For the third season in a row, The Guild was pleased to be match

sponsor for Wealdstone Football Club and on a somewhat damp Monday evening in March, Wealdstone welcomed Welling United in a National League South match. Under floodlights at Wealdstone’s home, Grosvenor Vale, the match proved a cagey affair with the hosts scoring in the last minute to secure three vital points.As match sponsors, The Guild awarded the Man of the Match Award to the scorer of the late goal Ricky Wellard, for his overall dominant performance. The Guild and Wealdstone FC share their historic roots in Harrow and we place great value on being an active player in our local community and on our support of our local team in their quest for league football.Peter Smallwood, Guild Public Affairs said, “Wealdstone is a community club, run by the fans for the fans. We are pleased to have a continuing relationship with them and look forward to sponsoring them again in the future”.Paul Rumens, Wealdstone Club President said, “The Guild are ongoing supporters and friends of the club and we value their support greatly.”

A SPONSORS VIEW

Above - Man of the match as chosen by the Guild Ricky Wellard collecting his award Below- Ricky grabbing his late winner

PIC. STEVE FOSTER

DAVE PRATT

summed up the lack of effort put into this programme.

The highlight of the programme – the Manager’s Notes on page 5 !!

SCORE: 5/10.

2 DARTFORD This 52 pager from Dartford that retails at £2.50 certainly flatters to

deceive. At first glance it looks pretty good but a closer inspection reveals a distinct lack of content. Lots of photographs and some nice lay-out in parts but sadly, pretty much a complete lack of interesting words to

actually read. With nearly 23 pages of adverts I guess the Commercial Manager might be pleased but it’s an uninspiring effort.

SCORE: 7/10 (slightly generous mark due to the £2.50 selling price!).

3 CHELMSFORD CITY A bumper 64 page programme for our replay Trophy trip to Essex – all

the more impressive because it was produced at short notice following a 1-1 draw at Grosvenor Vale three days before. I like the content and lay-out of the stats pages and I also like the large

player photo on the 2 centre pages (perhaps something for us to consider at some stage). It’s professionally laid out, nicely printed and pretty decent. It doesn’t match a Wealdstone programme for “readability” but it does sell for £2.50 so a thumbs up from me and it gets a high score.

SCORE: 9/10 (would have been 8.5 but the selling price of £2.50 earns the 9!).

Those of us who purchase our home programme will be well aware of its quality and

content. We have long been blessed, or should I say spoilt, with a magazine product that delivers week in and week out. It is against the standard of our programme that I measure the offerings produced by other clubs. Tim has asked me to review our away programmes, so here goes..

1 OXFORD CITY I have to say that I was far from impressed by the offering from the cathe-

dral city. A 40-page programme that retails at £2.50 had little by the way of original offering... and had it not been for the fact that City had beaten Colchester Utd in the FA Cup the week before one wonders what on earth the programme contributors would have written about! They gave an entire page (see above, next to the cover) given over to advertising the next two matches - and that

For the first time in a couple of years we’ve decided to revive this ‘Progwatch’ feature, where we run the rule over our fellow National League South clubs’ programmes and decide that ours is much better.

It’s a time-honoured format that works!

Stones director (and self-confessed programme buff) Pete Worby, pictured below, has volunteered to provide the words so,

offended officials of our rival clubs, he’s the one to seek out and berate this time around!

WEALDSTONE v EASTBOURNE BOROASSESSING OUR RIVALS

PROG WATCH 2017-18

all the participants in National League South. A poor poor effort. SCORE: 3/10

6 BOGNOR REGIS TOWN The only redeeming feature about the programme issued by the

Boggies is the fact that it sells for £2. About 4 pages of readable content including a decent editorial and a decent set of Manager’s Notes but that’s about it. Due to the low price this 40 page programme, nearly half of which are adverts, scores a 4 rather than a 3. Oh, and did I say how (below) average the cover was? SCORE: 4/10

7 TRURO CITY The Truro programme was just 32 pages which makes the cover price of

£2.50 seem somewhat excessive. It’s yet another pretty unimpressive effort with the highlight being

another double

page centre-fold photograph. The lowlight, without question, surely has to be the full page quiz containing a whopping 10 questions.

Thanks to a couple of original arti-cles (one on the subject of Bovril and another debating what consti-tutes a “fan favorite”) the programme is just good enough to be classed as average.

