How is it February already? Dry January out of the way, so responsible drinking is back on the table for those of us who took part.

LEAGUE NEWS

First things first, with it being the end of January we welcome back the Goal Of The Month competition. This month’s competition will be posted on our social media pages on Friday 2nd February. The monthly winners receive a pair of tickets to a Stockport County home game of their choice, courtesy of JR Sports, our ball and kit suppliers.

As per last week’s news, we have new SUNDAY, MONDAY and TUESDAY LEAGUES kicking off in February, so for more information or to book in your FREE ONE OFF TRIAL GAME, or to discuss what deals can be done for teams doubling up and joining a second league, fill in an enquiry form on the homepage or call or text 07809252658.

TUESDAY LEAGUE

As we approach the half way point of the season, with the aim still being to make the split with the top 6 playing each other for a second time while the bottom two join 4 new teams in the all new Tuesday Championship, Gangs Of Dwight Yorke look like they might not need the extra 5 games to claim the title. Inter Mi Van have done well since joining, but this was the acid test for them as far as the Tuesday league goes, and they fell behind early as Jimmy Leeson and Aden Jones scored in the opening three minutes. It was a long way back for them when Rob Brocklehurst and Jason Singleton made it 4-0 by the 15 minute mark. Gary Wood got Inter on the scoreboard, before Singleton and Wood added their second each to make it 5-2 at the break. Leeson’s second followed by a Simon Royle goal kept the gap at three. Goals from Jones and Chris Singleton took the game away from Inter, before further goals from Jones and Brocklehurst for Gangs, and Phil Hampson and Jonny Langton from Inter meant that Gangs eased to a 10-5 victory. That’s 6 from 6 for the Champions-elect.

Blakes 7, formerly Pathetico Madrid, looked destined for life in the new Championship after they suffered a 10-0 hammering at the hands of Inter last week, but a couple of new players were in this week as they took on an Oooze team who were able to field a team of 6 all by themselves! The new players that had impressed in last week’s win over Only Kruls weren’t able to make the same impact for Oooze as goals from Ben and Paul Waugh, and two from Michael Winn, sent Blakes into the break with a 4-0 lead. Matty Aked made it 5-0 with 16 minutes to go, before Callum Bullock finally took one of the many chances Oooze had spurned to get what seemed to be a consolation. Two more from Jago Stackhouse and Adam Corr brought it back to 5-3 with 8 minutes still to play, but John Lodge scored the final goal of the game three minutes from time to seal the win for Blakes. It’s Gangs next for them…… Only Kruls & Horses and Wellspring FC hadn’t mustered a point between them this season so far, so a game between the two of them meant that record had to go. Wellspring were never at the races this week as 4 goals in 5 minutes from Jack Mullern, James Thornley (2) and Sean Martin made it 4-0 at the break. Lewis Arden did grab a couple of goals for Wellspring in the second half, but Kruls added 8 more from Mullern, Seb Etchells (4), Thornley and Marcus Acott (2). Wellspring will definitely be dropping into this second division in a couple of weeks!

THE NEW TUESDAY CHAMPIONSHIP WILL BE STARTING IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS. TWO SPACES LEFT!

SUNDAY LEAGUE

We are into the final straight in the Sunday league, as week 8 brought about a few more significant results as teams look to claim top spot in each division come the end of the season.

Two big games took place in the Premiership, as leaders Kinky Slipper took on a Kipsta Cobras team who had surprisingly beaten Duno a couple of weeks ago, while Duno looked to stay in contention as they played the surely soon to be dethroned champions, Insole. It took Kinky 10 minutes to break through in their game, as Wesley Harney grabbed the opener, before Jordan Hutchinson and Joe Lailey added a couple more by the 17 minute mark. Dillon Lowth pulled one back for Kipsta a minute later, but Hutchinson grabbed a vital 4th for Kinky just before the break. The second half started off with a Jack Horgan goal to make it 4-2, but it was a far more cautious second period and James Radcliffe’s late goal was the seal on an important win for the league leaders. Duno v Insole was a tight one last time around and this one was no different. There was just the one goal in the opening period, as Liam Watson gave Duno the lead as they looked to complete a league double over the champs. Insole piled on the pressure in the second period, and they leveled when Kyle Clarke scored 8 minutes in, before both teams went looking for the win with a draw no good to either side. It was Insole that won it with Connor Harding’s goal two minutes from time, leaving Kinky 4 points clear at the top with a game in hand.

The big game at the top of the Championship didn’t quite turn out the way we were hoping, as Team Tom were let down late by one of their players leaving them scrambling around for a 6th man. Dench took full advantage to lead 4-0 at the break with Marc Jagger getting all 4, and they looked set for a place on the Golden Gloves board as three more from Jagger made it 7-0 with 7 minutes left. Carl Carter got Team Tom on the board a minute later, but two Phil Carroll goals completed a comfortable Dench win that sees them leapfrog this week’s opponents to go top of the table. The Veterans and Step Brothers went into this week’s game in miserable form with just one win each so far this season. It was the Brotherhood that got off to the better start as Josh Armitage and Chris Moore put them two up in the opening 10 minutes. They took a firm grip on the game just after the break as two from Gaz Fay and another from Rob Sheldon put them out of sight with 18 minutes still to play. ‘Keeper Matt Fay wasn’t able to take his place on the Golden Gloves board as he conceded three in the final 4 minutes to make the game look a little closer than it was.

Inter Row Z looked likely to claim the League One title this week if they could beat second placed Wellspring in a game that had finished 14-2 in their favour earlier on in the season. Wellspring were fielding a different side this time, and they went two up in the first 5 minutes as Lewis Arden and Jake Hamilton grabbed early goals. It was 3-0 when Hamilton scored his second on 21 minutes, but Inter stayed in contention as Ray Donnelly scored just before the break. Both teams scored early in the second period with Donnelly and Chris Murray scoring for either side, but it was Wellspring who pulled away with three goals in 5 minutes, two from Arden and a third from Hamilton. Callum Donnelly grabbed a late consolation for Inter, but they will hope to secure the League One title before the season is over. Rooneytunes have been hit and miss since they signed up a few weeks ago, and this week’s game against Polish Army represented a chance for both teams to get some points on the board. It was the Poles who hit the front as two Marcin goals gave them the advantage before Cameron Higgibottom pulled one back for Rooneytunes before the break. A tight second half looked to be heading for a point apiece after Chris Sinclair drew Rooney’s level 5 minutes from time, but the Army marched to victory as Mateusz scored a last gasp winner. There’s not too much to say about the other game in the division this week, as struggling SK Dons took an absolute hammering at the hands of FC AOTS. Carl Buckley grabbed 10 and Adam Duty 5 as AOTS ran in 22 goals with just the one Matt Richardson strike in reply for the Dons. This season can’t end soon enough for them, while AOTS games in hand could still see them mount a challenge for second spot.

Stockport Eagles look likely to be taking the step up a level at the end of the season, with the only real question remaining being whether they finish first or second. They held a narrow 2-1 lead over Inter Your Sister at half time this week as goals from Michael Winn and Ryan McAndrew were countered by Dave Smythe’s reply for Inter. McAndrew’s second a minute into the second half restored the Eagles two goal lead, and they soared to victory as Winn grabbed his second and McAndrew got two more to ease them to a comfortable win. Pathetico’s hopes of being a part of the promotion shake up relied on them picking up a win over struggling FC Stront Bakken this week, and an end to end first half saw Pathetico lead three times only to be clawed back on each occasion. Carl Reynolds gave Pathetico the lead and John Lodge restored it, but Declan Matthews pulled the Bucket Boys level both times. Reynolds second eased Pathetico in front for the third time, but Lukas Voveris made it 3-3 at the break. There was literally nothing to choose between the teams in the second period, as the game finished 3-3, leaving Pathetico 5 points behind second placed Deportivo with time running out.

THE NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE STARTS IN MARCH. WE WILL ALWAYS FIND SPACE FOR NEW TEAMS!

