User:Steslfc/Woodstreet FC

Woodstreet FC
Woodstreet FC are a Liverpool based amateur football team formed in 2004. Woodstreet FC currently play in the Liverpool Business Houses 2nd Division governed by the Liverpool County Football Association. === How it all began ===

The coming together of workers based at the Royal House BT building at the top of Wood Street in Liverpool City Centre is where the origins of the club began taking place.

The initiative was taken by the founders to formulate a small-sided team to compete in the regular tournaments put on by work. Practice and dedication shown by the players of the time saw the culmination of their efforts in 2001 by winning the ManPower national five-a-side tournament in Birmingham.

This was followed in subsequent years with a runner-up spot in the same competition.

With the founder members of the small-sided team remaining together as a group, it was decided in late 2003 that the stakes should be taken to a higher level. The desire now was to take the team into the eleven-a-side game.

A club committee was established with initial positions being held by John Pielow (Secretary/Manager), David Brierley (Chairman) and Steve Storey (Treasurer).

The new committee had to begin the task of looking for finance to cover costs of pitches, the purchase of home and away kits and equipment such as nets, balls and flags. This was done through a combination of initial donations from the first players of the club and also the acquisition of a Sport England grant to help get the club on its feet.

The first kit colours of Woodstreet were an all-navy home kit and an all-red away kit.

The clubs first eleven-a-side friendlies took place in Netherley on the Caldway Drive Playing Fields. The first game took place on 3rd July 2004 in a narrow 3-2 defeat to Caldway. Carl Blakeman and Michael Brierley getting the clubs first goals. This was followed on the same ground shortly after with a 3-1 success over Trinity with Dave Crone scoring a diving header from 12 yards out. On the eve of the season, an evening trip out to Garston saw a 3-2 success over Real Santos with Tom Brew stealing the show in midfield. By this point, the start of the season was upon us.

For season 2004-05, Woodstreet home games were to be played at The Shankly Playing Fields in West Derby.

=== Season 2004-2005  ===

The first season

Woodstreet's first season was to be played in the Formers League Division Two.

The club's actual first game was a 3-3 draw at home to Rose Lane in which our first league goal was scored by Calixte Demaret. Come January, any fixtures that had been played against Rose Lane were expunged from the record books as they tendered their resignation.

This scenario would later be replicated following the expulsion of Sparrowhall and Inter Stella on disciplinary charges.

Making the transition to the eleven-a-side game was one that had to be made over time so patience was required.

Picking up the occasional win and draw, progress was happening at a steady pace but it was not quite at the required speed to make movements up the table.

In January, tragedy struck when newly-signed player, Gary Burke age 24, died suddenly during a local football practice session. The club were to later take part in the Robbie Murphy Memorial Trophy played in memory of Gary Burke. Played in May to close the season, Woodstreet lost in a narrow 2-1 defeat to treble winners The Grammar.

The highlight of the club's first season came in February when we travelled to the Warrenhouse Playing Fields in Kirkby to face the Division Two leaders, Hen & Chickens.

Hen & Chickens were competing for promotion with a number of other teams and were everyone's favourite to take the points on the day.

Played in freezing conditions, this was a tight game. A battle throughout, the game was won for Woodstreet in the 85th minute when a loose ball chased down by Tom Brew on the left side drew the goalkeeper out. The angle had become narrow until support arrived in the form of Wayne Lewis who drove home right-footed to seal the victory.

Hen & Chickens went on to win the Division Two Championship. It was an unexpected but totally merited victory.

Final Position - 7th in Div 2 of the Formers League

=== Season 2005-2006  ===

A season of consolidation

The beginning of season two saw the merging of the Formers League into one division. It also saw Woodstreet move home to the Milbank Playing Fields in Tuebrook.

The close season saw a trip to Hull to take on Hedon United, a game organised through the connections of Wayne Lewis. This was somewhat of a step into the unknown as Hedon United were comparatively of a standard several divisions above Woodstreet. After a tight first half, Hedon ran out victors 5-2 but it was nevertheless a useful trip.

