Palace Tube

The tube is coming to Palace in 2 weeks time, providing easy access to lots of trendy bollocks bits of east London.Doesn't stop at Mile End Though.

OAP FC vs Totten Ham United

The score from last night's game is irrelevant. What mattered most following the Rotterdam trip was that we ensured our terrific team spirit continued, and I certainly think we achieved that!

There were some frayed tempers being shown on the hallowed turf, but from my perspective this is a good thing. A desire to win, and crucially play good passing football, was in evidence from both teams. This level of ambition and desire will win us more games this year than we'll lose. In some respects it was a joy to see. Certainly if we can match those levels against Dolphin next week, we'll give them a great game!

It was also a complete joy to see so many familiar faces, and to welcome some new ones. Billy Monkton, Nick Connolly, Junior and Neill Robertshaw were all warmly greeted. Phil C's Colin, Binna, Fabio, Lee's Paul, Perre's Blake, Steve's Sean, Neill R's Glenn and Paxton Neil made up the list of new faces.

On the whole, it was a very enjoyable football match, albeit marred at times with a bit of needle. As we would all expect (and I hope demand if necessary), the needle was left on the pitch at the end of the game, and the general consensus in The Paxton afterwards was that the game was an unqualified success, with a large number of people asking about doing it again. An idea has already been mooted to do it straight after our sojourn to Spain later this year, what a great idea!

I'd like to spend the next half hour or so typing out a detailed account of the game, but that goes against the essence of what the match was all about. The game did tick the boxes I hoped it would; get us all back together, bring in some familiar faces, give everyone an enjoyable game after the Rotterdam trip, give us all a decent physical work-out, and provide us with an environment where we all felt comfortable trying to take an extra touch on the ball. Mission accomplished from the Coach's perspective!

Keep the faith!

Joe

I ain't being funny but…

What this week's game lacked in goodwill and fairplay it more than made up for in intensity and competitiveness. Traditionally , the Thursday after Rotterdam sees a flat Accies performance, but not this year.
The Whites used all of their experience ,the hugely influential Huge Dean, and some good team play to open up a big margin that the Red and Blues never got close to reducing, despite intense pressure for the last half hour.
Along with the bickering there was actually quite a bit of good football played by both sides, and it was great to see a mixture of Old faces and new boys giving it 110%.
I can hardly believe I'm saying this, but let's do it again, soon.

Ginger Werewolf: Trendsetter

Evidently Steve Davis has been washing his hair with Body Shop Ginge…

Post-match nosh-up in pictures

F&F 0 EA 0: bonus footage 2

F&F 0 EA 0: bonus footage

Unfortunately my mammoth posting below of photos from the match in Rotterdam has sent Elbows' marvellous 6 mins 39 secs of footage further down the blog, but I urge you to seek out the Tour Film for it is prachtig!

F&F 0 EA 0 in pictures

Tour Film

Here's a quick film of the weekend. I had to throw it together in a bit of a rush tonight but hopefully it conveys a flavour of the Tour. There's loads more footage that'll feature in a future DVD.

 You'll need your specs to see any of the match footage on this small format.

Effra Academicals, 2010 Vintage (with apologies to Accies numbers 7, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21 and 22)

Presenting the two team photos taken by nearly-but-not-quite-match-winner Gza Dietz.  It would be remiss of me not to point out that in the second picture, several Accies* are unwittingly showing you their sex faces...

*Thorny, Hairy Cornflake and Miami to name but three.

A few Rotterdam pics

Click here to view some photos from the fantastic Rotterdam trip. Only taken with a mobile but worth a look. They're on facebook - not sure if you need to be on facebook to view or not...?

English Ginger Werewolf in Rotterdam

Police  today warned the public to be vigilant after after a ginger werewolf  caused panic on the streets of Holland's second city at the weekend. Recently escaped from  prison , the Lupine ginger menace went deep under cover and has evaded all attempts by crime fighters to recapture him. Thought to be posing as a mild mannered academic with an improbably exciting globetrotting lifestyle,  the hirsute psychopath poses a serious threat to law abiding people everywhere.

