Being held on Friday July 10th, the evening will start with a meal at 7:30pm and will be followed by our award presentation, raffle and then a disco. We would like the event to be a chance for everybody to get dressed up and let their hair down after a season's hard work with Long Preston Football Club. You get all this, plus the chance to take on Treasurer Rodgers in a strawpedo competition, for just £26 per person.
So, if you would like to join us for this special evening, take a look at the menu and make your choices. Click here to download the reply slip and send completed ones along with a £10 deposit per person to Chairman Newhouse at the address on the menu. Cheques should be made payable to Long Preston FC. The final balance will be payable 10 days prior to the event.
You have until May 15th to get your name on the list and we would like to see as many people as possible attending.
The good word of the mighty LPFC has been spread again by the local newshounds at the Craven Herald. It's a lovely piece with a bit of history and an interview with Mr Frank "LPFC Legend" Irving. We don't think it is on the website just yet, but treasurer McRodgers has scanned it for us.
Click here to see the article. You should. It's brilliant.
Long
It may
only be a partially complete, embryonic, and some might say pointless league table but it's the best league table we've ever seen.
Below is the up to date Devonshire Carpets Craven and District League Division 3 table, courtesy of the CAD website. Enjoy while you
can, it's likely to change when the second round of fixtures takes place this Thursday (where we are not involved...).
Altogether
now...Long Preston, top of the league, Long Preston, Long Preston, top of the league...
First League Game Announced
The
Craven and District Football League Official Computer Powering Hamster Wheel has been in overdrive this week, with the first couple
of league fixtures of the season announced.
Like a newborn Bambi, the world's newest football club* LPFC take their first, wobbly,
nervous steps in the quest towards the the title/promotion/mid table mediocrity/saving face (delete as appropriate through
the season) in Craven League Division Three.
The opponents are our second closest rivals, in terms of location, Settle United
Reserves. The game is at home, at Hellifield's
The second game is LPFC's first on the road, away to Waddington Reserves on 4th September.
*may
not be actually the world's newest football club.
Grindleton Game Postponed
Just so you know, the friendly vs Grindleton
tonight (12/8) has been postponed due to the crazy old weather we're having. We hope to re-schedule it for sometime, but
that might not be possible given that our first league game is in 9 days. Either way, keep an eye out here for confirmation of any
re-arranged fixture.
Cryptic Quiz Winner...
The quiz has finished and Treasurer Rodgers has got his big red pen out and had
a busy weekend marking them, the majority of people got several big, fat red crosses. However, a select few brainboxes managed to
get 50 out of 50 and they were Scott Allen, Stewart Kemp, Eric Gledhill and Richard Littlejohn. Instead of sharing out the prize
money we decided to have a random, independantly adjudicated draw to decide who took the full pot o'cash. Draw machine Rosie Palmer
of the Maypole Inn was selected and drew the winner from a hat number 3 on Tues 5th August after training and the winner of £20 was....Eric Gledhill!
Congratulations to Uncle Eric, and thanks to everybody who entered and helped raise around £100 for the club.
Fantasy
Premier League Fundraiser...
We're doing it again, raising money for the club and for those who know their Arshavins from their
Eto'os. For an entry fee of £10, payable to the treasurer, you can win a limitless amount of money!* The Euros raised £40 for the
club and £50 for the webmaster, who won the thing. Again, the winning amount will be decided when we have all entrants in, but we're
hoping it'll be about the same if not more!
Here's what to do;
1 - Go to http://fantasy.premierleague.com/
2 - Register,
read the rules and pick your team. Pick Dean Windass, you know you want to.
3 - When your team is picked, go to leagues (on the
left hand side) and enter 999-497 into the blank box. Click enter private league.
4 - Copper up and furnish tresurer Rodgers with ten
of the queens.
5 - Any problems or questions, contact the webmaster.
Entry closes at 11.30am on the 16th August, so make sure
you've got everything sorted by then. In the meantime, if you've picked your team transfers are free until the 16th. Which will be
all well and good when Momo Sidibe ups sticks to AC Milan.
Go on, enter, it makes bland mis-table Premier League clashes more
interesting!
*actual amount may not be limitless, it will probably be limited. Very limited.
28.07.08 - Bacon
Butty-Tastic
The day began bright and early at 8am for 75% of the LPFC committee at the Village Hall. After the fearsome “hairdryer”
phone call from the Chairman, manager Kris sauntered in around 8.30am to make the full complement.
Once the hall was set up and
signs erected, it was time to rustle up some bacon to entice in hungry customers……and who should be the first of these hungry customers?
None other than our own super striker, Mick Snape, fresh from a night out in Skipton and looking a tad worse for wear. Nothing a lovingly
created bacon butty and a fresh brew wouldn’t sort out!
