Basford United FC

One of the oldest and best known clubs in the county, Basford's history includes many Notts Alliance honours, FA Cup appearances during the forty's and fifty's and two Notts FA Senior Cup triumphs, their last final win coming in 1988 which included many great names including Wayne Lear, Billy Daft, and Paul Jepson to name a few. The period from 1988 through to 2003 saw limited success however the appointment of Martin Soley as 1st team manager saw a revivial of the clubs fortunes and in 2005 both 1st team and reserves won respective league titles in the N.A.A, and the 1st team also secured the Notts Intermediate trophy .In 2006 Basford were accepted into the N.S.L and an excellent start saw the 1st team win 6 out of the 1st 7 games. This good showing was maintained throughout the season and the 1st team finished a very respectable 3rd place and had the honour of having club captain Mark Dimech,centre midfielder Richard Oakes & Centre forward Kevin Walker selected to the N.S.L. representative squad.The season 2007/8 saw the 1st team under the leadership of Chris Munroe and despite a slow start blighted by injuries and unavailabilites and a host of new signings eventually the team found form finishing the campaign very strong and providing a very good foundation for 2008/9.

2008/9 saw United push forward and a 3rd placed finish was good reward for a consistent campaign that saw us take great strides to complete with the elite of the NSL.

2009/10 saw United teams well placed to challenge for honours and with the key additions of Scott Smalley,Lewis Johnson, Mark Nixon,Curtis MacDonald Gary Wright,Luke Humpheries Justin Evans & Tobias Richardson as well as the likely return of central midfielder David Balfe the United squad on paper was far enhanced from previous campaigns and got off to a superb start to the 2009-10 season,collecting 19 points out of 21 on offer and 6 clean sheets out of the first 7 games. Despite the loss of the NS.L,s leading striker at the time John Manders to a season ending horrific broken leg on the 5th Sept United, Richard Oakes to a season ending knee injury on the 19th Sept and Mark Dimech for a long period due to a knee injury picked up running the half marathon United continued to prosper and went into the new year on top of the table and with a record of 11 victories 3 draws and 2 defeats and additionally had seen off Ollerton in the Notts Senior cup. However 1st team troubles were arising as the club lost further players Danny Knapcyk and Rusharn Bennett to season ending injuries and the loss of midfielder Johnny Bowers & Marek Vipond to Wollaton. Additionally the appearances of Scott Smalley were far too limited due to work commitments. on the field the defensive resiliance of the opening weeks of the season dissappeared as United conceded some shocking goals through individual errors and squandering far too many clear opportunities which not only cost us a senior cup victory against Southwell but also cost us victories against Bulwell, Boots to name but a few. Additionally with too many players unavailable due to commitments other than football it was a very frustrating time for Management. With key signings at this time of the season difficult to acheive United secured real gems in Damien Robinson from Greenwood and Juree Staples and Mark Foster, and Richard Liburd and the experienced Stuart Coke however and all after impressive starts the 1st 3 suffered medium term injuries that literally ruled them out of the remainder of the season. The loss of Robinson was totally frustrating as the box to box midfielder made a real impact showing very well and destroying Bilborough Pelican in a cup second round tie but again only to suffer an agonising season ending broken leg injury at Linby on the 27th Mar. United still managed to keep in contention and showed great character to win in tough circumstances at the likes of GSB, and Linby coming from two goal deficits despite all the odds stacked against them went on a great run that yielded 4 straight victories against the top teams in the NSL to set up a winner takes all clash against Clifton at Greenwich Avenue on the 17th April. Clifton in a tense affair came out on top of a tight affair with 2 goals in the last 16 minutes to turn round a 0-1 deficit and enter the last phase of the season as clear championship favourites. United still had opportunities and it would be a tough 88 min loss at home to midtable Wollaton with us putting out a banged up depleted team that ultimately extinguished our championship aspirations and allowed Clifton to seal the title by a small margin. United also failed in the latter stages of the league cup losing in the Semi final in controversial circumstances to Hucknall Rolls.So a season promising so much finished a little short but it would have made for interesting reading if we could have steered clear of the level of injuries sustained. On reflection 63 points from 32 games is a return that should guarantee 2nd spot which it did and this represents in points per game Uniteds best haul since entering the NSL.Additionally registering league goals 85 goals was a good 7 goals higher than our previous best even allowing for 2 fewer games than the 2006-7 season, however conceding 44 goals was far worse than our previous low of 38 goals again in the 2006-7 and this demonstrates a far too generous return for opposition and was the ultimate reason for failure to win the big prizes. So all in all a very satisfactory season that needs to be built on by the new management and not dismantled for 2010-11, the successful Mgt partnership of Andy Benner and Chris Munroe has parted company and after a win ratio of 82% spanning over a total of 5 seasons between Wollaton and Basford and the acheivement of 2 consecutive NSL championships has yet to be bettered in the N.S.L and provides the benchmark for success.

