AFAN LIDO FC
Our club. Port Talbot's club.
Community football. No bullshit.
|
2007 update: There's only one
team in this town that can do it.
Welsh Cup Quarter Final:
PT SPUDS - 0
AFAN LIDO - 1
Watch the key
moments on youtube.com
The arse-end of 2006: The end
for this version of the site
It's all going swimmingly for the Lido on the pitch and we're out of
time for a bit. Back in a bit. Lucky we've got the superbly updated
official site nowadays.
GO HERE -
AFANLIDOFC.COM
But check back here soon.
Pre-season 06-07 - Lido > Welsh
Premier
We knew it anyway, but it's nice to see the results for a change.
Aber 0 Lido 3
Lido 4 Carmarthen 3
And hammerings for Ammanford and Corus
too. Er, let's forget Llantwit Major as it was too hot that day anyway.
Let's get back to beating the big(ger) teams regularly. Up, up, up.
Summer 2006 Summer is a state
of mind
It's boring, but like a bad dream, it'll all be over soon.
Ingerlund, cricket, knobs in cars that don't have a roof, sweating like
a blind woman in a lesbian fishmongers, having to consider that anyone
but a knobhead wears sunglasses, etc., etc... ROLL ON GARW AWAY!
May 11th 2006 Pontardawe 1 Lido
1 (at Briton Ferry)
Fantastic, that's the last meaningless game done and dusted - we
can't wait for next season now.
May 9th 2006 Goytre 2 Lido 1
This was a funny one. A local derby we didn't really care
about. Sorry, but we can't hate the Goyts or feel them to be real
rivals, despite that their c*** of a player Ian Turner is sueing our
club and that they're the ones going up to the WP. Some of them are
ex-Lido types with silly grudges, but they're good people. Good luck to
them.
May 4th 2006 Bettws 0 Lido 1
(at Maesteg)
Quite fun for the way the end of the season has gone. We won, too.
May 2nd 2006 Taffs Well 2 Lido
2
Useless officials part 1056. Blah, blah, blah. Isn't this season
over yet, part 2.
May 2006 - Isn't this season over
YET?
For f***'s sake, there are still four away games to go (great
organisation by the league to allow a situation like this to develop,
btw). If ever a season needed to be over, this is it. Let's have it next
year.
April 21st 2006 - Lido 1
Caerleon 0
A tidy little win, probably. We might remember it if the season
wasn't over six weeks ago and had concentrated enough to help the
memories stick.
April 15th 2006 - Ely Rangers 1
Lido 0
Nothing much to get excited about. A good battling showing but the
usual lack of clear chances despite being the better team. The ref
bottled giving us a penalty in stoppage time but what can you do?
In a coincidental follow-on from last
week, from the luxurious surroundings of Ely's nice little ground (the
word "quaint" was made for it) we could see the REAL Barry (it's where
their supporters are so it's the real club) playing on a park pitch in
the distance against a pub team. From beating Mourinho's Porto to this
in half a decade - and we think we've got it bad? This is nothing.
What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
April 7th 2006 - Lido 3 Barry
Town 0
The best performance of the season. Good football and loads of
goals, though Barry didn't offer much at all.
Just think, this fixture a few years ago
was the champions and runners-up in the national league of Wales. We're
both down on our luck right now (Lido having been shafted while Barry
troubles were mostly self-inflicted) and the WP is absolutely no better
whatsoever than it was then. Something's wrong in Welsh football.
March 31st 2006 - Maesteg 1 Lido
0
Hallelujah, some life in the Welsh League. Yeah, there're plenty of
tidy football teams around, but at last a tidy club too. They have a
good set-up, don't fling loads of money around that they can't afford
and have a smattering of supporters as well. The trouble is it's all in
the backwaters of Maesteg, but then you can't have everything.
A close game with chances on both sides
that should have been taken, but if we're honest, Maesteg shaded it.
