Eton Manor concluded their pre-season programme with a draw and a defeat in their final two games. Manager Kevin Durrant continued to tinker with his formation and line up as he looked for correct balance in the side and despite taking a 2-0 first half lead at Wadham Lodge last Tuesday (with goals from Dean Frett and Danny Clarke), the Manor were pegged back to 2-2 as they made changes in the second 45.

The final act of pre-season came at Spartan League Cockfosters on Saturday. The Manor had a disastrous first half hour where they scored an own goal, had a perfectly good goal disallowed, conceded a penalty and conceded a 3rd whilst right back Danny Alleyne was off the field receiving treatment. Cockfosters added a 4th before half time and Manor, despite playing some nice football were staring at a 4-0 deficit. The luck continued to elude the visitors early in the second half as they twice struck the woodwork before being awarded a penalty of their own, which allowed Joe May to reduce the arrears to 4-1. Two quick fire strikes from Danny Clarke, who looked sharp throughout, brought the Manor to within a goal at 4-3 and then Michael Gheorgiou was denied by a good block from the home keeper.

However, Cockfosters regained their composure and a defensive mix up in the heart of the Manor defence allowed the home side to add a 5th goal and it finished 5-3.

Summing up the club’s pre-season Kevin Durrant said: “We’ve done ok. We maybe played one game too many last week and it showed a little in the legs in the second half at Wadham Lodge. But overall I’m delighted with our fitness levels which look to be very high. In terms of the quality of our game, our passing was much better on Saturday and we played some really good stuff. However, we did make some sloppy mistakes defensively, which has been the story of our pre-season. We must tighten up defensively – there is no question about that, but going forward we look a threat every time we get the ball and that is very positive.

We will have two training sessions this week where we will work very hard on the shape and the system and then we look forward to the kick off next weekend.”

A third draw in 5 days was the result of a firey pre-season friendly at London Colney. This was a game that the Manor should have won, and they were only denied by a harsh decision to rule out Scott Lovett's late goal.

Colney went ahead through a first half penalty, but Dean Frett soon levelled the scores at 1-1 and that is how it finished. Danny Clarke went close twice for the visitors and Asa Pamplin hit the post during a thrilling second half cameo appearance.

Assistant Manager Nick Clark spoke to emfc.co.uk afterwards, saying: "We have had a tough week this week - 4 games in 8 days and to come through them unbeaten is a good sign. Over the 4 games we have looked at plenty of different combinations in all areas of the team and we are now getting pretty close to our starting XI."

Two late goals ensured a share of the spoils in an entertaining and competitive pre-season friendly as Eton Manor held Ryman outfit Tilbury to a 1-1 draw.
Manor looked as though they had won it when Joe May’s free kick found the far corner with 10 minutes to play, only to see Tilbury equalise 5 minutes later, ironically through former Manor forward Manley Brown.

Manor boss Kevin Durrant was delighted with the performance. He said: “It was a very worthwhile exercise. I was without 5 or 6 because of the late arrangement of the game, the likes of Danny Clarke and Sid Nelson were not with us, so we had some young players out there tonight who performed really well. The Tilbury side was a strong one, especially in defence and it was a competitive game. I think they probably edged the first half and we just about edged the second. All in all a draw was a fair result.”

The Manor boss added that his plans for the season are starting to take shape: “I think the first 3 or 4 pre-season games are about blowing away some cobwebs and also to look at trialists and systems. Now we are down to a squad of about 20, which is where I want to be and I have some real selection headaches. We have plenty of quality, strength and experience and it is about moulding that into a winning team. Against Tilbury there was more cohesion in our play and we started to pass the ball better, which was pleasing. The next three fixtures are going to be important for us and I expect to see us kick on again at London Colney on Saturday.”

Eton Manor Football Club are pleased to announce an additional pre-season friendly – as tomorrow evening (Thursday 23rd July) they will travel to play Tilbury of Ryman League Division One North. Tilbury are managed by former Manor boss Graham Chester and won the Ryman League Cup last season. They also have a number of Manor “old boys” in their playing squad.

Eton Manor have made a steady start to their pre-season programme having played 4 friendlies in the past 10 days.

Click here to read a summary of the games played......

One thing that Eton Manor certainly can't complain about in their FA Cup and FA Vase draws published this week is a lack of knowledge about their opponents.

The FA Cup has thrown up a home tie against Stanway Rovers of the Ridgeons Premier Division. Manor faced Stanway in the Essex Senior Cup last season and an experimental Manor side containing 4 debutants were dispatched 6-1 in convincing fashion. The winners will face Beaconsfield SCYCOB who are now in the Southern League One Midland Division, after loosing in the play offs of the Southern League One South & West division last season and then being moved sideways.

In the FA Vase, Manor will travel to face Essex Senior League opposition in the shape of Mauritius Sports, who Manor played in last season's league cup group stage. The winners of that tie will have a good chance to progress further with Erith Town or Canning Town waiting in the next round.

