*BS*I am pleased to invite you to our first trial for Dover Athletic Academy and The Abbey School.*BF*

The Football Academy represents Dover Athletic in the Conference Youth league, the highest league outside professional status.

The Academy players train everyday like professionals, improving their knowledge of the game in order to develop them into senior football.

They also study a range of courses at The Abbey School Sixth Form continuing with their education to gain the necessary grades to take them further in their chosen career.

The Academy has been very successful over the past couple of years resulting in 2 players making the England School Boys Squad and players earning a first team contract.

*BS*What do I need to know?*BF*

• Taking place on Thursday 16th February (during half term)
• Registration at 10.30am for an 11.00am start
• Finish approximately 2.00pm
• You need to bring full training kit including shin pads
• It will be outside on the main pitch so boots will be required
• Trials will consist of a variety of matches
• There will be shower and changing room facilities available for you to use
• Trials will be held at The Abbey School, London Road, Faversham, ME13 8RZ
• Parents are welcome to stay and watch

After the trial, you will receive a letter informing you if you have been successful or unsuccessful to attend the final trial. If you cannot make the first trial alternative arrangements can be made.

*BS*In order to attend the trial, you must fill in the slip here:*BF* *Link2*

For further details email Mr M Sandmann: *Link1*

*BS*Nicky Forster, Steve Brown and Jim Parmenter have expressed their satisfaction at agreeing extended contracts for the management team.*BF*

*BS*Nicky Forster*BF* told doverathletic.com: “I’m delighted to have extended my contract so early into my time here at the club.

“I’m thoroughly enjoying my time at Dover and I feel that we can do something special here. If the three of us (including assistant Steve Brown and fitness coach Niall Clark) didn’t believe that we wouldn’t have signed.

“Ultimately the dream is to get Football League status and with the commitment shown by everyone at the club this is definitely a reality.”

Assistant boss *BS*Steve Brown*BF* said: “I think we’ve started something at Dover that’s quite exciting and the fact we’ve signed the deal shows to everybody that we think we can achieve success at Dover.

“Now our immediate goals are to quickly stabilise the squad and really challenge teams in the league and then try and repeat that in the Conference.”

Chairman *BS*Jim Parmenter*BF* commented: “I’m delighted that Nicky and his team have committed long term to the club, this shows their belief in what can be achieved at Dover Athletic.

“During his short time at the club I have developed a strong working relationship with Nicky and I am sure that we now have a situation where we can take the club forward to new heights.

“This is a very clear statement of intent on my part and I hope our supporters will get behind this investment and come to the games in numbers as they will form a very important part in making sure we achieve our aspirations.”

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*BS*Nicky Forster, Steve Brown and Jim Parmenter have expressed their satisfaction at agreeing extended contracts for the management team.*BF*

*BS*Nicky Forster*BF* told doverathletic.com: “I’m delighted to have extended my contract so early into my time here at the club.

“I’m thoroughly enjoying my time at Dover and I feel that we can do something special here. If the three of us (including assistant Steve Brown and fitness coach Niall Clark) didn’t believe that we wouldn’t have signed.

“Ultimately the dream is to get Football League status and with the commitment shown by everyone at the club this is definitely a reality.”

Assistant boss *BS*Steve Brown*BF* said: “I think we’ve started something at Dover that’s quite exciting and the fact we’ve signed the deal shows to everybody that we think we can achieve success at Dover.

“Now our immediate goals are to quickly stabilise the squad and really challenge teams in the league and then try and repeat that in the Conference.”

Chairman *BS*Jim Parmenter*BF* commented: “I’m delighted that Nicky and his team have committed long term to the club, this shows their belief in what can be achieved at Dover Athletic.

“During his short time at the club I have developed a strong working relationship with Nicky and I am sure that we now have a situation where we can take the club forward to new heights.

“This is a very clear statement of intent on my part and I hope our supporters will get behind this investment and come to the games in numbers as they will form a very important part in making sure we achieve our aspirations.”

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*BS*Dover Athletic are delighted to announce that manager Nicky Forster and assistant boss Steve Brown have signed extended contracts with the club until May 2014.*BF*

In addition, recently appointed fitness coach Niall Clark is fully committed as part of the management team.

