The first team have made an excellent start to their 2016/17 campaign by topping the League in mid November after a 0-2 win away from home at Heath Hayes FC with goals from Jake Holt and Alex Kent. Both teams took part in a minutes silence prior to kick off to pay their respects to those who lost their lives in conflict. Heath Hayes saw two red cards throughout the game, one just before half time, and the other being in the 82nd minute. Prior to this fixture, Leicester Road had seen 5-1 victories against Heather St Johns, Uttoxeter Town and Coalville Town reserves, a 72 victory against Littleton, a 6-0 win against Studley and an extremely impressive 8-0 win against Ingles FC. Uttoxeter Races are the very generous first team kit sponsor. Come along and support the first team. Upcoming First Team Fixtures: December3pm Saturday 3rd vs Atherstone Town (A) 7:45pm Tuesday 6th vs Loughborough (H) LRFC are supporting the Air Ambulance 3pm Saturday 10th vs Uttoxeter Town (H) You ll have probably noticed the recycling bins in the carpark at Leicester Road Stadium. Any proceeds made from recy- 3pm Saturday 17th vs Coventry Copsewood (A) 11:30am Monday 26th vs Hinckley AFC (A) 3pm Saturday 31st vs Chelmsley Town cled items, are donated to support the operation of the Air Ambulance Service.
Baby News! Congratulations to Academy Manager, Andy Smith, on the birth of his grandson, Logan-James, who was born on the 13th November. Logan weighed in at 6 pounds and 8oz. For those of you who have not yet met Andy, he joined the Club last season but took on the Academy Manager role at the start of the current season. He has been coaching football for 14 years and holds both a UEFA B Outfield and Goalkeeping Licence. He also has the FA Youth Award Modules 1, 2 and 3, as well as being a qualified Coach Mentor. Special First Team Appearances Leicester Road Football Club - Club Vacancies The 1st November was a big day for four of our Development Team players as they were named in Neil Lyne s squad for 1st Team away game at Heather St. John s which ended in a 2-1 victory. Sean Carey and Ellis Whitelaw made their first full debuts while Youth Team players, 17 year old Jack Humphries and 16 year old Ben Parkinson, were on the bench. Physiotherapist/Sports Therapist All four players are congratulated upon this major achievement which is not only a testament to the dedication of the players themselves but also to the hard work of the coaching staff and to the commitment of the parents. It also reinforces the Club s philosophy which embodies the nurture of our talented young players through our Youth Development structure into our Senior football framework. We look forward to more such appearances. Leicester Road Football Club is seeking a Chartered Physiotherapist or HCPC registered Sports Therapist with the appropriate level of indemnity insurance to provide physiotherapy services for its Under 14 to Under 16 Development Programme players during Tuesday and/or Friday evening training sessions and possibly some Saturday matches. The successful candidate will be required to hold an up to date Safeguarding Certificate and will be required to undergo a comprehensive screening process that will include an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (formally CRB). This role is essentially a voluntary role but a small level of remuneration to reflect expenses will be considered for the right candidate. If you are interested in this role, or know someone who might be, please contact a member of staff for a chat. Assistant Club Secretary If you are interested in assisting our senior Club Secretary, please contact Jo Sjoberg for more details.
