Pilton Academicals Football Club - Barnstaple, North Devon Football League

Lean, mean and built a bit like like a runner bean (but not green), Fadsy has put in some serious shifts down the Accies’ left over the years. Happiest when he’s skinning defenders or nicking the ball off attackers and then skinning defenders, the left-footed wonder (so-called coz the rest of his team mates wonder when he’ll ever use his right foot) is a popular member of the squad and a first team regular. Dependable at the front or the back, Fadsy rarely loses his rag and even more rarely loses the ball.
Among the Pilton team honours collecting dust on his trophy shelf are 2002/03 Division 2 runners up and league cup winners medals; a 2003/04 Division 1 runners up gong; as well as 2004/05 Division 2 league cup runners up silverware.
Individually, Fadsy won the reserves team golden boot and players’ player of the year in 2004/05; the reserves team golden boot in 2005/06 and the first team’s most improved player in 2007/08.
For PV’s Sunday side, he won the Sunday league division 1 league cup in 2008/09 and was named the side’s managers player of the year in the same season.
As a highly decorated ex National League basketball player and current member of the North Devon side, Fadsy can sometimes be found shooting hoops with his homies down at Pilton Park.

In the 1950s, US Senator Joseph McCarthy made a career out of singling out anti patriotic Americans whom he accused of being Communists. Sixty years later, patriotism still runs strong in the McCarthy family, and no stronger than in his great grandson*, Aiden. A true Pilton patriot, Aiden is one of the longest serving members of the club (behind Davey, Stu Mac and Gammo). After a spell at Pandy Under 10s (where he won the Abergavenny Plate in 1991) and at Ashbourne Aztecs Under 11s and 12s (where he won the coveted players’ player of the season in 1993/94), Aiden has been an integral part of the Accies set-up since 1999.
And it’s no surprise that in a career spanning two centuries (sort of), there have been a lot of highlights down the years.
In his first season in the blue of Pilton, the young Aiden’s joy of winning the young player of the season award was tinged by his disappointment of breaking the trophy on the award night. The next year, he picked up the player of the season but alas, broke that trophy on the award night too.
More success followed in 2002/03 when Pilton were North Devon Division 2 League Cup winners and runners up in the league. The following season, the side were Division 1 runners up; and more silverware followed in 2006/07 when Pilton won the Braunton Cup.
As a defender blessed with the poise and touch of a centre forward, it’s no surprise that Aiden has banged in his fair share of goals for the Accies over the years.
In his own words, he says: “I’ve scored loads of good goals - probably about 25 - and every time, I looked beautiful doing so!
Of his time at the club he adds: “I’ve been here so long because the club is a right laugh to play for and is full of good chaps (and I’m far too lazy to go anywhere else).”
He also adds that he has never dropped a shot in the two official Pilton games of Pub Golf.
*Citation needed

Quicker than Cloaky’s yellow card arm, Alex would be giving Usain Bolt a run for his money were it not for his squash club commitments.
Having played for Barnstaple Youth (where he was named manager’s player of the season), North Molton FC and Lovacott FC (where he was named players’ player), it was with Pilton in 2008/09 (manager’s player) that he began to make a real name for himself in North Devon football (it’s amazing the stick you can get for wearing PINK Mercurial Vapours!!)
Alex out-paces defenders for fun on the Accies’ right flank and scored 19 goals last season, among them, the winner in a 4-3 scrap with Shamwicksire Reserves that earned him the infamous Gazette headline “Boreham floors ‘em”.
Speed and goals aside, the winger defenders love to hate is regularly on the wrong end of a crunching tackle-or-two most weeks.
Alex is flying the nest to university this September and will be unavailable for much of the season. But ever since the sweet-natured teetotaller and X-Factor reject walked into the Accies dressing room 12 months ago, the lads feel they have done everything they can to prepare him for a life of cheap booze and loose-legged chicks. We think he’ll do just fine…

Having weathered more winters than most at Pilton, Davey’s influence, commitment and desire to win have earned him the respect of Accies players old and young. So the next time his newborn son pisses all over him when he changes his nappy, the respect – at least of his of club mates - will be something that Al will no doubt hold dear!
With baby Rory new on the scene this summer, football will understandably take a bit of back seat behind fatherhood this season. And the young ‘uns gain will undoubtedly be Pilton’s loss…
Small yet perfectly formed (a bit like his son) Al’s size belies his defensive strengths. His sure and steady contribution in the Accies right back slot will be sorely missed although we’ve a feeling we’ll be seeing him around a lot more than he lets on.
Often wears brightly coloured socks. Has an unnatural ability to get “muscled out” of team photos.

Equally comfortable on both the left and right, Keebs has become a versatile member of the squad after just one season at the Accies. Ideally suited in the full-back position, his age-defying speed and stamina often give the Accies an added attacking dimension on the flanks (although sometimes this is referred to as “drifting”). When called upon, Keebs has been known to fill in at centre half and this season, has agreed to help Higgsy run the first team as assistant manager.
Previous clubs in North Devon have included the Wrey Arms (04/05 – 05/06) and Lovacott (06/07 – 07/08).
Having rediscovered football following what he describes as the “lost years” (a hazy decade mostly spent in European ski resorts and boatyards), there’s little silverware in the Keeble trophy cabinet just yet. A runner-up medal in the 2008 Sunday League Cup final is all he’s currently got to go alongside the medal he got for finishing the inaugural Barnstaple Three Bridges Fun Run in 2007!!
Scores at least a couple of goals a season, none better though than the 35-yard cup final free-kick he scored for J&A Cameras to send the game against Bratton Fleming into extra-time.
Likes organising club nights out that he is often unable to go on himself due to poor organisational skills.

