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February 2020 News Archive
All the news stories from February 2020
DONCASTER 3 WYCOMBE 1
(Saturday 29th February 2020)
Wanderers missed the opportunity to climb back to 3rd spot in the League One table after conceding three soft goals in a 3-1 reverse at Doncaster Rovers. Wycombe created the better chances in the opening stages but conceded on the stroke of half-time when Niall Ennis cut in from the left to tuck the ball home through a crowd of players.
But Wycombe bounced back on 67 minutes when Adebayo Akinfenwa became Wanderers’ highest current Football League era goalscorer, as he turned and shot home a loose ball from just inside the Rovers box. However, it was the home side who pressed on to take the points – a free-kick from the left seeing Kieran Sadlier ghost in at the far post to slide home on 71 minutes. The points were sealed on 83 minutes when Jason Lokilo’s cross from the right to the far post was turned past his own ‘keeper by Jason McCarthy.
The defeat on the road came after Gareth Ainsworth made one change from the starting XI that had overcome Tranmere Rovers 3-1 at Adams Park the previous Saturday – Alex Samuel returning in favour of Akinfenwa but it was ‘The Beast’ who replaced Samuel just before the hour and then went on to enter the record books with a 54 goal haul in his Chairboys career.
Wycombe: Allsop, McCarthy, Stewart, Charles, Jacobson, Gape, Thompson, Smyth (sub 83 Parker), Wheeler, Onyedinma (sub 75 Freeman), Samuel (sub 57 Akinfenwa) - subs not used: Stockdale, Jombati, Bloomfield, Ofoborh - Att: 7,522 (432 away)
Doncaster 3 Wycombe 1 - @GasManCOTN - Twitter summary
TRUST vs PLC OWNED
(Friday 28th February 2020)
A comparison of Wycombe Wanderers' League form and losses while Trust owned against PLC owned makes for interesting reading.
The stats, first published via the @GasManCOTN - Twitter feed are:
Trust owned - 2012-2020
League - PL 355 W 143 D 94 L 118 - Pts per game 1.47
Approx. accumulated losses - £2m (£5K per week)
PLC owned - 2004-2012
League - PL 368 W 136 D 114 L 118 - Pts per game 1.42
Approx. accumulated losses - £8.4m (£20K per week)
Two seasons of PLC ownership were spent in the third tier, compared to 1 1/2 seasons under 100% Trust control.
MICKEY HOLIFIELD R.I.P.
(Friday 28th February 2020)
Very sad news was revealed on Friday 28th February 2020 of the passing of former Wanderer Mickey Holifield. Mickey was one of the heroes of the 1970's era Loakes Park team under Manager Brian Lee. He made more than 400 First Team outings for Wycombe between 1971 and 1981, putting him in the top dozen all-time appearance makers for Wanderers.
Mickey Holified tribute by John Taylor via wwfc.com
WWFC DIRECTOR CHANGES
(Thursday 27th February 2020)
More changes to Wycombe Wanderers Football Club Limited were registered with Companies House on 27th February 2020. These include Wycombe Wanderers Trust no longer having 'significant control' and replaced by Feliciana EFL Limited, plus the appointment of Rob Couhig and Michelle 'Missy' Couhig as Directors of Wycombe Wanderers Football Club. Missy becomes the first female Director of Wycombe Wanderers Football Club in a non secretarial role. The updates also include the termination as Directors of the Football Club of Ivor Beeks and David Cook (secretary). Cook is replaced by Trust Board Member David Smith as the Secretary of the Football Club.
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club - filing history via Companies House
NEW DEALS FOR GAZ & DOBBO
(Wednesday 26th February 2020)
As expected, the Club confirmed new ‘long-term’ contracts for Manager Gareth Ainsworth and his assistant Richard Dobson via a press release on 26th February 2020. The length of deals were not stated in the original press release from the Club but their existing deals ran until 2023 (announced in June 2018), hence it's understand the new arrangements will run until at least 2025.
