Upon inspiration from the 94th Minute (search them up on Twitter and check out their blogs), this blog will focus on all the Suffolk teams, leagues and competitions that have taken place in the season that never happened (2019/20).
My only rule for this is ONLY Suffolk teams will be featured, otherwise we'll be here until Christmas if I was to mention Norfolk, Essex, Cambridge, Midlands and so on teams that are also in the same league as Suffolk clubs.
Obviously Suffolk football starts with Ipswich Town, the only professional team in Suffolk who are currently in League One. All that can be said is that they've not had the greatest season for one reason or another but I'll sidestep that one and move onto Non League.
First up, we have step 7 of the Football Pyramid in English football (step 3 non league) in which Suffolk representives include Needham Market, Lowestoft Town & Leiston in the Southern League Central Premier Division.
For arguments sake, I'm going to go by table positions for these, so this is not based of personal preference at all!
In the 22 team division, Needham Market sat the highest of all the Suffolk sides in the league in thirteenth position after 33 wins, having won 13, drawn 9 and lost 11 (48 points).
The Marketmen however, didn't have the best of luck with results in the opening part of the season, but never really looked threatened with relegation, with plenty of late goals conceded somewhat summing up their first part of the season - despite scoring a late equaliser of their own to salvage a draw in a tipsy turvy 3-3 draw with Stourbridge at home. Before January, the Marketmen hadn't won at home on a Saturday all season, with their only home win in the league at all being a midweek 2-1 success over Peterborough Sports. However, the new year brought a bit of life to the Marketmen who went onto beat, Stratford Town at home in their first Saturday game of 2020, following a Joe Marsden late penalty, followed by super sub James Baker winning then manager Richard Wilkins' last game in charge after a dramatic 4-3 win over Hednesford Town in February, whilst new manager Kevin Horlock has since overseen just one home game thus far, due to the unfortunate bad weather and current pandemic but it did end in 3 points for Needham, who did the league double over rivals Lowestoft Town with a 1-0 win and will feel a little bit disappointed that the league has finished early having enjoyed some very good form in 2020 so far.
Meanwhile, Cup wise however Needham have had a decent season - reaching the Semi Finals of the Suffolk Premier Cup, which have currently been suspended with Needham due to face Step 5 rivals Stowmarket Town, but also were losing semi finalists in the Southern League Challenge Cup against Chesham- knocking out Hendon 5-1 in the, Quarter-Final. Needham also reached the FA Cup Second Qualifying Round, but were beaten by Lowestoft Town, whilst Leatherhead knocked the Marketmen out of the FA Trophy (can't remember what round I'm afraid).
Needham Player/Manager Quotes:-
The club's vice-captain Keiran Morphew adds that his highlight of the season came in the "2-1 away at Tamworth was our best performance of the season. Everyone played really well."
Needham right-back Jake Dye:
On the season "For the team I feel we perhaps underachieved. We’ve got a very capable squad, with great spirit and togetherness, and we felt as if no team in the league were better than us on our day. For whatever reason we didn’t get the results!"
Jake's highlight "I think it’s only right to say my goal at Haverhill. It was becoming a bit of banter around the boys at the club but thankfully I could cross that one off the list!!!!"
Manager Kevin Horlock, also as part of the club website interviews, said his first team highlight of the season is "the win at Coalville - first team wise, I think it was a tough game, we'd been on the back of a loss from my first game, which was difficult to take, so to go to Coalville who were fancied to win was a great feeling."
In 16th sat Lowestoft Town, who had also played 33 games, winning 13, drawing 2, losing 18 (41 points), but the Trawlerboys did hit bottom of the league Redditch United 6-0 in January, but did suffer a 6-0 loss to Bromsgrove Sporting away from home.
Cup wise, Lowestoft haven't fared too badly, reaching also reaching the semi finals of the Suffolk Premier Cup, with the Blues drawing fellow Blue side step 4 Bury Town, whilst losing to Carshalton in the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup and Coalville Town at home in the FA Trophy.
The final Suffolk side in the Southern Premier Central Division is Leiston, whose season arguably couldn't have started much worse, sitting bottom of the league until Glen Driver returned to the club to help steady the ship. Luckily for the Blues, he was able to steer them to safety, as well as guiding the club to a 6-0 away win over Redditch United, with the club sitting two places from safety in 19th having won 6, drawn 8 and lost 18 of the 32 league outings (26 points). Cup wise, Leiston were knocked out of the Suffolk Premier Cup quarter final by Needham 1-0 but went out of the FA Cup to Ware and lost out to Tamworth in THE FA Trophy. From the Leiston perspective though, they were set to survive relegation regardless before the season was voided so ultimately I guess they'd be somewhat happy with that.
Now onto step 4, in which there are a fair few Suffolk representatives out of the 20 team in the Isthmian League North Division.
Bury Town top the Suffolk clubs in the division sitting in the final play off spot, an area, they've occupied for the majority of the campaign, having gained 50 points from 29 games - winning 15, drawing 5, losing 9 having their best season to date since relegation in 2014/15 from the Isthmian Premier Division.
Highlights for the Blues include 2 dramatic goals to beat Histon 2-1 at home shortly before the season came to an end, whilst also hitting 9 goals past Felixstowe & Walton United in 2 home cup games, conceding just twice in the process.
Cup wise, Bury enjoyed a 3-1 away win at Lincoln United in the FA Trophy Extra Preliminary Round, but fell to a, 3-0 defeat at Soham Town Rangers in the subsequent round. In the Velocity Trophy, Bury only lost once in 90 minutes in Group 1 - a young understrength Bury side falling 6-1 to league leaders Maldon but also fell to a penalty defeat at Heybridge Swifts following a 2-2 draw, unfortunate not to qualify for the Round of 32 having won the rest of their games. Bury however didn't have the best of luck in the FA Cup, losing at the first hurdle to Histon at home - but did avenge the defeat in the league. Finally, as mentioned previously Bury are in the semi finals of the Suffolk Premier Cup - drawing Lowestoft Town should the tie be played at a later date, having beaten rivals Walsham Le Willows 3-1 away. Overall, quite a good season for Bury, with the Blues often scoring late on to pick up crucial results, only losing 4 league games at home all season (1 in 2019).
