ROBBIE'S CAP

Right: Rob Williams received his Wales semi-pro international cap at Moss Lane during half-time of the match against Oxford United. He is seen here receiving the cap from Geoff Goodwin (right), Alty chairman, and Bill King, from the Football Conference.

STAFF v SUPPORTERS

"The date has been set for the annual Staff v Supporters game at Moss Lane. It will take place on Monday 26th April starting at 7.30pm. The staff team have already signed up Mr McKenna to lead the attack so the supporters' team had better watch out. Mark Eckersall has kindly volunteered to lead the supporters into action so if you’re interested in playing in the team please e-mail him or phone the office on 928-1045 to register. Admission to this classic will be free so – you’ve watched the rest now see the best!!!!!!!"

COLIN LITTLE

Colin Little – A True Alty Legend

"Colin Little is calling time on his illustrious Altrincham career to take up a post on Manchester United's coaching staff. The 37-year old, one of the most accomplished goalscorers in Alty's history, admitted it will be a 'massive wrench' leaving Moss Lane at the end of the season after accepting an invitation from Brian McClair to coach United's under-13s.

'I have loved every minute at Alty and have friends for life in people like (manager) Graham Heathcote, (chairman) Geoff Goodwin and (vice-chairman) Grahame Rowley and his family,' said Little, who announced himself with a 38-goal haul in 2004-05 and was the Conference's third-top scorer with 21 goals in a struggling side in 07-08.

'I have been coaching at Crewe the past three years, and Dario Gradi has kept chipping away at me to devote more time to that. I always resisted, because I couldn't imagine not playing for Alty, but then this opportunity came along at United. 'It's a step down in a way, because I'm going from being in charge of an under-15 team to assistant coach of under-13s, but let's be fair - United don't come calling every day. To get a foot on the ladder there was too good to miss, and leaving Alty, and Crewe, was the price I had to pay.

'I have played five-a-sides with ex-United players like Frank Stapleton and Stuart Pearson for a few years and got to know Brian McClair quite well. They have asked me to get on board before, but I just couldn't give up being an Alty player. 'This time, it just seemed the right moment. I've had one or two injuries this season, and the other lads have done so well, and it has been difficult getting a run of games under my belt. What softens the blow of leaving for me is the progress we have made.

'I can remember training at the back of Newall Green School in the early days and struggling to take on big clubs with massive budgets. But we're up there matching them stride for stride now. I'm leaving the club in fantastic shape, and that makes it a little less painful.

'All I hope now is that I can perhaps pop on, even from the bench, and try and nick a goal. I get a bit embarrassed if there's a lot of fuss, but I'm dying to do that before I finish.'

Alty boss Heathcote said: 'Colin is the main reason we have survived in the Conference. He has been a fantastic servant to this club'".

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE ON COLIN LITTLE

"It's not just opposing defenders who can look forward to a quieter time when Colin Little calls a halt to his outstanding Altrincham career at the end of the season.

There are any number of players from our own dressing room who will be spared an ear bashing, now Colin has understandably decided a coaching role at Old Trafford is too good an opportunity to turn down.

As a close pal who has admired his unrivalled finishing skills down the years, I will be as sorry as anyone to see him go. It is a fact, though, that he does believe in being a bit vocal out on the pitch. In fact, anyone newly arrived at the club could be forgiven for thinking he's a right pain!

He's anything but, of course, as becomes evident when you talk to him afterwards and realise he is passionate about getting the best out of everyone around him and ensuring the team are performing at their maximum.

He wants to pass on his expertise, and if he does it in a way that sounds a bit harsh, then tough! It does come across that way sometimes, and not everyone takes kindly to it. I'm thinking Steve Bushell, in particular, here. There'd be murder going on between him and Colin at times over something as simple as a misplaced pass or a ball played to the wrong area.

Even now, Col goes berserk if something isn't done to his liking, but it's all forgotten afterwards when a quiet word of explanation leaves you nodding in appreciation at how he insists on standards being kept at the highest possible level. Few of us have escaped a sharp reprimand during a game, but if we won't exactly miss that, we most certainly will miss the quality and technique that sets him apart from the vast majority at this level.

He has unbelievable feet and balance, and countless players, past and present, have remarked on how he is one of the best volleyers of a ball they have ever seen. He's also one of the most two-footed. I would challenge anyone who doesn't know him to watch him for 90 minutes then tell me which foot he favours.

It's actually his left - I think! - but you will sometimes see him take corners and even penalties with his right, so comfortable is he with the ball on either side.

He had already done some amazing things and scored some unbelievable goals before I arrived at Moss Lane, and I soon saw for myself why he was so revered by everyone at the club.

It is no exaggeration to say there have been occasions he has kept us in this division single-handedly, and no-one will forget his exploits in the 2007-08 season, when we finished in the bottom four yet he was third-top scorer in the Conference with 21 goals.

It almost defies belief that when the team are clearly struggling that much, and not creating anything, he can still be banging goals in left, right and centre. There were times when there seemed nothing on, yet suddenly he'd have the ball in the back of the net, and you'd be left thinking: 'Where did that come from?'

In a way, that could be one of the main reasons he can't help raising his voice at times. He assumes others think at the same speed he does, when, of course, they don't. He is one or two moves ahead of the rest, and a bit of frustration creeps in when others aren't on the same wavelength. What else will we miss about Col? I think an awful lot of him on and off the pitch, but I would have to say he is a full Manc, with all the behavioural traits you would expect.

He's the worst-dressed feller I've ever known, for one thing. I'll never forget the first time I met him after joining Alty. He was wearing his black club suit, which looked ok even on him, but it was topped off with brown suede shoes and a biege cap!

He's never been one for brushing his hair, either. If he does have pots of money, as he would have us believe, I've no idea what he spends it on. Not clothes or grooming, that's for sure!

He can expect a great send-off between now and the end of the season, but I just know he's going to struggle with that. For someone with a mouth on him, he does get embarrassed easily. The Setanta TV interview he did a while ago was a classic. He was stuttering and stammering so much, I thought his teeth were going to fall out! I don't know whether he fancied the girl asking the questions, or it was us putting him off in the background, but it was a massive wobble!

Finally, a word about Greg Young's goal celebration with Chris Senior against Kidderminster. It confirmed what the rest of us have long thought about the Yorkshire lads. You've got to be from Yorkshire to understand their humour. I find I'm quite busy during the day, but they clearly have enough spare time to sit around thinking up things like that. Too much, if you ask me!

Robbie"

ALL CHANGE FOR ALTY

"We have available for collection 'All Change for Alty' money boxes. This scheme was started last year for fans to collect small change and was a great success raising in excess of £1000. Seventy five boxes were distributed last year and this year we aim to distribute in excess of 100. Please consider taking one home – it’s a great way to help fundraising with very little effort. Your support would be much appreciated".

DAY IN THE LIFE...

Life of the Club Secretary

With the end of the season approaching and having been reminded on many occasions by the programme editor, Grahame Rowley, it is time I made my contribution to this section of the match day programme.

As a Club Secretary there are various facets within the job including being the Club contact with the Football Association (FA), The Football Conference (FC) and the Cheshire County Football Association (CCFA). These three organisations all have different roles to play in the running of the Football Club. A summary of their involvements maybe of interest:-

If Graham Heathcote wishes to place a player on contract, as in most things in life, a set of forms are completed with strict rules as to when contracts can expire. The FA do acknowledge receipt, therefore, it is known if everything is in order. If necessary, before submission of these forms they, if requested, obtain International Clearance!

As one would expect the FA Cup and FA Trophy competitions are administered by the FA which generates more emails - unfortunately we have not received too many in these competitions of late. Regular correspondence is received from the FA Discipline department for all cautions, sending-offs and records are kept for when suspensions are imposed.

All players’ contracts or non-contracts are registered with the FC each season with the onus on the club to ensure that a player is correctly registered. It is pleasing to see that the FC have introduced a database which is now very easy to check that the registrations have been received and recorded. With 68 clubs to administer the FC generate much correspondence on general matters which is either for information or action.

Two important roles of the Club Secretary are taking money to the bank, (it would be great if I needed to go more frequently), and possibly the downside of the job, is paying the bills!!! On the plus side of this and unlike years gone by, all suppliers and HM Revenue & Customs, are paid on time. We no longer dread the phone ringing or the postman arriving. On a daily basis many one-off and regular jobs crop up; I will not bore you with the details.

One job that is very important is done by Karen who sends emails to Referees and their assistants for all our home fixtures and monitors their acknowledgements.

Everyone in the ground today will have an opinion on the “Man in the Middle” so I will give you mine. In the FC there are some very good referees and as in any walk of life some have not yet reached that level. Being a Club Secretary is a job, as is playing football and refereeing at Conference level. Many people do not have sympathy for referees, but I do! At our level an assessor attends every game and like the referee and his assistants arrives two hours before kick-off time.

In addition the games are filmed and the Assessor receives a DVD t help him with his written report. The referee, his assistants and the assessor have a pre-match discussion and post-match debriefing. I have thought long and hard but cannot bring to mind where anywhere else throughout the working period a person is constantly observed, filmed and then is the subject of a written report.

Referees know that they need to receive constantly good reports if they wish to advance up the ladder and the main way to do this is to please the Assessor and therefore are unable to apply the unwritten law of football, ‘common sense’. I could carry on about the role of the 4th Official and what they add to the game but thought that this was enough on the subject for one article!

A final point, please don’t forget to order your season tickets...

Derek Wilshaw.

Deatils of season ticket prices and an application form are here.

SEAN'S SURGERY

"With our bad luck this season regards injuries I was fearing the worst, having two games in 48 hours over the Easter period. Thankfully no injuries were reported that caused concern ahead of today's game. Only Ryan Brown picked up a slight ankle problem that should be fine for today.

It was good to see Smithy back in action following his hamstring injury and he had no reaction following Monday's game at York. You may be wondering where Nicky [Clee] has been for the past few games, He has picked up a virus that has made him quite ill and as the virus is quite contagious it was wise to keep him away from the other players so they too did not pick up the bug. Hopefully Nicky will continue to regain his fitness ahead of the game.

By the time you read this Tom [Kearney] and I will have seen the consultant yesterday were a further x-ray will be taken of Tom's leg to see if the new bone is growing as it should be. Matty [Doughty] is doing well following his cruciate operation, and Dale [Johnson] continues to make good progress from his cruciate surgery, as most of you will have seen him working hard with running drills before games".

OXFORD GAME

There are a couple of photos from the game in Saturday's news, below...

Oxford United have their match report on Saturday's win at Moss Lane.

ROBBIE'S VIEW

COLIN'S DECISION

OLD BOYS

An Alty trialist last summer, Jake Moult has moved to Alfreton from Stafford Rangers and was on the mark on Saturday. Carlos Roca missed a penalty for FCUM and Derek Goulding has left AFC Liverpool's managership by mutual consent. Former Alty Reserve Conall Murtagh scored for Aberystwyth Town on Friday night.

BSP NEWS

Harsh words for Histon CEO Allen Soraff are reported in the NLP from former chairman Tony Roach. "I may have resigned but I was pushed into it. I had a big disagreement with the financial director. The state of the books is an absolute disgrace. The man (Soraff) does not know what he's doing and actually told me last week he doesn't even know how much the players are earning...

