The Boys Of The NYPD Choir......

Bessacarr  3  780 JLC  2

Central Midlands Football League – First Division North

Admission / Programme – No / £2

Christmas Eve football is a bit of a rare novelty, in fact the last time I managed to get to a game on the 24th was back in 2005 when I actually managed a double. On that day it was a morning kick off at Wellingborough Whitworths, followed by a quick drive down to Irchester United for an afternoon game.

So, with it falling on a Saturday in 2022, it did tempt a couple of fixtures secretaries to be royally kind to clubs, with the Somerset County League and the Central Midlands League being those thinking more about spectators than players and officials (it could be argued)!

I wasn’t going to Somerset on Christmas Eve, that would not have been a popular move, so it was going to be the Central Midlands, however, slowly but surely fixtures went by the wayside, leaving me with just a couple of options as the day dawned. One of those being a noon kick off at Dinnington Town, but having been there only a couple of weeks ago and being less than overwhelmed by the ‘developments’ that have taken place with the new 4G going down, I wasn’t really up for that.

No, the one I decided I was having a bit of was Bessacarr v 780 JLC, a 2pm kick off at Cantley Park in Doncaster, and more importantly confirmed as being on by the club. Confession time now, I have been before to Bessacarr, but I didn’t publicise the fact. 

It was 2^nd January 2021 and the development side in the Doncaster Senior League had a home game against Bawtry Town. It had snowed heavily, it was forecast to snow a bit more, and, at that time we were not fully liberated and it seems my tier status and the tier status of Doncaster were not compatible with each other. In short, I shouldn’t have been there, and until I actually pulled up at the ground, I didn’t even know if the game was going to take place. It did happen, it snowed some more, and the journey back was somewhat treacherous. But if anyone asks, I didn’t go, ok?

So, a return visit, this time legally, no need to pretend to have a Donny accent, and having arrived a good hour before kick-off, my first sight was of a few familiar faces, the desperados who simply can’t go without a game on a Saturday, wherever it may be! (I include myself in that collective by the way)

To be fair to Bessacarr, they were well set up for the day, a tea bar (and a real bar) were available for those who required food and beverages, while items of memorabilia and plentiful match day programmes were available to purchase for those who required something to touch and hold.

Ground wise, Cantley Park is exactly that, a big park on the East side of Doncaster that has numerous football pitches, a small pitch and putt gold course, and to the rear the training ground of Doncaster Rovers. Those of a historical bent may recall a team from the mid-Nineties called Case Sports who rocked up in the Central Midlands League for a period of three seasons. The works team of an agricultural machinery manufacturer, they were actually based at Cantley Park and according to some reliable sources who have more detailed knowledge than myself, they actually played on what is now the DRFC training facility.

Anyhow, with a brick building that houses various dressing rooms and the also the social area sat adjacent to the car park, the pitch that Bessacarr play on sits directly in from of it, and if we are being really precise, right next to the first tee of the golf course! They have a rope down one side, but other than that, apart from what they sell in the building, taking a gate etc would be impossible because of the open and public nature of the facility.

Both sides play in Division One North of the CMFL, with visiting Scunthorpe based 780 JLC, who are centred around John Leggott College, lying second in the table, and Bessacarr fifth, it turned out to be a very entertaining game of football.

The visitors took the lead from the penalty spot early in the game and looked the better side, but gradually the hosts worked their way back into proceedings and took a couple of chances late in the first half to go in at the break with a 2-1 lead.

Bessacarr got a third goal in the second period before 780 got a late consolation which set up a tense finish, that the home side managed to ride out for a deserved victory.

Given the volume of the travelling fraternity, someone was inevitably going to do a headcount and the figure that was being whispered around the touchline late in the game was 65, which to be fair was probably about right, with around half of that number having travelled from well outside of the Doncaster boundaries, legally of course.

On that, I spotted and indeed chatted to people who had travelled from Oxford, Merseyside, Cheshire, Garstang (yes, it was him who is named after a mode of transport….), Manchester and also Reading. Bessacarr, by agreeing to play on the 24^th, had done well out of this, and the suggestion of a certain Hop Afficionado from Long Eaton to produce a programme at £2 a pop proved to be a good one.

It seems New Years Eve also falls on a Saturday this year, and guess what, the CMFL have arranged a series of fixtures, let’s just hope neither the weather or the more volatile CBA don’t put a spanner in the works, so once again the desperados can get their fix. I mean, it’s not like their isn’t any football on every other day of the week at this time of year!

And the bells, were ringing out, for Christmas Day, finally.......   

1893 And All That

Govan & University of Manchester  3  Hindley Juniors  0

Manchester Football League – First Division

Admission / Programme – No / Online

It wasn’t ever going to be a straightforward Saturday as far as football was concerned.

The arctic blast that had engulfed the Country over the previous week had pretty much rendered everything on grass postponed, and we even had a situation whereby given the snow and the depth of the frost, games on plastic were disappearing fast.

I’d pretty much resigned myself to a local game on one of the surviving 4Gs, when I decided on the Friday night to have a cursory look at the lower divisions of the Manchester League. Blog readers will be aware that I try to stay on top of all things in the Premier Division, but noting that quite a few clubs played on the artificial stuff lower down the divisions, I wondered if anything might jump out.

Top of Division One were Govan & University of Manchester, and I spotted that they were based in the Fallowfield area of Manchester, playing on a 4G at the Armitage Centre. The home game against Hindley Juniors was still showing as on, but it was apparent as well that other games on 4G in the locality were off.

Saturday morning came, and while doing my Stepfather duties, which effectively entails sitting in a car park at Elvaston Country Park in Derby, I found contact details for the Manchester League clubs and sent the Govan Secretary (Tom) a text. After a brief and helpful exchange, the game was confirmed as on, I just had the journey over the Peak District to contend with!

In all fairness, other than some queuing traffic in Buxton, the journey was fine, interspersed with snow showers on higher ground, sleet on the not so higher ground, and of course as I meandered under the M60, bearing in mind we were now in Manchester, it was just rain, and lots of it.

