The Travelling Fan

Hillingdon Borough vs Tring Athletic (14/01/12)

2012-01-26T20:44:00.001Z

Match 142

Ground #: 108

Ground: Middlesex Stadium

Competition: Spartan South Midland League Premier (Level 9)

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £6

Programme: £1

Attendance: 44

Hillingdon Borough 0

Tring Athletic 4

Thomas 31’, Jarvis 41’, Eldridge (O.G) 51’, Hall 73’

_____________________________________________________________

It was another Saturday, it was a Saturday where I would be situated in London and Kentish Town were at home. Perfect, 3rd time lucky for the Copthall Stadium. Sadly though winter seems to have crocked the creaky athletics ground and that match was moved to Hanwell Town. (This is now an obsession) Back to the game list and 7th vs 6th in the underwhelming SSM League was one that interested me. How do you pronounce Ruislip?

The London Borough of Hillingdon is the westernmost borough in Greater London and it’s population was recorded as 243,006 in the 2001 Census.The borough incorporates the former districts of Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, Hayes and Harlington and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the historic county of Middlesex. Today, Hillingdon is home to Heathrow Airport and Brunel University, and is the second largest of the 32 London boroughs. For administrative purposes, the borough is split into North and South Hillingdon with more industrial units to the south and residential suburban areas in the north. Much of the residential areas were expanded with the extension of the Metropolitan Railway from Harrow on the Hill to Uxbridge in the early 1900s and the gradual establishment of stops along the line, becoming known as "Metro-land". Today, many top businesses have their main Head Offices in the Borough with British Airways and Cadbury plc being amongst others. Also, The borough maintains over 200 green spaces, totalling around 1,800 acres. Since much of the area is within the Metropolitan Green Belt, and as it is one of the least densely populated of all the London boroughs, there are large areas of land properly called open space. They range in size from the Colne Valley corridor to the smallest of gardens.

While many other clubs play in the Borough, the one named after Hillingdon itself play on the edge of Ruislip at the Middlesex Stadium. The club have had a varied history since being founded for the first time in 1872. Their original name was Yiewsley FC and played park and local football until 1951 when they became founding members of the Delphian League. 1958 then saw them join the semi-pro ranks of the Southern League and even had ex Newcastle legend Jackie Milburn play for them briefly in the early 1960’s at the end of his career. They became the Hillingdon Borough FC we all know and love in 1964 in line with new local government changes and were playing at the top of the Southern League in the late 60’s when they came 2nd to Cambridge United, reached the 3rd Round of the FA Cup in 1969/70 and reached the FA Trophy final the following season before losing to Telford United. The 80’s saw some tough times however and they disappeared from sight in 1987 before being resurrected in 1990 when Bromley Park Rangers took over the ground in Ruislip and changed their name. They have had some success as this new entity by reaching the FA Vase final in 2006 (before losing to Nantwich Town) and even played in the Southern League 1st Division and Isthmian League 1st Division before finishing bottom of this in 2009, being a massive 18 points from safety.

Now playing down in the Spartan South Midlands League, Hillingdon Boro haven’t pulled up any trees and after finishing last season way down in 16th, they were coming into this game in the better position of 7th (out of 22) but a massive 23 points behind leaders Royston Town. One position and 4 points above them were Tring Athletic who were in town for this game. Having finished 2nd last season (the highest finish in their history), being down in 6th is slightly disappointing for Athletic. But having never played higher than this level, days of hosting Southern League football at the Grass Roots Stadium seems to be closer than ever. Hillingdon Borough’s Middlesex Stadium shows clear signs of hosting a higher standard with a silly seated stand behind one goal which reeks of ground grading requirements. The whole ground is quite spacious and the hard standing areas around the pitch are actually set back quite far (for non league level) so you never feel that close to the action. One final mention for the clubhouse, I don’t know the full details but I presume the The Clubhouse is owned by a different company as when I walked in, it felt like I was in a nightclub with funky lights and and staff wearing uniform. Pic below just to highlight the funkyness.

The return game played at Tring earlier in the season had finished 0-0 but was overshadowed by the leg break of Tring defender Brett Court who is still recovering and add the fact that Hillingdon Boro had only conceded 22 goals all season (joint best in the league) I wasn’t expecting many. The home side shot straight out of the traps with Michalis Livesey forcing a save within 2 minutes before a later free kick was curled just wide of the post as Tring already looked on the back foot. The away side came back into it though and on 13 minutes were denied a great goal when a corner was only cleared to Chris Salmon but his half volley was brilliantly tipped over the bar by Sam Beagle. Defensive errors were starting to creep into both sides though as Tring’s Andy Hughes’s backpass was hopeless and with goalie Mike Underwood now in no man’s land he was lucky to see a shot fired wide. Boro wanted in on the poor defence act and on 31 minutes were made to pay when a poor pass was given away in their own area which allowed Graham Hall to run towards goal. While he was crowded out, he slipped the ball through to Reon Thomas who lifted the ball over the keeper for a great opening goal. 10 minutes later the lead was doubled when a poor defensive error lead to Tring having a free kick and it was played in to some seriously poor head tennis which was finished when Matt Jarvis powered a header past the goalie to put Tring 2 up at HT.

Unlike the 1st half, Tring started out the 2nd 45 dominating play and had the goal which ended the game as a contest just six minutes into the half. When Tring counter attacked, Sam Mitchell was sent away and his low cross was diverted in by Luke Eldridge for an own goal. Boro were now a mess as the back as backpasses were being missed by the goalie and other defensive shambles meant they were normally on the backfoot. This was shown in a textbook example on 73 minutes when a woeful backpass missed keeper Beagle completely only for a defender to just clear the ball off the line. His clearance was only to the edge of the area in true Keystone Cops style which allowed Tring to patiently pass the ball around until Graham Hall smashed home to make it 4-0. Boro did try and get a consolation goal but it never looked like coming. For a side that had only let in 11 home goals all season, this game was not a good day at the office.

I was really surprised at how poor Hillingdon were in this game as although Tring did occasionally play some good stuff. All 4 goals were of their own making and can have no complaints. Hillingdon recovered though and handed Hertford Town a 3-0 whooping in their next game away from home while Tring Athletic drew 0-0 at home to Holmer Green. Whilst the Middlesex Stadium is a nice venue, crowds are low and so a return to the Southern League for now is a distant pipe dream. A friendly club though so do pop down to Ruislip to pay them a visit!

Photos from Hillingdon Borough vs Tring Athletic

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 5/10 (bit of comedy now and then)

- Value for money: 6/10 (there are cheaper Lv 9 clubs out there)

- Ground: 6/10 (decent, but a bit distant from the pitch)

- Atmosphere: 4/10 (not much)

- Food: N/A – you have to order food from the bar – couldn’t see that

- Programme: 6/10 (professional looking, but slightly too little content)

- Referee: J.Panconi – 6.5/10 (was fine)

Newcastle United vs Manchester United (04/01/12)

2012-01-23T21:00:00.001Z

Match 141

Ground #: 107

Ground: St James’ Park

Competition: English Premiership

Kick Off: 8pm

Cost: Free (Was a gift, original price £47)

Programme: £3

Attendance: 52,229

Newcastle United 3

Ba 33’, Cabaye 47’, Jones (O.G) 90’

Manchester United 0

_____________________________________________________________

Well this was a surprise! I was determined to see a game on my annual January visit to Newcastle to see the girlfriend (not the missus, breadknife or any other term that would get me into trouble) and while I fully expected to go to the Gateshead vs Stockport clash, I was given a ticket to this almighty clash by hers truly which even before the game was a sensational present. It was Toon Army time.

Newcastle upon Tyne is the major city of the North East and has a vast and diverse history and interest about it. I could expand upon facts from Wikipedia about it’s history (lots) or it’s most known features (shipbuilding and beer) but I’ve decided to ask some actual Geordies, i.e – the people who know it best, about their opinion on Newcastle:

Ms Close (A special Geordie) “I think that Newcastle has a great big-city vibe while still being small enough to feel friendly and personal. It has a massive cultural background with a significant musical, artistic and industrial history. Geordies are proud of their heritage and most especially their football!”

Andy Hudson (Geordie’s Indiana Jones, blogging at Gannin’ Away) “Bobby Robson once said:

"What is a club in any case? Not the building or the Directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It's not the television contracts, get out clauses or the marketing departments or the Executive boxes. It's the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city"

The final sentence sums up Newcastle perfectly. In the north-east, all roads lead to Newcastle, and the biggest sense of pride in the city is reserved for the football club.

You can taste that pride on matchday, when the city truly comes alive: pubs are rammed; there’s a buzz in the air; all conversation seems to be centred on what’s happening at St James’ Park (and let’s face it, with the shenanigans of the Mike Ashley regime over the years and, before him, Freddie Shepherd’s disastrous stewardship of the club, that keeps fans busy pretty much all week).

Visually, the city has changed a lot since the 1990s; any visitor to the Quayside area before then, when buildings were ugly and empty, would be forgiven for thinking they were in a different place when comparing to the present day developments of the Baltic and the Sage. As much as the city has changed, the Magpies home ground at St James has been redeveloped to become one of the most impressive stadiums in the country. Gone are the terraces behind each goal, with giant stands replacing them. A sanitised atmosphere may prevail at many games – where doesn’t it in the Premier League where spiralling ticket prices have signalled a new type of football fan? Yet scratch beneath the surface, on days when Manchester United are despatched 3-0 or, more importantly, when local rivals Sunderland are on the receiving end of a Geordie hammering, or even any game that really has a major impact upon the season, and as well as the atmosphere travelling from Gallowgate and piercing through the shoppers on Northumberland Street, every pub from Blaydon to Tynemouth, packed out at 3pm on a Saturday or whenever television companies dictate the kick-off time to be, will be heaving with only one football club being the centre of attention.”

Ian Cusack (Mr Percy Main and blogs at Payaso del Mierda) “I loathe my childhood and all that remains of it…” (Jean Paul Sartre, “Les Mots”).

As a teenage existentialist, I could have picked a better place to be dragged up than Felling, a scenic fishing village on the south bank of the Tyne. Actually, the eastern exurb of Gateshead wasn’t that bad a spot in the late 70s; lax licensing laws in the local off licences and easy access to Newcastle meant gigs, pubs and St. James Park were always in reach. Until I turned 18, I’d always wanted to escape the North East forever; I craved London applying to University there and scanning the NME gig guide each week as I was convinced I’d make a home there. Sadly, a Grade E in my French A Level (never could get my head around le subjunctive) stalled my progress. Instead of Goldsmiths in Lewisham, the University of Ulster in Coleraine was my destination. Three years of Guinness, cheeseburgers and draw later, I emerged without a short terms memory but with a Iii. This was 1986; it was menial jobs in London, the dole on Tyneside or teaching. Post PGCE in Leeds that hadn’t become a Yorkshire Milan, but still espoused a David Peace “Red Riding” ambience, I found myself back in Newcastle. Property, partner and a profession meant I’d never leave. The season ticket and son cemented my stay, until 1999 when I threw it all up to embrace a mid-life crisis in the shape of a Slovak odyssey in Bratislava. Running out of options in 2002, I came back to High Heaton; I’ll leave feet first in a box.

Newcastle is a great city; small enough to navigate, large enough to hide. It’s safe and hedonistic; it’s against conformity and in favour of brotherhood. I’m nearly 50 so I use it for gigs and real ale. The Ouseburn Delta is my spiritual home; The Tyne, The Free Trade & The Cluny provide all you need for a night out. If you want the city centre, The Bodega, Tilleys, The Head of Steam, The forth and The Newcastle Arms have it all. The Quayside is shit, but the Crown Posada should be visited once in your life.

In the 47.5 years I’ve had on this planet, 39 of them have been spent within 3 miles of St. James’ Park. I don’t regret that at all.”

There you have it. Newcastle, possibly the greatest place on Earth.

(Newcastle, he’s loving it.)

In 1892 when Newcastle West End and Newcastle East End merged to form Newcastle United FC it started the story of one of Britain’s best supported clubs and one with a massively diverse history. (Hard to stick in one paragraph!) Joining the Football League in 1893, Newcastle have never dropped below the 2nd tier and have only missed two of the Premier League seasons, they are normally up amongst the big boys. Despite this, Newcastle do have a monkey on their back in the form of lack of major trophies, despite being a well supported club. Only 4 league championships, 6 FA Cups and a Fairs Cup in 1969 is a poor return and the supporters demand a trophy sooner rather than later as this is a major drought. Their recent history can be summed up through words such as Premier League, Keegan, “I’d love it if we beat them”, FA Cup Runners Up, Champions League, Shearer @ The San Siro, Sir Bobby Robson, back comes Keegan, down go Newcastle, Bananas in pyjamas, up go Newcastle and Alan Pardew comes in. A whistlestop tour of Newcastle United from 1992.

Their ground today of St James’ Park is a fantastic venue and is one of the modern grounds that I would be happy to go back to. Despite being a lop sided ground with one half being much taller than the other, I was situated in the Milburn Stand on the 2nd front row so had a fantastic view of the pitch. St James’ Park underwent its most dynamic change when Newcastle Utd were ran by Sir John Hall as The Leazes End that had been demolished was finally rebuilt, and opened as the Sir John Hall stand for Newcastle's debut in the Premiership in 1993. The Gallowgate End was rebuilt, the Milburn Stand modified, and a new pitch, drainage and floodlights were installed. More expansion took place in 1998 when the club was now run by Freddy Shepherd and included work done to the Milburn Stand and Gallowgate End to make the ground how it is today. Newcastle’s fans, The Toon Army fill the 52,387 ground most weeks despite having a new owner since Shepherd in the form of Mike Ashley. A really unpopular owner, he had made a new “signing” for this game as the transfer window was open with Virgin Money becoming the new sponsor mid-season for some good pre-match.

On the pitch, Newcastle have been more than excellent this season despite their recent sketchy form going into this game as the started the night in 7th place but only 4 points from 4th place Chelsea. Backed by the goals of Demba Ba and led at the back by Fabricio Coloccini, Newcastle were well placed for a European tilt at the end of the season. Excellent work from Alan Pardew. In town (sorry, toon) for this game though were one of the World’s biggest clubs and the current champions. Manchester United themselves are under a bit of pressure, going into this game they had lost at home 3-2 to Championship bound Blackburn as well as trailing rivals Man City in the league and that 6-1 defeat. So much so, that FourFourTwo published this cover for Fergie’s 70th birthday basically writing him off. (cover below)

When the game kicked off, I didn’t expect much from Newcastle early on as I thought Man U would play the role of wounded animal and take the game to the home side. In fact, Newcastle started well, testing United’s 2nd choice goalie Lindegaard with shots from Cabaye and Tiote that were saved. It wasn’t a surprise though when the away side started to create chances themselves and begin to have a bit of possession themselves. Firstly Nani fired a shot from the area which Krul fumbled but collected before an onrushing Wayne Rooney could capitalise on. Then Berbatov then hit the outside of the post when he got his head to Evra’s cross. Newcastle though always had more of the energy and drive you felt in this game and after creating a few chances again, they took a deserved lead 33 minutes. Demba Ba has been outstanding so far for Newcastle this season and it always seemed on the cards that in his last game before he left with Senegal for the African Cup of Nations, he collected a flick on from Shola “big man” Ameobi and brilliantly hooked the ball into the top corner for an excellent goal. St James’ Park had been loud before hand with Newcastle’s encouraging play, that goal was met with an almighty cheer. While there was a few half chances for both sides, that was the last of the major action for the 1st half so the locals were delighted at HT.

“Never write off Man Utd” we are always told and so at the start of the 2nd half I was expecting a red onslaught. So imagine my surprise when Demba Ba runs at the Utd defence meaning Phil Jones had to take him out and receive a booking. Up stepped Cabaye from the free kick and he crashed his shot in off the bar to put Newcastle in dream land. Man U came back at the home side as off came Berbatov for Welbeck and they began to create some openings. The best of these chances fell to Rooney after some excellent work down Utd’s right found the ball in box and Rooney four yards out. An easy finish was denied by ex Utd player Danny Simpson as you began to feel this was going to be Newcastle’s night. As the match went on, the crowd got even louder and the obligatory fatman got his shirt off. Could it get even better? With the match drawing to a close for a famous Geordie win, Tim Krul’s long goal kick was about to bounce in the area for Jones or Lindegaard to deal with. In the end, Jones took command and headed the ball back towards goal for Lindegaard to pick up, but he wasn’t there. Poor communication meant that the ball rolled in for a hilarious 3rd goal and seal Newcastle’s night to be even better. The crowd loved it and so did I.

A massive thanks to the girlfriend for this one! And for her brother and father to pop along for the entertainment too. It’s always good to see Man Utd get a beating and to be beat so comprehensively was even better. The title race still has a long time to go and Newcastle will probably play a part in deciding where it goes at the end of the season with some really important games coming up. St James’ Park is a fantastic ground and can be really rocking on occasions like this. Good luck to Newcastle for the rest of the season and their quest for European football. And if Newcastle ever need a result at home, just invite me up. I’m clearly a lucky charm. *wink*

Photos from Newcastle United vs Manchester United

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 7/10 (entertaining for the neutral)

- Value for money: 10/10 (was free, for me)

- Ground: 8/10 (fantastic venue)

- Atmosphere: 9/10 (best crowd I’ve heard in this country)

- Food: N/A – Didn’t sample a Mag Pie, didn’t look good either

- Programme: 7/10 (for a PL programme, it was a good effort)

- Referee: Howard Webb – 2/10 (completely inconsistent and overly fussy, best ref in this country? Really?)

Amersham Town vs Buckingham Athletic (02/01/12)

2012-01-13T18:34:00.001Z

Match 140

Ground #: 106

Ground: Spratleys Meadow

Competition: Spartan South Midland League Division 1 (Level 10)

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £3

Programme: With Admission

Attendance: 30

Amersham Town 2

Derewenko 16’, 67’

Buckingham Athletic 1

Hodges 29’

_____________________________________________________________

After seeing 3 professional games in a row it was time to start the new year with a back to basics and the non-league, the real low non-league. My first choice was a 2nd attempt to get to the Copthall Stadium before Saracens or Barnet take it over and change it beyond recognition. However when some emergency works had to take place, it meant it was a no to Kentish Town, again. When looking for a back-up it did become clear that one of my new year resolutions was to see more of London and what better way than to take the Metropolitan Line right through the city and out to Amersham, one of it’s termini. Oh and Amersham were playing at home! Off we go.

Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. Amersham is split into two distinct areas: Old Amersham, set in the valley of the River Misbourne and Amersham-on-the-Hill, which grew rapidly around the railway station in the early part of the 20th century. The area of the town now known as Amersham on the Hill was referred to as Amersham Common until after the arrival of the Metropolitan Line in 1892. After this date growth of the new area of the town gradually accelerated, with much work being done by the architect John Kennard. It is now known locally as "Top Amersham","the Top Town" or "the New Town". Early trade at Amersham Market was in local grain, much of which was sold to London merchants. During the 18th century a key industry in the town was brewing. After a number of changes of hands during this time William Weller of High Wycombe purchased the brewery in 1775. He, and his heirs, expanded the business by buying a number of local public houses during the next 150 years. In addition to brewing, tanning, lace manufacture and brickmaking all had a prominent place in the manufacturing past of the town. During World War II, the Radiochemical Centre, a scientific research establishment, arrived in the town. This became Amersham International, then Amersham plc, and now, after a number of changes of ownership and name, is part of GE Healthcare.

The town’s local football team play around a mile away from the station at Spratleys Meadow. Located on a country lane leading out of the town towards Little Missenden, the ground is a fairly basic, but picturesque one. Being railed off on all sides, although you are only able to stand on 3 of them, the main two aspects of the ground are located down the sides. (Pic above) The Mike Gahagan Stand (or Graham Taylor Stand, both are named on either side!) allows a decent view of the pitch with some seats and a small standing area at the back. Across the way, behind the dugouts, is an old building that is falling down. This did used to have a tree growing inside of it but that has now gone but the old building does add a bit to the surroundings of the Buckinghamshire countryside. The clubhouse is also on site, an old barn style building that does a good pint and has friendly staff. So recommended so far!

The club currently reside in the Spartan South Midlands League 1st Division after spending all of their football history in the local leagues with not much success. Starting off in the Wycombe & District Combination League they then moved to the Spartan League in 1947, were founding members of the Hellenic League in 1953 (and they won the top flight of that league in 1963) before rejoning the Spartan League in 1972 which then became the Spartan South Midlands League in 1997. They were relegated from the SSML 1st Division in 2002 and were only promoted back after a restructure – where they haven’t looked like challenging for promotion at all. This season it was no surprise then to find themselves in another struggle and were going into this game in 2nd bottom (out of 22 teams) and needed to pull clear of the struggle (bottom side Sun Postal Sports are 7 points behind) to avoid playing such footballing legends as The 61 FC and Aston Clinton next season. Their opponents were also in that relegation struggle being only 1 place and 1 point higher than Amersham. Buckingham Athletic have also paddled around the local leagues in their history with their best achievement only reaching the 2nd Round of the FA Vase in 1998/99. With two teams in dire form and 30 hardcore fans ready, this would either be a classic or reality, a Level 10 struggle.

While the temperature was getting colder the match slowly plodded along with all you would expect from a Level 10 relegation clash. Amersham did create some early pressure and fired a shot wide after 4 minutes. Buckingham though did like the ball played up front quickly and looked to hit the home side by bypassing the midfield completely but their strike force lost the ball constantly. I always expect to see at least one goal at Level 10 and it arrived on 16 minutes when ironically, Amersham played a long ball forward which should have been dealt with easily by their #5, instead he completely missed his kick allowing Carl Derewenko to run through clean on goal and lift the ball over Buckingham goalie Jack Bridges to give Amersham the lead. An excellent finish that was worthy of much higher than Level 10. The away side though didn’t lose their heads and fired in a deserved equalizer just 13 minutes later. Some excellent play down the left hand side after some patience build up allowed a cross to come in which was only cleared to the edge of the area. Simon Hodges composed himself and fired in low under goalie Perry Cheadle to give the away side a route back into the game, much to the delight of their travelling fans.

For the rest of the game, it was sadly a Level 10 relegation battle. Both sides went for it but it became a battle that didn’t really fire past the point of average. What made it worse, was the cold starting to get really bad and so I spent the last 20 minutes moving constantly as it was more exciting than the game. By this time, Amersham had surprisingly taken the lead out of absolutely nothing. When the ball got to Derewenko on the edge of the area, nothing looked on. The final ball in this game had been woeful so I was expecting a misplaced pass. Instead he chipped the ball towards goal and it lofted over Bridges’s head and into the far corner. A fantastic finish, again. Buckingham looked stunned and proceeded to play the rest of the game getting near the penalty area only to lose the ball (and likewise for Amersham). The only chance they created was deep in injury time when a long ball over top found Buckingham’s #16 who ran onto it and hammered his shot off the bar. Had that gone in, it would have been a travesty. The #16 had come off the bench midway through the 2nd half and spent most of the game fouling off the ball and getting frustrated. He didn’t deserve a goal and to be honest, neither did Buckingham Athletic. 2-1 it finished.

While this SSML clash was better than the last one I saw at Cockfosters, I was disappointed with this game, and cold, so cold. Amersham is a really friendly club so I am tempted to head back in the future – although in the summer months! Both sides should have enough of a points gap to stay above Sun Postal Sports and play SSML 1st Division football next season. This game was an ok, but cold start to 2012. Here’s to the next 12 months!

Photos from Amersham Town vs Buckingham Athletic

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 4/10 (wasn’t great)

- Value for money: 8/10 (excellent value for money)

- Ground: 6/10 (basic, but picturesque)

- Atmosphere: 3/10 (not really any)

- Food: N/A – They did do food, but had already ate in the town

- Programme: 6/10 (it was free – so can’t grumble too much)

- Referee: John Costelloe – 4/10 (didn’t look up for it)

Chelsea vs Aston Villa (31/12/11)

2012-01-04T18:07:00.003Z

Match 139

Ground #: 105

Ground: Stamford Bridge

Competition: English Premiership

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £30

Programme: £3

Attendance: 41,332

Chelsea 1

Drogba (pen) 23’

Aston Villa 3

Ireland 28’, Petrov 83’, Bent 86’

_____________________________________________________________

People can sometimes slate social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter but if you use them in a positive way then you can gain a lot of out it. Through Twitter, I’ve met some of the various hoppers and general football fans out there and it was some Chelsea lads who got me a ticket for a reasonable price by borrowing a season ticket for this game so I could finally get to Stamford Bridge! I’ll be honest from the start, I have a soft spot for Chelsea, dating way back to the late 90’s when Zola, Vialli, Di Matteo and Poyet were all in the side that occasionally won a cup. Needless to say, I was looking forward to this.

Chelsea is an area of West London bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. The word Chelsea originates from the Old English term for "landing place [on the river] for chalk or limestone.” By 1694, Chelsea – always a popular location for the wealthy, and once described as "a village of palaces" – had a population of 3,000. Even so, Chelsea remained rural and served London to the east as a market garden, a trade that continued until the 19th-century development boom which caused the district finally to be absorbed into the metropolis. The street crossing that was known as "Little Chelsea", Park Walk, linked Fulham Road to King's Road and continued to the Thames and local ferry down Lover's Lane, renamed "Milmans Street" in the 18th century. Chelsea's modern reputation as a centre of innovation and influence originated in a period during the 19th century, when the area became a Victorian artists' colony. It became prominent once again as one of the centres of 1960s "Swinging London", when house prices were lower than in the staid Royal Borough of Kensington. The Swinging Sixties was defined on King's Road, which runs the length of the area.