I got the playing budget down from £800,000 a year to £350,000'". As for manager Alan Lewer, Soraff's suggestion that former boss Steve Fallon might return is anathema to Roach. "'I find that beyond disrespectful' Roach added. 'There seems to be an obsession with Steve Fallon. I am not saying he didn't do great things but before he left he was working with a £60,000 a month budget'". Soraff retorted that "'We will not wash our dirty linen in public'".

Blue Square Football says that "Cambridge United manager Martin Ling insists that he will have the cash to create a promotion-chasing outfit next season. The 43-year-old had a productive meeting with the club's board this week and believes he will be able to significantly boost his squad for the 2010/11 campaign.

Ling told Cambridge News: 'I was told there would be a three-year budget with the same figures each year when I came here, and that's been ratified. I'd say it's in the top eight budgets...and I'm happy with that, although I'd say it's nearer eighth than first. In terms of 'is the amount I can spend better than when I came here?', I'd say yes. When I came here I thought I had an imbalanced squad and there were people earning really good money for not doing a good job, and that was the difficulty... I'm not going to name names, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out some of those players aren't at the club now'".

The Luton and Dunstable Express says that "Luton Town boss Richard Money insisted it was a point gained, rather than two dropped as the Hatters' nine-match winning run came to an end. The draw with Tamworth... leaves Luton four points behind their Hertfordshire rivals having played an extra game...

'There seems to be, judging by people's reaction, a feeling that it's all over. Let's hope Stevenage think that too', he said. 'People need to take a step back and have a look at where we were 11 games ago. We've taken 29 points from the last 33 available and there's still three games to go. You never know how important that point might turn out to be at the end of the season. Stevenage have now got to go to Altrincham, Kidderminster and Gateshead... We've seen today that games like that are not easy...

Despite scoring an amazing 36 goals in their nine game winning streak, the Hatters found it impossible to break down the hard-working Midlanders. 'I always thought it was going to be the toughest of our remaining fixtures" [which include Alty at Kenilworth Road!] said Money...

To the naked eye the Lamb Ground looked like an ideal green playing surface but afterwards Money – who used to see his reserves play at Tamworth's stadium when he was Walsall boss – explained how bad the sloping pitch was. 'The pitch looks nice from here', he said. '"But it's terrible'...

Money also revealed that Claude Gnakpa, who hobbled off in the first half, should be fit for Tuesday's game with Histon despite picking up a hamstring injury. The Hatters boss also explained his reason behind making two changes from the side that beat Grays 6-0 on Easter Monday. 'Kevin Gallen felt his hip in training on Friday while we thought Shane Blackett alongside George Pilkington gives you that bit of left-foot and right-foot balance at centre-half'".

Bulls News" tells us that "Wrexham are the latest side to announce cost cutting measures for next season after they announced losses of £1.5million for last season. A Directors' statement accompanying the accounts says the club is debt free after they sold development land around the stadium for twice the estimated value to the club's parent company. Their playing budget for the Conference season was £1.4million, but they finished 15 points adrift of the play-offs".

The draft accounts to 30 June 2009 are reported on the Wrexham site. "We would like to comment on the figures and various matters surrounding them as follows:

The Club is Debt Free: Whilst there are normal trading related creditors disclosed in the accounts, plus a £145k loan due to Dickens Group (which is interest free and for which there is no pressure regarding repayment), we believe that these do not constitute 'debt' and as such the company is therefore debt free...

The Club owns the Racecourse Ground and the training ground at Gresford... Wrexham Village Ltd acquired the development land from Wrexham FC for £6m. This amount was sufficient to pay off all the debts resulting both from the pre and post Administration period and the losses incurred thereafter. The land had been valued by professional valuers in March 2009 at around £3m...

As can be seen our income for the year fell by nearly £1m compared to the previous year (including a £300k drop in match receipts plus a drop in League funding). We were able to reduce costs by £250k. The principle reason for the continued losses was our determination to offer both Brian Little initially and Dean Saunders thereafter, sufficient funding to seek promotion. Obviously, this has been unsuccessful. We believe our player and management expenditure of £1.4m was a valid attempt to regain League status, but that it cannot be sustained at these levels of income...

As with previous years no Director has been paid for their services...

With the levels of income falling due to both attendances and League support, we cannot maintain the current levels of player and management expenditure. The summer of 2010, with most player contracts ending, allows us the opportunity to have a fresh and realistic approach to next season's squad. Discussions are already underway with Dean Saunders regarding this".

The Wrexham Daily Post adds that "In a possible foretaste of a new era of austerity next season, Wrexham FC make an early morning start for their Blue Square Premier League match at Grays Athletic and will have a pre-match meal without leaving their luxury coach. An overnight stay and hotel-prepared lunch have gone by the board mainly because the Dragons have little more than pride to play for".

"Saunders believes he and his players have learned the lessons and will return a much stronger, if leaner, outfit after the summer break. 'The club has had some dark days but I’m trying to get it going the right way', added the Racecourse boss. 'That starts with the attitude of myself, the coaching staff and the backroom team to take up the task with drive and determination. We haven’t finished this season as high up the league as I would have liked, but there hasn’t been a team that has scored more than two goals against us. On the other hand we’ve dropped about 16 points as a result of conceding goals in the last few minutes of matches we should have won, so that needs to be addressed. I’ve learned a lot and I’ve made mistakes. I’ve been right about some players we’ve brought in and wrong about some others who cannot cope with this league'".

This is Sussex reports that "Crawley Town co-owner Susan Carter has revealed that the club are in negotiations to sell naming rights to the Broadfield Stadium... Carter added that Crawley needed to find additional income to be able to continue to play full time. Whether the Reds would be able to sustain a full time club on gates of 900 had been hotly debated all season by the club's board, with the final decision only being made yesterday (Tuesday).

Added Carter, 'We felt that going part time wouldn't lead to anything other than relegation as it would be impossible to compete with some of the bigger sides in the division... We are still ambitious and want to push for promotion but we need our supporters to be behind us more than ever before. We will be holding a fun day on April 24, [Crawley were due to play Chester City then] and want as many people as possible to come down. The team will be playing a supporters' XI and one fan will even get to manage the Reds for the day in place of Steve Evans'".

ALTRINCHAM 0 OXFORD UNITED 1

Above: Alty clear their lines in the first half.

After holding the visitors to a goalless first half, Altrincham will have been disappointed to have lost this game early in the second half to slack marking from a corner, which allowed James Constable a free header (53 mins). Oxford had the better of the first half without forcing Stuart Coburn into any really serious action, though an Oxford header did strike the cross bar. Alty had rotated their small squad with a view to tough games against the top two (Stevenage and Luton) later this week, so leading scorers Chris Senior and Chris Denham only joined the game just before the hour mark. With Williams also pushed forward, Alty pressed hard in the closing stages but could not get an equalizer. Brown's excellent burst forward was one of their best chances but his final shot was a disappointment. But overall there could be few complaints at the outcome, as Oxford became the only side to beat Alty home and away this season.

Right: Constable (in yellow, far right, with captain's armband) heads the only goal of the game.

Saturday 10 April

SATURDAY'S GAME: ALTRINCHAM v OXFORD UNITED

Before today's game against Oxford United, Alty defender Robbie Williams will be presented with his Welsh international semi-pro cap. Robbie made his debut against Portugal last month and scored after coming on as a substitute.

Oxford United manager "Chris Wilder faces a striking headache ahead of his side's trip to Moss Lane on Saturday" according to the Oxford United website. "Matt Green is available for selection after completing his one match suspension... The pacy forward is already pushing for an instant recall to the starting line-up. James Constable and Jack Midson remain available... though John Grant could also come into the frame...

In midfield Simon Clist could return after recovering from a head injury sustained during Good Friday's trip to Hayes & Yeading. Recent match-winner Alfie Potter is expected to be fit while Kevin Sandwith should also be available after taking a slight knock during the match. Lewis Chalmers could push for a place against his former side, and the manager will also have to decide whether to move Anthony Tonkin into his familiar left-back role after using him in midfield".

The Oxford Mail adds that "Wilder will be doing everything to get Chris Hargreaves fit for the play-offs. The experienced midfielder has a knee problem... But Wilder is desperate to get the 37-year-old ready for the climax to the season. Hargreaves enjoyed play-off success with Torquay last season, ending a torrid run which had seen him suffer play-off heartache in four of the previous five campaigns. The other saw him relegated – with Oxford...

'We’re working on the fitness of Greavsie and are just going to try and get him through and give him some minutes ready for the play-offs', Wilder said. United will train at Premier League Stoke today ahead of tomorrow’s game at Altrincham. It’s the team’s first trip north, of any distance, this year and they travelled up this morning with doubts over Hargreaves and Simon Clist. Clist needed almost half a dozen stitches in a head wound sustained at Hayes & Yeading on Good Friday, and these are now being taken out.

Wilder added: 'We’re not going to take any unnecessary risks with anyone'".

Meanwhile, "Wing wizard Alfie Potter says United just need to get some momentum now before the play-offs come along... The introduction of Sam Deering and Potter turned the match [against Salisbury] to bring the U’s a vital win, only their second in nine games...

This was the 13th occasion a sub has come on to score for them this season... 'The gaffer told us to come on, get on the ball and run at them and try to cause a few problems, and I thought Sam was excellent when he came on. He makes things happen... Everyone’s remaining positive, and excited about hopefully getting to Wembley and the chance to get this club back to where it should be, back in the League'”.

The BBC says that "Midfielder Nicky Clee (groin) has missed the last two games for Altrincham and faces a late fitness test for the visit of Oxford. Winger Chris Denham and striker John McAliskey were both rested in their 2-1 defeat by York but could make a return to the starting line-up".

GATE PRICES

ALTY KITS AND CLOTHING

BSP NEWS

'All but mathematically we're going to head to the Conference', Davey said... Former Middlesbrough trainee Smith arrived at the Arena during July 2009 following spells at MK Dons and Brentford. Chairman Raj Singh sees the signature of Gary Smith as a positive step, and despite looming relegation remains upbeat about the club's future... 'Simon is looking for positive characters and Gary will hopefully be the first of many to sign up to our long-term plan to assemble the strongest possible squad for next season. It's vital we hit the ground running at the beginning of 2010-11, so getting players signed up early is very important'" said Singh.

"Allen Soraff has told Histon supporters to pack the Glass World Stadium tomorrow and prove they want the club to stay in the Blue Square Premier" reports the Cambridge News. "The Stutes' chief executive is calling on all fans who have stayed away since Tony Roach - who resigned on Tuesday along with his wife and secretary Julie - replaced Gareth Baldwin as chairman in November to return to the club...

'We're hoping that, after what's happened - and I don't mean this in a nasty way - people will now return to Histon Football Club', said Soraff. 'Their support could enable us to have a larger budget for next season and we'll be judging that on our last two home games. It's imperative that if the people of Histon want a football club competing at this level that they come and support us... Tony put a lot of good work into the club, as did Julie, and I won't say a bad word about him. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Tony had a way of doing things that some people didn't like, but you always get that in football. You can't please all of the people all of the time'".

Meanwhile Blue Square Football reports that "Histon manager Alan Lewer says he can't start planning for next season until he receives clarification on his future at the club... 'As a manager you need to know where you're going as quickly as possible because the players you want to bring in might not be someone else's cup of tea. From that point of view we need to move quickly... Clubs like Leicester City might not let players go (out on loan) until a week before the season starts but you've got to start that process now.