The Armitage Centre is a pretty easy place to find, you just plough up the A34 towards the City Centre, turn left at a roundabout onto Moseley Road, and there it is, a huge campus on your right hand side.

Owned by the University of Manchester, the Armitage Centre is a big venue - more on that later, and I can only assume Govan FC (as they were known up until the start of the season), have joined forces with the University and that in turn means they have access to the facilities, and that includes a very good floodlit 4G surface with a viewing area down one side.

I had a little wander around the place and bumped into a couple of chaps who I knew from the spectrum scene, it was only then that I realised I was actually at a very historic venue. One of the chaps came out with a line that for a brief second threw me…

“They played an FA Cup Final here back in the 1890’s”

I suddenly recalled reading an article in Groundtastic magazine about former FA Cup Final venues, and indeed one of them was Fallowfield Stadium, which just so happened to be on the site of what is now the Armitage Centre.

History lesson time then. Fallowfield Stadium was an athletics and cycling venue that was built in 1892, but it rose to prominence in 1893 when the FA Cup Final between Everton and Wolves was hosted. The capacity was supposedly just 15,000 spectators, but allegedly close to 60,000 rocked up, with many unable to actually view the game which Wolves won 1-0.

The stadium also hosted the 1899 FA Cup semi-final replay between Liverpool and Sheffield United but that game had to be abandoned due to a crush in the crowd (I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions). A couple of Rugby League Challenge Cup Finals took place at the venue, but it spent the bulk of its life as an athletics and cycling venue, however in the early sixties the University bought the venue before it was demolished in 1994.

So, feeling a sense of history, with umbrella aloft, it was time to settle down and watch the game, which to be fair had attracted a reasonable handful of spectators who were clearly keen for a game of football.

Govan, who had won all bar two of their games this season, found Hindley, who sat next to bottom, a tough nut to crack in the first half, and the gulf in league positions was not obvious to see. A few chances came and went for both sides, but we finished 0-0 at the break.

The first goal came early in the second period, with two further strikes following to secure the three points for the hosts. For the record, the goals were scored by Donnchadh Barry, the impressive Sandro Mastro-Stefano and Louis Rhodes.   

Govan, who it also has to be said have a very good social media platform, and indeed produced an online programme for the game which was something of a surprise, march on at the top of the table and look a very good bet to make Premier Division football their destination for next season.

It had been an awful day weather wise, but with temperatures slowing rising as the rain continued to pile down, it was a feeling of both satisfaction and of nostalgia that was overriding as I made the journey back down the A34 and the A6 into Derbyshire.

Now, which one of the 110 issues of Groundtastic was that article about Fallowfield in……this could be a long search!   

Home Alone

Sutton Common Rovers  1  Northwood  5

Isthmian League – First Division South Central

Admission / Programme – £5 / £2.50

Over the past couple of years, usually as we close in on the festive period, Mrs H, her Mother and Master H try and have a weekend away, doing what families do on weekends away.

That leaves me home alone, so what I’ve tried to do when these periods of loneliness and isolation are on the horizon, is extricate myself from my misery and head off somewhere on the train to watch the football.

This year, with a trip to York planned for Mrs H & Co, it just so happened that both Steve and I had independently selected a game in the capital, and that game was between Hanworth Villa and Leatherhead. Steve was going to have been down in London since the Wednesday, we were going to meet at the game, and then I would get a lift back with him via a toilet stop at Toddington Services.

With one way ticket booked, all was good, and on the Friday night as I was driving back from York having dropped them off (no trains for Mrs H – it was a chauffeur service), I began to think about the following day and the sub-zero weather conditions. Many games were off already, and more were likely to go by the wayside.

I’d got some alternative plastic options, but I did need to check in with Steve to see what his intentions were, only his movements were pretty pivotal to the original plan. I sent a text, and was met with a quick reply, it seems in Central London the harsh frost had been largely kept at bay, Steve was somewhat surprised that we may have a problem.

This lead to a phone call once he was out of his West End stage show, and having talked about the options, Steve was of the view that if Hanworth was off, he was going to try the 1pm kick off at Littlehampton and if that was off, it was homeward bound. I’d already got a return ticket in the basket at a pretty cheap price anyway, just in case, so my suggestion was that we agreed to do our own thing in this instance as the whole thing was a bit too precarious.

I ordered the ticket, had another look at the plastics, came up with a travel plan, and went to bed, it was to be an early start.

Belper Railway Station at 6.30am for stage one, with several layers on, the train to Derby was on time and then it was a change to the Tamworth bound train. Once in Tamworth, it was a bit of a wait for the quarter to nine direct non-stopper to London Euston. The train was rammed, an earlier one had been cancelled, I got a seat but many others didn’t, people wouldn’t move out of reserved seats, it was all a bit fraught, but we arrived just after ten, with a sufficient delay to claim a bit of compensation, so a chunk of my return ticket was covered by that!

It was sardines on the underground, and I think the whole travel situation had been exacerbated by the fact we had a train strike the following weekend, so everyone who wanted a London run before Christmas was doing it on this specific day. I didn’t have long on the tube though, into Victoria, up to the Spoons in the centre of the station concourse and a period of time to keep abreast of the situation.

First things first, Hanworth went, so did Littlehampton so with Steve updated he could do an about turn. I had my eye on the artificial stuff, with Sutton Common Rovers being the first choice and South Park Reigate being the back up plan. My only nervousness being the sight of many games on plastic being postponed due to the rubber crumb being frozen. I kept a close eye on things and as time went on all appeared to be positive so it was the East Grinstead bound train, and I was to exit at Upper Warlingham.

Sutton Common Rovers are a relatively young club, and even younger when it comes to Saturday football having only recently transferred over from Sunday’s. They were formed in 1978 and had various names, usually linked to either sponsors or pubs, being a Sunday side. But then after moving into Saturday football, using the name SCR, they went via the Surrey South East Combination League, to the Middlesex County League and into the Combined Counties League in 2008, where they re-named themselves Mole Valley SCR.

