Thursday 31st December 1998 |
Croydon match report |
The report of last night's debacle is now on-line. The winners of the replay with Croydon will face a trip to either Chertsey or Molesey, who play on January 13th (possibly). |
Wednesday 30th December 1998 |
Kingstonian 2-2 Croydon |
We saw another under-strength team in the Surrey Senior Cup tonight, but that was still no excuse to fail to beat Croydon of the Ryman First Division, who were reduced to nine men with some 20 minutes remaining, and who then took a two-one lead. The goals were scored by Danny Smith and Dan Pritchard. We have been told that the replay will take place next Wednesday, January 6th 1999. |
Attendances at Kingsmeadow |
The statistics page now contains a list of all of the attendances at Kingsmeadow this season, and you can see how the average has gone down, down, then down again. |
Tuesday 29th December 1998 |
Dover match report |
Excuses of why K's lost by such a margin are now available in the match report. |
Monday 28th December 1998 |
Dover 5-1 Kingstonian |
With Steve Farrelly playing for almost an hour with an injury, the K's team allowed Dover to overrun them and score five times. Gary Patterson got the single K's goal (and a cracker it was too) but couldn't stop the rot in the second half. |
Result round-up |
In the rest of the Bank Holiday fixtures, Stevenage and Kettering drew 2-2 this evening, Woking lost two-nil to Rushden and Yeovil came from behind three times to beat Farnborough by six goals to three. |
Saturday 26th December 1998 |
Kingstonian 0-0 Woking |
The largest home league crowd of the season so far, 2694, saw no goals and not much entertainment today. The report is now ready. |
Kingstonian v Croydon arranged for this Wednesday |
The club have arranged to play Croydon in the second round of the Surrey Senior Cup this coming Wednesday - December 30th, kick-off 7.30pm. Unfortunately Steve Farrelly will be suspended for this game, but happily he will now be available for the new year fixture with Woking. Hee-hee. |
Thursday 24th December 1998 |
Patterson suspended for Boxing Day |
Gary Patterson is suspended for the Boxing Day game with Woking after collecting another booking against Yeovil recently. Steve Farrelly, after his sending off at Brisbane Road, will miss the New Year fixture at Kingfield, which is confirmed to take place on January 2nd, kick off 3pm. |
Gary Drewett steps up from the reserves |
According to yesterday's Surrey Comet Gary Drewett, an 18 year-old wing-back, has been offered a contract after impressing in the reserves. |
Independent Yeovil site moves address |
For those of you who have bookmarked the Yeovil site, please note that it can now be found at http://www.ytfc.com after Hoagy won the lottery. OK, we made that last bit up, but the rest is true !! |
Wednesday 23rd December 1998 |
Kingstonian 5-3 Cobham |
An amazing game last night in the Surrey Senior Cup saw an almost total reserve K's side defeat Cobham. There were goals from Scott Corbett, Dean Thomas and Gary Patterson. And a couple of others. Wayne Brown however, failed to score, as Russ Watkinson didn't square it to him when the opportunity arose... The full report is available now. K's will next take on Croydon at home in the County Cup. The date is yet to be confirmed. |
Stand tickets for Boxing Day's game with Woking are still available. |
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Tuesday 22nd December 1998 |
A preview of the Woking matches |
K's Web is very excited about the derby game on Boxing day. A preview is available, with views from both camps. |
Photos page updated |
We've finally gotten around to putting some photos on the aptly-named photos page which we were sent by Matt Goddard. They are from last season, 3 from Oxford City, and 2 from the Woking-beating-Surrey-Senior-Cup-Final-winning-match at Sutton. Many apologies to him for taking so long to put them up. |
Lee Boylan gets the pen pic treatment |
Lee Boylan's beautiful face can now be viewed in the Pen Pics section.
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Latest Conference odds |
This from Ralph Sheppard Leading bookmakers Ladbrokes have issued their latest prices with second side Cheltenham Town lining up alongside Rushden & Diamonds as joint favourites for the first time in the battle to win the coveted Third Division spot.