March 25th 2006 - Bettws 0 Lido
0
Match abandoned at HT cos it p***** down.
March 17th 2006 - Bridgend 1
Lido 0
We don't know why we're typing this. We all know how it went and we
knew how it would go before we turned up for the match. We were better
than them but we barely had a shot on goal, let alone threatened to
score. They scored with one of their two shots, this time it being
a cheeky free kick from 40 yards that caught the wind, but they were
always going to get one somehow. It's become all too repetitive.
March 4th 2006 - UWIC 3 Lido 1
Stuff happened.
February 25th 2006 - Lido 0
Newport YMCA 2
Depressing. This isn't Newport County, who we were a good match for
just a season or two ago, it's Newport YMfuckingCA. A lovely club, don't
get us wrong, but we should be pissing games like these, not failing to
even threaten their goalmouth.
February 18th 2006 - Bryntirion
3 Lido 3
Ian Jones becomes the first Lido player to score a hat-trick since
1971. Probably.
February 14th 2006 - Lido 2
Maesteg 2
F****d if we can remember what happened. We're trying to catch up
and it was bleedin' ages ago. It didn't rain enough to get the game
called off again and it was a draw.
February 14th 2006 - Frankie
says!
Let's try again. A Lido hero returns with his own team, hoping it
doesn't rain like last time. Lido v Maesteg Park - KO 7.30pm
February 11th 2006 - Llwydcoed 2
Lido 1
Oh well, that's it. Any irrational optimism we may have felt after the
Neath game should be put to bed now, anyway. A poor performance and the
end of the line for promotion hopes.
February 8th 2006 - Neath 1 Lido
2
Nearly as good as a home game, but not the result we usually get at
home. Great attitude from all, two good goals and one gutted referee, who
was obviously born in Skewen and currently lives overlooking a
certain patch of rough ground in Victoria Road.
Good goals from two of the Carls, a penalty
save from Wyn and marvellous irony from both our management and supporters
meant we overcame the odds and place ourselves a mere eighteen points off
the top. Hmmmm. If we can keep this up away from home then our three games
in hand might make us optimistic again. Football is cruel.
Four rip-off quid to get in to
Llandarcy, the cheeky sods. They lost out on it though, as we didn't buy a
thing in the ground or clubhouse and waited till we got back to the Lido.
No-one likes being taken for a ride. Neath could take a lesson from people
like Newport YMCA, who had decent prices for admission and food and drink,
and not expect other people to finance their team as they haven't got any
supporters themselves.
February 4th 2006 - Lido 0 Taffs
Well 1
Another depressing result, but much better entertainment on the day
due to a bit of niggle in the game. Two competitive teams always makes for
a bit of fun, and throw in a fussy ref with no regard for the opinion of
his linesmen whatsoever and it becomes almost high comedy.
The Taffs Well player-manager Mark Evans
(ex-spud, according to our raving reporter) was a star, cheating his
little heart out for twenty minutes until he managed to provoke Liam
McCreesh into a semi-aggressive challenge for which Liam received a harsh
red card, despite the one-eyed ref missing him being punched at least
twice by the little cheater. Oh, and the poor "victim" was nearly dying.
Holding his neck and head and barely able to move. Except when he
struggled to get to his knees after two or three minutes, the ref showed
him his second yellow and he suddenly made a remarkable recovery, managing
to move freely while gesturing and haranguing the ref for a full minute or
so more before buggering off, very slowly, down the touchline.
Off he goes to the dressing room, only to
return to the side of the pitch soon after, much to the displeasure of the
linesman who told him to go to the stand. Not having a bit of it, he
stayed until his chairman dragged him off like a naughty boy. Best sulk of
the year by far, fella.
But then you start to generalise, and when
one of their lads went down and started rolling about after an innocuous
challenge, we admit we called him a cheating little so-and-so, suggesting
he blinking well get on with the game and refrain from "simulation" (being
a rough translation of our actual words of "get up you cheating ****").
