Welcome to Norton Nomads Football Club

Gareth Edwards looks set to join the club for a second spell after stating his intentions at the first pre-season training session this afternoon.

Edwards played for the club in the 2006/07 season. He made 29 appearances, starting 24 of those and scoring an impressive 7 goals from midfield. He played most of the season in central midfield where his tough tackling and bags of energy (shown again as he took part in training after cycling 20 miles) proved important. He ended the season playing as a right back most of the time and made history by becoming the first Nomads player to be sent off, this happening a few minutes after defeat at Angel Sports Club, referee Martin Stockton brandishing a red card for dissent.

A paltry seven people showed their face at training, several missing due to holidays/other commitments. The ones available were: Paul Tarrant, Mark Stillman, Kev Page, Adam Simmonds, Gareth Edwards, Luke Tucker and Jamie Gulliford. The next training session will be on Thursday night from 7pm until it gets too dark, same venue as always.

Nomads appear to be in more demand than Manchester United for pre-season friendlies as they now face newly formed Manor Elm on Sunday 27th July, a 5pm kick off on the all-weather surface at Writhlington School, boots or trainers can be used.

As described in a previous news story, Manor Elm are a newly merged club who will play in the Premier Division next season. Elm Tree Sports finished in the lower reaches last season, Manor Park had a pretty successful season in the Premier Division of the Bath & District League and ended their campaign with a 12-1 win over Claverton Villa, a pic from that game included with this article. Manor Park looked damn good that game so it could be a tough one, but a good work out. The clubs met in pre-season last year at Roundhill where a depleted Nomads side lost 4-0, Dave Fairweather on the scoresheet with a ghosting header.

Pre-season training will begin on Sunday 13th July and continue throughout the summer on Sundays and Thursdays until the season begins, when it will revert to Thursdays only. It will take place on the lower pitch adjacent to the Bearberry Club. Sundays will usually be just a game whilst Thursdays will be used for various other exercises.

Following the arrangement of a pre-season friendly with FC St. George on 24th August, manager Paul Tarrant has arranged another for the 17th. This time it's against...The George.

The George play in the Premier Division of the Frome & District League and finished 8th last season out of 10 clubs (level on points with Elm Tree, who Nomads also hope to face in pre-season), just Prestbury Sports Bar and Farrington Albion finishing lower. They play their matches at Oakhill Recreational Fields, which is in Leigh-on-Mendip. Nomads will be hoping for similar success to when we last played there, thrashing The Griffin 8-1 in a pre-season friendly last August, Jamie Gulliford netting four in the rout with Jon Girvan, Jas Cripps, Ad Maidment and Adam Colbourne also scoring.

Tarrant is still hopeful to fix up a friendly with The Griffin and also Ston Easton. The Ston Easton one would most likely take place a week before the start of the season, 31st August. If there are any Georges out there that want to give us a game then give us a call, we seem to have a fetish with them (hence the pic of the late George Best).

After the meeting, FC St. George Manager Jeff Glasson (pictured) approached Nomads with the suggestion of a pre-season friendly in August. As Nomads' home at Ston Easton is unavailable throughout pre-season, the game will be played at Kingdown School, St. George's home venue. This will be played on Sunday 24th August, which is the Bank Holiday weekend.

St. George finished one place above Nomads in the League, earning the last promotion place by finishing 4th. They spent most of the season in the top three but wobbled around Christmas time and eventually dropped a place with Paulton finishing above them. They posess one of the League's top goalscorers in Mike Payne, who scored twice against Nomads in three games last season. The clubs have met seven times in the past three seasons. Nomads have won three, drawn two and lost two. The latest game was an embarrassing 4-0 home defeat back in March, all the goals coming in the first half, this was sweet revenge for St. George who had lost to Nomads twice earlier in the season in the League and Cup. The most memorable game between the club was an action-packed 3-3 draw in March 2007. Jamie Gulliford put Nomads 2-0 up but two Payne penalties and one for Stu Green turned it around for the club then known as Yew Tree Rangers. However in stoppage time, Gulliford broke their hearts to complete his hat-trick with a rasping shot into the corner. The game was also remembered for one or two dodgy refereeing decisions, but I guess it added to the entertainment.

