Eastleigh FC

EASTLEIGH v GOSPORT BOROUGH SATURDAY 28th JULY 2007 Pre-Season Friendly Eastleigh's highly impressive pre-season, continued with an emphatic 4-0 victory against Alex Pike's Gosport Borough this afternoon. This coming on the back of decent displays against higher league opposition, Portsmouth, Southampton and Oxford United. Despite the result and the performance, there was a negative to come early in the second half amid all of the positives from David Hughes' side. James Pullen, was back in goal following the injury he sustained just short of two weeks ago against Portsmouth, also coming back into the side were Warren Ryan at left back, and the outstanding Rob Marshall on the opposite side of the back four. The players to miss out from the previous starting line up, against Oxford United, were Ian Oliver and Phil Cousins, who dropped to the bench, meanwhile Wayne Shaw found himself a place between the sticks for Borough to help them out of a goalkeeping crisis. ...

EASTLEIGH v OXFORD UNITED TUESDAY 24th JULY 2007 Pre-Season Friendly A further pre-season test for the Spitfires, watched by a crowd of 449, saw Jim Smith's Oxford United narrowly edge out a 1-0 victory. The U's of the Blue Square Premier, a league up from the one Eastleigh play in, were made to look rather ordinary at times with both sides putting up a good contest but it will be David Hughes and co. who can take heart from yet another decent display – this time without seven first team regulars. James Pullen, Jamie Brown, Andy Forbes, Chris Collins, Chris Piper, Warren Ryan all missed out due to various injuries, it would appear that the well-known injury curse is starting to hit out again at large! Rob Marshall was also unavailable for selection. In light of the injury 'crisis', Wayne Shaw started between the sticks making his first Eastleigh appearance for many months, meanwhile Danny Smith appeared in the unorthodox position of right full back alongside ...

Eastleigh v Gosport Borough: was due to be played at Privett Park, as a result of recent rain, this has now been reversed and will be held at the Silverlake Stadium instead. A statement read on the official Eastleigh website: "There are concerns that the pitch at Gosport might not be available, thus the change of venue. In view of this late change, the Board have agreed that the following reduced admission charges will apply: Adults £5, Seniors & Students £2, Children (Under 16) £1." Saturday 28th July 2007 - 3pm kick off @ home ------------- Eastleigh v Totton: Scheduled for Tuesday 31st July, has been cancelled and replaced with an away fixture against Christchurch - Wednesday 1st August, 7:45pm A replacement fixture is being looked into, come back here for full details as and when it comes in. ------------- **Still to come: EASTLEIGH V WEYMOUTH Saturday 4th August, Silverlake Stadium, 3pm Come along and see two former Spitfires in action, Stua...

Click image for full size - report, from Daily Echo: 24th July 2007

EASTLEIGH V PORTSMOUTH WEDNESAY 18th JULY 2007 Pre-Season Friendly Following Saturday's friendly packed with goals galore against Southampton, tonight the Spitfires welcomed fellow South Coast side Portsmouth, sporting several of their top Premiership stars. Despite, Harry Redknapp's side playing just last night against local side, Havant & Waterlooville, the likes of Sol Campbell, Pedro Mendes, Niko Krancjar amongst others, and new signings Sunny Muntari and former Saint, Martin Cranie , were all on show this evening at the Silverlake Stadium. For Eastleigh, Andy Harris was fielded as a centre half due to the current injuries to Chris Collins and Karim El-Salahi who is just coming back, meanwhile Warren Ryan reverted to left back at Ian Oliver's expense. The only other change from the weekend's pre-season encounter with Southampton, saw former Welling United winger Ellis Green in the starting line up. Pompey's threat was there for all to see, from th...

The final piece in the jigsaw, as far as the management structure is concerned, has today been put into place following the official news of Phil Handford's appointment. Handford has become the new head coach, having been deemed the best applicant out of over twenty other hopefuls. Phil's vast Non-League experience clearly a major factor in the appointment, the press release confirming this: "The Board were impressed with his vast knowledge and experience of non league football, and by his reputation as a high calibre coach." "The Board and Management of EFC are delighted that Phil has accepted this new post, and we look forward to a long and happy association with him." ... Meanwhile in other news today - James Pullen has stated his ambitions of playing in the football league once more. The full story can be read here . Let's hope it is with Eastleigh come the end of this season! Signings keep Eastleigh on track - Paul Doswell co...

EASTLEIGH V SOUTHAMPTON SATURDAY 14th JULY 2007 Pre-Season Friendly A staggering 2,863 crammed into the Silverlake Stadium this afternoon for the traditional yearly friendly with Championship neighbours Southampton. Almost a year ago to the day, Jason Dodd was unveiled as an Eastleigh signing. 12 months on and the Dell legend had completed the season as manager having taken over the helm in December and guiding the Spitfires to safety. Before, just a week ago Jason's amazing journey saw him appointed first team coach at Southampton – and so it was fitting that his first game in his new role was back at Eastleigh, where today he deservedly got an excellent reception from all in attendance. Both sides had new players to display. Southampton welcomed their loan signing Adam Hammill from Liverpool, along with two trialists, former Liverpool, Portsmouth, and Rangers full back Gregory Vignal and Tomasz Vasko, a Hungarian International centre half. For Eastleigh, on the back of...

