Sunday 25th April 2021 2pm KO – The FA Women’s Championship
WELCOME TO THE HOME OF LIVE FOOTBALL
Welcome back to the Dripping Pan for our last home game of the season against the already crowned Championship Champions, Leicester City.
Click on the link below to go to our live streaming service for this match and join commentator Ben Jacobs for this afternoon’s game. A big thank you to our visitors today who have brought their media team to the Pan which will allow an enhanced offering this afternoon.
Season ticket holders watch for free. Anyone else can watch too, and as a trial you can pay what you want via a donation button at the foot of the page.
https://www.lewesfc.com/live
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL UK – FOOTBALL WELCOMES – APRIL 2021
The FA is supporting Amnesty International UK and inviting clubs to take part in the organisation’s Football Welcomes initiative, running throughout the month of April, to celebrate the contribution players with a refugee background make to the game and to highlight the role of football and football clubs in creating more welcoming communities for refugees.
The first Football Welcomes weekend took place in April 2017, on the 80th anniversary of the arrival in the UK of a group of child refugees from the Spanish Civil War who went on to become some of the first refugees to play professional football here. Players who have had to flee conflict and persecution have been making their mark on the game ever since.
We have been working closely with Amnesty through their FA-funded Women’s Football Officer role and we know how much they appreciated your support for Football Welcomes in 2019 (the event in 2020 was cancelled due to Covid). We want to support them in making making Football Welcomes a success again this year, and to show that our clubs are open, welcoming and proud of their diversity and have the ability to bring together people from all backgrounds.
TODAY’S FA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
SIMON SAYS…
Hi everyone and welcome to the Pan for our last game of the season. It has been really tough not being able to play in front of fans for virtually the whole campaign. Whilst the games have been streamed, it isn’t the same and we can certainly look forward to next season when we can pack out the Pan again.
Today is going to be a really tough game – Leicester City are flying and have broken the record for the most successive wins. Whilst this will be a big challenge for us, it is also a great opportunity to see where we are and how far we have progressed as a team. Playing games like this against the best teams in the league allows us to gauge how far away we are – it is a good test for us and with only two games left for us, we know that a win will guarantee that fifth spot, which is our target. It is an opportunity for us to start working on things with next season in mind.
Thanks for all your support over the season. Enjoy the summer and I look forward to seeing you all next season.
Simon
FOR ONE LAST TIME…YOUR 2020/21 ROOKS
THE BEST MOMENTS OF THE 2020/21 SEASON
We may not have won any trophies but we are on course for our best ever finish in the club’s history. Some of the Lewes Directors and Management have picked their favourite moments from the season.
“For me the 92nd minute winner v Coventry, away. Cracking goal from two substitutes, Georgia’s first for the club after Emma Jones’ incredible work down the wing. The bench went crazy – I had to apologise to Danni Lane afterwards for ruffling her hair in celebration!” – Maggie Murphy
“Mine would be either Emma’s disallowed thumper against London Lionesses or Roodie’s nutmeg finish against Liverpool” – Trevor Wells
“The goal celebration which ended up as a punch up and Rhian’s pained face was very funny” – Karen Dobres
“Tatiana ridiculous save away at Blackburn Rovers” – Ed Ramsden
“Tat’s save at Blackburn Rovers was something else. I’d also go with the whole performance at Coventry United away. Lucy and Molly were outstanding on a freezing cold day” – Stuart Fuller
RING OUT THE OLD…RING IN THE NEW
Today is the last competitive game of the season at The Pan. Hopefully, when you can all return next season you will notice a few new things both on and off the pitch.
Our Supporters Club have been busy repairing and replacing the fencing at the Ham Lane End and on the Convent Field side, which looks great and their work will continue during the summer.
- We are going to repaint the exterior of the Rook Inn and the dressing rooms;
- We are undertaking major pitch work in the summer that will give us a fantastic playing surface next season;
- We hope to have a new toilet block built at the top of the Philcox Stand which will replace the wooden structure;
- We are planning on having a new bar at the top of the Philcox Stand which will ease congestion on the Rook Inn, especially if social distancing measures will remain in place;
- We are hoping to have an accessible toilet built in the Rook Inn itself;
- Oh, and we have a new Men’s Management Team – read all about Tony Russell and Joe Vines joining the club here.
