from Ashford United’s Milton Keynes Correspondent
So here is a brief review, based on a few
key statistics that I am sad enough to keep, of Ashford United’s 2011-12 season
– which has been the inaugural season for both Ashford’s born-again footy club,
and the Kent Invicta League. The first, and most important, statistic concerns
the number of teams we’ve had to support – and the figure of 1 compares very
favourably with last season’s figure of zero, for which we are grateful to Tony
Betteridge and Ernie Warren, and all the other people who helped to make it
happen. Die hard Ashford fans – of whom there are several – will point out that
that number of teams should be at least 2, because Ashford United has a Youth
team to be proud of, which once again performed with a great deal of credit in
an international Youth Tournament in France. With negotiations at an advanced
stage for a merger between the respective youth set-ups of Ashford United and
Ashford Borough, it is hoped, and expected, that the number of teams run by the
Club will increase further in seasons to come.
One of the great unknowns, at the start
of the season, was how well the Ashford public would support the new entity, in
a (Step 6) league that is two levels below where the former Club, Ashford Town,
eventually withered and died. In that final, 2009-10, season in the Ryman
League, which featured yet another escape from relegation to the Kent League,
the average gate had slumped to 162, which was viewed as a miserable, all-time
low, after this average had built steadily from 208, to 243, to 251, and then
to 317, in previous seasons. It’s probably quite pleasing, therefore, that the
average home gate for the season just ended was 202 – and crowds at Homelands
were fairly consistent throughout the season, with 194 turning out for the
final game of the season, on a cold, wet and windy day, with nothing riding on
the outcome. A statistic I don’t have is the number of supporters that followed
Ashford away, this season, but I reckon that other clubs’ home attendances will
have been swelled by 30-40, in a league where the second-best supported team
had an average attendance of 65.
As is traditional for Ashford teams, it
seems, a half-decent cup run proved elusive. The 2011-12 cups campaign
consisted of seven games, (five of which were at home), in three competitions –
the league cup, the county cup and the FA Vase. The “county cup” was, not the
Kent Senior Cup, which we all know and love, but the Kent Intermediate Challenge
Shield. United’s lack of substantial progress in this competition was
particularly disappointing, given the opportunity provided by home draws
against lower-league opposition all the way to the final. After scraping past
Staplehurst Monarchs, our boys faltered at the second hurdle, at the hands of
Eltham Palace, who may well find themselves promoted to the Kent Invicta League
for next season. It was good to see the Club in the FA Vase, however, for the
first ever time – although our involvement ended at the first fence, albeit
after a replay, against Shoreham, of the Sussex League. The attendance for the
home Vase tie was a very disappointing 124, and the aggregate attendance for
the five home cup games was 815. Not a huge total, but considerably better than
the 2009-10 aggregate of 208 (from just two home ties), and the 392 during the
2008-9 season. Next season, Ashford United will be entered in the FA Cup – THE
cup – and I’m already looking forward to the draw for the opening rounds, which
comes out in the second or third week in July.
Another little ruse of mine, at this time
of year, is to work out Ashford’s Team of the Year, which is based purely on
the number of minutes that players spent on the pitch, in each position, during
the season. Here is the 2011-12 team, in the 3-5-2 formation that Manager Paul
Chambers seemed to favour for much of the season, with the wing-backs listed as
midfielders: -
Billy Rice
Roy Guiver
Lee Coburn
Ollie Finch
Matt Bower
Liam Whiting
Richard Quigley
Gary Lockyer
So a blend of experience and youth there,
with the emphasis very much on the latter – and let’s hope that the majority of
those youngsters will be wearing the holy green & white of Ashford again
next season.
Of course, there were many others among
the 42 players who turned out for Ashford during the season who made a
significant contribution. An individual who made a major impact was the
experienced Mo Takaloo, who scored ten goals in 730 minutes on the pitch, (which
is equivalent to just over eight games). Regular sufferers of my drivel will
know that I have kept a record of Ashford players’ goal scoring rate,
(expressed as minutes per goal), since the 2005-6 season – and it’s interesting
to compare Takaloo’s scoring rate with those of other stellar strikers that
we’ve had at Homelands, (acknowledging, of course, that all comparisons are
very tentative, given the differences there have been in the level of football
played, the strength of successive Ashford teams, etc.).
