Players of the Week
2007

28th January
Matt Pink
21st January
Ron Buttery
14th January
Paul Garner
7th January
Michael Jackson
 

New Mills Vets
 5 a side
football at the
Leisure Centre

17:30 - 19:00
every Sunday
evening.
Come and join us

Just in case you are the slightest bit interested, I have archived the previous Vets News Pages from January 2001. It's quite interesting to look back on a few of the events that have occurred during our past games, some of them amusing and some of them downright sad. Click the button at the top.

12th November 2006 : Thirteen vets showed up tonight for a pacy  slog around the Leisure centre. Matt, Proudy, Dan, Nigel and Robbie gave Bryn, John, Keith Mastin and Martin a tough test in the first game. Proudy and Matt were on the mark to pip the Mary's Moaners in a very entertaining opener. Steve Hart, Steve Gerrard, Chris and myself were next on to face Matt's team and we soon got into our stride with some slick passing. Steve G was back on the score sheet after his lengthy lay off with almost his first touch and a fine goal it was too. Most of the games were quite tight although I have to say the Mary's Moaners were probably the most consistent over the whole evening. Steve Hart  was on good form in spite of his disappointment at seeing his beloved Jambo's going out to Hibernian in the Jocko Cup during the week. Matt had great difficulty coming to terms with the ball tonight bemoaning it's shape, it's pressure and even it's texture which greatly affected his shooting, thankfully for the rest of us, it brought him right down to our level. The ball was duly marked and  put away safely for his next appearance in a couple of weeks time. Quote of the night after Chris had refereed a game (very well in Zsu Zsu's opinion) "you can be quite provocative Chris!!"  Good one coming from the assassin, the true master of provocation in it's most physical form. Thankfully though the assassin concentrated on hitting the goal trail tonight, something he managed with a good deal of success. Goal of the night was Robbie's late strike to ease his recent goal famine, just reward for never giving up in the face of adversity.
Nice to see Dan back in the fray tonight, it's been too long since his last appearance - he played quite well too.
On a final note our leader is mulling over a couple of rule proposals to be introduced to our sessions. i.e. As it is always difficult taking a free kick when your opponent is inches from the ball maybe a 6 feet distance would at least give the taker a chance of finding a team mate instead of his oppositions toe.  Arguing with the referee is also a topic in the news at the moment so it comes as no surprise to find it filtering down to our level. I personally think that no matter how bad we think a decision is we, ( I include myself in this one) have to take it on the chin and get on with it, otherwise why would anybody in their right mind want to bother refereeing a game at all.

19th November :  Thirteen players again this evening despite the attraction of a bruising battle between Blackburn and Spurs on SKY TV. The three vets sides battled gamely at the Leisure Centre without any controversial decisions and histrionics associated with the top strata of our professional game. Great to welcome Kevin back tonight after a long absence through injury to join his brother Karl, Paul Garner, Bud Jackson and Robbie. Mary's Moaners were back in business with Bryn, John, Zsu Zsu Mastin and Martin Wilde for the first game against Karl's team. The English brothers linked together well with Kevin looking quite sharp with an excellent early strike but, it was the Moaners who were to take the honours with a great display of pass and move football topped off with four goals. This continued in the next few games with John and Bryn in particular bagging goals with ease. However, Steve Hart, myself, Richard and Nigel started to get things together and after two early set backs remained unbeaten for the rest of the night. Steve knocked in more than his share of late goals to either win or draw games which seemed set to slip away until his intervention. Nigel slotted in nicely and showed well in defence but the stars of the night were Bud, Richard and Paul who all played superbly well when called up for goalkeeping duties. Robbie left his shooting boots at home and looked a little crest fallen at the end but we all have those days, Martin's had a few recently but tonight he was back knocking 'em in. All in all a grand 90 minutes by all concerned. Pity Matt & Steve Gerrard missed tonight, it was three years to the week since they made their vets debuts but hopefully they'll be back next week.

