[FM14] He Must Be Quackers...

[HeyyImRyan]

Here I go, taking on what is to be my first ever FMCU thread. I must warn you now - I'm not the best at FM though I have been playing since the CM03/04 days. I have achieved great successes at some clubs over the years, and have also had my fair share of sackings. I can't really say if I'll be at Aylesbury long or whether this will be a journeyman save, that'll depend on whether or not I'm sacked.

I've picked Aylesbury as they are my local side, and the side my Dad and I used to go and watch during the time that my sister and I were born and prevented him keeping his MUFC season ticket. (1973-93 and 2013-Present, good show!)

It was tragic seeing them relegated from the Ithsmian League when just a top half finish would have got them to the Conference South, and more tragic yet again when they were kicked out of Buckingham Road and sent to Chesham to play their home games. The supporters of the club have ran a 'Bring The Ducks Home' campaign ever since, but still have not been successful.

I am playing with the FMEnhance EEE leagues down to Regional Div 1. One thing to note however is that the Bucks & Berks Senior Cup history is actually wrong on this database - it is Aylesbury United that finished runners up in 2005, 2003 and 1996, and Aylesbury United beat Reading in 1997 and 2000 to win it too. The database has biggest rivals Aylesbury FC as the winners/runners up for these seasons which is wrong.

Also probably worth noting that you should not expect too many updates over the next fortnight when I have uni exams/revision - but it'll get itself back up and running full throttle when they end.

Aylesbury United Football Club

Club Background:

Aylesbury United, known as the Ducks, were formed in 1897 after the merge of Night School FC, the Printing Works and Aylesbury Town. From that day onwards they have worn their traditional green and white kit, and the club turned semi-professional in 1976 when they joined the Southern League. They currently play football in the Calor Southern League Division One Central, but have had a glorious non-league history in the past. From 1985 to 1993 - Aylesbury qualified for at least the First Round Proper of the FA Cup every season, and in 1987 won promotion to the Football Conference (where they were relegated the following season). In the 1994-95 season they went on their longest FA Cup run, making the Third Round Proper before seeing defeat against Queens Park Rangers, a Premier League side at the time. They are also the only ever non-league side to have played the England national team, which they did so as a warm up for the Euro 88 Championships. A record crowd of over 6,000 attended the game (even watching from nearby trees!) as England ran out 7-0 winners.

They now play in Leighton Buzzard at Bell Close, also home of Non-League side Leighton Town. This has been one of two temporary homes for the Ducks since they were evicted from their former home Buckingham Road in 2006. In 2009, the Aylesbury United Supporters Trust acquired the club, and in 2012-13 they gained promotion to the Calor Southern League Division One Central, after finishing second in the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division.

Facilities

They currently play their home games at Leighton Town's Bell Close, a 2800 capacity stadium in nearby town Leighton Buzzard, with a seated capacity of 155. Rent for the privilege is priced at £8,000 per annum. The stadium is in good condition itself, with a good pitch too - but as you'd expect from a non-league side, corporate facilities are incredibly basic. Aylesbury United also have poor training facilities and basic youth facilities - accompanied by basic junior coaching and youth recruitment. Yikes.

Finances

Not too bad, but not great. Currently sat at (£5,075) but projected to be at (£97,000) by the end of the season. Yikes again.

Career Objectives

• 'Bring The Ducks Home' - A new stadium in Aylesbury.
  
• Take Aylesbury to the Football League.
  
• Equal or exceed Aylesbury's longest FA Cup run (3rd Round)
  
• Win the FA Cup with any side
  
• At some point win the Chinese Super League
  
• At some point win a European Cup
  
• I plan to retire aged 71. Just as fellow British great Sir Alex did. Hopefully I will have achieved all my goals in 41 years!
  

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern League Division One Central 2013/14

Pre Season

Expectations:

Calor Southern Division One Central: Respectable League Position (Media Prediction: 9th)

FA Cup: First Qualifying Round

FA Trophy: First Qualifying Round

Red Insure Southern League Cup: Second Round

Bucks & Berks County Cup: Be Competitive

Season Budgets:

Transfers £0

Wages £731 per week

Current Wages £721 per week

Transfers

Leigh Harrington - Former youth product at Watford. Brought in as primary left back (injured pre season as you can see).

Connor Marsden - Brought in as his first club following his youth days. Looks to be a solid back up right back.

Lloyd Cotton - Brought in because we lacked any defensive midfielders and I like to play with two of them. Probably temporary.

Josh O'Grady - Signed on a free from Bedworth. Produced by Port Vale's youth academy. Hopefully will finally find a few appearances with us.

Jon Patrick - Has some Skrill North experience with Stafford, hoping experience at that level will help us this season.

Gareth Jones - Very excited about this guy. Original nationality is English, but capped at U19 for Wales during pre-season. Hopefully he will develop into a great starter!

Squad:

Results:

Went from good to bad to worse - ending pre-season with defeat at the hands of our U18 side. The lack of a consistent scorer has frustrated me most as we head into the opening game of the season against a Rugby side expected to be challenging for the title this year. Tactics familiarity is still quite low despite trying to give the squad a lot of match practice.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Division One Central 2013/14

August

What a start to the season! One I was certainly not expecting. Our season opener pitted us against potential title challengers Rugby, but a goal in each half certainly showed them otherwise. I had been begging for a consistent goalscorer and Petrucci delivered. The two games following our great win against Rugby were against relegation fodder. Nonetheless we held our nerve to polish off another six points without dropping a single goal in the process. Petrucci rounded off both with goals again, picking up man of the match awards number two and three in the process.

Then the bad news came. Trust our local rivals to ruin a great start to the season by ripping three points from us! In fairness we weren't at our best, fitness meant key names had to be rested, but my mistake came in the 58th minute when I decided to replace sixteen year-old debutant Gareth Jones between the sticks (deciding I didn't want the fate of the game in his hands). By the 62nd minute our trusty keeper Silitoe had conceded twice and the game was as good as gone. It didn't help that Ben Baines missed a late penalty either.

