ARCHIVE NEWS:    SEPTEMBER 04 to DECEMBER 05   JANUARY 06 to APRIL 06   MAY 06 to AUG 06   SEPT 06 to DEC 06                      JAN 07 to JUNE 07     JULY 07 to DEC 07     JAN 08 to JUNE 08    JULY 08 to DEC 08     JANUARY 09    FEBRUARY 09     MARCH 09

NEWS ARCHIVE MAY 06 TO AUGUST 06

31 Aug No sign of any squad strengthening on deadline day.

29 Aug Some unhappy Burton fans around today.  "The officials were terrible ,so were we. Still have to give credit to Southport ,sadly they have the dirty and cheating side to Accrington (no surprise with who the manager is) , but they played some good football at times. The goal was good" Dirty and cheating? We can't be blamed for the ref being on our side although I'm sure he enjoyed his trip home on the team bus....ooops was I not supposed to tell anyone about that! The cheating? I suppose Robbie Booth's crawl back on the pitch was cheating, but we did laugh, and the over the top time wasting was a bit naughty but I didn't think we were particularly dirty!

28 Aug Bank Holiday Monday Away at Burton Albion 3pm-TIY coach is full. Burton 0 Southport 1 It will take a lot to beat that goal for goal of the season, what a screamer! More to follow... I was not particularly enthused about the thought of Burton on a Bank Holiday Monday. I was always going but it was a bit like, here we go again as we set off at 10.00am. The raging debates on Port Chat have been good to watch over the last few days, someone came and asked me today which camp I am in? I am split down the middle, I can see some good things going on on the pitch but some of the antics off the pitch have actually left me feeling quite saddened and don't on the face of it seem to have brought about an improvement. However "I'm Southport til I die" as they say so whatever methods people choose to achieve their aims if in the long run it benefits the club then they can say it has been a success. The game was poor in the first half and we at times appeared in danger of being overrun. When I heard the team I was quite shocked to find we didn't have a recognised striker in the starting 11 and thought, I hope he knows what he is doing! Paul Martin was playing up front and it was clear we were there for the draw with the time-wasting starting as early as the third minute. We rode our luck as Burton hit the bar, missed an open goal and had the most blatant of penalties you have ever seen turned away. If it wasn't a pen why wasn't the player booked for diving? We came into it more in the second half and on 61 minutes Mark Boyd scored the goal that will win goal of the season, it was an absolute scorcher from all of 30 yards. Robbie Booth went on to hit the post as we held firm. That deja vu feeling came when the fourth official indicated 4 minutes of added time. The 4 minutes went on to 5 minutes 20 seconds and a long 5 minutes 20 seconds they were but this time we held on fairly comfortably to cue wild celebrations from fans and players alike. I always watch the celebrations when we score and at the end of the game and it was clear that the players enjoyed both the goal and the win. One swallow doesn't make a summer they say but Mark's goal will stay etched in the memory for quite some time and let's hope this is the kick start the season needed.

26 Aug Home v Rushden & Diamonds 3pm. Southport 1 R&D 2-that was not very nice! More to follow. I had to take a big breath before writing this and I have had a chance to think about it now, it still wasn't very nice! A late dubious penalty was all we had to show in the 90 minutes, how many shots did the keeper have to save? I can't think of any. Only Mark Boyd and the still part time Chris Lane (how come he is still with us) came out of that game with any credit. It can look pretty at times but we looked like a team of schoolboys against a mans team. Talking to Dino after the game, he won't be back until next Saturday and the knock that Carl took didn't look good. Not sure about Tony Gray. Poor Jacko can't play up front on his own. Someone remarked that the new physio, Steve Whitehall, would have been better employed with his boots on and they were not far wrong. Some very disgruntled fans leaving the ground today, it will be interesting to see what the gate will be next Saturday, early kick off. Let's hope we can get a good result at Burton on Monday.

24 Aug Ryan Robinson recalled by Morecambe.

23 Aug Gary Brabin, heralded on the pitch at the fans match as our first full time player since going out of the Football League has had his contract terminated. Interesting, I think we may not have heard the last of that one.

22 Aug Burscough v Guiseley will hopefully (I am in Glasgow for a meeting but it will be brought to an early conclusion) see me in attendance to say thank you to Dicko for his 346 games, 283 in the league. I counted 63 Sandgrounders in attendance on my walk around the ground in a gate of just 308. A great 1-0 win for Burscough with the goal being scored by my player of the season, Dom Morley, ok I was the only one in Southport who voted for him but I don't care! Barry Simms, Gary Brabin and Liam Blakeman were also in attendance.

