On the eve of the new season, The Woolpack FC are looking in much better condition than this time last season. With only 2 games under their back and a sense of misguided confidence they went into their first season under strength and lacking in experience, but they won't make that mistake this year. After playing 7 friendly matches and signing 12 new players they are in a much better position to begin a season. The talk of winning the league has not been mentioned and won't be until the results begin coming in. With the first 4 league games against 2 new sides, the Wellington who were beaten 5-1 home and away last season, and close rivals Field Head, 6 points should be achieved from. If this target is met the mid-table finish set out by the management could be a realistic aim, but who knows, they could get 12 points!

Friendlies
The first game was a training match verse Cowshed Loyal at Almondbury Rec. With a few players in new positions the Woolpack came out with a 2-1 win, coming from 1-0 down. Nathan Adams had a fine game, playing defence, midfield and upfront, where he scored the winner.
The first test came against Saturday side Waterloo FC, formerly the Stag. With a mix of first teamers and reserves it was a good side but The Woolpack managed to beat them comfortably 5-1. Dean Arnold played his first game as captain and was awarded man of the match for a solid performance at the back, both keepers, Andy Battye and Richard Kirby, had fine games, Scott Dawson showed he still has an eye for goal with a hat-trick, and Daniel Farrand had a blinder playing out wide.
Only a couple of days later The Woolpack played Kirkheaton Sunday League team and again turned out an impressive result, beating them 5-0, keeping their first ever clean sheet. With plenty of new players on show The Woolpack looked very creative, and after Adam Linford opened the scoring, it was new boys Ross Hawkyard and Ben Fox who grabbed a brace each.
This early form created a bit of over confidence as the wins ended and 4 defeats followed, although all were very tight games with very good performances. Firstly Net Terriers won 4-3 as they did last season in a friendly. It was hard to work out how they won with the dominance that the Woolpack had but the Terriers held out. Then a thriller against top Saturday side Aimbry ended 6-5, despite being 5-1 down at half time.
Then two games against Kirklees Sunday League sides followed starting with a 2-0 defeat to Woodfield Park and a 2-1 beating by Waterloo. Both fine performances deserved much more.

Players In:
Ross Hawkyard, Ritchie Hawkyard, Richard Kirby, Kev Beatty, Ben Fox, Sean Cosgrove, Aaron Bailey, Scott Newburn, Anthony Whitehead, Tom Crowther, Malcolm Gill, Dave Ginty

Players Out:
Matt Kelly, Jordan McMillan, Jordan Ramsden-Reilly, Andy Anderson, Ben Burhouse, Phil Rodgerson, Oliver Dyson, David Cross, Shane Beaumont, Tommy Hargreaves, Marcus Harrison, Steve Lockwood

2009/10 Squad
1 Andrew Battye
2 Zac Stanger
3 Calum Campbell
4 Will Herbert
5 James Turpin
6 Sean Cosgrove
7 Ben Fox
8 Daniel Farrand
9 Scott Dawson
10 Nathan Adams
11 Chris Lockwood
12 Richard Kirby
13 Jonathan Eke
14 Ross Hawkyard
15 Dan Martin
16 Rob Bailey
17 Adam Linford
18 Aaron Bailey
19 Ritchie Hawkyard
20 Tim Dyson
21 Ian Kilroy
22 Luke Stanger
23 Dean Arnold
24 Bradley Ransden-Reilly
25 Malcolm Gill
26 Kev Beatty
27 Scott Newburn
28 Tom Crowther
29 Jack Dyson
30 Anthony Whitehead
31 Dave Ginty