The Under 17s defended their title at the Petts Wood 6 a side tournament on Saturday July 3rd. Playing, to quote their manager, "gorgeous football," the magnificent seven - O'Chain Gondorf, Jamie Brason, Alfie Cruttwell, Junior Appiah, Tomasz Wocial, Terry Elliot and skipper Joe Taylor-Holland - came through the group stages before hitting top gear in the semi final, which was won with a Terry Elliot headed golden goal and in the final which was won 2-0, with goals from Junior and Tomasz. On an excellent day for the club both our U9s and U11s also made the semi finals. The picture on the right is of Terry Elliot lifting his brother and U17 mascot Leon.
The annual Balham Blazers Presentation Evening was held this year at a fabulous new private venue in Streatham Hill on Wednesday June 30th. The venue and the whole evening, a night when the club comes together to celebrate the achievements, dedication and hard work of all our players, was a great success. The weather was perfect, the turnout was huge, much drink was drunk and every burger was eaten. Many thanks to Mike and Arlene Allen and to all those who helped both with event organisation
and with jobs on the night.
Congratulations to each and every player and special congratulations to the 2010 individual club award winners:
Parkgate Training Trophy Winners:
U9s - Ellis Griffiths-Phipps
U11s - Olaitan Ogunnowo
U14s - Yuyi Kabanje
U16s - Alec Fiddes
U17s - Jamie Brason
Players Player Of The Year Winners:
U9 Colts - Jamie Milliken
U9 Eagles - Sam Arbuckle
U11 Colts - Aaron Kodua
U11 Eagles - Charlie Appleton
U14s - Aaron Mitchell
U16s - Romelle Amos, Harry Newnham & Seth Scafe-Smith
U17s - Daniel Forde & Joe Taylor-Holland
Many thanks to Under 9 mums, Rachel Arbuckle and Paula Fallowfield, who organised a fundraising House Sale in Balham on Friday June 25th. The event was a big success and raised £900 for the club.
There was a great turnout at Chestnut Grove on Friday 18th June for a Balham Blazers over 40's fundraising 6-a-side football tournament. With each side benefiting from the silky skills of at least one U16 or U14 player to complement the somewhat surprising athleticism of the senior players, the standard of play was impressive at times and not to be beaten by England's efforts later the same evening against Algeria. The final was won by a golden goal in extra time by Under 16 player Romelle Amos, for the Blue team also including Ollie Kanner, Mike Luchford, Greg Cruttwell, Aaron Mitchell and Eddie Luchford. As well as being a really enjoyable occasion a total of £200 was raised for the club. Many thanks to Grenville Fox who organised the event and to everyone who contributed.
It has been decided that rather than have a play off to decide the London Saturday Youth Football League Under 9 title honours will be shared and both Balham Blazers Colts and Balham Blazers Eagles, who finished joint top of the league table on forty-six points, will be crowned League Champions. This is fantastic news for our club as it means we have two league title winners instead of one. Many congratulations to both teams!
The Yellows were victorious again at the latest in house 6-a-side tournament on Saturday June 19th. No golden goal was needed this time as they beat the Pink team 6-0 in the final.
The only remaining Yellow from the tournament the previous week was Isaac Wong, who was joined this time by Alfie Cruttwell, Duke Francis, Jermaine Townsend and keeper Tom Jelliffe.
Congratulations to our U16s who won the Tandridge League A Division Sportsmanship Award voted for by the other clubs in their league.
It was a Yellow Saturday on June 15th as Oscar Gonzalez, Daniel Forde,
Michael McConnell, Maurice Dogbey, Isaac Wong and trialist Alfie McCheyne triumphed at the second in house 6 aside tournament of the season. A last minute Harry Amankwaah equaliser for the Red team in the final of the five team competition almost made it a Red Saturday however Michael McConnell's golden goal in extra time meant that in the end it was, as Coldplay sang, all yellow.
