All the news stories from May 2009
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NATHAN ASHTON LEAVES
(Friday 29th May 2009)
Wanderers' left sided midfielder Nathan Ashton has left the Club after having his 'contract terminated by mutual consent'. The 22 year old joined Wanderers in the summer of 2008 from Fulham where he had been a defender and was contracted until June 2010. Speaking of the departure on the official website, Manager Peter Taylor said, "Nathan and myself both agreed that he should look elsewhere to get more football, I respect his decision and it's a very professional one." Ashton made 13 appearances for Wycombe, with 12 of those as substitute. His solitary First Team start came in the infamous 7-0 home Football League Trophy defeat to Shrewsbury Town in October 2008.
 Nathan Ashton - player profile
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CE RESIGNS
(Friday 29th May 2009)
Wanderers released the surprise news on Friday afternoon that Chief Executive Mark Ashton has resigned from his position at the Club after less than four months in the hot seat. In a statement on the Club's Official website he said, "I have been in football for the majority of my life and feel that it's now time to do something different." The statement went on the say, "The time I have spent at Wycombe has been great and I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to Steve Hayes, the board, Peter Taylor and the staff for making me feel so welcome. I genuinely wish the club the very best of luck moving forward and I am sure that their future is extremely bright." The news follows a series of appointments and resignations from similar postions at the Club over the past seven years. Here we go again - read more
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ERREA CUP DRAW
(Friday 29th May 2009)
Wanderers have been drawn to play Bideford and Luton Town in the group stages of the
South West Challenge Cup. The game with Bideford will take place on Monday 13th July at the home ground of Bideford with an 8pm kick-off, while Wanderers will take on now Conference side Luton Town on Friday 17th July at a venue and time to be announced. If Wanderers win their group they will play in the semi-final on Saturday 18th July, with the Final being played the next day at Bideford FC. Since the tournament was first announced, Barnet have been replaced by Grinsby Town and Kidderminster Harriers by Blackpool. See the Official tournament website for the full draw |
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700 MILES LESS IN 2009/10
(Monday 25th May 2009)
Wanderers will travel over 700 miles less for their League fixtures for the 2009/10 season compared to 2008/9 after the make up of 'League One' was confirmed following the play-off finals over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday 24th and 25th May. The northern bias of 'League Two' is replaced by a more even spread around the country for 'League One'. The total round-trip mileage for 2009/10 will be around 5,800 miles compared to just over 6,500 in 2008/9. Opponents list and mileage 2009/10
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MILLWALL TO FACE WYCOMBE
(Sunday 24th May 2009)
Wanderers will face Millwall in 'League One' next season after The Lions lost out in their Play-off with Scunthorpe United on Sunday. Leading 2-1 with 20 minutes of normal time remaining, Millwall conceded goals on 70 minutes and 85 minutes to miss out on their chance to play in 'The Championship'. The match was played in front of an attendance 59,661, including an estimated 40,000 following Millwall. Wanderers last played Millwall in the 2000/2001 season when the two sides met four times, twice in the League and two more memorable meetings in the FA Cup.
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GILLS THRO TO 'LEAGUE ONE'
(Saturday 23rd May 2009)
Gillingham secured their place in 'League One' for the 2009/10 season following a 1-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town in the 'League Two' play-off Final at Wembley on Saturday. Before an attendance of 53,706, the only goal of the game came in the final minute of normal time when Simeon Jackson headed home Josh Wright's corner. It means that the Gills return back to the third tier of English football just 12 months after suffering relegation.