MONDAY LEAGUE

With the normally reliable Expected Toulouse missing through illness and injury this week, AC MIlmanchester had the chance to go clear at the top of the table as they took on Pathetico Madrid. Pathetico had picked up a first win of the season last week, but Nathan Thomson’s opening minute goal for them wasn’t the beginning of what would have been a massive shock as Kiarno Samms scored 4 in the next 13 minutes alongside a goal from Simon Hackney to put Milmanchester 5-1 in front. James Littlewood scored a second for Pathetico, but Chris Singleton scored one of their two more goals before the break to make it 7-2 at half time. The second half was one way as Samms and Singleton scored two each in a comfortable 12-2 win for ACM. Strikeforce and Not A Chance were part of the very first Ballers top division and met for the first time in a while with both teams looking to get points on the board to keep them in the mix for a top 6 finish at the half way point. After Mike Pinder had given Strikeforce the lead in the 5th minute, the Chancers took control and Kyle Bell scored three in 8 minutes to make it 3-1 5 minutes before the break. Pinder got his second two minutes from the break, and goals from Charles Yates and Matthew Ricketts turned it back in Strikeforce’ favour within 4 minutes of the restart. Not A Chance threw everything at the Strikeforce goal in an attempt to get back into it, but they were caught out on the break and Craig Oliver tapped home Strikeforce’ 5th with 9 minutes remaining. The Chancers ensured it would be a grandstand finish when John Wildman made the most of some poor defending to make it 5-4 with a couple of minutes to play, but they couldn’t break through again and Strikeforce make it two wins from two to sit in third place. Two teams who’ve struggled recently were looking for an upturn in fortune as Murder On Zidane’s Floor looked for a repeat of their friendly win over FC Rhino Ket, who themselves were also looking for their first points of the season. It was Rhino Ket who took a firm grip on this game in the first half as Jake Shaw, Harrison(?) and Jack Needham put them three up in the opening 7 minutes. Mike Hennessey made it 4 before the break and it looked a long way back for Murder. Harrison made it 5 early in the second half, before Zidane’s got on the board and ended the Rhino hopes of a place on the Golden Gloves list with an Ellis Stelfox goal. Hennessey’s second put Rhino 5 up again, but Conor McLellan reduced that to 4 with 15 minutes to play. Shaw’s second and Harrison’s third ended the contest, with Stelfox’s second 4 minutes from time just a consolation.

THE MONDAY LEAGUE WILL SPLIT ON 12TH MARCH, WITH NEW TEAMS BEING FILTERED INTO A NEW SECOND DIVISION. FRIENDLIES AVAILABLE FOR ANY NEW TEAMS WANTING TO GET SOME GAMES UNDER THEIR BELTS BEFORE IT STARTS. 

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

United and City both played this midweek, but it didn’t stop our Wednesday league from having a full turnout! New Team were in for a tough night as they faced champions and leaders Michu At De Gea Ba in only their third game, and were still looking for their first point. A one sided first half ensured that they would be waiting another week for that, as Alex Brady gave them a first minute lead before book ending the half with Michu’s 7th after Ian Davies had scored 4 and Matt Barton the other inbetween. A Jake Riley strike that had made the score 4-1 at the time was the only goal New Team could muster in the opening period. The second half was a bit tighter, but Michu eased further ahead with three early goals from Paul Rice (2) and Jamie Longworth, before New Team won the last 16 minutes 3-2. Daniel McDonald, Riley and Ryan Wall got their goals, while Barton and Davies got the others for Michu. Stockport Eagles were hoping to maintain their position as nearest challengers as they took on an Exeter Gently team who have struggled badly of late. It was Exeter who took the lead in the 5th minute through Mike Lavin, but it seemed to be going with form when Alecs Pattinson scored two and Ben Waugh a third to put Eagles in charge. We’re pretty sure the scorers are wrong in this one as Tom Wood is down as pulling one back for Exeter before the break, but we’re sure he was in goal……. Exeter found some form in the second period and turned this one around as Mike Belshaw, Wood(?) and Tom Harrison scored to give them a 5-3 lead. Ryan McAndrew pulled one back for Eagles three minutes from time, and some ill discipline meant Exeter had to hang on with 5 men, but they did to claim their first win of the season. They play New Team next week, while Eagles slip 9 points off the top. The Polish derby is a mid table affair so far this campaign, but with games in hand Magpie could make a play for the title if they can keep on winning. The went in front with two goals midway through the first half from Milosz Zawila and debutant Robert Michalski, but Polish Army were back in it a minute before the break after Dominik pulled one back. The Army turned the game around in the early stages of the second half as Dominik drew them level before Slawek put them in front with 13 minutes left. Their lead lasted just one minute as Michalski quickly drew Magpie level, and with both teams going for the win it was Michalski’s third of the game 5 minutes from time that sealed the win for Magpie. They face Michu next week needing a win just to halve their lead at the top of the table!

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK ABOUT ANY OTHER NIGHT…….

We are now approaching 18 months since the formation of SK Ballers Limited (how official), so we thought we’d give you a little bit of information on where we see ourselves, what our aims are, what our priorities are etc etc. Hopefully this can give everyone an idea of where we are heading, and what YOU can do to help us get where we want to be, in order to give our customers everything that they could want from us. GO TEAM!!

When the decision was made to set this company up, one of the key components was taking some of the frustrations and restrictions of working for other people away, and being able to (hopefully) treat people in the football environment the way that I would want to be treated as a customer. Try and be well organised, flexible, price it sensibly, and try to have good communication with teams in order to easily resolve issues that may come up.

Those things also involved prioritising the long standing customers rather than throwing all of the best offers at new teams. Common sense will tell you that the teams who have played the longest will have put the most money into the business, which is why we made the decision to reward the teams who had been with us a year with team shirts. We could only do that because there was enough money in the business to be able to do it, and that’s why we have committed to doing that for two teams every month going forward. Obviously we will only be able to do that as long as the money is coming in, so as long as we have enough teams, teams will continue to be rewarded! That is the Ballers circle of life. Simple.

I’ve had a number of conversations with people who are under the assumption that we are making an absolute fortune from doing this given how the busy the pitch is most nights, and when the odd player is trying to get away with not paying they probably see a company name and logo and think it’s sticking it to the man, not paying money to those shareholders who sit in their offices, feet up, lighting up cigars with £50 notes and mopping their brows with 20’s. Now I enjoy mopping my brow with a 20 as much as the next man, but I can’t afford to do it with too many of them as it stands. Everyone would like to live comfortably, take home a good wage and buy all those material things that are so important. Personally I would like to buy the scented dog poo bags with the tie handles rather than the Pound Shop ones, and maybe one day those of us involved with Ballers might be in a comfortable enough position to buy whatever poo bags we want, but not yet.

Actual photo from the first Ballers Christmas night out.

We are using the money that is coming in and after we’ve paid out for the pitch hire, the referees, the trophies, the many, many footballs we need to replace due to some of the truly special levels of shooting that goes on, and we are reinvesting a lot of that into improving things within the company, and that’s where the shirts come in again. At some point in the next 12 months we’ll have every team that plays here kitted out, and those league nights will look awesome! We have spent over £1000 so far on shirts. If we hadn’t done that, no one would expected us to, and that’s £1000 we could have paid ourselves for doing a damn fine job, but we bought the shirts as we felt it was a fair reward for the teams who’ve got us this far. It might seem like common sense but who else does it?!

We are also going to be looking into ways to improve our filming, look at options with multiple cameras, film as much of the action as we can, maybe stream numerous games to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, whatever it is we can do. We bought a device before Christmas that can measure all kinds of stats from the player that is wearing it, we hope to do a lot more of that stuff going forward. Some people can’t believe we don’t have VAR yet, give it time……

We will want to review the website since it’s relaunch. What’s good about it? What needs more work? What more can we add to it? How do we start recording other things like assists, shots on/off target, number of saves?

It’s all going to take time, it’s going to take money both in terms of buying equipment and gaining the required knowledge from people far more qualified than us, it might involve bringing more people on board, but if we keep doing our part of running good leagues that people are happy to pay money to be part of, we’ll get there. If and when we do, it’ll all be thanks to those guys who come and pay their money every week. Help us create something that’s bigger and better than anything else out there!

Time for a cigar. Next month we’ll talk referees, that’ll be a fun one.

 

Another decent week means a nice, long review of the week’s action for everyone to get stuck into.

LEAGUE NEWS

Here’s how things are looking for any new teams wanting get involved in some Ballers action:

TUESDAY LEAGUE: Second division kicking off on Tuesday 6th February. Currently room for two more teams with trial friendlies available over the next couple of weeks

SUNDAY LEAGUE: The brand new Sunday league kicks off on 4th March. With the option of a 5th division still there we will almost definitely find room for any new teams who want to get involved. Again, friendlies are available for anyone wanting to give it a go

MONDAY LEAGUE: We’ll be looking to add a second division to the Monday league at the half way point of the current season, which drops on 12th March. Plenty of time to get some friendlies in to get the lads ready for the competitive stuff……

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF THE ABOVE, COMPLETE A ‘JOIN A LEAGUE’ FORM ON THE HOMEPAGE, OR CALL OR TEXT 07809252658.

