New Website with Improved Stats!

A new website for the club has been made, which contains more detail than the blog easily allows.

The website is http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/chawtonathletic.

The new website will have all the players info and statistics, including biographies, appearances, goals.  The site will be updated more often with the league table and fixtures.  All club news and match reports will be on the new site, which includes match ratings.

This blog site will continue, but will only have information duplicated from the new website.  First point of call should be the new site, particularly where fixtures etc. are concerned.  Tables, Fixtures and Stats will no longer appear on here... instead, there will be links directly to the new site.


The club also has a new badge, seen on the top right of this blog.  It's better than the original one!

Div6: Chawton Athletic 2 Black Horse Reserves 2.

Chawton Athletic changed the side round a little after last weeks 3-5 defeat to Rushmoor Celtic in Aldershot and District Sunday Football League Division 6.

Martin Skilton remained in goal, Karl Teague, Marc Taylor-Penfold and Matt "Wonka" Stevens and debutant David Nicholson in defence.  Paul Nicholson, captain Martin Booth, Nathan Ingram and Andy Vickers across the midfield.  Ben Hodkin and Nathan Teague in attack.

Substitutes were Olly Williams, Jake Channon and Si Horner, back in the squad for his first game of the 2010/11 season.

A very impressive start by Chawton as they attacked from the off with some good passing all over the pitch which kept Black Horse on their toes for the opening exchanges.

The first fifteen minutes of pressure was rewarded when Ingram won a free kick twenty yards from goal which he himself took the responsibility of taking.  A well struck shot to the right of the Black Horse goal was only parried by the keeper into the path of Hodkin, who tapped in over the goalies legs to make it 1-0 to Chawton.

Paul Nicholson's fancy footwork on the left wing and the aerial ability of Booth and Ingram in the middle eventually led to Chawton leading 2-0, when a treaded pass got to the feet of Hodkin, who hit the back of the net with a well struck left footed shot that was just out of reach of the Black Horse keeper's full stretched arm.

The Yellows were playing with real class now, hardly giving the opposition any chances on the ball.  On the rare occasions Black Horse managed to build an attack, they were quickly quelled by the strong and tight backline and Skilton in goal.

Chawton nearly went three up when Ingram picked up the ball in the final third, moved round two opposition defenders, before hitting an excellent shot across goal which rattled the far post.

That ended the half, with Chawton leading 2-0 at half time.

The Black Horse manager clearly gave his team a proper grilling at half time, as the away team came out a different team; more confident as quickly established themselves in the opening ten minutes of the second half.  But Chawton were up for it too and held strong.

Then, as has happened in the previous two matches, Athletic suffered from poor play.  The home side seemed to switch off... Black Horse bombarded the home team with long throws and some skilful attack and won a corner.  The delivery in was poor by Black Horse's Michael Mason, but it still found the back of the net when it should have been cleared by Karl Teague on the front post, perhaps showing some inexperience.  This left Skilton with no chance as the ball hit his hand and into the goal, 2-1.

Nathan Teague picked up a slight knock which made way for substitute Si Horner to come on for his first appearance of the season, with Booth moving in the vacated position upfront and Horner slipping into his usual place in central midfield.

Chawton were under pressure now from the away team but with some last ditch tackles from Taylor-Penfold and Stevens in the heart of defence saving them on occasion.  One tackle gave Black Horse another corner, with a better delivery this time from the their winger, but it was another very slackly defended set piece as the Chawton defence allowed the opposition space by not tracking their runs and gifted Black Horse's Mark Buddery an easy tap-in to make it 2-2.

Another substitute, a straight swap at left back as Olly Williams came on in place of Karl Teague, who had a very good game up to his error.  It seemed to have rocked the 16-year-old's confidence and started the Black Horse come back.

Chawton fought hard to get the lead back with Hodkin, Vickers and even defender Stevens going close but to no avail.  In the last ten minutes player/manager Taylor-Penfold was lucky to remain on the pitch after electing  to give Black Horse's Alix Kirk a loving kick, as he was on his way to goal but luckily the referee kept his cards in his pocket on this occasion.  It was a sign that there was clear frustration creeping in to the whole team at losing their hard earned lead.

The manager made his final substitution, moving Booth again - this time to right back - for the departing Nicholson, who was feeling the effects of the game (plus the birthday boy's massive drinking session on Friday night) with five minutes remaining.  Jake Channon took to the field upfront to use his pace in search of a much deserved winning goal.  But, alas, it did not come.

The match ended 2-2.

Man of the Match was Ben Hodkin, with a tireless display by the striker, bagging two goals in the process. 

