Reservoir Badgers FC

Reservoir Badgers FC are a Small Sided football team made up of 50 team members.

The team is from Falmer, East Sussex, United Kingdom and play in the University Of Sussex Intra-Mural, Friday League Friday League Group 2.

Reservoir Badgers FC started using TeamStats in November 2010 and so far have created match reports and statistics for 79 games.

You can access their full TeamStats team profile using the link below:

https://www.teamstats.net/reservoirbadgersfc-reservoirbadgersfc/home

The Reservoir Badgers, affectionately known as simply, "The Badgers", were founded in 2009 in East Slope Bar by Ben Wheatland, Joe Panteli and Josh Staniforth.

The Badgers applied for entry into the University of Sussex Intra-Mural Thursday League 1 during the Autumn 2009 season. Under the stewardship of newly (self) appointed manager and Club Chairman Ben Wheatland, big name signings such as Tony Breslin and Sam Hamberger joined the club, alongside Bob Radebe, Antonio Taylor, Matt Clark and Charlie Carter.

The season began badly despite the team's best efforts, and a bottom placed finish in the table followed, with the team not collecting a single point, scoring less than 10 goals and conceding many more. During the close season, confrontational striker Sam Tanner was reported to have a bust-up during training with Manager Ben Wheatland, ending in the termination of Tanner's contract. However, Wheatland's time as manager was also to end soon, with fans getting on his back due to expensive flop signing James Sempill's discipline, and reported unhappiness with the team's league positioning.

Just in time for the new Spring 2010 season, Chairman Ben Wheatland appointed Josh Staniforth and Tony Breslin as joint managers. The newly appointed managers wasted no time in bolstering the squad, with no less than 2 new signings to add to the team's attacking options, in the shape of Keeran Beharee and Paddy Bolton. The new season started brightly, with a resounding loss on opening day. However, the team did see a (brief) upturn in fortunes, collectively breaking the 10 goal-a-season barrier, and setting new club records for largest win (5-1) and most goals scored in a match (5). This win was an anomaly however, and the team yet again slipped to a bottom of the table finish, resulting in The Badgers being ejected from the Thursday League.

No new signings occurred during the next transfer window, but there was a return to management for Ben Wheatland, joining Tony and Josh as a self-proclaimed "Holy-Trinity" of management. The Summer 2010 season resulted in The Badger's best ever final league position in their new league, the Monday League 2. Without registering a win all season, fans were at least satisfied by the team's 4th placed finish, which came about after 2 teams were ejected from the division due to financial irregularities and match-day fixing.

During the summer break, fan-favourite Keeran Beeharee grew up and left, becoming in the process a well rounded and sensible human being. The club are currently in discussions about the erection of a statue to commemorate Keeran's achievements for the club, and a testimonial match is planned for some time during the Spring 2011 season.

Despite the loss of the club's talismanic winger, The Badgers looked forward to the Autumn 2010 season with blind optimism. Manager Ben Wheatland raised some eyebrows with the signing of non-league player Tom Rose, labelling him "one for the future". To fill the void left by Keeran, the club signed Ben "Two-Socks" Wilkins, described as one of the many midfield players with two socks. The Club's Managing Triumvirate also appealed to the players to suggest a new signing, and as a result signed one-time loan player James Setright. After an encouraging and historic 0-0 draw, in which The Badgers kept their first (and, to date, only) clean sheet and chalked up only their 4th ever point, the 'Holy Trinity' delved into the loan market once again to sign up combative midfielder Lee Inkpin on a four game deal, with a view to a permanent move. This new signing, accompanied by The Badger's largest ever attendance (5), lead to a brief period of optimism, which was quickly quashed as the team succumbed to a narrow 4-1 defeat in their next league game. This was then followed by a spirited but ultimately futile performance in a 7-0 reverse. It must be noted that the team was ravaged by injury and illness for this fixture, and could only field 1 substitute. However, the team's fortunes improved, if only slightly, with another 4-1 defeat, a score line that was harsh on the fast improving Badgers. This result was notable as the first time Ben Wheatland managed to score more than once in a season. The final game of the 2010 season ended in a demoralising 2-1 defeat. A great goal from Ben Wheatland was not enough to see The Badgers off the bottom of the table.