SCORE: 5/10

8 BRAINTREE TOWN My initial reaction to the Braintree Town programme was that it was

somewhat Mickie Mouse. It’s just 28 pages, virtually lacking in colour, devoid of quality photographs and printed on plain, non glossy paper. However, it’s actually quite quirky and I like it. It contains an awful lot of information with a very small font size being used – it’s crammed full of information. It’s a decent read

which isn’t something you can say about many of the programmes we come across in National League South. Also on the plus side - it sells for £2.

SCORE: 7/10

More reviews in next Satur-day’s super Stones programme!

4 CONCORD RANGERS A massively disappointing programme from Concord

Rangers. The one thing to admire is the low charge of £2 for this 44 pager as there is little else to put in the positive column – unless of course you like reading the seven pages devoted to Concord Rangers’ Club History and Pen Pics of the Concord players - plus even a Concord Rangers team photo. I imagine that their supporters must love reading this week after week! There’s even a full page quiz that has a whole 5 quiz questions (answers the following issue!!) – truly awful. I would happily have gone for a 2/10 but due to the low selling price it earns a SCORE OF 3/10.

5 HAMPTON & RICHMOND For a club that’s currently getting an awful lot of things

right, it’s something of a shock for the Hampton programme to be quite such a shocker. At £2.50 for just 40 pages I thought it was simply appalling – there were 12 pages of what you would call original writing but astonishingly the programme editor saw fit to include 3 pages from someone who was giving a round up about how his “imaginary” Hampton side were doing on his Football Manager computer game. Bizarre or what? Yet another programme that leaves the writer distinctly unimpressed – a half page listing Hampton’s timeline, an index that fills half a page, a page about the history of local street names, a whole Club Directory page simply listing the names and addresses of

WEALDSTONE v EASTBOURNE BOROASSESSING OUR RIVALS

So there I was, alight-ing at Ruislip Gardens and traipsing along the

West End Road on my way to The Vale. Ahead of me was a gaggle (an unfairness? an acne?) of teenagers, scurry-ing along and chatting nine to the dozen about something or other. And then I realised what they were saying - they, like me were on their way to the Vale, just as excited as I was about the game ahead.

Of all the truly amazing things to have happened to our club since we took root in Ruis-lip, attracting a new generation of support has to be among the most gratifying. We’ve got youngsters considering our league position, our budget, the potential for new player X - it’s a sight for sore eyes. And if they’re coming to us, they’re

not going to QPR, Chelsea, Fulham, Brentford, Watford or any of the other professional alternatives London has to offer. Instead, they’ve chosen to follow the stones, the mighty mighty stones.

Pass the duchyYou hear a lot of total rubbish about young people these days. We’re told that ‘millen-nials’ and ‘Generation Z’ want different things to the genera-tions before them. And, sure, to an extent they always do. All young people want to be dif-ferent to their parents in some form. But ultimately, what we all want is the sights, sounds and all-round sensory overload of a football match in full cry.

After all, what is the typical teen going to be looking for from their football entertain-

ment? A decently competitive game, that’s for sure. A club at a level high enough to have a significant following, highly likely. But what about chang-ing ends? The ability to move freely between stand and club house? Travelling to away games at clubs which are, in the most part, reasonably easy to get to?

Many young fans may well have been taken to a profes-sional match for their first game and also to the Vale un-der their own steam. And they will then have an opportunity to work out where their allegianc-es really lie, taking into account the value of these specifically non-league liberties.

Teen Age RiotThe question is: Will Ruislip’s young people support the professional clubs their fathers support - or will they make their own way in the footballing world? One factor today is cost. Back in the 1970s and 1980s your typical teenager could easily afford the ticket and travel involved in attending a professional football match. Today, the tickets at least are considerably more expensive.

So it is fortunate indeed that West Middlesex has such a rich variety of non-league clubs. Wherever you live in the

Talking ’bout our next generation (of supporters)

The column for Wealdstone fans to air their views on the wonderful world of football. (Email us to have your say.)

WORLD of BALL

westernmost part of God’s own county you’re probably never more than four miles from an active non-league club of some form. That said, Ruislip and its environs has always been a relatively underserved football catchment area. The town had never been a footballing hotspot until 2008 - but then it had never had a club capable of lighting such a footballing fire as Wealdstone.