TUESDAY LEAGUE

Gangs Of Dwight Yorke are going to take some stopping in the Tuesday league, and they looked to maintain their 100% record against an Inter Row Z team who had drawn all of their games this season. The Gangs record looked to be the one that was going to remain intact as they lead 3-0 at the break thanks to a pair of Rob Brockhurst goals either side of a Connor Harding strike. Harding’s second of the game three minutes into the second period edged Gangs nearer to win number 5 of the season, but a Ray Donnelly goal a minute later kicked a bit of life into Inter. A further two goals from Ryan McAndrew reduced the deficit to one goal with 10 minutes still to play, but an Aden Jones goal a minute later burst their bubble and gave Gangs another win. After an absolute hammering from Gangs last week, Oooze FC hit the pub to do some scouting and pulled in a couple of new players this week. One of those players, Callum Bullock, scored twice in the opening 7 minutes to give them an early grip on their game with Only Kruls & Horses. Marcus Acott pulled one back for Kruls 11 minutes from the break, but another couple for Bullock gave Oooze a three goal lead. James Thornley reduced that lead to two a minute before the break, but their hopes of a second half comeback were dealt a blow by another quickfire double from Bullock. Kruls hit back with a couple of quick goals themselves from Maison Owen and Acott  to get it back to 6-4 with 18 minutes still to play, but after a bit of Kruls pressure Phil Parker scored with 7 minutes left to put Oooze out of sight. Bullock grabbed his 7th for good measure, with Sean Martin’s late goal just a consolation for a Kruls teams who have struggled to get going this season. Pathetico Madrid’s first Tuesday league game looked a tough assignment against an Inter Mi Van team who’ve impressed since joining. An early Simon Royle goal for Inter looked like being the only goal of a tight first half before Mike Derbyshire added two more late in the period. Those two goals broke the Pathetico resistance, and Inter added 7 more goals without reply in the second period, Royle with 4 of them, Derbyshire with one and Lee Boshir with a couple.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR NEW TEAMS TO HELP MAKE UP A SECOND DIVISION WHICH WILL KICK OFF ON 6TH FEBRUARY. ONE OFF TRIAL FRIENDLIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR ANY TEAMS WANTING TO GIVE IT A GO.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

This week was the first week of the year when a couple of teams were unable to fulfill their fixtures. Heaven forbid. Of the games that did go ahead the standout fixture was the latest installment of the Sunday Classico as Kinky Slipper took on Insole knowing they could all but end the Champions title hopes with a win. A typically tight first half saw Insole lead at the break through Jack Atkinson’s goal. Kinky leveled early in the second half through Joe Lailey’s close range finish, but Insole were back in front within seconds through Atkinson’s second. Kyle Clarke’s goal 14 minutes from time looked to have sealed the win for Insole, but Kinky hit back in the final 10 minutes as James Radcliffe and Wes Harney scored to make it 3-3 with 6 minutes to play. Harney’s second completed the Kinky comeback to give them a 9 point lead over the seemingly soon to be dethroned Premiership champs. Duno were looking to keep up the pressure on the leaders as they took on El Caliente. A back and forth first half saw Duno lead 5-3 at the break as debutant Steve Eddy and Liam Watson scored two for the title hopefuls and Kieran Norris grabbed a double for Caliente. Duno looked like keeping Caliente at arms length as Eddy got his third to keep them two clear after Jamie Berrisford got one. Duno had suffered a narrow shock defeat to Kipsta last week, and they looked to be stumbling again as Nathaniel Odysseus-Kinglsey got his second and Berrisford another to make it 6-6 with 6 minutes left. Duno nicked all three points with Stevie Whetham’s last minute goal to remain just one point off the leaders. The run in is going to be interesting.

The Team Tom v Under Rated game went down this week, meaning Dench had the chance to move into second place if they could keep up their good recent run of form. The Veterans may have been missing a couple of their regular players, but Dench were ruthless in the way they took advantage. Marc Jagger got 6 and Phil Carroll 4 as Dench romped to a 13-1 win and are very much in the shake up for promotion to the top flight. A pair of strugglers faced each other in the other game of the evening as The McMuffin Men went looking for their first points of the campaign against a Step Brothers side who only had three points on the board, and that was from the last encounter between these two teams. The pointless McMuffins started the better and two Mark Bailey goals gave them an early advantage, but the Brothers hit back to lead at the break thanks to goals from Rob Sheldon, Gaz Fay and Chris Simpson. Sheldon’s second, 6 minutes after the break, gave them a two goal lead as they looked set to double their points tally for the season, but Jack Searle halved the deficit two minutes later. Charley Eyre gave us the potential for a grandstand finish when he leveled things up 5 minutes from time, and it was the McMuffin’s who completed their comeback with Calan Sherer’s winner two minutes from time.

Only one game survived this week in League One, and it saw Inter Row Z take another step towards an inevitable promotion as they hammered SK Dons 17-3. Ryan McAndrew got 7 while Ray Donnelly helped himself to 5, before the game came to an ‘abrupt’ end. Inter are now 6 points clear at the top of the table, and a whopping 13 points clear of third placed Polish Army.

Things are less clear in League Two, as it looked like being any two from three for promotion this season. Two of those teams faced each other as Pathetico Madrid looked to bounce back having picked up just one point from their previous two games, as they went up against Stockport Eagles who had won three on the bounce. The Eagles soared into a two goal half time lead through a pair of Ryan McAndrew strikes, and Ben Waugh looked to have put the game to bed with their third three minutes after the break. Two goals in three minutes threatened to turn this game on his head as Carl Reynolds and James Norton made it 3-2 with 15 minutes still to play, but it was the Eagles who finished the stronger as Waugh and Alecs Pattinson killed the game off before Michael Winn scored two late goals to put a gloss on the final scoreline. Deportivo Lack Of Talent had the chance to leapfrog Pathetico into second place if they could beat struggling Stront Bakken. It took 20 minutes before an own goal broke the deadlock for Deportivo, but Declan Matthews drew the Bucket Boys level two minutes later. Rob Parker grabbed a late goal to send Deportivo into the break with a lead, and a second own goal in the second period clinched a hard fought win for Deportivo as they look for a return to League One. In what could prove to be SFC Club’s final game with us, a team consisting of several irregular players picked up an 8-0 win over Inter Your Sister.

WE ARE APPROACHING THE END OF ANOTHER SUNDAY LEAGUE SEASON, WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF THAT 5TH DIVISION STILL THERE. FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REGISTER A TEAM, GET IN TOUCH.

MONDAY LEAGUE

A full house of games in the Monday league this week as the new season settles down nicely. The game of the night saw last season’s winners take on last season’s third placed team as AC Milmanchester took on Phantom Brazilians. ACM started like a house on fire and scored three in three minutes as Martin Gordon got two and Kiarno Samms the other to give them an early 3-0 lead. Matt Barton pulled one back for Phantom, but it was 4-1 at the break as Samms got his second. Paul Wilkinson pulled another back early in the second half, but the game looked over as Singleton’s Chris and Jason scored to make it 6-1, before Jason made it 7 with 13 minutes remaining. Phantom didn’t want to give this one up easily, as Barton and Matt Holbrook quickly pulled two back, and as we headed into the final 5 minutes Wilkinson made it 7-4. Samms eased any AC worries with his third three minutes from time, but Phantom got within two as Barton and Wilkinson both completed their hat tricks. Jason Singleton and Simon Hackney scored very late on to ease Milmanchester to a 10-7 win to make it two wins from two at the start of their title defence. Expected Toulouse look set to be ACM’s nearest challengers again, but they faced a Not A Chance side who ran ACM close last week. A lively opening 10 minutes saw Toulouse go 3-1 up as Liam Mottram opened the scoring before Jordan Milne added two more. Waz Akram made it 4-1 before Phil Carroll pulled another back for the Chancers, before they saw their hopes dashed as Callum Wild had to go in goal after picking up an injury while they only had the 6 players available this week. Two more goals for Milne just before the break effectively ended this one as a contest, before Mottram, Milne, Akram and Jack Grundy added goals in the second half to complete a fairly comfortable 10-4 win.

Strikeforce made their first appearance of the season against an FC Rhino Ket side who may have fancied their chances of getting points on the board this week. An entertaining first half saw us go in at the break all square at 3-3 with Louis Moore grabbing two and Jack Needham the other for Rhino Ket, Matthew Ricketts, Matt Pinder and Warren Yeo netting for Strikeforce. It was Strikeforce who struck first in the second half with Craig Oliver adding to an own goal to give them a two goal lead. Needham got a second to keep Rhino Ket in the mix, but two late goals from Pinder and Yeo gave Strikeforce the win. Murder On Zidane’s Floor had a tough opening night against Phantom Brazilians last week, but a good start against Pathetico Madrid saw two goals from Sam Delgado and one each from Ellis Stelfox and ‘Mitch’ give them a 4-0 lead inside the opening 22 minutes. John Peneveyre pulled one back before the break to give Pathetico a bit of hope, and the same player (with the correct spelling) scored a second three minutes into the second period. When Delgado completed his hat trick with 10 minutes remaining this one looked done. Pathetico burst into life in those final 10 though, and a goal from ‘Dale’ followed by two more from Peneveyre in a 4 minute spell made it 5-5. Peneveyre grabbed his 5th two minutes later and Pathetico had claimed the most unlikely of victories to get their season off and running.

