Monthly Archives: October 2012

The Fish and the Barrel

11 Thursday Oct 2012

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Tuesday 9th October 2012 ko 19.45

Southern League Central Division

RUGBY TOWN 2 (Koriya 12 Palmer 90)

WOODFORD UNITED 0

Att 145

Entry £8

Programme £2

Ever had one of those evenings when things conspire to trip you up? This was definitely one of those! The original idea was to head south to the Wessex League to watch Hayling, but that called off before I left work (Thanks Splodge for letting me know!), so I headed north to watch Saffron Dynamo, in the Leicestershire Senior League. That, it transpired got postponed because the Cosby-based side didn’t fancy playing Desford twice in 3 days, so I was faced with a choice, do a revisit or head for home.

A call from Graeme helped no end with my options, so I parked up in Butlin Road with a couple of minutes to spare. It was about a decade earlier that I’d first visited, when the club were mid-way though their transformation from Valley Sports, to VS Rugby, to Rugby United. Nowadays its Town following the merger with the United Counties League side, and Butlin Road remains a magnificent ground, a league ground in waiting, totally out of step with the club’s position, 4 promotions from the supposed promised land.

They were always likely to a take a step in the right direction this evening as Woodford are having a dreadful time of it. Led by former Birmingham and Yeovil forward Howard Forinton, and featuring former Leamington striker Josh Blake, you’d have expected a lot more than no points from 7 games. It became clear why though, as every first step was a backward one. It gave Rugby a head start every time, and on a different night there could have been a bucket-load of goals.

And for the life of me I don’t understand why there weren’t! The game was so one-sided I placed myself each half towards the end Rugby were attacking, as Woodford had almost no answers, to the obvious frustration of Forinton. But if the Woodford goal was a barrel of fish, for the most part the hundreds of bullets fired, missed. Fazel Koriya was there to finish off a neat through ball in the twelfth minute, but then a mixture of poor finishing, over-passing, and inspired goalkeeping from Jamie Brassington kept the game within reach of the beleaguered visitors.

Every time you thought “They’ve got to score with this,” Rugby found another way to miss, and on the odd occasion Woodford ventured forward, you wondered if they could steal the most unlikely of points. They didn’t, as with yours truly already moving towards the exit, an reverse pass from Seb Lake-Gaskin found subsitute Steve Palmer, and he did the simple thing, stroking home from just inside the box. If only his team-mates had done the same…..

 

 

Take the Nil

11 Thursday Oct 2012

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Saturday 6th October 2012 ko 3pm

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 0

GILLINGHAM 0

Att 6,690 (1,014 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (ic Ox Mail)

Choices, Choices…. So many games I could have chosen, the Bedfordshire hop was busy attracting around 100 people to each of its three games, and there was no lack of other attractive looking games. In the end two things influenced my decision, sheer exhaustion after one of the busiest Septembers ever, and the chance to catch up with schoolfriends Saleem and Carmine after the game. I hadn’t seen them for over 20 years, so it was an easy decision to make.

There was also the hope if not expectation that Oxford United had turned the corner. The 3-2 win over AFC Wimbledon had ended a dreadful run of 6 straight defeats, but the Gills were a different prospect altogether, top of the table, unbeaten away, and with confidence high.

First on the agenda was the presentation of David Langan to the crowd. David was a hero to anyone who grew up watching Oxford during the 1980’s as the club reached the top flight and won the League Cup. His overlapping runs made him a popular fixture at right back, but injuries took their toll, and he still suffers from the aftermath of the operations and injections. His autobiography, “Running through walls,” looks to be an involving read.

But back to the game in hand. With Wayne Brown injured Chris Wilder had little alternative but to restore Ryan Clarke between the sticks, and with Michael Raynes out injured his former teammate John Mullins arrived on loan to 2013 in the morning from Rotherham. It was to be those two players that had the most influence on the game, Clarke pulling off 4 stunning saves, and Mullins looking anything other than an unwanted defender at a fellow League 2 club who hadn’t even trained with the team.