Turns out he'd caught a serious knock on the head and already had a bump
about an inch high on his old noggin where once was just his flowing
locks, and was throwing up as a result. Twenty minutes later with an
ambulance in attendance, the poor sod is still woozy as hell and can't
walk straight. Dr. Lido diagnoses a nasty concussion, and we wish him all
the best in his recovery. And, err, sorry for saying nasty things. But it
was your manager's fault!
Oh, yeah, the game. Not typical Lido as so
often lately. We just weren't the better team. They created more and
deserved it on the whole, though it was a pretty poor game in terms of
football. Ho hum. Loads of away games left in the last third of the season
probably means promotion is off the agenda.
January 26th 2006 - AT LAST! AN OFFICIAL
CLUB WEBSITE!
It looks a bit of a dog and it doesn't work in some browsers (old
school coding - go, brother! But we'll stick to FrontPage if that's not
the lazy option - or even if it is) but still it's there and seems to be
being updated. We wish the club had ever supported the old official site
like they have the new one and then the .co.uk site wouldn't be displaying
the club name as a cheap billboard, but there you go.
Good luck to the the new site, which should
be top of everyone's bookmarks list. It's to be found at:
www.afanlidofc.com and will be the top link at this site at
all times (left column, just below the logo).
January 24th 2006 - Lido 0 UWIC 1
Painful to watch. Numbness of the hands and face due to the cold
doesn't help an aching heart, nor two eyes forced to watch a
run-of-the-mill UWIC side run off back to Cardiff with three points.
Didn't the little student gets have homework to do anyway?! Or a debt to
run up for Mummy and Daddy while getting pissed? A Lido defensive error
and the usual lack of shots on target sealed the night.
January 17th 2006 - Trophies for Afan
Lido again
Nice to see the u13s/14s come back into the club after their final at
spudland with a trophy. Good on you lads. The future of the club looks
bright.
January 16th 2006 - Tight at the top
Fair play to Neath - they've played loads of games, but they've got
the points as well. Anyone will do well to catch them at the top. But it's
a shame that they haven't sorted out their ground and that finishing top
will mean nothing but a trophy for them.
The fight for second place and promotion to
the WP goes on, and it's a tough one to call. Look for yourself and
discuss on the guestbook. We should be in the running, but we're worried
about all those away games we have left.
|
Club |
Pl |
Pts |
| Neath |
20 |
49 |
| Goytre |
16 |
34 |
| Afan Lido |
17 |
31 |
| UWIC |
17 |
30 |
| Barry
|
19 |
28 |
| Maesteg |
14 |
27 |
| Dinas
Powys |
20 |
27 |
|
Pontardawe |
15 |
26 |
| Ton
Pentre |
17 |
26 |
| Bridgend |
15 |
21 |
|
Etc., etc., etc.... |
January 14th 2006 - Ton Pentre 2 Lido
3
A shakier performance but still three points away from home - some
thing we'll have to keep taking, with far more away games left than at
home. Ton fans aren't happy about the ref, but then they wouldn't be,
would they?
January 7th - Lido 2 Briton Ferry 1
This is the game that should have been played on the 26th/27th of
December, when perhaps it would have attracted 400-500 rather than the
250 it did. Still, another good, comfortable win and we remain on track
for second place.
December 31st - Caerleon 1 Lido 0
Classic Lido; dominate the game, fail to score, get caught by a sucker
punch. We surely spent a full twenty minutes actually in their penalty
area, but their keeper only made one save that was more than routine. Oh
well, at least this, our furthest away game, got us home in time for a
good long nap before the night's festivities.
Christmas 2005 - No football at
Christmas = stupid
A time for potential bumper crowds and a local derby, surely. But
the Welsh League didn't schedule a single match. As daft as the WP is,
it seems that this lot is no better.