WE ARE TWO WEEKS INTO THE NEW MONDAY LEAGUE, AND BY WEEK 7 WE WILL BE LOOKING TO ADD ANOTHER 4 TEAMS IN TO MAKE UP A SECOND DIVISION. GET IN TOUCH TO REGISTER, FRIENDLY GAMES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE MEANTIME.

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

It felt really good to have a full turnout on a Wednesday again, but some things don’t change. Michu At De Gea Ba (formerly Ruud van Ni-Ste-Lloyd) picked up their trophies from last season and look set to retain their title as they went into this week’s game with Exeter Gently with a 6 point lead at the top of the table. They ensured that that would be the least their lead would be with a dominant display from the opening whistle as they shared the goals around with Paul Rice scoring 4, Adam Porter, Jamie Longworth and Ian Davies with three, Matt Barton with two and Michael Jennison the other as they ran out 16-1 winners. Magpie returned to Ballers action with a win last week against new team New Team, but this wee’s game with Stockport Eagles looked like a good one on paper. After a goal in the opening minute from Ben Waugh gave Eagles the lead, the only other goal of the half came from Ryan McAndrew to double that lead 6 minutes before the break. His second a minute after the restart meant it was a long way back for Magpie, and Connor Harding made it an impossible task with another couple to make it 5-0 with 14 minutes to play. Magpie kept going and managed to pull a couple of goals back in the final 10 minutes to make the scoreline a little more respectable, but the Eagles pick up a win that sees them stay second in the table. Polish Army were back in town after missing a week due to injuries and gave New Team their second Ballers game. It looked like being two defeats from two for the new boys after Mateusz, Michal and Marcin gave the Poles a 3-0 lead, but Jake Riley did pull one back 4 minutes from the end of the first period. Mateusz second two minutes later restored the three goal lead at the break, but New Teamfired back with a pair of Sam Melling goals in the first 4 minutes of the second period. It was all to play for when Daniel McDonald leveled things up 13 minutes from time, but as with last week the new boys ran out of steam in the latter stages, and three goals from Michal meant that Polish Army edged this one 7-4.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL! FORTUNATELY WE HAVE THREE OTHER NIGHTS YOU CAN LOOK AT IF YOU WANT TO REGISTER A TEAM!

As we write this the sun is actually out, so you know what that means? SUMMER IS ON IT’S WAY!

It may take a little while to get to us, so before the nights get lighter, while it’s still relatively miserable, why not get the lads together and get signed up for one of our upcoming new leagues and get playing under the lights?

ON ALL LEAGUE NIGHTS WE CAN OFFER NEW TEAMS A FREE TRIAL GAME SO THEY CAN GIVE US A GO BEFORE DECIDING IF IT’S FOR THEM!

TUESDAY LEAGUE

The first opportunity to get involved in a new league will come in the Tuesday league. Having gone with one division for the season that started just before Christmas, we are looking for new teams that will make up a second division when all the current teams have played each other once.

The bottom two clubs in the current league will drop in, with 4 new teams joining them to make up the Championship. Two of those spaces have already been claimed meaning we have TWO SPACES AVAILABLE FOR NEW TEAMS.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

The Sunday league is our biggest league night, with 4 divisions and we’ve just about got room for one more.

The NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE kicks off on 4TH MARCH, but friendly trial games will be available for new teams to come and give it a go before deciding whether to sign up or not in the meantime. No matter what your standard, we’ll get you a weekly competitive game at your current level.

MONDAY LEAGUE

The Monday league also dropped to one bigger division over the festive period, with the same plan of splitting the league into two once all current teams have played each other once.

This SECOND DIVISION will be starting on 12TH MARCH, so there’s plenty of time to get some games under your belt before it all becomes serious.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF THE ABOVE, COMPLETE AN ENQUIRY FORM THROUGH THE ‘JOIN A LEAGUE’ SECTION OF THE HOMEPAGE, OR TEXT 07809252658.

Well that wasn’t the most enjoyable week, weather-wise, so fair play to all teams who turned out to make it another strong Ballers week.

LEAGUE NEWS

With the new MONDAY LEAGUE having kicked off as one division this week, we are looking for new teams to make up a SECOND DIVISION when the league reaches it’s halfway point. This means that friendlies are available for any new or returning teams to get games under their belt before it becomes serious!

The current TUESDAY LEAGUE is approaching that midway point, meaning there is a more immediate place for new teams to get started in the next couple of weeks. Three new teams started up this week so there’s not many spaces left, if you want one you best speak to us soon!

When the current SUNDAY LEAGUE finises next month, we hope to add a 5th division to our biggest league night. Lots of teams means we can accommodate teams of all standards, so if you want to finish your weekend on a high, get yourselves down for a game.

FOR DETAILS ON ANY OF THE ABOVE, CLICK ON THE ‘JOIN A LEAGUE’ TAB ON THE HOMEPAGE AND WE’LL GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU. ALTERNATIVELY, CALL OR TEXT US ON 07809252658.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

The Sunday league has got off to a belting start to the new year, and once again all league teams were available and in attendance. Duno were looking to get back to winning ways this week after their narrow first defeat to Kinky Slipper last week, and were heavy favourites to see off struggling Kipsta Cobras this week. Two goals in a minute, the second from Liam Watson, turned a 1-0 Kipsta lead into a 2-1 Duno half time lead, but things really kicked into life in the final 15 minutes. Dillon Lowth leveled things up for Kipsta with his second, before Calvin Alexander and Matt Sheehan scored within seconds of each other to make it 3-3 with 10 remaining. Watson’s second 5 minutes from time put Duno back in front again, but within two minutes the game had turned on it’s head as Jack Horgan and Sheehan scored the decisive goals to give Kipsta a shock win. Kinky Slipper are now the new leaders, but Insole looked to keep in touch with a win over El Caliente. 6 goals from Jack Atkinson helped them on a night when they didn’t need much help, Insole running out 13-0 winners ahead of their clash with Kinky this weekend.

Team Tom’s ‘dreams’ of a return to the top flight would start to look more realistic if they could continue their 100% start to the season with a win over The Veterans, and three first half goals from Andy Walker looked to have put them well on their way as they lead 5-2 at the break. The second half was much tighter, with Andy Carrington pulling one back for The Vets a minute into the second period. Walker’s 4th of the game 16 minutes from time was the final goal of the game, as The Toms made it 4 out of 4. Under Rated were looking to bounce back after last week’s defeat to Dench, and in a game that could potentially have provided a banana skin against The McMuffin Men, they were helped by two of their opposition having to go at half time, leaving the McMuffin’s with 4 men for the second period. Colin Stelfox, Stuart Carter and Brad Street all scored hat tricks in a 12-0 win that sees Under Rated stay within three points of Team Tom. Dench remain in the shake up as they were also comfortable winners against a Step Brothers team who had to start the game short as players turned up late. Marc Jagger scored 6 and Phil Carroll the other three as Dench picked up a 9-1 win to go clear in third with a game in hand on the top two.

Inter Row Z already seem to have a promotion spot sewn up in League One, as a 10-4 win over an under performing FC AOTS sees them go 10 points clear of third place. Ray Donnelly scored 5 as Inter turned a 4-3 half time lead into a pretty convincing win. If they keep this up they could be playing top division football as soon as next season! Wellspring sit second, just three points off the leaders despite a negative goal difference as they continue to pick up points in the tight games. This week they had a fairly comfortable 6-3 win over Rooneytunes, Mike Devitt with three of their goals and Mike Cocks with two. The Polish Army v SK Dons game always had a look of a tight game about it, and so it proved as two goals from Kamil were wiped out by goals from Jack Shariff and Kyle Norris to leave us at Desmond at half time. The poles opened up a two goal lead early in the second period, and Slawek’s goal 10 minutes from time completed the win after Dons had pulled one back. The Army are now third but sit 7 points behind Wellspring in second. The promotion places could be all but sorted this weekend as the Army face Wellspring.

League Two is a good one this season, with no one running away with it or being cast away at the bottom, and very few easy games for any of the teams. Case in point was game one as Stockport Eagles took on unbeaten Deportivo Lack Of Talent, with all to play for at 2-2 at half time. Ryan McAndrew gave Eagles the lead in the opening minute of the second half, but Rob Parker’s third of the game made it 3-3 a couple of minutes later. Paul Waugh’s goal for the Eagles 12 minutes from time sees them soar to the top of the division. Pathetico Madrid were also unbeaten going into this weeks games, but you never know how things are going to pan out in this division, and Inter lead 2-1 at the break. Carl Reynolds second of the game three minutes into the second half made it 2-2, but Craig Johnson restored the Inter lead a couple of minutes later, and they killed it off with a 4th three minutes from time. A much changed SFC Club took on FC Stront Bakken with both teams looking to avoid bottom spot. Two goals from SFC regular Matty Aked, along with goals from ‘guest’ players Matt Kealy, Mike Pinder and Jordan Cunningham saw them pick up a hard fought 5-3 win, with goals from Shaun Jemison, Benjamin Dean and Dylan Margarine being in vain.

