Announcement regarding Honouring Tom Neate

The football club was devastated to learn of former Junior, Tom’s passing. A talented footballer and truly lovely young man who would regularly come and support the Youth and 1st Teams even once he had stopped playing.

This Saturday’s home fixture will be played in his honour. There will be a minutes silence at 2pm before kick off to honour Tom and to allow for reflection on a young life cut short far beyond its potential. We ask that supporters arrive pitch side 5 minutes before kick off so that everyone can respect and honour Tom with peaceful reflection.

Thank you in advance.

Leon Turner

Chairman

New Signings Confirmed

1st Team manager Leon Turner welcomed several new signings officially to the club at our last training session before the new season begins. Here's what he had to say on our new additions.

Leon spoke about striker Kuda Kamoto;

"I'm delighted to welcome several new players to the 1st team squad. Kuda Kamoto (pictured) has been a friend of the club despite regularly scoring against us for Hambledon across the years, he is a tremendous addition as a proven goalscorer but also as a person. His honesty and his passion for the project here at Manorcroft was clear from our early discussions and the respect he showed Hambledon before deciding to move shows the class of the man. What a fantastic example for our squad but also for all our juniors."

We have also added centre backs Will Hands and Jack Cleary to the side and the gaffer had this to say;

"We had a lot of changes at centre back last season, ultimately that unsettles your side week in week out and so it was a key area to strengthen this summer. Will is a good age, in his 20's and brings great chat and organisation to the back line, he can defend aggressively when needed and will be a key member of the back line, his geordie accent will easily be heard and identified in leafy Surrey! Jack is still 'young' but is excellent on the ball and in the air and has performed really well in pre season. With the players already at the club we now have a settled feel across the back line and hopefully that can benefit the team this season."

The club has also added experienced midfielders Richard Johnson and Luke Lloyd to the squad, the gaffer adds; "RJ is possibly the best player to ever pull on a Manorcroft shirt, that's no disrespect to anyone that has played or is playing but it's clear from his level of communication, organisation and his ability to problem solve that despite being at the older end of our average age scale he will bring huge amounts of leadership to our group. He can really completment the excellent midfielders we already have and I'm delighted he has signed. Luke is also one of our more mature players, he is aggressive and has already shown some excellent link up play with Kuda and the other forwards. He is slightly more attacking of the two and will play as an 8 or in the 10 and will bring that experience and aggression, he has a calmness on the ball that perhaps can only come with experience and very rarely gives a bad pass. He gets into good shooting positions with clever movement and again I am delighted to welcome him to the club."

Finally Harrison Cleary has joined the club and will bolster the attacking options available to the management. "Harrison is an incredibly hard working and very consensciuos young man, he has some growing still to do but is tenacious and will provide us with the ability to play off either side or in the 9. He has had to work back to fitness after some injury struggles and has worked so hard so I'm really encouraged by his attitude and application. He has a desire to do well and that is something that in life will push him forward"

With match day 1 just days away we look forward to seeing who makes the squad from our new signings, the 1st team kick off their league campaign at home to Worplesdon Phoenix on Saturday 2nd September at 14:00

#COYL🍋

Senior Section Update

With just days until the start of the Surrey Intermediate League Western season we caught up with Chairman, Leon Turner to discuss the Senior section.

Following a difficult 22/23 campaign for the first team especially but also for the Development team in the 2nd half of the season it was clear the clubs Senior section needed a fresh outlook. The decision has been made to withdraw the Development team from the league, here is what the Chairman had to say. "It was clear that last year we had a number of players who's commitment to the club was questionable, be it giving up their time each week or purely just attitude. This club has always been about playing proudly to represent the badge and the opportunity given by the club, the players for this level at least want for nothing at training or matches. It's sad that a number of players had the attitude that they were bigger and better than the club or the league they were playing in and ultimately that results in a lack of effort, lethargy, arrogance, however you want to see it really. The management made a decision that poor attitude would not be tolerated this year and a number of players were identified to be challenged to improve or move on. As it turns out many of these players have chosen to move on themselves and with a few others having had their heads turned and a few others having decided to stop playing all together a natural clear out has happened rather than one lead solely by the management team. In some respects it's better this happens organically as for the most part relations remain strong with many of the players that have stopped playing or have moved on and we wish them all the very best for their seasons unless of course when they are facing us! The number of players moving on meant that we were left with a much smaller squad and with a group of players who have regular work commitments which mean they are not available every week we had to make a call regarding the Development team. Simply the group of players left at the club even with new additions meant to complete a 26 league game 1st team season and a 24 league game development team season would be virtually impossible. The decision is a difficult one because ultimately some players will now miss out on a game each week with there being only one squad but the senior management and the committee felt it to much of a financial risk to continue meaning paying a fee for the pitch at the cricket club and of course the referees fees and all the other expenses that go with running a team. As a club we also didn't want to start the season and then withdraw because it makes a mess of the league and creates additional work for league officers this isn't fair. In the short term we are certain reducing to just a 1st team is absolutely the right thing to do and the plan is to have a complete focus on rebuilding the 'Lemon' spirit we seemed to have lost over the past few years."

The 1st team start their season on Saturday 2nd September at Coopers Hill, kick off 2pm.

#COYL🍋