Saturday 9th September

There has never been a more exciting time to be part of the Women’s and Girls' set up at Hethersett Athletic Football Club. The club’s name is highly respected within Norfolk and indeed other counties, especially after the Women’s tremendous pre-season achievements, defeating teams such as Crystal Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal. 

It is a warm feeling that a small village football club can boast of such honours. I am so very proud to be part of it all. I can remember 9 years ago when the very first girls football team started. We still have one original player left in the squad today and that is, my daughter Sarah. Over the years Sarah has grown up and is now engaged to a great guy called Daniel who is in the RAF. Sarah is now looking to move to Lincolnshire but hopes to play some matches during this season.

The girls' set-up is continuing to grow. A new U11s team has entered the league this year and plans are underway to introduce an U15 team next year. This steady growth is possible as we are using the services of young students at Easton College. The students are keen to help out as many of them are working towards their level 1 courses and need the experience. Two prime examples of past students becoming involved with the club are, of course, Tom Parke (Toasty) and Joe Cooper. Toasty and myself work together for the Women’s team and Joe now coaches and manages the U11s.

Have you ever been paintballing? Great fun! The girls went to Skirmish a couple of weeks ago and had a brilliant day. We split into 2 teams attackers v defenders. I believe a report will be going in the next newsletter. If anyone wants any details about paintballing please ask. Or if any of you men’s teams out there fancy a challenge, I’ll warn you now, we take no prisoners!!! Beware of Hazel Shepherd and Amy Brooks! They would do well in the army! Logan's just a pussy cat and spent each game guarding the base along with me. I wasn’t scared, honestly!

Sunday 8th October

Hethersett Athletic v Mulbarton Report: (8th Oct 2006)

Hethersett Women's team are now flying high at the top of the Eastern Region League with 5 wins out of 5. The most recent match saw them beat Mulbarton 9-1 with 2 goals a piece from Hazel Brewster, Emily Coates and Amy Brooks and a well deserved goal from Hazel Shepherd. Lisa Ferdani almost missed the match today as she had acquired tickets for the All Celebrity Match up in Newcastle. Lisa gave up her tickets to play today and opened the scoring with what could well be the goal of the season!

Hethersett seem to be going from strength to strength in their strive towards promotion to the Premier League. Defence were unlucky not to keep a clean sheet for the third game in a row. Midfield worked tirelessly with exceptional work from Hannah Dugdale who just keeps on improving week after week. Nicola Stolworthy ran rings round her opponents on the right wing and was complimented on the left of the field by Hazel Brewster. Hazel moved to Hethersett this season from Loddon and has given great depth to the squad. Hazel's workload is second to none. The half-time score was 5-0. Amy Brooks came on as a substitute as the second half started and straight away showed what she was made of. Amy is our youngest player but is oozing with talent and certainly was eager to perform and showed it by scoring 2 cracking goals. Emily Coates is another young player and is gaining confidence with each game that she plays. 

The whole team deserves to be applauded as they are a showcase for women's football In Norfolk. Next Sunday sees the team travel to Cornard for the first round of the County Cup. A very big thank-you to all our players and supporters for a great start to the season. Good luck to all the girls for next Sunday,

Sue/Toasty

Sunday 15th October

Hethersett Athletic's newest team, U11 girls, travelled away to Dereham Town for their first ever match. The team are one of six teams to have entered the Norfolk Women's & Girls League and league matches will begin in November. Today's match was a friendly against another new team so competition was fairly even. The girls are managed by Joe Cooper and currently have a squad of 12 players. Training takes place at Easton College on Monday nights, 7-8pm.

It was a glorious sunny morning when a convoy of cars, filled with anxious but excited players and even more anxious and excited parents, arrived at Swanton Morley Village Hall. Over in the distance a lone figure was pushing a line marker around the heavily dewed grass, preparing a pitch in readiness for both teams first ever football match. All players jumped out of their cars and made their way to the changing rooms. 

Earlier this week a kit was kindly donated to the club by West Norwich Girls. The girl's have a kit on order but were gratefully receptive of this. It was quite large though and even when the girls tucked the shirts in, the shirts then re-appeared out of the bottom of the shorts. Still, this was irrelevant and the girls proudly came out of the changing rooms, sleeves rolled up, so they could see their hands, and ready to go.

It was agreed before the game to play 4 quarters instead of 2 halves. This was to help the players of both teams to get familiar with the rules. Tim Sadler kindly refereed the match. Tim is just 15 years of age and is this week celebrating his first anniversary of passing his Official Referee Course. Tim is a fine example to others and has recently been involved with the girls' coaching as well. Hethersett Football Club is very grateful for his help.

Both teams took up their positions on the pitch and the team captains were asked to call heads or tails and decide which end they wanted to play first. Dereham got the choice and decided that they would remain in their positions, which meant Hethersett had brilliant sunshine directly in their eyes, but this did not phase them at all. The whistle blew and the match commenced. Hethersett pressed well from the start and kept play in Dereham's half for the majority of play. After only 6 minutes Emma scored the very first goal for Hethersett Athletic U11s.

Throughout the match Hethersett performed some very good moves and played some very attractive football. Dereham also performed well and made Hethersett work hard in defence at certain periods of the game. It was very pleasing to watch such young players play the beautiful game of football for all the right reasons. To have fun and enjoy it was the order of the day and this was achieved not only for the players but for everyone on the touchline.

Both teams worked hard and it was Hethersett that sealed the victory in the last few minutes of the game with a second goal scored by Teagan. Final score Hethersett 2, Dereham Town 0.

