Kentish Town to Copthall

[Rhodes]

AWK - I'm sorry to disappoint everyone but you will have to wait just a little bit longer, see yesterday's programme notes below:

 

GREGG HAZELGROVE - YOUR CHAIRMAN

 

My penultimate programme notes for 2006/2007 last week stated that the Club were very close to announcing where it would by plying its trade next season and that I hoped to make the all important announcement today however i’s still need to be dotted and t’s crossed so if you don’t mind I will hold my horses for a while longer. I will just say that if our proposed plans come to fruition then we are likely to be headline news on every back page in London although with the vast amount of press publicity the Club have received this season that will be nothing new.

Welcome to leafy Stratford Fields, home of Buckingham Athletic Football Club and may I offer my sincere thanks to my opposite number John Webb and Club Secretary Charles Bassano for kindly agreeing to host today’s fixture against high flying Stony Stratford Town. Unfortunately I won’t be present myself to shake their hands personally, indeed I feel embarrassed that business and personal commitments have prevented me from seeing as many matches as I would have liked particularly during the second half of the season. I still remain totally committed however to the Kentish Town cause and will not rest until our name is right up there in lights with the likes of Barnet, Leyton Orient and Brentford with a stadium to be proud of to finally dispel once and for all our cruel tag of ‘The Bedouins of Non League Football’.

Last Saturday we travelled the long distance to Ampthill Town for a ‘home’ fixture and the game turned on the half hour mark when Thomas Looney was dismissed by Referee Mr Scott, had this not happened I am certain that we would have come away with a point or even three as Thomas was in mesmerising form as he has been for us all season terrorising defences left right and centre. I gather Ampthill did not know which way to turn and all their Christmas’s came at once when Mr Scott reached for his top pocket.

On Tuesday evening we travelled to Beaconsfield SYCOB’s palatial Hollways Park home to play Amersham Town and I understand we were treated like kings by the friendly Buckinghamshire Club who even offered us their facilities for next season as a groundshare option, no doubt taking pity on our plight that has been ongoing ever since we joined the Spartan South Midlands League in 2003.

The end of a football season is always a sad day for anyone associated with a Club and we appear to have finished our programme of thirty matches a week ahead of everyone else. We will certainly not be twiddling our thumbs however during May, June and July and I gather that our Head Coach Clement Temile wants us back in training as early as mid June so we can hit the ground running in August for what will be an all out assault on the division one championship and hopefully promotion to the Premier Division.

Without any exaggeration Clement has brought greatness to Kentish Town and I thank him for his painstaking efforts this season, when I travelled up to Lilleshall with the Club Secretary in early August I had no idea what to expect and had barely heard of Clement Temile, I never expected a man of such huge pedigree and calibre to sign on the dotted line for us however he did and the rest is of course history.

I know that my end of season programme notes should be littered with thank you’s of Richard Attenborough speech proportions however I know Manager Frank Zanre intends to pen a page for this final programme of the campaign so I will let him do the honours. I simply wish to reflect on this season and what were the highlights for me in no particular order. We kicked off the season against our opponents today at their Ostlers Lane base and following a 3-1 defeat there was no indication as to what lay ahead. What followed however was extraordinary even by our Club’s standards when winning the next six league games by an aggregate of 22 goals for and only three against including an 8-2 triumph over Brache Sparta. That game for me, played at Wembley’s Vale Farm, was the highlight of the campaign as well as our 3-0 win at Hoddesdon Town on 23 December when we gave a near faultless performance to sit proudly at the summit of the division one table over the Christmas period.

So that’s your lot from me for 2006/2007 and see you all again in August, Kentish Town are very much a Club going places and rest assured we will reach the promised land sooner rather than later, you have my word on it.

Enjoy this afternoon’s game and may the best team win.

 

 

 

[SteveR]

It comes as no surprise to me that they weren't able to announce anything.

