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July 2004

EURO 2004 WINNERS

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHELSEY PERKINS (AGE 12) FOR GAINING THE HIGHEST SCORE AND WINNING THE COMPETITION OUTRIGHT!! SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO PICKED GREECE TO WIN (WHICH JUST GOES TO SHOW WHAT THE SO-CALLED EXPERTS KNOW!...........and I mean you!).

THERE WAS A FIVE WAY TIE FOR SECOND PLACE AND THE WINNERS, IN ORDER OUT OF THE HAT, WERE:

2ND PLACE 3RD PLACE 4TH PLACE 5TH PLACE 6TH PLACE

JAMES WYME (MAIDSTONE) MARK DARTNELL (BASILDON) MARK CHARLES (IPSWICH) JOHN READ (HEYBRIDGE) GAVIN HILTON (HEYBRIDGE)

CONGRATULATIONS TO ONE AND ALL.............AND A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED WE HAVE RAISED OVER £1100 FOR CLUB FUNDS!!!!!

SEE YOU ALL FOR OUR GERMANY 2006 WORLD CUP COMPETITION!!

June 2004

OUR UNDER 15'S (COLCHESTER) WIN THE TREBLE!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE UNDER 15'S (COLCHESTER) FOR WINNING THE 2003/2004 COLCHESTER 'A' LEAGUE, LEAGUE CUP AND OPEN CUP

Once again a club record was smashed over the weekend........firstly the Under 15's (Colchester) lifted their second cup trophy of the season on Saturday 15th by beating Woodbridge Town in the League Cup Final and then on Sunday 16th completed a stunning treble to clinch the 'A' League title (still with two games to go!) by beating Great Bradfords Reds 7 - 0. What a season they have had and it's not over....can they do an 'Arsenal' and complete the league season unbeaten? So far the only game they have lost was against SENRAB in the Essex FA County Cup Semi-Final. This must be the highest achieving team in the Club's history!

WELL DONE TO DEREK, ROBBIE, MEL AND ALL THE PLAYERS FOR A FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENT

April 2004

PETE BURTON

To all players and parents,

PETER BURTON - R.I.P.

It was with great sadness that I had to inform our player's respective families on Monday afternoon of the sudden passing away of Pete Burton. I have known Pete since Jimmy joined the club as an 8 year old in 1997. In all this time I never heard Pete utter a bad word about anyone, he was always supportive of what we tried to achieve with the squad. Right up until his illness worsened, Pete never failed to arrive early at home games to help with the goals and always impressed me with his controlled touchline manner, putting us more 'excitable' parents to shame. A hard and conscientious worker, he always took his responsibilities seriously, although it must have been difficult at times with an adolescent son to contend with! These small things, his unselfish nature and his utter devotion to Jimmy made Pete Burton a very special person, a real 'salt of the earth' character... He will sorely be missed by everyone that knew him.

Without doubt, our feelings are now very much with Jimmy and the rest of the family. Life has certainly dealt the boy a cruel blow and we are left wondering how this could happen to such a lovely lad, before his dad even had chance to see him develop into the likeable young man he will no doubt become. I know that Jimmy is receiving lots of support and attention from his family and have no doubt that his friends and team mates at Heybridge will rally around him at this difficult time.

Having spoken to Jimmy, I am aware that he would like to fulfil his dad's wishes by coming along to training on Saturday and to be involved in Sunday's game. I am sure that we will all be right behind him whilst at the same time respecting his need to have 'a little space'.

Pete's funeral is taking place on Wednesday 7th April, 4pm in Goldhanger. I hope to know further details by the end of this week. I feel that a floral tribute from the squad is appropriate and hope to arrange something that symbolises his connection with the Black and Whites. If you would like to contribute towards the flowers, please see Alison during the game on Sunday afternoon.

Derek Still

ANOTHER SEMI - FINAL

THIS TIME IT'S THE U/14'S CARRYING THE FLAG INTO THE LEAGUE CUP SEMI BEING HELD ON

SUNDAY 4TH APRIL - 2pm K/O  v COLCHESTER ATHLETIC

at LITTLE OAKLEY (Directions from Alan - 01621 855244)

GOOD LUCK LADS

Mar. 2004

CONDOLENCES

Heybridge Boys FC was saddened to learn this week of the tragic death of two people involved with youth football locally - Lesley Vasey the Under 14's Manager with Colchester Athletic and Adam Brandon an Under 15's Goalkeeper from Braintree.

Although not known personally I am sure they would have been involved in matches against us on more than one occasion therefore everyone involved with Heybridge Boys wish to send there sincere condolences to the families, friends, team-mates and Clubs of Leslie and Adam.