We interviewed summer signing, Callum Earls... Name: Callum Earls Who is your dream date? Margot Robbie Age: 23 Which training drill do you dread the most? 22 second sprints Position: Defender Favourite Football Team? Nottingham Forest Nickname: Earlsy Stranded on an Island what would be your 3 essential items? Favourite musician? Elton John Bottle of JD, Ray Bans, DJ Decks One word to describe you? Nuisance Best Ground you've played at? Emirates Most treasured possession(s)? Ronnie and Reggie (dogs) Most embarrassing moment in Football? Losing in The Conference Play-Off Semi-Final vs Oxford United in 2010 whilst I was playing for Rushden & Diamonds. If you could be a another team mate for a week who would it be and why? Jake Holt, he has lovely technique. Who is the best/worst dressed in the squad when you go out? Interesting fact about yourself? I ve got seven U17 s caps and four U19 s caps for the Republic of Ireland. Best Dressed: myself Who is the funniest team mate? Nick Hawkins Worst Dressed: Tom McGlinchey The best piece of advice you've been given? Be yourself Meet The First Team Captain, Gregory Downes Greg is a midfielder. He has been at Leicester Road for one and a half seasons. Here s what he had to say about the 2016/2017 campaign so far: The 2016/17 season has been a great season to date. We are currently sitting at the top of the league, but still with plenty of games remaining to stay where we are. Neil (First Team Manager) has brought in a few fantastic additions to the squad, making competition for places very tough. The atmosphere within the playing group is extremely positive in a very tight knit squad. Last season, the league was a bit unknown but this season, after learning from our experiences of 2015/16, we have high hopes of doing ourselves and the football club proud. FA Charter Standard - Ensuring our Coaches are 'On the Ball' Leicester Road Development FC are in their first full season as a FA Charter Standard Development Club and the Club's staff and coaches have been busy getting ready for the club's first annual health check in the new year. The coaching staff at the club have a range of qualifications from the FA Level One Coaching Award through to the UEFA 'A' licence and they all have to complete a 3 yearly certification in Safeguarding Children and Emergency First Aid as well as undergoing an Enhanced CRC check. Football Operations Manager Jo Sjoberg and Academy Manager Andy Smith have been overseeing the process which ensures that all of our coaching staff have up-to-date qualifications. By the review date all our coaches will be members of the FA Licenced Coaches Club and will have undertaken the necessary training which forms part of the structured Continual Professional Development programme run by the Football Association. The Club's Five year development plan has also been updated and is available for anyone to view and comment on.
Ground-breaking News for James Spencer!! James Spencer, groundsman and U15 s coach, has recently become fully qualified in NVQ Level 2 Sports Turf Groundsman. His next ambition is progress his qualifications and move up the ladder to achieve a Grounds Manager Qualification. A huge well done to James on behalf of everyone at Leicester Road! Under 16 s season report so far Played: 11 Won: 5 Lost: 5 Drawn: 1 The under 16s have had a mixed start to the season regarding results, however, they have been playing some excellent football. In terms of development, this has been an ideal start. There have been many highlights during the first half of the season including pulling back a 3-2 win against Shrewsbury DC after having been 0-2 down at half time on the 12th November. A particular mention to Alistair Sharpe s knee slide celebration seems very appropriate. In other news, six Under 16 s have made several appearances for the Under 18 s. The players are Theo Sjoberg, Harvey Taylor, Alistair Sharpe, Niall Del Gesso, Ben Humphreys and Jamie Ward. (All pictured to the right.) Under 14 s season report so far... The U14 s have made a great start to the MJPL campaign, having been unbeaten in 8, winning 6 and drawing 2. The main highlight being a 1-1 draw away to last season s Champions and double winners, Studley Juniors FC. This was after losing both goalkeepers, one to sickness bug, and other 8 minutes into the game due to injury. Studley Juniors led 1-0 until Leicester Road scored with 10 minutes to go, securing a crucial draw. Cian Taylor Connor George Leicester Road remain the only team to take points off Studley this season, they had had 7 straight wins before the game. Cian Taylor has had a call up to the Worcester Schools County Boy s Squad. He recently won his second cap in a 4-1 victory over Staffordshire. Connor George, goalkeeper, has also won a call up to his county side, Staffordshire. Both players are pictured on the left. Leicester Road Christmas Function 2016 at Rossini s On Saturday 26th November, following a 3-1 home win for the first team, keeping them top of the league, Leicester Road celebrated Christmas at their annual function at Rossini s Restaurant. It was a very enjoyable evening for the players, supporters, directors and sponsors who attended. The night was filled with lots of prosecco and excellent food! Rossini s are the very generous sponsor the Schoolboy Development Programme Kit.
