Walsham-Le-Willows
Wars and has moved up the leagues from a village club only
twenty years ago to where we are today. I keep saying ‘WE’
as it is very much a Local Community Club with most people
involved for a long time. Much of the land was donated by
local farmers for the benefit of sport and we have certainly
made good use of their generosity!
One of our main fund-raising efforts is a Sportsmans
Dinner, we hold every September, we have a Marquee
erected on the end of our club house and have between
200-230 people sit down for a four-course dinner plus
entertainment, that in particular is a VERY busy weekend for
all the volunteers, but the club would struggle without the
income from it every year.
The mood at the club is fantastic at the moment, this is the
best we have fared in the league (Thurlow Premier League) for
a few years, certainly in my time and this is the rewarding part
as we have assembled a young squad and a new management
team headed by Manager Trevor Newman. He taking over
from former manager Paul Smith, who had been at the club
for eighteen years, with 11 or 12 players who have graduated
through our youth section over the years, some have left and
returned, but that is very rewarding and probably
unique in many ways.
I guess it won’t always be like this, as we
are a small village club in a league full of
teams from towns and cities, so we are
certainly competing well at the moment.
But the bigger clubs always have
resources to take our better players if
they want to and IF the players want
to move on. We have a happy bunch
at the moment with a good mix of
experience and youth; it’s a shame
our cup form hasn’t quite been good
enough although we took an under 18
Ipswich Town team to penalties recently
in the Suffolk Premier Cup.
It would be nice to stay in the top 6 or 8
for the rest of the season, I think finishing 6th
has been the Club’s best finish to date, so to beat
that would be nice although very difficult, with a
very strong league this year, all the teams are
capable of beating anyone else but better
still to keep the current squad together for
another season, the team spirit is great
and I think the players appreciate the
work that goes on in the background
that few people see.
We have twenty youth teams in
the club at the moment from Under 7
upwards, obviously a very important
part of the club, it is the future for
years to come and the players AND
parents can see, if the lads are good
enough they get their chance in the first
team.
The Blue Boar is a historic country Pub set in the
beautiful village of Walsham-le-Willows in Suffolk.
We hanve an extensive beer garden, children’s play area, and bouncy castle
ensuring the little ones are entertained while the adults can enjoy our selec-
tion of local real ales and enviable food offering.
Opening Times
Monday – Closed (EXCEPT BANK HOLIDAY)
Tuesday – Thursday 12pm till Midnight
Friday – Saturday 12pm till 1am
Sunday – 12pm till 7pm
(Subject to change during Winter Months)
Food Service Times
Tuesday – Saturday 12pm till 9pm
Sunday – 12pm till 4pm
Monday – Closed (Excluding Bank Holidays)
Bank Holiday Mondays 12pm till 4pm
Tel: 01359 259168
Email: [email protected]
The Street, Walsham Le Willows, Suffolk, IP31 3AA
With a successful Under 18 Team, it has
improved the reserve team as well as the first
team, A and B Teams too, so they have
that opportunity to play at a higher level
than maybe they would at another club
and the transition is smoother with all
the Managers getting on, contributing
and helping each other it makes for a
more harmonious (Most of the time!)
running of the club as a whole.
We certainly are a community
club, contributing to and receiving
hugely from the local community with
players coming from local villages and
us providing superb facilities mentioned
before, with floodlit main pitch, Floodlit 1/3
size 3G pitch and Floodlit Tennis court.
Challenges in the future? The weather, you
never know what it’s going to throw at you
and a previous groundsman often said,
‘You are only one game away from a
disaster’! Maintaining what we have and
providing for the future, it’s important
and hopefully there will be new
volunteers to help and be ready to
take over the running of the club for
years to come.
The need for more and more will
always be there and while it’s easier
to do all this when the club is being
successful, it’s more difficult to keep
the enthusiasm when things are not.
Article provided by Keith Mills, Chairman
www.footballfocusmag.com
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