Sliema Ponderers

Sliema Ponderers (59908)

http://res.hattrick.org/teamlogo/1/6/60/59908/59908.GIF

HT-User: GM-Andrew_tM Country: England Prize shelf: Arena: Contemplation Park

Sliema Ponderers was established towards the end of season 25, founded in April 2005. Starting in a challenging English VI, Sliema steadily improved season on season before eventually securing the title and automatic promotion to division V in their fifth full season. In their first season in the league, they were crowned champions. Their second season they recovered to second place after a poor start, but falling short of retaining their trophy. The third season saw them claim the title for a second time and promote to IV.

In addition to their league performance, Sliema has a strong cup pedigree, reaching the fourth round in season 28, eliminating an IV side and narrowly losing to a III side. A strong run in season 31, eliminating one III side, was brought to an end in round five at the hands of a second. Their best cup performance is season 32, where they reached the ninth round, eliminating two sides from III and a side from II before eventually falling to a second II side.

Club History

Season	League	Season Record								Cup Record
		Position	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
34	IV.49	4	12	6	2	4	36	27	20	Round 3
33	V.2	1	14	12	1	1	65	16	37	Round 5
32	V.2	2	14	10	1	3	47	24	31	Round 9
31	V.2	1	14	10	1	3	32	20	31	Round 5
30	VI.476	1	14	13	0	1	80	6	39	Round 2
29	VI.476	2	14	11	1	2	58	9	34	Round 3
28	VI.476	3	14	10	2	2	57	18	32	Round 4
27	VI.476	3	14	10	1	3	34	12	31	Round 2
26	VI.476	4	14	7	2	5	37	26	23	Round 1
25	VI.476	4	5	2	3	0	15	9	9	-

Ground

Sliema have been based at Contemplation Park since their formation. The small ground became immediately unsuitable for the club's growing ambitions. An immediate expansion of 3,000 seats was made to take the ground to a 15,000 capacity. A further 5,000 seats were added for the start of season 29, and the ground was expanded again to 35,000 capacity at the start of season 30.

While suitable for VI, it soon became clear that this was no longer adequate for their new league, and modernisation work was undertaken at the start of season 33, which would bring the ground up to 45,000 capacity. Club officials have further plans to complete the second phase of this reconstruction of Contemplation Park by the end of season 34, when it is expected to have a 60,000 capacity.

Current Squad

Number	Position	Nationality	Name	Acquired
1	GK		Amos Kavanagh	Signed for £831,330 at the end of season 31
2	DEF		Iker Giménez	Signed for £9,334 late in season 25
3	DEF		Per Börjesson	Signed for £1,334 late in season 26
4	MID		Phil Cresswell	Signed for £61,330 in mid-season 28
5	DEF		Jonathan Taylor	Signed for £866,670 in mid-season 33
6	MID		Angel Georgiev	Signed for £204,000 in mid-season 28
7	WNG		Konrad Galiński	Signed for £666,667 in mid-season 28
8	MID		Gregg Donnelly	Signed for £1,214,670 at the end of season 33
9	FOR		Jon Ansell	One of Sliema's original players.
10	FOR		Jimmy Connolly	Signed for £694,000 early in season 32
11	WNG		Agustin Zúñiga	Signed for £496,000 in mid-season 28
12	MID		Ivica Pavlin	Signed for £167,330 in mid-season 28
13	GK		Valdeku Laidroo	Signed for £310,000 in mid-season 28
14	WNG		Eli Gabay	Signed for £45,000 in mid-season 28
15	DEF		Manuel Llosa	Signed for £12,334 late in season 25
16	MID		Michael Stubington	Signed for £918,670 at the end of season 31
17	FOR		Scott Thomas	Signed for £520,670 late in season 32
18	FOR		Andrew Jarvis	Signed for £393,330 early in season 33
19	Coach		Julio Monserrat	Appointed internally beginning of season 30
20	FOR		Andy Patterson	Signed for £407,330 early in season 33

Club Records

Record	Occurance	Holder	Notes
Most Competitive Appearances		Jon Ansell	104
Most Competitive Goals		Jon Ansell	107 including a record 7 hattricks
Most Goals in a Game	27/08/2006	Jon Ansell	5 vs Buckinghamshire United
Most Goals in a Season		Julio Monserrat	18 league goals in season 28
Most Clean Sheets		Valdeku Laidroo	33 including a record 789 consecutive minutes without conceding
Highest Transfer Paid	11/03/2007	Gregg Donnelly	£1,214,670 from Zaidia
Highest Transfer Recieved	05/02/2006	Grigore Ştefan	£1,088,000 to Tropicaliente F
Record Victory	10/09/2006	10-0 vs TFalcons	Equalled on 27/03/2007 vs Bedfordshire Athletic FC
Record Defeat	22/05/2007	6-0 vs Cobra Elites

Youth Academy

Sliema Ponderers founded their youth academy at the beginning of season 31 and soon started to discover several talented players. Among the most promising was 16 year old striker Danny Mullan who showed a composure and ability beyond his years.

Upon promotion to the senior side no place could be found for him in Sliema's immediate plans, but he was sold for a decent fee. Other youngsters who have followed in his footsteps include Desmond Williams, Andrew Sheridan and Neil Wilmer.