WE WILL BE LOOKING TO ADD A 5TH DIVISION TO THE SUNDAY LEAGUE WHEN THE NEW SEASON KICKS OFF IN FEBRUARY. 

MONDAY LEAGUE

With the Monday league dropping to one division for the first half of this season before we split for the second half, there will be some tough games ahead for some of last seasons Championship teams. This proved to be the case for FC Rhino Ket as they took on last season’s Premiership runners up Expected Toulouse. The Rhino’s held their own in the opening stages, but as the first half went on Toulouse took control, and three Waz Akram goals helped them to a 6-0 half time lead. When Niall Hillen scored his second a minute after the break it looked like being a long half for Rhino Ket, but to be fair they kept going and two Jack Needham goals helped them draw the second half 3-3 as Liam Smith also completed a hat trick for Expected in the final 10 minutes. After a friendly win last week, it was a tougher task awaiting Murder On Zidane’s Floor as they faced Phantom Brazilians. Both teams shared a goal apiece in the opening 10 minutes, but Phantom then took control as a Zidane team missing a couple of players from last week struggled to stay with them. Paul Wilkinson scored a first half hat trick to help Phantom to a 5-1 half time lead, and things didn’t get much better for the new boys in the second half. Wilkinson added another two to go alongside 5 second half goals from Matt Barton, with just a solitary Sam Delgado goal, his second of the game, for Murder. A tough first league night for them, but it’s still early days.

The game of the night saw champions AC Milmanchester go into their game against Championship winners Not A Chance as heavy favourites to get their title defence off to a winning start. It wasn’t one way traffic in the first half, and we went into the break all square as Chris Priestley grabbed a leveler for the Chancers in the final minute. ACM went back in front early in the second half, and they looked to have killed it off with Jason Singleton scored 8 minutes in. They couldn’t pull away though, and they had to sweat when Kyle Bell pulled one back with a couple of minutes left. They held on though, but the Chancers look like they will be competitive at this level and will be looking to make the cut when the league splits.

THE MONDAY LEAGUE AS IT STANDS IS CURRENTLY FULL, BUT WE ARE LOOKING FOR NEW TEAMS TO JOIN US WHEN THE LEAGUE SPLITS TO MAKE UP A SECOND DIVISION. 

TUESDAY LEAGUE

One league game and a duo of friendlies took place on a not particularly pleasant Tuesday evening. That league game was a bit of a wash out as Gangs Of Dwight Yorke hammered Oooze FC 20-3 with Callum Jones, Jimmy Leeson, Connor Harding, Wez Barker and Aden Jones all scoring three or more. A scratch Duno team came in to give Only Kruls & Horses a game after their opponents were unable to field a side, and the friendly was a decent one. It looked like being one sided in the first half as Jack Mullern scored three to help Kruls to a 6-1 half time lead. Tiredness may have been a factor in the second half as Kruls haven’t played for a few weeks, but it became a game of two halves as Kyle Clarke scored 4 as Duno looked to complete an unlikely comeback. The fell just short though, as Only Kruls held out for a 9-8 win.

Potential new boys Beercalona took on a combination of players from Sunday teams Pathetico Madrid and Stockport Eagles in their first friendly with us, and they held their own for much of the first half before things got away from them a bit in the second, the scratch team running out 13-4 winners.

WE ARE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR NEW TEAMS WHO WANT TO COME IN AND MAKE UP A SECOND DIVISION WHEN THE TOP DIVISION SPLITS IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. ONE OFF TRIAL GAMES ARE AVAILABLE FOR ANY NEW OR RETURNING TEAMS.

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

With the return of Magpie and new team New Team joining us, the Wednesday league is now back to full capacity. Injuries to Polish Army and the unavailability of some of the Exeter Gently lads meant we didn’t have a full house, but a couple of games took place. New Team’s first game was against a Magpie team who would presumably be rusty having not played since well before Christmas. Pawel Klimczak gave Magpie an early lead, but New Team held their own throughout most of the first half and they drew level as Jake Riley scored their first Ballers goal 6 minutes before the break. Magpie took a firm grip quickly after, and Stanislaw Cierpiatka grabbed three in 4 minutes to give Magpie a 4-1 lead before Bren Jones pulled another back on the stroke of half time. The new team struggled to keep up the pace in the second half, and Magpie eventually ran out 14-4 winners as Pawel Klimczak ended up with 4 and Milosz Zawila three.

The other game saw champions Ruud van Ni-Ste-Lloyd (who will hereby be known as Michu At De Dea Ba) looking to maintain their 100% start to the season against Stockport Eagles. That 100% record looked safe at the interval as Michu raced into a 6-1 lead at the break with Matt Barton having scored two and the rest being spread out amongst the team. Adam Porter grabbed his second a minute after the break and the game looked done and dusted at 7-1. The Eagles showed some fight (almost literally), and they scored 4 goals without reply to bring the score back to 7-5. That was how it finished though, and De Gea boys are now 6 points clear at the top.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS NOW FULL! FORTUNATELY WE HAVE THREE OTHER NIGHTS FOR YOU TO LOOK INTO IF YOU WANT TO SIGN UP…..

The first full week of 2018 was pretty awesome! It was great to see pretty much all teams back at it, with new teams set to join up over the next few weeks.

LEAGUE NEWS

While we have minimal spaces across our current league nights, we still have the possibility of expansion on a couple of them.

The BRAND NEW MONDAY LEAGUE starts next week, with a format change on the way. The league will drop to one division at the start of the season, with all teams playing each other once before the league splits for the second half of the season with new teams being filtered into the second division. It’s still not too late to get involved.

A mini league will be getting added to the TUESDAY LEAGUE in the next few weeks, with spaces there for new or returning teams to sign up.

For details on the above get in touch by clicking on ‘Join A League’ on the homepage.

MONDAY LEAGUE

We started the year with a batch of Monday friendlies ahead of the start of the new season which will start next week. The top two from last season faced off against each other as AC Milmanchester took on Expected Toulouse. As was the case last season, ACM were narrow victors, holding off a late Toulouse fightback to pick up a 5-4 win with Martin Gordon’s three goals the difference between the sides. Not A Chance picked up the Championship title to see them return to the top flight, so a game with Phantom Brazilians would be a good gauge for how they might do in the new season. An entertaining, competitive game ended up finishing 3-3 with Kyle Bell’s second of the game for The Chancers three minutes from time giving them a share of the spoils.

We welcomed new boys Murder On Zidane’s Floor to the Monday league this week, and they were involved in a great game with FC Rhino Ket. An end to end high scoring encounter finished 8-7 in the new boys favour, with 4 goals from Sam Delgado and three from Mitchell Robertson giving them the edge, with Ryan Stringer’s 4 goals proving to be in vain. Pathetico Madrid looked for all the world to be heading towards a win over Strikeforce as they lead 6-2 with less than 20 minutes to go, but a late comeback saw Strikeforce pick up a 9-6 win to give them a bit of confidence after a difficult last season.

THE NEW MONDAY LEAGUE STARTS NEXT WEEK, BUT NEW TEAMS WILL HAVE UNTIL 22ND JANUARY TO REGISTER FOR THIS SEASON.

THE NEW LEAGUE WILL BE ONE DIVISION, WITH EACH TEAM PLAYING EACH OTHER ONCE, BEFORE SPLITTING AT THE HALF WAY POINT OF THE SEASON.

TUESDAY LEAGUE

Three games this week in the Tuesday league, with Gangs Of Dwight Yorke making their mark in their first game of the year. The goals were spread around the team as 6 different scorers contributed to the 14 the teams scored in a 14-2 win to see them go top. Mirror Signal Malouda were looking to join Gangs on three wins from three, but they weren’t helped by the no-show of their keeper ahead of their game with Inter Row Z. A hard fought game ended up with each team taking home a point from a 5-5 draw.

Oooze were unbeaten going into this week’s game with Inter Mi Van (formerly O’Deli’s FC), but having picked up a creditable draw with Inter Row Z in their first game last week, Inter were looking to pick up a first win. They looked likely to make it a comfortable first win as they lead 6-1 going into the final 10 minutes, but Oooze rallied and very briefly looked like they could get something from the game, but Lee Boshir’s third and Gary Wood’s 4th helped them to an 8-5 win.

IF WE GET ENOUGH NEW TEAMS SIGNED UP, THE LEAGUE WILL SPLIT ONCE ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED EACH OTHER ONCE.

THE BOTTOM COUPLE OF TEAMS WILL DROP INTO A SECOND DIVISION ALONGSIDE WHAT NEW TEAMS WE GET SIGNED UP BETWEEN NOW AND THEN, SO GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS! 

