After a season of consolidation for the six men’s teams in 2018/19, we approach the 2019/20 season with high hopes, spearheaded by an excellent set of captains and supported by some outstanding coaches. The 1s have been knocking on the door of promotion for the last two seasons but with a new coaching set-up combining Tom Bryant and Danny Ott, coupled with some additions to the team, Ed Ledger will surely be looking to lead the team to promotion into the Championship.
The 2s now know what they are up against in De Cymru and The Marches 2 and with a smaller, more settled squad will hope to push hard for promotion under Simon Barrett’s captaincy. The 3s, captained by yours truly, will act as a stepping stone for a handful of the more talented youngsters moving up through the club. In the same division as the 2s, the 3s will be a step-up of two divisions for these youngsters and will give them the opportunity to find their feet at a higher level and provide the platform for subsequent moves to the higher teams; training (by invitation) with the 1s/2s will no doubt speed their development.
The 4s, captained by Matt Gimson, will look different to last season. With the additional players in the 1s/2s and the injection of youngsters into the 3s, there will be an inevitable movement of players downwards through the teams. The 4s will benefit from picking up a number of ex-3s players and Matt will look to combine this experience with some younger players in West Central 1.
Following the restructuring of the league over the summer, the 5s and 6s will now be in the same tier. Luke Williams will captain a younger-looking 5s team in West Central 2 whilst Andy Higginson (Higgy) will captain a group of experienced, like-minded players under the 6s banner in East Central 2.
As usual, provisional squad lists have been drawn up in discussion with the captains ahead of the friendlies in order that players may be contacted for availability, although squads may change before the first match of the season (and during the season). The 5s and 6s will only have time for one friendly on 14th Sep before their league starts on 21st Sep, one week earlier than the other men’s teams. If you haven’t been contacted by a captain for your availability by Tuesday 11th September, let me know.
I hope you all have a great season, meet any goals you set yourselves and play to the best of your ability.
Rob Ledger
Men’s Club Captain