Season 2003 - 04 (Under 11's)

End of Season Report

I have always said that the transition between 7 and 11 a side football is the hardest season of all. Lots of teams were forced to fold completely during this period due to lack of players.

We certainly can’t complain about that. We started the season with barely 11 but we have used 18 players in total. In the 4 years Mark and I have been involved with the Ravens we think the team has been relatively successful. We started off in group E and during that time we have had 2 promotion seasons and have worked our way up to Division 1.

When you consider that there are now about 60 teams in the Central Warwickshire Divisions (under 11) and we finished 7^th in Division 1, there are about 43 teams who are currently below us. I think if you had offered us that 4 years ago we would have taken it for sure.

Yes, This season has been a challenge. On the negative side we had our 1^st battle against relegation. I guess on the positive side we got through it. We won the games we had to.

After a decent beginning to the season we struggled in the middle period. It was only the gritty wins toward the end of the season against Castlehurst, Knowle and Leafield that kept us up.

I think some of the most memorable moments for us during the season will be the fighting draw at Highgate. Also, we were the first team to beat Lakeside all season. The one that stands out the most for me though has to be the 3-2 win at Leafield. The atmosphere was amazing and we were 5 minutes away from relegation when Paul and Phil scored those late goals. That was the tensest game of football I have ever been at. Oh and our supporters were superb.

Out of our squad of 16 players we had only 8 left from last season. I think having 8 new faces was obviously going to take a little time for us to get to know everybody’s strengths and weaknesses.

We hope that we are now in a position to know the best way to take the team forward. I think everybody accepts that we do need a few new faces if we are to compete with the best teams in the league. We all want to be playing in the Premier Division and our current squad isn’t good enough to do that.

As you know the letters are already going out advertising and we are doing all we can to improve our squad. By the time next season begins we want to be happy in our minds that we have done everything we could have done to put the best 11 players out on the pitch that we possibly can.

By no means will it be easy. We have already lost Sonny, but unfortunately that is what happens in kid’s football. Players come and go all the time and it is sad. It certainly doesn’t help us. When you consider we have lost Josh, Lenie and Sonny (3 of our better players) I think that shows you how important it is for us to bring in new ones. Not only to replace them but to improve the team as well.

It has been very difficult to juggle such a big squad this season, particularly as we have so many defenders. We will be looking to start next season with a more manageable size of squad. Something like 14 or 15 players.

Over the next few months we will be looking at any new players that come along and comparing them to what we already have. We won’t be signing players who are only as good as what we have already. We are determined to only bring in better ones. We will have a month off at some point but until then I need the same effort and commitment to training sessions that I have had for most of the season.

We want to be ready to start next season as early as possible. That gives us about 3 months to get everything ready. That really isn’t a long time at all considering the work that has to be done.

Finally I just want to thank everybody, especially the players for all their efforts. Win or lose I know you lads do try and hopefully next season we will be ready to compete with some of the top teams in our division.

Steve

End of Season Table

Presentation Night Awards

Well done to ALL of the squad for a massive effort towards the end of the season and you ALL deserve your squad trophies : individual trophies went to 

• Scott - Supporters player
• Ryan - Achievement Award
• Lewis - Squad Man
• Michael - Man of the Match
• Sonny - Most Improved Player
• Rob - Players Player

and special mention to Ryan and Dean for their 5 years service award

Well done everybody

2003-2004 Fixture List