, said: “We have got great faith in our young players and we’re absolutely chuffed with the start we’ve made.
“When we are allowed to pass the ball and play we will cause teams lots of problems. On Saturday we retained possession well and took our chances.
“The start we've made has given the boys lots of confidence and I still think we can improve.”

BLUES LEGAL ACTION?

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THE Directors of Ringmer Football Club have threatened its own trustees with legal action in an attempt to seize ownership of the club's Caburn ground.
Following months of discord, which climaxed earlier in the summer when chairman Richard Soan, manager Steve Johnson and most of the first team playing squad all dramatically quit the club, the board this week released a statement threatening a "legal
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remedy" to resolve a quarrel over the ownership of the ground. The Directors want the trustees, led by club stalwart Stan Williams, to hand over the deeds to the ground in order to consolidate a bank loan.The Board claim the bank will call in an existing loan if the deeds are not handed over, thus jeapordising the future of the club.However, the trustees fear the ownership of the ground could be seized by the bank if any such handover took place.

FA CUP Ringmer v Rye Utd FA.Com

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Ringmer produced a battling performance with ten men to hold off Rye United and record a 4-3 win after extra-time.
Kieran Patel gave Ringmer the lead after 16 minutes and David Altendorf doubled the advantage 29 minutes in. The game looked to be wrapped up five minutes later as Altendorf hit his second but there was much drama still to be had at the Caburn Ground.
Just before the break there was a flurry of activity. Ringmer goalkeeper, Jack Stern, produced a remarkable penalty save, Joe Dryer got sent off for the home side and Steve Johnson sparked Rye’s fight back with their first goal.

FA Cup: Ringmer face ex-boss in next round

Click title above for full report in the Argus>
Ringmer will face their former manager in the next round of the FA Cup after their ten men edged past Rye United. The Blues needed extra time to see off their division two opponents but the reward is a trip to Ryman League new boys Crowborough in the preliminary round. Steve Johnson quit Ringmer in the summer and subsequently became joint manager at Crowborough. New Ringmer joint manager Bob Munnery saw his side squander a three-goal lead after having Joe Dryer sent off in the first half only for Craig Brown to score the winner in the first half of extra time. Kieran Patel and Dave Altendorff (two) put the Blues in control only for Rye to hit back through Johnson (two) and Phillips. Munnery joked: “It was a great game for the spectators but after five years of giving up smoking it made me want to start again.” The game went to extra time at the Football Association’s request as Rye are currently unable to use their home match.

18/08/08 Weekly Newsletter

Our FA Cup progression was ensured with an exciting win against Rye on Saturday. Having established a 3-0 lead, a player was sent off for a foul in the first half. This gave Rye the impetus to stage a comeback and comeback they did using the extra man. They fought to hold on after we changed our system to 4-3-2 and the game moved into extra time. Extra time was necessary as it was imposed by the FA as Rye did not have a ground available.In extra time we scored the winner in the first period and ran the game out to our advantage. Although Rye were unlucky in the last few moments, the game overall was Ringmer's to be honest and the young side moved into the next round where they will come up against the tough opposition, Steve Johnson's Crowboro. The winners receiving £1500.
Midweek we went to the Oval in Eastbourne to play the much-fancied Eastbourne United and endured a bumpy pitch together with 500 mile an hour winds. A proverbial game of two halves this one with the home side scoring in the opening three minutes of play. We held on and went in the solitary goal down and after a half time chat and a slight re-configuration, we went into the second half full of optimism. To our credit we resisted the urge to use the long ball approach and continued to play our own way. This proved to be successful and we not only equalised but we took the winning goal too and went home with three points and fifth position in the league.
I started this season by saying that I felt that a lot of people hoped that we’d do well but I now have the distinct feeling that some people are hoping we fail. Perhaps they view us as a side that SHOULD fail because they think that we don’t have the right to be successful as we’ve had our own well-publicised problems. Its our job to stay focused on winning and playing good football.
Our reserves start their league programme on Saturday away to Hastings Utd reserves. We have managed to secure the services of a new reserve manager, although I will refrain from naming him as I’m still to cross the T’s and dot the I’s on the appointment. One thing I’m certain of though is that we’ll have a guest coach/manager doing the job Saturday as our appointed manager is on holiday until the first week in September. If you’re involved with the reserves be patient on this front and be supportive. Its gonna be a tough test for our young reserves this term with the side having an average age of 17.
Football this week goes like this - on Wednesday our reserves/18s play Eastbourne Town 18s/reserves. On Thursday the 18s play Pease Pottage and on Saturday our front side play East Preston in the SCL division one. All these games are at home.
See you at the first game, Wednesday evening 7.30 pm ko, against Dave Jenkins’ Eastbourne Town.