[yearup]

after reading [****!!****] i think rhodes is hazelgrove

ghost writer

brentford- relegated

orient- could be relegated

barnet- !!!!

lets all aspire!!!!!

[Football Man]

yearup, it is common knowledge that clip Rods writes the Chairman's column in the programme. Nobody else talks that much crap!

[HTFCew]

I don't understand how it can't be announced if the league were informed by the end of March?

[Rhodes]

Originally Posted By: yearup

brentford- relegated orient- could be relegated
barnet- !!!! lets all aspire!!!!!

You don't get it do you, our Chairman's point in his notes was that we can be as big as those Club's before too long, they are still seven steps above us afterall so your point about them being relegated is irrelevant, it sums up your football knowledge.

[Rhodes]

Many congratulations to the Barnet Copthall Stadium for being nominated as one of the training venues for visiting Countries prior to the 2012 Olympic Games, well deserved and I'm sure this means a sizeable figure in funding will be coming their way in due course:

 

'NEWS: SPORT ENGLAND ANNOUNCE THAT BARNET COPTHALL STADIUM IS TO BE TO ONE OF THE NATION'S ATHLETICS STADIUMS DESIGNATED AS A TRAINING VENUE FOR VISITING TEAMS PRIOR TO THE 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES'

 

 

[Willo the Cat]

As ex-press officer I though you knew that anyhow - even i KNEW THAT

[Horace]

Originally Posted By: Willo the Cat

As ex-press officer I though you knew that anyhow - even i KNEW THAT

What I ABSOLUTELY knew was that it would have been Rhodes who dug up this year old thread!

[Willo the Cat]

No way - what odds did you get from Honest H?

You must be loaded

 

[bosman08]

As I said before I dont think KTFC will be in Copthall for much longer than this year, the ground is been rented out for athletics during the week and on saturdays, also football is going to be played on Sunday and it wouldnt surprise me if Universities for example will be using it for matches during the week. I'm sure if Rhodes was involved he would have his finger on the pulse.

 

I think KTFC will have to pay an additional figure than they currently pay to secure the ground.

[SteveR]

Apparently the pitch in Copthall Stadium is absolutely screwed.

[bosman08]

I imagine it would be now with the Athletics on every day during the week and then matches Sat, Sun and midweek it wont be long before Barnet C say enough is enough which would be a shame for KTFC. I hope they have any ground in mind. They should get Rhodesy back in, he is in the know, but he has offers left, right and centre so I think he is happy that is away from it all now.

[Rhodes]

Well Hendon would know all about that wouldn't they, they spent 50k on that feasibity study and are partly to blame for ruining it

[Football Man]

Originally Posted By: bosman08

it wont be long before Barnet C say enough is enough

Bosman08 - you seem to be under the misapprehension that Kentish Town have some deal with Barnet Council. They don't. The groundshare was arranged directly with the athletics club.

[bosman08]

Oh my thank you for that information football man. I think KTFC are in even more trouble now you have stated that as I know football clubs are trying to arrange deals directly with Barnet C as they are I would guess the freeholders of the estate. Also are KTFC paying the Athletics team much?

[Football Man]

I'm afraid I don't know how much KTFC are paying the athletics club as I don't get involved in the financial aspects of football clubs. I did, however, express concern this time last year about the fact that they had appeared to bypass the Council.

[bosman08]

Indeed bypassing any Council is not the way to go, but hey they have football matches to worry about, who cares about a home.

[Football Man]

I note that the FA have updated the FA Cup fixtures on their website and the Kentish Town game is still showing as Saturday at 3pm. Has anyone from Kentish Town actually informed the FA of the switch to Sunday and got the okay from them?

[Rhodes]

Football Man - That's an interesting observation as it's unusual for the FA to get something wrong however I'm sure the Club Secretary contacted Soho Square as he's very efficient, I'm also sure that Wellingborough Town know the game is on the Sunday.