Games against Royston, Kettering and North Greenford in September will give us a good indicator as to how this season will pan out for us.

FA Cup

We bounced back from the bitter defeat at the hands of Aylesbury FC with a massive win away to Cheshunt. Doing well in the Ithsmian Division One North, a difficult game was anticipated, but early goals from Petrucci (again), Hatch and Field meant we had the game wrapped up in the opening half hour. Ben Baines slotted home late in the game to bring the tally to four, and a clash against Calor Southern Premier side Biggleswade Town awaits us in the next round.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Division One Central 2013/14

September

Six points out of nine for the second month of league games, still not bad! We put Royston away pretty easily with what seems to be my top strike partnership, Stacey Field and Dom Petrucci, both scoring and playing great. Also important to credit Silitoe (GK) who made an impressive penalty save early in the game. Kettering was a tricky one. They were a very good side but I feel we deserved a point really. Their keeper made two stunning saves late on to deny us any, but I still think we deserved one as much as they did. Three points against Daventry followed but I was not impressed. The whipping boys sat back (as expected) but it definitely took us too long to crack them in the end. Due to cup runs other games have been postponed until next month, which could see us playing five league games and a further four cup games too!

FA Cup

Pow. One of our best performances so far came in our 1st Qualifying Round tie against Biggleswade Town in the league directly above us. They didn't really threaten us much at all offensively, and their own goal through any chance of an equaliser away. Next up were Romulus from the Northern Division One South - didn't expect much of a fight from them and we ran out deserved winners with a fantastic Stacey Field hat-trick being the main highlight. Next up are Atherton Colliers in the 3rd Qualifying Round. They're a side in the 9th tier of English football so certainly an easier draw than we'd have imagined to get.

FA Trophy

Only the one game this month, and a lucky crowd of 103 saw us run out 2-0 winners over Clitheroe from the Evo-Stik Northern Division One North. A tough 1st Round Qualifier against Marine awaits us though, doing well in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier.

Berks & Bucks County Cup

A trophy I really want to win given we haven't done in quite a while. Only four games if we go all the way so I'm pretty content playing a good side rather than a weakened one, knowing it won't affect scheduling too much. Marlow really were not expecting this from us but we destroyed them. Field scored the first of his back-to-back hat-tricks and they were 5-0 down before the hour mark - scoring a late consolation which did little to soften the blow. Our reward was a Quarter Final berth against Chesham from the Southern Premier. There's also the chance that we may face league and local rivals Aylesbury FC in the Semis if we both make it that far. Here's hoping!

[pezza1]

A good start so far! Nicely placed in the league and still in all the cups! Are the games starting to rack up yet?!

[HeyyImRyan]

A good start so far! Nicely placed in the league and still in all the cups! Are the games starting to rack up yet?!

Thanks! They certainly are now - 5 games in the first 15 days of October means we may be doing a lot of rotating. I don't anticipate us getting much further in the FA Trophy though (I think we'll make it to the 4th Qual Round in the FA Cup) so I imagine that after this hectic October things will start to calm down.

Also, this happened in the opening game of October, so we may have some tough games ahead...

[gibbo11]

Good start and good wins in the FA Cup!

Will be following so good luck!

[HeyyImRyan]

Good start and good wins in the FA Cup!

Will be following so good luck!

Thank you!

Unfortunately the luck seems to have all dried up now...

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Division One Central 2013/14

October

A busy month started away to mid-table Hayes. A comfortable game turned sour when one of our top performers so far this season, Dom Petrucci, was taken off with an injury. Later we found out he'd be gone until at least mid-November, a crucial blow to us. A similar fate fell to our other super striker Stacey Field, so we headed into the game against 20th place Potters Bar without them both. Needless to say, we struggled to score. Baines managed one but two silly goals cost us the game before he even got his chance. Our third and final league game of the month came after we had started to adjust to life without Petrucci & Field, with Baines scoring a 25-yarder to take an early lead and Edgeworth finishing the game with a cheeky chip just beyond the hour mark.

Our cup efforts mean we've played fewer games than the other challengers, but that should all change next month. First up are 2nd place Uxbridge away so there's certainly no rest for the wicked.

FA Cup

What a cracking run this is! Despite missing our two strikers, we cruised past lower league side Atherton rather comfortably, and drew Ithsmian Premier Division side Billericay in the final qualifying round. Away from home meant it was a tough ask, but off we set desperate to at least take it back to Bell Close with a draw. It was a tough game. Billericay were all over us, but a fantastic performance from 16 year-old keeper Gareth Jones was keeping us in it. Our first shot of the game was a gloriously flukey goal from Ben Baines which surely should've been offside, and we went into the break 1-0 up. Billericay came out and were beating us all over the park yet again, and a deserved equaliser came when our captain Jack Woods missed a crucial header, allowing Isaac Layne to run clean in on goal and bury a shot past Jones for the equaliser on 68 minutes. A nervy 20 minutes followed, but we held out - at least our fate would be decided in front of a home crowd.

The 1st Round draw was made after the game, and meant the victor of the replay would be rewarded with a cash cow game away from home against fellow Buckinghamshire side Milton Keynes Dons. So four days after the first battle, 548 (highest attendance of the season) crammed into Bell Close for the rematch. This game was a polar opposite - we dominated and were really unfortunate not to go in ahead at half time. Things got even more unlucky when Steve Barron snuck in a 52nd minute goal for Billericay to give them the lead, and things looked dead and buried. In the 77th minute I made three changes, bringing on Lloyd Cotton as DM, Armstrong as ML and Edgeworth to replace tiring Jason Blackett up front. In the 85th minute, the ball fell to Paul Edgeworth who took it past a blues defender and placed it firmly in the bottom left-hand corner - sending the supporters (and...admittedly...myself) jumping into the air. We had equalised and put the game into extra time. What happened next was dream-like, Baines held the ball up well on the edge of Billericay's box, played it off to Edgeworth who sent the ball soaring into the net to give us the lead. After that, it was park-the-bus "19th Century Football" time, but even that wasn't needed for long - a first ever Aylesbury United goal for Bill Morgan after a Tony Cotton corner meant we were heading straight into the First Round Proper of the FA Cup for the first time since 2001.