They bounced around the two divisions of the Combined Counties League, playing home games at the likes of Carshalton Athletic, Leatherhead and Cobham, but then as Covid hit, SCR (they were back as plain old Sutton Common Rovers by this point), were one of the sides offered a chance of a move to Step 4 and by having agreed a ground share at Sutton United, they made it into the Isthmian League.

Of course, Sutton United, once promoted to the Football League, had to rip up the plastic pitch so SCR were forced to look for an alternative venue, so they headed a bit further East to the South of Croydon and the Church Road home of Whyteleafe, or AFC Whyteleafe as they are now known.

Whyteleafe has a couple of train stations (with Whyteleafe in the title) but it appears the best service to use is the Upper Warlingham train, which takes you to Whyteleafe! It was only by looking at Google Maps that I worked that one out to be fair.

One thing I’ve noticed over the years travelling by train around the Greater London is that while the trains to and from the capital are ridiculously rammed, the ones in and out of the centre to the edges are about twenty carriages long and have approximately 2.3 passengers per carriage, and it just so happened that I had the referee for my game sat in the carriage with me!

I got chatting to Chris Williams and the subject got onto the matter of games being postponed on plastic pitches due to being frozen, it was also followed up as we parted ways by me suggesting in the politest possible sense that he might not want to postpone this game given how far I’d travelled!

Anyhow, I made my way via a boozer to the ground which was a short five minute trot over another railway line and down Church Road which had a lovely rural feel to it. The ground then appears on your left hand side, and in terms of a description, here we go…..

The clubhouse sits in the car park to the left as you walk in, but then to your right are the turnstiles which bring you in half way down the touchline on the Eastern half of the pitch. Moving anti clockwise you have the dressing rooms and a tea bar up some steps behind the goal, while adjacent to it is a large stand with both seating and standing room, raised a good height above the pitch.

On the South side of the ground is a narrow path with a smaller area of cover down towards the West end, while behind the West goal is a further area of cover with 'Whyteleafe' painted on the rear. Moving round the North side you have a small seated stand that looks like the original area of cover at the ground, while next to it is a club shop.

It was a very good ground, lots of features, but the most important feature was of course the pitch. I had a very quick word with Chris again in the clubhouse before the game and he confirmed he was happy with it, although there was an area which was white with frost, albeit not frozen underneath.

So, the game, Northwood were top, SCR were bottom six, and it kind of panned out as per the league table would suggest it ought to. To be fair though the first half was pretty even until Luke Tingey scored for the visitors on the stroke of half time.

Any hopes SCR had of getting back into the game were quickly extinguished at the start of the second period when Andy Lomas and Juwon Akintunde both scored within five minutes of getting going. Micah Jackson bagged a fourth, Josh Helmore got a fifth and then in injury time Brian Testolin got a consolation for SCR. 65 spectators watched the game.

I had to leg it at the final whistle, my train was just after 5pm, and I made it with a couple of minutes to spare. Once back at Victoria it was rammed, but Euston was reached without feeling the urge to launch a flying head butt in anyone’s direction. A quick pint in one of my favourite London boozers, The Doric, was taken before the train, and after sprinting down the ramp once the platform was announced, I managed to knock a few old ladies out of the way and got myself a seat on another sardine tin of a coach.

Connections were made with no issues, and home was reached before 11pm. All was good in York it seemed and I was to go and fetch them the following day.

I hate being home alone……

Sex & Danger

Berwick Rangers  4  Dalbeattie Star  0

Lowland Football League

Admission / Programme – £10 / £2.50

“I wanna be a Berwick Ranger, I only live for sex and danger….”

Apparently it’s a chant that has been heard over the years at the Shielfield Park home of Berwick Rangers, and indeed once featured on an episode of ‘They Think it’s All Over’.

Is it actually true or was it made up for comedic effect? Who knows, but having travelled through the City where fornication and adrenalin trumps football and beer every time, for a few years now I’ve always fancied paying a visit.

It’s works party season, and our colleagues in Scotland decided to host ours on a Friday in Glasgow, which meant a pertinent look at the Saturday football fixtures was in order. It seems it’s not that easy getting back to Derby after a game in Glasgow on a Saturday night, which surprised me a little, so I was left with heading a bit closer to the border, or indeed just over the border.

One game stood out a country mile for a couple of reasons, one, it was on the direct train line and I could easily split my journey back without any inconvenience, two, I could actually get back and into the house without Mrs H sending out a search party, and three, it would scratch an itch I’ve had for many years.

Berwick Rangers v Dalbeattie Star, it had sex and danger written all over it………

So, a little bit bleary eyed, myself and a couple of colleagues boarded the train at 10am in Glasgow, had a little trundle over to Edinburgh, grabbed a coffee and then jumped on the next available choo choo that was heading down the East coast.

Berwick was arrived at just before midday, I bade farewell to my fellow travellers who were exiting at Newcastle and Chesterfield respectively, and with rucksack on back, left the station and headed into the town.

Berwick Upon Tweed is a beautiful place, it has to be said, the Royal Border Railway Bridge (designed by Stevenson) over the Tweed is a majestic and iconic structure, while the town itself is definitely unspoilt by the ravages of time. A short walk takes you down the main street before taking a right turn towards the Royal Tweed Bridge that takes you over the river to Tweedmouth. Just before the bridge was my first destination, The Leaping Salmon, a former JD Wetherspoon house that is now belonging to someone else.

Having not had chance for breakfast due to a bit of a lie in, it was time for some fodder and a couple of ‘hair of the dog’ latch lifters. It became apparent via social media that a few other people had also chosen to partake in a pre-match entertainment in the same venue, notably the guys from ‘Hoppers Guide’ who I have to say have since done a superb blog on the town, the game and the day out.

Suitably re-enlivened and fed, it was time to take a walk over the bridge and take in the wonderful views of the area. It was a slightly cloudy but fine day, so I took my time wandering to the South side of the river, admiring the vista, and also soaking up the fact that the day was something of a bucket list day as far as I was concerned.