19 Aug Away at Stafford Rangers  Stafford 1 Southport 0. Another late goal sees us slip to our first defeat of the season in a game were we deserved what we got, nothing! Why did we play one striker up front on his own, poor old Jacko is not a lone striker and then when Barlow replaced him, we looked even worse. Stafford were there for the taking today and we showed little to suggest we wanted the win. I was very disappointed with the performance. A great following of around 150 went home feeling short changed today. Our problems from last season resurfaced, late goal and from a set piece. Must do better.

15 Aug Away at Halifax Town. Halifax 1 Southport 1. A goal 4 minutes 19 seconds into added time with the last kick of the game gave Halifax a share of the points but that is only half the story. We played quite well and Liam Blakeman gave us the lead on 46 minutes and it looked like the points were ours. Up step the linesman. A long ball through saw Ryan Robinson come racing off his line and the ball hit him on his chest. We have conclusive photographic evidence to support this c/o KIPAX. The referee was happy and waved play on but the liner who was probably 40 metres away and had Halifax down for a draw on his fixed odds coupon decided it was hand ball and that meant a red card for Robinson. We had already used our subs so Liam Blakeman who was man of the match and who clearly is not a goalkeeper went in goal. The 4 minutes of added time was up, the ref about to blow his whistle but no, he decided to let the attack finish and lo and behold they scored with the last kick of the game. I have always wondered what the rules say on blowing for full time, should they blow as soon as the 90 minutes are up or do they wait until the attack is over? Now where was it we conceded with the last kick of the match last season, Halifax. Let's hope that at least the red card can be rescinded. We can't do anything about the result but surely justice must prevail with the card?

We played some neat football at times and whilst overall the draw was a fair result, the circumstances once again made coming away from The Shay feel a real let down. Considering we all had worries about our defence we very nearly went 2 games without conceding, the only goal we have conceded being in added time with 10 men and a "dodgy keeper"

12 Aug Home v Woking. Southport 0 Woking 0-A decent first showing from a team that had 7 players making their debuts, spurned a few chances though including a missed penalty from Mark Boyd on the stroke of half time. Two excellent goal line clearances from Port defenders kept the scoreline blank. A gate of 1305 was lower than I expected but a disappointing following from Woking who usually bring more than they did today. No other real matters of note today. It will take time for the new squad to develop but there are a few promising signs. Tuesday night will put them fully to the test. Paul Cook was sent to the stand for the second half. I noticed him throw his bottle of water on to the pitch when Mark Boyd missed his pen but nothing more sinister. He is certainly more animated in the dug out than previous incumbents of the managers job.

10 August According to Port Chat Dicko has signed for Guiseley-confirmation awaited, now confirmed on official site along with Dale's move to Droylsden. Ryan Robinson signed on loan from Morecambe for a month to replace Dicko-Robinson is getting rave reviews off the Morecambe fans so looks like a good move.

New kit launched and very nice it is too.

Updated Squad Number Listings:

9 Aug It is now in black and white Dicko is on the transfer list, I honestly thought this wouldn't happen and common sense would prevail but alas not. Speaking with Dicko at Skem he made it clear he loves Southport FC and even said he wouldn't play for anyone else except us or perhaps Guiseley as he lives over the road from the ground so this news is a shocker. I was gutted when Liam left, disappointed when all the players who had bust a gut to keep us up left but really did think that we would do everything we could to keep those who we all knew could hack it in the Conference,  Dicko, Dales, Syd and Earl even as part timers are surely better than those that have been brought in based on what we have witnessed to date. What is the truth with "The Brabinator" perhaps the one player who did more than any other to keep us up and who had actually signed a full time contract there are no end of stories circulating none of which add up. We look to be getting ourselves tangled up in one hell of a mess just for the sake of having everyone full time. I just hope Mr Cook knows what he is doing, we all know how fickle Southport fans are and if we start off with a couple of bad results those knives that are already sharpened by the anti-Cook, pro Liam brigade will soon start going in deep. I personally want to give it a few games to judge if those we have are better than those we had. I admit to being astonished at some of the goings on since the 29th April, Mike Marsh, for goodness sake! However as always I will support my team despite my reservations and let's just hope that the boss does know best.

Liam leaving was a sad day but I got over it, today's news is even sadder, a player with 283 appearances, more than any other non league player is put in a position were he hands in a transfer request, as I said, I just hope Mr Cook knows what he is doing!

8 Aug Firstly apologies to my regulars for the lack of updates of late. Holidays, coupled with having a loft conversion done that needs decorating plus getting the programme ready plus an influx of TIY members has meant the site has been neglected, normal service will soon return.

Dan Hayes has posted on Port Chat that the staff at Paymentshield have been informed that they are the new Club sponsors. I know that Dan was instrumental in setting this up so well done to him.

There also seems to be fresh and worrying speculation about Dicko, surely we can sort this out so he doesn't leave. 4 days away from kick off and we may not have a keeper?