FA Trophy

A pretty boring game saw us sink to defeat against a stronger Marine side. We took the lead through Stacey Field, but Marine took just 63 seconds to equalise and backed it up with a quick second to give themselves the lead. Shortly afterwards Field went down injured and was replaced, leaving us for the remainder of the game without ever looking like scoring. An unfortunate exit but one we probably all expected.

Red Insure Southern League Cup

This was a disappointing one. Coming up against mid-table Barton Rovers from our league, on paper we should have been winning. We didn't get off to the best of starts conceding just 13 minutes in, but I thought that Baines' equaliser just after half time would inspire us to take hold of the game. It didn't. With the game going straight to penalties after 90 minutes, Edgeworth stepped up and missed his first (forgiven later in the month after his tremendous FA Cup performance), and the remaining nine were scored to give Barton a 5-4 penalty victory. Boo.

Finances:

Keeping a hold of your financial situation is crucial at non-league level when it's so easy to see the red. I was delighted to see that our cup runs meant that our balance was £48,173 better than when I took control of the club, and that our projected balance for the season was also meant to end in the black too. This is ahead of the windfall for the MK Dons game, and I'm really hoping we can push them to a draw and replay back at home to exploit the financial opportunity even more.

[Nobby_McDonald]

[*]I plan to retire aged 71. Just as fellow British great Sir Alex did. Hopefully I will have achieved all my goals in 41 years!

As did Sir Bobby Robson.

[HeyyImRyan]

As did Sir Bobby Robson.

I did not know this, makes it even better!

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Division One Central 2013/14

November

A fantastic month of league form! Having to catch up on a lot of games rescheduled from last month, we kicked off by earning a very lucky point at high-flying Uxbridge who were 2nd at the time. It looked like we'd only take a point from Marlow on my birthday too, but a great strike from Petrucci gave us a late lead and Paul Edgeworth sealed the three points with an 81st minute penalty. Stacey Field made a fantastic return to injury against Egham, scoring two and assisting a third as we comfortably won again.

Our next game was the 'away but really at home' match against Leighton Town, our friendly hosts. It was also the first time since injury that Petrucci and Field had started together - marking the occasion with five goals between the pair as we brushed Leighton aside. Form was definitely good, and two pretty standard wins against Dunstable and St. Ives followed before the last game of the month. We faced mid-table Barton Rovers who had knocked us out of the league cup back in October on penalties, and duly recorded our revenge with a 5-2 thrashing. We were 2 up within the opening five minutes, but a second half rally from Barton left the score at 3-2 with twenty minutes to play. A penalty from Edgeworth stretched the lead to 4-2 and Ben Baines got another goal for his tally to seal the fantastic end to the month. Currently sat in 3rd place.

FA Cup

Nothing more than we expected. Not much to say about this game really - away to MK Dons was never going to end pleasantly, though I had dreamed of shutting them down to hold out for a draw and another chance to get some cash. MK Dons dominated and really could've won by more, in the end I am happy with 3-0 and a lot of extra money in the bank. Now we have more time to focus on the league too.

Berks & Bucks County Cup

This has got to be the season of dreams for Aylesbury United fans. We came into the County Cup semi facing our rivals Chesham, from the Southern Premier, away from home. This was certainly a tough ask, and aside from the upcoming game against MK Dons would probably be one of the toughest games of the season. Chesham were certainly willing to prove that, dominating the first half though they could not break the dead-lock. The second half started the same way, and on 61 minutes they made their breakthrough with a cooly placed shot around our young Gareth Jones. With memories of our incredible cup comeback against Billericay in my mind, on came Petrucci, Armstrong and Jack Wood on 71 minutes. 15 minutes later and we look defeated - we've been pushing for an equaliser but one just wont come. Then, on the break, Petrucci finds Edgeworth in space, who launches himself forward towards the keeper and sends the ball whistling into the back of the net with just three minutes of time remaining. "How do we keep doing this?!" I asked myself.

Extra time began and it was back to Chesham dominating, us having a couple of chances on the break. 101st minute and they took the lead again, this time through Inih Effiong. I thought this time we really were done - despite our best efforts to give them a game they were too strong. Time was ticking down, minute by minute, Chesham passing the ball around their back lines to run down the clock, but then, in one of the most bizarre FM goals I have ever seen, a back pass to the keeper went astray, he charged out to meet it but Petrucci slid in and got there first - leaving the keeper 20 yards off his line and Petrucci with an open net at an extremely tight angle. In all honesty, I thought he was going to miss, but the back of the net swished and the fans (and I...again...admittedly) jumped so high we were almost in the stratosphere - another comeback goal. Penalties were next. We took first and scored, and the following four went the same way giving us a 3-2 lead. Pressure then fell on young winger Sam Cole for Chesham, who stepped up and had his penalty saved by our 16 year-old sensation Gareth Jones! The next two went in, and at 4-3 Jon Patrick had the chance to put us in the semi-final, knocking out our rivals in the process. He stepped up, and scored! Aylesbury United were going to Wembley!!! (Not quite Wembley, Haywood Way, but it still counted).

Aylesbury FC managed a 2-2 penalty victory over league rivals Beaconsfield in their quarter-final, and so the stage was set for the local derby to take place for a spot in the County Cup final. January 23rd 2014.

Facilities

On the back of our cup runs, we had a bit of cash spare, and I ran to the board demanding they spend it where I wanted... I had originally asked for a training facilities upgrade, but they weren't having that.

Awards

Hopefully the first of many, and I believe definitely deserved after the month we've had!

