Arlesey Town

[Rhodes]

As some of you will know, Arlesey Town sadly parted company with their experienced Management team last week and are currently in the process of looking at CV's in order to recruit a new Manager. I gather the team had only been at Hitchin Road for just over a year and had high hopes of bringing success to the Club so I wonder why they have thrown in the towel and walked away so soon with only two league defeats this term:

http://www.arleseytownfc.com/

https://www.biggleswadetoday.co.uk/sport/football/endersby-and-hatch-aim-high-after-taking-over-at-arlesey-1-8532323

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/dec/05/woman-in-charge-mens-team-football-arlesey-town-natasha-orchard-smith

 

[Rhodes]

Has Arlesey Town Chairman John Morrell appointed a new Management team as yet, I haven't heard anything and Karen hasn't reliably informed us. As I said, it was a surprise when Matt Endersby and James Hatch departed Hitchin Road earlier this month taking their team with them including high profile Coach Natasha Orchard-Smith who holds a UEFA B licence, they had only arrived in June last year and had started this campaign reasonably well with just two league defeats and an excellent replay win against Step 5 Club Newmarket Town in the FA Cup.

[Rhodes]

I see that Arlesey Town have finally appointed a new Manager, Chico Ramos, who takes control of the Hitchin Road Club for tomorrow's baptism of fire against high flying Colney Heath, who will be looking to make amends following their surprise 1-0 defeat at Wembley on Tuesday. Mr Ramos, 36, is a former Benfica professional and plied his trade at the Stadium of Light in his native Portugal between 2001 and 2003, other Club's where he has both played and coached include Amora in Portugal, Billericay Town, Weymouth, Weston-Super-Mare, Bridgwater Town, Dulwich Hamlet, Leatherhead, Waltham Forest, Tilbury, Hampton & Richmond Borough, Dorchester Town, Burnham, Maidenhead, Walton Casuals and Walthamstow FC. He has over ten years of coaching experience and it is clearly a very shrewd appointment by Club Chairman John Morrell who has taken his time in finding the right man for the job since the departure of Matt Endersby and James Hatch over six weeks ago.

https://www.arleseytownfc.com/chico-ramos-appointment

http://nonleaguedaily.com/chico-ramos-appointed-arlesey-town-manager/

[Winslow Boy]

It’s Chico time ? 

[Rhodes]

21 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

It’s Chico time ? 

Winslow Boy - Sorry but I couldn't resist this

 

[Rhodes]

By the sounds of it Chico Ramos's Arlesey Town were unlucky on Saturday at high flying Colney Heath and they had opportunities to reduce the deficit after Colney Heath took a 2-0 first half lead, Jardell Stirling hit the crossbar from a corner just before the interval but it was always going to be a baptism of fire particularly with six of the regular first team squad unavailable. Saturday's visit to Potton United will be interesting: 

https://www.arleseytownfc.com/copy-of-london-colney-win-home

https://www.colneyheathfc.co.uk/Matchreport.aspx?id=264800

 

[Rhodes]

Upcoming fixtures for Arlesey Town, I see that the Club were less than impressed by the twelfth hour postponement at Bell Close on Saturday:

Our away game at Leighton Town was postponed at 2pm due to the match referee deeming a small part of the pitch unplayable.........so we're all off back home

 

 

[Rhodes]

Disappointingly, there was very little take up of Arlesey Town's bumper match programme yesterday for the game with Champions elect Colney Heath. The sixty page programme included a 25th anniversary pullout to celebrate the Club famously lifting the FA Vase in the 1994/95 season when they beat Oxford City 2-1 at Wembley stadium, I believe they are the only current SSML Club to boast an FA Vase win but Karen will no doubt delight in correcting me if i'm mistaken. Hillingdon Borough reached the final  in 2005/2006 but unfortunately went down 3-1 to Nantwich Town at St Andrews, the season before the final returned to a 'modernised' Wembley stadium, sadly minus the iconic twin towers:

 

 

[Rhodes]

As I assume each and every one of us are twiddling our thumbs and toe punting our heels at 4.15 on this miserable Saturday afternoon here is, wait for it, the Arlesey Town v Oxford City FA Vase programme from 1995, what a nice cover:

[Rhodes]

The gates at Hitchin Road will sadly remain closed for the for-seeable future

It is with no great shock after the UK government  statement yesterday evening that the club is to remain closed for the foreseeable future and until we get the all clear to reopen again.
We would like to thank all our supporters for your continued support