Once over the bridge you head left, follow the road down to the Chinese takeaway and then do a right back under the railway bridge. A couple of hundred yards further along the road is the entrance to Shielfield Park, with a long driveway down to the ground and indeed the ‘Black & Gold’ social club which was to be my next port of call.

A few folk were in the bar already and the barman was busy trying to ‘build’ the Christmas Tree, but having grabbed his attention, a pint was soon in hand and the memorabilia on the walls could be scanned. Now then, Shielfield Park isn’t all about Berwick Rangers, far from it, it’s also the home of Berwick Bandits speedway team, and the bar was very much weighted in favour of the chaps on the bikes.   

It suddenly dawned on me that I’d experienced no sex, or indeed any danger (more on that later), so with about half an hour before kick off it was time to head to the turnstiles and see what sort of debauchery could be had inside the ground.

What an old school beauty Shielfield Park is, you enter at the top end, a club shop sits to your left as does a tea bar, and then as you cast your eyes across the vast expanse you have a seated stand for over a thousand punters on the left hand side with the club offices and such like to the rear, while on the opposite side is an area of covered terrace. Of course it has a speedway track around it and one end is out of bounds, but what a belter, I’d just found the sex bit, just needed the danger now…..

Right, history time. So, unless you have been living in a different universe, you will be aware of the fact that Berwick Rangers were an English club playing in the Scottish League. The club affiliated to the Scottish Football Association in 1905, and in 1955 joined the Scottish Football League. Of course, they will forever be in the history books thanks to a famous day in 1967 when they beat Rangers 1-0 in the Scottish FA Cup. It was a seismic result, watched by a record crowd of 13,365, but the cup run eventually came to an end at Hibernian.

If we are being honest, success has not been overly forthcoming since, financial woes and ownership issues have blighted the club, and then, at the end of the 2018-19 season they lost the play-off against Cove Rangers 7-0 on aggregate and left the ranks of the SFL.

So now they sit in the Lowland League, and if we are being brutally honest, a short term return does appear to be likely.

A crowd of around 250 rocked up for the game and to be blunt, playing against bottom of the table Dalbeattie who themselves had endured a tidy journey from West to East, it ended up being a game that Berwick won at a canter.

Berwick, sat in mid-table, set off positively and took the lead in the eighth minute when skipper Jamie Pyper slotted home unmarked. Liam Buchannan then made it 2-0 from a one on one situation, while pretty quickly after the second, it was three when Cammy Graham got on the end of a Lewis Allan cross.

The first half wasn’t over though, Buchannan got his second and Berwick’s fourth in the 36^th minute when he prodded one home from close range, the game was over, it was just a case of how many?

The second half ended up being a bit of a damp squib, not much in the way of chances and Berwick were hardly going full throttle to break any goalscoring records. It was very comfortable in the end, and with the darkness descending on Shielfield Park, it was time to move towards the exits.

It’s about a mile and a half walk back to the station, but with the Christmas lights on the Royal Tweed Bridge it was a very pleasant walk, but then as I closed in on the station, something quite alarming occurred.

In front of me were two women, one of whom was beyond worse for wear, they were stumbling about and with the more sober of the two getting increasingly annoyed, the scene was a bit fractious. Then, suddenly, the two of them, linked together, lurched into the road and the significantly more inebriated one fell backwards and hit her head on the tarmac.

I quickly went over to check the situation, she was conscious, but not making much sense, and with the other woman not in a great state, it became quickly apparent that I might well have a problem on my hands. A taxi pulled up and the driver, who had seen the incident, got out to assist. After a few minutes we managed to get the stricken women off of the road and into a doorway.

Miraculously she wasn’t bleeding and despite our pleas for them to call ambulance due to the severity of the blow, we were met with a point blank refusal. In the end, with a train due, I chose to leave them but it had been an unpleasant incident to witness, and on another day, the outcome could have been far worse. But, Berwick and danger?

The trains were on time, I spent the journey from Leeds to Derby with a chap asleep on my shoulder, and then with the last train back to Belper having already departed, it was a taxi back home and straight to bed.

A brilliant day, a great club, a lovely town and a cracking afternoon at Shielfield Park. Sex and danger, yeah, I get it, I got it, and for the 250 hardy souls that follow the Wee Rangers, they get it every week, lucky bastards!

Fifty Up

Plymouth Marjon  1  Bovey Tracey  2

South West Peninsula League – Eastern Division

Admission / Programme - £5 / No

The 50^th birthday plan was some time in the making.

Myself and Mrs H had been discussing what to do with the big day in the distance, and initially I came up with this idea of going to New York. Then I went off the idea quite rapidly when it became apparent that the chances of combining any football with the trip were slim, linked to a long flight and a terrible exchange rate, meant we just couldn’t be bothered with it.

Back at Easter while on our jollies we had a day out in Plymouth, took advantage of a guided walking tour, spotted a few bars and eateries, and thought it would be a good place to spend a couple of days on a weekend break. Also, when Steve told us about how much he enjoyed the Crowne Plaza Hotel just off the Hoe, and how they had a free bar and stuff, our thinking shifted, maybe that would be a good place to spend a 50^th birthday!

So that’s how it came about, and that’s how we spent my 50^th birthday, in Plymouth, in the midst of a severe weather warning……

Travelling down on the Friday afternoon (my birthday), all was good in the World, a few hold ups in the usual spots did nothing to dampen spirits, and just before 5.30pm we were pulling into the Crowne Plaza car park, complete with tin opener, crane and theodolite to get into the somewhat tight parking spaces.

Mrs H didn’t tell me that she too had secured the free bar facility that Steve had waxed lyrical about, but anyway, after initially trying to get me to go to the pool and spa, I got my way and it was off to the secret room on the Penthouse level where all things free of charge were available!

Basically, bottled beer free of charge, canapés to munch on and if you really wanted, as many bags of crisps and nuts as you like could be smuggled back to your room. I was like a pig in the proverbial, and with football on the telly what was not to like, other than England’s performance against USA of course.

