LeamingtonFC.co.uk

Following the FA Cup Fourth Round Qualifying draw, made today on talkSPORT2, the winner of the Kettering Town vs Leamington replay tomorrow night will host Buxton in the Fourth Round Qualifying of the world's oldest cup competition.

The tie will be played on the weekend of Saturday 16 October.

We are delighted to announce under 23 players Josh Beeson and Jack Sang have signed first team forms!

Head of Youth and First Team Coach Chris Knott said "Josh and Jack have started the season really well for our newly formed under 23s and as a result were invited in to train with the first team. Josh featured in pre season after bursting on to the scene in last years floodlit side, and although new to the club in the summer, Jack has shown a consistent level of performances to merit this opportunity."

"Paul Holleran has been brilliant in the process and we have already seen 11 under 18/23 players get a chance to train with the first team as a reward for not only their performances but also attitude application and enthusiasm which is so important on their journey. I am delighted with the above as it demonstrates there is a pathway and opportunity for players at the club, we look forward to seeing more players progress in the future."

We would like to congratulate Josh and Jack and wish them the best of luck!

Leamington will host one of Spalding United or Kettering Town in the Third Round Qualifying of the Emirates FA Cup.

The tie is set to be played on Saturday 2 October. Brakes will find out their opponents tomorrow (Tuesday) evening.

Leamington will host Stone Old Alleynians in the FA Cup Second Qualifying Round. The tie will be played on the weekend of Saturday 18 September.

Currently playing in the Midland League Premier Division after being promoted in season 2020/21 due to league restructuring, despite the season not finishing. They started their FA Cup journey in the Extra Preliminary Round away at our close neighbours Racing Club Warwick, winning 4-0. Four second half goals sunk the Racers who played with 9 men following two second half dismissals. Another Warwickshire side was up in the Preliminary Round as Rugby Town travelled to Wellbeing Park and were defeated 4-2. Anstey Nomads were next up in the First Qualifying Round, and Jack Tomlinson was the man who had his name written in the history books, his first half goal enough to send the Staffordshire side into the Second Qualifying Round for the first time in their history.

Brakes do have an unlikely link to Stone Old Alleynians, with Dan Turner being a former pupil of Alleyne's Academy - the school that the Stone Old Alleynians team was made out of. Dan's Dad Graham used to play in goal for Stone Old Alleynians.

The club can confirm rearranged dates for our previously postponed Vanarma National League North games against Gateshead and Alfreton.

Paul Holleran's side will host Gateshead on Tuesday 7 September, with a 7:45pm kick off at Your Co-op Community Stadium and will travel to Alfreton on Tuesday 21 September, kick off time at the Impact Arena is also 7:45pm.

Tickets for the Gateshead fixture will be released in the coming seven days, and we will update our social media and website as soon as we get ticketing information from Alfreton Town.

According to our records, Leamington have played 12 times on this day in the past. The earliest record of us playing on this day was in 1949 in the opening game of the Birmingham Combination season. In a season where Lockheed would end up finishing second bottom, the first game set the tone for much of the rest of the season as they fell on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline against Wolverhampton Wanderers ‘A’. Bernard Jones got Lockheed’s only goal at the Windmill that day. Six years later though, it was a winning start to the season as Shrewsbury Town reserves came and were defeated 3-2. In front of a crowd of 1,571, a brace from Frank Grimwood in the first ten minutes and a second half Leslie Jakeman goal sent the home support away happy.

Another opening day win came in 1960 as Lockheed put 4 past Warwickshire rivals Stratford Town. Awde, Ward, Brown and Jepson were on the scoresheet that day. After world cup fever hit the country in 1966, it was back to earth for Lockheed as they lost 3-1 to Gainsborough Trinity on the opening day of the season. Former Barnsley and Mansfield full back Bill Poynton got Lockheed’s only goal in Lincolnshire. Another eight years went past before Lockheed, who would play the next game as AP Leamington with it being in 1974 - one year after the name change, could play on 20 August, but the wait was worth it as they beat Bromsgrove Rovers 2-1 at home. An 85th minute winner from Mick Keeley added on to his earlier goal was enough to make it four points from two games for AP.

AP made the journey to Witney in 1977 on the opening day of the season and drew 1-1 in front of 314 people thanks to an Adrian Stewart goal. In their first competitive game as Southern League Champions, AP hosted King’s Lynn on 20 August 1983. A goal from Cliff Campbell was enough for the champions in front of 353 at the Windmill Ground. The next fixture was 19 years later as Pershore visited the New Windmill Ground in 2002. Josh Blake and Paul Nicholls got the two goals, with the winner coming in the 90th minute.

Rocester visited Harbury Lane in 2005 and goals from Josh Blake, Steve Smith, Alex Rodman and Ryan Howell blew away the Romans and made it three wins from three games for Leamington. Brakes were in the Southern League by the time the next game was played and all 579 in the ground watched a Tommy Berwick hat trick, along with a Steph Morley goal, sink Weymouth 4-1. Continued progression meant the next game the club would play on this date was as a Conference North club. On the regular start of season Tuesday night slot which we haven’t had this season, Brakes travelled to Hednesford after a dream first game back as a Conference club on the Saturday as they won 2-0 against Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC and Brakes netted twice again on Tuesday 20 August with goals from Lee Chilton and Stefan Moore, but it wasn’t enough as Hednesford ran out 3-2 winners, despite being 2-0 behind.

