East Meekly
 East Meekly
| |
| |
| Team ID | (63868) |
| Location | Leicestershire & Rutland, England
|
| Prize shelf | 
|
| League | V.198 |
| Arena | Grafton Road (55,000 Capacity) |
| Fan Club | Das Kleeblatt (~2000 members) |
| Manager | Kelsey-
|
| Coach |  Yuriy Kolupaev
|
| Captain | Andy Bale
|
| Vice-captain | Nathan Byrne
|
| Social Media | Twitter Instagram |
East Meekly currently play football in Series V.198, the fifth division of England.
Meekly were crowned champions of VI.163 in Season 82 and Season 84, and were runners-up in Season 81.
They have spent three seasons in the fifth flight of England, coming 7th in V.87 in Season 83. At the time of Meekly's demotion to the sixth tier, V.87 was ranked 7/256 in England.
History
East Meekly were founded on 26th April 2022 in the county of Leicestershire & Rutland in England. The name East Meekly is an anagram of the words "Team Kelsey", in recognition of their manager Kelsey-. Meekly were also founded on the same date as Leicestershire & Rutland clubs Cosby Colts FC and Enderby B Team. These clubs were formed in the recognition of a lack of footballing prowess hailed from the county.
League History
East Meekly were crowned champions of VI.163 in Season 82 under the management of Kelsey-. Meekly spent Season 82 undefeated, winning all 14 of their games. East Meekly had a goal difference of +59 whilst only conceeding 1 goal in all of the league season. Meekly were promoted following direct promotion to V.78 with the club being moved from V.78 to V.87, where both Cosby Colts FC and Enderby B Team participated in.
After reaching the halfway mark of Season 83 sitting in 7th place, East Meekly underwent a huge turnover in playing staff. This resulted in great controversy within Das Kleeblatt, with Meekly losing both of their league games against local rivals Cosby Colts FC following this change. Meekly coach Wesley Carrington described the change as "a bid to prepare for the future, and to return to the division stronger than ever".
East Meekly were automatically demoted from V.87, finishing 7th place with a total of 7 points. Meekly experienced their worst derby defeat to date, following a 6-2 loss away to Enderby B Team.
Meekly won the league title of Series VI.87 England in Season 84, gaining automatic promotion to Series V.198 for Season 85. They also stayed up in Series V.198, resulting in the automatic demotion of Cosby Colts FC, by winning a relegation play-off match. Head Coach Yuriy Kolupaev described this as 'karma'.
East Meekly beat Enderby B Team for the first time in their history, winning 3-1 away from home in Series V.198, Season 86.
In Season 88, East Meekly achieved their highest points tally in the fifth division with 25 points, with a goal difference of +10. However, despite being 8 points of first, Meekly finished in fifth place and were deduced to a relegation play-off. In what was a remarkable season in Series V.198, East Meekly also had no players in the top goalscorers list. Andy Bale and Donato Freire were joint-top goalscorers for Meekly, scoring 4 goals each in Season 88.
Cup History
East Meekly have participated in the English Cup, George Carey Cup and the Craig Wozniak Cup. Meekly reached the 2nd round of the English Cup for the first time in Season 83, conceeding in extra time to the V.III side Crosby Ravens. They have also reached the 2nd round of the George Carey Cup in Season 82 and the 4th round of the Craig Wozniak Cup in Season 83. Meekly reached the third round of the English Cup for the first time in Season 85, losing to then current English Cup champions Vince Hilaire's Afro.
Tournament History
Meekly participated in their first tournament in Season 83, finishing in 7020th place of the Season 4 Heroes of 2022 Trophy. East Meekly also participated in the Supporter Week Trophy in Season 84.
Meekly participated in the Heroes of 2022 Trophy again in Season 88, finishing in 1060th place out of 15224 teams (Top 10%). They achieved a record high 18 points with a goal difference of +12.
East Meekly won the Battle for Division V Season 17 with Cosby Colts FC and Harland Globetrotters in Series V.198. The series amounted 8 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss and a total of 25 points.
Players
Current Squad (Season 88)
|
|
Notable Players
Andy Bale is a forward and a product of Meekly's youth system, starting in the first team at the then record of 18 years old. Andy Bale is the record top goalscorer of East Meekly, as well as holding the most appearances for the club. He was captain of Meekly until Season 86, but still holds the place of set-piece taker. Bale is renowed for his technical ability as a forward, making many unpredictable chances that have been crucial to Meekly's success. Bale is known as the Meekly jester, due to his ability to make his teammates laugh due to his sympathetic agreeability. Bale is also known to be dropped off at training and games by his mother, Christine Bale.