5 Aug Marine friendly is cancelled.

4 Aug Back from a week in Devon, managed to fit in visits to Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United and saw Buckland Athletic v Plymouth Youth Team to take my ground total on to 154. Also added Newton Abbot racecourse to my list of racetracks attended, good day with a couple of winners and a lot of sunburn.

2 Aug Friendly Home v Wigan Athletic. Southport 0 Wigan 2.

30 July Computer in for pre-season MOT, no updates until Friday 4 August.

29 July Friendly Home v Bury 3pm Southport 1 Bury 0, a goal from Robbie Booth after 84 minutes sealed a victory in a pretty drab encounter particularly in the first half.

The meet the manager session was very well handled by Paul Cook who seemed to win a few people round. Some great questions none of which were shirked and he provided some very honest answers. Augurs well for the future. We certainly seem to be addressing a lot of the off field deficiencies of last season, the progress made in the week that Haydn has been in post is quite remarkable, still lots to go at but the signs are looking very good.

200th TIY members signs up.

27 July Friendly at Skelmersdale 7.45-ends Skem 2 Southport 2. Dreadful first half but much better in the second. Skem went 2-1 up with 30 seconds to go but we fought back and equalised through Mike Powell 2 mins into injury time. Dino Maamria who confirmed his date of birth as 26 May 1971 scored our other goal. It is clear we have the midfield sorted, the strike force is coming on but defensively....mmmm, as my school reports used to say, needs to improve!

25 July Friendly Away at Burscough 7.45pm, could be a good night this one, looking forward to seeing Liam again and presenting him with his Trust certificate and membership card.

Match ends Burscough 0 Southport 2 with Dutton on 3 mins and Brown on 35 scoring the goals. A bit of a non event the highlight being presenting both Paul Cook and Liam Watson with their TIY certificates!

23 July Dino's date of birth is the cause of some confusion. I have now seen three different versions. I will hopefully be able to ask him on Tuesday. The one I use below is the one that was in the programme last time he played for us.

22 July Friendly Home v Macclesfield 3pm. Southport 2 Macclesfield 0. Another highly impressive workout saw us finish comfortable 2-0 winners. Goals from Blakeman and Jackson in the first half. Bakes looked at his best giving the Macc left back a torrid time. A plea from me, get Alex Smith signed up now, great control and vision and should do well in the Conference. Nice to see some good on the ground football today. Looks like it might be starting to take shape. 66/1 still available, maybe not yet!

Club announce that Haydn Preece is to be the new Chief Executive.

Dino Maamria,35 (born 26 May 1971) signs from Stevenage. Dino made 15 appearances with 10 subs and scored 3 goals in his previous stay with us from Sept 2000 to April 01.

21 July Just spent a couple of days in Lincoln with work. I do wish my work colleagues would realise how important it is to visit the football ground of a city when I go to these things, they wouldn't allow me to divert the taxi from the station to the ground in order to get a photo, how inconsiderate!

There is a link on Port Chat about Liverpoo's links with Southport being extended, come on now, when did they ever want to link with us, think back folks! I do confess to clicking on the link but I have begged forgiveness, I didn't realise it was a link to an LFC website. I cleaned out the cookie and cache immediately!

19 July Friendly Home v Carlisle 7.45pm. Southport 3 Carlisle 2. An impressive first half showing sees us go in 3-0 up with goals from a Mark Boyd penalty, Mike Powell and Tony Gray. Carlisle pull two back in the second half and miss a pen following a string of second half substitutions. Please quickly confirm that Dicko is staying with us.

Full team details from the friendlies played to date will be on here at the weekend after the game against Macclesfield.

18 July Friendly Home v Oldham 7.45pm. Final Score Southport 0 Oldham 5, not a lot to say really. Oldham looked good in the first half we couldn't keep up. I do feel that Tom Field is worth an extended run but he would need the right sort of players around him but worth a try. Of the others Joe Fowler again looked a good acquisition, I think we finally have the answer that it definitely was Joe who scored on Friday.

17 July From The Official site:

Paul Cook has stated to the official club website that he will field a number of trialists on Tuesday against Oldham. The stronger squad with the already contracted players will play on Wednesday against Carlisle. The manager is hopeful he will see some real promise from his youthful players on Tuesday night. Kick off 7-45pm against both Oldham Athletic and Carlisle United. Paul Cook has also made it clear he will be bringing in experience to complement the exciting talent he has already signed up.