PS 2pm kick-offs on Saturday - what is
the f***** point? It's just not RIGHT. Football should be played at 3pm
on Saturday wherever possible. The WP switched to 2.30pm so that the BBC
could have a bit more time to put together some highlight for their 5pm
show - but now that's gone and they're still arsing around too early
(not that the Beeb ever turned up at most grounds anyway). Meanwhile
this league changes to 2pm for the winter and won't let clubs change
even if they have floodlights. It's just daft, frankly.
December 17th - Lido 1 Ely Rangers 0
This one is hard to remember - it was weeks ago and Christmas has come
and gone since and it's fallen through the drink-addled cracks of our
mind. Will update if it ever comes back.
December 3rd - Frankie says relax...
...cos the game's off because of rain.
December 2nd - Lido v Maesteg
A return for Lido hero of many seasons, Andrew "Frankie" Rickard,
with his own team. And another local (ish) derby. Should be a good un -
read our report when we get round to updating the site again in March
2007.
November 26th - Lido 2 Bettws 0
This is a nice little run we're having. The football is good, the
goals are going in and all the wins are very much deserved. Seems that
the "wait till we get a full team back together" talk of early season
when we were struggling was spot on.
November 12th - Lido 3 Dinas Powys 1
Can't remember too much about this game right now, and that's
probably because we stuffed them very easily and spent the game
chatting.
October 29th 2005 - Newport YMCA 0
Lido 1
Young man, there's no need to feel down. A tidy little win and well
deserved, though it looked like we wouldn't score for a long time, and
in typical Lido fashion, the goal was actually a shot that hit the post
and went in off the keeper's head!
Nice rolls and cheap beer - they've got a
good set-up at the YM (when you manage to find it).
October 19th 2005 - Chairman steps
down
He never really wanted to be up there anyway, but Sean McCreesh
removed his financial backing of the club before the match against
Bryntirion. Having insulted supporters and fallen for the old trick of
believing Andrew Edwards* we hoped for better things from Mr. McCreesh
in the future, but he goes with thanks for what he did but having only
helped the club tread water at best. That's still better than most are
willing to do, we suppose.
Football supporters with cash to spare
are asked to attend Afan Lido FC at their earliest convenience and to
bring a chequebook. You shouldn't have to queue for too long.
*Legal note: Andrew Edwards is an
honest man. But his merger plan was groundless fantasy at the very best.
October 18th Under 21s - Lido 2
Rhayader 1
The league might not be getting the attention it deserves elsewhere,
but Lido are three games in and taking youth football as seriously as
ever. A good game of football given tricky conditions and a superb
winning goal.
October 15th 2005 Lido 3 Bryntirion 1
Another good day. New boy Ian Jones makes the news, scoring two
goals and creating the other one, but it was good stuff all round
against a team in form. When was the last time we scored three?
We're now in 5th place, only five points
behind second place with a game in hand. It's hard not to get a bit
optimistic, but football's a cruel game (Brian) and we're not getting
over the moon yet. There's a lot of football to be played yet. A lot of
balls to be kicked (oww). A lot of shins to be bruised. A lot of
pointless red cards to be picked up for retaliation - Carl Lewis joining
a long line of potential Lido boxing club members today. Let's wait and
see....
October 12th 2005 League Table update
It's not too bad, on reflection, and given that most of the teams
above us won't be able to go up even if they win the league, we're
placed well enough for the 2nd spot which would very likely give us a
return to the WP.