We did wander out for a couple of pints, basically to avoid the second half, before having a meal back at the Hotel. It wasn’t a late night, you need your sleep when you get to 50, and we had a busy day on the Saturday.

I’ve been working out it, the first game I watched in my forties was a Tuesday night game at Causeway Lane, Matlock Town stunned Mansfield Town 2-1 in the FA Trophy. As a forty something I’ve watched 1312 games in total, including one at Lowestoft, and I won’t be doing that again!

What will the fifties bring? Arthritis probably if family history is anything to go by, but anyway, while I can, football will continue at a pace, unless of course the authorities deem I’m not allowed out after dark or something.

So, the plan was to go and watch Saltash United play Millbrook, but, waking up on Saturday morning was when it came to light that a severe weather warning had been announced for the South West, basically it was going to be torrential rain all day! And it came, as we were out shopping game after game fell by the wayside, but I had a master plan, one I had prepared earlier, a back up that to go wrong would take something freakish to happen.

In the Eastern Division of the South West Peninsula League (my favouritist league) is a team called Plymouth Marjon who play on a 4G pitch to the North of the City at the University, and they were at home to Bovey Tracey.

So that was it, driving North through the monsoon like conditions we were soon floating into the car park and positioning the car behind the goal, the very same car that Mrs H never got out of all game! Players were doing their best drowned rat impressions as they warmed up, as I legged it up to the student union building to see what sustenance was available.

I’ll tell you what though, it was a bloody good job they had an overhang in front of the union, because even with an umbrella I would have stood no chance as the rain was also combined with a driving wind.

Apparently they can’t charge admission, but a very helpful lady came round with a card reader and asked for a donation, so I bunged them a fiver, it was the least I could do on a day when the chances of watching football anywhere else close was pretty much zero.

Oh, it’s your typical 4G, viewing area down one side at pitch level but forget that, pretty much everyone was under the cover outside of the cage. But, what is Plymouth Marjon all about then?

Plymouth Marjon University is what it’s all about, with the Marjon name being a mash up of St Mark and St John, which was probably done to make it easier for students when they fill out the application form, only we know they aren’t renowned for their work ethic are they?

The football team joined the Peninsula set up in 2016 from the Plymouth & West Devon League. They had three seasons in the Western Division before moving East in 2019. They have been largely a mid table side barring the two Covid interrupted campaigns.

I

t was a pretty good game to be fair, despite the conditions. Marjon started well but it was the visitors who went into a two goal lead thanks to Lee Hildreth and a neat finish juts before the break from Callum Leach. The hosts did pull one back just after the break through Finian King-Smith, but never really found any momentum thereafter and it was a relatively comfortable win for Bovey Tracey in the end. The crowd was given as 43, someone, somewhere must have been counting!

The rain was incessant on the journey back, and not the most pleasant driving conditions if I’m honest, but we were soon home, into the spa facilities then a quick change in time for the next instalment of the free bar which was very much taken advantage of.

It was not fit to head down into the Barbican as first planned, so we went straight to Marco Pierre White’s restaurant in the hotel for a little treat, and very nice it was too, with fine views over a very wet Plymouth.

So, my first game as a fifty something wasn’t quite what was intended, but it was memorable all the same, however, the whole weekend, wonderfully organised by my wife Mrs H, was without doubt something very special and unforgettable. Thank you my dear, sorry you spent Saturday afternoon in a car park……….   

Loughborough

Loughborough Dynamo  3  Stamford  1

Northern Premier League – Division One Midlands

Admission / Programme - £8 / £2

Football in the town of Loughborough is a bit of a story, would you like to hear a bit more about it?

Thanks to Football Club History Database I can just about piece it all together, as best I can.

The earliest record I can find is of a team called Loughborough Town who were a Midland League side in the 1890’s before joining Football League Division Two in 1895. They left the league in 1900 and seemingly disappeared. At around the same time a team called Loughborough Athletic played in in the Leicestershire and Northants League and then the Leicestershire Senior League, but they vanished before a team of the same name re-appeared in the Midland Combination in 1998 before becoming plain old Loughborough (seemingly a merger with Loughborough JOL). That club still exists in the Leicestershire Senior League.

There was then a team called Loughborough United who joined the re-formed Midland League in 1961, winning it in 1963, but then leaving it in 1972. Also a well known and large sporting student centre, it was inevitable that Loughborough University would have a team, and they did in the late sixties and early seventies in the Senior League, before returning again in 2007, currently performing at Step 5 at the hugely impressive stadium at the University. Last season the club reached the semi-finals of the FA Vase, losing to Littlehampton Town.

Then finally you have Loughborough Dynamo, a side that joined the Senior League in 1989, working their way up the pyramid before joining the Northern Premier League in 2008, where they have remained ever since playing at the Nanpantan Road Sports Ground.

Clubs such as Brush, Corinthians, Empress and YMCA have all plied their trade in the town, but in terms of the main players, I think I’ve just about covered it.

I first went to Loughborough Dynamo back in 2003-04, to see a comfortable 4-0 victory over Stapenhill, and I can remember thinking that the facilities were pretty decent for the level they played at. They won the top flight of the Senior League at a canter that season and I can recall at the time, given the lack of a side at the University in senior football, they were made up of a good number of students, two in particular, Abi O’Thomas and Dave Garroway standing out a mile as they scored goals for fun.

I didn’t go again until four years later for a game against Sheffield in the NPL (they went through the Midland Alliance pretty quickly), and apart from a couple of games when the University shared the facilities before the Taxpayer Dome was built, I have to say visits have been a little sporadic over the years. I have seen them play on many occasions, but mainly in away games.

I was on my way to the game about a month ago against Stamford when a cursory look at Twitter while sat in a traffic jam less than a mile at the ground advised me the game was off due to the weather, that meant an about turn to the Mickleover v Basford United game, but with the re-arranged game set up for a Tuesday night, I thought it worth a long overdue visit, largely to see if it’s changed much.