It was another very successful weekend for Balham Blazers at the Esher F.C. Tournament on the weekend of May 22nd/23rd. Our U14s won the Cup, with a golden goal in extra time in the final. This means they have won a staggering seven tournaments in a row over the last year, which is an incredible achievement. Our U17s were Cup Runners Up, losing out to a golden goal in the final, having beaten the other Balham Blazers team entered on penalties in the semi final. Our U16s won the Plate competition, our U11s were Plate Runners Up and our U9s were very unlucky to lose on penalties in the Cup Semi Final. Well done to everyone who represented the club over two days in the sweltering heat and many thanks to all team helpers and lift providers. Your support is much appreciated!
It was another very successful Claygate Royals tournament this year on the weekend of May 15th/16th. Our U14s defended their title, winning the tournament for the second year running. Not only did they win it but they beat another Balham Blazers team in the final. Our third U14 team entered also made it to the semi finals where they lost to the winning Blazers team. Our U16s also won the tournament, for the first time, beating Ewell Saxons 2-1 in the final after beating Croydon Athletic on penalties in the semi final. Our U11s made it to the quarter finals and our U9s, despite only losing one out of six group games, missed qualifying for the knockout stages by a single point.
Our U14 Saturday squad played some vintage football in the League Cup Final on Saturday May 15th. Having been unbeaten in winning the League they took their great form into the final against AFC Wandsworth and played them off the park. With a combination of silky, slick football, team discipline and a killer instinct they were 3-0 up inside ten minutes and despite many substitutions they never let their foot off the gas running out 9-0 winners in the end. Manager Nick Neilan has done a Ancelotti, winning the League and Cup double in his first season in charge. Well done to Nick and all of the squad who treated those watching to some champagne football.
Colts Clinch Cup
Congratulations to our U9 Colts who won the battle of the Blazers against our U9 Eagles in the U9 League Cup Final on Saturday May 15th. The two top teams in the League, at the end of a fantastic first season for both,
produced an excellent advert for Balham Blazers football. On the day there had to be a winner and with two second half goals from Fred Fordham, following a first half opener from Matthew Muchmore, it was the Colts who won 3-0 on the day. Everyone involved in the club is incredibly proud of both the Colts and the Eagles who have worked extremely hard all season and thoroughly deserve the successes that has come their way.
U11 Eagles Pipped At The Post
Our U11 Eagles just missed out on joining our U9s and U14s as LSYFL Champions, which would have made it a clean sweep of age group league titles in the London Saturday Youth Football League for Balham Blazers. It all came down to the last game of the season but unfortunately our U11 Eagles were pipped at the post and will thus have to content themselves with finishing Runners Up, a superb achievement in itself in a very strong league.
Saturday May 15th is F.A. Cup Final day but much more importantly it's also the London Saturday Youth Football League Cup Finals day too. The Cup Finals will be played at Power League Norbury, Turle Road, London SW16 5QN. The Under 9s Final, kick off 10.30am, is an all Balham Blazers affair with the Colts playing the Eagles, whilst the Under 14s play AFC Wandsworth, kick off at 12.30pm. With one final taking place in the morning and one early afternoon you have a chance to make the F.A. Cup at Wembley your third Cup Final of the day. If you decide that three Cup Finals in one day is too many however the last one is definitely the one to miss.
Congratulations to our Under 14 Saturday Squad who have won the London Saturday Youth Football League. Not only did they win the League, scoring a hatful of goals along the way, but they were unbeaten in doing so and played some great football under the stewardship of manager, Nick Neilan. They are also in the League Cup Final to be played on Saturday May 15th.
A five team 5-a-side Mini Eggs Easter Tournament on Saturday April 10th was won by the Red Team: Guy Farquharson, Duke Francis, Seth Scafe-Smith, Reyneel Ashie and Eddie Luchford. Having qualified in first place from the group stage and won their semi final the Reds had to come back from 2-0 down in the final to beat the Orange team: Alfie Cruttwell, Niah Burke, Aaron Mitchell, Liam Fox and Danny Richardson. A winning goal at the end of a titanic struggle meant the Reds won 3-2 and ruled the day. As such they each departed Chestnut Grove with a mini eggs winning prize.