Over the past few months what we've tried to do is cut the budget down to reality. I go out and go to Peterborough, Ipswich and Tottenham to try and have a look where we can bring a player in on a wage we can afford. If we do that and structure the club properly we've got half a chance. That's the way we're going to go'".

COMING UP

"Kelvin Thomas has been talking about the task ahead of Oxford United as they look to end the season in style... 'It has not been a great month and Chris and a lot of the players have gone on record and said that we haven't performed at the level that we wanted to... I think a play-off place is an improvement but the problem we created was that we set ourselves up and put ourselves in a great position to win the league automatically, and we really wanted to do that. It looks like that isn't to be this year, although we will still keep going for it. But realistically we have to focus on the play-offs...

Injuries haven't helped, the weather didn't help, things in and around the pitch haven't helped, the pressure, a little bit of a loss of confidence, all of those things in combination have been problems.. The ball hasn't rolled for us and things haven't gone our way... It's just a case of building up to a three game season in the play-offs. It's about making sure we take care of business in the build up to it...

We have had financial problems and are getting through them by working hard. But we always get a little dig here and there from different clubs saying we have loads of players and a huge budget and the fact is that we haven't got a huge playing budget. We can't compete with some of the top payers in this league and I think from where our budget is we are punching a little bit above our weight'".

Right: Greg Young and Chris Senior's unusual goal celebration against Kidderminster captured by Gavin Rathbone of GR Photography.

According to the Oxford Mail, "Back-in-favour striker Jack Midson says he’s determined to keep his place in Oxford United’s team until the end of the season. The former Histon hitman... was a substitute at Hayes & Yeading. He impressed when coming off the bench, and then started alongside James Constable in Monday’s 1-0 win over Salisbury. With boss Chris Wilder seemingly setting his sights on playing 4-4-2 after the 4-3-3 system which had worked so well in the autumn came unstuck on the boggy pitches this winter, Midson now has an opportunity of a run in the team.

He said: 'We’d like to have won the league, but while I don’t think it’s going to happen, hopefully we’ll go up through the lay-offs'". United’s participation in at least the play-offs was confirmed on Wednesday night when AFC Wimbledon lost 5-0 at York".

RESULT

MORE PATRONS WANTED!

Altrincham FC 2010-11: Your Community Club

Altrincham FC is a family friendly club whose aim is to encourage youngsters, girls and boys, to participate, watch and get involved in football.

In addition to that, the club have competed on a part-time basis in the Blue Square Premier League for the last five consecutive seasons.

The Patrons Scheme was created to assist the club to continue to fulfil its community activities through the summer months when there are no league games and thus no gate income.

For the bargain sum of £50, your name will appear throughout the season 2010-11 in the matchday programme for every home game.

In August, every Patron will be entered into a prize draw with the winner being match sponsor for an appointed game along with 9 guests. Second prize will be hospitality for 5 people and third prize hospitality for 3 people in the Sponsor Lounge – the value of the 1st prize is £550.

Last year we had over 100 members of the Patrons Club. If you are interested in helping us obtain 200 for this season please forward a cheque payable to “Altrincham FC” for £50 for my attention.

If you require further information, please speak to me on 07720-606897 or email me at:- altrinchamprog@yahoo.co.uk

Thank you in anticipation,

Yours sincerely

Grahame Rowley, Vice Chairman

SEASON TICKETS

"After a successful season both off and on the field, we now start to look forward to next season. After reviewing the admission pricing we have decided to add a £16 increase per season to all season tickets – less than £1 per game. We appreciate that the concessionary price has increased by a greater percentage than the adult price but the concessionary season ticket still provides great value for money with standing prices working out at just £5 per game in comparison to £8 per game on the day.

These price increases are necessary if we are to maintain our progress and we look forward to receiving your renewal form. The £10 discount if purchased before June 30th 2010 still applies.

A season ticket also entitles you to free admission to all the pre-season friendly matches at Moss Lane. We hope that we can rely on your support again this season and look forward to seeing you at Moss Lane in July.

ALL CHANGE FOR ALTY

Above: Gavin Rathbone of GR Photography's image of Chris Denham taking the plaudits after scoring against Kidderminster last Saturday.

COLIN LITTLE

"As the news about Colin Little's impending departure begins to sink in, it is clear he will be sorely missed by supporters who have marvelled at his supreme finishing skills down the years. But how is the Alty striker perceived in the dressing room? What do his team-mates think of his goalscoring prowess, his occasionally abrasive approach on the pitch and his demeanour and personality off it?

Robbie Lawton provides the answers in his column, Captain's Log, in this Saturday's Robins Review against Oxford United. Robbie and Colin have formed an unlikely 'Scouse-Manc' alliance that has developed into a close friendship, and the skipper devotes nearly all his column to a full and frank analysis of a player who has become a Moss Lane legend in his six years at the club. The only other topic Robbie covers is Greg Young's goal celebration against Kidderminster - and he has a straight-to-the-point take on that as well! Catch up with all the news from the dressing room in Robins Review, on sale inside the ground at £2".

John Edwards, Alty FC joint Press Officer writes:

"Altrincham fans can relive every one of Colin Little's 94 Conference (North and National) goals for the club after Moss Lane officials announced they were producing a DVD dedicated to his remarkable scoring feats over the past six years.

Alty bosses reacted swiftly to the imminent loss of one of the most prolific and accomplished finishers ever to grace the red and white stripes and have already drawn up plans to mark his departure in fitting style. A one-off DVD chronicling every single Little strike in the Conference, and more besides in other competitions, is being painstakingly put together and has been earmarked for release towards the end of June.

As an added bonus, the club are arranging for Colin to be the star attraction at a special signing day, where he will autograph the sleeve of each individual DVD to turn it into an even more unmissable memento of his phenomenal scoring exploits for the club.

As he announced details of an intiative that will be music to every Alty fan's ears, vice-chairman Grahame Rowley heaved a sigh of relief at being meticulous about hanging on to club memorabilia.

'In Colin's first season with us, in 2004-05, we actually didn't produce a DVD of the campaign, due to being in the process of changing supplier and switching to Ian Unsworth,' he said. 'But each game was filmed, and the manager was always given a copy. Fortunately, I made a point of storing them away, so we actually have coverage of every Conference goal Colin scored for us, and quite a few in other competitions as well.

'Seeing as he scored 38 in all competitions in that debut season, I'm just so relieved we kept all those individual match DVDs! The end product will take a fair bit of compiling, but it will be done, and it should be out before the end of June. It will be a limited edition, priced £15 each, so I would urge supporters to pre-order as soon as possible.

'I'm sure Colin will agree to come along and provide an autograph for anyone who wants one, even if it means signing hundreds of copies. What a lovely finishing touch that will be.'

With numbers limited, anyone wishing to place an order should email Grahame as soon as possible or call the club on 0161 928 1045".

GET YOUR ALTY GEAR

TASC NEWS

"As we come towards the end of the season, we need to look towards the summer’s activities which will be run by both the club and TASC, please support the events in any way you can. The club needs all the money it can get to try to maintain the progress that it is making both on and off the pitch.

Bag 2 The Future

Thanks to everyone who donated clothes to this appeal, TASC are pleased to say that the appeal raised £112. TASC would like to thank Darren, Louise Gregory and family for doing such a good job in running this promotion.

Race Night and Player of The Season Awards

Voting forms for Player of the season will be handed out at the turnstiles today. On the form there is also a section to fill in if you want to buy a horse or sponsor a race for the race night (costing £10 and £20 respectively). Please fill these forms in and hand them in to the TASC section of the before the final game. As of Thursday, there are 30 horses left to be sponsored, Please support this promotion, it is an important fund raising event for the club and TASC!

Race Night Treble

The Race night treble will be available at today's game. In this scheme, you get the chance to predict the winners of the 4th, 5th and 6th races, each combination of winners costs only a pound, and the person who predicts the winning combination will win £100.

Altrincham Festival

Altrincham Festival is at the start of July. This is also a really important event for TASC and the club. Not only is it a good fund raiser for the club, but it is also a great opportunity to increase the awareness of the club in the local area. TASC will be running a stall at the festival and participating in the parade. We would like to hear from anyone who feels that they can help at the festival on the day. Secondly, any donations of raffle or tombola prizes will be greatly received.

Gareth Thomas and Steve Foster (TASC Committee members)"

OLD BOYS

Lee Elam's two goals on Wednesday for Bradford Park Avenue could not stop them losing 2-4 at home to a resurgent Guiseley.

Peter Wright scored for Kendal Town in their 4-1 away win against FC United. And at Matlock, Liam King scored for the home side in a win over Worksop Town. Another ex-Alty loanee, James Dean, scored for FC Halifax Town in their win over Garforth Town.

BSP NEWS

The details are:

The Football Conference has been unable to finalise this matter until now, due to appeal procedures evoked by Grays Athletic, which the club formally withdrew from the Football Association as of 7th April 2010.

Colin Peake, PR & Media Board Director, The Football Conference".

The Football Conference says that "Following the announcement of television coverage for the Blue Square Premier 'Promotion Final', it is unlikely the semi finals will be televised, in which case, the Blue Square Premier semi-finals can be played on the same evening.

The first leg matches will, therefore, be played on Thursday, 29th April 2010 (7.45pm) and the second leg fixtures will be played on Monday, 3rd May 2010 (3pm). The 'Promotion Final' will be at Wembley National Stadium on Sunday, 16th May 2010 (5.00pm)

The Blue Square South semi finals will be played as scheduled:- First Legs on Tuesday, 27th April 2010 (7.45pm); second legs as scheduled on Saturday, 1st May 2010 (3pm).

In accordance with the clubs’ wishes expressed at the pre-AGM meeting last June, the Board’s endeavours to re-schedule the final for a weekend date have not so far proved possible. The Final will, therefore, be played as scheduled on Thursday, 6th May 2010 (7.45pm).

This scheduling could be reviewed once the participating teams are known, and with their agreement, otherwise the Final will remain as programmed on the 6th May.

NB: The Board of the Football Conference are mindful that this date has now been set for the General Election and therefore it is appreciated that the latter may have an impact but by giving at least one month`s notice supporters of those clubs involved have time to make suitable arrangements for voting. To clarify the issue of not being able to guarantee a weekend date for this final, this was solely due to previously booked committment of facilities at certain club's but as indicated this may still change, dependent on which club will eventually host this particular Final.

The Blue Square North semi finals will be played as scheduled on Wednesday, 28th April 2010 (7.45pm) - second legs as scheduled on Sunday, 2nd May 2010 (3pm). Again, in accordance with clubs’ wishes at the pre-AGM Meeting, the Board concurs with the proposal to schedule the final on a weekend date and has re-scheduled the final for Sunday, 9th May 2010 (3pm)".

The BBC says that "Histon chief executive Allen Soraff has hinted that former manager Steve Fallon could return to the club following Tony Roach's resignation as chairman. Roach, the club's major financial backer, stepped down on Tuesday citing a lack of support from the board. Soraff told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: 'It's a very difficult situation and we won't be rushing in to anything. I have consulted Steve Fallon since Tony's departure and I've made that clear to [current boss] Alan Lewer'...