BOB'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 10/08/08

One of the most important things about writing a Newsletter is to allow people to have a right to reply. Not this Newsletter though, ha! Only kidding. Richard Soan has written to me and if you receive this letter via e-mail you’ll get it as an attachment. If you get it through the post, its enclosed. If anyone has a view or an inclusion, please send your admission through by next Sunday.
Football this week goes like this - on Tuesday the first team play away to Eastbourne United at the Oval, 7.45pm ko. The meet is 6.30pm there and we’re leaving the club at 6pm sharp. Call Deb if you need a lift. On Thursday our reserves/18s mix play at home against Eastbourne Town, 7.30pm ko. You’ll be notified of your inclusion in either game.
Strangely, the club’s booking with Ringmer College ended last week meaning that we now train at the ground. Fortunately we have privately arranged training sessions at Falmer, but they start in early September on Tuesday nights. So until then we’ll work it out at the Caburn. When September gets here we’ll all do Tuesday nights at Falmer then Thursday nights at the ground (weather permitting). I’ll be speaking to our grounds people to see if we can actually make the perimeter area into a more playable surface for training aspects and less like a farmers field. I think with a bit of TLC we can do something with it. Anyhoo, 2 games this week so no training.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave you’ll know our season started on Saturday and I aint gonna bang on about the win. I thought we played ok but Shoreham weren’t at their best and they’ll probably feel they did enough to get something from the game. I guess they did get something - a player sent off - but so did we. Still it was important to get a good start in terms of the result and we got it. Irrespective of that though, I thought our attitude and application was brilliant. Well done to everyone who contributed to the success of the day.
We have a new first team sponsor in Harvey Self Drive and their Managing Director is Michelle Marshall. I am hoping that Shell will come to some home games and I know we can count on her continued support through this season. Shell lives in Ringmer and its great to have someone in the village as a first team sponsor.
Next Saturday we play Rye in the first round of the FA Cup. Unusually, the FA have asked that we play extra time in this first game, should the scores be level after 90 minutes, as Rye’s ground is not ready to be used yet and they hope that will prevent a replay. If there is to be a replay, it’ll be at the Caburn once more on the following Tuesday.
See you all at Eastbourne on Tuesday night.

BOB'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER - 03/08/08

It's quite common to have football issues discussed in different circles to the politics in a football club and some would say it becomes complicated when politics are discussed pitch-side - sometimes, arguably by people who may be mis-informed. Such is the case at Ringmer FC unfortunately with people talking about the current state of affairs at our club.

Lets have some clarity and lets be honest with each other. If the Directors’ and the Trustees’ would sit around the table and sort things out we could move forward. I like Richard Soan. I admire all he’s done for your Club. I like Stan Williams too. This is a man standing up for what’s right in his eyes. He gave his word to the fella who the pitch was purchased from that it wouldn’t be lost. I can only imagine that at one time they got on a lot better. The trouble is this - nothing is happening, Richard, whilst still a Director, will not pro-actively work with the club and will not (in my view) do a single thing to either ensure the security or on-going running of the club. Stan seems happy to let things run on and see where this leads us with what could mean disastrous consequences. Now these people will argue about the ownership of the pitch, which means effectively the club, the truth is that the MEMBERS own the club. All the people that think they’re in control are voted on/off to their respective positions and one now asks whether its time to call a MEMBERS meeting to either get everyone into gear or vote people on or off so we can get this football club back on track. We had enough people turn up to air their views when it was head-on and now I think its time for people to say “Ok, lets sit down with a cup of coffee and lets chat about the years’ of good times we’ve (you’ve) had and lets work this out”. Lets remember, on the horizon we have VAT payments and Health inspections to consider, to say nothing, frankly, of the very poor position we have put Trudy in - always uncertain if her employment is continuing.

On the football side (which apart from cleaning dressing rooms, organising officials, cutting grass, getting rid of skips, now watering pitches through August, washing kit, calling players, putting kit out before games, and clearing kit up after) its going ok. We need a reserve manager or we need to pull our 18s manager, Kev Wood, forward to do the ressies which will leave me and Louis to do the 18s I guess. I see on the Nomad site (which reminds me of a footballing equivalent to train spotting or those weirdo’s you see at the airport waiting for planes to crash) that they’ve all agreed that not only will we be relegated but we’ll be last. I love it when people make statements like that without any knowledge of the squad we’re putting together. Lets wait and see huh? Lets get out there and play and compete.
I’ll be glad when it starts and we can leave this other crap behind, albeit for an hour and a half. The last first team friendly is on Tuesday night 7.30 ko against Peacehaven. Come up and shake my hand will you? Directors and Trustees, get off your high horse and come to the football. We’re all getting bored with these playground antics.
Lets be allies together. Trustees, Directors and us ordinary people, its not too late but we’ve got to act now people.

RINGMER WEEKLY NEWSLETTER - 28/07/08

Our first team pre-season games have been going well – showing us all the kind of football we can play. So far we’ve played two Ryman sides and a County League side. Against Southwick we changed our tactics around and personnel too, and it didn’t work. But these are the games we’ve gotta try these things. On Tuesday we meet Eastbourne Town, once more a tough challenge from the Ryman league and it’d be fair to say we’ll put a side out to play that is very similar to the one that played Crowborough.

