- SRWFL
- Sunday 23rd November
- 14:00 kick off
- 1878 Stadium, Burnham Football Club, Wymers Wood Rd, Burnham SL1 8JG
After relegation from the Southern Premier in 2021-22, Woodley United bounced back the following season to win promotion. Since then they have finished third, above WWFC, and had a solid sixth place last season, in spite of an opening day 11-0 loss to Ascot. Over the years, games between the two clubs have usually been competitive and a bit feisty, but the Chairgirls won both games last season, 3-1 away (Potter 2, Courlander) and 5-1 at home (Potter 2, Watkins, Macdiarmid, Monaghan ).
In June came the shock announcement that Marc Surtees, their manager for the past 14 years, was sacked. The players voiced their displeasure on the club’s official Twitter, a post that, interestingly, has not been deleted by the club:
“What a gut wrenching announcement and one that has not come from Marc! As a team, we are not in agreement with this decision are are gutted to lose such a loyal, genuine and dedicated manager that has done so much for Woodley girls/ladies over the past 14 years.”
Surtees shared his reaction:
“This came as a complete shock to me, going to what I thought was a meeting to discuss the coming season, turned out to be a meeting to tell me I was no longer required as the ladies team manager, after being in the role for 14 years. Being told I had lost my drive was confusing considering it was 2 days before our first open session and we had been advertising for new players, and that we were looking to start up a reserve/development team.”
The fact that he was sacked without a replacement lined up suggests there were things going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about. In July, Iestyn Llewellyn was appointed manager but, after a disappointing start to the season, left in October. Since then the Woodley men’s manager, Jordan Blake, has been helping out on match days although it’s not clear if he is still in the dugout.
The team have struggled because most of last year’s key players have left, including Sarah Lawrence, top scorer with 18 goals, and our Chloe Melton, who contributed 8 goals and several assists. Of the 15 players who made 10 or more appearances, only five remain. Their only point came against fellow strugglers Badshot Lea, and in the cups they lost 8-1 at Harpenden in the FA Cup, narrowly lost 1-0 at Slough in the League Cup. In the B & B they had a walkover win against Tilehurst Panthers before a 14-1 defeat (HT 5-1) at MK last Sunday. Although MK were a tier 3 side last term, they are only just above the drop zone in tier 4 this season. In all competitions Woodley have only played seven matches so far, scoring four goals and conceding 42. Nobody likes to see an established team drop off a cliff like this, hopefully they will find their level and build again.
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Jess Watkins scores after 7m to give the Chairgirls a 1-0 lead
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Woodley get a free kick & equalise
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Jess Watkins does it again to put the Chairgirls back in the lead
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Jess’ tenth goal of the season.
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Half time - 2-1 to the Chairgirls
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Some half time changes for the Chairgirls
3-1 Potter.
Recap on subs, Kern, Harvey, Mulvaney, Wardlaw off. Lynch, Potter, Hilmi, Ashby on.
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68’ 4-1 Hill.
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Winning 4-1
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Excellent stuff from the Chairgirls
76’ 5-1 Potter. Kayla with her 20th goal of the season.
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78’ 6-1 Watkins pen for her hat-trick.
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beat me to it
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FT WW 6-1 WU.
Credit to Woodley for keeping the scores close for a long time.
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That’s now 6 wins from 6 in the league for the Chairgirls
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Back to back POTM awards are rare, the coaching team like to spread them around, so well done Jess, again.
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Woodley goals.
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