Within minutes of the end of the final game, The Badgers were hit by the news that Ben Wilkins was considering a contract offer from a rival, but yet to be formed, club. The fans were also left reeling when news broke that two-thirds of the Legendary Managing Threesome, Josh Staniforth and Tony Breslin, were becoming disillusioned with the club's recent form.

Shocking stuff.

As the new season dawned, The Badgers released breaking news that the playing squad for the Spring 2011 season would be radically different. Early reports were released that confirmed that star striker Bobby Radebe was unable to play due to academic commitments. Only minutes later, rumours surfaced that the Holy Management Trinity had not renewed Ben Wilkin's contract, paving the way for his transfer to a rival team. However, wheeler-dealings in the transfer markets meant that the club purchased Kio Gwilliam, a former opponent who was wowed by one-third manager Tony Breslin's exceptional charisma and height. Fan-favourites Antonio Taylor and Tom Rose were confirmed as not in the squad due to educational issues. On transfer deadline day, The Badgers triumphantly announced the signing of Paul "Lad" Field on a long-term loan from We Came, We Saw, We Lost, a team full of talent but lacking in ambition. Rumours surfaced that the reason Paul was tempted to ply his trade in the worst team at Sussex Uni was down to Sam Hamberger's ever-present meltiness, but as of yet, these reports remain unconfirmed. Also, rejoining the Badgers was James Setright, renewing his contract after much soul-searching. The team were forced to allow tenacious midfielder Lee Inkpin to return to his parent club, who for the first time would compete with the Badgers in the same league, promising a game packed with excitement and tension later in the season.

This game never materialised, as Inkpin’s new team, The Chemical Brothers, were playing in a higher division than The Badgers.

Despite this setback, The Badgers fans looked forward to the next season with glee. The Badgers were scheduled to play Inter Minan once again, which gave them the chance to exact revenge for a demoralising defeat. Noone would expect the Badgers to improve enough to have won, but win they did! A brace from Ben Wheatland, sandwiched between a wonder-goal from Sam Hamberger and a cool finish from new signing Paul Field gave the Badgers their second win in the club’s history, and set them on their way for a season of unprecedented success. Three wins out of five games meant that the Badgers missed out on their first ever qualification for the knockout stages on goal difference, but the fans were, rightly so, singing the praises of their team, and the happy management trio who led the Badgers to a record equalling fourth position in the table.

In the aftermath of this groundbreaking season, the holy management triumvirate vowed to strengthen the team in an attempt to qualify for the knockout stages. The astute signing of Rob “He’s really good” Weeks and the recapture of fan-favourite Bob Radebe, both on free transfers, were hailed by the club’s fans, who praised the management trio’s wheeler-dealing in the transfer market.

However, on the eve of the new season, Reservoir Badgers FC was rocked by the news that co-founder of team, Joe Panteli, was to leave the club by mutual consent. Fans protested outside the Badgers’ HQ building, demanding the reinstatement of one of the club’s most talismanic players. News broke soon that Panteli had engineered his move away from the club himself, as Uni finished before the end of the season and he wanted to go home. However hurt the fans were by this shock admission, they refused to turn against Panteli, and at a gala dinner to celebrate one of the Badgers’ most loyal and committed players, Panteli made an emotional speech, where he thanked fans for their support. In a show of gratitude towards Panteli for his services to the club, Chairman Ben Wheatland announced that the North Stand at the Badgers’ home ground would be renamed “The Joe Panteli Stand” from the Summer 2011 season onwards.

Current Records:

Most Apps:

Tony Breslin: 29

Ben Wheatland: 29

Sam Hamberger: 29

Josh Staniforth: 28

Matt Clark: 27

All-time Top Scorer:

Ben Wheatland: 11

Sam Hamberger: 4

Multiple players: 3