Soccer Club Swap Shop accolade for 2019-20

The club are pleased to note that its 2019-20 matchday programme has been placed 25th in the Soccer Club Swap Shop awards for non-league clubs overall, 2nd in the Isthmian League, and 1st in the Premier Division.

The full list of recognised clubs can be found here: http://thecatalogue.tripod.com/id73.html

Editor Ken Brazier would like to thank Scott Reed and colleagues at Alchemy Creations (design), JJ Sports Promotions (print) and all the numerous regular and occasional contributors over the course of the season. “To start naming them individually would inevitably lead to rudely omitting someone by accident. Sincere thanks to all and hopefully we can pick up from where we left off for some sort of recognisable football season at some point in the future!”

2019-20 statistics now available, courtesy of club statistician Jim Cunneen

Club statistician Jim Cunneen, to whom many thanks are due as ever for his ongoing labour of love, has produced another of his annual super-stats spreadsheets to take account of the truncated 2019-20 season.

Chairman Paul Reed announced at a recent Society members virtual meeting (don’t forget, you can join the Society in a number of ways, see: https://etfc.london/calling-all-town-supporters) that the club had decided to incorporate 2019-20 team and player achievements into its historical records rather than nul and void them. The link below takes you to the website’s statistics page, and the 2019-20 spreadsheet is clearly marked. Enjoy!

2019-20 highlights:

Leading appearances:

Nathan McDonald 43

Leading scorer:

Mo Faal 24

Leading assists:

Ryan Blackman 13

Leading MotM:

Ryan Blackman: 7

Milestones:

Nathan McDonald: 200 apps
Sam Youngs: 100 apps
Ryan Blackman 100 apps

https://etfc.london/information/documents

Help with pitch work on Monday 11th May....

The club is extremely grateful to Tottenham Hotspur for helping out with some off season pitch maintenance at the QEII Stadium.
During these difficult times Town's ground staff were delighted to have some very welcome help from the Premier League club in advance of such time as football can safely return.
Spurs were able to bring their high-tech pitch care equipment over from its nearby Training Centre at Hotspur Way. The work carried out involved aerating and top dressing the goal areas, followed by an over-seeding and watering of the surface to give the grass the best possible chance of survival during the summer months.
Town Director Christine Hamilton said: “A big thank you Tottenham Hotspur Football Club for their help with our pitch during these difficult times. Darren Baldwin and his team carried out the remedial works to both goal areas, touch lines and the odd patch in the middle. All areas were aerated, seeded, fertilised and top dressed.
“As a club owned and run by our fans, we are so grateful for this help and support and look forward to continuing our positive partnership in the near future when we come out of the pandemic restrictions".
Enfield Town and Spurs will continue to forge partnership links and Spurs have kindly been able to help with fundraising events, including regularly sending a Development side to the QEII Stadium to compete in a annual pre-season friendly. Many thanks to our neighbours!

MO, SCOTT, LIZ SCOOP AWARDS!

2019-20 accolades…

Despite a truncated season, there has been great interest amongst Society members to nominate their player of the season.  And the players themselves and the management team have also had their say.  Finally, the Board have voted for the Club Person of the Year.

And the winners are….

SUPPORTERS PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Muhammadu Faal

Prior to his move to Bolton Wanderers in January, Mo made 30 appearances in a Town shirt, netting an impressive 27 goals.  In the season just ended, he finished as top scorer with 24 goals in 25 games.  The ever-popular Mo also picked up 7 man-of-the-match awards, 6 of those during 2019-20. He joined the club from Kingstonian in December 2018, having had spells with Dulwich Hamlet and in Italy with L’Aquila, and he made a terrific impact during his relatively short stay at the QEII.

Manager Andy Leese said “I’m not surprised at Mo’s award given what he achieved before he left us. He’s a talented, popular and likeable lad and no one is more pleased with his progress than the management team.

“We agreed some targets with Mo last summer and he delivered on them all before going on to become a full-time professional. Our supporters know a good player when they see one, and this award is a reflection of their feelings for Mo and what he did for us”.

PLAYERS’ PLAYER AND MANAGEMENT TEAM’S PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Scott Thomas

Scott joined us from Royston Town at the start of the season, having previously represented Hemel Hempstead Town, Chesham United, Boreham Wood and St Albans City. He had played for Royston in the Crows’ 2-0 FA Trophy home victory against Town in October 2017. He made 40 appearances for us during the 2019-20 campaign, picking up 3 man-of-the-match awards.

Andy Leese said “Scott has been recognised by both the squad and the management team, and that’s no surprise to me. I knew that Scott was what we needed last summer to knit things together on the field and he’s been a great signing for the club. He allows others around him to play their game and he does a lot of unseen work on the pitch week in, week out.

“He is a model of consistency, no trouble to manage, and is a great character to have about the place. These two awards are very well deserved.”