Monday October 16th 2006

It's Monday morning, again. Weeks fly by so fast, but what a terrific weekend was had by the women's and girls football teams. On Saturday morning I travelled, alongside the new U11 girls squad, to Swanton Morley to witness their very first match. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. It has been a long while since I have watched a very young Hethersett girls side, as it was ten years ago now that the present adult team were at that age! The girl's played some lovely football and won 2-0. Full credit to Joe Cooper, manager. Joe is doing a great job with the girls. His style of management is a credit to Hethersett Athletic.

On Saturday afternoon I caught up on some boring household chores but also prepared for a journey to Cornard, near Sudbury, the following morning. The women's team were off to play in the first round of the County Cup. Little was known about Cornard except they play in the Essex County league, have won 2 and lost 2 of their league matches so far this season. 

On arrival we were straight away impressed with their home pitch. Even today, in 2006, women's football does not often get the opportunity to be played at quality grounds, until you reach a higher level. These are often reserved for men's football only! So hats off to Cornard United for treating their women's and men's teams as equals. 

In the absence of Toasty, who was in Cambridge, doing his final assessment for his level 2, I was a little nervous as I knew this game was important. It would be a fantastic achievement if the team could win the treble, this season. But I needn't have worried as the girl's shook off the journey and played with their great style of football that we are now getting used to seeing at every match.

Nicola Stolworthy opened the scoring after just 1 minute. I could now relax a little. The next 10 minutes saw both teams settling into the match but Cornard didn't know what was in store for the remainder. Cornard were quite good at positional play but seemed to lack the fitness and talent that our Hethersett girl's have bundles of. This difference alone, enabled Hethersett to go on and win 14 - 0. Three hat-tricks were won by Hazel Brewster, Hazel Shepherd and Amy Brooks. Amy is our youngest player at 15. Amy did not come on until the second half but scored her 3 goals within the space of 20 minutes. Amazing. Other goals were scored by Hannah Dugdale (1), Jodie Rettie (1), and Emily Coates (2).

Cornard were very complimentary after the game and wished us well with the rest of the competition. The weekend was finished off with more good news as Toasty had passed his level 2 with flying colours. I always knew he would! Congratulations to him.

Tuesday October 24th

Memories of last Sunday's defeat are slightly fading. What a bad game we had! To have had such a good run and then to lose to a team that is currently mid table, was hard to take. We should have accumulated an extra three points to extend our lead at the top of the table but instead were left clinging on to that position, by the skin of our teeth, as other results, thankfully, went our way. 

The girls were not at their best, to say the least. Maybe they will have learnt that partying should be a Friday night activity and not a Saturday! That is, if they want to take promotion seriously. Still you're only young once! To be fair, luck just didn't go our way, either, on the day. Brentwood, on the other hand, had oodles of it. I am a strong believer in fate and that things happen for a reason. I believe we needed to lose that match in order to give ourselves a wake up call. We were in danger of becoming too complacent. The proof behind my theory will be proven this Sunday against Barchester at home, 2pm K.O.. Support would be greatly appreciated.

Have just heard that the Mens 'A' team have accepted our challenge at paintballing. Lads, are you sure you know what you are doing? Have you ever met Hazel Shepherd and Amy Brooks? They are both crazy with a paintball gun in their possession! Don't say I didn't warn you. We look forward to setting a date!! 

From myself and Toasty, and indeed all the girls, we would like to send our love and best wishes to Scott and Lewis Allen. Hope they have a speedy recovery.

Well, it's training night tonight. I'm sure Toasty won't be working them too hard after Sundays result! As if!! 

Good luck to all teams this weekend.

Monday 30th October

Another busy but enjoyable weekend. Saturday saw the U11 girls have a second friendly with Dereham Wanderers. Dereham had strengthened their squad since our last meeting and gave a much more competitive game. Watched by an amazing crowd of 48 spectators, ( I wish I had taken a raffle prize), both teams performed well. The first half saw Hethersett go 2 goals up. Both scored by Teagan. In the second half Dereham came out the stronger side and equalised with two fine goals themselves. Final score 2 - 2. A big thank-you to David Bunn for refereeing.

Woke up really early Sunday morning. The clocks may have changed but my body clock hadn't! Nothing for it but to get up and get organised for Hethersett's meeting, with Barchester United, at Easton College. Barchester are a new team in our division and are quite local to Norwich so not much travelling was involved by our opposition. Having suffered our first defeat last Sunday we were more than ready to make amends. So the complete squad were asked to be at Easton at noon for a 2pm K.O.

As the girls started to arrive they were drawn over to the far pitch to watch the end of the Men's 1st team match. Soon after the final whistle the girls were asked to all meet in one of the classrooms for a pre-match talk. ' Magical words' were said which inspired the girls to go out and perform well. Perform well, they did. An impeccable performance saw them beat Barchester 6 - 0. Two goals a-piece came from Amy Brooks, Emily Coates and Hazel Brewster. Player of the match, chosen by Barchester, was Jodie Allard. This win cemented our lead at the top of the table to 3 clear points.

The girls really deserved their victory as they always work so hard at training and their commitment is second to none. The big difference between Hethersett and other teams in our division, is fitness. Any team that can warm up for an hour prior to a match and then perform like they did for 90 minutes deserve full credit. I was worn out watching them!! Well done!

May have some really good news to tell you after tonight!!! Will keep you posted.

Happy Halloween tomorrow. We have training so I am sure there will be some surprises!

Monday November 6th

Today I am able to tell you the good news I promised. The women's team have now successfully completed the transfer of the top goal scorer in the Eastern Region League. Nicola Bray from Kings Lynn F.C. Nicola is 27 and works in the media. Nicola will compliment the rest of our squad and will be making her debut this Sunday at Easton College, against Brantham. It is a comforting feeling that top quality players are now choosing to play for Hethersett Athletic. It is a reward for all our hard work and effort. A warm welcome to Nicola and best wishes for a happy and successful period with Hethersett Athletic.

