United Hospitals Football Club

Good evening everybody,

First and foremost, I hope everybody is safe and well in what has been a challenging few months. It's not the way I wanted my presidency to end as we had so many great things in the pipeline for the summer months ☀️⚽

That being said, it's been great to see so many people all over social media raising money and showing support for various charities during lockdown and with football gone for so long, I thought no better way to fundraise myself than run between Wembley, Stamford Bridge, London Stadium, Emirates and Tottenham Hotspur stadium with a fellow Barts footballer (Tom Ellis). This also conveniently happens to be exactly a marathon distance (26.2 miles).

We'll be running on July 12th (Euro 2020 final date), which gives us exactly 8 weeks to train and raise as much money and awareness as possible for our chosen charity, The Trussell Trust, a nationwide food bank network providing food for those in poverty.

Between us we have zero marathon experience, but a lot of wet windy Wednesday afternoons at Chislehurst behind us, so what could go wrong?

We've set up a Facebook donation page below and greatly appreciate anything, big or small, that people can spare to help us reach our target of £100/mile.

https://www.facebook.com/donate/3274236079276618/?fundraiser_source=external_url

All the best,
Brandon (UH skipper)

UH CUP FINALISTS 🏆

The first final of the year sees a resurgent RUMS FC take on 2018 winners St George's AFC in this year's UH Cup final at Chislehurst on Wednesday 18th March.

RUMS took no prisoners en route to the final, sweeping aside Barts, GKT and ICSM to book their place early, whilst George's qualified on Monday night (two wins and a draw) after securing a battling 2-2 draw against a spirited Barts team hoping to keep their slim final chances alive.

By chance, both were due to play each other in the final round robin game, which has now been cancelled.

19 01 2020
The present, the future and the Norwegian counterparts 🇬🇧🇸🇯

On Sunday, the United Hospitals welcomed both the British Doctors and Medigames Norway (a team of doctors, physios and paramedics) to East London for a mini tournament and social afterwards ⚽🍺.

Like every modern day love story, it began with a cheeky slide into the DMs and the rest is history 😘.

Both the British and Norwegian sides brought pedigree. The former winning the World Cup in Mexico in 2019 and fielding UH alumni, the latter competing at the 'medical Olympics' and boasting players from the second pro division in Norway. Heavyweights in their fields 🥊.

Not to be outshone though, this UH squad featured the talent of UH babies and veterans alike with debutants Connor Taylor and Ugo Egiegbu (Both Barts) sandwiched in between, eager to show the British Doctors gaffer that the next crop of talented footballing Doctors is on the near horizon. Doctors being the key word, Dentists don't qualify 😭.

The quality didn't disappoint.

In the first game, the UH lads battled back from a goal down against the Norwegians (see the videos at the end for John Arne Riise-esque free kicks 🇸🇯) to draw 1-1, courtesy of Anas Jamjoum after some neat wing work from Gian Hobbs.

This was followed by a fiery 2-1 win by the British Doctors against the Norwegians, who battling from 2-0 down, may have felt that had the game lasted longer than 40 minutes, they could have snatched a result.

Finally, it was old vs young, docs vs students, masters vs apprentices as the British Doctors and UH shared the spoils in a back and forth match ending 1-1, with UH taking the lead through a 'dubious' penalty, slotted home by man-of-the-tournament Adam Moorcroft 🤟🏻.

It was a great day all around, played in good spirit and followed by a few beers to watch the Liverpool train steam on 🚂.

A special mention to Archie Harker's mum for her fantastic photography at the end, to Urban Bar for hosting afterwards but most importantly for the Norwegian (and British) teams for making the long trip down 🌍.

May this be the start of a long-standing tradition 🎉.

Royal Navy FA (4) - (1) United Hospitals FC

As I sit here writing this message this morning, I can't help but feel somewhat deflated.

Following months of preparation, touring up and down the country (well 70 miles down the south coast), and with a group of individuals whose primary focus lie in education with a future of NHS prosperity, it was thought that David could slay Goliath. Though, in the end, it all accumulated in a lost for those in red (well, claret) as the United Hospitals were beaten by the Royal Navy. Huh? What do you mean another team in red lost something last night?

In the build up to this match, all things went as expected. A squad of the London's finest medical and dental students were assembled, the Imperial minibus was fueled and oiled and Harry Donkin was at least 15 minutes late. Somethings never change.

The game was to be played at the Navy's Victory Stadium in Portsmouth, so the squad buckled up and headed down the A3, never quite figuring out how to demist that front windscreen.

The Navy had afforded both a grass and 3G pitch tonight, meaning that despite the monsoon that battered the south coast, the game would go ahead. However, this rain was relentless and you could forgive us for polishing our boots ready for the all-weather artificial grass as we text the Navy manager a tongue-in-cheek "3G? Lol". To which he swiftly responsed "Grass is good!" with one of those muscle arm emojis. We knew the Navy liked it wet.

The first half began largely as expected with both sides evenly matched trying, and struggling, to assert themselves on the game with conditions making free-flowing football all but impossible. It was, however, the Navy that took the lead due to an unfortunate error.

Panic not though, for the United Hospitals had 6'6" trick up their sleeve. They were the kinds of whispers that turned heads. "He's ex-Loughborough 1s, ex-Northern Irish prem" "He's got pedigree". Although, up until now, no one outside of the Royal Free had seen this mythical beast. Could it be folklore? Just hearsay?

Apparently not, as debutant Mikel Suarez glided onto the pitch and calmly slotted into the bottom right corner with his first touches of the game. 1-1.

Unfortunately, the United Hospitals couldn't kick on and eventually fell victim to a 4-1 loss, with the expected physicality and fitness of the Navy pulling them through.

