Woodley Hammers Club History 1973-2015 2 of 5

2. Famous Son's


Kevin Rapley
Kevin Rapley joined Woodley Hammers as a young boy of about 8. It was clear to Mike Mundy, the then manager of the youngest teams, that Kevin was a special footballer. He progressed so well that Woodley Hammers, at that time, could not offer him the standard of football that he needed as a challenge. He moved further a field to get the experience and training needed to stretch his talent eventually gaining a YTS place at Brentford FC in 1994. After his 2 year apprenticeship he was awarded Youth Player of the year in 1996, at the age of 18. During this time Kevin volunteered his help to act as coach for Woodley Hammers U13 Colts (1993/94). He helped develop the team for over 3 years taking them from an average team to being runners-up in one cup competition and 2 different leagues culminating in being runners up in 1999 to Farnborough Town U18’s in the NE Hants Youth League.
Since then he has played for Brentford FC, Southend United and Notts. County.
Life did not work out well for Kevin at Notts County so he transferred to Colchester United for the 2001/2002 season. He had a good early season with the U's. A change of manager brought a change of fortune plus an injury at Christmas placed Kevin on the transfer list. After the 2002/2003 season Kevin signed for Chester City in August 2003 in the midst of strong opposition from a number of other clubs after being released by Colchester. One of the clubs interested in signing him was Scarborough, where he enjoyed a successful loan spell during the 2002/03 season.

He however signed for Droylsdon F.C in August 2005 from Chester City. Barrow approached Kevin in the spring of 2007 when he had left Droylsdon for Leigh, but he then opted to remain at Hilton Park. In his short spell at Leigh, he scored 12 goals from 32 appearances and a bonus for Barrow is that Kevin is not cup-tied for any of this season’s cup competitions having missed the FA Cup & Setanta Shield defeats due to suspension.

In October 2007 Kevin joined Barrow after asking for a transfer at the Lancashire club following the dismissal of manager, Stuart Humphries, and is a player that Barrow boss, Phil Wilson has tracked for a good period of time. Indeed Rapley, 30, has a wealth of Football League and Conference experience, having begun his career with Brentford from where he moved to Notts County for a fee of £50,000 in 1999.

His travels have also taken him to Southend, Exeter, Scunthorpe, Colchester, Chester & Forest Green Rovers.

To follow Kevin's continued success please follow the link below:
http://www.barrowafc.com

Danny Tilson
Dan Tillson - Joined Woodley Hammers U15's in the 1994/95 as a goalkeeper from Woodley Saints. He played for Woodley Hammers for 2 seasons before returning to Woodley Saints at U18's. At this time he also joined Sandhurst Town where he progressed through the Youths, Reserves and eventually breaking into the 1st Team.

At the end of 1998 Dan moved to Burnham FC who play in the Southern League. He signed a 2-year contract in 1999 with Burnham but due to a serious break in his leg spent most of the two years on the sidelines.

Once he returned to playing, his contract was extended for a further three years.
After a loan spell at Welwyn Garden City from the Spartan League, Dan left Burnham when his contract expired to join Kintbury Rangers who play in the Hellenic League Division 1 in 2004. After a run of 8 games unbeaten, he moved on again to play for Henley Town in the Hellenic Premier. Unfortunately for Dan things did not work out at Henley and spent 6 weeks out of the game before joining Frimley Green in the Combined Counties League. In addition to helping sort our Frimley’s leaky defence, he also captained the side on 6 occasions it what turned out to be Frimley’s best ever season.

In October 2005, Frimley received an approach for Dan from Reading Town who he joined after the 7 day waiting period.

In addition to playing for Reading Town, Dan also manages Woodley Hammers Seniors Reserves (Reading). They have been promoted every season since they started in 2002/03 and won the Division 2 Cup in the 2004/05 season.

In December 2006, Dan transferred to Camberley Town but had to wait 8 weeks for his debut as he had a thigh injury that had been troubling him all season and ended up being diagnosed as a torn thigh muscle. Now fully fit Dan is in a position to challenge for the no 1 spot.

Track Dan's progress by visiting
www.camberleytownfc.co.uk

Stuart White
Stuart White played for the Hammers as a member of Mike Munday's under 9 side, alongside Kevin Rapley. The team won their first 46 games, a run that went from the first game at under 9 to when they lost the under 10 cup final to Westwood.

Stuart played for the Hammers up to under 16 and is now a member of Phil Patterson's senior team. As well as currently playin for Dorking in the Ryman League.

David Mills
David Mills plays for Hammers Seniors on a Sunday in the Reading & District Sunday League as well as playing for Reading Town FC.

Steve and Robert Gillett
Steve and Robert Gillett both Steve & Robert play for Hammers Seniors on Sunday in the Reading & District Sunday League as well as playing for Henley Town FC in the Hellenic League, Premier Division.