London City FC - A City On The Rise

[dani3w]

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - February 2018[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]Three months to go of competitive football until we can hopefully begin rebuilding the squad once again this summer coming. We've more news on coaching qualifications as well as the youth intake for another year. Not that they're even that good or important but I'll post them anyway. Four matches throughout February, four wins is a big ask...[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Another course on the go. I'm now studying for my Continental B Licence. Only a couple more till I've bagged the lot of qualifications. Then I'll probably be the most qualified manager in the basement tier of English football. Hopefully my knowledge and qualifications will soon bring some better players in.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Probably not a lot to see again, Bewley could make something of these lower leagues and if any of these impress over the next couple of seasons they may get some game time in the senior squad. I will of course sign them all on once again and see what happens.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Four points from a possible twelve on offer throughout February, all in all not too bad once again. A goalless draw against Eastbourne Boro kicked the month off before we easily beat Hemel Hempstead three one. We then went on to lose two nil away at Maidenhead and then home to Sutton United.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Still eighteenth and still nine points clear of the drop zone, we do have a game in hand however so could ease ourselves a little further away from the drop and move us up to seventeenth with a draw. We've got two more months of football to play, ten matches left and still fourteen points short of my points tally last season.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - March 2018[/FONT]

 

[dani3w]

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - March 2018[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]The penultimate month of the footballing calendar year was upon us and a real good month here could see us confirmed safe in this division for the following season. However it was unlikely the month was going to be that good. We had five matches to play and as each match has passed this season, its looking less and less likely that we'd beat our previous points total of forty nine.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]The board decided to approached me with a new contract offer much earlier than last season. If I'm right they waited till the last couple weeks of my contract last year. So its nice to have penned a new deal already seeing me set to stay in charge next season.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Well again the month started quite brightly, unbeaten for the first three games of it as we grabbed a point away at Wealdstone, Deaking netting for us after just four minutes. We then held Chelmsford to a nil nil draw at home before beating high flying Hayes and Yeading one nil Okojie with that goal. But it turned sour with hard games against Hampton and Richmond, losing two one and Bath who we lost out to three nil.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Five games to go this season and we're now just seven points above the drop zone and Whiehawk who are trying to escape. We are relatively safe but not mathmatically just yet. We're nine points off last seasons points tally so thats still within reaching distance but I hope we can at least match it. We shall see what happens.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - April 2018[/FONT]

 

[dani3w]

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - March 2018[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]Here it is then, the final month of my second season in charge of London City FC and we have made next to no progress at this moment in time. As we go into the final five matches of the league season it looks like we're set to fall short of last seasons points tally but we could perhaps finish higher position wise. Its been a weird season thats for sure.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT IS THIS! [/FONT]Three league wins in a month[FONT=&quot]! On paper it was perhaps the easiest month we've faced all season facing sides around us in the table, bar Dulwich Hamlet, but surely this would be enough to save ourselves. Kingstonian came to us and we beat them two one, Okojie and Guppy netting as we led two nil at the break. We then lost to struggling Gosport three one, who are fighting for survival and playoff chasing Dulwich Hamlet delivered a three one defeat on our final home game of the season. But we finished strongly away from home, beating Margate two one, Whisken and Moli netting then beating Truro one nil thanks to Josh Street, our top scorer this season.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Well, we ended up matching last seasons points tally of forty nine and improved our league position from nineteenth to sixteen this year around, so we have made minor progress and steps forward, finishing thirteen points clear of the drop. Comparing more stats to last season, we scored fifty one goals last year, and scored fifty one this year, strange, but conceded seventy two last year and just sixty eight this year.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Are there many/any people reading this at all? Enjoying it? I've made no progress in two seasons but its been a fun challenge and I'm happy to carry on with this if people are liking it...[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - Pre Season Round Up 2018[/FONT]

 

[Tom26]

I'm enjoying this - good challenge and regular updates. Will be interesting to see how the club develops as you work your way up the leagues.

