Eastleigh FC

Following a pitch inspection today the referee considers the pitch waterlogged in certain areas. Despite the fantastic number of volunteers who have worked tirelessly all morning, two areas of the pitch were considered unfit to play. The Christmas raffle will now be postponed until Saturday 26th January for the home Blue Square Bet South fixture against Farnborough. Please return your sold and unsold raffle books to the club as soon as possible.

Referee Chris Powell inspected the pitch at 9.30 today but had to call the game off an hour later, despite the valiant efforts of the supporters and ground staff. See you all Saturday.

By Wendy Gee -  EASTLEIGH boss Richard Hill has stressed that the club's latest move towards full-time football will be built around first-team players. The Blue Square Bet South outfit have twice gone down the road of daytime training before, most recently at the start of last season. On that occasion it was mainly youngsters involved as part of the club's player development programme. But this time Hill will be working exclusively with the first-team squad as the Spitfires look to follow league leaders Salisbury City down the full-time professional path. "This is a first-team squad thing," stressed Hill. "We're not just going to bring players along to make up the numbers because that would dilute the quality. "We had two young players involved in our first session on Tuesday, Corey King and Cassius Newton, but both have been involved with first-team training for a month. "This is all about trying to take the firs...

Eastleigh Football Club Fixture List January 2013 FIRST XI Tuesday 1st away to Salisbury City - Blue Square Bet South, 3pm Saturday 5th away to Bromley - Blue Square Bet South, 3pm Tuesday 8th Home to Billericay Town - Blue Square Bet South, 7.45pm Saturday 12th Home to Boreham Wood - Blue Square Bet South, 3pm Saturday 19th away to Tonbridge Angels - Blue Square Bet South, 3pm Tuesday 22nd Home to Truro City - Blue Square Bet South, 7.45pm Saturday 26th Home to Farnborough - Blue Square Bet South, 3pm Tuesday 29th away to A F C Bournemouth - Hampshire Senior Cup Quarter Final, 7.45pm (at Fawcetts Fields, New Milton) RESERVES (Suburban League side) Saturday 5th Home to Leverstock Green Reserves - Suburban League Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg, 3pm  Wednesday 16th away to Woking Reserves - Suburban League Premier Division, 7.30pm Saturday 19th Home to Comrades - Southampton Senior Cup Quarter Final, 1.45pm YOUTH TEAM (Football Conference Youth) Home fixtures at The Silver...

Eastleigh Football Club would like to provide the following update regarding the potential purchase of the stadium. An offer had previously been made to the board at ‘Ten Acre Holdings’ (the current owners) which was considered to be worth presenting to the shareholders yesterday in a board meeting for their consideration. Following discussions the board of TAH felt that they were willing to accept the offer presented to them as long as the remaining shareholders also felt a desire to sell the ground at this stage. On this basis a full shareholders meeting was called and the outcome was that a clear large majority were in favour of accepting the offer and that the sale of the freehold should progress. The overwhelming consensus was that the TAH had been set up to safeguard the club and enable it to get back on a sound financial footing, which it has achieved over recent years. This now enables a deal to proceed which should be beneficial to the shareholders and providing the foo...

Eastleigh are delighted to announce taking Portsmouth’s promising young defender Alex Grant on loan for one month. Spitfire manager Richard Hill said: “Portsmouth let it be known Alex was available and I felt a player of his potential with first team experience already, it would be an ideal situation to bring strength into the defensive area of the pitch. “I have no control over what comes out of the sky but with a busy Christmas period and 8 games in January, all again weather permitting, I feel Alex will be a very useful addition to our squad”. Grant was born in Manchester and lived in Salford for seven years where he played football for junior team Deans F C, the same side as Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs. The 18 year old signed a two year scholarship with Portsmouth in July 2010 and has progressed through the reserve and academy sides, appearing for the first team on the bench against Nottingham Forest in April 2012. A big Manchester United fan, Grant made his full firs...

Eastleigh FC have today won the race to sign Dominican international striker Richard Pacquette on a free transfer. The former Queens Park Rangers and Havant & Waterlooville hit-man has agreed terms at the Silverlake Stadium, following his release from fellow Blue Square Bet South side Bromley earlier this week and will be a good addition to the Spitfire’s squad. The London born 29 year old has a reputation as an experienced front-man who scores goals at all levels of football and will be available for selection for this weekend’s fixture at home to Billericay Town.   In other news, the much delayed Truro City fixture, postponed for a third time already, has been rescheduled for Tuesday 22nd January 2013.    Likewise, our eagerly anticipated Hampshire Senior Cup Quarter Final against AFC Bournemouth has been scheduled for the 29th January 2013 where we get an opportunity to defend our title we won at St Mary’s in May.

