Educated Hick Posted August 10, 2006 Author Share Posted August 10, 2006 Saturday afternoon in London was warm and wet. For the first time this year, the temperature was in the 60’s. The warmth was counter-balanced by the wet as the pitch was still a bit sodden from the overnight rain. We had beaten Barnet 4-3 in that wild game earlier in the season. Being that this was a derby game, all the regulars were fit and penciled into the starting lineup. Just over 3700 filled Yankee Stadium for the game, a club record for a non-Cup match. The fans weren’t disappointed. The fireworks started early as Barnet’s Beadle opened the scoring just four minutes in when he headed in a Way pass to give the visitors the 1-0 lead. Not to be outdone, we responded just three minutes later. Morgan took a pas from Mills, dribbled in, and planted the shot to tie the game at 1-1. The action settled down a bit as we took control of the game. We were getting a ton of chances and what’s more, we were more accurate with those chances than our previous form would warrant. On 24, Moran, backing up Little on an attack, had the ball come to him and the Irish AMC, struck a skimmer that went into the lower left-hand corner to give AXFC the 2-1 lead. From that point we continued to control the game and shooting well. Barnet were unable to attack much and the highlight of their half remained the opening goal. We clinched the win ten minutes into the second half. Moran knocked down a ball for Morgan, who turned and hit a high hard one towards the top corner to give AXFC the 3-1 lead and win. I told the boys to ease up on the opposition and the rest of the half was a desultory midfield slog as we played keep-away. Barnet managed to get only one shot off during the second half and seemed to have lost their fire. As a result, they never threatened us and we go an easy win. We would have a short layoff for our next game, a Tuesday evening match at Shrewsbury. Tuesday evening in Shrewsbury was cool and dry, an exceedingly pleasant night. We had whipped Shrewsbury in our last game against them by the score of 4-0. A mix of regulars and backups fill the lineup card as Standard, Roddie, Adamson, Munster and Bradley replaced unfit regulars. Johnston took his turn in the AMC rotation. For the fifth or sixth time this season, we had the opportunity to war our red uniforms. The 1300 fans that turned out didn’t really get their money’s worth from the game. From the onset, defense was dominant on both sides of the pitch. The ball was moving well as both teams probed the other’s defenses, but shots were difficult to come by. Shrewsbury had three chances, AXFC two. The ball however, was traded almost equally by the two teams and each Sid managed to get deep in the other’s zone before coughing the ball up. On 18, Shrewsbury took the lead, 1-0 on a fine strike by lower-league veteran Duane Darby. We were unable to tie the game as our offense seemed anemic. The second half saw both teams, particularly Shrewsbury, amp up production on the offensive end. We managed to tie the game on 54 when Johnston converted a penalty. We were unable to gain momentum from the goal as Standard, Bunce and Adamson were all having terrible games. As a result, near the hour mark, I sent in Holmes for Bunce and prayed that the other two poor pardoners would pick up their games. They didn’t and they continued to undermine our play. This became glaringly apparent after Shrewsbury pulled ahead 2-1 on 68. Traer hit a shot that hit Ryan Moran and deflected into our net for a fluke own goal. With that, our confidence and desire waned and we struggled through the last twenty minutes of the game. I hoped the loss would serve as a wakeup call. Promotion was not yet assured for us and we needed to play well until we had secured the championship. Granted, we were ahead of the second-place team by 18 points, but that was no excuse to get sloppy. Our chance to get back on track would come on the following Saturday afternoon with a home contest against Halifax. On March 11, we signed 25 yr old NI midfielder Richard Clarke to add depth to the first team midfield corp. The day after Clarke joined us was the match day. Saturday afternoon in London was wet, damp a slightly chillier than I would have liked. We had beaten Halifax 2-0 in our last encounter. All the regulars were fit for this game and all but the struggling Bunce got the nod, Fuff taking Bunce’s place. Nearly 2300 fans came out to watch. Our shooting problems plagued us once again in this first half. We got plenty of chances, but couldn’t shoot straight. Halifax got one less chance than