Nice kits also.

 

[woodzer84]

Same as Tom26, really looking forward to seeing how well you progress over the next couple of seasons

 

[dani3w]

Thanks Tom26, just good to know if people are reading and liking it and I'm not wasting my time. Certainly is a challenge!

Thanks Woodzer85.

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - Pre Season Round Up 2018[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]A third summer in charge here at London City FC and a third season set for us in the Vanarama South, I'm not too concerned we're still in the basement tier, I originally targeted three to five seasons here until we finally began climbing the leagues, hopefully after this season we will begin to move. I've managed to keep the squad together this season and added some better quality players, hopefully we're stronger this year around. I want a mid table finish.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Pre season expectations are the same for the third season running, attempt to avoid relegation and lose the save if we were to drop out the lowest playable tier of English football. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]I'm targetting a mid table finish this year though[/FONT][FONT=&quot], however didn't change that on my expectations. Reach the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Cup and the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy. Good draws in both competitions and we could go further.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]The players that have left this season are ones that either didn't want new deals or weren't good enough for the season ahead so I reduced the wage bill and got rid of these. I've bought in a couple new faces of which will provide stronger competition for the places on the pitch and hopefully give us a stronger side on the pitch this year.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Here is the squad I've got on paper for the season ahead, admittedly it still doesn't reap with quality that stands out but I'm hoping it should be strong enough to give us a better finish than we've had the previous two seasons. A couple players are on non contract deals and don't want to sign permanent deals. Gooch will remain our number one this season.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Our two strongest players according to the assistants ratings for the season ahead, both new faces to the squad this year too.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]The best summer we've had on the pitch to date in this career, mainly because I focused on playing smaller sides and ensuring we picked up wins in them to carry through morale from this summer into the season it self. It wasn't about playing the bigger teams for money this year.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - August 2018[/FONT]

 

[dani3w]

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - August 2018[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]Here we go then, August 2018, my third stint in the Vanarama South has kicked off and this year just five matches in the opening month. We had some winnable games this month to so I was definitely expecting us to get off to a strong start. Over the last two seasons we've picked up seven points from six games in 2016 and six points from six games in 2017, what would 2018 deliver...[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Nine points from a possible fifteen, three wins from five to open our third season here and its a superb start if you ask me. A thrilling game against Hayes and Yeading kicked the season off with us coming out on top four three. It was two a piece at half time in a ding dong battle with Hassall and Ede netting for us. We then trailed three two before Bennett leveled and Hassall struck a second to win us the opening match of the season. Wealdstone beat us two nil away from home. We returned home to face Weston-Super-Mare and a strong showing saw us win three nil here. Two superb strikes from Josh Street saw us two up at the break and new boy Cheema also on target second half. We narrowly lost out three two against Sutton United, despite going one nil up through Bennett. Hassall netted a late consolation. We ended the month with a three one away win against Gosport, Gascoigne fired us one up inside four minutes. An own goal and one from substitute Okojie send us three up before Gosport netted a late goal.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Its so rare to see us up this high in the table, nine points from our opening five league games sees us sitting all the way up in sixth place and that could be the highest we've been since this career began. Its definitely a strong starting block for us to get going this year and with any luck we can continue to press on picking up wins like this. It could be a good season for us, I'm still targetting a mid table finish.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - September 2018[/FONT]

 

[Brane_Orsou]

Liking the story mate and will be tracking your progress. Small steps cover many miles and all that jazz!

 

[dani3w]

Not even sure the step forward we've made is classed as 'small' Neavia pop23, but thank you.

