Simon Haughney is the manager of our first team.
As a youngster Simon was a talented football player. He was identified at a young age and was picked up by Crystal Palace, where he spent six years before being released. He was selected to play for Middlesex County, where he went on to captain the team, playing alongside the likes of Peter Crouch, Stephen Reid and Sam Parkin.
After dropping out of the academy set up Simon spent some time playing Non League football, making appearances for both Yeading and Staines Town under Steve Cordrey, before deciding to concentrate on developing his business.
In 2000 he established Onside Football Coaching who have an affiliation to Hampton & Richmond Borough FC Academy, coaching all 25 youth teams, working with over 350 members on a weekly basis. Onside also run coaching sessions in schools, numerous afterschool clubs, PPA sessions, multi skills clubs and breakfast clubs.
His management team
Simon’s management team consists of assistant manager, Paul Thomas along with coach Chris Balchin.
The football vision and philosophy
Simon’s management team have a very clear vision of how they believe football should be played and work hard to introduce their methods to our sides. They took over with the team bottom of the league, stabilised the club and then gained promotion whilst remaining unbeaten for the entire season; in the 2022-23 season they took us to the play-off final, while finishing a creditable seventh after a season blighted by postponements.
Part of Simon’s remit is to further develop youth football at Rectory Meadow.