Founded in 1905, Chelsea have represented the swinging and trendy area of London well (although Stamford Bridge is actually in Fulham) since their election to the Football League soon after 1905. They soon became known as a club for signing big name players and entertaining the crowds, but not much success came their way in the early years. After the war Ted Drake became manager and his modernisation of the club, led the Blues to their first league championship (in 1955) and a challenge for honours throughout the 60’s (now led by Tommy Docherty and later Dave Sexton). The next two decades were poor for Chelsea as troubles on and off the pitch began to emerge. The team were relegated to Division 2 and nearly dropped into D3 for the first time in 1982. There was also a hooligan element amongst the support which plagued the club throughout this period, during a time when football hooliganism was rife anyway. Ken Bates then bought the club in the early 80’s for £1 and began to slowly build the club up again, although their form in the newly created Premier League was poor until Dutch legend Ruud Gullit took over as player-manager and the trophies (and big name players) started to arrive. In 2003, the club then changed again, dramatically when Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over and spent that summer buying everybody. I remember coming home from school everyday just to see who Chelsea had signed as they gorged over £100 million on new talent. No trophies came however until The Special One arrived…

Love him or hate him Jose Mourinho changed football in this country, and in my eyes, for the better. His impact (positive or negative) is a debate for another day but his record at Chelsea was superb. Two Premiership titles, 1 FA Cup and two League Cups means Mourinho is Chelsea’s most successful manager. Since his days however, the Stamford Bridge club have never looked like replicating his success after he’d gone in 2007, although Ancelotti did win the double in 2009. Current boss Andre Villas-Boas is in his 1st season and is under pressure after a less than successful start that has seen the Manchester clubs fly away and even Tottenham have seemed to have leapfrogged them as Chelsea were coming into this game in 4th. Aston Villa also have new blood in charge this season with ex Hibs boss Alex McLeish taking over. Villa had started reasonably well, albeit defensively, but a shocking run of form has seen them tumble down the table to 14th and McLeish needs to turn this around quickly otherwise he would be on for a second successive relegation. Villa did have some hope for this game though as their recent form against Chelsea was good and had recently taken part in some crackers at Stamford Bridge with a 3-3 draw, a 7-1 defeat that famous 4-4 draw back in 2007.

Sat in the Shed End behind the goal, you get some excellent views of Stamford Bridge – although the classic fans would probably want to see The Shed back to terracing. (maybe one day!) Chelsea started reasonably ok as well I though as it was no surprise Villa had set their stall out defensively and looked for the pace of Agbonlahor and N’Zogbia to hit them on the counter attack. The home side though created chances, firstly Mata (who Chelsea always looked to for anything) was unlucky when he tried a flick on that went wide and then Daniel Sturridge fired over after some good work down the right. Chelsea had clearly spotted a weakness in Villa’s left back position with Steven Warnock struggling to contain the home side at times. In fact when Chelsea took the lead on 23 minutes you had to think it would be a long afternoon for Villa if they were just going to play counter-attacking football. Ref Mark Halsey let Chelsea play on after a foul in the middle of the park and Ramires bombed forward while Villa backtracked to lay the ball off to Sturridge. He was fouled off the ball as he came forward but Halsey played on again to allow Drogba to run into the box where he was cynically taken out by Richard Dunne. Clear cut penalty. Drogba himself got up and dispatched it to equal Peter Osgood’s 150 goals for the club and he pointed to the penalty spot where Osgood’s ashes were scattered. A nice touch. Villa though, actually went for it and with Steven Ireland starting to boss the midfield, they were level soon after. He sent N’Zogbia away down the left and he skipped past a bizarre tackle/block/not anything from Paulo Ferreira to cut it back to Ireland. His first shot was blocked on the line by Terry but he coolly slotted home the rebound to make it 1-1. Chelsea were frustrated and for the rest of the half played like it.

The second half saw Villa pinned back for the majority of the play, but never really looked in too much danger apart from a couple of scary moments. In fact, it wouldn’t be unfair to suggest they were comfortable on occasions. Mata nearly ended this right before it started when he fired a cross/shot along the face of the goal but nobody was there to fire home. Villa though, showed they could still attack when some neat passing on halfway sent Agbonlahor through but his glorious 1 on 1 chance was well saved by Cech. This woke Chelsea up, they needed to get back in front in this game and fast. Lampard came on to the delight of the crowd and started to get the ball around quicker and then Torres came on as well as Chelsea went for it. Torres very nearly scored a wonder goal with his first touches as on the edge of the area, he skipped away from a tackle before unleashing a shot which cannoned off the bar with Brad Guzan completely beaten. Drogba then had an excellent chance on 73 minutes when Lampard put him through, but he rushed his shot and in the end dragged it wide. The last 10 minutes belonged to Villa, firstly McLeish signalled his intentions by bringing Darren Bent on and the England striker should have won a penalty when Terry brought him down in the area. The ball wasn’t really cleared and so when Clarke’s through ball cut straight down Chelsea’s defence, Stiliyan Petrov had time to pass the ball away from Cech and into the bottom corner. Amazingly Villa led and with 4 minutes to go, they added a 3rd. Lampard for reasons beyond me tried a square ball across the halfway line which Steven Ireland gobbled up and ran clear, along came Bent who had an easy tap in to end the game there and allow Villa to take the 3 points back to Birmingham.

This was not good from Chelsea and they knew it. Some of the pressure (maybe a minimal amount) came off Villas-Boas as Lampard turned hero in their next game when he scored a 89th minute winner to beat Wolves while Villa were back to normal, crashing 2-0 at home to Swansea. Chelsea need a lot of work on the side to bring them near the Manchester clubs and challenge for the title again. Their 2-1 win earlier in the season over Citeh, shows there is some quality there though and once Villas-Boas makes his mark on the team, they will be back up there, although it remains to be seen if AVB will get the time he needs. Villa can look forward to a midtable finish this season under McLeish and nothing more. Glad to have finally got to Stamford Bridge and thanks to Yasser on Twitter for the ticket while he was away! I do aim to go back again, hopefully to see a Chelsea side in their swagger rather that in transition.

Photos from Chelsea vs Aston Villa

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 6/10 (not a classic)

- Value for money: 5/10 (what I paid is just about acceptable for football, £57 for the seat I was in is not)

- Ground: 7/10 (good ground with some history)

- Atmosphere: 4/10 (not great really)

- Food: N/A – Didn’t even look at food prices

- Programme: 6/10 (ok effort)

- Referee: Mark Halsey – 6/10 (reasonable game)

Charlton Athletic vs Oldham Athletic (17/12/11)

2011-12-27T14:33:00.001Z

Match 138

Ground #: 104

Ground: The Valley

Competition: English League 1

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £10

Programme: £3

Attendance: 19,564

Charlton Athletic 1

Russell 60’

Oldham Athletic 1

Morais 84’

_____________________________________________________________

Apparently people still do Christmas shopping at actual shops. Where you have to deal with hordes of people all wanting to buy some cheap tat like a Michael Buble album to give to the one they love/their relation/one they want to shag. Other people, smarter people, avoid all this by doing their shopping online (or do none at all) and thus avoid this problem leaving them to do what they want peacefully. According to several clubs, the Saturday before Christmas is the toughest for them to get people in so they offer excellent prices for floaters like me who don’t need/want to shop to pop along for the day. The list was endless but in the end I decided upon top of the league Charlton Athletic and trip down The Valley.

Charlton is a district of south London and part of the London Borough of Greenwich. Charlton next Woolwich was an ancient parish in the county of Kent, which became part of the metropolitan area of London in 1855. Charlton is recoded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Cerletone. It is formed from Old English 'ceorl' and 'tūn' and means 'farmstead of the freemen or peasants'. It is a common English placename and the parish was also known as Charlton next Woolwich to distinguish it from Charlton by Dover. During the 19th century the riverside portion of the area became known as New Charlton. The flat land adjoining the Thames at New Charlton has been a significant industrial area since Victorian times. A notable establishment was the Siemens Brothers Telegraph Works opened in 1863, which manufactured two new transatlantic cables in the 1880s and contributed to PLUTO in World War 2. (Pipe Lines Under The Ocean)

Despite currently languishing in League 1, Charlton Athletic have spent the majority of their history in the top leagues, although rarely competing for the honours at the end of the season. They joined the Football League in 1921, coming into the Third Division South. After looking like becoming a bit of a yo-yo club in the early 30’s, their best spell was between 1934-37 when they achieved a double promotion to Division 1 and then came 2nd in their first season there. (Their highest ever finish) An FA Cup win in 1947 remains their only major trophy and they floated around the 2nd and 3rd tiers before joining the Premier League elite in 1998, albeit for one season that time, before rejoining and becoming safe members under Alan Curbishley from 2000-2007. After dropping back down again in 07, Alan Pardew and then Phil Parkinson led them to a surprise relegation in 2008-09 to League 1 where they still remain now.

Charlton’s home The Valley has been their home since 1919 apart from the wilderness years from 1985-1992. An impressive ground now with 4 towering stands that provide excellent views of the pitch too. However, The Valley has not always been a decent venue to watch football. The old East Bank was the largest stand in English football but with Charlton being out of the top flight for so long, renovation never came. When the club was bought out by the Charlton supporters club, they could not afford the required safety improvements and so they were forced to ground share away from The Valley for 7 years at Crystal Palace and then West Ham. The “new” Valley opened in 1992 and since then, 3 stands have all been rebuilt, with just the South Stand (away fans) to go. A 3/4 bowl of red, this is a decent ground and one that should be hosting football higher than League 1.

Charlton though seem to be going places with rookie boss Chris Powell in charge of them. They were going into this game top of the League and looking good to return back to The Championship under the guidance of an ex Charlton player. The away side were also managed by a former player who had just retired, marmite player Paul Dickov who was also cutting his managerial teeth with the Lancashire side. Despite finishing in a lowly 17th last season, the performances of the club have improved since the start of Dickov’s reign and going into this game in 11th and closer to the play-offs than the relegation spots suggests Oldham could be going places with Dickov, depsite a current lowly 28% win rate.

(Dickov and Powell go head to head as players)

I shouldn’t have been surprised as before the game I kept reading that Dickov’s Oldham played a certain type of game much in the style of how he played. Hustling, harrying and physical, Oldham set their game plan out early on. Sadly, that game plan consisted of coming here for a 0-0 and showing no positive attacking play at all. I noted that only 22 minutes in, away goalie Alex Cisak was timewasting over a goal kick. Not a good sign. It was made worse by the fact that Charlton could not break down this anti-football tactic and so the 1st 45 minutes were some of the poorest I’d seen all season. Danny Green was occasionally a menace down the right as some crosses he swung in did cause the Oldham back-line some problems. And it was Green who had the best chance of the half when Kermorgant’s pass sent him through but he fired wide when he should have done better. Amazingly, just before HT, Oldham actually bothered to mount an attack and almost opened the scoring when Taylor hit a long range effort that was well tipped over by Ben Hamer. HT it was 0-0 and desperately poor. Luckily some work colleagues had also foolishly came along to this and so we could suffer together. Dreadful.

Charlton did look slightly brighter (although considering how average they were in the 1st half, that wasn’t hard) at the start of the half as Bradley Wright-Philips fired a shot into the side netting before Green again broke away from the Oldham defence and sent BWP through but Cisak reacted well and made the save. Charlton though were having a period of good possession and pressure but I had already presumed that this would finish 0-0 and my excellent run of games without a goalless draw would be over. Much to my surprise, Charlton took a deserved lead (they were the only ones attacking) on 60 minutes. The ball was moved across to the right where Matt Taylor was there and crossed the ball in. Darel Russell got ahead of the defender to headed the ball into an empty net as Alex Cisak had gone for a wander to try and claim the ball. This made the game interesting, Oldham would actually have to attack and lo and behold Cisak’s goalkicks started taking 5 seconds rather than 30 before the goal went in. Charlton strangely began to sit back and let Oldham actually show their attacking force as chances began to be created. Firstly Matt Smith hooked a shot from outside the area wide before ex Hibs bastard Filipe Morais got in behind the Charlton defence to cut the ball back where Shefki Kuqi’s shot was well blocked by Taylor. That cutback idea move appealed to Oldham though and so repeated it a few minutes later when Chris Taylor got in behind the defence to pull it back to Morais who slammed his shot into the bottom corner to send the 421 Oldham fans into delirium behind the goal. Oldham actually looked half decent up front so why the hell did they wait 75 minutes before actually showing us?! Charlton huffed in the final 5 minutes but they couldn’t create anything else as they lost 2 points to anti-football.

This was not a good game. If an Oldham fan reads this, do you play that negatively every week? In fairness to Dickov, Oldham came for a point and left with one so in his eyes it was mission accomplished. Charlton, for a top of the table side, weren’t that much better which does suggest the standard of League 1 is shocking this year. The Addicks followed this result up with a late 3-2 win at Yeovil, while Oldham slumped to a 1-0 home defeat to Hartlepool United. I’m glad to have got to The Valley as its a lovely ground but Charlton need to pull themselves out of this league ASAP before they start getting dragged down by mediocrity. Thankfully this was only £10, I couldn’t be paying more every week to watch shite.

Photos from Charlton Athletic vs Oldham Athletic

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 3/10 (not good at all)

- Value for money: 7/10 (reasonable for League 1, sadly not norm)

- Ground: 7/10 (different feel to other FL grounds)

- Atmosphere: 5/10 (not much going on)

- Food: N/A – I don’t eat at FL prices

- Programme: 6.5/10 (was ok for £3)

- Referee: Lee Collins – 2/10 (no backbone allowed Oldham to get away with it)

Fulham FC vs Odense BK (14/12/11)

2011-12-24T15:57:00.001Z

Match 137

Ground #: 103

Ground: Craven Cottage

Competition: UEFA Europa League Group Stage

Kick Off: 8:05pm

Cost: £15

Programme: £3

Attendance: 15,757

Fulham FC 2

Dempsey 27’, Frei 31’

Odense BK 2

Andreasen 64’, Fall 90’

_____________________________________________________________

While normal European game prices would keep me away, this season the Europa League challengers (bar Tottenham) have sold their home games for a reasonable price allowing fans like me to plod along for the evening and watch (normally) a dire Europa League game against a team you were unlikely to see again. I had pre-bought a ticket for Fulham’s crunch game against Danish crack (or crap) side Odense BK fully expecting it to be a procession with Fulham already through. However, a defeat to FC Twente in their previous game meant this was a vital match. Excellent stuff.

Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. Fulham was formerly the seat of the diocese of "Fulham and Gibraltar", and Fulham Palace served as the former official home of the Bishop of London, (now a museum), the grounds of which are now divided between public allotments and an elegant botanical garden. Having been through many transformations in its history, today it is a green London area within very close reach of many famously extravagant places such as Chelsea and Kensington and this is reflected in the high local house prices and was included within Savills' 2007 list of "prime" London areas. One interesting fact about Fulham is that during the 18th century had a reputation of debauchery, becoming a sort of "Las Vegas retreat" for the wealthy of London, where there was much gambling and prostitution. Nowadays people who want to do that will probably just head east to Stratford and Westfield.

The area’s football team have come a long way from 10-20 years ago when they were struggling to stay in the Football League. Their first FL season was in 1907 when they finished 4th in the Second Division. A period of doing not a lot in the FL after that was ended in when they won promotion to the top tier for the first time since 1949 after winning the Second Division, although were promptly relegated back down in 1952. Around now, their best ever player was beginning his career as Johnny Haynes (or Mr Fulham) made his debut in 1952. 18 years and 657 appearances later, he played his last game for Fulham in 1970 before moving out to finish his career in South Africa. Fulham were back in the top flight from 1959-68 before being relegated and beginning their sink down the leagues before being relegated to the new Third Division (Level 4) in 1994. Being in relegation trouble in 1996 saw Fulham at their lowest ebb before their saviour rode in during summer of 1997.

Mohamed Al-Fayed (owner of the shit shop Harrods), bought the club for £6.25m and then proceeded by promising Premier League football within 5 years. And to be fair to Al-Fayed, he put the money in as Fulham romped up the leagues under the guidance of Ray Wilkins, Kevin Keegan, Paul Bracewell and finally Jean Tigana as Fulham achieved their target of Premier League football in 5 years by getting back to the top flight in 2001. Their ground, Craven Cottage has seen major development due to this promotion as they had to rebuild part of it to comply with all-seater regulations. Despite this, the ground is a cracking one, especially the Johnny Haynes Stand where I was sat for this game. The cottage in the corner is still there in pride of place, dating from 1905 – it was put in there because Leitch had forgotten to put changing rooms in the ground. Craven Cottage now hosts its fair share of European football due to Fulham’s fair play over the past few seasons and I was lucky in the fact this game still had something major riding on it.

Danish Superliga side Odense Boldklub were the side standing in between Fulham and the Europa League knockout rounds. Already out, the Danish side shot onto my radar in 2006/07 when they hilariously knocked Hibs out of the Intertoto Cup on away goals before going out that season in the group stage. (A group containing Parma, Osasuna, Lens and Heerenveen) They then knocked out Motherwell of the Europa League last season to continue their good record against Scottish clubs. Despite having not won the league since 1989, they have come 2nd for 3 years in a row. Although this time out, they are struggling slightly being down in 8th (out of 12) and a massive 14 points behind leaders FC Copenhagen. They had came into this game with the final Superliga match before the Winter Break with a 4-0 away win over SønderjyskE. For Fulham, the task was easy. Win and go through. Fail to win and hope that Wisla Krakow didn’t beat FC Twente. Odense were already out despite winning their first game against Krakow 3-1 before losing their next 4 to crash out.

Despite the game being fairly important, the opening spells of the match were dire and only 10 minutes in I was convinced that it would end 0-0. Odense, to nobody’s surprise, had come to put 11 men behind the ball and frustrate the home side, while Fulham didn’t seem to have any ideas about what to do. Slowly though, they did begin to open up quite a static defence and test Shaggy look-a-like goalie Stefan Wessels in the away goal. Firstly Chris Baird fired a long range effort in that was well kept out before Brede Hangeland had a header cleared off the line from a corner before the follow-up was shamefully skied over from 5 yards. (That player shall remain nameless. Purely because I couldn’t see who it was) Dempsey also had a shot cleared off the line before Fulham grabbed the deserved breakthrough on 27 minutes. Odense couldn’t live with Karim Frei and he burst away down the left before cutting the ball back to Bobby Zamora. He laid the ball off brilliantly for Clint Dempsey to arrive on time and smash the ball into the bottom corner. Fulham were well on top now and Odense were cut open again 4 minutes later when Moussa Dembele cut in from the right to put Frei clean through who finished well by sweeping the ball under Wessels and Fulham looked home and dry already. They easily got through the rest of the half, despite the Odense fans being in good voice with such classics as, “can you hear the Full-ham sing?!” Add the fact Krakow were only drawing 1-1 with Twente. Fulham could look forward to the knockout stages in 2012.

Fulham clearly decided to play it safe for the 2nd half and try to defend for 45 minutes to see what Odense were really made of. A bit of a bizarre tactic from Martin Jol considering how dominant Fulham were in the 1st half, but this did mean the Danes went for it. Despite being under constant pressure for the beginning of the half, Fulham still looked comfortable as the Danes looked really toothless as “up and coming prospect” Rasmus Falk guilty of giving the ball away a fair amount. He did win a free kick though on the edge of the area on 64 minutes after drawing a foul from Chris Baird. The group of men behind me cynically said that “this free kick goes in, Krakow probably score a 2nd and then Fulham are hanging on.” And that’s exactly what happened. Tsvetan Genkov had already put Krakow 2-1 up on 46 minutes in their game and Fulham’s wall for this free kick was in completely the wrong position that Hans Henrik Andreasen curled the ball around it and gave Neil Etheridge in the Fulham net no chance. Right then, the game completely turned. Jol’s tactics looked wrong, Odense looked half competent and Krakow now had a chance to qualify. Falk produced a half chance as the Fulham anxiety stakes rose up a notch before Aaron Hughes headed just over from a corner which would have sealed it. Late on Zamora, who had done nothing in the 2nd half, came off for Orlando Sa and it was Sa who went on a late bursting run up to the OBK penalty area before losing the ball because nobody had gone with him. This was 94 minutes in and OBK launched one final attack. (Surely not) Fulham looked dead on their feet and Espen Ruud ran down the right unchallenged. (Ref will blow up now) Nobody came to him and he swung the ball in, (someone will clear it) to allow Djiby Fall to nip in and get a header to loop towards the far corner, no, no, no, OH MY GOD IT’S GONE IN. OBK went mental as they’d snatched an equalizer and Fulham crashed out of the Europa League right then as the ref blew for full-time.

I have no idea what Fulham were trying to do for the 2nd half, but they only had themselves to blame for crashing out and not putting what looked a poor Odense side to rest. Martin Jol is a man under pressure and it was no surprise to hear shouts of “Jol out!” while he was coming off the pitch. Fulham did win their next relegation crunch match against Bolton, before coming back down to earth with a 5-0 home defeat to Man Utd. With games against Chelsea, Norwich and Arsenal coming up, it could easily be 0 points from 12 over the Christmas period. I do enjoy seeing European sides as it wets the appetite to pull my finger out and get a passport so I can do The Travelling Fan does Europe. Good luck to OBK for the rest of their Superliga season and for Fulham, Krakow got Standard Liege in the Round of 32 before likely playing Hannover 96 in the next round.

Photos from Fulham vs Odense BK

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 7/10 (got better as game went on)

- Value for money: 7/10 (reasonable Euro prices)

- Ground: 8/10 (great classic ground)

- Atmosphere: 7/10 (all made by the Danish fans)

- Food: N/A – Nachos for £4? No thanks.

- Programme: 6/10 (reasonable programme)

- Referee: Alon Yefet – 6/10 (fussy)

Chorley FC vs Nantwich Town (10/12/11)

2011-12-23T17:05:00.001Z

Match 136

Ground #: 102

Ground: Victory Park

Competition: Evo-Stik Premier (Level 7)

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £9

Programme: £2

Attendance: 766

Chorley FC 1

Foster 37’

Nantwich Town 0

McDonald s/off 71’

_____________________________________________________________

I went to many places in search of football when I was at Lancaster Uni for those 3 years. Some were good, some were bad but a few places I missed. Some are quite small places with little quaint grounds that is just for me, but some are actual glaring misses that really are worth going to. One of the top misses was the Lancashire town of Chorley. Home to the Magpies and a ground I had heard only good things about. Being up in the NW for a weekend, it was time to set that right.

Chorley is a market town in Lancashire and is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry. As recently as the 1970s the skyline was dominated by numerous factory chimneys, but most are now demolished: remnants of the industrial past include Morrison's chimney and a few other mill buildings, and the streets of terraced houses for mill workers. Chorley, like most Lancashire towns, gained its wealth from the industrial revolution of the 19th century which was also responsible for the town's growth. Chorley was a vital cotton town yet today only three mills still remain working. In the 1970s Chorley was designated as part of Central Lancashire new towns, together with Preston and Leyland. The original aim of this project was to combine the three settlements into a single city with a population of around half a million. Although this never came to pass, and the project has since been abandoned, Chorley benefited from the urban renewal commonly associated with new towns. Strangely, Chorley saw the completion of the largest Mormon temple in Europe in 1998, known as the Preston England Temple.

The town’s football club is currently on a high following finally gaining promotion to the Northern Premier League’s top flight last season with a play-off victory over AFC Fylde. Chorley began playing football in 1883 after switching from rugby (good choice lads) and their first game was a victory against Wigan (no surprise). From then till 1968, they played in the Lancashire Combination with few successes from here to there. In 68’ they became founder members of the Northern Premier League before leaving at the end of the season (and rejoined and left again a few times after that). 1988 saw them promoted to the Vauxhall Conference (i.e – the Blue Square Premier – Level 5) and a first season finish of 17th saw them then relegated in 1990 after coming 3rd from bottom and 1 point behind Fisher Athletic. They have never been back since. Doing nothing in the Northern Premier League, they appointed Tony Hesketh in early 2008 and he arguably set the groundwork for the success they are having now with his attractive passing game and good results. He jumped ship to Lancaster in April 2009 but Garry Flitcroft came in eventually in May 2010 and he steered the club to promotion at the first attempt.

There is trouble in t’mill though. After club accountant Philip Haslam was arrested in September on suspicion of fraud and false accounting. This has led to a massive hole in the budget and Chorley are struggling. They have already had to release Chris Haworth, Nathan Fairhurst and Lee McEvilly to balance the books and boss Flitcroft is now calling on fans to get behind the team and local big boys Blackburn Rovers have also been involved helping the club out. On the pitch however, they seem to be doing fine as they are chasing a 2nd successive promotion up to the Blue Square North and currently sit in a play-off place while the rest of the league chase Chester FC. Their Victory Park home is still also looking sensational. A smashing ground that you really must visit. A large main stand with wooden seats dominates the scene and provides a good view. Behind both goals are two great standing structures and running down the other side of the pitch is an open end with grass banking. Sadly the banking is out of bounds now, but in days gone by, hundreds of people would have come down to stand on the banking and cheer the Magpies on.

Chorley welcomed the curiously named Dabbers or Nantwich Town for this game. After finishing a lowly 17th last season, Jimmy Quinn seems to be pulling the Dabbers in the right direction again, albeit slowly as they were coming into this game in midtable. Nantwich though, started off brighter as despite Chorley having a healthy attendance for this game, 766, the atmosphere was quite flat and it probably showed in the home side’s play. Around 15 away fans behind the goal nearly had something to cheer about when Ben Mills found space in the box but his shot was poor and the danger was over. After this, the game opened up and Chorley began to create chances with Chris Denham and Tom Williams going close. Jonny Brain in the Nantwich goal looked in good form and with the away side looking toothless up front, this could be a long day, the longer the match continued at 0-0. Nantwich did give Chorley a scare however as a looping header from Mills clipped the top of the bar that would have given the Dabbers a fluke lead. The breakthrough came on 37 minutes though as Chorley were given a free kick on the right and when the ball was played in, Nantwich tried a strange defensive tactic of not defending the free kick at all. This left Wayne Maden to head the ball across goal where goal machine Steve Foster had a simple finish. (Yes, it’s that Steve Foster who I saw score 5 goals at Lancaster in 2009) The rest of the half was scrappy as Nantwich looked like they had ran out of ideas already. Oh dear.

The 2nd half was played under the lights at Victory Park giving an even better look the ground, although the football on display was not the most impressive. Nantwich had a fair chunk of possession but time and time again when they brought the ball to penalty area, they instantly ran out of ideas and the ball was cleared. Chorley were not set up by Flitcroft to play on the counter attack and it was nearly tactics perfection when John Cunliffe scored, but he was way offside. The rain then started to pour and pour (cue some “its grim up north” joke) and the match began to get rather scrappy, especially for Rob McDonald, who managed to fly into two mistimed challenges and get himself sent off. With that, everyone in the ground knew Nantwich wouldn’t be equalizing today (they could be still there now and the ball wouldn’t be going in) and Chorley could play out time for an important 3 points in their quest for that 2nd promotion.