The leading prices for the Conference title are as follows: 7/4 Cheltenham Town, Rushden & Diamonds, 4/1 Stevenage Borough, 7/1Kettering Town, 25/1 Hednesford Town, Hereford United, Kingstonian 40/1,Woking, Yeovil Town 66/1 Bar. |
Sunday 20th December 1998 |
Leek Town 2-2 Kingstonian |
Despite goals from David Leworthy and Scott Corbett giving K's a two-nil lead at half-time, they failed to carry on to take three points as Leek produced a much better display to pull the scores back level. The report is ready now. |
Lee Boylan has joined the club |
Lee Boylan made a promising debut after joining the club as part of the same deal that took Gavin Holligan to West Ham. |
Wayne Brown gets whiplashed |
Wayne Brown missed yesterday's game after being involved in a car accident on Friday leaving him with whiplash. |
Kingstonian v Cobham kicks off at 7.30pm |
K's will take on Cobham at home on Tuesday night in the Surrey Senior Cup. Kick off is 7.30pm. |
Kingstonian v Woking kicks off at 12 noon |
The Woking home game is confirmed to take place on Boxing Day, kicking off at 12 noon. |
Friday 18th December 1998 |
An "Eire Under-21 international striker" signs |
Today's Comet reports that "Chapple has agreed a three month loan with the manager of a Premiership club which could bring an Eire Under-21 international striker to Kingsmeadow...before Saturday's game at Leek Town". |
150,000 shares have been issued by the club |
150,000 shares have been issued by the club to finance re-building work at the ground, if the shareholders agree. More details as soon as we get them. |
More reports from Leyton Orient |
There are now reports from The Telegraph and The Times on the Orient replay report. |
Stevenage have sacked manager Paul Fairclough |
From the Press Association: Stevenage have sacked manager Paul Fairclough even though they are currently in the top three of the Conference. Under Fairclough, Stevenage won the Conference title in the 1995-1996 season - they were not promoted to the League as their ground did not reach the required standard, and took Newcastle to a fourth round replay in last season's FA Cup. Fairclough said: "At the moment I feel as if I've had my heart torn out." |
Graham Allner leaves Kidderminster |
From the Kidderminster site: The Board wish to announce that Graham Allner has relinquished the post of General Manager at Kidderminster Harriers Football Club. He feels the time is right for a change of direction at Aggborough and has wished the club well in the future. The Directors would like to thank Graham Allner for his stewardship of the most successful period in the clubs history, and helping to create one of the biggest Football Clubs outside the National League. He leaves Aggborough with the clubs best wishes for his future. Assistant Manager Jimmy Conway has agreed to assume temporary responsibilities for team matters. |
Wednesday 16th December 1998 |
Leyton Orient 2-1 Kingstonian |
A 74th minute goal from Gavin Holligan, in what proved to be his last game for K's, wasn't enough to secure extra-time at Brisbane Road. For full details, see the report. |
New additions to the pen pics page |
Some new additions to the pen-pics page are Clive Howse, Ian MacDonald and Alex Willgrass. |
Matt Crossley's testimonial year at Wycombe |
Maria has informed us that... Season 1998/99 is Matt Crossley's testimonial year at Wycombe Wanderers FC. There's a number of events being organised such as a disco in the Woodlands Suite at Adams Park on Saturday 6th February and a race night at Basingstoke Cricket Club on Friday 21st May.