Natale Garbellini was a forward for East Meekly during season 82 and 83. He was best known for his ability to provide crisp passes and notoriously for his lack of goals as a striker. Being one of the first foreign players at Meekly, Natale is also the first in a long list of Italians that have played for the club. He was sold on 10-01-2023 for a then club record fee of £336,667, upon the relegation of Meekly from the fifth dvision.
Florin Bernea, known by Das Kleeblatt as 'Starboy', was a Meekly Inner-Midfielder during Seasons 82 and 83. Bernea was involved in a lot of goal contributions during Meekly's undefeated Season 82 and appeared to be a promising senior player at the club. Following an injury in Season 83, Bernea sadly never restored to full fitness and was sold for a fee of £14,000 on 14-01-2023. Upon survival in the fifth division in Season 85, Bernea rejoined Meekly for a fee of £40,000 in Season 86 at the age of 34. Kelsey was understood to have signed Bernea as a predominant dressing room figure. Following Bernea's retirement, he became part of East Meekly's staff as an Assistant Coach. He left the club in Season 88.
Nick Graberg was a German forward for Meekly, who was signed for £248,730 from Müllers Knappen on 12/01/2023. He has a younger brother, Konstantin Graberg, who plays for Schnuckis. Nick is renowed for his ability to take set-pieces whilst having high leadership. Kelsey called him the "most clinical set-piece taker [he] has ever seen". He was the first German player for Meekly, with the second being Arwin Streif. Arwin was sold in Season 86 to rivals Enderby B Team for a fee of £980,000. Kelsey had made an agreement with Logan Waudby to sign Streif, following the understanding of their training regime and possibility of developing his career elsewhere.
Colin Woudenberg became East Meekly's record signing in Season 85, with the midfielder costing Meekly £833,334 as a transfer from Hilbert Op Schot 2. He was the second transfer of the Yuriy Kolupaev era at Meekly, following the signing of highly rated winger Elko Stauthamer. He was also the record sale for the club (£1,200,000) in Season 86, when he transferred to Ghanian Invaders.
Matthé Heijnen was the most expensive goalkeeper signing (£641,240) for East Meekly in Season 86, aged 19. He was poached by Meekly following the understanding of his unpredictable nature as a keeper. He is also known to be a key leader in the dressing room at the clubs he plays for, taking the captaincy from Andy Bale - who offered to be vice-captain upon his arrival. He was sold in Season 87 following a series of bad performances.
Mickael Vanopdenbosch was a then record signing for East Meekly in Season 86. The midfielder from Belgium cost the club £1,164,160 following the departure of previous record signing Colin Woudenberg. Mickael was sold to Alkulan Eliitti for a record sale of £1,500,000 in Season 87.
Records
As of August 2024.
Youngest Player = Gerald Nayyar (17 years 23 days)
Most Appearances = Andy Bale (207 Appearances)
Most Expensive Signing = Kemy el Ayoubi (£1,500,000) (Previously Livio Murer (£1,380,000))
Most Expensive Sale = Colin Woudenberg (£1,200,000)
All-time Top Goalscorer = Andy Bale (80)
All-time Highest Rating = Andy Bale (10 Avg)
Best Team Match Rating = East Meekly 1 - 3 Cosby Colts FC Season 88 (V.198) (matchID=735464598)
Club Culture
Meekly are known for their famous green strip and their attachment to Clovers. Their nickname is Das Kleeblatt which translates from Deutsch to "The Cloverleaf". This is the nickname of 2. Bundesliga side SpVgg Greuther Fürth, who also share a cloverleaf on their crest.
The club anthem for Das Kleeblatt is "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Gerry and the Pacemakers. This club song is shared by Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool FC. Meekly's goal song is "Fire" by Kasabian.
Stadium
The home stadium of East Meekly is Grafton Road, with Meekly's youth team playing at Packhorse Drive. Grafton Road has a current capacity of 55,000.
Grafton Road derives its name from the street in which Meekly manager Kelsey- lived on during his undergraduate degree in University. The road was near to a park that hosted sunday league football, whilst also having an oval running track with concrete seating. Kelsey- states this is where he came to think of his tactic ideas for football.
East Meekly's home stadium is situated in the intercity forest of Mossdale Meadows, within Leicester. This is around the neighbourhood in which Kelsey- grew up in and first learnt to play football.
Packhorse Drive, the home to East Meekly Reserves, is named after the cul-de-sac in which Kelsey- also lived on as a child. He was found to be playing street football on Packhorse Drive with his brothers, and noted that this cul-de-sac is where his love for football came from.
Kit History
East Meekly traditionally wear green with black stripes and a white accent for their home jersey. Their away kit is not as consistent, however, it is often chosen to be the lighter of the two kits for kit-clashing purposes. For Season 85 & 86, Meekly's kits have been sponsored by Cytiva, Binding Brewery, Nvidia Corporation, McLaren Automotive and Nike UK.