This wasn’t the best game I’m going to see, in fact it will be filled under, “instantly forgotten” and we’ll move on. However, I have now finally got to Chorley and seen the wonderful Victory Park which is a quality place to watch football at. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the future to the old place, but hopefully the changes (if any come) are not too dramatic. I also hope Chorley can survive and pull through this crisis. After years of doing f-all in the league, they now finally get going only for some nobhead accountant (you can’t trust them!) to plunge them into this. Good luck to them! Nantwich Town, learn to shoot and just generally attack.

Photos from Chorley vs Nantwich Town

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 4/10 (not great)

- Value for money: 5/10 (£9 for Level 7?)

- Ground: 9/10 (go visit it now)

- Atmosphere: 6/10 (improved in 2nd half but was flat)

- Food: 7/10 (top pie, and gravy, oh they love gravy)

- Programme: 5/10 (not worth £2, but fair effort)

- Referee: N.Greenhalgh – 6.5/10 (did fine)

Road to Wembley 2011/12 (3rd Round)

2011-12-13T20:14:00.001Z

The Vase was starting to get into the really interesting stage as this was the last “regionalised” round before the country wide ties started and Wembley got even closer. Last season’s FA Cup road saw us go over to Essex for Colchester United, and for this round we were back in that general direction for a trip to nearby Southend. Or Saaaaafend!

Southend Manor have had a good season in the Cups, especially the FA Cup as they reached the 4th and final Qualifying Round of the FA Cup before crashing out to Blue Square Premier side Kettering Town 3-1 away from home. League form was also decent as they current sit in 3rd place and with games in hand on the top 2, meaning they have a real chance of the Essex Senior League title this season.

A tough game for Three Bridges it seemed then, especially away from home, however they managed to overcome the sending off of Joel O’Hara on 65 minutes and defending stoutly (including creating several chances of their own) for 120 minutes to earn a midweek replay. By this stage, both sides knew the winners would be going to Derbyshire for a 4th Round tie against Midland Football Alliance side Gresley FC. The replay was not as close, as a “scout” on the Gresley forum explains,

“It's finished Three Bridges 4-1 Southend Manor. They're a very good side - Southend are clearly not bad but they got outclassed in the first half (all goals were in the first 45) tonight by great pace and a solid midfield in a 4-3-3 formation from Three Bridges. More to follow when my fingers are less blue.”

Three Bridges are starting to look good it would seem but now have their toughest test yet against Gresley. I’m hoping to be at this game, although I do have one pressing question. Where the f**k is Gresley!?

ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2011/2012:

1ST QUALIFYING ROUND: Croydon FC 1-2 Beckenham Town (Croydon Sports Arena, Att: 51)

2ND QUALIFYING ROUND: Beckenham Town 5-1 Fisher FC (Eden Park Avenue, Att: 58)

1ST ROUND: Three Bridges 3-0 Beckenham Town [After Extra Time] (Jubilee Field, Att: 68)

2ND ROUND: Rye United 1-2 Three Bridges (The Salts, Att: 105)

3RD ROUND: Southend Manor 0-0 Three Bridges [After Extra Time] (Southchurch Park, Att: 64)

3RD ROUND REPLAY: Three Bridges 4-1 Southend Manor (Jubilee Field, Att: 66)

Road to Wembley 2011/12 (2nd Round)

2011-11-30T19:44:00.001Z

It was 2nd Round day and as I had other matters to attend to, I couldn’t pop down South to see the small town of Rye and their boys take on Three Bridges in the FA Vase.

Rye United play their football this season in the Sussex County League 1st Division and after coming 2nd last season, they are still doing well this time out in 2nd place going into this game, although they look like they could struggle to catch Pagham FC due to playing a few games more than the table toppers. Their home ground, The Salts also plays home to the local cricket club and so was a quaint little ground with a old school pavilion until it was destroyed in an arson attack in August 2010.

As Rye United and Three Bridges both play in the Sussex County League, they had already met this season at The Salts with Rye winning 3-0. I’ll let the Rye United website write up for this game do the talking. It makes for some interesting reading:

“Bridges defender nominated for Oscar

It all started so well. Macca lobbed the keeper from 35 yards to give Rye the lead after 3 minutes. Then came one of two defining moments. First Liam Upton stormed down the left, lost the ball and lunged in to win the ball back. Foul, yes. Red Card, very harsh. Was the ref influenced by the Bridges defender rolling around screaming? Who knows? But why are we not surprised that he recovers and jumps to his feet as soon as the red card was flourished.

United were still running rings around the punching, stamping, Bridges journeymen until the second defining moment. 10 minutes into the second half, Luke Woodley is stamped on. The assistant looked to have raised his flag but play continued and Duncan flew in, two footed. A clear red card, yes, but no reference to the stamping which it appeared the assistant had witnessed. Still Rye held out until 12 minutes from time when Carney shot through a crowd to tie it up. Yet still the 9 men came back and Sam Adams hit the post before on 89 minutes, Carney proved there is no justice and gave the visitors the win.

Rye United 1 (McArthur) Three Bridges 2”

Even for me that is an exceptionally bias sounding report. I wasn’t there but it does seem to me that Rye lost their discipline and thus lost their place in the FA Vase. Three Bridges now have a trip to Essex for an away tie against Southend Manor as the Vase starts to get down to the exciting stuff. As for Rye v T.Bridges, Round 3 of this season’s clashes takes place at Three Bridges later in season (whenever Sussex County League decide to release the later fixtures). It promises to be fiery. Next up for this road, Saafend!

ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2011/2012:

1ST QUALIFYING ROUND: Croydon FC 1-2 Beckenham Town (Croydon Sports Arena, Att: 51)

2ND QUALIFYING ROUND: Beckenham Town 5-1 Fisher FC (Eden Park Avenue, Att: 58)

1ST ROUND: Three Bridges 3-0 Beckenham Town [After Extra Time] (Jubilee Field, Att: 68)

2ND ROUND: Rye United 1-2 Three Bridges (The Salts, Att: 105)

Dulwich Hamlet Youth vs Oxford United Youth (17/11/11)

2011-11-29T21:42:00.001Z

Match 135

Ground #: 101

Ground: Champion Hill

Competition: FA Youth Cup 2nd Round

Kick Off: 7pm

Cost: £4

Programme: 20p

Attendance: 138

Dulwich Hamlet Youth 0

Oxford United Youth 2

Marsh 5’, Udumaga 90’

_____________________________________________________________

It had been a while since I watched my only Youth Cup match (at Blackburn) as I had waited for a really interesting match up to take place in the Youth Cup after that. Last season Dulwich Hamlet’s Youth Team got all the way to the 3rd Round of this competition before they were beaten by big boys Newcastle United 6-2 at their Champion Hill ground. This season, Dulwich had gone on a good run again and got another Football League side in the form of Oxford United. Down to the Hill I go!

Dulwich is an area of South London and consists of East Dulwich, West Dulwich and Dulwich Village. The first documented evidence of Dulwich is as a hamlet outside London in 967AD, granted by King Edgar to one of his thanes Earl Aelfheah. The name of Dulwich may come from two old English words, Dill, a white flower, and wihs, meaning a damp meadow, giving a meaning of "the meadow where dill grows". In 1538, Henry VIII seized control of Dulwich and sold it to goldsmith Thomas Calton for £609. Calton's grandson Sir Francis Calton sold the Manor of Dulwich for £4,900 in 1605 to Elizabethan actor and entrepreneur Edward Alleyn. He vested his wealth in a charitable foundation, Alleyn's College of God's Gift, established in 1619. The charity's modern successor, The Dulwich Estate, still owns 1,500 acre in the area, including a number of private roads and a tollgate. In the Second World War, Dulwich was hit by many V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets. A possible explanation for this is that the British military when announcing V-1 and V-2 explosions deliberately gave map co-ordinates four miles north of the truth in an attempt to protect densely populated central London and focus the drops on the open spaces in the suburbs instead. Today, Dulwich has its 3 distinct areas and remains a diverse and popular part of London.

The senior side of Dulwich Hamlet are currently having an excellent season in Isthmian Division 1 South (as I write this they are top of the table). Founded in 1893, their famous pink and blue colours have seen them play in front of 20k+ crowds, saw the start of many a professional’s career and reach the FA Cup 1st Round (last time in 1998). Dulwich moved into their renovated Champion Hill ground in 1993 (the old one had to be demolished in 1991) as part of a Sainsbury’s development of the area (their ground is right next to one). The main feature of the ground is the Tommy Jover Stand (pic above) which houses all the seats and the club’s clubhouse in the top of the stand. Opposite this is a covered standing area while the rest of the ground is uncovered and standing. Its a great wee place and the ample room for everyone and between the standing areas makes this a place I would happily go back to. It’s also popular as Kent League side Fisher FC play here whilst trying to get somewhere themselves as well as Millwall Lionesses LFC who play in the Woman’s Premier League Southern section.

While this was a good time for the Dulwich Hamlet youth side, they have had a long history of professionals playing for them and coming up through the youth ranks. George Elokobi, Simeon Jackson, Marlon King, Leon Court and even Alan Pardew have all come through the youth ranks at the Hamlet. The next big star appears to be in the form of Michael Chambers, captain of this youth side. Apparently, Man Utd to Bristol City are all interested in him and are monitoring his progress. From what I can find on the interweb, Dulwich Hamlet Under 18s play in Bexley & District Junior Football League where they are currently in 7th (out of 14), although have games in hand on everyone due to their FA Youth Cup exploits. Their run in this season’s competition had so far seen off; Molesey (4-0), Welling United (5-2), Whyteleafe (3-1) and then Ebbsfleet United (2-1) in the 1st Round. Oxford United’s Youth play their football in the South West Football League Youth Alliance were they are towards the bottom in 8th place (out of 11). They had entered into the 1st Round and had beaten Cheltenham Town 3-1 to get here. The winners were at home to Bolton in the next round, big game.

Game kicked off with Oxford taking the game to the home side and after only 5 minutes they took the lead. From an Oxford corner, Cole Hinchliffe forced home goalie Sean Bazell into a good save but Tyrone Marsh reacted first to give the away side the lead. I’ll be honest, after this I did fear for the Dulwich youngsters as an early goal could have wrecked their confidence. However, the Hamlet started peppering their goal as Shelton Frimpong smashed a long range effort which was well saved by Daniel Lincoln and then he saved again from a free kick to keep it 0-1 at HT.

The 2nd half was then just 45 minutes of pure entertainment. Both sides had chances one after each other as all 138 spectators were gripped as Dulwich went for the equalizer while Oxford just needed one to kill the game off. The away side started a bit better as Marsh should have added a 2nd when he was put clear, but lacked the composure after doing all the hard work and fired wide much to the amazement of the crowd. Dulwich themselves had some glorious chances to get them back into the game with Chambers doing some excellent running which showed why a lot of top clubs are after him. Frimpong then had an excellent chance as his pace got him away from the Oxford defence but he sliced his shot wide when he looked good to score. The last 5 minutes were held up when home goalie Bazell collided with an attacker and was stretchered off with a serious looking injury. (Hopefully not too serious, he had played well) On came Emmanuel Oweyemi who apparently isn’t a goalie but made a great low save to keep them in it. Sadly though for Dulwich and underdogs everywhere, Oxford got the all important 2nd right in injury time as they turned timewasting into a textbook goal. With a free kick down in the corner flag, it looked as if Oxford would just play keep ball. However when the two defenders came at the Oxford defender, he lofted the ball over them and sent Jermaine Udumaga on his way who fired a half volley past the goalie and sent them to the 3rd Round to play Bolton.

This was a great game and an excellent evening out at the Dulwich. Great ground? Check. Entertaining game? Check. Good referee who didn’t take any of the rare dissent? Check. I need to go to more Youth Cup games as you can see some of the stars of the future before they hit the big time and the matches are normally played in the competitive but fair spirit. I intend to come back to Dulwich one day to see the senior team so good luck to the whole club and good luck to Oxford United in the 3rd Round when they take on Bolton Youth.

Photos from Dulwich Hamlet Youth vs Oxford United Youth

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 7.5 (great entertainment)

- Value for money: 7/10 (reasonable enough)

- Ground: 8/10 (smashing ground)

- Atmosphere: 6.5/10 (good stuff)

- Food: 5/10 (ok burger)

- Programme: N/A – not their normal issue, was good enough though

- Referee: Andy Mead – 8/10 (excellent performance)

Barking FC vs Bethnal Green United (12/11/11)

2011-11-24T18:22:00.001Z

Match 134

Ground #: 100

Ground: Mayesbrook Park

Competition: Essex Senior League (Level 9)

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £6

Programme: £1.50

Attendance: 47

Barking FC 4

O’Brien 10’, Port 29’, Jones 53’, King 62’

Bethnal Green United 0

_____________________________________________________________

It had been a long time coming but now was the time to finally hit 3 figures in terms of grounds visited with the magic 100 mark! It had been delayed by a week due to the death of a family member and so it was again back to the drawing board as to who would be the “lucky” team and ground to be the 100. Brentford, Leyton Orient and Tooting & Mitcham were considered before it was finally decided that Essex Senior League side Barking would be the side that would be the century.

Barking is a suburban town situated in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in East London. Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Berecingas, meaning either "the settlement of the followers or descendants of a man called Bereca" or "the settlement by the birch trees". Despite a long history, the earlier 20th Century neglected Barking and it now shows. Run-down would be one word to describe it. The place though is now going through a much needed regeneration with investment in new retail outlets and business centres as well as the more grand Barking Riverside project which aims to regenerate this part of East London with housing for 25,000 people and a new DLR station.

The football team also have a long history (or a very short one depending on how you look at it!) with a Barking Institute being formed around 1896. (the origins of the club are unclear) They had some early success in various local competitions such as the South Essex League, Leyton & District League and the London League which Barking all won from 1898 to 1910. In 1919 the club became Barking Town before going to Barking in 1932. They finally joined the Isthmian League in 1952 and won the league in 1979 which started their great FA Cup runs when they reached the 2nd Round four times (in 78/79, 79/80, 81/82 and 83/84) as Aldershot, Reading, Gillingham and Plymouth Argyle all ending Barking’s dreams in that round. (And to be honest, they don’t look close to getting anywhere near the 2nd Round again) They stayed in the Isthmian League Premier until 1991 when they were relegated to Division 1 and promptly relegated again to Division 2 in 1996. In 2001, Barking merged with East Ham United (a small Essex Senior League side) to become the powerhouse of Barking & East Ham United until 2006 when they disbanded and Barking reformed, ironically now in the Essex Senior League. (As a side note, East Ham United are still defunct) They have plodded along in this league as they slowly try and get back to the days of the Isthmian League and a 6th place finish last season shows there is still a long way to go.

Their Mayesbrook Park ground has been home to Barking since 1973 when the council moved them from Vicarage Field (which is now a shopping centre). Based at the northern end of Mayesbrook Park, the ground does have a definite non-league feel about it and retains enough character but stays away from being classed as a shit-hole. Coming into the ground from behind a goal, the covered stand that you first see is a decent area to watch the game, being raised from the pitch. Down one side of the pitch is a large covered stand which has a small standing area as well as some seats and a press box (for all of those journos who report on Barking!). The other two sides of the ground is uncovered standing but the ground is set in a nice place surrounded by trees and an (it seems) abandoned athletics track. The tea hut is down in the corner on the entrance side but sadly for this game it appeared they weren’t doing hot food. (Soup doesn’t count!) So be warned if you are making a trip to Mayesbrook Park.

The Essex Senior League is at Level 9 in the FA Pyramid and so is comparable to the Western League and North West Counties League in terms of grounds and football quality. Barking were going into this game in 9th place (out of 18) and way behind current leaders Witham Town with Enfield 1893 just behind. Their opponents for this glorious match were from nearby in the form of Bethnal Green United. Formed as a community club in 2000, they were granted senior status only two seasons ago after winning the Middlesex County League in 2009. They have been a success at their new level with finishes of 5th and 4th in the league and a League Cup win too in 2009/10. They were heading into this game in 5th place and 3 points clear of Barking. Tough game to call.

After an impeccable observed minute’s silence the game kicked off with Bethnal Green Utd on top and playing a very decent slick passing game with some good runs being made on and off the ball. Their bright start continued with some possession and spending the majority of their time in the Barking area so it was no surprise then when on 9 minutes they went 0-1 down. Barking won a corner from what seemed their first attack of the game and the ball in found Ben O’Brien unmarked for an easy back post header. BGU did carry on playing well though and were very unlucky not to be level after a free kick was only partially cleared and a low shot from outside the area was brilliantly kept out by Chris Clarke. Barking though were right back at the home side and should have made it 2 when a one on one chance was rolled under away goalie Michael Bowditch’s legs but the ball rolled along onto the post and cleared away. There was no stopping the home side now though as BGU were sloppy in midfield and lost the ball. When Bobby Port was put through on goal he made no mistake for the 2nd after 29 minutes. The rest of the half swung on two controversial moments, firstly Barking again cut through BGU’s piss poor offside trap but the last man brought the striker down. A free kick was finally given but no card at all. Strange. Right on HT, a Barking player flew into a strong two footed challenge on the sideline which unsurprisingly angered the away side. After a strong chat by the ref that seemed it, until bizarrely a BGU fan jumped onto the pitch wanting to start a fight with the player who caused the tackle. Everyone seemed slightly embarrassed for him and once he was off the pitch, the HT whistle blew. First taste of non-league Essex football and it lived up to expectation!

BGU to be fair started the 2nd half well. They pushed forward in trying to get a goal back but that was always going to leave gaps at the back and lo and behold on 53 minutes Barking effectively killed the game off. Some excellent play down the left hand side led to a chance which was at first well saved by Bowditch but Ben Jones slid in and followed up the rebound to finish in an open net. After that for around 10 minutes, BGU just fell apart with Barking absolutely battering them and creating chance after chance. They did score one of these when a cross from the right found Jake King in the box, he controlled well and turned his defender before finishing well for #4. BGU did rally back as the manager shouted to “show some pride”. They deserve one as they pushed Barking back for long spells towards the end, but you always felt that if the home side upped a gear, they would go and score some more. They showed this by hitting a post right at the death. A handsome win in the end as the open Essex Senior League proved itself again.

When I first started writing this blog, ground #100 was the target. I did have some grand plans for that 100 but in the end Mayesbrook Park was that “lucky” ground as the 3 figure sum was reached. What next? Well, the next target is to finally complete a league although that will take a while unless I actually start concentrating on one in particular! For now, it will be continue to search out the interesting and historic as I start to nail the next 200. This was a reasonable game, and a decent start to watching the Essex Senior League. I can recommend Barking, although do get something to eat before the game if you are hungry! Here’s to the next 100 grounds! *Gets out map and fixture list*

Photos from Barking vs Bethnal Green United

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 6/10 (standard league game)

- Value for money: 6/10 (London priced Level 9)

- Ground: 6.5/10 (slightly quirky, slightly a shithole but in a good way)

- Atmosphere: 4/10 (not much from the 47)

- Food: N/A – they didn’t do hot food

- Programme: 6/10 (reasonable for £1.50)

- Referee: Mateusz Filipiak – 6/10 (dealt with a spicy game well)

Redbridge FC vs Ebbsfleet United (29/10/11)

2011-11-09T21:45:00.001Z

Match 133

Ground #: 99

Ground: Oakside Stadium

Competition: FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £9

Programme: £2

Attendance: 442

Redbridge FC 2

Murray 80’, Gardner 89’

Ebbsfleet United 0

_____________________________________________________________

It had been a whole 28 days since my last game when I saw one smaller club in the FA Cup lose out to the larger boys when Hendon finished off Oxhey’s dreams for another season. 4 weeks later and 2 rounds on I was back to try my luck again to see a cup shock. This time it would have to be a major shock as midtable Isthmian League Division 1 side Redbridge took on Blue Square Premier cracks Ebbsfleet United. At stake was a place in the 1st Round proper of the Cup, a chance at a league club and some TV footage too. A big game.

The actual Redbridge in London is in the district of Ilford and the name comes from a bridge over the River Roding which was demolished in 1921. The bridge was made of red brick, unlike other bridges in the area made of white stone. The name was later applied to the wider London borough created in 1965. Redbridge FC though have an interesting history and the club was previously known as Ford United F.C, which dated from a 1959 merger between two older clubs, Ford Sports (Dagenham) and Briggs Sports, both of which were founded in 1934. As Ford United they performed well in the Aetolian League winning the title twice and finishing runners up once. The club though were in serious problems at the start of 1995/6 season, however, as sponsorship was lost and disbanding seemed a real danger, until Vice-Chairman George Adams enlisted Sky Sports as sponsors, rescuing the Club. The 2001/02 season was an interesting one for Ford United as they bought the lease to Barkingside’s Oakside Stadium who needed to find a permanent home to allow their progression up the football pyramid. Barkingside FC (Essex Senior League) still play at the Oakside Stadium and it allowed Ford United to progress up the pyramid. They were in the Conference South during 2004-05 and were promptly relegated and then relegated again the next season from Isthmian League Premier to Isthmian 1 North were they still play today. A play-off final loss in 2007-08 is the closest they have got to heading back up to the heights they were once at.

The Oakside Stadium is a decent venue situated right next to Barkingside tube station on the Central Line way out in the sticks of NE London. A good sized clubhouse awaits you when you first come through before you walk around and see an excellent standing, uncovered terrace behind one of the goals. Down the sides of the pitch are two covered areas, one being a seated main stand, the other being a shallow covered area. Behind the other goal is now condoned off but it is just a small standing area. Having to compare it to the Evo-Stik North grounds I’ve been to, it does compare well to places like Lancaster City and Bamber Bridge. Ford United/Redbridge do have FA Cup history as they had reached the FA Cup 1st Round before in 1998-99 (losing 0-3 at Preston N.E) and 2003-04 (losing 1-2 at home to Port Vale in a replay) and were hoping to make it to Round 1 for the third time against Blue Square Prem side Ebbsfleet United.

The Fleet themselves have had a recent public history with the curious experiment of MyFootballClub taking over in late 2007. Approximately 27,000 MyFootballClub members each paid £35 to provide an approximate £700,000 takeover fund and all own an equal share in the club but make no profit nor receive a dividend. Members also have a vote on transfers as well as player selection and all major decisions which seems a bizarre way to run things but never mind. Prior to the MFC takeover, the club were known as Gravesend & Northfleet before the name change and were regular members of the Conference National/Blue Square Premier before relegation to Blue Square South in 2010. Instant promotion through the playoffs were achieved last season and would provide a mighty tough test for Redbridge with most (if not all) of their current squad having some sort of Football League experience.

And it was no surprise that the away side made most of the early running by dominating possession and winning some early corners but Redbridge’s back line were well prepared for the barrage they expected to face. No surprise it was still 0-0 after 10 mins which disappointed some Fleet fans stood near me. The Fleet still plugged away though as the opening goal was only a matter of time away and Callum Willock should have scored when he latched onto a mistake made by Billy Sendall but home goalie Adam Rafis got down to his feet to frustrate the away side more. Rafis was a busy man. First saving from a deflected Ricky Shakes shot, (yes that Shakes, the ex Swindon man) before saving a Paul Lorraine header as it was becoming clear this would certainly not be a walk in the park for the Fleet. In fact, Redbridge had a wee spell of their own at the end of the half where they began to show some belief and nearly scored a fluke when Joe Gardner curled a cross/shot (still can’t decide what it was) that just landed on the top of Preston Edwards’ net. (Yes, THAT Preston Edwards) 0-0 at HT which annoyed Fleet fans, it was deserved though.

2nd half started like the first with Fleet trying to secure an early goal to knock the belief out of the home side and like the first, the home defence were up to the task. Ebbsfleet did have the best chance of the game early on though as Michael West had the opportunity to side foot the away side into the lead but just passed the ball wide. Oh dear. Soon after this I overheard two fans say “I’m surprised at Ebbsfleet, they are like an average Isthmian League side”. Harsh words, but maybe Redbridge heard this as for the rest of the match they dominated. It was amazing to see the players grow with belief and encouragement as Ebbsfleet began to look like they weren’t up for this. Edwards kept the away side in the game around the 70 minute mark when he brilliantly kept out Vinnie Durrant’s long range effort. While it was heading for 0-0 and a cold Tuesday evening replay before Durrant got a 2nd chance at a cross after a corner and his cross found big man Ryan Murray who powered his header into the bottom corner to send Redbridge fans mental with 10 minutes to go. It was deserved and while Ebbsfleet launched forward, they had completely ran out of steam and ideas as Durrant had another shot which flied past Edwards post before party time turned into dream land for Redbridge on 88 minutes when James Robinson sent Joe Gardner through on the left wing and he finished like Thierry Henry in his pomp by passing the ball away from Edwards. Game finished. Ebbsfleet were done and so were their fans, leaving in droves to discuss yet another 4QR exit.

At the final whistle the home players and officials were absolutely ecstatic as they were into the 1st Round for the 3rd time (and the 1st under the Redbridge FC name). They received a “winnable” draw in the form of a home tie against Southern League Oxford City with the winner looking for a FL team in the 2nd Round. (Or another non-league tie to have a better crack at reaching Round 3?) I thoroughly enjoyed this game. Even though it looked to be heading for 0-0, the game was tight and tense and produced a memorable cup shock at the end of it. While leaving the Oakside Stadium, I was delighted for them. I have no connection to Redbridge and have no opinion of Ebbsfleet Utd, but I had a smile on my face at what I had just seen. I had just seen the FA Cup at its best.

Photos from Redbridge vs Ebbsfleet United

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 7/10 (FA Cup shock)

- Value for money: 6/10 (upped their normal price, but still under £10)

- Ground: 7.5/10 (good non-league ground)

- Atmosphere: 7/10 (good noise made)

- Food: 5/10 (small burger)

- Programme: 6/10 (added mark for new feature of wank material in prog)

- Referee: R Whitton – 7/10 (no memory of him at all)

(New feature for programmes – wank material. Excellent addition)

Road to Wembley 2011/12 (1st Round)

2011-10-28T23:20:00.001+01:00

The FA Vase bandwagon rolled into Three Bridges for the last round (I was in the North-West last weekend and so was nowhere here) as Beckenham Town had an interesting looking tie against Sussex League side Three Bridges.