Quite simply, Mo Tak is out on his own,
in terms of scoring rate. Here are the figures for the top four, during the
past six seasons: -
Mo Takaloo 73 minutes per goal
Claude Seanla 106 mpg
George Fenwick 177 mpg
Shawn Beveney 182 mpg
These figures are put into perspective if
we look at the mpg numbers of other proven, top-quality strikers, such as Walid
Matata (220), Paul Jones (240) and Mark Lovell (286). I’m particularly pleased
to see George Fenwick among this select group of four. I’ve always considered
George to be one of our most under-rated strikers – and, whilst Takaloo, Seanla
and Beveney are clearly high-quality strikers proven at a higher level, who
scored goals during a relatively short stay at Ashford, George scored his 18
goals in the equivalent of more than 35 matches, and in a struggling team, so
there’s no question of any fluke there. It will be interesting to see whether
Mo Tak can maintain this excellent strike rate, if, as we all hope, he is an
Ashford player again next season.
One other top quality striker to wear the
green & white last season was Jimmy Dryden, who scored four goals in 450
minutes, (mpg = 113), whilst on loan from Hythe Town. It was a pleasure to see
such a class act leading the line for Ashford, but Jimmy does not figure in the
following list of goal scoring rates for the season, as I have set the
qualification cut-off at 500 minutes of football.
Mo Takaloo 73 minutes per goal
Gary Lockyer 196 mpg
Kieran Byrne 204 mpg
Peter Williams 209 mpg
Aaron Firth 229 mpg
Sam Conlon 277 mpg
Tom Scorer 321 mpg
Roy Guiver 383 mpg
Another goal scorer, not on this list,
worthy of a mention is Mitchell Mannell, a striker from the Youth ranks who
scored for the First Team in spite of only playing for a total of 38 minutes.
Let’s hope that Mitch gets further opportunities next season. I also cannot
resist giving a mention to Jeff Ross, a demigod who yet walks among mortal men.
It has been wonderful to see him make occasional appearances, this season,
(totalling 109 minutes), and it was absolutely fantastic to see him get on the
scoresheet, his only goal meaning that he has now scored for Ashford in each of
four decades !
The same “minutes per goal” criterion can
be applied to the goalies – and the No.1 position has been largely shared
between young Tony Allen (1,320 minutes) and old Billy Rice (1,350 minutes).
Their respective mpg figures were 69 and 56 – and here is how their records
compare with the best of previous Ashford ‘keepers: -
Josh Willis 123 mpg
Jamie Riley 71 mpg
TONY ALLEN 69 mpg
Jake Whincup 61 mpg
Simon Overland 60 mpg
BILLY RICE 56 mpg
So Tony Allen jumps in at No.3. (The
complete list goes down as far as Darren Ibrahim, who let one in every 40
minutes). Continuing the theme of legends, it was also good to see Mo Munden
between the sticks again. He kept goal for us in six games, (i.e. 540 minutes),
conceding ten goals, so had an identical record to one Jani Seitsonen.
So that’s the fine detail – what of the
bottom line, which is our final league position ? Well, we finished fifth of 16 teams, thanks to
a late rally which saw the team unbeaten in its final ten league games. Whilst
fifth was not as good as some people had hoped, it was quite respectable in the
context of a very disappointing first half of the season, which actually saw us
slip to as low as 13th place. It should also be pointed out that
this is the best finishing position to be achieved by an Ashford side since 1995-6,
when Ashford Town finished second in the Southern League Division One South,
and were promoted to the Premier Division. We then achieved 19th and
21st in our two seasons in The Big Time, and subsequent finishing
positions have been: 7th, 6th, 12th, 14th,
11th, 12th, 20th, 21st, 18th,
8th, 7th, 20th and 5th (this year).
Generally, this season has set firm
foundations for the new Club, in a League where it has been generally accepted
that playing standards have been higher than expected. Now that The Management
knows what to expect, and what is required, I think that we can be hopeful of
an improvement on this league position next season – and let’s hope that the
average league attendance and the aggregate cup attendance can also be improved
upon.
