Hype Train Football Club: 2024/25 Season Review

Welcome aboard the home of Hype Train Football Club. Here, you can read an in-depth review of our 6th season as a football club, with the team competing in the East Berkshire Football League (EBFL) for the 2024/25 season. All aboard.

East Berkshire Football League (EBFL) Season Review:

For the first time since the 2020/21 season, Hype Train FC competed in EBFL Division One following on from relegation from the Premier Division in the 2023/24 campaign, with the squad in need of a rebuild after a small squad limped us across the line across the campaign, without really having a settled squad of players necessary to be consistent enough to compete. The summer would see The Train unfortunately have to fold our Sunday League outfit in the Reading & District Sunday League, though a positive period of recruitment would see us bring in a committed and good set of players to help us stabilise and prioritise our EBFL campaign in Division One.

An early start in August 2024 would see us play at our new home pitch of Waingels College, moving to an artificial pitch from our previous grass pitch at Calcot Recreation Ground. We'd go on to start the season strong, winning our opening 4 games in Division One, notably downing a strong FC Bracknell outfit 6-5 on the opening day, which is arguably game of the season in the East Berks League.

Cup football would take focus from October onwards, with the squad excelling in cup competition, particularly in the Slough Town Junior Cup. Our first time in the historic cup would see us reach the Junior Cup final, beating Eton Wick (1-1, 7-6 on penalties), Langley FC U18's (3-2) and Taplow United Swans (4-2), all on home soil, setting up a showpiece event against FC Bracknell at Slough Town FC's Arbour Park on Wednesday 23rd April 2025. Bracknell were reinstated to the competition after their semi-final opponents were removed for fielding a brace of ineligible players. The final was a proud moment for the team as we made a good account of ourselves, though we would fall to a narrow 2-1 defeat on the day, though we would have a near immediate opportunity to redeem the loss.

Another drastically different route to a second cup final would see the club return to the EBFL Presidents Cup final, a cup that we first won during the 2021/22 season after beating AFC Cressex in a thriller at Burnham FC's 1878 Stadium. Our route would see the club bizarrely not win a match enroute to the final against Old Windsor FC Reserves on Friday 25th April 2025, just 2 days removed from the Slough Town Junior Cup final, though our involvement in the final was by no means our concern. After a first round loss, The Train were reinstated as Slough Heating FC Reserves and Bracknell Aces both fielded suspended players, which reinstated us to a direct semi-final against Barton Rovers. Our semi-final would then not take place as Barton folded their team as they didn't have enough to raise a squad. As for the final itself, the squad would prevail 4-1 against Old Windsor thanks to goals from Conall Gorman, Nadim Gharabli, and a brace of penalties from Phil Newport.

As for our EBFL Division One campaign, a trio of clubs folded throughout the season - Berks Elite, Real Saracens, and Barton Rovers - which did help to mess up the league table, as well as the club having to have voided league outings against Slough Heating Reserves and Old Windsor. We were still able to play a total of 20 league games and finished within the top 4 of the league on the final day after denying FC Bracknell second spot in Division One after a 4-2 away win at Ascot United's Racecourse Ground on 24th May 2025. A still highly commendable league season for ourselves, particularly with a new and developing group of players, though the bulk of our attention would ultimately lay with our involvement in multiple cup finals that would go on to secure our second trophy as a club with our Presidents Cup victory.

Hype Train FC - 2024/25 Friendly Schedule:

1) Sun 21/07/2024 - Pre-Season: Berks United Royals 1-6 Hype Train FC

2) Sat 03/08/2024 - Pre-Season: Harchester Hawks 3-7 Hype Train FC

3) Sat 10/08/2024 - Pre-Season: Barton Rovers 3-2 Hype Train FC

Hype Train FC - 2024/25 Season Schedule:

1) Sat 17/08/2024 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 6-5 FC Bracknell

2) Sat 31/08/2024 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 5-2 Taplow United Swans

3) Sat 07/09/2024 - EBFL Division One: Eton Wick FC 3-7 Hype Train FC

4) Sun 08/09/2024 - RDSL Division Two: Hype Train FC 2-3 Burghfield FC 'A'