Not hugely if I’m honest, you still enter in the corner with the clubhouse and dressing rooms at the top of the bank, with a rake of covered seats in front. An area of cover sits on the East side of the ground while it looks like some open terracing has been constructed on the West side of the ground close to the dug outs, so it was largely as I remember it. The pitch was in excellent condition and the clubhouse was open nice and early for those of us who fancied a beverage.

It was a game I was looking forward to, Loughborough sat just outside the play off spots in the Division One Midlands, while visiting Stamford were top of the league having beaten one of the title favourites the previous Saturday in the shape of Halesowen Town. I had seem Stamford earlier in the season at nearby Shepshed and I thought they were an excellent side, so this promised to be entertaining.

I have to say though, the result didn’t quite pan out as I was expecting, Loughborough ran out worthy winners on the night, and in striker Kevin Bastos, they have one of the best players I’ve seen at any level all season.

Bastos ran Stamford ragged, scoring the opening two goals in the first half an hour, one of which was a penalty, before James Teague made it 3-0 on the hour mark. Jack Duffy pulled a goal back to give Stamford a glimmer of hope but it was never going to change the outcome, I thought Loughborough were superb.

So the story of football in Loughborough continues, three teams currently competing at varying levels, and to think for certain spells in the recent history of the town, you couldn’t find a ball being kicked on a Saturday afternoon.

Interestingly though, the University side currently sit top of their Step 5 league, unbeaten, so what price a Step 4 Loughborough derby fixture next season? One to keep an eye on for sure.

Red Dots

Leeds University  10  Alwoodley  3

Yorkshire Amateur League – Supreme Division

Admission / Programme – No / No

As you can probably imagine, I’ve got almost 1700 football grounds plotted onto Google Maps, which to be fair is probably not that unusual for someone of my disposition. That said, during lockdown what else where we supposed to do, throw parties?

Yes, I decided to log them all which was a bit of a painstaking exercise as some of the older ones I’ve been to, especially the more obscure, take some finding on a map, Glossopians anyone?

There are of course hotspots, one of which is the North Leeds area, which according to my red dot count, sits at thirteen venues stretching from the A1 in the East, across the Northern Ring Road, out to the Airport area in the West.

Specifically if we take the area just North of Headingley, I can point to eight all within very close proximity. AFC Horsforth, Old Centralians, Headingley, Westbrook YMCA, Horsforth St Margarets, Leeds City, Alwoodley and Leeds Modernians.

But, if you take the roundabout where Otley Road meets the ring road and the few hundred yards to each side of it, I can give you the aforementioned Headingley, Westbrook YMCA, AFC Horsforth and Old Centralians, so four all within walking distance of what is the area known as Weetwood, the home of the sports departments of Leeds University.

I’m off work as I type this by the way, yes, I have some time on my hands!

You could forgive me though for thinking that unless I wanted to be one of those weirdo’s that needed to see a game on every pitch at Weetwood (about six, of which one will do for me thanks), there wasn’t another piece of grass or indeed artificial turf to watch a game on in the area.

Wrong! It seems Leeds University, newly promoted to the top flight of the Yorkshire Amateur League, had moved from Weetwood, over the road to the Bodington Football Hub, and area that hasn’t recently been developed to create a number of 4G pitches, because of course, Weetwood itself clearly wasn’t big enough!

I was planning a trip at the start of the season when it came to light about the move, but it turned out there was a delay on moving in. So, it was a waiting game and thanks to a couple of quick responses from the club secretary my time had come, time to head back to familiar territory.

I’m quite well versed with trips to this area of Leeds, so the journey was quite a simple one to take, but what I hadn’t bargained for was the fact that it was Leeds Beckett University Open Day, and this meant a whole host of wanabee students and their parents were trying to park / walk / drive through the area of Headingley, and as a result it took an age to get out through the North of the City to the Weetwood area. Add in the fact that it was fancy dress student pub crawl day as well and you had the perfect storm, and talking of storms, it was wazzing it down to boot!

Eventually I managed to find the entrance to the car park and noticed what appeared to be a number of games ready to begin at the complex. I counted three artificial surfaces, one of which was Leeds Medics & Dentists Thirds v Athletico Reserves, while another was Leeds Modernians Thirds v Beeston Juniors Reserves, both in the lower reaches of the YAL, whereas on the pitch to the left was my game of choice.

The Bodington Football Hub has a smart clubhouse facility. As you walk in, to the right is a room which serves warm food and has draught lager, so I was a happy lad. You could see the pitches down below out of the patio windows but not well enough to be able to watch the games from inside, whether that is by accident or design I don’t know.

So, pint and hotdog later, considering I had been a bit pushed for time, it was down to pitch side to watch the game. Description of the facilities isn’t needed, it’s a 4G with a viewing area down one side, although, you could watch it from outside the building at the top with the slight overhang for shelter.

The game was an interesting one to say the least. University, who I’d seen get beaten recently in the Cup at Wyke Wanderers, raced into a two goal lead, but by half time it was 2-2 thanks to Stephen Dyer who scored a hat trick on the day for the visitors. University went 3-2 before half time and took it to 5-2 before Dyer got his third for Alwoodley.

It all fell apart after that for the visitors though with University scoring another five times to really put the visitors to the sword with a powerful display of pace and great finishing. Was ten harsh on Alwoodley, maybe, but heads went down towards the end and any sense of fight and defensive discipline was by then out of the window.

University look a very good side though, they won the Premier Division at a canter last season, and this time around, while in the upper reaches of the table, they certainly aren’t having it all their own way, having lost as many as they’ve won.

I think that’s all grounds in West Yorkshire done for another season what with this one and Wyke the other week, until of course someone finds another patch of grass in the area.

Now then, time to put another red dot on the map………

Roses

Albrighton  0  Wyrley United Development  1

Staffordshire County Senior League – Division Two South

Admission / Programme – No / No

You can normally rely on at least one late entrant every season into a league, one that catches you unawares, and has seemingly gone unreported in the usual places.