A good weekend was had again from the women's and the U11 girls. The young ones played their first league game. They drew 0 - 0 with Dereham. I was not able to attend that particular match but heard it was very exciting. Dereham have strengthened their squad so it was a good achievement not to concede any goals. Well done U11's.

Sunday saw the women travel to Stevenage for a League Cup match. We met early at Easton only to be confronted with hundreds of people running some sort of race! This held us up slightly as we were unable to depart from the college due to a steady stream of participants travelling across the front of our mini-bus! Having sat patiently for what seemed like ages, we took the chance and put our foot down to career across the junction! I don't think we actually ran anybody over. We never looked back, just in case. 

We arrived at Stevenage nice and early, not having stopped off for burgers and KFC, this time! We learnt from our mistake away to Brentwood a couple of weeks back. The girls then had plenty of time to eat their packed lunches and breathe fresh air into their lungs, before their warm-up. Careful planning certainly paid off as the girls gave a superb performance against a very fit, physical side. To beat Stevenage away, you can rest assured you played very well! Final score Stevenage 1, Hethersett 3. Goals scored by Amy Brooks (2), Emily Coates (1).

It was starting to get dark as we prepared to make the return journey home. So tired and hungry there was nothing for it but to stop off at a McDonalds! As we pulled into the car park we realised we had pulled up alongside Norwich City, who had had an away game to Langford. Small world! So fed and watered we piled back onto the mini-bus. We must have been a sight as we travelled back down the A11. The whole bus was lit up with laser sticks of all different colours! Oh well, it was fireworks night and we deserved to arrive back in style! Well done girls. 

This Sunday's match is at Easton College, 2.00pm K.O.

Sunday 26th November.

Apologies for not writing much lately. Easton College are due for an OFSTED inspection this week and the past few weeks have been manic! I have had paper-work up to my ears, as you can well imagine. I absolutely despise paperwork and always put it off till the last minute which is a bad thing. Nevertheless I have done all that is expected of me, I hope, and am now ready to tackle the inspectors, next week. Wish me luck!

The ladies team received an early Christmas present when they secured 3 points from an away fixture at King's Lynn, today. We have now conquered the double over our old rivals winning both games 4-0 both home and away. King's Lynn have always been our bogey team and I believe I am right in saying that this is the first time we have ever beaten King's Lynn, at their home ground, in our club's history. This victory keeps us 3 points clear at the top of the division and we are still in the League Cup and quarter finals of the County Cup. We are "flying high" at the moment and deservedly so. The girls all put in a tremendous amount of effort at training. We train for 2 hours on a Tuesday night and some girls are, again, training for another 2 hours on a Thursday night in a special gym session at Easton College. Some of our players are accumulating a 180 round trip, a week, in order to sustain this effort, so I would like to say a very big thank-you to all concerned, players and parents, alike. This commitment is indeed an honour to Hethersett Athletic Football Club. In the world of football we are certainly a club to be recognised. I feel very proud to be part of such an admirable organisation.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Chris Bolderstone for all his help at training. Chris has been coming along to some sessions to give 1-1 goalkeeping coaching. His efforts have been very much appreciated. Chris is a great goalkeeper and we are very grateful for his support to the women's team.

Next Sunday (3rd Dec) we are at home to Bedford & District, 1.30pm k.o at Easton, in the next round of the league cup. It would be great if we had the support of the club behind us. It should be a cracking game as we are both top of our leagues, East and West, and both very young teams, 16 - 19 year olds. It would be great to see you there!

Monday 4th December

At last the pressure is off. The final whistle has been blown at Easton College and we came away with a victory. I am, of course, referring to the 'Ofsted Inspection'. It has been a very pressured week with, no less, than 10 inspectors performing their duties. The 'stress-ometer' has been at boiling point. I was very lucky and wasn't inspected in any of my lessons but was informed by a third party that Ofsted were very positive towards the enrichment programme that I conduct. In another way I was slightly disappointed that they didn't appear in my lessons as I had worked so hard getting my paperwork completed (boasting again)!! The college got a very pleasing result and the department I work in, glowed. I am very proud to work at Easton College. My only regret is that I wish I had done it earlier in my career instead of working for Tesco's (sorry Ray)!!

Having mentioned 'Ray' I would like to announce that we will be celebrating our silver wedding anniversary this month. It is pretty scary to think that time has passed so quickly. How he has put up with me for so long I'll never know. Good job he likes football too! Consequently we would like to give our apologies for our absence at this weekend's social evening. We have a family meal booked to celebrate our anniversary. I know that a lot of people have put in a lot of hard work towards the social evening and I hope the event will be well supported.

Back to football - This Sunday saw us welcome Bedford & District, to Easton, in the next round of the League Cup. Bedford are currently top of the West division and Hethersett top of the East. So it was always going to be a challenge. Sitting at a league meeting a couple of weeks ago, in Cambridge, my ears heard a comment from a group of "Westies" who, as the draw was made for the next round, laughed and said, "Hethersett won't win that one"!! I wonder if they have ever tasted 'humble pie'.

It was a terrific game. The weather conditions were awful which meant the girls had to work extra hard for their 3-0 victory. At the end of the ninety minutes they were exhausted. I truly admired them for their stamina and persistence. Nicola Bray scored her first goal in a Hethersett shirt, two minutes into the game. Two more goals were scored in the first half from Emily Coates. The second half was more demanding because of the strong wind, but Hethersett held firm and denied Bedford even a slight sniff of a goal. Special mention to our defence, in particular, Laura Hodgson, who had a spectacular game, and to Jodie Allard who despite having no contact lenses, (long story)!, gave a great performance. It was extremely pleasing to have the support of some of the Men's 1st team, who stayed to watch after their morning victory over Aylsham. I asked James Rice if he had watched many women's matches. Chris Bolderstone politely answered for him - "No, because he's afraid to see them play better than him" A small scuffle followed!! Both really great lads - thanks again for your support.