[HeyyImRyan]

Hi all, apologies for the delay but as I mentioned in the first post on the thread - currently in exam season at uni. This post is my stress relief after a three hour exam this morning so expect it to be the only update for the next few days.

Good news though - My last exam is this Saturday and by about 11am I should be totally exam free for the Summer, which means lots of FM updates!

Also: I plan on making my monthly updates a bit more concise - no more ridiculously long paragraphs to bore people to death!

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Division One Central 2013/14

December

Following on from last month with another great run and a second month undefeated. We've now not lost since early October and seem to be walking the league, though I'm not quite sure why. I'm assuming next season will be a different story if we are lucky enough to get promoted. A well-fought draw against Slough was followed up with some good wins before we played pretty poorly hosting Chalfont. It was nice to avenge our defeat to rivals Aylesbury FC on boxing day, but Chertsey were tough to beat a couple of days later.

Awards

Records

Transfers

A few offers have come in for Petrucci but he won't be leaving for anything less than a cash purchase, especially not to a team at this level. I don't think he can do much better than in this league though, so may look to offload at some point.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Division One Central 2013/14

January

Any suggestions that we were strolling to the title were dismissed this month. We were rocked by losing our first game in sixteen to Rugby on the 4th, they certainly proved why they've rocketed up the table, then we struggled to even score against Potters Bar after. Finally form picked up again with a good performance against the relegation contenders Daventry - Ben Baines putting in a particularly good performance.

Slough and Rugby hot on our heels.

Berks & Bucks County Cup

After the win at Daventry put us back to winning ways, we comfortably overturned rivals Aylesbury without any difficulty. Stephen Hatch scored from a corner in the first half and Petrucci & Armstrong finished it off with good goals in the second. We're into the final! It takes place April 20th - against MK Dons U21.

Staff

Brought in a new Chief Scout in former Nigerian international Benedict Akwuegbu. 30 caps/8 goals for Nigeria as well as a club career that has seen him play across seven countries including Germany, England, China and Belgium. Ended his career at Basingstoke and joins us for his first non-playing role.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Good news though - My last exam is this Saturday and by about 11am I should be totally exam free for the Summer, which means lots of FM updates!

Oh to be that age again.

[HeyyImRyan]

Oh to be that age again.

You say that, but you're not the one living in a pig sty filled with pizza boxes, old takeaway tubs and coke cans

I lied about yesterday being my last. This is another post-exam therapy post coming up!

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Division One Central 2013/14

February

A good month after the poor form of January sees us pick up 12 of a possible 15 points. Petrucci and Field have been on form which has certainly helped with the wins, but the 4-3 scoreline against Slough is rather kind to us. We were outclassed and were 4-1 down heading into the final ten minutes, two quick goals from Stacey Field meant we could almost sneak a point (and nearly did!) but Slough held on to deny us. Proving why they're doing so well in the league, but we've got a comfortable lead now.

Transfers

Though I have had a couple of offers for Petrucci, Liam Smyth and recently Paul Edgeworth I have been reluctant to agree to any of them. Petrucci and Smyth are very much crucial to the success of the team and Edgeworth is one of the longest-serving players, so they may still be around for a while yet.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Youth Intake 2013/14 Season

The Potential Ability is misleading due to the league we're in I think.

Best of the Bunch:

Paul Brown

Ricky Hill

Tom Lambert

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Division One Central 2013/14

March

Another very decent and, more importantly, undefeated month. Comfortably disposed of Marlow and Egham before a tricky game at Dunstable with which we sealed a play-off spot. Hosting Uxbridge we really did enough to win, unfortunately conceding a late 90th minute equaliser to only walk away with a point. Back to winning ways nonetheless with a routine performance against Barton Rovers.

Despite picking up 13 points this month, Royston have closed the gap by two.

Players

Our super youngster Gareth Jones turned 17 and we gave him a fantastic birthday present - signing a professional deal and rather bizarrely becoming the highest paid player at the club. Not bad for a 17 year-old who only joined us in pre-season!

Transfers

A duo of players left for Level 9's Spalding during the month. Left back Keith Williams who had made just 6 first team appearances this season, and U21 fringe player Louis Austin both left on deals for 25% of their next transfer fee (though I doubt they'll ever come to fruition).

Records

Next Month

Our final month of the season is a hectic one - five league games and the Berks & Bucks cup final. We have a very tricky run of games which sees us face Royston (2nd), Beaconsfield (3rd) and then Milton Keynes Dons U21 in the final - so I imagine these three results will dictate how successful a season this will be.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Berks & Bucks County Cup Final

Road to Final [Aylesbury]

Road to Final [Milton Keynes U21]

Final

Quite a sad day, but MK Dons deserved it. We tried but couldn't really compete. Their opening goal was a scorching free kick and from that we were always going to be up against it. Better luck next year? All eyes on the league now!

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Division One Central 2013/14

April

We certainly didn't make it easy. After the defeat away at Royston they were just two points behind us in the table. Fortunately they lost the following game whilst we picked up 3 - bring the gap up to five once more. We couldn't manage a win against Kettering, but a point kept us 3 points clear with a game to go and an outstanding goal difference lead - had we done it?! On the final day of the season we put it beyond doubt by knocking three past Ashford in front of a bumper crowd of 158. We were the Calor Southern Division One Central CHAMPIONS!!!

Royston actually lost on the last day to increase the gap between us.

Contract

New deal to extend my stay another year. An extra £50 a week too!

Calor Southern Football League Championship

Didn't know this existed - but we're off to Wales to play in the Championship match - against the winner of the South & West division.

After Petrucci gave us the lead inside the 2nd minute with a thunderous strike, we didn't look like losing. Methyr equalised but we quickly went ahead again and from then on it was plain sailing. An extra goal falling to Paul Edgeworth on what may well be his last game for the club was an added bonus.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Division One Central 2013/14

Post-Season Review

A delightful start to my spell at the Ducks. The squad surpassed all my expectations this season to see off all challengers for the title, and next year we'll be up against a bigger test in the Calor Southern Premier! New players such as Gareth Jones and Jon Patrick thrived - as did the old guard of Edgeworth, Stacey Field and co. I honestly don't think it would be possible to have a better debut season in charge.

