league news

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Friday 17 March 2006

NSL & MAA DO CHARITY AGAIN

After the success of last season’s game between the Uhlsport Notts Senior League and Midland Amateur Alliance, a repeat of the fixture will take place on Wednesday 29^th March at Woodview, home of Cotgrave CW United (7.30pm).

The first clash raised over £300 for the Tsunami appeal, with a similar amount raised earlier this season from a game between the Uhlsport and Notts Amateur Alliance leagues. The Blood Transfusion Service looks most likely to benefit from funds raised by the latest game to help them continue their good work in the community .

Commenting on the news, Uhlsport Secretary Darrell Parkes said ‘We are delighted that the MAA have once more agreed to work with us to support good causes. The game last season was an excellent one and we thank everyone giving of their time, particularly those associated with Cotgrave CW for their continued support’ .

The Uhlsport side will be managed by Wollaton boss Chris Munroe and Andy Miller, currently first team coach at Eastwood Town . Anyone wishing to donate to this excellent cause by donation or by giving raffle prizes is asked to contact Uhlsport Vice Chairman Dick Durrant on 07904 409689 or

Monday 6 February 2006

CALVERTON TO PART COMPANY WITH NSL

Uhlsport NSL Vice Chairman Dick Durrant today praised ambitious Calverton MW after it was announced that the Hollinwood Lane outfit would be moving into the Central Midlands League from next season.

‘Calverton have been a delight to work with and I’d like to wish them all the very best for the future on behalf of the Management Committee of the NSL. Whilst we are obviously disappointed to lose one of our leading Clubs, there comes a time when moving on is the right thing to do, and I genuinely believe this to be the case with Calverton. They have invested massively in their facilities and have a ground that will, with time, be one of the best in The Midlands. On this basis, it is only right that they progress and, whilst they will do so without having won the NSL, I’m sure they will more than hold their own in the CML under new coach Darryl Claypole.

When we formed the NSL, the objective was to provide a decent standard of football, with good facilities for those Clubs wishing to play their football with Notts. Clubs such as Calverton with their ambitions should be encouraged to move on, rather than held back as has happened in the past, and we will do anything we can to smooth Calverton’s progress if needs be. As a league, we feel we are well on the way to achieving the first part of our plan. Calverton’s exit will provide an opportunity for one of the four Clubs on our shortlist to progress up the ladder and we will announce the successful applicant Club as soon as we have had a meeting to discuss things further. We are hoping Ruddington will have a Reserve side next season which will bring us to 17 teams in each league after Calverton have gone, so another Club with two teams will bring us up to strength. Hopefully we won’t get any other resignations, however we have Clubs waiting in the wings if we do’.

Pete Edson, John Daniel, Viv Corcoran, Choc Hodgson and numerous other people deserve massive credit for the job they have done at Calverton so far. We will be watching their progress closely to see how they get on and look forward to seeing them do the NSL proud in future. It is with our best wishes that they go and we hope they retain fond memories of their time in the NSL!

Thursday 19 January 2006

TRYING TO TURN THINGS AROUND

Little over two months ago, Managerial first timer, Andy Littlewood was given the unenviable task of trying to save Ruddington United Football Club when he was put in charge of their first team after the departure of former AC Bulwell Boss Tony Prior. Rudd, had lost their first twelve league games of the NSL Senior League campaign, conceding a massive 64 goals and scoring just five, rooted to the bottom of the table and struggling to field a side, the turn around since, has been dramatic, and one which bodes well for the future of the football club. In United's last eight games, Littlewood has won three matches and drew one, only losing to the current top three sides in the Division and Calverton MW who although losing heavily at home, they in turn beat 1-0 three weeks later at Hollinwood Lane, possibly their best result so far under Littlewood's guidance. So how has he managed to change a side getting beat sevens, eights and nines into a competing outfit once again? Littlewood told the website "The first thing was take Pete Shaw from Greenwood with me, Pete is a close friend and also a great motivator and leader of players. The second player I needed most was another close friend of mine Neil Curtis, Neil has captained Carlton Town in the NCE league and is in my opinion the best passer of a ball in the Division, as well as a great team player." Littlewood went on to suggest bringing back the basic happenings at the club, something which was severely lacking. "I introduced the system back to 4-4-2, keeping it as simple as possible for the players who were with me at the time. I also introduced an earlier meeting time and a deadline for players to call in and confirm there availability. This was to try and enforce discipline within the club which was lacking in the extreme when I first arrived. The club also did no midweek training, we now train once a week on Wednesdays, after that it was just a case of seeing which players had what it took to play at this level and also to introduce new signings as seamlessly as I could".

