It has been a little while since we have updated everyone so we wanted to give all our fans an update before the 2020/21 begins. Firstly, it was great to see our fans back at the Charles Ground for our friendly against Kennington last week. The club have worked really hard led by Natalie Benville (our Covid Officer) to ensure we were ready to welcome spectators to the ground and it is safe to say that the day run very smoothly. A big thank you is due to Dave Chmura and all the volunteers at the ground during the week who helped get the ground prepared. The next time we will be at home will be our league opener against Beckenham on 5th September and we are looking forward to welcoming a big crowd for what will be a tough start.
The last two fixtures have seen two different performances. Against Kennington we weren’t at our best in windy conditions. Kennington have had an excellent pre-season and presented a tough test. Both sides had plenty of chances but the game was settled in the last minute as we conceded a sloppy goal from a free-kick. However, the boys responded well to this with an excellent performance and victory at Hythe on Tuesday night. Against a strong and experienced team, we played well throughout and a Troy Howard goal saw us record a 1-0 victory. It is very hard to read anything into pre-season results but it was a pleasing performance on the evening.
Our final friendly is at Lydd tomorrow morning (11am kick-off) and we will be looking to finalise our preparations before we travel to Knaphill in the FA Cup on Tuesday. We will need to be fully ready as we have been given a tough draw against a side who were doing very well in the Combined Counties Premier Division when COVID-19 stopped the season early. Adding to that the fact we have to travel over 100 miles on a Tuesday night means we will have to be at our best to get a result. It is safe to say we are all looking forward to getting back to competitive action.
In some sad news this week Luke Bigginton has made the decision to retire and take some time away from the game. He has been an excellent Captain over the last couple of seasons and will be missed by all those in the dressing room. We know he will not be a stranger and we will hopefully be seeing plenty of him at the ground. His contribution to the club has been vital both on and off the pitch and we will be looking to do something to recognise this later in the season. Taking over as club captain will be Kane Smith and we are looking forward to working with Kane over the coming season in his new role. Kane will be supported by a group of senior players and Macca Murray will take on the role of vice-captain.
On the player front we are pleased to have welcomed both Luke Eldridge and Toby Greenfield to the club. Both players are young local players who fit into our ethos. Attacking midfielder Luke played for Ashford when they won the SCEFL a couple of years ago and has already made a good impression during pre-season. Toby is a defender who featured for the club a couple of seasons ago and was with Faversham Town last season. We also welcomed Brad Baker to the club back in March but due to COVID-19 he unfortunately never had chance to make his debut last season. We have been lucky again to retain so many of last season’s squad and look forward to pushing on again this year.
We look forward to seeing you all soon at the Charles Ground. Due to the pandemic clubs at our level need more support than ever so please encourage friends and family to come along to the games. As ever you will be guaranteed a warm welcome and a team of local players giving their all for the club.
Come on you Hoops!