The authorities released this rare footage of the evil mastermind in an attempt to educate the world about his cunning methods. The G.W  lures victims  with his ginger bathroom products before tearing them to pieces with his  evil ginger fangs.

The hairy ginger menace was spawned when, at the height of the cold war, an experiment in a top secret government laboratory went horribly wrong. During an attempt to create the ultimate fighting machine by fusing the genes of Teen Wolf, Austin Powers and Ronnie Corbett, a careless boffin accidentally knocked a bottle of ginger shampoo into the experiment and  inadvertently created a monster.

Effra 0 F&F 0

I'm still very much basking in the glory of us successfully defending the Anglo-Dutch Challenge Cup - and I'm not embarrassed to admit it! What a game! How can a 0-0, made possible at some considerable expense, with a lot of travelling, much drinking and merriment, and plenty of personal sacrifices, have been so damn thrilling!!?!? (Apologies to any of our Dutch friends who may read this, but it's very one-sided!).

We edged the first-half in my opinion. We created the clearer chances, and despite the glorious sunshine and energy-sapping heat, we were winning tackles and opening up the F&F defence regularly.

Our strict discipline of holding our shape as much as we possibly could meant that when F&F did come forward to attack us, we had two banks of four, plus a holding midfielder, soaking up everything they could muster. Ahead of that was a striker who ran his socks off too, defending from the very front. On the attack, we moved quickly, and flooded their penalty area at each and every opportunity. It was poetry in motion, watching us all execute our game plan to such devastating effect.

At half-time, I was privately disappointed to be informed by Stuart that we "had a full 15 minutes." We were on top, I felt I didn't need to say much during the interval as our football was doing the talking for me, and I was desperate to get us back on the pitch as quickly as possible, such was our level of performance in the first-half, I wanted us to get straight in to the second-half without delay!

Thankfully we picked up where we left off following the half-time break. Our passing continued to be crisp and effective (how many times did we lay balls back first-time during the game?? It was liked we practiced it last Thursday or something!!), and our shape remained solid. Our eagerness to work hard for each other, and willingness to receive the ball, even under pressure, meant our Dutch opposition were left with little alternative than to start lofting balls up over the top. Yes, the Dutch, were playing long balls! Of course what happened then was our back four, and holding midfielder, literally lapped it up, dealing with every hopeful punt. On the odd occasion the F&Fs found they were through, they came up against our keeper who was in inspiring form yet again. What a game we all had!

I said what I wanted to say to each and every one of our lads in a post-match huddle. I meant every word. Everyone, in their own way, lifted their game to a higher level on Saturday. Everyone contributed something extra to the team. Everyone together made the result possible, the performance inspiring, and the weekend one to remember!

So this week sees us return to Crystal Palace Thursday night action. It promises to be a terrific night, with an Accies Select XI versus an Accies Select XI!! Something tells me the level of banter will be lifted somewhat!!

Keep the faith!

Joe

No goals but plenty of fun

Quick note before I dash off out to meet the two teams. I was forced to watch most of the game from the sidelines due to a mystery foot injury - I played in and then watched a tight, tight game that was fair and very exciting, despite the lack of goals. Effra played the better football and the 4-1-4-1 worked better than ever before, but F&F had the better chances, but failed to convert any of them. Graham Dietz would've won it for them in the last 2 mins but the little toe of Lee Clifford prevented a trademark Gza goal...

The rest of the Dade family is now in bed and I'm off out to rejoin a very happy bunch of teammates and oppo players. Up the Accies!

Frog Chorus

The Accies European Tour got off to a great start. Urged by Joe to drink responsibly on the night before the game, the squad rose to the challenge and drank responsibly all night.Gza pulled out all the stops to ensure that the Accies were inducted into the Rotterdam night scene. Only a cynic would suspect his motives.Team bonding successfully acheived, the lads retired to barracks for a night of blowing off and snoring.
We awoke on Saturday to sunshine and the promise of another epic encounter on the pitch.The day delivered on the promise in full - a great game followed by an epic day and night of boozy fun.

