There will be live updates from istatonline.com from tonights match with Waterford Kick off 7.45pm

iSTAT Committee wish to inform supporters of Athlone Town FC that they will no longer be operating the club shop, and they will no longer be operating  within any capacity within the club stadium.  These decsions were taken at an iSTAT Committeee meeting held on Monday 26th July.  The committee of Athlone Town FC were informed of these decisions at a meeting which took place on Tuseday 27th July.

The reasons for these decisions being taken are based on 4 key points.

1. iSTAT Committee strongly felt that they were being taken for granted by the club, and were being viewed as just another facet of the club committee itself.
2. iSTAT committee can no longer support the direction, or lack of direction, which the club is taking from a football point of view.
3. iSTAT committee feel that the recent treatment of certain players and coaching staff has been very unproffessional, and at times has been totally disrespectful to the individuals concerned.
4. iSTAT committee felt that our independence was being compromised, and that we were losing sight of our original plan.

While we are saddened that we  have had to take such action, we have have absolutely no regrets about it.  We could no longer stand by silently and participate within the club when we were clearly unhappy with a number of things happening.  iSTAT was originally founded with concrete aims and objectives, and the strong feeling was that we were losing sight of these.

At the end of the day we are fore-mostly a group of supporters, and while up to now we have maintained a dignified silence we felt enough was enough, and we had to take some action to represent ourselves.  As like the majority of supporters we have become disillusioned and dismayed at the current situation the club finds itself in.

We fully acknowledge that every person involved in the club is giving their absolute best, and putting in huge time and huge efforts, but it has to be accepted that current happenings can no longer be suffered.

The majority of supporters of the club now feel totally disenchanted, and I don’t believe it is wrong to say the supporters feel their views count for nothing at this stage.  Ultimately, as a supporters trust we fully align ourselves with the majority of supporters, and we feel that ceasing to operate within the club itself is an important step to show that we share the views of the majority of supporters.

Over recent times we have remained dignified and respectful in our dealings with the club committee, management and players, and hope that our efforts and support can never be questioned or undermined by anyone.

Most importantly, as a supporters trust we will be remaining fully active within the local community, and with the recent successes of our school blitz and our involvement in the John Gately Memorial Shield we believe that we have a strong role to play in promoting football in the local community.  Plans are currently underway to host a 16 team school blitz in September, and a number of iSTAT members will be undertaking Kick Start 1 and Kick Start 2 coaching courses with the intention of helping local schools with coaching.

Finally, on a personal note, I want to express my gratitude to other members of the iSTAT committee, memebers of iSTAT and all people who have assisted me over recent times, and the goodwill we have recieved from people has been a tremendous driving force.

John Tiernan Jnr

iSTAT Chairman

There will be live updates from tonights (20 July) friendly with Port Vale.  Micky Adams brings his squad over to Lissywoollen and should face stiff opposition from an Athlone Town team who drew 1-1 with Middlesbrough Last Night.  Click Here for the updates or use the menu at the top of the istat website.

There will be live updates available from ntonights Airtricity League Division 1 match between Longford Town and Athlone.  After a busy few days in the transfer market there could possibly be a couple of debutants in the Athlone Town Line Up.  Click here to view the updates or click on live updates on the menu above.

I really enjoyed my time at the club and was honoured to be club captain. The fans around the place are fantastic, and I am not just saying that, they truly are. I did not want to leave the club but that is football I suppose. I just hope the fans seen that I was there trying to help the club build something.

iSTAT would like to wish Chris the best of luck I the future.

Skelly says he is staying put.

With the inevitable rumour mill in overdrive this time of year. iSTAT decided to contact fans favourite Austin Skelly to see what his plans are for the rest of the season and whether he would be moving on to pastures new. Austin took a minute away from his busy schedule and gave us the following statement, we are sure the Town fans will be delighted with what he had to say.

Austin Skelly is going nowhere, I love the fans and the club too much and will continue to fight for my place in the team for the remainder of the season.

iSTAT will be hosting the Athlone Town FC qualifying round of the Airtricity Penalty Kick Competition, in the Athlone Town Stadium at 3pm on Friday, 16th July.  The top four on the day will go forward to the Athlone Town FC final to be held at half time of the upcoming friendly versus Post Vale on Tuesday the 20th July.

The competition gives one inividual the chance to represent Athlone Town FC in the North Leinster regional final, which takes place on Friday, 26th July in Drogheda, during half-time of the Drogheda United – Sligo Rovers League game.

