Welcome to the Pannal Sports FC Web site

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The Green Army

Welcome to the Pannal Sports website which I hope you will enjoy. Pannal Sports are 43 years old (2009) and those of you who know the Pannal Sports way, will know that football and the fantastic team spirit we have generated along the way have contributed to a few cups, a few trophies and plenty of excellent nights out down the years. That's really what this football club is all about. Training, working hard and enjoying your football on the pitch and equally, enjoying yourself off it. The football comes first, but the Golf Day, Race Night, Festival of Darts, Sheffield Dogs, Quiz Night and Christmas Do come a pretty close second. We're Pannal Sports, we want to win ... but we also want to have a laugh. In terms of the Open Age history, Joe Billington began a team in about 1988 in the Harrogate & District Division 5 on a Saturday which was based around 1987's U'16 (which featured a young Justin O'Halloran, Steve Billington, Dave Levine, Steve Kitch & Brian Pearson) and that team continued on for a few years after before most of them left for University. Micky Billington and I came through the ranks of the junior club to join the Open Age side in 1989/90 season and what an eye opener that was. An assorted band of plumbers, washing machine repair men, undergraduates and sixth formers came together to form a Saturday XI that played some good football and enjoyed the Saturday night world of Harrogate town centre afterwards. However, it was over the next couple of seasons that the team really developed into the modern day Pannal Sports. A variety of characters based loosely around a group of friends, acquaintances and hangers-on formed one of the most prominent football clubs in the area, which saw us promoted from Division 5 to the heady heights of the Harrogate Premier League. Between '91 and '93, we saw the arrival of characters like Roger Thomson, the Senior brothers, Andy Grant, Kev Harrison, Goughy, Mark Taylor, Rob Shuker, Al Bjelan, Eben, Mike Whorley and others. These joined the already established figures of Steve Kitch, Nige McHugh, the Billington family and yours truly under the management of Sir Joe Billington. In 1993/94 Iain "Robbo" Robertson joined the Green Army and began banging in the goals only for his career to be tragically cut short through a serious knee injury, forcing him into retirement ... only to see him bounce back into the managerial hotseat a year later. This move was the catalyst for the development of the modern day Pannal Sports, who under Robertson's reign, went onto secure our biggest trophy to date (at that time), the 1997 Hulme Cup - all those involved will remember what a fantastic day and night that was. The ever expanding Green Army began a Reserve team around that time and it was thanks to the likes of Ian Bullock and Steve Walmsley that the Reserve team became a success.The second batch of players began to come through the ranks, around this time again based around a group of friends, some of whom had come through the junior club. The likes of Joe Darcy, Mike Kell, Russ Black, Ian Carter, Danny Martin, Steve Audsley and Matt Evans provided us with a band of players that would all come through and play reserve team football with most graduating to the 1st team. Despite the success of the previous 8 years, 1998/99 saw us relegated from the Harrogate Premier but this lead to one of the most inspiring appointments in the club's history, when Lee Swales took over as 1st team manager for the start of the 1999/2000 season. To say he had an impact was an understatement. In his first season, we did the Division 1 and League Cup double and had assembled a side that looked fit to take the Premier league by storm. His expletive ridden half-time team talks were legendary but they certainly got the best out of the players - even if Roger was running a book on how many 'f' words he'd get in at half time. The 2003 season was the closest we've ever come to winning the Premier when we finished second by four points to a good Ilkley side but we had our revenge over them in the Senior Cup semi-final, before securing the biggest trophy in the club's history in the final against Styans. The 2003-04 seasons saw the return of Jim Beal to the club, firstly as a player and then as a manager, alongside Mick, helping the Reserves to a deserved promotion from Division 2. In 2005, we're beginning to see the next generation of players coming through and we now have a structure in place to keep the club in a healthy state. The addition of the 3rd team run by Micky Billington will hopefully attract players from the junior club U'16's (many of whom are training with us this season in readiness for next year) and also provide football for many of our long serving stalwarts. Mr Swales has also assembled a younger crop of players which can challenge in the Premier and the newly promoted Reserves have an equally challenging season in Division 1. Not many players who join Pannal Sports end-up leaving and many of the older players at the club have been with the Green Army for over 10 years. I like to think that that is because Pannal Sports is more than a football club. The spirit of the Green Army is something that needs to be maintained yet we also need to keep the club fresh, vibrant and youthful. We owe so much to Joe Billington and Mike Ryans for their tireless commitment to both the junior and senior clubs and I'm sure that due to the foundations they have laid, Pannal Sports FC will be around for a long time to come. Thanks to all of you that have made the journey to date so much fun. If you're new to the club, I hope you enjoy it as much as we have. Greg Greg Darcy CHAIRMAN September 2005

Contacts

President - Mike Ryans First Team Manager - Greg Darcy

Chairman - Andrew Gough Reserve Team Manager - Steve Jackson

Secretary - Mick Billington Third Team Manager - Mick Billington

Development Officer - Mark Taylor Webmaster - Russ Black

Treasurer - Joe Billington

                        email: webmaster@pannalsports.com

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