Littlewood has brought in plenty of fresh new faces to Ruddington and many with high calibre backgrounds, something which must have been difficult would have been attracting these players to the club, especially considering the sides position in the league. "The players the club have now, have on the whole played most their football in the Central Midlands or above." said Littlewood, "players like Daz Spencer, Phil McGinty and Nick Woodward don't come along to often and we need to hang on to these type of players for next year and beyond . As regards getting them to sign in the first place, most of the squad has played together at some time or another, they looked at it as a challenge and a chance to renew aquanticies with not just team mates but also friends".

Ruddington's targets maybe simple for this year, but for next season and beyond, Littlewood hopes to be challenging for honours. "The remainder of this season is about not finishing bottom, and to carry on the good work done by the committee and management. This season was always going to be about rebuilding and setting standards for seasons to come, but we have had good results recently and will see how many points we can get come the end of it." Littlewood further stated "Next year with further signings planned and a few tweaks in terms of the management structure, we would hope to be challenging for honours, but talk is cheap and first the players have to show the commitment, effort and team spirit to confirm these hopes for next year and beyond."

As for the Reserves, Littlewood suggested that their will definitely be a second string next season, and with the club currently interviewing candidates, anyone interested is urged to contact club secretary Ernie Gadsby by phone on 0115 9211204 or mobile 07785 726408. A club hopefully heading in the right direction.

Monday 9 January 2006

CALVERTON APPOINT NEW MANAGER

Calverton Miners Welfare are delighted to announce the appointment of Carlton Town Academy Director and Reserve Team Manager Darryl Claypole as Senior Team Manager with immediate effect. This appointment is the cumulation of a protracted advertising and interviewing process which has spanned the Christmas period.

Calverton Chairman Colin Hodgson explained, "We placed a series of adverts at the end of November and left them running for around three weeks to allow plenty of time for perspective applicants to see them and respond. The quality of the applications received was very high with a number still involved with other clubs. It has been necessary to respect the confidence of all those which put themselves forward". "We were looking for someone who has the vision, drive and attributes to build on the foundations that have been laid over the past few seasons".

Following a successful playing career with League clubs, Swindon Town, Rochdale and Halifax Town followed by spells at Kettering Town and Long Eaton, Darryl took both his preliminary and full coaching badges. Claypole is highly respected on the local non-league scene with vast experience of managing and coaching senior players at a high level of senior non-league standard and has many contacts in the game at all levels. He also has a tremendous belief in the development of young players as his role at Carlton demonstrates which is good news for all the junior teams at Calverton. Hodgson ends "Already we have seen Darryl’s enthusiasm rubbing off on others and we are confident that we have found the right person to be a major influence in our club’s ambition to move forward".

Thursday 29 December 2005

So Wollaton end the year as they started it back in January, sitting on top of the Senior Division in between clinching the 2004/05 title and winning the League’s Senior knockout Cup competition. But although the obvious signs suggest dominance for a side beaten only four times by NSL clubs in 2005, major on field improvements from some of their challengers over the last twelve months suggest the future may be closer, as the pack try and bridge the gap on the leagues undoubted best team. Arnold Southbank went in to January off the back of three straight defeats, but Mark Connors side didn’t look back as they were easily the form side of the 04/05 season’s second half as they stayed unbeaten in all competitions until May, a run which took them to two cup finals and fourth in the league. With the title over by Easter, attention took to the battle for second place between Calverton MW who for much of the season occupied that spot and Linby CW, who although having two points deducted for failing to fulfil a fixture, leapfrogged their rivals in the final weeks after Calverton failed to win any of their last four fixtures. An improved year from an ever learning Boots Athletic side seen them climb to sixth place in the final table, level on points with Notts Police who despite only five league wins in fifteen since the turn of the year, were positioned above the chemists on goal difference. Two more sides improving on 2004 were Clifton and Attenborough, both challenging for top honours by the end of the year, Clifton losing only six games in the calendar year, Boro seven, both beating Wollaton on their way to comfortable mid-table positions by the end of May.