5) Sat 14/09/2024 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 4-3 Real Saracens

6) Sat 21/09/2024 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 3-3 Berks Elite FC

7) Sat 28/09/2024 - BBFA David Grainge Trophy (R1): Hype Train FC A-A Old Windsor FC Reserves (abandoned)

8) Sat 05/10/2024 - EBFL Division One: Barton Rovers 1-2 Hype Train FC

9) Sat 12/10/2024 - Slough Town Junior Cup (R1): Hype Train FC 1-1 Eton Wick FC (Hype Win 7-6 on penalties)

10) Sat 26/10/2024 - EBFL Presidents Cup (R1): Hype Train FC 0-2 Slough Heating FC Reserves (Hype restored to competition due to Slough fielding suspended players in the latter round)

11) Sat 02/11/2024 - EBFL League Cup (R1): FC Bracknell 8-1 Hype Train FC

12) Sat 09/11/2024 - BBFA David Grainge Trophy (R1): Hype Train FC 2-2 Old Windsor FC Reserves (Windsor win 9-8 on penalties)

13) Sat 23/11/2024 - Slough Town Junior Cup (Last 8): Hype Train FC 3-2 Langley FC U18's

14) Sat 14/12/2024 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 0-1 Prospect FC

15) Sat 11/01/2025 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 2-6 Slough Heating FC Reserves

16) Sat 18/01/2025 - EBFL Division One: Real Saracens 0-7 Hype Train FC

17) Sat 25/01/2025 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 3-1 Barton Rovers

18) Sat 01/02/2025 - Ascot & Fielden Charity Cup (R1): Old Windsor FC Reserves 4-1 Hype Train FC

19) Sat 08/02/2025 - Slough Town Junior Cup (Last 4): Hype Train FC 4-2 Taplow United Swans

20) Sat 15/02/2025 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 7-4 Bracknell Aces

21) Sat 22/02/2025 - EBFL Division One: Caversham United 0-3 Hype Train FC

22) Sat 01/03/2025 - EBFL Division One: HKRG United 0-9 Hype Train FC

23) Sat 08/03/2025 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 1-3 Caversham United

24) Sat 15/03/2025 - EBFL Division One: Bracknell Aces 4-0 Hype Train FC

25) Sat 22/03/2025 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 8-1 HKRG United

26) Sat 29/03/2025 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 2-2 Eton Wick FC

27) Wed 09/04/2025 - EBFL Division One: Prospect FC 3-2 Hype Train FC

28) Sat 12/04/2025 - EBFL Division One: Hype Train FC 6-3 Old Windsor FC Reserves

29) Wed 23/04/2025 - Slough Town Junior Cup (Final): FC Bracknell 2-1 Hype Train FC

30) Fri 25/04/2025 - EBFL Presidents Cup (Final): Old Windsor FC Reserves 1-4 Hype Train FC

31) Sat 10/05/2025 - EBFL Division One: Taplow United Swans 2-6 Hype Train FC

32) Sat 24/05/2025 - EBFL Division One: FC Bracknell 2-4 Hype Train FC

Thoughts from Club Owner, Robert Austin about the 2024/25 season:

"I can only start by reviewing our season by thanking our players, both new and existing, for helping to stabilise and grow the club after a few really tricky years where we existed on soft ground. From month-to-month we have gone from strength to strength and have internally evolved on the pitch as we have gotten used to playing on a much larger artificial pitch, compared to our previous tiny grass pitch. For the group to get to several cup finals, and be competitive in most league games, speaks volumes to their ability and value to the cause for us to rebound with a top season, and myself and Sam that run the club are so happy with everyone's contributions, no matter how small or large. It wasn't a perfect season by any means, but life isn't perfect, and we had some off days that goes along with the good, and weren't shy about highlighting that to the squad as we looked to learn and grow together.

To win a second trophy really put the feather in the cap of what has ultimately been an unforgettable season for us in many ways. For all the hard work and the fight, the team have showed, they deserve all the plaudits for returning the Presidents Cup to the club. Personally, this victory was for a truly nice and competitive bunch of players and friends who have really come together to fulfil what they deserve - and I can't wait for what is to come next season and beyond as we continue to push forward.