This season would see a big influx of youth into the ranks. Naturally it would take time for the youth to gain experience and in the first half of the season, this could be partially reflected in the results.

The summer had also seen the demise of Liverpool Supporters Club as a team and as part of the Woodstreet rebuilding process, the club acted in good faith in taking on a significant chunk of the clubless players.

However, such a charitable move was not repaid in kind. The players, who were no great shakers, turned out for the club for the first two months and after that did not bother turning up.

The only player who has remained with the club, and it is to his credit, is Simon Booth.

The second half of the season saw a small up-turn in results. A notable mention should be made for the contributions of Mark Sutton and Joseph Brierley - Mark in his tenacity in his midfield displays and Joseph for his goal return and scruff of the neck-like approach.

The Warrenhouse Playing Fields on a late Sunday in March was the scene for the game of the season as Woodstreet travelled to Kirkby to take on runaway league leaders, Mariners.

Mariners had won every game at home and all bar one away from home. The average goal haul Mariners were achieving per game was NINE!

Due to injuries and other enforced absences, Woodstreet took to the pitch with what appeared to be a makeshift eleven with one sub on the line.

Playing a 4-5-1 formation, the opening period of the game saw Woodstreet enjoy significant possession. However, a freak goal where Mariners scored straight from a corner put the hosts 1-0 up. The boys responded with increased vigour and after some initial weaving through the midfield, Mark Sutton released Ian McNally to break from the half-way line and coolly slot home from the edge of the penalty area to level the scoreline.

Mariners responded with two quickfire goals to go 3-1 up. With half-time approaching, a Joseph Brierley chipped pass from the centre-circle to Michael Brierley on the edge of the penalty area saw the ball lobbed left-footed into the goal to make the score 3-2.

The second half saw end to end action up until around the 75 minute mark. A Woodstreet attack was crudely broken up 35 yards from goal in a central position. Joseph Brierley stepped up and curled a superb free-kick into the top left corner to level the game at 3-3.

Mariners in turn attempted to crank up the pressure and in the 85th minute capitalised on a loose ball from a corner to make it 4-3.

The lads were not beaten yet. Mariners had another corner which John Pielow claimed and immediately looked to start an attack. Joseph had broken immediately to attack the long ball from JP when the opposing centre-half sliced his clearance. Joseph, hovering slightly right of centre, didn't allow the ball to bounce and beautifully delivered a 35 yard volley into the back of the Mariners net to secure a 4-4 draw deep into injury time.

That season, Woodstreet were the only team to take any points from Mariners on their home pitch.

Final Position - 10th in Div 1 of the Formers League

=== Season 2006-2007  ===

A change of scenery

Early in 2006, the club committee took the decision to leave the Formers League. This move was made in the interests of preserving the club and its player development. The Formers League had become one division at a time which consequently presented an uneven balance in quality of team. For the team and its element of youth, this had been too many steps too soon.

An application was made to the Liverpool & District Sunday League which comprised of four divisions. In April 2006, the club was called for interview at The View club in Everton. Attended by John Pielow, Steve Storey and Michael Brierley deputising for David, the club were granted entry for season 2006-07 into the third division of the league.

This season also saw the club change kit colours. The new home kit became orange shirts and shorts with black socks. The all-navy kit became the new away strip.

For the second consecutive season, we played our home games at Millbank.

Significant and comprehensive victories over Parlow, Pall Mall and Alton Castle were beginning to show signs of maturity within the squad.

The youth recruited in 2005 was now more experienced and more competitive. The football was becoming more of an expression rather than a battle which was most eloquently expressed in the 4-1 away win at Parlow when the second half performance produced some of the best football of the season. All goals were potential goals of the season.

The club finished the season with its best standing in all departments.

Final Position - 8th in Div 3 of the Liverpool & District Sunday League

=== Season 2007-2008  ===

progressing and more consistent

Our fourth season saw steady but unspectacular progress being made. There were signs of maturity beginning to show in our play, especially from some of our younger players. Most games were narrow in performance and scoreline and there was more of an expression being shown in our football.

For 2007/08, We moved grounds to the Lower Breck Complex.

