Yearly Archives: 2013

That Point

09 Thursday May 2013

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Tuesday 7th May 2013 ko 18.30

Witney & District League Premier Division

WEST WITNEY 8 (Lewis 21 77 Hirons 33 Holder 62 Perry 79 85 Rayfield 86 Stubbs 90)

CHARLBURY TOWN 0

Att 22

Entry FREE

No Programme

Just over a week ago I watched West Witney agonisingly fail to take the point they needed to secure the league championship at Long Hanborough. It was a mere 30 seconds from full time when Hanborough’s winner went in, and in all honesty I rather felt for the league leaders so it was an easy decision to make for the West Witney Sports Ground on the B4047 Burford Road. One thing is clear, the club’s location means they’re well named, in fact you’re as close to Minster Lovell as you are to Witney!

It’s a well appointed site, featuring tennis and cricket as well as football. It used to be the Smiths Industries Sports Ground, and Smiths Industries FC played Hellenic League football here from 1964 to 1967.

Last week West Witney’s nerves got the better of them when the finshing line was in sight, but since then they haven’t looked back. The first XI have won the the Fred Ford and Witney Senior Cups and the reserves have won the Jack Busby Cup. It also turned out that Charlbury Town weren’t going to put up the level of resistance that Hanborough did.

The visitors though should take credit for fulfilling the fixture. They maintained their Premier Division survival on Saturday, and it would have been easy enough for them to have scratched this fixture. They turned up, and don’t let the scoreline fool you, they fought from start to finish, and had the class to stay around afterwards to applaud West Witney as they received the trophy.

But this evening was all about West Witney, and once Chris Hirons had scored the second, they looked irresistible. The football that had frozen in the tension last week flowed, and the goals rained in. Adi Holder headed home from a cross, before Kev Lewis collected his second. The decision was then made to put centre half Tom Perry up front. He did well, collecting a brace, the second a vicious left foot shot from all of an inch!

There was however one concern as substitute Shaun Rayfield slotted home for his first of the season, and that was where was the cup? As the game re-started a man with a wooden box slowly made his way over from the car park, and everyone relaxed. Alex Stubbs rounded off the rout, before everyone decamped to the clubhouse for the presentation and a beer or ten.

The only question that remains is can West Witney do it all again next season? They won’t take promotion, few clubs do from this league, but there’s no lack of competition to be found in this league.

 

Viewpoint

09 Thursday May 2013

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Monday 6th May 2013 ko 15.00

Barrow Wake, Gloucestershire, near Birdlip

then,

Gloucestershire County League

LONGLEVENS 2 (Martin 54 70)

TUFFLEY ROVERS 4 (Mann 8 Colling 11 21 64)

Att 220

Entry & Programme £2

I dread to think how many times I’ve passed the viewpoint of Barrow Wake on the A417 between Gloucester and Cirencester without stopping for a look over the Vale of Gloucester. I’ve been in the nearby Hot Air Balloon pub more often.

The area derives its name from the discovery in 1879, of a late Iron Age burial (c. 50 AD) site. Three skeletons were discovered and associated with the central figure, that of a woman aged about thirty years, a rich array of grave goods including the world-famous Birdlip Mirror. The finds represent some of the finest surviving examples of British Celtic metal work, are displayed in Gloucester City Museum.

I suspect that if you know where to look, you can see Longlevens new ground in the Barnwood districts of Gloucester. Tucked away behind the Ibis hotel, the club moved here for this season after their former home at Longford Lane was deemed unsuitable for County League football. That ground is now used by Gloucestershire Northern Senior League outfit Minsterworth, but the new ground is exactly what the Longlevens needs. There’s plenty of parking, a good-sized changing room block and the pitch is fully railed. There are floodlights, currently only suitable for training, but upgrade these, and add a small stand and they’d have a ground suitable for a tilt at either the Hellenic or Western Leagues.

The latter is where Tuffley Rovers, also Gloucester-based see their future. They used to play in the Hellenic, but dropped down due to travelling costs. They feel the Western League, with a glut of journeys down the M5 is a realistic option, and with the club second in the table, and Glevum Park easily fulfilling ground grading necessities, elevation looks possible.

What made this fixture so attractive was that Longlevens were top. Add to that a glorious sunny day and a local derby, and the bumper crowd was only to be expected. A shed served as a highly efficient tea bar, and the club coped well with the influx of people.