It became clear that the number one priority was to keep midfielder Chris Whelpdale quiet. That they managed, of a fashion although Jake Forster-Caskey did have to clear a glancing header off the line from the former Peterborough man. Stirring stuff, and if the grit will have pleased manager Wilder, the increasing injury list will have not. First Damian Batt limped off then Deane Smalley struggled to make it through to half time. Surprisingly after the break he was replaced by Tom Craddock rather than the more obvious James Constable.

It took until almost the hour mark for United to create their first shot on target, Potter seeing his effort tipped over the bar by Stuart Nelson. Constable eventually was introduced for the last 10 minutes, and very nearly set up the winner, his reverse pass from the right found Craddock whose shot was deflected over the bar. It just shows how the small the margins are between success and failure. I wonder what will happen when Wilder is able to select anything like his first choice eleven? In the meantime, I think just about every Oxford United would have taken the clean sheet before this game kicked off.

 

 

Old Gold but not the Wolves!

08 Monday Oct 2012

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Wednesday 3rd October 2012 ko 7.45pm

Birmingham Senior Cup First Round

RUSHALL OLYMPIC 0

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 5 (Ismail 43 62 Kostrna 63 McAlinden 71 80)

Att 101

Entry £7.50

Programme £2

Badge £3

Team Sheet FREE

I first attempted to see a game here on New Year’s day around 5 years ago. I’d attended my cousin’s party the night before and slept, more than slightly worse for wear underneath his Christmas tree. I drove north with needles in my hair, and when I reached Dales Lane, they’d just postponed the game due to a frozen pitch.

Back then Rushall played in the Midland Alliance, now they’re 2 promotions further up the footballing pyramid, and are now in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, and so are now just 3 notches from the football league. That would be a huge leap for this friendly, well organised club from just south of Walsall. The town seems out of step these days with its industrial neighbour, being a quiet and leafy suburb with views over and above the M6 of the Birmingham skyline. That belies its history as a mining town, and before that a major Parliamentarian stronghold during the English Civil War.

The ground reflects the club’s rapid elevation in status. The two seated stands are nothing to write home about, but I could have happily settled down for an evening in front of the telly in the bar, and the club shop was a Mecca for programme hunters. I did wonder why it wasn’t open before the game though. There’s plenty about the place to interest the football ground geek, but more than anything else Dales Lane is worth a visit for the friendly people who make the whole operation tick.

The scoreline was highly unfortunate for the hosts, as in no way were they walloped by the Championship side’s under-18 team. Yes, the correct side won, and it was odd seeing a side in gold and black NOT be Wolves, but Rushall played a full part in an entertaining game, and the real difference between the sides was finishing. Zeli Ismail looks to be a very good prospect and on a more selfish night he would have got a hat trick, giving up an easy chance for his third to allow Liam McAlinden his first. There wasn’t much wrong with a Rushall defence featuring the likes of Wayne Daniel and Gavin Caines, formerly of Kidderminster and Cheltenham respectively, but they won’t be facing players of this calibre very often!

The game was refereed by Sarah Garrett who, coincidentally ran the line at my game the previous night at Oxford United. She was excellent in both games, and is clearly one to watch for the future. What this game taught me though, is that Rushall aren’t at the limit of their ambitions just yet.

 

The Break Point

08 Monday Oct 2012

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Tuesday 2nd October 2012 ko 19.45

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 3 (Forster-Caskey 8 Smalley 55 Potter 81)

AFC WIMBLEDON 2 (Harrison 20 Fenlon 36)

Att 5,206 (274 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc Oxford Mail)

Of all the statistics above, I suspect the important one may well end up being the attendance. Ok this was dull Tuesday evening, between 2 struggling teams, but 5,200 is low by OUFC standards. Its not difficult to understand why, Oxford United having lost 6 league games on the bounce, and with a quite appalling injury list. Nevertheless manager Chris Wilder found himself under more pressure than any other time during his tenure at the club and for the first time, it told.

You can always tell when the manager’s time is running out, the fight goes out of them. Remember Steve McClaren’s game in charge of England, standing forlornly under an umbrella, impotant as Croatia stopped England qualifying for the 2008 European Championships? When Wimbledon went 2-1 after 36 minutes, I watched Wilder, the head dropped, and I feared the worst for him. The comparison was obvious, and I felt sorry for the man who managed the club back into the Football League where others had failed.

