Last time out on Saturday 9th December FC Isle of Man suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Barnoldswick Town in the NWCFL Premier Division at The Bowl, with relentless rain and severe gusts intensifying the challenge. Last weekend was a rare weekend off for the Ravens with the scheduled game vs Charnock Richard postponed to due their involvement in cup fixtures with take precedent over league fixtures.
You can hear the post match interview and highlights from the Barnoldswick Town game below and the match report is available here.
Having just past the midway point in the season approaches, we sat down with Chairperson Gillian Christian and Manager Paul Jones on Monday for a short podcast followed by a Q&A session! You can watch that back below!
Turning our attentions to this week, it is a rare Friday Night Football at The Bowl as the Ravens welcome Colne FC. Colne have had an impressive season so far and come into the game in good form having only last one of the last six games leading to a position of 5th in the form table compared to 15th position for the Ravens. Colne most recently played on Saturday vs Padiham, a game which ended 1-1.
Looking at the league table it is extremely close between the two sides with the Ravens sitting in 12th place with 33 points having played 24 games. This compares to 35 points for Colne who are in 8th position in the league table having played one more game than the Ravens.
Squad News
The squad news for the game this evening is in! The Ravens have made four changes from the squad that faced Barnoldswick Town last time out. Jamie Corlett, Charlie Higgins, Eoghain Sherrard & Dan Simpson all drop out with Blake Henwood, Jack Higgins, Phil Kelly and Furo Davies all coming into the squad.
- Jacob Crook
- Furo Davies
- Sean Doyle
- Tiernan Garvey
- Danny Gerrard
- Blake Henwood
- Jack Higgins
- Frank Jones
- Phil Kelly
- Alex Maitland
- Dean Pinnington
- Callum Sherry
- Kyle Watson
- Michael Williams
- Stephen Whitley
- Ben Wilkinson
The history of our opposition (Colne FC)
Colne F.C. were formed in January 1996, by a group of like-minded people under the wing of now Life President Dave Blacklock. The enthusiasts combined their strengths and knowledge of non-league football, and arrangements were made for a new club to use the vacant Holt House Stadium, once used by the Dynamoes in the North West Counties Football League Division Two.
Colne FC’s first ever competitive game was on the 17th August 1996 against Middlewich and the result ended in a 1 – 0 defeat.
More recently the 22/23 season, was one to forget for the reds, despite the optimism from a promising pre-season, the club ended up in turmoil at the end of August as Ryan Haigh stepped down as chairman and principle sponsor. The club approached two local businessmen, Glenn Stock and Darren Harrison, and within a matter of days they were announced as the clubs new Co-Chair.
Trouble off the pitch led to trouble on the pitch and as the new year started results were pulling Colne closer and closer to the drop. Following a number of dismal results, the club had no other option than to sack manager Phil Brown, and former Burnley player Paul Weller was appointed interim manager.
Sadly, the job of keeping the reds at step 4 was too much for Weller, and the reds were relegated on the final game of the season back to the NWCFL.
Read more about the history of Colne in our matchday programme.
Game Day
If it is your first time watching the Ravens or you have have travelled to the Island to watch the game this evening (welcome!), we have everything covered below in terms of the game day details!
FC Isle of Man’s home stadium “The Bowl” is based in our capital Douglas.
The pitch is a 3G surface and there are seats for up to 3,500 spectators, including a viewing platform for disabled users.
Getting here
Just a twenty minute walk from central Douglas, there is car parking on site and many bus services drop off on Peel Road, just a minute’s walk from the ground.
Address
The Bowl
Peel Road
Douglas
Isle of Man
IM2 1AD
What 3 Words
///rates.bunks.spine
Gates to the ground will open at 6:30pm ahead of the 7:30pm kick off. We have two entrances, one at the main car park (Gate A) and another at the National Sports Centre end of the ground (Gate B).
We operate a strict no alcohol policy at The Bowl. If you are looking to meet up with fellow fans pre-match a number of supporters usually head to The Pinewood Social Club. This is open to both home and away fans.
Tickets
Tickets are available from TicketCo here and will also be available at the ground where cash or card is accepted. We do encourage purchasing your tickets online to avoid any delays getting into the ground.
| General Admission | £10.00 |
| Concession (Ages 12-16, Students / Over 60s / Disabled) | £5.00 |
| Junior (Ages 5-11) | £3.00 |
| Child (Under 5) | Free |
Matchday Programme
Our brilliant programme editor Manuela Swiatek along with The Ravens 12th Man put in a lot of work each week to deliver a high standard match day programme. The programmes printed locally by BHW Printgroup and are priced at just £2. They are available from both entrances as well as The Pinewood Social Club and this week in the programme we cover:
- A welcome from Lee Dixon
- Thoughts from manager Paul Jones
- History of Colne FC
- Meet Opposition Manager Paul Weller
- Blake Henwood, Player Profile
- IFGL Quiz
- and much more
You can of course receive a FREE digital programme each week by becoming a Ravens Official Supporter. More details on that can be found here.
A pound for the ground & golden goal
To help raise money for the club we run two competitions on game day and it is your chance to support the club whilst being in with the chance of winning some money! Cash or card is taken for both and tickets can be purchased from the merchandise table.
Golden Goal
Each ticket for golden goal costs just £2 and contains a concealed minute, if the goal is scored in the minute you have then you have won! The winner will be announced over the PA when the first goal of the game is scored. The winner will receive £90!
A Pound for the Ground
New to FC Isle of Man and currently on a trial basis is a pound for the ground! The tickets are just £1 each and the winner takes 40% of sales. This operates like a tombola, where for each £1 you get a ticket with a unique number on. It is then drawn from the Ravens tombola box at half time.
Merchandise
The Isle of Man Welcome Centre which is located in the Sea Terminal on Douglas Promenade are our current only stockists of FC Isle of Man Merchandise and stock a greater range than what is available at the game.
Their opening hours are:
- Thursday 21st December – 8am until 6pm
- Friday 22nd December – 8am until 5:30pm
- Saturday 23rd December – 8am until 4pm
Catering
We will have both Douglas Pizza Company and Prep Fresh at the ground on Saturday to keep you watered and fed! Douglas Pizza Company will be offering hot dogs, tea, coffee and confectionary. Prep Fresh will be offering brisket baps, tea, coffee and confectionary.
Please do support them.
Santa
Thanks to our community sponsor IFGL, the main man himself (Father Christmas) will be at the game on Friday night!
Visit him from 6:30pm onwards 🎅🏻
Christmas Hats
Manx Telecom, our headline sponsor will be providing match going fans with Manx Telecom Christmas hats on a first come first served basis to get everyone in to the Christmas spirit. In a select amount of Christmas hats they will be giving away gift vouchers and mobile phone credit, so make sure you get yourself to the ground early to be in with the chance of winning!
Staying up to date with the game
We would love to welcome you to The Bowl but if you can’t make it due to other commitments or not being on the Island, don’t worry we have you covered!
Live Stream
Our live stream is available to purchase for just £6 or £4 if you are an Official Supporter. That can be purchased here.
Social Media
Our media team will also have you covered with a running text commentary on X with the half time & full time score also being published on Facebook & Instagram. They will also have a pre-match interview with Paul Jones & a player followed by a post-match interview with Paul Jones. These can all be watched on YouTube, make sure to subscribe to the official FC Isle of Man channel to be notified on all new videos!
We look forward to welcome you to The Bowl on Friday
