Windsor & Eton hold successful trials day and aim to attract 1,000 fans for first game

Photo: Cllr Alison Carpenter

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温莎&伊顿的FC举行一个成功的首次试验day on Sunday, with several of the hopefuls set to link up with Matt Angell and Rob Webb for pre-season training this week.

While Angell and Webb have already managed to persuade several players to help them kick-off the new era at Stag Meadow, he was pleasantly surprised by the amount of talent on show on Sunday and believes some of those players could make the squad for the season.

With pre-season matches set to get underway in the coming weeks, the first of them a tough test at Egham Town on Saturday, July 8 (1pm kick-off), the management team will look to whittle down the squad ahead of the start of their Thames Valley League Premier Division campaign which gets underway on August 12.

Reflecting on another busy week, Angell said: “Sunday was a really good success. We used it as an opportunity to invite down some of the under 18 Windsor & Eton players. It was a good chance to see those, and some other players from outside the town. We got a lot from it, and I think 12 or 13 of them are coming to training tonight (Tuesday) and there we've got our own players who we're adding in coming down for their first session tonight as well.

“It will be a pretty full first session. I could imagine there will be 25 plus there, and we'll whittle it down a bit. I would imagine we'll run with a squad of 22-24.

“We always had an inkling of which league we'd be in. We were prepared for step 7. It's a great league with some really good grounds to go to. There are a lot of players trialling at various clubs. They might come for a session or two and then go somewhere else, but we're aiming to sign a couple of players tonight and we should have more of an idea of where we're at as a squad in a couple of weeks. It's super exciting and we're over the moon with the backroom team we've got. They'll give the players huge support this season.”

He added: “Windsor & Eton is a big club in essence. Although we're a new club there's a big history in the town with this football club. That's always going to add some pressure. Playing at Stag Meadow, everyone will raise their game when they play there. There are some good teams in this league so we can't underestimate anyone. We want to be at the top, fighting for the league and the cups, but we can't underestimate how tough it will be with the likes of Finchampstead, Burghfield, Maidenhead Town to name a few.”

Having updated their pre-season schedule the club also announced this week they've decided to make admission to all home games this season free of charge. While the price of entry for matches at step 7 is often low, the gesture has been welcomed by fans and the club's players and management team aim to forge a much closer relationship with them in the coming seasons. It's also hoped the move will encourage more fans to come through the turnstiles with the club bidding to attract 1,000 people to watch their first game.

“It’s a huge gesture,” said Angell. “If you consider Windsor were averaging 180 people through the gate last season, for those people it's going to be free of charge. The Great Park Crew are super excited about that, and they've talked of buying replica shirts. It's going to be great for the players to hopefully have bigger crowds through the gates. There are lots of plans in place to try and get a big gate for the opening game. We want to create a community buzz around the club, and we want the players to engage with the people coming through the gate.”