Palmers F.C.
| File:Palmers FC Badge.png | |||
| Full name | Palmers Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 9 April 2013 | ||
| Ground | Palmer's College, Grays | ||
| Chairman | Matt 'Smiv' Smith | ||
| Manager | Nick 'Magic Boots' Horne | ||
| League | Thurrock Association Sunday League Division One | ||
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Palmers FC are an English Sunday League Football team based in Grays, Essex. They set the trend of filming grassroots football and uploading it to YouTube.
They were founded in 2013 and gained a presence following the filming of their games and posting them onto Matt 'Smiv' Smith's YouTube channel which has over 170,000 subscribers, and has a total view count of 25 million. The views on their videos often gain more than some on TV which attracted traditional media to look into the success of this and the future of online football which included the likes of BBC Sport [1] and Sky Sports.[2] In 2016 they faced another side who had gained internet fame in Spencer Owen's Hashtag United F.C. in a charity match at the New River Stadium.
History[edit]
The club was founded in 2013 by Matt Smith, Lee Warren, Liam Sweetland, Lee Thompson, Wayne Sampson and Nick Horne. A big core of the team once played for a youth team called Little Thurrock Dynamos (LTD) when they were much younger and this is how the majority of the current Palmers FC side know each other. When they decided to get back together they were looking to start back up as LTD but they were unable to following a conversation with the club. LTD wanted money up front to pay for a pitch hire and kit but this is already something Matt Smith had previously arranged. The team were unable to use the name LTD either and so it was later on decided they would become Palmers FC because of the ground that they played at - Palmers College, which was in fact home to many of the team who attended college following their time at secondary school.
2013-14[edit]
2013-14 season was their first and was not filmed on camera. They ended up finished 3rd that season 10 points behind winners East Tilbury & Linford and 4 points behind Stanford Town. Despite this they were promoted up to Division 3 of the Thurrock Association Sunday League.[3]
2014-15[edit]
In 2014 the idea of filming the games was brought up by Smith as a way of showing players the goals that they score. At first it was simply filmed on an iPhone then soon after it was filmed on a small digital camera but battery life became an issue. Eventually Smith decided to bring over a spare DSLR and a tripod from his video production business, Smivadee Productions. The season itself was an improvement on the previous season and they finished things off by coming 2nd, 11 points behind a much improved Stanford Town.[4] Once again they were promoted this time to Division 2 and by the end of the season the videos they were producing were receiving many more hits, and the club were starting to brand themselves as "Everyone's 2nd favourite team"
2015-16[edit]
In the 2015-16 season things really started to happen on and off of the pitch for Palmers FC. In the opening game of he season they faced Thames Gateway [5] and lost 2-1 but the biggest thing to come out of it was a late tackle from Luke Grayson in the first half which wasn't correctly punished by the referee. Once the video was put out there it started to the do rounds and was picked up by The Sport Bible [6] and received over 800,000 views. This opened up a whole new audience to what Smith was doing on his channel with Palmers FC. His channel went from 30,000 subscribers on YouTube in September 2015 and later hitting the big milestone of 100,000 in January 2016. Smith later received a silver YouTube Play Button from YouTube following this achievement.
Following the rise in views lots of brands were interested in working with the club including Soccer AM, a weekly football show which is aired on Saturday mornings on Sky Sports. In April the side faced up to Soccer AM which brought down the likes of Guillem Balague and Jamie Redknapp. The outcome of the match was a poor one on Soccer AM's part after losing 10-1 to Palmers. This video[7] went out on the Soccer AM YouTube channel and featured Martin Tyler and Smith on the commentary. Sky were keen to continue to work with Palmers FC and did so as they were given the task of recreating goals from Euro 2016 [8]
On the pitch things were going well for Palmers too. They went on cup runs in all 3 cup competitions they entered reaching the quarter finals [9] of the Essex Cup against the eventual winners Daen Ingas. In the Ted Fairchild Cup they reached the final but lost out 2-1 against St Clere's who were current holders of the trophy and treble winners from the previous season. They also reached the final of the Division 2 knockout cup but this was delayed until the 2016-17 season due to there not being enough time to fulfil the fixture. Palmers' cup runs meant they had fallen behind in the league and was sitting mid table for the majority of the season with 6 to 7 games in hand over those above them at times.