26th November 2006 : The big game of the English domestic football season, built up to fever pitch by the media had little effect on the vets turnout tonight. Strange that the top game should be contested by a club that sold it's soul to an American mega bucks family and a pretty unsuccessful West London outfit owned by a dodgy Russian billionaire who throws in pots of dosh in his search for the ultimate winning machine. Still a 1-1 draw thankfully guaranteed 70 plus thousand southerners all travelled home together happy in the knowledge that they had avoided defeat.
Nigel summed it up perfectly when he said that he had decided that there would be many more matches like this in the future but playing opportunities might be less frequent for us old giffers so he was taking advantage while he could, good man. Martin, Proudy, Paul Garner, Keith Mastin, Colin, Karl, Steve Hart, Matt, Chris, myself and of course Nigel all gave the "big game" the elbow to play the real game at the Leisure Centre. And to be quite honest it was a tremendous ninety minutes. Rotating the teams made no difference to the enthusiasm as each game was contested with great vigour. I was well pleased that I lasted just under an hour before I tasted defeat and found the net more often than usual. Proudy wellied in the goal of the night with a bazooka of a shot into the top corner from distance. Steve Hart on the other hand blotted his copy book with a wee duffie of a bloomer, yes with the open goal gaping he managed to just miss the basket ball hoop. Much Jocko cussing ensued but the Scottish chappie completed the session without aggravating his recent injury which has to be a plus. Chris also came through OK after threatening a long lay off to rest his thigh strain - I suppose this put's what Nigel said into context, we are extremely lucky to have the chance to keep our aging frames ticking over - long may it last.

3rd December 2006 : Wow, only two more sessions before Christmas so after the 17th the next outing will be the 7th January 2007. On a miserable cold, wet and windy day it was good to get down to the Leisure Centre for our weekly thrash. Chris, Steve Gerrard, Dan, John, Zsu Zsu Mastin, Martin, Nigel, Richard and myself gave it a go. Although the football wasn't the best I think everyone gave their all, four a side is very difficult over 90 minutes and we were all a bit on the knackered side at the end. Steve Gerrard was knocking the goals in and Martin is also finding his touch. Zsu Zsu curled one exquisite little bender in with the touch of an old master, pretty good for for an aging cockney. John figured well tonight especially early on when he couldn't miss but last weeks sun and Sangria of Lanzargrote took it's toll as the night rolled on. Dan Bolton got stuck in this evening, marking well and winning some tough challenges. I did think some of the games were probably quite unbalanced and lacking in that cutting edge you get with squads but still very enjoyable. We introduced the 6 feet rule at free kicks and it went very well. At first Zsu Zsu thought it was a bad idea and would cause problems so he came up with the alternate suggestion of 2 metres instead, cockney's eh, what would we do without 'em.
There were a couple of moments tonight when my 60 years began to tell and you have to think what a bummer it is being that age but then I thought tomorrow, I'll jump on the bus with my free bus pass and go and spend my £200.00 over 60's heating allowance on Chrimbo pressies. Ah life's not that bad after all for us old giffers.....

10th December 2006 : How strange the world of footballer speak is, or at least from our so called superstars. Take Friday, pre derby in the Man U Evening News - Giggs vows to scupper Dunne's bid to make Manchester derby history. Other than weddings who else but professional footballers vow to do anything. Could you imagine Robbie turning up tonight and vowing to score a hat trick or Bryn vowing not to upset anyone? No neither could I but, these footballers vow like there's no tomorrow, vowing to win championships, cups or vow not to miss drug tests and even vow to stub their cigars out ashtrays instead of their team mates eyes. Anyway that's just something I needed to get of my chest and I vow not to mention it again. Surprisingly there were only nine vets who braved the miserable weather conditions to make the trip down to the Leisure Centre this evening. The other regulars missed a pretty damn fine session with Matt, Paul Garner, Karl, Richard and Zsu Zsu Mastin playing myself, Bryn, Martin, John and young Jamie who made up the sides. In an amazingly close ninety minutes my team were never ahead but after a shaky start managed to pull back level four or five times. It seemed every time we got level Matt's team rattled in a couple of quick replies and that's just how it ended, as we drew level on 90 minutes we called for next goal the winner - Karl duly obliged with one of his left footed rockets. Matt didn't have his shooting boots on tonight but Paul and Richard certainly did taking advantage of Zsu Zsu's probing midfield playmaking. Talking of playmaking I had a new experience tonight with Bryn and Martin in front of me. I was brought up playing the ball in front of the front men but both Martin and Bryn both prefer the ball to their feet, which ever way they're facing. I think overall we did OK and with John chipping in with his usual tireless running and tackling were a tad unlucky not to have finished winners. Richard was the pick of the keepers tonight but also hit the goal trail.
So only one more weeks football before the Christmas break, hopefully we can have three squads next week with Mary's Moaners, my squad and a decent third team. So no excuses - forget SKY, do your shopping on Saturday and stay off the juice and get your arses down to the Leisure Centre...
Finally, the derby - Uni£ed somehow managed to cash in on City's only three errors in the whole game whilst the Blues scored the goal of the game with a tremendous strike by Trabelsi  that left the glory seeking Man Ewe masses gasping. Just goes to prove that the best team don't always win - like tonight!!!