we did and they were far more accurate with their tries. Neither team rally had an edge in possessions the ball moved up and down the pitch, providing plenty of action. Halifax opened the scoring on 26 when Gary Lynch blasted a loose ball past Browne to give the visitors the 1-0 lead. Eight minutes later, little took a Mills pass and hummed it into the goal with ease to tie the game at 1-1. Both sides periodically launched attacks during the rest of the half, but neither team could draw blood. The second half saw the first half trends continuing. Both teams again had plenty goof chances and to do all that much with them. AXFC did, however, take a dominant share of second half possession. We kept the ball in midfield for moist of the half as we patiently waited for good attacking opportunities. We broke the game open on 52 when Morgan put back a loose ball to give AXFC the 2-1 advantage. As play resumed, I sent in Sean Moran for Johnston, would was having a pedestrian day. We grimly hung on while Browne turned back the Halifax on-slaught several times. We iced the game in injury time when Kavanagh had a loose ball fall his way. He stuck it into the net to give us the 3-1 win. Our next game would be against Scarborough. It would be the Conference game of the week, so it would be played in the morning, always a joy. In other game day news, Chester found themselves in the Conference record books for highest scoring game as they beat Barnet 6-4. A few days later, Swansea announced that they were hiring Paul Lambert as hirer new manager. On March 16, I had to release reserve forward John Gallagher as the youngster took issue with a warning I gave him about turning up late for practice and not being in shape. On Thursday evening, we lost one of our Bosmans, Andrew Lawry due to injury. He’d broken his leg during the Falkirk resave match and would be out six months. He wouldn’t get medical clearance in time to join us in time so I canceled the transfer. Later that evening, the news reported that Shrewsbury had hired Dean Blackwell to be their new manager. Blackwell had been managing in the Welsh League. Saturday morning in Scarborough was rainy and chilly, though since the rain had only arrived during the night, the pitch was still in good condition. We had bean Scarborough in our last game by the score of 2-1. All the regulars were penciled on the lineup card and Moran took his turn at AMC. 2300 find came out to the McCain Stadium to watch an absurdly dull first half. Neither team could really even get a chance in the first half, nor when a shot did arise, did the player shooting it most likely shank it. Each side had just one shot on target and each goalkeeper made the save. With possession being almost even, both teams managed to threaten an attack, but invariably lost the ball. It was not a game that many people were likely watching on TV as the half sputtered to a scoreless end. The second half was, possibly, even more dull. Scarborough held onto the ball 70 percent of the time and kicked the ball around midfield. We did get a couple of shots, but Wilson managed to save them and the game ground out to a 0-0 draw. The Sky Television execs were probably swearing loudly by the end of this tepid affair. For my part, I was already thinking about purr next game. We would play Halesowen at home in a weeks time. On the Friday before our Saturday match the transfer deadline passed without much action. Saturday afternoon soon arrived as we prepared to face Halesowen in London. It had rained the on Friday evening and as such, the pitch was still damp and the grounds wet in general. At least the temperature was in full spring mode and in the balmy 60s. All the regulars were fit and got the nod for the starting lineup. We had crushed this team 3-0 the last time we had faced them. Only 1680 fans came out, which was a disappointing crowd given that we were routinely drawing around 2000 for most of our second-half games. We battered Halesowen with a ton of chances, Time and time again we pounded the ball at the general vicinity of the net, only to see the shots go wide or the on-form keeper turn them away. We were dominating the baling all areas of the pitch and we constantly pushed the ball into the opposition’s zone. For their part, Halesowen soaked up the pressure and looked to counter-attack. This they did with efficiency, making the most of their shots. In fact, they were the ones to open the scoring on 21 when Gleason pounced on a Browne parry and sent it back through to give the visitors the 1-0 lead. We continued to rain shots at the Halesowen keeper and he finally