Board Expectations

Calor Southern Division One Central: Respectable League Position | ACHIEVED (Winners)

FA Cup: First Qualifying Round | ACHIEVED (1st Round)

FA Trophy: First Qualifying Round | ACHIEVED (1st Qual Round)

Red Insure Southern League Cup: Second Round | FAILED (1st Round)

Bucks & Berks County Cup: Be Competitive | ACHIEVED (Runners-Up)

Fan's Player of the Season

Dom Petrucci. I failed to get a screenshot (assuming it would actually be Stacey Field!) but he managed 27 goals in 46 appearances in all competitions. In the league, he played 36 and scored 21 - also managing to top the league assists chart with 19 assists (and 10 MotM to boot!). Top class.

Manager's Young Player of the Season

Gareth Jones. Sixteen years old and playing week in, week out for the first XI. In his 34 league starts he conceded just 21 goals - also managing a staggering 21 clean sheets and earning 2 MotM awards. Looking forward to seeing him again next season.

Honorable Mentions

Stacey Field was fantastic - our highest goalscorer and all-round threat to defences. Connor Marsden settled in well as another prominent youngster. Ben Baines - was usually used on the wing rather than his favoured position up front but still secured 10 league goals and 9 assists across the year.

Boo.

And a look ahead to next year...

Up almost £2.3k a week - shall come in very useful given most of the squad are coming to the end of their contracts this summer and will likely want a pay rise. Not sure how much we'll have left for reinforcements...

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Premier Division

Pre Season

Board Expectations | My Expectations

Calor Southern Premier: Mid-table position | Top half (media prediction: 12th)

FA Cup: Second Qualifying Round | Third Qualifying Round

FA Trophy: Second Qualifying Round | Second Qualifying Round

Red Insure Southern League Cup: Third Round | Quarter Final

Bucks & Berks County Cup: Not Important | Final

Season Budgets:

Transfers £0

Wages £3,069 per week

Current Wages £2,677 per week

Transfers

A few in and a few more out. Obviously sad to lose former vice-captain Ben Baines and highest current appearance leader Paul Edgeworth, but I didn't think they were up to the standard we needed to be setting and thus they had to leave. Liam Smyth is another I'm sad to see disappear, but he is just too injury prone and as a result played very few games for us last season. Robbie Martin is his replacement.

Glenn Poole: He's no spring chicken, but still a cracking signing. After a career that has seen him appear for clubs including Barnet, Brentford and AFC Wimbledon, he was released from Skrill North's Brackley in the Summer and we signed him up soon after.

Lewis Powell: Our replacement for Baines and Edgeworth, brought in an an alternative forward. Looking forward to seeing him in action for us.

Robbie Martin: Brought in to replace Liam Smyth, I really hope he can make a massive contribution to our season.

Results

Mixed bag of results but ultimately I'm happy. Everyone got a few games including some of the youth players from last year's cohort. Fitness and tactical familiarity seem pretty good and we go into the season filled with confidence from last year. Quality and skill of the league actually seems pretty similar to last year's so I'm hoping for a top half finish and if we start the season well there's no reason we can't do even better than that. Up first is a trip to the seaside to play Weymouth.

Sales have "soared"

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Premier 2014/15

August

All in all a very good start to our first season in the Southern Premier. A brilliant opener against Weymouth was followed by tricky games versus Arlesey and Rushall. We didn't deserve to lose that game, falling to an unlucky 83rd minute goal despite dominating. From there we picked up, playing two teams in the relegation zone certainly helped and we popped 12 in in just 3 games.

If only we hadn't dropped those points to Rushall...

[Nobby_McDonald]

Well done Ryan.

It was a 16% increase in season ticket holders.

[HeyyImRyan]

Well done Ryan.

It was a 16% increase in season ticket holders.

Thank you very much!

In that case I guess I'll aim for that sort of increase every year and eventually we'll get somewhere!

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Premier 2014/15

September

Cup-mania had descended again, leaving us with only two fixtures in the league this month. Nonetheless we managed to complete a 100% month - a tricky game at Burnham saw as sneak the win through an early goal, and we managed three past relegation contenders Bashley.

FA Cup

Two kind draws see us easily qualify for the 3rd Qualifying Round a second season in a row. The Anstey Nomads game was one of two halves - we lead 4-0 at half time but after the break they pinned us back to 4-3 before late goals from O'Grady and Poole stopped the recovery in its tracks. Staveley MW was a bit more standard and we ran out deserved winners. Next up is a tricky tie though - playing Southern Division One Central leaders Kettering, who proved quite a challenge to beat last year (A challenge I have yet to complete).

FA Trophy

Nothing more satisfying than knocking your biggest rivals out of the cup! Again, comfortable. Three up with the job done by half time before Aylesbury scored a small consolation in the second half. The 2nd Qualifying Round sees us up against either Ashford (Mssx) or Chertsey Town - two teams whom we had the pleasure of sharing a division with last season.

Berks & Bucks County Cup

Our mega-month ended with a trip to locals Chalfont, who we easily discarded. A 1st minute goal from Poole put us on our way, Lewis Powell got his first ever hat-trick for the club, and Connor Marsden scored a brilliant almost 40-yarder to see us into the Quarter-Final where we shall face Beaconsfield away in November.

Transfers

I have had a lot of loan offers for Ricky Hill - one of last year's top youth products. It seems he will hopefully pick one so more on that when it comes.

Next Month

Our 3rd Qual. Round clash with Kettering, as well as fixtures in both the FA Trophy and Southern League Cup. Among our league games, we're set to face Slough - who came up with us last season and currently sit 20th.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Premier 2014/15

October

Another month with a disappointingly low amount of league games. Pretty easy to keep the 100% win record here. Stacey Field had a good game.

