The Meadow has been the home of the village football and cricket clubs going back to the late 1800s and the old pavilion still survives on the far side of the ground, originally this had a thatched roof and water was carried across to it by bucket and then a two wheeled hand water cart was pulled across by the players. With no electricity in the original building changing could be somewhat hazardous after the game on a cold December Saturday. Football and cricket were both played at the present ground in Summer Road until the outbreak of war when the field was ploughed up to provide land suitable to grow food on. There is some confusion regarding the road that the ground stands on to this day because the signs erected by the highways authority show different names at each end of the road, Sumner Road at the main road and Summer Road at the village end. Football started up again after the war and was played at Grove Road in the village from 1947 and the club competed in the Bury & District league Division 2. A new pitch was developed on Gallents Meadow in Ixworth Road and used from 1948 to 1951 (the reserve side was formed in 1949 to compete in the Bury village league) when the club moved back to its present site after the generosity of the Martineau family provided the grass seed to reseed the field. Originally the pitch was across the field but upon the resumption of football at the meadow the direction of the pitch was changed to allow a new cricket square to be laid in the centre of the field. The thatched pavilion was still in use and the additions of calor gas for lighting and a calor gas boiler for tea making improved the facilities for everyone. The amalgamation of the cricket and football clubs in 1952 then formed Walsham le Willows Sports Club. The original football stand was built in the 1950s with the new pavilion in 1973, mains electricity was added at this time and the addition of a bar and lounge area followed soon after with the snooker room, kitchen and car park added the following year. The clubs teams have participated in the Bury & District league, Bury Village league, Stowmarket league, Suffolk & Ipswich league and now the Ridgeons league. As a junior side the club won the Suffolk Junior cup three years running in 87-88, 88-89, and 89-90 after being beaten finalists in 73-74. Numerous Bury and district titles and cups were won before entering the Suffolk & Ipswich league in 89-90, promotion to the senior league was achieved in that season and was quickly followed by relegation before we established ourselves as a senior side in 97-98 by finishing in 4th position. League positions then went 3rd and 4th with the league knock out cup being won in both seasons. Current manager Paul Smith was appointed for the following campaign and the league record then went 4th, 1st,1st and 2nd with one league knock out cup victory.
Season 2004-05 was our first in the Ridgeons league and we finished 4th with our first ever Suffolk Senior cup final appearance at Portman Road. The following season cup success was achieved at Portman Road by winning the Suffolk Senior cup in a thrilling extra time 4-3 victory over Capel Plough. A creditable 5th position was achieved in the league and our first ever appearance in the F A Cup. The installation of floodlights, new changing rooms and the 100 seat stand give us a facility to be proud of and in season 06-07 we became champions of Division One after exiting all cup competitions early. This is our Fourth season in the Ridgeons Premier and after 10 very successful seasons with Paul Smith in charge he has decided to stand down and take a well deserved rest. New manager Chris Soanes (Pauls assistant for many seasons) is now in charge to carry on the good work. Chris has worked hard during the close season to bring in some fresh faces including ex professional Gavin Johnson who played for Ipswich, Wigan and Colchester amongst his clubs. With the "A" team gaining promotion to Division 3 of the Suffolk & Ipswich league last season, we also have our reserves playing in the Ridgeons reserve league and the U18 side in the Ridgeons Floodlit league. Hopefully during this season we should receive good news about a development over the road from the present site which will include 3 further grass pitches, car park, tennis court and an artificial grass surface under floodlights.