The Spitfires this evening have unveiled a further two additions to the squad - Anthony Riviere and Chris Piper. The pair were recently released from fellow Blue Square South club, Fisher Atheltic falling foul of newly appointed manager Wayne Burnett's clear out. In addition, it has been revealed that the signings of Ellis Green from Welling United and Warren Ryan have both gone through successfully after the formalities of completing documentation, and are now officially Eastleigh players. Further good news is that Steve Watts has agreed to a one year contract extension. The forward, also formerly of Fisher Athletic, scored 6 goals for Eastleigh since joining in January 2006. Watts netted the fourth goal at Poole Town on Wednesday night in the first of the pre-season friendlies. In light of Steve Forbes' release just days ago, the club have announced that Tarkan Mustafa has similarly been released.

Adie and Brian's men will be in pre-season action through July and into early August. Currently, they are all away fixtures, but it would be good for us supporters to get to as many of the below dates as possible to give the second team our encouragement. Yes you did read it right, it would appear that, the tag of reserve team has been replaced in favour of '2nd Team'. Either way, come along when you can and take a look at the promising talent outside the first team squad! Tuesday 17th July: versus Amesbury Town (Away) - 7.45pm Saturday 21st July: versus Stockbridge (Away) - 3.00pm Wednesday 25th July: versus Hamble (Away) - 7.45pm Saturday 28th July: versus Raynes Park Vale (Away) - 3.00pm Tuesday 31st July: versus Wimborne Town (Away) - 7.45pm Saturday 4th August: versus New Milton (Away) - 3.00pm Tuesday 7th August: versus Fareham Town (Away) - 7.45pm Thursday 9th August: versus Street (Away) - 7.45pm --------- Name change - "A Signif...

Poole Town 0-4 Eastleigh Report by Ray Murphy The Eastleigh career under the management of David Hughes got off to the perfect start with this first match, pre season win at Sydenhams Premier League side Poole Town. Eastleigh led from the sixth minute after Danny Smith had been bundled over in the box by Sean Hogan and Andy Forbes sent goalkeeper Max Frampton the wrong way from the penalty spot. Forbes repeated the feat on the thirty second minute. Justin Bennett finally making his Eastleigh debut tried to shrug off defender Ian Richardson but again he was sent sprawling allowing Forbes the sixth minute replay though switching sides himself when slotting home the penalty. Karim Bennssaouda crashed a shot against the Eastleigh bar late on in the first half and Eastleigh started the second period slowly. Numerous changes though for both sides disrupted the flow. Seventy four minutes had passed though, when Eastleigh added a third. An excellent strike from thirty five yards from...

Extracts from Daily Echo article: Eastleigh sign up more young guns. Doswell admits Eastleigh's transfer policy is in contrast to the one he oversaw 12 months ago. With certain transfers quite clearly not working out, most notably Paul Musselwhite and Matt Bound. "For one reason or another, none of them worked out on the field of play." TRANSFER TARGET AGE GROUP "When we needed to sign players again in December and January, we looked at players in the 20-24 age group - the likes of Jamie Pullen and Karim El-Salahi." DOS ON NEW SIGNINGS, RYAN AND GREEN "That age group is still what we're looking at. Warren Ryan is a left sided player but he can play centre half, central midfield and I think he started out at West Ham as a striker. We're also delighted to have signed Ellis Green, who played 40 times for Welling last season." TWO MORE NEEDED, STEVE FORBES RELEASED "I would say we need two more players and then we would be happ...

An official press release at http://www.eastleigh-fc.co.uk , has brought to light how the club are set to go forward in terms of management structure following Jason Dodd's switch to St. Mary's. The Equity Directors met this morning to discuss the matter and have clarified their intentions. "The unanimous view of the Directors is that our primary objective is to provide both stability and continuity, in order to afford us the best possible opportunity to have a successful season, and future." With that, the following management team was agreed upon and, as the statement reads, will be put into place shortly. Team Manager - David Hughes Football Manager - Paul Doswell Head Coach - (See below*) Assistant Manager - Mark Dennis Chief Scout - Steve Beck *The statement continued: "The position of Head Coach is to be advertised, both locally and nationally, and we believe that with the appointment of a suitably qualified person, we will then have a very s...

Brighter news today, following the devastating but almost inevitable loss of Jason Dodd (once Southampton came in for him), with the club announcing that terms have been agreed with two new players. Ellis Green, wide man from Welling United who can operate on either flank, along with Warren Ryan - left or centre midfield who has previously played for Margate, Billericay Town and more recently Heybridge Swifts. Eastleigh are simply awaiting confirmation of the necessary formalities of wrapping up the signings. The pair are set to become the third addition to the Silverlake Stadium for the coming season.

Almost a year has past since Eastleigh pulled off the major coup of securing the services of Jason Dodd. Initially, the Dell legend was brought to the Silverlake Stadium as a player, however things didn't work out on the injury front causing Dodd to take up a role off the field. No sooner had Jason hung up his boots as a player, had the Spitfires appointed Dodd to Head Coach. A short while later, in December, his journey at the club reached a new height as he was appointed manager to fill the void left by Paul Doswell. His record spoke for itself, with just six defeats from 25 games winning the hearts of the Eastleigh faithful by steering the club to safety and away from relegation. Having begun preparations for the new season as Eastleigh boss, with the club's stability restored, Dodd was presented with a massive opportunity to return to Southampton, following the news that George Burley's assistant, Glyn Snodin, had moved on to pastures new just days before - joinin...

Eastleigh will begin the 2007/2008 season with a home game to Cambridge City on 11th August in the Blue Square Southern. Following this will be two away trips, firstly to newly promoted Bath City (Tuesday 14th) and then Braintree Town (Saturday 18th).