November Air

Mildenhall Town  2  Coggeshall Town  4

Isthmian League – Division One North

“There’s no mistake, I smell that smell, it’s that time of year again, I can taste the air, clocks go back…..”

The opening line from ‘Local Boy In The Photograph’ by the Stereophonics, and while the lyrical meaning of the song means something very different, that introduction just reminds me so much of watching football in November.

We are very much into Autumn, the bonfires are burning and the nights are darker, and yes, it does smell and taste very different, in fact it’s best time of the year to be alive!

Football today was somewhat limited, as my main list at the start of the season of clubs to conquer was down to just four, but, none of them were at home, so attention had to be diverted to the secondary list, which is effectively eighty or so clubs at Steps 1 to 4 that have yet to have the pleasure of a Bobbling!

The Business Side

Mildenhall stood out for me, I’d never seen them play before, nor had I seen Essex based opponents Coggeshall Town. Having driven close to the town on the way down to Suffolk at the end of August, I reckoned I could smash it in two and a half hours, and with a bit of luck have time for a swift one in the clubhouse.

Other than the speed restrictions before Cambridge, and along the North edge of the City on the A14, it was a relatively simple journey listening to the dulcet tones of Frank Skinner, before diverting to a bit of Five Live for the egg chasing build up. Mildenhall was reached almost bang on the time predicted and after initially driving to the wrong entrance at the town centre based ground, I found my way to the large public car park that the club has use of.

Mildenhall is an interesting town, it’s the home of the huge RAF Mildenhall Air Force base, which is largely made up of the US Air Force using it as a refuelling centre, hence a large number of Americans residing in and around the town. However, in early 2016, the Ministry of Defence announced that it was to be close. A stone’s throw away is also RAF Lakenheath, which serves a similar purpose, but here are stationed the F15 fighter wing of the US military, the boys who mean business in other words!

Autumnal

In terms of sport though, football isn’t the premier pastime in the town. The town is famous for its speedway track, located a little way out of the town, where the Mildenhall Fen Tigers ride. To be fair, they did compete at the lowest level last season, the National League, although they did go on to win it. In the past though, they have competed at a higher level, without ever being one of the big names in the sport. In a sport where teams are struggling and tracks are closing, it’s good to see the Fen Tigers thriving.

But what about the football club though?

Founder members of the new First Division of the Eastern Counties League in 1988, they won promotion to the Premier Division in 1999, where they remained until 2016-17 season whereby they won the championship for the very first time, and with it earned promotion to the Isthmian League.

Their first season was something of a struggle with a third bottom finish, but they survived, whereas so far this season it’s still been tough, with the club again sat close to the drop zone three months in.

The ground couldn’t be closer to a town centre, and on one of those lovely Autumnal days, a crowd of 181 turned up to watch the hosts take on a side that is owned and funded by music star Olly Murs.

Town Centre?

With a beer festival in full swing in the clubhouse, I opted for the decent thing and stuck to Carlsberg, while taking the opportunity to survey the scene. Much of the furniture is down one side of the ground, with the dressing room block adjoining the club house and tea bar. In front of the building is a very small area of covered bench seating, while a separate area of covered terracing sits further up the touchline, beyond the end of the clubhouse.

On the opposite side is the obligatory Atcost stand filled with yellow and black seats, while the pitch has a very smart black and yellow fence round it that looks like a recent addition. No other cover is in place, while four floodlight pylons provide the illumination.

It was tidy, it was smart and it was a welcoming ground, but with the pitch having a noticeable slope from end to end, how did the game fare?

Well, Olly’s team got a bit of a shock when the hosts took a third minute lead through Jarid Robson, but by half time it was all smiles for the Essex boys, who have been promoted three times in successive seasons, when Joshua Pollard and Ross Wall got the goals to put them into the lead.

The Atcost

Coggeshall, who had actually been spelt in four different ways in the clubs programme, the correct way, plus ‘Coggershall’, ‘Coggleshall’ and ‘Cogglershall’, looked an impressive side as the second half wore on, getting further goals from Samuel Bantick and Thomas Monk. Mildenhall did add a second through Emmanuel Osei-Owuso, but to be fair, there was no doubting who deserved the three points.

Back into the Mildenhall early evening darkness we trudged at the final whistle, I could smell that smell, I could taste the air, it’s definitely that time of year again, a time when football truly comes into its own.

The best time of the year, no mistake…..