cracked three minutes before half-time. Mills sent in a cross from the right which little turned on and drove past Book to tie the game at 1-1. Our elation at tying the game was short-lived as less than a minute later; Morgan went down hard and had to be helped off the pitch. In went Bradley and two minutes later, the intermission arrived. The second half was a case study of a team completely losing their composure. First, on 52, little gathered in a loose ball and drove it high past Book to give AXFC the 2-1 lead. Then, three minutes later, Little took another shot that deflected off of Bryan and bounced past the goal-line for a 3-1 advantage off an own goal. Five minutes late Furlough upbraided the referee for awarding us a free-kick and was ejected for his tirade. By this time we had settled down into a defensive posture and were controlling the ball with ease. Things weren’t rosy though as Kavanagh went down on 68 and was replaced by Smith. We got one more goal to complete the rout as Johnston converted a penalty late to give us the 4-1 victory. After the game, the injury reports came in. Both Morgan and Kavanagh had suffered strained knee ligaments, however, Morgan would be out for a week and a half while Kavanagh would be out a solid three weeks. Furthermore, the win clinched the Conference championship for us. We had won it with five games left to play. All this meant was that the backups would get more playing time over the final stretch, beginning with the next game, an away contest at Kettering on April 2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Educated Hick Posted August 11, 2006 Author Share Posted August 11, 2006 The run-up to the Kettering game provided a bit of excitement. First, my Scotland scout noticed a right back at Partick Thistle who was talented and not getting much playing time. The 24 yr old had more games for his native land, Ivory Coast, with six caps than games with Partick Thistle over the last two years, three. If he signed with us, and it seemed likely, Jean-Yves Anis would be the seventh Bosman signing of the year. As the calendar turned into April, the board met as usual. They were happy with our performance and happy that the fans were turning out to see the team. However, we were still leaking money at a horrid rate. We were down to roughly 2.7 million dollars. The only good thing was that the season was almost over and that we would be soon earning even more revenue. Saturday afternoon in Kettering was cool and wet. The pitch as still damp from the morning rain. We had beaten Kettering 2-1 the last time we played them. The entire starting lineup I handed to the ref was filled with all backups. It was time to give them a couple of games now that we had won the title. Sean Moran drew the start at AMC. Nearly 2700 came out to watch the game. It was a midfield battle from the start. Neither team was able t put many chances away and so resorted to kicking the ball around midfield. We opened the scoring early on 11 as Bradley nailed a header off a Clarke lob to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. Kettering patiently built an attack that saw them score at the half-hour mark. Haren converted a free-kick off a bad decision by the ref, to tie the game up at 1. The last fifteen minutes saw a reversion back to the midfield slugfest that had characterized the early action. Neither team had really gotten anywhere when the half-time horn sounded. If possible, the second half was even duller than the first. Everyone seemed content with a draw and both sides began to go through the motions. On 63, I sent in Moncrief for Munster and at 76, Mills for Roddie. Neither move made much difference as our shot-making was not particularly good. We ran the clock out on the 1=1 draw with nary a whimper. We would play Hayes at home on Monday evening, just two days later. The Kettering game also saw us set a rather dubious Conference record. Our 35 yellows and three reds were the worse discipline in the league’s history. On Sunday, Anis agreed to terms with us and would join us in the summer. He would be only the second full International in AXFC history. On Sunday evening Chelsea beat Charlton 3-0 to win the League Cup. Also, several teams made offers for Ian little, who I had put on the block while his value was high. Monday evening in London was dry and warm. It was the first real perfect day for football of the New Year. We had beaten Hayes 4-2 in our last encounter. All the regulars except for the injured Morgan and Kavanagh got the start. Holmes and Moncrief filling in for the injured pair. 2200 or nearly