Ruislip Manor FC played on this very pitch for more than sixty years without gaining the results, and thus the traction necessary, to enter the non-league stratosphere. But since we’ve been at The Vale we’ve hosted two FA Cup first round ties against professional oppo-sition and two FA Trophy semi-finals, to say nothing of the play-offs and our 2013/2014 title winning run. In doing this we’ve laid down the infrastruc-ture to attract the attention of a new generation, and one that can choose to support its own local club - one that really is closest to where they live.

Mmmh MmmhOf course, it’s more than that. One thing no club can thrive

without, whatever their level, is atmosphere. And goodness knows how much this Satur-day past proved* that we at Wealdstone have nailed the atmosphere part. Any young person keen on live football is definitely going to be seduced by the particular brand of raw partisan atmosphere we pro-vide heere in spades, whatever the fixture.

Lip ServiceI know, because that’s what happened to me. Back when me and my mates were fresh out of school our footballing education took place on the terraces at Lower Mead and by extension Earlsmead, Church Road, Honeycroft, Claremont Road, Underhill, Chestnut Avenue, The Warren, The Leas Stadium, Southbury Road, even here at Grosvenor Vale. We attached ourselves to the Wealdstone throng, firstly through the Lower Mead turnstiles and then taking turns on our respective provisional driving licenses to get to away games. The whole experience, peppered with relegations, championship winning seasons and, of course, the 1985

double - was intoxicating.So anyway, welcome The

Youth. You join our number at an exciting time. I hope that yet more will join you.

(* Written before our second leg Trophy semi showdown with Brackley. Whatever the scoreline, I have no doubt we’ll have attracted a few more new faces to the terraces.)

TODAY’S WORDS BY MARTIN READ

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

SEPTEMBER

AUGUST

OCTOBER

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

JANUARY

WEALDSTONE FC JULY Competition Result Crowd Pos. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17/GK

= Yellow Card= Red Card= Straight Red= Man of the Match

= 2nd Player Substituted= 2nd Substitute Used= 3rd Player Substituted= 3rd Substitute Used

NLS = National League SouthFAC = FA CupFAT = FA TrophyMSC = Middlesex Senior Cup

MCC = Middlesex Charity Cup= Goal= Penalty= 1st Player Substituted= 1st Substitute Used

FIXTURES & RESULTS | SEASON 2017 / 2018

FRIENDLY RESULTS 2017/2018July 4 Bedfont Sports (a) W 2-1 Eisa 2 July 8 Fulham (h) W 1-0 KearneyJuly 11 Slough Town (a) D 2-2 Fitchett, HarwoodJuly 15 Watford (h) 1-0 EisaJuly 18 Maidenhead Utd (h) 1-1 GreenJuly 22 Reading (h) W 6-1 Benyon 2 (1pen), Eisa 2, Hippolyte-Patrick, AnastasiouJuly 29 Hitchin Town (a) W 4-2 Eisa, Tiryaki, Green, FitchettOctober 31 Uxbridge (a) 7-1 (Whichelow, Goodger x3, Fitchett, Benyon, Tiryaki

25 Hampton & Richmond MSCF 0-1 481 — North Oshodi Okimo Harwood Hill Brown Whichelow Cox Benyon Fitchett Wellard Godfrey Hunt Anastasiou Hunt

5 CONCORD RANGERS NLS 2-1 752 8 North Oshodi Okimo Green Hill Brown Wellars Cox Benyon Fitchett Eisa Hippolyte-Patrick Godfrey Osei-Bonsu Hunt Kearney8 St.Albans City NLS 1-2 654 13 North Oshodi Okimo Ijaha Hill Brown Hippolyte-Patrick Cox Benyon Green Eisa Fitchett Godfrey Wellard Hunt Osei-Bonsu12 Gloucester City NLS 2-2 403 13 North Oshodi Okimo Ijaha Hill Brown Hippolyte-Patrick Cox Benyon Green Eisa Fitchett Godfrey Wellard Hunt Osei-Bonsu14 HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE NLS 0-1 922 14 North Oshodi Okimo Green Hill Brown Hippolyte-Patrick Cox Benyon Fitchett Eisa Godrey Osei-Bonsu Wellard Ijaha Kearney19 CHELMSFORD CITY NLS 0-2 908 18 North Oshodi Okimo Green Pollock Brown Hippolyte-Patrick Cox Benyon Fitchett Eisa Godfrey Wellard Whichelow Kearney Constable 26 Eastbourne Borough NLS 1-1 631 18 North Oshodi Okimo Pollock Brown Wellard Hippolyte-Patrick Cox Benyon Green Eisa Fitchett Whicelow Godfrey Ijaha Constable28 HEMEL HEMPSTEAD TOWN NLS 1-1 966 18 North Oshodi Brown Pollock Hill Okimo Hippolyte-Patrick Green Benyon Fitchett Eisa Whichelow Wellard Godfrey Sellers Constable