(Three Bridges FC’s Jubilee Field ground – photo taken from www.nomad-online.co.uk)

Coming into this game in 8th place in the Sussex County League 1st Division, you would have to feel TBFC were slight favourites against Kent League side Beckenham. As it happened, the game needed extra-time to find a winner despite the face that the away side had Danny McKone sent off after 70 minutes. Goals from Elliot Romain (101 mins) and two from Clinton Moore (111 mins & 118 mins) sent Three Bridges through to the 2nd Round. Beckenham still had time to have Harry Draper sent off late on in ET to cap a miserable day in Sussex for them.

Three Bridges “reward” for their place in the 2nd Round was a tough looking tie against fellow Sussex League side Rye United. They are currently in 2nd place in that league and again you would have to fancy the home side. Again, I won’t be there (nothing against Sussex, honestly!) as I have another engagement but another short match report will follow in mid-November after that tie.

ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2011/2012:

1ST QUALIFYING ROUND: Croydon FC 1-2 Beckenham Town (Croydon Sports Arena, Att: 51)

2ND QUALIFYING ROUND: Beckenham Town 5-1 Croydon FC (Eden Park Avenue, Att: 58)

1ST ROUND: Three Bridges 3-0 Beckenham Town [After Extra Time] (Jubilee Field, Att: 68)

Oxhey Jets vs Hendon FC (01/10/11)

2011-10-17T21:35:00.001+01:00

Match 132

Ground #: 98

Ground: Boundary Stadium

Competition: FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £6

Programme: With Admission

Attendance: 376

Oxhey Jets 1

Putman 47’

Hendon FC 2

Charles 45’, Ngoyi 59’

_____________________________________________________________

This was set to be the last Saturday for some time (due to various reasons) that I would actually be able to see a game and so there was a decision to make where I actually took myself. The problem was lack of suitable games (even I have a limit, yes seriously) and was all for heading up to Manford Way vs Kelvedon Hatch in the Essex FA Premier Cup (yeah that barrel was getting scraped!) until I noticed a possible FA Cup story coming from just south of Watford as Level 9 side Oxhey Jets were taking on Level 7 heavy hitters Hendon FC. Decision sorted.

South Oxhey is a suburb of Watford in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire and is also close to the boundary of Greater London. (London Overground provides services through S.Oxley) South Oxhey is a large estate built on land that was formerly part of the Oxhey Hall Estate. There was a manor house here, Oxhey Place, and a chapel. The manor house was owned by the Blackwell family of Crosse and Blackwell fame before it burnt down in 1955. Oxhey Chapel dates from 1612 and is still standing to the south of the parish church of All Saints. The church was opened in 1957 to serve the new estate built after the Second World War by the London County Council. The church was demolished and rebuilt in 2000. South Oxhey also shot to fame (of sorts) in 2009 when British choirmaster and broadcaster Gareth Malone came to South Oxhey (seriously) to form a community choir and film the series The Choir: Unsung Town. The South Oxhey Community Choir and the South Oxhey Youth Choir were the two groups assembled and both still continue to perform today.

(Malone keeps it real in S.Oxhey)

The town’s footballing side, the Oxhey Jets were established in 1972 and have floated around the regional leagues all of their existence. Currently members of the South Spartan Midlands League, they actually hold a place in the top flight of that league and so play at Level 9 in the pyramid. They only entered FA competitions from 2005/06 and so their best run in the FA Cup was actually to the 2nd Round Qualifying when they reached this stage in 2006/07 and of course, this time out too. Their Boundary Stadium isn’t a classic, I’ll get that in now, but it is a reasonable ground. Located right next door to a swimming pool (which was very tempting considering the heat when I went!) the ground has a stepped terrace right at the entrance which provides decent views as well as two medium sized covered areas, one an actual stand, the other a larger standing area (although set back from the edge of the pitch strangely). They also have a silly seated identikit stand in the corner of the pitch which is probably only there so they meet FA ground grading rules while the rest of the ground is uncovered hard standing.

To reach here, the Jets had already dispatched of Wodson Park, Great Wakering Rovers and Hertford Town before coming up against one of London’s best known non-league sides and a side that play two levels above them. Hendon FC have had a tough few years recently, firstly they were forced to move out of their Claremont Road ground in 2008. The ground had been sold to property developers in 2006, but a deed of covenant protecting the ground had been in place which (currently?) puts an end to the property idea. They had wanted to move to the Barnet Copthall Stadium (currently being used by Kentish Town, one day, TTF will be there, one day) but once they realised that was too pricey, they didn’t really have a ground of their own. They currently groundshare at Wembley FC’s Vale Farm and have a long term agreeement there. Added to that, some disappointing league finishes (they only finished 15th in the Isthmian Premier last season), you would be forgiven for feeling a bit for Hendon. This season though they were doing well, going into this game in 2nd and only one point behind Lowestoft Town and reaching the 2nd Qualifying Round of the Cup. This was set up nicely and the record crowd of 376 were treated to some exceptional October weather. Excellent.

The majority of the crowd were enthused by the good start the Jets made too, with some good passing moves giving Hendon something to think about. The Isthmian League side did have two good strikers up front in Elliot Charles and Greg Ngoyi who were causing the home defence problems with the movement and passing. The slickness upfront was beginning to pay off as Hendon now had the majority of the possession and so chances began to fall their way, although they were few and far between in the 1st half. Elliot Charles had a header just over the bar from a good cross from Carl McCluskey and that seemed to be it for the half. Then right on HT came a suspected killer blow. James Archer released Ngoyi down the right and cut inside Andrew Lomas to drill in a low cross towards the near post. Elliott Charles was quickest to react to the situation and, having got in front of his marker Steve Brown, fired a low shot just inside the near post. Oxhey looked devastated at conceding right on HT so was it game over already?

The short answer was no. Although Gary McCann made a double substitution at HT bringing on Casey Maclaren and Byron Bubb, the Jets made an immediate impact and scored an equalizer. Andrew Lomas got sent away down the left and he sped past a fair few players before he pulled it back to Lewis Putman who’s low shot found the back of the net and the home fans went mental. (Putman, ironically in these situations, made a few appearances for Hendon last season) While the Jets started to believe they could pull off a major cup coup, the heat was easily beginning to win over with the game slowing right down to a walking pace. That being said, Hendon did fire home a goal and the winner around the hour mark to book a place in Round 3. A free kick was floated in and Charles won yet another header to flick the ball on. Ngoyi reacted quickly and, after allowing the ball to bounce, but before Brown could get in a challenge, drilled a shot across Mark Jessop in the home net via a post. Oxhey did push forward for their 2nd equalizer as Shepherd and Bellotti had good chances but they were dealt with comfortably by Sean Thomas. While the sun began to set, Oxhey’s FA Cup run came to a close and while they could be proud of their decent performance, the better team won on the day.

Hendon’s reward for this win was a 3rd Qualifying Round tie against Maldon & Tiptree which they won 3-1 and so were today really rewarded with a top 4th Qualifying Round tie against Blue Square Premier side Luton Town. They will probably get hammered, but what a great experience for them. As for Oxhey, it was a decent day out at a friendly enough club. Will I ever come back here? Most likely not, but I will see them out and about I’m sure.

Photos from Oxhey Jets vs Hendon FC

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 5/10 (heat 1-0 football)

- Value for money: 5.5/10 (reasonable)

- Ground: 6/10 (bit bland, but better than Croydon I suppose)

- Atmosphere: 6.5/10 (was good – good support all round)

- Food: 7/10 (excellent bacon roll)

- Programme: 5/10 (was free so can’t moan too much)

- Referee: Adrian Piggott – 6/10 (can’t remember him doing too much wrong)

Beckenham Town vs Fisher FC (24/09/11)

2011-10-12T12:26:00.001+01:00

Match 131

Ground #: 97

Ground: Eden Park Avenue

Competition: FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round

Kick Off: £3

Cost: £7

Programme: £1

Attendance: 58

Beckenham Town 5

Rose 4’, Curren 18’, Hobbs (pen) 57’, (pen) 81’, Wadmore (O.G) 65’

Fisher FC 1

Turner (pen) 14’, Warren s/off 90’

_____________________________________________________________

The next chapter in the FA Vase journey was to move slightly east from the opening round at Croydon to nearby Beckenham Town. They hosted fellow Kent League side Fisher FC who have an engrossing history and as I found out, a hardcore fan base still there. A place in the 1st Round proper awaited the winners and a dash across London’s various transports awaited me to get here.

Beckenham is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, south east of Central London. Until the coming of the railway in 1857, Beckenham was a small village in almost completely rural surroundings. Although once a family of entrepreneurs began the building of villas here, its population soared from 2000 to 26,000 during 1850-1900 and throughout the rest of the century. The current population is nearly at 82,000. Today it is very much in London suburbia, although some of the grand houses of the early days remain giving the place a strange commuter town feel yet with the grandiose history. With many business links, Beckenham does host one interesting landmark in the Chinese Garage which dates back to 1928 and was built in the style of a Japanese pagoda. Strangely, the building now is used as a Peugeot Car dealership (a French company) and is a listed building.

The town’s football side play in the Eden Park area at the imaginatively named Eden Park Avenue as it’s on a road called… They moved into the ground in July 1980 as they obtained a 25 year lease from The London Borough of Bromley (and presumably something similar was signed in 2005) and have made it their home ever since. The ground is actually one I really like with a large style pavilion (pic above) at the top end of the ground where the main entrance is located. Here houses the clubhouse and changing rooms and the style of the pavilion fits well with the leafy suburbia that Eden Park Avenue its situated in. The rest of the ground is ok with 4 separate areas of cover dotted around the pitch as well as a small main stand right in the middle. It is a smashing little ground that maintains the features of a Level 9 club as well as the surroundings its based in.

The club in it’s current state were only founded in 1971 as the grew out of an amateur side called Stanhope Rovers and as the main side in Beckenham, they were re-incorporated into it’s current name. (Another club called Beckenham Town had gone bust in 1969). They have played in the Kent League since 1982 and have always been a top flight side in the league, although they are normally floating around midtable (ground should be able to make the step up to Level 8 as far as I could see) they did lead the league right up until the last day of the season in 2005/06 before being pipped by Maidstone United to the title. Their furthest run in the FA Vase came way back in 1980/81 when they reached the 4th Round, although they had been banned from FA competitions in 2004 when they first were thrown out of the FA Vase for fielding an unregistered player before the FA were not happy with their appeal and banned them for 5 years (and the FA Cup for 6). Their first season back in the Vase was last season when they reached the 3rd Round before crashing out to Kings Lynn Town. Their opponents for this tie had a more turbulent history as they had only been reincarnated just 2 years ago. Fisher Athletic were playing in the Conference South in 2009 before their massive debts caught up with them and they were liquidated at the High Court. They had also left their Surrey Docks Stadium (it still stands, pictures of it’s sad current state can be found here on Mishi’s excellent blog) In May 2009, club representatives decided to take the Fisher name on becoming the new Fisher FC and continued to play at Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill ground while “dropping” down to the Kent League, where they still play today. Last season they finished bottom of the KL but have made a much better start this time out and were going into this game in 4th place while Beckenham were down in 11th and 6 points down on Fisher (but with 2 games in hand), tough to call then!

The first thing I noticed at KO was Fisher’s hardy bunch of fans who were singing from the off and one had even brought a flag. It was nice to see some real passion at non-league and good to see Fisher still had some hardcore fan base with them. They nearly had something to shout about early on when they went on their first attack but just 4 minutes in they were a goal down. A Beckenham corner came in and Jason Rose planted his header past Danny Firkins. Simple as you like. Fisher responded well and should have equalized a few moments later when Fisher’s midfield dynamo Jamie Turner sent Danny Hunt through on goal but the ball just got away from him at the vital time. That being said, Fisher did equalize on 14 minutes when Turner ran at the Beckenham defence who melted away until he was floored in the box. Penalty. And Turner himself made no mistake to make it 1-1. Fisher now should have held firm before pushing on as they did look good, yet 4 minutes later they were 2-1 down. A cross from the left was missed by a defender and Nick Curren’s low diving header nestled into the bottom corner. Both sides went for it now as a 3rd goal may end the game for Fisher but on 37 minutes home goalie Nick Blue made an outstanding save from a Hunt volley which he tipped onto the bar. At HT it was 2-1, and the Fisher fans were still in good voice. Home fans were, not.

For the 2nd half as I walked around the ground to get some different pictures, I had the delight of standing next to the Fisher group who were still singing and getting behind their lads. They also made the running for the beginning of the half with Blue having to be on his toes to keep the away side out. Yet as most times when I write in my notes, “X doing well, pushing for equalizer”, they go and concede. Referee G.Collins had a reasonable game up until this point yet when Beckenham won a corner on 57 minutes, the ball came in and was cleared. Penalty. Nobody appealed for it and even the Beckenham players looked bemused as to its award. Not that Jack Hobbs cared, he easily scored his penalty and Fisher were incensed (and also 3-1 down). Adam Wadmore’s goal on 65 minutes ended the game as a contest, a smart finish from a low cross which he diverted in. Into his own net. At this point the Fisher fans’ gallows humour came out as it was clear their FA Vase run was ending at Eden Park Avenue this season. Beckenham still had time to add another when they won another penalty (this time the whole ground could see it) as the guilty party had clearly never listened to Ray Wilkins “stay on your feet!” mantra. Hobbs scored that one to make it 5-1 and Fisher even had time to have Frankie Warren sent off in injury time for a stupid lunge to pick up his 2nd yellow card. Beckenham were through to R1.

This felt like the least 5-1 game I have ever seen (if that made sense!) as Fisher had many chances to add to their tally whereas Beckenham seemed to score with every chance they had. I do hope one day Fisher can get back to a ground of their own, whether that be the Surrey Quays Stadium or a completely new build and if that does happen, I will certainly pop in. As for Beckenham, they have a really nice ground, good friendly club from the officials I met and spoke to, although you do feel if they came up against a team half decent, their defence would be torn to shreds. They now meet Sussex County League side Three Bridges away in the 1st Round (sadly I won’t be there) which has all the makings to be an interesting game. The FA Vase, you can’t beat it.

Photos from Beckenham Town vs Fisher FC

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 6.5/10 (good entertainment until end)

- Value for money: 4/10 (Kent League = overpriced)

- Ground: 7/10 (good setting, excellent stuff)

- Atmosphere: 7/10 (Fisher fans made it)

- Food: 7/10 (good food here and well priced)

- Programme: 4/10 (aesthetically pleasing but lacking in substance)

- Referee: G Collins – 5/10 (god knows what he saw for the penalty)

ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2011/2012:

1ST QUALIFYING ROUND: Croydon FC 1-2 Beckenham Town (Croydon Sports Arena, Att: 51)

2ND QUALIFYING ROUND: Beckenham Town 5-1 Croydon FC (Eden Park Avenue, Att: 58)

Arsenal vs Shrewsbury Town (20/09/11)

2011-10-06T14:17:00.001+01:00

Match 130

Ground #: 96

Ground: Emirates Stadium

Competition: Carling Cup 3rd Round

Kick Off: 7:45pm

Cost: £10

Programme: £2

Attendance: 46,539

Arsenal 3

Gibbs 33’, Oxlade-Chamberlain 58’, Benayoun 78’

Shrewsbury Town 1

Collins 16’

_____________________________________________________________

Believe it or not, occasionally Premiership sides actually offer good value for money tickets to see them play. Normally in a cup game when they are playing someone they consider tinpot and it means people like me can pop along, finally see a game at a big ground for a good price and never return. Having bought my £10 ticket for this game a couple of weeks previous to this game I could not envisage the crisis that the Arse were in coming into this game. An unthinkable defeat to Shrewsbury (who themselves were going well in League 2) would most likely see Wenger out of a job. Interesting.

Arsenal were founded in 1886 as Dial Square were based way down “south of the river” in Woolwich and shortly after their formation were renamed Woolwich Arsenal and began to achieve moderate success with election to the Football League in 1893, before being promoted to the First Division in 1904. The club's relative geographic isolation resulted in lower attendances than those of other clubs, which led to the club becoming mired in financial problems and effectively bankrupt by 1910, when they were taken over by businessmen Henry Norris and William Hall. Norris sought to move the club elsewhere, and in 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, North London and became the MK Dons of their day. Their first real success came under the management of Herbert Chapman when they won the FA Cup and 2 League Championships in the early 30’s. Throughout the previous century Arsenal dipped in and out of success before current boss Arsene Wenger took over in 1996. His ‘new’ thinking around training and tactics means he is easily the most successful Arsenal manager of all time with numerous league wins include the famous “invincible” season in 2003/04. He hasn’t led them to a European title though, yet.

Despite all this though, Wenger is a man under pressure. No trophy of any kind (the Emirates Cup doesn’t count) since 2005 which was compounded by a last minute Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham last season. A poor start to this season which included the absolute raping they received at Old Trafford. (I’d 8-2 break it to them, etc) as well as defeats to Liverpool and a 4-3 loss at Blackburn going into this game. Wenger needed to spend money and bought 4 players in the last 48 hours of the transfer window and so pressure was on Park Chu-Young, André Santos, Per Mertesacker and Mikel Arteta to deliver and immediately. Along came the perfect game for Arsenal to recover then, a Carling Cup tie against League 2 Shrewsbury. The Shrews may well be going well in their league under Graham Turner, but they came here with not a hope in hell according to Arsenal fans, some of who hadn’t even heard of the place or realised that people play football below the Premiership. (I did actually hear “I didn’t know they played football in Shrewsbury”)

Shrewsbury fans were clearly down for the evening sightseeing and viewing the Emirates Stadium then and Arsenal’s new ground is fairly impressive. I had a front row seat which only cost £10 and allowed me a decent view of the pitch. (I had been warned the sight lines are poor in the ground and so nearly paid £20 to sit in the higher areas of the ground). Nice padded seats are also provided as well as frequent references to the club and it’s history with various players in huddles around the ground, a clock installed at the newly named Clock End (a la Highbury) and impressive inner features with swank looking bars and millions of outlets for Arsenal ~~crap~~ gear. Shrewsbury though were only here for the evening out and they had brought an impressive number down from Shropshire with their support basically filling out their allocation as they sold 5,000 tickets for this game. (Fair play to them for coming down here in numbers – and they were in good voice before KO)

Game KO’d with Arsenal going straight at the League 2 side as an early goal would surely have put the game beyond the away side already and they had goalie Ben Smith to thank as he first saved brilliantly from a Chamakh header before Chamakh met a low cross at the back post which Smith was equal to again. Shrewsbury though slowly came back into though and on 13 minutes they actually had the cheek to mount a shot at goal when Collins was put through on the left and squeezed a shot across Fabianski. The ball rolled against the outside of the post and Marvin Morgan forced Fabianski into a save from the rebound. This actually woke a few Arsenal fans around me up as they now realised they were actually in a football match and not a training game against some part-timers. If the Shrews had the cheek to mount a shot then 3 minutes later they had the absolute audacity to take the lead as Morgan had all the time in the world to cross from the right and an unmarked James Collins powered his header into the top corner. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. The crowd turned on this Arsenal side containing 6 full internationals and the away side could sense a shock. Chamakh was then nutmegged on the edge of the Shrews area and people around me went apeshit and then a last ditch block from Gibbs stopped a 2nd goal going in. Arsenal, losing to Shrewsbury? This would implode all those young Arsenal minds and surely send Wenger to the Job Centre in the morning. Luckily then, they equalized on 33 minutes, as Carl Jenkinson crossed from the right and the ball found Gibbs at the back post who sent a header past Smith for 1-1. Smith should really have done better. The relief around the ground was felt but the rest of the half saw both sides get crosses in and create half-chances so Arsenal weren’t fully safe yet. 1-1 at HT.

Just like the 1st half, Arsenal shot out of the blocks again but this time you sensed Shrewsbury wouldn’t be able to keep up with the constant moving and passing from the home side. Gibbs was causing all sorts of problems at the back early on with crossing and darting runs which meant Arsenal were becoming a lot more of a threat. In fact on 58 minutes when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hammered a shot in from outside the area that flew straight into the bottom corner, you couldn’t say it wasn’t deserved. Arsenal fans finally found their voice (you only sing when you’re winning was so so true) as the team started to relax now as the away players looked knackered. In fact it was only time before Arsenal scored a 3rd and when AOC sent Oguzhan Ozyakup (yup, remember the name) away he crossed brilliantly to Yossi Benayoun who took a touch to compose himself before slotting home and send Arsenal through to the 4th Round. The final 10 minutes were a procession as Arsenal brought on another couple of players who will probably never make the first team again (prove me wrong boys) as the game was up for both sides at 3-1.

Arsenal’s reward for this win was a 4th Round tie at home to Bolton (who since playing this game, met in the league and Arsenal coasted to a 3-0 win) which should be more interesting for the reserves. Shrewsbury’s reward was respect from the home fans and a lot of respect from me for doing League 2 proud and outsinging the home side all game. As for me, another of the “92 club” visited for a bargain price and (unless I get another cheap/free ticket) my only visit to the Emirates. A nice ground, but it felt throughout the match that I wasn’t at the football, but at a well rehearsed show or concert instead. That may just be me, but I was at Dagenham for my previous game, and their Victoria Road ground is only a few miles across the city, it felt a million miles away for the experiences. That’s modern football though, whether you think it’s a good thing or a bad one, that’s really up to you.

Photos from Arsenal vs Shrewsbury Town

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 7/10 (reasonable fare)

- Value for money: 8/10 (nice one charging £10)

- Ground: 7/10 (modern, yes, good viewing areas, debatable)

- Atmosphere: 6.5/10 (Shrewsbury fans made it)

- Food: N/A – not a chance was I paying for grub here

- Programme: 7/10 (decent for £2)

- Referee: Tony Bates – 7/10 (don’t remember him, good job)

Dagenham and Redbridge vs Morecambe (17/09/11)

2011-09-30T23:28:00.000+01:00

Match 129

Ground #: 95

Ground: Victoria Road

Competition: English League 2

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £22

Programme: £3

Attendance: 1,728

Dagenham and Redbridge 1

Lee 73’

Morecambe 2

Carlton 47’, Drummond 54’

_____________________________________________________________

Morecambe were back in London Town and I was off to see how Jim Bentley’s revolution would do next after his and his side’s fantastic start to the season. They came into this game top of League 2 after a sensational 6-0 win over Creepy Crawley Town before a credible 1-1 midweek draw at Macclesfield to set them up for this game. There was of course some history to this game as the last time Morecambe played here was in the 2010 League 2 play-offs. They lost 6-0.

Dagenham is a big suburb in east London, forming the eastern part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It was historically an agrarian village in the county of Essex and remained mostly undeveloped until 1921 when the London County Council began construction of the large Becontree estate. The population of the area significantly increased during the 20th century, with the parish of Dagenham becoming an urban district in 1926 and a municipal borough in 1938. It has formed part of Greater London since 1965 and is a predominantly residential area, with some areas of declining industrial activity, including the Ford Dagenham plant. Vehicle assembly ceased at the plant in 2002 but it continues as a major production site with the capacity to assemble 1.4 million engines a year. In 2008 the plant produced around 1,050,000 engines and was the largest producer of Ford diesel engines globally. Employment at the plant peaked at around 40,000 workers in 1953, yet the plant currently employs around 4,000 people today.

Dagenham and Redbridge’s birth technically can be traced to 1992 when they were formed out of the merger of Redbridge Forest and Dagenham FC. You can still go back even further though and take 4 old amateur clubs who make up D&R today. Ilford, Leytonstone, Walthamstow Avenue and Dagenham all have their DNA in D&R. Ilford and Leytonstone merged in 1979 before absorbing a struggling Walthamstow Avenue in 1988 to become Redbridge Forest. After Forest left their Green Pond Road ground in Walthamstow, they groundshared at Redbridge’s Victoria Road ground with a good 7th place finish in the Conference National for the 1991/92 season before the final merge to bring the latest carnation of the club. Since then, they were finally promoted to the Football League in 2007 and adapted well to League 2 finishing 20th then 8th and then in 2010 after a 7th place finish, they won the play-offs (including an absolute roasting of Morecambe) to be promoted to League 1 for the first time in their history. Unsurprisingly for such a small club, they were promptly sent straight back down last season after being mullered by Peterborough on the final day to finish 21st. Under John Still (who has been at the club since 2004) the club have always made strides under him and is rightly seen as a club legend.

D&R were going into this game in a lowly 17th while my Morecambe boys were flying high at the top of the league after a sensational start. Considering I last watched Morecambe in League action back in March when they looked dreadful crashing at home to Macclesfield. Club legend Jim Bentley has turned it around brilliantly and were looking to avenge the unbelievable 6-0 drubbing they received here in 2010. Arriving at the ground from Dagenham East tube station, Victoria Road (or the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium) is a small tidy looking ground which is made up on a large covered terrace (picture above) named the North Stand while running around the corner flag is a small, uncovered terrace at the Bury Road End. Opposite the North Stand is two seated stands with the large Carling Stand running most of the way down the pitch while a tiny little seating area (the Family Stand) down in the corner. Away fans are situated at the back end of the ground in the seated stand there. Only 47 away fans had made the trip (which was announced during the game to ironic cheers from D&R fans – strange considering, I remember seeing them at Morecambe in January 2008 to which they brought around 20 fans) partly due to having to pay £22 for an adult ticket. This is League 2!!

Morecambe started the brighter of the two sides and Izak Reid had the first shot in anger when he broke to the right of the area but flashed his shot/cross wide (via a deflection). Dag & Red did create chances themselves though as Roche had to save and be alert from Damien Scannell and then Sam Williams as an early goal for the home side could have seen the 6-0 fear come straight back again. After that brief spell of chances the game became very scrappy as referee D Coote became very fussy yet missing other challenges. In fact the only other chance of the half was when Morecambe had a free kick cleared off the line by Scott Doe while the rest of the half was just a scrappy stalemate. The highlight of the half was actually the torrential downpour and saw streams of D&R fans rush from the open terrace to the cover. This also led to the great photo opportunity (pic below) as a rainbow came out. £22 to watch a rainbow. Was having a wonderful time.

