The team train together on a weekly basis where individual and team development is at the heart of each session, along with plenty of effort, energy and enjoyment! Emphasise is placed on being brave on the ball, not being afraid of making a mistake and becoming the best footballing version of yourself possible.

Matches are played on Sundays under the stewardship of the EDMSL (Eastleigh District Mini Soccer League), a very well run competitive and challenging league, at the age groups central venue location, Flemming Park, Eastleigh. They are lucky to have access to both decent grass pitches and excellent 3G playing surfaces which maximises the chances of being able to fulfil fixtures during the winter months & periods of bad weather.

Being in the foundation stage of their football development the squad are provided with the opportunity to play and to learn, praised on the performance rather than the result, focusing on long term development over a quick win! Players are given the opportunity to play in all positions and with no fixed goalkeeper there is plenty of rotation and chances to find out their strengths and to face challenges on the pitch.

After a long season the squad have, over the last few years, taken part in several local summer tournaments, a chance to play against friends, face different opponents and an opportunity to introduce and develop that winning mentality.

So far this season the U9s have performed well in the opening few games of this season, being rewarded with an early promotion up to the next division, where the squad will continue to be tested and challenged.

Always ready to learn, have fun and play football this is a great bunch of players.

September Round up...

The season kicked off on 8th September at Flemming Park, home venue for all the U9s fixtures in the EDMSL this season. With both grass and 3G pitches available it promises to be another busy season ahead for players, parents and the coaches. Moving up to seven a side means getting used to a larger pitch, longer matches, larger playing squad, a new formation as well as providing both position rotation and equal playing time. 

Starting out in the Blue 2 league the Whites played four fixtures in September, the first two played in some glorious late summer sunshine on grass pitches with the third and fourth games played on the all-weather 3G surface which brings its own challenges when not being used to the surface along with more typical weather conditions for late September, an indicator of what Winter will bring.

Continuing where they left off at the end of the season the Whites have proven so far to be strong in all positions with the additional two outfield players this season giving good balance and cover on the pitch. With the emphasis on being “exciting with the ball” and to “keep it moving quickly” the Whites have been strong in possession and created many chances in these opening games. Winning the ball back quickly when out of possession and keeping their shape have also been key to the performances this month. With all eleven players of the squad getting on the score sheet within the first three games and seven of them playing their part in goal for the team, again, the benefits of player rotation providing depth and strength, flexibility and versatility amongst the squad has been shown.

Our performances have been recognised by the league fixture secretary who have carried out an early review and moved the team up a division to test our wits amongst the teams in division Blue 1. The players are all looking forward to the challenge over the next few games against tougher opposition and to further their development where required to compete. 

A massive well done to the players for their start to the season, keep up the hard work in training and playing the way we know you can.

October Round up...

The month of October brought a few challenges to the team, the weather took a seasonal turn and meant that two of the four fixtures were cancelled due to the wet conditions. Fortunately, the 3G surfaces allowed play on the other two Sundays. The move up a league against some stronger opponents was another challenge the team were looking forward to and a chance for us coaches to further develop the skill set and resilience of the squad. In the two matches played this month the squad continued, where the left off in September, playing well, scoring goals, applying positional rotation as well as moving the ball quickly, maintaining shape and applying pressure to the opposition. This resulted in being rewarded with some good results. The move to our winter training venue, the all-weather pitch at South Wilts Sports Ground, under flood lights has enhanced the training experience for the team. The “quick” surface is a real test to their concentration, technique, accuracy and ball skills, the benefit of which, we are confident will show through in future matches. Finally, having to field teams during the half term period also demonstrated the strength within the current playing squad and confident that we can field any combination of seven from our squad of eleven and the team would put in a good performance.

The team has four matches scheduled for November, so weather permitting it will be another busy month for the team along with participating the Leagues ‘Let them play’ (silent Sunday) weekend where their understanding, decision making and communication on the pitch will be tested.

November Round up...

Despite November being pretty much a wash out with the wet weather all four of our fixtures were played – the benefit of having to the excellent 3G facilities in Eastleigh. A couple of closely competed matches got the moth off to a good start, coming up against two physically strong teams who both managed to come back, after the Whites taking the lead in both, to narrowly take the lead at the end of the matches. Plenty of positives to take away from both fixtures showing us what we are capable of and the challenges that we will be coming up against for the rest of the season. The second half of the month saw one game being played on the teams preferred grass surface where with good ball retention, possession and pressure on the opposition the Whites converted several the chances created. The final game of the month was back on the 3G surface under the floodlights where again the Whites were back on form playing some excellent football, defending and attacking as team, being dominate and confident on the ball and ending off another month of football in strong fashion. 

Coaches and parents were also very proud in way the players conducted themselves and the decisions they made as a team during the “let them play” weekend and the respect that the players showed during the minutes silence ahead Remembrance Day.