Commenting on the deal, new owner Rob Couhig said: “I am delighted that we were able to conclude their new contracts as the first official business under our ownership. I am confident we are placing our faith and the club’s future football in the right people. Gareth, Dobbo and their team will play a huge role in the continued development of our club. I am delighted that they have committed themselves to being part of the growing Worldwide Wycombe Wanderers Phenomenon!” Read full story via wwfc.com
ACCOUNTS PUBLISHED
(Wednesday 26th February 2020)
Accounts for Wycombe Wanderers Football Club year ending June 2019 were published via Companies House on 26th February 2020. The figures show a loss of £868K for the year compared to £667K the previous year. However, turnover increased from £3,751K to £4,078K. Profit from the disposal of player registrations was recorded as £200,000 compared to £13,000 the previous season. This figure is the net income from the sale and purchase of players during the year. For the 2018/19 season this essentially represented the sale of Luke O'Nien to Sunderland (estimated at £350,000), set against the purchase of Jason McCarthy from Barnsley (estimated at £150,000).
Download/view WWFC accounts for 2018/19 via Companies House
DEFENDER JOINS ON 1 MONTH DEAL
(Wednesday 26th February 2020)
The Club confirmed the signing of 27-year-old defender Paco Craig on a one-month deal following his debut for Wanderers in the 3-0 victory at Hungerford Town in the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup. The former West Ham Youth player gained experience with Bishop’s Stortford before moving to the USA where he most recently played for Louisville City. He is the son of Mikey Craig, bass player of Culture Club. He was allocated No.30 in the Wycombe squad.
HUNGERFORD TOWN 0 WYCOMBE 3
(Tuesday 25th February 2020)
A Wanderers XI eased through to the Semi-Final of the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup with a 3-0 victory at a chilly Hungerford Town – one of Wanderers’ goals coming from Club Sports Scientist David Wates.
Wycombe included new signing short-term signing Paco Craig in the starting XI, along with triallist Erol Alkan. Wates was included as a substitute along with fellow backroom staff member Josh Hart.
The tie, Wanderers first in this competition since the 2013/14 season, saw Nnamdi Ofoborh break the deadlock on 35 minutes when he cut in from the right before shooting past the ‘keeper with his left foot. Nick Freeman doubled the lead seven minutes in the second-period before the goal of the tie came on 70 minutes when Wates curled an effort in from the right edge of the box.
Wycombe: Stockdale, Jombati, Craig, Alkan, Mascoll, Phillips, Ofoborh (sub 75 Hart), Frempah, Freeman, Parker, Samuel (sub 63 Wates) – subs not used: Allsop, Smyth - Att: 171
Hungerford 0 Wycombe 3 - @GasManCOTN - Twitter summary
COMPANIES HOUSE UPDATES
(Tuesday 25th Febuary 2020)
Changes to Frank Adams Legacy Limited (FALL) and Wycombe Wanderers Football Club (WWFC) records at Companies House were made public on Tuesday 25th February 2020. These relate to charges by ‘Luby and Collis’ and ‘Chairboys Funders’, equating to approx. £950,000 debt, plus interest on FALL and a charge satisfaction connected with Adams Park and placed on WWFC.
Further changes are expected to be confirmed relating to the majority ownership of WWFC being transferred from Wycombe Wanderers Trust to Feliciana EFL Limited, the company owned by Rob Couhig.
View more detail via @GasManCOTN - Twitter summary
NEW DEAL FOR GAZ?
(Monday 24th February 2020)
Wycombe's owner elect Rob Couhig hinted on Phil Catchpole's 'Ringing The Blues' podcast on Monday 24th February 2020 that a new deal for Gareth Ainsworth would be announced in the near future. He said: "We want to stabalise Gareth's operation. Something [will be announced soon] that will give the fans the sense that he's here to stay and we are here to stay."
