Duke William Vets

2010/2011 season will see us moving to a new home - Duke William in St Johns Square Burslem. Last season we ran from the another Burslem pub - Burslem Smithy, but there has been a change of management at that pub and with the uncertainty created, we decided to move to the Duke. Hopefully we have finally found a place where we could put down permanent roots. Burslem Smithy Vets were Smallthorne Village Vets previously (season 2008/2009) and before that were The Barrel. Going back further, Fegg Hayes. We play in the Vets Division of the Potteries and District Sunday League (PDSL). All players are over 35 (which is the qualifying age for the league) and for some players the age of 35 is a distant memory. Initially entering the PDSL Vets League as Fegg Hayes Club, the team re-invented themselves at the Barrel in Smallthorne at the start of the 2006/07 season. We struggled for most of that season and turning out 11 fit players was a challenge some weeks. But our Manager at the time, Frank (Mumphy) Gallagher perservered with the rabble at his disposal and we managed to see the season through. At the start of the following campaign, Mumph passed the reigns to Chicken Lips Shingy who immediately bribed a few other lads to join up. With a much stronger squad to call on, we finished the 2007/08 season as runners up to Shamblers. More lads joined at the start of the 2008/09 season and we put a few of the really older members out to grass. We used in excess of 40 players that season, as we continued to strengthen the team to stay competitive. Early in the 2008/09 season, we moved home base again and operated out of the Last Orders in Smallthorne. As a result we changed our name to Smallthorne Village Vets. Why such a ponsy name? because our chairman said it was fitting for a club that may flit around from pub to pub, but these pubs would always be in Smallthorne and we would be able to keep the name as we moved. On the pitch we finished the season in 3rd spot and lost in the final of the divisional cup to Shamblers. At the start of the 2009/2010 season we needed to change pub base again and, despite the confident prediction of our Chairman, we moved out of Smallthorne to Burslem and Ye Olde Smithy. Shingy strengthened the squad further and we became a team capable of challenging for the title. Our chief rivals this season as in previous seasons were Shamblers (Umbro national vets cup winners 2008/2009). After a fantastic start, we lost our way slightly around Xmas and were lost our chance to pick up the ultimate prize of winning the league. However, we rallied for the round robin cup competition in which in the initial league stage we lost only to Shamblers. THis set us up for a final against our greatest foe at Hanley Town on April 25th 2010. Burslem rocked that night as we won 1 - 0 to put the bridesmaid in to the wedding dress for the first time. Thanks to everyone at the Smithy for their support through the 2009/2010 season. Looking forward to the Duke in 2010/2011 Tussa

Duke William Vets squad

Jonny Harrison

Steven Shingler

David Grosvenor

Garry Walton

David Russell

Nick Bennett

match reports featuring Duke William Vets

Normacot Suffer Smallthorne Backlash

The Duke William Vets Home Pitch

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