LFE Blog
LFE Blog Online is the official LFE Blog, and contains the online diaries of Apprentices, Ex-Apprentices and Coaches from Football League Clubs.
I'm Back in Sweden!
Hello Readers,
After a lovely four month break in England, where I got chance to relax and see friends and family, I returned to Sweden on the 1st of February to start a new season with Ange.
Final Blog - Thank You and Goodbye
The season is coming to a fast end and, overall for me, it hasn’t been a bad year at all on and off the pitch. The second year lads – myself included – found out about our professional contracts around two weeks ago now.
Catch Up Before the End of the Season
I haven’t written anything for a few weeks, so here I am trying to catch up by telling you as much as I can that has happened over the past few weeks!
Knocked Out of the FA Youth Cup
Not such good news to tell you this time, for starters we were knocked out of the FA Youth Cup last week by Norwich City. The game went all the way to the last few minutes of extra time and they just nicked it through a mistake!
Through to the Next Stage
Hi everyone!
Well, I’ve dragged this blog out for a couple of days and admittedly it’s overdue for the simple reason of waiting to fill you in with the news of our FA Youth Cup match against Bristol Rovers.
Update on the Past Few Weeks
Hello everyone, following on from my last blog where I told you all I would keep you updated with how the past few weeks have gone, here goes!
Good To Be Back
It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog but I’m glad to be back and I will keep you updated with what’s happening in an around the training ground again!
Thank You - Last Blog of the Season
We won our final game of the season however, so did Hillie IF and consequently we did not get into the play offs. All that said and done, it was nice to finish the season on a win and beat the team who won the league comfortably with a 5-2 victory.
Last Game of the Season
Today is our last game of the regular season and is by far the most important game as we meet the team who are top of the league – Kvarnsvedens – who won the league last Sunday.
Coaching For The Youth Team
Tonight I’ll be talking my third session as one of the youth team coaching staff and hopefully I can pass some of the things I’ve learnt from my previous coaches onto the younger boys.
Man of the Match!
On Saturday we played Forssa BK who were in the bottom four but played very well against us earlier in the season and caused us quite a few problems defensively. However, we had Oscar back in the team who has scored countless goals for us and give us more options offensively.
Toughest Game So Far
On Saturday we played Edsbyn away in which would turn out to be one of the toughest games we’ve played all season.
We were missing two key players in Oscar, our top goal scorer and Anton, one of our defenders, so we knew it wouldn’t be easy.
Nerve-Racking Game But A Good Win
On Saturday we played Hofors AIK, the team just below us in the league and only two points behind us.
We’ve also just lost a midfielder who had to go back to University in the south of Sweden so wasn’t able to play, and will be big loss for us.
Bounced Back After A Disappointing Draw
On Saturday we played Hillie, the team one point and one place above us in the table, so it was a chance for us to move up a place if we got all three points.
Off To A Winning Start
Last Friday was the first league game since the break, and fortunately we got off to a winning start with 3 points and a 4-0 win against Rengsjö.
Pre Season Success
Tuesday was our 3rd arranged game against Vitesse. We had trained in preparation for the game the previous day however fundamental mistakes where made and we ended up loosing the game 1-0.
An Unbeatable Tour
We were up for 9:30 on Monday morning ready to report back to training. Although legs were a little stiff from Saturday’s game the boys were out and ready to train for 11:00am. Training consisted of various technical practices and possession drills.
Foreign Learning Curve
Our final game against foreign opponents Osnabruck was definitely a game to learn from for us, playing against a very well structured German side who were on the front foot from the off and for the entire first half we were under great amounts of pressure.
The Feyernoord Test
On Friday morning we woke up at 8:00; reporting for breakfast at 8:30. Once finished we had half an hour to get ready for training. We left the hotel ready to train, looking forward to the guest coaches we had that morning.
No Time For Rest...
Saturday was the day of our second game, this time against NEC Nijmegen. It was also the day we were to transfer hotels for the second half of the tour and so the previous night we had packed our bags in preparation.
A Winning Start!
Departed moor farm at 3:00am, (too early) ready for a flight from Birmingham to Amsterdam at 6:00am. From the airport travelled straight to the hotel, still everyone being half asleep.
Meeting McLaren
The trip to Amsterdam was a great day – in both the town and at the Amsterdam Arena. In the morning a tour of the stadium was always going to be a good experience seeing the history of the club and a greater insight into Dutch football.
The Battle At Willem II
Day five in Holland consisted of a single session in the morning and the rest of the day to rest and find our own thing to do in preparation for tomorrow’s game.
Fortune At Fortuna
Wednesday was our first game day as we had an arranged fixture against Fortuna Sittard.
Welcome to Breda
The third day in Holland was focused on our evening game against Breda, again another morning session was organised in order to prepare for how we thought the Dutch team would set up against us.
Pre Season Success
Tuesday was our 3rd arranged game against Vitesse. We had trained in preparation for the game the previous day however fundamental mistakes where made and we ended up loosing the game 1-0.
An Introduction To Dutch Football
After an early flight into Amsterdam our first training session was very good, the facilities and the pitches were a really high standard with 4G pitches and smart changing rooms. For a non-league club VV Gilze certainly know how to keep their players happy.
Looking For A Repeat Result
On Monday we had two new lads join us called Callum and Ryan from Bristol and Bradford. They are much need additions to the squad and hopefully they can do well and help us fight for promotion.
First Training Session For About A Month!
Great news… the Club offered both me and Iain contracts to come back in July after the season break and stay until the end of the season.
I was thrilled with this news, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time in Sweden and was happy to return to keep playing for Ange and hopefully get promoted.
Day Trips & Fancy Dress
Yesterday we finally got round to going to the Water Park in Sundsvall (the closest big city to Ange).
At first we thought we might not be able to find it, but then we asked one of our team mates if he would like to come and he agreed and said he would show us round as he’d been before.
Fishing For Pike
We’ve had two games this week, and they were the last two before the mid-season break so it was important for us to finish on a high.
Football's Back On The Television!
On Saturday we played a team called Forssa BK in Borlange which is three and half hours away from Ange.
Most of our away games have been three or more hours away so I should be used to it by now but it still doesn’t make it any easier to get up at six o’clock in the morning.
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