THE BEAST GOES LEVEL
(Saturday 22nd February 2020)
Adebayo Akinfenwa's goal against Tranmere Rovers at Adams Park on Saturday 22nd February 2020 took him level in the all-time goalscorers for Wanderers during their Football League era. The 71st minute header took 'The Beast' to 53 goals during his time with The Wanderers and level with Nathan Tyson's tally during his two spells with The Chairboys. Akinfenwa has netted his total in 172 games, while Tyson took 141 appearances.
WYCOMBE 3 TRANMERE 1
(Saturday 22nd February 2020)
Wanderers secured an impressive 3-1 victory against Tranmere Rovers at Adams Park after the relegation threatened visitors had equalised against the run of play just after the hour mark. Adebayo Akinfenwa netted the winner on 71 minutes and in doing so equalled the Club’s top scorer in the Football League era – reaching 53 goals to go level with Nathan Tyson. Joe Jacobson netted from the spot in stoppage time after Alex Samuel had been fouled, to confirm the three points and move Wanderers back up to 3rd place in the table with 59 points from 33 games. Team news had seen Gareth Ainsworth name an unchanged starting XI for the first time in League and major cup ties in 2019/20. A Tranmere side who had knocked Wanderers out of the FA Cup earlier in the campaign came with a defensive plan in mind but were eventually broken down when Anthony Stewart forced home a corner in the 1st half stoppage time.
Wycombe: Allsop, McCarthy, Stewart, Charles, Jacobson, Thompson (sub 72 Ofoborh), Gape, Smyth, Wheeler, Onyedinma (sub 90+5 Bloomfield), Akinfenwa (sub 82 Samuel) – subs not used: Stockdale, Mascoll, Parker, Freeman - Att: 4,756 (307 away)
Wycombe 3 Tranmere 1 - @GasManCOTN - Twitter summary
BOLTON WANDERERS 0 WYCOMBE 2
(Saturday 15th February 2020)
Wycombe reached 56 points and moved to 3rd spot in League One following a 2-0 victory on a first ever visit to Bolton Wanderers. After a solid opening, Wanderers got the breakthrough a minute before the break when Toto Nsiala turned a Jason McCarthy cross to the far post past his own ‘keeper. A Joe Jacobson penalty converted on 62 minutes following a foul on Fred Onyedinma, sealed the points for Gareth Ainsworth’s side who now look in contention for a possible pop at the two automatic promotion spots.
The victory came after Ainsworth made five changes to the starting XI that had lost at home the previous Tuesday to Fleetwood – Darius Charles, Curtis Thompson, Smyth, Onyedinma and Adebayo Akinfenwa returning in favour of Sido Jombati, Alex Pattison, Nick Freeman, Alex Samuel and Josh Parker.
The points total of 56 after 32 games is the highest points total in the third tier for Wanderers since they accumulated 59 in the whole of the 2000/2001 campaign. The chance to equal that total will come against Tranmere Rovers at Adams Park on Saturday 22nd February. Wycombe’s record total in the 2nd is 60 points in the 1994/95 season when they finished 6th but missed out on the play-offs due to the re-structuring of the League.
Wycombe: Allsop, McCarthy, Stewart, Charles, Jacobson, Thompson, Gape, Smyth (sub 89 Parker), Wheeler, Onyedinma (sub 73 Ofoborh), Akinfenwa (sub 81 Samuel) – subs not used: Stockdale, Jombati, Pattison, Freeman - Att: 11,737 (625 away)
Bolton Wanderers 0 Wycombe 2 - @GasManCOTN - Twitter summary
WYCOMBE 0 FLEETWOOD 1
(Tuesday 11th February 2020)
Wanderers wasted the opportunity to go level on points with leaders Rotherham after going down 1-0 to a Fleetwood Town side that had been reduced to 10 men on 68 minutes with the dismissal of Ched Evans for violent conduct. The winning goal came seven minutes later when Paddy Madden tapped home. Visiting boss Joey Barton was also sent to the stands in the dying moments but he wouldn’t have worried as his side made it three straight League wins and will be eyeing a play-off place or better.
