TheLutterworthFox

December 2025 What a month!!! Before we look at results there is one big HUGE piece of news... We are turning professional at the end of the season! Now to results and safe to say its been a good month. 10 points in the league keeps us top of the league 3 clear of the mighty TNS, 2 games of the regular season to go before the usual league split. But it's Europe where a miracle has happened. After 2 points from our opening 4 games we looked to be heading out, but then an amazing win over Puskas Academy away gave us a slim chance of qualifying for the playoff round, we then faced Newcastle and as expected we lost but somehow, miraculously we did it by the skin of our teeth!!!! We go into the playoff round courtesy of our goal difference!!! Absolutely incredible!

November 2025 The wheels have been reattached and we have turned our form around! 4 wins and a draw from our 5 league games, really good and with TNS slipping up we have gone back to the top of the table. Really pleasing! In Europe we also gained another point, this time away to Luzern, the defeat to Feyenoord was another really good display, we are playing our games in Europe at the Cardiff City Stadium so attendances are really high, giving us more gate receipts!

October 2025 It was only a matter of time, the sheer number of games is catching up on the lads, it's been a rough month with numerous dropped points in the league but it was always going to happen at some point The good news is we are still in the Welsh Cup but in 4 League games we've only managed a single win and 5 points meaning TNS have overtaken us at the top of the table. We're still well in the title hunt but we have to try and turn the indifferent form around. We also managed a point in the Europa Conference League which gave us another £140k of prize money.

September 2025 Probably the best month of the save so far, goals galore, yeah OK the defending wasn't great but my word it's been exciting! 4 out of 4 in the league, we're also progressing in both cup competitions! Not sure this season could've started any better, especially with so many new players in the squad!

August 2025 Time for the Europa Conference Qualifiers, two rounds away from being the second Welsh team to make the League Phase (Yes TNS beat me to it and did it last season!). In the third qualifying round we faced Icelandic side Vikingur and absolutely battered them in the first leg, a 5-1 win, we played a reserve side in the second leg and lost 1-0 but we had done more than enough already. One round away and faced HJK of Finland, a tough test but one I felt we had a chance in, first leg at home again and we played amazingly to win 3-1. One foot in the League Phase but we weren't there yet. In the away leg we started well, scoring just before half time but HJK grabbed two goals in the second half to make the final ten minutes very tense, they had so many chances but we held on for a 4-3 aggregate win and with that LEAGUE PHASE QUALIFICATION!! Stage one of my challenge complete, now to win a European competition! Yeah that's not gonna happen for a while! League Phase fixture-wise it looks very tough. I'll be happy if we win one of those game!!! The big news is, we have gained just short of £3m in prize money for that European run, absolutely huge, now is the time to go begging to the board! And the begging worked! £1.5m of the £3m prize money spent on improving the facilities, that's all I can ask for currently, now waiting to ask to turn professional! As for the other fixtures this month it's been a really good start. A good win the cup followed by 7 pts from a possible 9 in the League, solid!

Pre-Season 2025/26 - Transfers and Champions League Qualifiers It's been a manic Summer!!!! With our rep improving and money to spend I am slowly able to attract better players, there has been a LOT of business to talk about!!! But first let's discuss the Champions League, unfortunately our League adventure lasted one round, we faced Linfield and although we won the first leg at home 2-1 we bottled the away leg, losing 3-1 and 4-3 on aggregate. What that did was put us into the Europa Conference, straight into the third qualifying round, two rounds short of the League phase! Those games haven't been played yet so that will be in the next update. Now let's discuss transfers and it's been a crazy window! I may have gone slightly mad and it may take a while for the players to all settle in but in the long run we are going to smash it! All in all there were thirteen players signed and here they are: James Winkle - Defensive Midfield - Free from Nottingham Forest Stephan Negru - Central Defence - Free from Oxford United Josh Edwards - Left Back - Free from Bala Town Liam Weekes - Goalkeeper - Season loan from QPR Harry Clarke - Striker - Season loan from Fleetwood Jordan Doyle-Hayes - Winger - Season loan from Rochdale Harvey Rhoades - Right Back - Season loan from Southend Omar Taylor-Clarke - Winger - Free transfer Michael Spellman - Winger - Free transfer Michalis Kosma - Central Defence - Free transfer Jamaal Finlaw - Central Midfield - Free transfer Joseph Williams - Striker - Free transfer Jemiah Umolu - Striker - Free transfer As you can see, a lot of deals but no money spent. We have maxed out our £6k per week wages though. I am really pleased with my business and it's good to see I can attract better players, most of the free transfer signings have come from players released by Premier League or Championship clubs who are all 18 or 19 year old. At worst they will make me some money! In other news, the board have agreed to upgrade the youth recruitment and junior coaching, I'm really hoping it starts to improve the quality of not only my intakes but also the kids we have. Now all we need to do it somehow qualify for the Europa Conference league phase to keep the money flooding in!