Next match is this Sunday, at home, 2pm k.o, to Brentwood. Brentwood are the only team to have beaten us this season so we are looking to even the score.

Monday December 11th 

Yesterday saw the women's team give a warm welcome to Brentwood Town. Brentwood have been the only team to take points off us this season, back in October, with a 4 -3 victory.  I know you shouldn't give excuses for losing, back then, but here they are anyway!! The weather conditions were extremely bad, torrential rain throughout the whole 90 minutes, tiredness from the 2 hour journey, and, "Oh Yeah" we did stop off for a light lunch at the service station!! Now, what was it the girls eat?  I seem to recall it was super-sized burgers or/and  Kentucky Fried Chicken!!

This time we were going to be better prepared: At 9.45am the girls all turned up at Park Farm to spend the morning relaxing in the swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi.  They were even allowed to use the sun-beds if they desired. Spoilt or what!!  Meanwhile Toasty was in Park Farm's hair salon having his hair cut!  Now that's what I call "match preparation".  It certainly done the trick as we gave Brentwood a show-case performance and beat them 7 - 1. Five goals from Nicola Bray and two from Emily Coates. This result saw us go 5 points clear at the top of our division for Christmas. The little U11 girls are also top of their respective league for Christmas.  They are having a terrific time in what is their first season.

Well, have got to go now as I am due to pick up the dog from the grooming parlour.  I should have sent him along with Toasty, yesterday!!  

Tuesday December 18th

Welcome to my last blog before Christmas.  It is quite a hectic week for me as I have, as usual, left everything to the last moment!  Still, I think I have delegated quite well. Ray has been given his list of job's Ha, Ha!! These include jobs such as making sure all the leaves have been raked up in the front garden, cleaning Tom's bedroom carpet, assembling Tom's flat-packed T.V. unit and so on! I got a funny look when I handed him his 'Christmas List' ( I think he is a bit worried about the DIY part)!!  The kids too will be given a list. With any luck I may get away quite lightly, "where's that t.v. guide"?

Proud, is too small a word, to sum up my feelings at the moment.  Both the men and women's team are flying high and are sitting pretty at the top of their leagues, for Christmas. The U11 girls, in their first season, are doing the same. It is not only the results that matter but the way in which we conduct ourselves as a club. I know the men had a bad experience, with a certain team, a couple of weeks ago and we have, ourselves, recently experienced a 'match horrabilus'. As a Community Charter Standard Club, we can hold our heads up high and know that we have the respect of all the people 'that love football' and indeed ourselves.  Hethersett Athletic is an admired club within our region and deservedly so. These honourable standards must be kept as the future looks very promising, across the board.  

Last Sunday saw us beat local team Barchester 8 - 1.  The girls have scored 15 goals in their last two matches and only conceded 2. One of these was an own goal and the other a penalty. We have  four matches left to play, this season and support in our two remaining home matches would be more than welcome. I will publicise these dates, nearer the time.  The girls are also still in the League Cup and quarter finals of the County Cup. It would be wonderful to win all three trophies.. Toasty suggested an open top bus! Ray said he would oblige!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all involved with Hethersett Athletic Football Club and indeed all our sponsors, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Monday 8th January

"Happy New Year".  I expect most of us have now returned to work, school, college etc. and that Christmas just seems to be a distant memory. I had two weeks off college but that time just seemed to fly by.  We had a lovely Christmas but it was quite nice to get back to work and back into a routine.  It was especially nice to get back to football! 

The girls started off the new year with a trip to Lakenheath.  We had not played this team before but we were quite curious as they have had quite a mixed bag of results.  Although they are low in the division they had beaten three of the top flight teams.  So we knew we had to treat the fixture with respect and to not be too complacent. We played the fixture at a tiny village called Eriswell, just beside the American air-base. It was quite a small pitch and had a fair number of flattened mole-hills, and holes but nevertheless was playable. I believe only three matches out of a possible 15 got played in the Eastern Region League. As, indeed, our own Senior first team's  cup match was postponed at Easton. So we were very grateful for the opportunity to get a match played.

It is always a manager's worry that after a break, such as Christmas, that the team's performance will not suffer.  Last Tuesday, Toasty put the girls through a very stringent workout, just to make sure this didn't happen!   Although the girls must have hated it, at the time, ( Logan, please don't eat roast lamb and vegetables just before training)!!!  it most certainly paid dividends.  We are one of the fittest teams in our league, by far. This has been one of the differences that is guiding our success. 

The match was played in good spirit and resulted in a 12 - 0 win for Hethersett.  Lakenheath played well throughout and as newcomers to the Eastern Region League should not be discouraged by a result such as this as they performed very well and worked together as a team throughout the 90 minutes. After the match they were very complimentary towards us and said we were one of the best teams that they had played. Goals came from Amy Brooks (2), Jemma Smythe (2) both headers, Nicola Bray (4), Emily Coates (1) and 3 own goals. Once again the team kept a clean sheet.  I do believe we have one of the best defences in the league with Laura Hodgson, Logan Shepherd, Jodie Allard and Lisa Ferdani giving stern performances at every game. Well done to all the players yesterday.  

Spirits are high in the camp at the moment.  With only three league matches left, two victories will secure us promotion to the Premier.  I sincerely hope that good fortune will shine on us, as no one has worked as hard as these girls have.  They thoroughly deserve all the success that comes their way.  I have been involved with girls football for over ten years now and have never felt such vibes like those that radiate out from this set of girls. We have not got the biggest squad but the loyalty and commitment shown by all players to each other and to managers, coaches alike is vibrant.  The parents aren't bad either!! Ha Ha!!