Unfortunately the team didn’t fare anywhere near as well, as within 21 minutes they found themselves 3-0 down. The difference was Tuffley striker Dorian Colling, whose movement completely perplexed the home defence; he collected a brace and completed his hat trick just after the hour. The hosts didn’t compete at all until Brad Martin’s late brace gave their performance a veneer of respectability, but even with this set-back Longlevens still have the whip-hand.

Tuffley are 3 points clear with a game left, but Longlevens have 3 games left. You wouldn’t bet against both sides getting what they want, Longlevens the title, and Tuffley the promotion. Its definitely one to watch!

 

A Distant Ship Smoke On The Horizon

07 Tuesday May 2013

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Saturday 4th May 2013 ko 15.00

FA Vase Final

SPENNYMOOR TOWN 2 (Cogdon 18 Graydon 80)

TUNBRIDGE WELLS 1 (Stanford 78)

Att 16,751 at Wembley Stadium

Entry- Complementary

Programme £4

Team sheet Comp

For a while I’ve applied an acid test to all newly constructed stadia, called the, “Dad Test,” and its simple, can my 77-year-old father use it? He’s not particularly fleet of foot these days so long flights of stairs, and standing for long periods are a no-no. With the rebuilt Wembley having virtually no parking and public transport being actively “encouraged” the ground looked a bit of non-starter for him. Continue reading →

Let’s Play Ball

05 Sunday May 2013

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Thursday 2nd May 2013 ko 18.30

Oxon Senior League Premier Division

KENNINGTON UNITED 0

ADDERBURY PARK 0

Att 18

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

The obvious mistake you could make about here is thinking this is a district of London! In fact you could make a bigger one thinking this is a district of Oxford. A mixture of stringent Green Belt laws and the jealous guarding of its village status makes Kennington very much a village even if the A34 rumbles past, and Oxford encroaches near the Said Business School annexe at its edge.

The history of the Church in Kennington is unusual, little is known of the mediaeval chapel which disappeared before 1790 but the Old Church was built in 1828. This small building is something of a curiosity, in shape it is classical with the materials vernacular – rubble stone with a Stonesfield slate roof but the architect attempted to imitate the Norman style with the windows and West door. He was so successful it is sometimes mistaken for Norman work.

The poet Matthew Arnold lived here too, in fact there used to be a pub named after one of his poems, The Scholar Gypsy. I learned an important lesson there many years ago. I quaffed a quite appalling pint, and commented that the pub didn’t deserve to survive with beer this bad. I was overly harsh, but the pub closed a few weeks later, and is now a block of flats. It pays to be careful what you wish for!

Kennington United play at the end of Playfield Road, at a sports field that seems more geared for cricket than football. The cricketers turned up just after kick-off and were rather perturbed to see a football match in full swing. They grumbled, then presumably headed off to the pub.

They missed quite a bit, despite the goalless scoreline. This wasn’t a bore-draw far from it. The only real issue was midges, millions of them, and there was no escape from them! Referee Steve Higa didn’t seem unduly concerned, he’s from Las Vegas and is used to extremes of environment. He’s been refereeing in this country for 21 years but has taken one piece of the U S of A with him, he starts each game with the cry, “Lets Play Ball!” The mystery to me is why he’s only refereeing at this level, he’s superb, and both benches admitted it too.

The game had just about everything but a goal! That wasn’t down to much more than good goalkeeping, both sides went for the win, but cancelled each other out completely, such is life. You move on, and I did having the feeling that on another night this could easily have been a 5-5 draw. Its just a shame that the Oxon Senior League, apart from not even having a website, doesn’t even put the names of officials on its Mitoo page. It would be worth going to a game on the strength of Steve Higa’s appointment alone.

Last Chance To See

05 Sunday May 2013

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Wednesday 1st  May 2013 ko 19.45

Oxon Senior Cup Final

OXFORD UNITED 4 (Ashby 48 Marsh 65 Pittman 96 Roberts 120)

OXFORD CITY 2 (Cook 25p Barcelos 69)

Att 901

At Oxford United FC

Entry & Programme £8

I usually treat anything organised by the Oxfordshire FA with caution, they have a reputation for poor organisation, for example the Oxon Senior league doesn’t even have a website! That feeling wasn’t helped when I went through the turnstile end someone in front of me asked whether he could have another programme. “Of course,” was the reply, ” It saves me putting the useless things back in my car!” The programme was an improvement on the usual poor effort, but the committee saw no need to publish a history of the competition, instead they plumped for 3 adverts of the Oxfordshire FA, 2 identical.

