The Bank Holiday sees a double header of football. On Monday, the Ives travel to Kettering but before then, the focus is on Leamington who visit the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road tomorrow.

INTRODUCING LEAMINGTON

The visitors arrive having been relegated from the National League North at the end of last season. The Brakes have started the current campaign with an identical record to that of Ives – one victory and a draw from their opening four games. The victory came at home to Long Eaton on the opening day of the season, and in their last outing Leamington lost 1-0 at home to Mickleover. The Brakes sit in 16th position, one place below the Ives in the early season league table.

STAR MAN

Look out for Henry Landers. The striker arrived at Leamington over the summer from National League North side Banbury United. He made 92 appearances for the Puritans, scoring 19 goals.

IVES TEAM NEWS

The Ives will look to return to winning ways following a narrow 3-2 defeat at Hitchin last Saturday. The story could have been different if Brandon Njoku had seen his second half penalty converted, but he made amends with one of the two Ives goals that saw his tally go to three in the last three games. Njoku looks set to lead the line again tomorrow whilst fellow striker Jonny Edwards remains sidelined as he continues to recover from an appendix operation. Elsewhere, Dan Barton who like Njoku, is also on loan from Cambridge United, could come into contention for a place after recovering from an injury that has seen him not feature so far this season.

INTRODUCING THE MATCH OFFICIALS

The referee tomorrow is Simon Kavanagh and will be assisted by Simon Curtis and Ceredig Cattanach-Chell.

DRINKS PROMOTION

Don’t forget that there will is a special drinks promotion tomorrow before the game. It will be happy hour in the clubhouse from 1:00pm – 2:30pm where all pints will be priced at £3.00. Hot food is also available.

MATCH PROGRAMME

You can download a free copy of the online match programme HERE

ADMISSION PRICES

Adults – £11

Concessions (Over 65) £8

Military Discount (with ID Card) – £5

Students (With ID Card) – £5

U16’s to 12 – £2

U12’s – Free (Accompanied with an adult)

Kick-off at Westwood Road is at 3:00pm.

St Ives Town continue their league programme on Monday night when they host AFC Sudbury at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road.  Monday evening is the new midweek night for the first team, and they will be looking to make it two wins on the bounce following their excellent 1-0 victory at Nuneaton on Saturday.

IVES TEAM NEWS

Influential midfielder Myles Cowling remains sidelined through injury for the Ives.  But boss Ricky Marheineke should have decent numbers to select from for the first midweek match of the campaign. Brandon Njoku looks set to feature again after scoring the winner on Saturday. New signing Carlos Flood was on the bench on Saturday, and is likely to be named in the squad once again. The Ives boss tasted an opening day defeat for the first time during his tenure as manager when his side lost to Mickleover in the previous game at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road, so he’ll be hoping that his team can get their first home victory of the season against a side who got promoted last year.

INTRODUCING AFC SUDBURY

AFC Sudbury, nicknamed the Yellows are in the division following their promotion from the Isthmian League North Division last season.  They won promotion through the play-offs.  A 3-2 win over Grays Athletic in the Semi-Final set up a Final against Heybridge Swifts.  An extra time goal from Jake Turner was enough to win the tie 1-0 in front of a crowd of 1,257 at their MEL Group Stadium.  Despite plenty of player movement in the summer, they laid down a marker as they gained a worthy point courtesy of a 1-1 draw against Barwell on the opening day of the season. On Saturday, they lost their first away trip of the season as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Alvechurch.

MATCHDAY ADMISSION PRICES:

Adults – £11

Concessions (Over 65) £8

Military Discount (with ID Card) – £5

Students (With ID Card) – £5

U16’s to 12 – £2

U12’s – Free (Accompanied with an adult)

Kick-off at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road is at 7:45pm.

The curtain goes up on the 2023/24 PitchingIn Southern League Premier Division Central season on Saturday as St Ives Town host Mickleover at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road.

It was back at the end of April that the Ives last saw competitive action as they saw out the season with a defeat at Nuneaton.  That match turned out to be something of a non-event as The Ives had thankfully secured their status in the division the week before courtesy of victory at home to Bedford.