A minutes silence was held before all Heybridge Boys matches on Sunday 14the March as a mark of respect.

ESSEX COUNTY FA U/15'S ROSSER CUP  - SEMI FINAL

HEYBRIDGE BOYS  1 V 2 SENRAB

So it wasn't to be. Our Boys went down in a very hard fought contest in a vicious wind. Chances were few and far between but apart from the one goal we also hit the post. SENRAB are probably one of the two top youth clubs in London, if not England, and have a fine history of producing future talent and winning many cups, so this was no disgrace. This was our first taste of a County Cup semi-final and I am sure the first of many.

The match was marred by a concussion injury, from a clash of heads, to Brett Jewitt who was taken to hospital by Ambulance. Although kept in for 24 hours for observation I understand from his parents that he is recovering well.

All involved with Heybridge Boys FC wish Brett a speedy recovery and we hope to see you back again in the 'Black and White' before too long.

A NEW CLUB RECORD

Congratulations go to our U/15's Colchester League Team for reaching the Semi Finals of the Essex County Cup -  (Frank Rosser Trophy)

Heybridge have had 3 teams reach the Quarter Finals of County Cup Competitions in the past but this is a really superb achievement - WELL DONE LADS

Watch this space for details of the Semi-Final and GOOD LUCK

July 2003

CHAIRMANS REPORT TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2003

Firstly, I would like to welcome you all to this year's Annual General Meeting. As in past years, I will present my comments under a number of subject headings.

Activities on the Field of Play

Our teams have again excelled this season with our under 7's, 8's, 11's & 15's all winning their respective league championships. Of particular note is Ed Low's 15's going unbeaten in the Colchester "A" Division as he and his side move across to the Eastern Junior Alliance League as Heybridge Swift's u-16's. We wish Ed as Manager, and his lads every success in the senior club.

Aside from this, the u-11's won one of their Blackwater & Dengie Cup Finals, were narrowly defeated in another as well as being losing Colchester Open Cup semi-finalists, thus not quite emulating lan Armstrong's side's prior year feat of the B&DL "treble". lan's u-12's had a very satisfactory first season in their switch directly into the Colchester "A" Division, finishing comfortably mid-table. Derek Still's u-14's arc likely to be confirmed as runners up in their Colchester "A" Division. All in all, probably HBFC's best ever season in competition. Our u-11 's & 13's represented the club for our third visit to the prestigious Slikkerveer International Tournament in the Netherlands. Both sides did extremely well in 3 days of football, each playing 13 games. All of our boys behaved impeccably and were a credit to the club, which should secure our invite for next time. The highlight of the tour was the u-13's 2-1 victory over Ipswich Town, who along with ourselves and Rushden & Diamonds were representatives from the UK.

Around the Club It is appropriate to mention here the very sad loss to the club of Val Low over the last weekend in May. Val has supported Ed throughout his many years with the Boys Club and it seems particularly cruel that at such a young age she has gone at a time when Ed was on a "high" with his success this year and looking forward to the challenges of being the Swifts u-16's manager. We will all be supporting Ed , Stevcn & Danny through this difficult time in all & every way we can. Ed has accepted a Vice-President's position with the Boys Club, which is customarily offered to outgoing managers & officials with long & loyal service.

Switching to more mundane matters, both of our main pitches have again held up very well this season, despite another very wet winter period. The damp spell during May will help regeneration of the surfaces, but remedial work in the goalmouths, etc will be carried out as usual during the summer ready for next season. The new toilet block was up & ready for our five-a-side tournament in May. The club thanks Knights Contractors for the generous donation of the building and also our Vice-Chairman, Richard Marsh for leading the refurbishment project with help from many club members & parents including particularly Dave Branton-Speak. Dave Taylor& Paul Elmore. Again, thanks to Richard for organising the purchase & siting of our storage container purchased from ICS. We suffered some minor problems with vandalism to our floodlights, but remain remarkably free of any serious or repetitive activity in this respect.

Finance & Fund Raising

Our Treasurer will report a continued healthy bank balance thanks to good tea hut sales and particularly our 5-a-side day, which raised record revenue. Despite this situation, the Committee is recommending an upward adjustment in membership fees for next season as a number of cost items, particularly pitch hire are rising. HBFC remains the best value club in the district and we trust that members will adopt the AGM resolution for the increase. A number of additional fund raising events aimed specifically at the Slikkerveer tour were put on, including a very successful "race night" for which thanks go to both Ray Love & Dave Bull.