ATFC Committee

 

 

[Rhodes]

Memories of Arlesey Town's successful Cancer Research Charity Day on 11 May 2013 albeit when they were an Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division Club and not in the SSML. Former Premier League striker Dave Kitson took park in an Arlesey Town Legends match against Crawley Green Vets, Kitson was at Hitchin Road early on in his career before moving to Cambridge United in 2001:

https://www.thecomet.net/sport/football/ex-stoke-city-and-reading-striker-set-for-charity-game-1-2188626

http://nonleague.pitchero.com/uncategorized/arlesey-to-help-cancer-research-19366/

 

[Savagebee]

Dave Kitson I remember him mainly from his time at Reading Town FC. A very decent striker.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Savagebee

[Rhodes]

Over a hundred photos from a pre-season friendly last term at Hitchin Road, on 21 July 2018, between Arlesey Town and Hitchin Town which the visitors won 4-0:

https://hitchintownfc.club/event/arlesey-town-vs-hitchin-town/

 

[Rhodes]

10 hours ago, Savagebee said:

Dave Kitson I remember him mainly from his time at Reading Town FC. A very decent striker.

Yes, perhaps we should have put Dave Kitson in the SSML Legends thread but he was never at Hitchin Road during the time the Club have been in the SSML. He was born and bred in Hitchin and started his career at Top Field at the tender age of 18 in 1998 before moving to Arlesey Town briefly in 2001 when he was soon snapped up by Cambridge United who saw his talent, he was sold to Reading in 2003 for 150,000 who then sold him to Stoke City for £5.5 million so I wonder whether he was on contract at Arlesey Town and if they had a sell on clause written into it.

[Savagebee]

12 hours ago, Rhodes said:

Over a hundred photos from a pre-season friendly last term at Hitchin Road, on 21 July 2018, between Arlesey Town and Hitchin Town which the visitors won 4-0:

https://hitchintownfc.club/event/arlesey-town-vs-hitchin-town/

 

Only been to Arlesey Towns ground once but I really liked the ground.

[Savagebee]

On 24/04/2020 at 21:20, Rhodes said:

Memories of Arlesey Town's successful Cancer Research Charity Day on 11 May 2013 albeit when they were an Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division Club and not in the SSML. Former Premier League striker Dave Kitson took park in an Arlesey Town Legends match against Crawley Green Vets, Kitson was at Hitchin Road early on in his career before moving to Cambridge United in 2001:

https://www.thecomet.net/sport/football/ex-stoke-city-and-reading-striker-set-for-charity-game-1-2188626

http://nonleague.pitchero.com/uncategorized/arlesey-to-help-cancer-research-19366/

 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/news/after-launching-pfa-bid-kitson-under-fire-for-2018-sterling-comments/ar-BB13vB2I?ocid=AMZN

[Rhodes]

A really interesting article, I wasn't aware Dave Kitson was in-line for the job to replace Gordon Taylor and to think that he once trod the Hitchin Road turf. Kitson is spot on that the FA's response to the COVID-19 crisis has been an absolute embarrassment and also Raheem Sterling has always made himself a target due to the way he portrays himself on social media, additionally when he was filmed inhaling nitrous oxide, so called 'hippy crack' and openly smoking a shisha pipe at a London Club, what sort of example is that to youngsters who idolise him:

Dave Kitson's bid to become the players' union chief has been opposed by former Arsenal striker Ian Wright, while the head of anti-racist campaign group Kick It Out has raised concerns over his past comments about England forward Raheem Sterling.

Ex-player Kitson is aiming to replace Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) chief Gordon Taylor, who has been at the helm since 1981, saying the body's response to the COVID-19 crisis was "an absolute embarrassment".

However, Kitson's anti-racism stance was questioned when a 2018 video resurfaced in which he said that although he did not condone racism, players such as Sterling "make themselves a target" because of how they portray themselves on social media.

"Look at this rubbish. Same person now running to lead the PFA," former England striker Wright wrote on Twitter. "How can the PFA claim to take racism seriously when this is a candidate's views? He's literally blaming a victim of abuse saying they bring it on themselves," Wright added in response to another tweet.

