Highworth Town with Fraser Haines

Please read below for my interview with Highworth Town secretary Fraser Haines. It was published in the latest Football Focus magazine which can be viewed here for absolutely free! Included in the current issue are Leyton Orient, Dunfermline Athletic, Crawley Town and many more football clubs.

Highworth Town

Highworth Town line up

Last month Football Focus chatted with Highworth Town secretary Fraser Haines and not before long, it became apparent that they are an incredibly close-knit club, and proud of it. Fraser's brother is the current chairman and he took over the reigns when their father passed away. Fraser believes that it is the comradeship within the staff that has helped the club move forward so successfully. “We are all a very close club and have grown rapidly recently after merging with our junior section in 2008.”

Indeed, it is in the youth that Highworth have invested towards in large sums and Fraser is delighted with the rewards reaped. “We’ve kids of all age groups and we have over four hundred children registered with us in thirty-two teams. Our manager Dave Webb trusts youth players and gives them a go if they are good enough. The average age of our first team is around twenty-two which bodes well for the future and shows our youth system is working.”

Although Fraser is rightly optimistic about the future of the club, he is also pleased with the current success of the first team in the Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division, despite their lack of experience. “Our league performance has been very good considering how young our squad is and we don’t pay players unlike a number of teams at our level. Within five years I would like to see the club in the Southern League. We almost got there in 2005, but at the time our ground didn’t reach the required standard.”

After being held back from promotion six years ago, the club were adamant to make the necessary improvements and Fraser cannot speak highly enough of the people who helped make it possible. “We have so many volunteers and everyone involved works so hard here. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them. We’ve spent money on the facility including floodlights, stands and dugouts and have enclosed the pitch with a fence all around the perimeter. We were recently awarded our community status with the FA which gives us a chance to develop our facility further.”

With Highworth Town Reserves having recently won their respective league, Fraser is hoping the first team can kick on from their current spot in the higher echelons of the Premier Division and occupy a place in the Southern League before long.

written by Will Lyon

Dunfermline Athletic - Back In The SPL

Please read below for my article on Dunfermline Athletic who recently won promotion back to the Scottish Premier League. It was published in the latest Football Focus magazine which can be viewed here for absolutely free! Included in the current issue are Leyton Orient, Crawley Town and many more football clubs.

Back In The SPL 

East End Park, the home of Dunfermline Athletic

In May 2007, Dunfermline Athletic found themselves relegated from the Scottish Premier League, but finally, four years on, they were on the brink of returning to the promised land.

With relegation to the First Division comes severe budget cuts and because of this, the Pars stuttered to a fifth place finish in their first season back in the second tier. Dunfermline sacked Irish manager Stephen Kenny and decided to invest their faith in their experienced striker Jim McIntyre who would initially take a player-manager role. Progress was initially quite slow, but over the years McIntyre removed the ageing core of the squad, bringing exciting players to the club, such as Willie Gibson, Joe Cardle and Steven Bell. The Pars began to form an exciting brand of football, with much of their creativity emerging from new signings, Cardle and Gibson.

Dunfermline trailed First Division champions Inverness Caledonian Thistle by fifteen points last season which placed McIntyre under immense pressure from the fans to deliver the goods for this year's campaign. Thankfully, they made a solid start to the term, but were unable to grind out the narrow victories that nearby rivals, Raith Rovers performed. Indeed after a 2-1 defeat to Raith in the New Year derby, some Pars fans were resigned to another season in the First Division.

However, influential winger, Willie Gibson, was snapped up for a six figure fee by Crawley Town and McIntyre was allowed to reinvest the money in the squad. Seasoned pros Kevin Rutkiewicz and Martin Hardie were brought in to add a bit of steel and experience to the squad, while Liam Buchanan, released from his Partick Thistle contract, added some much needed pace to the Pars attack.

McIntyre stressed the importance of being able to grind out victories and if necessary, ditching their attractive style of play. It was a vital decision by McIntyre, setting Dunfermline up for a nine game unbeaten streak before facing Raith again for a top of the table clash. After their impressive run of form, Dunfermline found themselves one point clear before the match and therefore would extend that gap to four points with just two games to play, if they managed to beat their Fife rivals.

On match day, Dunfermline dominated the first period, but after a goalkeeping error, found themselves a goal down at the break. However, the experienced Hardie drove his side on and scored two second half goals to place Dunfermline in the driving seat for promotion.