Paul Cook has agreed terms with a number of players who starred in the draw with Crewe after also impressing in pre season training. Defenders Paul Martin, Kevin Lee, midfielder Joe Fowler, left winger James Olsen plus strikers Mark Jackson and Francis Barry have signed up. Paul Cook from his time at Accrington had monitored these players and as part of the Port rebuild has been able to attract them to Haig Avenue. The above join centre midfielder Mark Boyd and striker Tony Gray who have already signed up. From last season Michael Powell, Liam Blakeman, Carl Baker, Robbie Booth have gone full time with longest serving player goalkeeper Steve Dickinson making up the squad so far.

16 July TIY Membership Cards are now available and will be with me at all the forthcoming friendlies.

15 July Thank you to everyone who has contacted me re my involvement with the programme, the messages of support have been welcome and no, SFCSTATS won't become another "spin machine" I will continue to write it as I see it on here. There is no point in me writing controversial stuff to go in the official programme, it won't get in, it is the club's official programme after all and seen by people all over the country but STATS is mine to do with as I wish.

14 July Friendly Home v Crewe 7.45pm. Final Score Southport 2 Crewe Alex 2. A useful workout and I feel a little more enthused than I did at 7.45 tonight. There were some decent performances from players out there tonight, none more so than Joe Fowler who scored our first goal after 14 minutes and had an excellent first half. There is some confusion about who actually played and scored with the official site reporting the scorer as Fowler whilst Ron Ellis and sgb report Lee as being the scorer! It makes a difference because whoever it was had a highly impressive half. I now understand it was Joe Fowler who scored the goal. I woner if they have this problem in the Football league!

Players on show tonight were Dicko, Phil Palethorpe, first half keeper, Stephen Wynne, Paul Martin, Kevin Lee, Joe Fowler, Lee Houlihan, Carl Baker, Liam Blakeman, James Olsen, Steve Daly, Tony Gray, Kyle Armstrong, Michael Powell, Simon Weaver, Sean Wright, Robbie Booth, Andy Bond, Matty McGinn, Mark Jackson, Francis Barry & Hugh McAuley, there may have been some others but that's all I picked up. The other goalscorer was James Olsen.

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12 July To say I am gobsmacked at the appointment of Mike Marsh is an understatement. I hope the Mersey Derbies are on a Sunday this season! Nobody could ever doubt Marsh's qualities as a player even though he had worn the Liverpool shirt at some stage in his career but as an Assistant Manager? Time will tell but like all things SFC he will have my support whilst he's here.

11 July Friendly at Chorley 7.30pm-should be interesting to see who plays tonight and if I knew them I would tell you who they were. The game ended with us winning 4-0, I only know 3 of the goalscorers at the moment, Aaron McConville, Dan Bromilow and Steve Daly were the first half scorers with Paul Hart getting the other in the second half. A Trialist was one of several A Trialists that fetaured. Some of the names I picked up were Lewis Sutcliffe goalkeeper, Sean Forster, Roach, Chris Lane, Steve Williams, Sean Tierney, James Salisbury, Matty McGinn, Tom Field and Phil Meeks, some familiar names some not so. It was hard to keep track and I gave up. There were a few promising displays and some not so good but a useful workout against what I understand was the bulk of Chorley's first team.

10 July Earl Davis transferred to Hyde United. Earl made 69 full league appearances and 9 as sub. In total he made 90 full appearances with 10 subs and never scored a goal, several near misses but never quite hit the back of the net. I'm sure all Southport fans will be sad to see Earl go, a great guy and hugely popular and I wish him well.

8 Jul A new friendly has been arranged at Chorley on Tuesday night, that's 9 pre-season games to go at now.

7 Jul The Visiter is reporting that Jon Durnin has joined the back room staff. Paul Cook is quoted a saying he has a couple of talented young central defenders in Kevin Lee and Paul Martin and a striker that could be very exciting. I know nothing about Lee or Martin but will endeavour to find out more.

The excellent Altincham site, were I go for all the Conference news, is quoted as saying Carl Osman is on trial with us as well. I heard rave reports about this lad from Skem last season.

3 Jul Fixtures are scheduled for this week although the actual day seems to be a big secret for some reason. Lo and behold they are out today.

Some interesting dates which highlight the problems of the league having a more southern emphasis. There just aren't enough local midweek games to go around. We therefore face Kidderminster, Oxford and Stevenage away on Tuesday nights as well as Woking on a Friday night in March, I can only assume that is due to an England game unless Sky have it booked already due to us winning the league that day! At least they are out and I can start planning my leave!

Mark Boyd signs from Accrington Stanley, a midfielder, aged 24 he has also played for Newcastle, Port Vale, Carlisle, Gretna and Macclesfield.

1 Jul Player Of The Season details added season by season. I do have a few gaps at the moment despite a visit to the library. If anyone can fill in the ? please get in touch. I am missing 82/83, 97/98, 00/01 and 02/03. These are the Supporters Player of The Year awards. I'm sure I will be able to dig out the last two and I am almost certain Billy Stewart won it in 97/98 but confirmation would be appreciated.