It was an evening to forget for Gareth Ainsworth’s side who failed to score at home in the League for the first time since April 2019 but made too many unforced errors to give them a chance of victory and as a result drop to 4th in the table with 53 points from 31 games. 5th placed Sunderland have 51 points and a game in hand, while sixth placed Portsmouth have 50 points and two games in hand. 11 points seperate the top ten sides.
Only the second home League defeat of the season for Wanderers came after four changes to the starting XI that beaten Bristol Rovers at Adams Park the previous Saturday – Sido Jombati, Alex Pattison, Nick Freeman and David Wheeler coming in for Darius Charles, Matt Bloomfield, Curtis Thompson and Adebayo Akinfenwa. There was some good news for Wanderes when Fred Onyedinma was introduced as a substitute for his first appearance since injury in early October 2019.
Wycombe: Allsop, McCarthy, Stewart, Jombati, Jacobson, Gape, Pattison (sub 78 Onyedinma), Freeman, Wheeler, Samuel (sub 66 Smyth), Parker (sub 66 Akinfenwa)- subs not used: Stockdale, Mascoll, Phillips, Ofoborh - Att: 3,286 (61 away)
Wycombe 0 Fleetwood Town 1 - @GasManCOTN - Twitter summary
HOME FANS SCHEME IN AWAY END
(Tuesday 11th February 2020)
The Club announced on 11th February 2020 they had arranged for 700 seats to be made available for Wycombe Wanderers fans in the ‘away’ end at Adams Park for ‘selected matches'. The arrangement has been agreed with the local authorities and will be available for the home game with Tranmere Rovers on Saturday 22nd February when the visitors are expected to bring 400-500 fans in a stand that can potentially hold 2,000.
Original news item from official website
REMEMBERING OLI
(Saturday 8th February 2020)
Wanderers' home game with Bristol Rovers on Saturday 1st February 2020 was dedicated to the memory of Oliver Darlington. The 13-year-old had died from sepsis on 3rd January 2020 after contracting a heavy cold. Following the final whistle of the match with Rovers, Wycombe Manager Gareth Ainsworth made an emontional lap of the pitch holding up Oliver’s playing shirt for local side Downley Dynamos. His family set up a justgiving fund in order to raise funds to promote awareness of the risks of sepsis and this had raised close to £25,000 of a target of £10,000 at the time of the tribute.
WYCOMBE 3 BRISTOL ROVERS 1
(Saturday 8th February 2020)
Wycombe kept the pressure on League leaders Rotherham following a 3-1 victory over Bristol Rovers at Adams Park. The win – a third successive victory at Adams Park for Wanderers – came after all the goals were netted in the first-half – Adebayo Akinfenwa opening the scoring on 9 minutes,only for Jayden Mitchell-Lawson to level on 20. However, Darious Charles and Matt Bloomfield struck within a two-minute spell shortly before the break to put Wanderers firmly in control and ultimately towards sealing the three points.
Team news against Rovers had seen Gareth Ainsworth make four changes to the starting XI that had lost 2-0 at from Milton Keynes the previous Saturday – Ryan Allsop returning in goal in favour of David Stockdale, while, what turned out to be the three goalscores, Charles, Bloomfield and Akinfenwa, were favoured for Sido Jombati, Nick Freeman and Paul Smyth. Elsewhere, there was encouraging news as Fred Onyedinma returned from injury on the bench.
The result saw Wanderers remain 2nd in the League One table having reached a total of 53 points from 30 games – the same points total as reached in the entire 2018/19 campaign in the same division.
Wycombe: Allsop, McCarthy, Stewart, Charles, Jacobson, Thompson (sub 90 Ofoborh), Gape, Bloomfield (sub HT Freeman), Samuel, Akinfenwa (sub 69 Smyth), Wheeler – subs not used: Stockdale, Jomabti, Onyedimna, Pattison - Att: 5,769 (970 away)
Wycombe 3 Bristol Rovers 1 - @GasManCOTN - Twitter summary
400 GAMES IN CHARGE FOR GAZ
(Friday 7th February 2020)
Gareth Ainsworth hits another landmark in his Managerial career when he takes control of Wycombe Wanderers for the 400th time in a competitive First Team fixture as Bristol Rovers visit Adams Park on Saturday 8th February 2020. The landmark stat was revealed via the @GasManCOTN Twitter Feed before being picked up by official and national media previews of the game.