2 East Thurrock United NLS 1-1 411 18 North Oshodi Brown Hill Day Whichelow Wellard Okimo Fitchett Green Hippolyte-Patrick Mohamed Benyon Godfrey Osei Sellars5 Weston-super-Mare NLS 1-5 416 20 North Oshodi Brown Hill Day Wellard Whichelow Okimo Fitchett Ngamvoulou Mohammad Benyon Sellers O’Brien Green Godfrey9 BOGNOR REGIS TOWN NLS 3-0 845 18 North Oshodi Sellers Brown Day Wellard Whichelow Okimo Fitchett Green Eisa Hill O’Brien Godfrey Osei Ngamvoulou11 POOLE TOWN NLS 4-1 807 14 North Oshodi Sellers Hill Day Wellard Whichelow Okimo Fitchett Green Eisa Benyon O’Brien Godfrey Osei Ngamvoulou16 FAVERSHAM TOWN FAC2Q 4-0 414 14 North Oshodi Sellers Hill Day Wellard Whichelow Okimo Fitchett Green O’Brien Benyon Eisa Ngamvoulou Williams Constable23 Bath City NLS 0-0 645 18 North Oshodi Sellers Brown Day Wellard Whichelow Okimo Fitchett Green Eisa Benyon Williams O’Brien Cox Ngamvoulou30 Burgess Hill Town FAC3Q 0-1 590 20 North Cox Okimo Brown Day Wellard Ngamvoulou Williams Benyon Green Eisa Fitchett O’Brien Hippolyte-Patrick Hill Godfrey

7 WHITEHAWK NLS 2-1 953 14 North Wilson Sellers Hill Day Williams Hippolyte-Patrick Okimo Fitchett Green O’Brien Goodger Wellard Ngamvoulou Eisa Brown14 Chippenham Town NLS 0-0 723 12 North Wilson Sellers Hill Day Williams Cox Okimo Fitchett Green Hippolyte-Patrick Goodger Eisa Brown Ngamvoulou Wellard21 TRURO CITY NLS 2-1 817 11 North Oshodi Sellers Wilson Day Cox Whichelow Okimo Hippolyte-Patrick Green Eisa Goodger Fitchett Wellard Brown Hill28 Welling United NLS 2-1 666 11 North Oshodi Sellers Olomowewe Day Cox Sellers Okimo Hippolyte-Patrick Green Eisa Goodger Hill Whichelow Fitchett Ngamvoulou

