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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Monthly Archives: November 2011

Check-mate

27 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by laurencereade in C

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Checkendon, Exiles, Football, groundhopping, King & Queen Wheatley, League, Upper Thames Valley

Sunday 27th November 2011 ko 10.30am

Upper Thames Valley League Division 2

CHECKENDON EXILES 0

KING & QUEEN WHEATLEY 3 (Thomas 18 Evans 54 80)

Att 6 

Free Entry

The village of Checkendon lies in South Oxfordshire, around 6 miles from Henley-on-Thames. The Henley influence is obvious, you do find yourself in Millionaires Row! The local boozer is a gastropub, and as the game progressed a regular sight in the background were Ocado vans, for those too lazy to actually travel to Waitrose!

Checkendon’s most obvious attraction is the Equestrian Centre but I was more taken with the Church of England parish church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul,  a 12th century Norman building. All but one of the windows were replaced later in the Middle Ages with Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular Gothic ones, and the Perpendicular Gothic west tower is also a later addition. Its offered a good backdrop to some of the photos!

About a mile away is Hook End Manor. In the 1960s Alvin Lee of Ten Years After fame sold it to Dave Gilmour. Gilmour recorded parts of Pink Floyd’s 1987 album, ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’ in a studio at the house. The band’s inflatable pig, first used to promote their “Animals” album a decade earlier was stored in one of the outbuildings.

The Manor was then bought by West Side Productions, who produced both Madness and Morrissey recordings there. In the 1990s, the Manor was purchased by producer Trevor Horn who was responsible for the high tech studio which is still in use today.

The Recreation Ground is shared with the village cricket club, but the only actual shared territory is the changing room, as the football pitch is tucked neatly away at the North-Eastern end of the ground. That helped to shelter me slightly on a blustery morning! Above two hawks circled, looking for prey.

This is an eastern outpost of the mainly Oxford based UTV League, the home team after all, were formerly known as Wallingford Exiles, and the club’s HQ is the Queens Arms in Goring-on-Thames, a town incidentally, that has George Michael as a resident! This factor may have something to do with why the game kicked off late as some the visitors got lost!

Perhaps that’s why it took King & Queen so long to get going. It became clear that Exiles were a side utterly lacking in either goal threat or confdence, this was their sixth game on the trot without scoring, and as the half progressed the frustration began to boil over. A midfielder and his club linesman disagreed over an overside call, and the two had to be seperated at half time, the linesman walking back to the changing rooms in high dudgeon. All King & Queen had to do was maintain a semblance of concentration to record an easy away win, and this they managed with just the odd lapse! Simon Evans’ winner, a thumping 25 yard drive was a good way to cap the victory.





Sank ’em

25 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by laurencereade in W

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Football, groundhopping, Hereford, Herefordshire League, HJ Handley Cup, Leisure Centre, Sinkum FC, Weobley

Thursday 22nd November 2011 ko 7.45pm

Herefordshire League HJ Handley Cup 2nd Round

WEOBLEY 1 (L Williams 40)

SINKUM FC 2 (Gallimore 57p Barefoot 65)

Played at Hereford Leisure Centre, Holmer Road

 

Att 25 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No programme

Tea (from the leisure centre) £1.30

A first for me this, as I don’t think I’ve watched a game INSIDE a horse racing track! The pitch is part of the leisure centre, but you do have to walk across the horse racing track to get it, set as it is, inside a running track. This ground was using for a short time by Pegasus Juniors, before they moved in to their new ground in Old School Lane. To the left the Bulmers Cider Factory is clearly visible.

I reached the ground at around 6.50, and strolled over to the pitch. I was told by a grumpy athletics coach that kick off was not at the advertised 7.30 but 8.00 “Because we’re here until 7.30.” I retreated to the leisure centre cafe and tried to buy a meal, to be told the kitchen was closed, I made do with a cake and a cup of coffee.

The warring factions settled on a compromise time of 7.45 and I found out precisely what I was to be watching! This was a game between 2 sides in the 1st division (2nd tier) of the Herefordshire league, a feeder to the lower divisions of either the Hellenic or West Midlands League. Neither side call the ground home, that honour lies with Holmer FC of Division 2 South. I would also comment that the floodlights were poor, with one not working at all! These pictures are literally the only usable ones!

It was Sinkum though that proved to be most intriguing. Formed a few years ago from a group of lads who met at a now closed pool club (hence the name) they decided to start a football team. I’d have thought pool and football wouldn’t exactly go to together, but last season they won the Herefordshire League Division 3 at a canter, so the league have placed them in this season’s division 1. It hasn’t exactly clipped their wings as prior to this game, they were played 6 won 6, including an 11-0 demolition of Dore Valley. They also told me they were on a 26 game unbeaten run!