To our credit though, despite the quality and well-drilled nature of the Navy, the United Hospitals gave a very respectable account of themselves and never looked out of place and we hope that this match can carry on as a tradition in future years.

That's all from me as I pull into Stansted Airport about to board a flight to Barcelona. I'd like to congratulate Mikel and Nick Steenberger, the latter who made some excellent saves in goal, on their debuts. Also, Harry Donkin and Josh Bryan who earned their UH ties on their third appearances and I'd finally like to thank the Navy for hosting us.

Next fixture is on the 19th of January as we host the British and Norwegian Doctors teams in a mini round robin tournament.

Brandon.

*Date edit*

The next few months are hotting up as the United Hospitals have confirmed these 🔥 upcoming fixtures.

First, they travel to Portsmouth on December 10th to take on the Navy under the floodlights in what promises to be a tough test and may not be plain sailing 😏

In the turn of the year they welcome the Norwegian Doctors (who are flying over especially) and British Doctors teams as they host a mini 3-man tournament before a pub lunch and watching the afternoon premier league fixtures 🍗🍺

UH DRAW 2019/2020 ⚽️🥳🔥

UH Cup (First XIs) and UH Reserve Cup (Second XIs) to be played as a round robin with each team playing each other once, with two homes games per side (as shown in the Table) and one fixture to be played before Christmas.

UH Plate (All other XIs) to be played as a straight knock-out tournament.

Last year was a highly GKT dominated tournament with results as follows:
UH Cup: GKT 1s 3 - 0 St Georges 1s
UH Reserve Cup: GKT 2s 4 - 0 ICSM 2s
UH Plate: GKT 3s 3 - 1 GKT 5s

Can ICSM wrestle their way into the finals? 💪
Are the RUMS rumours true? 🧐
Can Barts break their UH hoodoo? 👻
Will there be any shocks on the cards? 😯

Giving me those chillssssssss, get your tournament predictions in ❄️❄️

The UH draw will be coming to you live at 14 30 on the page 🎉

Cambridge Blues (2) vs (1) United Hospitals FC 20/10/19

"You can't win anything with kids." Perhaps not, but as far as losses go, boy was this one undeserved.

6 debutants proudly took to the field today as a UH squad, missing much of the old guard, one which had been ravaged by mumps, were just edged in a high quality match in which the result didn't reflect the state of play.

My captaincy didn't get off to the best start, releasing a team sheet that didn't even include the correct Theo Rifkin-zybutz, though given the complexity of his surname I may stick to Renard.

The first half set the tone for which the rest of the game followed. Ever the family affair, notable touchline fans included Sarah John, sister of Joshua John, and the parents of Josh Bryan and Archie Harker. It was nice to see Bo Eko was a real fans player, positioning himself between two mums on the sideline bench. UH looked comfortable and confident on the ball, knocking it around and patiently waiting for the Cambridge back line to breach to allow one of our silky midfielders, including debutant Selim Maxwell, to slip the ball through to the lively Harry Donkin. Ethan Losty was busy mopping up the barrage of cross-fields balls that came his way as chances came and chances went, myself guilty missing three headers, one which clipped the bar. In the end, Cambridge showed how it was done and prodded home a rebounded corner after an incredible save from Angelos Anastasakis just before half time to take the lead (41').
HT Cambridge Blues 1-0 United Hospitals FC

The second half very much followed suit. A lot of UH pressure ending up with agonisingly close misses, before a swift Cambridge counter attack seemingly set them on their way to victory (60'). The response was immediate and the assault continued. Chance after chance fell, penalty claims were dismissed and it seemed like it may be one of those days until a GKT-made goal as Bo slipped Archie in for a well-taken debut goal (75'). Game on. Unfortunately though, it wasn't to be. Even after Cambridge went down to 10 men (80') following a wreckless challenge on Josh John (see photo) followed by some naughties screamed at the ref, in front of his mum I'll have you know, she must be so proud, UH couldn't muster an equaliser. Despite the best efforts of Conrad Woolley from 30 yards.

As I write this sat in my own sweat due to the lack of post-game shower facilities. I can say with confidence that this was one of the finest performances I've witnessed in my 8 UH games. Each of the debutants, including the ever-dangerous Gian Hobbs and Anas Jamjoum, can be proud of their performances and the future certainly looks bright.

Finally, congratulations to Ethan Losty and Josh John for earning their UH tie for playing in their third cap.

Onto the next one,
Brandon.

FT Cambridge Blues 2-1 United Hospitals FC
Attendance 9
MOTM Archie Harker

United Hospitals travel to Cambridge Blues in their first fixture of the season today. Trips to Chicago and a bout of mumps mean that 6x debutants take to the field today with many first team regular out. With Alan Hansen's "You can't win anything with kids" ringing through their ears, can the Hospitals come away with victory? KO 13 30

Introducing the 2019/2020 Committee 🎉

UH President - Brandon Tiller
(Team) SBLHFC ⚪⚫
(Position) Centre back
(UH caps) 7
(Team supported) Man City
(Football fact) Used to ply his trade as a tricky left winger and still backs himself there

UH Secretary - Yeanuk Rho
(Team) ICSMFC ⚪🔴
(Position) Left/right wing
(UH caps) 4
(Team supported) Arsenal
(Football fact) "Is the football fact about me or just a fact I have about football?"

UH Finals Day Results

Well done to everyone that took part in finals day was another excellent day of football all round.

Congratulations to the winning teams on the following results:

UH Vase:
GKT 3s 3-1 GKT 5s

UH Women's Cup:
GKT Women 5-0 ICSM Women

UH Reserve Cup:
GKT 2s 4-0 ICSM 2s

UH Cup
GKT 1s 3-0 St George's

UH Golden Boot Winner:
Jordan Bethel (7 goals)