7 HAYES & YEADING UTD MSC2 3-0 169 11 North Oshodi Sellers Olomowewe Day Williams Whichelow Okimo Okojie Green Eisa Tiryaki Brown C Ngamvoulou Fitchett O’Brien11 HUNGERFORD TOWN NLS 1-0 1,021 11 North Oshodi Sellers Olomowewe Day Cox Williams Okimo Okojie Green Eisa Goodger Fitchett Brown Hippolyte-Patrick Whichelow18 Oxford City NLS 2-3 349 10 North Oshodi Sellers Olomowewe Day Wellard Hippolyte-Patrick Okimo Tiryaki Green Eisa Goodger Fitchett Brown Williams Whichelow 21 Dartford NLS 3-3 669 11 North Oshodi Sellers Olomowewe Day Cox Williams Okimo Tiryaki Green Eisa Goodger Fitchett Ngamvoulou Brown Whichelow 25 CHELMSFORD CITY FAT3Q 1-1 520 11 North Oshodi Sellers Brown Olomowewe Cox Williams Okimo Tiryaki Green Eisa Goodger Wellard Whichelow Wilson Hippolyte-Patrick29 Chelmsford City FAT3QR 2-1 TBA 11 North Oshodi Brown Olomowewe Day Cox Sellers Okimo Tiryaki Green Eisa Goodger Fitchett Williams Wellard Whichelow 2 BRAINTREE TOWN NLS 3-1 861 11 North Olomowewe Brown Wilson Day Williams Sellers Okimo Fitchett Green Eisa Goodger Benyon Wellard Hippolyte-Patrick Whichelow9 Concord Rangers NLS 1-3 287 11 North Oshodi Brown Olomowewe Day Williams Hippolyte-Patrick Okimo Fitchett Green Eisa Goodger Wellard Cox Ngamvoulou Benyon16 WINGATE & FINCHLEY FAT1 1-0 371 11 North Oshodi Brown Wilson Day Wellard Sellers Cox Goodger Green Eisa Benyon Olomowewe Hippolyte-Patrick Fitchett Ngamvoulou23 ST ALBANS CITY NLS 1-3 911 12 North Oshodi Brown Wilson Day Cox Sellers Okimo Pratt Green Eisa Goodger Ngamvoulou Fitchett Wellard Olomowewe26 Hampton & Richmond NLS 1-1 817 13 North Oshodi Sellers Olomowewe Brown Cox Ngamvoulou Okimo Pratt Green Eisa Goodger Wellard Day Wilson Fitchett

1 HAMPTON & RICHMOND NLS 0-3 929 13 North Oshodi Sellers Olomowewe Day Cox Ngamvoulou Okimo Pratt Green Eisa Goodger Wilson Johnson-Schuster Whichelow Fitchett 13 HEREFORD FAT2 1-0 909 13 North Olomowewe Okimo Wilson Oshodi Cox Whichelow Wellard Fitchett Green Eisa Goodger Tiryaki Day O’Brien Sellers16 HAMPTON & RICHMOND MSCQF 1-0 172 13 North Johnson-Schuster Okimo Oshodi Gayle Cox Artwell Wellard Pratt Green Allen Goodger Bonfield Olomowewe Day Tiryaki20 Bognor Regis Town NLS 3-0 706 13 North Johnson-Schuster Okimo Oshodi Gayle Cox Whichelow Wellard Pratt Green Eisa Tiryaki Allen Fitchett Artwell Olomowewe27 WESTON-SUPER-MARE NLS 2-1 760 11 North Johnson-Schuster Okimo Gayle Oshodi Cox Allen Whichelow Pratt Green Eisa Tiryaki Wilson Fitchett Olomowewe Goodger

3 WARRINGTON TOWN FAT3 2-1 601 12 North Olomowewe Okimo Wilson Oshodi Wellard Whichelow Cox Tiryaki Green Artwell Goodger Day Sellers Fidgett Bonfield10 Truro City NLS 3-1 391 12 North Johnson-Schuster Gayle Oshodi Cox Whichelow Wellard Pratt Green Allen Goodger Wilson Fitchett Fitchett Sellers Otudeko13 STAINES TOWN MSCSF 3-3 (5-6 Pens) 12 North Johnson-Schuster Sellers Gayle Wilson Cox Allen Fitchett Pratt Green Otudeko Goodger Tiryaki Day Whichelow Artwell 17 DARTFORD NLS 1-2 1,002 12 North Ogle Okimo Gayle Oshodi Johnson-Schuster Fitchett Cox Pratt Green Allen Goodger Tiryaki Wilson Whichelow Bonfield19 GLOUCESTER CITY NLS 1-2 788 12 North Ogle Okimo Gayle Oshodi Cox Fitchett Wellard Pratt Green Otudeko Tiryaki Tiryaki Wilson Whichelow Day24 Billericay Town FATQF 5-2 1,823 12 North Ogle Okimo Wilson Oshodi Cox Whichelow Wellard Tiryaki Green Bubb Goodger Day Otudeko Fitchett Artwell 5 WELLING UNITED NLS 1-0 783 12 North Johnson-Schuster Okimo Gayle Wilson Cox Whichelow Wellard Tiryaki Green Bubb Pratt Allen Day Fitchett Kearney10 Braintree Town NLS 2-2 510 12 North Johnson-Schuster Okimo Gayle Day Cox Whichelow Wellard Pratt Green Bubb Tiryaki Fitchett Wilson Allen Sellers13 Havant & Waterlooville NLS 0-1 806 12 Constable Sheppard Sellers Oshodi Wilson Gayle Ngamvoulou Cox Tiryaki Pratt Fitchett Day Bubb Okimo Allen Ogle17 Brackley Town FATSF1 0-1 1,250 13 North Sheppard Sellers Oshodi Wilson Okimo Wellard Cox Tiryaki Green Bubb Fitchett Whichelow Olomowewe Ogle Constable24 BRACKLEY TOWN FATSF2 --- --- — 26 EASTBOURNE BOROUGH NLS --- --- — 31 EAST THURROCK UNITED NLS --- --- —