As for other friendlies, the newly-named Manor Elm Tree have approached Nomads for a friendly, possibly taking place on the all-weather pitch at Writhlington School. The team was formed by the merger of Manor Park Rangers and Elm Tree Sports. The Griffin are also potential opponents, but dates for either of these games haven't been set.

This morning at Badgers Hill, home of Frome Town FC, the Frome & District League close season AGM took place with representitives from almost every club in attendance, some even managing to sink some pints despite the early start.

There was the usual chit-chat about various rule changes, none of which are too relevant to put here. The main talking point of these was signing on forms. The committee had wanted players to just be signed on using The FA website with each side nominating a Team Administrator to look over it all. However, the point was raised that it's probably better to have players' signatures as anyone could just be signed on randomly. This change was approved by every club, all of them raising their little voting forms in unison for the umpteenth time.

Aside from that, the League layout for next season was shown to all on a flashy PowerPoint presentation by Steve Porter, who was also voted as Referee of the Year. As expected, four teams were promoted from Division Two to Division One, with two clubs coming down - Elm Tree Inn and Forresters Arms, formerly known as AC Mee Lamb and Angel Sports respectively. Two new sides will join Division Two - Warminster Cricket Club and The Weaver Reserves (groan). Warminster will play at the Land Warfare Centre and Weaver at Gypsy Lane. However, Weaver's representives piped up and pointed out that they believe Three Swans are folding. If this happens, Nomads will presumably be promoted to Division One as the next highest placed club in Division Two. A similar thing happened with Farrington Albion, who chose to be relegated to be replaced in the Premier Division by an extra club - The Artisans.

Rather than have a transfer saga run on throughout the summer like the Cristiano Ronaldo one dominating the back pages, Nomads striker Jamie Gulliford (pictured) has stated that he has no intentions of leaving the club. He had received interest from a club in this League but has confirmed that there is no chance of him leaving his team-mates and friends. Several other Nomads players have also confirmed that they will be at the club for the 2008/09 season and the forseeable future, Dave Chedgy will also be returning in pre-season.

With that, Dave Southgate is still the only confirmed departure for next season. Adam Colbourne is set to return to Bournemouth Uni and hasn't decided on whether he is signing on for another season or not. Ad Maidment is also starting Uni life not long after Nomads' season starts so will only be available sparingly, he has said that he will probably still sign on though as work is unlikely to clash with games, a factor which meant he played just once in the second half of the season. Manager Paul Tarrant is considering having more than 20 players on the books next season due to the lack of numbers in the back end of the season, though it won't be many more than previous years. Next Sunday also sees the League AGM take place at Badgers Hill, Frome Town FC, the League and new teams could be confirmed.

Tarrant is also hopeful to add to his squad by inviting James Iveson to pre-season training. The Wick-based winger or striker has apparently expressed an interest in joining the club, though it's too early to tell what the situation is. The only new player confirmed to be joining the club is Kevin Martin. Martin has trained with the squad since the new year in a bid to regain match fitness and has played in every position before for a variety of clubs. He also played in Nomads' 18-0 defeat to Royal Oak in a friendly three years ago before deciding to join AC Mee Lamb instead and then moved on to the now defunct Stella Bucherest. He will, however, miss almost all of pre-season training as he's off to Australia soon, not returning until mid-August.

On the night of the final for Britain's Got Talent, Nomads gave out awards for their talented stars in the 2007/08 season. As well as the main awards, each player who attended was given a small, smart engraved Trophy for their efforts last season.