We started the season up in Fazakerly at Joe Stone Playing Fields against a good up-and-coming team in Alt Valley. We had gone a goal down in the first minute of the game through some questionable defending. A couple of minutes later, Alt Valley had a penalty which was saved by Owen Cotterell. Just after half-time, we went two goals down. We had given ourselves a mountain to climb if we were to get anything out of our first game of the season.

With fifteen minutes to go, Mark Sutton scored our first goal (and his only one this season) with a delicate right-footed half-volley. Moments later, Joseph Brierley levelled the scores after he pounced on a rebound from a Mark Sutton shot that had come back off the post. Deep into injury time, we seized all three points after Mark Pollard scored direct from a corner to make it 3-2. Later in the season we would beat Alt Valley by the same scoreline in an equally close game in which Joseph Brierley scored the third and decisive goal. This goal saw him claim the Goal of the Season award.

The team is still quite young and there were times when there was a test of character for our lads. The Eldon Brickworks game in February saw the club chalk up its biggest win in its history. Defensively, we could have been better but our attacking play on the day was good to watch. The game started badly after Eldon were gifted a penalty in the opening minutes. Having gone 1-0 down, we responded with five unanswered goals. There were contenders for goal of the season, especially for John Hughes' goal which was a terrific team move. The end scoreline of 6-3 to Woodstreet suggests a closer game than was actually the case. In this match, Joseph Brierley make club history by becoming the first Woodstreet player to score four goals in a game.

A special mention should be made for Woodstreet veteran Phil Evans who was voted by his peers as the Player of the Year. In his play over the course of the season, Phil was strong, determined and hard to beat. He set a consistently high standard throughout the season.

In this season, Woodstreet FC delivered delivered their best points total and position to date in its short club history.

Final Position - 7th in Div 3 of the Liverpool & District Sunday League

=== Season 2008-2009  ===

A strong title challenge and a cup

In order for Woodstreet to progress and develop in a controlled manner the clob decided to transfer to the Liverpool Business Houses League and saw them begin in Division Three.

The first game was at home to Arriva Bus who had recently come from the Crosby League. A 4-0 victory gave Woodstreet FC their first points of the season and a base upon which to build. The second game proved to be a 4-3 barnstorming victory over Melbourne H&B with Caffo making a massive impact coming on as a substitute.

The campaign proved to be a record breaking season with club statistics being constantly rewritten. In November, a then club record winning margin was set with an 8-1 home victory over AC Croxteth. This was eclipsed later on in March with an 8-0 away defeat of MAS.

The Woodstreet ethos that the club is looking to develop is one of passing the ball around and playing good football. Over the course of the season, the team scored 87 goals spread over 27 games in all competitions. Those goals came from 15 different players from a squad of 25 players. Such a return as that is invaluable!

The season produced its fair share of key moments. The top of the table had within it around four other teams that could seriously challenge promotion. Those were Melbourne, Brnesc Youth, Dasa Aintree and then May Duncans on the periphery.

The turn around of the season came in the February return match against Dasa Aintree. Midway through the second half, Dasa had taken a 2-0 lead and it looked like we were dead and buried. However, as has been the case all season, the strength in character came out. Everyone pulled together and a ten minute hat trick from the captain Joseph Brierley saw the boys go ahead 3-2. His third and decisive goal produced mass player and spectator celebrations and was also voted the Woodstreet Goal of the Season.

A number of the young players came of age during the course of the campaign. Joseph Brierley smashed a number of club records throughout the year. He set a club and personal best of scoring 5 goals in a single game in the 8-0 hammering of MAS. He became the club record goalscorer with 22 in a season as well as offering 15 assists. Joseph also scored four hat-tricks scoring 3 twice, four once and five once.

During the course of the year, players scored 7 hat-tricks with Paul Sykes, Earl Jordan and Johnny Kilpatrick all completing trebles.

The veteran but ever-flowing Mark Sutton played a big part and he set a club record of scoring in six successive matches. Sutty's presence is undeniable and he is a demon to play against. He got the third goal in the Minor Cup final victory and sparked the celebrations of the season when the whole squad ran to join in his Cahill corner flag punching celebration.

