AFC Sudbury H, Saturday 10.08.24

[Steve T]

As one of only two clubs in the division that Banbury has never met, AFC Sudbury deserve a brief introduction. It was formed in 1999 by a merger of Sudbury Town (formed 1885) and Sudbury Wanderers (1958). Town had had a short spell in the Southern League with three seasons in the Premier Division (best finish 10th, 1996) but it cost the club badly and in 1997 it dropped two levels to the Eastern Counties League. The new club played at the home of Wanderers, now much improved. Town's Priory Stadium was eventually sold for housing.

This is the new club's third season at this level – previously 16-17 in the Isthmian and last season in this division, which was a struggle, especially after Nuneaton's resignation and the loss of six points from beating them twice. Three wins in their last four games kept them up (before, of course, the Coalville saga that eventually saved Hitchin).

Notable cup feats:
Town – FA Vase runners-up 1988-89; FA Trophy 3rd Round (last 16) 1995-96; FA Cup 2nd Round 1996-97
AFC – FA Cup 1st Round 2000-01; FA Vase runners-up 2003, 2004, 2005

Sudbury Wanderers – fchd.info/SUDBURYW.HTM
Sudbury Town – fchd.info/SUDBURYT.HTM
AFC Sudbury – fchd.info/AFC-SUDB.HTM

[didier]

Well the brief highlights are now on the Club's YouTube channel ;

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl_qTkesI08

Any observations/thoughts from those who were there ?

[simon]

Difficult to judge on the one game, but the need for a target man is clear. There were glimpses of positivity, but too few. A bitty game where neither side really took hold.

[liamr]

I think the best way to summarise it was the game highlighted more where we are going to need to improve, rather than show the areas we might be strong in.

Only the first game tho. Mussa and Dias becoming fully fit will sort out the central midfield, and then a number 9 is desperately needed

Crowd wasn’t great which is a concern, need to entice people back down and sadly theres only one way to do that

George ball looks a very promising player, and you can see aj george will be a big threat

[petet]

A very poor game to watch. Two very mediocre teams. Sudbury look as though they might well struggle again. As for us,well, simply not at it yesterday.
It's very early days, and hopefully things will soon improve. Many more performances like this will see crowds dip below 400, and that is not sustainable.
Give it a few weeks and see where we are then. Opening day fixtures always throw up some odd performances and results.
Let's see what happens at Barwell, they will offer sterner opposition.

[Sparky]

Without being there I obviously can’t pass an opinion but given the absolute shambles of last season with the total mismanagement we have been forced to start all over again so to be to critical after one game is probably a bit harsh but time will tell as the old adage goes if you can’t win don’t lose.

[liamr]

Win tomorrow we go top, keep the faith haha

[Steve T]

Aug 11, 2024 9:47:34 GMT 1 petet said:

Many more performances like this will see crowds dip below 400, and that is not sustainable.

Members will have seen the July e-mail from the board. In that, finances were discussed, notably the losses of £12,000 on complimentary food and drinks, and £6,000 on programmes. Dealing with that should at least cover the £10K increase in the rent. Away costs will be lower – total distance travelled will be half that of last season. However, we know the club is still looking for sponsors. How much extra business will be generated by the clubhouse refurbishment? How much did that cost and who has paid? Again, from the e-mail: "...all future investment had to be third-party funded."

440 was a decent attendance for a first home league game. Ignoring the last two seasons, 400 had been reached just seven times since the mid-70s and four of those only because of visiting supporters but, as Pete implies, it's vital it's maintained at least at that level throughout the season. The average from 2016-20 was just over 400 and that made Banbury reasonably competitive in a Premier division which was probably stronger in that time than it is now.
_______________________

In his interview, the Sudbury manager was asked about the performance of his side against "a team relegated from the National League North: 'How far does that show we've come?' ".

It doesn't show anything, sunshine! The club has been relegated, the team dispersed. Cynics will say it wasn't even a National League North team anyway...

[Sparky]

If that’s his yardstick for the season they are going nowhere,remains to be seen if we do.

[Steve T]

That was the interviewer speaking, not the manager, who to his credit described Banbury as a side 'in transition'.