2 Hemel Hempstead Town NLS --- --- — 7 BATH CITY NLS --- --- — 9 Hungerford Town NLS --- --- —11 OXFORD CITY NLS --- --- — 14 Poole Town NLS --- --- — 16 Chelmsford City NLS --- --- — 21 CHIPPENHAM TOWN NLS --- --- — 28 Whitehawk NLS --- --- —

S

Saturday March 26, 1977 (Southern League Premier Divi-sion): Burton Alb (Home) W2-1

At the time of this match we were just starting to come out of the doldrums of our

own bleak midwinter and indeed this was a vital win for the Stones. We were firmly in the mire but an impressive end of season run saw us comfortably safe in the end.

Burton were mid-table so good opposition when you desperately need points - and the game had the added interest of George Duck being stuck on 199 goals for the club and anxious to hit the double ton.

Considering our form a healthy crowd of over 900 turned out at Lower Mead for this one and were treated to a much improved perfor-mance. Bobby Moss gave us a first half lead which our dominance

George held at the club but he was God in the eyes of what was then a predominantly young fan base. He is still the club’s record goalscorer with 251, and some 40 years on there is little sign of that being challenged. Indeed its difficult to see that being beaten in the modern era as players just don’t hang around long enough.

George had seven seasons with us, so an average of just over 35 a season. Not bad eh!

George only left us when we achieved a place in the first-ever National League in 1979 as he didn’t fancy the travelling, and he went on scoring regularly for the next six or so years with Dagenham, Harrow and Hendon to

George Duck (right) hurdles this tackle in a 2-1 win over Weymouth that preceded the match v Burton. Who got both goals? You guessed it!

deserved and we doubled our lead on the hour mark when the maestro himself George Duck thumped a volley from the edge of the box which led to wild celebra-tions and a pitch invasion.

Burton nabbed a consolation near the end but we held on for a much welcome win.

For our newer fans its difficult to comprehend the hero status that

WEALDSTONE v EASTBOURNE BORO REWIND <<<<<<<<<<

ON THIS DAY INSTONES HISTORYBY GORDON MCKAY

41 years ago, Duck hits his 200th goal to

spark amazing scenes

CONTINUED OVERPAGE

end up with a grand total of 439 goals in his senior career... a staggering total and definitely the best goalscorer I’ve ever seen.

Some player and a true Stones legend.Saturday March 26 1994, Southern League Div One South: Braintree A) Drew 2-2

Season 1993/94 saw what is generally accepted as the worst ever Wealdstone side

in living memory. Our financial woes had taken their toll and we were paying just expenses to put a side out. Of course as in all things in life you get what you pay for, and we certainly did.

At this point we were on a run of 13 successive defeats in the league. Not only that, we hadn’t won in the league for 16 games (stretching back to November 20th when we beat Weymouth 3-0 at home.

I remember in the week leading

from that splendid character Vic Schwartz and a Floyd Dennis penalty. I can’t remember too much about the game but I know we had a good day out and of course were happy at having stopped the rot.

In fact we only had to wait another week for our next win when we trounced Dunstable 4-0 .This was a tough season for the fans but many of those are still around and able to enjoy happier times.

up to the game having to persuade my great friend Tony Platt that we just HAD to go because one day when things were much better we would remember this day. I don’t think we had many more than 25 fans at Braintree that afternoon but it was a true test of loyalty. Only the real diehards were there and when we have days like we had at Biller-icay last month, winning an FA Trophy quarter final in front of 500 travelling fans then I can assure you it means so much more to the likes of us who witnessed those truly dark days.

