Nimby

Fleckney Athletic  1  Barrow Town Reserves  3

Leicestershire Senior League – First Division

I needed a quick Plan B.

You see, I was on the train back from Glasgow, which in itself on the Friday of August Bank Holiday was an experience I really don’t wish to have to go through again, when I spotted something.

I had been plotting a trip to Leeds for the following day, to watch Wortley in the Yorkshire Amateur League, but it transpired the game was off, where could I go?

Leicestershire took care of the predicament, because lets be honest, when eight new grounds suddenly appear at the start if the season you are somewhat spoiled for choice. Both Fleckney Athletic and Kibworth Town were home, and with them being only a few miles apart, it seemed an obvious and safe bet.

Discussions with Steve saw us come to an agreement that we’d head to Fleckney. His game at Madeley was also off, so it seemed to tick the boxes.

Fleckney are one of two sides who were parachuted into the First Division of the Leicestershire Senior League, along with Greenhill YC, largely on the back of a successful Leicester & District League campaign last time out when they finished runners-up to Houghton Rangers who themselves chose not to make the move up.

Fleckney is one of the longer journeys for me in the LSL, being located South of the city. To get to it you exit at the Leicester South junction of the M1 and then navigate your way across the delights of the ring road which runs past the Fosse Park Shopping Centre.

At the legendary Pork Pie Island you head off the ring road and go down through Wigston, into Oadby and then out the other side into the countryside. Fleckney itself is a modest sized village a few miles West of the A6, and upon arrival it was time to rendez-vous with Steve in a pre-selected watering hole.

On a beautiful day it was time for the beer garden at the Old Crown, before making our way back up Leicester Road to the Fleckney Sports Centre which sits right on the Northern edge of the village.

Set a decent distance from the road up a driveway, the first thing to jump out at you is the Sports Centre itself, with a small floodlit artificial pitch and a bowling green to the right of it. To the left of it are a number of football pitches, while behind it is the cricket pavilion and the cricket field where the village team were playing at home.

Beyond the cricket field, not visible from the rest of the complex is the pitch that is the home of Fleckney Athletic. Accessed through a gate and down a grass bank is an immaculate playing surface, with a brand new fixed barrier down one side, complete with advertising hoardings.

Two sides of the pitch are banked, giving excellent views of the proceedings, while it’s rural location creates a very scenic place to play and watch a game of football.

The game itself saw two sides with 100% records going up against each on the field, and it proved to be a game that always held the attention, with no lack of skill on display either.

The visitors ran out 3-1 winners thanks to goals from Brandon Hands, Komel Squedke and Oukari Diawara, while the solitary reply for the hosts came from Luke MacDonald. On balance, the result was probably the right outcome.

Trying to establish a football club though, especially in a village, presents a few problems. That came to prominence at half time when Steve and I were looking at the club notice board at the entrance to the pitch, which contained a detailed map of the pitch area and highlighted which areas were for spectators and which were out of bounds.

An elderly gentleman sidled up to us and started muttering, before turning to us and saying…

“Out of bounds, well this is public land and none of it is out of bounds, I shall be taking that up with the council.”

I suppose every village has them, and if he wants to stand in an area that is prone to flying cricket balls after well timed sixes, then perhaps he should be allowed to. I can imagine on that basis, the sympathy when he gets clonked by one will be minimal.

Mind you, he’d probably sue anyway, because he wasn’t aware it was out of bounds, you now how it works…..

Keep progressing Fleckney, it looks to me like you are doing a mighty fine job!