17th December 2006 : The last game at the Leisure Centre until next year this evening and what a blinder it turned out to be. For the first time in a long time I got my full squad out, Steve Hart, Steve Gerrard, Chris, Proudy and myself to face Mary's Moaners in the first game. Keith Mastin, John, Martin and stand in guest Moaner, Karl with a borrowed keeper somehow managed to contrive a victory through a mixture of luck and a large helping of commitment. Karl was revelling in his new team and inspired the moaners to another win in the next game against the third side of Paul Garner, Paul Dennis, Nigel and Michael "Bud" Jackson. As the evening wore on Mary's kept their noses in front and in fairness were the top team overall. It took an hour before my team finally notched our first win against them coming back from a goal down to win 3-1. Steve Hart's persistence paid off mid way through the session when he scored a superb hat trick, the first by a jocko vet since Chris Wilson left the fray many moons ago. Finishing tonight wasn't of the highest order as in my view there wasn't a natural striker on view but that didn't stop the lads rattling in some choice goals. Paul Garner might have gone home a much happier man if after a terrific run past two or three defenders he hadn't volleyed the ball just wide, that would have been a peach of a goal. Proudy and the two Steve's were the main scorers in my team tonight although by and large it was our overall shooting that let us down, too often opting to break the net instead of placing the ball.
Well it's Christmas eve next Sunday and no football for the vets. Whatever your beliefs or opinions of this hectic week of the year I wish all our vets and their families a very happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. As for next year lets hope we continue to play our sport in the right spirit and hopefully all stay injury free.
HAVE A GOOD ONE LADS.......     BACK ON JANUARY 7th 2007

7th January 2007 : Was Christmas memorable - sort of - was New Year a ball - yeah it was OK - did I miss the Sunday night football - you bet your sweet bippie I did. With my old Rover stuck on the drive with a jammed immobiliser I had to gently jog the considerable distance (for an old giffer) to the Leisure Centre with a bulging stomach swollen by celebratory food and drink. I wasn't the only one either looking a little portly as the boys turned up for our first bash of the year. Matt, Colin, Budd and Richard became the first team this year to lose as Proudy dispatched the first goal of 2007, a stunner from just inside the oppositions half which was enough to win for his team which included Chris, Steve Hart, Rick Pott and myself. Rick who normally plays for the lads who follow us on has now joined the fold and slotted in very nicely. Our reward for winning that first game was a real turning over by John, Keith Mastin, Paul Garner, Martin and Dan Bolton. They ran us ragged with a 4-1 win. To be fair Matt's team took the honours tonight with Colin and Richard giving him great support in the goal scoring department and Bud holding things together at the back. The little fella still managed to help himself to a few nice strikes in between in his best performance for a long while. John the assassin popped up again tonight with a wonderful chase and flatten manoeuvre on Matt who was misguided in thinking the assassin had cancelled all contracts. This incident was captured on film and will be made available on the forthcoming Vets DVD.
Not many Christmas presents on view tonight besides my new City shirt although Proudy turned out in a quality Airdrie number but nothing came close to Paul Garners shiny Pink trainers, no doubt picked up in the sales on Canal Street in Manchester. A few faces missing tonight missed a well contested 90 minutes. The FA Cup robbed us of Bryn who after seeing his Stalybridge Celtic side humbled by local rivals Hyde United over the Christmas period 3-1 away and 7-3 at home has now opted to follow Man Uni£ed and, Karl was no doubt regretting not playing tonight so he could watch Proudy's Rovers turn his beloved Everton over 4-1 at (not so) Goodison, bad choice Karl.
Did my excess eating and drinking over the festive period affect my performance tonight, well after an hour in my Jacuzzi bath when I got home, being soothed by the bubbles, it was all I could do to get out the damned thing so yes I think it did - Diet time again.....