They’d made a good start too, with Jake Forster-Caskey’s excellent free kick opening the scoring, but Wayne Brown, controversially selected in goal ahead of Ryan Clarke should have done better as Yado Mambo rose highest at a corner and although his header hit the crossbar, Byron Harrison was first to the rebound and scored from close range.

With less than 10 minutes left of the half, Jim Fenlon cut inside Alfie Potter, and fired home from 25 yards. He was in yards on space which speaks volumes for the defence and goalkeeper. All the while quietly sat in the press area was Steve Claridge. Wearing no club’s badge, there he sat with his assistant. Maybe he was scouting, maybe he was there for other purposes, who knows?

Whatever the truth, United found their way back into the tie. Deane Smalley stabbed home from close range to equalise before losing Wayne Brown to a groin strain a few minutes later. That gave a platform to Ryan Clarke, who didn’t disappoint, producing a quite wonderful diving dave to deny Will Antwi. By then United had taken the lead, as Tom Craddock’s erudite pass found Alfie Potter and he swept home from 10 yards. It proved to be enough for 3 points on the night, but it may well prove to be a pivotal night for Chris Wilder and his regime.

Masticate

07 Sunday Oct 2012

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Sunday 30th September 2012 ko 14.00

3 Bundesliga

SpVgg UNTERHACHING 0

KICKERS OFFENBACH 3 (Fetsch 25 53 Rathberger 53)

Att 2,450

Entry (Haupttribune/Main Stand) €18

Programme €1

Badge €3

Bratwurst €3

Teamsheet FREE

The last game of our tour saw a 10km trip south of Munich to the municipality of Unterhaching, a location utterly dominated by it’s larger neighbour. The town is notable for being the German base for chewing gum manufacturer Wrigley, these days a divison of the Mars Corporation. The Wrigley factory is a few hundred yards from the Sportpark Unterhaching, in fact if we’d have watched Fortuna Unterhaching, we’d have been opposite! On a more ecological scale the municipality has become a centre for geothermal energy with two deep boreholes providing super-heated steam to drive turbines. To prove that we do live in small world Unterhaching is twinned with Witney, in Oxfordshire just a short drive from where I live in Oxford.

The Sportpark Unterhaching was built in 1992 to accomodate the club’s elevation to the 2 Bundesliga. Its been extended since then, and further expansion plans are afoot, but with the club’s demotion to the Dritte-Liga, the current 15,000 capacity is clearly sufficient. The club were second in the table at kick-off, so to draw as few as 2,450 spectators must have been highly disappointing for the club. Clearly the lure of 1860, and Bayern Munich is too much for a club this close to the big city.

There’s more to SpVgg Unterhaching than just football though. As the club badge betrays, the club has a highly successful Bobsleigh team. Multiple Olympic medalist and National coach Christoph Langen represented Unterhaching at his chosen sport. Graeme and I also discovered an active Curling club tucked behind the away end. Clearly there is no lack of sporting choice in this part of the world.

With the time so tight between games, I’d eaten nothing. The pizza stalls looked tempting, but there was the vexed question of nabbing a teamsheet from the press office. Eventually I found a 500ml glass of apfelsaft and a bratwurst and made to with that until we could stop somewhere between the ground and Frankfurt Airport.

The surroundings weren’t half as boring as a new-build ground can be. I liked the wooden roof on the main stand, and the quite bizarre hospitality area in one corner. The two sets of fans did their best to create an atmosphere but the empty spaces made that aim difficult.

What none of the 4 us expected was a massive away win. Unterhaching would have gone top with a win, but at no time did that look likely as Offenbach quickly took control with Mathias Fetsch looking a class apart from everyone else on the field. He scored two poacher’s goals which provided the intro and coda to Thomas Rathberger’s wonderful header for the second goal.

