Football season 2024/25

Played 22,Won 10, Lost 12 .

A transformative year for the Club. As the new blood continued to bed into the side and develop into the backbone of a rejuvenated and younger squad, the team naturally experienced peaks and troughs in form.

The season began on a high with a tour to Porto. 18 willing and able Pilgrims embarked on what would be a tour to remember. While the Saturday morning match left a lot to be desired, losing our unbeaten abroad record, the lads bounced back in honourable fashion, firing into the evening with some terrific form.

While we only tour once every two years, it acts as a true bonding experience between generations of tourists, with the largest age gap this year being 15 years!

Back on home soil, the start to the season was average at best, leaving the boys with work to do post-Christmas.

And that work was certainly done. Embarking on an seven match unbeaten streak in all competitions, the team secured safety in the league, while reaching both the quarter-finals in the Junior League Cup and the semi-finals in David Woollcott Trophy.

Unfortunately, we fell to the eventual winners of both competitions and the wait for silverware goes on for us. However, expectations are high next year after another strong year of recruitment.

Our two most capped players this year are also two youngest regular squad members, Rory Parnell and Dom Helliwell, indicating that the future is bright. Mercurial midfielder Marcus McGrigor is back fit after a long injury lay off and inspiring performances from the likes of Harry Fisher, Rob Hoare and Brandon Bray-Sackey give confidence that this is a squad to be reckoned with over the next few years.

This trajectory will please incoming captain, Dan Kendall, as I step away from management responsibilities. He will be supported by an excellent leadership structure with members of ‘The Board’, Will Gracia, Henry Carr-Smith, Will Hooper, Ollie Palmer and Rob Clark providing sound counsel. Collectively, we are all certain that Dan can usher in a new era of success, leading from the front with his consistently excellent performances.

I’d like to personally to thank everyone who stepped up to play over my four year tenure in charge. We’ve used around 80 players in that time, spanning generations of Pilgrims, who all come together to show what it really is to be ‘men of distinction’. Like all of those who regularly play, building friendships and spending your Saturdays playing football with those mates is a true privilege.

Additionally, thank you to those that run Pilgrims, especially Aadel Kardoooni and Jonathan Powe, who continue to enable us to turn out most weekends and support us endlessly.

If any new or old school leavers would like to get involved, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at Jack.bridger@hotmail.co.uk – you won’t regret it!