I'd like to end by thanking some of the club volunteers who have supported myself and the team in a major way. Our Committee members, Jon Watkins and Owen Jones, have been integral for moving things forward in a constructive way, whilst Walid Zaky has supported the club in so many ways, particularly around our cup finals, and to Paige Alexander who is a constant support for the team on matchdays and with our club media.

There are also a large group of players who have spoken to me honestly and openly to help move the squad in a positive direction, to which I am ever grateful. Chris Berry at Harchester Hawks who brought forward the plans to play at Waingels is also a factor in our upturn this past season, and other supportive club officials from within the EBFL Committee who were a constant support to ourselves and the league itself deserve all the praise for running a local football league to a high standard - the league officers deal with a lot, and have handled themselves exceptionally, in order to run the league fairly and competitively.

Again, thank you to the players and volunteers and particularly my brother Sam, for keeping my sane this past year. Here's to a top 2025/26 season and thank you to everyone for believing in our project, it means the world to us."

Top Goalscorers & Assists - 2024/25 Season:

Goals (107):

23 - Phil Newport

10 - Mitchell Saunders

8 - Ashley Rockall

8 - Luke Follington

8 - Nadim Gharabli

7 - Ilyas Abdulwahab

6 - Mark Bush

5 - Connor Anderson

4 - Ciaran Carolan

3 - Christian Freemantle

3 - Manny Cudjoe

3 - Obeydah Abdulwahab

3 - Shay Edwards

2 - Anwar Mmanga

2 - Brad Burles-Nash

2 - Geo Awuah

2 - Lucas Coe

2 - Padraig Gorman

1 - Conall Gorman

1 - Emmanuel Boateng

1 - Jon Watkins

1 - Jordi Ebanda

1 - Nick Parfitt-Bowers

1 - Tom Dalgarno

Assists (94):

13 Goals had no assist

16 - Phil Newport

7 - Manny Cudjoe

7 - Ilyas Abdulwahab

7 - Mitchell Saunders

6 - Conall Gorman

6 - Ciaran Carolan

5 - Mark Bush

5 - Lucas Coe

4 - Anwar Mmanga

4 - Nadim Gharabli

2 - Chris Marshall

2 - Connor Anderson

2 - Luke Follington

2 - Obeydah Abdulwahab

2 - Shay Edwards

1 - Ajuyah Akatomisan

1 - Ashley Rockall

1 - Brad Burles-Nash

1 - Callum Parr-Jones

1 - Eme Boateng

1 - Geo Awuah

1 - Jamie Halsall

1 - Jenson Mansel

1 - Jon Watkins

1 - Kie Longmate

1 - Kishawn Dorman

1 - Leo Pereira

1 - Nick Parfitt-Bowers

1 - Nathan Mindomba

1 - Tyrese Weekes

1 - Tom Dalgarno

1 - Padraig Gorman

Club Statistics - 2024/25 Season:

Multiple Cup Finals: For the first time, Hype Train qualified for multiple cup finals. We lost 2-1 in the Slough Town Junior Cup final against FC Bracknell on 23/04/25, then on 25/04/25 we won the EBFL Presidents Cup final 4-1 against Old Windsor FC Reserves.

Home Route to the Slough Town Junior Cup Final: The club's entire route to the Slough Town Junior Cup final saw the club play on home soil at Waingels College.. In the first round be beat Eton Wick on penalties, before a 3-2 home win over Langley FC U18's in the quarter-finals, before toppling Taplow United Swans 4-2 in the semi-final. Our final against FC Bracknell was played at Slough Town FC's Arbour Park, meaning that all 4 rounds of the competition were played on artificial pitches, also a first for the club.

Free Pass to the EBFL Presidents Cup Final: Unlike our path to the Slough Town Junior Cup final, the club did not win a single match enroute to the final. Bracknell Aces and Slough Heating FC Reserves who played in the latter round of the competition were both removed from the competition for fielding suspended players. This reinstated us at Hype Train to the semi-finals. Our opponents, Barton Rovers, then forfeited the semi-final as they didn't have enough available or eligible players. This meant our 4-1 win over Old Windsor FC Reserves was our only win in the competition.