half he capacity of Yankee Stadium came out to watch us play the doormats of the Conference. From the very beginning the outcome was never in doubt. We knew we were going to win; the question was by how much. We answered that question starting on 21 when Ryan Moran, who was filling in a right back, sent in a pass to little, who promptly bagged AXFC’s first goal. Two minutes later, Moran sent in another pass from the right that found Johnston, who dribbled in and volleyed the shot to make the score 2-0. At that point I signaled the team to play defensively. Even doing that, we added another goal late in the half as Bunce buried a loose-ball corner kick into the back of the net for the 3-0 lead at halftime. We shot 6-9 for the half and held a considerable edge in the possession game. Hayes was so uncompetitive that they failed to even take a shot. Hayes made a token stand, scoring with a Hodges strike just one minute into the second half to make the score 3-1. But that was the extent of their heroics. We continued to shoot well. Johnston sent in a [ass that little crushed into the net to make the score 4-1 an hour in. Moncrief then got into the act on 73 when Ryan Moran lobbed in a pass that the Prince drilled to make the final a gaudy 3-1. I really hadn’t intended to run the score up like that and I felt bad for Hayes, but a win is a win as we attempted to reach a 100-point season now. We had a game against Stalybridge at their place on Saturday April 9. As it turned out, we were the big bad wolf that eliminated Hayes from the Conference. We also set two records with that game. First, we set the Conference record for most punts with 95. Second, little set a new season record with 27 goals. In a shock announcement, seven AXFC players were chosen for the All-Conference team. Browne, Kavanagh, Fleming, Asser and Little were in the first 11 and Bunce was on the bench. It was a high honor indeed and was full testament to our domination in the league this season. That same day, I put Dawson on the transfer list, where several teams showed immediate interest. It was cool and wet as we took to the Stalybridge pitch on Saturday afternoon. The pitch was damp due the rain that had fallen earlier in the day. We had beaten this team 3-0 in our last battle. This time, I started an all backup lineup. For the sixth our seventh game this year, we had to wear our red uniforms, an informal club record. Just over a 1000 showed up at Bower Field. Stalybridge had a lot to lose in these last couple of games as they were fighting to get out of the relegation zone. They came out inspired, forcing us to keep the ball at midfield for most of the half. Staley only got one shot all half, but they made it count. Twenty minutes in, Steele pounced on a loose ball from a goal-kick, dribbled in a bit and beat Robinson to give the home side the 1-0 lead. Our offense proved to be generally unreliable as we couldn’t put most of our chances on-target. Therefore, we concentrated on keeping Staley from doing a more damage, which we succeeded at doing. The second half saw both teams improving on offense. We managed to be more accurate, but to no avail as the Staley keeper Ryan Browne, an 18 yr old, was having a career day. He stopped everything AXFC threw at him to keep the 1-0 Staley lead intact. I didn’t really care all that much about the result. Staley needed the win and we didn’t so if we helped them avoid relegation that was fine with me. We had two weeks off before our next match, a home game versus Stevenage. I’ll admit that I don’t see the logic of a two-week break this close to the nod of the season. With only two games left, it would make more sense to play them on the weekend like usual. That way the season would be over by May. Why force a team to play a game in May when it could be safely scheduled in late April. But, I’m not the schedule maker. The only real big news of the first off week was the news that Bristol Rovers decided to sack Phil Batter. They seemed to be safe from relegation from the League, but the board wasn’t taking any chances it seemed. On Sunday the 17th, West Ham beat Brantley 3-1 to win the Vans Trophy. The next manager to be let go was Watford’s Nigel Martin. Watford’s board was clearly panicking as the club tried to avoid relegation with only three games left in the season. A day later, Bristol Rovers announced that they were hiring Neil Lennon as their player/manager. The afternoon of Saturday April 23 was dry and cool in London. We had pounded Stevenage in our last meeting 3-0. The only regulars not fit for the last home game of the year were little and