30 Jun First full time training session-a three a side match is planned! Robbie Booth and Michael Powell sign contracts, no indication as to the length of them. The position with Dales and Earl doesn't look good though.

28 Jun Steve Pickford signs for Hyde United.

Just been searching Bet 365 for Conference Odds. Southport don't even appear on the list. Maybe they have heard we are signing some star players and are too scared to offer any odds? Maybe not.

The Gravesend site reports that the league has advised clubs that  "due to logistical difficulties the Christmas & New Year fixtures could take on a new look in 2006/07" We may not be getting our trip to Morecambe at the usual time?

Crawley look as though they are in deep wotsit!

27 Jun Matty McGinn is 23 today.

Carl Baker signs a full time contract.

24 Jun Southport Carnival. Trust In Yellow will have a stall at the Carnival, come and say hello and if you haven't joined the Trust as yet you can do so today. Various items of TIY merchandise and club souvenirs will be available on the stall. A really good day at the Carnival, thanks to everyone who dropped in for a chat and took the opportunity to buy some Trust souvenirs. My day was made when Paul Cook turned up and signed up to the Trust to become member number 150.

23 Jun It's becoming an epidemic, Sales & Marketing Manager, Derek Hitchcock has announced that he is leaving the club. I'm sure everyone will be quite surprised at this news but I would like to wish him well in the future and hope we see him back on the terraces with the lads again!

The Visiter reports that Earl Davis, Liam Blakeman, Carl Baker and Steve Daly have been offered full time deals with Robbie Booth and Matty McGinn being given a trial two month contract.

Carl has, according to his brother, now agreed terms and will be signing on Monday or Tuesday, some good news at last at the end of what has been a pretty bad week and it gets even better with the news that Liam Blakeman has today signed a full time contract.

22 Jun Burscough's Official site reports that Robbo, Leady and Dom Morley are joining them with Tony Gray coming in the opposite direction. Posts on Port Chat say that Syd has also left the club with Hyde as his likely destination. I suppose all these moves have to happen to allow the changeover to full time to take place but to see such a great bunch of lads depart like this is quite depressing.

21 Jun The Vis reports Robbo has taken up a job at Manchester Airport and the Official Site reports Jerome Fitzgerald has gone to Fleetwood Town. I only hope PC has replacements lined up as at this moment in time things do not look good. It is always sad to see players you have seen perform so well leave. Jerome was a great bloke who always had time for a friendly word with you (he did always get in on the act when I was taking photos though!) and who will ever forget Robbo's goals at the end of our CN season. Here's to you Neil Robinson, Southport loved you more than you will know! I have started polishing my boots just in case.

20 Jun There is a post on Port Chat stating that Carl Baker has been transfer listed after being unable to agree the full time package offered by the club. The post is from Carl's brother so is likely to be true. This is not a case of Carl not wanting to go full time, he does but the terms offered are not enough to keep him at the club. Well done to all concerned!

14 Jun Had a meeting in Sheffield today and coincidentally got talking to a Burnley fan on the train over who spoke very highly of Paul Cook, he thinks he will make an excellent boss for us. Good to hear. My period of gloom following Liam's departure is over and I am 100% behind PC, let's just hope our fickle fans (and chairman) give him a chance to build the team he wants. Good luck to Paul.

13 Jun Burscough surprisingly appoint Liam Watson as their new manager!! That should add a few to the gate at the friendly on the 25th of July.

Now let's look at it. Liam "resigned" 21 days ago and we still haven't got a new manager in place. Burscough sack Derek Goulding yesterday and today they have a new man in place. Who are the ambitious full time outfit again? We are just 59 days away from the kick off and only 31 days away from the first pre-season game. Looking at Alty's transfer activity today there won't be any players left to sign soon for whoever our mystery man is to be.

Paul Cook is appointed as manager. Welcome to Haig Avenue Paul!

12 Jun Burscough sack Derek Goulding. I wonder who the next Burscough manager is going to be?!

18 Jun There is a superb post on Port Chat from Redrobe Fan now included in "Best Of Port Chat" in the Fan Zone Here    

6 Jun I've just been trawling through some of the Conference Teams websites and started to get worried, we are getting left behind. Players are signing for clubs left right and centre. It's all very well our official site stating we have 16 players on contract but will they not all be on part time contracts. From what Steve Daly has said it looks like the players haven't got a clue what is going on. We need to get this manager situation sorted out double quick or I fear the worst for next season.

Tragic news about Chris Haw who died at the weekend aged just 25. Chris was the son of Steve Haw. I'm sure all SFC fans thoughts go out to Steve at this time.