The 47 away fans (although most other fans counted at least 70) wondered if the game would get better and lo and behold, only 2 minutes in and the away team took the lead! A long ball over the top from Kevin Ellison sent Danny Carlton away and as he skipped clear of Mark Arber, he kept his cool and slotted the ball past Chris Lewington. Morecambe fans burst into song with the “6-0! Who gives a f**k!? We’re top of the league and we’re going up!!” And soon after, Carlton was put through again but this time his shot was straight at Lewington. While the D&R goalie was the hero then, it was his fault for goal #2 on 54 minutes. When a simple cross was sent into the box, Lewington for some reason only palmed the ball out to the edge of the area where Stewart Drummond was stood and he sidefooted the ball into the bottom corner and it looked nearly game over already. A few minutes later came a major talking point when Kevin Ellison was brought down in box by Richard Rose. This to me looked a clear penalty, it looked to the away fans a clear penalty and it looked to this D&R fan a clear penalty, but the referee booked him for diving. To rub it in moments later, D&R got a goal back which is probably the best goal I will see all season. Oliver Lee stepped up and whipped a brilliant cross/shot over Roche and into the top corner. Sensational, if he meant it. While Roche looked a tad silly for not reacting to it, he had no chance and D&R were back in it. The final 20 minutes were a bit of a blur as Lee just shot wide, Ellison cleared a header from Woodall off the line while Roche made some excellent saves as Morecambe held on. Just.

An excellent start to the season continued for Morecambe with an excellent win at Victoria Road. It was touch and go towards the end but I feel the away side did just deserve all 3 points as they were the more positive team throughout and it’s nice to see the players come and thank you at the end for your support. They actually care you’ve come down (or up in my case) for the game. Take note Hearts. Since writing this Morecambe lost 3-2 to Bristol Rovers but remain very much in the Top 3 and I hope they can stay there till May! As for D&R, now I’ve been to see their ground and setup, it makes it all the more remarkable that they achieved promotion two years ago. This is a small club overachieving in League 2 and I hope they can stop the current rot and not get dragged into a relegation battle. There are numerous other teams who I would much rather see slide into non-league oblivion and never return.

Photos from Dag & Red vs Morecambe

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 6.5/10 (not great for neutral, nerve-wracking for me!)

- Value for money: 2/10 (£22? For Level 4? No.)

- Ground: 6.5/10 (nice little ground, good views)

- Atmosphere: 5/10 (D&R fans the quietest FL fans I’ve come across)

- Food: 7/10 (had a decent pie for a good price)

- Programme: 6.5/10 (not bad, reasonable for £3)

- Referee: D Coote – 4/10 (unimpressed)

Croydon FC vs Beckenham Town (10/09/11)

2011-09-22T20:38:00.001+01:00

Match 128

Ground #: 94

Ground: Croydon Sports Arena

Competition: FA Vase 1st Qualifying Round

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £7

Programme: £1

Attendance: 51

Croydon FC 1

Pratt 45’

Beckenham Town 2

Curran 18’, Slade 90’

_____________________________________________________________

The Road to Wembley was about to begin again for the 2011/12 season on The Travelling Fan and for the 539 teams who had entered the FA Vase this season. For most teams this also started their more realistic chance of playing at Wembley this season for a crack at the FA Vase and current holders Whitley Bay. The draw this season had paired a surprisingly high amount of inter-league games across the country, but one that did stick out was Croydon’s local derby game with Beckenham Town and amazingly, they play in different Level 9 leagues, despite only being 3 miles apart. The road started here.

Croydon is a town in South London, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 11 metropolitan centres in Greater London. Croydon is located on the natural transport corridor between London and England's south coast and historically part of Surrey. Croydon expanded during the Middle Ages as a market town and a centre for charcoal production, leather tanning and brewing. The Surrey Iron Railway from Croydon to Wandsworth opened in 1803 and was the world's first public horse-drawn railway, which later developed into an important means of transport – facilitating Croydon's growth as a commuter town for the City of London and beyond. By the early 20th century, Croydon was an important industrial area but by the mid 20th century these sectors were replaced by retailing and service economy. Croydon was recently on the news sadly as the riots really hit home in this area as scumbags looted local shops and even damaged the local Tramlink services as the copper wire was stolen. Croydon though has recovered and moved on.

Croydon FC were founded in 1953 as Croydon Amateurs (and so are older than Croydon’s “other” club, Croydon Athletic who I will get to another day) and were ex members of the Isthmian League before losing their place in 2006 as part of a non-league reshuffle. (Ironically, Athletic are now in the Isthmian League). They currently play in the Combined Counties League Premier Division, although only just, after finishing last season in 20th place. They probably aren’t helped by their current ground, which is the vast Croydon Sports Arena which you can see from pictures is an Athletics ground. Located on the edge of the South Norwood Country Park, Croydon Arena is home to the Croydon Harriers and features an 8 lane 400m track, a centre field for throwing events and a training area for the athletes of the future. But does this sound like a football venue? No. Spectators for football are positioned so far away from the pitch, you actually fail to appreciate the 388 seater stand (picture above) or on the other side of the ground, 3 good pieces of standing cover which at most other grounds would be an excellent place to stand, but not here. This is probably a great place to come and watch some athletics, but it is not a football ground. Shame.

Chatting to several members of the committee, it was clear Croydon FC do not have any money, therefore a decent run in the FA Vase would be excellent for getting some much needed funds in and the chance to take in some excellent places. They were hosting local rivals Beckenham Town to see who have the pleasure of hosting Fisher FC or Ash United in Qualifying Round 2. Beckenham play just down the road at Eden Park Avenue and were actually playing in the Kent League. After a 10th place finish last season, they were coming into this game in 11th place (out of 16) and with Croydon down in 21st place (out of 22), this could be a close game. Croydon and Beckenham Town had actually met in the FA Vase last season in the 1st Round Proper. Beckenham had come out on top in that game with an extraordinary 7-3 victory before they crashed out in the 3rd Round with a 2-1 home defeat to Kings Lynn Town. I doubt it would finish 7-3 again, but we could hope.

Game kicked off as I was standing over on the far side and felt like I needed binoculars as the action was so far away. Croydon made the better start as on 15 minutes a through ball caused the Beckenham back four all sorts of problems and a cross quickly delivered into the back post was only just cleared. Yet, just as you thought Croydon would get going, Beckenham went down the other end and scored. 18 minutes had passed when a fantastic cross came in from the right and Nick Curran was unmarked to place his header into the bottom corner and give Trams goalie Francis Ameyaw no chance. Croydon though did respond well and on 25 minutes, a long long punt from Ameyaw bounced all the way to the Beckenham goal which away goalie Nick Blue struggled to tip over his bar. The Trams kept plugging away and were rewarded with a deserved equalizer in 1st half stoppage time when a deep ball from the left was crossed brilliantly to the back post where Tom Pratt placed his header past Blue to give the game an interesting feel at HT. It wasn’t 7-3, but it was interesting!

Beckenham came out for the 2nd half and instantly took the game to the home side as some early crosses were only just cleared by some last ditch blocks and some excellent interventions from Ameyaw. Midway through the half though, Croydon managed to counter-attack and stretch the game as a shot was fired just over the bar from outside the area. The major talking point (before the late drama) came on 77 minutes when a Beckenham player burst into the area before Ameyaw completely took him out. Everyone in the ground expected a penalty, but amazingly one wasn’t given. As a neutral, it was clearcut! Croydon’s best chance to win it came on 82 minutes when Mark Cecil was all alone in the 6 yard area after a counter attack but he could only blast over the bar. Then when extra-time looked on the cards, Beckenham snatched it. Some excellent skill from their left winger saw another cross played in and when a home defender missed the ball, Ben Slade threw himself at the ball and his diving header flew straight in. The away side had nicked it and also took home local bragging rights. Again.

While this wasn’t the most exciting game I’d ever seen or the most skilful, this was compelling as you didn’t know which side would take it right until the final whistle. Beckenham were rewarded with a home tie in the 2nd Qualifying Round with a game against fellow Kent League side Fisher FC. A game I will be at! Not much else to say on Croydon FC. A nice club with a tiny but dedicated committee but sadly they play at an awful ground for football. Good luck to them for the future. The Road to Wembley 2011/12 has begun!

Photos from Croydon FC vs Beckenham Town

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 6.5/10 (swung one way and then the next)

- Value for money: 4/10 (£7 for Level 9?!)

- Ground: 2/10 (this isn’t a football ground)

- Atmosphere: 5/10 (average stuff)

- Food: 6/10 (reasonable burger for a reasonable price)

- Programme: 6/10 (normal non-league effort)

- Referee: Mark Parsons – 5/10 (missed that penalty…)

ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2011/2012:

1ST QUALIFYING ROUND: Croydon FC 1-2 Beckenham Town (Croydon Sports Arena, Att: 51)

Dolton vs Bradworthy (03/09/11)

2011-09-16T20:51:00.001+01:00

Match 127

Ground #: 93

Ground: The Playing Field

Competition: North Devon League Premier (Level 12)

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: Free

Programme: None

Attendance: 30 (h/c)

Dolton 0

Bradworthy 3

Clarke 40’, Lapham 42’, Placinta 71’

_____________________________________________________________

My final weekend in Devon. A weekend that I wanted to just relax before the mayhem began and picked a local game that wouldn’t cost much, wouldn’t require much thinking and more importantly not much travelling. It was down to the North Devon League again to provide 90 minutes of entertainment as it was one I had ignored most of my time here. Looking at a map, I lived near Dolton. I’d never heard of the place either. Off we went.

Dolton is a small village in the Torridge District of Devon just south of Torrington. It is twinned with Amfreville in France and Hillerse in Germany and has a population of around 900 inhabitants, including the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. (Does he? Really!?) The ground or, The Playing Field is situated in the south-west end of the village right next to St Edmunds Parish Church and down a tiny little track to come out where that man in shorts is standing in the picture above. Expecting very little except a field with goalposts, the ground is actually really surprising and would need little work to bring it up to standard for Level 11. The main focal point of the ground is the pavilion (see picture below) which houses both changing rooms and can also, apparently, provide tea and coffee, although there were none on this occasion. The pavilion also has a decent underhang section which provides a fairly decent view of the pitch, albeit slightly away from the action. Across the other side is another piece of cover which is a wooden shelter and is right next to the pitch and so provides excellent views! Considering I expected little and got a smashing ground in an excellent setting and some spectator facilities, this was an excellent start.

Dolton are only in their 2nd season back in the North Devon League Premier after spending just one season in the Senior League (which they came 2nd in). After a finish of 11th place last season they had started the season, four games in, with an average start. One win (against Shebbear United), two defeats (against Appledore Reserves and Torridgeside) and an excellent 4-4 draw against North Devon champs BOCA Seniors. With some decent form, Dolton looked a fairly decent team on paper and should have provided some challenge to the visitors, Bradworthy. Based near Holsworthy in the arse end of N.Devon, Bradworthy had the same start as Dolton picking up 4 points in the run up to this game, but played a game less. A win against North Molton, a draw against Shamwickshire Rovers (away) and a defeat to Shamwickshire (at home) set them up nicely for this game.

The North Devon League is not going to be blessed with Messis and Kevin Kyles, but all I want to see is effort and both sides gave that to begin with. Dolton started brightly as both defensives looked exposed and so goals looked likely. (I’ll explain later why I really wanted someone to score here) After a bright 10 minutes though, Dolton started to be pushed back and Bradworthy hit the post after the home goalie and defence didn’t communicate. Dolton’s back line came under more and more pressure though as they really were shambolic as more good Brad chances came and went until just before HT they finally took a deserved lead. Some excellent passing play cut Dolton’s defence to pieces before Gary Clarke received the ball in the area and finished with aplomb. Being 1 goal behind at HT was a blow to Dolton, however the 2nd goal, just one minute later killed the game off basically. A long ball from Bradworthy bounced towards the Dolton right where Nicholas Lapham looped a ball back into the box. The cross however took a nick of a defender and looped over the goalie and in at the back post to give Brad an unlikely 2-0 lead at HT.

2nd half was played in the rain as the clouds finally came over as Dolton went looking to get a goal back. They did create chances but they seem to be the Arsenal of Devon as they were trying to walk the ball into the net instead of testing Brad goalie William Radford who had made a brilliant save just before HT when he palmed a header onto the bar and over. Dolton’s best chance of the game came on 70 minutes when their striker Charlie Tubb was put through 1 on 1 with Radford but fired wide, much to the disbelief of the home bench. Just a minute after that chance though, it was game over. Tudor Placinta ran down the right wing skipping past all of the Dolton defence and he lofted the ball over the keeper and the ball rolled in. While Brad celebrated their 3rd and 3 points, there was concern for a home defender who clattered into the post a la Phil Babb, although the player screamed in agony, he did continue to play until the final whistle where Bradworthy cruised to 3 points.

Although my final game in Devon was “keeping it local” (or ‘barrel scraping’) it was enjoyable and when I am back visiting there, I would happily take in more games and grounds in the North Devon League. This game also saw me break my record for games in a row without a 0-0 bringing the running total to 26! Since this game, Dolton have won another game against Torrington before crashing to a 3-1 defeat at home to Ilfracombe Town Reserves and were in 11th (out of 16) place, although had played 7 games which is the most in the league. Bradworthy had only played once since this game which was a poor 2-1 defeat to Putford and so Brad were only one place higher in 10th and with 7 points too. (Although they had two games in hand). And Devon, that was it. For now. My next game and games after that for the foreseeable future would be in and around the big smoke as I am going to see what grounds it has to offer.

Photos from Dolton vs Bradworthy

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 6.5/10 (effort was there!)

- Value for money: 10/10 (it’s free, so yes)

- Ground: 7/10 (an unexpected venue)

- Atmosphere: 4/10 (not much)

- Food: N/A – None served, if you do come there is a shop nearby

- Programme: N/A – They don’t issue

- Referee: L Cousins – 6/10 (refereed well, and gave support to some players too)

Millwall vs Morecambe (23/08/11)

2011-09-11T22:20:00.001+01:00

Match 126

Ground #: 92

Ground: The New Den

Competition: Carling Cup 2nd Round

Kick Off: 7:45pm

Cost: £10

Programme: £1.50

Attendance: 3,443

Millwall 2

Bouazza 34’, Mkandawire 45’

Morecambe 0

_____________________________________________________________

In my run up to moving to London, it was clear that I needed to drive to the big smoke and dump all my crap there otherwise it would stay in Devon. Picking Tuesday 23rd August to do it was made well in advance, but then closer to the time, the football fan in me began to investigate matches on in London and low and behold, my boys from the North-West were in town. This then became a test run of the many games I’d get to around London this season, but it wasn’t an ordinary test run, it was going to Millwall, as an away fan.

Millwall is an area in London, on the western side of the Isle of Dogs, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Originally known as Marshwall, its name derives from the large number of windmills built on the river wall, in the 19th century. Corn was brought along the River Thames to be ground into flour here, before being delivered to the bakers. In the 1860s the large Millwall Dock was built, extending from the Thames at Millwall into the centre of the Isle of Dogs. The spoil from the dock was left as the Mudchute. Like other parts of the Isle of Dogs, substantial redevelopment has been more or less ongoing since the 1980s, resulting in modern industrial and commercial buildings and hastily constructed contemporary housing beginning to dominate the remaining early 20th century "two up, two down" homes that once housed the dock workers and supporting communities of this area. However, mention ‘Millwall’ to most people and they instantly think of the club…

(Millwall say hello to their West Ham chums)

Founded in 1885 as Millwall Rovers before changing their name to Millwall Athletic in 1890 before dropping the Athletic in 1910. Their old ground of The Den was one of the most feared (or rundown shithole – delete as appropriate) grounds in the country and was never a nice place to go to. Having left for The New Den in 1993, they now play at the 4 standed all seater in South Bermondsey. Being in this new area allows away fans to actually be taken from the rail station of the same name and trundle to the ground in fear or proudness before entering the lions den. To be fair, now The New Den isn’t that tough a ground to go to. The Den was the first new all seater stadium to be completed after the Taylor Report on the Hillsborough disaster. It was designed with effective crowd management in mind (given Millwall's crowd problems at the Old Den), with the escape routes being short and direct. Millwall have had some success on the field (at both grounds) reaching the FA Cup Final in 2004 (before losing to Man Utd) and qualifying for Europe the next season. (Where they were knocked out the UEFA Cup by Ferencváros who then ironically knocked Hearts out) Of course, it’s hard not to talk about the hooliganism with the 1985 riot at Luton’s Kenilworth Road and the 2009 Upton Park riot against West Ham in the Carling Cup and other various incidents too. There is discussion though that a lot of the image and “fear” of ‘Wall is down to media sensationalism with the likes of scumbag papers such as The Sun and The Daily Mail. That though, is a discussion for another blog.

This was the 2nd Round of the Carling Cup and Millwall had dispatched of crisis club Plymouth with a 1-0 win in Devon where as my boys (in terms of who I would be supporting for this game) had knocked out Championship side Barnsley 2-0 at the Yorkshire club to set up this mouthwatering clash. Around 60ish (including me) Shrimps fans made the journey down (or across town) to hope that they could add Millwall to a growing list of impressive Carling Cup scalps which include Preston, Wolves and Coventry. This was also the first time (of hopefully many) that I would be seeing Jim Bentley’s revolution before my eyes after their impressive start to the season which left them right in the Top 6. Before the game, I was pre-warned by the two friendly stewards about the typical FL food and prices so popped before KO the Millwall Cafe for an excellent chips in curry sauce for only £2.50. Recommended!

(Some nice reading material for away fans)

As for the game, it wasn’t as much as a walkover for Millwall as I have read from some reports. Morecambe actually had the better start when Danny Carlton hit a shot from outside the area which just went wide. From then on though, the home side began to get the better of the play although they were not helped by two useless strikers (in my eyes) up front in Josh McQuoid and John Marquis. Barry Roche had made some good saves before Millwall took the lead in fantastic style. Kieran Charnock gave away a pointless free kick around 25 yards out (see picture below) and up stepped Hamer Bouazza who brilliantly curled the ball into the top corner and gave Roche no chance. Had Morecambe gone into HT at just 1 down, they would have had a decent chance however they conceded a killer 2nd right on HT which was a joke goal. When Marquis fell in the area and just lay there, I was a tad surprised that Millwall didn’t kick the ball out, especially as it was a head injury. I was even more surprised that the referee didn’t stop play. When Tamika Mkandawire received the ball on the edge of the area and smashed it into the bottom corner, Marquis was still on the floor in the 6 yard area and so was offside as he interfered with play. (Check the rules). Amazingly though the goal stood and Morecambe then faced a real uphill struggle for the 2nd half.

Morecambe still kept a lot of their good possession in the 2nd 45 minutes but were still getting hit on the break when they got to the final 3rd and couldn’t really produce anything to properly trouble the Millwall backline. When they did lose the ball though, ‘Wall’s nippy and fast counters did trouble Morecambe and Roche again had to make good saves from McQuoid, amongst others. Millwall though did offer some pity chances though, mainly through their hapless 2nd choice goalie Steve Mildenhall who managed to spill and fumble some easy shots from Carlton and show why he is always going to be a #2 goalie. The game fizzled out though as Millwall were easily through and Morecambe enjoyed their trip to the capital.

Millwall were through to Round 3 of the Carling Cup and were given a tough draw with an away game at Premiership side Wolves who do seem to be taking the League Cup seriously this season and will give the Lions a real test. As for Morecambe, it’s hard to judge their season based on this game. One cup match against a team two leagues higher up but since this game they have continued their excellent start to the season and it’s looking good for Jim’s Red Revolution. I got in and out of the Lion’s Den safely to see Morecambe another day. I’ll see them in Dagenham soon.

Photos from Millwall vs Morecambe

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 6/10 (reasonable)

- Value for money: 7/10 (fair play Millwall for reducing the price)

- Ground: 5/10 (bog standard FL ground sadly)

- Atmosphere: 4/10 (not much)

- Food: N/A – Millwall cafe doesn’t count. Beer + Pie for £7 though? I think not.

- Programme: 7/10 (a strange fold-out one which turns into a Millwall poster)

- Referee: R Lewis – 5/10 (frustrating)

Sidmouth Town vs Exeter Civil Service (20/08/11)

2011-09-04T19:39:00.001+01:00

Match 125

Ground #: 91

Ground: Manstone Lane

Competition: Southwest Peninsula League Division 1 East (Level 11)

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £3

Programme: With Admission

Attendance: 92

Sidmouth Town 2

Thompson 30’, Coombs 46’

Exeter Civil Service 1

Ashford O.G 42’

_____________________________________________________________

Come April or May into the previous season and your team has done it. Got promotion into a new league or next division and you just can’t wait over summer to see their first game in that new league. Last summer when the SWPL was taking new teams up to it’s 1st Division, I really wanted to go to whatever newbies were accepted into the East side before I headed away from the SW. That team were Sidmouth Town who had won the Devon and Exeter Premier last season and with their Manstone Lane ground being good enough for a higher level, Sidmouth came up and off I went on the opening day of the season.

Sidmouth is is a small town on the English Channel coast in Devon, South West England. The town lies at the mouth of the River Sid in the East Devon district, 15 miles south east of Exeter. Sidmouth appeared in the Domesday Book as Sedemuda. Like many towns on the south coast, it was a small fishing village. Though attempts have been made to construct a harbour here, none have succeeded, and a lack of shelter in the bay prevented the town growing as a port. It remained a small village until the fashion for coastal resorts grew in the Georgian and Victorian periods of the 18th and 19th centuries and still today on the town signs, states, “the regency town by the coast”. I was looking forward to visiting the town as I was wanting some chips on the seafront, however I’ll be honest now and say the place is a bit of a dump and vastly overrated. I could not find a proper chippy apart from a posh one which wanted £3.60 for large chips. Even Edinburgh and London don’t charge that. The beach is also pebbles and there is just the feeling of death around the place so I scurried up the hill with a cheap pasty to get to the ground.

(A day by the beach? Maybe not.)

Sidmouth Town FC had been around the local leagues for the majority of their history before they won the Devon & Exeter League Premier last season by pipping local rivals Seaton Town to the title and as they had applied for promotion (the only club in the D&E League out of 4 who applied to actually be accepted) they were welcomed into the SWP League for the first time for 2011/12. Their ground at Manstone Lane is at the northern end of the town and is a public park, although Sidmouth have been allowed to build some features on the pitch to allow themselves to make the step up. On the far side, some hard standing has been put down with a rail down this end and the dugouts. In the future, plans are in place (and accepted by the local council) to have a stand at the ground too, which will most likely be a identikit stand but will provide some seating and cover. The clubhouse is set back slightly from the pitch and is a really nice one, with finally a large amount of ciders on offer! Most clubs in the SW only provide one! It’s a nice venue and one that will make the many visitors to it this season feel more than welcome.

The first SWPL visitors to Manstone Lane were Exeter Civil Service who are a completely different side from when I saw them last season in a Devon FA Premier Cup tie. After parting with their manager at the end of last season, new boss Russell Newcombe came in and then left just before this game despite only being in the position for less than 2 months. The reason was a lot of players who said they would play for him then went elsewhere (pretty much the same reason why Bickleigh had to withdraw from this league altogether this season) and left Civil Service, who also field a 2nd team in the D&E League, with barely any team at all. Enter new boss Mark Taylor who worked effortlessly over the final part of the close season to cobble together a side which mixes youth and experience to play this season and make Civil Service a complete darkhorse this season. They could be quite awful as a team a la the Star Wars Cantina bar scene or quite brilliant. Remains to be seen…

Game played in glorious sunshine was scrappy to begin with as both teams struggled with the match pace of the opening game. The first real chance actually took 15 minutes to arrive as Sidmouth finished off a good passing move with Barker shooting wide from outside the area. Civil Service though did have two major appeals for handball in the area which were both turned down by referee Cameron Mann. Both teams were slowly creating the other odd chance although I noted midway through the half that I was impressed with the Sidmouth bench did not argue with the ref when a decision went against them which was refreshing to see. By now the home side had the slight advantage and opened the scoring on 30 minutes when a great throughball sent Andrew Thompson away and after he beat his man, smashed home a shot to make it 1-0. In fact, Sidmouth nearly made it 2 just moments later when a player known as “Fez” missed a sitter from a corner. Civil came right back though and had a shot cleared off the line before their strange equalizer. They had a corner, but before the ball could be played in a stray elbow went wandering and Civil demanded a red card and penalty, Mann gave nothing except the call to give the corner yet when Ollie Burns wopped the corner in, Sid goalie Ashford fumbled the ball in for 1-1. I’ve put it down as an own goal. HT, that Cantina bar side are still in it, interesting.

Civil needed to be strong at the start of the 2nd half to avoid being punished, yet only 1 minute into the half a cross found Coombs completely alone in the box and his power header went straight into the bottom corner and the home side lead again. By this time, everybody on the pitch had noticed Sidmouth’s #9 and captain Ashley Barker. I have never heard a player swear so much at the referee and get away with it which says more about Mr Mann I suppose. Should Barker come up against a more tougher referee, he will getting a red card. Mr Mann was also starting to annoy both sides with some bizarre and hesitant decisions and even held the game up for around 30 seconds with both sides asking what he had given from a throw in, goal kick or free kick? (It was a throw in). The rest of the half had no real clear cut chances as the scrappyness came back into it and Civil couldn’t create a decent effort until the last minute when a shot from outside the area trickled wide and with that their chances of snatching a point trickled away too.

A good start for Sidmouth Town then as they picked up 3 points on their debut in the SWPL. Before their next game (away at Axminster) there was a shock as joint managers Paul Ashford and Phil Margrett both left leaving Simon Hudson in a caretaker role although 3 straight wins on the bounce (Axminster, 4-1, Appledore, 2-1 and Ottery St Mary, 1-0) has put them at the top of the table as I write this. A sensational start from the newboys. Civil Service have only played two other games since this one, a 5-1 hammering at Stoke Gabriel and a 2-0 home defeat to Exmouth Town so that Cantina scene is looking good. I’d really recommend a visit to Sidmouth, a friendly club off the field who actually play some good football and look to be on their way up. Good luck to them!

Photos from Sidmouth Town vs Exeter Civil Service

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 6/10 (enjoyable early season opener)

- Value for money: 8/10 (normal price for this league and it’s good)

- Ground: 6/10 (will improve over time with additions)

- Atmosphere: 6.5/10 (decent home support)

- Food: N/A – didn’t eat at ground, actually didn’t see any hot food?