However, despite recent disagreements and falling crowds, Soraff says they were keen for Roach to continue as chairman. 'Tony and Julie [Roach] did a great job here and although we've had disagreements, they didn't have to resign. Unfortunately Tony felt he should go and we wish him well', he said... 'We've spoken to Alan Lewer and he has laid out his plans for the rest of the season and we won't be making any rash changes before the end of the season'".

Roach claims disagreements over Lewer and his role at the club played a part in his departure and expects a change in management. 'I don't think they will continue with Alan because they don't agree with the way we've been doing things, they've made that clear to me', he said".

Meanwhile, the Cambridge News says that "Allen Soraff insists Histon will not go into financial meltdown despite the shock resignation of chairman Tony Roach. The Stutes chief executive said 'Let me assure the fans and everyone else that Histon FC will not be going into administration or liquidation', he said. 'We're still here, in better condition than we were before Tony Roach took over, and there are no problems that will cause the club to be wound up. We're not discussing administration, insolvency or liquidation because we're not in that position. It's not even on the agenda as it's not going to happen. People believe Tony Roach was the only person supporting this club. He has put a lot of money in, and we thank him for that, but other directors have also been supporting us. They were before Tony came, they did while he was here and they will continue to do so. We'll have a look at the budgets for next year and will adjust them accordingly, but we've got to get to the end of the season first and make sure we stay in the Conference Premier'...

Current first-team boss Alan Lewer met with the board on Tuesday night and will continue in his role for the foreseeable future, but it remains unclear whether he will remain in charge for the 2010/11 campaign. 'Everything is open at the moment', said Soraff. 'We've not made any decisions at all. This only happed on Tuesday. The main thing is to keep the club going at this stage... I'm a chartered accountant by trade and have been sitting on boards up and down the country in various businesses for 40 years, and there have always been disagreements. People have different opinions and that was just the way it worked out with us. Tony seemed to feel the disagreement we had was insurmountable and felt he had to go'.

Soraff said safety officer Malcolm McDonald was voted on to the board during Tuesday night's meeting and that physio Roy Johnson had left the club before Roach's resignation."

Crawley Town report that "Gaffer, Steve Evans, has stated he will use every player available to him and that may include a few youth team players as The Reds face four Blue Square Premier matches in seven days next week after The Football Conference ruled that we must travel to face Barrow AFC next Thursday (15th April).

Next week's punishing schedule will fully test Steve Evans, Paul Raynor and the smallest squad in The Conference Premier as they try and secure Crawley Town Football Club's highest-ever league placing in its history... Given the team resources co owner Bruce Winfield used the word 'miracle'.

First up is a trip to Cambridgeshire on Saturday to face Histon... In follow up to that the team will travel to Gloucestershire on Tuesday to face relegation battlers Forest Green... After getting back from Gloucestershire in the early hours of Wednesday morning the team will prepare to leave for Barrow AFC at 8am on the Thursday morning. A twenty hour round trip lies ahead for the staff and players... The Reds will then arrive back in Crawley around 6am on Friday morning and after some needed sleep they will then try to prepare for the visit of Tamworth on the Saturday afternoon, a schedule that certainly does not speak highly of The Football Conference fixture scheduling or indeed help Steve Evans men achieve the highest league placing in our club's history.

Steve said, '' The schedule is not good, in fact it's rubbish. I have to be careful of what I say so I am best saying nothing at all. We will all be cream-crackered at the end of next week that I do know, as for safety of my players and staff, no one except us seem to care'.

'I will prioritise my team selection as I see fit for each of the matches and one or two youth team players might just get a nice surprise, probably one they are not ready for in all honesty but the schedule dictates what I need to do. I have to distance myself from those clubs fighting relegation and what their thoughts are, to solely concentrate on delivering as many points for Crawley Town".

The Crawley Observer adds that Crawley "will remain a full-time club next season. The Reds' board met on Monday and weighed up all the costs involved and agreed to fund staying full-time. Co-owner Sue Carter said: 'Going back to part-time we felt would be a regressive step. It's going to be tight and we need fans to keep behind us'.. Carter would not reveal if the budget would be the same, biggger or smaller than this season, which the club has previously said is in the bottom quartile of the Conference...

Among those who wants to stay is goalkeeper Nick Jordan, who has just played two matches in a row after having had to sit out almost the entire season on the bench as Simon Rayner's understudy".

According to the Kidderminster Shuttle "Harriers' chairman Barry Norgrove has urged any potential new investors to come forward after warning that the club is set to suffer more tough economic times... Norgrove predicts an even tougher period financially in the 2010-11 campaign as the economic downturn continues. The club are also still searching for new shirt sponsors for the next two years...

The chairman admitted he is also finding it increasingly difficult to fund the club as his own house building business, Norgrove Homes, struggles in a flat market. As a result the chairman and the board have stepped up the search for new directors prepared to put money into the club...

Norgrove said: 'We’re crying out for help. The board have put an awful lot of money into the club this season but I won’t be able to do it next year. Businesses are struggling and I haven’t sold a house in god knows when'...

Harriers received a small boost when the Football Conference signed a new three-year sponsorship deal with current backers Blue Square for a seven-figure sum... The chairman believes Harriers will get less than the £15,000 they received from the Conference for this campaign... 'At the moment we don’t have any shirt sponsors, which means we’ll be £30,000 to £40,000 worse off next season... I’ve never seen it this bad. At the moment we need £250,000 to run the club... If we were running on a budget of £100,000 next season we wouldn’t be able to build a team capable of competing in the top half'".

In similar vein This is Mansfield claims that "Mansfield Town will be forced to cut their wage bill next season, chairman Andy Perry confirmed... But the Stags' chairman has also moved to reassure fans there are no deep-rooted financial problems at the club.

Mansfield yesterday confirmed that Stewart and Sharon Rickersey, chief executive and operations manager respectively, had left the club... Perry insists the decision to make cut-backs is the correct one, given that the two-year parachute payments following the Stags' relegation from the Football League are about to end...

'The wages budget will have to be cut', said Perry. 'But that is more likely to be because we operate with a smaller squad, which is something David and I have already talked about... We have to recognise that we aren't in the Football League and we couldn't afford to continue in that way... We certainly don't have a Notts County-type situation'

'I think we really do need to do well next season. It's an important one for the club. The mistakes we made last year we haven't made this year and the mistakes we have made this year, we won't make next... Hopefully we can still finish sixth or seventh and take that into next season... It will be our third season as a board and David's second full one as manager after keeping us in this league when he first came here. We went down the route of appointing a new manager, who is still learning, as are we. We signed a four-year deal with the manager because we felt we needed time to build for promotion'".

From The Comet we read that "Graham Westley praised comeback kid Lawrie Wilson after the winger scored on his first start in eight months in Boro's 3-0 win at AFC Wimbledon. The Boro boss said Wilson had 'worked so hard' to get back into the first team following a dislocated ankle against Rushden & Diamonds in August last year". Following defeat by Luton, Westley said "I thought we were the better side on Saturday and I didn't think we got what we deserved". AFter that Boro defeated AFC Wimbledon and the manager said, 'It's an incredible performance when you look at the amount of players that have played two 90 minutes in three days. They haven't got that physical ability for no reason; they've got it because they work so hard, keep themselves right and look after themselves and all credit to them'".

The Daily Post says that "[Dean] Saunders revealed [Frank] Sinclair, most recently sent off for violent conduct at Wimbledon last week, had been fined a fortnight’s wages in addition to picking up a five-match ban and he added: 'We simply cannot afford to lose players like we have and I certainly expect the older, more experienced players to set the right example. So I am not happy with our record – and all the players know how I feel – but I think some of it has been down to desperation in some games to come back from a losing position and also due to general frustration that we are not as high up the league table as we feel we should be. I can’t blame players for sometimes trying too hard, but I don’t think anyone who has watched us regularly could ever say we were a dirty team. Christian Smith is the closest thing we have to a tough-tackling midfield player, which says it all really'”.

But the Dragons boss said he would be looking for an all-round improvement in discipline next season. 'We have lost too many players for too many games this year and it’s got to stop. Next season we are likely to have a much smaller squad, so it will be even more important not to lose people to unnecessary suspensions'".

BS NORTH NEWS

'It’s the performances on the pitch that actually decides who wins championships. That’s the correct manner in which any league should be contested. We had a set back on Easter Monday against Workington. I think Workington are a good team and it was a disappointing result. However, I am confident there will be further twists and turns up until the finishing line. Southport will have a very difficult time at Droylsden on Saturday. We saw first hand last weekend that Droylsden are a very useful team, particularly going forward. They will have players back from suspension next Saturday as well and I really expect them to give Southport a tough game. I also expect a reaction from our lads and expect us to go on and win our final three games. There is everything to play for and we remain confident we can and will win this league'".

COLIN TO MOVE ON

Alty Press Officer John Edwards writes in The Sale and Altrincham Messenger...

"Colin Little is bringing down the curtain on a glorious Altrincham career to take up a coaching role at Manchester United next season.

The 37-year old, one of the most accomplished goalscorers in Alty's history, admitted it will be a 'massive wrench' leaving Moss Lane at the end of the season after accepting an invitation from Brian McClair to coach United's under-13s.

'I have loved every minute at Alty and have friends for life in people like Graham Heathcote, the Rowley family and all our fantastic supporters,' said Little, who announced himself with a 38-goal haul in 2004-05 and was the Conference's third-top scorer with 21 goals in a struggling side in 07-08.

'I have been coaching the under-15s at Crewe the past three years, and Dario Gradi has kept chipping away at me to devote more time to that. I always resisted, because I couldn't imagine not playing for Alty, but then this opportunity came along at United.

It's a step down in a way, because I will be assistant coach for the under-13s, but let's be fair - United don't come calling every day. To get a foot on the ladder there was too good to miss, and leaving Alty, and Crewe, was the price I had to pay.

I have played five-a-sides with ex-United players like Frank Stapleton and Stuart Pearson for a few years and got to know Brian McClair quite well. They have asked me to get on board before, but I just couldn't give up being an Alty player. This time, it just seemed the right moment. I've had one or two injuries, and the other lads have done so well, it has been difficult getting a run of games under my belt. What softens the blow of leaving for me is the progress we have made.

I can remember training at the back of Newall Green School in the early days and struggling to take on big clubs with massive budgets. But we're up there matching them stride for stride now. I'm leaving the club in fantastic shape, and that makes it a little less painful.

All I hope now is that I can perhaps pop on, even from the bench, and try and nick a goal. I get a bit embarrassed if there's a lot of fuss, but I'm dying to do that before I finish.'

Alty boss Heathcote said: 'Colin is the main reason we have survived in the Conference. He has been a fantastic servant to this club. His goals tally tells its own tale of the contribution he has made.'

Little isn't quite ready to hang up his boots, even though his Blue Square Conference days are over.

'People keep saying I'm getting on a bit, but I would like to think the old potency is still there,' he said. 'The demands of the new job mean I can't carry on committing the time needed to be an Alty player, but I don't want to finish playing yet. If there was an opportunity with another club at a lower level that didn't cut across my coaching duties with United, I'd jump at it. I want to stay in the game as long as possible, because football is all I know, and while coaching is the future for me, there is still a bit left in the tank as a player".