The Unterhaching manager Claus Schromm had no answers save for a rather contrived argument with referee Bibiana Steinhaus after the final whistle. The truth of the game was that Unterhaching hadn’t turned up, and Offenbach had taken full advantage. We made our way back to the car and followed the away fans more or less the entire 400km to Frankfurt. That bit, on the autobahn should have been straightforward but as befits our weekend, we got caught in several traffic jams and were glad of the live traffic feature on the hire car’s SatNav for reassurance. We handed back the car at the airport and dashed over to the terminal. We had 45 minutes to takeoff, enough, but not comfortable. That seemed somehow to be a metaphor for our weekend.

It remains only to thank my companions on this weekend, Lee, Martin, Graeme, and Andreas. Andreas in particular for his help explaining groundhopping to two border Polizei who weren’t minded to understand such subjects. The real star of the weekend was Lee, for planning this, finding the hotel, and for a positively mammoth driving stint. Many thanks mate, and when’s the next one?

Mannschaftsaufstellung

07 Sunday Oct 2012

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Sunday 30th September 2012 ko 11.00am

Kreisliga 2 Süd München

SpVgg THALKIRCHEN FREUNDSCHAFT 3 (Broch 24 43 Stoier 90)

SV ISTIKLAL MÜNCHEN 2 (Durmaz 47 77)

Att 47 (h/c)

Entry €4

Programme FREE

Badge €3

From Wackersbergstraße to the Bezirkssportanlage Thalkirchner Straße, is a mere one kilometre, so making kick-off shouldn’t have been a problem, except parking proved to be a real issue. You don’t expect the car park to be full for a Sunday morning Kreisliga (local league)  game, but when we worked out how to locate to the football pitch (use the entrance marked 207) we arrived a few seconds before kick-off. The fripperies of programmes and badges were easily obtained, but what required our immediate attention was the ground. With over 5000 grounds between us, none of the four of us had seen anything like it before.

It’s hard to know where to start with a description. The main entrance makes you immediately think of a Continue reading →

Morning Service

07 Sunday Oct 2012

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Sunday 30th September 2012 ko 9.00am

B Klasse München Gruppe 4

VIKTORIA MÜNCHEN II 2 (Rebel 5p 77)

FC BOSNIA I HERCEGOVINA II 3 (Kaltak 27 Nergic 41 Becirovic 73)

Att 10 (h/c)

Entry €3.50

No Programme

I honestly can’t remember attending an earlier kick-off, but with an 11.00am a few hundred yards away this was an opportunity not to missed! The alarm went off at 6.20 and Lee and I quietly regretted that final bottle of Wiessbier we’d quaffed the night before. With Andreas opting to make his way back to Stuttgart today, it was 4 Englishmen who left Regensburg at 7am and made our way 130 km south to München, or Munich if you’d prefer.

We passed the Allianz Arena, the iconic home of Bayern München and 1860 München, then the Olympic Stadium, long since rebuilt after the 1972 Olympiad where the likes of Mark Spitz and Olga Korbut shone, and the whole event was marred by Black September terrorists killing 11 members of the Israeli team and one German Policeman.

That seemed a million miles away as we headed into the southern suburbs, even the streets had cobbles, giving the place a homely, yet timeless feel. When you’re this early and nothing much is open, there’s little else to do than listen to the rustle of branches and contemplate the leaves just beginning to change to autumnal shades of gold. Or as an alternative, watch a game at the eleventh level of German football!

The Sportanlage Wackersbergestraße was the perfect place to spend a couple of hours of a Sunday morning. There was coffee in plentiful supply, and as the teams trotted out they were accompanied out by church bells calling the faithful to prayer. And yes, this was a game between 2 reserve sides, the first elevens following at, well eleven! And in case you’re wondering, yes there IS a C Klasse!

The standard was as poor as perhaps you’d expect, although the game always held your attention. Whilst the visitors named 5 subsitutes that seemed to be more in hope than expectation, and when Zahib Negic didn’t appear for the second half he wasn’t replaced. It didn’t seem to worry them unduly because while Viktoria played the better football, it was the Slavs who were the more clinical in front of goal.