- Programme: 6/10 (good for free – too many adverts to charge)

- Referee: Cameron Mann – 2.5/10 (grow some balls man!)

Be right back…

2011-09-01T12:37:00.001+01:00

Currently in the process of moving myself and all my crap/items (delete how you want) to London. Blog reports from Sidmouth and Millwall will be up soon once I’ve got all the stuff I need together!

As for the 3rd September, decided to go barrel scraping/staying local (delete how you want again) and take in a North Devon League match at Dolton. Picture below shows how exciting life is in the bustling village.

Should be a thriller.

Exeter City vs Yeovil Town (09/08/11)

2011-08-18T11:45:00.001+01:00

Match 124

Ground #: 13 (3rd Visit)

Ground: St James Park

Competition: Carling Cup 1st Round

Kick Off: 7:45pm

Cost: £12 (concession)

Programme: £3

Attendance: 3,856

Exeter City 2

Bauza 63’, Shephard 90’

Yeovil Town 0

_____________________________________________________________

There were a few reasons for coming to this game. Finally doing a blog report on St James Park, seeing Devon’s premier football side before I left for London or some symmetry as I saw Yeovil vs Exeter in a cup competition last season. None of that really mattered though as this took place on the 9th August 2011. 10th August 2010 saw the loss of one of the nice guys in football who had done so much for SW football as a whole. Adam Stansfield. Having a year ago, gone to a ground where he had played early in his career, it seemed only fitting to go and watch a game at the club he last played for during these tough times for his family and supporters of the club and football as a whole. Adam Stansfield, Exeter’s Number 9.

Having already blogged from Exeter’s 3 leading non-league sides in Exeter Civil Service, Exeter University and Alphington, there isn’t much point to doing my normal “Exeter is…” when I’ve written about it in the Civil Service report. I will briefly say that Exeter is a lovely place that is worth a visit if you are down in the SW. It boasts some excellent architecture and a cathedral that is a must see directly in the centre. This post though focuses on the main football side which is Exeter City. Founded in 1904, they have played at their St James Park ground since their formation. They have very little success at the top levels with their only major trophy being the Football League Division 4 (League 2) title in 1990. They have also recovered well from relegation to the Conference in 2003 as they got out of non-league in 2008 with a play-off victory over Cambridge before gaining promotion to League 1 the following season. Under the leadership of boss Paul Tisdale (who is surely destined to manage at a higher level), Exeter seem to have settled as a League 1 side and not many teams enjoy a trip to St James Park – a classic old ground.

The main focal point of the ground now is the large terrace behind the goal known locally as the “Big Bank” which can hold just under 4000 fans and is the largest stand in the ground. The old grandstand which was a rebuild following a fire in 1926 and it is still a grand old sight despite being a tad small and not running the full length of the pitch. Down the other side is a new all seater stand while behind the opposite goal is the small away terrace which in my eyes is the worst stand (or end) in the Football League. A small uncovered end with a few steps that has been made smaller over the summer with the addition of an emergency walkway right behind the goal and metal fencing half way up the steps which makes the whole end a little tatty and small. It will be interesting to see if the end copes with a big crowd. That being said, Exeter City recently announced plans for an ambitious redevelopment of the site and local consultations have already begun to take place. We will wait to see if this development ever comes off. (Pic below shows artists impression of “new” ground)

On the pitch, Exeter are trying to improve on a fantastic 8th place last season, just 1 point off the play-offs. They had started their season with a credible 0-0 draw at Stevenage, although they still needed to properly replace top player Ryan Harley who had left the club over the summer to join Swansea City Reserves. Tisdale had brought in Guillem Bauza, Nicholas Bignall (on loan) and Callum McNish among others to improve the squad. They welcomed fellow West Country side Yeovil Town to the Park for this Carling Cup tie who again, are amongst the favourites for relegation. Terry Skiverton will need to use the loan market excellently again to avoid a fight for the drop. Though they did create a new record in the summer though as their signing of Kieran Agard was the World’s first Twansfer as fans told Skiverton about Agard and his availability over Twitter. Yeovil had started their season away at Uwe Rosler’s Brentford and crashed to a poor 2-0 defeat from what I had read on their forum before this match. Like last season when I saw Yeovil vs Exeter in the JPT, I had decided to be a plastic Glover for this game again and stood in the away end, luckily on a sunny evening in East Devon.

The game kicked off with Exeter easily the better team as they looked faster on the ball and had brighter ideas with what to do with it. After some half chances earlier on, Exeter sparked into life mid-way through the half after Liam Sercombe broke away on the wing to send Bignall through who’s cross was just cleared by Gavin Williams before a proper goalscoring chance could materialize. Then a few minutes later Richard Logan missed a sitter from 12 yards after he side-footed the ball wide when it was easier to score. To make matters worse, Logan also pulled his hamstring and so had to be replaced by Guillem Bauza. The new Spanish signing hadn’t started this game due to fitness worries but seemed to be ok with his first few touches starting some good moves off. Exeter couldn’t find a way through and Yeovil were only lumping balls forward which on the whole, Exeter’s defence dealt with comfortably. My good run of goalscoring games looked under threat currently.

The 2nd half was a little more open as both sides went for an opener (which would more than likely be a winner) as Yeovil’s goalie, Jed Steer denied Bignall before Andy Williams got the Yeovil fans all excited as his shot had seemed to go in before everyone behind the goal realised it was the side netting rippling, and not the back. Yeovil had a wee spell though and from a corner had a header from Paul Huntington was cleared off the line. That was as good as it got for the Glovers though as on 63 minutes the home side finally got the opener they deserved. Yeovil lost the ball in midfield and Bignall ran at the Glovers defence and skipped past Paul Wotton and continued his run into the area before running straight into two Yeovil defenders before all were floored. The ball rolled out to Bauza on the left who took a couple of touches before smashing past Steer in front of the Big Bank to send the home fans into raptures and it looked there and then that Yeovil were a beaten team. They would have been just four minutes later when Sercombe blasted over when an open goal was there after good work from James Dunne. Inevitably, Yeovil launched late pressure but the Exeter goal was never really troubled and right on the final whistle, Exeter counter attacked and Tom Nichols crossed low to Chris Shephard who had an easy tap in to send Exeter through to Round 2. For the first time in 18 years.

Exeter were hoping for a great draw in R2 and low and behold, the lucky balls paired them with Premiership side Liverpool who will come to St James Park next week (when I am writing this). This game has also been slated for TV and so Exeter should get some excellent gate receipts and some TV money, so good for them. As for Yeovil, I wrote on Twitter right on the final whistle that my prediction for them going down seems to be right, although their 3-1 win over hapless Oldham in their next game will have given them some belief. Ironically, they also now have more points than Exeter who lost their 2nd league game 2-0 at home to MK Dons. As for the game, it was ok but took a while to get going but was an experience coming to St James Park as an “away fan”. That’s also the 3 Devon FL clubs (as of 2011/12!) having had blog visits as I slowly get ready for London clubs. Exeter City and Yeovil Town, we’ll meet again. Don’t know where, don’t know when…

Photos from Exeter City vs Yeovil Town

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 5/10 (reasonable enough)

- Value for money: 4/10 (shame Exeter charged full league admission)

- Ground: 7.5 (great FL venue)

- Atmosphere: 5.5/10 (it wasn’t great)

- Food: N/A – was prewarned about the food “quality” – ate in city centre

- Programme: 6.5/10 (standard FL club effort – reasonable)

- Referee: Roger East – 6.5/10 (can’t remember too much of him)

Ottery St Mary vs Exeter City XI (26/07/11)

2011-08-10T11:50:00.001+01:00

Match 123

Ground #: 90

Ground: Washbrook Meadows

Competition: Pre-Season Friendly

Kick Off: 7:45pm

Cost: £2

Programme: With Admission

Attendance: 212 (h/c)

Ottery St Mary 0

Exeter City XI 5

Micklewright 5’, (pen) 20’, Reid 13’, 70’, Grimes 72’

_____________________________________________________________

With the pre-season friendly time of year, some can look actually quite appealing to go to. Combine that with another story behind the friendly, say a transfer clause between the two clubs or maybe in memory of somebody then that friendly becomes even more appealing. Enter then East Devon side Ottery St Mary. A team I had seen last season were 100 years old in 2011 and to celebrate this and add a game to this, they invited nearby Exeter City to send a team over for this “Centenary game”. I was there.

Ottery St Mary is is a town in the East Devon district, on the River Otter, about ten miles east of Exeter. The place-name 'Ottery St Mary' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as 'Otri' and 'Otrei'. The town takes its name from the river Otter on which it stands, the river taking its name from the animal. The 'St Mary' element refers to the fact that the town belonged to the church of St Mary in Rouen in 1086. The town typically stages annual events around Guy Fawkes Night when, in a tradition dating from the 17th century, barrels soaked in tar are set alight and carried aloft through parts of the town by residents.

The town’s football club play on the Northern edge of the place in a large complex which seems to be all for football. The main pitch at Washbrook Meadows is actually a decent ground due to their old Western League days. Railed off all the way round and a good raised standing area next to the clubhouse in the corner, means you can get a decent view whereever you stand here. If you can’t stand (or just can’t be bothered) there is a seated stand (see pic above) straddled right on the half way line. It is thought that the stand was built in the 1920’s and bought second hand from Withycombe Rugby Club in Exmouth. Along with the stand, the Otters have a rich history stretching back from their founding in 1911. The furthest up they have been in the pyramid system came firstly in 1989/90 when the Otters won the Western League 1st Division and were promoted to the Premier before dropping back down to the Devon League in 1994/95. Their last success of any note was their Throgmorton Cup win that season.

Those days in the Western League however seem a long long time ago now as last season, down in the Southwest Peninsula League Division 1 East, the Otters slumped to a poor 13th place in that league. (Out of 16!) I also saw them once last season as the league’s worst defence were torn apart again by Exmouth Town who cruised to a 4-1 win. This season has seen a load of new players being brought in and a new manager who is Dave Weeks. If you watched the U-17s World Cup in Mexico over the summer, you may recognize Weeks as he was a part of the England coaching side that got to the Quarter-Finals. (The Otters actually warmed up in England kits for this game – excellent work from Weeks if he’s claimed some kits for Ottery)

They welcomed an Exeter City XI to this game which was made up entirely of the youth team. While this would have annoyed or disappointed some people, I was fully expecting it and quite happy to watch some up and coming players who could be playing in the Football League in a couple of seasons time. And, I had no knowledge of any of these players so was hoping that the quality would be good. Fair play to a good amount of Exeter fans too, as I had a rough count of 212 people who attended this game, with probably around 60% of them supporting Exeter. Hopefully a good amount of money was brought in for the Otters.

As for the game, it was men against boys. With the boys easily on top. In the 1st half, Ottery rarely attacked apart from in the first minute when Exeter’s left back, Jacob Wannell was caught well out of position but the chance came to nothing. The youth side only needed 5 minutes to take the lead when some excellent play down the left led to a cutback which found Jamie Micklewright who sidefooted past Matt Slark in the Otters goal. The Exeter side’s attacking strengths were too much for the Otters as when they won a free kick on the edge of the area, Jamie Reid rifled the ball into the bottom corner on 13 minutes and all 212 (roughly) people in the ground knew that the game was pretty much over. Exeter Youth though were using this as great preparation and so continued to attack attack attack. And were rewarded with a 3rd on 20 minutes when a great through ball put a striker on 1 on 1 and as Slark ran out, he completely took out the Exeter striker and it was a penalty. (No card was given – but if it was a competitive game, then it was probably only a yellow) Micklewright stepped up and easily dispatched the penalty to make it 3-0. There were no other goals in the 1st half, but that wasn’t for the lack of trying as Exeter played some really good stuff and deserved a lot more than 3. Jacob Cane alone hit the post twice as the Otters were just ripped apart.

The start of the 2nd half saw Ottery actually manage some attacks on the Exeter goal but goalie Jake Viney was more than comfortable with what was fired at him as Martin Loader had the best chance for the home side. It wasn’t long until the Ex XI started back up again though and before long it was one way traffic, albeit with slightly less intensity as the 1st half. They still scored another two goals though, firstly on 70 minutes when a ball from the left found its way to the back post where Jamie Reid volleyed straight in for a top finish. Two minutes later it was number 5 as Slark saved a long range effort but only spilled it out where Matt Grimes lashed home to complete the scoring.

A top evening of football as the Otters can still be proud of celebrating 100 years of football and forget about the 5-0 defeat in this game. Exeter Youth have some top players that could be making an appearance at a Football League game soon enough. Jacob Cane and Jamie Reid were the two that impressed me so good luck to them in their careers. Another pleasing aspect from the Exeter side was the lack of gob and constant questioning of the referee apart from Jacob Wannell who needed to keep his mouth shut. Although he was just frustrated at his poor performance. The Otters could finish slightly higher this time out and with a manager who seems to encourage good play rather than being a dictator (their old manager) they could have a decent season.

Photos from Ottery St Mary vs Exeter City XI

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 6.5/10 (good attacking play)

- Value for money: 8/10 (good on Ottery for not overcharging)

- Ground: 6.5/10 (nice small town venue)

- Atmosphere: 4.5/10 (dribs and drabs)

- Food: 6/10 (decent enough cheeseburger – no pasties?)

- Programme: 7/10 (was free and had enough information – sorted)

- Referee: Dale Strawbridge – 6/10 (young ref did fine)

Season 11/12 predictions

2011-08-02T16:30:00.001+01:00

PREVIOUS PREDICTION EFFORTS: 09/10 (here) and 10/11 (here)

With competitive football about to start (or in the case of Scotland already started) it’s time once again to make some dire football predictions and then look back in May/June and laugh at how bad I am before making the same mistakes for Euro 2012. I had written these predictions out before the last few days of recent events so have edited them slightly. Here we go…

PREMIERSHIP: Winner – Man Utd – Seems like an easy choice to make, but with other squads not strengthening as much as they’d like and Utd added some other dimension with Ashley Young and replacing an aging Ferdinand with Phil Jones they still look like the team to beat, sadly. Will that be enough to win in Europe? That’s a different matter altogether…

2nd – Chelsea – Andre Villas-Boas is an exciting appointment in my eyes. I can’t see him winning the league with this current squad, but a close run thing and then Roman opening that chequebook again to replace the oldies with young stars could see them really go for it in 2012/13.

3rd – Man City – Yes, they have unlimited spending power currently, yes they do have a decent squad but in the back of my mind, its still Manchester City. Perennial bottlers (1 FA Cup win is not that impressive). Much will depend on Aguero adapting to the Premiership straight away (and before people say, “but its Aguero!” – other top players have not cut it in English football). 3rd is the best I can see for them.

4th – Liverpool – Some ‘Pool fans are quietly suggesting they could challenge this season and I agree. Challenge for a Champions League spot, nothing else. The squad is not as good as the 3 teams above and while they did go on a good run at the end of last season, so did Everton, but nobody mentions that.

(5th – Arsenal, 6th Spurs)

Dark Horses (a team I feel that could surprise a lot and really be up there in their respective league) – Newcastle Utd – I do have to admit in the light of Joey Barton’s announcement yesterday and the subsequent outpouring of anger I read on Twitter from Newcastle fans, I was going to change this decision, but deep down I still feel they will be easily Top 10 this season and maybe even push for a cheeky Euro spot. Much will depend on Demba Ba'’s goals though.

Cart Horses (a team that on the otherhand will probably surprise people for the wrong reasons) – West Brom – If it were not for Peter Odemwingie’s goals West Brom would have probably gone down. That is how much they rely on him. Lose him to injury or a transfer and West Brom are gone.

Relegated – Blackburn Rovers – Some deluded owners, a poor side and a manager getting no support what so ever makes all the ingredients for a relegation season.

Norwich City – Don’t really understand Paul Lambert’s transfer policy this upcoming season. He signs players who are “hungry and wanting to succeed”. Fair enough, but in my eyes, Elliot Bennett, Steve Morison and Bradley Johnson are not good enough for this league. Short stay for them.

Swansea City – A hard choice, but I do remember hearing last season and the season before, Swansea’s problem (and why they never really challenged for automatic promotion) was scoring goals and killing teams off. This might not be a problem now, but for all their pretty football – some Premiership teams will smash through that and take 6 points from them this season. That means trouble.

CHAMPIONSHIP: Promoted – Leicester City – That’s right, I’m buying the hype. A lot of money is being splashed out at Leicester and now its time for Sven to deliver. With new signings Schmeichel, Matt Mills and Dave Nugent – they also have the squad to deliver too.

Burnley – If Eddie Howe does pull this off (which I believe he will) how long until a top top club come in for him? Keeping the spine of the squad that got that shock promotion a couple of seasons ago and strengthen it AND adopt his positive style of football, Burnley could be back in the big time quicker than they expected.

West Ham – Sam Allardyce knows that if West Ham don’t bounce back up in his 1st season, this could be his only season. I think they will go up, but probably through the play-offs.

Dark Horses – Hull City – New owners now at Hull which means boss Nigel Pearson will be expected to get them up the table. I haven’t heard many people say that Hull will finish higher than 10th, but I am one of them. A promotion tilt is on the cards in my eyes.

Cart Horses – Doncaster Rovers- A League 2 side punching massively above their weight in the Championship? Could be a tad unfair but after a promising start to life in the Championship, that seems to be slipping away now. A relegation battle looks a certainty.

Relegated – Watford – That’s right Watford, you replace the man who basically kept you in this division with a complete unknown. That’s a good start. Then sell your top scorer and other promising young players too. Even better! I’ll be stunned if Watford stay up this season.

Peterborough – We’ve been here before. (See my 09/10 predications) Newly promoted Peterboro’ under Darren Ferguson expected to do well. They can’t defend in League 1 so will get torn to shreds in this league. They also cannot fall back on the goals of Mackail-Smith to win games 4-3.

Derby County – Everybody knows, probably even Nigel himself, that if his surname wasn’t Clough, he’d have been sacked long ago. A team heading in one direction currently and that is down.

LEAGUE 1 – Promoted – Sheffield Wednesday – Ignoring the slightly bizarre PSF result of Alfreton Town 14 –0 Sheff Wed XI, the Wed do look good to go up. Spurred on to beat their lesser rivals David Prutton and Rob Jones look like two decent signings. It’s time to move forward now.

Leyton Orient – Many people’s tips for a dark horse but not me, I think they will be right up there this time and head into the Championship. Arguably the best front pairing in the division, the most settled side, a canny manager in Russell Slade and some FA Cup run money still to spend. I really do think it’s Orient’s year to shine.

Preston N.E – It took me 5 minutes to pick the 3rd promoted side in this league – mainly because of the lack of real quality about and the fact that I think Huddersfield are going to bottle it yet again. Preston need to rebuild, but do have a manager in Phil Brown that has gotten out of this division before, so the Deepdale based club get it.

Dark Horses – Hartlepool United – I see the raised eyebrows and the questions! Some strange, but equally excellent signings in Nobby Solano and Colin Nish have come in for this season and a side that is fairly ok anyway could have the Pool right in the play-off hunt.

Cart Horses – Notts County – Martin Allen. An enigma. A traitor. A weirdo. A top manager. Which one is the real Allen? This season we will find out. I feel though that County will be fighting a relegation battle for most of it due to their weak squad and lack of real money to add to it further.

Relegated – Rochdale – See Watford. Steve Eyre does have experience in coaching a major Premiership Academy I suppose but this season we will see how much Keith Hill really got out of his Dale squad. I think a lot more than Eyre will.

Bury – Having arguably a weaker squad than the previous season when they came up is not a recipe for success. Add to that another rookie manager and this could be a car crash of a season for the Shakers.

Yeovil Town – It always doesn’t look good for the little green men of Somerset and this season is no exception. Skiverton will have to use the loan market to the best of his ability again to stay up. I can’t see it.

Stevenage – When you watch Stevenage this season don’t expect pleasant football. Imagine a more sneaky Crawley Town per se. While they got away with that in League 2, L1 will be much harder for them. They will actually have to play some football this season, especially as the message spreads of their gamesmanship and teams and refs will wise up.

LEAGUE 2 – Promoted – Crawley Town – I won’t say much about them, but with all that money they should easily win this league this season. Wait until the money runs out though…

Bristol Rovers – Basis of a decent L1 side? Check. Good fan base for L2? Check. New manager in who can improve the side? Check. Some excellent signings to add to the squad? Check. Looks good.

Rotherham United – Keeping Le Fondre is top news for them and getting Andy Scott in who has won this league before is another inspired move.

Aldershot Town – Dean Holdsworth is starting to put together a very impressive CV for his management time. Taking Newport County up and then getting them into Top 8 of the Blue Square Premier is impressive. Pretty good squad with some added depth as well should see them up.

Dark Horses – AFC Wimbledon – Well it had to be, didn’t it!? Who knows how Terry Brown’s side will perform this season. The loss of top scorer Danny Kedwell is a blow, but teams will not get much from Kingsmeadow and if they get on a run, who knows?

Cart Horses – Bradford City – Bradford fans expecting a promotion challenge this season need to take a reality check. No money, a poor squad and stadium problems means the new ground they could be braking in the future will be away trips to Braintree and Hayes & Yeading. First ex Premiership team to be relegated to non league? They are the favourites.

Relegated – Macclesfield Town – Losing your top scorer and main attacking forces from an already small squad isn’t great. Doesn’t look good for them.

Burton Albion – The news is out about Burton – they aren’t that good. Seemingly now on a downward spiral – relegation back to the Blue Square looks a real possibility this coming season.

SCOTLAND – Top 2 – 1st – Celtic, 2nd – Rangers. Celtic will surely win the league at a canter this season. A better squad and more chances to add to it means Lennon may finally achieve what he set out to do. 2 seasons late.

The rest – 3rd – Dundee Utd, 4th – Motherwell, 5th – Hearts, 6th – Hibs, 7th – ICT, 8th – Aberdeen, 9th – St Mirren, 10th – St Johnstone, 11th – Dunfermline, 12th – Kilmarnock. I have changed this order a lot over the past couple of weeks and then rejigged it even further after last nights farcical news at Tynecastle. That’s how I see the SPL this season!

If you read this and think I’m wrong (and let’s be honest, probably all of you do) then leave a comment with your choices! Let’s have a cracking season of football.

Truro City vs QPR XI (23/07/11)

2011-07-29T16:00:00.001+01:00

Match 122

Ground #: 89

Ground: Treyew Road

Competition: Pre-Season Friendly

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £10

Programme: £2

Attendance: 1,056

Truro City 2

Afful 4’, Palmer 69’

QPR XI 4

Clarke (pen) 7’, 54’, Rowlands 9’, 72’

_____________________________________________________________

The summer. Everybody’s favourite time of year? Well there is good weather (apparently), holidays (apparently) and just general all round good fun. It is missing something though. And that is football, and proper football. (I await hordes of feminists saying that the Women’s World Cup was proper football). Luckily though this break lasts only for a couple of months and by July we’re back with the matches and I am back with the travelling to the obscure. Before I leave for London, there was one big ground (football wise at least) that I had not yet visited in this area and really wanted to do so before that big move. When I saw then that Cornwall’s finest Truro City were playing a home friendly on a Saturday I had off, it was time to start my 2011/12 season.

Truro is the most southerly city in the UK and the only city in Cornwall. Truro grew as a port town and then as a major tin mining town for the mining industry which allowed it to prosper in the Victorian era and lead to Truro becoming a place for the rich and famous of it’s time. The nickname “the London of Cornwall” was also attributed to it because of the money around the place. It is also famous for its large cathedral which dominates the city skyline as well as its cobbled streets and Georgian architecture. It really is a lovely place to visit and would recommend a visit down there despite being deep deep down in the SW!

Another reason people are starting to flock to the city is because of a sporting beast that is starting to get some momentum and could really start making some strides in the footballing aspect of England. In 2005/06, Truro City started in the old South Western League (Level 11) which they were then promoted at the end of the season to the Western League D1. They won that in 2007, 2008 they won the Western Premier, 2009 saw them win the Southern League D1 S&W and last season in 2011 they won the Southern Premier to cap an amazing 5 promotions in 6 season to begin life for the 2011/12 season in the Blue Square South (Level 6) – the highest a team from Cornwall has ever got. Backed by the property millionaire Kevin Heaney, money has been pumped into the club but management has still done a fantastic job in getting Truro this high. Life in Blue Square South is really a journey into the unknown as journeys to new clubs await and with bookies offering 14/1 on Truro winning the league – they may well be up there. This was a game I was looking forward to as seeing what chance they might have for this upcoming season.

With all those rapid promotions, ground grading is important and so Treyew Road currently is on the temporary stand heavy side currently, although as they consolidate in the higher places of non-league, the ground should take a better shape. On the dugout side is two temporary stands that are uncovered and provide a great view of the pitch which is where I sat for the first half. Across the other side is a small covered standing area which is probably back from their South Western League days when attendances would most likely be under 100. Next to this is a identikit seated stand which was probably put in for their Western League days. Behind one goal is another large temporary stand, although this time covered and at the clubhouse end is just hard standing. It’s a decent ground at this time, but if Heaney puts more money in then it could be a cracker. However, when I was coming into the ground, a petition was going around asking for people to sign for the proposed “Stadium for Cornwall” which Truro City would share with the rugby union side Cornish Pirates. (Info about the proposed ground can be found here) The plans are at an early stage however, so Treyew Road isn’t in danger yet.

The visitors for today’s game was Premiership new boys QPR who were down in Cornwall playing various non-league sides for pre-season training. Their first XI had actually played the night before this game at Bodmin Town winning 7-0 so QPR for this one had brought a mixture of reserves, no hopers and youth team players. (I would have thought Truro would have provided a better challenge to QPR than Bodmin but never mind). I was interested in hearing the starting line up for QPR and was surprised to hear such names as Martin Rowlands, Lee Cook, Leon Clarke and Angelo Balanta all starting, whilst it wasn’t the QPR side that would line up against Bolton on the opening day, it was still a decent side that had made the trip here. That being said, Truro took the lead on 4 minutes. When some excellent play down the left from Barry Hayles (remember him!?) found a cross which went all the way to the back post, Les Afful slotted the ball home, only just though as goalie Alvin Putnins could not keep the ball out as the it crossed the line and the goal was given. How long could the non-leaguers last? Not very long. When a ball was punted into the box, Martin Rowlands took one touch and turn before being hacked down and a penalty was given. Leon Clarke stepped up and hammered the ball as hard as he could down the middle to make it 1-1. Only 3 minutes later and QPR had turned the game right around. Truro lost the ball in midfield and a brilliant through ball from Lee Cook put Martin Rowlands in and he smashed the ball past Tim Sandercombe into the bottom corner. The rest of the half was great entertainment as both sides just went for it in an absorbing 45 minutes. Both goalies made some excellent saves to keep the score at 1-2 and referee Kevin Friend even played his part by keeping a fairly low profile.