The game of the season came in the Minor Cup Semi-Final played at Brnesc against Brnesc Youth in April. On the day the lads were hungry and wanted it. Despite being the away team, the travelling support outnumbered the home team by two to one with approaching 100 in attendance. The lads endeavoured to play good football throughout the match and played at a very high tempo. Brnesc are a decent footballing side but they were no match for Woodstreet on the day. A 'Baldwin Bullet' from Chris Baldwin's head ten yards out powered into the back of the home teams net very early on in the game to make it 1-0 to Woodstreet. Further goals via the penalty spot came from Johnny Kilpatrick. Brnesc scored with a thirty yard thunderbolt to make it 3-1 but it was of little consolation to them. Good football combined with a great team spirit took Woodstreet to it's first ever final which was to be played against Dasa Aintree on May 3rd.

The two goals Johnny Kilpatrick scored in the semi-final contributed to him scoring 17 goals overall for the season. In his first season with the club, Johnny has made a massive contribution and it was recognised by his peers when he was voted Woodstreet Player of the Season.

The defence produced top quality performances throughout the season. Keeping nine clean sheets is an excellent achievement at amateur level. Will Clark in goal pulled off a number of key saves including a penalty stop in the semi-final. Craig Pugh was the youngest member of the squad but produced big performances in defence that provide assurance and it should be remembered that he only turned 19 during the course of the season. Will and Craig were ever-presents along with Chris Jones.

Draws against Quarry Green and DASA Aintree eventually cost in the drive for the championship. It went all the way with Woodstreet FC losing out by just three points. This should not detract from what was a very productive season where silverware was brought to the club for the first time. Woodstreet FC beat every team in the division and dropped two points at home all season in the league. They had a plus 54 goal difference and kept nine clean sheets.

The good form throughout the season saw Woodstreet play at Carrington, the training ground of Manchester United, in the newly formed Lucozade Cup. Despite putting up a good footballing display, Woodstreet went out of the competition on penalties at the quarter final stage to Tansy Green from Bolton.

Woodstreet won a first domestic trophy on May 3rd in the Liverpool Business Houses Minor Cup Final. The match was played at Alder Road, West Derby against Dasa Aintree. Both teams were showing nerves in the early parts of the game and both were giving little away. The better chances were falling to Woodstreet although Dasa did on occasion attempt to force the issue. Overall, the opponents did not get as good a grip on the game as was required and the strong character that Woodstreet possesses saw them lift the trophy with a 3-1 scoreline. Johnny Kilpatrick scoring two and Sutty grabbing the 3rd a couple of minutes from the end of the game.

Final Position - 2nd in Div 3 of the Liverpool Business Houses League

=== Season 2009-2010  ===

A badly injuries season

Season 2009-10 marked a step up in standard for Woodstreet Football Club on a number of different fronts. There were many varied challenges to face players and staff on and off the pitch.

Woodstreet had achieved a first ever promotion to Division Two of the Liverpool Business Houses League. This was following the magnificent effort shown in 2008-09 when the lads won the Divisional Cup and were runners-up in the league by a mere three points.

The first game was away at Lute Oakfield on 23rd August. The boys recorded a 3-0 victory with goals from Mark Sutton, Johnny Kilpatrick and Matty Owens.

If the first game was a marker to go by, then the season should have been fairly plain sailing. However, the second match against eventual champions, Larkspur, resulted in a 3-0 defeat and gave an indicator of the standard needed to make serious progress in the league.

The Woodstreet principle is to always try and make things the best standard it can for its players, staff and followers. It is then down to players and alike to perform with the merit to meet the standard required to succeed.

The club moved to a new ground at Netherton Park. A brand new pitch with excellent changing facilities saw Woodstreet begin its home campaign with a 3-1 defeat of Santiago. In this match, Craig Pugh scored his first goal for the club and indeed the first goal to be scored on the new Netherton Park pitch. To quote the match report:

“A hopeful Santiago ball forward was met by Craig Pugh who in his own half sent a hopeful ball of his own toward the opponents goal. Such was the pace on Craig's clearance that the Santiago goalkeeper could only get a hand to it as the ball went into the goal for one nil Woodstreet.”

