WHITE RIOT F.C.
   

last update
10/7/2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

History of White Riot F.C.

The team started out as a way of keeping the 2004 6th form pupils at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera in touch after they left the school.This was the brainchild of Geraint Havard and Robert Kinsey who would spend time on the tennis courts,bus bay or in the village deliberating over the plans. Gathering the best of what was a poor school team together the team formed. The initial suggestion was to play in blue, which was swiftly batted aside as blue is the colour of Cardiff City F.C. and some members were uncomfortable playing in the same colour. As such the decision was made to play in white. Then came the naming of the team. To be hounest the imagination wasnt great on this one, with a choice of White Lightening or White Riot (after the song by the Clash) being offered. The boys decided to chose White Riot with the proviso that the name would be changed as soon as a better name was found. After flirting with the idea of calling the team Sporting Lesbian, White Riot stuck as the name and players just thought it fit to concentrating on the matter of playing.


As the summer started the boys decided to get a team together and venture up to Leisure Leagues in Forestfach to begin their journey. All but one of these original players were from the school and one being a friend brought in to make 7 players. The original team consisted of Andrew Lewis(Goal Keeper), Aled Rees, Geraint Havard(Gaffer), Morley Lewis, Liam Davies, Jay Thomas, Robert Kinsey. After a 12-12 draw in the first friendly game the team headed into its first league game against Penlan St Germain with high hopes of competing, only to lose 12-2. It was clear there and then that extra defensive help was needed and the Gaffer called upon a former team mate at Cimla F.C. to strengthen up the defensive side of things. The team found itself thrown into division 1, 9 points adrift with only half a season remaining. Thrown in at the deep end White Riot only managed a solitary 6-2 win against Wickes before being relegated.

The following season White Riot competed well in Division 2, but struggled with the incosistency of their own performances, despite running division 2 champions freestylers close twice. During this season White Riot attended its first FHM 02 cup, which happened to be the inaugural tournament, played at a boggy Aston Villa ladies and Sutton Coldfield F.C. at Sutton Coldfield. The team managed to progress to the quarter finals, gaining a new found closeness and belief in their ability as a team in the process. On coming back the team put a strong run together and failed to gain instant promotion back to division 1 in losing a 6 point game (due to the FHM Cup weekend) against Izzy Ranjebelly, eventually finishing fourth. During the Season the team searched for a new keeper as Andrew left to teach guitar to kids. After scouring the region, the team came accross a raw talent called Lee Lockwood who improved as the team grew. Allied to the consistently strong defensive Performances of Aled the team began to become a solid outfit.

In their Third Season, White Riot began with a bang winning their 1st 8 games straight before losing all shape in a horrific defeat against Tesco Extra Fforestfach. This led to a 3 match losing streak before White riot regained their form. Having lost to Roland UK and Mac Utd, the team buckled down and started securing results starting with a draw against Fonzy's of Swansea. The team then continued unbeaten until the final game of the season against Tesco Extra. Needing a win to secure promotion, the odds were stacked against the team, as Tesco had been unbeaten in 3 full seasons heading into the game. The game started off in promising Fashion with early goals from Jay Thomas and Geraint Havard put White Riot 2-0, only for Tesco to hit back with 5 of their own. After a couple of substitutions the game went through a patch where it remained tight but controlled, before Geraint and Jay rejoined the game and instantly injected some pace. The team hit Tesco with a series of quick goals and controlled the rest of the game, goals coming from Jay Thomas, Aled Rees and Robert Kinsey making it 5-5 with 2 minutes remaining. In the last 2 minutes Tesco's keeper pulled off a string of fantastic saves and added to a glut of missed opportunities from White Riot it looked to be finishing in a draw, which of course was not good enough to gain promotion. With 30 seconds left on the clock the ball fell to Geraint, 6 yards out with only the keeper to beat, as he hit it it squirmed under the keepers arm and struggled over the line. A great 6-5 win secured promotion in the most dramatic fashion typified the team spirit and never say die attitude of the team.

Having gained promotion the team struggled into the new season having lost 3 players to university and top scorer Jay Thomas to the Army. Morley quickly followed them out of the team for a great part of the season through working in France, Leaving Just 4 players, Geraint, Aled, Rob and Goalkeeper Lee Lockwood to lead the rebuilding process. The team stumbled accross Steve Sypliwtchak who turned out to become an influential player for the remainder of the season and beyond. Geraint also went to scout players playing at various levels in various leagues. Stumbling through the season the team amazingly managed a mid table finish after a strong finish to the season.

The 5th season of white Riot started badly with 2 uncharacteristic hammerings as the team continued in the rebuilding process, with Morley Lewis and Richard Rees returning along with new boy Steve Brown the team grew with strength beating what they considered as big boys within the league, including many time winners Dream Team and Deportivo.During the season the team attended their 2nd FHM 02 Cup, but due to a number of unpredictable drop outs, teh team failed to perform in the tournament, underachieving in winning only 1 of 5 games in the tournament. But again this only served to increase the bond in the team and drive them onto bigger things. On coming back from the tournament White Riot B was formed and new kit was bought. Added to this the website you see now www.whiteriotfootball.co.uk was born. Finishing in 5th again, the team hopes that the season is the catalyst for a succesful future, despite again losing players at the end of last season. With the loss of Jay, the role of top scorer was up for grabs this season, Geraint lost his shooting boots of former seasons and with everyone within the team chipping in, Robert Kinsey emerged as the main man in the White Riot armoury, but even then goals were still hard to come by, with wins coming in the form of 3-2 or 2-1. This highlighted the defensive abilities of Aled, Steve and Geraint and the great strides of improvement from keeper Lee. It would be unfair to comment on the performances of the B's as they had been thrown in at the deep end and were mainly in their infancy, not knowing who their best team is or who would be available from week to week. The development of the B's means future competition for places and a development structure for the raw Riot stars of the future. In July of 2007 Geraint Havard became the first player to reach 100 games for White Riot, since then Robert Kinsey, Lee Lockwood and Aled Rees have followed suit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Created by Geraint Havard 2006, All rights reserved