Volunteers leaflet thousands of homes ahead of Windsor & Eton's first home match

Windsor were held to a 2-2 draw by Reading City u23s on Saturday. Photo credit: Paul Smithson

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Club volunteers have been leafletting homes across the town and sprucing up Stag Meadow ahead of Windsor & Eton’s very first home game against Burghfield on Saturday.

Grace Stevens and her grandad Peter helped deliver more than 3,000 leaflets to homes promoting the game with the club targeting a gate of 1,000 supporters at Stag Meadow.

That might be a bit of a stretch target, but the ambition is there and excitement is growing around the team which kicked off its Thames Valley Premier Division campaign on Saturday with a 2-2 draw against Reading City’s u23s team.

Matty Angell’s side briefly held the lead in the second half, after Alex Merrifield levelled matters on the stroke of half-time and Ben Anderson scored from the penalty spot in the 68th minute. However, the visitors couldn’t hold on against City’s talented young squad, with George Day heading home a 75th minute equaliser to add to Liam Baker’s early strike.

Still, it was a positive point for the club in their first ever competitive match at step 7.

On Twitter, Angell said: “Really competitive first game today against a strong Reading City u23s side. A great turnout from the Great Park Crew (Windsor & Eton supporters’ group) and all the other supporters. We are truly thankful for the support.

“Now the focus is on our next game against another good quality side in Burghfield FC.”

Windsor & Eton kick off at home to Burghfield at the slightly earlier time of 2pm on Saturday. Entrance is free for all supporters and printed programmes will be produced by the club throughout the season. Work to improve the ground ahead of the new season continued this week, with volunteers from the club’s youth section getting stuck in with the Stag Meadow facelift.

Club officials expect the Stag Meadow car park off St Leonards Road to fill up quickly on Saturday, therefore arrangements have been made with the Trevelyan School for the use of their car park. Some 70 spaces are available for free, with just a five-minute walk to the ground. The Hawtrey Road pay & display car park and the Long Walk Gate car park in Kings Road are also within walking distance.

Windsor & Eton FC was established earlier this summer after chairman and owner Mark Cooper agreed a new long-term lease for Stag Meadow with the Crown Estate.

Former Stag Meadow tenants Windsor FC, who are now ground sharing with Beaconsfield Town at Holloways Park, continued their up and down start to the season with defeats against Amersham Town and Penn & Tylers Green.

The team – comprising many of Beaconsfield’s u21s team and managed by Rams’ coach Diogo Nobre – were beaten 4-1 by Amersham on Saturday before going down to a 2-1 defeat to Penn & Tylers Green on Tuesday.