We seemed to be gathering momentum and we took this onward into the County Cup. A trip to Southport to take on the Park Hotel from Division One of the Southport League took us into the unknown. Little was known about this team so we had to be focused. Historically, this cup had been a bit of a bogey competition so it was crucial that we made a decent effort in trying to progress. As things turned out, a good 5-3 victory was the outcome. Woodstreet veteran Joseph Brierley was hitting good form and smashed in four goals of the five we scored. One of the goals was good enough to win any game on its own and we turn to the match report again to provide the best illustration:

“Mark Pollard played a short ball to Joseph Brierley who was thirty yards from goal with their defence in front of him. From the right centre of the pitch and with one bounce allowed, Joseph sent a brilliant half-volleyed shot past the Park Hotel goalkeeper in to the left side of the goal.”

Joseph had scored 9 goals in the first 7 games and was on course to set a goalscoring record for the club over the season given his form at the time. However, a freak knee accident which occurred playing for his Saturday team saw his season curtailed very prematurely. Such was the severity of the injury was that Joseph required knee reconstruction. The season was to turn out to be one whereby an appalling injury list and indeed appalling injuries were to wreck the season.

The County Cup was to provide a welcome escape from league action as we progressed through the rounds. Having despatched of Park Hotel in the first round, we took on Greystone from Division Three of the Liverpool Business Houses League at Netherton Park. In general it was a poor game of football which was ironically tinged with plenty of action.

Jamie Wynne opened the scoring early in the first half. Early in the second half, Greystone built on their first half equaliser by going 2-1 ahead early in the second half. Decisive action was now required to keep Woodstreet in the competition. Kev McGrady was brought out of goal and put up front. His contribution up top was to see him power home a header into the opponent’s goal on 80 minutes. The game went to extra-time and a goal apiece for both teams saw the match head to penalties where our lads won 4-2.

Round 3 action took Woodstreet FC up to Southport again to take on Stirling Athletic from the Southport Sunday Premier Division. It was a very tight game in difficult conditions at Carr Lane. It was decided with goals from Caffo and a last minute goal from Sutty. With injuries starting to kick in quite badly, this effort from the lads was quite magnificent.

Round 4 went all the way to penalties again. This time it was against Mackies Abbey from the Formers League. The match was end to end throughout. The scores were level at 2-2 at full-time with goals from Johnny Kilpatrick and Javier Gil. The first period of extra-time went against Woodstreet as they found themselves 4-2 down. It seemed like an uphill task. However, with great determination they battled our way back to dramatically level the scores at 4-4 with crucial goals again coming from Caffo and Sutty. Unfortunately though, it was all in vain as Woodstreet bowed out 4-2 on penalties.

Historically, Woodstreet had not done anything in the County Cup so it was nice to break a little hoodoo by beating opponents from higher divisions in different leagues and to also progress to the last 16 out of 123 teams who started.

A club record was also set for the amount of goals scored in one game when Woodstreet beat STL 9-4 in the League Cup.

Over the course of the season, there were SIX different keepers – Will Clark, Owen Cotterell, Kev McGrady, Michael Brierley, Andy Bott and Phil Evans. From the previous season when Will Clark was an ever-present, there was a great amount of instability in this position compared to the previous season.

The league season withered away with little to report on of any positivity. The 3-0 away win at Heart of the City was a very good footballing performance in a period of barren results and tumultuous change.

Final Position - 10th in Div 2 of the Liverpool Business Houses League

=== Season 2010-2011  ===

A poor start

Currently Woodstreet FC are languishing in the relegation zone of Division 2 of the Liverpool Business Houses league.

== Club Honours  ==

Liverpool Business Houses Minor Cup: Winners 2008-09

Robbie Murphy Memorial Trophy: Runners-up 2004-05

Best League finish: 2nd, 2008-09, Liverpool Business Houses Sunday League Division Three (promoted)

== Club Managers  ==

== Home Grounds  ==