Bury Town player quotes:
Cemal Ramadan reviews the season: We set out to be in the play offs and win the Suffolk cup and we were on course for that. I always set out to get 30 goals and wasn’t too far off that with plenty of games to go.
Ryan Jolland's highlight: "Coming from 2-0 down to beat Dereham 3-2 away on a hot day, bumpy pitch and a poor referee. Felt like we could beat anyone after that game. Some of their players faces after we won were priceless."
Moving onto 11th placed AFC Sudbury, having won 11, drawing 4 and losing 11 from their 26 games, picking up 37 points, with their highlight of their league season seeing them triumph 5-0 over Histon at home.
In the cups meanwhile, Sudbury fell to Deeping Rangers in a FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round Replay, 3-2 after a 2-2 draw, won 1 in 90 minutes, 1 in penalties and lost the other of their 3 Velocity Trophy Group 1 fixtures, beating Felixstowe 4-0 and Maldon on penalties, but were knocked out of the Suffolk Premier Cup Second Round by Hadleigh United on penalties, but they did make the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy before falling to Kingstonian.
AFC Sudbury player quotes:
Joe Grimwood on the season: "This season there had been a lot of ups and downs we didn’t start the quickest, however really started to pick up form before we stopped due to corona virus, we ended strong with wins against rivals Bury Town and Romford, and although there was a lot to still do, play offs was still in sight and would have been nice to really give it one last push in the final few months, for me this season was great, my 2 years of the academy was up so I could focus all my energy into the first team and try to get regular starts. Which I felt I done, and have racked up over 50 appearances at this level."
Joe's highlight:" Bognor Regis in the FA cup I came off the bench with a couple of academy players at 2-1 down and we then equalised and ended up winning in extra time was a great experience against a team in the league above."
The final Suffolk side in the division are Felixstowe & Walton United, who ended the campaign (what there was of it) in 18th position, winning 6, drawing 7 and losing 16 of their 29 matches, picking up 25 points, with their final game before football was halted ending in a 3-3 draw with Canvey Island.
Felixstowe however, exited the FA Cup at the first hurdle away at AFC Sudbury, but did win two penalty shootouts in the Velocity Trophy Group 1. Felixstowe also exited the FA Trophy at the first hurdle, losing out to Maldon & Tiptree, whilst losing in the Suffolk Premier Cup Second Round 4-1 away to Bury Town. Ultimately though for Felixstowe, despite a difficult start to the, season the Seasiders did get themselves out of the relegation zone, which will be a positive from their point of view.
Felixstowe player quotes:
Stuart Ainsley: "Personally I thought I played well, I lost a bit of weight over last summer which was needed, I came back for pre season the fittest I had been in years which certainly helped. The management brought new ideas and ways of doing things and there was a huge turnover of players last summer, 7 senior players left for various reasons and we struggled to replace them. I guess others will say we are lucky to stay in this league next year but we were confident had the season of carried on in staying up, we finally had a good enough squad to compete within the last 6 weeks we played."
Moving onto the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division, the first Suffolk side in the division finished the season unbeaten - these being Stowmarket Town having won 23, drawn 5 and lost 0 from their 28 matches - giving them a 15 point gap ahead of second placed Norwich United. Stow smashed the goals in on many occasions this season, notably smashing Thetford Town away and Woodbridge Town & Kirkley & Pakefield at home both 7-0 and Ely City at home 7-1.
As mentioned above, Stow are also still in the, Suffolk Premier Cup Semi final where they have been pitted against Needham Market having beaten Brantham Athletic on penalties. The Old Gold & Black's also made the semi final of the League Challenge Cup and were due to play Hackney Wick before the season was cancelled, having beaten Swaffham Town away 3-0 in the quarter final. Stow also made club history in the FA Vase, despite falling in last 32 (I think?) against fellow Thurlow Nunn Premier side Wroxham having beaten Glebe and Stansted on route. In the, FA Cup however, Stowmarket beat Clapton away 6-0 but fell to a 1-0 defeat at higher league Cheshunt in what was a very memorable season for Stow.
Stowmarket player and media manager quotes:
Robbie Sweeney: The year we have just had has been incredible. Unbeaten in the league and still in two cups. it’s a massive shame not to be rewarded for our season and give something back to Rick, the club and supporters but safety is everyone’s main priority. I personally have probably had my best season to date, in terms of assists and goals but playing with quality players helps you to put in those performances. Hopefully we can replicate our season when normality returns.
Alex Moss: Could you give us an overview to Stow's season from your viewpoint, such as notable matches & standout moments throughout the season.
Without wishing to get ahead of ourselves, Stow’s 2019-20 season was on course to be an historic one. Top of the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division, and with a healthy lead, unbeaten in the league and in the semi-finals of two cup competitions. Unfortunately for us, and many other non-league clubs doing well around the country, the season was expunged in March, due to the impact of the coronavirus.
I’m currently putting together a series on the club’s website looking back at some of the most memorable games from the season, which we started last Saturday with a look back to the opening day draw away at Clacton. After going on such a long unbeaten run in the league during the season, you sometimes forget that during that first game Clacton led twice, and had they held on we wouldn't be talking about this excellent run that Stow went on during the rest of the season.
For a long while I felt that the Colney Heath game was going to take some topping for moment of the season. Stow were down to 10 men early on in the second half and heading towards extra time, in what was our first game of the season in the Vase, before Matt Blake scored a winner deep into added time. We’d only recently just started filming games and putting highlight videos out, so it was great to go and relive that moment.
Since then, two others stand out for me, and funnily enough they turned out to be the last two games of the season. Our last league game, at home to Long Melford, Stow went down to 10 men, trailed 2-0, and it looked like the unbeaten record was going to end, but four goals later and a remarkable comeback saw Stow win 4-2. The other game, a few days later saw another comeback, this time trailing 2-0 in a penalty shootout after two penalties each against Brantham Athletic, Stow came back to win 3-2. Two memorable comebacks that feel like a very long time ago now!
What was the ultimate highlight of the season from your point of view?
The run in the FA Vase was a big one, seeing the club reach the last 16 for the first time ever. In the last 32 we had our biggest ever crowd for a competitive game at Greens Meadow, passing the 500-mark, which was fantastic, and getting the win that day to make even more history made it even better. Even the next round, although we lost at Wroxham, being in a crowd of more than 1,000 people for a Stow game was something I never thought I’d see. It just shows how far the club has come over the last four years.
