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Club History |
Alumni football Club was founded in the Summer of 2004 by Jon Cockrell, Nick Cockrell and Martin English. It came about after deciding that the student leagues were no longer the place where they wanted to ply their trade but still wanted to persue their footballing ambitions.
A drunken idea swapping meeting was held in the Royal and the plan began to take shape. With the help of Martin's local knowledge an application was made to the Old Boys League, and this was met with approval.
The hard work then began, first selecting a committee and then recruiting players.
After a few teething problems were overcome (and resignations) the formation of an impressive squad quickly grew and so the story of Alumni begun..........
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Alumni Football Club Honours |
LOBAL Division 5 Champions - 2004-05
LOBAL Division 5 Grimshaw Cup Winners - 2004-5
LOBAL Division 4 Champions - 2005-06
LOBAL Division 4 Bushell Cup Winners - 2005-06
LOBAL Division 2 Champions - 2006-07
LOBAL Division 2 Bill Hughes Cup - Winners 2006-07
LOBAL Senior Shield Cup Winners - 2007-08
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Player Awards |
2004-05
Players' Player: Luke Cooper
Captain's Player: Nick Cockrell
2005-06
Players' Player: Luke Cooper
Captain's Player: George Armstrong
Best New Player: Dave Angove
2006-07
Players' Player: James Clayton
Captain & Manager's Player: Dave Bowen
Best New Player: J Bammeke
Goal of the Season: Colin Walsh v Cardinal Newman
2007-08
Players' Player: Dave Angove
Captain & Manager's Player: Martin English
Best New Player: Sean Monaghan
Goal of the Season: Dave Andove (v FC Salle)
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Gone but not forgotten...the departed players who have helped Alumni get to where it is today |
Ex-Player (appearances - goals)
George Armstrong (47-2)
Ben Stubbs (30-3)
Eddie Gibson (12-1)
Rich Hill (16-2)
Keith Neville (26-0)
Ihiney Nwachuku (34-4)
John Thompson (19-0)
Paul Westoby (26-10)
Dave Best (1-0)
Sam Lodge (2-0)
Dave Miers (5-1)
Chris Monohan (1-0)
J-P O'Donnell (1-1)
Ben Russell (1-0)
Toby Wallis (7-0)
Ian Williams (3-2)
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Classic Matches |
These are the games which would be on the DVD...!
Alumni 4 v 5 Liobians
League Division 5, Saturday 4th September 2004
Alumni’s first ever competitive fixture ended in agonising defeat against Liobans. The new team found themselves two-nil down early on and despite pulling a goal back before half time through Wil, a further two goals were conceded in the second half giving Liobians a 4-1 advantage. Alumni heroically hit back though to tie the game at four all thanks to Ben, Nick and Wil once again to only give away a (dubious) late penalty which was duly depatched breaking Alumni’s hearts.
Wavertree 2 v 4 Alumni
League Division 5, Tuesday 5th April 2005
Despite the matter of a European Cup quarter final featuring Liverpool and Juventus at Anfield, there was only one game on Merseyside which the Alumni players were thinking about and it was the one in which victory would secure a league title in the club’s first season in existence. However, Alumni made hard work of the match with nerves obviously playing a big part. Jon Cockrell had the coolest head though, coming off the bench he twice lobbed the Wavertree goalkeeper in the second half to seal the win and setup gleeful scenes among the players.
Alumni 1 v 1 Kingsford (9-8 on penalties)
Grimshaw Cup Final, Wednesday 20th April 2005
It’s difficult to know where to start with this one…
Alumni were chasing a league and cup double but found themselves up against Kingsford, who had belied their league position to reach the cup final and already proved tough opponents in two previous fixtures for Alumni that season. With a bumper crowd in attendance at Wyncote, the game was a tight affair. Alumni dominated possession but constantly found themselves thwarted by some resolute defending.
With the game still at 0-0 and approaching extra-time, Kingsford broke and had a glorious chance to score with their attacker bearing down one-on-one with Ian Burrows. The Alumni stopper prevented a goal but at some cost - in fouling his opposition a red card was the only option left for the referee. To make matters worse, the free-kick was curled past stand-in ‘keeper Nick Cockrell.