This Wednesday will see us welcome back Nicola Stolworthy. Nic has been in Australia for the past 5 weeks.  Before she went out she asked Toasty for a daily training programme.  He obliged but Nicola returned it stating it wasn't hard enough. So a second copy was produced, about ten pages long, which included running up and down beach sand dunes, even on Christmas day! Commitment or what!!!

Good luck to the men's team this coming Sunday when, hopefully, they will be able to get their cup match played. 

Monday 15th January

Yesterday saw the girls without a fixture and with the County Cup quarter final, approaching this Sunday, we thought a spot of training wouldn't go amiss!!  Four hours should do it!!

True to form, the whole squad turned up and were raring to go.  All girls assembled in the sports bar and were briefed about the planned training schedule. I think Toasty had been researching into some proffessional training techniques used in America and was itching to try them out on our players. So full of anticipation the girls made their way outside.

The session started with some fun warm up exercises which had the girls covered in mud. (Parent's letters of complaint to be addressed to Tom Parke)!! The next exercise was very gruelling.  Beside the All Weather Pitch there is a nice muddy/grass hill.  I always knew this was there and only ever saw it as a nuisance, especially when we had to use it to gain entrance to the All Weather pitch. But Toasty saw it in a different light.  A perfect place to do some up-hill and down-hill training.  So with two poles placed at the bottom and two poles placed at the top the girls were put into pairs. Then the hard work began.  I can safely say that after that exercise there was no evidence that any xmas pudding had ever been eaten over the holidays!! I left the girls and made a journey home to fetch my camera.  When I returned I expected them to be resting but instead they were running round a full sized football pitch!  Like the nice person I am, I thought the girls would love me to take a few snapshots of them, as they were running, for the album. Didn't know they knew language like that!!!!

Three hours down the line the girls returned back inside for a short break and then finished the afternoon off with a 7 -a - side match and a session in the gym.  I really don't know how they did it but they have to be admired for their determination, commitment and spirit.  I finished the day off with a game of pool, against Robin Stolworthy, who narrowly beat me!  I will offer him a return match when we meet at Easton, this Sunday.  This is when the girls have their County Cup quarter final against Ipswich Town Youths. 1.30 K.O.  We hope to give our opponents a good game.  We will be without Nicola Bray who is, unfortunately, cup tied but have the return of Nicola Stolworthy who has been in Oz for the past five weeks.  Four of our girls will also be representing their County, this Thursday (18th), at Dereham Park, when they meet Essex. They are Nicola Bray, Nicola Stolworthy, Jodie Allard and Jemma Smythe. Kick off is at 7.45. We wish them luck.

It would be great to have as much support as possible on Sunday.  We will make everyone welcome. Come along and see if our four hours of training has paid off!!

Commiserations to our Men's 1st team who bowed out of the County Cup yesterday.  I witnessed about an hour of the match and was very proud of our boy's performance. It was a very physical game which could have gone either way.  "Heads up lads" you still have two trophies left to win.  We'll be there to support you if we are able to.  The support yesterday was brilliant. There must have been 60+ people there.  I wish I had taken my raffle book!

Monday 22^nd January

What a week of bad weather. The beginning of the week saw horrendous weather conditions and with the quarter finals of the County Cup looming I was praying every night for an improvement.

As early as Tuesday, the college were already hinting that weekend games may not go ahead. Wednesday and Thursday bought even more bad weather. On Thursday I wondered if there would even be a college left as severe gales hit the country.  But with everything there is a funny side.  I will never forget the walk me and Toasty made from the college Whitehouse to the Sports Centre, on Thursday.

 It was lunch time and we had just had a meeting with Jenny Ainsworth trying to fill her with positive thoughts about the weather improving and that the pitch would be playable. She didn’t look too convinced!  We then decided to go for a spot of lunch before we returned to teaching in the afternoon. As we made our way across the college, without any coats, the storm hit its peak and exposed us to gusts of 90 miles an hour plus driving sheets of rain. The noise of the wind was horrendous. 

How our feet remained on the ground I do not know.  I now know how Dorothy must have felt in the opening scenes of the Wizard of Oz!! Although it was very scary at the time it was also very challenging.  We finally reached the Sports Centre and saw everybody watching us from the inside.  They must have been “havin a rite ole laugh”!! I went straight to class looking very glamorous!

I had every faith that conditions would improve and over the next two days they did just that.

Sunday saw us host Ipswich Town Youth in the quarter final of the Norfolk and Suffolk County Cup.  Before the match we had some photos taken with the U11 girls' team who had arrived to have a promotional photo for their successful sponsorship deal with Crompton Lamps.

The girls stayed to give their support, for which we were extremely appreciative.  Also present at the match was Stuart Dracup, Chairman of N.C.F.A., Darren Moss N.C.F.A., Peter Steward, a good proportion of the Men’s 1^st team and many parents.  It was probably the most support we have ever had.  A big thank-you to everyone.

The game kicked off at 1.30pm. It was a very testing first half as the girls were playing against very strong wind. After 10 minutes Hazel Brewster opened the scoring for Hethersett.  The lead was cancelled out just 10 minutes later with an unfortunate own goal.  This gave Ipswich added confidence and Hethersett had to be extra vigilant to stop Ipswich going into the lead.  The half-time score finished at 1-1.

The second half saw Hethersett take the lead, again in the tenth minute of play, with a fine goal from Amy Brooks.  Amy had an exceptionally good game.  At 15 she is our youngest player and has masses of talent.  I have not seen a player with a better first touch, in women’s football, than Amy.

Hethersett reached their peak in the last twenty minutes of play and added another two goals, a second from Amy Brooks and one from Niclola Stolworthy. Final score Hethersett 4, Ipswich 1. Semi-finals here we come!  Well done girls!!

Thank-you to everyone who supported our raffle. £82 was raised on the day.  Best wishes go out to our goalkeeper, Chelsea Salmon, who is ill, in hospital at the moment.  We wish her a speedy recovery. 

