Newpark fc

Honours
South London Alliance
2000/01 Division Four runners up
2006/07 Division Three runners up
2007/08 Division Two Runners up
2005/06 Beckenham Hospital Cup Winners
2006 Winners of the SLFA Fair Play award
2007 New Eltham Wiki page recognises the work and effort of Newpark FC in the local community and references them in the New Eltham Wiki Page New Eltham
Trivia
Striker Stuart Hannan has played and scored in the first round of the FA Cup for VCD The Football Association Challenge Cup
Ex-Winger Chris Rowley played for Welling United for two consecutive seasons 1998/99 and 1999/2000
Tommy McElhatton played for Dover Athletic FC in the late 90's
Geordie Centre-Half Mark Logan used to play for County Durham cricket team with the Harmison brothers Durham County Cricket Club
Ben Murphy and ex-goalkeeper Danny Regan used to be in the short lived Britpopband, Menswear
So the story begins....
Newpark FC currently reside in the South-London Football Alliance division one SLFA and are fully affiliated to the London Football Association. Newpark FC are online at Newpark FC.
Newpark FC's home ground is the Footscray Rugby and Sports ground, 235a Footscray Road, New Eltham in South-East London. It is approxiamately 200 yards from New Eltham Station on the mainline service.
There is a constant debate on the clubs nickname and its origins. "Park" is the generic abbreviation normally used for motivational purposes both on and off the field. Other variants have included "Reds" or "Blues" or even "Cray" when Newpark have been watched by their landlords, Footscray Rugby Club.
Newpark FC were formed in January 2000 by former members of the Parkmere Juniors Boys club in an effort to take Parkmere into adult football. It is believed Parkmere Juniors refused permission for Newpark to incorporate Parkmere's name in any shape of form so a new name was inevitable. Early suggestions indicated that Newpark, despite the setback from Parkmere wanted to keep the history and spirit of Parkmere within the new name. Legend has it that an emergency meeting was convened at the Olde Post Office pub in February 2000 in the hope a team name could be submitted with the teams application form for the forthcomong 2000/01 season. The original shortlist was said to contain names such as "Newmere", "Old Park", "Old Mere", "Eltham Squad", "Venue2000 FC", "Eltham FC", "Tommy More" and "Riefield Rovers" (citation needed).
Newpark FC was eventually chosen as it incorporated the Park from Parkmere and New represented the new inception of the team. It is believed that the team members decided to drop the Parkmere traditional colours of yellow and black after a disastrous performance against the William Camden pub XI in their first ever game citing it as unlucky. The players decided on "Lazio" blue as home with a change strip of Red and Blue to serve as alternative colours.
The First XI
August 2000 and the first team squad was named and registrations faxed off to the South London Football Alliance and the London FA. The first squad comprised of Danny Regan, Ben Murphy, Tom Barron, Tom Bartlett, Francis Egan, Neil Rook, Glenn Dyer, Tony Hughes, Mark Page, Chris Roffe, Chris Rowley, Chris Peters, Liam Maloney, John Norton, Andy Roffe and Tom Dowdle. Phil Smith would join in the January transfer window.
Chris Roffe was named as captain at the start of the season.
Martin Roffe was named as manager with Mick Bartlett as assistant manager.
The early years
Newpark's first season in the South London Alliance saw them placed in the bottom tier of division four in a twelve team format. Playing their home games at the dilapidated Eltham Town, Newpark struggled to adjust to mens football after the first few games. They started the season in average form even losing two from their first five league games. Poor team selection and a lack of respect distended into a near mass brawl after one game. A former player noted in 2005 what happened after the game against Oakdale in December 2000. "Even though we won, comfortably in the end Glenn went F*cking mad. He went for Tommy (Barron) and had to be held back. All over a stray off the cuff comment. F*cking madness".
Newpark's form would improve dramatically after the Christmas break of 2000 and they started picking up wins and scored heavily. The introduction of Phil Smith gave the team a much needed outlet and reliable dimension down the wings. Chris Rowley would move inside and begin to show his creative ability from a more central role. The strike dual of Glenn Dyer and Andy Roffe was a pivotal part of the teams newly found form as they added power and experience to the young team. Despite losing six league games in all Newpark gained promotion to division three in their inaugural season. The young team received the plaudits for their battling spirit and classy passing game. The back four of Hughes, Murphy, Barron and Bartlett was the highlight of the closing season as individually and as a unit they began to perform so consistantly shutting out the opposition and allowing the attacking players to flow forward. Glenn Dyer finished the season as top scorer with twenty-three league strikes.
After a strong finish to the season Newpark' struggled to keep players at the club. Glenn Dyer, Tony Hughes and Mark Page all left in the summer of 2001. Tom Barron moved to the states to begin a scholarship. The only new faces were Danny Bridge, Chris Gallagher and (Crazy) Simon Dole to bolster the ranks and add more attacking options to Newpark's squad. Chris Roffe relinquished the captaincy in June 2001 just before the "Jolly Boys Outing 3" to Malia. Chris Rowley would take the armband on and skipper the side for the 2001/02 season.
The 2001/02 season saw Newpark FC placed in the 3rd division of the South London Football Alliance for the first time. The season began on the 15th September, four days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Newpark were commended in the 2001 closing management meeting for observing a minutes silence before their fixture with Bexleyheath FC. The season began with a new look strike force of Gallagher and Chris Roffe who would end the season with the golden boot, scoring 14 league goals. Newpark's form on the field was fragmented as they raised their game against stronger opposition but failed to show consistancy against the lesser teams of the division. As they season grew the squad began to swell and newer faces would join to strengthen the side. Messrs Franklin, McElhatton and Danny Jones added some competition and results improved. Arguably Newpark's highlights of the season was the 2-0 over the unbeaten Eltham Royals who would later win the league at a canter. However the overwhelming consensus for the seasons best match was the 2-2 draw with Perana which saw Newpark score twice in injury time to secure a much needed point. Former player Danny Bridge would recount on the euphoria when equalizing in 2004. "I remember it well, Rowley had just scored to make it 2-1 to them and suddenly we had a corner. Bogsy (Tom Dowdle) swung it in and it was cleared to Murf (Ben Murphy) who was around 30 yards out and just hit it. It took three to four deflections and went in the bottom corner. The referee literally blew up - we went crazy after that".
Newpark finished a respectable sixth place happily ensconced in mid-table after their debut season in division three. Some neutrals have named this as the most exciting season to follow Newpark as you never knew how any of their games would end up. Some believe their woeful home form owed alot to their inability to mount a serious assualt on the league. Statistically they took more points of the top four teams than any other team in the division. Andy Roffe blamed the poor quality of the home pitch as the downfall to the season. "Bad pitch, bumps everywhere and you had to share the dressing room with the ref and the opposition". Roffe quoted in 2005.
2002/03 heralded a new start for Newpark, they relocated to the Footscray Rugby Club and trained all summer at Greenwich Park under the watchful eye of Andy Roffe and ex-paratrooper Bear Grylls to achieve optimum fitness levels and stability to the club.

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