2008–09 Newport County A.F.C. season
| 2008–09 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Chris Blight | |||
| Manager | Dean Holdsworth | |||
| Stadium | Newport Stadium | |||
| Conference South | 10th | |||
| FA Cup | Second qualifying round | |||
| FA Trophy | First round | |||
| Top goalscorer | League: Craig Reid (16) All: Craig Reid (21) | |||
| Highest home attendance | 2,546 vs AFC Wimbledon (9 August 2008) | |||
| Lowest home attendance | 540 vs Eastleigh (25 February 2009) | |||
| Average home league attendance | 852 | |||
|
| ||||
The 2008–09 season was Newport County's fifth consecutive season in the Conference South and they had been ever-present since the introduction of the Conference North & South in 2004.
After the sacking of Peter Beadle following the team's failure to make the play-offs for two consecutive seasons, Former Bolton and Wimbledon striker, Dean Holdsworth was announced as manager on 18 May 2008.[1] Holdsworth had been brought to the club as a player in February 2007, by previous manager Beadle, scoring three goals in five starts.[2][1] Newport were tipped as serious promotion challengers after the Leeds friendly,[3] but suffered a poor first half to the season, only achieving four wins. However, the second half of the season was a big improvement, with 12 wins and the beginning an unbeaten streak that would last a third of the way into the next season.
Season review[edit]
2008[edit]
The season began with the visit of AFC Wimbledon, which was billed as a Dons reunion, given Dean Holdsworth's previous history with the original Wimbledon F.C. [4] However, despite the largest crowd of the season, County started the campaign with a 4–1 loss. They would go on to lose again to the eventual champions, just before Christmas, with Newport just above the relegation zone.[5]
County had to wait another five games before their first win, with defeats away at Eastleigh and Team Bath, sandwiching draws with Chelmsford City and Dorchester Town, the latter of which produced the highest-scoring draw seen at Newport Stadium.[6] The win, at home to Hampton & Richmond Borough proved to be a false dawn, as a draw away at Bishop's Stortford and two more home defeats, to Havant & Waterlooville and St Albans City pushed Newport back into the relegation zone. The latter game proving to be so poor, that no Man of the Match was awarded.[7]
County moved up to 17th in the table following the 3–0 home win over Bromley, but then embarked on another winless run, with draws against Weston-super-Mare, Welling United, Basingstoke Town and Havant & Waterlooville, and defeats to Braintree Town and Hayes & Yeading left them just outside the relegation zone. The defeat to Hayes & Yeading was Newport's worst home league defeat for 12 years[8] with many supporters calling for manager Dean Holdsworth to resign.[9] A rare win was secured away at the rescheduled Maidenhead game, proving to be only the third in 17 matches. The original match was abandoned on 5 September due to torrential rain with the score deadlocked at 3–3.[10]
Following defeats to Bishop's Stortford, AFC Wimbledon and a draw with Thurrock, Newport were again just outside the relegation zone, but the final game of the year against Worcester City was won,[11] sparking a turnaround in fortunes for the second half of the season.
2009[edit]
The new year began in a much better fashion, with County securing as many wins in January as in the entirety of the first half of the season. By the time of the Bath City away game, Newport had put together a six-game unbeaten streak, rising to 13th in the table. The Bath game was lost due to a 90th-minute winner for the home side,[12] but the following home game to bottom-placed Bognor Regis Town was won, with County rising to 10th in the table as a result.[13] The next four games were lost however, with Newport slipping back down to 15th place. During this losing streak, County managed just a single goal – a penalty in the Bromley away game that would have been enough for a draw, but for a 89th-minute home winner.[14]
Following the defeat to Hayes & Yeading, there was a remarkable turnaround in form, with seven wins, two draws and only one loss for the remainder of the season. County finished the season in 10th place, with the beginning of an unbeaten streak into the next season that would ultimately extend to 20 games.
Results summary[edit]
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 50 | 51 | −1 | 59 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 31 | 29 | +2 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 22 | −3 |
Last updated: 25 Apr 2009.