Communication

The club continues to develop it's widely acclaimed web site and we also decided to reintroduce a "hard copy'1 newsletter, which we aim to issue at least once per school term.

The Future

One of the main issues we currently face in the medium term, is the potential move away from Scraley Road of our neighbors & landlords Hey bridge Swifts. This is by no means certain and, the links we have built with the Swifts over recent years will ensure that any move is a "community" issue including the boys club. It is possible however that space / facilities on any new site will not be completely sufficient and we are therefore monitoring other opportunities for ourselves independently. The club will of course keep members updated on any developments as they may occur. This situation will not detract from our overall relationship with the Swifts. Despite this, we will continue to improve our facilities and, ready for next season, will be improved pathways & drainage around our clubhouse area.

I made it known earlier this season, that after after 9 years as Chairman I would like to take the opportunity to stand down. I have however made a commitment to my fellow officers that I would only do so when a suitable replacement emerges from within our membership.

Thanks

As I close my report, I would like to thank all my fellow officers and managers and look forward to working with you again next year. 1 would also like to thank our many local business sponsors for their support in the purchase of kit & equipment which all helps to minimise the cost of running the club. It has also been good to see a growing number of"new faces coming forward from our ranks of parents to assist with various aspects of running our club. Having said this, we still need more and are currently seeking people with expertise in website editing & PR to further promote the club in the local community.

Finally, I would like to congratulate Mark Hawkes (who also generously helps the club with sponsorship from his company) in his recent appointment as Swifts first team manager and wish him together with his assistant Robbie Nihill, every success for the season ahead

John Adams, Chairman, HBFC

June 2003

A VERY SPECIAL LADY

It is with much sadness that the boys club reports the sudden death of Val Low, wife of Ed our U/15's manager, mother of Dan and Stephen, stalwart of the club and tea hut.. Val had been a footballer's wife for all of her married life and supported Ed in every venture he decided to tackle from Heybridge Sports manager to HBFC manager.  She was part of the club,  a lovely lady, and will be sadly missed by everyone involved with HBFC.

May 2003

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

U/7'S	**	LEAGUE WINNERS **
U/8'S	**	LEAGUE WINNERS  **	(Unbeaten)
U/11'S	**	LEAGUE WINNERS  **
	**	K/O CUP WINNERS  **
		LEAGUE CUP FINALIST
		Colchester Open Cup Semi-Finalists
U/12'S (Colchester)		Colchester Open Cup Semi-Finalists
U/14'S (Colchester)		LEAGUE R/U
U/15'S (Colchester)	**	LEAGUE WINNERS  **	(Unbeaten)
		Colchester Open Cup Semi-Finalists
U/7'S LIONS		4th In League
U/9'S		9th In League
U/10'S DYNAMITES		4th In League
U/10'S DYNAMOES		8th In League
U/12'S (Colchester)		6th In League
U/12'S (BDYFL)		8th In League
U/13's		6th In League
U/14's (BDYFL)		6th In League

NO HEYBRIDGE TEAM FINISHED OUTSIDE THE TOP TEN THIS SEASON SO

WELL DONE TO EVERYONE.  

WITH 4 LEAGUE WINNING TEAMS AND 3 TEAMS REACHING THE SEMI-FINALS OF THE COC, NOT TO MENTION THE ALL CONQUERING U/11'S

WE REALLY ARE THE CHAMPIONS 

PRESS RELEASE  (13 JAN 2003)

A HEARTY BREAKFAST FOR ALL

On Saturday 18th January at 10am the Dengie Hundred branch of the Women's Food and Farming Union will be cooking a mass breakfast for the players of Heybridge Boys FC to help launch locally Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2003 - a national campaign to get us all eating healthy local farm produce for breakfast!

"Heybridge Boys is a rural based community club and one in which a number of parents of our members work in the local agricultural economy" says Geoff Oval, Club Secretary of Heybridge Boys "therefore we are only too pleased to provide the hungry mouths and empty stomachs for the launching of this year's campaign!!" "It is said that an 'army marches on it's stomach' and the same could be true for a youth football team. During the colder months it is essential for the youngsters to eat a healthy, balanced breakfast before training and matches."

With 200 players in 14 teams from ages five to sixteen Heybridge Boys FC is one of the largest youth football clubs in the area.

