May 2007

It is with deep regret we have to announce the resignation of Jay Devereux as first team manager last night. Commenting on his departure Jay had the following to say:

"I can assure you that this is not a decision that I have taken lightly and it was with a very heavy heart that I informed the players last night. I genuinely hope that the club experiences an upturn in fortune, as nobody deserves a successful team more than our supporters. I have been proud to manage and play for Barking, and feel very privileged to have worked with such a lovely bunch of people."

The club would like to thank Jay for his efforts both on and off the field and wish him every success in whatever he does next.

Departing with Jay is Coach and former player the popular Ashley Marsh - many thanks also go to Ash for his time with the club over various spells and we wish him good luck in his future endeavours.

By a unanimous vote this year's winner of the John Ford Memorial Cup for outstanding service to Barking Football Club is Brad Robinson.

The cup was presented to the club by former manager Eddie McCluskey and members of his playing squad in memory of the late John Ford, former star player and assistant manager.

Brad has proved himself well worthy of this honour with many years of dedication to the club. Previous winners are Mark Harris, Ron Debenham and Les Wilson.

Our friends at Time 107.5FM have contacted the club with their team of the year which includes one familiar name

"With the non-league season at an end, the Time 107.5 sports team have been putting together our own 'dream team' from the pyramid, a combination from all four divisions, of the players we believe have been particularly outstanding over the past eight months or so. It's purely our thoughts from what we've seen...but hopefully may stimulate some discussion around the clubs this summer...."

1 Tony Tucker (Barking)
2 Greg Heald (Thurrock)
3 Richard Halle (Aveley)
4 Jamie Stuart (Grays Athletic)
5 Steve King (Brentwood Town)
6 Mark Janney (AFC Hornchurch)
7 Nicky Cowley (Brentwood Town)
8 Dominic Harkins (Barkingside)
9 Mitch Hahn (Redbridge)
10 Paul Benson (Dagenham & Redbridge)
11 Des Gallen (Romford)

12 Marc Palmer (Aveley)
13 Sam Holliday (Brentwood Town)
14 Jim McFarlane (AFC Hornchurch)
15 Dave Rainford (Dagenham & Redbridge)
16 Sean Thomas (Brentwood Town)

Manager: Steve Witherspoon (Brentwood Town)
Asst Manager - John Still (Dagenham & Redbridge)

Congratulations to Tony on his inclusion.

Congratulations to Dave Ross and all of his players for last nights superb 2-0 extra time win over their East Thurrock counterparts at Rookery Hill in the final of the Fred Budden trophy. In a fine game played in a good spirit with keepers Mark Parker of Barking and Richard Mann of East Thurrock making superb saves to keep the scores level at 90 minutes. However, in Extra Time despite a floodlight failure it was the men in Blue who shone and triumphed with goals in each half from John Hilton and Victor Omobeghin to give the Mayesbrook Men their first win in this competition since 1984.