| |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
|
Neath
Athletic |
9 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
5 |
15 |
19 |
|
Dinas Powys |
8 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
13 |
7 |
6 |
17 |
|
Bryntirion
Athletic |
6 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
17 |
7 |
10 |
13 |
|
Newport YMCA |
7 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
12 |
-2 |
11 |
|
UWIC |
6 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
16 |
9 |
7 |
10 |
|
Pontardawe
Town |
8 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
12 |
14 |
-2 |
10 |
|
Afan Lido |
7 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
10 |
8 |
2 |
9 |
|
Goytre
United |
6 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
10 |
9 |
1 |
9 |
|
AFC
Llwydcoed |
7 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
9 |
|
Bettws |
7 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
9 |
17 |
-8 |
9 |
|
Maesteg Park |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
11 |
7 |
4 |
8 |
|
Bridgend
Town |
6 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
9 |
-1 |
8 |
|
Taffs Well |
8 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
14 |
-6 |
8 |
|
Ton Pentre |
7 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
12 |
-3 |
7 |
|
Barry Town |
7 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
13 |
-4 |
7 |
|
Briton Ferry |
7 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
9 |
14 |
-5 |
6 |
|
Caerleon |
8 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
7 |
16 |
-9 |
6 |
|
Ely Rangers |
6 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
12 |
-5 |
5 |
October 7th 2005 GET IN!
Lido 2 Llwydcoed 0
Is it starting to click a bit? A comfortable win with two corking
goals. Evo sets up Liam who crosses brilliantly for Shaun to volley home the first and Liam
gets a bit cheeky and nips in front of the keeper before slotting in
from a ridiculously acute angle for the second. Superb stuff. The end of
the match was almost boring we were so comfortably in control.
October 2005 We've got a new
ground
Kind of. As a sponsorship tie-in with the arrival of a new brewery supplying
the clubhouse, we now play at the Marston's Stadium, which is curiously
similar in structure, capacity and location as the old ground. It doesn't sound too
bad for a corpo thing, in our eyes, though it's lucky the ground never
had a name or we'd probably be moaning. Anyway, good on all those that made it
happen.
October 1st 2005 - Dinas Powys
2 Lido 2
More like it - a solid battle against the team at the top and we
deserved a point. It's still a bit depressing to not win against a team
who are just basically a suburb of Barry (!!!!) but what the hell.
Everyone was home in time for The X Factor and that can't be bad!
September 25th 2005 - Spain
issues communiqué
Our hombre in Madrid today asked the Spanish government for a
few words on the current spud war, and his comment to large-sized racists
at spudland is reported here:
"Usted es un bastardo del spud y usted es
gordo."
And who can argue with that? The spuds
are notorious bullsh*tters - we wish Spain all the best. Fight the bull!
Lido do it daily. OLÉ!
September 25th 2005 - League Cup
F*** Up
Oh dear, oh dear! Morriston 2 Lido 0. It says it all, really.
If we can't beat teams like this then something's wrong. We won't miss
the league cup and this site's writers have been very supportive of the
management, but the results against West End and Morriston combined with
the current league position really would add up to the sack at 99% of
clubs.
On the positive side, we're just 5 points
behind the 2nd place spot which will win probably earn promotion, but
then we're also just one point off the bottom as well. It's just as well
we wrote the bit below about not caring about the WP right now - we're
not getting back there anytime soon is the truth.
And anyway, we prefer Tesco.
September 21st 2005 - Anyone
missing mid and north Wales?
Thought not. With the possible exception of the chairman, who
understandably wants to keep his wallet closed as much as possible, we
all want to be at as high a level as possible to stretch the club as far
as it can go, but when the best it gets is Newtown's shoebox ground then
so what? Dinas Powys here we come - a lay in, a league with no lower
profile than the WP (does anyone have a clue what's happening there?
Anyone care?) and a better chance of winning (theoretically). We at
afanlido.cjb.net are having a pretty good time, all round. And the
results are still s**t too - where's the difference?
September 16th 2005 - Lido 2
Goytre 2
For anyone used to watching WP football in town in recent years it
really was a case of the dead coming back to life on Friday night.
Plenty of old Lido and spud faces on show in what was a decent game for
a derby where everyone knows each other. New blood Craig Jones lead the
way for the Reds and gave us a two goal lead at half time, the axe
hanging ominously above the town's second team, but the zombies got a
deserved point with second half dominance.