This Sunday we have a home fixture to Lakenheath, 2pm k.o.  That’s if it doesn’t “SNOW”

Monday 29^th January: 

How fast the weeks go!  How fast the footy seasons go!!  The girls played hosts to Lakenheath, yesterday.  It was, in fact, Lakenheath’s final league match.  We only have two more remaining, ourselves.

I have had quite a good week.  On Wednesday I hosted my very own football tournament, at Easton College.  It was another outlet of the “Easton Challenge Cup”, for students with mixed learning difficulties.  Easton provided two teams and a visiting team, from nearby Deer Park House, made up the third.  Each team played each other twice which lead to a fun packed morning of football. The tournament was played in good spirit and was a joy to watch. I enjoyed organising this event and have been inspired to host, hopefully, many more in the future.  I would also like to see Hethersett Athletic F.C. moving towards providing football for youngsters with disabilities.  There is a great need out there and I feel, as a club of our stature, we should make this programme available.  Hopefully we can discuss this at our next meeting.

Yesterday’s match saw the girl’s clock up another three points, in their title chase, when they beat Lakenheath 6 – 0. Nicola Bray scored 3 of the goals, Nicola Stolworthy 2 and Emily Coates 1.  A big thank-you goes to Jodie Rettie, who I thought had stuck fast to the goalpost at one point.  Jodie had very little to do and must have been absolutely freezing in the biting wind, that is nearly always present up at Easton!  Jodie has been filling in for Chelsea, who is now out of hospital and recovering. Thanks also to our supporters who faced the elements.  After the match both teams made their way to the new changing rooms, which are a delight.  So much so that the visiting team didn’t want to leave to go home!  They made full use of the lovely hot showers and were very complimentary of all our facilities.

Well done girls.  Our remaining league fixtures are both against Chelmsford City. We only need to win one of them to secure the League title and gain promotion to the Premier.  It is very important to remain focused but even more important to relish and enjoy the moment. We have “oodles” of talent amongst our squad and I am certain we have no need to worry about performance.  Just stay “relaxed” and let me and Toasty do all the necessaries!! 

Congratulations to Hazel Shepherd who got Player of the Match. Also well done to Jemma Smythe, Nicola Bray, Logan Shepherd, Nicola Stolworthy and Jodie Allard who all represented Norfolk during the week. 

No match this Sunday (4^th Feb).      

Monday 5th February:

No game was played by the women's team, yesterday.  However,  good fortune fell upon us.  Barchester travelled to Chelmsford and secured an amazing 4 - 1 win.  This means that the League title is just about ours.  The only way it can go wrong is if Chelmsford win all 5 of their remaining games, 2 of which are against us, and score 41 goals and concede 0.  All will be settled at our home match on February 18th. 

It was decided that we would have a FUN day yesterday. The girls met up at Easton for a quiz in the morning, followed by a trip to Quazer, for some laser shooting, and ended the day at the Pizza Hut. It was nice for the girls to have a relaxing day as they have been training so hard the past few weeks in anticipation of all the challenging matches ahead.  I attended in the early part of the day but, unfortunately, I had injured my back, playing hockey, (should know better at my age)! so reclined the offer to shoot some lasers.

During the morning I wandered over to watch some of the Senior 1st Team's match.  I just about found them in the fog! Thank goodness for orange shirts. After a while my back told me to go retreat back into the warm and it wasn't until after the match, whilst sitting with some of the lads, that I learnt my own son, Andrew, had been playing! Just tells you how foggy it was! Well done boys on your 2 - 0 victory.

I will keep the blog short, this week, as I anticipate the next few weeks to be full of news.  This Sunday will see us kick off at 1.30pm, up at Easton College.  We will be playing Chelmsford City in the next round of the League Cup. Once again, it will be great to have your support.

Monday 12^th February 

What a dismal weekend, weather wise. Snow in the week and then heavy rain caused disruption to many games across the county. I have very mixed views when it comes to snow.  The “big kid” inside of me always wishes for shed loads of the white stuff! The “football fanatic” inside of me thinks a lot more sensibly! 

My love of snowy days was satisfied last Thursday when I took a group of ‘Skills for Working Life’ students on a train journey from Wymondham to Norwich. A very small journey but the idea was for the students to be able to learn the skills needed to take a local journey, using public transport. Now, if I’m honest, I am the last person you would ask if you needed to gain information from a train timetable, or indeed directions.  I wasn’t even quite sure if we were on the right platform. We could quite easily have ended up in Cambridge, never to be seen again!! Good job the students were able to help me!  It was a very enjoyable experience.  Wymondham Railway Station is quaintly historic and also has a lovely restaurant with a welcoming log fire.  The journey was very memorable as the snow made the scenery so much more pleasant. Even Carrow Road football ground had a little sparkle to it!! 

So, having satisfied myself with a snowy adventure in the week I was then praying for good weather, for Sunday, when we were due to host Chelmsford City, in the next round of the League Cup. This was to be our first encounter with them and would give us a good indication of what standard was to be expected in the next two games when we play them both home and away as league fixtures.  As you probably know, we only need to take one point in either of those matches to secure the League Title.

It was very touch and go in the morning as the rain just wouldn’t give up. The forecast was for sun at mid-day so we were very persistent with Andy, who was managing the sports centre that day.  It was thanks to Andy, Ray and Toasty that the game went ahead.  All three of them worked hard, out in the rain, to make sure the pitch was playable.

The match was played very professionally by both teams with Hethersett securing a 6 -1 victory.  The first half was hard going as the strong wind was against us but we went in at half time 2-1 ahead, thanks to goals from Hazel Brewster and Nicola Bray. The score may have been greater as Hethersett hit the crossbar twice.

