Hamble Club that finished second could not be promoted so we went up to Wessex Division 1 .
“ Last season , at the start of our first year in the Wessex , Scott and Ben asked me what I expected from the Season , my reply was Top Six and a good cup run , we got both but won the League by 14 points scoring 133 league goals in 40 games . I am very proud of what the Managers and players achieved .
“ Our Club is very heavily involved in an Annual Fund Raiser for Cancer called Soccer for Cancer . Last year we raised somewhere in the region of £ 28,000.00 and this year we are hoping to raise £ 50,000.00 . This is all down to Scott and Ben ’ s hard work .
“ We have one of the largest Youth set ups in Hampshire with teams from Toddlers to under 16 years . We have a reserve side run by Mike Balmen which is starting to bring some good youth players through , in fact , there are three players who have already made an impact in the first team this season .
“ I personally think the most important thing about our Club is the Family Atmosphere , there is good camaraderie . The players have pre match gimmicks
and on home games they select players to do Karaoke which is hilarious . At the end of the Season they all go to Maguluf for some site-seeing .
“ We now have the facilities to go up two levels of the pyramid so hopefully a bit of breathing space but there is always something that needs doing . Next season I am bringing in a Finance and Fundraising Committee run by my lovely wife Penny to help raise much needed monies .
“ I think the biggest challenge this Club will face in the next five years is holding on to the Committee Members , Players and Managers , bringing in youth every year . I am not quite sure what the Club ’ s ambitions are for the next five years – for me Top Six and a good cup run . We will be in the F . A Vase this year and the F . A . Cup next season . “ Scott and Ben will be looking for more than me which is normal for good Managers and to be fair I ’ ve already told them I don ’ t want to win Wessex Division 1 again , so onwards and upwards . Finally , I have to thank Tim from South Coast Building Supplies , who are our Main Sponsors , he is a great Guy with a great Firm – May we grow together .”
“ I first joined the club under Co-Manager Scott Marchant , myself and a large majority of the squad at the time had played for Scott when he managed Knighton Arms on a Sunday . The team was full of Wessex League and Southern League players , the chairman had approached Scott to build a team here at Hamble and Scott brought over a large majority and started the journey we are currently on .
I think the attraction for the majority of the lads was the challenge of doing what they ’ d done on a Sunday with Scott and bring that into Saturday football , Scott had a very close relationship with the lads on a Sunday and there ’ s no doubt he was a huge pull .
The most challenging part of my role is probably keeping everyone happy . At the top flight these guys are getting paid huge amounts of money and it ’ s their job , here at this level you have local lads , who play football for the release at the weekend or for enjoyment . They don ’ t always see the benefit of travelling an hour on a Saturday or Tuesday night to sit on the bench , but you hope they see it ’ s more about the team than a personal decision against them .
The rewarding side of things ranges , it could be a set piece we ’ ve worked on , a big result , a run we ’ d been on , a clean sheet , little things contribute to continuous small rewards , then they all contributed to the big reward of league champions at the end of this season .
The season went well , the aim at the start of the year was mere promotion , whether that was as League Champions , Runners Up or finishing 3rd , we honestly did not care , we just had to get up . Once the promotion was secured , League Champions then took over as the main aim , and the lads dug in and made sure that happened , we some good cup runs , but we ’ d take Promotion over any cup competition we were in this year .
Our plans for 2017 are to build , stabilise and create a base for players to come through the club and develop . Many clubs wish to chase the league title and spend lots of money trying to get promoted , it sounds odd but that ’ s not what we are aiming to do .
There are some top clubs in the area , AFC Totton ,
Salisbury , Havant & Waterlooville , Gosport , Eastleigh and Basingstoke … If we can help players develop and give them a pathway into these larger clubs then I feel we are doing things the right way . A couple of nice cup runs would be great , we have a capable squad with some new additions and I think we will hold our own .
Youth football is huge for the club and for local football . We want to give local lads an opportunity to come through the club and hopefully we can push them on to bigger and better things . We have a youth set up in place , we won ’ t benefit from that instantly as we have no under 18 ’ s currently , but we do have a few youngsters in the first team already .
I ’ d like to think we ’ d be a well-established Wessex Premier Club in the coming years , giving opportunity to local lads who want to progress in the game . The ground would be matured by then and I ’ m sure it ’ ll be a real home .
We want people to come watch us on a Tuesday night if there ’ s nothing on the TV and to think Hamble are home , they like to play a bit so let ’ s go see them . It would be great to have a reputation of playing the right way and doing things right , many people will judge success by silverware , but at what cost ? Maybe I ’ m wrong , but the pitch and facilities are as important as winning any major honour .”
Ben Kneller , First Team Manager www . footballfocusmag . com 17