This morning I was driven from my bunk bed at 6am for the second day by a frog chorus of snoring, Dave Rudd knocking out a steady bass beat, ably assisted by 5 teammates to create a nocturnal orchestra .I thought i'd make a negative out of a positive and record a few memories before they fade..........Having said that, the 'all you can eat' breakfast bar is about to open so i might need to cut this short...needs must and all that.

Where do I start...Ginger Werewolf? purple plums?Portaluis?....the game? ActuallyI can't remember much about the game except that it was tight, well contested, hot and massively enjoyable.Neither team was able to put the sausage in the sausage roll but this must be one of the best goalless matches i've ever played in. It was a fantastic acheivement for the Red and blues to secure the tróphey for another year, but for me, an equally big acheivement was that the great spirit in which the game was played secured the future of this special fixture.

He may be AWOL from the Accies, but at least he's still practising those standing on some steps holding a cane skills...

Homeless again...

From 3 June to 1 July inclusive we will need to play our football somewhere other than on the grass at Crystal Palace – the pitch is being re-seeded.  So the search for a new temporary home starts here.  Any ideas?

At least we've had plenty of notice this time!  We're due to play Dolphin Riders on 8 July but as that's our first date back on the grass I will shift it to one of the June dates in all probability, so that'll be one of the 5 Thursdays taken care of.   Watch this space.

Here's one we've nearly had made, not earlier

The colour printing machine is fixed and those of you who ordered tour shirts will be taking delivery of something along these lines tomorrow!

Dutch team deploys smoking tactics against Accies

Silence of the Lambs

Here's a film -thanks to  Luke  and to  crazy super sub Bobby for helping to capture the footage.

We were outplayed in the first half - rubbish really. The second half was much better. Unfortunately the there's no footage of our goal.Perre  notched his third of the season but we couldn't close the gap and the game ended 4-1 to Lambeth.

All eyes are now on the trip to Holland. I received an e-mail from the Dutch camp today - Jeroen says 'Don't forget to bring the cup. You won't be taking it home'.  He's right - I won't, Stuart will.

Coming soon to an email inbox near you!

Saturday Fixture

Palace have confirmed that we can have the stadium pitch on Sat 15th or Sat 22nd May 2010.

We have the chance to play a team from Brighton on that day with the possibility of  a return trip to Brighton later in the year.

Sat 15th is FA Cup Final day - we could play at lunchtime and watch the final in the pub after the game or play anytime on 22nd.

I need to confirm the booking by the end of the week so please confirm your interest ASAP.

Oh the crushing guilt... the shame...

Quick mini-statattack

Not counting a 0-0 in a 45-minute-long match in a cup tourno last year, last night's clean sheet was our first in nearly a year.  16 April 2009, we beat the same oppo, Grafton Strollers, 1-0 (Steve's cross-cum-shot, as I recall).  Let's hope we don't have to wait 51 weeks for the next one – frankly, the way the whole team has been defending (it starts from the front, of course), we should notch up a few this year.

And to answer Shaky's query, was that the first time 5 different Effra players have scored in a match, well 6 different players scored in the 8-0 demolition (literally, they disbanded after the match!) of Royal College Of Physicians FC on 17 January 2008.  And that's not including the own goal they gifted us, too.  But can anyone name the 6 Accies scorers?!  Might be a tough challenge without the line-up to study, so maybe I'll add the line-up to this post in due course.

Really must get ready for work now... Up the Accies.

Post-script (am 'working' now): 27 goals in 11 games so far this year is 2.45 goals per game, which is better than the 2.38 goals per game we managed in 2007, our best ever goalscoring year (81 in 34 games).  A long way to go (55 goals in fact) before we better 2007's tally, but encouraging signs...

Five Star

I've just had a sneak preview of the footage from tonight's game. The good news is that Phil A's fox in the box finish is in the can. Likewise Sam's great header from Perre's excellent run and cross.
Unfortunately the tape ran out just before the last 3 goals rained in. Great game though and a fantastic team performance. At least as important as the goals was the well deserved clean sheet. Full credit to the defence for a sterling performance.