Source: [1]
Results by round[edit]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
Squad statistics[edit]
- (Substitute appearances in brackets)
| Pos. | Name | League | Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FW |  Scott Armitage |
4 (10) | 0 | 1 (2) | 1 | 5 (12) | 1 |
| DF |  Paul Bignot |
23 (0) | 1 | 5 (1) | 0 | 28 (1) | 1 |
| GK | Keiron Blackburn |
1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 |
| FW | Josh Brown |
0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| FW | Steve Butterworth |
3 (1) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 3 (1) | 1 |
| MF | Anthony Church |
6 (1) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 7 (1) | 0 |
| GK | Nicky Church |
0 (1) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 |
| DF | Paul Cochlin |
28 (0) | 5 | 3 (0) | 0 | 31 (0) | 5 |
| DF | Gary Colborne |
0 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 |
| DF |  Dave Collins |
9 (0) | 1 | 1 (0) | 0 | 10 (0) | 1 |
| DF | Aaron Cook |
22 (2) | 2 | 1 (0) | 0 | 23 (2) | 2 |
| MF | Kevin Cooper |
19 (9) | 1 | 6 (2) | 2 | 25 (11) | 3 |
| MF | Nathan Davies |
22 (4) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 22 (6) | 0 |
| FW | Robert Duffy |
12 (9) | 1 | 4 (2) | 2 | 16 (11) | 3 |
| FW | Jamal Easter |
1 (4) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (4) | 1 |
| DF | Ben Evans |
0 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| MF | Richard Evans |
1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 |
| MF | Sam Foley |
14 (0) | 4 | 0 (0) | 0 | 14 (0) | 4 |
| DF | Martyn Giles |
31 (3) | 2 | 5 (1) | 0 | 36 (4) | 2 |
| FW |  Paul Hall |
11 (2) | 0 | 1 (2) | 1 | 12 (4) | 1 |
| FW | Jamie Harries |
0 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| MF | Adie Harris |
13 (4) | 2 | 7 (0) | 1 | 20 (4) | 3 |
| DF | Dan Harrison |
0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| MF | Callum Hart |
0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| FW | Chris Hartland |
0 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 |
| FW | Danny Hill |
0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| DF | Ian Hillier |
4 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 |
| DF | Andrew Hughes |
0 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 |
| MF | Craig Hughes |
16 (1) | 3 | 4 (1) | 1 | 20 (2) | 4 |
| GK | Scott James |
0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| MF | Lee Jenkins |
0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| DF | Steve Jenkins |
20 (2) | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 24 (2) | 0 |
| FW | Josh Klein-Davies |
0 (3) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 (4) | 0 |
| MF | Kris Leek |
15 (10) | 0 | 4 (1) | 0 | 19 (11) | 0 |
| FW | Tommy Lyons |
0 (2) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 |
| MF | Ricky Manship |
0 (3) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 (3) | 0 |
| FW | Kaid Mohamed |
5 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 5 (0) | 0 |
| FW | Leon Osei |
3 (3) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 3 (4) | 0 |
| MF | Luke Prosser |
0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| MF | Craig Reid |
25 (2) | 16 | 6 (0) | 5 | 31 (2) | 21 |
| DF | Justyn Roberts |
4 (0) | 1 | 2 (0) | 0 | 6 (0) | 1 |
| MF | Scott Rogers |
6 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 6 (0) | 0 |
| MF | Danny Rose |
40 (1) | 8 | 6 (1) | 3 | 46 (2) | 11 |
| GK |  Erwin Sak |
1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| DF | Nick Skelton |
2 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 |
| DF | Matt Smith |
2 (5) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 3 (5) | 0 |
| DF | Kevin Stephens |
13 (5) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 14 (5) | 0 |
| MF | Safian Suplinski |
0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| GK | Glyn Thompson |
39 (0) | 0 | 6 (0) | 0 | 45 (0) | 0 |
| GK | Tony Tucker |
1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| DF | Wayne Turk |
25 (0) | 1 | 2 (0) | 0 | 27 (0) | 1 |
| DF | Ashley Vickers |
17 (4) | 0 | 6 (0) | 1 | 23 (4) | 1 |