And finally, there will be a new website which is currently under construction and due for launch next month so keep an eye out for that.
Don’t forget that Non-League’s best beer garden will be open during the summer – keep an eye out on Social Media for opening times.
Rooks Bow Out Of The Vitality Women’s FA Cup
Lewes’ Vitality Women’s FA Cup campaign came to an end after a disappointing afternoon at The Dripping Pan saw Southampton win 2-1, reports Marcus Lee.
The Rooks had the first chance of the game on two minutes, when Sophie O’Rourke saw her shot from close range well saved by Southampton goalkeeper Kayla Rendell.
Two minutes later, Ini Umotong did well to keep the ball in play by the touchline. She then played in a low cross that was just out of Lucy Ashworth-Clifford’s reach.
Mollie Rouse played a dangerous free-kick into the Southampton area that was just out of the reach of the leaping Umotong.
Good play from the Rooks allowed them to work some space and play in a dangerous cross. The ball fell to O’Rourke, but she sent her shot over the goal.
On 34 minutes, Lewes won a penalty. Megan Mackey did well to press defender Rosie Parnell and the Rooks’ No.24 was pulled down inside the area to win the penalty. Umotong stepped up to take it but saw her spot-kick saved by Rendell.
The Saints made Lewes pay for the missed chance on 39 minutes when they took the lead. A free-kick was crossed in and it dropped to Georgie Freeland, whose dipping effort beat Tatiana Saunders to give the visitors the lead.
Emma Jones had two early chances in the second half, with her first being well saved by Rendell and the second whistling past the top corner.
Just after the hour mark, Umotong brought the game level. Ashworth-Clifford played in a corner and Georgia Timms won the first header which fell to Umotong, who directed it past the goalkeeper from close range.
The Rooks continued to press after the equaliser as Ashworth-Clifford hit the crossbar.
However, on 78 minutes, Rachel Panting scored the winning goal for the Saints. Panting fired a first time shot from range to find the top corner and beat Saunders.
Lewes looked for a late equaliser to take the game to extra time but couldn’t beat the Southampton defence. The whistle was soon blown for full-time, meaning the Rooks exit the competition in the Fourth Round.
Lewes: Saunders, Boswell (Quayle 88), Cleverly (C), Hack, O’Rourke, Rouse, Savva (Leek 55), Mackey (Jhamat 88), Jones (Timms 55), Umotong, Ashworth-Clifford
Subs not used: Cheeseman, Lane
Goal: Umotong 62
Southampton: Rendell, Provan, Parnell, Freeland (Morris 65), Pusey, Sievewright (C), Pharoah, Morris, Kendall, Panting (Williams 81), Mott
Subs not used: Whitton, Fripp, Luce, Evans, Chaffe, Cleeve, Da Silva
Goals: Freeland 39, Panting 78
YOU CAN WATCH THE WHOLE GAME BACK BELOW
ROOKIN’ ALL OVER THE WORLD – WELCOME INDONESIA!
We welcomed our first owner from Indonesia this week (Hello M. Natsir Fachruddin Suryatama!) making that 35 different countries where you can find Lewes FC Owners.
You can become an owner by going to LewesFC.com/owners
NOTES FROM THE CHAIR
Good afternoon and welcome, virtually, to the Dripping Pan for our final game of the season. Firstly, I’d like to welcome our visitors from Leicester, who have been outstanding all season and quite rightly have been crowned champions and will take their place in next season’s Women’s Super League. A magnificent achievement and one that all of their fans should be proud of.
I’d also like to thank everyone who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes this season. It has been a massive task to complete the season in lockdown with the logistics that have to go into every game. A special thank you to the hard work that Maggie and Lynne have put into ensuring that we have stayed Covid-free within the squad and the club and also to our volunteers who have made sure that football can happen, albeit in a sterile (in more ways than one) environment. Also a big thank you to our Supporters Club who are making improvements and repairs to the Dripping Pan on a daily basis. Their work is vital for the club and so we encourage you all to visit their website (here) and see how you too can help the club.