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QPR IS HOME FRIENDLY
(Friday 22nd May 2009)
The Club have confirmed that Queens Park Rangers will be Wanderers only home opponents in the 2009/10 pre-season programme. The match will take place on Tuesday 28th July with a 7.45pm kick-off. The friendly away to
Hampton & Richmond Borough, orginally scheduled for this date, has been moved back to Thursday 30th July. Wanderers hosted QPR in friendly as recent as July 2007 when a goal from former Wycombe Youth Teamer Martin Rowlands was enough to see the West London Club go away with a 1-0 victory before a 3,045 attendance at Adams Park. Entrance to match will be included in the cost of a 2009/10 Wanderers Season Ticket. |
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TORRES ON THE LIST
(Wednesday 20th May 2009)
There has been speculation in the past week that former Wanderer Sergio Torres would be interested in a move back to Adams Park following his shock transfer listing by Peterborough United. Torres joined Posh in the summer of 2008 for a £150,000 fee but made just 10 League starts and scored one goal in a frustrating injury hit season. Posh boss Darren Ferguson said he felt for Torres and explained, "I fought hard to get him here as I rate him very highly, but for one reason and another it just never happened for him. His operation pre-season and his subsequent injury didn't help, but I couldn't see him playing much in the Championship so I've reluctantly made him available." Torres went on to comment to the Bucks Free Press, "I'm in shock. I only found out from my agent [on Tuesday 12th May], no-one from the club told me and it took me completely by surprise. I would love to come back to Wycombe. I feel Wycombe is my home. I was very happy when they went up and I would be very happy to go back there. I'd love to have a chat with Steve Hayes and if they don't show any interest I might call them when I get back". |
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FRIENDLY AT BRISTOL CITY
(Tuesday 19th May 2009)
Wanderers have arranged a pre-season friendly away at 'Championship' side Bristol City on Saturday 1st August with a 3pm kick-off. The game, which takes place a week before the Football League season starts, means that Wanderers solitary, to be arranged home pre-season friendly, is now likely to take place on a weekday with a subsequent evening kick-off time. |
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CONTRACT NEWS
(Monday 18th May 2009)
Defensive duo Craig Woodman and Leon Johnson have both had their contracts extended with the Wanderers from June 2010 to until June 2011.
The news was confirmed on the official website where it was revealed that Wanderers' promotion to 'League One' meant that 'a clause was triggered in their contracts' to enable the extension. Meanwhile, David McCracken remains the only squad member retained whose contract expires at the end of June 2009. An offer is on the table and Peter Taylor has told the local press, "We are desperate for him to stay. He's a great player and a great captain. I think we have got a better chance of
keeping him now that we've won promotion." |
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FRANCHISE ON THE LIST
(Friday 15th May 2009)
Wanderers will renew aquaintances with 'MK Franchise' next season after the Buckinghamshire intruders lost out in their 'League One' play-off semi-final with Scunthorpe United. 1-1 after the first leg, the return at Milton Keynes ended 0-0 after extra-time before United won the tie 7-6 on penalties. The result comes after Scunthorpe scrapped into the play-offs on the final day season to finish 11 points behind 3rd placed 'Franchise'. Scunthorpe will now face Millwall in the Final at Wembley on Sunday 24th May. |
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ANOTHER FRIENDLY
(Friday 15th May 2009)
Wanderers have arranged another friendly against non-League opposition, this time taking on Conference South side Hampton & Richmond Borough at their Station Road ground on Tuesday 28th July with a 7.45pm kick-off. The Surrey side lost out in a play-off with Hayes & Yeading for the right to play in the National Conference but enjoyed a relatively successful season under Manager Alan Devonshire where they also spent £200,000 on ground improvements. |
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LEEDS ON THE LIST
(Thursday 14th May 2009)
Wanderers will play Leeds United at competitive level for the first time next season after the Yorkshire side lost out in their Play-off semi-final with Millwall. The Lions led 1-0 from the first leg at The New Den but the return leg at Elland Road, played before a 37,036 crowd, saw Luciano Becchio equalise for the home side on 53 minutes. But Millwall stunned the home support in the 74th minute when Djimi Abdou stabbed home a Lewis Grabban cross to level the scores and send the Londoners through on aggregate. Millwall will now face the winners of the 'MK Franchise' v Scunthorpe semi in the Final at Wembley on Sunday 24th May. |
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KEY DATES 2009/10
(Wednesday 13th May 2009)
With Wanderers looking forward to a return to the third tier of English football for the first time since relegation at the end of the 2003/4 season, these are some of the key dates to note for the 2009/10 campaign.
Football League fixtures out - Thursday 17th June - 10am
Start of League season - Saturday 8th August 2009
Football League Cup 1st Round - w/c 10th August 2009
End of 'League 1' season - Saturday 8th May 2010
'League 1' Play-off Final - Saturday 29th May 2010
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PRE-SEASON NEWS
(Wednesday 13th May 2009)
Wanderers have now arranged three more friendlies as part of the pre-season programme for 2009/10.