Chell Trophy Runners-up Walsham Reserves 2012-2013

Hospice Charity Plate Winners Walsham Reserves 2011-2012
Ipswich & Suffolk Youth Football League U18 Division Champions 2011-2012
Hospice Cup Winners Walsham 'A' Team 2011-2012
Peel Cup Winners Walsham Reserves 2010-2011
Ipswich & Suffolk Youth Football League U18 Division Champions 2010 - 2011
Ross Taylor Cup Winners Walsham 'A' Team 2009-2010
SIL Division 4 Champions Walsham 'A' Team 2009-2010
Eastern Counties League (Ridgeons) Division One Champions 2006-07
Ridgeons Reserve North Div. Runners-up 2008-2009
Ridgeons Reserve North Div. Champions 2007-08
Ridgeons U18 Central Div. Champions 2007-08
Suffolk & Ipswich League (SIL) Senior Champions 2001-02 and 2002-03.
SIL Senior Division Runners-up 2003-04.
SIL Omnico Cup Winners 98-99, 99-2000, 2001-02.
SIL Omnico Cup Finalists 02-03.
Suffolk Senior Cup Winners 2005-06.
Suffolk Senior Cup Finalists 2004-05.
SIL Intermediate A Champions 2001-02.
SIL Intermediate B Champions 96-97
SIL Ryan Cup Winners 2004-05
SIL Division One Champions 89-90, 94-95.
Suffolk Junior Cup Winners 87-88, 88-89, 89-90.
Suffolk Junior Cup Finalists 73-74
SIL Division Four Champions 2000-01.
SIL Division Six Champions 96-97
SIL Orwell Cup Winners 96-97, 97-98, 99-00, 02-03.
SIL Senior Club of the Season 2001-02 and 2002-03.
SIL Junior Club of the Season 89-90.
Bury Sunday League Div Four Champions 2001-02.
Bury Sunday League Div Four K.O.Cup winners 01-02.
Bury Sunday League Div Two K.O. Cup Winners 04-05.

  Over the course of the season that was a very, very creditable achievement; to finish in the top three, lose only four league matches and reach a cup final says a lot about the team, the manager, the club and its facilities. It also has to be remembered that we finished above the reserve teams from; Sudbury, Saffron Walden, Newmarket, Stowmarket, Diss, Felixstowe and other small towns with much, much larger catchment areas.. The team stuck together as a team and certainly dug in when required, the work rate and effort throughout the team was consistently very high.

  Three matches stuck out in the Best Performance category; Sudbury away (a very hard fought draw), Felixstowe away (getting a 2-1 victory against the team currently top of the league with a squad of only eleven players on the day) and finally, Stowmarket at home, the second attempt surprisingly (very good performance against a strong visiting team).

   Worst performance; everyone knows which match that was; truly shocking and absolutely no idea from start to finish.

  Individual Reviews (you have been warned).

 Barry Lynn (9); well played mate, very, very consistent, good shot stopper, got his share of points for the team over the season.

 Liam Bryant (6); unlucky to be in the same team as Barry, perhaps needs to be a bit more confident and come off his line quicker.

 Tom Goddard (7);  generally had a good season, certainly more good games than bad, get yourself fit and the position is yours.

 Ben Cobbold (8); nice lad, good footballer, very consistent in his performances; gets pushed off the ball too easily and probably too nice to be the captain.  

 David Fletcher (6); 100% effort every week, very inconsistent, either very good or not so good (bad to put it simply) perhaps he should let his hair grow again.

Ben Virtue (10); had the fortune (or mis-fortune) to get the closest scrutiny from me, but did he take it with both hands or what? Very, very consistent, I don’t remember too many wingers giving him the run around, must be a big contender for POY.

 Conor Davey (7); young lad, unflappable, needs to concentrate on his distribution (some of his clearances had snow on when they landed).

 Jack Edwards (8); has the potential to be the best player in the team, very skilful on the ball and works hard, just needs to remember that it is a team game.

 David Grant (6); substitute several times, works hard, possibly needs to be more confident on the ball.

 Darren Atkins (6); lots of hustle and bustle, closes the opposition down quickly, works hard, distribution dreadful (great header of the ball, Wivenhoe away).

 Jake Gathercole (9); not impressed when I first saw him (wrong) potentially a very, very good player and I think that the team misses him when he doesn’t play.

 Lee Gaught (7); hampered by injury; possibly the best thinker in the team, if he gets fit and shows the application required is a real danger man going at defenders.