The 2nd half was a lot better than I expected too with the tempo still high and both teams playing some good attacking football. Truro started brightly in trying to get back into the game, but some final loose balls were hindering their goal scoring chances. Then on 54 minutes, QPR broke from a corner and Leon Clarke scampered away before smashing past Sandercombe at his near post to make it 1-3. While I thought this was probably game over, credit to Truro who kept going, although it was clear by now that QPR were the fitter team and had that extra yard on the home side. QPR though were getting scrappy in the midfield area and when Marcus Martin was brought down on the edge of the area Truro had a great chance. The free kick was whipped in Walker and after some pinball in the box, the ball fell to Ed Palmer who smashed home at the back post. Palmer had only signed the day before as he is on loan from Torquay United for 6 months. Palmer though went from hero to villain as he brought down Lee Cook on the edge of the area and up stepped Rowlands (see pic below) who curled a delightful free kick over the wall and in off the post giving Sandercombe no chance. Antonio German came on late on who I was looking forward to seeing. (A lad that is tipped to go far) And he made a few darting runs in the dying embers of the game. QPR nearly added a 5th right at the death when Clarke managed to pounce on a rebound from a corner but just fired wide. It was 2-4 at FT, a very enjoyable game in the sun.

For an opening game of the season for me, this was a cracking match played in the right way and with a great tempo. While paying £10 for a friendly is very steep, I had even forgotten about this price while watching the game between two great teams. For QPR, its tough to say how they will do this season in the top flight, with the team they put out for this game as very few of them will probably be gracing a Premiership ground near you this time out. As for Truro, their boss Lee Hodges admitted that conceding 12 goals in pre-season already (and they are still to play Plymouth and Torquay) is a concern. Good luck to them in the Blue Square South this season, when they come to a London based ground, I will definitely try and see them and see how Cornwall’s finest are getting on. 2011/12, NOW WE’VE STARTED!

Photos from Truro City vs QPR XI

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 7.5/10 (excellent entertainment)

- Value for money: 3/10 (£10 for a friendly? Really?)

- Ground: 6/10 (I liked it, some good views in there)

- Atmosphere: 3/10 (not great for 1000+ people but it was a friendly)

- Food: 6/10 (again pricey (£2.50 for a bacon roll) but can’t argue with the taste)

- Programme: 6/10 (looks professional and add in some more content and we’re there)

- Referee: Kevin Friend – 6/10 (was on his holidays down here and stepped in to do it, hero)

A brief interlude…

2011-07-19T19:29:00.001+01:00

I was meant to start my season 3 days ago (Saturday 16th) and e-mailed 4 clubs asking about details for their friendlies on that day. In the end, I did an extra shift at work as I received not one reply from any of the four. I did not want to drive to places to find the game had been moved or cancelled and I do appreciate that these are friendlies. The benefit of these games are for the players rather than the spectators. But it is poor form for clubs to just ignore e-mails totally.

If I find out that the person I e-mailed was unavailable when I mailed them (I did give 2 weeks) or that e-mail address is no longer used (in that case then the club needs to update it’s contact details) then I will issue an apology straight away. However I doubt this will be the case.

The clubs above (Bideford, Topsham Town, Liverton United and Budleigh Salterton) were the clubs who just couldn’t be arsed and so it seems unlikely I’ll be visiting them anytime soon.

That being said this coming Saturday is another Saturday and I will be off to a game with it being 95% certain being Truro City vs QPR. A ground I have wanted to get to for some time so it should be a good one!

(The grand Truro Cathedral – with its team on the up)

It’s London Baby! (2011/12 preview)

2011-07-01T21:13:00.001+01:00

Around this time last year I wrote my 2010/11 preview post for what I expected my season to be. It was hard to write anything substantial as I really didn’t know what I’d be doing with my life after graduating from uni. Fast forward to now and again this season preview will be hard to write but for completely different reasons! With a job in the big city and spare time really at a premium, here’s what you regular readers (it’s probably just me, to be honest) can expect from The Travelling Fan for 2011/12.

1) London Town, London prices

As I’ll actually be living right in London, I will have to pay a shit load out in rent, bills and the like. Therefore, I really don’t know how many games I will be at this season, although the target is to match last season’s haul of 39. What will also stop me occasionally is my study towards an accounting qualification which means so weekends spent in the classroom learning about stuff like FRS 4 and how that affects shareholders’ funds. (It’s a good read actually FRS 4, check it out)

2) New Leagues!

There WILL be football though, so don’t worry regulars, reports from some places you have never heard of and never visit will be coming. There is also some new leagues that I will be getting into as the highlights of the South East are now within touching distance. 2010/11 saw lots of SWPL and Western League grounds and this season will see some Hellenic League, Wessex League, Combined Counties and the famous Essex Senior and Olympian Leagues.

(Essex Ladz! Coming to Travelling Fan for 2011/12)

3) New Sports! (Honestly this time)

When I wrote my season review in June last year I mentioned that I would be taking in new sports to write some more reports about and in the end, I only got to one, in July. This season, I do intend to get to some new places and take in sports that I know little about and see how it goes! Along with the normal Rugby League, I’m aiming for; Basketball, Ice Hockey, Horse and Dog racing and hopefully some others that might just turn up along the way!

4) Danger! Danger! Grounds in trouble!

Over the years, some absolutely classic grounds have sadly left us as teams have moved onto more modern grounds while others have been very lucky to move away from some utter shitholes to better things. That being said, I have missed some classic grounds since I started writing this blog (e.g, Chesterfield’s Saltergate and Hayes & Yeading’s Church Road) mainly due to the fact I didn’t have the money or the time to have a trip to these grounds. Now I do though (in theory) so this will not happen anymore! And the following grounds are high on my visit list this season due to their short expected life span:

- Worcester City (St George’s Lane) – Ground is an absolute classic and in danger as Worcester have problems between them and property developers St Modwen who they have sold the ground to.

(Main Stand @ St George’s Lane)

- Kentish Town (Copthall Stadium) – Ground may not disappear but with Rugby Union side Saracens looking to move in and upgrade the athletics ground, KT may be kicked out. They do have some land they and a local youth team can build on, but with no money, will this ever happen?

(Barnet Copthall Stadium)

- Livingston (Almondvale Stadium) – Late last season some news from way left field came out that Livi were set to sell their Almondvale Stadium (only 16 years old) to a supermarket to finance a new ground a mile away. This means it could be a scamper up to Edinburgh to take in a Scottish 1st Division match or, hopefully, vs Hearts in the Scottish Cup.

(Home of Livi, but how much longer?)

- Harwich and Parkeston (Royal Oak) – I hear y’all now, “WHO!?” H&P are a club currently struggling in Essex and Suffolk Border League and play at their classic Royal Oak ground. However, a club who reached the FA Amateur Cup Final in 1953 but lost to Pegasus AFC in front of a crowd of 100,000 are not looking in good shape and a visit to their run down ground is also high on my list.

(Royal Oak’s classic Main Stand)

5) There’s still some Devon games!

My season officially kicks off on 16th July, although I don’t know where yet! I do know however that it will be in Devon as July & August will see me visit some of my last Devonian grounds for some time and bid good-bye to a region that I have found some absolute gems in.

6) Current List of games (subject to a LOT of change and awaiting fixture lists!)

16th July – PSF (either Liverton Utd, Budleigh Salterton, Topsham Town or Bideford)

26th July – Ottery St Mary vs Exeter City XI

30th July – Wadebridge Town vs Hallen (unlikely if I go to Otters on 26th)

6th Aug – Heavitree Social United vs Budleigh Salterton

9th Aug – Exeter City vs Yeovil Town (Carling Cup R1)

20th Aug – Sidmouth Town vs Exeter Civil Service

27th Aug – Galmpton United vs Ottery St Mary

10th Sep – FA VASE QUALIFYING ROUND 1

17th Sep – Dag & Red vs Morecambe

5th Nov – 4 Nations Rugby League @ Wembley

28th Jan – Crawley Town vs Morecambe

11th/18th Feb – Livingston vs Partick Thistle/Raith Rovers

17th Mar – Barnet vs Morecambe

24th Mar – Millwall vs Leeds United

21st Apr – Gillingham vs Swindon Town

7) And Finally…

Hope everyone out there enjoys the football this season! And if you do read my blog or follow on Twitter, leave some comments! I read them all and take them into consideration! Lets get going!

“What do you mean Heavitree Social United don’t do programmes!?”

Season 2010/11 – Teams Witnessed

2011-06-17T15:37:00.001+01:00

It’s my annual “where are they now?!” fest with a look at all 66 different teams I witnessed playing this fine season. Some had crackers, some had stinkers. Here’s a look:

Abbotskerswell (Final Position: South Devon League Premier – 5th) –> A decent enough end, finishing in 5th but still miles away from the top sides in South Devon, i.e Champs, Upton Athletic.

Accrington Stanley (League 2 – 5th) –> Produced some stunning end of season form to finish in a play-off place before that dream was extinguished by Stevenage in the semi-finals with a 3-0 agg win.

Alphington (SWPL Div 1 East – 7th) –> Technically were the 2nd best team in Exeter this season with a seventh place finish. Decent too for a team with small crowds.

Appledore (SWPL Div 1 East – 6th) –> Would have wanted to do so much better. Not even a sniff of a title challenge and an early exit from the Devon Premier Cup they won last season. Must do better for 2011/12.

Axminster Town (SWPL Div 1 East – 16th) –> Finished bottom and 6 points away from 15th place Crediton. Will need to get better and rapidly so otherwise their new ground will be hosting Devon & Exeter League football instead.

Berwick Rangers (Scottish Div 3 – 6th) –> Same finish as 2009/10 so plodding along nicely. Got to Scottish Cup 4th Round and gave Celtic a good game before going down 2-0.

Bickleigh (SWPL Div 1 East – 10th) –> Yet another improving season for the village side. Reached the semis of the Devon Premier Cup and rose again in the league. Can they keep this up?

Billingham Synthonia (Northern League Div 1 – 12th) –> An average season for the Synths. Finished well in mid-table in the Northern League but did finish above town rivals Billingham Town.

Bishop Sutton (Western Premier – 5th) –> By finishing 16 pts behind Champs Larkhall Athletic, it shows there is much work to do, despite a good fifth place finish.

Blackpool (Premier League – 19th) –> So close and yet so far for Ian Holloway’s side. Still with a chance of survival on the final day, their 4-2 defeat to Man Utd saw them relegated back to the Championship. Still, they made a lot of friends with their gun ho type football and did the double over History FC, so that alone gets a massive thumbs up.

Blyth Spartans (Blue Square North – 9th) –> Normally a team tipped for a struggle, a great ninth place finish and a quarter-final appearance in the FA Trophy too. (Where they lost out to Gateshead). With new boss Steve Cuggy now in, a “revolution” is on for next season.

BOCA Seniors (North Devon Premier – 1st) –> Another successful season for the BOCA boys. Won the league with a 23 point margain to 2nd place Braunton and won the Brayford Cup with a 2-1 win over Bradworthy.

Bodmin Town (SWPL Premier – 2nd) –> Finished 8 points behind Champs Buckland but too many draws cost them as well as lack of goals. Bodmin were the only side in the Top 5 to score less than 100 (“only” managed 98 goals). Did win the Cornwall Senior Cup again though.

Bovey Tracey (SWPL Premier – 17th) –> A club on the up? They will still have SWPL Premier football at Mill Marsh Park next season and with floodlights being put in as I type this, FA national competitions will not be far away either.

Buckland Athletic (SWPL Premier – 1st) –> Almost like Bideford’s season in 2009/10 with a league win and a fantastic achievement by winning the Devon FA St Luke’s Bowl with a victory on penalties over Tiverton Town. Unlike Bideford last season though, the Bucks haven’t taken the step up. Lack of ambition?

Budleigh Salterton (SWPL Div 1 East – 2nd) –> Everyone’s least favourite club missed out on trophies twice by losing the league and Devon Premier Cup final to Liverton United both times. At least they have the chance of playing in a higher division next season, oh wait.

Bury (League 2 – 2nd) –> Managed to overcome the defection of Alan Knill to Scunthorpe midseason to secure promotion to League 1. Where they will play Alan Knill’s Scunthorpe.

Café Roma (Plymouth & West Devon Combination Div 2 – 7th) –> Mid-table in league and went out of the Devon Senior Cup in the 4th Round with an 8-3 defeat to Hookhills Utd.

Callington Town (SWPL Div 1 West – 3rd) –> Would have secured 2nd place in the league but lost two goals in injury time in their last game to lose that place to Godolphin Atlantic. They did win the Cornwall Charity Cup to still make it a decent season.

Camelford (SWPL Div 1 West – 1st) –> Ignoring the controversy about THAT abandoned game, they played great football over the course of the season and had the balls to step up to the SWPL Premier. Good luck to them.

Cockfosters (SSML Div 1 – 15th) –> 23 points of relegation. That’s literally all I have.

Crediton United (SWPL Div 1 East – 15th) –> Very poor. Can they stop the slide anytime soon?

Crawley Town (Blue Square Premier – 1st) –> The FL has the scumbags.

Cullompton Rangers (SWPL Premier – 16th) –> I’m amazed they actually came where they did as they were one of the worst teams I saw this season. Surely will drop next season?

Dawlish Town (Western Premier – 6th) –> Decent final position for Dawlish capping off a good season. Strange that rumours have been coming out about them dropping back to SWPL though?

Dorchester Town (Blue Square South – 17th) –> Disappointing for the Dorset club as they were troubled by relegation all season. They crashed out in the FA Trophy 2nd Round to Eastbourne Borough after a replay.

Edinburgh City (East of Scotland Premier – 6th) –> 13 draws cost them a shot much higher in the league. With only 3 defeats all season, City have missed out on a much better finish here.

Elmore (Western League Division 1 – 19th) –> Rock bottom and a massive 12 points away from 18th. Their Western League days look outnumbered.

Exeter City (League 1 – 8th) –> An excellent season for the Devon club. Finished only 1 point off the play-offs and reached the JPT Southern Final before a defeat to Brentford stopped their trip to Wembley.

Exeter Civil Service (SWPL Div 1 East – 12th) –> Considering they won this division a couple of seasons ago, 12th place is extremely disappointing for a club seemingly stuck in this league.

Exeter University (SWPL Div 1 East – 8th) –> Bang in midtable shows that the uni side are getting to grips now with Saturday football. Their BUCS team came 3rd in Men’s 1A League.

Exmouth Town (SWPL Div 1 East – 11th) –> Will definitely need to improve next season. Especially as they are starting to live in the shadows of near neighbours Budleigh Salterton.

Falmouth Town (SWPL Premier – 5th) –> Just pipped by Torpoint for a Top 4 place but still a decent season for the Cornish side.

Foxhole Stars (SWPL Div 1 West – 13th) –> Not much comment to add here. Lower end of midtable.

Hamworthy United (Wessex Premier – 9th) –> Reasonable enough from the Hammers. With Poole now leaving this league, 2011/12 Wessex Premier should be an open one.

Harpenden Town (SSML Div 1 – 7th) –> A poor start cost them as they finished 20 points down on Top 3.

Hartland (North Devon Senior – 16th) –> Relegated again as Hartland rocket down the leagues. Only a –131 goal difference this time out and will probably be at the wrong end of Intermediate 1 next season.

Hengrove Athletic (Western League Division 1 – 10th) –> Promised much, delivered little.

Heriot-Watt University (East of Scotland Premier – 12th) –> Relegated down to EOS Division 1 on the final day of the season where they will now face some footballing giants such as Peebles and Coldstream.

Hungerford Town (Southern League Div 1 S&W – 7th) –> Finished just 4 points off a play-off place to mark a good improvement from recent relegation battles. Lost in FA Trophy 1st Qualifying Round after a replay defeat to Cinderford Town.

Ipplepen Athletic (South Devon League Premier – 9th) –> Achieved their aim of staying up. SWPL football looks a long way away currently though.

Liverton United (SWPL Div 1 East – 1st) –> A league and cup double. Can they repeat it next season? And, will they go for promotion if they do?

Macclesfield Town (League 2 – 15th) –> Got over the tragic death of Richard Butcher to finish in a decent position.

Morecambe (League 2 – 20th) –> The promotion hopefuls never got going at all and only finished 4 points clear from drop. Sammy Mac was rightfully sacked and new rookie boss Jim Bentley comes in for 2011/12 with the task of keeping them up.

Mousehole (SWPL Div 1 West – 14th) –> The tiny club from deep Cornwall are amongst the strugglers again. Can they improve?

Notts County (League 1 – 19th) –> Paul Ince couldn’t halt the slide and so was sacked with Martin Allen just saving the club from the drop on the final day. Finished just 3 points clear in the end.

Okehampton Argyle (SWPL Div 1 West – 15th) –> Poor season finishing 2nd bottom and two points off bottom club Hayle. Have been granted their wish though and will move sideways to start 2011/12 in Division 1 East.

Ottery St Mary (SWPL Div 1 East – 13th) –> Western League days look eternities ago as the Otters are really struggling currently. Hopefully will bounce back for their Centenary year this season.

Portishead Town (Western League Division 1 – 18th) –> Poor. Luckily have Elmore as whipping boys to stop them falling even lower.

Radcliffe Borough (Evo-Stik Div 1 North – 18th) –> Finished a comfortable 22 points off relegation and the financial fears they had seemed to have vanished for now.

Royal Marines AFC (SWPL Premier – 15th) –> The Navy boys started life in the SWPL Premier with an ok finish. Obviously progress depends on Navy tours and campaigns as well as football.

Sherborne Town (Western Premier – 14th) –> Ok season for a team in transition and reached broke new ground in the FA Cup by reaching the 2nd Qualifying Round.

St Blazey (SWPL Premier – 8th) –> A troublesome season finished off with a disappointing defeat in a classic cup final. They went down 6-4 A.E.T to Plymouth Parkway in the Throgmorton Cup final that would have saved their season.

Sunderland (Premier League – 10th) –> Flirted with relegation after poor 2011 form but managed to pull clear in the end and even finish above hated rivals Newcastle.

Taunton Town (Southern League Div 1 S&W – 9th) –> 9 points off play-off, although they did finish above the rest of their SW rivals. Will relish playing Tiverton Town next season.

Teignmouth AFC (SWPL Div 1 East – 4th) –> Could have finished in the top 2 but completely lost form towards the end of the season and just hung on to their top 4 place.

Tiverton Town (Southern Premier – 20th) –> Last season’s reprieve only delayed the inevitable. 5 points off safety and they never looked like finishing clear of the drop. At least will have some more derbies next season with Taunton, Bideford and Bridgwater.

Torpoint Athletic (SWPL Premier – 4th) –> A fantastic season for the Point. Top 4 in the league and reached the FA Vase QF when they went down to a 2-1 defeat at Poole Town.

Torquay United (League 2 – 7th) –> Lost in the play-off final to Stevenage as the Gulls failed to turn up for a big game again. Then boss Paul Buckle joins newly relegated Bristol Rovers and takes goalie Scott Bevan with him. Torquay may well be fighting a different battle under Martin Ling next season…

Torridgeside (North Devon League Premier – 6th) –> Finished ahead of Torrington rivals with a 9 point gap.

Vospers Oak Villa (SWPL Div 1 West – 4th) –> Decent enough from the Plymouth based side and even picked up a small bit of prize money too.

Wadebridge Town (SWPL Premier – 20th) –> Woefully bad as they picked up only 19 points all season and were promptly relegated.

Wellington AFC (Western Premier – 18th) –> Went into the final game of the season with a winner takes all match against Longwell Green Sports where the winner would stay up. They lost. And will be playing Western League Division 1 football next season.

Weston-Super-Mare (Blue Square South – 12th) –> Excellent season for a team that normally finishes in the relegation places only to survive due to another club’s financial meltdown. Needed none of that this time out.

Witheridge AFC (SWPL Premier – 14th) –> Well away from anywhere. Made their FA Vase debut with a 1-0 defeat to Western League side Brislington.

Yeovil Town (League 1 – 14th) –> Relegation favourites managed to stay up again due to some excellent loan signings and a top end of season run.

And that is it! The end of 2010/11, especially with next season’s top league fixtures being released today, I can now start to make plans for 2011/12 and a season really into the unknown. Photos below are some snapshots from professionals of games I was at this season. 2011/12 preview up soon!

Season 2010/11 review

2011-05-29T16:08:00.001+01:00

3510 minutes. That is the exact (give or take injury time) amount of football I watched in my biggest ever season for myself, again. 39 games is far beyond what I imagined and expected my final total to be when starting this season way back in July 2010. There have been some absolutely cracking games and grounds I’ve seen in 2010/11 but on the other hand, there have been some utter guff I’ve had to watch too. This was also the first season I hadn’t been to any Hearts games since 2006/07 which meant I’ve had to view their results and performances from afar. I’ll give my two pence on our relatively decent season right at the bottom, but for now here are my stats for 2010/11 and some awards…

Statistics!

Games Attended: 39

Goals: 131 (3.36 per game)

Most Goals: 9 (Hartland vs Cafe Roma)

Least Goals: 0 (Edinburgh City vs Heriot-Watt University, Cockfosters vs Harpenden Town)

New Grounds: 38 (Croft Park – Blyth Spartans, Stainton Park – Radcliffe Borough, Edge Down Park – Witheridge, Horsden Park – Elmore, Huish Park – Yeovil Town, Simmons Park – Okehampton Argyle, Bristol Road – Portishead Town, Raleigh Grove – Sherborne Town, Wordsworth Drive – Taunton Town, Pavilion Playing Field – Hartland, Meadowbank Stadium – Edinburgh City, Foxhayes – Exeter Civil Service, Sandy Lane – Dawlish Town, Woodspring Stadium – Weston-Super-Mare, Homers Heath – Buckland Athletic, Topsham Road – University of Exeter, Tarka Tennis Centre – BOCA Seniors, Chalk Lane – Cockfosters, Priory Park – Bodmin Town, Endurance Park – Royal Marines, Stadium of Light – Sunderland, Plainmoor – Torquay United, Coombe Valley – Teignmouth, The Mill – Torpoint Athletic, Southern Road – Exmouth Town, Sector Lane – Axminster Town, The Chronicles – Alphington, Globe Arena – Morecambe, Donnacroft – Torridgeside, Lords Meadow – Crediton United, North Street – Wellington, Moor Road – Ipplepen Athletic, Happy Meadow – Bickleigh, Trefew Park – Camelford, Mill Marsh Park – Bovey Tracey, Speeds Meadow – Cullompton Rangers, Ginsters Marshfield Parc – Callington Town, Coach Road – Devon FA)

Best and Worst

Best Game: Teignmouth 2-3 St Blazey – An absolutely cracking cup tie as the higher level side just scraped past a dogged Teignmouth effort. Despite the crap weather, this was a top game and would have happily watched 30 more mins as that was the least Teignmouth deserved.

Worst Game: Radcliffe Borough 1-0 Bury – People slate pre-season friendlies calling them fabricated and training ground routines, but I like them. This game however did question my sanity. The night before my graduation ceremony at uni (no joke) I watched two woefully bad teams in the freezing cold and wet. And it cost me £5. Was lucky to see one goal. Cockfosters 0-0 Harpenden Town was a close 2nd.

Best Team: BOCA Seniors – Remember this is relative to the level they play! BOCA would easily cut in in the SWPL so hopefully they begin to look at stepping up a level as it will become tiring very quickly if they continue to float around in the North Devon Leagues.

Worst Team: Hartland – Fair play to this little village club for fielding 3 separate teams in 3 different leagues, but if your 1st team is guff, then maybe merge them and create a fairly decent 1st team? I saw Hartland lose 9-0 and it was really a deserved spanking. Cullompton Rangers come a close 2nd for being so bad when I saw them.

Best Player: Camelford’s Dan Gusterson was a class player as I saw him rip apart Foxhole Stars and could easily play at a higher level.

Best Ground (Professional): Sunderland’s Stadium of Light wins this award. Great venue and would be rocking on a full house.

Best Ground (Non-League): Bickleigh takes this. Wanted to wait and do Happy Meadow on a glorious day and their game vs Appledore was perfect for it. A must do ground at a friendly club.

Worst Ground: University of Exeter – A soulless place nearly in the middle of nowhere. Not all their fault due to dickhead NIBMY’s around but I won’t be going back.

Most Picturesque Ground: Okehampton in September was extremely picturesque although it does have mighty competition from Bickleigh and its vineyards.

Biggest Dump: Sunderland city centre is a hole. It really does deserve the stick it gets.

Best Programme: Okehampton Argyle’s effort for a Level 11 club is superb. Puts a vast majority of clubs higher up the pyramid to shame.

Worst Programme: Teignmouth charged me £1 for essentially a book of adverts. Poor form.

Best Bar: Buckland Athletic’s clubhouse is a top notch building. Although considering it was built from lottery grant money then it really should be good.

Best Food: Callington Town’s pasties were so good I had two!

Funniest Moment: NEIL! NEIL! NEIL! At Weston-Super-Mare vs Dorchester Town. It was probably one of those moments you had to be there for though.

Best Punch Up: BOCA Seniors vs Exmouth Town. Just a 90 minute long “It’s a Knockout” punch up special on a mudbath. Still to this day say that game should have been postponed for another day.

Hardest Place to Find: I didn’t get lost this season! :o Although due to Google Maps being old, I did turn up at Camelford’s old ground.

Friendliest Club: Awards here to Torpoint Athletic and Callington Town. Some excellent club officials on their committees that other clubs should be envious of.

Most Miserable Club: Radcliffe Borough. Not completely unfriendly but first impressions count and their’s stunk. I won’t be back.