Eton Manor's players returned from their summer break last evening as the club began its preparation for the 2009/10 season. The Manor coaching staff put the players through their paces as they seek to get the squad into peak physical condition before their opening friendly against Brentwood Town.

Manager Kevin Durrant said: "I'm pleased with tonight. We spent a lot of time planning the pre-season training and it paid off with a well constructed session that worked the boys at the right level."

Eton Manor will face Clapton and Basildon in the League Cup group stage as they look to regain the trophy that they won in 2008. Manor crashed out at the group stage last season, after mistakenly playing an ineligible player in their win at Mauritius cost them 3 points. The team that went through in their place as a result was Barkingside, who went on to lift the trophy.

Click here to read on......

Eton Manor's long serving webmaster Paul Tandy has stepped down from the position with club in order to focus on his role at Tilbury FC.

Paul joined the Manor when close friend Kirk Whitelock took over as First Team Manager in 2003 and was an influential part of the efforts to re-launch the club after the struggles of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

However, when Graham Chester moved on from Eton Manor to Tilbury as manager in 2008, Paul moved with him and is in the process of building a brand new Tilbury website. Alongside that role, Paul has also accepted the position of Tilbury match secretary for next season.

This extra workload, coupled with a desire at the Manor to have the website back “in house” has led to the decision for Paul to hand over the mantle. He has stressed however, that he remains happy to assist the club in the development of the website in any way possible.

He said: “It’s the end of a long association with the club for me. When I arrived Eton Manor was really at a bit of a low ebb, but to see the club now finishing consistently in the top 6 of the league is a delight. Getting the website off the ground was a real achievement and I am very proud that it is regularly recognised as one of the best in the Senior League. I was anxious not to let it deteriorate last season after 5 years hard work, but I am now happy in the knowledge that there is a new group of people at the Manor with the desire and the drive to push the club forward. So I am happy to hand it over and know that it will be in safe hands.”

Manor’s General Manager Alex Lee paid tribute to Paul’s work saying: “I can’t thank Paul Tandy enough for what he has done for the club. He designed the fantastic club badge that we now have, he built a terrific website and even last season after leaving the club was happy to maintain the site in his spare time, which is a true testament to his commitment. He will forever remain a friend of Eton Manor and is welcome at any of our matches whenever time allows.”

The Manor would like to state categorically that the website will continue to be updated regularly and developed over the course of the coming season.

Eton Manor are delighted to announce that they have finalised their pre-season programme and will play SEVEN friendlies during July and early August. The full list of fixtures is:

Sat 11 July – Brentwood Town (H) 3pm
Tue 14 July – Waltham Forest (At Met Police Ground, Chigwell) 7pm KO
Sat 18 July – Leverstock Green (A) 3pm
Tue 21 July – Kentish Town (At Met Police Ground, Chigwell) 7pm
Sat 25 July – London Colney (A) 3pm
Tue 28 July – Wadham Lodge (A) 7.30pm
Sat 1 Aug – Cockfosters (A) 3pm

Since the last update three further fixtures have been added. On Saturday 18th July, the Manor will travel to Leverstock Green for the second year running. Last season’s game was the opening pre-season match for the Manor and in the sweltering summer sunshine Billy Cove’s team produced 45 minutes of scintillating football to lead 3-0 at half time. However, Leverstock hit back with 3 goals themselves in the second half to draw the game 3-3. The home side went on to have a successful season finishing 6th in the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division. Which means that they finished in the exact same position on the pyramid as the Manor!

Kentish Town also played in the Spartan South Midland Premier last season, but a disappointing campaign, following promotion the previous season, saw the club take just 17 league points and they were relegated back to Division 1 (step 6) in bottom place. However, they will be amongst the favourites go back up in the 09/10 season, and will meet the Manor at the Metropolitan Police Ground in Chigwell on Tuesday 21st July in a 7pm kick off.

The third addition is Wadham Lodge FC. Named after their ground, formerly the home of Ryman club Waltham Forest and currently shared with Mauritius, Wadham Lodge will be new entrants to the Essex Olympian League next season. They were formed last summer by Martyn Fitch, with the long term ambition of being a Ryman League club. They finished a creditable 3rd place in the Essex Business Houses League last season gaining promotion to the 2nd Division of the Olympian, and their target is to make the Essex Senior League within the next 3 or 4 years. Wadham Lodge will host Manor on Tuesday 28th July for a 7.30 kick off.

Eton Manor are pleased to announce that their pre-season programme is starting to take shape.

The Club will commence pre-season training on 22nd June and will have three weeks to prepare for their first friendly, which is the undoubted headliner of their pre-season matches against Ryman One North title favourites Brentwood Town.

Brentwood will travel to Mayesbrook Park on 11th July (kick off 3pm) for what promises to be a competitive contest. The visitors were beaten 4-1 by Waltham Abbey in the semi final of the promotion play-offs last season after a third place finish in the Ryman One North. However, they are expected to strengthen again during the summer and under the management of former Manchester City star Carl Griffiths are many people’s tip for the title in 2009/10.