5 Jun Season Ticket purchased, £202.40 well spent? Of course it is, you have to feed an addiction don't you!

3 Jun It now looks like Scarborough have been relegated to Conference North and Altrincham are back in, it really is becoming a farce. To make matters worse for Scarboro they also start the season with a 10 point deduction. Looks like the fixtures are going to be delayed until July. Hopefully by then we may have some idea about the set up of the league. Non League football at its worst!

31 May I was expecting a quiet month on here, how wrong can I be! Let's hope June settles down a bit.

30 May Folly? May be Millster, maybe not! I am however reassured by Liam's comments on Port Chat that his decision was entirely down to us going full time and him not being able to commit to full time football because of his job. With the full time professional structure that we have in place, the 100% backing of the fans, and the superb Business Plan that exists to enable us to fund the venture and of course the excellent relationship that exists between the club and fans we have nothing to concern ourselves about and the push towards the Conference Play Offs next season will be in full swing come the 12th August.

29 May Taken off the Altrincham website:-

Tony Sheldon, a correspondent in the NL Paper writes, "The members of the FA appeals board approved the 'holier than thou' decision of the Conference alumni that Altrincham should be hung out to dry... The FA, at least, did what they believed to be right, which is not what you can say about some members on the boards of Tamworth, Forest Green and Southport... Southport didn't say a lot publicly but often the latent are more dangerous than the overt. Forest Green were happy to let the football world know 'where they were coming from', but to me the most unpleasant behaviour came from Tamworth... So the only relegation this season [after Canvey's resignation] will be Altrincham - decided by little men in darkened rooms

I have had a lot of sympathy with the Altrincham fans in the situation they were put in but this is dangerous, how does Mr Sheldon know what the Southport stance has been. If the Altrincham fans keep going on blaming everyone then they are going to lose the sympathy vote of quite a few people.

27 May Good to see Lee Trundle in the Play Off final even if he was only a sub, he had a great chance to settle it in normal play as well. I still maintain that play offs should never be settled by penalties. I would like to see the team that has finished highest go through after the extra time, to have your season sorted on pens is a touch unfair, if exciting for the neutrals.

26 May The Visiter has Jim Harvey, Andy Mutch, Jimmy Quinn, Chris Brass and Duncan Ferguson as contenders to replace Liam. Paul Cook, Steve Bleasdale and Graham Barrow are also listed. Only two of those names have any appeal to me, Jim Harvey and Jimmy Quinn. Chris Brass? I'm sure Haydn is winding us up on that and if Duncan Ferguson came to manage us I wonder how long it would last. Would he really take this on, I doubt it very much. We need stability and a knowledge of NL football with an eye to the future. I hope Ferguson is just "bar talk"

25 May A REPORT ON THE SOUTHPORT F.C. A..G.M.BY RON ELLIS

The long-delayed AGM of Southport FC was held at the Grandstand Club last Thursday night and the overall theme was a Lord Kitchener, ‘Your Club Needs You’, message to supporters –.  ‘This is your football club. You want it to go places. It is up to you to help take it there’. Chairman, Charlie Clapham, admitted that the club had been forced into full-time football by the demands of the Conference and the increasingly high standard of the competition.  He estimated that extra income of between £150,000 and £200,000 would be needed to bankroll the club in the forthcoming season and he was looking for support from local businesses in the town and from the supporters. He urged everyone present to consider ways of attracting investment into the club and put forward their ideas to the board.Over the last six years, the club had sustained an average loss of £50,000 per season but if every supporter brought a friend to every match, the picture would be brighter.   The Chairman refused to disclose the amount of the wage bill, other than it had risen by about £18,000 in the current season, but £6,500 had been raised already by the 6.5% take-up on the recent share issue.This of course means there are still £93,500 of shares available.Nonetheless, Mr Clapham was careful to point out that Southport would still not be able to compete financially with many of the teams in the league. Clubs with bigger gates and millionaire backers could afford to pay their players twice what Southport players were getting. It was the job of the manager to make sure his players could compete. On the subject of raising money, a ‘sponsor a player’ scheme was offered as one option whereby that player’s wages for the year would be paid by the sponsor. One shareholder came up with the suggestion of erecting giant boards at the end of the ground with advertising space rented out to national companies. The Chairman explained that when he said he was looking for ideas to attract income, it was up to the people themselves to put these ideas into action. ‘You bring in the advertising,’ he told the speaker, ‘and we’ll put up the hoardings.’   Mr. Clapham confirmed that the floodlights met with the Conference requirements and they were quite adequate for Sky TV to broadcast matches live from Haig Avenue.

Comment was made about the on-the-ground catering at the club, which had attracted much criticism during the season, and could not the operation be moved in-house, possibly with seating facilities, the service there being of an agreed high standard. But the chairman said there was no intention of ‘opening a café’.

