News - April 2008

Grays Athletic Football Club are pleased to announce that ticket prices will be frozen for the 08/09 season.

Season Ticket application forms will be made available soon.

Once the pre-season games are confirmed supporters will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to all home matches pre-season fixtures at a discount price if obtained prior to the games.

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This evenings Pontin‘s Combination Reserve League fixture against Southend United has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch

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The Grays Athletic Youth will be holding their fun weekend on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th May 2008 at The New Recreation Ground.

Entrance is £1 which includes entry into the raffle which will be held each evening in the clubhouse.

The schedule for the weekend is:

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For those that could not get to the public viewing of the new ground development that was held in the clubhouse on Saturday 12th April you can view the consultation document by following the link below (you will need Adobe Reader to view the document)

Download New Ground Plans

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Grays Athletic would like to announce that Traditional Builders & Contractors Limited will be the new sponsors for the Eastern Junior Alliance teams for season 2008/09.

Traditional Builders & Contractors Limited will sponsor the teams training facilities for U14/U15/U16/U18 and pitch hire for U14/U15/U16, Grays Athletic would like to thank them for their support in the EJA Structure and look forward to working with them next season

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Sunday 27th April saw a mixture of football stars from past and present descend on Grays Athletic Football Club for the Ernie Cooksey Benefit Match, approximately 1500 spectators saw the likes of Paul Merson, Ray Parlour, Leroy Lita, Clive Allen, Justin Edinburgh, Ian & Bob Dowie, Aaron McLean, Scott Fitzgerald and others play against Grays Athletic.

Grays Athletic won the match through a last minute penalty taken by Ernie Cooksey

The generosity of the fans was fantastic with over £16,000 being raised from gate money, programmes, raffles and auctions, money is still coming into the club for Ernie, Blue Square have donated a percentage of the profits from bets placed on the last games of the Blue Square Premier season which amounted to £500

It was great to see the football world rallying around to assist Ernie in his fight against cancer.

Grays Athletic FC would like to thank everyone who so generously gave up their time and money for such a worthy cause.

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There have been some changes to the Grays Athletic Eastern Junior Alliance League set-up, from next season the following coaches will be managing the teams:

U18: Steve Thomas
U16: Kevin Lehey
U15: Paul Vaughan
U14: Danny Sweeny

Paul Vaughan, Steve Thomas & Kevin Lehey will be in charge of the new development.

Trial dates for the teams are:

U14: Weds 7th May & Thurs 8th May 2008

U15: Tuesday 28th April & Thurs 1st May 2008

U16 & U18: Firday 9th May & Friday 16th May 2008

Trials are by invite only and any player who would like to trial for any of the age groups will need to submit a form which can be located on the Contacts page of the GAFC website

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Grays Athletic are currently looking for a kit sponsor for the 08/09 season,

If you are interested or know anyone who may be then please contact the club either by telephone, email or letter, contact details can be found on our Contacts Page

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This evenings Pontin‘s Combination Reserve League fixture against MK Dons has been cancelled, this is due to the coach that was going to be taking the squad to the match being involved in an accident on route to the pick up point, non of our players were involved in the accident, this fixture will not be rescheduled

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Grays Athletic defender, Jamie Stuart, has today agreed a one year contract with the club

Further information regarding retained players will appear on the website at a later date

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Grays Athletic would like to extend their thanks to everyone who gave up their time today to make the day so special for Ernie Cooksey, special thanks go to the X-Pro All Stars who took the time to sign autographs after the match, Ashley Bayes was due to play today; however, Crawley Town refused to allow him to take part.

The amount raised from today‘s benefit match is approximately £16,000

There are still 4 prizes to be claimed from yesterdays raffle, the numbers are:
Blue 446 - 450
Blue 461 - 465
Blue 831 - 835
Blue 931 - 935
If you have any of these tickets please contact the Office to select your prize

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Congratulations to Marie and all who work in the Burger Bars on receiving the award of Best Burger Bar in the league for the second year running

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Freda, who runs the Grays Athletic shop, would like to say a big thank you to all those who have purchased the old programmes from the shop, all the money received from these sales will be going to help Ernie Cooksey

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Grays Athletic held their end of season awards following the Rushden & Diamonds game last night.