Since then, manager Ricky Marheineke has added a few new faces but most of the squad from last season remain.  Supporters’ player of the year, Jordan Williams will once again be a key part of the squad as he will be part of a back four that will also include Jonny Herd who scooped the Managers Player of the Year last season.  Top scorer Jonny Edwards also returns, and all eyes will be on him to see if he can repeat his scoring exploits from the previous campaign.

Joining the St Ives squad are midfielder Fernado Bell-Toxtle who arrives from Royston.  Tiago Nassunculo looks like he will be adding extra pace following his switch from Barwell.  Goalkeeper Eddie Brearey comes in on loan from Oxford United whilst Brandon Njoku and Dan Barton are loaned from Cambridge United.  Meanwhile Aaron Smith joins from St Neots to strengthen the midfield options.  Pre-season form for the Ives has been decent, and they rounded off their preparations for the new campaign last Saturday with a 2-2 draw at Hendon.

The league this season…..

As usual, there will be new teams in this division this season.  AFC Telford United, Leamington and Kettering will be looking for an immediate return to the National League North following their relegation.  AFC Sudbury, Long Eaton United, Halesowen, Stamford and Berkhamsted either make their debuts or return to this level after winning promotion last season.

Introducing Mickleover…….

Mickleover arrive having narrowly missed out on a play-off berth.  They finished sixth last season and will be hoping to get off to a good start.  They have strengthened over the summer and include two strikers who have been added to their squad.  Andre Wright signed from Stratford Town whilst former Southampton forward Marcus Barnes could be one to look out for.

Ives team news…..

The Ives have had no further match action since last Saturday, but manager Ricky Marheineke has concerns over the fitness of striker Jonny Edwards who missed the back end of pre-season through injury.  Fellow striker Brandon Njoku is on standby to make his debut whilst Eddie Brearey could be the preferred choice in goal.

Kick-off at Westwood Road is at 3:00pm.

Matchday Admission Prices…..

Adults – £11

Concessions (Over 65) £8

Military Discount (with ID Card) – £5

Students (With ID Card) – £5

U16’s to 12 – £2

U12’s – Free (Accompanied with an adult)

St Ives Town FC are very proud and delighted to confirm a further enhanced renewal of their great partnership deal with Cambridge Sensotec Ltd and their Dynascan division as First Team Home kit sponsor. For the 2023/24 season, the fantastic news is that both companies will become sponsors for all First Team players on a block basis.     

SITFC Commercial Director Mark Taylor commented ‘We have had Cambridge Sensotec as a great partner/supporter for many years now and with all the current very challenging economic and financial issues/worries that everyone is having to face, it is brilliant news that they are able to both carry on providing the critical foundations for the club to continue to operate in its current  structure but also to expand their invaluable support.’     

Mark Swetnam Cambridge Sensotec’s Managing Director added “Once again we are delighted to renew our sponsorship with St Ives Town at a further enhanced level.  It is important that we grow the relationship as Sensotec grows as a business.  As we enter our sixth consecutive year as First Team home and away shirt sponsors, we look forward to another great season, after quite comfortably securing step three league football for another year at the end of last season.  The 3G pitch and surrounding facilities are fantastic and all the players, both home and away, seem to love playing on the quality surface.  It is great to see so many quality players have committed to stay at the club to form the backbone of the squad for the new season, and there are some exciting new players who have signed in pre-season. 

Once again I want to thank Chairman Paul Reason and his board of Directors for overseeing this amazing progress at the club, and send our best wishes and hopes for a great season to our manager, Ricky, and his support team.  We have some new interesting places to visit and some new teams to welcome at Westwood Road in the 23/24 season and we look forward to seeing everyone old and new at the ground soon”.

This weekend sees the start of July, which means that St Ives Town begin their pre-season programme.

Spalding play in the Northern Premier League Midlands, and like St Ives have only reported back for duty within the last week, so the match will be the ideal opportunity for the teams to get some game time under their belts for the first time since the season closed at the end of April.

Since the close of the previous campaign, Ives manager Ricky Marheineke has been busy assembling a squad ahead of the new season with the core from last year being retained.  Key players such as Jonny Edwards, Jonny Herd and Jordan Williams – a trio which scooped honours at the end of season awards – will all be with the Ives for the forthcoming campaign.  They could all feature in the opening friendlies along with others including Fernando Bell-Toxtle who has signed from Royston Town.