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - September 2018[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]Following a good start to the season, well, three wins from five for a club like us as of late has got to be considered as a very good start. We moved into September with the club currently sitting very high in the table, things would change, of course they would, but it'd be good to continue picking up points over the opening couple months of season three.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]The board have sent me on my penultimate coaching course, almost the best I can be now, certainly isn't too bad, I wasn't expecting to get all the badges still being in the basement tier of English football management but that is the case apparently.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]September proved to be a very busy month for us facing seven matches, six of them in the league and we'd also begin our FA Cup journey of 2018. In the league we managed to continue our strong start with two more wins a draw and three defeats. We beat newly promoted sides Bromley four one and Canvey Island three one. Dartford, relegated last season, beat us two nil at home before we lost two nil away from home to Hungerford. We'll be seen in the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy as we dumped out non league North Greenford late on. We lost to Maidenhead and drew to Maidstone to end the month.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]We've slipped down to fourteenth in the league but currently have sixteen points on the board from our opening eleven games which is very pleasing to date. We also currently are holding on to a positive goal difference. It'd be nice if we could finish this season with that in tact as the last two seasons its been negative. Long way to go yet, but the seasons looking bright for us.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - October 2018[/FONT]

 

[dani3w]

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - October 2018[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]Another busy month on paper was scheduled for October, should we continue our run through the FA Cup we could face up to eight games depending on if we needed replays to get by the rounds etc. But obviously the league is our main focus and how far we could extend our strong start, the more points we could pick up in the early stages of the season, the less pressure on us at the tail end of it which would make a nice change![/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Its not very often we go through a month with just the single red dot against our name, but thats whats happened as we've gone through seven games in October, losing just once whilst picking up three wins and three draws. It started with the FA Cup Third Qualifying round where we faced Kingstonian, it was contested over two matches, drawing one all first then beating them four nil. We then drew with Welling at home with a Hassall hatrick for our three goals. A third meeting with Kingstonian this month saw us beat them two one with Guppy netting in the final minute. Next was a trip to non league Tiverton in the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying round and for the second season running we'll feature in the FA Cup First Round as we beat them four one. A one nil defeat against high flying Dorchester before ending the month at home with a two all draw against another high flyer Havant & Waterlooville.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Back on the rise in the table as we move from fourteenth up to eleventh after fifteen games played and twenty one points on the board, we're almost halfway towards our points tally for the last two seasons already. If we have a good month in November we could really push ourselves to challenge for a top ten spot this season, however my main aim is midtable, anywhere around tenth to fifteenth ideally.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - November 2018[/FONT]

 

[TheBattman]

really enjoying this

 

[dani3w]

Thanks TheBattman, glad some people are.

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - November 2018[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]Twenty one points from our first fifteen league games, things are looking really rosey at the moment here at London City FC. Not promotion rosey, but definitely mid table rosey thats for sure. November as always is a much quieter month as we faced just four matches, but one is the big FA Cup game, the First Round for the second season in a row. Although no big tie this round for us.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Well the frequent red dots have returned to our schedule as we lost twice, drew once and won once in our four games throughout November. We started with a brilliant come back win away at Bath, one nil down at half time and quickly two down. Before a brace from Josh Street within a minute of each other, Hassall and Wilson netted to see us come back to win four two. Vanarama National side Chester knocked us out the FA Cup First Round at home, narrowly losing out two one. We played out a goalless drew with Eastbourne Boro before narrowly losing out two against Basingstoke.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Twenty five points from eighteen games and now we're over halfway towards the points tally we accumulated both previous seasons of forty nine. The last couple of seasons we've taken about twenty to twenty three games to hit this points tally so this year we're on target for a best season finish. We've just got to continue to be strong on the pitch and get those points secured.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - December 2018[/FONT]

 

[dani3w]