And indeed we were rewarded with a 2-2 draw, our goals coming

WEALDSTONE v EASTBOURNE BORO REWIND <<<<<<<<<<

Some lovely tributes and stats for George Duck at the end of that season.. but (above) the club’s struggles brought their own problems with some unsavoury fans (probably young Mr McKay and his pals) prompting the club’s Harry Benjamin into a strong response in the programme....

40 YEARS AGO

Bob Dugard’s picture sums up the spiteful contest on the mud-heap that was Lower Mead that rainy March afternoon. Bobby Moss (yellow shirt, left) marches into the fray with the always combative Willie Watson and Steve Brinkman the other Stones players. Below left: George Duck puts pressure on the Italian keeper with Pat Ferry (9) and Moss (7)

The day we took onUdinese in the mudSaturday March 26, 1978, Anglo-Italian tournament: Wealdstone 0 Udinese 1YOU may remember that three years ago we carried a couple of special Rewinds on this memorable tourna-ment that took place 28 years ago - they are in the Gosport and Weston-Super-Mare 2015 programmes (still available I believe in the Megastore) for those who want a to read a bit more about the Stones’ one and only competitive trip overseas.

It was staged on a group basis, with us playing two home games (against Paganese and Udinese, from Italy’s Serie C (their top non-League division) and two away, against Reggiana and Arezzo. Paganese were beaten 4-2, and we lost both games in Italy 1-0 and 2-0, but the game everyone remembers is the Lower Mead clash with Udinese.

Partly because the Italians were very, very good (and were in fact promoted to Serie A within two years, and remain one of the country’s top-flight clubs); partly because the game was played in a hailstorm that saw referee Tom Bune take the players off the field for five minutes; and partly because it was one of the most spiteful games ever witnessed at our old ground.

Long-time fan Bob Dugard (brother of General Manager Nick), has found some pictures he took that day and they perfectly

illustrate the shocking weather and appalling playing surface. I asked George Duck earlier this season what he remembered of the Udinese game and he stated that it would not have been played if it were a league match. “The Italians were only over for a short time so it had to be played that day” he said. “The pitches these days are so much better - mainly because the players don’t train on them between matches - whereas in our day they were always mud or sand heaps with hardly any grass after September time. Udinese were tough and non-nonsense, they took no prisoners and man marked us in a way I’d not experi-enced before. They didn’t look at the ball, they just looked at you; holding, pulling, even spitting! But they were a good side too, you could see that. Nobody was surprised that they ended up winning the tournament.”CONTINUED OVERPAGE

Wealdstone had been invited because of our high-profile that season - along with the other top Southern League sides Bath City, Maidstone, Nuneaton and Mine-head- while Bangor City represented the Northern Premier League. Udinese won the competition easily, only dropping one point in a 2-2 draw at Maid-stone, and beating Bath 5-0 in the final on their own ground in June in front of a 15,000 crowd.AN INTERVIEW with Udinese players before they played Liverpool in the Champions League

six years ago was all about pre-vious matches against English opponents.

And of course they talk about Wealdstone! In particular it is

mentioned that after a clash between the Italian keeper and the “Wealdstone centre-forward”, a lone Stones’ supporter tried to enter the pitch to tell the keeper what he thought of him and that policemen were fortunately on hand to stop him doing just that.... (Rumour has it that one of our ex-stewards is the gentleman in question. You’ll have to ask Don Cross if he is related - Ed)

WEALDSTONE v EASTBOURNE <<<<<<<<<REWIND

MATCH Sponsors

• Four admission tickets, each with a seat in the directors’ area of the main stand• Four match day programmes• Full hospitality prior, during (half time) and after the match in the board room • You or your organisation’s name featured prominently here in the programme• You or your organisation’s name announced over the PA to the crowd• You or your organisation’s name featuring prominently on the club website leading up to the game• A meeting with the manager post match• A memento of your special day.• Your nomination of the ‘man of the match’ announced over the PA at full time.• Your picture taken in the boardroom with your chosen man of the match.