Lone Ranger: Jon Watkins is the only player in Hype Train history that have scored in all 6 of our seasons as a club, with his lone goal during the 2024/25 season arriving in the Ascot & Fielden Charity Cup away at Old Windsor FC Reserves.

Most Games vs. One Opposition in a Single Season: Over the course of our 32 games during the 24/25 season, for the first time we faced one team 5 times. We played Old Windsor FC Reserves in 4 cup matches and 1 league match. We had one game abandoned against Windsor, and had our away league game voided.

First Abandoned Game: Our 206th game as a club saw Hype Train host Old Windsor FC Reserves in the first round of the Berks & Bucks FA's David Grainge Trophy on 28th September 2024, a county cup competition featuring teams outside the Premier Division's of grassroots leagues. The home encounter at Waingels College saw the game abandoned after 13 minutes when a visiting player was sent off for making verbal threats, which led to the referee calling the game off for his own safety. This was the first time we have ever had a game stopped and abandoned, and was a fixture that was later replayed.

Longest Penalty Shootout: The replay of our BBFA David Grainge Trophy encounter against Old Windsor FC Reserves was on 9th November 2024 and resulted in our 4th penalty shootout in 6 years, and was the first time that all 22 players that ended the game took a penalty. The visitors prevailed 9-8 on the day to advance to the next round of the competition.

100th Appearance in a Cup Final: Jon Watkins became just the 4th player to reach 100 appearances for Hype Train and just so happened to reach the milestone during the club's 4-1 win in the EBFL Presidents Cup final against Old Windsor FC Reserves on 25th April 2025. Watkins joins Robert Austin, Phil Newport, and Joe Sawyer, on reaching triple digit appearances.

First Player to 100 Competitive Goals: The Train's leading scorer, Phil Newport, became the first player to score 100 competitive goals in 2024. Starting the season on 91 goals, Newport scored his 100th vs. Burghfield FC 'A' on Sunday 8th September 2024.

Goals in Every Game: Hype Train were not involved in a single 0-0 draw throughout our 32 competitive games during the 24/25 season. This means that we have now gone 3 successive seasons without a goalless draw.

Goals in 29/32 Games: The Train were only shutout 3 times across the season, with Prospect (1-0 loss) the only home league loss without the team scoring, whilst Bracknell Aces (4-0 loss) was our only away shutout. The only game was a 2-0 home loss to Slough Heating Reserves in the Presidents Cup, which was later upgraded to a home walkover win.

3.34 Goals-per-game Average: With 107 goals scored, the squad averaged 3.34 goals-per-game, whilst we scored 3 or more goals in 18 of our 32 games.

How did we score our goals?: Across our 107 goals, we scored a total of 96 open play goals, 9 penalty kicks, and 2 free kicks. Our lone Saturday League free-kick was scored by Lucas Coe against Barton Rovers in a 2-1 victory at Theale Green School.

Earliest Start Date: The team's 6-5 home win over FC Bracknell in EBFL's Division One on Saturday 17th August 2024 was the earliest we have started a league campaign in our 6 seasons.

Most Goals in a Game: Both home outings against the two Bracknell outfits, FC Bracknell and Bracknell Aces, resulting in both games having an unrivalled 11 goals in each league game. Our opening game of the season saw a 6-5 home win over FC Bracknell, whilst on 15th February 2025 the squad beat Bracknell Aces 7-4 on home soil.

Hat-Trick Heroes: The club managed a total of 5 hat-tricks during the 2024/25 season, which is 8 fewer than the 23/24 season, and 11 fewer than our record of 16 trebles amassed during the 2021/22 season. Phil Newport managed 3/5 hat-tricks, whilst Luke Follington and Ashley Rockall also registered hat-tricks for the first time.