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

While we continue to wait for the return of Magpie FC and for our new team to be ready to go, the 4 other teams faced each other again this week. Ruud van Ni-Ste-Lloyd, who are still to give us a new team name with THE Ste Lloyd having nothing to do with the team, continue to be the team to beat. Three goals each from Jamie Longworth and Ian Davies helped them ease to a 9-1 win over Polish Army. Stockport Eagles were looking to join the Poles on 6 points with a win over Exeter Gently, and a strong second half showing turned a 2-2 half time score into an 8-2 full time victory, Pula Waugh, Ben Waugh and Michael Winn with a couple of goals each.

THERE IS CURRENTLY ONE SPACE AVAILABLE FOR ANY NEW TEAMS LOOKING TO SIGN UP FOR OUR WEDNESDAY LEAGUE. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

What a night! 22 teams played out 11 games as just the one team were unable to fulfill this weeks fixture.

Duno started 2018 as the firm favourites to win a debut Sunday Premiership title as they had picked up 4 straight wins since the opening day of the season. A win over Kinky Slipper this week would see them almost out of sight at the top of the table, but if they were to do it they would have to come from 2-0 down at half time as Jordan Hutchinson scored a first half double. They gave it a good go, but a third Hutchinson goal in the second period saw Kinky run out 3-2 winners to close the gap to two points at the top of the table. Kipsta and El Caliente were looking for a first ‘proper’ win of the season, and it was Kipsta who lead 1-0 at the break through Warren Yeo’s strike. The second half was one sided in Caliente’s favour though, and two goals from Fidelis Eberegbe and Nathaniel Odysseus-Kingsley, alongside another from Michael Jennison eased them to a 5-1 win that sees them sit in third place.

A quick shuffle around of fixtures saw Team Tom take on The McMuffin Men for the second time in their opening three games, looking to take their record to three from three. A tight first half saw just the one goal, as Charley Eyre gave The McMuffin’s a lead on the stroke of half time. The Tom’s hit back in the second period and 5 unanswered goals, three from Andy Walker and two from Tom Hornsby, saw them to victory. Another team looking to maintain a 100% record were Under Rated, but this turned out to be a rare bad night for them as they were beaten by Dench FC. Things were relatively tight going into the final 10 minutes before things exploded in the latter stages. Phil Carroll scored three of his 5 in this period, and Marc Jagger also scored a hat trick as Dench picked up a 10-4 win, their first of the season to go third in what’s looking like being a very tight division. Two other teams who would fancy themselves to get amongst the promotion pack would be Step Brothers and The Veterans, and a win for either of these teams would have been handy to get the year started. Step Brothers looked the rustier side as The Vets shared the goals around with 5 different scorers in a 7-3 win, their first of the season, and they go 4th.

Inter Row Z look odds on to be taking a step up for next season, and they took their record to 13 points from a possible 15 and a +39 goal difference with a comfortable 8-2 win over Polish Army, Ray Donnelly with 4 of their goals. FC AOTS and Wellspring look likely to be amongst the pack fighting it out for second place, and a 5-5 draw between the two this week saw Wellspring stay second despite their -8 goal difference. AOTS have games in hand but a couple of draw in their first three games sees them sit in 4th place. Rooneytunes are up to third following their second win, after a goal-less first half against SK Dons turned into a goal fest as Aiden Conway grabbed three of their 7 second half goals in a 7-3 win.

Pathetico Madrid and Deportivo Lack Of Talent went into their game this weekend with both teams on three wins from three. An Adam Norton hat trick looked to be helping Pathetico to the win as they lead 5-3 going into the final couple of minutes, but a late Brad Peet double meant a share of the spoils and a sharing of top spot. Stockport Eagles moved to within a point of the leaders as 6 Ben Waugh goals were the highlight of a goal fest against SFC Club. Paul Waugh also scored three as the Eagles soared to a 13-7 win. 2017 wasn’t the best year in the history of Inter Your Sister, as they started the year in the Premiership and ended it in League Two. Add to that the fact that they were yet to pick up a win at this level and things can only get better! They started this week with a narrow 3-2 win over FC Stront Bakken which sees all teams off the mark win-wise for the season.

WE WILL BE LOOKING TO ADD A 5TH DIVISION TO THE SUNDAY LEAGUE WHEN IT RESTARTS IN LATE FEBRUARY. TO BOOK IN YOUR ONE OFF TRIAL GAMES GET IN TOUCH.

 

Just play.

That’s all we are after. This isn’t the Premier League or Champions League, this is SK Ballers.

While SK Ballers is massively important to us because it’s our business, we know our place. This is social football. That might change in the future, Sky might end up showing our games, team sponsorship could be a massive earner and players might be getting paid a hefty sum to play, but that’s not yet. If you’re the kind of team who cannot play unless you have your very best team available, maybe you need to have a little more perspective. United didn’t cancel the Derby with City because Pogba was suspended, and some might argue that game is bigger than any of the ones at our place. Even Kinky Slipper v Insole. I know. I did say SOME might argue…….

We hope you can all agree on the general levels of priorities with regards to world football:

World Cup > Champions League > Premier League > FA Cup > SK Ballers > Carabao Cup

Our trophies aren’t that expensive. They aren’t worth delaying and delaying that big top of the table game for. The leagues roll straight over so you’ll get another chance soon enough if this isn’t your season.

Everyone wants to win, of course they do, unfortunately it can’t always be that way. So just get 6 lads out on a pitch and enjoy your football, get yourself a bit fitter, and use the time to keep in touch with your mates. That’s what we’re here for.

LEAGUE RULE CHANGE

Taking all of the above into consideration, we are now looking at making the following rule change with regards to game cancellations:

EACH TEAM WILL BE PERMITTED TWO CANCELLATIONS THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF A SEASON. ANY FURTHER CANCELLATIONS AFTER THAT WILL MEAN THE GAME BEING FORFEITED AND A 5-0 WIN BEING AWARDED TO YOUR OPPOSITION.

We are doing this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, so that teams make sure they do everything they can to field a side for a game. At the minute it just seems a little too easy for teams to cancel without punishment, and has resulted in more games going down than we should expect. Secondly, it’s so that teams who fulfill all of their fixtures throughout the season aren’t punished by being made to wait several weeks for us to get the outstanding games played. We want to remain flexible and understand there will always be reasons why teams can’t field a side every now and then, but we have to try and prioritise the teams who want to play football.

These rule changes will come into place when a new league starts, we aren’t going to retrospectively punish any teams who’ve already cancelled games this season.

That being said, a massive thanks to all teams who’ve been involved last year, for getting us through the first full year and into our second, and hopefully we’ll still be around for a good while yet.

All the very best for the new year, and we’ll hopefully continue to see you throughout 2018!

For the second Thursday in a row, we were back at The Mike Doyle Centre to raise some money for a deserving charity, this time around it was Stroke Information. 12 teams this week compared to the 10 from last week, all giving generously, meant that we raised a decent wedge on the night, and some pretty decent football was played in pretty tricky conditions.

6 teams in each group meant more games of shorter length, putting more pressure on that first goal in each game…….

GROUP A

In the opening round of games, the three teams who were expected to be fighting out for the top two positions took on the three teams who would be considered to be the outsiders of the group. Sunday Premiership champions Insole beat Stockport Eagles 2-0 to get their campaign started, while Adswood Reformed were 3-0 winners over Exeter Gently and Step Brothers also didn’t concede as they beat El Caliente 2-0.

Adswood took on the Brotherhood in the second batch of fixtures, with neither team able to make the breakthrough in a game that finished goal-less. Insole took advantage to take control of the group with a 3-0 win over Exeter Gently. If Caliente or the Eagles were looking to make a play for a semi-final spot, one of them needed to win the meeting between the two of them, so a 0-0 draw did neither team any favours.

Insole faced Step Brothers next, knowing a win would effectively guarantee them a top two spot with two rounds to spare, but a third straight 0-0 draw in this group kept them in control, while putting Step Brothers chances of qualifying in the balance. Adswood joined Insole on 7 points with a 2-0 win over El Caliente, who were all but out following this result, while Stockport Eagles picked up a first Christmas Cup win (across both tournaments) by beating Exeter Gently 1-0 to end Exeter’s hopes.

El Caliente’s prospects were in the balance before the 4th round of fixtures, and they remained goal-less as a 1-0 defeat to Insole ended their tournament hopes. Adswood remained level with Insole, moving onto 10 points with a 1-0 over Stockport Eagles, who’s hopes also ended there. Step Brothers needed a win to keep their chances alive going into the final round of fixtures, and a comfortable 3-0 win over Exeter Gently meant it was two from three going into the final round.

