Open Age
With the original purpose of the junior club in mind, the Panthers founded an open age team in 1999 and entered division 6 of the Pennine League under the banner of Newsome Panthers. The first squad was made up of some ex Magpie players, ex Almondbury Lions players and some new players to the game who together gained promotion to division 5 for the 2000/01 season.
The 2000/01 season was a testing time for the Newsome Panthers, losing a number of the founder member players and also suffering through a number of injuries. Through this period the team still held its own in division 5. In the 2001/02 season, five ex-junior players from the successful under 16s squad took their places in the open age squad, helping them to promotion to division 4. In the 2002/03 Season, promotion from division 4 as champions, success in the Huddersfield Supplementary Cup and a place in the final of the Huddersfield Holiday Cup Final cememeted the squad together. In the league the team had a 100% record.
The 2003/04 season brought together a genuine championship team with the squad winning every competition that they were able to take part in. The team achieved promotion to division 2 of the Pennine League and won the Shipley Cup, Holiday Cup and Supplementary Cup. This was achieved under the leadership of Bob Linford & Andy Bainbridge.
The 2004/05 season saw successful retention of the Huddersfield Holiday Cup and Supplementary Cup. A third place finish in division 2 behind Kippax and New Earswick All Blacks saw the team promoted into the 1st division, the division the Magpies had played in all those years ago.
The 2006/07 season saw the beginning of the transition period where players retired or moved on and the introduction of further players from the junior ranks. After a poor start, where they lost their first 5 games away, the team turned the season around. The introduction of Phil Joseph as head coach with Andy Boothroyd as his assistant and further coaching assistance from Anthony Farrell has ensured that the foundations are now in place going forward.
Read more about this topic: Newsome Panthers
Famous quotes containing the words open and/or age:
“I am Black because I come from the earth’s inside
now take my word for jewel in the open light.”
—Audre Lorde (b. 1934)
“Each of the professions means a prejudice. The necessity for a career forces every one to take sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)