All the information can be found on the Chairboys on the Net homepage or by writing to Andrea Lewis, c/o WWFC, Adams Park, Hillbottom Road, Sands, High Wycombe, Bucks HP12 4HJ |
Tuesday 15th December 1998 |
Injury hit K's? |
According to Teletext, Mark Harris, Simon Stewart, Gavin Holligan and Gary Patterson are struggling to be fit for tonight's replay with Leyton Orient. The first two (Harris and Stewart) sound feasible as they have both missed parts of games recently, but the other two sound a bit like "tactics" to us. But then what do we know ?! |
Sunday 13th December 1998 |
Another report from K's v Yeovil |
Yeovil's version of yesterday's events is here. |
Saturday 12th December 1998 |
Kingstonian 0-0 Yeovil |
An uninspiring crowd visited Kingsmeadow to see an uninspiring game, which no team deserved to win. A match report is available. |
Result round-up |
Elsewhere, Points were also dropped by Cheltenham, Rushden and Stevenage, whilst Woking's good form continued against Kidderminster. Also, Leyton Orient lost 2-1 to Peterborough in the third division. |
Kingstonian v Woking - kick off 12 noon |
Advance notice: The Woking game at Kingsmeadow on Boxing Day will kick-off at 12:00 noon. |
Thursday 10th December 1998 |
K's stars star in FA XI draw |
An FA XI including Eddie Akuamoah, Matt Crossley, Gavin Holligan and Gary Patterson drew one-one with the Ryman League last night. A crowd of around 100 saw Eddie put the FA ahead before the Ryman League equalised from the spot after Crossley felled Sam Winston. Thanks to Robert Lippiat and The Doc for sending us this information. |
Wednesday 9th December 1998 |
Kingstonian 1st team (honest guv) 1-2 Hampton |
A K's team which included "first-teamers" Danny Smith, Wayne Brown, Scott Corbett and the newly-returned Russ Watkinson lost to Hampton in front of exactly 50 fans (yes, we counted) who got to enter the ground through the tunnel (how exciting ?!). Dean Thomas also played up front and scored the first goal of the night after good work from the number 6 (aka A.Trialist). But then mistakes by Smith and Brown (who possibly scored an own goal, though we're not too sure) gave Hampton the win. |
No tickets for Orient at the club |
Contrary to what we heard the other day, the club will not be receiving any tickets for next week's Leyton Orient replay. Tickets will be available on the night, priced 10 (8 concs) terrace, 11/12/13 seats. |
Tuesday 8th December 1998 |
Kingstonian v Hampton arranged for tonight |
Geoff Chapple has arranged a friendly with Hampton for tonight (Tuesday). The game will kick off at 7.30pm at Kingsmeadow and the club are expecting another 3,500 crowd so get there early. Thanks to Ollie Steel for letting us know. |
Tickets for Leyton Orient |
The club has ordered 100 stand and 100 terrace tickets for the Leyton Orient replay which will go on sale on Saturday. Thanks to The Doc for this one. |
Kidderminster lost 2-1 in a Trophy replay last night to Lincoln United |
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Monday 7th December 1998 |
Leyton Orient match report |
Our report of yesterday's match is now available, along with links to countless others. |
Dean Thomas is now on the pen pics page |
Youngster Dean Thomas is the latest player to be added to the pen-pics page. |
Sunday 6th December 1998 |
Kingstonian 0-0 Leyton Orient |
Despite being on top for most of the game, K's couldn't find a goal to beat Orient. Matt Crossley came closest hitting the post with 5 minutes left. This means that there will now be a replay at Brisbane Road on Tuesday December 15th - ticket details as soon as we get them. Directions to the ground can be found on the away travel page. |
FA Cup third round draw |
The 3rd round draw means that, if successful, K's will travel to Southport on January 2nd with a good chance of reaching the fourth round. |
Result round-up |