Three days later (Tuesday 14th July) the Manor will be at The Met Police Ground in Chigwell for a 6.30pm kick off against another Ryman One North outfit in the shape of Waltham Forest. Forest produced a miraculous run in the second half of last season to avoid relegation, eventually finishing 3rd bottom of the league. However, they are expected to push up the table in the coming season and will prove another high quality opponent for the Manor.

On Saturday 25th July (kick off 3pm) the club will face step 6 opposition when they visit London Colney of the Spartan South Midlands Football League Division One. Colney finished a creditable 9th out of 21 in the 2008/09 season following relegation from the Premier Division the previous season. They will be looking to build on that next time around and should provide another staging post in the Manor’s preparation.

The fourth friendly already in the diary is a trip to face fellow step 5 opposition in the shape of Cockfosters of the Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier Division. Cockfosters are about to start their third campaign in the Premier Division having narrowly avoided relegation last season. Manor will travel to play them on Saturday 1st August (kick off 3pm) in what looks likely to be their final pre-season game, on the assumption that League competition will commence the following Saturday.

Manor’s Head Coach Paul Norris confirmed to emfc.co.uk that the Club were still looking for 2 or 3 further fixtures to complete the pre-season programme. He said: “We are looking forward to getting started and to open up with the Brentwood game is obviously tremendous news for the club. They are a great side and will be a real test for our players. Myself and Kevin have been working hard on piecing together the list of games and we are still looking at a couple of dates. We are in the advanced stages of arranging a midweek game around the 27th or 28th of July and we hope to confirm something as soon as possible on that front."

"Ideally that will leave us with one more on the 18th and Kev is chasing a couple of leads there too.”

Norris also admitted that the strengthening of the squad has been the other priority since the season ended. He said: “I seriously feel like the football hasn’t stopped this time. With the ground share to arrange and then the pre-season fixtures, plus the search for a new club secretary and a physio I’ve still been on the phone to Kevin and Reg most days. We are absolutely determined to have everything in place for a successful campaign next season. That includes improving the squad. We have three confirmed new additions, all of whom have good experience of higher levels of football and that is something that we were keen to add, because we have a lot of boys here who have stepped up from lower leagues and we needed that bit of know how in crucial areas. We are still working on one or two things on the playing front – ideally we’d have 5 new boys to strengthen what we already have and provide real competition for places. Essentially we are trying to avoid me having to turn out again next season, even despite my sterling efforts at Bowers on the last day of the season!!”

The Manor have confirmed that they have reached agreement with Barking and Dagenham Council to play at Mayesbrook Park in the 2009/2010 season. The Braves will join another of London’s proudest and oldest football Clubs, Barking FC, in using the facilities at Mayesbrook Park next season and the two Clubs have already held a number of extremely positive meetings about the future together.

The Manor’s agreement is initially for one year but bothl sides are hopeful about the arrangement lasting much longer into the future and giving the Club somewhere to finally call home.

Club Chairman Reg Curtis said: “I’m absolutely delighted that we are moving into Mayesbrook Park. The pitch here is of an excellent standard and it is right in the heart of East London which takes the club back to its roots. We have a wonderful relationship with the people at Barking and we offer our sincere thanks to them for their assistance in making this happen. Our manager Kevin Durrant also deserves special praise. He has been at the forefront of this from the start and it underlines his commitment to driving the club forward on and off the field.”

Manor General Manager Alex Lee has also been involved in the discussions from an early stage and he told emfc.co.uk that there is a long term plan for Mayesbrook Park. He said: “The one thing this place needs to re-establish itself as one of the foremost football venues in the area is a bar. We have given our undertaking to the people at Barking that we will pursue the possibility of making this happen. We have already broached the subject with the council and we will continue to take forward discussions with them with a view to getting a match day bar back up and running. This shows our intention to be here for the long haul and again, it is important that we fully engage with the council, Braking FC and all of the other stakeholders to make this a reality.”

Manager Kevin Durrant also expressed his delight at the news saying: “If you look at last season – our away record was outstanding. We were the only team to win in the league at Southend Manor, we won at Takeley, we won at Enfield (albeit in what was technically our home game), won at Burnham and we drew at Barkingside. Our problem was our home record and I have no doubt that the playing surface played a part in that. The pitch at Waltham Abbey didn’t suit our passing game and we feel tha the pitch at Barking will allow us to impose ourselves more on home games.”

Paul Tandy – Club Media spokesperson said "Exciting times lay ahead for the Manor. The Club is heading in the right direction both on and off the field. The move to Mayesbrook Park next season allows the Club to finally settle and make plans for the future. Finally - I would like to put on record our sincere thanks to Waltham Abbey Football Club for their kind hospitality last season, we have a great bond with the good people of the Abbey, and we truly wish them well in the hunt for success in the Ryman Premier League next season."