For the 2010-11 campaign United are well positioned to build on the successful campaign acheived that saw the 1st team finish a close runners-up whilst the Reserves again had a strong season during which they were top for various periods and did the double over eventual champions Wollaton, only to fall off the pace in the last month or so. The new 1st team management team for the 2010-11 camapign sees former Reserve Team manager Neil Smith taking charge alongside Basford favourite Richard Oakes. Off the field the club continue to put the plans for ground improvements in to place at Greenwich Avenue with ultimately floodlights proposed.

Without any doubt Basford United 1sts are delighted to see the back of midweek fixtures and move back to standard Sat to Sat games. Midweek games has seen Basford register both losses this campaign so far and Neil Smith and Richard Oakes have been hammered by so many absentees as result of in the main work commitments. Tuesday 4-1 loss to Wollaton saw a heavily changed team that that played against Bilborough Pelican on the previous Sat with James Needham forced to play on the left of midfield and manager Neil Smith who despite being top quality slotting in in the middle of the park when not playing competative football for many months would always be a massive ask. With no fewer than 5 key players missing from the starting 11 including Mark Dimech, Lee Carter, PJ Shiggins, David Balfe and Nic Thorpe. Throw in the continued absence of at least 7 other 1^st team squad members from injury, work or holiday commitments then it takes some squad to absorb such shortages. We can only have our fingers crossed that this absentee list will settle down.

United have an attractive 1^st team local derby against ground sharing Bulwell at Greenwich Avenue this week 3pm kick off and the managers hope to have a few back to strengthen the squad. Basford 2nds entertain Clifton at Greenwich 1pm ko

A decimated Basford 2nds really gave a good account in todays lunchtime kick off against star stunned Boots but were out gunned in the finishing department by the visitors. In a tight 1st period all level after 33 minutes with chances fairly even and the Boots keeper making 1 superb finger tip block to keep out a Matt Clowes effort and tipping over a speculative effort from Ben Howarth.At the other end the pace of Patrick Bakone was hard to contain but the striker was guilty of a shocking miss when through 1 on 1.Bakone made amends on 33 with the opening goal after lapse in concentration by the Basford backline that was clinically punished. With heads down given the goal against the run of play 2 further class finishes by Chris Fisher gave the half time scoreline a really flattering scoreline for the visitors. Second period Basford never gave up and despite only 1 sub and conceding a 4th early in the period a galliant last 40 minutes saw United hold most of the terrritory without having that ruthless finishing touch demonstrated by the visitors, this is impressive given Boots had the likes of Gareth Rees, Scoot Peach and Rich Saunders along with Fisher and Bakone as starters. Very impressed by the workrate of many for United and it is a matter of time before the good performances turn into wins so long as heads do not go down. On the day Rusharn Bennett was very good and along with Mark Nixon knocking at the 1st team door and very impressed with Andy Holland and Mark Bray who was excellent at right full back and really good performances from Ben Howarth and Matt Clowes but the remaining players were not far behind also.

Basford 1sts had to settle for a 0-0 draw in todays home game against Bilborough,with the real winner a swirling wind and a hard pitch that made cohesive football difficult for both sides. On chances Basford shaded it and in the last 10 minutes substitute Jame Needham, who gave us a spark had two great opportunities to win the game after forcing his way through on two occasions with great pace but failed to work the visiting keeper Johnson firing over on one and into the side netting on ther other effort.Defensively rock solid and the reunited central defensive pairing of Gary Wright and Mark Dimech were excellent on the day and Scott Clay registered his second clean sheet out of 3 and gave an assured performance. PJ Shiggins playing his 1st game of the season not only put in a 90 minutes but was good quality throughout.

Inches away from Gaz Wright finding the finshing touch let in the game to a fine cross from Adam Palmer(Basford in Blue)

Basford reserves were very unlucky to lose 1-0 to champions Wollaton 2nds and certainly gave as good as they got, youngster Ragalan Ragavan showed up very well for the 2nd game running and was almost instrumental in bringing Basford level with a fine run and through ball that looked for all the world that Matt Clowes would level it up all be it for a superb last ditch tackle. Rusharn Bennett continues to gain match fitness and looked sharp and it will only be a matter of time before this young team register a victory.