Colin has, so far, made 243+30 appearances for Altrincham and scored a magnificent 114 goals. He has been Alty's top scorer for the last five seasons. This season he has made 12(+16) appearances, scoring four times. But two of those were wiped out so far as the Conference were concerned by the demise of Chester City.

Everyone at Moss Lane hopes to see Colin add some more to his tally before the end of this season and wishes him well at Manchester United.

SADDLE UP!

Horse Sales are a bit 'Pony'

With just over two weeks to go to the Race Night on Saturday April 24th, there are still 30 horses available for sponsorship. Last year, we ended up being oversubscribed, therefore if you would like to reserve your own personal thoroughbred for the evening, please either email Brian Flynn or see Anthony Wright or Mike Garnett in the TASC section of the Club Shop before the Oxford game or during the half time interval.

There are also five races awaiting a sponsor!

Prices are as follows:-

BIG-MONEY YANKEE

GET YOUR DVD

WELL DONE!

KEEPING IT CLEAN

RONNIE R.I.P.

BSP NEWS

Roach declined to elaborate on the exact reasons for leaving, but said he could no longer work with his fellow directors. 'It's a board issue. There was a disagreement in the board and I will not work (with them) under these circumstances'...

He took over from Gareth Baldwin at the end of October but wasted little time in making his presence felt. Steve Fallon was suspended and then sacked as first team manager, while a need to drive down running costs led to the departure of several senior players... He said he has no plans to pursue any return on his investment at Histon.

'The future of the club is the most important thing to me. I put a lot of money in but I'm not looking to cause the club any problems. At the moment, the club is paid up in full, with Inland Revenue, VAT and players' wages'...

It was also revealed last night that stadium manager Mick Collis and his wife, Carol, the office administrator at the Glass World, had already left the club before Roach's resignation. Roach added: 'I feel I've achieved a lot and Julie has done an amazing job at the club with help from Mick and Carol Collis'".

According to the Express & Star "Kidderminster Harriers manager Steve Burr already knows his budget for next season as the club prepare to make big decisions on their current squad this summer. Just four of the playing staff – captain Chris McPhee, assistant boss John Finnigan, Jack Byrne and Robbie Matthews – are under contract beyond the end of the campaign. All have another season left on their deals at Aggborough, but everyone else faces an uncertain summer...

First-teamers such as Martin Riley, Darryl Knights and goalkeeper Dean Coleman await word on whether they will get new terms for 2010/11, while loan players also come into the equation. For instance, Lloyd Kerry is expected to be a free agent when his contract at Chesterfield expires at the end of the season, while Port Vale defender Luke Prosser’s future is also up in the air... He said: 'It’s a big rebuilding job and we will have to spread our resources around in the best way possible'".

<>A href="http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk">This is Glos says that "Forest Green hope to ease their financial worries today after meeting the taxman's first deadline. The Inland Revenue are demanding 40 per cent of an historical debt of around £45,000 immediately, after which the club hope the remaining amount owed can be paid off in instalments...

The Forest Green Supporters' Trust have confirmed the appointment of three new board members. Accountant Lisa Astle has joined as treasurer... She said: 'Not many towns have a football Cinderella story like Forest Green Rovers... The club has so much to offer the town – not just enjoyment of great professional football but also the stadium, pitch and top leisure facilities'".

And the BBC adds that "The immediate future of Forest Green Rovers is secure... The New Lawn side was given until 7 April to pay £18,000 of the £45,000 it owes to HM Revenue & Customs and is awaiting an official response.

'We've had a few supporters take up the offer of buying a ten-year season ticket', club vice-chairman Colin Peake told BBC Radio Gloucestershire... Peake added: 'I would stress once again we've not defaulted on any loans, we've not defaulted on our other payments to the revenue. This blip has brought it into focus and I think it was good that it was brought into focus at the time it was... One of the things about talking to new investment is probably waiting until the 24th of April when the season ends and we find out where we are going to be playing next year'".

Blame is the name of the game as the BBC reports that "Mansfield Town manager David Holdsworth says he needs stronger characters to take the club back to the Football League next season. The Stags' play-offs hopes ended with a 3-2 defeat at Cambridge on Monday. Holdsworth told BBC Radio Nottingham: 'We've fallen away [from the play-offs] in recent weeks because we haven't had the ability to win games. It's about players having to step up, so there are one or two there who may have to go. I only want characters who have got that willingness to be able to understand the game - it's not just about brute force and passion. I don't think we've been strong enough in the centre of our defence throughout the season'".

SCORE

WAKING UP TO THE REAL WORLD

Harper tells BBC Radio Northampton: 'I'm powerless to change it because I can't go out and get anybody. I can't get communication from anyone [about next season]. If I was here [next season], I'd want to bring in my own team. We've needed a couple of players for a while now', he said. 'But we were paying two strikers £10,000 a month, and now I can't be giving £250 a week. You're on a different playing field...

It's up to them, [the players], as individuals to give their all. Against Histon, Rushden and Diamonds and Forest Green, they haven't done that. It wouldn't seem possible you could knock the belief out of them, but they've done that themselves... The fans can get on my case, but I'll do the best I can do. At the moment, it's not enough'".

YORK VERDICT

Above: Richard Brodie converts his penalty as his York team-mate, Lawless, appears to have got a masssive head-start on every one else to seize on any follow-up chance from the spot-kick.

York Press says that "York City manager Martin Foyle praised Richard Brodie’s 'guts' after he converted the injury-time penalty that earned a 2-1 home win over Altrincham. Top scorer Brodie had seen his last spot kick saved at Mansfield in March but made no mistake from 12 yards yesterday, blasting into visiting ’keeper Stuart Coburn’s top-right hand corner after on-loan Chesterfield midfielder Paul Harsley had offered to take the penalty instead...

Speaking about the character of Brodie, who had only ended an 11-game goal drought six days earlier with a brace at bottom-of-the-table Grays, Foyle said: 'I thought Brodes was back on song last week and he created a few decent openings for himself again (against Altrincham). I told Paul Harsley to speak to him if we got another penalty and that, if he felt confident, to let him have it. People might say he’s nervous but he showed a lot of guts to take that penalty with two points riding on it after having his last one saved'.

Foyle added that, despite the victory, he felt his side were below par against Altrincham and was also disappointed by the manner of Chris Denham’s opening goal on 63 minutes, which was cancelled out by David McGurk’s first of the season. The City chief said: 'It was a soft goal to concede. It came from one long boot [plus a header and two passes, one of which, from Doran, split the defence] and we did not cover properly in the centre-back area. We also looked like we were playing at three-quarter pace at times and I was a bit disappointed in certain aspects of our game'...

Controversial scenes greeted the final whistle at yesterday’s match with Altrincham manager Graham Heathcote reacting aggressively to City safety officer Eric Hope’s attempts to prevent him confronting referee Andrew Madley".

[This is not what happened, as at the end of the game Graham spoke politely to the referee, who agreed to see the Alty manager half an hour after the game. The York safety officer then intervened for some reason]. The report continues, "A City fan then jumped on Heathcote with the pushing and shoving continuing as officials from both teams headed down the players’ tunnel.

When asked about the fracas, Foyle joked: 'I was first in the changing room and that’s not me pretending to be Arsene Wenger – I just like to get there first to get the best sandwiches'.

But the City boss also added: 'I thought we should have had another blatant penalty and Graham probably thinks our equaliser should have been disallowed for a foul on their ’keeper. We could have got both decisions, but maybe it’s a bit greedy to expect both in your favour... Teams come here to stifle us and get the crowd on our backs. I know Rushden’s crowd are getting on their backs and I don’t want our fans to go that way'".

The BBC has an interview with Martin Foyle.

YOUTHS SECOND

CHANGING FACE OF THE CONFERENCE

For the record, the 22 Conference teams in 2004-05 were: Barnet, Hereford United, Carlisle United, Aldershot Town, Stevenage Borough, Exeter City, Morecambe, Woking, Halifax Town, Accrington Stanley, Dagenham & Redbridge, Crawley Town, Scarborough, Gravesend & Northfleet, Tamworth, Burton Albion, York City, Canvey Island, Northwich Victoria, Forest Green Rovers, Farnborough Town, Leigh RMI.

FGR were saved from relegation at the end of 2004-05 season by the enforced demotion of Northwich Victoria.

REFS

Next Wednesday, for our home game with Stevenage, the referee is Mr M. Brown,who reffed Alty 1 Rushden 2 in October 2007 as well as Alty 2 Kidderminster 2 on 2 April, 2009.

BSP NEWS

The Luton & Dunstable Express says that "Ninety-four points – that’s the target Luton Town manager Richard Money has set his free-scoring Hatters to achieve by the end of the season. Town smashed six past already relegated Blue Square Premier basement club Grays Athletic to stretch their winning streak to nine games. They now sit in second on 82 points with four games left...

'I said after the Mansfield game that we had to win our 13 remaining games. We’ve won the first nine but we think unless we win those four games that the yardstick won’t be big enough', insisted Money after the 6-0 victory... 'I’m not even bothered about Stevenage. We can’t do anything about their results...

People who weren’t here will probably say ‘it was only Grays, what did you expect?’ I think that’s a load of nonsense and a total lack of respect to that football team. I read in some papers at the weekend that we’ve scored eight and four against so-called teams that are not very good. But one of those teams (Hayes & Yeading) beat Oxford in the same period and I think one or two people have been a little bit disrespectful to the teams in our division. Hayes have shown everyone that they are a good team, and Grays have shown that they are a decent team because they’ve drawn with Kettering on Saturday and almost beaten Stevenage last week.

I think the fact they we’ve been able to put six past them is testament to our quality and the way that our players are at the minute'. With first choice strike partnership Kevin Gallen and Tom Craddock claiming five of the six goals, Money said he is delighted with their form'...

For half an hour, the score remained 0-0 and the manager was unhappy with the reaction of some of the Kenilworth Road crowd. 'I don’t want to say too much but you could hear one or two just start to turn and moan', he said."

In contrast, Kidderminster and Cambridge Utd are using the last games to experiment...

Firstly, according to the BBC we read that "Kidderminster manager Steve Burr will give his fringe players a chance to impress before the end of the season. Harriers have six games to play in the next 19 days, including trips to Barrow, on Thursday, and Gateshead two days later. Burr told BBC Hereford & Worcester: 'It's a chance to look at these lads who have been waiting, Lloyd Carey and people like that need an opportunity... We are not going to go up and we are not going to get relegated'. And the Harriers boss says he has an idea of who he wants to bring in but must wait to find out if he can afford them with his budget for next season. 'We will have to do the best with the money we have available, so we will look at all areas of the squad' he said".

Amd it is a similar tale from the Cambridge News, from which we learn that "Martin Ling was thrilled to see 10-man Cambridge United make certain of safety with [a] 3-2 victory at home to Mansfield. Danny Crow grabbed the winner with a late penalty... and Mansfield then missed a stoppage-time penalty of their own...

Ling said: 'We got our noses in front twice and threw it away quickly. You're always at your most vulnerable when you've scored a goal... Their penalty was a ridiculous decision. 'Their bloke pushed Brian Saah to help himself up and they got the penalty, but we scored, they missed theirs, so we take the three points and now we're mathematically safe... I just noticed we're 11th in the league, so a top-half finish is still possible from the debris that was the first half of this season'...