The rest of the weekend's action occurred on Saturday with Kettering going top in the Conference by beating Hayes while Cheltenham could only draw with Dover. In the cup, Southport and Yeovil eased into round three with victories over Mansfield and Northampton respectively. Doncaster and Rushden must try again after drawing nil-nil. |
Four K's in the FA XI |
Just a reminder that an FA XI including Eddie Akuamoah, Matt Crossley, Gavin Holligan and Gary Patterson take on the Ryman League at Harrow Borough on Wednesday evening. If anybody makes it, we'd love to know how the K's players get on so please let us know either by emailing us or posting on the forum. |
Kingstonian v Cobham - match postponed |
The Surrey Senior Cup game with Cobham, which was scheduled for the 15th, has now been postponed. |
Friday 4th December 1998 |
Leyton Orient tickets |
We've been told that tickets still remain for Sunday's game with Leyton Orient and can be collected from the club. Match programmes are supposed to arrive at Kingsmeadow today (Friday), priced 2 and in full colour. Ooh. |
Gavin Holligan in 4-4-2 magazine |
In 442 magazine this month there is an article on the best 20 strikers outside the Premiership and none other then Gavin Holligan came 19th. There is a small article on him as well. Thanks to Jon Allen for pointing this out. |
Times: OUT OF THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE FIRE |
The following appeared in yesterday's Times OUT OF THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE FIRE When Matt Crossley calls, he rarely receives a warm welcome. He has been chased down the road, had ferocious dogs let loose on him and been subjected to torrents of foul-mouthed abuse. Women are the worst, apparently, as he discovered to his cost on a visit to a house in Uxbridge, Middlesex.
Regulation attempts to gain entry had proved fruitless, but when Crossley tried unorthodox means, he got more than he bargained for. "I was trying to get in through an open window when someone grabbed me around the neck," he said. "The next thing I knew, I'd been hit over the head with a frying pan. I got out pretty quickly and I ended up arguing with her through the door." Crossley, 30, is the captain of Kingstonian, the Conference side who take on Leyton Orient, from the Nationwide League third division, in the FA Cup second round at Kingsmeadow on Sunday. He is also a bailiff, extracting monies owed from those who have failed to settle their debts and dealing mainly with unpaid business rates and council tax.
"I spend most of my days knocking on the doors of restaurants, shops or whatever," he said. "I always try to sort out some sort of arrangement, but sometimes you have to threaten to take away goods. It doesn't usually come to that, though. "I once got chased by a big Greek bloke who wasn't too happy and he started clambering all over my car. As I pulled away, I knocked him over. I've had a few dogs go for me as well. People tend to leave their rottweilers and dobermans off the lead when they know I'm coming round." When Crossley, a central defender, played part-time for Wycombe Wanderers, Steve Guppy, his team-mate, partnered him on to the mean streets of London. "Steve was the driver and 'heavy'," Crossley said. "He also had to climb through a few windows, but all he really wanted to do was play cards in the cafe." Guppy still plays cards, mostly on the Leicester City team coach, while Crossley's career at Adams Park ended after a slipped disc forced him into premature retirement. "I had an operation, but it meant I could train only once or twice a week," he said. "My back can still get a bit sore, especially the morning after games, but I've missed only three matches in 18 months at Kingstonian and that was because of a thigh strain. It's not really a problem now." Crossley joined Wycombe at 19, when they played at Loakes Park in the Vauxhall Conference. He had played cricket for Hampshire from under-16 to under-18 level, yet preferred the larger ball. "I was a middle-order batsman and bowled a bit of off break, too, but I wasn't that good," he said.
