September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
3/5/05
Today's top of the table clash with Sunday Reapers was postponed due to problems with the Leisure Centre pitch. It is believed that an oil spillage prompted the referee to abandon the Division 1 and 2 programmes following only one game after concerns were raised about the player's safety.
The game has been re-arranged for the end of the season, 18th September
No-one was available from the Leisure Centre for comment.
3/5/05
A top level meeting occurred today between representitives of all the teams of the Pudsey Leisure Centre League to prepare for the new season. News concerning the Navvies involves costs rising from �18.50 a match to �19.10, although the restructuring of Navvy fund contributions will eliminate this problem, continuing to make Navvies the wealthiest club in the league.
The league fixtures were announced and have been placed on the fixtures page, also at the meeting was the draw for the cup groups. After a tough draw last season, the Navvies were blessed with the luck of Irish, and were drawn against Outer Milan, PCFC and Wolfsburg. This surely boads well for the Navvies and will renew the rivalry between all Navvies and Pugsly, the PCFC utility cunt.
Don Banaczek was also able to fax through his squad for the coming season. Sadly an old wrestling injury has forced the Don the hang up his boots, but Mr Banaczek was able to provide the club with his colleague Edward "Ed Johnson" Johnson. The full squad is: Ed Johnson, Tom Knapp, Matthew Long, Michael Allinson, Chris Way, Pete Laybourn, Chris Dawkes, Phil Sutcliffe, Francesco Mandala, Paul Watson, Daniel Bean, Ian Gardener and Alex Long.
The squad contains the surprise inclusions on Phil Sutcliffe, Phil Dawkes and Alex and Matthew Long, who only managed to amass one substitute appearance between them last season.
Once again the club's management team remains the same with Oli Sunter at the helm backed up by Chris Way (Director of Football) and Tom Knapp (Club Secretary and Treasurer). With the club having a very turbulent manageral history, this stability can only be beneficial for the boys in green.
24/4/05
The Navvies completed their pre-season campaign with a 10-6 win over BOC.
Francesco Mandala and Pete Laybourn each scored four and Chris Dawkes added a penalty and a fierce drive to round out the scoring in a game which saw Oliver Sunter experiment with his line up. Mandala played the majority of the first half at full back, which enabled Sunter to have an extended look at both Dan Bean and Alex Long in the Italian's striking role. Mandala is suspended for the first two games of the season following his dismissal for violent conduct, and Sunter is considering the options available to partner Laybourn up front.
The second period also saw contributions from Tom Knapp and the returning Mike Allinson.
Navvies: Watson; Dawkes, Bean; Laybourn; Mandala. Subs: A.Long, Knapp, Allinson
BOC: Chamberlain; Cox, Chambers; Doyley, Cullip
17/4/05
Today's second pre season game saw the Railwaymen edged 9-14 by a strong Toffeeboys team at Leisure Centre.
The Navvies welcomed back star striker Francesco Mandala from international duty and he responded by notching four goals. The game also saw Ian Gardener and Alex Long make their seasonal debuts, with Long notching twice on his return. Captain Chris Dawkes completed the scoring with a hat trick, including a cooly taken penalty.
Long and Gardener's contributions in particular to a solid team performance will have given Oli Sunter some thoughts as he looks to finalise his line up for the season opener on May 8th.
Navvies: Watson; Dawkes, Knapp; Bean; Mandala. Subs: A.Long, Gardener
Toffeeboys: Buckle; Johnson; Prendegast, Bennett; Thornton
15/4/05
The Navvies have confirmed the identity of their remaining pre-season opponents. The Railwaymen will take on the Toffeeboys at Leisure Centre on Sunday 17th April, k.o. 6pm.
Manager Oliver Sunter is expected to utilise the majority of a ten man squad over back to back games, with places in the final 12 man squad list up for grabs.
Navvies from: Watson, Gardener, Knapp, M.Long, Allinson, Laybourn, Dawkes,
Bean, A.Long, Mandala.
28/3/05
The Navvies opened their pre-season programme with a 9-8 victory over LanCity. Peter Laybourn scored six times, including the winner on the final whistle.
Tom Knapp opened the scoring for the Navvies, with Chris Dawkes and Daniel Bean also finding the net. The Navvies' squad saw surprise inclusions for Matthew Long after an absence of over three years, and Director of Football Chris Way. Long had several nice touches and showed willing, although clearly well below the fitness levels required for the upcoming campaign. Way's cameo showed that the defender has gained no more skill in the time since his last appearance.
Navvies: Watson; Dawkes, Knapp; Laybourn; Bean. Subs: Long, Way
LanCity: Wilson; Howling, Haynes; Waite, Martin
25/3/05
Navvies FC have announced that they will play three pre-season friendlies ahead of the 2005 Closing Championship.
The opponents are:
LanCity 28/03/05
Real Ale Madrid TBC
and a third team to be confirmed at a later date.
Director of Football Chris Way said "Preparing match fitness for the coming season is more important than the results at this stage, hence the games will be 60 rather than the usual 30mins long. However, I expect we will see markers being thrown down for the coming season."
Manager Oliver Sunter is expected to utilise the majority of his first team squad, although Francesco Mandala is on international duty and will miss the opening tie.
13/3/05
The Navvies narrowly missed out on promotion to the top flight of Leisure Centre football in their first season back in the league as the fates conspired against them in today's games. The Railwaymen were left relying on the results from other teams following last weeks collapse versus Real Ale Madrid, with the necessary combination seeing the champion Reapers avoiding defeat to Bartsan Homer whilst fifth placed Corinthians had to defeat Real.
The Navvies were granted a 3-0 default win as their final opponents in the closing championship Pudsey Phoenix failed to show, and the unlikely promotion dream was still alive as the Reapers held Bartsan in a ten goal thriller. However, Real easily accounted for Corinthians 5-2.
The Navvies were left counting the cost of the draw to Real, together with several other near misses through the season, however team captain Chris Dawkes was bullish about the chances of the side next season claiming "we will go up as champions".
Manager Oliver Sunter was unavailable for comment.