Fleetlands forced to switch their opening Wessex League game against Andover New Street

The Coptermen were due to start a new challenge at step 6 next Tuesday at home to one of the Division 1 promotion favourites, Andover New Street.

New Street finished just a point behind champions Bemerton Heath last season, only to then crash 3-0 to Laverstock in the play-offs.

Ross Cook (33 goals) and Shane Lock (31) were both prolific, while former Gosport Borough attacker Mike Gosney and ex-Basingstoke Town forward George Hallahan boast a wealth of higher division experience.

The game was due to not only mark Fleetlands’ return to the Wessex for the first time since 2007; the club’s floodlights - installed last summer - were to be used for a competitive game for the first time.

But chairman Iain Sellstrom was told this morning that the lights had failed to meet new LUX requirements due to the fact they are being powered by a generator rather than via mains electricity.

As a result, the fixture has been switched to New Street’s ground instead.

‘It was a bit gutting,’ Sellstrom told The News. ‘We’ve been busy doing a lot of work at the ground all summer and we’ve fallen at the final hurdle.

‘We were all excited for the first game at home, we were all geared up for it - we were expecting a good crowd, it would have been good for finances, programmes had already been produced.

‘We’ve put in new changing rooms, put in barriers - the players have to be segregated from the fans as they come on and off the pitch.

‘We’ve laid new paths, we’ve cleaned up the dugouts.

‘We’ve done the bar up, we’ve got draught beer - though that wasn’t a Wessex requirement, it’s still nice!

The mains power should be installed by the time Fleetlands are due to host their second midweek home game, a cup tie at the end of this month.

Fleetlands boss Dan Greenwood has made a number of new signings - Jay Morris, ex-Hayling right-back Ben Metherell and Moneyfields centre half Stanlie Hopkins among them.

Morris will challenge Joe Boxall for the goalkeeper’s jersey, with Greenwood still undecided who will feature against New Street as ‘neither has done anything wrong in pre-season.’

Three players have come from Fareham Town - Kai Stearne, Callum Archer and Cameron Stone - while right-back Jack Farrier, who played for Chichester City’s first team last term, is the most recent new face.

Former Baffins attacker Callum Dart is permanently a Copterman now - he was dual signed in 2021/22 - while another ex-Wessex Premier regular, striker Mark Smith, is fully fit.

Smith - who struck 24 goals for Horndean in 2016/17 - belted a hat-trick in a pre-season win against Bosham.

George Gregory, who made a big impact after following Greenwood from Hayling United to Lederle Lane (now rebranded as Powder Monkey Park) last December, is another goal threat.

But strike pair Kelvin Robinson and Alpay Ali have linked up with higher tier Baffins, while ex-Baffins winger Callum Smith has also left the squad which finished third in last season’s HPL Senior Division.

Robinson fired 19 goals in just 13 league starts last term, while Ali - once of Gosport Borough - struck nine times in 13 league outings.

Fleetlands will need all the players they can get. A higher level of the pyramid equals more games, and Greenwood’s squad have eight extra league matches in 2022/23 compared to last term.

There are also extra cup ties, with the Coptermen hosting divisional rivals Downton or higher tier Bemerton in an FA Vase tie in September.

Before that, they have two home ties with Premier Division Blackfield & Langley - one in the Wessex League Cup and the other in the Hampshire Senior Cup.

‘It’s really exciting,’ said Greenwood. ‘I can’t wait to get started and I know the club can’t either.

‘Our first target will purely be to stay up. I’m confident we will be ok, and we’ve got higher targets, but first and foremost we still want to be in the Wessex next season.’