2024/25 End of Season Review A title winning season! I did not think I'd be saying that 12 months ago. We had three games left of the league season and ended with two wins and a defeat. 11 points clear in the end! What a season!!! But there was still the Welsh Cup to go, we face Penybont in the semi final and it took an injury winners to seal a 2-1 win. It was a hectic ending but we scraped through. It wasn't a pretty game, there were very few chances and the game was scrappy and, well to be honest, boring! Then, with 11 minutes remaining, the winning goal came, a 20 yard strike from Summer signing Mason Johnson sealing a 1-0 win!!! A Welsh double in my third season in charge, absolutely incredible! Now we have Champions League football to look forward to next season, we'll enter in the first qualifying round so it will be unlikely we qualify for the league phase of that competition but we have a damn good chance of Conference league phase qualification! Luckily the board have given me decent budgets, £170k in transfer funds and a doubling of the wage budget to £6k per week. That means we can seriously improve the squad for next season. Now for the end of season awards. Firstly, here is the Best XI The 424 worked a treat this season, defensively solid and scoring loads of goals. Mason Johnson, the man to seal the double ends as the clubs player of the season, technically not great but he was a key man all season, 16 assists and 7 goals in 36 starts. Right back Ben Margetson wins the young player of the season, an amazing outlet going forward getting 15 assists, not bad for a defender! Jaylan Wildbore ends as the clubs top scorer, the one big reason for our success, he banged in 26 goals over the season in 43 games, 15 of those in the league. And here is the whole double winning squad. Now we look forward to next season and it's going to be tough to replicate what we've just done. I'd be happy to just seal League Phase qualification in the Europe and seal a European spot for the following season via the League. We have money at our disposal but I need to be careful in not bringing too many players into the squad. It's big enough already but we do need to make improvements. The one thing I want to do now is get the board to agree to turning us professional, we may need to get some more money in via Europe, then hopefully the board will agree. What a season!

March 2025 3 league games in March, it started awfully with a 2-1 home defeat but we came back with a stunning 5-2 win over Haverfordwest. This meant we would go into an away tie against TNS knowing at least a draw would claim the league title. We didn't play well but defended for our lives and came out with a 0-0 draw. MEANING WE ARE WELSH LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!!! What an absolutely incredible achievement for a team expected to end near the bottom of the table. The players have been amazing this season and fully deserve the title win! And that means Champions League qualifiers next season!!! Now all we to do now is win the Welsh Cup as well!

February 2025 A solid month with 5 points gained from our 3 league matches That means we are now 10 points clear with only 6 games left The title is so close now!!!! We're also still on for the double after beating Cefn Druid in the Welsh Cup Quarters In the Semi's we've avoided TNS and have an away tie against 2nd tier Penybont to play for a place in the final It looks like it's going to be TNS in the final if we get there

January 2025 After a dodgy December we have been absolutely incredible this month. Four games, four wins! And because of that we have massively extended our lead at the top! 11 clear with 9 games to go! Surely we can't bottle this? We've also made a few signings, mainly because my half-seasons loanees went back to their clubs. Kamarl Grant - Central Defender - loan from Millwall Myles Cowling - Central Midfield - loan from Cambridge Alfie Rutherford - Striker - Free Transfer Wallace Malpas - Winger - loan from Lincoln There's still 4 days of the Winter window to go but I don't foresee anymore signings, we are over wage budget, which the board are not happy with and no one seems to want to leave!