The reason for the somewhat inflated entry price was that for once the final was between the two clubs with the highest playing statuses in the county, namely League 2 and the Conference North. Perhaps it was the cost, or OUFC’s frustrating season, or Oxford City’s generally low following but only half of the South Stand Lower was opened, ample for the 901 present, but I did wonder if more imaginative pricing would have attracted more.

There are many depressing things in football, but one that doesn’t get much coverage is the one-sided rivalry. Oxford City don’t like Oxford United, even though this the only competition in which the teams ever meet. For United the rivalry has a strict hierarchy, its Swindon Town, followed by Swindon Reserves, then Swindon Youth and so on… City just don’t feature at all. There are several examples of this in football. Leyton Orient don’t like West Ham, but the Hammers hate Millwall, and I’m sure you can dream up a few more!

The added piquancy for home fans was the news that the retained list was due out at midday the next day. There are some advantages to writing this a few days after the event, and I think most present would have predicted that we were seeing the last appearances of Jon-Paul Pittman, Tony Capaldi, and Simon Heslop in an OUFC shirt. The real surprise was that non-playing substitute Deane Smalley got offered a new deal. Yes, he’s been unlucky with injuries, but his goals to appearances ratio is dreadful, and it looks unlikely to improve.

The lesson here wasn’t the established players on either side. I suspect that for Oxford City former United players Steve Basham, Chris Wilmott and Jamie Cook will also have made their last appearances at Grenoble Road, but City manager Mike Ford hit the nail on the head when he commented that United won the tie with clinical finishing. That’s not a comment often associated with United this season, and 3 goals came from either youth or former youth players. Josh Ashby fired home from just outside the box for United’s first, Tyrone Marsh’s shot from the right flank oozed the confidence gained from a successful loan spell at Staines, and those in the know have had teenage striker James Roberts in their sights for a while. He scores goals for fun at youth team level, the question now is how best to progress him?

Extra time was the last thing either time wanted, not least afterwards as Oxon FA organisation meant that the usual rambling over-long speech was attempted without the usual radio-mic. The official was quickly shouted down, the cup presented, and everyone could go home! I noted that neither Capaldi nor Heslop could be bothered to ever come out and attend the presentation. That spoke volumes for them, and what they expected to happen the next day.

But let’s have a closer look at that retained and released list. Andy Whing’s retention must be the most popular bit of news coming from OUFC for a while, and Alfie Potter’s year-long extension was entirely logical. Equally logical was the departures of Tony Capaldi, Tom Craddock, Simon Heslop, Peter Leven, Luke McCormick, Josh Parker, Jon-Paul Pittman, Justin Richards, and Harry Worley. Not one has set the world alight and in some cases the attitudes have been lacking even the bodies have been fit. I understand that McCormick is negotiating to return to Plymouth, who will have to weigh up his talent against a toxic past. In a similar vein, I understand Craddock is eyeing up a return to his native North-East in the form of Hartlepool. There the club will no doubt be weighing up talent against mind-set.

The attitude has been always there for Michael Duberry who defied a potentially career-ending neck injury to keep playing. I for one will miss his “Positive Vibes” but time waits for no man, and sadly that includes him.

The two controversial departures where undoubtedly Peter Leven and Damien Batt. When fit, Leven is easily the best midfielder in the squad, if not the division, but that caveat is a huge one. I’ve heard too many interviews referring to Leven’s injuries as having to be managed, and with a smaller wage bill the club cannot afford a passenger, however talented.

Batt can count himself to be extremely unlucky. For most he’s OUFC’s first choice at right back, and whilst he’s far better going forward than in defence, he had a good season. I can only assume Chris Wilder has a better replacement lined up. I for one will be sorry to see another of the Wembley Conference Play-off final heroes depart along with Adam Chapman, who I assume will join Mansfield.

If Damien Batt is unlucky and Deane Smalley extremely fortunate, then left back Luke O’Brien is the proof that being a good professional pays dividends. A solid full back, and no more, he may not end up even being first choice come the start of the season but will let no-one down when called upon.

Scott Davies is probably seen as Leven’s replacement. He came in as a free agent, with no security and impressed greatly. He’s local too (Aylesbury), which saves on the costs of relocation. Another good professional too, this game saw him fill in, completely out of position at left back. I think he’ll form a good partnership with the more combative Whing.

Of course the retained list isn’t even half the story.  There’s the small matter of who’s coming in, and how many of the youth team will step up to the first XI. Watch this space.