Under 15 s season round up, so far. After a very encouraging start by the U15s, in both training and games programme, the squad was hit with a number of long term injuries. With this in mind and some solid performances by the remaining members of the squad including the promotion of a number of U14s players, the team are now starting to get back to the solid form which they showed at the beginning of the season. Over the next few weeks, you should expect a slight adjustment in coaching staff overseeing this age group, which is designed to help them progress further over the second half of the season. Under 18 s season report, so far.. Over the last few games, the U18s development team, have moved from strength to strength. With the guidance of Craig and the support of Andy Smith, there is an enhanced sense of cohesion amongst the squad and they have produced some outstanding performances. Jack Humphries, Ben Parkinson and Owen Whitehouse have impressed so much that they have all been involved in the first team squads this season. Jack was selected to play in the club s first season in the F.A cup. Ben has shown incredible progression over the last season, having been playing in the under 16s development squad only last year. In line with our philosophy of developing players and challenging them at constantly higher levels, we are extremely pleased that we have been able to involve six of the U16s development team in U18 s fixtures so far this season. Every one of these players has performed consistently with passion and desire within their game and have proven, that they can work at 100% in any game situation, utilising all given opportunities to their maximum. With all this in mind, the future looks incredibly bright for Leicester Road FC. We believe we have a very unique structure in Grassroots football and we hope to continue with the development of these young players and are able to make them the stars of the future at our club. Leicester Road Veterans season round up so far... The Leicester Road Vets started their campaign with their main aspiration being to defend their League Cup and County Cup titles. So far the season has consisted of extremely promising performances and results to support these goals. After opening the season with 3 wins and a draw in the League, LRFC sit top. Their County Cup campaign is also going well. Last season s cup win meant Leicester Road became the first vets side ever to win back to back County cup competitions. They are looking, this season, to make it 3 in a row. LRFC vets would like to take the opportunity to thank both the club and main sponsors, and Sk:n Clinics for all their support to date and they look for- ward to hopefully, what will be, another successful season.
Leicester Road Development Squad The Story so far. When Neil asked me to join his management team my remit was quite simple.make our development team competitive in the league with an eye on promotion and to develop as many of these players as possible to push towards the first team. 3 months in to the season and I am relatively pleased with how the players have responded to the challenge. After a slow start with some games postponed, mainly due to the cup success of the senior squad, we began to find our feet. In the past month or so we have been the most prolific team in the league consistently scoring 4, 5 and 6 goals each game. We are easily the youngest squad in the league with a number of our U18 s players featuring regularly each week. The younger players are complemented by a more experienced core group who have been excellent in supporting them and raising their levels. It has not been plain sailing by any means this season but when we have had a setback I have been pleased with the overall response of the players, which bodes well going forwards. The Cup has also yielded great results and performances seeing us score 10 goals in the last 2 rounds and culminating in a quarter final home tie this coming weekend against Ravenstown. Although I have been very pleased with group as a whole I would like to give special mention to Ben Parkinson, Sam Wells and Jack Humphries who have consistently done very well (keep it going boys!). It is very encouraging that we have a first team manager in Neil Lyne that offers players a pathway to the first team both in coaching and playing time. It was evident to me that a core value of this club is to develop players in the right way and at various stages this season I have been delighted that 8 development & youth players have been called up for first team duty. As we enter the festive period there is still so much to play for in league and cup. We need to continue to work hard, stay focussed and above all, enjoy what we are doing. Keep it up lads! Mark Rosegreen A Massive Thank You!! Leicester Road Football club would like to give a massive thank you to the continued support throughout the season so far, from all sponsors, fans and staff who all help to make the club what it is today. All the development squads, and certainly the first team, have made an excellent start to the season. It is very evident that the club is heading in the right direction and hopefully the second half of the season can secure the goals which we have set out to achieve in all LRFC teams. Leicester Road is always grateful for any support or help, no matter how big or small, so thank you to all those who give up time and money for the club, it is always hugely appreciated. 'Easyfundraising You may have noticed the Easyfundraising posters in the club house which detail how our Supporters, Parents, Staff and Players can all contribute to the financial well being of the club without costs to themselves. With numerous online shopping outlets linked up to the scheme it allows a percentage of your online shopping purchases to go directly to the club without any additional costs to the shopper. If you go onto our website at www.theknitters.co.uk and click on 'Shopping' on the top menu bar, Easyfundraising is one of the options and the details of the scheme and how to easily register are contained on there. Please have a look as its an easy way to help the club develop and build for the future. Leicester Road would like to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas, and a Happy New year! We hope to see you at the New Year s Eve fixture at The Leicester Road Stadium against Chelmsley Town, 3pm kick off. Don t forget to bring a mate and increase the gate! We look forward to further success in 2017, and to you all sharing in that success. All photo credits go to John Poole.