Further information:

Heybridge Boys FC, Geoff Oval, tel: 01621 858663/07817 210468 www.heybridgeboysfc.co.uk

Farmhouse Breakfast Week and the Women's Food and Farming Union, Janet Thorogood, tel: 01621 772033 www.hgca.com/breakfast

Media launch:

Sat 18th January at 10am at Heybridge Boys FC, rear of Heybridge Swifts FC, Scraley Road,

PUBLICITY OR PR OFFICER WANTED:

Heybridge Boys FC is a progressive club and is entering an exciting phase of its development - developments both on and off the pitch. From having a record number of players and teams to joint projects with our associated club Heybridge Swifts FC and the upgrading of our own facilities.

Whilst we are very good at what we do we could be better in communicating our achievements to the community, media, our own members and others. Therefore Heybridge Boys FC is seeking a dedicated person to act as our Publicity or PR Officer.

The post is a full Committee post and voluntary, as indeed all Committee posts are. It would involve collating weekly match reports and forwarding them to the local media, ensuring the media are kept informed of club events and developments, advising the Committee on any media/publicity opportunities, assisting with the production of the newsletter and the website and attending the monthly Committee meetings and other events on behalf of the Club.

Ideally this person would have an association with the Club, either past or present, who would be willing to give up a few hours a week and who possibly has some media or press experience.

If you can help out or would like to know more please contact the Club Secretary, Geoff Oval, on 01621 858663 or email: geoff@main4.net

IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Will those people who update this website on behalf of their teams please contact the Club Secretary as there have been changes to our dial-up numbers.

Oct 2002

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO SUPPORTED OUR BIG RACE NIGHT ON 12TH OCTOBER.

A MASSIVE £840 WAS RAISED FOR THE CLUB - WOW!!

HUGE THANKS TO DAVE AND TRACY BULL, RAY AND SHARON LOVE AND 'SHED'

FOR ORGANISING IT ALL...............A FANTASTIC TIME WAS HAD BY EVERYONE.

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

CHAMPION JOCKEY: ANDY 'It's all in the wrist action' JESNEY - TWO BOTTLES OF CHAMPAGNE AND FOUR BOTTLES OF WINE ENOUGH FOR YOU?

'THE WILLIAM HILL LUCKY PUNTER' TROPHY: ROB 'You spilt my beer' SMITH - A DVD PLAYER, FOUR CASES OF LAGER AND AN UMBRELLA (I think he won more but let the rest of us mere mortals win something!)

CHIEF FIRE OFFICER: DAN - Heybridge will have it's own firework display this year - lock up your pets!

THE 'IN YOUR DREAMS' RAFFLE PRIZE WINNER: SHIRLEY 'What flavours have you got' MARSH for winning the edible body paints and blow up sheep!

..................see you all next time!!

Update June 2002

HEYBRIDGE BOYS FC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE ON 25 JUNE AT 8PM AT HEYBRIDGE SCHOOL, ROWAN DRIVE, HEYBRIDGE. ALL MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND.

Annual Ground Working Party will this year take place on Saturday 29 June and Saturday 6 July from 9am onwards. If you can help to tidy up the ground, clean the changing facilities and paint the goals etc please help.

Update March 2002

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE UNDER 11's ON REACHING THREE CUP FINALS

The Colchester Open Cup, The Blackwater Division One League Cup, The Blackwater and Dengie League Knockout Cup

WELL DONE BOYS.....THE FUTURE'S BRIGHT IT'S BLACK AND WHITE!!!!!!!!!!!

HEYBRIDGE BOYS FC WELCOME THE PLAYERS AND OFFICIALS FROM S.V.SLIKKERVEER, HOLLAND FOR OUR EASTER MINI-TOURNAMENT WITH COLCHESTER UTD AND GILLINGHAM FC. WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY WITH US IN ESSEX.

5 A-side Competition - Sat 18th May

Our ever popular annual event open U/7,8,9&10's.  This is the 7th year of running and hopefully will be bigger and better than ever. Any club that has not received an invitation and would like to compete please telephone: Marion Wakeling -01621 892610 for an entry form.

Important Notice To Members And Visiting Teams: Please note that the gate to our access lane is to remain locked at all times by order of Maldon District Council. Any visiting teams to our premises will need to check with the respective managers and/or our fixture secretaries about access. Any vehicles left in the lane after the gates are locked are not the responsibility of Heybridge Boys FC who will not accept any liability for damage which may be caused.

Update Jan 2002

Welcome to the New Year and we hope you all had a festive time.

Our mini-soccer sides are currently in their Winter Break and will be back in action on the weekend of the 3rd of February. However are senior teams will still be playing good football throughout January.

Watch out for our Newsletter to be published shortly.

A couple of news items:

1) Work is underway to uprate our current training floodlights so that they can be made easier to use and set up.

2) A new portable practice goal is to be purchased for the senior sides to use.