December 2024 Are the wheels beginning to come off? A good start to the month ending with two defeats and another defeat to our closest challengers TNS Fortunately though TNS have also lost twice this month meaning, with three games of the regular season to go, we keep our five point gap at the top

November 2024 Again, another really good month ruined by one poor result. I will more than take 10 points from 5 games though! TNS have closed the gap a little but we still have a 5 point gap with 7 games of the regular season to go.

This won't affect what I'm doing as I'm enjoying the ride at Pontypridd but I've just noticed that TNS made it through to the Europa Conference League, technically meaning they beat me to it for being the first Welsh club to get out the qualifiers. I still want to do it here and then see how far I can get in a European competition but thought it prudent to tell those who are following along.

October 2024 The great form continues with only one slip up and I can take losing the TNS even if we didn't really turn up. TNS have had an amazing month as well but we still sit top by 8 points!

September 2024 What an incredible month, this team is just amazing and we are hammering nearly everyone! 100% in the league....still and we're through two rounds of the Welsh Cup. The only blip was an awful attacking performance against Newtown in the League Cup, where we went on to lost 8-7 on penalties. It's all about the league though and we are absolutely smashing it! 6 wins from 6, 17 scored, 2 let in!!! But just look at TNS, what a shocking start for the big boys.

August 2024 The season has started and it's going very well so far! A solid win over 2nd tier side Briton Ferry in the cup followed by two really good wins in the League. 100% so far, let's hope we can keep it going. Now for other news and there are a few more signings to look at. Mason Johnson - Winger - Free Transfer Tolu Ladapo - Striker - Half season loan from Charlton Liam Vincent - Left Back - half season loan from Portsmouth Savy Vicente - Defensive Midfield - half season loan from Shrewsbury Some good players coming in, until the Winter at least, the board wouldn't give me any money to spend so had to rely on this until the Winter and then hopefully the board agree to improve my budgets. Luckily though the board have been more accommodating in my other requests. Firstly, they have agreed to improve the youth facilities. They've also agreed to let me take my first coaching badge.

24/25 Europa Conference and Transfer Update Well here we go, after last seasons amazing 3rd place finish hopes are high for the upcoming campaign, this means we really need to try and strengthen the squad which, with very little money, is going to be tough. But before we go through who's joined there is the Europa Conference to look over, somewhere where we can actually make some money! We entered in the first qualifying round and were drawn again Andorran side Inter Club d'Escaldes, I had no idea if this was tough or not but after the first leg I knew exactly how easy it was going to be, we won 10-0!!!!! The second leg, we played the reserves and still managed to win 4-0. Easy, but it was about to get much tougher! In the second round we faced Portuguese side Vitoria de Guimaraes, I fully expected a hammering and although we did lose, we more than held our own. A 4-1 defeat away followed by a 1-1 draw at home. Really pleasing! And with that we made £689k of prize money!!! That is absolutely massive, something that could help propel this club above TNS! Now to the transfers, I tried to keep costs down, free transfers and loans were the aim with them all on cheap wages. All in all, only one player left and that CB Shane Sutton who retired, only four players joined as well but I'm sure, with more money at our disposal, more players will come and go. So please welcome..... Evan Press - Central Midfield - Free from Barry Town Lewis Lynn - Central Midfield - Free from Bala Town Warren Thomas - Left Back - Free from Afan Lido Charlie Noakes - Central Defender - Free from Caernarfon A quiet window, mainly because I don't just want to buy anyone, but also because or squad is massive and I'm struggling to get rid of players, yes we have a lot on non-contracts but with me not paying them bar when they play I see no reason to get rid until I improve the squad so much that I don't need them anymore. The good news is, with all they money we have, the board are beginning to agree to some of my requests. They did turn down me wanting the club to turn professional but have agreed to improve the youth recruitment and junior coaching. The next plan is to improve the training and youth facs and then hopefully, when the board agree to it, we can improve the wage budget. But the big aim now is to gain European qualification once again for next season, the media aren't hopeful but we proved them wrong last season so why not again?!

