Season 2023/24 - That's a wrap.

Handsworth's 2023/24 season has finished so I decided I'd let you have my thoughts. I know it's been a good 6 weeks since my last blog entry but I never promised a weekly newsletter!

The season has been a tough one with lots of ups and downs but that's largely true of most seasons. However, for me there are a lot of positives to take.

The Ambers will finish in 14th place unless Barton Town lose both games remaining from their heavy end of season backlog when Handsworth would finish 13th. Either way, we'll end the season 2 or 3 positions higher and 2 points better off than in season 2022/23. Given this was the first season for the new management team of Jon Froggatt and Mark Ward who assembled, essentially, a new squad, I think that's not a bad effort at all.

The team got off to a bit of a flyer before injuries and unavailability issues began to creep in, meaning it wasn't generally possible to select the same starting eleven from one week to the next. Long term injuries to major players like Mitch Dunne, Leon Howarth, Tom Bishop and young Rion Arbouin hampered the options in team selection but Jon and Mark, helped later in the season by Lee Thompson and Tom Crosby as coaches, steadied the good ship SS Ambers and set us on a course for better things.

It was heartbreaking to see Rion Arbouin's season end as it did. The lad had worked so hard for 6 months or so to get back to fitness only to see a recurrence of the injury after just a couple  of games back in the squad. Still, I'm sure he'll remember a special moment when he scored the winning penalty in a County Senior Cup shoot out against Sheffield FC from the division above Handsworth.

Rion is mobbed by his delighted teammates after scoring the winning penalty

One of the notable things in a rollercoaster season was the introduction of some of the younger lads from the Under-21 and Reserves side in the final few games of the season. All did a good job and will hopefully progress to more 1st team games in the new season.

The best example of youth player progression occurred when 16-year old goalkeeper Tom Hill was given his 1st team debut when The Ambers played their last game of the season at Barton Town. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to photograph the occasion but reports say the lad did very well, as evidenced by the clean sheet in a 0-0 draw. You can read more about the game in Ian Robinson's match report. Click the link.

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/1-14094734/report

There's not a lot else to say so here's looking forward to pre-season training and fixtures. They'll be here before we know it!

COYA!! 🧡🖤⚽👊

(The blog might appear again during our 2-week fishing holiday at Elmhirst Lakes in Horncastle, Lincolnshire (early June) and we hope to get to see some local cricket over the summer so please keep checking back for updates!)