It was while I was messing around looking for fixtures at Hednesford Fives in the run up to the abandonment debacle (yes, I’m still sore about that) that I spotted a team called Albrighton in the Staffordshire County Senior League. That was a new one, they weren’t listed in the constitutions or placed in the initial directory at the start of the season?

Further investigation indeed proved that they were an eleventh hour entrant to the competition, and furthermore looked to be a new club filling the long void in the village of senior football since Albrighton United had a spell in the West Midlands Regional League in the late seventies and early eighties.

Being a research enthusiast, I had a look back through some old programmes and it seems I have one from Albrighton United, and back in the day they played on Newport Road in the village. These days though they played at the back of a housing area on Loak Road, so, it was back to the general vicinity of Wolverhampton again on a sunny November Saturday to see what it was all about.

Albrighton is not a million miles West of Codsall where I recently went to watch Punjab United. The route this time took me along the M54 before turning off at the Cosford exit, going straight past the entrance to the RAF base before throwing a right turn into the middle of the village.

Located right next door to the huge David Austin Nursery (he of expensive rose fame of which Mrs H has a prized one in our garden), is the Loak Road home of the football club, and as I arrived it was indeed a hive of activity.

It seemed some kids were having a training session on the pitch so the car park at the top of the bank behind the goal was full to brimming, so I had to make do with a space on the road outside until the grommits had vacated and some spaces were made available. Spaces did of course become available and I was soon parked up with a fantastic view of the pitch, without the need to leave my car. It also transpired that the game was kicking off half an hour earlier than advertised which duly might a quicker arrival home and a happier Mrs H to boot!

It’s a very nice little facility it has to be said. The end behind the goal where the car park is has a rail at pitch side, and this extends all the way round one side of the ground as the grass bank gradually tapers away. Two sides are open, but another point to note about the ground are the views, of the said nursery to the left and the air base in front, with the odd plane flying about for good measure. Yes, it was a happy place to be, and with the changing room forming part of what looked like a community centre behind the goal, it had everything you needed for a decent level of Saturday football.

Wyrley United Development had not travelled far to be fair, and having had a solid start to the season they were just above the hosts in the league table, although on balance of play there wasn’t much in the game if I’m honest. The only goal came from Chad Smith in the second period as he fired home for the visitors.

It wasn’t the greatest spectacle, but sometimes the games themselves don’t always match the surroundings.

I spent the first half at pitch side and then spent the second period somewhat lazily in the car with the radio on, it was lovely and warm to be fair, and looking across the car park, I wasn’t the same one with that idea.

Like I said at the start, this one was a bit of a surprise one for me, but sometimes the surprises can be pleasant ones. Certainly a much nicer surprise than a half time abandonment at Hednesford Fives, have I mentioned that to anyone yet…………

Mythbusting

Pontypridd United  0  Connahs Quay Nomads  5

Cymru Premier League

Admission / Programme - £7 / £3

It has to be said there was a little bit of kerfuffle at the end of last season when it came to the Cymru South League.

The league title was won by Llantwit Major, but, the hazardous process of licencing bit them on the bottom and they failed to be awarded the coveted Tier 1 Licence, probably due to filling the form in using the wrong colour pen or something. As a result, the runners up, who were Pontypridd Town, who did use the correct colour pen, were given a licence and were duly promoted.

Much sympathy came Llantwit’s way, but what I struggled to understand was why so much bitterness was being aimed at Pontypridd. I mean, they were the next best placed side, and they couldn’t be blamed for Llantwit’s failings, so what exactly had they done wrong?

Ok, so I had a dig around and it seems one or two people were getting a bit emotional about the clubs journey and the way they had managed to work their way to the top table. Story wise, the club were formed in 1992 following a merger between Pontypridd Sports & Social Club and another local club, Ynysbwl (don’t ask me, I wouldn’t know where to start pronouncing that one).

The club nearly went belly up in 2008, but the intervention of a businessman saw them saved, and over the years they worked their way through what at the time was the Welsh Football League. With eyes on the top division in the South (Step 2), it was clear the clubs ground at Ynysangharad Park (nope, not that one either) wasn’t up to scratch.

A deal was struck with the University of South Wales to play at a shiny new facility on the Treforest Industrial Estate, but at the point where they finished in a promotion place, the Step 2 facility that they were planning to move to at Treforest wasn’t ready, so they had to find somewhere else to play which they did down the road at Cardiff Athletics Stadium, but after half a season the pitch was shot so they ended up going to Aberdare Town.

They became founder members of the Cymru South when Wales was restructured, eventually moving into the Step 1 standard facility at Treforest, and of course, got promoted, renaming themselves Pontypridd United.

So why the bitterness? I think there was a sense that people thought the club were no longer a local football club for local people, but an entity that was doing whatever it took to make it to the Cymru Premier, even if that meant moving out of town. All this in a town that is absolutely not a football town, we are talking Rugby Union first and always when it comes to Pontypridd. I did read some extreme comments about it having shades of a heavily backed franchise, but I’m not sure just how justified those comments might be.

Anyroad up, as we say in these parts, as they were now top tier they were on the hit list for myself and Steve, so with a convenient Sunday afternoon opportunity on the radar, I decided to take the wheel and make the trip over the border to our World Cup counterparts.

The journey down was a steady one, and I do enjoy the trip down via Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth. Eventually we joined the M4 at Newport and carried on to the West of Cardiff before the short journey North to the edges of Pontypridd. The ground is as you would imagine, at the back of a huge industrial estate, located within the grounds of the University sports park.

Once parked up near the entrance you head up the hill and immediately on the left is the bar and cafeteria complex. I have to say, it was at this point that your first impressions of the club are nothing other than positive. Everyone bedecked in club colours (noting our early arrival) was nothing other than friendly and helpful. At least three club officials came over to introduce themselves and enquire about our journey, and no one could do enough for you in terms of help and information.

Things like this go a long way, and given what I’d read about the club at the start of the season, it completely dispelled any myths that this was anything other than a very welcoming, well run and family orientated club, with a plethora of teams under it’s umbrella. In fact straight after the game finished, the ladies team were due to kick off against Cardiff City.