As we watched, an elderly gentleman arrived, presumably as much for the first XI game as for ours. He found a chair from the picnic area and his favorite spot. From there, he took out his sandwich and bottle of beer from his plastic carrier bag, and quietly settled down for the morning. A Vikoria fan explained that he does this every week, his wife sleeps in on a Sunday, so he’s allowed out but must be home for lunchtime!

With the first elevens warming up behind one goal for the main event, we made our way to close to the exit in one corner, and when the final whistle echoed around the stirring neighbourhood we dashed back to the car. We had only a few minutes to get to the next installment.

By appointment to Officer Michel

04 Thursday Oct 2012

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Saturday 29th September 2012 ko 15.30

Czech 2 Liga

KF BANÍK MOST 0

FK BANÍK SOKOLOV 3 (Vaněček 24 Vondráček 39 Dvořák 59)

Att 525

Entry 60 Czk

Programme 5 Czk

Badge 50 Czk

Barbeque Spiced Sausage 35 Czk

From Kladno it wasn’t a long drive to Most, but we did get the chance to leave the world of motorways and faceless “Service” Stations and travel through small villages seemingly touched only by Tesco for the last 40 years. We headed north, away from Prague and its environs and soon arrived in Most.

Most is Czech for “Bridge” and during the Nazi occupation was renamed “Brüx” a corruption of the German word for bridge, “Brucke.” The town became a plant for fuel produced from brown coal, and a satellite from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp provided forced labour. As a result, the town was on the receiving end of Allied bombing, and was extensively rebuilt post-war.

A result of this is that the town has a very high proportion of its accommodation in the form of panel apartment blocks constructed of pre-fabricated, pre-stressed concrete, known colloquially as “Paneláks.” When I visited the Czech Republic 20 years ago they were an ugly reminder of the Communist era, but the Most Paneláks have seen extensive redecorating, and have proved to be ideal for the rolling out of large-scale broadband in the town.

In the midst of all this lies the Stadion Josefa Masopusta named after the town’s most famous footballing son Josef Masopust, who it has to be noted, only played youth football for Most! He did, however win the European Footballer of the Year in 1962. The Stadium, like Kladno in the morning, reflects Most’s stint in the Czech top flight in recent years. The drop to the second tier has made the all-seater capacity of 7,500 unnecessary, but the despite the low crowds, there was a real vibrancy about the place, despite the faded green seats.

That was mainly due to the Most “Ultras,” who have taken on programme production, and the running of the club shop, a garden shed behind one goal. A barbeque was ready for half-time, the bar did a roaring trade, and the band of “Ultra’s to my right in the main stand, shouted, sang, and banged drums for the entire 90 minutes. They deserved far better than the performance they got from their team.

A goalkeeping howler gave David Vaněček the opportunity to open the scoring with an easy header, and that lead was soon doubled when Zybněk Vondráček’s thunderbolt shot from 35 yards provided the highlight of our tour, let alone just the game. After the break Jakub Dvorák’s low shot put the game far beyond Most who looked bereft of ideas. We felt rather sad for the friendly Ultras, they deserved better. Still, another excellent tick, and so we made for the border, filling up the car again, once again making use of cheaper Czech prices.

We crossed the border, but as soon as the lights marking the change of country had disappeared behind us, an unmarked car screamed past us. In the rear window the lights flashed “Polizei! Stop” and we were led off the main road, to a secluded lay-by. Two plain-clothed officers showed us their ID,  and explained they were German border police and we were asked for our passports for checking. They asked what we were doing, so we explained our weekend, to a look of disbelief, not good when that look is on the face of a border guard! We were asked firstly whether we had cigarettes and alcohol, we had neither, and then Andreas was asked whether we had drugs or weapons too!

When that answer was in the negative too, Andreas was asked how he knew 4 Englishmen. That meant a long story involving Lee, and a St Pauli T-shirt, and the officer clearly came to the conclusion that our tale was so far-fetched it had to be true!He let us on our way, but not before Andreas asked him for the final score from Stuttgart (he didn’t know) and for a recommendation for a restaurant as we were hungry! He did recommend a restaurant, and when we arrived there, we mentioned him to our waitress. She responded, “Oh , Officer Michel, he comes in here for his Cappuccino!” You really can’t get a better recommendation than that!

Czech Point

04 Thursday Oct 2012

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Saturday 29th September 2012 ko 10.15am

Česká Fotbalová Liga

SK KLADNO 2 (Orolín 62 Tóth 76)

FK KOLÍN 1 (Novotný 60)

Att 275

£1 = 29 Czk

Entry & Programme 50 Csk

Badge 40 Csk

Teamsheet Free

It seems that if you own a SatNav, the world ends at Germany’s eastern edge! Lee had brought his SatNav for the weekend’s driving, but the Western Europe map installed, did not include the Czech Republic. We’d printed off maps from the internet, but when Lee upgraded the car so the 4 of us could give Stuttgart-based Andreas a lift, the built-in SatNav proved to be a godsend. It had ALL of Europe included, so long as you understood enough German to operate it!

From Regensburg it took around 90 minutes by autobahn to reach the Czech border. The first port of call was buy a vignette, allowing use of the Czech motorway system for a week. It’s advertised at €16, but here’s a groundhopping top tip, pay in cash, in Czech currency, as its cheaper. It seemed to us that paying in Euros acted as an ignorance tax. We stopped for fuel too, as that’s cheaper on the Czech side, and made our way via Plzen to the small city of Kladno, around 25km north of Prague. It had been 20 years since my last visit to the Czech Republic, and whilst the motorway was a massive improvement, the only other change I could see was the rash of Tesco stores in every town. I didn’t find out whether my clubcard was valid here!

Kladno is very much an industrial place, still with the factory in its centre, typical of the former Warsaw pact countries, with the big chimney distributing smoke to the suburbs. The Stadion Františka Kloze is part of a larger complex including ice hockey and tennis. It reflects the club’s past playing in the 1-Liga and 2-Liga for the majority of its existance, before being relegated to the amateur ČFL, or 3rd Division Bohemian League in recent years. There are 3 sides, all seated but the dominant feature is the main stand, towering above everything else, built as it is above the changing rooms and clubhouse.

František Kloz, incidentally is the club’s most famous player, spending most of his career at Kladno. He scored 179 goals in the top flight, and played for his country 10 times, before being killed fighting the Nazis in May 1945.

We strolled round to the far side to watch the first half, I mean you just have to take pictures with that stand as the backdrop don’t you? Sadly the 5 of us spent most of the time taking pictures of the ground as the game was dull. I managed to source teamsheets, and badges for those interested by using my few words of German, and the club were sufficiently impressed by my efforts to give me a club lanyard!

Fortunately the game did liven up for 15 minutes, enough time of the visitors to open the scoring with a superb 25 yard free kick from Jan Novotný, only for Kladno’s Slovak forward Pavol Orolín, on loan from 2-Liga Bohemians of Prague, to equalise with a low shot two minutes later. Kladno took a somewhat fortuitous win later on when Marek Tóth’s thumping shot proved to be unstoppable.

We were just pleased to have ticked off an excellent ground, and for 4 of us, collect another country-point. It was also the only time we had a leisurely drive between grounds. Of course if you know me, I like to be busy.

Autobahn

01 Monday Oct 2012

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Friday 28th September 2012 ko 18.00

2 Bundesliga

SSV JAHN REGENSBURG 3 (Sembolo 24 55 Müller J-M 44)

FC ST PAULI 0

Att 12,181

£1=€1.21

Entry €18 (Stehplatz/ Terrace)

Programme €1

Wimple/Pennant €8

Pin/Badge €4

I sometimes think that organised groundhops ought to be graded in terms of how hard work they are. Grade 1 would be a gentle 3 games in a day on the coach, whereas the last Welsh hop (11 games in 3-and-a-bit days) would be, perhaps a Grade 8. This trip, 6 games in two countries in 3 days covering over 900 miles would definitely be a Grade 10!

The idea was Lee West’s, seeing that his team St Pauli had a Friday evening fixture at Regensburg. He then found cheap flights to and from Birmingham to Frankfurt, so he was joined by Graeme, Martin and I and so we found ourselves at a Car Hire station at the Frankfurt airport, with a beast of an itinerary! Continue reading →