The winners of the regional finals will then go forward to the final stage which will take place during the Airtricity League Selection v Manchester United FC match, being played in the Aviva Stadium in August.

The competition is open to all persons born after 22nd August, 1995

Entry for competition will be on the day, and all persons interested are asked to be at stadium for 3pm.  Entry is free.

iSTAT will endeavour to provide any assistance required to the club winner, be it in terms of transport to regional final. etc.

So if you fancy sharing the same pitch as stars of MAnchester United and the Airtricity League make your way down to Athlone Town Stadium, and make your dream come true.

One of the leading clubs in La Liga, Villarreal C.F., has today (July 6th) confirmed that the club has appointed PLATINUM ONE as its Official Pre-Season Partner and that its senior team will travel to Ireland for its pre-season training camp this summer. The club will arrive in Ireland on July 22nd and will be located at Carton House, Maynooth, Co. Kildare until July 28th. As part of its preparation for the forthcoming season Villarreal will play two friendly matches during their stay in Ireland.

The first of the two games will take place on Saturday 24th July 2010 at 7pm when (subject to sanction) PLATINUM ONE will promote a game between Athlone Town F.C and Villarreal C.F. Details of ticket outlets are available online at www.platinumonegroup.com and www.athlonetownfc.ie

Ticket outlets:

Athlone:
• Croughan’s Centra
• Kilmartin N6
• Keenan Sports
• The Palace Bar
• Music World
• Midland Sound Equipment

Moate:
• Harten’s Gift Store

Click Here To Purchase Tickets Online

Athlone Town FC has confirmed it has lined up Middlesbrough FC and Port Vale FC for two upcoming friendlies.
Both clubs will bring their first team squads to Athlone, with the visit of Middlesbrough FC, under Gordon Strachan and assistant manager
Gary McAllister, first up on Monday, July 19, at 7.45pm.

The club was in the Premiership as recently as May 2009 and its first team squad is packed full of household names, including former Arsenal
striker Jeremie Aliadere, ex Rangers striker Kris Boyd and Celtic forward Scott McDonald as well as Irish players Willo Flood and Jay
O’Shea.

Fresh from the World Cup is New Zealand striker Chris Killen, while Julio Arca, Gary O’Neil and David Wheater have also strong Premiership
experience. League Two side Port Vale, under Mickey Adams, will visit Lissywoollen, the following night, Tuesday, July 20th.

Both sides are visiting Athlone as part of their pre-season programmes.

Ticket prices; Middlesbrough Adult €15. Students/Oap €10. Children
accompanied by adult €5

Ticket prices: Port Vale Adult €10. Students/OAP €5. Children
accompanied by adult free.

Special two-match ticket for adults attending both games €20.

Tickets can be purchased online here from Wednesday 7th July and collected on day of match. Tickets will also be available on day at the turnstiles

Congratulations to Ardkeenan NS who were the eventual winners of the first iSTAT School Blitz.  They took the spoils after a nailbiting final which went all the way to penalties against the Summerhill A team.

The full results are as follows.

Round Robin

Summerhill B 3 – 3 Coosan

St Marys 2 – 3 Ardkeenan

Clonbonny 0 – 2 Summerhill A

Coosan 0 – 2 St Marys

Ardkeenan 3 – 1 Clonbonny

Summerhill A 1 – 0 Summerhill B

Coosan 1 – 1 Clonbonny

Summerhill A 1 – 1 Ardkeenan

Summerhill B 2 – 2 St Marys

Clonbonny 1 – 2 St Marys

Summerhill A 3 – 1 Coosan

Summerhill B 2 – 4 Ardkeenan

The Teams

Coosan NS

Summerhill A team - eventual runners-up

Clonbonny NS

St Marys NS

Summerhill B Team

Ardkeenan NS

The top four teams then went on to the semi-finals with1st place playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd

Semi Finals

Summerhill A 3 – 1 Summerhill B

Ardkeenan 3 – 1 St Marys

Final

Ardkeenan 1 – 1 Summerhill A
Ardkeenan win 4-2 on penalties

Celebrations AFter penalty Shootout

The winning Ardkeenan Team

iSTAT would like to thank the teachers the coaches and the volunteers who made the day such a success.  We would particularly like to thank all the players who put on a wonderful display of football.  A special thanks has to go to Athlone Town Players Brian McCarthy and Stephen Relihan who not only helped with the presentations but also refereed some of the matches.

Photos from the blitz

We hope to see you all again at the next event.