Ling said he may leave captain Paul Carden on the bench for Saturday's trip to Salisbury and begin to experiment with his side. He said: 'If Paul picks up a booking on Saturday, he can't play two of the last three games'... But Ling said Kevin Roberts' season is over after confirming he had damaged his ankle ligaments".

Casualties of an over-stretched budget are announced at Mansfield Town where the Stags announce that "Chief Executive Stewart Rickersey and Operations Manager Sharon Rickersey have left Field Mill after their positions were made redundant. No further comment will be made". But more revealing is a report from This is Nottingham which says that "Mansfield Town today confirm that chief executive Stewart Rickersey and operations manager Sharon Rickersey have left Field Mill. They have been made redundant as part of the club's cost-cutting measures after failing to secure a Blue Square Premier play-off place".

Histon report that "The Directors of Histon FC have released the statement below: Tony Roach has today resigned as Chairman of Histon FC and Julie Roach has resigned as Club Secretary with immediate effect. The Directors wish to acknowledge the commitment and support Tony and Julie have given the club in these past few difficult months and will be making a statement regarding a new Chairman in the near future".

The Cambridge News adds that "Roach, who took over from Gareth Baldwin in November, has stood down with immediate effect. His wife Julie has also left the post of club secretary... The situation is due to be discussed at a board meeting tonight. Roach has had a eventful tenure, with long-serving manager Steve Fallon first suspended and then sacked, and a host of senior players leaving as Histon have sought to drastically reduce costs".

YORK GAME

Right: Greg Young had his hands full with Richard Brodie at York; and Richard Brodie had his hands full with Greg Young's shirt in this particular encounter.

Match report here.

See Chris Denham's goal here.

York City report that "It may have taken until the 92nd minute, but City recorded a fully deserved win over mid-table Altrincham... After Martin Foyle’s men dominated possession [51% v 49% according to the BBC] and chances, Chris Denham gave the visitors a shock lead... before Richard Brodie’s whole-hearted performance was rewarded with an injury time penalty...

Despite having showed no attacking intent whatsoever after the interval, the visitors took the lead just after the hour. Substitute Denham, who had been on the pitch less than two minutes, broke free into space down the right channel before looping an audacious shot into the stranded Ingham’s top right-hand corner... After an infuriating last ten minutes of time-wasting from the visitors, the Minstermen deservedly settled the contest after Brodie was felled deep inside the Altrincham area.

The ultimate irony was that the subsequent penalty came two minutes into the injury time only added because of the Robins’ spoiling tactics".

LATE TWISTS

So Alty could have been six or seven points better off with just a bit of luck!

OLD BOYS

Stalybridge Celtic's poor recent form continued as they lost to relegation threatened Vauxhall Motors. Warren Peyton netted a last-minute penalty for the Tameside outfit. Menahwile third-placed Alfreton Town beat Corby Town, one of their goals coming from Jake Moult, an Alty trialist last summer. And for FCUM, Carlos Roca scored two in a 2-2 draw with Ashton United.

YORK CITY 2 ALTRINCHAM 1

York's Gash has Alty's Williams in a bear hug whilst Chris Senior receives close attention from a York defender in this first-half view of the home side's penalty area.

A penalty in the third added minute at the end of the game decided this match. Greg Young brought down Richard Brodie, right of goal, and the combative York striker converted the spot kick. Before that a superb 35-yard lob from Chris Denham had put Alty ahead but the lead lasted only five minutes before McGurk equalised, when Stuart Coburn dropped a cross (69 mins).

Alty had made three changes as Little replaced McAliskey and Smith came in for Carden, whilst Doran replaced Denham.

Match report here.

Alty took 213 supporters to York on Easter Monday...

Monday 5 April, 3pm

EASTER MONDAY

The BBC reports that "York City manager Martin Foyle has the luxury of selecting from a fully-fit squad after nine days without a game. Striker Michael Rankine could come back as the Minstermen look to consolidate fifth place... Altrincham manager Graham Heathcote is sweating on the fitness of three men.

Nicky Clee failed a fitness test before Saturday's 3-2 win over Kidderminster, while Robbie Lawton (ankle) and Chris Denham (calf) are also struggling. Heathcote's side, who seemingly have nothing other than pride to play for in the Blue Square Premier, have won six times away from home this season".

EXCITING DRAW

KIDDY GAME

OLD BOYS

NL Daily says that "Mossley will now be donating ALL gate receipts from their UniBond League Division One North match agsisnt Woodley Sports on Thursday, 8th April at Hurst Cross to Ashton United's Appeal Fund. This kind gesture is of gratitude for their Tameside neighbours help following their recent floodlight problems". Ashton's appeal follows the success of Marcus Hallows in his case against Ashton United Danny White for his tackle on the Altrincham striker which resulted in a badly broken leg for the striker.

SATURDAY'S GAME

Above: Alty line up a lengthy wall to defend a first-half Kidderminster freekick.

Alty captain Robbie Lawton told the NL Paper, "We looked second best at times. Kidderminster were good coming forward but weren't too clever at the back and we took our chances".

Kidderminster Harriers report that "Harriers dominate but come home empty-handed... A deeply frustrating Blue Square Premier day on Saturday saw Harriers take the lead but end up on the wrong end of a five-goal encounter as Altrincham won out 3-2 at Moss Lane...

Harriers made the breakthrough and took the lead with their first real chance of the afternoon... Altrincham completed their comeback as they went 2-1 up. Harriers were attacking but were robbed of possession in the centre circle as Denham stole from McPhee - he played a fine one-two with fellow danger man Carden who saw his shot saved excellently by Atkins, the former on hand to head in the re-bound".

aT 2-2 "Greg Young cannot have scored many a better goal in his entire career but he took Altrincham's third of the day in real style - picking the ball up from plenty inside his own half before virtually waltzing through the entire Harriers side before poking a finish under the body of the utterly exposed Atkins who could do nothing about it".

Manager "Steve Burr admitted his Kidderminster Harriers side 'beat themselves' on Saturday as three gift-wrapped goals saw them fall to defeat at the hands of Altrincham... 'It's a bit frustrating because we've had a lot of possession today but again we've conceded three really bad goals from our point of view', he said... 'The way we've let soft goals in hasn't helped our cause and I didn't feel so much it was Altrincham that beat us - we've beaten ourselves with our mistakes'".

Meanwhile the Kidderminster Shuttle also claims that "Poor defending ensured Harriers returned to Worcestershire without any points on Saturday... as Graham Heathcote's determined side took advantage of three defensive mistakes in an error-strewn Blue Square Premier clash. The away side had plenty of the ball in the second half but could not find their way through the home team's defence... In the end, the Aggborough outfit will be wondering how they lost a game they controlled for long periods".

THANK YOU

UPS AND DOWNS

Bullsnews confirms that "Weymouth have suffered a second successive relegation after Worcester's win on Friday made it impossible for the Terras to escape the drop. They may yet be relegated a further division due to their financial problems, but will start next season with a points deduction regardless".

Bullsnews also reports that "Darlington have had to change their kit design for next season as it breaks Conference rules on the amount of black allowed as the refs wear that colour. The club say the change does not mean they have accepted relegation".

THE RUN IN OF DEATH?

However, before we get too despondent let's remember that:

And, apart from the top five, no one in the BSP has lost fewer league games that Altrincham this season.

OLD BOYS

CAPTAIN'S LOG

Robbie writes...

"As you can imagine, the journey home from Gloucestershire last Saturday wasn’t the greatest. We watched the DVD of the game and then sat down to watch this ‘video nasty’ again on Tuesday night at training. Graham was at Stevenage watching their game against Oxford in preparation for our home games against those two sides next week, so Kenny was in charge of talking us through the events of what was a very strange game.

The match never really got going even though we were 3-1 up at Half Time. Perhaps we were guilty of complacency in the second half and what happened was certainly very unusual for us this season when we have been generally very organised and difficult to score against. To be fair to Forest Green they are a decent passing side and once they got a goal back you could feel that a comeback was on the cards. In terms of learning from the game, we must be able to cope better with that sort of pressure, but we were also unfortunate with a couple of key decisions going against us.

What annoyed me with their penalty was not so much the decision to penalise Shaun Densmore, but the fact that the referee, who was just a few yards away, waived away appeals, and then pointed to the spot when the linesman signalled. The linesman was further away from the incident and the referee was wrong to act on his flag. It was the other linesman who let us down in injury time. You can clearly see on the DVD that Colin Little was onside as he steered Ryan Brown’s effort into the unguarded goal in injury time. In between those key moments, I think that the referee tried to even up his poor decision with their penalty, by showing David Brown a second yellow for time wasting without any sort of warning whatsoever. That was also an incorrect decision and I told the referee that he had got it wrong.

In summary, we have to get last week’s performance and result into perspective. We shouldn’t make too much of a big deal out of it as it was so uncharacteristic of the way we have played this season, but we can’t ignore it either. Bizarrely enough, I think that we have watched three DVD’s on training nights since I have been at the club and they have all been against ...........Forest Green!!! The other horror shows were a 5-0 defeat at their old ground in 2007 and when we lost a 2-0 half time lead before conceding five in the second half here at Moss Lane last season! It feels like the 1990’s film Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray plays a weatherman who keeps living the same day over and over again!!

Despite the fact that we have a difficult run-in , we still feel that we can achieve a top ten finish and today’s game against Kidderminster and Monday’s trip to York give us a good opportunity to wipe away the memory of last week’s nightmare! Finally, I believe that Matt Doughty has had his cruciate operation this week and we all wish him well in his recovery. I also understand that Tom Kearney had a scare, when it appeared that there was a problem with the pin inserted in his leg, however I believe that there is no need now for a further operation to put in a new pin and that is really good news for Tom".

Robbie's injury jinx continued yesterday as he limped off during the second half. Hopefully it was nothing too serious.

SEAN'S SURGERY

FRIENDS

FLYNNZINE- ALTY FC IDOLS

Alty FC Idols ‘till we die!!!!

Standing Left to Right: Tom Jacobs, Grahame Rowley, Ross McEwan
Kneeling Left to Right: Steve Foster, Mike Barton, Brian Flynn

"It’s been a terrific season for Altrincham Football Club, notwithstanding events between 4.25-4.35pm at The New Lawn last Saturday, but for today’s missive it is time to focus on the exploits of one of the lesser known teams that proudly wear the Red and White stripes.....Alty FC Idols, who ply their trade each Sunday afternoon in the 5-a-side Leisure Leagues played at Altrincham Leisure Centre.

The team have competed for the last four years in this league and typically have achieved a mid table position at best, however during the last twelve months there has been a measurable improvement in results and during the season completed just three weeks ago they were involved in a titanic four team struggle that ultimately saw The Idols finish a point behind the aptly named Clansmen to finish as Runners-Up.

We did, in fact ,inflict the only two defeats on the eventual Champions in a couple of very highly charged encounters, but ultimately paid the price for losing twice to Indoor Milan, who looked likely winners before losing 2-0 in their final fixture against Clansmen.

So let me introduce you to the brave souls that put their bodies on the line each week in the name of Alty as most people are settling down to their traditional Sunday Roast:-

Special mention also needs to be made of a couple of players who weren’t regulars, but still made their mark. Matt Lamey produced some calm efficient performances in an interesting array of retro Alty tops and Daniel Jackson is as idiosyncratic on the pitch as he is is off it, yet produced a couple of important goals at critical moments in the season! So there you have it....Alty FC Idols.....producers of the first silverware of the season at Moss Lane!!"

