Weymouth F.C.: Difference between revisions

Weymouth
	File:Weymouth FC logo.png
Full name	Weymouth Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Terras
Founded	1891
Ground	The Wessex Stadium
Manager	Ian Hutchinson
League	Conference South
2008–09	Conference National, 23rd
	Home colours
	Home colours

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Revision as of 01:10, 12 November 2009

Weymouth F.C. also known as "The Terras", are an English football club based in the town of Weymouth, who play in the Conference South. The Terras spent many years in the top level of non-League football (initially the Southern League, then later in the Football Conference) before a period of decline. In recent years they were widely regarded^{[by whom?]} as among the biggest underachievers in non-League football, but defied this reputation in the 2005/06 season by winning the Conference South. The club is currently in financial difficulty, and were relegated from the Conference National on 21 April 2009.

Club background

The team is currently managed by Ian Hutchinson, after Matty Hale left the club in October 2009.

In the 2005/06 season, the club briefly reached national attention after holding former European Cup winners Nottingham Forest to a 1–1 draw in the FA Cup. Forest won the replay 2–0, in front of 6,500 fans at the Wessex Stadium and a live Sky TV audience.

The location of the club's Wessex Stadium on the south coast of England is such that they rarely have home matches frozen off even when other non-league grounds in south-west England are unplayable, though their home fixture against York City was frozen/snowed off twice in the unusually cold weather of early 2009. The club has a great rivalry with its more famous neighbours Yeovil Town, although it has been many years since the two clubs last met competitively, with the sides moving in different directions.

The Terras Saviour 100

This was formed on 1 September 2009 as one last attempt to bring in much needed funds before the 8 September deadline for administration.

“Terras Saviour 100” is open to businesses, organisations, individuals, groups of friends and families who would like to contribute to ensuring Weymouth FC continues. Becoming a “Terras Saviour 100” member gives you the following: - 2 x season tickets - Advertising board - Everyones a winner with 100 sponsorship prizes to be draw at a “We’re Saved” Celebration Evening, including: - Shirt Sponsor - Stadium Sponsor - Stand Sponsor - Back of Shirt Sponsor - Shorts Sponsor - 4 x Floodlight Sponsorship - Website Sponsor - Programme Sponsor - Player Sponsors - Away Coach Sponsor - Match Day Sponsor v. St Albans - Man Of The Match Sponsor v. St Albans - Match Ball Sponsor v. St Albans Most importantly, all those who become “Terras Saviour 100” members will be included in a specially designed plaque which will be placed in the stadium, to remain there as a reminder for generations to come of the people who came forward when it just about looked over.All those who aren’t lucky enough to win one of the prizes on offer will be presented with a signed football. The “Terras Saviour 100” plan is simple. We’re looking for 100 businesses, organizations, individuals, groups of friends and families to come forward with a £500 + VAT contribution to the club before September 8. To ensure that this scheme is successful, we are asking for cheques to be made payable to Weymouth FC Supporters Club. Only if we hit our 100 target will money then be transferred across to the club’s account. If it is not reached, we will offer every person who signed up the opportunity to have their money returned. We hope that this puts everyone’s mind at ease that if this scheme if successful will help ensure the long term future of the club, and if it is not successful we will ensure that nobody is left out of pocket from it.

The Target was reached on 11 September 2009 after the board had extended the deadline for an extra week.

History

Weymouth Football Club were founded in 1890 and played their first game on 24 September of that year. Nicknamed 'The Terras' almost immediately, due to their terracotta strip, the team won the Dorset Junior Cup for the first three seasons, becoming a senior club as the team rose in stature. Founder members of the Dorset League, Weymouth joined the Western League in 1907–08. The club embraced full-time professionalism in 1923 after winning the Western League, joining the Southern League in the process. By 1928–29, with debts mounting, the club withdrew from the Southern League to become amateur once again. They climbed back up the table and reached the Premier League and then folded for five years and reformed.

The Second World War saw an end to football in Weymouth as the Recreation Ground was requisitioned for the War effort in 1939. The club reformed in 1947 on a semi-professional basis, and soon achieved promotion back into the Southern League. In successive seasons 1964–65 and 1965–66, The Terras were Southern League champions, and they share with Telford United and Yeovil the distinction of playing all twenty seasons in the Premier Division prior to the re-organisation of the league structure at that time.