Chawton can take a lot of positives out of this, such as some great passing moves throughout the game and very committed performances from all.  The club just needs to work on that spell of lack of concentration before we take on Imperial 2010 Reserves next Sunday.

Div6: Chawton Athletic 3 Rushmoor Celtic 5.

Chawton Athletic battled bravely against more experienced opposition in Rushmoor Celtic and the elements, but ultimately fell a little short in their first ever match in the Aldershot and District Sunday Football League last Sunday.

Chawton lined up with debutants Karl Teague and Olly Williams either side of Matt "Wonka" Stevens and Marc Taylor-Penfold in a defence, with Martin Skilton in goal.  The midfield four were Pat Cross, Martin Booth, Nathan Ingram and Ben Hodkin and the front two were Nathan Teague and Paul Nicholson.

Nathan Teague showed early on that he had some pace on the visitors defence, and it proved a thorn in their side.  Early half-chances were created, but the final ball not quite finding it's target.  Rushmoor had some attacking play of their own too, forcing a couple of corners that Skilton in goal did well to deal with, knocking one shot over the bar.

Celtic came closest to opening the scoring in the first twenty minutes, when a shot from their right wing hit the Chawton post and rebounded away.  Up the other end, Teague was using his pace again to caused more problems and forced a corner, before chasing up the loose ball which was eventually cleared.

Celtic forged another chance, which probably should have been buried, but the striker could only knock the ball tamely at Skilton.

Wonka would play no further part in the game, as he was replaced by another debutant, Jake Channon.  Booth dropped back into defence, Nicholson back into midfield with Channon joining Teague up front in what is by far the youngest strike partnership the club has ever had!

The Athletic keeper was called into action once more, parrying a shot.  The rebound was chipped from a tight angle onto the far post though, following some poor reactions.

In the 26th minute, the visitors took the lead.  The ball into the box was not dealt with and it was headed in from close range.

Rushmoor's Chris Boast
 who scored a hattrick.

The Yellows went straight up the other end and Booth was unlucky to see his well hit shot blocked by the Celtic defence.  A decent spell of pressure, but no goals, ended when Athletic let in two quick goals before the break...

Another ball into the box, this time from a corner, saw an unmarked header give Skilts no chance in goal.  This was closely followed by the third goal, a run through the middle and the half time whistle.

At 0-3 down, the game had not quite gone away from the home side, especially with the wind in the second half.

Chawton went about dominating the second half, limiting the amount of balls pumped into the box.  Karl Teague moved across the left back and he and Channon, moved to the left wing at half time, combined well up the left hand side.

Athletic got back into the game, when a shot was parried and Nathan Teague was quickest to respond, tucking the ball away for a goal on his debut.

Cross, who had been working hard down the right wing was replaced by Andy Vickers fifteen minutes into the second half, and this change brought about Athletic's second goal.  From outside the area, Vickers unleashed a shot that the keeper could only watch as it hit the back of the net to make it 2-3 - another debut goal.

Chawton continued to dominate the game, thanks in part to the partnership of Ingram and Nicholson in midfield.  Ingram was winning tackles and showing true commitment, while Nicholson's quick feet created chances.

Alas, Celtic pulled further ahead against the run of play to make it 2-4.

The Yellows weren't beaten yet, however.  Hodkin, on his competitive debut (having played the friendly) scored his first goal for the club after some good footwork opened up some space.  His well placed finish into the bottom right corner evading the keeper's despairing dive.

There were still five minutes left on the clock... plenty of time for an equaliser.  But it was Rushmoor who finished the game off.  A rare occasion in the second half when the defence couldn't get the ball cleared was punished with a bullet of a shot from around the penalty spot.  Skilton barely saw it and Karl Teague almost got a touch on it on the line.

The ref blew up shortly after, ending an enthralling first match in this new league at 3-5.

The match chucked up plenty of positives, as well as a few negatives.  The battling, talking and commitment was there for everyone to see.  Athletic dominated the game for long periods and, at times, showed a cutting edge.  Some work is needed at set pieces, but this will improve.

Stand out performances came from Martin Booth in midfield and in defence and Karl Teague, particularly in the second half, when he put in some good challenges.  Vickers' cameo from the bench was rewarded with a goal, as was Nathan Teague tireless running up front.  Hodkin's Mum will be pleased he got on the scoresheet too (blogmaster was told to mention her at some point - don't take it out on him at training).

But man of the match for a full-on all-action performance went to Nathan Ingram in midfield.