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London City FC - December 2018[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]And so the final month of 2018 was upon us and it was time to try and end the calendar year on a high. We had six more games to go this year to see if we could continue the season on a high. We were out the FA Cup and now had the FA Trophy to contend with this month as well as the league fixtures. Could we continue to grow this season.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]The FA Trophy has began and finished for us. Again we faced Kingstonian this season, beating them again, this time four three after extra time. Hassall netted a superb hatrick with the winner six minutes into Extra Time. We then hit a sour patch of form. A trip to Tonbridge saw us lose two one before we crashed out the FA Trophy, losing two nil against Wealdstone in the First Round. Our only league win came against Hampton and Richmond, dominating the game and eventually getting the winner in injury time. We then threw away the points against Hayes and Yeading, letting slip a three one lead. We ended the month and calendar year against high flying Chelmsford where we lost three nil.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]And so we end 2018 up in fourteenth place as we've already picked up twenty nine points this season after twenty two league games. We require just twenty one more points this seson to beat our season best which we've scored both previous seasons. However we're still only nine points above the drop zone so a bad run of form could still see us get caught in the relegation battle again.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - January 2019[/FONT]

 

[dani3w]

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - January 2019[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]We go into 2019 with our form the best its been over the last two and a half seasons and thats hopefully shining a bright light on the future of this club as we begin to take small pigeon steps towards the top of the ladder, obviously we're nowhere near that just yet. But we went into the New Year up in fourteenth place and already just twenty points off our total points accumulated the last two seasons, it was looking like progress would be made this year around.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]And we've managed to continue our strong form as we begin 2019 with three wins from five games, losing just once. We began welcoming Wealdstone on New Years day and this saw us win four one thanks to Hassall, Ward, Street and Sheppard. We then drew three a piece with Sutton United with Bennett netting in the last six minutes which is a great point. We lost out to Weston Super Mare annoyingly by one goal. We ended the month with back to back wins and clean sheets, beating Gosport three nil and Bromley one nil.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]We end the opening month of 2019 up in eleventh place with us now hitting thirty nine points. We're only seven points off Basingstoke in fifth place and the final playoff spot but I'm not expecting us to get anywhere near that this season as we're not that reliable against the bigger teams, but we've definitely moved forward. We've also moved seventeen points away from the drop zone now.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - February 2019[/FONT]

 

[dani3w]

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - February 2019[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]Three months of competitive action left of my third season in charge of London City FC and in the Vanarama South and I was pretty sure it wouldn't be my last season with either. January had started the new calendar year very well for us and now I was hoping we could keep that form going as we went into February. We were nearing our points tally for the last two seasons, were we going to beat it by the end of February...[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Well the month looked so promising after the first two games, we welcomed Hungerford and beat them three one, Hassall, Cheema and Street on target for us. We then beat Canvey Island one nil thanks to Street. League leaders Dartford expectedly beat us three on and then a shock home defeat saw us lose out heavily to Maidenhead, coming off the pitch as six one losers.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Twelfth place after thirty one games. We've got eleven matches left this season and are now just four points away from our total points tally for the last two seasons so it seems like this season we really are going to make a big leap forward in that department. Our goal difference is hanging in the positive, just, be good if we can hold on to that. Twenty one points above the drop zone, we're all but safe this season.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - March 2019[/FONT]

 

[dani3w]

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - March 2019[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]Two full months of football to go and our form was beginning to take a turn for the worst. Having played so well all season the cracks were just beginning to show and that was the case with our most recent defeat against Maidenhead. With five matches in March it was important we picked up a couple of wins from them. We also had another youth intake.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Same as always, no one really 'stands out' and at this level why would they!? They'll all be offered a year contract as usual.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]And our form continues to be very hit and miss. A narrowly win over lowly placed Kingstonian saw us win three two, another two for Hassall as well as Copp netting a penalty. We then lost three on the bounce, conceding eleven goals and scoring none as Maidstone, Welling and Dorchester all took full points against us. The month ended with a one nil win over Easbourne Boro. Guppy netting after thirty one minutes.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]We've beat our points tally of the last two seasons[/FONT][FONT=&quot], having tallied forty nine points those two seasons, we've hit fifty one so far this year and still have eight matches to play. It'd be great if we could hit around sixty points this year but as long as we beat our league position last year its progress.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - April 2019[/FONT]

 

[dani3w]