DOVER ATHLETIC 2-0 EASTLEIGH Saturday 8th December 2012 Blue Square Bet South Match Report by Paul McNamara Eastleigh drew their third successive away blank – in terms of points and goals - at Dover’s Crabble Athletic Ground, but the final result told little of a display that was much improved on those at Eastbourne Borough and Hornchurch. The Spitfires second-half performance, when they admirably refused to take a backwards step despite playing with ten men, exhibited exactly the type of spirit we’ve been longing for on some of the fruitless trips this season. With Jai Reason and Michael Green both deemed fit enough only for places on the bench the Spitfires starting eleven was missing two of this seasons integral parts. Richard Hill opted to line-up with a three man central defence – comprising; Mitchell Nelson, Tom Jordan and Leigh Mills – having adopted a similar formation in the Hampshire Cup tie against the vastly inferior Fleet Spurs on Tuesday night. The opening ...

Promising youngsters David ‘DJ’ Whittaker and Joe Chamberlain have joined Winchester City on loan for one month. Talented midfielder DJ, who has two first team appearances this year and versatile defender/midfielder Joe will team up with Winchester boss James Taylor as part of their continued development.

Experienced goalkeeper Ross Flitney has returned to the Silverlake after the Spitfires and League 2 side Gillingham agreed a one month loan deal. Ross first joined Eastleigh on loan in October, making five first team appearances including an impressive performance and clean sheet in a victory against Sutton United. He was recalled last month by the Gill’s as cover, however, having concluded the paperwork is available for selection for Richard Hill’s side in this weekend’s away fixture at Dover Athletic. Ross came through the youth ranks at Arsenal before moving to Fulham in 2003, working with senior keepers including Edwin van der Sar and Mark Crossley. With spells at Brighton, Barnet, Grays, Croydon and Dover, the 28 year old shot stopper joined the Gills in July 2011 making his debut against Cheltenham Town.

Fleet Spurs 1-5 Eastleigh - Hampshire Senior Cup Tuesday 4th December http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/football/eastleighfc/10089631.Fleet_Spurs_1_Eastleigh_5/ Fleet Spurs v Eastleigh - 04.12.12

EASTLEIGH v WELLING UNITED Saturday 1st December 2012 Blue Square Bet South Match Report by Jamie Montigue Eastleigh's run of five games unbeaten at home in the Blue Square Bet South came to an end at the hands of Jamie Day's 2nd-placed Welling United. Eastleigh looked good value for their 1-0 lead at half time but the visitors hit back strongly after the break to score three times and claim all of the points despite controversy surrounding their second. Coming in to the game the visitors were in a rich vein of form with 13 points from their last 6 league games. The Spitfires had lost their previous two matches - in the FA Trophy versus Hayes & Yeading United (1-4) and away in the league at AFC Hornchurch (0-1). Due to not having a game for a couple of weeks, Richard Hill's side got in a friendly at Romsey Town in midweek where the Spitfires won 4-0 courtesy of a Jai Reason hat trick and a goal from Craig McAllister. Since the last league game, Eastleigh h...

Eastleigh FC are delighted to announce promising young full back Callum Casson has agreed to join Didcot Town on an initial one month loan deal subject to the completion of the satisfactory paperwork. Reserve Team Manager Dan Wright commented: “This is a good opportunity for Callum to continue his footballing development, gain added experience and fulfil his potential. “Callum has progressed nicely, is an athletic full back who should use this opportunity to show he has the ability to play at a higher standard – Richard Hill will be monitoring his progress with interest. Predominately a left back Callum has been on the fringe of the first team for the past four seasons having graduated from our clubs youth system. He was awarded Players Player of the year and supporters player of the year last season. Born on the Isle of Wight, the 20 year old signed a contract extension in the summer having been a regular in the Suburban League side since 2008. Callum should be available t...

Romsey Town v Eastleigh - 28.11.12

Eastleigh Football Club can confirm that terms have been agreed for the transfer of Moses Ademola to Dover Athletic. Moses travelled tonight to the Crabble Athletic Ground in order to complete the necessary paperwork and medical ahead of the proposed move. Manager Richard Hill said: “I am disappointed to lose Moses but we felt obliged to tell him about the offer and he asked to speak to Dover.  "We made a very competitive counter offer to keep him but I will not stand in any player’s way who wants to earn more money at another club. Likewise, this deal suits us financially.” After an initial enquiry last week which was rejected, Dover made a second substantially improved offer this week. Richard continued: “Moses is a superb lad, who has conducted himself well. He is always very professional, very polite and I know this was a hard decision for him. However, ninety percent of young men would move companies for more money whether they are a footballer or a council w...

