Dear Supporter In the month when Hampshire’s highest placed club, Portsmouth FC, went into
administration with debts of almost £70m the realities of the football business at the
top level were very evident. As a fan I can appreciate the impact Sky TV and The Premier League has had on the game but the vast amounts of money in football today has changed the game to one where the business motive appears to have surpassed the sporting one. In our part of the country we have seen clubs cripple themselves as they chase success without closely managing their finances – from Crystal Palace, Southampton, and Bournemouth to non-league teams like Weymouth, and Salisbury, it’s a similar story. Even at our level it happens as February saw league leaders Folkestone Invicta go into administration owing the taxman almost £170,000, and incurred a 10 points penalty too. At Fleet Town we have always attempted to manage within our means but we do rely on our crowds and generous sponsors to keep things going. This season has been difficult as the impact of the credit crunch combined with early national cup competition exits and the snow/rain causing many of our Saturday matches to be postponed, was felt. However Blues fans can make a real difference and that’s why we set up our Footy Flutter to help develop football at Fleet Town for years to come. It doesn’t matter if you are a Blues fan that lives in Fleet or Timbuktu, your FF £10 per month really does help so if you can, don’t leave it to others, just e-mail/call the club for an application form today. Anyway, back to the football, and last month’s great sequence of victories was also
recognised by the Ryman league who named manager Andy Sinton as the divisions Manager of the Month for January. It’s the second time Andy has won this award this season and let’s hope he gets it again with just two months of the season remaining!
We played six games in February, before the rain came and three more were lost to
waterlogged pitches, each match averaging just under four goals! We continued to make history in the Isthmian League Cup as we beat Horsham YMCA 3-0 to set up a quarterfinal tie with Leatherhead at Calthorpe Park. The other matches were five Ryman league games where we won against Ashford Town and Eastbourne Town, drew 1-1 with Ramsgate and lost twice, to Burgess Hill Town and Horsham YMCA, their 3-2 victory ending our seven match winning streak, ironically only four days after our cup win. Our playing record read of W15 D4 L9 and 49 points has us in 4th place. The division is now led by Croydon Athletic on 54 points followed by Folkestone and Worthing (52 & 51 points respectively) whilst Walton & Hersham and Godalming Town are immediately behind us with Burgess Hill and Sittingbourne ‘bubbling under’ should any of the top teams falter. Our March programme sees us playing four of the five promotion contenders, two are at home and we also travel to Folkestone and Walton & Hersham.
Weather permitting our home matches are as follows: - Tuesday 2nd vs Whitstable Town, Ryman League
- Thursday 4th vs Leatherhead, Isthmian League Cup Q-F
- Tuesday 9th vs Aldershot Town, Hampshire Senior Cup S-F
- Saturday 13th vs Croydon Athletic, Ryman League
- Tuesday 30th vs Godalming Town, Ryman League
For local fans our Hampshire Cup semi-final against League Two neighbours Aldershot Town is something to look forward, especially as a final at AFC Bournemouth waits.
FTFC Youth are back in 2nd place in their division (Southern Youth League, West Division) with a playing record of W6 D1 L1 and are chasing Camberley Town for top spot. During the month we announced plans to run an academy team from next season in conjunction with Soccer Coaching Limited. SCL run the educational side of the academy with the playing side being run by FTFC’s Trevor Norris in his role as Academy Manager. Trials for places are to be held on 6th March for boys aged 16-19. FTFC Ladies had games against fellow title chasers Lindford and Twynham Rangers in the month. Both ended in draws and so the team still tops the table, undefeated in 9 games. Our u12 girls are running away with their division having scored 80 goals and won all 12 league games played so far. In the Colts club our u15’s top their division with 5 wins and a draw from their 6 games in the SPL and the u10 Gladiators are 2nd in their division too. In the NEHYL the Colts u16 team are in 2nd place having won 8 out of 9 games. Finally, plans are being made for the Tottenham Hotspur legends team to come and play Fleet Town in April, more details in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, let’s see you at Calthorpe Park, cheering the boys on to promotion and more cup triumphs. Come on you Blues! Mike Gardner
Commercial Manager | 