Weymouth have enjoyed considerable FA Cup success since first entering in 1893–94. They first reached the national stages in 1905–06 when they were thrashed 12–1 by Gainsborough Trinity. In 1949 they lost 4–0 at Old Trafford to Manchester United in the Third Round, then in 1962 they reached the Fourth Round where they lost 2–0 at Deepdale to Preston North End. In 2005, the team held former European Champions Nottingham Forest to a 1–1 draw at the City Ground, before losing 2–0 in the replay. In the 2006–07 FA Cup, Weymouth held Bury to a 2–2 draw at home, in front of BBC cameras in what would be the first ever match to be broadcast live on free to air television at Weymouth.

A move from the club's town centre ground to the new Wessex Stadium in 1987 brought initial success, but the club entered somewhat of a slump after relegation from the Conference, see-sawing between the Premier and Southern Divisions of the Southern League.^[1]

Journalist and author Ian Ridley took control of the club in 2003–04 and his appointment of former Millwall, Leicester and Birmingham striker Steve Claridge as manager brought a new optimism. Within a season they had turned the club around from relegation fodder to just missing out on promotion to the Conference. Gates also increased from around 500 to 1,200. The arrival on the board of Martyn Harrison and his decision to put the club in the hands of his company Hollybush Hotels as well as interference in playing matters prompted Ridley to leave in September 2004. Harrison sacked Claridge within a month.

Harrison was to appoint Steve Johnson - the brother of Gary Johnson - as manager in November 2004 prompting a huge-turnover in playing staff including the departure of star striker Lee Phillips on a free transfer to Exeter. When the team dropped down the league Johnson was sacked by Harrison in March 2005 with Garry Hill taking over. The club won automatic promotion to the Conference in May 2006 but at a heavy price with large loans from Harrison to meet soaring wage bills of around £20,000 a week and a full-time regime.

At the club's 2005 AGM, Harrison confirmed plans, pending local authority approval, to re-develop the Wessex Stadium, a scheme funded by selling the current ground to the Asda supermarket chain. This now looks very unlikely with local planners opposed to such a deal. Harrison is now looking at moving to another site and developing leisure facilities on the current land. Coincidentally, Asda's current base in Weymouth is on the site of the old Recreation Ground which Weymouth left to move to the Wessex Stadium in 1987, at a time when 32 years had gone by since a Football League club had built a new stadium.

In January 2007, Harrison announced that in order to guarantee the long-term financial future of the club, the entire first team had been transfer listed, and the management team of Hill and Kevin Hales had left the club by mutual consent. Days later, it was announced that Tindall had been appointed player-manager, with Roy O'Brien appointed player-coach, and the squad had been taken off the transfer list.

They finished 11th in the Conference National in 2006–07. On 20 June 2007, Mel Bush, Tindall's father-in-law, was confirmed as the club's new owner, although Harrison had personally cleared all of the club's debts. Tindall was sacked in January 2008 after 12 months in charge, in light of a 2007–08 season record of only three wins, leaving the club in 19th, five points off of the relegation zone.^[1] John Hollins was officially confirmed as the club's new manager a day later. He guided the club to an 18th place finish in the 2007–08 season.

In close season 2008 the club started a rebranding programme, with the club badge changing, and a club motto being introduced, "Forward Together". Then the announcement of local children's hospice Julia's House as the shirt sponsor for the year, following on from successful schemes such as Aston Villa and Barcelona with Acorns and Unicef respectively. The club also announced plans for a new stadium situated in the town which would not just be used for the club, but community purposes too.

On 21 October 2008, club owner Malcolm Curtis announced he was set to step down and look to sell the club. The following month Hollins was suspended and ultimately sacked for what the club described as an "unprofessional attitude" on his part, with assistant Alan Lewer stepping up to the manager's role.

At the start of 2009, it was announced that Weymouth were in financial difficulties. It is expected that Weymouth were £30,000,000 in debt and on 19 January 2009, Chief Executive Gary Calder announced that Malcolm Curtis had resigned as a Director and as Chairman of Weymouth Football Club Ltd.