And so with that the floodgates opened with people queuing up for bacon
butties, cakes and raffle tickets. It was non stop in the kitchen with the Chairman barking orders (who else?!), the gaffer frying
the bacon, the secretary buttering and filling baps and the treasurer on brew duty. Now we all know how people feel on The F Word
with Gordon Ramsey!
We seemed to be there for hours and did run out of bacon, but the Post Office came to our rescue and supplied
us with more. The crowds seemed to be dying down around 11.45am so an executive decision was made to call it a day at midday and retire
to the Maypole Inn for a couple of hard earned refreshing beverages in the sunshine.
It was a very successful day for LPFC, with
early counts showing we raised around the £350 mark. A big thank you to everyone who came along and supported us, and it was great
to see (LPFC living legend) Frank Irving there.
Special thanks go to Jean Rodgers, Kate Attewell, Barbara Wilcock and Sophie
& Emily Baker for their help in the kitchen, with the raffle and on the cake stall.
Words by James Rodgers, all pictures
of the day can be seen via the gallery.
20.07.08 - Friendlies
We've had a great response from other local teams to our formation
and have a few friendlies in the pipeline. The only ones 100% confirmed at the moment are Horton (home) on Tuesday 29th July
and Cowling Res. (away) on August 7th. Keep an eye on the matches page for future confirmed friendlies and league fixtures. If
you wish to arrange a friendly against us, please email the club secretary.
20.07.08 - Bacon Butty Morning
We've got a fund raising
Bacon Butty morning coming up this weekend, on Saturday 26th July at the Village Hall, Long Preston. There will be coffee, cakes and
a raffle along with the finest bacon butties this side of Devil's Bridge. It all kicks off at 9am, so don't be late, the bacon won't
last forever! Any donations to the raffle will be gratefully received on Saturday morning or if more ifo is needed regarding donations,
contact el treasurado.
12.07.08 - Situations Vacant
With the start of the news season merely weeks away, we're looking for an
aspiring sports journalist to write match reports for the website covering our intrepid boys journey through the season.
We can't pay you, obviously, but should be able to ferry you to and from games and give you a flask of tea and a couple of biscuits.
If your interested, e-mail the webmaster or grab a committee member if you see them in the street.
04.07.08 - New Training
Tops Available
The official LPFC training top is now available for purchase. Make all your friends jealous by looking as cool as Treasurer
and part-time model James Rodgers does here, here and also here. The training top comes in black and yellow in a variety of sizes
from svelte to chunky, with embroidered LPFC badge and the owners initials on the front. Each top purchased is subsidised
by Michael Heathcote-Webster and sponsored by Heathcote Antiques. The training tops cost either £25 including player registration
for the season, or £15 without registration. Signing up to be a player for the season on its own is £15. Therefore doing both saves
you a princely £5. If you are interested in purchasing a top, contact Treasurer Rodgers.
04.07.08 -LPFC In The Craven Herald
The
resurrection of LPFC is big news in the local area, it's made back page headlines in local newspaper The Craven Herald.
Click here for the report on the webpage. Click here to see a scan of the actual newspaper page itself. You can almost smell
the ink.
02.07.08 - New Gallery Page
Ronnie Allen's been snapping the boys in training action and to celebrate this, a
new gallery page has been created to showcase his talents. It means you'll no longer need to imagine what Kris looks like in
the new home kit. Or what Jimmy Rodgers' pins look like (cracking, is the answer). Or even imagine the big Chairman in a vest. See
pictures of those and more at the gallery here and over on the left hand menu.
30.06.08 - Fantasy
Football Results
Euro 2008 has come to an end and so, in turn, has our Fantasy Football competition. Fun was had by all,
and a total of £40 raised for the clubs coffers. Thanks to all who took part, it possibly doesn't bode well for our season ahead when
"manager" Kris Attewell succeeded in showing us his managerial skills by coming bottom. Behind several GIRLS. The campaign
to install Jean Rodgers as manager has gained momentum with William Hill shortening her odds dramatically overnight to 10/3
joint favourite (with Bobby Robson) to succeed the already under pressure Attewell as manager. The cash winners are
below;
1st - £50 - David Robertshaw
2nd - £20 - Stephen Stellings
3rd - £10 - Jean Rodgers.
We'll be doing something similar
for the new Premier League season (47 days and counting) so keep your eyes peeled...
28.06.08 - First Training Sessions
The
first training sessions of the pre-season got underway this week. Higher numbers than expected attended the playing fields to stake
a claim for the famed black and amber shirt come season kick off time. With 24 people in attendance (98.2% of the village population)
LPFC has created a real buzz in the village. During pre-season, there will be two training sessions per week held at 6.30pm each Tueasday
and Thursday and are open to all ages, shapes and sizes.
