The end of season presentations awards night finished with a fitting tribute to Manager Terry Claydon who led the first team to so much success in recent years. Paul Reeve was another to receive a standing ovation as the popular choice as Players Player of the season. Lee Ovens was named by his Manager as his Player of the year after many consistantly good performances and Jamie Handscomb added yet another Golden Boot to his collection for being top scorer.
CUP WINNERS
Cookham Dean stormed to a thrilling 4-2 victory over Shinfield in the Final of the BTC Senior Cup in May.
Scott Allen and Jamie Handscomb gave the Dean a commanding half time lead but Shinfield hauled themselves back into the game and were level by the hour mark. With the game in the balance Cookham brought on Substitute James Gisbourne who was to prove the match winner with two goals in a fantastic climax to a very exciting contest.
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CLANGER STEPS DOWN
THE BTC CUP FINAL AT THE MADEJSKI STADIUM WAS FIRST TEAM MANAGER TERRY CLAYDON'S LAST GAME IN CHARGE OF THE SIDE, AND THE SWEET 4-2 VICTORY WAS A FITTING WAY FOR THE CHARASMATIC CLAYDON TO END HIS TIME IN CHARGE.
TERRY WILL STEP DOWN WITH FOND MEMORIES OF THE 2006 READING SENIOR TITLE SUCCESS
AND THE TWO BTC CUP FINAL VICTORIES AND WITH THE CLUB VERY PROUD OF HIS CONTRIBUTION.
Quote:
It has been a pleasure to run firstly the reserves in my first year & a half, & then being allowed to run the first team at a great club.
I would like to thank the club for having the faith in me & giving me the honour, I would also like to thank Dave Harrison for all his hard work & input over the years along with Tommy Ovens & Martin Newell (Sid) for all of their sterling efforts as well. I would like to give my special thanks to Rory Gavin as well for his support over my time in charge.
Lastly I would like to thank all of the players, both reserves & first team.
It has been a superb experience for me to be involved with some great players & excellent lads & I would like to wish them all the best in the future, hopefully at the Dean.
T.Claydon
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In the 2007/08 season after a great title race with eventual Champions Westwood and Runners Up Newbury Cookham finished in 3rd place. It could have been so different of course had the team not suffered a blip in form during an awful February which saw the side lose four matches on the trot after having reached that fateful month completely unbeaten and with an amazing defensive record of only three goals conceded in the League.
However the team showed great character to recover and take the title race right to the wire.
That good end of season form also carried the side to a sensational night of glory once again in the final of the BTC Senior Cup at the Madejski when the Dean overcame a spirited challenge from Premier side Shinfield to win 4-2 in a thrilling match that had just about everything and was a great way to end the 2007/08 campaign.
The end of the season also brought about the end of an era when Manager Terry Claydon announced that he would be standing down after four eventful and successful years as boss.
The club are rightly proud of Terry’s contribution both on and off the pitch and hope that he will be a part of Cookham Dean FC in other roles for many years to come.
The club are delighted that the new Manager for 2008/09 is former midfield player and successful Reserve team Manager Dave Clarke.
In his three seasons as Reserve team Manager Clarkie has improved the side each year. Following the first division title success of 2005/06 the team finished forth in the Premier in 2006/07 before storming to the Premier title at the end of 2007/08.
Dave Clarke announced that his assistant for 2008/09 will be Colin Ferguson.
The former Marlow Town player is also
an ex Cookham player and should bring plenty of fresh ideas and know how to the camp,while Clarke’s former Reserve assistant the experienced Dave Johnson will step up as Reserve team Manager.
By May 2008: The Senior sides web pages had now received well over 92,000 strikes
Club Website is giving away five copies of the daddy of all football yearbooks - the Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2008/09. If you love your football stats, it's a must!
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