In yet another carry over from last year
(see below - Cwmbran away at the end of the season) a referee manages to
completely screw the game up with a double whammy of arbitral
arbitrariness. An absolute stonewall penalty isn't given and a Lido
player is sent-off for complaining about it. We suppose Paul Evans
(prepare yourself for this - it'll shock you to your core!) swore.
SHOCK!! HORROR!! If the world hasn't ended with that revelation, we'll
continue. Come on.... is this "common-sense refereeing"? Is this in any
way good for the game? Is it even remotely related to the concept of
justice and fair play that referees are there to provide? Is it ****! An
honest mistake we can live with, but referees have to get over
themselves and their inate feelings of self-importance and take
criticism from a player when they get it so obviously wrong - even if
the clipboard-carriers say they have permission to f*** the game
up for a teeny, tiny insult. It's all about context, you cold-hearted
automaton - the man had been robbed of a probable match winner in a
derby match - he had a right to be a bit annoyed and you should have
taken that into account.
Still, never mind justice, eh? It's only
what you're there to provide.
September 9th 2005 - Welsh Cup
Round 1 - Lido 0 West End 3
Oh dear, it looks like our caution at the draw when it was made (see
below) was very justified. We should have wrapped it up by half time
with some good creative play from Shaun O'Leary and others but probably
didn't have more than a single direct shot at goal, and then West End
shrugged off their own shaky defence and gave a lesson in attacking
football, tying our backline in knots. Respect to West End for their
football and support.
Coming soon....The death dune
derby. The graveyard gang from Goytre come to the seaside for a day
out. Crosses and garlic advised for Lido fans, £1 discount for the
living dead from the valley if you bring your own deckchair. Bring
buckets and spades and dig your own grave.
August 28th 2005 Spain declares
war on the spuds
They started it, though.
August 2005 - Game on! The
season's happening, so we'd better catch up....
Briton Ferry 0 Lido 2 - It's a
different world in the Welsh League. An away game you could leave for
without getting up at dawn, goals scored and they're ours, two
sendings-off and their the other team's. Good football, beer, winning and
sunshine. We hardly remember football being this good.
Lido 0 Pontardawe 1 - Complete
contrast to the Ferry game. Too many nothing performances and too many
long balls means a nothing side go home with three points we can't say
they didn't earn. It was sunny but it rained, meaning that the
Pontardawe players who spent at LEAST 15 whole minutes laying on
the ground "injured" will have topped up their tans but got wet arses as
well. We hope they get chilblains in a spot they can't scratch if they
were by some chance cheating the ref to waste time (perish the
thought!).
Lido 1 Ton Pentre 2 - Potential
top-of-the-table six-pointer we'll regret having lost if we play like we
can over the season, but maybe just a nothing defeat if we play like
this. Not great, though we did show fight to come back from a goal down
with ten men before their winner.
Lido 1 Neath 1 - Good old WP
officials! A Lido player sent-off for nothing, as is traditional.
Mistaken identity for one booking plus a harsh second yellow equals
either incompetence or the arse-end of last year's hidden agenda.
Haven't they heard that Pridham plays for the spuds now? Go and pick on
them (please)!
The rest was fun enough; Neath players
celebrated their goal by running into the non-existent section of the
crowd that supported them in a post-modern commentary on the hollow
nature of football club mergers. Nice touch, lads.
August 6th 2005 - Aberystwyth 1
Lido 1
The result, and that of other friendlies, says it all really - we're
Welsh Premier quality stuck in the Welsh League for a year (eh, Mr.
Chairman? JUST A YEAR!). We can match these teams with relative ease on
the day, even if the league want to deduct us points for no f***ing good
reason and send us down. Good game and a great Lido goal, scored by "the
Lido number 10" as our roving reporter put it (after a few pints, we
suspect).
