Ashford Town FC
Anoraks Corner
General Info
** Anorak's Corner **
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The first Anorak's Corner of the 2009-10 season - and, with six weeks and 14 games of the season remaining, by far the most important statistic is that Ashford Town lie in 21st place in Ryman Division One South, three points adrift of 20th-placed Walton Casuals, but with four games in hand. We play Walton Casuals, on the banks of the Thames, at the week-end, so three points for Ashford there should considerably ease any fears of relegation, but this season has, nevertheless, seen the Club return to the Bad Old Days of a few years back, when scrapping around in the relegation zone appeared to be the norm. In the three years from 2004-5 to 2006-7, our finishing positions were 20th, 21st (in a one-off season during which there were 23 teams in the division) and 18th; things improved drastically in the following two seasons, with the Club finishing 8th and 7th, but this time around the team has struggled from day one.
It's not difficult to see where the biggest problem has been - it's been the "goals conceded" column that has been largely responsible for our current league position. We've so far conceded 67 goals, in 28 league games, which is eight more than any other team in the division, and averages out at just under 2.4 goals per game. There were 54 goals against in all 42 matches of the 2008-9 campaign. Furthermore, in only FIVE of those games have we let in fewer than two goals, (with just the two clean sheets), which makes winning games extremely difficult.
The men very much in the firing line have been the goalkeepers. Because of some rotten luck with injuries, we've had to use FIVE 'keepers in total, but the men who have been between the posts the most so far have been Scott Chalmers-Stevens, who began the season as our No.1 goalie, and Darren Ibrahim - Scottie Three Names has kept goal for almost exactly half of the season, (actually 50.8% of it), with Darren in charge for 35.4% of the time. Whilst it must be said that defending is the responsibility of the whole team, (not to mention the coaching staff), it's no surprise to find that, statistically, Scott and Darren have a rate of goals conceded record that is among the worst of any of the goalkeepers to have donned the gloves since, and including, the 2005-6 season. As the following table shows, they number among just four 'keepers who have conceded at a rate of more than two goals per game. (The criterion for inclusion in the table is 500 minutes in goal; this season's qualifying 'keepers are shown in upper case).
It's ironic that the man who appears to be head & shoulders above the rest - Josh Willis - is one of the five goalies to be used this season; sadly, though, Josh has had no luck at all with injuries, and managed to get through only 62 minutes of his only appearance this season before going down with what sounds like a serious knee injury.
At the other end of the pitch, injuries have also taken their toll on the campaign, most notably in the case of the two senior strikers at the Club - Paul Jones and Mark Lovell. Jonah has recently left the Club, but appeared for only 41.9% of the time that he might have done this season. Mark missed virtually the whole of the 2008-9 season, with a long-term injury, and didn't reappear until the 12th match of the current campaign, completing 90 minutes for the first time in the 17th match. His father, Steve Lovell, has had to cover for the absence of his two main men with a returnee from seasons past (Luke Coleman), a young loanee from Gillingham (Tom Murphy), and recruits from the Kent League (Joe Fuller) and Kent County League (Kevin Swaisland). The following table shows rates of scoring for the current season,
The enigma in this table is Luke Coleman, who, like Shawn Beveney before him, scored a hat-trick on debut, and then naff-all afterwards ! If we disregard Luke, (who played a part in eight games, completing all 90 minutes of just one), then the stand-out performer among the strikers has been young Joe Fuller, who came to us at the beginning of the season, from Tunbridge Wells. Joe has reached double-figures in spite of being deployed in midfield for some of the season - and actually looked the part as an emergency centre-half in one game - and his scoring rate of a goal every 207 minutes is more than respectable. Here is where Joe stands in The Pantheon of Ashford Town strikers, from the 2005-6 season to the present; (qualification: ten goals): -
One thing to point out from this table, of course, is that Paul Jones's statistics only include the goals he scored for Ashford during what was effectively the second phase of his career, having come back after breaking his leg. Before that, he had been a very prolific striker, having been signed by Tim Thorogood at the beginning of the 2003-4 season. I remember my first sight of Jonah, at Corby Town, in the third game of that particular season. He scored his third goal of the season, in a 0-5 victory - and Thorogood had the luxury, with the three points sewn up, of being able to give Paul a rest after 65 minutes, replacing him with Lee McRobert ! Happy days !
The only man coming close to Paul's total of 26 goals during this 2005-6 to 2009-10 period is Mitchell Sherwood, with 25, (a substantial percentage of which have been penalties). I didn't include Mitch in the 2009-10 scorers' table, as he has played almost entirely in midfield this season, but he has scored seven goals to date, at a rate of one every 406 minutes.
Competition for the Milton Keynes Bowl is very close this season. The Bowl is awarded to the player receiving the most Man of the Match awards in away games throughout the season; apart from that, there are just two simple rules; the recipient needs to be at the Club at the end of the season, and, in the event of a tie, the Bowl will be given to the player amassing the most minutes on the pitch during the season. On that basis, with four away games remaining, there are nine lads in contention,
And so I come to the most heart-breaking set of statistics of all - the attendance figures, and the issue of Ashford Town's disappearing fans. At the end of last season, we sat in second place in the attendances table, with an average home gate of 317, just a shade behind champions Kingstonian. This season, we have an average league gate of 150, (which is only the ninth-highest in our division), with a season's best of only 216, (on the opening day). This brings an abrupt end to a sequence that has seen average attendances at The Homelands improve every season since the 2005-6 season - the sequence of averages (for all matches) being 208, 243, 251 and 317. This is, by any standards, a dramatic collapse in support for the Club, and represents probably the biggest challenge to The Management in taking the Club forward.