| FW | Phil Walsh |
4 (4) | 0 | 0 (1) | 1 | 4 (5) | 1 |
Fixtures and results[edit]
Pre-season friendlies[edit]
| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 10 Jul 2008 | Cinderford Town | A | 0–0 | ||
| Sat 19 Jul 2008 | Leamington | A | 1–1 | D.Collins | |
| Tue 22 Jul 2008 | Carmarthen Town | H | 0–1 | ||
| Thu 14 Jul 2008 | Caldicot Town | A | 4–1 | C.Hughes 2, P.Walsh, R.Duffy | |
| Sat 26 Jul 2008 | Merthyr Tydfil | A | 1–1 | D.Rose | |
| Wed 30 Jul 2008 | Exeter City | H | 2–1 | D.Collins (P), P.Hall | |
| Sat 8 Aug 2008 | Leeds United XI | H | 0–1 |
Conference South[edit]
| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 9 Aug 2008 | AFC Wimbledon | H | 1–4 | D.Collins | 2,546 |
| Tue 12 Aug 2008 | Eastleigh | A | 2–3 | K.Cooper, D.Rose | 787 |
| Sat 16 Aug 2008 | Chelmsford City | A | 0–0 | 1,093 | |
| Sat 23 Aug 2008 | Dorchester Town | H | 4–4 | D.Rose, A.Harris, J.Easter, C.Hughes | 852 |
| Mon 25 Aug 2008 | Team Bath | A | 0–2 | 563 | |
| Sat 30 Aug 2008 | Hampton & Richmond Borough | H | 1–0 | C.Hughes | 931 |
| Wed 3 Sep 2008 | Havant & Waterlooville | H | 0–2 | 859 | |
| Sat 13 Sep 2008 | Bishop's Stortford | A | 1–1 | R.Duffy (P) | 414 |
| Sat 20 Sep 2008 | St Albans City | H | 0–1 | 886 | |
| Sat 4 Oct 2008 | Bromley | H | 3–0 | P.Bignot, C.Reid (P), C.Hughes | 746 |
| Sat 18 Oct 2008 | Braintree Town | A | 2–3 | J.Roberts, C.Reid | 626 |
| Mon 20 Oct 2008 | Weston-super-Mare | A | 1–1 | D.Rose | 528 |
| Sat 25 Oct 2008 | Welling United | H | 0–0 | 772 | |
| Sat 1 Nov 2008 | Basingstoke Town | A | 0–0 | 419 | |
| Sat 8 Nov 2008 | Hayes & Yeading | H | 1–5 | C.Reid | 679 |
| Sat 15 Nov 2008 | Havant & Waterlooville | A | 1–1 | P.Cochlin | 601 |
| Tue 18 Nov 2008 | Maidenhead United | A | 1–0 | C.Reid | 315 |
| Sat 29 Nov 2008 | Bishop's Stortford | H | 0–1 | 654 | |
| Sat 6 Dec 2008 | Thurrock | A | 0–0 | 309 | |
| Sat 20 Dec 2008 | AFC Wimbledon | A | 0–3 | 2,945 | |
| Fri 26 Dec 2008 | Worcester City | H | 1–0 | A.Harris | 822 |
| Sat 3 Jan 2009 | Chelmsford City | H | 3–1 | C.Reid 3 | 902 |
| Sat 17 Jan 2009 | Fisher Athletic | A | 3–1 | S.Butterworth, C.Reid (P), M.Giles | 249 |
| Mon 19 Jan 2009 | Worcester City | A | 0–0 | 759 | |
| Sat 24 Jan 2009 | Basingstoke Town | H | 3–0 | A.Cook, D.Rose, C.Reid | 841 |
| Wed 28 Jan 2009 | Weston-super-Mare | H | 1–0 | A.Cook | 913 |
| Sat 31 Jan 2009 | Bath City | A | 1–2 | C.Reid | 1,137 |
| Wed 11 Feb 2009 | Bognor Regis Town | H | 2–1 | D.Rose, P.Cochlin | 618 |
| Sat 14 Feb 2009 | Maidenhead United | H | 0–1 | 672 | |
| Sat 21 Feb 2009 | Bromley | A | 1–2 | D.Rose (P) | 561 |
| Wed 25 Feb 2009 | Eastleigh | H | 0–1 | 540 | |
| Sat 28 Feb 2009 | Hayes & Yeading | A | 0–2 | 311 | |
| Tue 3 Mar 2009 | Hampton & Richmond Borough | A | 1–0 | P.Cochlin | 409 |
| Sat 7 Mar 2009 | Braintree Town | H | 2–1 | C.Reid (P), P.Cochlin | 712 |
| Wed 18 Mar 2009 | Bath City | H | 0–4 | 734 | |
| Sat 21 Mar 2009 | St Albans City | A | 1–1 | S.Foley | 494 |
| Sat 28 Mar 2009 | Bognor Regis Town | A | 1–0 | C.Reid | 362 |
| Sat 4 Apr 2009 | Fisher Athletic | H | 4–0 | M.Giles, C.Reid, S.Foley, D.Rose | 641 |
| Sat 11 Apr 2009 | Dorchester Town | A | 1–0 | C.Reid | 519 |
| Mon 13 Apr 2009 | Team Bath | H | 4–2 | C.Reid, W.Turk, P.Cochlin, D.Rose | 758 |
| Sat 18 Apr 2009 | Thurrock | H | 1–1 | C.Reid | 809 |
| Sat 25 Apr 2009 | Welling United | A | 2–0 | S.Foley 2 | 724 |
FA Cup[edit]
| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2Q | 24 Sep 2008 | Dorchester Town | A | 2–2 | R.Duffy (P), D.Rose | 396 |
| 2Qr | 1 Oct 2008 | Dorchester Town | H | 0–1 | C.Reid | 653 |
FA Trophy[edit]
| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3Q | 22 Nov 2008 | Andover | A | 3–0 | D.Rose, C.Reid, C.Hughes | 264 | |
| 1 | 13 Dec 2008 | Rushden & Diamonds | H | 1–1 | C.Reid | 603 | |
| 1r | 13 Dec 2008 | Rushden & Diamonds | H | 1–1 a.e.t. | C.Reid | 421 | Lost 3–5 on penalties |
Gwent Senior Cup[edit]
| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 10 Dec 2008 | Cwmbran Town | A | 4–1 | A Harris, K Cooper, S Armitage, A Vickers | 200 | |
