Bridgwater Grasshoppers FC News Page

End-of-Season Awards Results

The prestigious Grasshoppers FC End-Of-Season Awards Ceremony took place on Friday evening (3rd June 2005) at the Admirals Landing against a backdrop of camera flashbulbs and much popping of champagne corks.

Three main awards were up for grabs on the night and voting took place at the ceremony itself as members of the club chose the recipients of the magnificent trophies.

After much deliberation it emerged that young starlet Adam Kinsey (pictured right) sealed the two main player-of-the-year awards, following a superb campaign and 28-goal haul, while veteran celtic barfly Danny O'Loughlin came away with both the Clubman Of The Year Award and also a special award in recognition of "his courageous and single-minded refusal to accept that his football career was over despite overwhelming evidence that it should be".

Club captain Paul Ham was also duly recognised as he emerged as runaway winner of The Only Gay In The Village Award which he received in recognition of "his contribution to the promotion of homosexual issues in a social situation".

Meanwhile, veteran keeper Geoff Powell gladly accepted the coveted Oliver Reed Memorial Drinkers Award on behalf of his liver.

Main Awards:

Player Of The Year, 2004-05: Adam Kinsey

Young Player Of The Year, 2004-05: Adam Kinsey

Clubman Of The Year, 2004-05: Danny O'Loughlin

Special Additional Awards:

The Oliver Reed Memorial Drinkers Award: Geoff Powell

The Frank Sinatra Memorial Comeback Award: Danny O'Loughlin

The "Only Gay In The Village" Award: Paul Ham

Change of Date for End of Season Awards Dinner

As a result of problems in arranging an available venue for the originally planned date of Friday 27th May it has now been confirmed that the Grasshoppers' 2004-05 End-of-Season Awards Dinner will take place on the evening of Friday 3rd June 2005 at The Admirals Landing. The "Mezzanine Level" of the function room has been exclusively reserved from 7:30pm onwards and the plan is to enjoy a hearty, stomach-lining meal before the various awards are presented. The squad will then proceed to hit the town's pubs and clubs for a well-earned knees-up. The Admirals Landing have stipulated that we will need to confirm our final numbers by the end of May and, at that point, we will also need to provide a deposit of ?5.00 per person. The Grasshoppers "management" will be looking to collect this money from all interested players/members in the coming weeks. In the meantime please study the Admirals' standard and special menus which can be downloaded by clicking on the following link. You will need to confirm to "the management" your choice of meal before the end of May.

Hoppers in Watford Saturday clash

This coming Saturday 7th May 2005 sees the world famous Bridgwater Grasshoppers FC travelling to Dunster, near Minehead, for an end-of-season friendly against a Watford Tourists eleven. For those players based in Bridgwater, we are meeting up at 8:50am at Sainsburys so that we leave plenty of time to make the trip to Dunster. The game is scheduled to kick off at 10:30am at Dunster's picturesque ground in the shadow of the famous castle. The ground is apparently very close to the Foresters Arms pub, which is in West Street (A396). For a map of the area please click on the link below.

Titanic Easter Showdown

This coming Easter Sunday sees the first ever final of the "Undisputed Masters of The Universe Cup", a magnificent trophy that will be contested by Grasshoppers Whites and Grasshoppers Blues on the hallowed turf of Morganians RFC at the world famous Chedzoy Lane. This is one of the showpiece events of the British footballing calendar and a large crowd is anticipated, with AA Roadwatch advising Bank Holiday travellers to avoid the inevitable congestion on all routes leading to the ground. Kick off is 11:00am to soften the blow of the introduction of British Summer Time the previous night and the losing of an hours sleep. Whatever the result of the final, there is sure to be an in-depth post-match debate as the players move on to an all-day pub crawl. This is one event not to be missed over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Video of Kervell Cup Goal Now Available To View

If you want to see John Kervell's recent powerhouse headed goal, from a pinpoint Adam Kinsey corner, during our recent Geoff Harvey Cup clash with Pig & Whistle Reserves, please click on the link below to launch video playback of the goal, courtesy of the "Powell TV" cameras. The eagle-eyed amongst you may also notice a heavily disguised character in a sheep-skin coat and beanie hat patrolling the touchline in a menacing fashion. Could this possibly be America's second most-wanted fugitive, the notorious Osama Bin Liner?

Hoppers' Gaffer In Mourinho-style Premature Declaration

In a shock development, Bridgwater Grasshoppers' dynamic young player-boss Dean Waghorn announced to a packed press conference, at the Hoppers' state-of-the-art training complex at Chilton Trinity Sports Centre, that he is happy to confirm his starting line-up for this Sunday's huge Geoff Harvey Cup Quarter-Final clash against Pig & Whistle Reserves a full 48 hours ahead of kick-off. The 36-year-old former England (Pie-eating) International, who has never lost eight competitive games in a row during his brief managerial career, declared: "Yes, it's true that I am happy to reveal the eleven players who will start the game on Sunday. Are you all ready? Right - 'Nickers' Northey, 'Wembley' Woodcock, 'Brucie' Ham, 'Old Man' Court, 'Young Man' Court, Stevie M, Johnny K, 'Hound-Hungry' Hembery, 'Golden-bollox' Kinsey, 'Fiery Rob' Whiterod and Jimmer 'Gut-Rot' Nichols."

Confirmation of Cup Venue

It has now been confirmed that the venue for the Hoppers' Geoff Harvey Cup Quarter-Final clash against Pig & Whistle Reserves this coming Sunday 6th March 2005 will be Bridgwater's Victoria Park.

The Road Ahead Becomes Clearer

Following the two ties that were played yesterday (27th February) as part of the Geoff Harvey Cup First Round, we now know that, if we can progress past Pig & Whistle Reserves this coming Sunday in our quarter-final clash, we will meet either Sportsman or Countryman in the semi-finals. On paper the most likely opponents from this encounter would be Sportsman who have enjoyed an excellent campaign and who are likely to finish second in the table if they continue to gather further points from their games in hand over Puriton. Of course, Countryman are not to be dismissed lightly and, should we meet them, they will be gunning for revenge for the 7-0 thrashing we gave them recently. However, my money is on Sportsman and this means that we will therefore need to beat two very young teams to get to the all-important final. Here's hoping that our perfect blend of youth and experience can prevail and that we can cap our first season back with some silverware.

Hoppers Would Avoid Top Two in Cup Draw

Following the advanced draw for the semi-finals stage of the Geoff Harvey Cup the Hoppers now know that, should they successfully navigate their tricky quarter-final tie against Pig & Whistle Reserves on 6th March, they cannot meet either Artillery WHB or Puriton United in the semi-finals. Instead, the opponents would be either Sportsman, Middlezoy, Glastonbury or Countryman. The semi-finals are scheduled to be played on Sunday 20th March 2005 and the final itself is planned for Sunday 10th April.