E.P.L.

Friday 21st September 2007...

EPL received confirmation from FISTF today that they have qualified to compete in the forthcoming Europa Cup, which is being held in Athens, Greece during the weekend of October 27/28.

Interested players should contact Dave Pawsey asap.

With 3 players joining and one player departing, it was a busy summer for EPL captain Dave Pawsey.

Afer the sensational swoop for former England star Justin Finch last spring, Rob O'Hare was the first player to sign for EPL during the close season. The Cypriot International signed from England Team Champions, Yorkshire Phoenix after 2 seasons with the Wakefield based club. 2007 Scottish National Champion Steve Bennett signed shortly afterwards, and was followed by Tayside Kickers team mate Brian Clark.

On his way out was England International Steve Hawkins, who opted to sign with long-time friend and England team mate Jeremy Bradley at TSPA Whitstar. EPL would like to thank Steve for his services whilst at EPL, and wish him the best of luck for the future.

EPL Squad for 2007/8 Season

David Pawsey
Dave Russell
Adrian Curtis
Sam Curtis
Robert Ramsay (SCOTLAND)
Josh Learner
Matt Lampitt
Adam Lampitt
Nick Lampitt
Matthew Thomas
Paul Sutton
Dimitris Stamatopoulos (GREECE)
Justin Finch
Darren Finch
Rob O’Hare (CYPRUS)
Steve Bennett (SCOTLAND)
Brian Clark (SCOTLAND)

After late withdrawls from Rob O'Hare and both Adrian & Sam Curtis, Dave Pawsey was EPL's only representative in the recent World Cup, which was held in Les Herbiers (near Nantes) in France.

Dave was unfortunate not to qualify from his group, drawing 2-2 against Portuguese ace Sergio Loureiro in his first match, before narrowly going down 1-0 to Malta's Derek Conti in his final group game.

Dave played three times for the England team the following day, losing his first match 4-1 with Phil Redman, to Derek Conti in England's defeat to Malta, although Dave drew his half 1-1. Dave lost his second match 1-2 to Spain's Alberto Mateos, before defeating Austria's Wolfgang Haas 2-1, but England were eliminated in the group stages.

Congratulations to former EPL starlet Kasper Bennett for reaching the World Cup Final, after achieving tremendous results en-route to the final including defeating 2005 World Champion Massimo Bolognino 1-0 in the second round of the competition.

In other news, former England captian Phil Redman reached the semi's of the Veteran event, going down 1-0 to the eventual winner, the Italian superstar Renzo Frignani.

Former EPL star Chris Thomas reached the second round of the Open event, going down 2-0 to Malta's Massimo Cremona, whilst former EPL captain Chris Short was eliminated in the group stages.

Adrian Curtis and son Samuel are out of the World Cup in Les Herbiers, France at the end of the month. Both players qualified for the tournament via the Fistf rankings for the individual event and were included in both veteran and under-19/15 teams. However, Curtis senior has been struggling with a knee injury for three months and will undergo an operation to remove the cartilage in his left knee two days prior to the competition. Curtis is expected to face three months rehabilitation even though he will undergo keyhole surgery at a private hospital to cure the problem.

The EPL ace confirmed: "We are very disappointed to miss out but health comes first. The injury has been getting progressively worse over the last few months, culminating in the need for surgery in order that my ability to work is not impaired.

"With that in mind, I have decided to step down from international team table football for the foreseeable future. Samuel will continue to strive to play for his country and once fit again, we aim to be regular attendees on the international and national front. In the meantime, we wish the rest of the England veteran side all the best in Les Herbiers!

Captain Dave Pawsey has officially announced the signing of Scottish star Steve Bennett. Bennett joins the EPL set-up from Tayside and is the second Scottish player to join the EPL ranks following on from Rob Ramsay's arrival from Hot Club last season.

Pawsey said: "Firstly I would like to officially welcome Steve to EPL. I'm sure that he will fit in well with the rest of the players at the club.  It's a great signing for us as, while a very good player he still has the potential to improve and wants to travel to more events in the coming season. The announcement of his signing was delayed after a decision between Steve, Tayside, his former club, and myself.  This allowed Steve to concentrate on the Scottish title (which he won !!!!) without any distractions. Now both Steve and EPL can look forward to the coming season. I would like to thank Tayside for their understanding and professionalism in dealing with this situation."