2023/24 End of Season Review We went into the final 3 games 5 points behind Aberystwyth in 3rd place, we needed a miracle and a miracle is what we produced! We claimed 4 points from the first 2 games and with Aberystwyth dropping points we went into the final match, at home to Aberystwyth knowing a win would mean we leapt ahead of them to end in 3rd. And we did exactly that!!! What an end of the season and that meant we had ended in the European spots for next season......but only if the winners of the Welsh Cup were Cardiff Met Uni. Cardiff Met played Newtown in the final, if they won, we got a spot in Europe next season, if Newtown won then we have to taken away from us in the cruellest way possible! And luckily for us it was an easy win for Cardiff Met! That means a spot in the Europa Conference next season where we'll enter in the first qualifying round! Massive but it's going to be tough to get very far! Now lets look at the key men from the season, firstly our best XI The 424 worked a treat most of the way through, bar a few dodgy performances we were really good overall Goalkeeper Charlie Casper wins the clubs player and young player of the year award. A solid season for him where he conceded only 46 goals in 38 games and kept 13 clean sheets Jaylan Wildbore ended as the clubs top goalscorer with 16 goals in 35 starts. He did a lot better than I expected but another goalscorer is needed for next season. Winger Dean Pinnington ends with the most assists at the club with 10 in 37 starts. So an amazing season, we were expected to end in the bottom two, somehow we ended in 3rd place and a spot in Europe for next season. Incredible! The board have given me a bit of money to spend, the wage budget hasn't massively increased but they have given me £20k to spend. I'll probably end up transferring that over to the wage budget to bring in some freebies and cheap loans. As you can see below the squad is already pretty big and bar the loanees who will be leaving we only have one player who will be out of contract at the end of the season. I don't foresee many changes in the playing squad, a new Striker is a must and then just some players to replace those loanees who will be leaving It's going to be a tough season with Europe as well and expectations a lot higher but I have hope we can push the top 3 again.

March 2024 Well the wheels have well and truly come off 1 point from 3 league games and a shocking performance to go out of the Welsh Cup 3 games left, 3rd is now looking an impossibility. After such an amazing season we have fallen away right at the end

February 2024 Another solid month with only one bad game. I can take the defeat to TNS but that defeat to Cardiff Met, especially as they had 10 men for a large part of the match was really poor. 2 wins from 4 in the league though is still really good and we've got ourselves into the semis of the Welsh Cup (TNS are already out!) 6 games left and we have a serious chance of top 3 and with that a spot in Europe (Welsh Cup winners dependant)

2023/24 - End of regular season update I honestly do not know what has happened but our form has gone mad, we're now 8 games unbeaten and have won all 3 of our games in January so far. That means we end the regular season in 4th place and, if we carry on this form, we have a serious chance of pushing the European spots (top 3)!!! I can't put my finger on the upturn in results, the squad is the same, the tactic is still a 424 with 2 DMs, whatever it is, well it's worked!! This is the tactic, a fluid counter-attacking 424. God knows how but its working a treat!

January 1st 2024 Well we just played TNS away and got an amazing draw but in the next game we played them at home and did this..... WHAT A WIN!!!!! The tide is turning at Pontypridd!

December 2023 After a small break at the start of the month we've come back and put in some amazing performances. A brilliant 5-0 win over Cefn Druids followed by one sensational result, drawing the giants of TNS 2-2 away courtesy of a 95th minute leveller!! Stunning! 3 games left of the regular season to go to get that top 6 spot!

November 2023 Probably our best month so far! 10 points from 5 games, we are slowly turning this into a decent season. 6 games until the split and we have serious chance of making the top 6!

October 2023 Things are still going pretty well! It's been very entertaining! Those last two defeats have dented morale but we are still well clear of the bottom two