Congratilations to the following Players:

Players Player Award: Jon Ashton

Supporters Player: Jon Ashton

Managers Player: Jamie Stuart

Golden Boot: Danny Kedwell

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Grays Athletic will be hosting a benefit match for Ernie Cooksey who has Malignant Melanoma Stage 4, this will be Grays Athletic vs All Star X1, which will include, Ray Parlour, Paul Merson, Ian Dowie, Leroy Lita, Lee Hendrie plus many others, the game will take place at The New Recreation Ground on Sunday 27th April @ 15:00.

Don‘t for get the auction for a place on the team, you will get to play at least one half of the game.

The winning bids for the Grays side is £250 and £500 for the X-Pro side, congratulations to the lucky winners, who are:

Jack Gifford who will be playing for the Grays Athletic Side
John Kennedy who will be playing for the X-Pro All Stars

Donations to Ernie‘s fund can now be made at:
www.erniecooksey.com

Entrance prices:
Adult: £10
Child: £5
Tickets now available from the main office, these can be posted if required, just send your request with an S.A.E. to the club

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Following the Ernie Cooksey Benefit Match there will be an auction of various items taking place in the clubhouse, we have the following Match Worn and Signed shirts for offer:

Glen Johnson (Portsmouth)
Robert Green (West Ham United)
Nolberto Solano (West Ham United)
Michael Duberry (Reading)
Stuart Taylor (Aston Villa)
Svetoslav Todrov (Charlton Athletic)
Jerome Thomas (Charlton Athletic)

We also have a fully signed Tottenham Hotspur football. (Current bid: £50)

If you want to place a bid for any of the above then please email press@graysathletic.co.uk or secretary@graysathletic.co.uk alternatively you can place a sealed bid stating which item you are bidding on into the club office or bar

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Grays Athletic Chairman / Manager, Mick Woodward, has a full squad available for selection for tomorrow‘s fixture against Rushden & Diamonds with the exception of Ross Flitney(Broken Arm) & Nicky Eyre(Ankle injury), Jon Ashton will be subject to a late fitness test

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Grays Athletic have confirmed a pre-season fixture against a West Ham XI side on Saturday 2nd August 2008, this will be played at The New Recreation Ground at 15:00.

Details of the squad and prices for the fixture will be available prior to the game

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Grays Athletic have recalled Danny Knowles from his loan spell at Fisher Athletic following the injury of Nicky Eyre at Northwich Victoria last Saturday.

Danny will go straight into the squad this evening

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Blue Square have today offered to donate a percentage of the profits from all bets placed on the final weekends Blue Square Premier fixtures to aid the treatment of Ernie Cooksey.

Grays Athletic would like to thank Alan Alger of Blue Square for this fantastic gesture

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Grays Athletic are currently looking for an emergency loan goalkeeper following the injury to Nicky Eyre during Saturdays fixture against Northwich Victoria, Nicky sustained ligament damage to his ankle and will be out for the remainder of the season.

Chairman / Manager Mick Woodward has a full squad available for selection with the exception of goalkeepers Nicky Eyre and Ross Flitney(Broken Arm)

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Grays Athletic have a full squad available for selection for their fixture against Northwich Victoria with the exception of Jon Ashton(suspended following Red Card against Crawley on Tuesday) and Ross Flitney(Broken Arm)

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Grays Athletic Football Club are hosting the Byron Coomer Trophy this month.

The under 19 Colleges Cup Final is between SEEVIC (South East Essex Sixth Form College) and Thurrock and Basildon College.

The game is scheduled for Wednesday, April 23 @ 17:00

Entrance will be £1. For more information call 01268 273342.