Best Supporters: St Blazey. All singing, all dancing rather than just “sing when you’re winning.” Shame their club play at Level 10, but maybe will play on a higher stage one day. Maybe.

Worst Supporters: None I saw this season. So I’ll give it to general all round plastics.

Best Song: None again. Any recommendations?

Coldest Ground: I was absolutely perishing at Radcliffe Boro and Cockfosters. My visit to Cockfosters was a cold Tuesday December evening though.

Best Goal: Grant Leslie vs Exmouth Town. Left foot volley straight into top corner. Bang, 1-0.

Most Attractive Female Employee(s): The blond woman who served me at Teignmouth was a stunner. In the words of Mr Keys and Mr Grey, “I’d smash it”.

Special Merit Award: All nice people who are involved in grassroots football. None of this corruption shite which happens far higher up.

Hearts in Europe for 2011/12. Had you told me that at the start of the season just gone, I would have laughed at you. Having predicted a 5th or 6th place finish for us, to finish 3rd (albeit fairly close to 4th in the end) means we’ve had a great season. I won’t even look at the negatives as they have been too many recently being a Hearts fan, and will only look at the positive stuff. We were easily the 3rd best team in the league throughout the season and have already starting to strengthen for next time out with the signings of John Sutton, Jamie Hamill and Danny Grainger. I hope they all have a cracking career with us. Big JJ has also got rid of some guff (see ya Jamie Mole ya cunt!) and I hope we are closer to 2nd than 4th next season.

On a personal note, it has been a cracking season just gone and with 2011/12 moving into the unknown, quite literally, I’m hoping to write up some cracking trips for you. Keep reading (if you do!) or following on Twitter and I look forward to continuing my experiences and sharing them with you. Have a top summer. (Team review up soon)

Road to Wembley 2010/11 (FINAL)

2011-05-20T22:23:00.001+01:00

This was it. A competition that started on August 14th and finished on 14th May. 759 clubs were accepted to play in this years competition and it had now been narrowed down to the final two. Stoke City (in their first ever final) and Manchester City (their 9th final, their first since 1981). It was very much a clash of rags v riches as Stoke (who are fairly wealthy) came up against The Richest Club in the World. The manager’s who were going up against each other was also a clash of cultures with suave Italian Roberto Mancini with brash Welshman Tony Pulis.

I’ll be blunt straight away, this final was shite. It really was one of the worst finals I had seen with Man City not having to play all that well because Stoke City never turned up. Yaya Toure scored the only goal of the game on 74 minutes to secure a deserved win for Citeh and their first FA Cup since 1969. Stoke offered little and only Kenwyne Jones had a clear cut chance for Stoke but it was saved by Joe Hart.

This though was more about the journey from August all the way through to May as I kept up with the winners of Elmore vs Hamworthy United and worked the way through morris dancing, record breaking runs, baths, Clint Eastwood, some Welsh blokes and a derby before capping it off with Citeh’s win.

I really have enjoyed this feature this season so have decided to continue it in some way for 2011/12. But do you know what would actually be better than watching the final on TV? Being at Wembley for the final! The road begins now… (When the draws are released)

ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2010/2011:

EXTRA PRELIMINARY ROUND: Elmore 1-5 Hamworthy Utd (Horsdon Park, Att: 247)

PRELIMINARY ROUND: Hamworthy Utd 2-2 Sherborne Town (County Ground, Att: 122)

PRELIMINARY ROUND Replay: Sherborne Town 3–0 Hamworthy Utd (Raleigh Grove, Att: 154)

1ST QUALIFYING ROUND: Wimborne Town 1-3 Sherborne Town (The Cuthbury, Att: 226)

2ND QUALIFYING ROUND: Sherborne Town 1-2 Hungerford Town (Raleigh Grove, Att: 138)

3RD QUALIFYING ROUND: Swindon Supermarine 4-0 Hungerford Town (Webb’s Wood Stadium, Att: 365)

4TH QUALIFYING ROUND: Swindon Supermarine 0-0 Bath City (Webb’s Wood Stadium, Att: 551)

4TH QUALIFYING ROUND Replay: Bath City 3-4 Swindon Supermarine (Twerton Park, Att: 665)

1ST ROUND: Swindon Supermarine 2-1 Eastwood Town (Webb’s Wood Stadium, Att: 1,159)

2ND ROUND: Colchester United 1-0 Swindon Supermarine (Colchester Community Stadium, Att: 3,047)

3RD Round: Swansea City 4-0 Colchester United (Liberty Stadium, Att: 7,005)

4TH Round: Swansea City 1-2 Leyton Orient (Liberty Stadium, Att: 6,281

5TH Round: Leyton Orient 1-1 Arsenal (Brisbane Road, Att: 9,136)

5TH Round Replay: Arsenal 5-0 Leyton Orient (Emirates Stadium, Att: 59,361)

QUARTER-FINAL: Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal (Old Trafford, Att: 74,693)

SEMI-FINAL: Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United (Wembley Stadium, Att: 86,549)

FINAL: Manchester City 1-0 Stoke (Wembley Stadium, Att: 88,643)

Liverton United vs Budleigh Salterton (12/05/11)

2011-05-15T18:26:00.001+01:00

Match 121

Ground #: 88

Ground: Coach Road (Devon FA)

Competition: Devon FA Premier Cup Final

Kick Off: 7pm

Cost: £4

Programme: With Admission

Attendance: 295

Liverton United 1

Broadway 10’

Budleigh Salterton 0

_____________________________________________________________

306 days. Or 43.714 weeks since I stepped onto the terraces of Blyth Spartans’ Croft Park. Now, some 38 games later after my biggest ever season it was time to wrap 2010/11 up. Now I like to pick my final game with something riding on it. In 2009 it was Carlisle United securing safety from League 1, in 2010 it was saying goodbye to Christie Park and Morecambe’s play-off dream and now for 2011 it was off to a cup final. As the majority of my games have been in Devon this season, it was fitting to round it off with Devon’s 2nd biggest county competition with the final of the Devon FA Premier Cup at Devon FA HQ, Coach Road in Newton Abbot.

Newton Abbot is actually quite a surprising hotbed of football. If you like your grass roots stuff. Along with Coach Road, there is Homers Heath (home to Buckland Athletic) and the Recreation Ground (home to Newton Abbot Spurs) along with some smaller (even for me) South Devon League grounds around the outskirts. I had only been to one other County FA ground (Lancashire) and was wondering what Coach Road would look like having not seen any pictures before hand. I have to say, its a great wee venue in a quiet part of Newton Abbot. The main feature is the massive stand which straddles one touchline which is actually raised above the pitch so offers some great views. I reckon the stand contains around 400 seats and would not look out of place at some grounds far higher up the pyramid. The rest of the ground is railed off with standing all the way round (no cover). There is a clubhouse/bar area in one of the corners, imaginatively named The Cornerhouse Bar while behind the goal nearest the entrance is a smart looking building that presumably the Devon FA Heads sit and hand out footballing justice across the County. (I wasn’t allowed in)

I had seen a few Devon Premier Cup ties this season and they had been a bit mix and match. From Exeter Civil Service, through University of Exeter to BOCA Seniors, this was a fairly competitive cup. Perhaps unsurprisingly the finalists were the two teams who finished highest up in the highest league possible to enter this competition, the Southwest Peninsula League Division 1 East. Liverton United who had finished top of that league and Budleigh Salterton who had finished 2nd. Both sides had not taken promotion for various reasons, which I won’t go into, again. Both sides had beaten decent opposition to get here with Liverton seeing off North Molton (4-0), Watts Blake & Bearne (3-2), Exeter Civil Service (3-2), Sidmouth Town (2-1) and winning their semi-final against Bickleigh 2-0 at Exmouth. Budleigh reached here with wins over Lee Moor (8-2), Axminster Town (5-1), Ottery St Mary (6-0), BOCA Seniors (3-1) and a 3-2 win over Galmpton United at Crediton United. In the league meetings this season, it was 1-1 at Budleigh and Liverton won 2-1 at their home game. So it was a tough game to call and I hoped it would be a fitting end to the season for me.

As the players walked out to the Champions League theme (no joke) we had the bollocks before every final where the players shake hands with the guests of honour that nobody has ever heard of. When the game finally kicked off (bang on time at 7pm to be fair) Liverton started the better, playing some decent football and really getting stuck into Budleigh. They should have taken the lead on 6 minutes when from a Liverton corner, defender Dan Harrity headed into the ground and over from about 7 yards out. What was worrying for Budleigh is that he had a free header and their defending from corners would have to improve rapidly. It didn’t. On 10 minutes, Budleigh couldn’t clear a corner away and the ball fell to Robbie Bowker on the left who put in a great low cross for Dan Broadway who side footed home from close range to give the League Champions the lead. And although only 10 minutes had been played, they deserved it. Liverton’s calmness on the ball was the reason why they looked so comfortable against a Budleigh side running around like headless chickens and playing pointless long balls over the top. They did nearly surprise us all with an equalizer on 27 minutes when a long range effort forced an excellent save from Liverton goalie Josh Oak. That being said, Liverton should have gone into the HT break 2 up when a Budleigh defender was robbed on the right touchline which allowed the striker to burst into the box and set up Simon Lewcock who fired over the crossbar from around 5 yards out. What a shocking miss. Budleigh were lucky to be still in the game at HT.

2nd half started much like the first with Liverton dominating the play again as Budleigh had just not turned up for this final. Lewcock added to his growing portfolio of shocking misses when he fired high and wide over the bar from around 8 yards this time after his first shot was blocked. Budleigh for all of this half were quite poor as long balls were just aimlessly punted forward towards their big striker Danny Williams who needs to learn the offside trap ASAP. There was only one other real chance of the half (yes the 2nd half was that bad) when a drilled shot towards the Budleigh goal was flicked on by Lewcock which hit the bar and bounced over. For the final 10 minutes I actually watched Devon FA officials bring the trophy out onto a table and then sort the various medals and stuff out as it was more exciting than watching Budleigh pump balls into the box which were instantly cleared. It was a shame to end the season on a poor game, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

Well done to Liverton United then who easily deserved to win this cup final and take the League and Cup double home and again pip Budleigh to the post. I won’t dwell too much on this game but it was really quite poor. (Not sure if its the worst game I saw this season, still to make my mind up on that) The ground itself though at Coach Road is really worth seeing and an excellent venue to watch football on a summers day. It’s now the summer holidays for me and my blog reports (on the football side) at least as I have to prepare (and a LOT of preparation to do too, and my life in general) for 2011/12. My various season reviews and previews will be published over June/July as well as my various excited tweets when the fixture lists start coming out. I do like to end my season with a moment that really finishes it off and as I walked towards my car at Coach Road I could hear the Liverton team partaking in a round of “CHAMPIONES OLE OLE OLE!” Good luck to them next season. Now where is that cold can of Irn Bru to relax with…

Photos from Liverton United vs Budleigh Salterton

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 4/10 (poor)

- Value for money: 7.5/10 (pleased it was £4 actually)

- Ground: 7.5/10 (smashing little ground)

- Atmosphere: 5/10 (very polite clapping mainly)

- Food: 7.5/10 (decent enough)

- Programme: 7/10 (good Devon FA effort for free)

- Referee: Andrew Quin – 6/10 (refereed with a smile on his face)

Callington Town vs Mousehole (07/05/11)

2011-05-12T15:20:00.000+01:00

Match 120

Ground #: 87

Ground: Ginsters Marshfield Parc

Competition: Southwest Peninsula League Division 1 West (Level 11)

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £3

Programme: With Admission

Attendance: 62

Callington Town 7

Francis 6’, 20’, 63’, Lucas 17’, 68’, Lucassi 64’, Hake 90’

Mousehole 0

_____________________________________________________________

The final game of my season had been set in stone some time ago. A cup final on May 12th. Therefore May 7th was my final Saturday of my biggest ever season and I wanted to find a game (preferably a league match) that had something riding on it. Luckily the Southwest Peninsula League Division 1 West title race (and therefore promotion race) had gone right down to the wire between Camelford and Callington Town. Having been to Camelford less than a month ago, it was only fair I paid a visit to the other challengers for their final home game of the season. Off to Cornwall!

Callington is a small town in southeast Cornwall inbetween Saltash and Launceston. The town has long been supposed to be the site of the ancient tribal capital of the Kingdom of Cornwall and Arthurian base, known in the sources as Celliwig. References to it are made repeatedly, particularly in the Welsh Triads and other manuscripts. However, it should be noted, that Callington is only the foremost among several contending possible locations. In the 18th century, Callington was one of the most important mining areas in Great Britain. Deposits of silver were found nearby in Silver Valley. Today, the area is marked by mining remains, but there are no active mines. However, granite is still quarried on Hingston Down. Today, food manufacturer Ginsters is the largest employer in the town and employs hundreds of locals as well as many immigrants who have arrived as a consequence of the recent accession to the EU of a number of Eastern European countries. Ginsters uses local produce in many of its products, buying potatoes and other vegetables from local farmers and suppliers.

I’ll be honest, I hadn’t actually looked forward to visiting Callington’s Marshfield Parc. This wasn’t down to the club, it was down to other hoppers reports on the place which painted a picture of the ground being basic and maybe not the best place to watch football, despite the clear quality on show this season. Once I arrived, I will admit I was quite wrong. Situated in the grounds of Callington College, Ginsters Marshfield Parc is a decent enough venue that also has some grand plans for it. It is railed off all the way round and has some covered standing on the home dugout side as well as a temp tea hut in a portakabin type building. On the other side is a raised hill that is currently a building site and upon enquiring, I was told Callington’s clubhouse would be built there which would allow for extra revenue to be made and for them to push on. With the building looking a good size and the raised hill offering an excellent view, this could be a great place to watch football after summer. Floodlights also are planned and they have an agreement with the college (who own the land presumably) to build them, once Cally get the £30k needed. This is a decent ground already and it could become one of the SW’s premier non-league venues (I’m not exaggerating) over time.

On the pitch, it was looking decent for Cally too going into this game. Currently in 3rd (although with a game in hand over 2nd place Godolphin Atlantic) they were 4 points behind leaders Camelford who they had to play for their final game of the season. That game had been rearranged which was the result of massive controversy. Callington had been 4-0 up at Camelford before the referee abandoned the game after around 80 minutes. However, the referee thought only around 60 mins had been played so ordered a replay. After some digging, it had been discovered the referee for that game was actually related to a Camelford player. I’ll say no more. Callington had also failed to take advantage of Camelford’s shock defeat to Truro City Reserves with only a 1-1 draw with Perranporth. Which meant Callington HAD to win and hope Camelford lost at home to 4th place Vospers Oak Villa to take the title (and promotion) down to a winner take all final game. It would also be my final league match of the season which was some nice symmetry as my first league game of the season was way back in September when I saw Callington at Okehampton Argyle. (Cally won 3-2)

Trying to stop them was the small Cornish side of Mousehole who hail from the deep deep SW of the country. A tiny little club, who’s manager was actually the club lino for this game, it is a credit that they can survive in this league with the small facilities, small number of players and volunteers for the committee. They were going into this game down in 14th with 21 points and could be caught by Okehampton Argyle should they win their final game at home to Dobwalls and Mousehole lost here. Pre-game I was welcomed by the friendliest club I have been with all season as the gateman was very friendly and the man on the tea bar was extremely chatty and served a brilliant pasty. Only £1.50 and was the nicest pasty and possibly ground grub I’ve had all season. So nice I actually bought 2! The friendly atmosphere continued just before kick-off with Callington’s Fans Player of the Year announced as captain Dan Jefferis.

Callington kicked off playing some absolutely great football, well above the Level 11 station they were currently playing at. Mousehole on the other hand were struggling to contain them and an opening goal looked only a matter of time. On 6 minutes that goal came when Cally won a corner. Up stepped Kevin Francis who curled a low corner straight in. He may have meant that as when I saw Cally at Okehampton, they also scored straight from a corner. Mousehole held an inquest into how the ball had went in at the near post despite players on the post, but nearly stunned the home side with an equalizer 4 minutes later when Tom Patrick was put through 1 on 1 but dragged his shot wide. That was costly, as a few minutes later Callington all but killed the game off with a 2nd. Tom Moody ran at the Mousehole defence and skipped past a few piss poor challenges and curled a shot that was actually well saved by M’hole goalie Tim Coates. He couldn’t hold the shot however and Mike Lucas had a tap in. Could it get worse for the away side? Yes it could! 3 minutes later a brilliant deep cross was launched into the box and Francis powered a header past the goalie and that really was game over. Callington just kept going and should have had their 4th right on half-time. A cross that came in was hopelessly dealt with by Mousehole’s Mark Treuail when he kneed the cross onto his own bar and then airkicked the rebound and was extremely lucky that Ryan Lucassi couldn’t finish. It was 3-0 at HT and it could have been much more.

2nd half kicked off with news that Camelford were romping home against Vospers Oak Villa and were 6-1 up at one point. Callington, just kept going although Mousehole actually showed some fight in this half with some long range efforts that could have troubled home goalie Tom Beman if they had been on target. After that it really was one way traffic as the home side had around 35 minutes of near domination. I spend most of the 2nd half in the company of Callington’s Secretary, Nick Smith, who was extremely nice and was chatting to me about the club and the infamous Camelford game. In the end, Callington only scored 4 goals in this half, but if it wasn’t for M’hole goalie Coates, it really could have been double figures. Best summed up by away defender James Tonkin who overhearing Nick Smith stating that he wanted to see 10-0, responded by saying, “it should be 15-0.” Excellent. #4 was scored by Francis who curled a free kick straight in after help from Treuail who sliced his clearance behind him. It was 5-0 on 64 minutes when M’hole again went to sleep at a corner and then when the ball was worked in, Lucassi had a free header but the defender could not stop the ball going over the line. 5 became 6 just four minutes later when Lucas scored with his cock after M’hole cleared the ball straight to it again from ballsing up a corner. And it was wrapped up in injury time when Martyn Hake finished well under the keeper to make it the magnificent seven for Callington.

In the end Camelford won 6-4 against Vospers Oak Villa which meant they took the title and Godolphin also won their final game to make sure Callington had to win at Camelford to secure 2nd place and some much needed extra prize money. They also have the Cornwall Charity Cup Final against, Camelford of all people! I really hope they do as well as it was the friendliest club (along with Torpoint) I had come across this season. They played some excellent football and if they keep the main of this team together, they should walk SWPL Division 1 West next season. They could be about to put Callington on the map again, and not just for Ginsters!

Photos from Callington Town vs Mousehole

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 7/10 (good attacking football)

- Value for money: 8/10 (normal price at this level)

- Ground: 7/10 (decent enough and could grow)

- Atmosphere: 6/10 (home side got behind their side)

- Food: 9/10 (top top pasty)

- Programme: 7/10 (was free, and fairly decent)

- Referee: Lee Roberts – 7/10 (was very good)

Cullompton Rangers vs Falmouth Town (02/05/10)

2011-05-08T17:27:00.001+01:00

Match 119

Ground #: 86

Ground: Speeds Meadow

Competition: Southwest Peninsula League Premier (Level 10)

Kick Off: 3pm

Cost: £4

Programme: £1

Attendance: 74

Cullompton Rangers 0

Falmouth Town 5

Hollands 8’,85’, Green 18’, Duff 25’,72’

_____________________________________________________________

While the league was dribbing (I’ve just made that up) towards the end of the season, for May Day Holiday I was keen to get out and see another game/ground but looking at the fixture lists there didn’t seem that much on. One game however was being played at SWPL Premier side Cullompton as they welcomed Cornish side Falmouth who were going for 4th place in the league and therefore some prize money at the end of the season. With that up for grabs and the fact I hadn’t been to Cullompton yet, it was time for another car journey to East Devon for this end of season fare.

Cullompton is a town in Mid Devon, lying on the River Culm and next to the M5 motorway around 12 miles from Exeter. Cullompton has a long history of manufacturing, first with wool and cloth manufacture, then later leather working and light industry. The street plan of the town still reflects the medieval layout of the town. Most shops lie along Fore Street with courts behind them linked by alleyways. The length of the high street reflects the prosperity of the town from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century when it was a centre of the cloth trade. There are two grade I listed buildings in Cullompton: the fifteenth century parish church (St Andrew's) and the Walronds at 6 Fore Street. There are also seven grade II* listed buildings and ninety grade II listed buildings.The centre of the town is a conservation area - the only one in the Mid Devon area.

Cullompton Rangers’ ground, Speeds Meadow is situated to the south of the town and the whole area is a sporting place with Cullompton Cricket Club also on site next door. There is 3 football pitches, the main one I’ll come back to in a mo but the 2ndary pitch is to the right of the main one in the picture above while the 3rd is hidden by the trees behind the far goal. The main pitch where Cully play their main games such as in the SWPL is also fairly decent. Railed off most of the way round (apart from the gap in the pic above) and with a decent amount of hard standing. There is a small stand opposite the clubhouse which provides covered seating and a tiny area to stand in although the views aren’t great if you stand unless you’re right at the side. The clubhouse is fairly spacious with a tea room in the back selling some decent stuff. That being said, it’s location is right next to the M5 and the South-West Main Line inbetween Exeter St Davids and Tiverton Parkway rail stations. This means the constant sound of traffic whizzing by and then a train speeding past every now and then means it feels a bit soulless here. It’s not their fault, but it does add to the poor vibe around the place especially as the atmosphere is traffic heading north.

It does look like a general struggle out there at the moment for Cully. On the pitch they were right down there and going into this game in 16th, but clear from relegation for another season on 36 points. After playing some time in regional football they were founder members of the Devon County League in 1992 and even finished 2nd twice in 1998 and 1999 under former Exeter City player Ray Pratt. Since those days however, Cullompton have finished in the lower reaches of the league but did amazingly finish 7th in 2006/07 to qualify for the newly created Southwest Peninsula League Premier where they have struggled ever since. They came 2nd bottom last season but were not relegated as Clyst Rovers pulled out the league mid-season. It does seem to be hard times for Cully at the moment, the programme noted, “next season will be a real challenge for everyone as the cost of staying at our present level is becoming more and more expensive and we must search for new revenue streams…” While that sounds bad enough they are also considering pulling their 3rd team out of the D&E League (in Div 5, currently in 11th (out of 15) with 1 game to play) and folding them. Not the best of times for Cullompton Rangers then.

They welcomed a team with a fine history and until Truro City became pumped with money, they were arguably Cornwall’s finest club. Falmouth Town actually played Western League football between 1974-1983 and actually won the Western League 4 seasons in a row between 1974-78. As well as reaching the FA Cup 1st Round on 3 occasions, the past was really great for Falmouth. Since dropping back to more of a regional level they have won the odd title (last coming with the South Western League in 1999/2000 and although 2008/09 was a tough season, coming 14th in the SWPL Premier, last season’s finish of 3rd and coming into this game in 5th, with a small chance of nicking 4th of Torpoint showed they were still a decent club. With a ground of 3,572 capacity of Bickland Park, a Top 5 finish should be the least they were aiming for.

Watching Cullompton this season would pretty much guarantee you goals. They hadn’t been involved in a 0-0 so far all season. (This was their final game) And had been on the receiving end of some absolute hammerings such as an 11-2 defeat away at Penzance and a 10-1 defeat away at Plymouth Parkway. Falmouth had won the first game in Cornwall 6-1 and had to win their 2 games in hand over Torpoint to take the fight for 4th place to the final day. It was no surprise then when Falmouth started like a house on fire and should have lead after 4 minutes when Adam Pryor was put through but fired wide with an awful finish. Cully nearly went up the other end and ripped up the form book when a cross came in and was undealt with until a Cully striker at the back post headed the ball into the ground and it agonisingly bounced over the bar. That miss was costly though as Falmouth went up and scored on 8 minutes. A cross from Karl Turner and while Cully goalie Joe Moore was in no man’s land chasing shadows, Sam Reid headed the ball back towards goal and Mark Holland tapped into an open net. It was all Falmouth now and 10 minutes later it was 2-0 after some head tennis in the area saw the ball land with Dan Green who controlled and swivelled to fire the ball past Moore. Cully were really getting an absolute roasting and on 25 minutes it was 0-3 when a free kick put into the box by Karl Turner saw Craig Duff react first and beat Moore to the ball to fire a header in. Falmouth then just let the game settle down and plod along to HT at 3-0 up and it was one of the most one sided games I’d seen.

The 2nd half saw the match played under a wee bit of rain so while I took cover under the small stand at Speeds Meadow while Cully actually started the half fairly well (although they couldn’t be much worse from the 1st half) as they tried to get back into the match. While these were mainly long range efforts that barely troubled Falmouth goalie Jason Chapman, at least Cully were trying to give it a go even though they could be probably playing now and still haven’t scored. In the end when Falmouth needed to up the tempo and put Cully under pressure, they did and added two late goals to give the scoreline some gloss. Firstly on 72 minutes Duff was fed to the edge of the area by Hollands and his low shot beat Moore to make it 4. The home fans around me where confused why Moore hadn’t even dived to save the shot which wasn’t that far from him. Moore didn’t have the best of games and its easy to see why he’s conceded so many goals this season. #5 was added on 85 minutes after some excellent work from Duff(man) to waive past a few poor defenders to set up Hollands to slip it under Moore and round the scoring off. Falmouth did add a 6th in injury time when a striker slid in from a cross from the right, but was given offside. It didn’t look it.

A comprehensive win for Falmouth then as they kept the pressure on 4th place and went into their next midweek game against Plymouth Parkway knowing that had to win that game too. As for Cully, a nice enough club. Everyone I spoke to was very friendly and it was good to visit the nearest SWPL Premier side to me I hadn’t been to before the end of the season. However, I do worry for them. Poor crowds and some finance needed may mean they plummet next season and finish bottom of the league. Level 11 is probably best for them where they can regroup and hopefully don’t drop further into the D&E League and into footballing nothingness forever more. I hope for them, that they can survive at this level.

Photos from Cullompton Rangers vs Falmouth Town

_____________________________________________________________

Match Ratings:

- Match: 5/10 (quite one-sided)

- Value for money: 7/10 (normal price at this level)

- Ground: 4.5/10 (bit soulless)

- Atmosphere: 3/10 (cars don’t add to atmosphere)

- Food: 7/10 (good pasty, good price)

- Programme: 5.5/10 (too many stats from 09/10 season)

- Referee: Adrian Bond – 6/10 (decent enough, but had not a lot to do)