The match was rather eccentrically referreed by Herefordshire FA Chief Executive Jim Lambert, but to be honest I was a little more concerned about the blustery wind and rain, and that bluntly the standard wasn’t great. Still, despite the best efforts of the esteemed official I watched a decent game, and perhaps predicably Sinkum were just too strong for Weobley in a scrappy game littered with errors. Barefoot’s headed goal from Gallimore’s cross was a fitting coda though.


You can see the Bulmers Factory in the background

Now that’s what I call First Aid!

Menagerie

25 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by laurencereade in H

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Tags

Football, goals, groundhopping, Harefield United, League, London Tigers, Spartan South Midlands

Tuesday 22nd November 2011 ko 7.45pm

Spartan South Midlands League Premier Cup 2nd Round

HAREFIELD UNITED 2 (Reader 42 Majeed 51)

LONDON TIGERS 0

Att 40

Entry & Programme £6

Tea £1

Back in May the move from Banbury to Oxford, involved a distance of a mere 31 miles, but it did alter massively my potential destinations for midweek gamea. This fixture is now only 40 miles from home!

Harefield is sometimes described as the nearest village to London, and it has an odd mix of village and suburbia about it. Its most famous for the hospital where Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub FRS, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon carried out the first live lobe lung transplant and went on to perform more transplants than any other surgeon in the world. By the end of the 1980s Harefield Hospital was the world’s leading transplant centre. A lesser known fact is that three Victoria Cross winners hail from the village.

Preston Park is on the right as you enter the village from Hillingdon, and is a good example of a lower division Isthmian ground. There’s a low seated stand, and opposite is a quirky covered enclosure; perhaps the reason why the club left the Isthmian on ground grading issues is because there’s no cover behind either goal.

It was a pleasant surprise to catch up with Pinner-based hopper Les Bull, and we both enjoyed the announcer trying to add razzmatazz to a cold damp game in front of 40 patrons. The visitors are a real “United Nations” team, having started out as a charity project to help disadvantaged children in Paddington. From there they entered the Middlesex League playing out of Kingsbury Town. When that club folded Tigers were allowed to take their place in the Spartan South Midlands League and became Kingsbury London Tigers. Now they’ve moved to the old Viking Greenford ground, and dropped the Kingsbury prefix although pitch problems have meant that as I write they’ve yet to play a home game!

While off the field the Tigers have problems, on this occasion they had a far simpler one, namely that in 90 minutes of play they failed to muster even one shot on target! Just one decent shot that hit the crossbar, during the second half, so it was left to the Hares’ striker Jack Reader to score one and set up Aban Majeed for the second, to settle a fairly forgetable game.

Some pretty pointless signage!

What happens when you ride a bike through wet concrete!


Black Bullets

20 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by laurencereade in C

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Consett, FA Vase, Football, goals, groundhopping, League, northern, Ramsbottom United

Saturday 19th November 2011 ko 3.00pm

FA Vase 2nd Round

CONSETT AFC 4 (Walton 44 45 Mackay 69 84)

RAMSBOTTOM UNITED 2 (Drew 48 Flannery 83)

Att 133

Entry £5

Programme £1

Raffle £1

Badge £3

Pie, Peas and Chips £2.80

Tea 50p

My attendance here was for the most straightforward of reasons, the ground will be knocked down at the end of the season, and it’s known to be a cracker. I took Chris Berezai, newly back from a holiday in Egypt along for the ride. We are both fans of the FA Vase, and let’s face it who’s going to turn down the chance to visit a ground like Belle Vue Park? Continue reading →

Stone Lions

16 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by laurencereade in A

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Tags

Andover, Charlton, Cup, Football, goals, groundhopping, Hampshire 2004 League, Lions, Open, Wykeham Gerri's

Tuesday 14th November 2011 ko 7.30pm

Andover Open Cup 1st Round

ANDOVER LIONS 6 (Augustus 25 Nassoori 41 Reynolds 69 Spencer 77 87 Chesters 82)

WYKEHAM GERRI’S 0

Att 43 (h/c)

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

With the demise of Southern League Andover FC in July, a phoenix club has sprung up a few hundred yards down the road from the old club’s Portway ground at the Charlton Leisure Centre. And yes, once again its an athletics stadium, with absolutely no cover, or even a cafe. A warm drink would have been handy on a cold night! A few hoppers turned up and around 5 turned tail, pub-bound when they realised the rumour of a programme didn’t materialise.

Andover now play their football in the Continue reading →

Deco

16 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by laurencereade in E

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

AFC Sudbury, Alan Boon Cup, Enfield Town, Football, goals, groundhopping, isthmian league, Queen Elizabeth stadium

Monday 14th November 2011 ko 7.45pm

Isthmian League Alan Boon Cup 3rd Round

ENFIELD TOWN 0

AFC SUDBURY 2 (Docker 19 Dare 73)

Att 152

Entry £8

Programme £1

Pint of Coffee £1

This new ground is in fact an old ground! Its fame until now is that it’s the athletics stadium where Sebastian Coe trained en route to Olympic gold. And yes, folks I’m well aware that athletics and football are uneasy bedfellows!

The short history of Enfield Town is a troubled one. Continue reading →

Abandoned

12 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

burton park wanderers, Football, groundhopping, Harborough Town, Sam Hearn, United Counties League

Saturday 12th November 2011 Ko 2.00pm

United Counties League Division One

BURTON PARK WANDERERS 0

HARBOROUGH TOWN 0

 match abandoned after 9 minutes

att c50

Entry £3.00

Programme £1

Badge £2.50

Tea £1

The town of Burton Latimer has only one real claim to fame, its where the Weetabix factory is! Other than that its one of a clutch of villages separated from Kettering by the A14. The club started life as Kettering Park Wanderers but moved to Latimer Park in 1971 and apart from last season groundsharing at Rothwell Town, they’ve been there ever since.

The ground proved to be far more impressive than I’d expected. Fully enclosed, there’s two stands, one with bench seats. The odd bit is Continue reading →

The Right Way

12 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by laurencereade in W

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Football, goals, groundhopping, Midland Combination U21 League, Stapenhill, Town, Woodbourne Sports

Saturday 12th October 2011 ko 10.30am

Midland Combination U21 League East/North Division

WOODBOURNE SPORTS 4 (Shemwell 20 Thomas 51 Mullings 56 Carter 87)

STAPENHILL 2 (Weir 39 Crawshaw 58)

Att 10 (h/c)

Entry FREE

Programme-NO

Tea-in-a-mug 50p

The Burrows is not to be confused with Earlswood Town’s ground, that lies a good 2 miles away. This is very much a community facility, with the clubhouse being a community centre, complete with skittles alley. Just head down Rumbush Lane and its easy to find.

And what a friendly club Woodbourne is! Genuinely pleased to see two visitors they really couldn’t do too much to help me, with the lineups and information on the club. The club used to Continue reading →

Run VT

10 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by laurencereade in S

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Tags

Cream, Football, groundhopping, Kemble, May Harley, Sholing, VT FC, VT Sports Ground, Wignall, Wimborne Town, Wort

Wednesday 9th November 2011 Ko 7.45pm

Southern League Cup 1st Round

SHOLING 2 (Wort 40 53)

WIMBORNE TOWN 3 (Kemble 18 Cream 59 Wignall 88)

Att 94

Entry £8

Programme £2

Badge £3.50

Tea £1

Cheeseburger £3

Cheesy Chips £2

Sholing FC were known as VT FC until July 2010, and the ground is to be found in Old Notley, just outside Southampton city limits. VT refers to Vosper Thorneycroft, the shipbuilding and engineering firm, this was their works team. With the restyled VT Group now swallowed up by the Babcock Group in March 2010, the works link was lost and the club chose to name themselves after the district in eastern Southampton nearby. Interestingly the ground is still known as the VT Sports ground, and within its confines is the Vosper Thornycroft Pigeon Club. My mate May, not noted for her devotion to football, commented before I set out that Sholing sounds Continue reading →

Turktown

10 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by laurencereade in G

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Tags

Cams Alders, Chilli sauce, Ellis Martin, Fareham, Football, goals, Gosport Borough, groundhopping, Kessack, Norton, Pittman, Privett Park, Rob Tambling

Monday 7th November 2011 ko 7.45pm

Russell Cotes Cup 2nd Round

GOSPORT BOROUGH 3 (Norton 75 E Martin 90p 120)

FAREHAM TOWN 3 (Tambling 20 77 Kessack 100) Pittman sent off 102 (2nd booking)

Gosport won 5-4 on (sudden death) penalties

att c200

Entry £6

Teamsheet FREE

Badge sold out

Bobby Robson autobiography £3

Tea 70p

Cheeseburger £2.10

Chips £1 (with inferior chilli sauce to that at Cams Alders)

So, why attend a game in an obscure cup competition and find yourself listening to the home team’s rested star player on 5live as you park up at the ground (Steve Claridge)? Because the two clubs are around 4.5 miles apart, and there’s history…..

Fareham fans refer to the fact that much of this south coast town was built by Turkish prisoners-of-war following the First World War. Certainly there’s a massive difference in atmosphere as you cross from one town to the other. Fareham is, as their fans sing is full of car parks and estate agents, while the main sight in Gosport is the massive Continue reading →

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