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Nomadic Newbury in search of Hellenic title and new home




Nomadic Newbury FC approach the new season in search of the Hellenic League Division Two East title and, most importantly, a permanent home.

There promises to be a plethora of on and off-field hurdles to overcome, but manager Nicky Voller, assistant Ben Wickens and player-coach Danny Langford will be doing all they can to put their town and club back onto the footballing map.

The club are based in Lambourn but are in essence homeless since their eviction from their Faraday Road ground five years ago, but Langford is determined it won’t prevent his side from achieving promotion this season.

Danny Langford is returning for a second coaching stint
Danny Langford is returning for a second coaching stint

“The side that we’ve got, we’re playing Step 7 football, that’s probably one step below where we should be, potentially two, that’s frustrating,” Langford said.

“We’ll be looking to win the league this season, I think we’re more than good enough, we shouldn’t be at this level.”

Last Tuesday, Newbury beat Step 5 side Wantage 2-0 in pre-season, but the harsh reality of football is that it’s about more than just what happens on the pitch.

Newbury FC in pre-season action
Newbury FC in pre-season action

“It’s tough because we’ve got no money coming in, we’ve got no bar, no ground, there’s not a lot we can do.

“We’re playing in Lambourn which isn’t ideal, it’s half an hour outside Newbury, albeit Lambourn have been amazing, without them we’d have huge problems.”

Nevertheless, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic ahead of the new campaign – Langford, Voller and Wickens are working tirelessly to turn the club’s fortunes around.

“We’re looking at growing the club, bringing more people in, we can’t keep dwelling on the past and we’ve got to kick on.

“We’ve kept 80% of the squad from last season when we finished fourth, we’ve added, we’ve improved.

“We’ve got four or five lads that are too good for this level, but we’re a group of friends, that’s what’s most important.

“We’re focused on getting it right on the pitch and then hopefully off the pitch we can start to pull the community back together, we need the people of the town more than anything.

"We've got a great secretary, a good chairman, we've got people that want to help, we've just got to start winning."

Football at this level throws up all kinds of challenges, from postponements to pitch fees – for Newbury, the biggest challenge of all is making sure football comes home.



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