On Wednesday night our reserves play Lewes Bridge View’s first eleven at the Caburn. This will be a 7.30 pm ko. On Friday night our first team play a game that I’m yet to sort but rest assured we will play strong competition. Into next week we start our pre-season games for our 18s, with an away fixture first to Pease Pottage.

We played Steve Johnson’s Crowborough on Saturday for the John McWhirter Cup and I think I the score was similar to the scoreline last year, 1-3 to Crowborough. We played well enough and the game was played in the right spirit in extremely hot conditions, but it was played to honour the memory of John McWhirter who was at Ringmer for many years, and the two fire fighters who lost their lives at Halland, who were based at Crowborough.

Whilst we are having these sombre thoughts, some of the first team members from last term had asked me if it was possible to exclude the number 6 shirt this term in memory of Herve King. I discussed this with several players and we decided that we would not only not use the 6 shirt in the first team squad but we would frame the 6 shirt from last years kit and put the frame up in the bar. This has now been done and you can see the shirt in the frame in the bar by the double doors leading to the pitch.

With the games on Tuesday (first eleven) Wednesday (reserves) and Friday (first team) training will not be on through this week. Training resumes next week however.

Look forward to seeing everyone at the Caburn on Tuesday night.
Bob

Hastings Utd from the Argus

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Hastings striker on crutches
8:37am Thursday 24th July 2008
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By Mike Legg »
Hastings United manager John Lambert has been boosted by the news that Sam Adams’ ankle injury is not as bad as first feared.
The striker came off after only 17 minutes in a 2-2 draw with Ringmer on Tuesday night after a picking up a nasty looking injury.
Lambert said: “I have spoken to Sam and the good news is that is an X-ray has revealed that he has not fractured the ankle.
“He is on crutches for a few days to rest the injury but, hopefully, will not be out for too long.”
Lambert played his strongest side available in the first half and goals by the on trial Scott Marshall, who has previously been with Burgess Hill and Horsham YMCA, and Frankie Sawyer gave United a 2-0 lead. Ringmer hit back after the break through Joe Dryer.

First Team Newsletter

Welcome to the first Newsletter for the season 2008/9. There’s been a couple of changes that most of you will have heard or read about. Lets get them up-front and transparent and then get on with what we’re here for – football.
The first two things are that despite the bottom of this letter, our Chairman Richard Soan has stood down and our first team manager, Steve Johnson, has left the club. Ok, why? There’s been a dispute within the club as to who owns our playing pitch. Now whilst the papers, nomad forum and other sources will tell you that the whole football thing is at risk, its not. The simple fact is, its either owned by the Directors’ of the club, or its owned by the trustees’ of the club. The trustees represent the members (us) and the Directors run the club on behalf of the members (us). This bun fight escalated into something more sinister when our bank wanted (and probably still want) security for the bank overdraft/loan. The directors realised that the ownership was never transferred when the limited company was formed and when they asked for it to be transferred, the trustees refused, leaving the club in a kind of limbo. Richard Soan resigned, the club announced “no budget” and of course Steve had little option other than to pursue his career elsewhere. Steve, you have to remember, is a pro-manager and has to work with the right tools and those tools weren’t offered at Ringmer.
So the Chairman stood down and Steve is now the guvnor at Crowborough. Through that, Steve Oliver and I were asked to do the front side position which we accepted.
Ok enough on all that. We are running three sides this year, as we did last year. Last season our 18s came in fourth, the reserves got promoted to the reserve premier and our front side came in eleventh. All train Tuesday and Thursdays at Ringmer Community College, 7 till 9 until further notice. Our 18s will, as last year, consist mainly of first year termers, the reserves with last years 18s going forward and the front side made up of our reserves who did so well last term with 5 or 6 more senior experienced players. This is gonna be interesting and this season is a real opportunity for players to progress and take chances at the next level.
Last Friday saw us have our first “in-house” game and it was good to see 30+ people there to watch. Tomorrow we have our first competitive friendly game and its against Hastings United – the side that Marc Whiteman plays for. We then play Southwick on Thursday night at home then Steve Johnsons Crowborough on Saturday. We will be playing with a lot of new faces and some senior players from last term.
I wont lie. Everyone has written us off. Some mug once said “You don’t win anything with kids” and Alex Ferguson went out and won the treble. We start off the season with all expecting us to fail. Much like they did when we had no reserves and a 18s side last season. Everyone wrote us off then too and we did ok. We’re gonna play fast effective penetrating football across the club and it’ll be great stuff. We're gonna enjoy ourselves and we’re gonna be fit and up for it.
And we’re gonna win. Get ready.

Getting Started

Hi all,
Another idea for the new season!!!!