Your favourite player this season?
That’s a hard one because every player in the squad has played a part and helped the club be so successful. A few people have asked me who I would have picked for player of the season and each time I’ve said Jack Ainsley. I go back to that Long Melford game, he really took the game by the scruff of the neck that day. At 2-0 down he scored the first goal in the comeback and he was instrumental, he even got the sponsor’s man of the match that day as well.
He played most of the season sitting in front of the back four, and often it’s the players further forward who attract the most plaudits, but during the last few games he was pushed up the pitch and showed his qualities there as well. I’m sure if you asked 10 Stow fans who they would pick you might even get 10 different answers. All the players deserve credit, because there was a lot of eyes on the club during pre-season and the season, given the quality of the squad assembled. They all took that pressure in their stride and you saw that with the results on the pitch.
Your favourite away ground this season?
Early on in the season we played at Aveley, as Clapton’s ground was unavailable, but I don’t know if you can include a neutral ground for this. Cheshunt is up there, we played them in the FA Cup and as a Step 3 club you’d expect the facilities to be better than what we’re accustomed to at Step 5. The one I’d love to go back to is Great Yarmouth because it’s such a fun day out for Stow fans. We did have a pre-season friendly lined up in July, but as with a lot of sport at the moment, we await to see if it’s safe to continue again.
What's the mood been like at the club during the season?
As you’d expect, really positive. I’ve been fortunate to be at a lot of the games during the last few seasons and it’s been great to see the interest in the club continue to grow. After the Vase defeat there was disappointment, but we still had an awful lot to play for and as we picked up again with a few more wins there was a lot of excitement around the club, hoping that we could achieve promotion to Step 4 for the first time.
It’s difficult to predict when non-league football will return right now, but I hope all the Stow fans, and everyone with an interest in the grassroots of the game, are keeping well and fingers crossed we’ll be back following our teams again soon.
Although Newmarket have previously been affiliated with Suffolk FA recently, since this campaign they were affiliated with Cambridgeshire FA I'll skip them, but it has to be said the Jockeys did have a decent season (just had to give them a mention), ending up in fourth.
Next in a long cluster of Suffolk clubs is sixth placed Brantham Athletic - this is where the Suffolk sides begin to appear in masses! Brantham won 15, drew 2 and lost 14 of their 31 games with them picking up 47 points in the process. The standout result, arguably for Brantham this season is a 4-1 away win at Swaffham Town not too long before the season ended, but did take Stow to penalties after a goalless draw at Greens Meadow in the County Cup QF - but couldn't overcome the league leaders from the spot.
Stanway Rovers however knocked them out of the League Challenge Cup 3- (after a 4-1 win over Harwich & Parkeston) 1, whilst Coggeshall United (following a 4-2 away win over West Essex) and Hoddesdon Town beat them in the FA Vase.
Immediately below them are Woodbridge Town, which from now on I'm going to post the league tables at the bottom of this post since there's a lot more clubs to go through - so apologies for that. The Woodpeckers' penultimate game of the campaign however did see them beat Thetford Town 6-3 away as well as hitting five against Ely City, Godmanchester Rovers and Walsham Le Willows.
Meanwhile in the cups, Woodbridge did beat Coggeshall United 1-0 but suffered a 4-0 defeat at higher league Waltham Abbey. Leiston however knocked Woodbridge out of the Suffolk Premier Cup, but did beat Tring Athletic Godmanchester (5-2) and, Stanway 4-0 (replay) in the FA Vase prior to falling to Plymouth Parkway. Ipswich Wanderers however knocked Woodbridge out of the League Challenge Cup in what overall was quite a decent season for the club.
Woodbridge player quotes:
Ryan Keeble: I think we matched every team for work rate which allowed us to play the way we wanted. We always found a way to fight against the big teams which we didn’t really need to do in the division below because we used to dominate every game. This year has been tougher but we were still on for a top 6 finish.
I’d go with one from this season against Walsham which has to go down as the best goal I’ve scored for Woodbridge.
Just below them are Mildenhall Town in 8th with 44 points from their 28 games.
Standout games for Mildenhall include a 6-1 home win over Thetford Town on January 14th, with 4-0 and 1-4 successes over Brantham Athletic and Haverhill Rovers respectively closely behind.
In the FA Cup, Mildenhall faced Biggleswade FC in their first round of the FA Cup away, but were knocked out after a, 4-1 defeat.
The FA Vase meanwhile fruited better luck, beating fellow Thurlow Nunn Premier Division side Swaffham Town 2-0 at home, before knocking out Newmarket Town 6-7 on penalties, having drawn the first leg 1-1 (at home) and the replay 3-3 at the Tristel Stadium. The Hall then advanced even further in the FA Vase, convincingly beating Crawley Green 4-1 at Recreation Way, but their cup run however came to a halt after a 1-0 loss at Stansted, bringing to an end a decent run in the national competition.
In the county Cup however, Mildenhall were knocked out off the competition following a 2nd Round home defeat at the hands of Brantham Athletic in their only outing in this, season's competition.
Meanwhile, they did have a decent run in the League Challenge Cup, after 1-0 wins over Lakenheath (home) and Godmanchester Rovers (away), but did succumb to a, 4-1 home loss to Norwich United in the following round.
Overall a decent season for the club, as player Tommy Robinson provides his thoughts below.
Mildenhall Town player quotes:
Tommy Robinson - We started off the 19/20 campaign in step 5, a decent league which is very difficult to get out of, however I had a decent start to the year adapted well and was starting to hit a purple patch which saw me get a goal and 7 assists in 10 games. Then late September in a game vs Ely I broke my leg which has forced me to be sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Directly below Mildenhall are, Long Melford in 9th, behind them by just one point when the season was curtailed.
A decent season for the club from Stoneylands who picked up notable wins over Hadleigh United 6-1 and Walsham Le Willows 5-0 - both of which coming at home.
The club also made it through to the FA Cup Preliminary Round as shown below, whilst doing similarly in the FA Vase - all of the club's cup results can be found below.
FA Cup: Southend Manor (A) 0-0, replay (H) 3-3 pens 5-4, Colney Heath (H) lost 2-0.
FA Vase: Little Oakley (H) W 1-0, Coggeshall United (a) L 1-0.
LCC: Hadleigh United (H) 4-2 win, Whitton United 2-2 (5-4pen), Stow (H) lost 2-0.
County Cup: Stowmarket (H) 1-0 loss.
Whitton United:
Another team that would feel they had a fairly good season is Whitton United, who finished 10th in the division with 42 points from their 28 league outings in a very tight competitive league with their biggest win coming in a 5-1 away win at Thetford Town.
Below features the club's cup results from this season.
FA Cup: West Essex (a) 2-1, Hertford Town 2-1 (H), Soham 3-0(a),
County: Walsham 1-2 home loss
FA Vase: Long Buckby (H) 1-3,
LCC: long Melford away.
Next up in Premier Division is thirteenth placed Kirkley & Pakefield who picked up 33 points, a respectable 13th position.
Below is an overview of their season.
Highest win: 5-2 H v Woodbridge.
County Cup: 1-3 home, loss Lowestoft.
FA Cup: 2-2 home draw 3g2 away replay loss at Wroxham.
FA Vase: Debenham 1-0 home win, Northampton On Chenecks lost 3-2 home aet,
League Challenge Cup: Walsham home, 2-1.
Two places lower meanwhile were Haverhill Rovers as the young side enmassed 29 points from 27 matches. An overview to their season can be found below.
Highest win 6-2 home v Goddy Rovers.
County Cup defeat R1 to NM.
FA Cup Home loss 1-6 Colney Heath.
FA Vase Benfleet (a) W 5-2, Colney Heath 2-0 away loss.
Leahue Challenge Cup Thetford 3-4 away win, home 2-1 loss Hackney Wick.
Max Dinnell (now Whitton United) - "This Season at Haverhill has been full of ups and downs. I’ve played with so many different players I could never name them all, which tells you part of the story to what went wrong."
Next up is 17th placed Walsham Le Willows who its fair to say had a fairly disappointing season but did ultimately get themselves out of relegation when the season was drawn to a halt with 24 points from 28 league outings having gone through a couple of change of managers. Below are some season stats.
Highest win 5-2 Clacton, 4-0 Ely.
County Cup 2-1 away win at Whitton, 1-3 home, QF loss v Bury.
FA Cup Peterborough Northern Star 1-2 home loss.
FA Vase. 2-1 home win Lakenheath, 4-3 March away loss,
League Challenge Cup 2-1 home, win Kirkley & Pakefield. HW win for Norwich United knocks them out.
Dan Stobbart - "It’s been a tough one from a team perspective. It hasn’t really happened for one reason or another but eventually we stayed up which was the end goal come the New Year. Personally it’s been a good experience to play more for the first team and to captain the under 18s. It’s helped me learn a lot more about the game and myself. Looking forward to getting going again for the next season!"
Hadleigh United on the other hand were four points from safety when football was drawn to a halt sitting 19th with 20 points from 27 games having had a tough campaign. Below are the club's cup results this season
Highest win: Haverhill Rovers/Stotfold 6-2.
County Cup: AFC Sudbury 2-2,away 5-4 pen win, 5-0 home loss, Lowestoft (quarter-final).
FA Cup: London Colney 2-0 away loss,
FA Vase: Stotfold 6-2 home win, Haverhill Borough 5-2 Home, Leighton Town away 2-1,loss,
LCC: Long Melford away loss.
We now move onto the Suffolk sides who ply their trade in the Thurlow Nunn First Division North (step 6 of the non league pyramid, or step 10 of the National League System in England).
Lakenheath were the team who finished second in the division after picking up an impressive 61 points in their hunt for promotion. Below is some of their season statistics.
Highest win 7-0 v Wisbech.
County Cup Achilles away 2-0 win, Crane Sports 5-1 away loss.
FA Vase Walsham away lost 2-1.
LCC Downham 2-1 home win, 1-0 Mildenhall away.
FDKO Wisbech St Mary 7-0 home win, 1-0 Halstead, Mulbarton 1-2 away win,
Moving down six places to eighth placed Ipswich Wanderers, aiming to be towards the top of the table having picked up 45 points when the season was curtailed. Stats from their season can be found below.
Highest win 8-0 v Leiston Res (H), 7-1 home win v Cornard.
County Cup, 2-1 Home win v Claydon, 2-0 win v Sudbury Res home, 1-0 v Old Newton home win, semi v Henley TCD.
FA Vase Enfield Borough 3-0 home loss.
LCC Holland 1-5 away win, Clacton 2-1,away win, Woodbridge T 4-1 home win, Stanway home 0-2 loss.
FDKO 1-4 H loss Coggeshall United.
Debenham LC sit directly below Wanderers just a point behind the Wanderers (9th, 44 points), with the Hornets enjoying a good season and will be looking to go one step further next season.
Here's some stats from their season (league tables can be found at the base of the blog in order of mention).
Highest win 5-2 v Bourne Vale United/Haverhill Borough.
County Cup Brantham Ath Res home 0-0, 4-2pens, Bourne Vale United 5-2 H win,
FA Cup, Cops 1-5 home loss.
FA Vase Wisbech 2-0 (aet) home win, Kirkley & Pakefield 1-0 away loss.
LCC Leiston Res 6-3 away loss.
FDKO, Framlingham home 1-1 (6-5pen win), 3-1 home loss v Norwich CBS.
During the off season I spoke to Debenham manager Guy Hayes and goalkeeper Bailey Fairweather, below is a quote from each on how the season went from their perspective.
Guy Hayes highlight - "The 3-0 win away to Ipswich Wanderers. To beat one of the pre season favourites for promotion so convincingly on their own patch was particularly pleasing. My business is also based there so was getting some stick in the build up to the game from the ground staff!"
Bailey Fairweather: "For Debenham it was a good season, was in and around the top half of the table and got to the quarter final of the senior cup and same for cops they got through to the semi final of the senior cup so for both teams it was proving to be a good season!"
Highlight-" It would have to be playing against Kirkley & Pakefield in the Fa Vase. Kirkley were the league about and flying and we knew it was going to be a tough game. We ended up losing from a controversial penalty decision late on in the game but from a personal perspective that is my main highlight from this season."