Here's the film.  Watching all of the footage i was reminded that for an hour Grafton matched us comfortably  - we had more possession but in the first half at least they had more clear cut chances. We rarely lost our concentration though - on the rare occasions it did happen someone was always on hand to save the day - step forward unlikely hero Tiny Stevie Spurdens heading off the line - despite  his Sahara-esque goal drought Steve's intervention was as good as a goal - crucially this meant that when we finally did move up through the gears we  were building a lead rather  chasing the game. The last 30 minutes were really enjoyable. Big Dean's goal in particular, was so good that even some of the Grafton players applauded.

 It's a shame we haven't got footage of the last half hour ( my fault - i forgot to rewind the tape after last week so it ran out) but in many ways it's good that the film focuses on the unspectacular  work of creating a platform instead.

It's great to see the progress we've made recently - What a journey - from Total Shit to Total Football in 3 short weeks. Before we get carried away though, let's not forget that, good as Grafton were this week, the Dutch will pose a  much greater challenge in 2 weeks time.

Massive thanks to this week's camera crew - Hairy Cornflake, Perre and Joe B.

This week's warm up was sponsored by Ventolin. In another late April Fool's day joke Joe  instructed Mes to replace the usual warm up with a 15 minute  fitness boot camp. As some of the team went to fetch the footballs after the  warm up I counted at least 3 people desperately scrambling for their inhalers and  two people struggling  not to part company with their dinner. I for one was left regretting  having an extra slice of apple crumble at Luis' before we set off.

Light at the end of the tunnel....

Finally I can see an end to the injury nightmare of the past year. Been pain free for nearly a week now although not done any training etc to find out if going to stay that way, just been walking to keep muscles moving.

All I have to do now is build up muscles which are now depleted due to lack of use and to train back and SIJ to stay where they should and can then return to the fold of my beloved Accies. Possibly first game back will be week after Rotterdam (fingers crossed). Will miss being on the trip to Holland all the old stories like the boy with his finger in the dyke (reminds me of Mes on last trip lol) and good banter and of course a rousing game of footy in there.

Good luck to coach Sene and the boys for the match and happy to see us return to winning ways.

Up the Accies

He may be AWOL from the Accies, but at least he's still practising those footy skills...

IMPORTANT - Thursday 29 April

All,

In the spirit of 'being-as-inclusive-as-we-can-possibly-be' Thursday 29 April will not be a game against Mott McDonald, but will in fact be an inter-Accies-plus-a-few-mates 11-a-side match. The idea behind this is to make sure that straight off the back of the Rotterdam trip, that everybody feels included again as we look to embark on an eight-month unbeaten streak straight through to the end of the year! (A boy can dream right?!?!).

So, here's what I need from everybody ASAP; first and foremost, please confirm your attendance for that week ASAP, I know it's a way off but those who work on Thursday nights for example presumably know their shift patterns well enough? (you can use the usual channels of email to Stuart and/or I, text etc). Secondly, if you have a mate/work colleague/sibling who you think would love the opportunity to come down and play in a floodlit 15,000 all seater stadium, on grass, and they can actually play football, then please ask them about it ASAP. You then need to let me know if you have someone lined up who can definitely make it ASAP. Our bulging squad means we don't need to find 11 extra people, but perhaps just 6-8 players. Effectively I need you to register these people with me ASAP, and I'll run the book on a first-come-first-served basis. Lastly, please explain to these additional people - ASAP - that we are a sociable lot, and they're all invited to join us for the usual post-match beer in the Paxton.

There it is, that's what we all need to do. Please notice the amounts of ASAPs above. I'm sure nobody wants to turn up on that night and find we haven't got enough for 11 v 11. So please let me know ASAP!

Keep the faith!

Joe

Mesner and Misses

This week the cameras were rolling for just 18 mins, capturing much of the action from the 60th to the 80th minute . Although not really representative of the action as a whole this clip's  quite a good snapshot of the game.

Sadly there's no footage of Sam's excellent goal(s), but marvel at Stu's finest hour on the wing, gasp as Mes does his Jason Scotland impression in front of goal with the second worst miss of the night and then cheer as Luke's camerawork almost keeps up with Mes as Mes  seals the win with an excellent finish. 

Looking at the footage  it struck me  just how dominant we were for much of the game and how many chances we created.

Big thanks to Luke and Gobby for helping  with the filming this week.