FA Cup

The cause of our depleted amount of league games. Kettering were really tough. In the first game we were lucky to take the lead just before half time, but they equalised shortly after (magic orange peels perhaps?) and it was a very nervy final 40 minutes. Replay was an absolute thriller - we took the lead early on but Kettering took us by surprise and before we knew it they were beating us 3-1. A goal from Lewis Powell made it 3-2 as we headed in for half time. Trying to restore belief was key in the team talk and we came out and got lucky by being gifted a penalty goal. 75 minutes on and Powell got his second - we'd made a huge comeback to clinch a 3rd Qual. Round berth.

Kidderminster from the Conference Premier were next. We were very poor in the original tie - just when I was accepting defeat, we got a lucky break on the counter and somehow managed to equalise and gift ourselves a second opportunity with a replay. Unfortunately, away from home it was even more of a struggle and Kidderminster once again dominated. We defended strongly and kept the score level until the hour mark but once they scored there was no return. Better luck next year, perhaps?

FA Trophy

After suffering defeat to Kidderminster we knew it was crucial to go out and get a firm hold of this game quickly. I am delighted to be able to say we did that - An early goal from Lewis Powell was followed up with a second, and we saw out a good result. We've been given a tough draw in the next round, away to Conference North side Colwyn Bay, but we'll try our best and see what happens. On our day I think we can do it.

Southern League Cup

A game we looked like winning from start to finish. No real problems as we lead 2-0 and 3-1, winning with ease. St. Albans await us in the 3rd round.

Transfers

Three of the youngsters leaving to get first team experience on loan. I considered allowing Tom Lambert to do the same but have decided to bring him up into the first team squad for some games instead.

Jobs Offers

I received my first job offer this month! Horsham were promoted to the Ryman Isthmian Premier after their efforts last season, but currently find themselves 22nd and look to be heading straight back down. I have no interest in leaving Aylesbury United any time soon so I politely declined an interview.

[pezza1]

Great form so far! It looks like you may still have alot of cup games to negotiate, but win some of those games in hand and you'll be top of the league in no time! How is your squad holding up in terms of fitness?

[HeyyImRyan]

Great form so far! It looks like you may still have alot of cup games to negotiate, but win some of those games in hand and you'll be top of the league in no time! How is your squad holding up in terms of fitness?

Thank you!

Over the current month November it really hasn't. Running so thin on players through injuries that in my latest game I had to bring on my substitute keeper as a centre forward... Needless to say we lost that game though and slowly we're getting eliminated from tournaments, so by December fixtures should be back to normal(ish) and we can recover!

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Premier 2014/15

November

A decent month as we return to months of multiple league games. Snuck a late winner to take three points against Slough before burying Chippenham. We were pretty static and created too few chances to grab a win against Corby, though a lot of players were jaded after our cup efforts, before the squad recovered well to take an easy 3-0 win over mid-table Stourbridge.

Two points from top but with five games in hand!

FA Trophy

After an absolutely brilliant comeback from 1-0 down to beat struggling Conference North side Colwyn Bay, a pretty poor performance in the following round saw us sink to defeat against a side of similar calibre. Though I'm happy we made it this far, I'm disappointed we lost to a team we probably could have beaten on a good day.

Red Insure Southern League Cup

A disappointing defeat but ultimately it was down to fitness and certain players being unavailable. At one point my reserve keeper Silitoe had to come on and play as a forward. It didn't end well.

Berks & Bucks County Cup

We continued our storm towards back-to-back County Cup finals with a convincing win over Bucks rivals Beaconsfield. We didn't ever look troubled but it did take a 75th minute penalty conversion from Petrucci to seal the semi-final berth. Next up in January is another trip to Stadium:MK where we face last years victors MK Dons U21, in a repeat of last year's final.

[Lenzar]

The cup final against Franchise U21s may be a good yard stick..I especially look forward to when you're in the EPL and pound them 20-0.

[HeyyImRyan]

The cup final against Franchise U21s may be a good yard stick..I especially look forward to when you're in the EPL and pound them 20-0.

Haha, I hope that day comes!

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Premier 2014/15

December

Probably my worst month as manager of the Ducks. Obviously we had a lot of games to catch up on due to our cup successes, but I really hoped they would go a lot better than this. Bideford were kind enough to put both my top strikers Field and Powell out for two months each, and we've really struggled to win matches as a result. Hopefully after the 2-0 win against Weymouth we will get back into a run of good form ahead of the County Cup semi-final and rest of our catch-up games in January. Hopefully.

Our games in hand advantage has been cut significantly this month - we still have 4 games on the league leaders but sit 8 points behind.

Transfers

Silitoe was not happy with such infrequent playing time. I reminded him he was just a backup player to the squad and that I would look to offload him at the end of the season, but that wasn't good enough apparently. In the end he was transfer listed per request and quickly snapped up by St. Neots on a free.

Job Offers

Three offers this month, how exciting! First came Bradford PA, which I politely declined to attend an interview for - followed by Chorley & Kingstonian - both rejected too.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Premier 2014/15

January

After the shock of December, it was nice for 2015 to greet us with a run of pleasant form. Arlesey fell easily and bitter rivals Chesham were easily dismissed 3-0 thanks to goals from the Wood brothers and an own goal too. Tiverton was a disappointing result - leading 2-0 with under 15 minutes to play, enjoying a good day with Lewis Powell scoring on his return from injury, we somehow concede twice and only come away with a point. What's more disappointing now is it was the only thing that prevented a clean sweep for the entire month.

After a good month we've made ground on Rushall. Still four games in hand but now only 4 points behind.

Berks & Bucks County Cup

Delighted to come away with a win and progress to our second successive County Cup final, beating the team that beat us in last year's final made it even sweeter! In truth, after MK Dons scored a goal mid-way through the first half, we were pretty much down and out. There was not a single pleasing performance from my side in the opening 90, except for a fantastic equaliser and moment of brilliance from captain Jack Wood to salvage a goal in the 86th minute. In the team talk I stressed to the team that just one goal would see us knocking out the cup holders and progressing to another final, and from then things changed. From the start of half time we were up for it and it wasn't long before Lewis Powell headed home from a Robbie Martin cross to give us the lead. It could have been 3-1 too, Petrucci only denied by the post in the second half of ET.