14th January 2007 : Good to see Bryn back tonight for his first game for 5 weeks. The New Born Uni£ed Band Wagoner has put on a few pounds in that time and will probably have to invest heavily at the Superstore on his next visit to the swamp for a larger shirt. Bryn was joined by John, Keith Mastin and Bud Jackson in the first game against Dan, Nigel, Paul Garner, Richard Evans and Rick Pott It was a fine start for Dan and his team who were to be the star attraction this evening. They knitted together very well and played at a fair old pace. Nigel in particular had one of his best games for a good while but when you pass and move as well as these boys did tonight it's hard to contain them. Keith Proudfoot, Chris, Steve Hart and myself had another pretty unproductive night, giving the ball away too cheaply added to some shoddy finishing (two unbelievable misses from yours truly) this left us quite frustrated.  Stevie Hart eventually snapped and the Scottish one blew his highly polished top after another misplaced pass from my unproductive right foot. This show of tartan passion wasn't wasted however as he inspired his team to a last game win against  Dan's previously unbeaten team, scoring two of the goals in a 3-1 win. Good stuff again tonight with the six foot rule at free kicks definitely making a difference, we must stick with this one.  
The talk in the dressing room later on was of a Scouse Ron comeback in the near future. The old Evertonian hasn't appeared at the Leisure Centre since the end of March 2006 so it's long overdue.

EGM - Our Christmas get together is to be an official EGM now which is probably better anyway. Zsu Zsu has been requested to get on with it and fix a date at his earliest inconvenience!!

21st January 2007 : What a night - The dressing room gossip of last week came to fruition tonight as Scouse Ron returned to the fray. Not many players receive the honour of a round of applause before kick off but the Old Evertonian was rightfully awarded one tonight. Not only did he play his first ninety minutes for nearly a year but he played with some style and purpose. The old scouser waited until the 75th minute to notch his first goal but when it did arrive it was the signal for a glut  of further strikes in the final 15 minutes (a glut of goals can be anything from 2 - infinity but in Ron's case it was just over two and a bloody long way from infinity). Richard Evans, Rick Pott, John Goodwin, Keith Mastin, Keith Proudfoot, Mike Jackson, Chris Anthony, Martin Wilde, Paul Garner and myself made up the numbers in fittingly, a Scouse Ron Rotational Session which went off quite well. Proudy found his shooting boots with an excellent hat trick and John managed to get two past Richard Evans in one game. Chris also turned the form book downside up to hit the net as opposed to the corners and Paul's pink shoes managed a hat trick in one game as well as a fair number in others. A very enjoyable session was added to when the news that Man Uni£ed had gone down 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium where they had taken a first half lead as we arrived at the Leisure Centre. Great Credit to Bud Jackson (he and Dan are our only long term Man Uwe fans at present) for showing tonight when he could have stayed at the White Hart to watch the second half. All in all it was well worth the effort of turning out this evening in what can only be described as bloody awful weather, gales on Thursday were bad enough but today hailstone and heavy rain was followed by sleet and snow. As we left the Leisure Centre, New Mills had been brought to a standstill by the heavy snowfall which blocked all the surrounding roads. What a night I picked to come out without a coat.

28th January 2007 : With Zsu Zsu Mastin enjoying the wind & rain in Ireland we had the perfect number tonight,  three teams of five. Proudy, Chris, Steve Hart, Rick Pott and myself set the night off with a win against John, Scouse Ron, Paul Garner, Karl and Martin thanks to early strikes from Proudy and myself. Matt, Bud, Richard Evans, Nigel and Malc Stubbs were our next victims and things looked healthy for our squad. After drawing our third game however things started to even up as all the players got used to the different formations. Ron returned this week from a couple of days away at Branscombe, Devon to continue his comeback and mark this appearance with a really cheeky goal. Intercepting a bad throw out there seemed little danger as I shepherded him into a corner with Steve Hart covering any backward pass. The old scouser simply took one pace sideways and back heeled the ball between the post which Chris was covering pretty well for an excellent goal. Overall there was plenty of competitive edge to the games tonight which were played in great spirit. We did have some drama though as Martins' withdrawal symptoms from smoking exploded in a tirade of abuse which was probably heard in Marple. Giving up fags and supporting Man City can be a lethal potion so the boy can be forgiven on this occasion as the Leisure Centre has always been an outlet for venting ones spleen on a Sunday night. I think it would be a pretty dull place without the odd spat. Good to see Malc Stubbs back this evening and netting a few goals for a change and a welcome return to form for Chris who had to put up with some pretty sloppy play from me tonight, extra training another diet should put that right though.
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