3) Unfortunately the recent cold spell caused a pipe to burst in our hut. Although the damage was thankfully minimal the water escaped onto the main pitch covering one touchline in ice and a couple of matches were cancelled as a result. We'd like to thank those dad's who helped us clear up and remedy the situation inc. Paul and Dave.

Update Dec 2001

HEYBRIDGE BOYS FC CHRISTMAS DISCO

A BIG thank you to all of you who came along and celebrated in style. A MASSIVE £250 was raised for club funds!

Update Nov 2001

PRESS RELEASE: HEYBRIDGE BOYS DONATES FOOTBALL KITS TO AFRICA On Saturday 17th November at 10am Heybridge Boys FC Chairman, John Adams presented a large number of complete football kits to Maldon's very own 'Mr. Football' and honorary African Prince - Sid Wells. Sid Wells, or 'Prince Sid Of Manduar' as he is known in the Gambia, will add this generous donation to others he has received before delivering them to less fortunate, but still soccer mad, boys in the Gambia in February. Sid was granted his 'Royal' status by the town of Manduar in recognition of his voluntary work for helping to develop grass roots youth football in the Gambia. 'Over the years Heybridge Boys FC has been fortunate in attracting sponsorship to ensure our teams play in the latest kits' says Club Chairman, John Adams. 'We are now truly delighted to be able to donate these kits to those less fortunate than ourselves and to further aid the development of the game of football in Africa.' It is hoped that 'Prince Sid' will be accompanied on his next trip by Andy Jesney and Dean Curtis from Heybridge Swifts FC, which will strengthen the footballing ties between Heybridge and Manduar even further.

Update Oct 2001

Heybridge Boys FC are pleased to announce that training will now commence on Saturday mornings featuring top semi-professional players from the full first team squad of Heybridge Swifts FC, our associated senior club. The squad has a number of players who are fully qualified coaches and both clubs see this as cementing an already close relationship for the benefit of each other. The Boys will gain first hand experience of life in the Ryman Premier League from top players such as Colin Wall, Simon Parker and Dave Streetley.

A big thank you to all those who attended our first fundraising bash of the year on Saturday as 'JamiraClives' Karaoke Night went down a storm. There will be more in future so keep your browser pointed at this page. Each event ensures that we keep our subscription costs to a minimum so that everyone can take part in football.

A great start to the season with no less than five of our sides topping their leagues and the others either second or third - keep it up lads!

Update Sept 2001

WELCOME BACK !

As Chairman, I would like to bid a warm welcome back to our members old and new for the 2001-02 season. The season is but a few weeks old and already our teams results in matched played have been excellent. We are unfortunately running a few teams lighter than usual, in part due to the complete handing over of administration for the 16's & 18's Alliance side to the Swifts, plus a number of other factors. This has had a subsequent effect on Club income from subscriptions and makes it all the more important that our membership supports the use of the "tea hut" on training and match days, as well as supporting any Club arranged social events to the full.

The first such function is a "KARAOKE NIGHT" to b held on SATURDAY 6TH OCTOBER AT THE SWIFTS. This is the evening of the England v Greece World Cup qualifier, so result permitting, we should have something to sing about…..three lions and all that !

We are also currently working with the Swifts to reactivate the match day mascot scheme as well as other events involving the boys, watch out for further news. The Swifts free season tickets for our members are also nearly ready, please ask any committee member or your team manager for details.

This web site is proving to be a great means of communication for our members and the recent survey conducted with registration this year indicated that around 85% of our members are using it. If however team managers are aware of any members not able to access the internet please advise and we will then make periodical hard copies of information available.

John Adams

Update Aug/Sept 2001

Welcome back Heybridge Boys FC 'Web Followers'........ready for another season? We hope the weather is better than last years! However keep surfing in to your favourite pages to check out your team's progress.......we hope we have as much success this year as last.

But to start things off on a sad note Heybridge Boys FC will not be running an Under 16's side this year but we hope to be back at full strength in 2002/2003.

Good luck to all teams 

NB:  As several of last years U/15's have been successful in making the Swifts U/16 Alliance team, it has been decided to use our current U/16 web-page to follow their 2001/02 season.

WEBSITE WINS ACCOLADE IN LOCAL PRESS!! : Update January '01

The widely distributed "Green 'Un" (the Eastern Counties top sports paper) in a recent article on football club websites scored our own HBFC site 9/10. It said - "Check out the Heybridge Boys FC site and see how the new breed of footballers are faring from the u-7's to the u-18's. This impressive site demonstrates the hard work and commitment being put into the club."............Thought you'd all like to see that!!!!

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