Eventually they managed to catch up and everything came down to one final game on the last day of the season against Scruttons.[10] A win for Scruttons would crown them champions whereas as Palmers could afford to grab a draw and win the league on goal difference over Gateway, a side who had already finished their season and had no say on who would win the title. Scruttons went 1-0 after mounting a lot of pressure in the first half. Midway through the second half Aaron Knowles fired home to make it 1-1. In the final minutes Scruttons hit home to make it 2-1 with very little time for Palmers to get back into it. This resulted in a pitch invasion which saw minutes added on from the referee. Following the kick off Palmers managed to get the ball forward as captain Jamie Goodwins fired from distance to equalise in the dying seconds. Once again this resulted in another pitch invasion. The game finished 2-2 and Palmers FC were confirmed champions of the Thurrock Association Sunday League Division 2.[11]
2016-17[edit]
The 2016-17 season started with a delayed cup final between Palmers and Thames Gateway. This game ended 2-1 to Palmers FC thanks to two goals from Connor White confirming them as winners of the Division 2 knockout cup for 2015/16 and as double winners too. They then partnered with sports nutrition company Myprotein on a campaign [12] to discover who is the fastest, strongest, fittest and who possessed the hardest shot at the club. In December they faced Spencer Owen's side Hashtag United in a charity match, in which Hashtag won 2-1. The game was a controversial one, with both clubs taking to social media to vent their anger at their opponents, which created a lot of unwanted publicity for both sides.
Current Squad[edit]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Camera man: Andrew Hazelwood
Linesman: Troi Boorman
Ground[edit]
Palmers FC play their home games at Palmer's College which is a primary reason as to why the team is called Palmers FC. Palmer's College is a sixth form college for 16- to 19-year-olds in Thurrock, Essex, England. It offers a wide range of courses including A-levels, BTECs and Secretarial. The ground holds 2 full size football pitches and an artificial turf pitch which can be used for various sports throughout the year.
League history[edit]
—| Season | Division | Position | Top league goalscorer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | Thurrock Association Sunday League Division 4 | 3 | Nick Horne, 29 | Promoted |
| 2014-15 | Thurrock Association Sunday League Division 3 | 2 | Nick Horne, 17 | Promoted |
| 2015-16 | Thurrock Association Sunday League Division 2 | 1 | Nick Horne, 27 | Champions |
Records[edit]
- Biggest win:
- 18-1 vs St Clere's Reserves - Thurrock Association Sunday League Division 3 - 02/11/2014[13]
- Heaviest defeat(s):
- Longest unbeaten league run:
- 10 games: 01/05/16- 02/10/16
- Record attendance:
- 357 vs St Clere's - Ted Fairchild Cup Final - 20/04/2016[16]
- 501 vs Hashtag United F.C. - Friendly - 04/12/2016 [17]
Honours[edit]
- Thurrock Association Sunday League Division Two
- Winners: 2015–16
- Thurrock Association Sunday League Division Two Cup
- Champions: 2015–16
- The Ted Fairchild Cup
- Runners-Up: 2015–16
References[edit]
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36991332
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppGz_QOlWr8&t=77s
- ↑ http://fulltime.thefa.com/ProcessPublicSelect.do?psSelectedSeason=133188423&psSelectedDivision=689758658&psSelectedCompetition=0&psSelectedLeague=699817
- ↑ http://fulltime.thefa.com/ProcessPublicSelect.do?psSelectedSeason=666946702&psSelectedDivision=618198540&psSelectedCompetition=0&psSelectedLeague=699817
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQsmYWJZc_Q
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/SPORTbible/videos/1792220864256771/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppGz_QOlWr8&t=77s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gbOYSDdpxo&list=PLP_h151d1gG4XwNkj5fH1ZHjUzVMSCp6n
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBc4W_DOtWM
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9DuP8pFdwo&t=96s
- ↑ http://fulltime.thefa.com/ProcessPublicSelect.do?psSelectedSeason=761659957&psSelectedDivision=322800885&psSelectedCompetition=0&psSelectedLeague=699817
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVxrCJ8QYHcPgTMeui1ARgH3HmPZaTrhZ
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH3W4pI4B14&t=3s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54_SC6aOZgM
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeCxju6UOTQ&t=46s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ePE71taKcg
- ↑ https://twitter.com/hashtagutd/status/805530504569176064
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