Step Brothers had the advantage of playing the last game of the group, so would know what they had to do in their game in order to qualify. First they had to watch Insole take on Adswood, with the winner of this game guaranteed top spot. A hard fought 2-1 win for Insole meant they clinched first place, with that first defeat for Adswood leaving them on the brink of elimination when they’d looked good for qualification right the way through. Exeter Gently and El Caliente finished their campaigns with a dead rubber between the two, and with neither team having scored a goal so far a 0-0 draw looked nailed on. Exeter finished their night with a 3-2 win, which was the highest scoring game of the night….. With Adswood having lost their final game, a win for Step Brothers against already eliminated Stockport Eagles would send them through in second place. With the Adswood lads cheering them on, the Eagles nicked a shock 1-0 win that sent the Brotherhood home and sent Adswood into the semi-finals.

GROUP B

Group B had similarities with Group A in that it looked like being two from three at the outset, and those three teams avoided each other in the first round of fixtures. Gangs Of Dwight Yorke were comfortable 4-0 winners over FC Stront Bakken to get their campaign off to a winning start, while Ken & Barbie FC beat Team Tom 2-0. Duno were looking to go one further than their semi-final spot from last week, and they beat Wellspring 2-0 to get three points on the board.

The three winners from round 1 avoided each other again in the second batch of fixtures, and they were all winners again to create a 6 point gap between the top three and the bottom three. Gangs Of Dwight Yorke made it 7 scored, none conceded with a 3-0 win over Wellspring, Ken & Barbie made it consecutive 4-0 defeats for Stront Bakken, while Duno scraped a 1-0 win over Team Tom.

Gangs made it three from three to open round three, beating Team Tom 2-0, then they could stand a watch Duno take on Ken & Barbie in the first clash of the big three, and a 1-0 win for K&B looked to have put them in a strong position to qualify. Wellspring and Stront Bakken would know that the loser of their game would be done as far as this tournament was concerned, and a 2-1 win for Stront Bakken gave them the slimmest of chances of getting through the group.

Those chances ended in the next batch of fixtures, as a narrow 1-0 defeat to Duno kept Duno in contention while ending the Bucket Boys hopes. Gangs took on K&B in what looked like the tie of the group, but a surprisingly one sided game finished 3-0 in Gangs favour. Team Tom and Wellspring both picked up their first point of qualifying as they played out a 0-0 draw in a game that meant very little to either side.

Duno needed to call in favours in the final round of fixtures, as nothing but a win against leaders Gangs would see them eliminated, and even that wouldn’t be enough if K&B could pick up a point from their game with Wellspring. Duno couldn’t do their part though, and a 2-0 defeat left them in third place in the table. K&B eased to a 4-0 win over Wellspring, while Team Tom ended their campaign with their first win, 2-0 over Stront Bakken.

SEMI-FINALS

Having scraped into the semi’s, and having made it to the same stage in last years competition, Adswood Reformed were looking to go one step further this year, but would have a tough task making it through against a Gangs Of Dwight Yorke side that cruised through the group without conceding a goal. This was a tight game though, with Adswood holding their own as we headed into the final few minutes at 0-0, but just as we looked set for penalites, Callum Jones scored the only goal of the game to send Gangs into the final.

The second semi also looked too close to call as Insole took on Ken & Barbie FC in what turned out to be an end to end affair. Insole struck first, but K&B leveled things up heading into the final 5 minutes. Matthew Atkinson restored the Insole lead almost immediately, and this time they were able to hold on for the win to leave the final between the top teams from each group.

FINAL

Gangs Of Dwight Yorke had made it all the way to the final without conceding a goal, and started the final the stronger side with chances coming and going. Throughout the 15 minute final Insole were only able to create a handful of chances, so when Jimmy Leeson scored to give Gangs a deserved lead it proved to be the only goal of the game, leaving Gangs Of Dwight Yorke as Christmas Cup 2 winners.

OTHER INFORMATION

The 12 team turnout, with each team having a minimum of 7 players on the night, meant that we cleared £286.40 for Stroke Information. The spot prize winner of a pair of tickets to a Stockport County game, for being one of 5 people to make a double donation to take part, was Tom Harrison from Exeter Gently. Many thanks to Tom, Shaun Mather, Anthony Pugh, Mike Belshaw and Tom Hornsby who were the people who double donated on the night, and thanks to all teams who took part.

See you all in 2018…..!

Gangs Of Dwight Yorke

A solid 10 team turnout for the first of two Christmas Cup tournaments for this year helped us raise a decent wedge of money for Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity. By the end of the event, no teams had a 100% win record, so the tightness of the standards made for a highly competitive event.

GROUP A

Group A got started with two games kicking off at the same time, but only one winner. Dench FC picked up a 2-1 win over Stockport Eagles while Wellspring FC picked up an impressive 0-0 draw against one of the pre-tournament favourites Duno FC. The Eagles stayed on for the third game in the group, but they had no more luck as they lost again, this time 1-0 against Inter Row Z. The third ’round’ of games saw a little controversy, as confusion reigned for a few minutes at the end of the Dench v Wellspring game, which eventually went down as a 2-1 win to Dench, meaning it was two wins from two for them. In a family affair, Inter Row Z drew first blood against Duno in what was looking like a must win game for Duno. The managed to turn it around and picked up a 2-1 win that put them back in control of their own destiny within the group. Any hope Eagles had of getting out of the group ended with a 2-0 defeat to Wellspring, who still had a chance of claiming one of the top two spots. The biggest game of the group was up next, as Dench looked to make it three from three against Duno, but Duno hit their stride in this one and ran out comfortable 4-0 winners. After a good start, Inter Row Z’s chances of qualifying looked all but over after they lost a second successive game, 1-0 to Wellspring, and Duno confirmed their place at the top of the group with a 2-1 victory over Eagles. Dench needed a win in their last game against Inter Row Z to ensure second place was theirs, and they just about got it, winning the match 1-0.

GROUP B

On paper, the first game in Group B looked like being a one sided affair as Sunday top division faced bottom. The game was tighter than many would have predicted, but it did end up going the way we’d have expected as J Stands Barmy Army beat FC Stront Bakken 1-0. A mix and match El Caliente side were up against it after the first round of games, as they were hammered 4-1 by Polish Army, while J Stands made it two wins from two with another 1-0 win, this time against Kelly’s Wanderers, who were the only non Ballers league team in the competition. El Caliente faced Stront Bakken next in a game both teams needed to win to retain a realistic hope of making the semis. Caliente’s bad start continued, as they suffered a 2-1 defeat that meant they would be out unless they could beat J Stands in their next game. A third straight 1-0 win for J Stands confirmed their place in the next round, while Caliente’s tournament was over before it had really began. The fight for second place was now a three way fight, and two of those faced each other next as Kelly’s Wanderers looked for their first points against Polish Army. A 2-0 win for Kelly’s saw them join their polish opponents and Stront Bakken on three points, but the Army had an immediate chance to hit straight back against Stront Bakken. A 2-0 win for the poles saw them go into their final round of fixtures still in with a good chance of qualifying, while Stront Bakken’s chances were now hanging by a thread. A 3-1 win for Kelly’s Wanderers against El Caliente meant they went into the final round of fixtures level on points with Polish Army, and the Army were up next with the tough task of trying to take points off J Stands, and a creditable 2-2 draw did just that. That point meant that Stront Bakken now couldn’t qualify, regardless of the result of their final game against Kelly’s Wanderers, with the Wanderers needing a win to go through. A 2-0 win for Kelly’s saw them claim second spot, earning them a semi final spot against Duno.

SEMI FINALS

Group A winners Duno took on Kelly’s Wanderers on pitch 1 in what looked like being a tough one to call, especially as Kelly’s had reeled off three straight wins after their opening game defeat. It was Duno who struck first, but Kelly’s hit back to take this one to penalties, and two misses from three Duno penalties was enough to send Kelly’s into the final.

The other semi saw Dench looking like facing an uphill battle against Group B winners J Stands, but it was the underdogs who struck first and the potential shock was on. J Stands struck back and once they had pulled themselves level they took complete control, easing to a 4-1 victory to see an all Group B final.

FINAL

These two teams met each other in the first game in Group B, with J Stands picking up a 1-0 win, but from that point on both teams had looked impressive in making their way through the tournament. J Stands would start this one as favourites, and they took the lead through Scott Stokes goal in the early stages. They had a chance to make it 2-0 a few minutes later, but Marcus Dean saw his penalty saved. They didn’t have to wait long for that second to arrive as Dean converted from close range, and despite Kelly’s best efforts they couldn’t find a way back into this one, and J Stands Barmy Army picked up the trophies from the first of our Christmas Cup competitions for 2017!

OTHER INFORMATION

11 players entered the draw to win a pair of tickets to a Stockport County game of their choice, courtesy of Richard at JR Sports, our football and shirt suppliers. Lukas Voveris and Declan Matthews from FC Stront Bakken, Dominik from Polish Army, and James Marshall from Stockport Eagles went into the draw for what they did on the pitch, while Shaun Mather, Paul Waugh, Alecs Pattison, Lee Bridge, Kyle Bell, Scott Stokes and Nicky Stokes all entered the draw as a result of making more than the standard donation to take part. The winner, picked completely at random, was James Marshall.