Jamie Gulliford received the Golden Boot award to kick things off. The Nomads all-time top scorer netted 15 times in 22 starts last season, taking his total to 35 from 63 starts for the club. This was swiftly followed by yours truly (Mark Stillman) being awarded the Clubman of the Year award for ones efforts on and off the pitch - match reports, photos, website etc. I don't do it for awards, it's for enjoyment, but thanks for the Trophy. In a tight vote, the Players' Player of the Year saw Liam Hunt finish third and Gulliford second, both were also nearly men last season in the same catergory. It was Club Captain Jas Cripps who was recognised for his excellent season in midfield, scoring 14 times and playing almost every game. Paul Tarrant's Player of the Year went to Adam Colbourne, the centre-back not going un-noticed in his first season at the club, he proved to be an inspirational signing. Jon Girvan was then next to collect a ridiculously heavy marble-type Trophy as Most Improved Player of the Year. Girvan didn't score last season but waded in with 8 assists, his trickery and dangerous crosses from the left wing working wonders. The players settled down to enjoy a delicious buffet, thanks to those at the Redan for the food, downed some alcohol and played killer skittles. Aptly it was Cripps and Colbourne who were left standing last, Colbourne eventually winning the £15.

The award winners are pictured, L to R: Jon Girvan, Jamie Gulliford, Paul Tarrant, Mark Stillman, Adam Colbourne, Jas Cripps.

Nomads got the win they needed to push Westfield for 5th spot, but they were given an almighty scare from a tricky Bearberry side.

The "home" side, playing at a neutral venue at Roundhill, could have taken the lead in the first minute when Gary Harvey sprung the offside trap but Luke Tucker raced off his line to thwart the Bearberry striker. Bearberry looked a far better side than the one that lost pretty meekly to Nomads two months ago and had almost all of the play before Adam Colbourne, starting in midfield, rattled the crossbar with a long range effort. It was a game packed with chances, Steve Cooper and Joe Goudie both tested Tucker from distance as Bearberry continued to press, but it was Nomads who took the lead on the half hour mark. The ball rebounded around the penalty area and Colbourne eventually found Craig Maidment. Under pressure from Tom Davis, Maidment coolly hooked the ball over Marc Cooper and into the net. Bearberry could have equalised when Glen Proctor's cross found Alex McAlpine free in the centre, but the strong striker couldn't re-position his body to get a clear connection on the ball as he fired just over. The half ended on a sour note when Adam Simmonds clashed heads for the third time in nine starts, this time with James Bentley, right on half time. Both didn't return for the second half as Simmonds took his annual trip to the RUH.

Steve Cooper, Goudie and Harvey all had efforts well saved by the inspired Tucker as Bearberry led siege to the Nomads goal. Dave Southgate, playing his last game for the club against the side where he started his Nomads career against, had probably his best game in frustrating the home side. Nomads then surprised everyone by extending their lead on 57 minutes, Jamie Gulliford chasing down Tucker's drop kick and shot across Marc Cooper from a narrow angle into the bottom corner. Davis had a long range effort comfortably held and Harvey was prevented from getting a shot away by a last ditch block by sub Mark Stillman. The turning point of the game was Gulliford bursting clear in a move almost identical to the second goal, this time from a Colbourne goal kick. He fired another shot across Marc Cooper, but it agonisingly crept against the post and along the line before being pounced on by the relieved keeper. Just two minutes later and Bearberry were back in it. Gary Chivers escaped challenges from Kev Page, Liam Hunt and Colbourne before neatly stroking it past Tucker from close range. Page was left unmarked but could only head straight at Marc Cooper and Harvey turned Stillman before blasting wide. Yet more chances came and went in an open game, but Nomads just about held out to finish the season on a high note.

It has been confirmed that Nomads' final match of the season against Bearberry will now take place at Roundhill, Radstock. Thus meaning that Nomads' season will end where it began last pre-season, when Manor Park Rangers easily beat us 4-0.

Bearberry cannot finish above Nomads but could close the gap as they already have another game the week after, this against Champions The Weaver. Again Bearberry will have to find a venue due to the extended season, a harsh task in truth, the season started on September 2nd and with only 20 League games to play, it's quite crazy that it's still going on now.

Should he be selected, it will be the last appearance for Assistant Manager Dave Southgate. The 23-year-old has just re-located to Yate and will be a Father in September. "Dangerous" Dave made his debut for the club in our first ever competitive game, a 12-1 defeat at Ring o'Bells in the Tony Whorlow Memorial Cup back in September 2005. He also hit the bar with his first touch, his own crossbar that is. He also famously played on without realising that he'd shattered a couple of metetarsals in his foot last season at home to Trowbridge, an injury putting him out of action for four months. He will be sorely missed on and off the pitch.