The Great Old

Royal Antwerp  1  Charleroi  2

Belgian First Division A

Debris was strewn everywhere as we left the apartment just around lunchtime on the Sunday.

The overnight storm had caused a fair bit of damage, so it was more in hope than expectation that we headed the short three kilometres South to the home of KSC Maccabi for what was supposedly an Antwerp Regional League Division Four (I think) game.

After a minor incident involving a cycle lane, some traffic lights and an articulated lorry, we soon arrived having swerved between fallen branches, and parked up at the large Maccabi sports complex. 

We were directed round to the back to the football ground, and were soon informed that the referee had postponed the game on safety grounds. A large tree had fallen in one corner of the ground and taken out a concrete fence and a car!

Despite that, we stayed for a while and were made very welcome, indeed so much so we were shown round the clubs boardroom and given a history lesson alongside it, of a club that serves the Antwerp Jewish community.

This minor blip meant we were not rushing to the main event of the tour, the big game at Royal Antwerp, where our contact Tom Simons had arranged a meet and some match tickets.

Parking was not that straightforward around the Bosuilstadion, the space we originally grabbed turned out to be a restricted zone, so we had to make a move to a car park that served a residential complex. After a very windy walk down past the club lake (yep, it’s true), it was time for a quick shufty around the club shop before heading to the Royal pub, one of the official homes of the Royal Antwerp support.

Jupiler was in plentiful supply, as was some brown coloured stuff for the other lads. Soon the DJ arrived, who was an absolute spit of Les from Vic Reeves Big Night Out. No chives or spirit levels were available to test out whether he was the real deal or not, but crikey, it provided a good ten minutes of amusement for us all.

With hard house banging out and some of the local Ultras in place, it was time to go to the stadium and meet Tom.

The rendezvous point had been agreed with Tom, who was an overseas ambassador for Sheffield FC, and soon, upon meeting him and his Father, we made our way to the seats in the iconic old stand.

The Great Old (as they are known) were formed in 1880, and recorded as the oldest club in Belgium, hence the links with Sheffield FC. The club have been something of underachievers though, despite being one of the best supported clubs in the Country.

They’ve won the League Championship just four times (the last in 1954), and the Belgian Cup twice, although they are famed for being the last Belgian club to reach a European Final when they lost to Parma in the Cup Winners Cup at Wembley in 1993.

They were once known for being a partner / feeder club to Manchester United, with Danny Higginbotham playing 29 games for the club on loan before his huge move to the English giants, Derby County.

The Bosuilstadion is an impressive but changing arena. The old stand is a hugely impressive structure, containing unreserved bench seating, it curves slightly, and has a tall yet deep roof which helps create a fantastic atmosphere. Opposite is the smart and very modern main stand with it’s corporate facilities, while to the right is a more modern seated stand which has a section for visiting supporters.

The end to the left is currently being demolished, once a two tier corporate stand, the seats have been removed leaving just a shell, and that is scheduled to be demolished and replaced some time soon.

In front of a near full house of just over 11,000, fourth placed Antwerp were playing  mid-table Charleroi. Stu did try to explain to me the impact of the result of the game, but it was of course complicated. Antwerp had already made the play offs (the top end) and Charleroi were already in the bottom end play offs. The result couldn’t change that, but apparently any points now gained end up getting halved when it comes to sorting out who plays who and where going forward. I know, I haven’t got a clue either!

Anyway, it was a great atmosphere, helped no end when Amara Baby gave the hosts the lead in the 24^th minute, but within five minutes the visitors had equalised when Victor Osimehen scored from the penalty spot.

Just after half time, Antwerp missed a great chance to re-take the lead when Lior Refaelov missed from the penalty spot, and that proved to be costly as Massimo Bruno got the winner for Charleroi in the 77^th minute.

Two yellow cards in minutes saw Charleroi’s Gaetan Hendrickx sent off, but it proved to be no consolation as the visitors hung on for a victory and subsequent pyrotechnic display!

A disappointed Tom was kind enough to take us round to the corporate section on the opposite side of the ground for a couple of beers and a rave at the techno disco before we bade our farewells and made the short journey back to our base.

It was a time for reflection over a kapsalon and more beer at the Korsakov, about a fantastic weekend in the Low Countries. Massive thanks to Stu for organising and driving, and to Ben also for his organising and research of all things local football. From my own point of view, all I contributed was banter and booze, so no credit coming my way whatsoever!

It was a long day on the Monday, we left Antwerp at 10.30am and arrived back at base just after 7pm, and that with an earlier tunnel. A closed M1 around Luton did us no favours at all.

It didn’t matter though, until next year, Brugge it appears is the provisional location, that should end well shouldn’t it?

Heist & The Kulminator

KSK Heist  1  RFC Seraing  1

Belgium First Class Amateurs

The journey to Heist gave myself and Ben the opportunity for a light snooze, in between cans of Jupiler. Stu managed a brief snooze but being the driver we suggested he did it with one eye open…

Darkness had descended by the time we reached the small town of Heist-op-den-Berg, located around fifty kilometres South East of Antwerp. The ground sat behind the town hall, and with a good sized car park available, we were soon at the ticket office getting sorted for the evening.

Another meeting had been arranged, this time with Roel Grant, a former player of the club who had moved ‘upstairs’ into an official capacity. Shirts and scarves were once again exchanged and photographs taken with the Sheffield FC flag. Some of the local youth took an interest in us and requested a photo with our flag and there’s side by side, suddenly we had been inducted into the Heist Ultras!

Belgian football grounds are a complete contrast to the efforts in Holland. Sadly, the Dutch win no prizes for originality or character, whereas the Belgians specialise in individualism and quirkiness. From a ground porn perspective, they are the Hugh Hefner’s of Western European football!

The ground at Heist is a mixture of structures that in many ways reflect the varying historical fortunes of the club. A large stand with dressing rooms beneath sit on one side of the ground, while to one side of the stand is a small area of covered terracing, with the clubhouse sat behind.

On the other side of the stand is a more modern stand with corporate facilities contained to the rear. This stand was built when the club were in the professional ranks, and to be fair, when Raol took us on a tour, what was surprising was the fact that over eighty people were sat having meals in the restaurant. It appears this facility is a sell out at all games, and while the club may be playing in the amateur ranks now, this is an example of them maintaining a very professional approach to things.

On the opposite side of the ground are two further stands, much smaller, with one seated and one terraced. This is the away section of the ground, and with a decent sized following having come from Seraing, it was in use. Behind both goals is open terracing, but in Heist, they tend to gather on the terraces on the side.

Of course, a couple of snifters were had in the clubhouse, while bratwurst was procured from a conveniently located van at the back of the stand.

Belgian football is more complicated than it needs to be. They have a First Division A, which splits around now and two conferences are formed, titled the play-offs, it has a significant bearing on European places and relegation. Below this tier is First Division B, which consists of just eight teams, and is as confusing as a confused thing. You play each other countless times, it splits, it has play-offs  and you can also get into Europe from it. You can be relegated to the First Amateur Division, of which Heist are a part, but only if the top club can obtain a licence. So, you almost know before the pay-offs start whether you will go down or not.   

Chuck in a bit of Belgian match fixing and you’ve got a right old mess, quite what was wrong with the old method is beyond me, but clearly a few too many Tripels had been consumed when that decision was made.

Currently top of the league are Thes Sport, while visitors RFC Seraing were sat in mid-table. Heist on the other hand were in the relegation zone, but it’s very tight at the bottom.

It turned out to be a tight game watched by a crowd I would estimate at around 400 (including those in the restaurant). Heist took a first half lead but the ‘professionals’ from Seraing fought back and grabbed an equaliser in the second period.

The 1-1 draw didn’t really help either side, and Heist now have an anxious run in to see if they can avoid relegation to the Second Amateur Division.

Afterwards it was back to Antwerp and an interesting experience at the acclaimed Kulminator bar. First of all, you had to ring a bell to be let in, and secondly I learned the hard way not to ask for any lager, they don’t do it! No idea what it was I drank, but I found something to suit my tastes, whereas the other two lads at one point were drinking a 40% proof beer served in a wine glass! I declined any invitations for a taste, politely suggesting that pain stripper had more of an appeal!

We got chatting to some folks, and as last orders were called, we all made our way down to Billie’s Bar, which indeed did serve a rather nice pint of Pilsner. It was while in here that food arrived from the local takeaway, which was a great end to a fantastic day.

It was after 2am when we finally found our way back to the apartment, but we did manage one more drink before bed. A storm was whipping up outside and rain was crashing against the windows, Sunday was going to be a very interesting day indeed!

Bridge Over Troubled Water

HSV Hoek  1  DVS’33 Ermelo  2

Derde Divisie (Zaterdag)

Right, three blokes, a pack of bacon and a grill without an instruction manual, guess what happened next?

Yes, that’s right, try as we might we simply couldn’t fathom out how to turn the grill on, but we did work out how to light the hob rings, so fried swine it was, and very welcome too.

After a decent lie in, it was a lunchtime departure in the trusty Yaris back across the border to the small village of Hoek which sits just before the mightily impressive eight kilometre long Westerscheidetunnelweg (big tunnel), which is toll free at weekends if anyone is interested in such detail?

Hoek is a small place, but as our arrival was quite early, we managed to grab one of the last spaces in the small car park. Once in the ground we had a mission to find a chap called Art who was the Chairman of HSV. One thing Stu is very good at is building cross channel relations with football clubs, all in the name of promoting Sheffield FC, who are of course one of the oldest football clubs in the entire interplanetary system.

All jokes aside about Bridges Over Troubled Water, Art van der Staal was a super chap who wore marvelous shoes with picture of flowers on them, and after the obligatory exchanges of shirts and photographs, and a meeting with a Dutch Groundhopper from Rotterdam, it was a chance to sample some of the local lager.

The ground at HSV was not untypical of many of the larger amateur set ups in Holland. The clubhouse behind the goal had an overhang in front of it where al-fresco boozing is not just allowed, but encouraged. Moving round the ground, one side is open, as is the area behind the opposite goal, but the main stand sits on the left hand side to the clubhouse end. The pitch is artificial and it is floodlit of course.

Hoek play in the Derde Divisie, which is the fourth tier of football in Holland. Dutch football has gone through a series of changes over recent seasons, because previously you had the two professional divisions, and then sat below that was the Hoofdklasse, which in turn was split into Saturday’s and Sunday’s.

It then changed, whereby the two Hoofdklasse became known as the Topklasse, from which promotion to the professional ranks could be gained. This was short lived as the best clubs formed a single division known as the Tweede Divisie, which combined both Saturday and Sunday sides. This new division obtained its own TV deal, and was a step on the way to create a pyramid structure, but, with promotion to the second tier not obligatory, many wondered what the wisdom was behind it?

The Derde Divisie fed into the Tweede Divisie, but remained split across the weekend. Interestingly, when the changes first came about, Groesbeek based Achilles 29 took the plunge and moved into the second tier (professional ranks). They now sit bottom of the Derde Divisie, it went spectacularly wrong from a financial perspective. The appetite for professional football is not huge in Holland, with only a handful of sides considering taking the plunge.

This was a big game, Hoek sat third in the table with the visitors from Gelderland just one place below them. A crowd of around a thousand turned up to watch the game, with around 150 of them having made the journey West.

In all honesty, DVS won the game 2-1, having been 2-0 up at one point, and it was difficult to argue with the outcome as the team in yellow and black were much more effective with the ball than the hosts. The victory moved them to second in the table over both Hoek and Quick Boys, but with a six point gap to leaders Noordwijk, it’s a tough ask for them to win the league and with it promotion to the Tweede Divisie.

Farewells were bade, and departures made, but not before a random photo opportunity at the end of the road next to the sign for the football club. We only held the traffic up a little bit!

The next game was a good hour and a half away, the other side of Antwerp, but with loads of time on our side we decided to head to the town of Terneuzen where a bar called the Café De Vriendschap was located. Despite a few issues with some ships and a bridge (over troubled water) that took an age to close, we were soon parked up with menu in hand.

It was time for a Pilsner..

Meaty

FC Eindhoven  0  Sparta Rotterdam  0

Eerste Divisie

The time had indeed come for the second 'Jolly Boys Outing' to the Low Countries, after a spiffing debut last time out in Gent, this time, we were heading for a base in Antwerp, the possibilities were endless!

That’s a lie to be honest, the possibilities on the Friday were far from endless, in fact, it was either find a game somewhere close to the Dutch border, or a women’s game. We went Dutch…..

So, with Mr H Senior depositing me at the rendezvous point at Junction 28 of the M1, the journey in the trusty Toyota Yaris was trouble free with Stu at the wheel and Ben sleeping in the back. 

Sainsbury’s in Ashford did the job in terms of provisions and before you knew it we were checked in, sat back and waiting for a delayed tunnel departure to Coquelles.

Between snoozes and Mrs H’s lovingly prepared breakfast, banter was regular and acerbic, with myself being introduced to the delights of the podcast that is Athletico Mince. It appears, I am indeed a ‘Meaty Bastard!’

Coquelles was a breeze and before long the hike to Antwerp was underway, but not before a stop in Lokeren to collect alcoholic supplies from the trusty Carrefour. I bought Jupiler, the other two bought all kinds of semi-illegal substances that could tranquilize a large brown bear with less than a mouthful!

Our apartment was in the centre of Antwerp, betwixt two fine establishments known as Korsakov and Kulminator. More on Kulminator in a later blog, but suffice to say both venues served the finest monk brewed sludge.

So, games wise it was a bit thin, and the nearest venue that none of us had been to was FC Eindhoven, off of Eindhoven where the big club PSV come from. The journey took just less than an hour and before long we were parked up and chatting to a very helpful man called Wim (I made that up) in the ticket office.

He pointed us towards two bars. On outside the ground that he claimed was more family orientated, and a further inside the ground which was a bit more rowdy. It was a tough call, we decided to try both. Both were very good, they served Jupiler, I was happy, they didn’t serve much else, Ben and Stu were not 'reyt' happy as a consequence, they went in search of photographs and a club metal badge.

Typically Dutch is how I would describe the ground. Three box sized stands, very similar in design, with one end open albeit for a clubhouse and a snack bar. It reminded me a bit of TOP Oss, but in blue.

Sparta Rotterdam were the visitors and they sat second in the table, blessed with a decent sprinkling of fans penned into something akin to a compound at Guantanamo Bay, the early exchanges suggested that they might be in for a happy night.

No one was in for a happy night, unless you’d got a propensity to drink Jupiler, a lot, the football was typically ‘nice’, with lots of pretty triangles and one touch passes, but in terms of action, efforts on goals, scything tackles and scraps, it had bugger all to offer.

The 0-0 scoreline was as inevitable as Ben spilling a cup of coffee over the back seat of the car, but, with a quick getaway had, we were soon parked up in Antwerp and inside Korsakov for the first time. 

They didn’t sell Jupiler, they sold something else, it was more potent, as was what the other pair were necking. But, in fairness it had been a long day, so we didn’t stop for too many before heading back to the apartment for a little night cap and a lie down.

But, despite the football, a great start to the weekend, the adventure had only just begun, and we had bacon to cook the following morning, so we thought…….

Fight Club

Brackley Town Saints  2  Abingdon United  0

Hellenic League Premier Division

It was a quite splendid moment in my football viewing history.

On a baking sunny day I was stood on the terraces at Brackley Town watching them play Bedford Town in a pre-season friendly. The year would have been 2004, and the hosts were on their way to a relatively comfortable 4-0 victory.

I can’t recall the exact moment in the game but I do remember it was during the first half. Anyway, a gaggle of kids were playing football behind the goal, a good old jumpers for goalposts game, I would say about fifteen of them were taking part. Suddenly, without warning, a fight between two of the kids broke out, and we are talking young kids here. Within seconds we had a full scale brawl, every kid in the vicinity was in on the act, it spilled down the grass bank and onto the hard standing at pitch side.

By now, one or two parents had noticed that something wasn’t right, and having deposited their wine / beer glasses, they came bolting round the ground to stop the mayhem!

It was brilliant, hilarious in fact, and no more so than when one of kids produced a mightily impressive drop kid that left his pal flat out on the floor.  The parents were horrified, kids got dragged away by their collars and their earlobes, clearly with stern words ringing in their tabs. For those of us not involved in it, the season had been made already, nothing could top it!

I’ve never been back to Brackley since, partly because the opportunity has never really presented itself, but also because part of me felt that it would be impossible to live up to that marvellous day.

However, with not much on offer for a trip back from a work jaunt to Milton Keynes, it seemed an obvious choice, principally from the perspective of geography.

The story of Brackley Town is an impressive one. They joined the Hellenic League in 1977 and then found themselves shunted sideways to the United Counties League in 1983, from where they were promoted to the Premier Division after just one season.  They moved back to the Hellenic in 1994, and after three seasons they were promoted to the Southern League.