CLUB PERSON OF THE SEASON: Liz Chowne

This year’s club person, as voted by the Board, is Associate Director Liz Chowne, who has been tireless in her efforts over the course of the season, particularly on match days. And she still has time to stand wearing her Town shirt, supporting the team home and away with husband Michael. Very well done Liz!

Match Secretary John Dolan said “Liz not only helps efficiently with first team home matchday preparation in the office ensuring team sheets are prepared, she will also cover other duties as necessary, including some of mine on occasion!” In the season just ended, Liz also undertook development team matchday duties, including teamsheets, looking after match officials, taking the gate and catering for teams and match officials.”

Vice Chairman Paul Millington said “Liz has also volunteered with Enfield Town Community Sports Development, becoming one of the Charity’s trustees. Helping with essential tasks such as payroll and recently ensuring staff continue to receive pay through the furlough scheme, Liz has also helped out with the administration of collecting subs from parents during the coaching sessions braving all weathers in doing so.”

Let’s hope these well merited awards are followed by a return to at least some club activity before too long. In the meantime, the club will continue to keep in touch during these very difficult times.

A view on the 2019-20 season by Andrew Warshaw

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As part of a planned series of articles for Town supporters during the lockdown, Associate Director Andrew Warshaw has offered a personal view on the ending and outcomes of the 2019-20 non-league season. Many thanks to Andrew; more pieces are scheduled to follow!

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So now we know. Or do we?
The National League have finally voted to end their regular season at its current point, a decision that falls into line with the rest of English non-league football below Step 2. At last some consistency, you might say. Well up to a point. It’s not over yet.

Crucially, in contrast to the Isthmian League, and indeed everyone else below Step 2, the National League and its North and South have controversially left open what happens with promotion and relegation which are still, we are told, “under careful consideration”.

One obvious knock-on effect of this is that it has fuelled an ongoing debate lower down the pyramid, and understandably so. The difference is that whereas all results from day one have been expunged in our league and those at the same level or lower, there has been no clear indication of what the next steps will be in terms of deciding the conclusion of Steps One and Two, including end-of-season play-offs as well as promotion and relegation.

But is this really fair? Because what it means is that season isn’t technically over for the non-league haves as opposed to the have-nots. Several teams in the smaller leagues had already gained promotion but this will now be cancelled as will relegations.
The same may still happen further higher up the scale, of course, leaving National League leaders Barrow for instance to suffer potential heartbreak over missing out on promotion to the dizzy heights of the Football League for first time in 48 years. Or it may not. We should know soon.

Notts County, playing in non-league football for the first time in their 158-year history this season, were third in the National League table at the time football was halted across the country in March. “We would like to place on record our disappointment that the season has been brought to a premature end,” said a statement from their board of directors. “While we appreciate the views of other clubs and respect the overall outcome of this vote as a representation of opinion across the three divisions, our stance has always been that the National League should operate in tandem with the EFL due to the intrinsic link between the two leagues. We were therefore opposed to this vote being imposed.”

County manager Neil Ardley added: “A basic principle of fair play suggests that teams at the top and bottom should be given an opportunity to get what they deserve. At the top, that means play-offs.” York City, top of National League North by two points, agree with this stance. A club statement said: “Throughout the process, York City FC has put forward a strong case to see promotions honoured and will continue to do so until a decision is made.”

Fair enough, but I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. It surely has to be the same for everyone. If the likes of Barrow and York are allowed to go up, those lower down the pyramid will claim they should have been given the same opportunity. Take Northern Premier League Premier Division leaders South Shields, who were set for promotion to National League North with a massive 13-point gap ahead of second place but will now spend another campaign at Step 3. “If it’s applicable to Barrow, it’s applicable to us and numerous other clubs around the country,” bemoaned South Shields chairman Geoff Thompson. “We feel the process has been wrong all along.”

And what about Worthing in the Isthmian Premier who led the league comfortably when matches were called off? “Whenever football is allowed to resume, we could have completed our league in four weeks,” their young chairman George Dowell, told me. “Everyone at the club has worked so hard. Money, time, effort. Getting promotion to National South would have been the highest the club’s ever been. It’s heart-breaking.”

You can understand his frustration. As usual money talks. Just as Premier League clubs dwarf the rest of English professional football when it comes to financial clout, so the top non-league clubs are far better off than other grass-roots teams who have no broadcasting deals and have to rely solely on gate receipts.

It’s a tough equation and there are arguments on both sides which will take some time to abate. But I have a suggestion. During the season we unfortunately lost Bury as a member of the Football League. The club’s demise rendered League Two one club short. That has to be resolved somehow so why not, as a compromise and just for one season, given Covid-19, go back to how football used to be in the old days and reward just the champion? In other words, promote National League Barrow to take Bury’s place and do the same thing pro rata down the pyramid, forgetting all about play-offs etc.

It’s not ideal and I know it would throw up other complications but at least it would reward teams that have ultimately been the best in their respective divisions over a season as a whole. Which surely is what success deserves.

* these are not necessarily the views of Enfield Town FC