Safely midtable in twelfth is the highest placed Reserve side in Needham Market Reserves. The Young Marketmen, made up mostly of the club's Under-18 players, had a very good 2019-20 campaign as they equalled their record points tally when football was stopped back in March and looked set to beat their tally of 33 points, with the standout result of the young reds league season being a 4-1 Cornard United to end 2019 - more statistics meanwhile can be found below.
Highest win 5-0 v LSMFC.
County Cup Leiston St Margarets 5-0 home, win, Cops 2-1 away loss.
FDKO: away loss Mulbarton
Quotes from the team's players and Academy (and recently also First Team) manager Kevin Horlock are added below.
Tom Fitzgerald: "The reserves finished as the best reserve team in the division, which is really positive."
Evan Collard: "I think it’s been a great season for needham as a whole. At 18s level we completely dominated - which is great for everyone involved. Reserves had the best season points wise ever! And first team have been improving throughout the year edging near the playoffs at the end of the season!"
Tommy Northwood (highlight): "I think the standout game from this season is when we drew 2-2 against lakenheath at home. I’ve chosen this game because earlier on in the season we played away at lakenheath who were a very physical experienced team that we lost 6-1 to."
Kevin Horlock: "The Reserves were very similar, albeit we had a few older players in that but I think on average probably six starters were first years again, with the quality that we had in second years and obviously the few players we had outside of the Academy programme. Looking back it's been a successful season for us, unfortunately it wasn't concluded, I think the Reserves ended up on the same points as we did last year, which is the highest total the Reserve team have ever got, so they was going to smash that record and probably get the highest points total they'd ever had, which was nice and its always nice to finish the top reserve team in that league, which was something I had my eye on."
Just a point below them however were AFC Sudbury Reserves, who also had a fairly good season, picking up 32 points. A few statistics from their season can be found below.
Highest win 8-1 away v Wisbech.
County Cup Felixstowe Res 4-2,home,win, Ipswich Wanderers 2-0 away loss.
Likewise, Leiston Reserves were a point below them who also enjoyed a good season considering they are also made up of young players with former manager Wesley Soloman hopeful that the team would've gone onto to pick up more points going into the run in.
Position in league 14th, 31pts.
Highest win 8-1 Bramford United.
County Cup 8-1 home win Bramford United, Kirkley and Pakefield Res 2-1,away win, Crane Sports 3-0 away loss.
FDKO Norwich CBS away 3-3 5-3pen loss,
LCC Debenham 6-3 win home, Stow 7-0 away loss.
Wesley Soloman - "Overall I maintained league position whilst playing top half sides. Few good results in the mix too. It’s a bit gutting really because we had 12 games left and all apart from one or two all where bottom half sides so feel there was a great chance of picking up a lot of points in the run in."
Below them, once again in the same fashion are Cornard United, who sat in 15th with 30pts and enjoyed a fairly decent campaign.
Highest win 3-0 on numerous occasions.
County cup Capel Plough 3-0 away win, Old Newton 4-0 away loss.
FA Vase White Ensign 3-0 away loss.
LCC Halstead Town 4-5 home loss.
FDKO 5-1 away loss Harwich.
Next up is Framlingham Town, who sat a place and two points below Cornard when the season was curtailed, here's a small overview to their campaign.
Position in league 16th, 28pts.
Highest win 8-2 Felixstowe Reserves
County cup Bungay Town 3-0 away win, Ipswich Town Youth loss.
FA Cup Hackney Wick 3-1 away win, Basildon United away defeat.
FA Vase: lost first hurdle on penalties.
LCC Away loss v Woodbridge Town.
Assistant manager Anthony Fryatt summarised the club's season below.
"I won’t beat around the bush and try to hide it, this season has been a very disappointing one.
Whilst we were never under any pressure to go straight back up a top half finish was the minimum we expected and we looked set to come way short of that so we were very disappointed.
To pick at a few positives we promoted lots of players from our under 18s for debuts with many getting a good run of games & we have stuck strongly to our principles of promoting players through the youth system, keeping a local core to the squad and playing an attacking and exciting style of football. This reflects in the amount of goals we have scored and based on the goals for column we should be much higher in the table, but we have lacked that game management at key times - we know on our day we are good enough to beat anybody but have not been anywhere near consistent enough! But that I guess is common with such a young group we went into some games last season where our oldest player was 25 - on average I would guess the average age of our team was around 21/22 most weeks if the core stay together the years ahead could be very exciting!
So whilst there is positives we know that we must do better next season and I have every faith in the group of players we have to make next season a successful one, whenever it goes get underway."
Haverhill Borough meanwhile finished up in 17th on 27 points - here's some statistics from their campaign.
Highest win: 7-1 King's Lynn Town Reserves (H)
County cup: Henley Athletic (loss)
FA Vase: Halstead 3-1 (away win), Hadleigh United (loss).
LCC: Ely City 2-2 (9-10 penalty shootout loss).
FDKO: Halstead (away loss).
Onto the final Thurlow Nunn club from a Suffolk point of view.
Felixstowe & Walton United Reserves however, didn't have the greatest of seasons - positioned in 19th with 27pts when everything grinded to a halt.
Unfortunately from the Seasiders second string point of view, they lost in each round of every cup competition. I'd like to wish the team all the best in the Essex & Suffolk Border League (step 7) next season.
Time to now move onto the Suffolk & Ipswich League(s), starting with the Senior Division (step 7 of non-league).
We start with Champions Crane Sports, who had another superb season at the top of the league - winning 15 and drawing 3 of the 18 league outings! An excellent achievement to go unbeaten for any team. That excellent form was carried into both of the cup competitions they entered last season, as shown below.
Suffolk Senior Cup: East Bergholt United 2-0 (win), Westerfield 9-0 (win), Lakenheath 5-1 (win), Coplestonians (semi-final) TBD (postponed due to COVID). Morrison's Freight Cup: Final v Henley Athletic.
The team in second when football was halted was Haughley United, who's league record for the campaign read: Played 19, Won 12, Drew 3, Lost 4, Points 39.
Haughley will arguably be very happy with their campaign, only being nine points (which is still a decent gap in truth) behind Crane's superb season.