Displaying enormous character, Alumni hit back straight away and even created a few chances to equalise but when Luke Cooper missed an open goal the game looked dead and buried. However, with the last touch of normal time Paul Westoby popped up to score a header and grab a lifeline for Alumni.
With tails up Alumni dominated extra-time but again couldn’t find the necessary break-through. Even Bojan Stankovic saw a penalty saved as Kingsford rode their luck.
This luck wasn’t to hold out into the shoot-out though, Kingsford’s ninth penalty taker steered his shot the wrong side of the post to hand the double to Alumni.
Hanley Town 3 - 2 Alumni (after extra time)
Northern Cup Round 3, Saturday 25th February 2006
Alumni had already caused a few cup upsets in their short history, but they were definitely the underdogs on this occasion as they travelled to Staffordshire to take on semi-professional outfit Hanley Town. Hanley looked stronger to begin with and took a deserved lead, but they couldn’t kill the minnows off and Alumni equalised to go into half time with the scores level.
Alumni rallied, took the game to Hanley and looked to be on the verge of securing a huge shock leading 2-1 late in the second half before being pegged back and forced into extra time. Alumni were by this point exhausted and unsurprisingly punished by a rejuvenated Hanley who ultimately won the game 3-2, the victory spurring them all the way to an appearance in the final. However, Alumni left the potteries with their heads held high and some crucial lessons learned.
Alumni 5 v 5 Bluecoat (4-2 on penalties)
Bushell Cup Semi-Final, Saturday 4th March 2006
Only a week after the devastating Hanley result, Alumni looked to bounce back in positive fashion - they eventually did but not after making hard work of a game that should have been sealed in the first half. Bluecoat had proved tough opponents in the two league meetings earlier in the season but Alumni got off to a dream start racing to a 3-0 lead. Somewhat crucially though Bluecoat pulled a goal back before half time to reduce the deficit to two goals.
Uncharacteristically, Alumni did not regain any control in the second half and found themselves 4-3 down chasing an equaliser to take the game to extra time. The necessary goal was pulled back and it was a feat needing a repeat in extra time at 5-4 down; Luke Cooper duly obliged to take the game to a penalty shoot out in which Alumni kept the cooler heads to triumph and achieve a place in a cup final for the second successive season.
Alumni 8 v 3 Liobians
League Division 4, Tuesday 4th April 2006
It what was a trial run of the divisional cup final later that month, Alumni found themselves with a must-win midweek league game against Liobians. The pressure seemed too much for them in the first half though with Liobians easily having the upper hand and heading into the break 3-1 up.
Following the interval the match could not have been more different however. Alumni turned on the style to score seven second half goals, taking a big step towards the title and realistically getting one hand on the Bushell Cup trophy in which they would play and beat Liobians once again.
Alumni 5 v 0 Cardinal Newman
League Division 2, Saturday 6th January 2007
The only points Alumni had dropped in the second division had come in this reverse fixture against old rivals Cardinal Newman back in October, in which a 3-3 draw was scraped with two late goals. It was not a performance Alumni wanted to repeat and they comfortably reasserted their authority with a stunning 5-0 victory to continue where they had left off before the winter break. It was a scoreline that didn’t flatter the Alumni players because it was nothing short of what they deserved following the outstanding post-break preparation.
Alumni 5 v 0 Sacre Coeur
Senior Shield Round 2, Saturday 17th February 2007
Sacre Coeur had proved to be one of Alumni’s rivals for the title of Division 2 champion so far this season, but they had not yet met in the league so the game carried an element of uncertainty for both teams - particularly because each had propelled themselves up the Old Boys ladder with good cause to believe they were playing below their true level.
It was Alumni though who finished the day on top, displaying what will surely be remembered as one of their finest performances. Admittedly, two of the goals came very late on in the game when Coeur heads had dropped, but Alumni were by no means flattered because it was their dominance in the preceding 80 minutes which had left Coeur in such a mindset for Alumni to capitalise.
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TEAM CREST
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