We can but hope next season we can welcome fans back at the Pan for all of our matches. So thank you all for all of your support, whether financially through donations on our stream or sending positive messages to the club via Social Media – we really appreciate it.
I’d also like to wish the players and management a good summer break. The levels of professionalism within the club have increased tenfold in just a few years and the fact we will end the season as one of the top 20 Women’s football teams in the country is amazing. Every player has worn the badge with pride this year and I’d like to thank you personally. I’ve been lucky enough to be at most games, home and away, this season and I see the preparation and the intense pride the squad has. Unfortunately, some players won’t return for next season – that’s the nature of football, and other new faces will arrive, so thank you to all. Also, a virtual round of applause for Simon and his team on what they have done this season.
It has been quite a week in football. One that has shown the best and the worst of the game. There’s been way too many words written about the attempts by six English clubs to follow a ‘greed is good’ mentality and hope that nobody would care. Unfortunately, those clubs neglected to understand the mood in the room. Overseas ownership of football is a relatively new thing – at the start of the Premier League back in 1992 there was only one Non-British manager, let alone any overseas owners. Nearly thirty years later and there are few owners of English football clubs at the highest level who really understand what football really means to the fans.
We’ve seen statements such as “Legacy fans are not the future”, “shortening matches as the attention spans of young fans is not long enough” and of course the promise of “solidarity payments”. I do not think for one minute any of those club owners expected the response they got from fans, the media, football in general or, more tellingly, their own managers and players.
You can understand, to an extent, the US owners view, having grown up on closed-shop, franchised sports. But one of those six is owned by an Englishman – Daniel Levy at Spurs. Surely he understood what he was doing when he agreed to join the league? The ramifications of the collapse of the ESL may be hugely damaging for clubs. Manchester United’s share price, and thus their value, took a massive hit on the New York Stock Exchange this week, whilst their CEO has fallen on his sword. Clubs may be fined, they may be barred from future competitions and of course, the damage between their relationships with their fans may have been irreparably damaged.
If you looked closely at the original press release by the ESL there was one line towards the end of the statement that mentioned there would also be a corresponding Women’s league set up in the future – almost a tokenistic, throw-away line as if it was an after thought. At this stage of the development of the Women’s game it would utter madness to create such a competition. Whilst the English clubs are getting stronger and stronger every season, the real test comes from the French and German sides, who would not have been able to join the ESL.
Arsenal are the only English team to have won the Women’s European Champions League and that was nearly 15 years ago. The tournament has been dominated by Lyon who have won the last five titles with titles before that shared between the German trio of Frankfurt, Wolfsburg and Turbine Potsdam. No Real Madrid, no Juventus, No AC Milan – in fact only Barcelona have appeared in the final out of all the other ESL sides in the past fifteen years.
There’s a plan to strengthen the domestic Women’s game, massively helped by the sponsorship of Barclays and the recent TV deal. The game does not the ESL or any similar competition that would harm Women’s football for years to come.
Let’s hope that the country continues on our road out of restrictions and the next time I’m writing these notes we will have fans back in the Dripping Pan.
Come on you Rooks!
Stuart
OUR MAGGIE ON THE TELE…
In the wake of the chaos and confusion caused by the announcement of the European Super League, Lewes GM Supremo, Maggie Murphy appeared on Sky Sports to give her view on it and the suggestion about there being a Women’s ESL created alongside. As always, Maggie was a voice of reason on the matter.
OUR VERY OWN SOCCER SNOB
Rooks Director Karen Dobres appeared on The Soccer Snob’s Podcast this week. Soccer Snobs are a group of Canadian football (‘soccer’) fans who have a mission statement is to grow and promote the game of soccer.
“We will work extremely hard to keep our content fresh and on the cutting edge of the sport. We will always be enthusiastic and honest; but in a positive way and will suggest solutions as opposed to questions. We are committed to helping our community and will use our sponsorship money to not only cover the costs of running the show, but to provide opportunities to youth who may need it within the local game. Our end goal in this is to promote the beautiful game by bringing forward new and useful information, humour and enthusiasm to our listeners.”
You can listen to the team’s interview with Karen here.