YOUTH FIXTURES

BSP NEWS

Vice Chairman Colin Peake told the club's official website: 'It is vital we meet the Revenue first payment so we are able to get the long term payment plan on offer from them. "Eric Whitlock made a generous donation of £5000 at our game against Barrow and in return receives two passes for the next 10 years so he can watch his beloved Rovers. If we can only find a few more who would be able to make such a donation then we get easily over the first hurdle in front of us". News of our Monday opponents comes from Blue Square Football which tells us that "York City manager Martin Foyle has been scouting the league's top clubs over the past few weeks in the hope of gaining an edge over their play-off rivals... Foyle told the York Press: 'You can get reports off people but, if you see these teams with your own eyes, it gives you your best possible shot. Some clubs have proper scouting systems but we lag behind a bit in that respect. You can rely on contacts and get DVDs in but you have to watch them and that takes time as well'".

ALTRINCHAM 3 KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS 2

Right: Greg Young's strange goal celebration consisted of his pulling his shorts up to his waist and then running back to his own half, as shown! Chris Senior appears to be following suit.

Saturday 3 April, 3pm

LIVE UPDATES

SPECIAL OFFER

The new 2010/2011 adult away shirt is now available from the club's Ebay Shop at a cost of £35 + p&p.

Children's shirts are also available for £30 + p&p.

BEFORE THE GAME

"Harriers' boss Steve Burr is looking forward to returning to one of his favourite grounds tomorrow as the side kick-off the Easter break with a trip to Altrincham's Moss Lane. Burr may well still be regarded as something of a striking legend among Macclesfield Town fans for his many a season banging the goals in for the Silkmen, but that very form less than endeared him to the faithful of another club just nearby - Altrincham.

Good-natured banter between the now Harriers' boss and one of his former playing rivals is all part and parcel of the game, and speaking to harriers.co.uk today Burr admitted he's always enjoyed a day out at Moss Lane. He was full of praise, too, for current incumbent Graham Heathcote, who continues to lead Alty on a charge of defying all odds by securing a top ten finish in this term's Blue Square Premier.

'To be fair they have had a number of reprieves over the years due to other teams' struggles but Altrincham have taken that and they have built on it," says Burr. "Each year they seem to be getting stronger - Graham Heathcote has done a really good job there with his team this year and they are always tough to play against. As a former Macclesfield player I always remember the Macc-Alty games as being massive and it is a place I look forward to visiting. There's always a bit of banter with their fans and myself given my playing days, and it's great for their supporters to be up where they are this season; it's proof you can still compete as a part-time side'...

Matt Doughty (cruciate) is out for the hosts following surgery, whilst Anthony Danylyk is unlikely to be fit following a back injury. Nicky Clee (groin) missed the Rovers game and could be a doubt for our visit. Harriers have injury concerns of their own - left-back Lee Baker (groin) is approaching fitness but may not be ready in time to race the Robins, with the same said for John Finnigan who continues to be dogged by a thigh problem.

Luke Prosser (concussion) and Martin Riley (groin) and Duane Courtney (ankle) all took knocks in the midweek win over Cambridge United at Aggborough and will be assessed prior to the game

Meanwhile the unofficial Harriers Online site says that "We should be feeling inspired by the win against Cambridge Utd on Tuesday evening to be able to gain a similar kind of result at Altrincham... The passing was good too and at times we were cutting Cambridge to ribbons with ease. It's that kind of endeavour that we'll be taking to Moss Lane...

We beat Altrincham 3-0 at Aggborough back at the start of the season with two goals from Brian Smikle and the other from Matthew Barnes-Homer. Martin Riley was sent off in that game as was Sean Densmore for Altrincham and it's to be hoped that we don't have a repeat of that".

The Express & Star adds that "Defender Riley now has a groin problem after recovering from a badly bruised toe, while midfielder Byrne is struggling with a foot injury although is hoped to be passed fit...

The manager will need all the help he can get over the next seven days, and believes that the run to the FA Trophy semi-final is the cause for the pile-up. He said: 'It’s ridiculous, full stop, but it always seems to happen at this stage of the season when a team has been involved in cup competition... Altrincham have done well compared to previous seasons, where they have usually been battling against relegation. It’s never an easy place to go, but if we can produce another performance like the other night there’s no reason why we can’t come back with three points'”.

The BBC asserts that "Kidderminster midfielder John Finnigan (calf) is unlikely to feature at Altrincham ... Lee Baker will also miss out, while Duane Courtney (ankle) and Martin Riley groin) should both be available."

YOUTHS TO PLAY IN THE DARK?

KEN'S TESTIMONIAL

Vouchers will be issued at the club's final home Welsh Premier fixture of the season against Haverfordwest County on Saturday April 17. Supporters will be able to obtain a maximum of two adult and two concession ticket vouchers for the game which will be played on a pre-season date to be confirmed by both clubs.

The game will be a testimonial for ex-manager and player Ken McKenna (pictured), who is currently assistant manager at Blue Square Premier side Altrincham and spent 10 successful years with the Saints, clinching three back-to-back league titles".

OLD BOYS

RE-LIVE THE GAME

BSP NEWS

The champions of the Blue Square Premier gain automatic right to promotion, whilst those finishing 2nd to 5th at the end of April, will play off to determine which two teams will participate for the remaining place under the two up and two down agreement between the respective competitions. The top five clubs going into the last four weeks of the regular season at this time are, Stevenage Borough, Luton Town, Oxford United, York City and Rushden & Diamonds, with only the ‘Boro never having played in the Football League before from this quintet of clubs.

As the ‘Promotion Final’ offers the last chance for entry to the Football League this season and with it again being staged at Wembley Stadium, it is likely that the attendance on 16 May will shatter the existing record set in 2008, when Exeter City booked their return to the Football League with a victory over Cambridge United in front of 42,511 fans.

Announcing the deal to show the ‘Promotion Final’ live Brian Lee, Chairman of the Football Conference said: 'The Football Conference are delighted to be renewing their relationship with Sky Sports in showing the Blue Square Premier ‘Promotion Final’ from Wembley. After a highly contested top of the competition this season, it promises to be a well supported game with the prize - a place in The Football League, alongside previous winners like Carlisle United, Shrewsbury Town and Doncaster Rovers'.

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports said: 'It’s been an exciting season that’s set for a great climax. This game, which gives a place in the Football League for the winner, sits perfectly alongside the Football League Play-Off Finals and is one'”.

According to the Football Conference, "Histon have cancelled the contract of striker Craig Hammond following his return from a loan spell at AFC Sudbury... Manager Alan Lewer said: 'We wanted to keep working with the boy as he's scored plenty of goals at lower levels. But the Conference is a different league and he needed to work on his movement and it wasn't clear if Craig wanted to put the time in'".

NW NEWS

'It’s simple', said Conference general manager Dennis Strudwick. 'The [transfer] embargo will be lifted once we receive confirmation all football creditors have been paid [from the creditors themselves]'.

The Guardian can reveal that each of the clubs or players waiting for Vics to settle old bills – some dating back as far as three years – have already told Strudwick they received a cheque signed by Rushe ahead of Wednesday’s league-imposed deadline. That was also the last day Blue Square North clubs could sign players for the season’s run-in.

Preece tried to recruit three players to feature in Vics’ Easter double-header... The former Bury boss wrote to the Conference yesterday, Thursday, to ask for leniency because he fears not being able to field a full team against title hopefuls Port if any of his players are injured on Saturday. But the league has stood firm. Strudwick added: 'Our position will not change'. He has also told Preece the club has the option to recall Aaron Burns or Ryan Brown from loan spells at Gap Connah’s Quay and Altrincham respectively.

However Burns would need international clearance from both the Welsh and English FA to return, both of whose offices are closed until next week. 'I’m genuinely worried', said Preece. 'What happens if we don’t have 11 players to face Southport? I’m not sure Fleetwood would be too happy with a scenario where their rivals for the title play a match against a team with nine or ten men'.

His crisis is a real one. Nat Kerr is banned this weekend, while Ian Herring (ankle), Jon Newby (groin) and Jamie Vermiglio (hamstring) are all definitely out injured. However there are doubts too over the health of Ryan Broadhead (leg), Mark Cadwallader (knee), Johnny Evans (hamstring) and Luke Horrocks (ankle). None are fit to play two matches in 72 hours, according to Preece.

Last month the Conference ordered Vics to clear debts – totalling around £16,000 – to all of their football creditors by March 31, after accusing the club of ‘misleading’ the league’s board. They fined the Wincham outfit £10,000, suspending three quarters of that figure, plus threatened them with a second ten points deduction of the season should they fail to comply.

Rushe told the Guardian on Monday that he had paid up. 'I’ve told the league too' he said".

GOOD FRIDAY FIXTURES

"MY FAULT" SAYS GRAHAM

'There was a lesson to be learnt that if you become complacent in this league, you are going to lose', said Alty boss Heathcote. 'You have to maintain your level of performance for 90 minutes, but, to be fair, the changes I made probably didn't help. I have this mindset with John McAliskey (left) that fitness might become an issue after an hour, and I wanted to ease James Smith back in by giving him the last 25 minutes or so. But perhaps I should have left things as they were a bit longer, because taking "Big John" off affected our ability to hold the ball up. We allowed them to come on to us far too easily, and the compactness that has been our strength was suddenly missing. We were punished severely for that, and we all felt down and disappointed at the end. It was more my fault than they players', but I'm probably not the first manager to get his substitutions wrong!

It didn't help that we suffered two horrendous decisions.Their equaliser was 100 per cent not a penalty. Even the referee told me he didn't think it was a foul by Shaun Densmore. He admitted he had allowed the linesman to overrule him, and Colin was 100 per cent onside when he scored near the end. You can see the keeper and a defender four yards to the side of the goal are playing him on. Over the 90 minutes, we deserved something out of the game, and that would have been a fitting finale, had Colin's goal stood'.

Alty are boosted by the news that Anthony Danylyk, Nicky Clee and Smith are all fit for their massive Easter fixtures against Kidderminster at home on Saturday and York away on Monday".

The Kidderminster Shuttle reports that "Harriers' manager Steve Burr believes there are more gems to be mined from the Blue Square North and South this summer after being impressed by the impact of Jack Byrne. The 20-year-old has been a revelation for the Aggborough outfit since his move from Redditch and has nailed down a regular berth place in Harriers’ midfield. After spells at Northwich Victoria and Stalybridge Celtic as boss, Burr’s knowledge of the divisions below the Conference Premier is second to none and he is sure there are more players who could make an impact.

With eight league games of the season left, he has already began to reshape his squad and assess his current playing staff. He loaned out centreback Gavin Caines to promotion-chasing Luton and drafted in Port Vale defender Luke Prosser and Chesterfield midfielder Lloyd Kerry until the end of the season...

'It all depends on what sort of budget we’ve got to play with but I do think there are some players in the Conference South and North that could make the step up to this level', commented the manager. 'Jack [Byrne] has done incredibly well since he’s joined'...

Burr said: 'I must talk to the board and discuss it with them but I do have some idea on who we’d like to keep'...