On 21 February 2009, following irregularities with first-team medical insurance, Weymouth were forced to field their under-18 team against Rushden & Diamonds. The subsequent 9–0 scoreline is the heaviest league defeat in Weymouth's history.^[2]

The ousted former chairman, Ian Ridley, made a surprise return to the chair on 18 March 2009 following discord between past and present members of the board which was fuelled by more than ten successive defeats in the league. This was followed days later by the sacking of Alan Lewer. He was replaced by Bobby Gould, the former manager of Wales. ^[3] Despite his experience, Gould was unable to turn the situation around and the club were relegated, having gained only a single point since the first team walk-out in February.

On 20 May 2009 the club hired former Terras player, Matty Hale as their new manager. On 15 June, Andy Tillson left his post as assistant manager at the club after just 28 days to join Exeter City as assistant to Paul Tisdale. Then just 24 hours later on 16 June the club announced former Terras player, Ian Hutchinson as the new assistant to Hale. On 26 June Weymouth announced that they would be entering a reserve side in the Dorset Premier League for the 2009–10 season under the management team of Dave Kiteley and Andy Mason, and that the first team would enter the Dorset Senior Cup competition for the first time since the 2002–03 season.

Weymouth started their new season with a 1–1 draw at Lewes. But it was to be followed by a string of heavy defeats at home 5–0 and 6–2 against Eastleigh & Bishop's Stortford. It was not a great start but from then on a 1–1 draw at Maidenhead United was followed by their first win since 10 February 2009 with a 2–1 at home to Worcester City. It was, though, announced on Saturday 31 August that unless Weymouth could find £50,000 by Tuesday 8 September they would have to go into administration and possibly face extinction. On 1 September 2009 'The Terras Saviour 100' was launched in one last attempt to save the club from going to administration. And as the deadline neared, it was going well, so on deadline day the board decided to extended the deadline of getting 100 local businesses and this paid dividends, as on 11 September the club reached their target of 100 businesses needed to raise the 50,000 that would keep the club running.

On 10 October, after a 5–0 defeat against Maidenhead United and a string of bad results that left the club bottom of the Conference South manager Matty Hale handed in his resignation. A day later it was announced assistant manager Ian Hutchinson would take over on a caretaker basis. After a weekend of chaos at the club things got worse on the monday as it was announced The Chairman and chief executive, Ian Ridley & Dave Higson would be leaving the club because of ill health & work commitments.

On 26 October, after the 2–0 home defeat to Bath City, Paul Cocks current director at the club had announced this.

"Weymouth Football Club regrets to announce that Notice of Intention to Appoint Administrators was filed at The Courts of Justice, London earlier today. The Board is now working with the proposed firm of Administrators and the Terras Supporters Tust to try to find a way to enable the Football Club to remain in existence. The Club is now losing money on a week-to-week basis and without financial support from outside the Club it is unlikely the Administrators will be prepared to enable the Club to continue to trade in order to avoid increasing losses to creditors. Anyone interested in assisting the Club or acquiring the Club out of administration is encouraged to make contact with the agents acting: Benedict Mackenzie 62 Wilson Street London EC2A 2BU without delay. Every day is critical."

Current squad

As of 10 November 2009

First team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Ryan Harrison
—	GK	ENG	Austin Byfield
—	GK	ENG	Simon Evans
—	DF	RSA	Andy Harris
—	DF	ENG	Jordan Vincent
—	DF	ENG	Jamie Frampton
—	DF	ENG	Scott Brice
—	DF	WAL	Kyle Critchell (Captain)
—	DF	ENG	David Obaze
—	DF	ENG	Matty Bound
—	DF	ENG	Nathan Loader
—	DF	ENG	Martin Slocombe


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	ENG	Simon Radcliffe
—	MF	ENG	Scott Dixon
—	MF	ENG	Jordan Rose
—	MF	ENG	Dean Smith
—	MF	ENG	Ian Hutchinson
—	MF	ENG	Chris Allen
—	MF	ENG	Hector Mackie
—	MF	ENG	Matt Groves
—	MF	ENG	Jamie McGuinness (on loan from Rushden & Diamonds)
—	FW	ENG	Carl Foster
—	FW	ENG	Jake Reid
—	FW	WAL	Josh Llewellyn