The football ground itself is a short walk from the bar, and having purchased a ticket at a desk, you head up into what is effectively a cage. The players change in the Uni buildings and walk up a path to the pitch, while to the side of where the players enter are two Atcost style seated stands. A further larger version with a tarpaulin roof sits behind the South goal, while the remainder of the ground is hard standing.

It has a 4g pitch, and it was a good job because the rain came down and it was incessant for the entirety of the game. The crowd of around 250 were treated to a disappointing performance by the home side as high flying Connahs Quay Nomads were comfortably the better team in all departments.

The first half was a defensive disaster as far as Pomtypridd were concerned. The opening goal came after fifteen minutes thanks to John Disney, then within five minutes the experienced Mike Wilde made it 2-0. Mikes Hayes scored a further two more to leave the score 4-0 at half time, and in truth it was more than a fair reflection of the first forty five minutes.

The second half wasn’t quite the disaster the first half was for Pontypridd but a fifth goal came in the 75^th minute from Callum Morris. In the end though, it had been a comprehensive drubbing, and a relatively straightforward afternoon for the boys from North Wales who had travelled down the night before.

You did feel for Pontypridd somewhat as they endeavour to find their feet in the top flight, it has been a bit of a struggle so far, but the learning curve is indeed a steep one, and one that sides from the South of the Country seem to find that bit tougher than those from the North.

As the rain continued to pour we elected to travel back via Merthyr Tydfil and Abergavenny, and on reflection, this was definitely a case of don’t believe everything that you read. I would absolutely recommend a visit to Pontypridd United to anyone, this is a club that seems to be doing so much to get football on the map in the town, what has gone before to get to this point might be a debating point, but it’s all about looking forward, not back.

90 Minutes In Wyke

Wyke Wanderers  2  Leeds University  1

West Riding Challenge Cup – First Round

Admission / Programme - No / No

In a recent blog I talked about games I’d witnessed where they'd been abandoned, and some of the more bizarre reasons for the early termination of the said games.

One of those games was in the West Yorkshire village of Wyke, it was the run up the Christmas 2015 and a team called TVR United were playing Lower Hopton Reserves at the Appleton Academy 4G. I can remember it well in one respect because it was an incredibly windy day and a number of games fell by the wayside anyway due to the conditions. However, on the 75^th minute the referee bought the game to a sudden halt and simply walked off the pitch stating that it had been abandoned.

It was nothing to do with the weather, it seemed someone on the touchline had made a comment to the referee and rather than deal with it via the usual means and either have a chat or produce a card, he just decided he wasn’t having it and walked off.

Now you might think it was a culmination of incidents and this happened to be the final straw, but it wasn’t, in fact the whole game as far as I could see was not in the slightest bit contentious and everyone had behaved very nicely. Both teams pleaded with him to continue, but he wasn’t for changing his mind, and that was it, twenty two somewhat baffled players were left standing on the pitch.

That wasn’t my first visit to Wyke for a football match though, I went earlier the same year in the May to watch Wyke Wanderers play Whitkirk Wanderers at their Whitechapel Road ground. I am lying a bit though because Whitechapel Road isn’t in Wyke, it’s in neighbouring Scholes, and the ground itself was almost on top of the M62. But for purposes of the story, bear with me….

It came to my attention over the course of the recent Summer that Wyke Wanderers had upped sticks and were on the move, to a brand new sports hub (called Wyke Community Sports Village) which was being built at an old school site on Wilson Road in the centre of the village.

It has taken a wee while this season for the club to start playing home games, and to be fair they’ve played a good number more away from home than they have in Wyke, but on a wet day in West Yorkshire, I decided I mostly liked the look of a cup tie between what is effectively a Step 8 side in West Yorkshire League Wanderers and a Step 7 team from the ‘other’ league in the area, Leeds University, who compete in the Yorkshire Amateur League.

It’s a funny old state of affairs in West Yorkshire at this level. At one point you had the West Riding County Amateur League and the West Yorkshire League, both effectively covering the same footprint, fighting for clubs, and getting the occasional defection from one league to the other. When I say defections, it got to a stage over a few years where the West Riding variant was getting significantly weakened as clubs jumped ship, so it ended up merging with the Yorkshire Amateur League and effectively it’s top flight gained Step 7 status. But, the same issue exists, two leagues, same levels, same footprints. I wonder if they send each other Christmas cards?

Anyway, politics aside, what is the new home of Wyke Wanderers like?

You enter via a long drive and out in front of you is a car park to die for, a proper big lad, easily big enough to host a Def Leppard concert if you wanted, and possibly even capable of hosting Gardeners World Live, so getting parked was a doddle.

At the end of the magnificent car park is the building, a two story affair containing rooms and stuff, with the players getting changed on the ground floor. Directly in front is the 4G caged pitch where the game was to take place, while behind the 4G are a couple more grass pitches, one of which was hosting Wanderers reserve game against Robin Hood Athletic. To the left of the pitches is a cycle track, easily big enough to host a cycle race if you wanted to.

On a clear day you can get great views out towards Bradford, but today wasn’t a clear day, the views were rubbish. So where is Wyke you might ask? Basically get off the M62 at the M606 roundabout, and rather than shoot up to Bradford you take the Halifax road and then throw a right, where Wyke will appear in front of you.

I arrived nice and early and retired to a local establishment for a swift one, £2.60 a pint, how good is that? I might let Mrs H put the heating on an hour earlier with that saving…..

So, the game, it was a very decent one to be fair. Wyke took an early lead with a thundercracker of a shot, but the visiting students equalised just before half time with a somewhat dubious penalty award. At that stage the University were looking the side with the momentum but as we moved into the second period, the hosts changed things around and got back on top, scoring the vital winner, again from a well taken shot. Wyke also hit the woodwork a couple of times in the second period and as a result move into the Second Round of the West Riding Challenge Cup, where they will play Tadcaster Magnets.

It was nice to get ninety minutes in this time as well!