This
Saturday marks the first time this season that all three of the club’s teams will be in action at the same time and,
whilst the Third team are the only side to play at home, neither of the other two sides have particularly arduous journeys
as they travel to take part in their first away games of the campaign
Indeed, the first team only have to nip round
the corner, to The Newlands, where they will be taking on newly promoted Stroud FC in a Northern Senior League Division One
fixture. It may seem rather bizarre that a team playing under the name of "Stroud" provides our most local away
fixture but this can, partly, be explained by the fact that the club won promotion from Division Two last season as "Newton
Heath and Stroud". Confirmation of the club’s elevation came when they won their penultimate game of the 2009-10
season, away to Chalford, where a 3-2 victory was enough to secure third place and Division One football this coming season.
Previous to the 2008-09 season, the club had played solely under the banner of "Newton Heath", the name under which
it won the Cheltenham League in 2004 and by which it was known when it first finished third in Division Two, one point behind
the Firsts, in the 2006-07 season. Newton Heath only enjoyed one season at the higher level, however, before being relegated
and joining forces with the Stroud Junior Football Club, which was also in residence at The Newlands. The Newton Heath name,
which first came to prominence locally in 1998 when the club won Cheltenham League Division Six, was then dropped at the end
of last season and thus disappears after a 12 year rise through 8 Divisions.
As a consequence, it is, effectively, brand
new opposition for the club when the First team travel round the corner on Saturday. Against Newton Heath, a side that the
Thirds first ran into back in 1998, when they lost 7-1, the Firsts had a decent record, winning three and drawing three of
the 8 matches that the two teams had played, but this hardly seems relevant now. Stroud FC did enjoy an excellent opening
day to their Division One venture last weekend, when they won 1-0 at Lydbrook but they took their leave of the League Cup
at the same stage as the First team, losing their opening encounter 3-0 at home to Barnwood.
The First team squad for
the match against Stroud shows just two changes from that which beat Barnwood last Saturday. Neil Bermingham is omitted and
his brother, Steve, is unavailable so Paul Dean, who was working last week, and Matt Harvey take their places.
The Reserves
travel to Windfall Way on Saturday to meet old adversaries Finlay Rovers in a Cheltenham League Division One fixture. The
paths of the two sides first crossed back in the 2004-05 season, when the Reserves lost both games, with the 1-0 home defeat
in April 2005 being sufficient for Finlay Rovers to finish above the Reserves in the Division Three table. This meant that
the team’s hosts this weekend gained automatic promotion, having been placed second, whilst the Reserves had to wait
for the outcome of the League’s AGM, to see if third place would be good enough as the League underwent yet another
reorganisation. In the end, though, both teams played in Division Two the following season, although it was only for a couple
of years in the case of Finlay Rovers, as they were Divisional Champions at the end of the 2006-07 campaign and took their
place in Division One for the first time. Of course, the Reserves joined them two years later and the two sides lined up against
each other once more on 7th November last year, when Finlay Rovers won 1-0. The Reserves more than redressed the
balance, however, last February in the game at Cheltenham Road, when a goal from the then manager, James Mole, and four more
from current boss, Jamie Roberts, afforded the side a handsome 5-2 win.
The Reserve Team squad that travels to Gloucester
includes several debutants, with Mark Allen, Martin Dixon and Adam Walker in line to make their first appearances for the
club. James Mole, who had to withdraw late from the team that lost 4-2 to Woodmancote on Wednesday, also returns to the squad
that will be without Dan Robinson and Rob Vaughan but includes Simon Delaney, who will be aiming to make his first appearance
in almost a year.
The Third team are at home on their own this weekend and welcome Cheltenham Civil Service III to Cheltenham
Road. The visitors were relegated from Division Three last season, with just 5 points from 24 matches, when a disastrous campaign
for the whole club saw each of its three most senior sides finish bottom of their respective divisions. However, there was
evidence that the club has undergone something of a renaissance during the summer when our First team were held to a 1-1 draw
at Cheltenham Road by the Civil Service First team in a pre-season friendly a couple of weeks back and so our new look third
team should expect to be severely tested by their visitors this coming weekend. Although the Third team and Civil Service’s
IV team have been regular opponents over the last few years, the last time the two club’s respective third strings played
each other was on 30th March, 2002. However, the fact that Civil Service gained a 4-2 win at Quat Goose Lane that day is unlikely
to be of any particular significance when the two teams line up this weekend. Not surprisingly, there is no one who was part
of that side who is still playing for the club, although the recently retired Chris Clarke scored one of Eagle Star’s
goals and club chairman Nick Oram was amongst the substitutes (just weeks before he retired himself!!!)
The Third team
squad for this match features five players who will be seeking to make their home debut, with Duncan Clowes, Venezuelan Erick
Maruhn, Ben Morris, Ben Slatter and Tim Trebar all named in a 14 that also sees the anticipated return of Catalin Rosu.