On Wednesday 22nd July a Wanderers XI will travel to Windsor & Eton, kick-off 7.45pm. On Friday 24th July Wanderers will make the trip to Eastbourne Borough where, according to the official website of the Conference Club, 'Peter Taylor will be taking his full first team squad to Priory Lane'. The East Sussex club finished 13th in the 'Conference National' in 2008/9 following promotion the previous season. Kick-off is 7.30pm. The following day, Saturday 25th July, Wanderers will travel to Kent side Dover Athletic, kick-off 3pm. Dover won promotion to the 'Conference South' at the end of the 2008/9 season after taking the Isthmian League Premier division title with a points haul of 104. The matches will follow Wanderers' stint in the Errea South West Challenge Cup between 13th and 19th July. Other away friendlies are expected to be arranged plus one home friendly which will be free entrance for Wanderers 2009/2010 season ticket holders. |
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NEW KIT AND SPONSOR
(Tuesday 12th May 2009)
COTN understands that Wanderers will release new design playing kits for the 2009/10 season during the summer coupled with news of a new sponsorship deal. The existing shirt sponsorship deal with Dreams ends in July 2009 when it's expected that the Club will release news of a slight variation of the quartered design as their 'first choice' kit, along with an all-black 'second choice' kit. The 'third choice' kit is expected to remain all-yellow. The new shirt sponsorship deal has already been agreed but confidentiality agreements prevent the Club releasing the information until later in the summer, although COTN understands that another locally based name will be involved. Ground tenants London Wasps also see their shirt sponsorship deal with Magners come to an end during the summer and a joint deal with the Wanderers could be in the pipeline. |
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TAYLOR TO SIGN SIX
(Monday 11th May 2009)
Wanderers Manager Peter Taylor has said he wants to add six new players to his squad as he plans an assault on 'League One' honours in 2009/10. He told the Bucks Free Press, "We've got a very good squad with 17 or 18 people signed up. But we need to
improve a few·places. I want to sign half a dozen players." And the predictable speculation is that with a paltry League scoring record of just 54 goals last season, it will be strikers that will head Taylor's shopping list. "It is going to be a very busy summer for me. I have got a lot of
work to do and I have got to make sure I get it right because you can only spend your money once." Taylor made seven new signings during the close season of 2008. |
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VEGAS TRIP FOR SQUAD
(Monday 11th May 2009)
Wanderers players have been rewarded with a trip to Las Vegas later in May as part of their bonus for earning the Club automatic promotion to 'League One', according to a report in Friday 9th May's Bucks Free Press. The report also suggests that the squad will share a £100,000 cash bonus payment. The payout will be divided out on a pro-rata basis depending on how many appearances each player has made throughout the season. |
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L2 PLAY-OFF NEWS
(Sunday 10th May 2009)
Gillingham will play Shrewsbury Town in the 'League Two' play-off Final at Wembley on Saturday 23rd May 2009 after the two sides made it through their two-legged semi-finals played on Thursday and Sunday. Bury, who missed out on automatic promotion behind Wycombe by virtue of one goal, will count themselves unlucky after winning the first leg at Shrewsbury 1-0 and then conceeding an 88th minute goal in the return leg at Gigg Lane to take the tie to extra-time. With no further goals it was then The Shrews who booked their Wembley place after on-loan West Brom 'keeper Luke Daniels saved two spot kicks in a 4-3 shoot out victory after also saving a normal time penalty from Phil Jevons. Meanwhile, Gillingham went through after a 2-1 victory at Priestfield following a goalless match the previous Thursday at Spotland. Simeon Jackson scored both Gills goals. |
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TEN YEAR RETRO
(Friday 8th May 2009)
8th May 2009 marks the 10 year anniversary of Wanderers epic escape from relegation to the bottom tier of the Football League, following a dramatic final day victory at Lincoln City. Around 2,500 Wanderers followers were there to see Paul Emblen grab the crucial goal. COTN archives - Rewind to 8th May 1999 |
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GO WEST TRIP CONFIRMED
(Friday 8th May 2009)
