All White

Clifton All Whites  3  Eastwood Community  2

East Midlands Counties League

Have a guess why Clifton All Whites are called Clifton All Whites?

Easy one really, they play in an all-white strip. But, in 2012 they were forced to drop the ‘All Whites’ suffix from their name because it could be construed as racist!

This is the amateur football club in Nottingham with a fine reputation finding and nurturing young talent, that eventually makes its way to the professional ranks.

Among the names that progressed were Keith Alexander, Pedro Richards, Jermaine Jenas, Michael Johnson, Darren Huckerby, Phil Starbuck and Jermaine Pennant. I seem to think a number of those are black? Clearly, being a member of the All-Whites was not a problem to them, not in the slightest.

Imagine though, the New Zealand All Blacks, named for the same reasons, if they were told they had to drop their name? There would be law suits going into millions, All-Blacks is a World renowned brand, but let’s face it, it will never happen.

But it was much easier to impose on little Clifton, the proud club from a large social housing estate in Nottingham, the proud club who probably did more for integration and inclusion than any football club in the locality.

So, the history lesson.

Formed in 1963, originally as Thistledown Rovers, by Dick Lambert and Bill Nowell, they dominated junior football in the County and attracted players from far and wide. Innovative in so many ways, they helped fellow clubs establish themselves and were one of the first junior clubs to embark on international tours.

They were courted by professional outfits to become a nursery club, but this was against club policy, so they ploughed their independent pathway and talent continued to find its way into the Football League.

With a portfolio of junior sides, they took the decision in 1973 to join the senior ranks of the Midland League having secured their own ground.  It was a struggle, and partway through their fifth campaign in 1977-78 the club withdrew from the league and records were expunged.

The Nineties saw the club performing at a senior level in the Notts Senior League, and by the time they were being forced into a name change, they had moved into the Central Midlands League, where they remained until 2015, before reverting back to the NSL..

Promotion came at the end of the 2016-17 season when the club won the championship by six points, and this allowed them to make the move to Step 6 for the first time and join the East Midlands Counties League.

My first visit to the Norman Harvey Ground came in 2007, and it was completely unplanned. I was on my way to a game in Leicestershire but due to an event taking place at Donington Park, I couldn’t get close to the M1 so headed over the roundabout at Kegworth and into Nottingham, with all intentions of going to Ruddington. I spotted Clifton’s ground and players warming up on the pitch, so decided to call in and watch a game their instead. Turned out it was the reserves against the second string of Attenborough. My only other visit came in 2014 when I saw the first team play Westella Hanson in a League Cup tie, albeit it was actually the visitors home game but due to pitch issues the tie had been switched.

So, as I picked Derek up, who himself had never been to Clifton, I explained to him that this was going to be my first ever visit to a Clifton All Whites first team home game!

The ground has been improved steadily over the years, and in all fairness it’s a neat and tidy venue. With a decent sized car park, the clubhouse sits outside the ground, and on a night when the game had been dedicated to Ray Smithson who passed away the previous Friday, it was packed.  Ray was a very well known and hugely respected local man who worked on the gate at All Whites. Ray worked for the BBC in outside broadcast and they lead a superb tribute to him the day before on the local news programme.

Inside the ground, the pitch was in superb nick, and the floodlights were very good indeed. Access is slightly limited once inside the ground, you can’t get behind the bottom goal, and half of one side beyond the dugouts is out of bounds. The cover sits on the half way line, and comprises of a low roofed structure with three rows of seats in it, but to be fair, many choose to stand.

The game was a real belter. Eastwood looked very sharp in the first half, taking the lead in the first minute through Rory Smith. The same player then made it 2-0 in the ninth minute, and you could have been forgiven for wondering just how the evening was going to pan out for the hosts.

But, following an untidy scramble, the much travelled Daryll Thomas reduced the deficit right on the stroke of half time, and then what then panned out in the second period confounded many.

Clifton were excellent, Ashley Way equalised in the 74^th minute and then in the 80^th minute another experienced campaigner in the shape of Aaron Large got the third and ultimately the winning goal for the All Whites.

At the final whistle Clifton celebrated, the win was quite rightly dedicated to Ray. 106 spectators were in attendance and no one could argue that it wasn’t money well spent for a fine evening’s entertainment.

It’s quite interesting looking around the ground, the Football Foundation award sign calls the club simply Clifton Football Club, as do various other forms of signage. I am guessing this is the legacy of the political correctness gone mad.

What a superb football club Clifton All Whites are, and that’s why such esteemed names in football owe a chunk of their success to them.