WELCOME TO THE CHAMPIONS – LEICESTER CITY FC
Having dropped just seven points since the start of the season, we welcome the Champions to the Dripping Pan. Their campaign has been extraordinary – with the relegation from the Super League last season of Liverpool, this season promised to be the most competitive one since the formation of the league. But City have shown a consistent winning mentality and have been able to pull that extra 10% out of the bag when it has been needed.
When we met them earlier in the season it was a tense game that was eventually settled by one goal – something they have done in a third of their league matches. But then there is the ruthless side – the one that put nine past Coventry United or seven past London Bees. More importantly, they have taken six points off Liverpool and four off Durham – their nearest rivals. That’s why they are champions and we applaud their achievement and wish them all the very best for their inaugural season in the Super League next season.
The History
Founded in 2004 as an independent club, Leicester City Women were acquired in 2020 by King Power, the parent company of men’s affiliate Leicester City FC.
Leicester City Women won promotion back into the FA Women’s Premier League Northern Division in 2016 winning a record 22 games out of 22. After finishing third and second in the Northern Division in 2017 and 2018 respectively, Leicester City Women applied to take part in the inaugural FA Women’s Championship season (2018–19). The Foxes had their bid accepted as announced by the Football Association in May 2018. Last season they finished 6th in the Championship.
The Squad:
1 Demi Lambourne
2 Grace Riglar
3 Sam Tierney
4 Aimee Everett
5 Holly Morgan
6 Lisa Cataldo
7 Charlie Devlin
8 Remi Allen
9 Libby Smith
11 Lachante Paul
12 Charlotte Fleming
14 Esmee De Graaf
15 Sophie Howard
16 Freya Thomas
17 Paige Bailey-Gayle
18 Sophie Barker
19 Millie Farrow
20 Natasha Flint
21 Hannah Cain
22 Ashleigh Plumtre
23 Liv Fergusson
27 Shannon O’Brien
28 Kirstie Levell
48 Sophie Harris
Manager – Jonathan Morgan
Last Five Games:
Sun 18th Apr – FA Cup – Liverpool (H) – 1-0
Sun 4th Apr – FAWC – London City Lionesses (H) – 2-0
Sun 28th Mar – FAWC – Coventry United (H) – 2-0
Sun 14th Mar – FAWC – Durham (A) – 2-0
Sun 7th Mar – FAWC – London Bees (A) – 7-0
FILMING AT TODAY’S GAME
Today there may be film crews in the ground, filming on behalf of Lewes Football Club and other media organisations. The filming is usually for Lewes FC marketing purposes, to show what a match day looks/sounds like and to generally promote what we do. Lewes Football Club respectfully asks for your permission to be filmed. If you do not want to be filmed, please let the crew know directly and they will oblige. Thanks for your cooperation in helping to build a successful club.
DAMAGING THE FOUNDATIONS BY STUART FULLER
One knock on effect of the potential creation of the European Super League has been the concern over how an similar event in the future would lead to the reduction in revenues that the Premier League would likely see from future broadcast deals and commercial partnerships. Whilst there were fourteen other teams in the Premier League who weren’t planning on leaving, it is fair to say that a significant amount of revenue is generated indirectly for the league by the six sides who planned to join the new organisation. Consequently, the revenue impact would not only have been and would be felt by the remaining clubs, but also in a reduction in funding to other areas of the game.
One organisation that has been instrumental in changing the lives of many clubs, players, fans and volunteers right down into the grass roots of the game is the Football Foundation. Their work has seen clubs able to build new community facilities and new ways to generate revenues. That has only been possible by funding from a number of sources which includes the Premier League.
Since 2000 when the Football Foundation was created, it has supported over 17,000 grassroots sports projects with grants worth ÂŁ684m. Combined with partnership funding, investment into community football projects across the country now exceed ÂŁ1.5bn in total worth. There’s few clubs around that haven’t at some point benefited from the foundation. Thanks to the organisation, we have been able to build a fantastic 3G floodlight training facility adjacent to The Dripping Pan that is used extensively by the club and the local community – our affiliated junior teams, mental wellbeing, Vets and pathway teams all use it on a regular basis. Without access to that funding, we wouldn’t have been able to build it.
