Samuel Gardiner - Sports Journalism

Shane Baptiste: Passion and resilience driving Woodford’s FA Cup dream Shane Baptiste has led Woodford Town to their best-ever FA Cup run The clock ticks over the 107 th minute at Ashton’s Playing Fields. Over 200 spectators, including a noisy bunch of home fans, watch on as Woodford Town and Bury Town, two leagues above their hosts, are still deadlocked in their FA Cup Second Qualifying Round replay. Woodford have already knocked out Colney Heath, Harlow Town and Newmarket Town to set up the tie with Bury, and nearly 200 minutes of football has been played in the tie with nothing to separate them after a 1-1 draw in the first leg. That is until striker Marko Protic picks up a pass inside the penalty area and side-foots a low shot beyond Charlie Beckwith in the Bury goal to send their supporters into raptures and book The Woods’ place in the Third Qualifying Round for the first time in their history. It is a testament to the work that Shane Baptiste and his staff have done at ...

  Jason Maher: From Step 5 boss to Norwich City scout   Jason Maher spent over 15 years in various coaching and management roles, before taking a new role as a scout for Norwich City.   It’s been quite the journey in football for Jason Maher. Forced to retire at the age of just 26 while playing for Burnham Ramblers due to a severe leg break, he took the reigns at Long Melford in the Thurlow Nunn League after previously having a spell as assistant manager. From there, nine years at Saffron Walden Town followed, five years as assistant and four as manager, before a spell with Coggeshall Town and various other coaching roles. With a win percentage of 58% as a manager, Maher has a proven track record in the dugout, however he has recently taken up a role as the Essex area scout for Championship side Norwich City, a job which has seen him embrace the responsibility, including watching more football. “I’ve always enjoyed watching games”, Maher, 43, states. “When...

  The 11th-tier Essex football club with a connection to Celtic   Catholic United, playing in Step 7 in the English non-league game, have a unique connection to one of Scotland's biggest clubs Back in 1968, Essex-based team Catholic United were in their infancy. Founded in 1959 as a way to keep the catholic community together in Southend, they just reached a local cup final but needed a kit to play in, so they reached out to Celtic chairman Bob Kelly, who sent a full set of green and white kits. Catholic won the cup final, and have worn the green and white hoops, made famous by the Scottish giants, ever since, and the constitution of the club mandates that the team’s colours remain the famous green and white hoops as a nod to the historic gesture from Kelly and Celtic. Catholic United chairman Tom Harding describes the Essex Bhoys as a 'unique club' While there is no formal affiliation between the two clubs, being independent entities, their bond is maintained on ...

  Opinion: 10 of Daniel Levy’s most controversial moments at Tottenham   After 25 years as chairman, Daniel Levy has finally called time on his tenure at the helm of Tottenham Hotspur. Over the last quarter of a century, Levy has transformed Tottenham into a global superpower off the pitch: a new, state-of-the-art 62,000-seater stadium, opened in 2019, arguably being the 63-year-old’s lasting legacy in North London, especially with the complete transformation of the local area that came with it. But a great number of Tottenham supporters would argue that Levy has run his course. Just two major trophies in 25 years, the lowest trophy rate in the history of the club for a member of the so-called ‘Big Six’, which saw fans lose patience, with protests in abundance towards the end of his tenure despite the Europa League triumph in May. During his time at the club, he developed a reputation for being a hard-nosed businessman, often prioritising the club as a business rathe...