Club Captain's Report For 2025

This is the second year of the Captain’s End of Year Report. The publication of this report coincides with the annual presentation evening, which is a celebration of the club as a whole and individual members achievements.

Of course, WWFC is not all about winning competitions and we should all be grateful to Paul R (the Social Secretary) and his little helper John K for their achievements on the social front, including the presentation evening, and to Geoff (the Fixtures Secretary) for the increasing number of friendly fixtures, ably assisted by other members.

Many of you will have been at the first Tuesday session at Winchester City AFC 3G pitch on 6 January.  The University are happy to welcome us back when required and the two dates we cannot play on the 3G pitch have already been booked (one in April and one in August).

We have several members who are recovering from injuries and illness and we need to support them and keep them “connected” to the club.  I wish them all a speedy recovery.

I would like to give a special mention to the Development Sub Committee (DSC), ably led by Ian, for its many achievements, including the new sponsorship agreement.   The Main Committee (MC) has disbanded the DSC, and in its place, Ian was appointed to the MC as the Development Officer.  I’m sure we all wish Ian good luck with his new role.

Ian has issued a Team Management Report to the MC, which provides an overview of the proposed Competitive and Development Football Framework for the club.  It is hoped that this will made available to all members soon.

2025 has been another outstanding year for competition wins and I am indebted to the invaluable help and support from the Club Vice-Captain, Barry.  Now we regularly enter two teams at Stoneham over 50s and Winklebury over 60s, the AGM confirmed the appointments of Paul R and Kevin as Captain and Vice-Captain of the B Team and they worked hard to help manage this part of the club.

Unfortunately, both Paul and Kevin stepped down from their roles and we are looking to make new appointments in the near future.

We have also been able to enter a team in the new over 70s competition at Stoneham, ably led by John K.

As always, the scale of this success is due to our coach, Heather, who provides a wealth of experience and knowledge.  She even managed to squeeze in teaching Brazilian ladies to play walking football and also coaching the England Women over 60s to win what is effectively the world cup.

There was a time, not long ago, when we did not have any members who were recognised GKs.  We now have 3!  Naively, I thought that would be enough but given the higher risk nature of the role and current injuries, it appears you cannot have enough GKs.

The competition victories in 2025 are:

Stoneham over 50s: January and November (A and B Teams).

Winklebury Over 60s: January, February, March, April, December.

Tour to Belfast - Over 60s: March - Bangor FC AND Northern Ireland International team!

Gosport over 50s: August (Challenge Cup winners).

Not only were we winners 4 times in a row at Winklebury tournaments, but we also won over half of all competitions there.  We were also double winners, including Stoneham, in January!

November was a real highlight with the A and B Teams both winning at Stoneham.  Winning Ligue 1 was one of the initial aims of the B Team captain (achieved without conceding a goal)!   

Notwithstanding the old adage that you do not win any anything at Xmas, the over 70s are topping the new league at Stoneham.

We were again invited to tournaments at Havant and Gosport, not just because we can enter good teams but also, we play the game in the right spirit.

Following our very successful first tour, arranged by Paul R, I for one am looking forward to the next tour.  It is a shame that the visit of Bangor, planned in the Spring, for the “return” games has had to be postponed.

Continued success is good as it builds and enhances our reputation as a football club.  As this year has shown, we have not rested on our laurels, but we need to keep developing and improving.    

We need to thank Steve Nash, who maintains a record of all individual player appearances and goals scored at all competitions (now including the over-70s) and all friendlies and Barry, who keeps a record of the teams’ achievements at competitions and tournaments.

We also need to thank Mick T, who maintains and updates the website and Facebook, which are the shop windows to the club.

Here’s to more enjoyment and success in 2026.