We'd done it. Another County Cup final - an all-Bucks affair against our big rivals Chesham, who have won the competition an impressive 14 times.

Awards

[KDR]

Looks like a shoot-out between you and one of my former clubs (many, many moons ago now; more than I actually can remember, let alone want to! ).

[Brucehum]

Nicely done so far.

Low league are the most fun (at least for me).

I still find it strange when I see a team with 30 games and another with 25 in UK leagues. Too used to the 'ordered' games system we have in other countries.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Premier 2014/15

February

We had a very average February - well-fought victories over Gosport and Slough followed a slightly disappointing draw with Burnham that opened the month. Then game our back-to-back series against Maidenhead, recently relegated from the Skrill South. We earned a good point away from home in a 3-3 draw that, in truth, we should have won - Maidenhead's Leon Broadhurst equalising in the 94th minute. We did however follow that with the return game, a much calmer 1-0 win. Our month ended with our first defeat of 2015, a disappointing performance against the Devonshire lads saw us drop three points and suffer a scare as Robbie Martin was taken off injured.

We lead the way by a couple of points, and also with a couple of games in hand. It's a really open league, and I think anyone in the top ten still has a big chance of qualifying for the playoffs - so we will need to be strong in the final two months in order to ensure back-to-back promotions. We start March by welcoming both Rushall and Bedford to Bell Close, so March really could be the month that decides our fate.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Youth Intake 2014/15

Not too bad, Jake Randall and potentially Harvey Law are the two most likely to reach the first team squad, though I will look to develop the others too.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Premier 2014/15

March

Quite a tough month for us, not helped by a run of four away games. Rushall was always going to be tough - 1st vs 2nd in the league. We played well and would have come away with a win if it wasn't for a late equaliser. Was very disappointed to lose to Bedford, they were lucky to even equalise and then they had a penalty to win it in the 87th minute. I was also pretty disappointed with the Hungerford game, 3-0 up with less than ten minutes to play yet we still conceded twice!

Despite it all - we're still looking strong. Rushall had a few bad performances of their own this month and so we're three points clear with three games in hand. Surely we are not going to throw it all away in such a crucial month?!

Job Offers

Slough, our league rivals who won promotion with us last season, sacked their manager this month and I was asked if I'd do them the pleasure of taking over. Given they're rock bottom and I'm top I think they were dreaming a little, and the offer was politely declined.

New Contract

Following an offer from Slough and seeing as we were exceeding board expectations in the league, I was offered a new contract by my own club. It involves a 50% salary cut from £450 to £220 - replaced with a 15% promotion wage rise and a £1,000 bonus for getting promoted too. Needless to say, I took it anyway. I didn't want to risk not getting another offer and I'm happy to be extending my time at the club for yet another year.

Next Month

It's the big one - Berks & Bucks Cup Final as well as our remaining seven league games. Can we get over the woes of last season's cup final, and achieve back-to-back promotions into the Skrill South? We shall see.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Berks & Bucks County Cup Final

Road to Final [Aylesbury]

Road to Final [Chesham]

Lineups

Match

So proud of the team for putting last year's cup misery behind them. After knocking out the sure favourites MK Dons U21 in formidable fashion in the semis, we knew this was our chance. In the end, the rivalry between the clubs was too much for Chesham youngster Jon Murphy who got himself sent off for a horrific challenge early on. After this Chesham rarely made it out of their own half and spent a lot of the match defending, but we broke through close to the hour mark with what proved to be the winner! We were the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup CHAMPIONS.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Premier 2014/15

April

After the big run of away games last month, this month we were blessed with four straight games at home. The players knew what they had to do. With victory after victory we were edging closer and closer to the Southern Premier title. Going into the game against Poole Town, all we needed was one point to secure us the title. Two quick-fire goals from Lewis Powell gave us the hope and we powered on through for three points - we had done it. Back to back titles and promotions!

After the title was sealed we calmed down a little, but I didn't care. A draw with Redditch ahead of the Berks & Bucks Cup final was acceptable, as was winning by only a one goal margin versus Chippenham. It was however a little frustrating to lose to Dorchester on the final day - conceding the only goal of the game from a corner.

Champions for a second year running, back-to-back promotions and now we would be playing in the Conference leagues!

Dorchester ended up being promoted with us, beating Rushall in the playoff final.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Calor Southern Premier 2014/15

Post-Season Review

I didn't think things could get any better after last year, but I really feel we were even better this year. Despite tougher opposition we still managed to take home the title and even won the trophy that eluded us last year. Some of the old guard like Edgeworth may have gone, but the three new signings of Poole, Powell and Martin slotted superbly into the squad and their impact was well noticed. Onwards and upwards with what will probably be a very tough season of adjustment next year.

Board Expectations

Calor Southern Premier: Mid-table Position | ACHIEVED (Winners)

FA Cup: Second Qualifying Round | ACHIEVED (4th Qual Round)

FA Trophy: Second Qualifying Round | ACHIEVED (1st Round)

Red Insure Southern League Cup: Third Round | FAILED (2nd Round)

Bucks & Berks County Cup: Not Important | ACHIEVED (Winners)

My Expectations

Calor Southern Premier: Top Half | ACHIEVED (Winners)

FA Cup: Third Qualifying Round | ACHIEVED (4th Qual Round)

FA Trophy: Second Qualifying Round | ACHIEVED (1st Round)

Red Insure Southern League Cup: Quarter Final | FAILED (2nd Round)

Bucks & Berks County Cup: Final | ACHIEVED (Winners)

Fan's Player of the Season

Dom Petrucci. Another fantastic season for Dom which in all honesty I didn't expect. In 32 league appearances he managed 14 goals and 21 assists, achieving the most assists on the team for a second season running. This season has given him the title of Club Icon too.