At the other end of the table, a disastrous run of form by Ruddington United saw them drop to second from bottom, but despite only one win from their final fifteen games they finished four points above table proppers Sandhurst, the North Notts club coming a long way though in a short space of time, will be proud of the fact that they took points off opponents in more than a quarter of their games played until May.

In the County Cup Boots went out gallantly in the Senior Section Quarter Finals to NCEL hotshots Gedling Town, Boots doing enough to qualify as a seeded team in the 05/06 competition. The Intermediate trophy was dominated by NSL clubs, Arnold Southbank seeing off a brave Bestwood MW after extra time in a thrilling final that gave a good example of what the league had to offer. Southbank, unable to make it two cup final wins in the year when they came up against already Senior Division Champions Wollaton in the League Cup, Wollaton eventually coming out on top 3-1, to cement themselves in league history as first ever double winners in the NSL’s debut season. The Reserves Section Cup saw Attenbough see off ten men Calverton MW in extra time, Striker Jon Eaton’s late winner giving the slight underdogs on the day, the trophy.

The 2004/05 Division One League trophy was won in fine form by Boots Athletic Reserves, despite a mini blip in April, which seen Boots draw before being beaten for the only time of the campaign against Wollaton, The chemists clinched the title in mid-April when they beat second placed Cotgrave CW United Res 2-1. Cotgrave, despite stumbling home eventually clinched on to the runners up spot, at the expense of Wollaton Reserves who with the fine attack of Markowski and Fragola, contributed to 62 of the clubs 109-league goals in the season.

Thursday 15 December 2005

Thursday 8 December 2005

The uhlsport Nottinghamshire Senior League take on the Notts Amateur Alliance in a charity representative game to raise funds to help the Lord Mayors Appeal for the victims of the Asian Tsunami which devastated a year ago this month. The match is to be played at Calverton MW this coming Tuesday night (13th December 2005) with a 7:30pm kick off. Both leagues join force and hope to raise something similar to the amount raised earlier this year when the NSL played against the Midlands Amateur Alliance raising around £300. sides from:

NSL (green shirts, green shorts): Matt Worster (Attenborough), Carl Spibey (Linby CW), Richard Antcliff (Boots Athletic), Dave Savidge (Wollaton), Lee Collison (Keyworth United), Dave Walker (Wollaton), Jonty Bradshaw (Linby CW), Jonathon Dakers (Calverton MW), Dave Marlow (Calverton MW), Scott Smalley (Wollaton), Robbie May (Kimberley MW), Tom Simpson (Wollaton), Nathan Robinson (Arnold Southbank), Winston Brown (Caribbean Cavaliers), Ryan Perkins (Wollaton), Chris Wilson (Kimberley MW), Wayne Miles (Boots Athletic), Kyle McDermott (Bestwood MW), Danny Chaplin (Kimberley MW), Pete McCann (Clifton), Lee Penley (Cotgrave CW United). Manager: Chris Munroe (Wollaton). Asst: Mark Connors (Arnold Southbank).

NAA (black &  amber shirts, black shorts): Nick Lylak (Westside), Alan Pallett (Vernon Villa), Alan Carter (Vernon Villa), John Manders (Vernon Villa), Mark Dimech (Basford United), Kevin Walker (Basford United), Brett Duffy (Basford United), Paul De Jorge (Nottinghamshire), Tom Williams (Stanton Ilkeston), Wayne Evans (Limekiln), Louis Mepham (Limekiln), Darryll Cox (Matrixgrade), Ozgur Kosar (Matrixgrade), David Duncan, Andrew Ramsay (Matrixgrade). Player / Manager: Lee Farmery (Matrixgrade). Asst: Tremaine Binkley (Vernon Villa).

Tuesday 8 November 2005

NSL ASK PLAYERS TO 'GO FOR PINT'

The uhlsport Notts Senior League has made history by becoming the first football competition in the country to support the activities of the National Blood Service.

The 18-strong league, whose member clubs include the Nottinghamshire Police, Caribbean Cavaliers, Boots Athletic and Siemens, have embarked on a campaign to encourage people from all ethnic backgrounds to become blood donors and, where