Stats are up.  Table is updated.  And training is at the usual Anstey Park spot at 7pm tomorrow (Thursday).

Chawton Debutants Ready for Celtic Challenge!

Chawton Athletic's new-look line-up is ready to take on Rushmoor Celtic in their first ever game in the Aldershot and District Sunday Football League.

The club submitted eighteen forms, which are now cleared for this Sunday's big kick off.  The new team has no less than ten players that could make their debuts in the match and has seen good turn-outs in the recent training sessions as the whole squad pushes hard for that elusive starting berth.

The Binsted based side are keen to take the positives from their friendly defeat at rivals West Liss two weeks ago and turn it into a winning start.  Their opponents lost their opening game of the season, but recorded a first win on Sunday and will be keen to keep up momentum.  But Athletic, in their third season, are more than capable of taking three points at the weekend and turning their home pitch into a fortress.


Meeting spot is 09:15 at Anstey Park, Alton to leave at 09:30.  If players are going stright to the ground, be there no later than 09:45.  Maps and directions (pretty easy from Alton - through Holybourne!) are on the Club Info page.

Website Updates!

The Chawton Athletic Football Club blog has expanded... it's now a full-on website.

Blogmaster Wulfy has been hard at work adding extra pages to ensure everything Chawton is in one place!  The breakdown of the extra pages are as follows:

CLUB INFO contains details of our pitch and team colours, as well as who runs the club and how to contact them!
FIXTURES AND RESULTS, obviously, contains all Chawton's upcoming matches and well as all prior results, including scorers of Athletic's goals.
TABLE simply has the league table, updated as often as possible - depending on how often the League's website is.  This can be time consuming, so please be patient with this feature!
SQUAD STATS AND INFO will have details of players, positions, appearances, goals and man of the match awards.
SPONSORS will have details of the Club's sponsors, as and when they appear.  Although the main Club sponsors will have a prominent spot on the main page!
OTHER LINKS contains other links of interest.  These currently include the league's site, various football associations and any other sites that may be of interest, including the blogmaster's personal site (shameless plug!).

Match Reports, as last Sunday's friendly one was, will continue to be included on the main blog, which is now headed NEWS.  This will also have photos and any other club news that arises!

Also, a new logo is in the offing.  A draft version has been created by Marc, and is in post-production to tidy it up.  It is hoped that it can be used for any club clothing in the future, including the hoodies the Club currently has.

Finally, anybody that wants blog updates automatically, email me at sabrewulf7@yahoo.com and I'll add you to the list.  It can only have a certain amount... first come first served!

FRND: West Liss 5 Chawton Athletic 0.

Sunday saw Chawton Athletic travel to Liss to take on West Liss (formerly The Bluebell) in a hastily arranged friendly.

Due to injuries, unavailabilities and late drop outs, the ten men of Chawton lined up against Liss with help from one of their substitutes in a 4-4-2 formation.  Skilts took the gloves in goal, behind a back line of Waterfield, Stevens, Nicholson and Taylor-Penfold. Furey, Hodkin and Ingram started in midfield with Booth and Turnbull up front.

The first half started solidly.  Some resolute defending and some safe hands saw off any Liss threat in the first half and hour.  But the good start was undermined by a crazy fifteen minute spell before half time which saw Athletic ship five goals.

The first goal saw a wet ball skid through the keeper's gloves.  The next two goals were certainly dubious, Chawton's reward for playing a high line.  The fourth was a good finish from the Liss forward, shot with the outside of his boot to the bottom right corner.  The fifth, again, was another goal that had a hint of offside about it.

The second half came and a chance to start from scratch, being just a friendly.  Chawton forced a few corners, which amounted to nothing but were containing Liss well.  Liss did eventually get the ball in the net again but it was ruled out for offside!  Chawton were hanging on in the end as Turnbull went off after picking up an injury, with Waterfield also struggling after jarring his neck in the first half.

The game ended 0-5, with plenty to build on before the first league game of the season on the 19th.  Man of the match honours went to Martin Booth.

AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Signing On and Training.

Chawton Athletic's first game of the season is on Sunday 19th September.  As there is no game this weekend, there is training at 10:00 at Anstey Park, Alton (the usual spot).


It is imperative that all players attend attend, as signing on forms MUST BE DONE by next week.  Thus, please bring two passport-sized photos and the £25.00 signing on fee if you have not done so already.


This final pre-season training is also the last chance for all new players to meet the rest of the squad before the first match on the 19th - and vice versa!


Fixtures will be up on a separate page soon!  A match report for the friendly on Sunday is also imminent...!