So any impact on the contributions the Premier League can make to the Foundation would ultimately impact football at the grass roots level. If the level of funding available through the Football Foundation is reduced because of the knock-on effect of any similar European Super League competition, then it would restrict what clubs can access funds for community projects and the amounts they are able to use. The impact on local communities could be significant – since 2000, according to the Premier League, the following facilities have been funded through the Football Foundation
- 829 artificial grass (Astroturf) pitches
- 3,160 natural grass pitches
- 1,091 changing facilities
- 182 multi-use games areas
In the words of the Premier League, you can see the potential impact losing some or all of this funding would cause:
“The facilities do not just help to increase sports participation. Some of the new facilities are used to strengthen the bond between professional football clubs and their local communities, particularly in the most deprived areas of the country – with the aim of becoming hubs for football club community organisations’ outreach work.”
In some of the early press releases and articles about the creation of the European Super League, there was talk of “solidarity” payments being made by the clubs who break away, up to €400m according to a report published by the Financial Times but whether that would have ever materialise is another matter.
As well as the Football Foundation, the Premier League also funds a number of charitable initiatives such as Premier League Kicks and the PFA Community Fund, which would also be impacted by a reduction in the revenue generated by the commercial and broadcast deals.
This was without a doubt a watershed moment for English Football. We’ve had them before – events that radically change the way we consume or think about the game. The creation of the Premier League, the first European manager and the change in approach to games, the first overseas billionaire owner, the Bosman ruling and of course the latest TV deals. All transformational in a way, but each has ultimately delivered some benefit to the English game. The ESL has proved to be highly embarrassing for the clubs involved but the danger that one day it will happen is real. And if it does it will destroy value, both financial and reputational, away from our game, a void that will stretch deep down into the roots of the game and be almost impossible to fill.
CREDITS AND LEGAL INFORMATION
The FA Women’s Championship strongly supports recent FA statements that there should be a zero tolerance approach against racism and all forms of discrimination. Accordingly, any form of discriminatory abuse, whether it be based on race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, faith, age, ability or any other form of abuse will be reported to The Football Association for action by that Association. (The FA 0800 085 0508/Kick It Out 020 7253 0162).
Lewes 2000 FC Limited. Registered in England and Wales with Company Registration Number 03790979.
Honorary President Terry Parris
Chair Stuart Fuller
Directors Ed Briggs*, Charlie Dobres, Stuart Fuller*, John Peel, Eddie Ramsden, Galia Orme, Roger Warner, Steve Keegan, Karen Dobres, Trevor Wells
Claire Rafferty**
*Re-elected at AGM Oct 2020
** Directors seconded onto the board
Life Members
Mr and Mrs Brook, Vic Blunt, Pat Dartnell, Gary Elphick, Gordon Fowlie, Peter Hiscox, Billy Nixon, Derrick Parris, Terry Parris, Jimmy Quinn, P. Swaysland, Steve Ibbitson, Jason Hopkinson, Steve White, Martin Elliot, Kevin Fingerneissl, Kevin Powell, David and Barbara Arnold, Roger and Cathy Feltham, Ethel Treagus, Roy Dartnell RIP, Ron Moore, Derek Southouse, Ray Smith, Ken Carter.
General Manager Maggie Murphy
Assistant GM Lynne Burrell
Marketing Director Charlie Dobres
Marketing Officer Maggie Murphy
Safeguarding Officer Lynne Burrell
Pathway Coordinator Alison Palmer
Manager Simon Parker
Assistant Coach Jesus Cordon
Assistant Coach Ady Penrose
PP Coach Christos Andreou
GK Coach Sergio Maldonado
Nutritionist Stefano Montanari
Asst PPC Kayleigh Bonwick
Physio Paul Paredes
Team Psychologist Chelsea Orme
Data Analyst Adam Chilcott
DS Coach Lewis Singleton
U18s Manager/ Head coach Kelly Newton
U18s Manager/ Coach Charlie Carter
U16s Manager/ Coach David Seymour
U16s Coach Lucy Barnes
U14s Manager/ Coach Tom Young/ Rob Palmer
Pathway Co-ordinator Alison Palmer
Pathway Goalkeeping coach Peter Stimpson
Web Editor Stuart Fuller
Progcast Editor Stuart Fuller
Club Photographer James Boyes