| SF | 7 Apr 2009 | Newport Civil Service | A | 0–1 | 250 |
League table[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AFC Wimbledon | 42 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 86 | 36 | +50 | 88 | Champions, promoted |
| 2 | Hampton & Richmond Borough | 42 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 74 | 37 | +37 | 85 | Play-offs |
| 3 | Eastleigh | 42 | 25 | 8 | 9 | 69 | 49 | +20 | 83 | Play-offs |
| 4 | Hayes & Yeading United | 42 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 74 | 43 | +31 | 81 | Play-off winners, promoted |
| 5 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 23 | 8 | 11 | 72 | 52 | +20 | 77 | Play-offs |
| 6 | Maidenhead United | 42 | 21 | 8 | 13 | 57 | 46 | +11 | 71 | |
| 7 | Bath City | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 56 | 45 | +11 | 68 | |
| 8 | Welling United | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 61 | 44 | +17 | 68 | |
| 9 | Bishop's Stortford | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 60 | 60 | 0 | 59 | |
| 10 | Newport County | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 50 | 51 | −1 | 59 | |
| 11 | Team Bath | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 62 | 64 | −2 | 55 | Resigned ¹ |
| 12 | St Albans City | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 56 | 50 | +6 | 54 | |
| 13 | Bromley | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 60 | 64 | −4 | 54 | |
| 14 | Braintree Town | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 57 | 54 | +3 | 52 | |
| 15 | Havant & Waterlooville | 42 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 59 | 58 | +1 | 48 | |
| 16 | Worcester City | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 38 | 53 | −15 | 47 | |
| 17 | Weston-super-Mare | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 43 | 68 | −25 | 47 | |
| 18 | Basingstoke Town | 42 | 10 | 16 | 16 | 36 | 55 | −19 | 46 | |
| 19 | Dorchester Town | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 39 | 61 | −22 | 42 | |
| 20 | Thurrock | 42 | 9 | 13 | 20 | 54 | 60 | −6 | 40 | |
| 21 | Bognor Regis Town | 42 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 33 | 68 | −35 | 26 | 7 points deducted, relegated ² |
| 22 | Fisher Athletic | 42 | 5 | 3 | 34 | 22 | 100 | −78 | 18 | Relegated |
¹ Team Bath resigned from the league[15]
² Bognor Regis Town deducted 7 points[16]
| Key | |
|---|---|
| Division Champions | |
| Promoted | |
| Into play-offs | |
| Relegated |
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Holdsworth takes on Newport job". BBC Sport. 18 May 2008.
- ↑ "Newport sign veteran Holdsworth". BBC Sport. 9 February 2007.
- ↑ "Newport County boss remaining buoyant". Western Mail. 4 Aug 2008.
- ↑ "Deano delighted with Dons reunion". South Wales Argus. 3 July 2008.
- ↑ "Keds puts the pressure on old boy Deano". Sutton & Croydon Guardian. 20 December 2008.
- ↑ "Match Report - Newport County 4–4 Dorchester Town". Newport County A.F.C. 23 August 2008. Archived from the original on 1 May 2009.
- ↑ "Match Report - Newport County 0–1 St Albans City". Newport County A.F.C. 20 September 2008. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009.
- ↑ "County 1 Hayes & Yeading 5". South Wales Argus. 8 November 2008.
- ↑ "Deano: I'm not about to quit". South Wales Argus. 10 November 2008.
- ↑ "Maidenhead-County abandoned". South Wales Argus. 5 September 2008.
- ↑ "County 1 Worcester 0". South Wales Argus. 26 December 2008.
- ↑ "Match Report - Bath City 2–1 Newport County". South Wales Argus. 31 January 2008. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009.
- ↑ "County 2 Bognor 1 – Exiles move into top ten". South Wales Argus. 11 February 2009.
- ↑ "Match Report - Bromley 2–1 Newport County". Newport County A.F.C. 21 February 2009. Archived from the original on 1 May 2009.
- ↑ "Team Bath resign from Conference". BBC Sport. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
- ↑ "Bognor hit with seven point deduction". The Argus. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
External links[edit]
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