August 5th 2005 - Returning
Hero
Shaun O'Leary is a red again. He dipped a toe in the murky waters of
Victoria Road but found only pond life. Welcome back a clean pool,
Shaun. We could have told you they were all ****s if you'd asked!
August 3rd 2005 - Friends
reunited
We stuffed the spuds in a "friendly". OK it was 2-2, but they only
got the equaliser in the end stages when Lido's team was in a rather
experimental form and we'd outplayed them all game. It means nothing, but
anything that makes the Judas turncoats gnash their teeth has to be
worth a smile.
Other friendly scores:
- We beat Cwmamman away, 2 or 3 nil.
- Spud reserves 0 Lido 2 or 3 (forget which, sorry)
- Lido Some, Porthcawl probably less (1-1 at HT but we had to wash our
hair then ready for the big disco the day after)
- Not sure what happened to Carmarthen coming down.
July 21st 2005 - Going nowhere?
We're the new Ton Pentre, according to the chairman. Even if we win
the Welsh League this season we're not going up - we can't afford to. On
a similar theme, we at the website have just bought a pizza but we're
not going to eat it, just throw it straight away - it'll save on the
toilet paper later.
What a waste of time this season could be
if this threat is carried out. Maybe we should just all not bother; the
players could go for a jog on Saturday afternoons to keep fit and then
have a session on the Playstation, and we supporters could just stay in
the pub, I suppose. We've always wanted to pop up to Kenfig Pool more
often - maybe we could do that on Saturdays instead. And we haven't
written Auntie Doris yet to thank her for that Christmas present - that
could fill an hour.
Oh yes, and the other pronouncement from
on high is that the manager's getting the sack if we're not doing well
enough, though exactly why that would matter if we're not going anywhere
anyway, we can't quite see.
July 19th 2005 - Welsh Cup Draw
made
We'll be home to West End of Swansea in the first round of
the Cup this year. They're a club a lot like Lido in many ways - they
were formed about the same time and have a tremendous tradition in
running youth sides - only that Lido people had the vision to advance us
beyond local leagues far earlier. West End have just decided to make the
move into the Welsh League after dominating the Swansea Senior League
for a good while. A great football club and a team of much higher
quality than the third division they'll be playing in next year - tough
draw!
July 4th 2005 - Green-eyed at
the other Reds
It's all happening at Llanelli. New investment, new management, new
players, more than one or two of them full-time... all looking to the
future. Good on them for having a go - they have a town similar in size
to ours but with a far bigger competing attraction than we have, yet
they already get better gates. Lido could learn lessons here. Read all
at..
http://www.llanelliafc.co.uk/
One day later than below OK, we
got it wrong...
...but we're very happy about it. Brian Thomas is staying put at
Lido despite offers from elsewhere. Again. Lido legend. The word that
spuds should look up in a dictionary is 'LOYALTY'.
June the somethingth 2005 - Welsh League,
here we come! ...but not all of us.
Fair play, most our squad from last season is too good to play
in the Welsh League, especially as Lido are pretty broke and won't be
paying that much. A few departures were inevitable, and we say goodbye
for now and good luck to Sasha as he goes to Carmarthen and Brian as he
goes to our new league rivals, Goytre. It is said that certain others
are off to the spuds, and we will pray for their souls.
June 26th 2005 - 2005-06 friendlies
announced
Sat July 23rd Cwmamman (a) 1.30 (2 teams)
Tue July 26th Corus (a) 6.30
Sat July 30th Tredegar (a) 3.00
Mon Aug 1st Carmarthen (h) at Corus 6.30
Thu Aug 4th Aberaman (a) 6.30
Sat Aug 6th Aberystwyth (a) 2.30
Tue Aug 9th Haverfordwest (a) 7.00
Summer time - BOOOORING!
Nothing good happens in the summer.
Editorial (or just a question, as it's
too hot to write) - Crowd figures
Why can't we just report them accurately? Let's not do the spud
thing and *ahem* exaggerate, but let's show how many people actually
watch this club - it reflects badly on the club as things stand.