The second half saw Hethersett at its best. A second goal from Nicola Bray opened the scoring again followed by, a goal a-piece, from Jemma Smythe, Jodie Allard and a first club goal from defender Logan Shepherd, which flew into the top of the net from a beautiful header.

A big thank-you must go to Amy Brooks who helped us out in goal whilst goalkeeper, Chelsea Salmon, was recovering from a stay in hospital. A very big thank-you to all the squad who have presented themselves impeccably throughout the entire season.  We are currently in the semi-finals of the Norfolk and Suffolk County Cup, quarter finals of the League Cup and are within touching distance of lifting the League Winners Trophy and gaining promotion to the Premier. Congratulations have already been flooding in on our success.  I have had numerous phone calls from managers, including Wymondham and King's Lynn Football Club. A quote from one local club manager - “Hethersett Athletic are the future in women’s football”  I really think we are! 

Next match – Sunday 18^th February. Hethersett v Chelmsford. League title decider. 2pm k.o. Please come and support. You will be made very welcome. 

Monday 19^th February

C*O*N*G*R*A*T*U*L*A*T*I*O*N*S 

Hethersett Athletic Ladies are Eastern Region, Division One East, League Champions. With still one more game remaining they have- Played 13, Won 12, Lost 1, Scored 72 goals, Conceded only 9. Brilliant! The girls deserve all their success and are now looking forward to the Premier League. A great credit to our Club and indeed to Norfolk .

A huge thank-you to all our supporters yesterday.  A number of the Men’s 1^st team, who had played a match at Easton in the morning, stayed on to support the girls along with chairman Peter Steward. Most of girls' team had arrived early in the day to support the men.  I think this interaction is highly commendable.  I do not know of any other club where this happens.  It is to be applauded as it shows a togetherness which is an indication that Hethersett Athletic is a club which is run professionally and for all the right reasons, from its grass roots football right through to adults.

We, once again, hosted Chelmsford City .  With only one point needed to secure the league title the girl’s were more than ready. We have been very fortunate this season with very few serious injuries and were able field a full squad. The final result was Hethersett 7, Chelmsford 0.

I am not going to write a match report, as such, as I guess that we will have media coverage following our achievement, (Peter was there with his notebook)!!  However, I must comment on the work-rate of all our young players.  We have a phenomenal defence, supported by a fit, enthusiastic midfield.  Both are complimented with three of the top ten goalscorers in the league. It has now been proven to be a recipe for success.

After the match the girls were treated to a surprise buffet and champagne celebration. Thank you to all the parents that helped decorate the bar with orange and black helium balloons.  It looked great even though the balloons didn’t stay up long as a different use was found for the helium!!

A mention must go to our opponents, Chelmsford City .  They have been the best team we have played, in our league,  this season as far as sportsmanship goes.  It is never nice to be watch another team celebrate their success under your nose. I have been there plenty of times before! But full credit to Chelmsford they joined in the celebrations and acted professionally throughout. I really do hope that they will be able to pull off second place and fight for promotion and join us in the premiership.

Once again, congratulations.  Don’t forget we are still in with a chance of the treble.  We meet Cambridge City on the 11^th March in the quarter finals of the league cup and Norwich City Racers on the 18^th March for the semi-final of the Norfolk and Suffolk County Cup. Not a bad season!!

Monday 26th February

Not an awful lot of news to talk about, this week.  A waterlogged pitch disrupted our visit to Chelmsford, as I believe many other matches too. We now have the awful situation where there are big gaps leading up to our important cup matches.  It is paramount that we keep match fit but without any opponents it is going to be very difficult.  The League has stated that they will produce a small competition, amongst the teams in our division, once everyone has fulfilled all their fixtures, but Chelmsford for example still have four games left.  We are going to have to think of a plan quickly to stop ‘the rot setting in’. 

It has been a terrific week as far as media coverage goes. There have been photos and reports in all the local newspapers of the girls gaining their League Championship title. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking our club chairman, Peter Steward, for giving up his time to make this possible. It is very important that the club continues to produce news articles as bringing any items of news to the general public can only be beneficial.   

The girls' success has started the dreaded approach letters arriving from higher clubs.  Last week saw an attempt being made for our top goal-scorer, Nicola Bray. It is with great relief that I can report Nicola is very happy with Hethersett Athletic F.C. and is going nowhere.  This shows great appreciation for the way we run our team and indeed for the top class coaching that is delivered by Toasty.  Our coaching sessions are second to none and we are very lucky that we have such a knowledgeable, passionate, enthusiastic if not somewhat ‘crazy’, person such as Toasty.  All the girls have been committed to the team throughout the season, and for this we are truly grateful.   

Well, tomorrow night we are all off to celebrate winning the league.  There will be 25 of us descending on Fatso’s restaurant. Happy Days!!

Monday 12th March

Monday 12^th March 

Yesterday saw the girls welcome Cambridge City.  It was the quarter final of the League Cup.  Cambridge City are currently top of the Premiership and look likely to gain promotion to the South East Combination League.  So it was never going to be easy.

Hethersett had now gone two Sundays without a match as a waterlogged pitch put an end to us travelling to Chelmsford for the second week in concession. But the girls had been training hard and were ready to take on Cambridge.

The team arrived at Easton at 11 o’clock.  Toasty had a great morning planned which included some highly motivational content.  The amount of work that is put in behind the scenes would never be believed.  The girls are very fortunate to have such a strong team behind them. Hours and hours of work are put in seven days a week by people with a wide spectrum of talents. For example, yesterday, special match day programmes were made available for the occasion.  Information had to be written for content as well as information sought from the opposition. The hard work of seeking out a sponsor had to be carried out. The actual putting together and printing of 100 coloured programmes had to be performed. All of this is possible through people’s hard work, off the pitch.  I would like to say a special thank-you to Kelvin Sadler who was the ‘main man’ that made the programmes possible. Kelvin gives up an enormous amount of his time for the club and is also extremely generous with his support.

