Fulham U23s

MANAGER Peter Grant

Blackburn Rovers U23s

Get in touch via Twitter @FulhamFC or on our Facebook page at facebook.com/fulhamfc

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OFFICIAL KIT SUPPLIEROFFICIAL CLUB SPONSOR

Fulham V

s. Blackburn Rovers | P

remier L

eague 2 Division

2 | Mon

day 15th A

ugust 2016

Match OfficialsReferee: A Quelch

Assistant Referees: D Berry

M Lucie

Fourth Official: T Marshall

Next Home Match

Aston Villa

Premier League 2 Division 2Monday 12th September 2016Kick-Off: 7pm

Fulham U23s Vs. Blackburn Rovers U23sPremier League 2 Division 2 | Monday 15th August 2016Kick-Off: 7pm

ISSUE

01 FREE

No. 01

Elijah Adebayo Larnell Cole Aron Davies Anthony Dolan Marlon Fossey Moritz Jenz Mattias Kait Mikolaj Kwietniewski Stephen Humphrys Foday Nabay (gk) Magnus Norman Jerome Opoku (gk) Marek Rodák (gk) Jake Soutter Ryheem Sheckleford Josh Smile Cassian Thomas Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson Josh Walker

LEAD COACH Damien Johnson

Ben Ascroft (gk) Josh Askew Jack Doyle Joe Grayson Andy Fisher (gk) Lewis Hardcastle Ramirez Howarth Tyler Magloire Lewis Mansell Connor Mahoney Ryan Nyambe Matthew Platt Joe Rankin-Costello Dean Rittenberg Connor Thomson Willem Tomlinson Lewis Travis Scott Wharton

Official Matchday Programme • Fulham U23s Vs. Blackburn Rovers U23s | 15•08•16 www.fulhamfc.com facebook.com/fulhamfc @fulhamfc

Under-23 FixturesMonday 15 August 201619:00 Vs. Blackburn (H)Craven CottageMonday 22 August 201619:00 Vs. West Brom (A)Aggborough, KidderminsterFriday 26 August 2016TBC Vs. Brighton (A) TBCMonday 12 September 201619:00 Vs. Aston Villa (H) Motspur ParkSaturday 17 September 201614:00 Vs. Stoke (A)bet365 Stadium, StokeMonday 26 September 201619:00 Vs. Norwich (H) Motspur ParkMonday 17 October 201618:30 Vs. Swansea (A)Landore Training Academy, SwanseaMonday 24 October 201619:00 Vs. Newcastle (H) Motspur ParkMonday 31 October 201619:00 Vs. Wolves (A) New Bucks Head, TelfordMonday 21 November 201619:00 Vs. Middlesbrough (A) TBCMonday 28 November 201619:00 Vs. West Ham (H) Motspur ParkMonday 12 December 201619:00 Vs. Brighton (H)Motspur ParkMonday 19 December 201619:00 Vs. Aston Villa (A) Bescot Stadium, WalsallMonday 9 January 201719:00 Vs. Stoke (H)Motspur ParkMonday 16 January 201713:30 Vs. Norwich (A)Colney Training Centre, NorwichMonday 30 January 201719:00 Vs. Swansea (H) Motspur ParkMonday 6 February 201719:00 Vs. Middlesbrough (H) Motspur ParkMonday 20 February 201719:00 Vs. West Ham (A)TBCMonday 6 March 201719:00 Vs. Blackburn (A) TBCMonday 13 March 201719:00 Vs. West Brom (H)Motspur ParkMonday 10 April 201719:00 Vs. Newcastle (A)Whitley Park, Newcastle

Monday 24 April 201719:00 Vs. Wolves (H) Motspur ParkAll

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2016/17 Premier League 2 Division 2 Table

Pos Team P W D L F A +/- Pts1 Aston Villa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Blackburn Rovers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 04 Fulham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Middlesbrough 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Newcastle United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Norwich City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Stoke City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Swansea City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 West Bromwich Albion 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 West Ham United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 012 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

G ood evening and welcome to Craven Cottage for tonight’s Under-23 encounter against Blackburn

Rovers. The newly created Under-23 Premier League replaces the Under-21 competition, although it retains the existing two division set-up.

Our Division 2 opponents this season are Aston Villa, Blackburn, Brighton & Hove Albion, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Stoke City, Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers. The league winners will be promoted automatically. Clubs finishing second to fifth will contest Play-Offs to decide a second promotion place.

In addition, teams will compete in the Premier League Cup, which this season will see an initial stage with 32 clubs competing in eight groups. The top two in each group move forward to the knockout phase. A number of clubs, including tonight’s opponents, will also take part in the EFL Trophy.

Last season Fulham finished in ninth place, just five points behind Blackburn in fifth. In all, some 48 players made league and cup appearances for the Whites, with Stephen Humphrys and Mattias Kait joint-top marksmen with five goals apiece.

The Whites competed in a number

of pre-season fixtures at Under-21 and Under-23 level, starting on 9th July with a 3-1 win at Sutton United. They then held AFC Bournemouth to a 2-2 draw and a week later won 2-1 at Queens Park Rangers’ academy. They completed their summer sharpeners with respective 1-0 and 4-3 defeats at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur.

Blackburn also had a mixed pre-season. Having started with a 4-0 win at Charnock Richard, they drew 2-2 at Bamber Bridge, before losing three successive games, including a 4-1 reverse at National League North side Stockport County. They returned to form with an emphatic 5-0 demolition of non-League AFC Darwen and completed pre-season with a 3-1 win at Trafford.

Rovers’ Under-23 side are managed by former Northern Ireland international Damien Johnson. He started his career at Ewood Park before a lengthy spell with Birmingham City. A number of players used in the pre-season games have already appeared in first-team action, including Namibia-born defender Ryan Nyambe and the versatile Connor Mahoney who can operate as a winger or up front.

Local-born defender Scott Wharton, an ever present at Under-21 level last season, and left-back Jack Doyle, have also have been given first-team squad numbers this term.

Other defensive options include centre-back Matthew Platt, who scored on his Under-21 debut against Wolves, and the versatile Lewis Travis who can also operate in midfield. Left-sided defender Josh Askew made 10 appearances at Under-21 level last season.

Another to compete for both defensive and midfield roles is Connor Thomson who signed in December 2014 from Carlisle United. Central midfielder Willem Tomlinson was part of the side which reached last season’s FA Youth Cup Semi-Final only to lose to Chelsea. Attacking midfielder Joe Rankin-Costello netted a hat-trick in the win over Darwen, whilst Lewis Hardcastle has returned to Ewood Park having been part of Salford City’s FA Cup run last season.

Up front, Rovers can call upon England Under-18 star Dean Rittenberg, who spent part of last season on loan at Chorley, and Ramirez Howarth. Lewis Mansell enjoyed an outstanding season last term with 23 goals across the academy sides.

Our next two Under-23 games are both away from home. Next Monday (7pm) we travel to Kidderminster to face West Brom. Four days later on Friday 26th August (7pm), Fulham visit the Amex Stadium to take on Brighton. Our next home fixture is on Monday 12th September (7pm) when the Whites host Aston Villa at Motspur Park.

Under-23sIn Development

î Peter Grant î Thorsteinsson

î Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson in action againstSutton United

î Foday Nabay î Elijah Adebayois congratulatedby Nabay afterputting Fulham infront at Sutton