Director Of Football, Jim Leishman, was delighted with the victory and now sets his sights on preparing for a return to the SPL. “The league is in our hands and we have played very well throughout the season. Next seasons plans will very much depend on if we get promoted, but if we do, we will do everything we can to stay in the division.” However, if the SPL get their way and reduce the number of teams in the division to ten, there is likely to be three relegation places instead of the usual one, making survival extremely tough for the Pars.

written by Will Lyon

Binfield FC with Bob Bacon

Please read below for my interview with Binfield chairman Bob Bacon. It was published in the latest Football Focus magazine which can be viewed here for absolutely free! Included in the current issue are Leyton Orient, Dunfermline Athletic, Crawley Town and many more football clubs.

Binfield FC

Above: Hill Farm Lane, the home of Binfield Football Club

Bob Bacon, chairman of Binfield Football Club, is an ambitious man and it appears that his principals lie in the right areas. Bob is seeks a successful youth policy, improved coaching, modern facilities and a club who play football the right way – producing exciting football that the local community can be proud of.

All the above components are important to Binfield, but Bob believes success with youngsters is particularly vital, although he stresses that they must enjoy themselves too. “Binfield FC has 400 registered players below Under 18 level, of which 40% are from the local village. We run a Soccer School, which takes boys and girls from 3-and-a-half to 6 and typically has an attendance of 40-plus each Sunday. We invest in 10 coaches, all at least FA Level 1 qualified and first-aid trained but this is very much a fun culture.”

Indeed, it is the youth system which nurtures youngsters from the local community into becoming quality players for the future and as Bob explains, the Hellenic Football League, Premier Division side produces one or two players every year which attract scouts from bigger clubs. “We have Chelsea, Brentford and Queens Park Rangers regularly scout at the football club and some boys go and enjoy a couple of years of slick training on fantastic pitches, which really helps their game. I don't want to tempt fate, but we have two centre forwards this year who have scored more than 60 goals between them - it is fair to say they are getting increased attention from clubs. Clearly, we hope they stay with Binfield!”

Binfield possess some quality facilities and a fantastic playing surface at their ground, Hill Farm Lane, so it is little wonder that the club has a knack for producing exciting players. However, Bob explains that it is the hospitality that Binfield supply that wins them just as many plaudits. “Margate FC came to Hill Farm Lane in the summer for an FA Cup game; they were very complimentary on how we looked after them and our playing style. A jewel in the crown for us is the playing surface, which gets accolades. Most of our opposition love playing on it as it is flat and has grass on it! We invest heavily in it during the close season, and will continue to do so. In total, we have two full size pitches, one of which is fenced off for the senior teams and a further pitch for the 7 a-sides.”

If the Hill Farm Lane facilities are in use, then Binfield are sure to have their remaining coaches helping elsewhere in the local area and Bob is proud to label Binfield a community club. “We achieved FA Charter status 4 years ago, and then we were awarded FA Community status 2 years later. We work actively with the local Binfield primary school and 2 of our coaches run after-school soccer clubs for a nearby primary school. We are also looking at striking a relationship with a local senior club, where we will work with boys and girls and in turn, look to train our seniors on their 3G pitch and use their gym facilities during the winter months. We also, as a club, sponsor of the Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) charity, and recently funded screening for 30 teenagers to check on their cardiac health.”

Looking towards the future, Bob seeks further improvement in the youth side of the club. “I want to see the junior club standard increase, which doesn't mean thrashing everyone in sight, but playing a standard and a quality of football that people admire. I would like to see the coaches improve and share their skill with other age groups and for the Community Club ethos reach out to other schools and organisations. Ideally, I would like to see our under 18's Allied Counties team have 60% of their squad come up through the ranks of the club.”

Bob's ambitions do not stop there. He also wants the senior team to keep progressing. At the time of writing, the Binfield senior side are pushing towards the top of the Hellenic Premier Division and could find themselves in a higher league next season. Bob is delighted with their achievements so far this season and hopes they can push on. “At the senior end I want to see the first team get to the next step in the pyramid, playing the brand of football that they have played this year - quick, on the floor, passionate, lots of shooting. It would also be nice to see us get further in the FA Vase and the FA Cup than we got last year and to make Hill Farm Lane a fortress.”

written by Will Lyon