Kick It Out head Sanjay Bhandari said Kitson's remarks did not inspire confidence in dealing with black players. "Anyone who has aspirations to lead the PFA in the future must have in mind the best interests of all players," Bhandari told The Guardian: "Given Dave Kitson's previous remarks, I would be deeply concerned about his ability to represent black players. He needs to win their confidence and I doubt he can do that."

Kitson responded by telling The Guardian: "My objective is to ensure that the policies of the union reflect the needs and aspirations of all its members.

Very importantly, that must include a much more effective anti-racism policy," added the 40-year-old who played as a striker for several Clubs including Reading, Stoke City, Portsmouth and Sheffield United.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/may/01/dave-kitson-faces-backlash-from-black-players-in-bid-to-become-head-of-pfa

[Rhodes]

A lengthy and interesting biography on Dave Kitson and an article which says it all about the man:

https://fampeople.com/cat-dave-kitson

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/32330-world-football-readings-dave-kitson-a-true-professional

 

[Savagebee]

3 hours ago, Rhodes said:

A lengthy and interesting biography on Dave Kitson and an article which says it all about the man:

https://fampeople.com/cat-dave-kitson

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/32330-world-football-readings-dave-kitson-a-true-professional

 

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/secret-footballer-dave-kitsons-past-21963232

[Rhodes]

Savagebee - I think that article is rather harsh on the great man don't you and he is exactly what the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) are crying out for after 38 years of 'fat cat' Gordon Taylor. Also what other high profile player in the Country would, when asked, go back to their first Club to play in a Charity game such as Arlesey Town Legends v Crawley Green Vets, he must have trebled or quadrupled the gate at Hitchin Road on 11 May 2013:

The problem for some people who have a bit of a past is that it can come back to haunt them.

Like Dave Kitson, for example, who is now being visited by ghosts from a previous life as he bids to start a footballing revolution within the inner sanctum of the Professional Footballers' Association.

This ginger ninja wants to topple Gordon Taylor and replace him as chief executive of the players' union - a position he has held for a staggering 38 years.

Given how unpopular Taylor now is, having become one of the fattest cats in football, you'd have thought the mission to take him down would be an open goal to a journeyman striker like Kitson.

But somehow Kitson, whose campaign is being backed by so-called football PR guru David Bick, has made the crucial mistake of going into battle looking more like Judas Iscariot than Che Guevara or Mahatma Gandhi.

A quick trip back in time reveals a man, in Kitson, who betrayed his own profession with an infamous radio interview in which he blissfully exposed himself as a hypocrite at best, and racist at worst.

In December 2018 Kitson was asked about the racist abuse being dished out to Raheem Sterling, but accused him and other footballers, including black ones, of bringing it on themselves.

He said: "I do believe that players make themselves a target. I just think that we have a duty of care to ourselves as footballers, to be a little bit careful with social media, and the way we portray ourselves.

"Jealousy is an awful thing amongst the human race. I trawled through Raheem Sterling's Instagram feed to find that a lot of what he put on in his early days has now been deleted.

And it was, 'look at my cars, look at my house, look at this bathroom, look at this, look at that, look at me.' And that's going to antagonise people."

The following day Tyrone Mings was supposed to be going on the same radio station, but refused out of principle because he was so disgusted with what Kitson had said.

'Trawl' through Kitson's own social media history and you will find a collection of crude posts almost as subtle as the number of flash cars he's owned down the years.

One is of a black Ferrari including the letters 'BEL' on his humber plate. How appropriate. Another is of 'theboykitson' sitting down between two more Ferraris, or him lounging on the back of a speeding boat leaving Mallorca, or of the sunset in Dubai with the message 's**t view, hate it here'.

There was nothing remotely 'secret' about this footballer back then. But it gets worse. Posts from 2013 and 2014 also saw him compare a black Tesco worker to Danny Welbeck. For the record, Kitson used to work in Sainsbury's.

Is anyone reading this column feeling 'antagonised' yet?

Steven Reid is. The Scotland coach shot down Kitson, while Rio Ferdinand simply said 'wow'. Sam Allardyce also waded in, labelling Kitson's campaign as 'embarrassing'.

Other than Kitson himself, who thinks it's a good idea for someone like him to be head of the players' union? Answers on a postage stamp, please.

The PFA needs a wind of change to blow through it, but all Kitson's pitch does is question the integrity of the new brigade attempting to usurp the old one.

Kitson is fighting a losing battle. But whose fault is that? After all, you've brought it all on yourself mate.