The match turned out to be one of the most dramatic games of the season.  The result after 90 minutes was Hethersett 1, Cambridge 1.  Extra time then had to be played which saw attempts at both ends but, alas, no goals. We then had the dreaded penalty shoot-out! Hethersett had performed remarkably well throughout the match but unfortunately did not make enough of their chances.  We should have won the match as we were the better team. The same comment was made by the Cambridge City coach.  But, if there is one lesson we have learnt from that cup tie, which we hope to take into next week's cup game with Norwich City, is that if you don’t make the most of goal scoring opportunities then it can cost you dearly. Hethersett sadly lost out 6 -5 on penalties. An absolutely horrible way to go out of a competition!

I would like to comment on Hethersett’s defence, yesterday. They were phenomenal!  Logan Shepherd, in particular, gave an outstanding performance. Laura Hodgson also showed true bravery and commitment throughout the 120 minutes. A special mention to Jodie Allard who had to make a trip to the Norfolk and Norwich and now has her arm in plaster after suffering a fractured wrist. Get well soon, Jodie!! We will miss you!!!

I would like to get this message across to any of the girls that take the time to read my blog. I am a great believer in things happening for a reason.  Maybe we had to go through the pain of losing by a penalty shoot-out, yesterday, to make us better.  Every player should be extremely proud of themselves as we gave a top drawer performance.  If we had said at the beginning of the season – “You will win the league and gain promotion to the Premiership.  You will reach the quarter finals of the League Cup and semi-finals of the County Cup” – you would have accepted that with delight.  We have come so far, so quickly, over the last 6 months.  It’s been amazing! We should be really encouraged by yesterday’s performance against top of the Premiership.  We gave an excellent account of ourselves and have shown that there is nothing to fear next season. We must now learn from our mistakes and pick ourselves up, like true professionals, and get ready to give an even better performance this Sunday when we meet Norwich City. I know we can do as well, if not better!

Kick off is at 2.00pm at Easton College.  Please come and support. You will be made very welcome.

Monday 19^th March: 

I am famous for quoting, “things always happen for a reason”, but this time it is difficult to understand what that can be!!

We were all set to play Norwich City in the semi-final of the two counties cup only for the referee to call the match off due to freak conditions.  Our girls had been at Easton most of the morning and Norwich City arrived about an hour before kick-off.  But it wasn’t to be. 

The wind was extremely strong though. If the match had  been played the result would have been completely farcical.  So there was nothing for it but to devour all the sandwiches, which were meant for after the game, and make our way home to watch football on the TV.

However, the other semi-final did take place, at Wroxham, between Norwich City Canaries and Ipswich Town with Ipswich ending up 4-1 winners. So they have booked themselves in the final.  Maybe, it is a psychological boost to us that we know who we would meet in the final if we get past the semis – who knows?  The match will now be played this coming Sunday (25^th), weather permitting!

Monday 25^th March 

Yesterday saw Hethersett give a brave performance against Norwich City Ladies, in the Norfolk & Suffolk County Cup semi-final. There was not much to choose between the two teams but a single goal, from a set piece, separated the difference. Norwich City are two leagues above Hethersett but yesterday’s performance, from the girls, disguised this fact.  It is highly encouraging to know that Hethersett can perform so well against much higher opposition.  It gives added confidence in readiness for next season when the girl’s compete with Premiership opponents.

Once again our defence was excellent.  Laura Hodgson, Jemma Smythe, Logan Shepherd and Lisa Ferdani gave top drawer performances.  Their work-rate is second to none and has been consistent throughout the season. Our thanks should also go to Jodie Allard who is out for a couple of months having sustained a broken wrist against Cambridge City, two weeks ago.

Our season is almost at an end. Our last, scheduled, league match is away to Chelmsford City on Easter Sunday. We have had a very successful season and have achieved everything we set out to do.  Our aims were to win the league and gain promotion to the Premiership and to get to the quarter finals of the league cup and semi-finals of the County Cup. We have done just that!  Absolutely Brilliant!!!!

Monday 16^th April

Apologies for not writing a blog for a while.  But I had a touch of EoSS  “end of season syndrome”! I also believe that all of our players went down with the same virus when we travelled to Chelmsford for the last game of the season and sadly lost 3-0. However, normal service was resumed yesterday when Hethersett played Barchester, in the first of the round robin games, put on by the league to extend our season. A hat trick from Nicola Bray, a brace from Amy Brooks and goals from Hazel Shepherd, Nicola Stolworthy and an absolute screamer from Emily Coates secured us an 8-0 victory. Eight goals were definitely what the doctor recommended to cure any remains of EoSS!!

Putting our little ‘blip’ aside, the girls have had an amazing season and myself and Toasty are extremely proud of their achievements.  We must, however, realise that there is no such thing as the end of a season. As soon as the last match is played that is when the beginning of the new season starts!! We have a lot of hard work to do in preparation for the premiership and full credit to Toasty who, I know, has already put in endless hours of work, behind the scenes, to prepare the team for 2007/08.

A big thank you to all our supporters who have religiously followed our performances throughout the season.  We had somewhat of a sick-bay yesterday where all the sick and wounded gathered to watch the match.  We had Jodie Allard, who has now had her cast removed, after fracturing her wrist 5 weeks ago, Laura Hodgson who broke her left shoulder playing Rugby at Loughborough.  Laura had to have an operation to push her shoulder back down into position and have it pinned! All the team wish her a full and speedy recovery. Jemma Smythe, with her funny foot!! Alongside Jodie, Laura and Jemma stood Chris Bolderstone, our GK coach, with his smashed up elbow. Talk about the walking wounded!!! Oh Yea, and Barney the dog who was suffering a little bit because of the heatwave!!!