Johnson, both out with nagging injuries. Bradley and Moran took their places. Only around 1800 die-hards saw the contest, which to me was a lousy turnout. But maybe the ones who stayed away knew something was a-foot. The game was over by the half-hour mark. We opened the scoring on 13 when Morgan took a throw-in delivered from Kavanagh, dribbled it in ands banged it past the keeper for the 11-0 AXFC lead. Eight minutes later, we passed the shoreline when Mills delivered a ball that Sean Moran chipped into goal. Then, on 28, we sealed the game with an Asser blast off a Morgan head-down to give us the 3-0 margin. We eased off and began playing defensively and slowly, trying not to do anything fancy. Stevenage had a few chances, but they were unable to crack Browne and we went into half-time with the three goal margin intact. During the break I subbed Munster in for Morgan who looked like he had a foot injury. Three minutes into the second half Sean <Moran went down and I had to send in Fraser Smith to take his place. We burned clock in the second half as Stevenage failed to get a shot off. They had more or less given up and were letting us control the game... On 74 Mills swung in a corner that found Monster’s foot and the young Northern Irishman drove it into the net to give us the final score, 4-0. That was it for highlights of the second half. We had one more game to play in the Conference season, an April 30 match at Northwich Vic. I stand corrected; this Conference season would end on the last day of April. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimb The Barman Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 Wahey, GW on the promotion and the records and good story too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Educated Hick Posted August 12, 2006 Author Share Posted August 12, 2006 Cheers Wimb. This is probably the most satisfying job I've ever done. On the other hand, this was easier than managing West Ham. At least in the lower leagues, it's easier to find 'impact' players. The Stevenage game saw us set a couple of records. First, our 90 goals scored was a new Conference record. Second, Mills had set a new club record for most assists in a season with 15. As might be expected the last game of the year for us would be played in the rain. It was a cool afternoon in Northwich and drizzly as well. All the regulars plus Johnston got the starting nod for the game. We had won convincingly the last time we had faced Northwich, winning 4-0. A win today would put us over the 100 point mark for the season. Just over 1600 were there for the last Conference game of the year. Northwich did a good job of controlling possession and attempting to keep us from doing much damage. But, the boys of AXFC would not be denied. We opened the account on 16 when Mills made a cross into that box that Morgan nailed with a beautiful header to make the score 1-0. Northwich went back to holding the ball and only made two successful attacks on our goal. Browne turned away one shot and watched the other whistle past the goal on his right. Nine minutes before half-time, Fleming launched a pass into the area that Asser picked up, made a short run and planted it neatly for the 2-0 lead. The second half was dull as we took possession of the ball and never really gave it up. We took a few scattered shots, but failed to land very many of them. Northwich didn’t even get a shot. Thus, our Conference season came to a close quietly as we turned our eyes League-ward. Stalybridge and Macclesfield would join Hayes in non-league obscurity next season. Meanwhile, we would be taking the place of Lincoln in Division Three. We were awarded 110 grand for winning the Conference, a sum that wasn’t all that adequate to bolster our finances as I began housecleaning the roster. We would have to accommodate seven summer signings over the next couple of months. Several members of the first team who were either bit players, or who weren’t going to be resigned, were handed their unconditional releases the day after the season ended. We also began our youth summer training which was intense and covered all phases of the game. The board were surprised at a couple of the releases, but mostly made no comment. Once the first team had been purged, I turned my attention to the reserves. May bring with it the board’s evaluation f my performance. As usual, they were delighted and commended the turnstile numbers. However, they rebuffed my suggestion that the stadium could use expansion. As it was, I had more important things to worry about. A few reservists were called up to the first team and