Forster and Brown joined the club in October and have gradually made improvements to the playing squad and performances to put the side well within reach of a play-off place.

The addition of Clark has made a big impact on the players’ fitness and stamina. This has been evident in recent displays and helped the team produce its best football of the season.

The two year extensions made to Forster and Brown’s contracts demonstrates that they hold long term ambitions with the club beyond their immediate aims for this season.

This follows the recent commitment of Tom Wynter, Terry Dixon and new signing Ian Simpemba to the club for the next 18 months.

*BS*Front man Terry Dixon has explained that the support he has received from both players and staff at the club was a crucial factor in his decision to extend his contract.*BF*

At the end of last week the ex Spurs and West Ham striker penned a deal to keep him at Crabble until May 2013, the longest time he has pledged to any club since his spell with the Hammers.

Dixon joined the Whites in December on a short-term deal from League Two Bradford City, and the club made an immediate impression on him.

Terry said: “The best thing about the club is that it’s just so professional, I mean we have a laugh but when it’s time to work we get on and get it done.”

However the stand out feature for Terry was the encouragement he received from Nicky Forster and his assistant Steve Brown.

He explained: “The Gaffer and ‘Browny’ just give me so much confidence which really helps me to express myself on the pitch.”

This is something which he says he hasn’t experienced since his days at Tottenham and is now keen to pay Forster back for the faith he has placed in him.

*Ppic1*Having such high levels of support is vital to Dixon, who hasn’t had the easiest of footballing careers.

He has had to fight back from a number of severe knee injuries which have at times even threatened his career. He recalled: “My third operation at Tottenham was the most serious. After the op I was told that I’d never play football again.”

Having put all of that behind him he admits that now he’s just eager to play football. The 22 year old, who has scored European Championship goals for Ireland at under 17 level, believes that his strengths lie in his link up play but still wants to bag at least ten goals before the end of the season.

In addition to this he maintains that reaching the play-offs is still a very real prospect for the club: “We’ve got the mentality that we just need to keep winning and I think we’re playing some of the best football in the league at the moment.”

*BS*Dover Athletic are delighted to announce that manager Nicky Forster and assistant boss Steve Brown have signed extended contracts with the club until May 2014.*BF*

In addition, recently appointed fitness coach Niall Clark is fully committed as part of the management team.

Forster and Brown joined the club in October and have gradually made improvements to the playing squad and performances to put the side well within reach of a play-off place.

The addition of Clark has made a big impact on the players’ fitness and stamina. This has been evident in recent displays and helped the team produce its best football of the season.

The two year extensions made to Forster and Brown’s contracts demonstrates that they hold long term ambitions with the club beyond their immediate aims for this season.

This follows the recent commitment of Tom Wynter, Terry Dixon and new signing Ian Simpemba to the club for the next 18 months.

*BS*Front man Terry Dixon has explained that the support he has received from both players and staff at the club was a crucial factor in his decision to extend his contract.*BF*

At the end of last week the ex Spurs and West Ham striker penned a deal to keep him at Crabble until May 2013, the longest time he has pledged to any club since his spell with the Hammers.

Dixon joined the Whites in December on a short-term deal from League Two Bradford City, and the club made an immediate impression on him.

Terry said: “The best thing about the club is that it’s just so professional, I mean we have a laugh but when it’s time to work we get on and get it done.”

However the stand out feature for Terry was the encouragement he received from Nicky Forster and his assistant Steve Brown.

He explained: “The Gaffer and ‘Browny’ just give me so much confidence which really helps me to express myself on the pitch.”

This is something which he says he hasn’t experienced since his days at Tottenham and is now keen to pay Forster back for the faith he has placed in him.

*Ppic1*Having such high levels of support is vital to Dixon, who hasn’t had the easiest of footballing careers.

He has had to fight back from a number of severe knee injuries which have at times even threatened his career. He recalled: “My third operation at Tottenham was the most serious. After the op I was told that I’d never play football again.”