Reserve team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Michael Neish
—	GK	ENG	Tom Brown
—	GK	ENG	Shaun Lillington
—	DF	ENG	Nathen Hughes
—	DF	ENG	Callum Ross-Jeninns
—	DF	ENG	Jamie Sargent
—	DF	ENG	Jamie Smith
—	DF	ENG	John Lamb
—	MF	ENG	Ollie Tribe
—	MF	ENG	Ben Reiffer


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Simon Critchell
—	MF	ENG	Jordan Metters
—	MF	ENG	Robin Nicholls
—	MF	ENG	Lee O’Conner
—	MF	ENG	Shola Dadson
—	MF	ENG	Sam Poole
—	MF	ENG	Tom Richardson
—	FW	ENG	Matt Morley
—	FW	ENG	Tyler Sibbick
—	FW	ENG	Ryan McKechnie

Club Officials

Manager: Ian Hutchinson
Assistant First Team Manager: Andy Mason
Reserve Manager: Dave Kitely
Chairman:
President: Bob Lucas
Directors: Ian Winsor, Paul Cocks, Shaun Hennessey, Connor Kinsella
Commercial Team: Andy Cooke
Financial Manager:
Company Secretary: Ian Winsor
Assistant Match Day Secretary: Bob Mowlem
Reserve Fixture Secretary: Bob Mowlem
Head of Football Development: Tim Davis
Football In The Community Officer: Tim Davis
Youth Development Officer: Tim Davis
Club Doctor: Mr Gankande F.R.C.S
Charted Physiotherapist: Roger Hoare
Kit manager: Pete Dennis
Club Shop: Nigel Beckett
Programme Editor: Hilary Billimore
Website Editor: Mark Probin
Groundsmen: William Ronald Grounds Maintenance

Managers

Tommy Morris (1907–1914 and 1919–1922)
Billy Walker (1924–1926)
Billy Kingdon (1947–1948)
Paddy Gallagher (July 1948 – 1950)
Jack Taylor (June 1950 – 1952)
Willie Fagan (July 1952 – 1955)
Arthur Coles (1955–1961)
Frank O'Farrell (June 1961 – May 1965)
Stan Charlton (July 1965 – May 1972)
Graham Williams (1972–1974)
Dietmar Bruck (1974 – Jan 1977)
Graham Carr (1977–1978)
Stuart Morgan (Nov 1978 – Nov 1983)
Brian Godfrey (1978–1987)
Stuart Morgan (1987 – Jan 1989)
Gerry Gow (1989 – April 1990)
Paul Compton (1990 – Dec 1990)
Len Drake (1991 – Oct 1992)
Len Ashurst (Dec 1992 – April 1993)
Bill Coldwell (April 1993 – Sept 1994)
Trevor Senior (Jan 1995 – April 1995)
Graham Carr (May 1995 – Sept 1995)
Matt McGowan (Sept 1995 – July 1997)
Neil Webb (July 1997 – Sept 1997)
John Crabbe (Sept 1997 – Dec 1997)
Fred Davies (Dec 1997 – Oct 1999)
Andy Mason (Oct 1999 – May 2002)
Geoff Butler (May 2002 – May 2003)
Steve Claridge (June 2003 – Oct 2004)
Steve Johnson (Nov 2004 – March 2005)
Garry Hill (March 2005 – Jan 2007)
Jason Tindall (Jan 2007 – Jan 2008)
John Hollins (Jan 2008 – Dec 2008)
Alan Lewer (Dec 2008 – April 2009)
Bobby Gould (April 2009 – April 2009)
Matty Hale (May 2009 – October 2009)
Ian Hutchinson (October 2009 -

Honours

Conference South: 1
- 2005/06 Champions
Southern League Premier Division
- 2003/04 Runners-Up
Southern League Southern Division: 1
- 1997/98
Southern League: 2
- 1964/65, 1965/66
Western League Division One: 3
- 1922/23, 1936/37, 1937/38
Western League Division Two: 1
- 1933/34
Dorset League Division One: 1
- 1921/22
Dorset League: 2
- 1897/98, 1913/14

References

^ "Weymouth dismiss manager Tindall". BBC Sport. January 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
^ "Weymouth 0–9 Rushden & D". BBC Sport. February 20, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
^ Report in Dorset Echo by Ky Capel, 19 March 2009. http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk