The Rules

Fernwood Foxes   3   Elston United   2

Nottinghamshire Senior League – Division Two South

I’m really not sure if I was supposed to be at this game?

I mean, football has started again, and apparently anything that was at Step 7 (as was) or below could admit spectators, according to the first announcement, but then, we got another announcement on the eve of the next set of scheduled fixtures suggesting that while it would be very difficult for spectators to be stopped from watching at these levels, it was not to be encouraged?

Then, I saw on Saturday morning a local club advertising that entry to their Step 7 game would be £3, however, spectators were encouraged not to attend! Mental……

Add into the mix the Tier system which has quite clearly shafted the North of England, unless of course you live in parts of North Yorkshire, Cheshire or Cumbria, and then suddenly it becomes debateable about where you can travel anyway. Is Tier 3 to Tier 3 ok? Is it not ok if you go via Tier 2? Tier 3 to Tier 2 is a no go, but can you go Tier 2 to Tier 3? I’m buggered if I know?

Of course, if it’s for work purposes then of course you can travel, and that’s why we had further chaos at Steps 3 to Steps 6 because for the players it was classed as work, but, if you were in Tier 3 it had to be behind closed doors, which quickly became apparent it wasn’t happening for both financial and moral reasons.

But, if you play football below Step 6, and were in Tier 3, you could not leave your County to play football, and this, again, caused chaos in local leagues as not all teams were in the same Counties, and indeed, neither were all of the players!

It was a mess, to be frank, and as I write this we’ve had a further change to the rules around spectators, which means a load of clubs have postponed two weeks worth of fixtures for no apparent reason now, and instead we’ve got a bunch of friendlies, that, were initially behind closed doors, but now aren’t!

Then of course, we’ve got the review of tiers on Wednesday anyway, when it could change again?

So, it was Saturday morning and I quite simply thought, “f*** It!”, I’m going to a football match!

I worked on the principal that the Newark Derby between Fernwood Foxes and Elston United wouldn’t fall foul of the fact one of the teams was based in a different County, and therefore couldn’t travel the mile or so to the game. I also assumed the players would be all local lads anyway and that rule wouldn't come into play either. 

I’d been meaning to head to Fernwood for a while but for a variety of reasons this season it hasn’t happened (I won’t list them all, you can imagine what they are though). The Foxes joined the Notts Senior League at the start of the campaign, and while the village of Fernwood is just off the A1 to the South of Newark, the club is based to the North of the town centre at the Lincoln Road Playing Fields.

It’s a touch tricky to find, my technology took me into the town centre, and then out again in a northerly direction, just over the railway line where Newark Northgate Station is, before turning right into a housing estate.

The playing fields are the East edge of the estate, down a narrow entry to the car park, and once inside you’ve got a large expanse of pitches with a brick built facility in the centre of it. The site is then flanked further to the North and East by the large Newark Business Park.

With two sets of players warming up, it was game on, on what was a chilly but dry day, and in terms of spectators I would say around 20 or so had turned up for what I guess can be described as the ‘other’ Newark Derby. With games between Town and the club formerly known as Flowserve being the major event, albeit that is taking a break as the newly named Newark FC embark on a rapid rise up the pyramid. Town, however, seem keen to try and at least stay on their coat tails.

So, Fernwood v Elston, how did it play out?

Very decent game to be fair, the hosts were leading 2-0 at half time, and then made it 3-0 just after the break thanks to a penalty. The goals coming from Callum Chilvers, Darik Samson and William Taylor. However, as the game moved into it’s closing stages goals from Harry Johnson and Jake Ledbetter narrowed the deficit to just one goal, leading to quite a frantic finish.

Fernwood hung on though for only their second win of the season against a previously unbeaten Elston side. And, from my point of view, I wasn’t ejected, arrested or indeed made to feel unwelcome at any stage, but even so, I’m still not 100% sure if I should have been in attendance?

I write a blog though, is that not technically work? That said, the wages aren’t very good if I’m being honest…….