Harriers, who ended a seven-match winless streak against the U’s, have a few defensive headaches for their Easter weekend clash at Altrincham on Saturday... Martin Riley limped off with a groin problem on Tuesday, while Duane Courtney (ankle) and Luke Prosser both picked up knocks. Left-back Lee Baker has missed the last two games and may not be ready for Saturday’s trip to Moss Lane...

Meanwhile, an attempt by clubs to have expelled Chester’s points reinstated collapsed this week. The group, which included Oxford, Tamworth and Stevenage [as well as Kidderminster themselves], had appealed to the FA in order to get back the points they lost [or had not yet contested] when City were kicked out in February".

Before the game you can watch Manchester United v Chelsea on High Definition TV in the bar at Moss Lane; following the Alty game, Burnley take on Manchester City in another televised game to be shown in the bar. Details are shown in the poster below.

TASC TEES UP £110

TASC Golf Day raises £110

The winner of the recent TASC Golf Day at Mobberley Golf Club was Malcolm Horner, who pipped Paul Salt by one point and Dave Gretton by two points in a competition under the Stableford Points System.

Malcolm is pictured (left) with his Winner's trophy alongside TASC Chairman, Brian Flynn (centre) and Runner-Up, Paul Salt (right) at the World Cup Heroes evening held at The Cresta Court Hotel last week.

The event raised £110 for Altrincham Football Club and TASC would like to express its gratitude to Eric Robinson and Gary Donnison from Mobberley Golf Club, for their help in organising the event and providing trophies and prizes on the day.

TASC are planning a further Golf Day for September/October time".

BLUE SQUARE SPONSORSHIP RENEWED

To bring more emphasis to their sponsorship, the respective divisions will now be known as BLUE SQUARE BET PREMIER, BLUE SQUARE BET NORTH and BLUE SQUARE BET SOUTH.

The agreement [was] signed by Mark Jones the MD of Blue Square, and Brian Lee, the Chairman of the Football Conference... in the presence of Sir Geoff Hurst, who will be Blue Square’s guest of honour at this season’s Promotion Final at Wembley on Sunday, 16th May.

Blue Square are excited to have such a legend, not only in this World Cup year but with him returning to the ‘Venue of Dreams’ to present the trophy to the club who will gain promotion to the Football League via the Conference play-off system.

Mark Jones stated: 'We are delighted to be continuing our sponsorship of the Conference competition. Football is a vital part of our company strategy and we are delighted to support that with our investment into the grassroots game'.

Brian Lee in response commented: 'The partnership with Blue Square has seen The Football Conference grow in stature in the last three years within the professional game. As the present season draws to an end we are absolutely delighted that we are renewing our sponsorship with Blue Square and look forward to continuing our successful working relationship with them in the future'.

Member clubs will, starting next season, see a closer link with other partners of Blue Square via the Rank Group, namely Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos.

Spearheading the sponsorship on a day-to-day basis will be Richard Jaques, Sponsorship Manager for Blue Square. In his new role he said: 'It’s fantastic to be able to continue our association with the league. The new deal runs for another three years and we look forward to supporting all of the member clubs during that time'.

As this current season and the current deal draws to a close, Alan Alger, PR Manager for Blue Square, underlined his and Blue Square’s passion for the competition: 'This season is shaping up to be as exciting as the first two. I’m extremely happy that the deal will run for three more years as attendances continue to rise and the quality on the field reaches even higher standards. The Blue Square Promotion Final in May will be eagerly awaited by all in football generally, let alone the fans of the two clubs who will be treading the hallowed turf to secure their dream end to this fabulous season'".

NEW AWAY SHIRT

BSP NEWS

He said: 'They are two players we want to stay here and be a big part of the team next season. With the exception of maybe one or two, we know which players we are looking to offer new contracts to, but will wait until after the last game of the season to begin negotiations'.

With the exception of Eddie Hutchinson, who signed on a two-year deal from Oxford United last summer, the majority of the Reds squad are out of contract at the end of the season. But Evans says... 'There is a lot of talent in this squad and I'd like to keep a lot of them but we will have to spend our resources wisely', he added. 'But I can guarantee that no player will hold Crawley to ransom... Ebbsfleet United have a bigger budget than we do here but they are going to be relegated. That shows you what a fantastic effort it has been by the players to get so close to the play-offs. The management and playing staff have played their part in bringing costs down by driving to games. We'll be driving ourselves to all the remaining away games in a mini-bus and our own cars but hopefully it will make a difference next season'".

NL Daily says that "Micky Mellon, manager of Blue Square North leaders Fleetwood Town, has moved to shore up his defensive cover as the club enters the final five games of the season... Wrexham left-back Sam Williamson will spend the rest of the season on loan".

From NL News 24 we learn that "The FA Trophy final between Stevenage Borough and Barrow will be shown live on ITV4... on Saturday May 8..., enabling Freeview viewers to watch Non-League football for the first time ever".

YANKEE

EASTER SOCCER SCHOOL SUCCESS

BSP NEWS

Poole kept his nerve in the near-two-minute wait to take the kick, and although Maxwell guessed the right way, the ball found its way into the bottom corner of the net and the Dons had rescued a point, for the second time in six minutes".

From the other side, Wrexham boss Dean Saunders said that "We weathered the storm in the first half, after it took us five hours to get here, which was far from ideal... We gave away a stupid penalty... Maxi has saved it... but at one-up I felt comfortable.... Then with three minutes to go they score from a set piece with an own goal. I don't think I've every seen anything like it - you just couldn't write it! At the end I'm told that the lad's thrown a punch at Frank [Sinclair], he's reacted and the linesman has given a penalty... There's 10 seconds left on the clock, they kick a hopeful ball down the channel and Curtis Obeng can do anything - apart from what he did! He's only got to clear the ball - put his head through it. But he decides to try and give it back to the keeper and we concede a corner, which leads to the penalty!... Had we managed to hang onto leads we have gained, then we could be in a play-off place now... One decision from Curtis has cost all of us".

The BBC adds that "Wrexham manager Dean Saunders says Frank Sinclair will be punished for his red card in the 2-2 AFC Wimbledon draw... With Wrexham leading 1-0 he hit a 90th-minute own goal, Andy Mangan restoring the advantage before Sinclair's red led to an equalising penalty for the Dons... Said Saunders, 'He's retaliated and been sent off'...

The red card is Sinclair's second in March, following a dismissal for a tackle against Altrincham that left Tom Kearney with a double break of the leg. He now faces a five-game ban, Saunders acknowledging that it will be 'the end' of Sinclair's season".

Blue Square Football reports that "Cambridge boss Martin Ling was far from impressed following his team's 1-0 defeat to Kidderminster on Tuesday night... 'We were lucky to get nil to be honest', he told cambridgeunited.com after the final whistle. 'We were outfought. We had to change our system to accommodate them, which I don't like doing but we had to, with the way things were going. We had two wide boys who didn't get involved and their three man midfield was overrunning ours. So we made changes at half time and went 4-3-3... We're out of the relegation issue but we still want to put a high point to end this season to take into the next one. Plus there are contracts still up for grabs'".

"Histon's highly-rated defender Callum Stewart has been invited to train with Fulham's Under-19 squad" states Blue Square Football... But Stutes' boss Alan Lewer told Cambridge News, 'Callum was at Ipswich before he joined us and he enjoys the full-time training, but I wouldn't read too much into it'".

"With Oxford's hopes of automatic promotion extinguished, Wilder wants his charges to regroup and focus on the season run-in. 'We've got to dust ourselves down and go again' he told The Oxford Mail'... Stevenage have not lost a match at Broadhall Way for almost 18 months and Wilder admitted that the hosts were the better team".

According to the Northern Echo "Hours after suggesting he was the right man to take Darlington forward, Mark Cooper is believed to have been lined up for another job... Cooper has been looking for a quick return to frontline management since losing his job at Peterborough United at the beginning of February. He is thought to have applied for the Hereford United job, although former club Kettering are hoping for his return".

The BBC states that "Eastbourne Borough assistant boss Nick Greenwood says Tuesday's 2-1 win over Gateshead is the start of their bid to avoid relegation. Boro face crucial matches against fellow strugglers Forest Green on Saturday and Ebbsfleet two days later. He told BBC Sussex: 'There's that feeling in the changing room that it's the first step on a difficult week. We've got to take it on for the first time this season and win back to back games. That's now the next challenge... It was getting to the last chance saloon. It's not easy for the players to know they've got to go out and win a game. The question is 'Can we do this again on Saturday against Forest Green?'"

The Kidderminster Shuttle reports that "Hitman Darryl Knights produced a sparkling performance and earned the man of the match award as Harriers stopped the rot with a well-deserved win at Aggborough on Tuesday night. Steve Burr's troops ended a seven-match sequence without a win and stopped a U's side that had not lost in 10 games with some thrusting attacking football".

And Harriers quote Steve Burr, "We've got to put some of these chances away because I won't see 60 I don't think, if it carries on like that!... I left Darryl [Knights] out on Saturday and I probably made a mistake doing that because he is a lad who gives us a spark'...

Meanwhile, "Chairman Barry Norgrove has given his latest update from the Boardroom at Aggborough Stadium with March 2010 now consigned to the history books... It seems that positivity is spreading from the manager's office upwards, and all around for that matter!... 'We are really pleased with Steve [Burr] - he is the same character whenever you see him, rain or shine', says Mr. Norgrove... 'He's freshening things up and trying to generate a really good atmosphere and we know he'll get there. We've been working with him to bring in a couple of players as one or two have gone out and we believe he's doing a wonderful job... We'll try and make sure we have a budget in place to get the kind of players he wants... Overall we have not had a bad season ... For a club our size and with what we're paying out in comparison to what the bigger clubs are paying, I think we've done tremendously well'...

One of the biggest talking points of March 2010 was of course Chester City... Norgrove has rallied[?] on the Football Conference to meet with the remaining member clubs to lay down some 'ground rules' to help protect the clubs both directly involved and indirectly affected. The Chairman concludes: 'We feel all of the clubs in the Blue Square Premier should get together for a meeting with the Conference... so that we can get some rules put down to cater for clubs like Chester who are having such trouble... We hold our hands up because we voted to expel Chester from the League originally but it's clear now that doing that is all well and good, but there is a lot of aftermath. We weren't put straight in the first instance what would happen with regards to points, results, cards, goals and what have you, and quite a few things have now come to light and it has caused disturbances for a number of clubs'".

Before Wednesday's win over Barrow, This is Glos reports that "Forest Green wait for the all-clear from Coventry City before goalkeeper Danny Ireland can line up against Barrow... The on-loan stopper suffered a badly cut lip against Altrincham on Saturday, bravely making a vital late block to help Rovers to an epic 4-3 victory... Hockaday said: 'Danny was rushed to hospital on Saturday for stitches and he basically has three lips – it was a really nasty one' ... Definitely missing for Rovers tonight is ex-Barrow man David Brown, who serves a one-match ban after his red card against Altrincham, so Craig Armstrong will continue in a midfield role. Hockaday said: 'Craig's experience and versatility are proving vital to us, especially against Altrincham when he nullified their number 10 (Chris Denham) in the second half. I felt we had to change things round and hats off to the lads for carrying out what I asked. A few weeks ago there is no way we would have come back from 3-1 down at half-time, especially against a side on a seven-match unbeaten run'".