This upwardly mobile venture only lasted a couple of seasons before they were relegated again, however, by 2004-05 they were back in the Southern League.

They won the Midland Division in 2006-07 and with it came promotion to the Premier Division, which they went on to win in 2011-12 to gain promotion to the Conference North.

Since being in the Conference, and more recently National North they’ve finished third twice. Losing in the play-offs both times, once to FC Halifax Town in the final, and then last season when they were defeated by Harrogate Town at the semi-final stage.

But, despite the disappointment last season, they achieved something quite brilliant by winning the FA Trophy at Wembley, defeating Bromley in the Final on penalties. They’ve also had some decent FA Cup runs over recent seasons, twice beating Gillingham in replays after drawing games at Priestfield Stadium. 

Not a huge club by any means, they aren’t the best supported club in the division despite the successes, but Brackley itself is a wealthy town, being the home of various F1 motor racing teams over the years, largely because of the proximity of Silverstone. I’m not sure of quite how it works or who funds the club, but I suspect someone, somewhere is backing them.

So that’s Brackley Town, but who are Brackley Town Saints?

The reserves, with no hidden agenda or any attempt to pretend they are something they aren’t. Unlike other clubs who try and claim the reserves are a separate club, Brackley are very open, it’s the same club, same ground, same everything but a slight change to the name.

They started life in 2014 as Brackley Town Development, joining the Hellenic League, but now find themselves in the top flight, the same level the first team were at not so many years ago.

What is St James Park like then? Well it’s changed a bit since I last went. The clubhouse and the stand remains in place on the North side of the ground, but now they've built some small cover behind the East goal, and behind the West goal is now a further seated stand with open terracing to either side. The South side is flat standing with a TV gantry, while it looks as though a new changing room block has been built adjacent to the clubhouse.

The game itself pitched a side inside the top three of the league, albeit it’s pretty tight at the top, against a side from Oxfordshire in the bottom three. A home win was the odds on favourite, but to be fair, Abingdon didn’t look a bad side and played some decent football on an excellent playing surface.

Ryan Knight gave the hosts the lead five minutes before the interval, but it took until the 64^th minute before George Ball got the second goal from the penalty spot. It was a deserved victory, but as I said, credit to Abingdon.

The run in will be very interesting, along with Saints the trio of Brimscombe & Thrupp, Wantage Town and Bishops Cleeve will all fancy their chances.

An attendance of 39 was recorded, and no fighting was observed anywhere in the vicinity of the stadium, but to be fair, despite my fears, it didn’t detract from the occasion!

Uncle Urchin

AFC Hornchurch  3  Wingate & Finchley  0

Isthmian League - Premier Division

‘Uncle Urchin’ was a regular poster on various football forums back in Noughties.

Always a defender of all things Hornchurch FC, and seemingly very much in the know when it came to the political, financial and footballing side of the club, many suspected that the great Uncle was indeed an insider.

Although never proven, it had been accepted that it was beyond any reasonable doubt that ‘Uncle Urchin’ was a pseudonym for the owner of the club, Karl Williams.

Williams was an interesting character who made his fortune in double glazing, with his companies Bryco and Carthium being involved in non-league football sponsorship, and then more latterly the much maligned Coldseal Windows.

Williams claimed to be ‘just a fan’ of Hornchurch, but he was clearly more than that. More on that later, but lets first look at how Hornchurch went from being a run of the mill Isthmian League club and then turned into the non-league version of Chelsea.

In 2001-02 the club gained promotion from the Third Division of the Isthmian League, and then the following season they were then promoted again after a further runners-up spot in the First Division North.

People were sitting up and looking as some stellar names started to arrive at the club, the following season they finished fifth in the Premier Division and with it they became founder members of the Conference South. The Premier League winning season of 2003-04 also saw them reach the Second Round Proper of the FA Cup, only to be unlucky to lose to Tranmere Rovers after beating Darlington in the First Round.  In the same season they reached the Quarter Final of the FA Trophy, beating high flying Burton Albion along the way.

Stories abounded of the astronomical wages being paid to the playing staff, they had to be to attract players to leave the Football League to play for them, in fact I recall reading an article in the Derby Telegraph after Burton had lost at Hornchurch, where the journalist in question commented on the array of expensive cars that pulled up into the car park with the home players driving them, it said it all……

All was not well though, Williams company was declared bankrupt during the 2004-05 season, and consequently the club announced that funds were no longer available to make it viable. They went into an IVA, suffered the subsequent points deduction, and at the end of the season, they went into liquidation and folded.

Out of the ashes came AFC Hornchurch, they were placed in the Essex Senior League, which they won, and a year later they had won the Isthmian League Division One North. Five years were spent in the Isthmian Premier before a play-off victory saw them back in the Conference South in 2012-13, less than ten years after exiting football at the same level.

It wasn’t simple though, in 2009 the new club went into administration, but this time they survived the financial crisis that befell them. A year after reaching Step 2 and they were back down again, and by 2015 they had dropped once more to the North Division. Last season, as Champions, they have climbed again, and now sit back in the Premier Division.

It’s been quite a journey for the fans of Hornchurch / AFC Hornchurch, and with the FA granting the club permission to revert back to the old Hornchurch Football Club name next season, I decided it was time to go and have a look for myself.

Williams may be long gone, running a bookshop in Devon by all accounts, but his legacy remains in terms of the facilities at Hornchurch Stadium. Principally a running track with very modest and somewhat basic facilities, it’s now got a number of seated areas dotted around the perimeter, along with a covered terracing area and a very smart clubhouse / hospitality area. I didn’t get to look around the changing rooms but I’m lead to believe they are impressive.

The journey to Hornchurch from my base in Milton Keynes wasn’t the best. The M25 was a bit of an arse, while the queue to exit at the Southend Arterial was an absolute pleasure! Getting through Upminster wasn’t overly straightforward so to be honest it was quite a relief to get into the car park and park alongside a now more modest array of vehicles.

Once through the turnstiles you’ve got the clubhouse up the ramp, with an elevated indoor viewing area at the front where those arriving early enough get a fine view of the proceedings. Moving around clockwise, the dressing rooms sit behind the goal, while moving towards the West side of the ground, you’ve got two seated stands sitting either side of the half way line. Walking round to the East side you find an area of covered terracing, a small Directors stand, another larger stand, and finally the burger van!

The pitch was in very good nick, and the floodlights good, so considering it was the dreaded athletics stadium, I actually thought it was a pretty good ground all things being equal!

Both sides are having tough seasons, Wingate & Finchley sat in the relegation zone whereas Hornchurch were hovering just above it. The hosts took the lead through Charlie Stimson on the half hour mark, this after the game being fairly equal up to that point.

The visitors pressed in the second period in search of an equaliser, hitting the woodwork, but a second goal came in the 81st minute when Joe Christou scored with a powerful low shot from twenty yards out.  Moments later and it was 3-0 when Ronnie Winn netted with a neat finish from a long ball, and to be fair to Wingate, the score line was a touch harsh on them.

The win does Hornchurch the power of good, and if I were a betting man I would say that they’ll start next season without the AFC, in the Premier Division.

Uncle Urchin may well be looking on from afar as the club goes the full circle, but if he is, he’s keeping very quiet about it nowadays….

Denied

Chelmsford City  2  Concord Rangers  2

National League South

A few years ago I bought a brilliant book written by football historian Dave Twydell called ‘Denied FC’.

The book is essentially the story of all the clubs who tried to gain admission to the Football League prior to automatic promotion and relegation being introduced. It’s a fascinating read, not only to understand the tales of the clubs and why they felt they would be a good addition to the ranks, but also to see the outcomes of the votes at the League AGM’s.

Clubs who’ve applied over the years include some clubs you might not expect such as Annfield Plain, Bridgend Town, Goole Town, Ashton United, Bangor City, Prescot Cables and Rhyl. Whereas there are also some names that leave you scratching your head, such as Argonauts, West Hartlepool, Wakefield City, Castleford Town and Wallasey United.

Of course, there is a list of the big names in non-league football, who year after year seemed to try in vain to make the promised land. Clubs like Boston United, Yeovil Town, Bedford Town and Kettering Town. Indeed, Yeovil Town had the record for the most unsuccessful applications, 28 in total, while in second place, albeit jointly, was Chelmsford City.