His duties as a bailiff were placed on hold when Wycombe were promoted to the Football League and turned professional. He has played at Wembley three times - twice in an FA Trophy final, against Kidderminster Harriers and Runcorn, and against Preston North End in a third-division play-off final - and collected a winner's medal on each occasion. He has also worked with two of the country's brightest managers, Martin O'Neill, who is now with Leicester, and John Gregory, now with Aston Villa. "Martin is a bit of a madman but very witty and very funny," Crossley said. "It's only a matter of time before he goes on to bigger and better things. John is also a good coach, a tremendous motivator, and he should go far as well." Kingstonian have beaten league opposition only once, when they defeated Brighton four years ago, and they play a Leyton Orient side who are unbeaten in 11 matches. It is likely to be typically tough, grinding FA Cup fare, yet nothing compared to when Crossley faced the utensil- wielding Mrs Angry of Uxbridge. "She paid up in the end," he said. "Well, a bit of it, anyway. |
Thursday 3rd December 1998 |
Telegraph: HOLLIGAN HOPING FOR PARTING SHOTS |
From yesterday's Daily Telegraph: HOLLIGAN HOPING FOR PARTING SHOTS by Pete Lansley WHEN THE Kingstonian players persuaded team-mate Gavin Holligan, a talented keyboardist, to take to the hotel piano at Southport recently, the EastEnders theme was the first tune they got him to play. Yet the 18-year-old striker, who has already signed for West Ham United, may delay his own full-time start with the Premiership club if he scores the goals that knock their neighbours Leyton Orient out of the FA Cup this Sunday.
Holligan, who completed a two-year BTec in music last summer, has risen from Walton and Hersham's juniors to a six-figure move to West Ham in four whirlwind months as Geoff Chapple's Ryman League champions have moved into the top six of the Football Conference and a glamorous televised second-round home tie with the Third Division's form side.
As Holligan comes to terms with having shared a dressing room with his hero Ian Wright, he will postpone his entry into the big time by helping his current club extend their hour of glory. He moves as soon as Kingstonian are out of the Cup. "My mentality for this game is to score some goals," he said. "If I can do that, I've done my job. If that means we win, so be it: we might get Manchester United away in the third round. That will be no problem for me."
Holligan admitted he suffered stage fright during his four-day training stint with West Ham. "They were a really friendly bunch," he said. "But when Ian Wright came into the room, I just thought 'Oh my gosh' and I couldn't take my eyes off him. I couldn't believe I was in the same room as him. As the week went on I felt more comfortable."
His sojourn at Chadwell Heath preceded Kingstonian's first-round victory over Burton Albion when, Chapple recalls, the teenager walked into the dressing-room and said, "I'm so tired it's unbelievable." Only two Premiership clubs were not represented that afternoon as Holligan, drained by the full-time training and the hype over his proposed move, still managed to score the winner, one of 11 goals he has scored from 10 starts this season.
Yet the player was last summer rejected by Stevenage and offered to Woking, who declined.
There is an on-the-spot 1 fine for mentioning Woking in the Kingstonian dressing-room after all that Chapple achieved in his 13 years of managing at Kingfield, which included rousing FA Cup clashes with West Brom, Everton and Coventry. But for all those heroics, 'Surrey's other club' failed to offer him any security 18 months ago. Kingstonian pounced. "I thought I'd be there for ever," said Chapple, now 53. "I started thinking, with a little girl, that my family deserved a bit of security. But Kingstonian came in with a tremendous four-year contract."
Recruiting the right seasoned professionals, such as captain Matt Crossley, three times a Wembley winner with Wycombe Wanderers, and defensive partner Mark Harris, 351 League appearances, has been as significant as the unleashing of raw talent such as Holligan's. Revenue from the Cup run, in addition to anything up to an eventual 500,000 from Holligan's transfer, will allow Kingstonian to start upgrading their smart Kingsmeadow ground for a tilt at Football League status. But this weekend is about more than money .
If Kingstonian need an example of how to claim only their second League scalp, then their chief executive Chris Kelly could teach Holligan a trick or two. For it is 23 years since Kelly became the Leatherhead Lip and scored the goals that took another non-League side into the annals of FA Cup folklore. |
Wednesday 2nd December 1998 |
Barrow Chairman quits the club |
According to Rich (the Barrow webmaster), their Chairman Stephen Vaughan has quit the club and put the club and ground up for sale. For the latest, see the Barrow chat page. |
Tuesday 1st December 1998 |
Merry Christmas |
We couldn't wait any longer - December's here, and so we've put the decorations up. Hope you like them all, especially the main page - the lights cost hundreds !! Merry Christmas. |