Today's draw for the First Round Qualifying of this season's Emirates FA Cup has seen United given a home tie against Isthmian Premier side Bognor Regis Town. The tie is scheduled for the 4th September 2021 as Paul Hughes' and his side start this years campaign looking to make the competition proper for the third season in a row.
We’ve had a very busy summer assessing our squad and tweaking the personnel. Every year we will inevitably lose players to higher levels of the game if we’re playing well. Last year was no exception as we saw Jack Williams move up to the National League after some excellent displays for us at left back. We’ve also said goodbye to Bay Downing who has decided to focus on his work and can’t commit to the demands of Step 3 football this year. We sometimes forget how much time and effort players give to be able to participate at this level of the game. I always admire the discipline and commitment our lads show which is one of the reasons we’ve been so successful over recent years. With only Bay and Jack leaving the squad, we’ve got great consistency in the team this season. Our main additions are: Moses Emanuel who has been much sort after and comes to us with an impressive goal scoring record in the National League. Ben Frempah - a commanding centre back who will be a strong character and a huge presence at the back for us after recovering from injury. Hassan Jalloh has re-signed and will give us a creative edge as well as another huge threat in front of goal. Adam Cash has returned after a 3 yrear lay off. We all remember Cashy as an integral part of our impressive title chasing team at step 4 and this is the fittest I’ve ever seen him, so we’re excited at seeing how quickly he can gain his form and contribute to this current group. Afo Soyemi-Ololade has signed from Fisher FC and he’s gone out on dual registration to Westfield to get game time. He’s a very hard working centre forward and a player we like a lot. Azeez Alabi is another commanding centre back who has also gone out on dual registration to Westfield to get game time. He has real potential and an excellent attitude. The final signing has been Lanre Ladipo, he is the best midfielder I’ve seen at closing down and making tackles to break up play. Again, he needs game time to refine his game and improve his composure on the ball but has the potential to be an excellent player. He too has gone off to Westfield on dual registration. We have a very strong group of under 18s coming through who have all signed first team forms. These include Jamie Hanlon, Zach Gluckstein, Romey Meoded, Lewis Lavin, Harley Sells and Ben Bell. I’m sure you’ll enjoy watching this group progress throughout the season. It’s great to have such a talented group of players all come through at the same time. We’re excited to see how they develop in the first team environment. It will be a very tough league this year as teams are spending large amounts to strengthen. Probably through fear of relegation as there are no weak teams in this division this year. I think there will only be 5/6 points difference between lower mid-table and fifth place this season. Everyone is capable of beating anyone on their day, which is why consistency will win the league this year. This means keeping your sixteen man squad fit and available as often as possible, steering clear of suspensions and keeping players in form and managing their fitness levels accordingly in what will be a demanding season for us all. I was asked at our fans meeting what our expectations are this year and I answered by saying we always go into every season to win it. Why bother, if that’s not the ambition! Whether that’s realistic is another matter. There are some big spending and well run clubs in our league that belong higher up the pyramid. We want to compete with them and fight them all the way. That’s our ambition, and if we can keep everyone fit and firing then we will give anyone at our level a very good game. Paul Hughes
We would like to thank the supporters who were able to attend the Fans Q&A evening on 5th August as well as those of you who took the time to send in your questions. We hope the evening gave you more clarity and an opportunity to ask those burning questions. For those of you that sent in your questions we will come back to you shortly if we have not already. As we said, we are keen to keep our lines of communication open. Please feel free to have a chat with Tony or Dev on game days, email any questions to kelly.matthews@hyufc.co.uk or speak with your fans representative Ray Oxlade who will be attending further Board meetings. Thank you again for joining us and we look forward to seeing you at the stadium on Saturday for our season opener against Swindon Supermarine. Have a great day Hayes & Yeading United
Following the conclusion of our pre-season programme, Hayes & Yeading Manager Paul Hughes has boosted his defensive options with the signing of former Ebbsfleet United central defender Ben Frempah plus right wing-back Adam Cash returns to action having been out with a serious injury picked up in his last United appearance against Uxbridge in March 2018.
Hayes & Yeading United Football Club are building their support team as we approach the new season. We are looking for volunteers to add to the club’s Media team in an exciting time at a club that play at level 7 of the English Football Pyramid. With evolving facilities, grass and 3G pitches, a growing youth set-up and a successful first team that have had live FA Cup First Round TV coverage for the past two seasons, Hayes & Yeading United is a club getting attention on and off the field. The positions available will see you assisting a range of HYUFC sides including the Men’s & youth teams. Working with team managers and others in the club media team and reporting to the Media Manager, the ideal candidates will be aspiring sports journalists, sports photographers, videographers, and / or content creators committed to developing careers in sports media, gaining valuable experience or just having fun as part of a successful football club. The role will require attendance at matches (weekend’s and midweek) and potentially midweek training sessions. The club are also recruiting for a PA announcer, stewards and other event staff. To find out more contact Tim Fuell tim@hyufc.club or 07782284164.
Sadly with so much rain overnight and this morning a decision has been made to move the game to the 3G training pitch this afternoon due to puddles forming on the main pitch. Admission will now be free but as most of you know there is no cover outside the cage so come prepared. We can only apologise for this late move but sadly we cannot control the weather.
Good Morning We hope you and your families are well. Preparation for the new season is well underway and we would like to invite our fans to a Q&A evening with myself, Dev, Paul and other Board members to be held at the ground on Thursday 5th August between 6pm and 8pm. Now we know you may not all be able to attend in person, so if you do have a question and you can’t be there, please send it through to dmhyufc@gmail.com by midday on the 5th August and we will ask the question on the evening for you. We will then aim to send you the reply on Friday 6th August. We are very much looking forwards to the new season and welcoming you all back to the SKYex. Take care and hope to see you soon. Tony