The most recent game on this day was away at Chippenham Town in 2016. Chippenham ended Leamington’s winning streak of four games at the start of the season as 364 saw the Bluebirds take all three points with a 1-0 win in a season where the top spot would be occupied by either Leamington or Chippenham for most of the season, Chippenham eventually winning the league as champions whilst Leamington had to do it the hard way via the playoffs, but still got promoted with a 2-1 AET win against Hitchin.

Full Record:

P12 W7 D1 L4

1949: Lockheed 1-4 Wolverhampton Wanderers A
1955: Lockheed 3-2 Shrewsbury Town Reserves
1960: Stratford Town 0-4 Lockheed
1966: Gainsborough Trinity 3-1 Lockheed
1974: AP 2-1 Bromsgrove Rovers
1977: Witney Town 1-1 AP
1983: AP 1-0 King’s Lynn
2002: Leamington 2-0 Pershore Town
2005: Leamington 4-0 Rocester
2011: Leamington 4-1 Weymouth
2013: Hednesford Town 3-2 Leamington
2016: Chippenham Town 1-0 Leamington

Video credit: Hednesford Town FC

The National League are pleased to announce 32Red and Unibet as the Official Betting Partners of the Vanarama National League.
A two-year partnership has been agreed with parent company Kindred Group, covering both the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons.

32Red and Unibet operate across Europe, including a wide variety of sponsorships within the domestic and international game. The brands will feature across the Competition’s digital channels, stadium advertising and in match day programmes.

Mark Ives, General Manager for the National League said, “The National League is thrilled to welcome the Kindred Group’s Unibet and 32Red brands as our official Betting Partner.

“We are excited to be working with an organisation who want to prioritise fan and community projects and gambling awareness, which is absolutely perfect timing, as we welcome back supporters in greater numbers than we have been able to over the last 18-or-so months.

“That period has been extremely challenging for us all and so we are very welcoming of this partnership for at least the next 2-years.”
Neil Banbury, UK General Manager, Kindred Group, added: “This is a hugely important day for everyone connected with the Kindred Group – we are excited and proud to be The National League’s official Betting Partner.

“Simply, non-league football is the lifeblood of our national sport. The elite level can only exist if the base of the pyramid thrives – and we hope that our investment will help to support that. At the heart of this are the supporters, of course, with their unwavering loyalty.

“The last year-and-a-half has shown us how vital they are to the clubs and to their communities. That is why we’ll be making sure that supporters see and feel a benefit from our sponsorship of their league. More broadly, Kindred remains committed to reinventing the sports sponsorship model – because we want a model that benefits the wider community.”

This community-first approach is in line with the Kindred’s sponsorship of Derby County, Rangers and Middlesbrough, for example. These clubs benefit from six-figure funding to run the Team Talk initiative – a platform that uses the club and its staff, including players and manager, as a mechanism to engage with men about their mental well-being.

More broadly, the Kindred Group broke new ground earlier in 2021 by becoming the first gambling operator to disclose the share of revenue derived from harmful gambling. Kindred has set an ambition to reach zero per cent of revenue from harmful gambling by the end of 2023 and report this on a quarterly basis.

The purpose is to be transparent with data and raise awareness on what needs to be done to prevent high-risk gambling in society. For the second quarter of 2021, the share of revenue from harmful gambling was 4.3%.

To celebrate the announcement, Kindred will be giving away tickets for National League matches on Saturday 4th September – which is an International Fixtures weekend – with fan competitions and giveaways set to be a feature throughout the partnership. Details will be confirmed very shortly.

Following the news of the postponement of our season opener against Gateshead, we can bring ticketing arrangements for fans who purchased tickets for the game online.

Tickets purchased for today’s game will be eligible for the rearranged game between the two sides, on a date that is to be confirmed. We are conscious that supporters may not be able, or may not want to attend the rearranged fixture and in that case you are eligible for a full refund. To get your refund, please email refunds@leamingtonfc.co.uk using the email address used to purchase the tickets.

In order to assist us in issuing refunds, please use your booking reference as a subject header. Depending on when the tickets were purchased, it may take up to week for the refund to be processed and money to arrive back into your account.

We will advise fans of a rearranged date for the fixture as soon as it is agreed.

Following on from the postponement of the Gateshead game, we can confirm that our trip to Alfreton Town on Saturday 21 August will not go ahead due to Covid-19 issues. With one Leamington player testing positive, and therefore more isolating, the National League have called the fixture off.

We will confirm a rescheduled date for both Gateshead and Alfreton games as soon as they are agreed.

Leamington FC regrettably advise you that Saturday’s opening Vanarama National League North fixture with Gateshead has been postponed due to a Covid-19 event in the Leamington FC squad. This matter only came to notice late on Friday evening and the full extent of the situation will not be fully established until all relevant close contacts have taken PCR tests and received their results and inquiries by the club are completed.

An announcement will be made later today for fans who have purchased tickets in advance of the game informing you on the refund process.

The club has been in communication with Gateshead FC and thank them for their understanding in this matter.
It is very frustrating for everyone and we fully understand that this will be a huge disappointment for fans of both clubs, particularly so as it would have been the welcome return of fans. We are equally aware that the sense of disappointment is shared by players, team management and club officials.

The priority of the club is the health and wellbeing of our players and staff and we wish those affected a speedy recovery. We will continue to follow the relevant protocols and a further update will be provided when all the facts have been established.