At the tender age of 12 the future gaffer of the Pilton first team was plying his trade up country for Kidlington Football Club. Picked for the Oxford United School of Excellence program, the young Higgs showed promise and at 15, he was invited to attend county trials for Oxfordshire. Unfortunately, he bottled it and didn't get picked; but Oxfordshire's loss is Pilton's gain as – a-la-Dick Wittington – our hero upped sticks and headed to Devon to find fame and fortune. So far it's been a little slow coming, but a brief flirtation with silverware following Pilton's Braunton cup heroics in 2007 and a Division 1 runners-up medal in 2004 has left Tony hungry for more – and this year, he's set his sights on guiding the Accies to more glory as first team player manager.
But there's a lot more to the Higgs than man-management. The mild-mannered gentleman of Pilton FC has a serious sting in the tail in front of goal and has notched 32 in his best season, five in one game, earning him the Golden Boot, Managers Player of the Year and Player's Player of the Year awards. It's a record he'll no doubt be looking to beat this term; and with an early hat-tick already in the bag in preseason, is more than capable of doing so.

Science regularly teaches us that mixing various toxins together often ends in explosive results. And that’s exactly what we get from Baz in the heart of the Pilton midfield week in, week out. A heavy session on the beer on a Friday night usually equals a fearless, dynamic and workmanlike session on a Saturday afternoon. Winner of the Accies players’ player last season, Baz is all set for another big season, this time as part of Pilton’s midfield “Holy Trinity” alongside Tancock and Pires.
Never one to shirk a club night out (he’ll be on the raz anyway) Baz’ll be first out and last home – often clad in nothing but ladies if his recent Malia “Clunge Tour” pics are anything to go by. Lucky bastard.

Combe Martin boy Coggin has come good during his two seasons with Pilton and has made the right wing his own in the Reserves side. Bigger, faster, stronger, wiser, last season’s Reserves team players’ player is taking his football to the next level and is sure to be staking a claim for some first team action this season.
Coggs will also be hoping to add more goals to his repertoire and beat his paltry season best of four. He’ll also be hoping to banish the bittersweet memory of his best ever goal for Pilton... by scoring an even better one. For no matter how many times he re-lives the moment, it’ll always be a tinged by the fact that it was Pilton’s only goal in a 10-1 defeat against Park United – one of the darkest days in the Academicals’ history.
Dave once poured this writer the perfect beer when he worked behind the bar at Damien Hirst’s The Quay in Ilfracombe. As yet, has never actually bought this writer a beer.

Not too many players would list a 35-yard own goal as their best footballing moment – but then Garry Ellis is not your average player. Think about it though, scoring past your own keeper from way outside your own box would be a hard one to forget – even if it was only in a pre-season against Northam Lions. That’s a special ability – and one that’ll now be immortally inscribed on the World Wide Web for generations to ponder and enjoy.
On a more positive note, Gary’s five years as a full-back for Pilton have actually produced a goal at the right end of the pitch – a non-descript strike against Chittlehampton in 2005/06. It is not known whether this goal was a) any good, or b) had any relevant bearing on the game.
Famed for (in his own words) his blatant fouls, Gary led, erm, by example as Reserves’ team captain during the 2006/07 season.
Has also played for Barnstaple Ammies and Wrey Arms and at the time of writing (the pre-season) was enjoying a 100 per cent success record as the Reserves’ co-assistant manager with Paul Soffe.

Never happier than when he’s crunching through the back of an unsuspecting forward, Scothy has introduced a new meaning to the phrase “service with a smile”. Harsh but occasionally fair, the Scothon school of “tackle first, ask questions later” football has earned him a solid shout for regular first team football. Often the last man to be breached but more often than not puts in the kind of “thank f*ck for that” type of tackle that gets everyone else off the hook.
Famed for a rasping shot that – with a 20/80 hit ratio – just about justifies the occasional edge of the box free-kick opportunity. Penalty credentials, however, have been eternally tarnished and spot-kick rights withdrawn for life following pre-season Londis Cup penalty shoot-out at Woolacombe. Scothy’s effort was blasted so high over the bar that had he been playing down the pitch, the ball would’ve landed on Lundy. Generally up for a night out on any day with a D in it.

Having discovered football during the autumn years of his sporting life, Stanners learned all he needed to know about the game watching Saint and Greavsie on a Saturday afternoon in the mid 1980s. He did a little extra swatting up by completing the Panini USA ’94 World Cup sticker album and by September that year was ready to shirt up for the inaugural Lovacott Sunday side. He hasn’t looked back since and has developed his own brand of bull-in-a-china-shop style football with great effect. Extremely dependable both on the deck and in the air, there’s little that gets past Stanners. It’s usually a bittersweet experience for anyone that does - a hop, skip and a jump past the Pilton right back is likely to end in tears or a penalty kick, usually both.
Quality member of the squad and a top lad through and through.

With a footballing CV that reads like a Roy of the Rovers Christmas annual, Nashy’s been bursting nets all over North Devon for more than a decade.
The Duke, the White Kanu, the Big End; call him what you will, Nashy’s goal-scoring rep is the stuff of local legend. In fact, the big man will probably be the first to admit that his current record of 64 in a season (39 for Lovacott FC and 25 for J&A Cameras Sunday league side) will be a tough one to beat.
Despite a massive back-catalogue of goals, the one that still stands out the most is a 35-yard half volley that flew into the top corner at High Bickington. Other highlights include winning 3-0 away at Landkey on the last day of 2002/2003 season to clinch the Intermediate Two league title, as well as back to back promotions with Lovacott from Intermediate One and the Senior Division. The Duke capped a great first season in the Premier Division by scoring 20 goals for Lovacott.
Having also played for Barnstaple Ammies, Ebberly Arms and Tavern FC, Nashy has also won the Sunday Division Two league and cup. He is currently into his third season with Pilton.