The end of an era.

It was a sunny morning back in September 2000,during the fuel blockades which were taking place at the time, when Byfleet Boys under 10s,as the team were then known, played their first ever game at Long Reach,home of Horsley F.C.winning 6-0.

This was in the days of the now defunct Guildford Shere and District league,with a move to the Surrey Primary League several seasons away.

The team only played one season of mini football, as in those days that was the youngest age group before moving up to the harsher realities of 11 a side football.

It would be fair to say that several seasons of mediocrity followed with the team, as Harry Redknapp always seems to say 2 or 3 players short of challenging for honours.
By this time unfortunately the Guildford Shere and District were starting to lose teams and having to play in one strong division usually left the team towards the bottom of the table.

The side’s fortunes improved dramatically in 2005/6 when by now at the under 15s age group,the team moved to the Surrey Primary League. Playing outside of a top division confidence returned and the team finished runners up in division 2. This was followed by a third place in division 1 in season 2006/7 and a mid table premier division placing at under 17s level in 2007/8.

Of course this would not have been possible without a change around in playing personal and the team have been fortunate over the past couple of seasons to attract good quality players who, had they had the opportunity to play together from a younger age I am sure would have achieved greater success. Only Matt Creswick and Chris Goddard remain from the original team 9 years ago at Horsley.

So, back to May 10th 2009 and to the end of the journey. Our old friends from the GSDL days were our opponents for a double header on fittingly, another sunny morning at Byfleet Rec.It looked as though the day might end in disappointment when during the first period of game one Oxshott took a 2 goal lead. Admittedly an excellent turn and finish accounted for the opener,but it was disappointing when Oxshott scored again directly from a corner. This however spurred the lads into action and a spirited fight back was completed with goals from Ruairi O’Shea and Dan Gardiner levelling the scores at 2-2 to earn a point. The second and technically final game over saw the boys produce some of their best football of the season. 2 excellent passing movements freed up first Matt Creswick and then Dan Gardiner for his second goal of the match to tie up a 2-nil victory.

With the League Table still to be finalised, today’s 4 points should be enough to ensure
Another mid/top half finish which considering the injuries to key players the team have suffered this year would be an excellent achievement.

Today belonged to the players and it was great to see them sign off with such an excellent performance.