The full time result in terms of money to donate to Shelter after expenses had been removed, was £229.80. Thank you so much to everyone who took part, and hopefully we’ll have more of the same next week when we look to raise some money for Stroke Information.

From a league point of view, that’s us done for 2017. The next time we see a lot of our league teams there will be turkey and (dare we say) a bit of beer that teams will be looking to run off.

LEAGUE NEWS

The NEW MONDAY LEAGUE kicks off on 15th March, with friendlies available for any new or returning teams on 8th January. We will also be looking to add a mini league on a Tuesday evening, starting on 23rd January, also with friendlies available in the run up. Get in touch for details about either of these.

Following the success of our first Christmas Cup of the year this week, we have a second one taking place next Thursday, 28th December, in support of Stroke Information. Spaces are filling up, but there’s still a couple remaining on a first come, first served basis. Kick off is at 7pm, a minimum donation of £5 per player to take part.

MONDAY LEAGUE

This week saw the final night of a slightly disrupted Monday league season, but there was plenty of room for drama in the Premiership as AC Milmanchester and Expected Toulouse went into the final night level on points with Expected leading the way on goal difference. AC were up first. knowing they needed to set a target for Toulouse to chase down, and they went about it in the first half as three goals from Martin Gordon, and one each from Chris Singelton, Callum Jones and Kiarno Samms gave them a 6-1 lead at the break. They stepped on the gas in the second period, with Gordon and Jones adding 4 more each amongst others, as they ran out 17-4 winners meaning Expected needed a 10 goal win in their game with Phantom Brazilians to claim a debut Monday Premiership title. They gave themselves a fighting chance in the first half, as three goals from Liam Mottram and two from Jordan Milne gave them a 5-1 lead at half time. Matt Holbrook made their task harder by pulling one back for Phantom early in the second half, and Toulouse fell just short as three more for Milne and two for Niall Hillen meant they won 10-2, leaving Milmanchester as back to back Monday Premiership title winners.

In the Championship, Not A Chance already had the title wrapped up before they took on relative new boys FC Rhino Ket. It was the new side that took the lead through a Louis Moore goal on 12 minutes, and they came within two minutes of holding that lead until the break, but Kyle Bell struck a leveller for the Chancers. Jack Needham restored Ket’s lead early in the second half, but Not A Chance were the stronger team in the final stages as Bell grabbed another three and Phil Carroll two inside the final 20 minutes to give the Championship winners a perfect 10 for the season.

THE NEW MONDAY LEAGUE STARTS ON 15TH JANUARY 2018! GET IN TOUCH TO BOOK IN YOUR FRIENDLY FOR THE 8TH JANUARY IF YOU ARE THINKING IT COULD BE FOR YOU.

TUESDAY LEAGUE

Only a couple of games barely survived in the final Tuesday evening of the year, and title holders Mirror Signal Malouda made it two wins from two heading into 2018 as 5 goals from Josh Morrisey, three from Jake Dean, two from Kieran Hamilton and one from Wez Barker gave them a comfortable enough 11-6 win over Wellspring, for whom Lewis Arden and Jamie Berrisford grabbed three apiece. The other game was an entertaining affair as Oooze FC took on a Cheadle FC team who were fielding a stronger side this week than the last time they turned out. An end to end first half saw Oooze lead 5-4 at the break, before they edged themselves clear to eventually run out 10-6 winners to take top spot as the only team to have fulfilled all of their fixtures so far.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE MAY CURRENTLY BE FULL, BUT WE DO HAVE SPACE TO GET A MINI LEAGUE STARTED IN EARLY 2018, SO GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

Just one game in the Wednesday league this week as the final few days before Christmas started to bite, but it was a tight one between Polish Army and Exeter Gently. Dominik and Marcin gave the poles an early two goal lead, but a couple of Kristian Igo goals and a tidy finish from Tom Harrison turned things in Exeter’s favour approaching the break. They couldn’t hold the lead until half time though, as Dominik grabbed his second in the final seconds of the half to see us into the break at 3-3. The Polish style of play was proving to be a distraction to the Exeter players, and their loss of concentration throughout the second period was to cost them dear as goals from Marcin 7 minutes into the half and Slawek two minutes from time gave them the win.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL, SO FOR NOW IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO JOIN A LEAGUE, MONDAY OR TUESDAY IS WHERE YOU’RE BEST OFF LOOKING!

SUNDAY LEAGUE

There were still 7 games on this week in the Sunday league (should have been 8…..) as our biggest league night showed little sign of slowing down heading into the festive period. Duno had got off to a decent start to life in the top flight, but they faced their toughest test of the season so far against reigning champions Insole. They got off to the ideal start when Steven Whetham gave them the lead in the third minute, and Roberto added a second for them 9 minutes from the break. Jack Atkinson reduced the arrears a couple of minutes later, and Insole were level with 14 minutes remaining when Liam Atkinson grabbed a goal. Duno hit straight back as Calvin Alexander scored a minute later, and in a frantic final few minutes Duno were able to hold on for an impressive win that sees them clear at the top of the table at Christmas. Kinky Slipper were playing only their second game of the season after a fairly disrupted start to the Sunday Premiership season, and they faced El Caliente this week. Rob Creswell gave them the lead in the 7th minute, but Michael Jennison leveled things up on 16. Joe Lailey restored the Kinky lead two minutes before the break, and they looked to have killed the game off with two Jordan Hutchinson goals in the opening 4 minutes of the second period. Matthew Kealy (we think) did pull one back for Caliente with 20 minutes still to play, but that was it as far as the scoring went, as Kinky set themselves up to be the nearest contenders to Duno in these early stages.

The only game in the Championship saw family members go up against each other as Step Brothers took on The McMuffin Men. The McMuffins were in just their second game at this level having skipped League One, and they were looking for their first points of the campaign. They got off to the better start as two Jack Derbyshire goals gave them the advantage in the opening stages. A piece of magic by Chris Moore got Step Brothers back into it, and they were level 7 minutes before the break as Rob Sheldon scored. The McMuffins lead at the break though, as Sam Delgado scored three minutes from the interval, but things quickly turned in the Brotherhood’s favour early in the second period. Goals from Gaz Fay, Tom Cioffi and two from Josh Armitage saw Step Brothers take a three goal lead in the first 9 minutes, and though Derbyshire pulled one back for McMuffin, further goals from Cioffi and Sheldon took the game away from them. Derbyshire added another two to reduce the deficit to two goals again, but Moore ended any thoughts of a comeback before Delgado grabbed the final goal of the game to leave Step Brothers with a 9-7 victory.

Rooneytunes had done ok since they joined the Sunday league a couple of weeks ago, with one 5-4 win and one 5-4 defeat in their first two games, but they didn’t have quite as strong a team out this week and boy did it show! Inter Row Z look set to claim a promotion place at least as they remain unbeaten so far, and when 5 goals from Ray Donnelly helped them to a 10-0 half time lead this week, there was no danger of that run ending. The eventually ended up running out 16-2 winners as Donnelly added another three in the second half, while the rest of the goals were spread around the team. The other game in the division saw SK Dons, who were still looking for their first League One point, take on a Wellspring team who had started the season well before taking a hammering against Inter last time out. Mike Devitt seemed to have put Wellspring on the way to s comfortable win when he scored twice in the opening 10 minutes, but Kyle Norris halved that lead and we went into the break at 2-1. Nathan Wilkinson made it 3-1 a couple of minutes into the second half, but two goals in a minute for the Dons made it 3-3 with 14 minutes left. George Quayle and Wilkinson grabbed the decisive goals in the final 10 minutes as Wellspring returned to winning ways as they sit second in the Christmas standings.

With Pathetico Madrid picking up a forfeit win this week as SFC Club failed to recover from their Christmas hangovers, Deportivo needed to pick up a win to keep pace with the leaders. No one can remember the last time Inter Your Sister picked up a point, but they were level at 1-1 10 minutes into this one after Craig Johnson cancelled out Jake Riley’s opener, but Deportivo lead at the break as Chris Cunliffe and Brad Peet added goals towards the end of the half. The goals flowed a little more in the second period as Rob Parker grabbed 4 for Deportivo as they eased to an 8-5 victory to join Pathetico on 9 points. Stockport Eagles and FC Stront Bakken would both be expecting to push towards the promotion spots, but having dropped points already this season they both needed points from this week’s game. The Eagles soared into a 3-1 half time lead as Ben Waugh grabbed a first half hat trick, but Declan Matthews second of the game early in the second half meant it was game on again going into the latter stages. Ryan McAndrew grabbed the final goal of the game in the final 5 minutes to give the Eagles the win, and they go third, three points behind the leaders.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL! WE CAN ALWAYS LOOK AT THE OPTIONS FOR ADDING A 5TH DIVISION IN THE NEW YEAR, SO FEEL FREE TO ASK AWAY……