Basford 1st team suffered a dissapointing home loss this evening to Keyworth who managed by our ex joint manager Andy Benner alongside Wayne Miles went home happy with all the points. Webster notched the only goal of the game on 22 minutes with a neat finish from a throughball that disected the Basford backline. The damage for Basford was done 1st period as despite alot of honest effort failed to establish a foot hold on the game with the hard working Nick Thorpe an isolated striker swamped by Keyworth defenders. United need to show a marked improvement Saturday with the visit of Bilboro Pelican.

Basford new management duo Neil Smith and Richard Oakes team got the 2010-11 season off to the perfect start with a great victory for Basford against FC Cavaliers today at Greenwich Avenue and tactically got it spot on on the day in the selection and formation employed. In a performance based totally on hard work and a total team ethic, 13 heroes on the day chased every ball down, hunted in packs and defended resolutely to start the campaign with an excellent victory. Adam Palmer marked his return to Basford colours with the crucial opening goal on 20 minutes latching onto a superb weighted throughball from Ben Howarth to keep his cool and slot past Cavs keeper David Martt.But it was all 13 players and Mgt who deserve great credit in a game that saw no bookings for Basford players and all match officials and NSL committee members very worthy in they praise for the way how United conducted themselves on the day.One downer on the day was an injury to David Balfe from a reckless challenge from behind that we hope is not of a serious nature,Balfe on the day was tremendous.

A torrential downpour ensured our new stand was well occupied today at Greenwich Av

After all the hard work the real work begins as new look Basford United kick off the new N.S.L season with the reserves hosting Bilborough Pelican 2nds on Thursday evening 6.30pm ko Greenwich Avenue and then the main event Sat sees United 1st team entertain Caribean Cavaliers in a tough looking N.S.L encounter at Greenwich Avenue on Sat.The game will be the 1st to start in the senior division given the 1pm ko time to accomodate two quality games at Greenwich Avenue on Sat with the Bulwell v Wollaton following at 3 pm.It is ironic that the then the star stunned champions Cavaliers provided the opening test for Chris Munroes opening game in charge in Aug 2007 which resulted in a thumping 3-0 victory for United based totally on team spirit and hard work and the ethos adopted by Neil and Richard is to get the club back to the same mentality and commitment.1st impressions show that the lads have instilled tremendous team spirit both within those remaining from last season and the new additions that have been carefully selected to fit the mould.Obviously given so many new additions coupled with early season absentees due to the closing stages of the holiday season and a few niggling injuries could mean that it may take a few weeks for Neil and Richard to put out what they consider their strongest starting 11 but at least the building blocks are definately in place. Managerwise United have a headache in the 2nd team Management position remains unfulfilled at this time but we will not be rushed into an appointment as we want the right person and it may be we hold off until the start of the new school term to ensure we go after the righ calibre applicants.

Club and facility wise has seen vast changes at Basford from last season with the Greenwich Avenue site unrecognisable from last season with a new stand, hard standing now half way around the pitch, new FIFA regulation size dugouts and the main pitch continuing to benefit from the good work of the last 3 seasons and now really looking the part. Significant sponsership is in place and with over £5k acheived from preseason pitch rentals then the club is being run as an efficent business with all proceeds to be reinvested in the facility.The club has also forged excellent links with youth set ups with Priory Celtic bringing 3 teams between the ages of under 16 and 18 to Greenwich for the season. Additionally New College Basford will utilise the facility for the forthcoming midweek season and the 1st signs of the benefits of this alliance shows a youngster who hails from New college who could force his way into the 1st team fold for the new campaign.

Due to mutual agreement the 2nd team management position is now vacant and Basford would like to welcome ambitious applicants for this position, given the uniqueness and closeness of the football club the person,persons appointed for the position will be blessed with a tremendous talent pool and group of lads with a long association to the club who have the club at heart. Additionally given we have at the moment 35 plus signed of for both 1st and 2nd team camps then talentwise this is a great opportunity and the chance to be part of a very ambitious clubs with great things in the pipeline.

Any interested wanting to chat it through please contact 1st team managers Neil on 07979511422 or Richard on 07581288076 who will put forward suitable candidates for interview.