 Darren Brill (6);  should be ‘Brillo’ with that hair style; good lad, needs to make more of that left foot, should spend the summer practicing crossing (that’s the ball, not dressing).

 C and A (9); no not the shop, Cooke and Austin; when they remember that they are on the same team there is no stopping these two, two of the top three goal scorers in the league and over sixty goals between them. One or the other scored in thirty three of the thirty eight games that we played (what happened in the other five lads), it’s soccer Cookey not rugby.

 Luke Roberts (7); good squad player, plenty of effort, scored a couple of important goals.

 Lee Hammond (7); played in several different positions over the season (no mean feat), never let the side down but a bit inconsistent, scored a couple of good goals though.

William Brown (11); poseur.

 Andrew Atkins (9); Alex Ferguson, more like Sarah Ferguson! Plenty of vocals from the line, certainly got it right most of the time, gave most players a fair crack of the whip over the season and you can’t argue with the results.

 Sue Cobbold (9); sorry Sue, Sudbury’s Physio just nicks it.

 A couple of quality additions to the squad and I don’t think that we have to particularly fear anyone, don’t take it to heart lads and stick together.

 KG

  PS  Mine’s a John Smiths on Friday night.

Thurlow Nunn Reserve League

 Tuesday 30^th April 2013

 Walsham Res 3 Stowmarket Town Res 0

  Starting with no less than six players who played for the first team the previous Saturday (and seven in total) Stowmarket made a lively start and only a fine double save by Lynn from Sharp and the rebound by Ross prevented the visitors from taking an early lead. Following a lot of midfield possession by both sides it was the home side that took the lead when Cooke capitalised on a mistake by visiting ‘keeper Muckle. Gaught wasted a good one on one chance for Walsham before the visitor’s Sharp was denied by the offside flag and, on the stroke of half time, Austin’s shot was easily collected by Muckle.

   Walsham started strongly in the second half and Austin fired over after a fine solo run, but the home side soon doubled their lead when the same player finished from close range. As play swung from end to end Austin’s shot was palmed away by Muckle before Desmond-Hurst’s header was only just wide of the home goal. Walsham looked to take control of the match and  Foster and Hammond both shot wide before Austin’s header was well saved by Muckle. The home side put the visitors under pressure and further efforts from Thorrold and Brame went wide of the mark. Five minutes from time Quinton hit the home upright from a free kick on the edge of the penalty area with Lynn well beaten and the ball was cleared. In the dying minutes Muckle pulled off the save of the match, tipping Brame’s goal bound free kick around the post. In the final minute of normal time Brame completed the scoring from close range following another Walsham corner.

 Fair play to Stowmarket, by fielding so many players with first team experience it was actually a very good contest, they passed the ball around with aplomb in their own half ( a bit like Barcelona) but rarely troubled the Walsham goal. The home defence was outstanding and whilst not too happy to single out individuals I thought that Lee Hammond had a very, very good game at the dreaded left back position (well apart from one suicidal cross field ball in the second half). The forwards looked like they had played together before and the midfield boys put in the hard work, well done, pity it took twenty eight league games to do it for ninety minutes.

 My much awaited review of the season is yet to come (be worried).

 KG

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM THE PETER BAILEY, THE CLUB AND MANAGERS  AT £22.50.

PLEASE RESPOND ASAP AS THERE IS A LIMIT.

WALSHAM LE WILLOWS SPORTS CLUBS NEW WEB SITE

please use the contact numbers on the web site to get in touch.

We now have a FACEBOOK Page, click on FACEBOOK icon on Welcome page to enter

From £35 you can now sponsor a player from any of the Teams.

Have a look at the players already sponsored, pictures are on the wall in the Club House.

Contact the Managers or a Committee Member

The youth section are currently running teams from under 8 to under 18 age groups......if you are looking for a team to join or would like to set up a team then please contact:



Youth chairman Martin Lash 07957 779894 s.d.lash@btinternet.com



Youth secretary Rob Stiff 07810 513790 rms4@sky.com