What better way to celebrate an occasion or advertise your company’s support of Wealdstone? Our comprehensive match day sponsorship involves you or your company in every aspect of the match. To find out more, contact club president Paul Rumens paulrumens59@gmail.com, (07710 929692) or Peter Worby (07967 698370). Specific requests can be negotiated, and prices start from £295 +VAT for four guests. Matchday partner packages are available from £59 per person, and tailor-made packages from five up to 30 persons are available on request.

HERE’S WHAT MATCH SPONSORS GET:

CONCORD RANGERSVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHSaturday, 5th August

FULHAMVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHSaturday, 8th July

HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLEVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHMonday, 14th August

BOGNOR REGIS TOWNVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHSaturday, 9th September

POOLE TOWNVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHMonday, 11th September

CHELMSFORD CITYVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHSaturday, 19th August

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD TOWNVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHMonday, 28th August

WHITEHAWKVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHSaturday, 7th October

In Memory of Karl Schmitt

Ray Corner & Pete Carter

David Leigh

Dominic Whyley

Douglas John West

In Memory of Naomi Benveniste

IanStapleton

Dedicated to the Bartlett Family& in Memory of Roy Bartlett

Harrow Sales& Marketing

Wealdstone FC Supporters Club

Half Way Line Tea Bar

Miriam Goodman

HUNGERFORD TOWNVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHSaturday, 11th November

TRURO CITYVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHSaturday, 21st October

FAVERSHAM TOWNFA CUP 2ND QUALIFYING ROUNDSaturday, 16th September

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Martin &Syl Allen

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EAST THURROCK UNITEDVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHSaturday, 31st March

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ST ALBANS CITYVANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHSaturday, 23rd December

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People for Print

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Torben Prestwich – For all the volunteers at WFC

Mark Lloyd – inmemory of Ian Spicer ProKit UK

Cynical 31 2=1David Edwards 28 3=1Ronnie Raffle 28 1=1Barbara Robson 27 2=1Shortstuff 27 1=1AMugPunter 26 2=2Bob Bangs 26 1=2Platty 26 2=1Aiden O’callaghan 25 2=1Ken Pegg 25 1=0Andrew Lane 25 1=1Pat Rooney 25 1=2Greedy Pig 24 2=1Sonny Boy 2 24 2=1K.Judge 23 2=1Victor Klarfeld 23 0=1Tom Coulson 23 1=0Don Cross 22 2=1Megaphone Mick 22 1=1Nick Symmons 22 1=1David Leigh 22 3=1Lapels 22 1=1Wayne Corner 22 2=1Bankzzy’s Boyz 21 2=1Jez Albert 21 1=1Hamish Clark 21 2=1Daphne Corner 21 3=1Clive Leaper 21 1=0Mim’s Goodies 21 1=0

Tom Marshall 21 2=1Robert Matthews 21 2=1SENCO 21 2=2Stuart Elder 20 1=0Mark Lloyd 20 2=1Munk 19 2=0Gordon Thompson 19 2=0Olmar 19 3=2Pauline Worby 19 3=2Happy Stoned 18 2=0James Klarfeld 18 2=1Roo Roo 18 1=1RNR 18 3=1Sprouthead 18 1=1Clare Kemp 17 3=2Balblair Girl 17 0=1Guy Edwards 1 17 2=1Kenmar 17 1=0Hayley Corner 17 1=0Ron Moore 17 1=0Sonny Boy 1 17 3=1Steve Paull 17 1=0Deadly 16 2=1Jim Sorrell 16 2=0John Harvey 16 1=0Irene Paull 16 2=0Tim Parks 16 2=3Peter Drew 16 4=0Steven Aves 16 2=0

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Ally Angelides 15 3=1Ryan Cross 15 2=0Robert Platt 15 1=0Ray Corner 15 2=1Roger Slater 15 2=1Wobs 15 2=1Chris Woods 15 1=1Barry Benveniste 14 1=2John Banks 14 3=1Maray 14 2=0Munkey 14 0=0The Linesmen 14 4=1Alex Corner 13 2=0Alan Couch 13 2=1Guy Edwards 2 13 2=1Paul Harvey 13 4=2Tony Drew 13 1=2Keith Harris 12 2=1Lew’s Blues 12 2=1Micheal Burns 12 2=0Sutton Stones 12 3=1Duncan Penman 11 3=0Balblair Boy 10 1=0Rob Saville 10 2=1S. Khanna 9 2=1Mick Fishman 9 0=2

1=1

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