IT’S THE HOTTEST TICKET IN TOON
THEY’VE been viral sensations off the pitch and joint-boss Chris Moore couldn’t be happier with the way Hanwell Town have handled the spotlight on it.
The Isthmian South Central Geordies have been getting plenty of love on social media from Newcastle United fans because of their Toon connections.
The club were formed by a group of railway workers from the north east and have featured on local TV in the area.
Earlier this season their twitter following exploded as Newcastle fans helped them become the most followed club in the division.
But with that has come added pressure and Moore, who manages alongside Wayne Carter, felt they handled it perfectly in Wednesday’s semi-final win at Bedfont Sports.
“There’s been a lot of interest in the club, obviously with Newcastle and the Geordie connection,” Moore told The NLP. “Social media and twitter has gone through the roof – we’ve had a few Newcastle fans travel down to watch us.
“It’s good because sometimes when that stuff is happening off the pitch you get a little added pressure on it to get the results in. So it’s been good to keep up with that with the performance on the pitch.
Platform
“The changing room was bouncing afterwards. The lads were over the moon, they loved it. They were all quick to come down afterwards and we spoke about plans for training straight after the game. They all want it as much as anyone.” Preparations quickly turned to today’s trip to Chertsey Town as Moore hailed the club’s committee for giving “little old Hanwell Town” the platform to thrive. “Our chairman (Bob Fisher) has been part of the club for over 60 years,” he said. “Just seeing the big smile on his face when we came off the pitch and how delighted he was. Then our president Dave (Iddiols) and chief executive Nigel Hunt, our vice president Dhali (Dhaliwal) and all the other committee members there, you could just see the big smiles on their faces.
“I spoke to Dhali before the game and he was a nervous wreck. Just being able to put smiles on their faces and thank them for what they’ve done for us, what they’ve given us and they’ve backed us to be up there, is good to see.” Former Dagenham & Redbridge striker Moore reckons he has the perfect partner in Carter.
“Lots of hard work goes into it,” Moore said. “We’re on the phone all the time. My missus and his missus go mad at the amount of time we spend on the phone to each other! They’re used to it now. And this is why we do it. We know what it takes.
“As players we’ve finished in play-offs and won them, so we kind of know what it takes to finish up there. It’s trying to instil that in your own players. That means lots of phone calls and plans. We’ve been on the phone all morning today getting ready for Sunday.”