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Grays Athletic Chairman, Mick Woodward, The Board and Management would like to thank all those who turned up for the relocation meeting last Saturday, there were some very interesting and valid points made by some supporters and these have been taken on board.

As we are all aware the future of Grays Athletic Football Club to compete in it‘s current role and beyond requires us to leave our present home and relocate to a new all purpose stadium, we will be remaining at The New Recreation Ground for next season, the Club have been looking for a while to try and find a location within the Grays area but so far this has been unsuccessful, the site of the Aveley Sports and Social Club fits the current plans for redevelopment which is why the club are looking to move forward in that direction; however, if land within Grays, like Blackshots, were to be made available for our relocation before the final planning consent is granted at Aveley, the board would certainly consider this option.

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Both Stuart Thurgood and Barry Cogan have agreed to extend their loan deal with Grays Athletic until the end of the season

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Following the announcement that Grays Athletic Football Club are looking to relocate to the Aveley Sports & Social Club Ground, details regarding the new development were on display in the clubhouse following the Halifax fixture, for those who were unable to attend, this is a brief outline of the proposal.

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How would you like to play football with the likes of Matt Le Tissier, Neil Ruddock, Paul Merson or even against them, well now you have the opportunity, we are auctioning a place on both the Grays Athletic and Celebrity teams for Ernie Cooksey‘s benefit match on Sunday 27th April.

To take part in this auction you will need to submit your bid to press@graysathletic.co.uk with your contact details and choice of team, closing date for the auction will be Tuesday 22nd April 2008, leading bids will be announced regularly

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Grays Athletic manager, Mick Woodward, has a full squad available for selection with the exception of Ross Flitney(Broken Arm)

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AN INVITATION TO VIEW THE PLANS FOR THE RELOCATION OF GRAYS ATHLETIC FOOTBALL CLUB

Supporters are cordially invited to visit the Clubhouse at the end of the game against Halifax Town this Saturday 12 April to view the plans for the relocation of the Club. Club officials and advisers will be there to deal with any questions raised.

The proposed move has already provoked considerable discussion amongst supporters and raised some questions.

The most common ones, with a brief response from the Board of Directors, are set out below:

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Congratulations to Michael Standing and his partner on the birth of their baby son, Jack, who was born on Friday 4th April 2008

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Grays Athletic Chairman/ Manager, Mick Woodward, has a full squad available for selection with the exception of Ross Flitney (Broken Arm)

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Chairman/Manager Mick Woodward has a full squad to choose from for tomorrows fixture against Burton with the exception of, Ross Flitney(Broken Arm) and Jeff Goulding (Flu)

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Northwich Victoria‘s Dino Maamria has won the Blue Square Premier Manager of the Month award for March. Maamria‘s side now have a fantastic chance of avoiding relegation after a month which saw them almost double their points total for the season. League sponsors Blue Square had left The Vics out of their relegation betting as early as November, after a disastrous start to the campaign which saw them go 19 games without a victory. The club also had problems off the pitch as they faced a High Court winding up order as Maamria was handed the managerial job on a permanent basis after a period as caretaker. In their seven league games during March they have scored 16 goals and kept a clean-sheet on three occasions, completing the period with a 1-0 win at pre-season favourites Oxford United. The North West side now find themselves 3 points from safety with games in hand on their nearest rivals.

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Voting is now open for the BSP Player Of The Month For March, you can vote at the following address: Vote

The winner will be announced before kick-off during the coverage of Stevenage Borough v Exeter City on Saturday 5th April (live on Setanta) - voting closes at 15:00 that day.

In alphabetical order:

IYSEDEN CHRISTIE - Kidderminster Harriers

DANNY KEDWELL - Grays Athletic

COLIN LITTLE - Altrincham

ADRIANO RIGOGLIOSO -Forest Green Rovers

LEE STEELE - Northwich Victoria

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