The Tulips finished third in the Northern Premier League Midlands table last season, and progressed to the play-off final only to lose out to Halesowen Town.  Despite losing Stefan Broccoli to Cambridge City, they have made a number of impressive signings including striker Dan Sweeney, who the Ives know all about as he was formerly with Bromsgrove Rovers.

So, the season may be a good few weeks away yet, but if you fancy getting back into it and seeing the start of pre-season, then get down to the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road on Monday evening. The details together with admission prices are as follows:

ST IVES TOWN v SPALDING UNITED

Monday 3 July 2023.  Kick-off 7:45pm

Admission:

Adults:  £6.00

Under 16s (accompanied by an adult): FREE

 Ives Town head to Hednesford today as they look to build on the excellent win against Mickleover last weekend.

The 2-0 win over Mickleover saw a three-match losing streak come to an end.  For that match, Ives manager Ricky Marheineke changed the starting line-up with the likes of James Dadge, Ben Toseland and Kellan Hickinson getting the nod over others including striker Jonny Edwards who despite scoring the first goal, started the match on the bench.  Given the excellent performances that the trio put it in last week, Marheineke could be tempted to start with them again this week against a team who are currently one place off the foot of the table.

Despite their lowly position, Hednesford did get an excellent win last week when they came away with a 3-1 victory at Bedford Town.  Prior to that, it was on 3 December that the Pitmen recorded their last win which was a 2-0 victory over Stratford Town.  They have lost 16 of their 25 league matches to date which included a 2-0 defeat to the Ives on 26 November at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road.  The Ives are currently 13^th in the league table, and a win tomorrow could see them move up to 10^th in the table.

GOING TO THE GAME:
Hednesford Town FC
Race Stadium at Keys Park
Keys Park Road
Hednesford
Staffs
WS12 2DZ

ADMISSION PRICES:
Adults: £12.00
Concessions: £9.00
Under 16’s: £5.00
Under 5’s: Free
Family Ticket: £15.00

Car Park: £3.00

If you are not attending the game, then there will be the usual updates on social media throughout the afternoon with a full match report available on the Ives website over the weekend.

St Ives Town Football Club are organising an open evening for all supporters to attend.  The event will take place on Thursday 19 January between 7 and 8:30pm in the clubhouse at the ground.

This will be the chance to voice your opinions to club officials on how the club is doing, what it is good at, and what it can do better.

So the club can get an idea of numbers, please RSVP in advance if you wish to attend.  Replies can be sent to Paul Reason.  Email: paul@rcostings.co.uk.

St Ives Town have been drawn at home to FC Halifax in the fourth qualifying round of the Emirates FA Cup.  The visitors are currently bottom of the National League and have won 2 of their opening 11 matches.  The tie is scheduled to take place on 15 October at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road, but this will be confirmed together with more details of the match in due course.

It’s the Second Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday with St Ives facing a difficult looking trip to Canvey Island.

The hosts are also at step three, playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division having been promoted from the North Division via the play-offs last season.  The Gulls have got off to a decent start in their new surrounds and currently sit tenth in the table having won two, drawn two and lost two of their opening six league games.  In the first qualifying round of the FA Cup, they came up against fellow league opponents Enfield Town, but hammered them 5-1 which included a hat-trick for striker Evans Kouassi.

The Ives head to Essex on the back of their first home league defeat against Leiston on Tuesday night.  Several key personnel were missing from that game including influential players Michael Richens and Greg Kaziboni so hopes will be high that at least one of those will be in the line-up for the tie at the Movie Starr Stadium.  St Ives also had their own hat-trick hero in the last round when Nabil Shariff scored three in a 4-0 victory over Barking.  Shariff along with strike partner Johnny Edwards are both set to be included tomorrow.

Canvey Island have a fine history in the FA Cup having reached the third round of the competition in season 2001/02 before bowing out to Burnley.  They beat Wigan and Northampton en-route to that round and the year before they got to the second round after eliminating Port Vale.  Victory for the Ives tomorrow would see them move into the third qualifying round for only the second time in their history.  The previous occasion was in the 2018/19 season when they lost 3-0 at York City.

If you are not making the trip, you can keep up to date with all the action from the game throughout the afternoon via social media with a match report available on the club website over the weekend.  Should a replay be necessary, then it will take place on Tuesday evening.