April 28th 2005 - Appeal
rejected
So it's down we go. There's still the option of arbitration, but the
dignified thing to do would be to accept it gracefully now and work on
getting back in one year. We've done it before and we'll do it again.
Let's see who's red and who's not.
April 23rd 2005 - Welshpool 2
Lido 1 (P. Evans)
Oh well, it's all down to the appeal then. With our points
stolen, we finish bottom; if we get them back we're safe, if we don't
then the administrators decide the league table instead of football
players. Good effort by the Lido team on the day, but not many chances
made on a pitch with more sand than grass.
April 17th 2005 - Cefn Druids 3
Lido 0
They scored two of their goals from penalties and we had players
sent-off. Etc.. We're playing more than the other eleven players half
the time. And as linesmen are usually such a quiet, shy bunch, why are
they waking up whenever they see a possible chance to f*** us over?
April 16th 2005 - Connah's Quay
Nomates 4 Lido 2 (Bashir, Piper)
The first of two games in two days and a big disappointment.
April 14th 2005 - League docks
Lido points
Let's not mince words, here; what a crock of f***ing s***! Lido are
innocent of any wrongdoing and the decision is a joke. It makes the
league a joke. We wonder what's the point of football when clipboard
carriers can screw up someone's season like this.
April 9th 2005 - Lido 1
(Karl Reynolds) Cefn Druids 0
Not exactly a feast of football, as Druids shamelessly try to shoot
down the seagulls of Aberafan Beach with long, high balls. Lido didn't
play a blinder, put had bags more good intent, and got the goal from a
lovely move.
April 3rd 2005 - Porthmadog 2
Lido 0
The grumpiest Gogs in the league! And even getting three points didn't
cheer them up very much.
April 1st 2005 - Lido 1 (Sasha
Walters) Llanelli 1
That Llanelli ran home with a point is the biggest April fool joke
of the day! We pummelled them but couldn't finish them off. A night of
frustration.
March 28th 2005 - Cwmbran 1
Lido 0
Away to Cwmbran in front of 130. Traditional Bank Holiday football,
eh? Thanks to the league for that. And thanks to a very silly Linesman
for a double error that changed the game. First he disallowed a goal
that would have earned us a point when most people seemed to think it
was fair, and then he compounded his error by sending-off a Lido player
for swearing in frustration. Context, lad. Have some understanding. And
you were ****ing wrong anyway!
March 25th 2005 - Possible
points deduction hangs over Lido.
Leigh Shrimpton's been a bit dozy. First he went and played under a
false name in a Sunday league match. Then he made it worse by getting
sent off. Then he made it worse again by not telling anyone at Lido, so
the club didn't know that he might not have been eligible when we tonked
Airbus 4-0. A league hearing on April 14th will decide our fate.
March 22nd 2005 - Lido 0
Carmarthen 2
A fair result. Well beaten and all that. Carmarthen are close to
being title-challengers after being awful last year, and manager Mark
Jones takes the lion's share of the credit. We can't imagine what the twonks who forced him out of their club 12 months ago must be thinking
now.
March 22nd 2005
- Site back up-to-date. Town in shock.
The oldest site we may be, but we're starting from scratch. Let's go!
Again! And until we fall behind again and pick it up next year!
Probably! Let's see.....
March 18th 2005
- Haverfordwest 2 Afan Lido 1 (Paul Evans)
Star of the show - the referee. Just as he likes it. In other news,
a football match peeped out from under a man's ego, and Afan Lido yet
again matched one of the top teams in the WP only to come away
empty-handed.
January 27th 2005
- Merger rejected by Lido
A cunning plan (the like of which Baldrick would be proud) to
improve football in Port Talbot by killing its best team is rejected by
everyone at the club. What a surprise! FULL ARTICLE ONLINE "SOON"