One shareholder pointed out that Accrington Stanley had received a six-figure sum for naming their ground after a sponsor (Fraser Eagle, a local transport company) for a two-year period and could Southport not negotiate a similar deal? Mr. Clapham said the subject was under consideration.

There was no mention of any new sponsorship deals already signed up for next season.

Once again, people bemoaned the fact that the council had not erected road signs and/or billboards advertising forthcoming games at the three main roads leading into the town.

It was announced that 2005-6 ‘Player of the Year’, Steve Dickinson, would receive a testimonial next season but no decision had yet been taken about the form it will take.

 A new Weekly Goalden Draw with an entry fee of just £1 as week will replace the old Yankee and offering a weekly £500 jackpot prize. The possibility of a mailshot to surrounding districts to publicise the scheme was being considered.

In a confident address, manager Liam Watson said he needed twelve new full-time players for the forthcoming campaign. There would be no retained list as the sixteen current part-timers were all under contract. Obviously, some of these would be leaving, in some cases possibly for a fee!  He had a list of players he would like to sign but, for obvious reasons, this was confidential.

The club was exploring various sites to be used as training grounds including Edge Hill, Thornton Civil Service Club and Everton Academy.

The manager was asked if the £20,000 transfer fee from the sale of Terry Fearns had been given to him to spend on new players but the chairman intervened and said that the figure was ‘bar talk’. When pressed, he declared the true amount would be revealed in next year’s accounts. On the subject of sponsorship and support from local businesses, Mr. Watson pledged to bring in £3000 worth of sponsorship himself in the hope of encouraging supporters to do the same. This would be in addition to his responsibilities of managing the football club, looking after his young family and keeping on a full-time job.                    

 ‘Trust in Yellow’, issued the following statement at the A.G.M. read by Jonathan O’Byrne

Trust in Yellow, the newly formed supporters’ trust for Southport Football Club and the surrounding community would like to reiterate its’ continuing support to the club. The trust committee would like to pass on its’ praise to the board for their ambition in taking the football club full time whilst also congratulating Liam Watson and his squad for their continual development over the past two and a half years.

Trust in Yellow hopes that it can continue forging relationships with the media, local community and all sections of the football club, with its’ work aimed at enhancing the marketability of the club and raising its’ profile, taking the club into the community, raising funds for furtherance of the club, representing its’ members and providing supporters’ with facilities such as coach travel. The trust though wholly independent from the football club, hopes to work closely with Southport Football Club to fulfil these objectives. As a gesture, the trust hopes to acquire a small shareholding in the club following its’ recent appeal to shareholders if this is to the satisfaction of both parties.           

24 May Chris Lane is 27 today.

NL MANAGERS

The morning after the night before still feels as bad, why oh why have we allowed this to happen. It is patently clear that we have no idea of how we are going to fund full time football so why bother and why lose the best thing to happen at Southport FC in years. OK so we may have struggled as a part time club next season but is what we are going to have any better, lowly paid full time players with a manager having to work under such financial pressures as those imposed at this club. Disillusioned, fed up, it's pouring down outside and I have to go to work, I feel sorry for my colleagues today!

23 May Altrincham fail in their appeal against the 18 point deduction and are now confirmed as being relegated. This makes our final finishing position 18th and means the two clubs relegated are both down because of off field matters. And they wonder why more people don't watch NL football.

This is a very very sad day and I am absolutely devastated. I am holding off making further comment for fear of printing something I might regret-From The Official Site:-

The above was on sgb by 7pm-ALREADY-I find the whole thing totally unbelievable. I can't see Quinn or Harvey being able to work under the financial constraints that are in place at Southport somehow.

From Mellow Yellow-this says it all!

Can I first state my utmost respect for the job he has done at haig avenue in very trying circumstances. Managing Southport isn't easy. Getting success here even less so.
We're not the richest of clubs, we operate a very tight budget ( you should see what some of our rivals pay, even last year) and yet somehow in such a short space of time he revolutionised the club on the field, clearing out the deadwood, qualifying for conference north in some style, winning the league in his next season and then keeping us up in the conference against all odds. We owe him a lot.
That kind of record might demand a few thank yous. he certainly got them from the supporters who appreciated just how hard it is to manage at haig avenue. We don't have the infrastructure to support the manager as much as he should be able to expect. We're looking at going professional, our off field activities are barely above amateur.
The statement today speaks of a mutual decision, of how full time football has been the catalyst. It's been the straw that broke the camel's back but let's not kid ourselves it is the only reason.
We've had players brought in without his say so. We've had signings blocked. We've had statements put out by the club that have done little to assure us they have supported liam in the way he might expect to be.
Liam very much wanted full time to work. He drew up the friendly list to generate cash. He's been contacting players with a view to joining us. He appointed the brabinator to assist this development. He didn't want to quit but his position has become almost impossible. When plans were drawn up for going full time, the one person not consulted was the manager himself!
We're losing a good young manager and for no other reason than the club are unable to back him in the way he needs to be backed.
We're going full time but we haven't got the money, the infrastructure, or anybody even remotely professional off the field.
We're losing the one man at the club (other than players) that half the supporters had any respect for.
Still. At least we've kept the directors and the commercial office