The Wycombe Manager had already become the longest serving Manager in Wanderers’ Football League history and in October 2019 became the current longest serving boss in the top four tiers of English football.
400 games in charage for Ainsworth - COTN special article
O'NEILL JOINS - 30 YEARS ON
(Friday 7th February 2020)
Friday 7th February 2020 marked the 25th anniversary of the day that Martin O'Neill was appointed as Wanderers' Manager. The Irishman stepped in following the 'resignation' of Jim Kelman and came after a three week hunt for a new boss at Loakes Park. Chairboys on The Net took a look back at the start of what would become an unprecidented period of success for the Club for the 25th anniversary.
25 years on - Martin O'Neill arrives - special feature
GOAL DROUGHT RECORD
(Saturday 1st February 2020)
Wanderers' run of failing to score away from home in the Football League was extended to 585 minutes of normal time following the 2-0 defeat at Milton Keynes and becomes the longest goal drought on the road for The Chairboys since joining the Football League in 1993. The previous Football League 'lean spells' had been 537 minutes on two occasions (February-April 1995 & October-December 1996). The next chance to end the record comes on Wycombe's first ever trip to play Bolton Wanderers on Saturday 15th February 2020.
MILTON KEYNES 2 WYCOMBE 0
(Saturday 1st February 2020)
Wanderers went down 2-0 at Milton Keynes following a frustrating afternoon at Stadium MK. The home side, managed by former Wanderer Russell Martin, were desperate for points to pull themselves clear of the relegation zone and made the vital breakthrough on 68 minutes when Rhys Healey tucker the ball in at the far post following a ball in from the left. Josh Parker came closest to leveller for Wycombe moments later but saw his flick from Jason McCarthy’s low cross go a fraction wide. The points were sealed for the home side with four minutes of normal time remaining when Ben Gladwin’s left footed strike from 25 yards bounced over the dive of David Stockdale in the Wycombe goal.
The result came after Gareth Ainsworth made three changes from the starting XI that had beaten Blackpool the previous Tuesday at Adams Park - Sido Jombati, Joe Jacobson and Curtis Thompson returning to the side in favour of Darius Charles, Jamie Mascoll and Matt Bloomfield. Meanwhile, Adebayo Akinfenwa was unavailable for Wanderers due to a pre-agreed media related trip to watch the Super-Bowl in Miami, USA.
Wycombe remained 2nd after the defeat at Milton Keynes but leaders Rotherham opened the gap to 3 points after beating Burton. Ipswich Town’s collapse continued with a 4-1 home defeat to Peterborough, who moved to 3rd spot.
Wycombe: Stockdale, Jacobson, Jombati, Gape (sub 87 Bloomfield), Stewart, Wheeler, Smyth (sub 69 Parker), Thompson, Freeman, Samuel (sub 74 Pattison), McCarthy- subs: Allsop, Mascoll, Phillips, Ofoborh - Att: 9,699 (1,834 away - Wycombe away following highest since QPR 2001)
Milton Keynes 2 Wycombe 0 - @GasManCOTN - Twitter summary
TEN YEARS FOR AINSWORTH
(Saturday 1st February 2020)
The 1st February 2020 marked the 10th anniversary of Gareth Ainsworth signing for Wycombe Wanderers on a permanent basis. Back in 2010 the then 36-year-old had originally joined Wanderers on loan from QPR in November 2009 - making two appearances before being injured. He was subsequently released by QPR and signed an 18 month deal with Wycombe under Manager Gary Waddock. Speaking to the press at the time of the deal, Ainsworth said: "I really wanted to come back. It was a no-brainer for me. When other clubs realised I was a free-agent there was some interest but I didn't want to speak to anyone else. I only wanted to come here and see it as unfinished business."

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