Walsham (yellow & blue) vs. March (blue & white). April 2006.
Walsham (yellow & blue) vs. March (blue & white). April 2006.
Walsham Football Club were founder members of the Bury & District League and later entered the Bury & District Sunday League. As a junior side they were very successful, winning the Suffolk Junior Cup in 1987/88, 1988/89 & 1989/90, having been runners up in 1973/74. Numerous Bury & District League titles and cups were won before the club made the move to the Suffolk & Ipswich League in 1989/90. For the first few seasons they were in between the first division and the senior league until establishing themselves as a senior side by finishing fourth in the league in 1997/98, the following seasons saw them finish regularly in the top 3 or 4 until they won the senior league in 2001/02 and again in 2002/03, along with winning various cups during this period in the Ipswich League. The season 2004/05 saw a major step up for the club with their first season in the Ridgeons League, which meant travelling to play teams from various towns throughout East Anglia, which raised a few eyebrows for a village club! The first season saw the club finish in fourth place just missing out on promotion to the Premier League, but the club had the pleasure of reaching the Suffolk County Senior Cup Final, for the first time, which was played at Portman Road, the home of Ipswich FC, but sadly they lost in the final. This year (2006), their second season has seen the club in the top 6 of the league for most of the season and once again they have reached the final of the Senior Cup, which will again be held at Portman Road in May.
They also have a thriving reserve team on a Saturday which like the first team moved to the Ipswich League and won various leagues and cups. At the start of the 2005/06 season they moved up to play in the Ridgeons Reserve League, which has proved very successful for the club and beneficial to the players, by playing at better grounds. They have an “A” team on a Saturday which plays in the Suffolk & Ipswich League, the “A” team allows younger players to progress and also caters for the players that are only good enough for that level, but are still very good club members. They have an adult team on a Sunday that competes in the Bury & District Sunday League and over the latter years they have also been successful. This year they also introduced an “Under 18” youth team that plays in the Ridgeons Youth League which hopefully will help young players that are good enough to progress through to the first team. You can visit the football club’s web site for more information on, Walsham le Willows Football Club. For further information on the senior section of the football club please contact Mr. Mike Powles, the Chairman on 01359 221618, whether it be for playing or if you would like to help in any way, because the size of the club now requires help off the field in many other areas.
Over the years the Sports Club have also had a very successful junior section which caters for youth football from the ages of Under 10’s, right through to Under 16’s, this youth section has proved successful for players to progress and also some parents that have helped over the years have become very good committee members for the Sports Club. For further information on the youth section please contact the Chairman Mr. Geoff Pattinson on 07841 396594.
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The FA Cup (on Loan!)
Back in August 2007 we saw what was probably a first for the Walsham le Willows Football Club as the FA Cup was at the local football ground in Summer Road when Ridgeons Premier side Walsham le Willows played Stowmarket in the extra preliminary round of the "E.on" sponsored competition. The village side was just one of the 731 entrants to this seasons FA Cup and with a large media presence including Radio Suffolk, Anglia Television, the Daily Telegraph and our local East Anglian Daily Times it turned out to be a wonderful advert for the village. There was a real cup fever with a record ground attendance of 215 people who took the opportunity to look at or be photographed with the famous old trophy, possibly the most famous cup in the world.
Walsham le Willows progressed to the next round and a step nearer Wembley with a comprehensive 3-0 victory, with the first half goals from local boys Paul Musgrove, Neill Gooderham and Gary Ross. A truly remarkable performance with another home tie in the next round which is being played in two weeks time on the 1st of September against Haverhill and then only 12 games to go from the final. Can the village side go all the way? Unfortunately the answer was No! Never the less, even having got this far was a very worthy achievement for our local football team and who knows, in 2008 we may even achieve even greater heights.
Here is a greatly edited version of an article that appeared in the Daily Telegraph of Monday the 20th of August. "...the newly promoted 'Willows' progressed to the next round for the first time in their long history by comprehensively beating their neighbours 3-0.... To be at the Meadows in Walsham le Willows is to be transported back to the dawn of association football, when fledgling clubs shared the village green with the older sport of cricket. The boundary still intrudes on to the football pitch and the ancient pavilion, once thatched, survives, although a new clubhouse now provides excellent facilities for all."
" There is one floodlight pylon that we leave down until the cricket season ends," chairman Mike Powles said, beaming as a record attendance of 215 was announced," and we have erected a new stand this season to replace the old shed that stood for 52 years." Established in the late 19th century, Walsham now play at the highest level in their history, having won the Ridgeons Eastern Counties First Division last season. Manager Paul Smith has been in charge since 2000 and the club have been on an upward curve ever since.
" When you are an amateur footballer it gives you a buzz just to play in it (the FA Cup)," said Smith. "It's even better to score in it. I got a hat-trick once playing for Sudbury Town - against Aylesbury, I think," he recalls modestly. Smith and his Stowmarket Town counterpart Dave Hubbick are old pals - the two formed Sudbury's strike partnership in the FA Vase final at Wembley in 1989, when 26,000 people witnessed Hubbick's goal in the 1-1 draw with Tamworth.
Walsham is a village that boasts two pubs and a population of just over 1,000. The football team consists of local boys - there are three sets of brothers in the squad - who thrive on dressing-room camaraderie. "They are just a group of blokes all doing different jobs through the week," Smith said. "Saturday afternoon is their release." When Walsham won the league last season, the players celebrated at the Blue Boar Inn in the village. "The following day," Alan, the pub landlord told me, "a few of them rang up to apologise for being too noisy - I thought that was very polite." "