20 May Hereford finally make it back to the Football League beating Halifax 3-2 after extra time. Late goals aren't very nice are they Halifax fans! On 8 April Rob wrote "To those Halifax fans who were sympathetic on the way out, thank you, to those who were goading us you are very clever and just remember what goes around comes around, a late winner for Hereford in the play off final and how would you feel"

Our one way mileage for 06/07 now stands at 3928. In 05/06 it was 3441, 04/05 1831, 03/04 1662 and in 02/03 it was 3154. Bring back regionalised football is what I say!

18 May Southport FC Shareholders' AGM at The Grandstand Club. The meeting can only be attended by current Southport FC Shareholders or their nominated proxy. Sounds like a lively evening. It's hard to comment based on heresay. I still have a worry that our plans to go full time have not been based on a sound business plan. It appears that we are relying on the fans to bring a friend and stump up the extra cash. I am sure there is more to it than that but I remain concerned. I am sure we have people lined up to back the plan, we wouldn't enter into this without the necessary finance in place, would we? Are we actually going to be any better off having players "at the lower end" of the Conference pay scale? One thing that is clear is the need for us all to work together at this and I will do all I can via TIY to ensure the fans are involved and have a say but we must see a change in attitude towards the fans, there are some positive signs but still lots to do. I have been staggered at the response to TIY whilst doing the memberships. There are ideas out there, there are people willing to help, there are people wanting to be involved and there are a few offers of cash. TIY can make a big difference to the future and if the club continue to embrace our initiatives we may just get there.

17 May Earl Davis is 23 today.

16 May Jimmy Harvey is sacked at Morecambe and listening to the interview on Radio Lancashire he is not a happy chappy. Not sure if "mutual consent" is the correct phrase on this occasion. Gray's manager Mark Stimson has resigned, I think I may review my plan to put a wager on them to win the league next season until we know what is going to happen.

15 May End Of Season report is HERE

14 May Congratulations to Grays, 2-0 winners in the FA Trophy Final. Glad they got something out of the season. My money is on them already to win the League next season.

Got my copy of the Trust launch, fans match and awards today. Well worth the £6 to Trust Members. If anyone wants to buy a copy you can contact me and I will sort one out.

13 May Don't you just hate penalty shoot outs!! Why oh why are they so lucky!

12 May Season Ticket and admission prices announced and they are very reasonable in my view. I expected a £2 rise at least. Ground £11 Concessions £7.50 Stand £12.50 Concessions £8.50  Children at primary school will be free if accompanied by an adult. Secondary School pupils can purchase a season ticket for £50

Season Tickets are Stand £287.50, £230 if bought before 30 June Concessions £195(£156) Ground Season Tickets are £253(£202.40) with Concessions £172.50(£138) Tickets are available from 5 June.

11 May Hereford v Morecambe play off 2nd leg. Hereford go through 4-3 on aggregate so we retain our Christmas/New Year game all being well.

10 May My end of season report will be available over the weekend. Halifax beat Grays 5-4 on aggregate in a very entertaining game to go through to the play off final. That's one long trip remaining. I was hoping we might lose that one.

I am experimenting with the colours on the Front Page and seeing which looks the best.

7 May St Albans win the Conference South Play Off final 2-0 against Histon and are promoted to Conference National, another new ground for me joining Oxford, Weymouth, Forest Green and Northwich for next season.

6 May What an afternoon! Oxford are relegated to the Conference! How about Oxford first game up next season! Stafford Rangers v Droylsden went to pens after finishing 1-1 with Terry Fearns scoring for Droylsden. Stafford win 5-3 on pens with Terry the villain missing the Droylsden pen. Wouldn't you have loved to have seen Mr Pace's face!

5 May It's looking likely that Canvey Island are on the verge of resigning form the Conference which will mean a reprieve for Tamworth.

4 May Trust In Yellow Meeting at The Grandstand Club-this is a brainstorming meeting for fans to put forward ideas that will help the Trust and the Club in the coming months.

3 May My Away Days report from Hereford and Grays is now available HERE

2 May Southport FC-A celebration of the first 125 years opens at the Botanic Gardens museum.

1 May Gary Brabin is announced as the first full time player for next season. Droylsden go through to the Conf North Play Off Final to play Stafford who beat Harrogate 1-0. Histon are through to the Southern Final were they play St Albans.