Having put all of that behind him he admits that now he’s just eager to play football. The 22 year old, who has scored European Championship goals for Ireland at under 17 level, believes that his strengths lie in his link up play but still wants to bag at least ten goals before the end of the season.

In addition to this he maintains that reaching the play-offs is still a very real prospect for the club: “We’ve got the mentality that we just need to keep winning and I think we’re playing some of the best football in the league at the moment.”

*BS*Mark Winter continues his new weekly column with a reminiscence of the impact a substitute can make at any level…*BF*

A week or so ago, I offered to write a Dover Sunday League column for this website. Having been very politely turned down, it wasn’t too difficult for me to appreciate why such scribblings wouldn’t have been appropriate here.

In essence, I’d simply be asking the club to indulge me while I mercilessly take the rise out of my mates. Having earned a few quid for the better part of 14 years doing just that, I’m happy to cut my losses and accept that I had a good run for somebody else’s money.

No matter, as the comings and goings in the local league have given me a wealth of anecdotes to dip into from time to time, particularly when I’m seeking to raise a chuckle and illustrate the lighter side of the game. Hence I shall crave your indulgence as I relate the tale of how I was privileged enough to have witnessed the most remarkable contribution ever made by a substitute (I expect) in the league’s 46-year history.

Our story is set in the 2001-2002 season when over-40s side Bull Fossils are making a reasonable fist of competing against much younger sides in the Dover & District Sunday Football League. Having bucked up after a slow start, the Coffin Dodgers, as they are known locally, were drawn at home in the Diesel Johnny Cup to a club with a proud and distinguished history: Snowdown Colliery Welfare.

“At home” was the message that everyone got, apart from one Fossils’ squad member. In these days of super-injunctions, I shall recognise the fellow’s right to privacy to a degree; let’s simply call him Fraser if for no other reason than this is actually his name. Fraser, an amiable and highly intelligent Scotsman on his day, had turned up at Snowdown’s Spinney Lane ground, some 12 miles away from the Danes in Dover where the tie was about to kick off. Responding admirably to the clarion cry, “you’re sub, get yourself here double quick,” Fraser quite literally got on his bike to ensure that he was kitted out and ready to strut his not inconsiderable stuff some 10 minutes after the start of what proved to be an end-to-end affair between two well-matched sides.

‘Ready’ might not be the most appropriate adjective to describe his situation, however. Fraser needed a further 10 minutes to appreciate that the game he was watching during his warm-up run wasn’t actually ours. When the penny dropped that we’d swapped shirts with another club to avoid a colour clash with the Colliers, he joined the rest of us on the touchline of an adjacent pitch. In the finest traditions of the Sunday morning game, Fraser took, squarely on the chin, a volley of good-natured abuse that was harsh, yet fair and unremitting. As the game itself became a support act to some top-notch Vaudevillian cabaret, Snowdown scored twice to take a lead into the half-time interval.

Many, I’m certain, will share my view that when a day starts this badly it seldom improves. As something of a weedy pigeon, I would almost certainly have returned to a horizontal position under my duvet long before reaching this juncture. Luckily, our ebullient Braveheart was made of much sterner stuff and if the two fine goals he scored during his second half cameo didn’t fit his dullard-of-the-day persona, they were very much in keeping with the fabulous game they decided in the Fossils’ favour. Such was the quality of our hero’s first goals of the season, they seemed certain to erase all memory of his earlier misfortunes. Or would have done in a fair and just world.

It was some time after the final whistle that we discovered, with celebrations of an unexpected victory well under way in the dressing room, that the man of the hour was nowhere to be seen. Subsequent investigations revealed that Fraser, with hands on hips and adopting a semblance of a man-of-action gait, was still on the pitch and standing adjacent to the centre spot where he had placed the match ball. In short, the man who’d won the game had no idea he’d done so, and was waiting to kick off extra time, being oblivious to the fact that we’d taken an early lead before his arrival and had won the game 3-2.

Fraser’s protestations that he should have been alerted to this fact were reasonable, but dismissed under the where-would-have-been-the-fun-in-that principal. 10 years on and pushing 50 rather firmly, our man still turns out regularly and still hopes to live this story down.

I find his optimism misplaced but quite touching.