Tuesday 30 July 2019

Diamond Emeralds


Northfield Emeralds  3  Newbold Verdon  2

Friendly
On Wednesday 24th July I made the journey to Leicestershire to watch a football match.

Blog readers, you’d better get used to this, because I’m going to be going quite a bit this season, eight times to be precise!

You see, when the Leicestershire Senior League created a third division at the start of last season, they effectively opened the doors for a whole raft of clubs to obtain membership, and this is the season when the floodgates have effectively opened.

So, coming in, we have Greenhill Youth Club, Bottesford, Kibworth Town, Fleckney Athletic, Sutton Bonington, Sporting Markfield, Newbold Verdon, and indeed, Northfield Emeralds.

Trying to pin down some friendlies has proved to be a challenge, firstly clubs don’t always advertise them, secondly they don’t always say where they are going to be played at, and thirdly they have a habit of being cancelled at short notice. That isn’t an LSL thing by the way, it’s just a general thing, and it seems to have got worse this pre-season.


However, Northfield Emeralds have been very prompt and efficient in terms of social media and after a cursory check with the club, it was confirmed we had a live one!

I did a bit of research on the club on the basis I’d never heard of them, and what I found was a side based close to Humberstone on the North East side of the City Centre. They play at the Emerald Centre, which is the local Irish Community Hub, and from a playing perspective, they were formed in 2013, and in 2018 they won the First Division of the Leicester & District League, winning promotion to the Premier Division. They finished third in their first season in the top flight last time out.


Getting to the Emerald Centre is not the quickest of journeys to be fair, the easiest route from the M1 being via Beaumont Leys and the A563 Northern Ring Road. The last couple of miles being the most stop / start in the rush hour traffic, but once through the lights on Victoria Road, the ground is just on the left hand side.

It’s an impressive facility, with a small car park, and a clubhouse / dressing room complex adjacent to it. The bar opens at 7pm, and on a lovely night, it did a brisk trade.

The sports ground is primarily for Gaelic games, football and hurling, and as a result it’s a huge expanse. It’s railed off, and it has floodlights, while the car park end has raised areas where the game can be viewed from. The football pitch fits more than comfortably inside the Gaelic field.


Visiting Newbold Verdon were also newcomers to the division, and what’s quite interesting is that one or two of the new sides are playing each other in friendlies, which is unusual to have sides from the same division playing each other.

The game itself was enjoyable, and not without interest.

Emeralds set off at a fast pace and Verdon looked to be struggling, going 2-0 down in the first period, but as the game progressed the visitors started to find their feet and got back into it.

A 2-0 deficit ended up being back at 2-2, which to be fair did look unlikely twenty minutes into the game, but it was the hosts who scored the all important fifth goal which won the encounter.

I have to say, I found the set up very good, and he locals very welcoming, Northfield Emeralds look like being a cracking acquisition for the LSL. I think on the pitch they will also do very well, so I’ll watch their progress with interest.


Seven more visits to go now, and I’m looking forward to them. With my old pal and fellow hopper/blogger Rob Campion now at the helm as Fixtures Secretary, it’s looking fairly straightforward to plan them in well in advance – it’s a shame it’s not quite so simple when it comes to pre-season friendlies!

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