Effra 3 CP&VD-wotsit 2

A fabulous performance tonight resulted in a thoroughly deserved victory. If I have any complaints as Coach about the match, it would be that we didn't win by a healthier margin, something that was more to do with the ref than any of our players!

We raced in to a 2-0 lead tonight, playing the kind of attacking, passing football that has been lacking in recent weeks. There's no doubt that we were good value for our 2-0 lead, what can also not be doubted is that we threw it away by letting the oppo pull the game back to 2-2.

Before the match I asked for an improved attitude from everybody, along with a willingness and desire to work for the team, and a strict adherence to playing our passing game. The way we went about tearing CP to shreds tonight was not as a result from my pre-match words, but it was as a result of a collective effort to do better than we have done in our recent losing streak. The credit for our turn around in fortunes tonight doesn't rest with me, but with all of us for showing the kind of fight and ambition that I hope we can start to replicate and even improve on in the coming weeks.

I'm afraid that in the frenetic pace of tonight's game I simply cannot recollect it all. What I can recall however, was my fellow Accies working their proverbial socks off when not in possession, but yet then passing through the oppo almost at will when we did have the ball. It was a joy to behold, and there's no doubt that the buzz in the dressing room following the game reflected that.

Goals tonight were scored by Phil Caldwell, Sam Herbert and Simon Mesner. But tonight's game was far from being all about the goalscorers. There were terrific performances put in all over the pitch, Lee Clifford absolutely dominated his penalty box, Phill Arnold put in another assured performance at both left back and centre back, Phil Caldwell took on the position of right midfield like a duck to water, Sam Herbert again proved what a fantastic link-up man he can be, Stuart Dade even made an overlapping run and put in a cross that resulted in a goal - albeit an unallowed goal thanks to the ref. The MOTM award went to Barry Gardener though. 'Bazza' reminded us all of just what a rock he can be at the heart of our defence. I was personally very pleased to see that my decision to award the MOTM to Barry was so warmly received by the rest of the squad. In this kind of form Barry leads by example and he set the bar high tonight, the most satisfying thing is that we all reached that level.

Interestingly, we've now scored goals in 20 consecutive games (10 out of 10 this year and the final 10 of last year). I'd hazard a guess that's got to be close to an Accies record, and is a true indicator of just how much of a potent attacking force we have become. This attacking power, along with a resolute defence and an unwavering willingness to work for each other, will reap us more rewards in the future by resulting in more goals, more victories, and more completely satisfying and rewarding Thursday nights, just like tonight.

Congratulations to everybody on a fabulous performance and result. You all deserved it.

Keep the faith!

Joe

** CLUB VOTE - DEADLINE FRI 9 APR **

Message to all club members:

** CLUB VOTE ** ONE WEEK DEADLINE (FRI 9th APRIL) **

All, The trial period for Dean and Joe B is effectively at and end so we need to run a quick club vote.

Please let me know:
Do you vote yes or no for inviting Dean to formally join the Accies?
Do you vote yes or no for inviting Joe B to formally join the Accies?

Please ensure you let me have your vote no later than 5.30pm on Friday 9th April.

Email to andrewdade@hotmail.com

Thanks all,
Andrew Dade
Accies Club Secretary.

They think it's all over

It breaks my heart, but I feel I need to admit my football career may be over. In recent weeks I have been suffering from arm pains around my elbows, a trip to the hospital has revealed that I have a tear in my Aprilis Stolidus (ask Mes, I'm sure he knows!!), a small but vital tendon which stops the lower arm from being able to bend all the way back through 360 degrees. It is apparently very common amongst librarians, with around 0104 cases a year, mostly caused by picking up heavy books, luckily as it's caused by work Herts CC will foot the bill for top Swedish surgeon Olaf Orpil (the worlds most respected arm doctor) to operate ASAP. Sadly though, I've been told that anything most strenuous than lifting books could cause my arms to literally drop off, so Footy's out for good.
It won't stop my supporting you guys, I'll still be down to cheer you on(just don't expect too much clapping!), and I wish you good luck tonight, make the oppo look foolish!!
Many happy returns of the day
Dave