GOING TO THE GAME:

Canvey Island FC
The Movie Starr Stadium
Park Lane
CANVEY ISLAND
Essex
SS8 7PX

Admission Prices:

ADULTS: £12.00
CONCESSIONS: £7.00
U16’s: £2.00

Following a pitch inspection, tonight’s game at Nuneaton has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

A new date to follow in due course.

Last night the Southern League released the below statement with regards to league fixtures.

The Clubs in membership of the Northern Premier, Southern and Isthmian Leagues (the Trident Leagues) met earlier this week to consider the challenges and issues brought about by the reintroduction of Tiers after the raising of the nationwide lockdown with effect from yesterday.

The clubs were asked to vote on a proposition that the pause in fixtures be continued with a regular review in light of changes to the Tiers and/or grants becoming available. The first review to be no later than 16th December. The total votes cast by the 224 Clubs show a substantial number of Clubs in agreement with the proposition.  The matter has been considered today and is subject to comment by The FA.

A further statement will be issued in due course.

With the current lockdown set to be lifted on 2 December we can advise of the following 1st team fixtures arranged for December.

The club are delighted to announce that we have extended the youth loan of Jacob Ballinger for a further 28 days.

Jacob made his debut for the club at the end of September away at Tamworth and has featured in the games against Redditch and Nuneaton.

Unfortunately due to the Covid lockdown games have been limited, however after some excellent performances it was a no brainer for the management team to look at extending the deal.

The talented left sided player will now be with the club up to and including our game on November 21st at home to Sporting Bromsgrove FC.

We have been working collaboratively with the National League System (NLS), the women’s football pyramid and the wider grassroots game since the outbreak of COVID-19 on how to conclude the 2019-20 season in the most appropriate way possible.

These are challenging circumstances for English football and all decisions taken are in the best interests of the game and in consultation across key stakeholders. Our primary concern will always be for the safety and welfare of clubs, players, staff, officials, volunteers and supporters during this unprecedented time.

Today’s steps take into account the financial impact during this uncertain period, whilst considering the fairest method on how the sporting outcomes for the season will be decided with the integrity of the leagues in mind.

National League System

The NLS and the women’s football pyramid were able to build a consensus amongst their leagues and, where possible, aimed to create a consistent approach across all leagues, whilst taking into account the unique characteristics of each individual league.

As a result, The FA and NLS steps three to six have reached a consensus that their 2019-20 season will now be brought to an end, and all results will be expunged. This will mean no promotion or relegation of clubs between NLS steps three to six, and no promotion to NLS step two.

These decisions will also apply to the leagues and clubs who play at NLS step seven.

We will continue to assist and support the National League (NLS steps one and two) to determine the outcome of its 2019-20 season as quickly as possible. The planned implementation of the restructure of the NLS will also now be deferred until the start of the 2021-22 season.

Furthermore, we can now confirm that we have decided that all grassroots football is concluded for the 2019-20 season. This will allow the game to move forward and to commence planning for next season. Our County Football Associations (CFAs) will be supporting grassroots leagues over the coming days to determine how they should close out their current competitions.

Where appropriate, the above decisions will be put to The FA Council for ratification.

Throughout this period we continue to seek guidance in respect of the government’s financial support packages relative to COVID-19 and how they are applicable to clubs in the NLS, the women’s football pyramid and the wider grassroots game.

Women’s football

The FA, FA Women’s Board members and the Women’s Football Conference have consulted and reached a consensus regarding the women’s football pyramid.

The FA and the leagues within tiers three to seven have reached a consensus to bring the season to an immediate end and all results will be expunged. This will mean no promotion or relegation of clubs between tiers three to seven. Agreement has also been reached to end the Regional Talent Clubs season, which was due to conclude in April 2020.

In line with the recent advice on the COVID-19 Virus we have been advised that all grassroots sports are to be suspended. Taking this advice and as a duty of care the club have a made the difficult decision to suspend all grassroots sport including TOTS until further notice.

Latest statement from the Southern League.

It has been agreed that the League is officially suspended until 3rd April 2020. However, it should be noted that an Alliance Committee Meeting by Conference Call will be taking place during the evening of Monday 23rd March regarding the aforementioned and the season going forward. A further statement will therefore be issued on Tuesday 24th March.

The League is aware of the issues faced by Clubs and is engaging with the FA on these matters. It is anticipated that the League will be able to provide further information and guidance during next week.