Haughley meanwhile also had a decent cup run in the Morrison's Freight Cup too, losing to Henley Athletic in the semi-finals in a clash between two sides who were amongst the chasing pack.
As mentioned, Henley Athletic finished just below Haughley on goal difference - Press Officer Tony Stone kindly gives us a season review for the club.
"In any other season our league performance would've been good, but Champions elect Crane's outstanding unbeaten season, has left us and the remaining contenders trailing in their wake. Despite which, in the final table we placed 3rd, and were unbeaten against any of the top 4 sides, indeed with 4 outstanding matches against the other 3 in the top 4 and 2 games against bottom of the league, we fancied our chances of finishing 2nd.
"However, it's been the cups that have provided the season's highlights, the Suffolk FA Senior Cup saw a come from behind 3-2 win over Thurlow Nunn side Haverhill Borough and a last minute 3-2 victory over Trimley Red Devils. These led to one of our club's most memorable days, a home quarter final against Ipswich Town U18's, a crowd of close to 300 spectators saw a terrific performance and a 2-1 win to take us through to a semi-final against Ipswich Wanderers.
"As reigning Bob Coleman League Cup holders, we approached this season's Morrison Freight Cup intent on retention. Woolverstone, Benhall and Coplestonians were all despatched en route to an away semi-final at Haughley Utd. This epic battle saw us triumph 1-2 AET, in what transpired to be our last game of the season, to progress to a repeat of last year's final against Cranes."
In fourth was another side who had a fantastic campaign, newly promoted Old Newton United (who won Division One last season) ending up with an impressive league record (especially for a newly promoted side) of Played 17, Won 12, Drew 2, Lost 3, Points 38, very good for a side that look like they'll be competing at the top of the table with numerous other teams for years to come.
The Newts also reached the Quarter-Final stage of the Suffolk Senior Cup, but lost out 1-0 to higher league Ipswich Wanderers. Player Luke Austin's thoughts are below.
Luke Austin - "Macca always said what we put in we will get out of it, he always said we can win it and always pushed us as hard as possible, I said top 5 at the start of the season, so yes I think we had a great season and well over achieved in my eyes. I honestly think we could of gone on to finished 2nd if the season played out and finished.
"All In all a brilliant 1st season and where the club belongs, the club is well run they deserve senior football for the effort that is put in all around.
"The biggest highlight was finishing so high, the buzzing feeling winning week after week, fighting hard against the top sides the division has to give.
In fifth were East Bergholt United - who picked up 36 points from their 20 league matches (winning 11, drawing 3, losimg 6) in what was a good season for the club - despite losing in the first hurdle in both cup competitions.
In sixth was Claydon who also had a decent campaign, recording 10 wins, 5 draws and 5 defeats frim their 20 league outings. Like East Bergholt however, they didn't have any luck in the cup competitions but still a decent season for the club.
Another side who had a fairly decent campaign was Coplestonians, who finished 7th - recording 10 wins, 3 draws and 6 defeats from 19 league matches. Cops however, did also have a good cup run in the County Cup, reaching the semi-finals - beating higher league Debenham in the Quarter-Finals on route - but were unable to face Crane in the last 4 due to the pandemic. Overall, a fairly memorable season for Cops.
Goalkeeper Bailey Fairweather, dual-registered with Debenham LC, added the following on the club's campaign.
Bailey Fairweather - "At Cops it would be one my first games for them I believe against Trimley which was just a normal league game. I was still new to the team so I wasn’t as confident going into it as I normally would be but as soon as the game started I had probably one of my best games and helped them get the win."
In eighth place meanwhile was newly promoted Bildeston Rangers, who also started life in the Senior Division with a very good season - picking up 9 wins, 5 draws and 5 defeats from 19 league matches.
Though, Bildeston exited both cup competitions at the first hurdle, to Ipswich Town U18s and Old Newton United, the club have continued their progress in recent seasons - ensuring they were safe from relegation.
In ninth, finished Bourne Vale United who record 8 wins, 3 draws and nine defeats from 20 Senior Division outings, whilst also enjoying a decent cup run, reaching the semi finals of the Morrison's Freight Cup - having had a bye in the first round, Bourne Vale beat both Cockfield United and Old Newton before meeting Crane Sports in the semi final. The club however, only made it through to the 2nd round of the County cup, losing to higher league Debenham LC in what can be considered as a good season for the club.
Moving onto tenth place, Benhall St. Mary who accumulated 7 wins, 4 draws and 11 defeats from 22 league matches. Benhall however didn't have great success in the two cup competitions, losing to Bourne Vale in the first round of the county cup but did beat Achilles before being knocked out by Henley in the League Cup (MFC).
Capel Plough meanwhile finished 11th, notching 6 wins, 5 draws and 8 defeats from 19 league matches, but lost at the first hurdle in both cup competitions.
Rebuilding Achilles then finished in 12th, facing the same fate as Capel in cup outings.
Next was Trimley Red Devils in 13th (P19, W3, D4, L12), who did progress to the 2nd round of the County Cup but lost at the first hurdle in the league cup.
Leiston St Margaret's then finished in 14th having picked up 2 wins and 2 draws from 21 league games, making the 2nd round of the league cup before being knocked out by Old Newton.
Westerfield round off the division in last, who did reach the 2nd round of the league Cup where they were eliminated by Coplestonians.
Of course no relegations this season so the above teams will contest the division next season.
Into SIL Division One, we start off with promoted Ransomes Sports who will return back to the Senior Division after a season away, having won 17, drawn 1 and lost 1 in what was a very good season for club up until the season was curtailed - having a good cup run in the Morrison's Freight Cup (MFC).
Also joining Ransomes up in the Senior Division will be Halesworth Town, who finished 2nd in Division One at the time football was suspended, the club enjoying a terrific season recording 16 wins and 1 defeat from 17 league outings. Halesworth also made it to the third round of the MFC where thry were knocked out by Ransomes. The club are also currently in the semi-finals of the Suffolk Junior Cup, where they will take on AFC Your Shirts with tickets now on sale on the County FA website.
In third, who also enjoyed a good season was Wickham Market - who picked up 12 wins, 1 draw and 5 league defeats, winning a handful of cup matches between the two competitions along the way - overall making for a decent season for the club.
