From CUMFC to FC Prettygate
23 Aug 2009

2003

A group of saddos who inhabited the Col U Ladies Messageboard (yep...) somehow organized themselves under the guidance of Daniel Smith, Dom Long and Krista Hultquist into a rag-tag side. Starting out with double figure defeats to CUIFC and CUSA, despite the gaffers' long range screamer (this was pre-belly, and when i was fit), and a trip to Brighton to play waterpolo with one of their fan sides, we still maintained enough enthusiasm to put together enough geeks to enter the Sunday League. Being Col U lovers, a quick chat with the then new owners at the Drury Arms (our pre and post Col U match regular haunt) saw us enter the 2003 Sunday League as Drury Arms FC.

2003-4

We began our first season with one aim, and one aim only - not to finish bottom! Starting out with an unexpected 7-1 win against Ramsey Res, with Barry Pieboy Pryer bagging a hat-trick (but not the man of the match award - like the Murphy's...), we quickly reverted to expectation with a string of defeats, valiant performances and complete hammerings. But we stuck to our self-given nickname of "The Positive Parrots" (an in-joke based on something in a Col U matchday programme - told you we were geeks - Beets stag photos prove that!) and battled away and a final day (rare but well deserved) win secured that much craved next-to-(but not actually)-bottom position, so we were happy.

2004-5

However, improvement was fast in coming, with some additions to the squad Drury Arms picked up the pace the following season, and along with actually having good cup runs, secured promotion under the guidence of Steve Tovey. This season also saw the entry of long term rival CUSA to the Sunday League for the first time. It also saw the two teams compete in the Pat and Les Oakes Trophy at Layer Road, CUSA coming out on top.

2005-6 and 2006-7

2005/06 rolled on, and as Dee moved to the Blue Boar, and the new owners at the Drury Arms making clear the team were not welcome, the club changed names to Blue Boar FC, and enjoyed another season of growth and success. Although no silverware from cup competitions was secured, Blue Boar FC finished third in Division 5 to gain promotion to Division 4, and recieved the Fair Play award two seasons running during this time.

Soon interest in the club from other players was rising, so over the summer of 2006 the decision to form a reserve side was authorised, and for the first time in the clubs history, we had a first and a reserve side. Club stalwart and award hogger Barry Pryer took charge of the first team, whilst Steve took the reigns at the ressies.

By this time, Dee had left the Blue Boar pub, and Gareth Gailey was the new man in charge. Gareth joined as the ressie's keeper and continued the clubs link with the New Town based pub.

2007-8

Well, all good things come to an end, and Gareth felt it was time to move on from the pub. With the pub being left empty, and the Drury Arms under new management of Stu and Becky, the club returned to it's roots. Agreeing to switch to a more generic team name, after a round of votes, FC Drury was the name to be taken forward. Further promotions followed under the guidance of Darren Allen at the helm of the first team and Matt Tomlin in charge of the ressies. The First team getting within a whisker of the Essex Sunday Junior Trophy final.

2008-9

Following the departure from the manager's chair of Darren Allen to allow his move to Bayern Monkwick, this was, to be honest, a pretty S****Y season for FC Drury, with the club struggling to raise 2 sides each week, despite finishing the season with over 50 players on its' books. Both firsts and reserves lost key players, mainly to apathy. That said, there were some great moments, such as Gav Newcombe's hat-trick as we came back from 4-1 down with 20 to go to beat Feering 5-4 in the cup, but the decision was taken to merge those who were committed to play for the club only going forward into one team once the Reserves fixtures were completed, and the nucleus of the side for 2009/10 finished the season with a run of good performances and victories, with a much more encouraging atmosphere developing around the club.

2009/10

After a season of transition, things look a lot more settled off the pitch, with a good clutch of committed regulars who want to play every week and give their all for the club. Pre-season has been promising, and the expectation levels and confidence around the club is improving. Most importantly, team spirit is getting back to how it was in the Blue Boar days, and it feels like we're a club again. We now have a new name, FC Prettygate, a new home, a couple of new players and a couple of returning favourites, and it feels a bit like a new start. For someone who'd had enough and twice quit last season (for about 5 minutes at a time...) I'm feeling really enthused by the new season, and looking forward to trying to turn this good bunch of lads into a winning football team...

Fingers crossed 2009/10 will be the year of the Prettygate!

History provided by Daniel Smith
Tweaking, updating, spelling and punctuation by Steve