First Defender to Score a Hat-Trick: Ashley Rockall became the first defender to register a hat-trick for the club when he netted 4 times in an 8-1 home win over HKRG United in EBFL Division One on 22nd March 2025. Rockall scored one goal from outside the area, a goal inside the six-yard-box, a penalty kick, as well as a header.

600th Competitive Goal: During the team's 8-1 home win against HKRG United in EBFL Division One, we scored our 600th competitive goal, with Ashley Rockall scoring the milestone goal. This goal from Rockall came from the penalty spot after Manny Cudjoe was pushed in the back inside the penalty area, which also sealed Rockall's hat-trick.

50th Competitive Home Win: Our 3rd home match of the 24/25 season saw Hype Train beat Real Saracens 4-3 at Waingels College on 14th September 2024. This victory was our 50th competitive home win on home soil.

50th Competitive Away Win: Our penultimate match of the 24/25 season saw Hype Train win 6-2 away from home at Taplow United Swans on 10th May 2025, our 3rd win against Taplow this season, which was also our 50th competitive away win as a club.

10+ Player Appearances Record: For the time in 6 seasons, we have managed to end the campaign with 21 players who have registered 10 or more appearances throughout a season in Saturday League. Of our 32 matches, Anwar Mmanga and Mitchell Saunders both managed 29 appearances, the most in the squad.

A Trio of Clean Sheets: The Train managed 3 clean sheets throughout the 24/25 season, and back-to-back clean sheets for only the 4th time in our history. A brace of away wins at Caversham United (3-0 win, 22/02/25) and HKRG United (9-0 win, 01/03/25) is the first time since December 2022 that we have managed clean sheets in back-to-back games.

3G Pitches > Grass Pitches: For the first time, we played a majority of our matches on artificial pitches throughout the 2024/25 season. Of our 32 matches, 20 were played on 3G pitches, whilst 12 were played on grass. We played 17 of our 20 3G matches at Waingels College, then our final trio of 3G games were all played at non-league grounds: Arbour Park (Slough Town FC), 1878 Stadium (Burnham FC), and The Racecourse Ground (Ascot United).

Presidents Cup Veterans: Excluding Manager, Robert Austin, who managed the team from the sidelines in our 2025 Presidents Cup final, there were 4 players to have played in both our 2022 and 2025 cup winning sides - Jamie Halsall, Chris Marshall, Jon Watkins and Phil Newport - with all 4 starting the 2025 final. Phil Newport has also scored in both finals, making him the only player at the club to score in multiple cup finals.

First Goal in a Final: After appearing for the team 21 times prior to our Presidents Cup final victory over Old Windsor FC Reserves, on his 22nd appearance, Conall Gorman would score his first goal for the club in the showpiece event, a first goal in adult football for the teenager in a cup final victory.

Want to know more about The Hype Train?

The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015, specialising in general football and Fantasy sports reporting, starting with Fantasy Premier League (FPL), before expanding to MLS Fantasy coverage in 2018. We pride ourselves in providing beautiful graphics, statistics, in-depth analytical reporting and free weekly insight for hopeful FPL players attempting to climb rankings tables.

In 2019, Hype Train Football Club was formed, becoming the first Fantasy Football website to take to the field. HTFC is a socially active team across social and web channels, providing regular match highlights, match reports, comprehensive player statistics and unique player profiles. We won both Goal of the Season Awards in the Berkshire and County FA regions, with Callum Parr-Jones winning the Berks & Bucks FA award, whilst Martin King won the PlaySport UK award.

In 2021, we formed the Reading Sunday Social League (RSSL), a competitive Sunday League involving 8 teams in its debut season. During the 2021/22 season, we won our first-ever trophy, lifting the East Berkshire Football League's Presidents Cup. During the 2024/25 season, the club won the Presidents Cup for a second time.

The Hype Train were nominated and shortlisted for the 'Best Football Blog' in 2016 by the Football Bloggers Association at their annual Football Blogging Awards (The FBA's), and were again shortlisted as a finalist in 2019 in the 'Best Fantasy Football Blog' category.

You can follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, follow Hype Train FC on Instagram, subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive content, visit our club's dedicate website, or visit our website here at www.thehypetrain.co.uk

Believe The Hype!