Another side in the promotion hunt this season, along with previous campaigns, is Sporting 87 - who also enjoyed a very good league campaign after recording 12 wins and 3 defeats from 15 league outings. Sporting also reached the fourth round in the MFC, where they lost narrowly to higher Crane Sports, whilst also doing likewise in the Suffolk Junior Cup - losing this time to Sudbury Sports Academy.
(Editing note, since I will be including screenshots of the league tables towards the bottom of this blog, I'll cease to mention league records from this point on)
In 5th was Southwold Town, who also enjoyed a good campaign - making it to the third round of the Morrison Freight Cup (losing to Sporting 87), whilst making it to the third round also in the Suffolk (County) Junior Cup.
Grundisburgh, 6th, also enjoyed a decent season in the league - but could only make it to the first round of both cup competitions.
Coddenham Athletic meanwhile continue their progression up the SIL with manager Joel Windsor kindly providing a review on the club's campaign.
Manager Joel Windsor has kindly sent in the below club season review-
"Now in the 2nd season in SIL Division 1, Coddenham’s gradual rise up the league pyramid took another step forward with the first team finishing 7th in the league bettering there 11th place finish the year before. Also, the introduction of the reserve side playing in Division 4, was a huge step forward for the club.
The 1st team started poorly in the league up until December they had only recorded 1 league win. But a run of only 3 defeats (all against the top 3) in 12 before lockdown made sure they finished in the top half.
The Reserves form seemed to follow the first teams form, with a bad start, before putting a run of results together from December onwards, they finished a respectable 7th in the division as well.
Both sides will be looking to really push on next season and really challenge the top boys in there divisions."
In 8th, Stow Falcons also had a decent season in the league, but couldn't transfer that into cup competitions, losing at the first hurdle in both.
Stanton, 9th, enjoyed two good cup runs - making it to the third round in the league cup whilst making it through 3 rounds before losing to Bramford Road Old Boys.
Wenhaston United, 10th, however lost at the first hurdle in both cups but sat 8 points clear of relegation when the season was halted.
Bacton United, 11th, however progressed to the second round of the League Cup - with a notable result being a 4-1 win.
Brian Vela, AFC Kesgrave 1st team manager,e has kindly sent in a season review for the club - added below.
AFC Kesgrave experienced a transition year where the entire previous years 1st team moved to pastures new to enjoy their twilight footballing careers in lower divisions. The aim for the new season was therefore to build a new first team side that were able to compete in a strong division 1 and continue to field out 3 adult sides.
Even though all 3 teams were fighting relegation, the teams managed to cement themselves in their respectivie divisions by fielding 3 younger sides. The first team started the season brightly but went on a poor couple of months which yileded no points (some undeservingly), however, the desire and determination was never missing and the atmosphere in the dresing room was still positive. The teams began to show their progres towards the latter part of the season and every player has improved and enjoyed themselves despite the challenges. The training sessions were constant, varied, fun and demanding which was one of the reasons why the club achieved its goals.
Next season, the club would like to improve on last seasons good work by becoming more competitive while developing more footballers for the future.
In 13th, Barham Athletic may not have had the greatest league campaign to put it lightly but did record a 15-0 home County Cup win to note.
Bottom of Division One was Mendlesham, who despite the league positioning did record a 5-3 w8n in the cup.
Into Suffolk & Ipswich League Division Two, Tattingstone United were top of the pile when the season ended early, therefore gaining promotion to Division One for 2020-2021 season, having enjoyed a superb season in the league, whilst winning a handful of cup matches between the two competitions along the way.
In 2nd and also joining Tattingstone in gaining promotion to Division One, Bedricks Worth also enjoyed a very good season - also recording a few cup wins - notably a 7-1 win in one cup game.
In third, Bramford Road Old Boys enjoyed a good season in both league and cup - picking up a handful of cups competitions along the way - and will contest the Semi-Finals of 2019/20 Suffolk Junior Cup vs Sudbury Sports in the following week or so (depending on publishing date).
AFC YourShirts (4th) meanwhile also had a good season, also still competing in 2019/20 County Cup semi finals v Halesworth.
Fifth placed Woolverstone also enjoyed a decent campaign in the league, whilst also registering a cup win at Ufford who finished directly below them.
The aforementioned Ufford Sports were just behind Woolverstone by goal difference when football was halted in what was a very competitive midtable in Division Two - just 2 points separating sixth and 9th - with goal difference also keeping Cockfield & Kirton Athletic apart (8th and 9th).
Ufford notably hitting nine past Somersham during the league season.
Saxmundham Sports (7th) meanwhile beat, Woolverstone in the cup, before bowing out to Henley in the league cup.
Cockfield arguably enjoyed a free scoring season, hitting between 5 and 7 goals in a game on 6 occasions during the season, notably putting 5 past higher league Bacton in the league cup (5-2).
Twelve goals however separated them and Kirton (9th), who also picked up some high scoring wins - notably beating Ufford 8-2, showing how tight but competitive the division was!
In tenth, Ipswich Athletic were only six points below Kirton when football was put on hold but arguably had a tough season, although Ipswich's 4-3 away win to Ufford will no doubt be a highlight of the club's campaign.
Tacket Street BBOB FC however have recently taken the saddening decision to fold after 55 years. My thanks to the club for sending in their own season review for what turns out will was their final season (11th) - I'd like to wish their players, coaches and volunteers all the best for the future!
"At the start of the season we had high hopes to improve on the previous years final league standings,4th bottom! We recruited well in the summer but knew lads would take time to gel/adapt to the way we wanted to play! Things unfortunately didn’t start well for us & continued for a while into the season untill we picked up a fantastic 6-1 away win at Thurston who had a few weeks previous beat us 3-1 at our place,we picked up some good points before Christmas but unfortunately lost our management shortly afterwards,a low point of the season was being beat 8-0 away at saxmundham awful performance from our lads but credit but be handed out to sax who in my opinion have a great set up & a very decent young side let by a good manager! Hopefully things can improve for next season! Hoping to have new management in place by then."
In 12th, Stonham Aspal were packed between another tight section of the table with 6 points separating 11th and 13th, with Stonham notably picking up a home win over Woolverstone.
Thurston in 13th kindly sent in their own own season review - included below.