Chelmsford City, between 1967 and 1976 applied every season barring one, but the door remained firmly closed on them. In that period Cambridge United and Hereford United, both of whom competed alongside Chelmsford in the Southern League, were admitted at the expense of Bradford Park Avenue and Barrow respectively.

Main Stand

So why did Chelmsford, with the ground and support, and indeed a couple of league titles not get the nod? The voting was not favourable, the best return being eight votes in 1974 (Workington got 21 and remained), and that appeared to be largely down to a lack of consistency on the field. Hereford, Cambridge, and both Wimbledon and Wigan after them, had that consistency which gave the voting members confidence that they were adding strength, Chelmsford did not instill the same levels. Then chuck in the old pals out that abounded as well, and once we got to 1976, City simply gave up trying.

So, and this is the strange thing about it. City were a huge name in the non-league game, but from a timing perspective, a downturn in fortunes couldn’t’ have come at a worse time. The club were struggling somewhat in the late Seventies around the time the Alliance Premier League was formed, and hence they were not in the right league to be considered for election to the new elite division.

Nearly forty years down the line, and Chelmsford City have still never set foot in the top flight of non-league football, and back in the early to mid-Seventies, that would have been unthinkable.

Opposite Side (Sports Centre)

Ok, let’s get it into some perspective. The fantastic stadium at New Writtle Street was sold to developers in 1997, and the club embarked on a spell sharing at both Maldon Town and Billericay Town.  They finally moved back to Chelmsford in 2006 when they took up residence at the Melbourne Stadium.

The period after moving out of Chelmsford saw them playing in the lower divisions of the Southern League for a period, before returning to the Premier Division in 2001. They were transferred laterally to the Isthmian League in 2004, where they remained until 2008 when they were crowned champions.

Since then they’ve been in the Conference / National South, and in the period since arriving, they’ve got an unenviable record of having lost out in the play-offs a staggering five times!

This season, they sit in the play-off places once again and look a good bet to at least be competing in them, whatever happens after that is anyone’s guess, but surely luck would have to change at some point?

Clubhouse In The Distance

I decided to go and have a look. With neighbours and play-off outsiders Concord Rangers in town, it seemed as good a time as any to pay Chelmsford City a visit.

The Melbourne Stadium sits on the North West side of the City, and my access came via Stansted and Great Dunmow, avoiding the busy centre of Chelmsford. The stadium is located in a large housing estate, and forms part of a sports complex that was in situ well before the football club arrived.

It’s an athletics stadium, but the Clarets have worked hard to make it feel like a football ground, in fairness to them. A large car park greets you on arrival, and then once through the turnstiles that sit behind the East goal, the various sheds selling wares are to the right, before the snap wagon and a very smart clubhouse that was busy with punters watching the North London derby on TV.

The Football Ground Feel

The ground is dominated by a large main stand that offers excellent views of proceedings, while opposite is a much smaller seated structure fastened to the side of the sports centre. To give it the feel of a football ground, City have created walkways to areas behind both goals, where terraces have been erected right up to the back of the goals. One is covered, the other is open to the elements.  They might be temporary structures in terms of the build, but they do allow fans to group together and create some atmosphere.

I liked it, it did feel like a football ground, probably also helped by the fact just short of 1,200 spectators had pitched up on a lovely Spring day to watch the game.

The game was very engaging. Rod Stringer’s side may be on a charge at the moment, but ex-Leatherhead boss Sammy Moore is doing a great job at Concord, who with their small crowds are definitely punching above their weight.

Packed Clarets

Scott Fenwick gave the hosts and 18^th minute lead with a low drive from the edge of the box, but Concord were back in the game in the 36^th minute when Alex Wall saw his low shot creep in at the far post.

Concord took the lead early in the second half when the experienced Jack Midson dispatched a penalty following a hand ball, but the goal of the game came in the 79^th minute when Chris Whelpdale produced a mazy run akin to Ricky Villa in the 1981 Cup Final, and just like Villa, he found the back of the net!

With six minutes added on at the end, City threw everything at it, but it was to no avail and they had to settle for a point. Results were in their favour though with teams around them dropping points, so the charge to the play-offs continues.

After being denied so many times in their efforts to join the professional ranks, all they want to do now is sit at non-league’s top table. With football back in Chelmsford, a fantastic support base, and being so near yet so far over the past few seasons, maybe the time is now.

No neutral would surely deny them that?

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