Eastleigh Football Club are pleased to announce a new partnership with local Premier League club Southampton FC. The agreement will see some of Southampton’s fixtures in the Barclays U21 Premier League staged at the Silverlake Stadium. The first of these games will be the visit of Newcastle United on Monday 17th December (7pm kick off) for their final fixture in the National Group Stage having been given the green light from the Premier League following a recent inspection of our facilities. As well as allowing the Saints to stage certain U21 fixtures at a more accessible location, our new link-up will see the two clubs’ youth programmes share ideas on how to develop local youth football. Manager Richard Hill commented:”This is a positive move for the club and says a lot about Eastleigh and where we are going that Southampton approached us. “We have a Premier League club on our doorstep and it is imperative we have strong links and be in pole position when any mutually be...

Eastleigh FC management team Richard Hill and Guy Butters have been working tirelessly over the last 24 hours to arrange a friendly fixture replacing the Witney match postponed yesterday due to the poor weather. We are delighted to announce local side Romsey Town have agreed to host the game on Wednesday 28th November 2012 (tomorrow) with an earlier 7.30pm kickoff. Entry is £5 or £2 for concessions. Hopefully we will see as many of you at the game as possible.

The Football Conference held its inaugural "Predict the Crowd" Twitter competition on Saturday with the winner being @LTFCsmithy. Though Peter Smith is a Luton Town fan he could not guess the crowd at his own clubs' match due to the fact they were not playing, so he opted to go for a guess of 1890 at the Premier division fixture between Macclesfield Town and Ebbsfleet United. He was just 6 out as the crowd was 1896 and pipped a few other close calls, especially one from a Wrexham fan. Peter therefore wins a FREE ticket for a match at Luton Town and was delighted to win. It cost him nothing to enter and he gets that all important FREE ticket. The Conference will operate the competition at least once a month during the season and to receive a tweet alerting you when you can enter, all you have to do first is "Follow" @conf_media_man . This will automatically alert you to when the competition is running next. Entries have to be tweeted between 9am and 2pm on the S...

Eastleigh Football Club Fixture List December 2012 FIRST XI Saturday 1st Home to Welling United - Blue Square Bet South, 3pm Tuesday 4th away to Fleet Spurs - Hampshire Senior Cup 3rd Round, 7.45pm Saturday 8th away to Dover Athletic - Blue Square Bet South, 3pm Tuesday 11th Home to Truro City - Blue Square Bet South, 7.45pm Saturday 15th Home to Billericay Town - Blue Square Bet South, 3pm Saturday 22nd away to Weston Super Mare - Blue Square Bet South, 3pm Wednesday 26th Home to Salisbury City - Blue Square Bet South, 3pm Saturday 29th Home to Havant & Waterlooville - Blue Square Bet South, 3pm RESERVES (Suburban League Side) Saturday 1st away to Bromley Reserves - Suburban League Premier Division, 3pm Saturday 8th Home to Sutton United Reserves - Suburban Premier Division, 3pm Saturday 15th away to Metropolitan Police Reserves - Suburban League Premier Division, 3pm YOUTH TEAM (Football Conference Youth) Home games at The Silverlake Stadium Wednesday 5th Home...

Sadly Eastleigh Football Club’s friendly against Spitfire boss Richard Hill’s former club Witney Town due to be played tomorrow has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. Richard is in the process of attempting to arrange another friendly fixture to replace, possibly on Wednesday, however, due to the adverse weather conditions and short notice it is considered unlikely but a long shot! Stay tuned to the Eastleigh website for updates.

Eastleigh can confirm attacker Chris Flood has extended his loan spell with Maidenhead United for another month. The 22 year old who signed for Eastleigh in November 2011 has impressed Magpies boss Johnson Hippolyte since arriving at York Road last month. Spitfire Manager Richard Hill will continue to monitor his progress. In other news, goalkeeper Ross Flitney has been recalled by parent club Gillingham with immediate effect.

Eastleigh would like to confirm two additional fixtures to our football calendar. Richard Hill will take his entire first team squad away to Oxfordshire next Tuesday the 27th November for a friendly against Witney Town – 7.45 kick off. With no game this weekend and Tuesday’s fixture against Truro City postponed due to the heavy rain, Richard felt minutes on the pitch would be valuable to his squad. The postponed Truro City fixture has been rearranged for Tuesday the 11th December at the Silverlake with a 7.45 kick off.

This year’s annual Christmas draw has a twist for our young footballers involved in our Acadamy, Development and Tyro teams. We are awarding the two ‘top seller’s’ two tickets each to the next FA Cup Final at Wembley in May 2013! Third prize will be a match day mascot experience plus lots of additional prizes including a shirt signed by our first team. The raffle itself has an enticing £500 cash up for grabs, with many other exciting offerings including a long weekend stay in a seaside apartment in a castle on the beach in Devon, a 32" HD television an IPad plus lots more. If you have not received your raffle tickets or need additional tickets please contact Shauna at the Club on 02380 613361. Any unsold tickets must be returned to Shauna Taylor in the club office by 12 noon on Monday 10th December 2012. The Draw will take place after the Spitfire's home game against Havant and Waterlooville on Saturday 29th December 2012.

