Pushing The Boundaries

Magna 73  6  Magna 73 Reserves  1

Friendly

I can’t recall at any time in all my years of watching football, taking in a game where a first team played the reserves.

But there is a first time for everything, and I’m of the view that football has no boundaries, except of course women’s football and walking football, two activities that I simply have no interest in from a spectator perspective. Nothing against either, but I’ve made the choice not to view them. I did watch some dwarf football online once, purely because my mate Steve was interested and I wanted to check it out on his behalf, for research purposes, so I’m not a complete sexist / ageist / bigoted football viewer, just a man of narrow-ish tastes!

The Clubhouse

So, I saw newly promoted Magna 73, who will be gracing the Leicestershire Senior League for the first time this season after numerous attempts to get in, had a home fixture, against themselves, so I thought I’d go and have a look.

Playing at Meadow Park on Leicester Road in Countesthorpe, the ground is nice and easy to find, set in a very rural location. Meadow Park is a large complex, and works as an umbrella organisation for Magna 73, Oadby & Wigston Ladies and the local cricket club. They are blessed with three pitches at the complex and Magna generate revenue by hiring out the surfaces, notably on Sunday’s and during pre-season when other pitches are not ready for use, or simply not readily available.

They’ve played pre-season games so far away from the main pitch to protect it, but tonight, they were playing on the showpiece pitch which is a railed affair with newly built dugouts. The pitch itself is in superb condition but as the two gents from the club told me, they’ve invested in it and worked hard on it over the Summer, despite the tough conditions.

Dugouts - In The Distance

They have a large clubhouse on the complex which is available for hire, so in many ways Magna are blessed with a further source of revenue generation. Magna struck me as a well-run, prudent and sensibly managed club with a number of volunteers who have the club at heart. It’s a great model, and it seems to be working.

Magna 73, were formed in 1973 (I managed to work that one out without asking anyone!), so they are 45 years old this year, not unlike myself, almost! I’m not sure where the Magna bit comes from, as I’m struggling to find a place of the same name on my Leicester A-Z, but someone somewhere will know the answer. They didn’t win the Leicester & District League last season but they were successful in getting promotion anyway, so clearly tails are up and enthusiasm is high at Meadow Park, and so it should be.

One of the problems of watching a first team against reserves game is the fact that while the kits may be a different colour, they have the same badges. So it took me a while to work out who was who. To be fair though, in the opening fifteen minutes there wasn’t that much in it, but by half time the first team had a 2-0 lead and it was their finishing prowess that saw them in-front.

Lush

The goals came at regular intervals in the second period, a further four to be precise and the difference was the final ball and the finishing. The reserves certainly competed, but in the final third it was a very different story. The ressies did pull a goal back with almost the last kick of the game, but it was of no consequence to be fair.

So, a strange one to be truthful, two teams who obviously know each other very well, effectively team mates, taking each other on, but it definitely had a competitive edge, and while the referee had a very comfortable night of it, it was officiated by a proper man in black as opposed to a club representative.

Women - Kids - Oldies - Reserves - Friendlies - Dwarfs - It Takes All Sorts

I feel a bit bad now, I feel like I’ve taken a swipe at women’s and walking football, but it wasn’t meant to be a dig against either, it was purely me expressing my preferences. I know people who will quite happily watch ladies football, but won’t watch youth football of any kind, reserves or friendly games though, so I suppose it is each to their own. We all have our quirks and foibles

Steve and his passion for dwarf football though, now that is a bit special…………………..