Manager's Young Player of the Season

Gareth Jones. I honestly run out of superlatives to describe Gareth. He followed on from last season where he established himself as number one, this year playing in 43 of our 44 league games - conceding just 32 goals in all. He also managed an impressive 25 clean sheets and got us out of some hairy situations. Given he only turned 18 in March of this season, he definitely has a bright future ahead of him and I hope I can keep hold of him in the foreseeable future.

Honourable Mentions

It would be impossible not to mention any other players - Jack Wood has been a brilliant captain and squad member this season, dominating the defensive midfield position. All three of our new signings were also instrumental - Lewis Powell was our top scorer with 32 goals and 16 assists in all competitions, including two impressive hat-tricks, and Poole & Martin were also en pointe. Final mention goes to Stacey Field, who had a relatively quiet season by his standards but still managed 14 goals and 3 assists in 22 league appearances - with the final one being his 100th goal for the club.

Finances

Not looking particularly good given the stadium renovation (see below) and wages of staff (top quality staff brought in last season). We definitely need a nice long cup run this season, anyone fancy Old Trafford or the Emirates?

Club Stature

Stadium

Not particularly keen on the idea of paying to renovate a stadium that doesn't even belong to us - especially given the team who owns it are way down in the Calor Southern Central Divison still... Maybe we'll move back to Aylesbury one day? I can keep hoping.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Great season Ryan.

[HeyyImRyan]

Great season Ryan.

Thank you very much! I have a feeling it is all downhill from here though..

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Skrill Conference North

Pre Season

Board Expectations | My Expectations

Skrill North: Stay Clear of Relegation | Stay Clear of Relegation (media prediction: 22nd)

FA Cup: Third Qualifying Round | First Round

FA Trophy: Third Qualifying Round | First Round

Bucks & Berks County Cup: Not Important | Final

Season Budgets:

Transfers £0

Wages £4,148 per week

Current Wages £2,998 per week

Transfers

Other than the loan deals it was a relatively quiet window for us - O'Grady was released at the end of his contract as he wasn't up to the same standard as the rest of the squad and his aggression made him a real liability in matches. Unfortunately we also had to say goodbye to our top keeper Gareth Jones, who refused to enter into new contract discussions despite my best efforts, and has since found himself unemployed heading into the new season as no one else can apparently match his wage demands. Just before the season began, I tried to re-sign him but he was requesting an astronomical wage, over 1/4 of our entire wage budget, to come back. Our new players are:

Rob Peet - The 22 year-old goalkeeper joins us as our replacement to youngster Gareth Jones. A former Hull and Leicester U21 player, he was released from Ilkeston this Summer following their relegation to the Northern 1st Division South. Not quite as good as Gareth but very welcome in our squad seeing as he was the best on the market.

Kieron Tarbie - Another like-for-like replacement, Tarbie comes in to take the place that O'Grady has left behind. An AFC Wimbledon academy graduate who has struggled to find a place in their team and was subsequently released this Summer. He shows a lot of promise, and at 20 years of age we could have a long future ahead with him.

Results

Certainly not the best pre-season, but everyone was given an opportunity to play, including a lot of the youth players. Drawing with Oxford United in the later stages was certainly a positive and we'll look for more performances like that to build our season on.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Skrill Conference North 2015/16

August

A pretty decent start to life in the Skrill leagues. We were very poor to begin with against Altrincham, but after coming back from 3-1 down to 3-3 I thought we'd done well to rescue a point - only for an 89th minute free-kick to give Altrincham all three instead. A point against North Ferriby was a fair result for both teams, and I was delighted to finish the month with two big wins and clean sheets against tough opposition. Hopefully we can build on that next month.

Certainly not a bad position to be in given we only picked up 1 point from a possible six in the opening games. Very happy with the start we have made.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Skrill Conference North 2015/16

September

An incredible start to month saw us quickly humbled by a big defeat against Flyde and a draw with a Kings Lynn side we really should have beaten. Even so, I was really impressed with most of our performances yet again this month and if we keep this up we'll definitely finish in the top half, let alone avoiding relegation!

No complaints about where we currently sit in the table - I'd take this come the end of the season...

FA Cup

A great game for the neutrals. We dominated from start to finish but let in a couple of silly goals. We certainly do need to tighten up at the back though, especially as we fact Boston United in the upcoming next round.

[HeyyImRyan]

Aylesbury United Football Club

Skrill Conference North 2015/16

October

What was a very impressive month ended tarnished by a 4-3 defeat away to league leaders Telford. After good, solid wins against Workington, Nuneaton and Brackley - including two clean sheets - we lead 3-1 at half time. Telford then came out and destroyed us in the second half, netting three goals themselves to clinch it 4-3. Not sure what I've done wrong but a bitter blow given it smashed a 100% win record in all competitions for October.

Despite the humbling at Telford, we still set very comfortably in a surprising 6th.

FA Cup

What I thought would be a tricky tie against recently relegated Boston, turned out to be an easy victory for us. I was surprised at how fluid and able our side was and we looked very impressive. This followed in the following game against Skrill Premier side Hereford. Over 800 made their way to Bell Close to watch us cause a big upset, looking very comfortable as we knocked the non-league giants out of the FA Cup - meaning we were through to the 1st Round Proper once again.

A tricky game against fellow Skrill Premier side Dartford awaits, and I'm sure it will not be as easy.

Berks & Bucks FA County Cup

Though I do hope to at least finish runners-up this year, it's not very important to me now I've won it before. A whole new XI of youngsters were fielded, except for Stacey Field given one of his first starts of the season. In truth I expected a tough game, but it was not to be. Stacey and co worked Thatcham hard and deservedly ran out 3-0 winners - including a nice goal on his debut for Bradley Hawkes. Chalfont await.

[CamillePunk]

Caught up on this, great read thus far. Hopefully you're still updating.