"Well after what felt like a promising sign in terms of overall play in preseason we were ready to face bedricks in our first league game. Having said that the loss of JD to Uni, Crossy and Tarps to Stanton whilst also missing out on a few others in preseason we also knew it would be a tough season.
However we didn’t expect what it turned out to be - a relegation battle...
The first half of the season turned out to be a succession of games of two halves...performing well in one half and being shambolic in the other half of the game. And it was our first league game Vs bedricks which set the tone for this...leading 1-0 at half time only to concede 6 in the second half!
The frustrations continued notable, 1-0 loss to Stonham after being the better side for 89 minutes, the 6-1 loss to Tackets street having previously blown them away at their place and yet again a 6-3 loss to Bedricks despite having a much improved performance overall...
With 12 games to go team morale at an all time low and with no signs of a change coming manager Tom Parkington decides to take some time away from football for understandable reasons the future looked bleak to say the least...
Luke Reilly took over as player manager in the short term and with a few home truths and a slight change of direction the players reacted fantastically. The lads really came together, started to show signs of having a shared goal, a togetherness which previously took us to promotion/county cup semi final and a league cup win last season and more importantly an improvement in performances.
Although with loosing our goalkeeper Kieran Moore (hopefully he’ll be back one day) the improved performances didn’t translate into points, most notable away at Sax where with bare 11 until half time and a stand in keeper the team outplayed Sax but a few errors from Rick our stand in keeper (still a hero) we lost 5-3.
Then a fantastic performance vs high flyers BrOB saw us narrowly lose 1-0 when we deserved a draw before it finally came...the long awaited win Vs Stonham before COVID 19 stopped play!
All in all a frustrating season however I do firmly believe that with the performances and our run in we would have stayed up by our own merit. This only supported by words of encouragement from teams such as yourshirts, Ipswich athletic and BrOB rightly pointing out there are much worst teams in the league than us, we just lack a goalscorer! So if and when next season comes...we will be ready, the lads are working hard off the pitch and we will be aiming much higher!"
Bottim of the division were Somersham, which despite the position in the table did notably pick up a 6-1 win over Ipswich Athletic.
Finally, we move onto SIL Division Three.
Once again, the top two teams were promoted to Division Two for the 2020-21 season, with Melton United and Elmswell occupying those positions when the season was ended early in March.
Melton had a superb season, ending it unbeaten in the league with 12 wins and two 2 draws and also enjoyed a good cup run in the Suffolk Primary Cup - notably picking up an 8-0 win on their way to the semi-finals - where they'll take on Ipswich Exiles in mid September.
Runners-up Elmswell meanwhile won 9, drew 1 and lost 2 of their 12 games, notably hitting 9 goals past Stage in one game and will also be in the semi finals of the County Cup, where tjey will take on Leiston 'A'.
Kesgrave Kestrels (3rd) kindly sent in their own season review, which is below.
"At the start of the season Former Mendlesham Reserve Manager Jake Monaghan joined the club as part of a two man management team with former Kestrel reserve manager Carl Chittock. The squad needed to be rebuilt after multiple player departures with both managers bringing new players in and former reserves stepping up to the first team. It took awhile for the new young squad to gel and we drew our first couple of games despite arguably deserving more. It all then clicked and we went on a terrific 4 game winning streak, propped up by ‘The Wall’ which seemed to be an impenetrable defence. We then suffered a number of injuries to our regular first teamers and saw a mixed bag of results as the season continued but we always remained in the top 3/4 throughout, a few notable results were hard fought wins against Whitton and Hope Church who we had a couple of tough battling away games against. A few really standout wins include doing the double over 2nd place Elmswell who are tough on any day. We’ve also enjoyed a friendly rivalry with Witnesham as the season progressed and despite us losing to the team below us in the league we’re looking forward to getting those results back next year. We have a super talented but very young side as for most of the season our oldest player was only 25 years old, and for us the lack of experience showed against a good team like Melton who used experience and game management really well against us. We had a strong showing in the cup but unfortunately lost at the Quarter stage to a good Leiston ‘A’ team although I think we really didn’t show what we’re capable of that day. Overall a good season as the young squad embedded in and became a cohesive unit which really gives us a strong opportunity to push on for promotion and cup success next year."
In 4th, Witnesham Wasps finished 8 points behind Kesgrave with 3 games in hand, notably scoring 7 goals in a single game on 2 occasions - with one of which coming in a Coubty Cup win before losing to league champions Melton in the following round.
In 5th, Occold finished below Witnesham on goal difference with 5 points splitting 5th and 9th in yet another tightly packed division. Occold meanwhile, hit 7 and 8 goals in a single game once each during the season, including a Divisional Cup game (in which they were impressive I can say from a personal point of view) - in which they were unbeaten in when the season ended - as they were set to play Walsham Le Willows 'A' side.
Sixth placed Ipswich Exiles, as previously mentioned, have a county cup semi final to come this month, arguably having a decent season overall.
Bardwell Sports however finished just a point below Exiles with 5 games in hand of the team above them, notably beating Wortham 5-1 in their final 2019-20 outing.
In 8th, Hope Church also finished a poibt below the team directly above them, with Churh notably beating Woolverstone 4-1 in the county Cup as well as edging a 4-3 thriller with Bardwell.
Stage (9th), were on the winning side of some high scoring matches - notably picking up a 6-3 win against Grundisburgh Reserves in the County Cup, whilst also finishing seven points ahead of tenth placed Whitton United Social Club.
The aforementioned Whitton also recorded a decent cup victory, putting 5 past Tacket Street BBOB Reserves also in the county Cup.
That brings us to the final team, Wortham - who despite their league position did make it through to the 4th round of the Divisional Cup, losing to Walsham Le Willows 'A' team, but did win a cup thriller 7-5 with Somersham Reserves, as well as 6-1 wins over Cops Reserves.
That concludes the 2019-20 Suffolk Season Review, my thanks go to everyone who has kindly provided pieces or quotes for this piece and I hope that you all like what I've produced - I wanted to avoid potentially upsetting teams so I elected to try and find a positive light when noting each team's seasons. Any feedback would be extremely appreciated and I wish all teams the best for the new season. To finish here are the league tables from each league mentioned.