It has also been great to see the U9s join in with the U11s before the start of training sessions for a kick about, may not be loads of ball touches but is good for them to see where they will be in a couple of years time, learn from the older age group and come up against bigger and stronger players. Thanks to the U11s for being so inclusive - a great sight to see whilst setting up.

We have three fixtures in December before the well-earned Christmas break.

December Round up...

The wet weather has resulted in the team playing just two of the three planned fixtures this month, the first being on a grass pitch lacking grass due to the recent combination of weather and wear & tear! The second match was played on the much superior 3G surface. In both games the team preformed very well cementing their positioning as being one of the stronger teams in the division and despite the operation of “power play” rules managed to score fourteen whilst conceding just two goals in the two fixtures – at times playing seven versus nine.

Our last training session of the year brought both the U11s and U9s together to participate in a festive fun mixed age group mini tournament. The U9s got stuck in and weren’t afraid of mixing in with and facing up against the U11s where some good quality football was played whilst introducing new challenges to the players in this format. Enjoyed by all and great to see the two ages groups getting on so well.

So far this season all eleven players have played in goal, all eleven have scored and every member of the squad has had a minimum of 75% playing time in numerous positions on the pitch. Winning 9 of their 11 games. Looking ahead to 2020, we reconvene with a 9am kick off on the 5th Jan on 3G with fixtures planned through to the end of March including league cup fixtures which we await the draw for in the coming weeks. Training starts up again on the 8th Jan.

Wishing, players, parents and readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

January Round up...

Ahead of the first fixture of the new calendar year and after three weeks with no football six of the playing squad got together during the holiday period for a kick about, a chance to catch up, to blow away the cobwebs and to stretch their legs. It was great to see them having plenty of fun on the mini pitch in the 3 v 3 competition.

The first game of the month was an early 9am kick off at Flemming Park on the 3G, greeted by the grey overcast morning and the arrival of many of the squad who had been at one of the players’ birthday parties the night before (one oversleeping completely) and with no training sessions for three weeks we were not sure what sort of performance we were going to get from the team. Warm up over and after being huddled around the whiteboard to see the starting line up the team were ready…… It was like they had not been away. Confident on the ball, retaining possession and creating chances were evident in the early stages of the game where the Whites took control of the match with some great team goals. Strong and confident in defence the opponents had very few chances to score but when called upon our keeper made some good saves and was decisive in the box. Continuing to control the game, and being a squad member down meant that a number of positional changes were made to players and whilst this did affect the flow and rhythm of our preferred playing style it showed that all of our players were prepared to play in any position on the pitch and all put in 100% effort. A fantastic start to 2020 ahead of the league’s annual cup competition with group stage fixtures programmed through the months of January & February.

The continued wet weather throughout the month meant that two of our league fixtures were cancelled due to waterlogged logged grass pitches. Luckily our two cup games went ahead on the 3G surface with our first one against our other Salisbury FC Youth Whites team. A closely contested match ensued with both teams cancelling each other out with many of our attacking moves being very well defended and with a very strong goalkeeping performance. Patience and persistence paid off and in a tight game we came out eventual winners. Credit to our other club side though who battled really well throughout the match, playing up a division, and made for a thoroughly enjoyable contest with some really good football played by both teams. I’m certain that they will soon be promoted if they continue to perform like that.

Our second cup game ended in a successful scoreline against a team from the yellow division who despite their best efforts were not able to contain the pace, power and expansive play of our team who dominated the game in every aspect.

With training back in full swing on the astro surface and three wins out of three… a fantastic start to 2020!

February Round up...

The wet weather resulted in all matches on grass pitches being cancelled for the age group this month and for health & safety reasons even the all weather 3G fixtures were cancelled for two weeks due to the onslaught of firstly storm Ciara closely followed by Dennis. Fortunately we did manage to complete one match & play our third and final group cup game of the season. Starting off a bit rusty and an equal exchange between the two sides in the first quarter meant it was all even after the first quarter. In the second quarter we simply converted our chances and once the first goal went in many more followed. Taking a comfortable lead into the second half the team  were presented with a regular challenge of playing against more players. The eventual score meant that the match ended with the seven Whites playing against nine opposition players - difficult to find much time & space in the attacking areas but with some good periods of play a number of chances were converted. Some really strong performances on the day but much bigger challenges await us as the team have again been promoted into the league.

The players showed great levels of commitment during the stormy month with great turnouts for training sessions. With some glimpses of spring emerging between the grey clouds let's keep our fingers crossed for a full month of fixtures in March and further progression in the cup competition.

March Round up...

We only managed to play two fixtures in the month of March before football, being initially cancelled by the FA and subsequently as a result of the Country going into 'lockdown' meant that our fantastic season came to a sudden halt. We were looking forward to playing out the remainder of the season against some tough opposistion having just been promoted and looking to see how far the team could progress in the knock out stages of the cup, all insignificant compared to the affects of Covid-19, but still a dissapointing way to end what has been a really good year of development for the team. Here's to U10s football next season!