Sherwood

Eastwood & Kimberley  2  Legion  3

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I’m not a big television watcher, in fact if Mrs H said we were getting rid of it I genuinely don’t think my life would be any worse for it. Yes, occasionally we might have Sky Sports News, or indeed just plain Sky News on but that’s more in the background when pottering abut in the kitchen, however, once in a while……..

Sherwood – absolutely brilliant, and especially so given the local interest. I always think the mark of any good TV drama (especially one based on a real life event) is that it makes you want to delve more into the subject matter, and that’s precisely what Sherwood has done. The Miners Strike of 1984 is now my most searched internet topic, after that picture of the squirrel with the disproportionately large testicles of course

I was eleven when the Miners Strike started, not long at secondary school, and my memories were of TV pictures of pickets and coppers with riot shields, most notably the infamous Battle of Orgreave. I also remember it from a football perspective, because at the time Belper Town were in the Northern Counties East League, and it became apparent that issues were arising when Nottinghamshire sides played South Yorkshire sides. As a Derbyshire club we didn’t have any problems that I can recall, but the likes of Blidworth Welfare and Sutton Town did, in fact some games remained un-played as sides either refused to travel or it was felt unsafe to participate.

What you don’t really understand though at that age is just how the depth of feeling would still be so prevalent and indeed raw, nearly forty years later. Sherwood encapsulates that brilliantly as it references places like Clipstone, Annesley, Newstead and Ashfield, places that still proudly describe themselves as former mining towns / villages.

Jacksdle, a Nottinghamshire village close to the Derbyshire border was a pit village. The Pye Hill Colliery closed in 1985, around the time of the Miners Strike coming to an end. The coalfields in that area used to be thriving with Selston, Underwood and Bagthorpe all in close proximity having pits and communities based around them. But that’s all gone, the spoil heaps have been landscaped, the heads demolished. All that remains are plaques, statues, memorials and memories, and of course, in many cases, an enormous sense of unforgiving.

I’ve not been to Jacksdale since I was in the Sixth Form, we used to have parties at what I seem to recall is the Social Club in the centre of the village. Memories are vague, and old, we are talking the 1989-1991 period, I’ve been in a lot of social clubs since then!

Fast forward. It appears a team called Eastwood & Kimberley have been elected into the Nottinghamshire Senior League this season. I have heard of them before, they appeared on the scene a few years ago now when the old Eastwood Town went belly up, and at one stage there was talk that they might be a successor. It wasn’t so, Eastwood Community rose from the ashes of Town and the newly formed E&K plied their trade in Sunday football.

Now boasting a Saturday, Sunday and a Charity side, they have set up home at the Dale Club (the old Miners Welfare) on Main Road in Jacksdale, and with a Sunday morning game advertised against Hucknall based Legion, it was time to go and have a look, especially with it being so close to home.

First things first, it might have been less than ten miles away from where we live, but I didn’t actually know how to get to Jacksdale! I could kind of describe it’s whereabouts, but it was a sat-nav job to get me there going via Leabrooks, Riddings and round the edges of Ironville, before you finally arrive. But when you do arrive (assuming people do take on board my recommendations), you will be pleasantly surprised by what you’ll find.

Parking is behind the goal in what is the Community Centre car park, and then right on the corner next to the entrance is the Community Centre itself which houses the changing rooms. The Dale Club (ex Miners Welfare) sits next door, and from what we could see, it opens around Noon on a Sunday judging by the time beverages were arriving at pitch side.

Two sides of the pitch are adorned with a tidy wooden fence, complete with advertising boards, while on the same two sides cover from the beating sun could be had from the trees and bushes that were maturing on the banking. The Main Road side is complete with outdoor pub style seating and a children’s play area. All in all, a very tidy, well maintained and more than capable venue for hosting a good level of football, as I say, I have to admit I was not expecting what I found.

Met up with Steve again at the game, and also great to catch up with Nottinghamshire Non-League Royalty in the shape of Malc Storer, a man who provides without doubt the finest online service to local football with his blog / fixtures and results guide. Don’t be trawling websites on a Saturday night for results and the following weeks fixtures, just go straight to Malc and it’s all there, an absolutely indispensable service and long may it continue. Oh, and he does it all for charity, so if you don’t follow him on Twitter, then sort it, now….@ontheroadblog

So, the game. Well it was a pretty competitive affair, Legion looked the better side in the early part of the game, but then E&K came back into it as their confidence grew. However, it was the away side who came away with a 3-2 victory. It’s hard to really comment on standards and such like with it being a pre-season friendly, but what I do know is that E&K finished bottom of the second tier of the Notts Sunday League last season, while Legion were mid table in the fourth tier.

Eastwood & Kimberley Football Club look like they have an awful lot to look forward to, and interestingly in the final episode of Sherwood as emotions were running high, one of the lead characters (the wife of a former striking miner) talked about the areas obsession with the past and how much it continues to define everyone’s future.

Moving on though, it seems, is very hard to do. But on a more cheerful note, here's my favourite picture of a squirrel.....