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - April 2019[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]And so the final month of season three is here, we played a single game in May so its been included in the April updated as its pointless doing an update for one game at this moment in time anyway. We had six games to contend with throughout April and it was important we regained composure as we've been rocky lately and could still finish lower than last seasons sixteenth place.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Well its fair to say our form really did desert us the last two or three months but nonetheless we got across the line, with our final month seeing three defeats, one draw and two victories. We lost to playoff side Havant and Waterlooville two nil before beating Bath two one. Basingstoke then beat us one nil before we played out a nine goal thriller against Hampton and Richmond, winning five four with Hassall netting a superb four goals for us. We ended the year with a defeat at home against Tonbridge and finally a draw at home against Chelmsford.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]And so the season comes to an end with us in fourteenth place, another step forward beating our previous best finish, last seasons sixteenth. We also went on to pick up fifty eight points which is nine points better than we have done the last two seasons. Our defence was a little leakier this year but I'm not overly bothered. A few good signings this summer and we could be challenge for a top half finish.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]A good bit of news to finish on, our very own twenty year old striker, George Hassall has been named the Vanarama National League South top goalscorer with twenty six goals from thirty nine league appearances this season, hes been class up front.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - Pre Season Round Up 2019[/FONT]

 

[SeanKeaney]

Interesting idea, steady progress being made!

 

[dani3w]

Thanks SeanKeaney definitely beginning to see progress.

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - Pre Season Round Up 2019[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]So another summer passes by and our third set of new kits are shown off to the public. I forgot to change them last year but maybe the kit consistency helped us to an all new high league finish. This year they're remaining the same colors except the third switching from white to black. The summer as always at London City FC has been a busy one but one we've coped alright with.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]All the relevant news that came out of pre season. Unfortunately the board have pressed on with their hopes of moving stadium and have decided to build on over the next twenty five months. Meaning we have two more seasons at Wembley. It'll be called London City Stadium. I also signed another one year extension to my contract, now being paid a hefty £800 per week. And the pre season expectations are the same they have been for the previous three seasons.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]More incommings than outgoings in a summer transfer window, thats a first for this club, but hopefully its a sign of things to come and the club progressing forward.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Most of the club are on non contracts now hence the 'CTR' next to their names. On paper our squad looks weak this year but in reality I personally think its one of the strongest squads we've had all of this career. I'm hoping for another solid season from our striker George Hassall and hopefully we've sorted the leaky defence a little bit this year.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Well not the best summer but it was all about getting use to our tactics and the squad playing together again.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]This seasons aims, much like last season, mid table. We're aiming to finish 10th - 12th personally. The media are predicting us to finish down in nineteenth and taking steps backwards this year.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - August 2019[/FONT]

 

[dani3w]

[FONT=&quot]London City FC - August 2019[/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]Season four is underway here in the basement tier of English football but we're beginning to cope better with it. We've had six games played in August as its a busy start to the season and important we start well to set the pace for the remainder of the season. Could we beat last seasons 'best' ever start of picking up nine points from our opening five games.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]An unbeaten start! We've picked up twelve points from out opening six matches and it could of been better! We kicked the season of at home against Eastbourne Boro and two penalties, converted by Bradbrook in the first half was all it took for us to take the points. We then drew against Truro nil nil, we should of won. Beat Weston Super Mare at home two nil, late goals from Hassall and Cheema. A draw against recently relegated Dulwich Hamlet saw Hassall net with ten minutes to go to seal a point. We then blew a two goal lead and three one lead against Dorchester to draw three a piece. Before ending the opening month two one against struggling starters Maidstone. Coming back form one down with Brecbrook and Hassall on target for us.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Following our unbeaten start to the league season we find ourselves way up the table in fourth place. Now its unlikely that we're going to be at the top come the end of the season but it's not an impossibility. We'll continue to play the way we're playing this season and hopefully continue our strong start over the next couple of months.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next Update: London City FC - September 2019[/FONT]