Eastleigh's home game against Truro City due to be played tonight at the Silverlake has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch after constant rain locally. Despite attempts from club staff and officials to get the game to go ahead the appointed Assistant Referee made the decision at 12:45 when forecasts suggested that the rain would not relent as the afternoon wore on.

EASTBOURNE BOROUGH 1-0 EASTLEIGH Saturday 27th October 2012 Blue Square Bet South Match Report by Paul McNamara We’ve been here before. Recently. A pallid and disjointed Eastleigh display that bore many of the hallmarks of the outings at Gloucester and Eastbourne Borough yielded the same deflating – even more so after performances against Bath City and Sutton United that had so much to admire - 1-0 defeat. A rutted pitch, covered with long grass was a sight as welcome for the Spitfires as any half-decent spinner is to an English batsman. The surface wasn’t conducive to Eastleigh’s preference to keep the ball on the floor and attack through midfield and wide areas. The visitors could never consistently adapt and were punished by a determined and aggressive home team. From the outset it was clear that Hornchurch wouldn’t be reluctant to hit the ball long and attempt to create pressure on the visitors by utilising their muscular and combative wide players and forw...

EASTLEIGH v HAYES & YEADING UNITED Saturday 10th November 2012 FA Trophy Match Report by Jamie Montigue It wasn't the type of Eastleigh performance that we have enjoyed from the Spitfires over recent weeks that had seen five successive home league wins and a Hampshire Senior Cup win. Hayes & Yeading United brought this impressive run to an emphatic close with a convincing 4-1 victory in the FA Trophy. Today's opponents were one of the sides that Eastleigh had beaten in the aforementioned run of home wins, when Richard Hill oversaw a 3-1 league victory with two goals from Jai Reason and a Glen Southam strike on that occasion. Osei Sankofa, Mark Hughes, Damian Scannell, and Craig McAllister all made way from the starting line up that beat Sutton United by a solitary goal last weekend. Their replacements were found in the shape of Andy Forbes, Jamie Hand, Dale Binns and Lee Peacock. It was a debut for Hand who joined the club on loan this week from Mansfield Town,...

Eastleigh Football Club is pleased to confirm the arrival of Mansfield Town midfielder Jamie Hand initially on a one month loan agreement. The 28 year old joins Richard Hill’s Spitfire squad immediately and will be available for selection in this weekend’s home fixture against the club he formerly captained, Hayes and Yeading. Richard Hill commented: “Jamie has a very good pedigree and when I heard he had become available I made my interest known immediately. He is a midfielder who likes to get around the pitch, has played lots of competitive games and played for some very good sides. “If we want to progress he’s the type of player we need to be interested in and he joins on a similar basis as Gillingham’s Ross Flitney, initially for a month and we shall see where things go.” Jamie was born in Uxbridge and started his career at Watford before having loan spells at Oxford United, Livingston and Peterborough United. He joined Chester City in May 2006 before agreeing a two year co...

EASTLEIGH v SUTTON UNITED Saturday 3rd November 2012 Blue Square Bet South Match report by Jamie Montigue Eastleigh rounded off a productive week at the Silverlake Stadium with a maximum return of six points to see the club up to third in the Blue Square Bet South. Today's game saw Eastleigh earn a second victory in a matter of days having already beaten Bath City 3-1 on Tuesday night. Since taking charge of the Spitfires, Richard Hill has now overseen five successive home league victories where he boasts a highly impressive 100 per cent record. Former manager Paul Doswell, who will be remembered and thanked for masterminding successive promotions to see the club rise from the Wessex League to the Conference South; brought his Sutton United side to the Silverlake this afternoon. Ex-Spitfires Anthony Riviere and Marvin Williams, who linked up with the U's only last week, were both facing their old club whilst it was good to see Wayne Shaw back as well. Hill made ...

BLUEBIRDS ON THE UP UNDER BAYLISS    Barrow AFC manager Dave Bayliss has been named the Blue Square Bet Premier ‘manager of the month’ for October. The Bluebirds have remained unbeaten during the period including two wins and two draws form their four league games. Bayliss’ side also progressed to the First Round Proper of the FA Cup with a 2-0 home win over fellow BSBP side Tamworth. In the Blue Square Bet North the ‘manager of the month’ award for October goes to Bradford Park Avenue manager John Deacey. Last season’s Northern Premier play-off winners have made a good start to life back in the division after an absence of 5 seasons. Deacey has taken his side to sixth place in the table with a run which included three league wins and a valuable draw at Chester as well as setting up a weekend Yorkshire derby with Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup First Round Proper after beating Ossett Albion 4-1. The Blue Square Bet South ‘manager of the month’ award for October goes ...