23.06.08 - Tabletop
The great LPFC tabletop fundraising sale took
place last weekend and was a roaring success. Please see details below. Words by James Rodgers;
The sale kicked off on 21st June
at 10am although, as usual with such a high profile event, some eager bargain hunters were scanning the area well before. The
LPFC stall had such a variety of items, from a singing lobster to a mini disc player, a photocopier to the entire Friends series on
video, some fine silverwear to biking shoes, a mini fruit machine (courtesy of K Attewell!) to a vertical blind, a swimming pool to
jigsaws and mini table football to Monkey Island computer game on 3.5 floppy disks.
The most startling part of the
day was the realisation of how old we've all become. We were amazed that the kids of today had no idea what a mini disc player was
(who needs ipods?), or that a computer game could possibly come on something that wasn't circular or shiny. Oh how times
have changed and don't even mentioned the baffled look the videos got!
After a frantic 2 hours, the sale came to a close.
We'd been rushed off our feet, and were very grateful for the cups of tea, supplied by Jean Rodgers (fantasy football genius!). Whilst
supping our brew we coppered up and after £5 was taken out for our table, our profits were an impressive £101.45 for the club.
A
huge thank you to everyone who came along and supported us, and remember to get yourself an LPFC Football Quiz (below) and try and
win £20, the closing date is 1st August 2008.
23.06.08 - Cryptic Clues Quiz
We've devised a pesky quiz for all you brainboxes
out there, all you need to do is name all 50 teams (English and Scottish) and stand the chance of winning £20! Entry is £1 and the
quiz sheet can be purchased at either local pub, or downloaded here. If downloading the quiz, please submit with £1 entry fee
sellotaped on, to Treasurer Rodgers at the address on the sheet by August 1st.
23.06.08 - Player Insurance
At the behest
of our honourable secretary and legal eagle Russell East, there is a link to the website detailing the insurance provided for all
you players. The link is on the link page, sensibly enough. There's also a form you have to fill in for our reference, contact East
if you haven't got one yet.
23.06.08 - History
Check out the history page, as it has had a nice update thanks to aspiring local
historian and team photographer, Ronnie Allen. Cheers for the article Ron!
06.06.08 - Fantasy Football Reminder
Just a reminder
to anyone who wants to play Euro 2008 Fantasy Football - the deadline for entry is 17:00 tomorrow, have your team registered by then
or miss out! The winning proze pot is going to be a minimum £50 so it's worth a go! Instructions below. Also, anyone who has entered,
pay up soon or Rodge will send the heavies round...
06.06.08 - Pre-Season Training
LPFC pre-season training gets underway on Tuesday
June 24th at 6.30pm. This will take place at the world famous playing fields. Newy will mow the pitch, mark out some lines and we
might even get the nets out for the goal. That's right, goal (singular). It'll be just like Wembley. Everyone is invited, so dust
off those boots and throw your hat in the ring for a starting berth in the world's greatest football team.
02.06.08 - Fantasy
Euro 2008 Fundraiser
What better way to pass the European Championships this summer than by entering a fantasy football competition,
raising funds for our club, possibly winning some money and laughing at Newy when his team gets beaten by girls? We've set up a league
on the official website, it's free to register so get on there and pick a team. All entrants to the LPFC league will pay £10 to the
treasurer, some of which will goto the club, some to a prize pot (we'll decide the proportions when final numbers in). In the meantime,
follow these six easy steps to Euro glory.
1. Goto http://en.fantasy.euro2008
2. Register.
3. Pick Team.
4. When picked,
goto "Create Leagues With Your Friends" on the right.
5. In "Join Private League" enter 7740-1787.
6. Furnish the treasurer with £10
in cash, cheque, electronic payment or good old fashioned beans (contact him for info).
Easy eh? Do it.
02.06.08 - Fundraising
The
fundraising for the new season begins in earnest now to pay for our spangly new kits, equipment and various fees. The quest for dollar
starts with a tabletop sale at the village hall on 21st June, followed by a bacon butty morning at the same venue on July 26th.
More details to follow in due course.
02.06.08 - We're In!
As you may already know, LPFC have been officially accepted into the Craven League for the 2008/09 Season. It was announced at the AGM on the 28th May and reported in the Craven Herald (about halfway down). So now the hard work actually starts, we'll be busy recruiting players, raising money and getting everything ready for the big kick off. A massive thanks to everyone who has helped, special mentions to The Maypole Inn and Magna Large Print who've both contributed greatly to the purchase of the club kit. Many thanks also to everyone who'se helped, donated money or just wished us good luck.