Wanderers have now officially confirmed their entry in the Errea South West Challenge Cup, a pre-season tournament to be held in North Devon in July 2009. COTN first reported the news on 8th April after the Devon FA released news of the 12 teams taking part in the competition to be held between 13th and 19th July at the grounds of Appledore, Barnstaple, Bideford, Ifracombe and Torrington. The teams competing this season are Barnet, Barnstaple Town, Bath City, Bideford, Burton Albion, Eastleigh, Exeter City, Ilfracombe Town, Luton Town, Royal Racing FC Montegnee (Belgium), Wycombe Wanderers and Yeovil Town. Official Tournament website |
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PLAYERS RELEASED
(Wednesday 6th May 2009)
The Club have confirmed a list of released players following the end of the 2008/9 season. They are First Team squad members Will Antwi, Magno Vieira, Robbie Rice, Leon Crooks and Scott McGleish; First Year Pro's Callum Botham, Darrell Ellams, Scott Shulton and Jamie Turley; and 2nd Year Apprentices Jordan Lumsden, David Pearce, Craig Read and James Reading. George Daly and Dan Fitchett have been offered one year Pro deals following the end of their two year apprenticeship. David McCracken remains the only First Team squad player out of contract in the summer. The Scot has been offered a new deal but is still thinking over the chance to stay at Adams Park or a possible return to Scotland. |
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FINAL L2 TABLE
(Sunday 3rd May 2009)
A glance at the Final League Table for the 2008/9 season shows just how close Wanderers came to missing out on automatic promotion to 'League One'. If Bury had beaten Accrington by a two goal margin instead of one, then Peter Taylor's side would now be preparing for the play-offs. The Shakers will now take on Shrewsbury Town in the play-off semi-finals after The Shrews jumped into the play-off spots thanks to victory over Dagenham & Redbridge in their final game of the League campaign. For Wanderers though, they will already be looking forward to first ever Football League encounters with Charlton Athletic, Norwich City and Southampton who were all relegated from 'The Championship' to 'League One'.
Final League Two table 2008/2009 - top ten
Pl W D L GF GA Pts GD
Brentford 46 23 16 7 65 36 85 +29
Exeter 46 22 13 11 65 50 79 +15
Wycombe 46 20 18 8 54 33 78 +21
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Bury 46 21 15 10 63 43 78 +20
Gillingham 46 21 12 13 58 55 75 +3
Rochdale 46 19 13 14 70 59 70 +11
Shrewsbury 46 17 18 11 61 44 69 +17
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Dag & Red 46 19 11 16 77 53 68 +24
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WANDERERS PROMOTED
(Saturday 2nd May 2009)
Wanderers squeezed automatic promotion by the narrowest of margins despite losing 2-1 at home to Notts County at Adams Park on Saturday. County won the match with a 90th minute goal from John Thompson and at the final whistle Wanderers fans had to wait to hear the final score from Bury where their game with Accrington Stanley had been goalless when Wycombe's game had finished. But there was drama when Bury converted a stoppage time penalty and a nervous three or four minutes followed before the 1-0 victory was confirmed and the fact that Wanderers had scraped promotion by virture of a one superior goal difference. It meant slightly subdued celebrations for the those who had stayed behind in the 9,500 plus record League crowd but there were celebrations none the less after a season of hard work. Wanderers finish 3rd in the table with Exeter City taking 2nd place after a 1-0 victory at Rotherham.
Report and pictures from a nervous day at Adams Park |
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LEAGUE RECORD WILL GO
(Friday 1st May 2009)
The record League attendance at Adams Park (9,250 v Reading in February 2002) will be broken after the Club reported that ticket sales had moved past the 9,300 barrier by Friday afternoon. All seats in the Woodlands Stand (upper and lower tier) and the home allocation in Old Main Stand have been sold, leaving around 500 places in the Hillbottom Road End and the Valley Terrace. |
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9,000 PLUS ON SATURDAY
(Friday 1st May 2009)
Wanderers' ticket office reported sales for Saturday's crucial game with Notts County of close to 9,000 as of the end of trading on Thursday evening. The figure, which includes Season Ticket holders, will see the record League attendance at Adams Park (9,250 v Reading in February 2002) tested and possibly broken. The record attendance at Adams Park for a Wanderers match remains the 10,000 capacity figure returned for the pre-season friendly with Chelsea in July 2005, while the largest attendance for a competitive match was 9,771 when Chelsea were again the visitors in the Semi-Final of the League Cup in January 2007. Both these games were deemed sell-outs and while Saturday's match has yet to be made all ticket, it could still reach a sell-out on the day and revoke memories of the previous Adams Park sell-outs dating back to December 1990. |
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