their statuses adjusted accordingly. I also released a couple of guys who had no hope of making to the first team. In addition, I added Derek Fleming to the transfer list and the veteran drew much interest. Blackpool was the first to make a bid for Fleming. On May 10. Fleming came to terms with Blackpool and the 100 grand deals would go through on the 31. That made two of our Scots who would be moving to Blackpool with both fees netting us a profit. As May rolled along more news kept coming in. Watford hired Steve Evans as their manager. Torquay, who seemed to lose their managers to the Scottish League, hired fellow Conference manager Craig Lewein from Hereford. The day after the manager news, a new board took control of Middleborough in an attempt to right the floundering franchise. On Saturday evening, Everton beat Newcastle 1-0 to win the FA Cup. A few days after that, I accepted a 6,000 pound bid for Fuff from lower league side Lancing. The deal would go through on the 31. The following Wednesday saw Newcastle beat Chelsea 2-0 in the UEFA Cup final as well a Hereford defeat of Scarborough in the FA Trophy replay on penalties after a 1-1 regular time draw. On Sunday May 22, Manchester United clinched the Premier League title. On Wednesday evening, Manchester United won the Champions League final over Lyon 3-2. For the second year in a row, English teams had won the European club double. It seemed that English football was in the ascendance. Of course, how English the top Prem teams actually were was open to question. The following Sunday saw Gordon Strachen receive his walking papers from just relegated Southampton, who hoped a fresh face would help them in Division One next year. A few days later, Hereford hired Paul Merson to be their new boss. After that, it was Southampton’s turn to hire a boss. Amid many speculations over a number of candidates, they settled on Nicky Law, hiring him on the 29. The hiring set the dominos to toppling as Bristol City, who were entering the Premier next season along with Leeds and Cardiff, were forced to look for a new gaffer. The transfer deadline lifted and Fleming, Little and Fuff left for other teams for a combined 266,000 pounds. We also acquired one player, Neil Quinn from Cliftonville for 5,000 pounds. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Educated Hick Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************************************************************ American Exiles Football Club - Saturday 30th April 2005 ************************************************************************************************ ================================================================================================ 2004/5 Senior Club Stats ================================================================================================ No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Adamson, Carl 14 (6) 1 0 0 3 1 0 1 6.60 - Asser, James 37 12 0 0 9 1 0 4 7.46 - Bradley, Lee 11 (5) 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.88 - Browne, John 40 0 22 0 0 0 1 0 7.22 - Bunce, Che 35 2 0 0 3 6 1 0 7.17 - Campbell, Thomas - - - - - - - - ---- - Clarke, Richard 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.00 - Collins, Chris - - - - - - - - ---- - Cooper, Gordon - - - - - - - - ---- - Dawson, Andy 36 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.78 - Donnelly, Darren - - - - - - - - ---- - Doyle, John 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Fleming, Derek 36 (1) 1 0 0 7 3 0 1 7.24 - French, Scott - - - - - - - - ---- - Fuff, Glen 26 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 6.77 - Fuller, Gareth 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Goodwin, Gerry 9 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 6.67 - Holmes, Phillip 7 (7) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.57 - Hough, Dave - - - - - - - - ---- - JP Mills 33 (1) 2 0 0 16 4 1 4 7.53 - Johnston, Adam 12 (2) 10 0 3 (3) 2 0 0 3 7.57 - Kavanagh, Gary 36 1 0 0 8 5 0 5 7.72 - Little, Ian 38 27 4 0 5 2 0 9 7.82 - Mason, Kevin 12 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 7.42 - McCullough, Mark - - - - - - - - ---- - Milne, Scott - - - - - - - - ---- - Moncrieffe, Prince 5 (1) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67 - Moran, Ryan 19 1 0 0 4 4 0 0 7.37 - Moran, Sean 18 (15) 4 0 0 3 1 0 1 6.88 - Morgan, Bari 37 24 0 2 (2) 4 0 0 8 7.68 - Mortimer, Paul 12 (3) 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.13 - Munster, David 8 (19) 8 0 0 2 1 0 1 6.93 - Murphy, John - - - - - - - - ---- - O'Connor, Liam - - - - - - - - ---- - O'Neill, Jonathan - - - - - - - - ---- - Robinson, Robert 9 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 6.67 - Robson, Russell - - - - - - - - ---- - Roddie, Andy 11 (3) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.29 - Rose, Ben 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Rowland, Andrew - - - - - - - - ---- - Sharp, Ross - - - - - - - - ---- - Simpson, Jamie - - - - - - - - ---- - Smith, Fraser 5 (10) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.87 - Smith, Mark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Stannard, Wayne 12 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.58 - Turner, Harry - - - - - - - - ---- - Watson, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Watson, Paul - - - - - - - - ---- - Williams, Jason - - - - - - - - ---- ************************************************************************************************ English Conference - Saturday 30th April 2005 ************************************************************************************************ ================================================================================================ 2004/5 Table ================================================================================================ Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C AXFC 42 18 1 2 53 11 14 4 3 39 13 101 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Dag & Red 42 14 3 4 42 24 10 4 7 41 32 79 3rd Scarborough 42 11 6 4 32 21 11 5 5 29 17 77 4th Halifax 42 11 6 4 36 29 11 4 6 40 32 76 5th Tamworth 42 10 6 5 29 18 10 6 5 39 22 72 6th Hereford 42 11 6 4 36 21 9 5 7 32 26 71 7th Chester 42 13 6 2 52 33 7 4 10 26 35 70 8th Nuneaton Borough 42 10 5 6 36 28 5 10 6 34 33 60 9th Stevenage 42 9 6 6 35 28 7 6 8 26 31 60 10th Halesowen 42 9 7 5 34 32 7 2 12 26 40 57 11th Northwich Vics 42 10 5 6 35 29 6 2 13 24 36 55 12th Morecambe 42 7 4 10 28 30 7 8 6 22 24 54 13th Shrewsbury 42 8 7 6 29 32 5 5 11 28 40 51 14th Kettering 42 8 7 6 36 30 4 6 11 17 28 49 15th Barnet 42 6 10 5 29 26 5 5 11 29 41 48 16th Canvey Island 42 8 6 7 31 25 2 10 9 17 26 46 17th Telford 42 7 5 9 23 32 4 6 11 20 29 44 18th Exeter 42 7 3 11 29 37 5 5 11 35 48 44 19th Farnborough 42 7 7 7 26 31 3 5 13 28 45 42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20th R Macclesfield 42 7 4 10 22 30 4 5 12 19 38 42 21st R Stalybridge 42 5 6 10 16 25 4 6 11 17 29 39 22nd R Hayes 42 4 2 15 11 33 4 5 12 17 35 31 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Educated Hick Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 I sat in the bar awaiting my fellow exiles. Once again, we had to come from all across Europe in order to meet. Since I had gotten the Exiles into the League, it was my privilege to select this summer’s watering hole. I selected a tiny pub that was across the street from Yankee Stadium. They filled into the pub in fits and starts, and within the hour everyone had arrived. We started the meeting off with drinks, just bullshitting about days gone by. Then, the meeting turned serious. I handed out a financial reported that showed AXFC had finally started to turn a profit. This cheered the table considerably, since it was their investment which had started AXFC five years ago. I quickly outlined the roster improvements that would help the club survive the League. We had plenty of talent and a very bright future. Then, I stood up, drained my pint of stout and ordered a refill. I faced my fellow investors. “Gentlemen, four years ago, AXFC began life as a professional football club. From that rather modest beginning, AXFC has made its way slowly and surely up the Conference table. This past season, we won the Conference and are poised on the cusp of League success. Getting AXFC into the League had always been my goal. Having achieved this goal, I am now resigning as manager. I have seen too many managers and coaches try to hang on to their job when times get rough. I am not like that, I prefer to quit at the summit of success. A more experienced manager than I can take AXFC to greater glory on the next part of their journey. I am now going to move on with my life. I am flying back to the US and my flight leaves in five hours. I am moving on with my life. But, I will always remember and cherish my time with AXFC and I’m truly grateful for having had the chance to take them into the League. “ With that, I drained the second pint of stout and walked out the pub. I walked to the Underground station and got on the train that would take me to Heathrow. I did not look back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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