Balham Blazers F.C. are always on the lookout for new coaches and team managers. Anyone interested needs to be qualified, CRB checked and would need to share the same playing and coaching ethos as other coaches in the club. If you're interested in joining us please email info@balhamblazers.org
The Nuts team, so called in honour of Chestnut Grove, where the club trains, won a keenly contested fifth annual Balham Blazers quiz night on Saturday February 27th, by one point from the Universally Challenged team, who had led the twelve team contest for most of the evening.
Many thanks to Matthew Taylor and Claire Holland for compiling, compering and scoring a brilliant, fun packed quiz, to everyone who helped on the night and particularly to our quiz night supremo, Diana Luchford, who organised the whole event. Once again, the evening, sold out in advance, was incredibly well supported and raised a superb, much needed £1,666 for the club.
Congratulations, well done and thank you to everyone who raised or donated
money for the 2009 Sponsored Marathon. The total raised is a staggering
£2,800, well beyond our expectations and the previous record total raised in
2008.
(September to December)
The weather has clearly disrupted fixtures recently however we go into the
New Year with all our teams challenging for League and Cup honours. Both
Under 9 and Under 11 teams are challenging at the top of their respective
age groups in the LSYFL. Our U9 Colts and Eagles have both got through to
the League Cup Final, which will therefore be an all Balham Blazers final.
Our U14s are currently top of the LSYFL and in the semi finals of the League
Cup. They are also through to the quarter finals of the Tandridge League
Cup. Our U16s are also through to the quarter finals of the Tandridge League
Cup and our U17s are through to the semi finals which will be played in
January.
The Balham Blazers annual quiz night - South West London's biggest night of
the year - will take place on Saturday February 27th at St Mary Magdalene
Church, Trinity Road, SW17. Please put the date in your diaries. More
details will follow soon.
Long serving U16 player Charlie Barthorp was selected for the London
Football Association team for the second time this season and played against
Kent on Sunday December 13th. Kent won the game 2-1, but despite being on
the losing team Charlie had an excellent game.
We are delighted to welcome new coach Pat Walker to Balham Blazers F.C. After completing a Masters at Oxford University and representing the University football team for three years, which included playing in Varsity matches against Cambridge, for which Pat was awarded a coveted University Blue, Pat was keen to get involved with coaching at the grass roots level. After completing his FA Level 1 coaching badge he took part in a football development programme in Costa Rica coaching football to local school children. On his return he coached the U15s and U16s at Staines Lammas FC. After a two year break due to work commitments Pat is very excited to be getting back into coaching and hopes to complete his FA Level 2 Coaching Badge in the not too distant future. "I really hope I can help to build on the tremendous success Balham Blazers has already achieved." We at Balham Blazers are very excited that Pat has joined our coaching set up and feel sure he'll be a great addition to the club.
Once again Nigel Fletcher-Lord, father of brilliant U17 player
Fareed, has come up trumps for the club, raising a staggering £800 for this year's
sponsored marathon. Nigel, known affectionately as Lord Cheque Book
because of his incredible fundraising feats, has contributed enormously over
the years and once again we owe him and everyone else who has raised
money this year a huge debt of thanks. Not all the money is in yet but we
already know that we have passed the 2008 total of £1,800, which is great news!
The final total will be published as soon as we have it.
The LSYFL Under 9 Cup Final at the end of the season will be an all Balham Blazers affair after the Colts and the Eagles both won their semi finals on Saturday November 7th. The Colts defeated Balham Foxes 2-0, whilst the Eagles, having led in normal time and again in extra time had to come through the dreaded penalty shoot out to beat AFC Wandsworth. Congratulations to both teams and a special word of praise for cucumber cool Joe Higgins who hit the winning penalty that took the Eagles into the final.
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News Archive 2009-10
News Archive 2008-09
News Archive 2007-08
News Archive 2006-07
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