The Beauties of England and Wales

03 Friday May 2013

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Tuesday 30th April 2013 ko 18.30

Oxon Senior League Premier Division

STONESFIELD 1 (Hall 51og)

BLETCHINGTON 1 (Foster 22)

Att 21

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

Perhaps after writing an article about somewhere misspelt I’d rapidly end up watching a team for whose name there is no spelling. Enter the Oxford village from one end and its Bletchington, from the other its Bletchingdon! Even the Bletch manager made life complicated, “It’s Bletchingdon,” he said, “Just like the back of my top.” The trouble was that said “Bletchington””

Stonesfield is one of a few pretty Oxfordshire villages; it lies on a limestone escarpment above and about 4 miles due west of Woodstock, and the trees of the Blenheim estate are clearly visible from the sports field just off Field Close.

The Roman Road, Akeman Street forms part of the parish boundary here, and just east of the village was the site of a Roman villa. It’s pavement was unearthed by a farmer George Handes in 1712. He fell into a dispute with the landowner Richard Fowler as to how each would profit from the discovery, and by 1724 the archaeologist William Stukeley reported that Handes had destroyed the pavement as a result of the dispute, in a classic case of a pyrrhic victory.

I arrived early, an advantage of Banbury being a short drive away. The opening vista was the Bletch management desperately trying to round up a team. 6.30 kick offs are all very well, but even in a league with a relatively small footprint like this one, working players, particularly the visiting ones can have real difficulties making these early kick-offs.

For all of that the visitors will wonder how they managed NOT to win this one. They had the best player on display, Ben Foster who ran Stonesfield’s defence ragged and scored a magnificent thumping drive. Stonesfield’s influence came mainly from the educated feet of former Banbury United midfielder George Redknapp. But despite Redknapp’s efforts the visitors has the majority of the chances and possession.

Stonesfield’s goal came in bizarre circumstances. Baker’s shot was acrobatically saved by Nick Lacey in the Bletch goal. The ball rebounded off the post, hit defender Martin Hall, and dribbled over the line. Undeserved, but if you don’t take your chances that’s the risk you run. Bletch pressed hard, and forced a series of corners as the clock ran down but where unable to force home the advantage.

 

What’s in a D anyway?

30 Tuesday Apr 2013

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Monday 29th April 2013 ko 18.15

Witney & District League Premier Division

HANBOROUGH FC 3 (Haggle 56p 90 Lewis 59)

WEST WITNEY 2 (Sparkes 22 Lewis 73)

Att 41

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

If you drive along the A4095 from Witney to Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, you do pass though some beautiful countryside. From North Leigh (pronounced locally as “Nor Lye”) and the spectacular Eynsham Hall, through Freeland, then its on through Long Hanborough, and Bladon to Woodstock.

Long Hanborough is aptly named, being an example of ribbon development along the main road. The only exceptions are along the roads out to the Blenheim sawmills at Combe, and the road out to Church Hanborough. You can see the spire at that village in a couple of the pictures.

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway was built past Long Hanborough in 1852, with Hanborough station between Long Hanborough and Bladon being opened to serve the village. The station is best known for being where on 30th January 1965 the body of Sir Winston Churchill arrived at on a train hauled by Battle of Britain Class locomotive Winston Churchill. From there the funeral cortege proceeded by road to Bladon Parish Church, where he was buried.

The problem with the station was devilishly simple though, it was misspelt! From opening to 1993 the station was known as Handborough even though the spelling had long since been standardised!

In more recent times the village has been a byword for quiet affluence, its close proximity to Oxford and the major commuter routes pushing up house prices. Former Neighbours and Spooks actor Craig McLachlan used to live here.

The mathematics of my game at the end of Roosevelt Road was straightforward, West Witney needed draw to take the championship. I don’t know why I don’t watch more of this league, its well run and its website is painstaking maintained. It nominally is a feeder to the Oxon Senior League, which again nominally leads to the Hellenic League, but the practicalities mean little or no transfers take place.

West Witney are well used to winning this league, and warming up they looked confident so it was no surprise when Ian Sparkes fired them into the lead. I thought that would open up the floodgates instead as time wore on they got more and more nervous. Hanborough began to exploit a weakness on the right channel, but Dan Haggle’s penalty following Shaun Rayfield’s poor challenge still saw the visitors with one hand on the trophy.

That changed when Tom Lewis put Hanborough into the lead soon afterwards, but the shock galvanised West Witney, and another Lewis, this one named Kevin equalised with the goal of the game, a fine 20 yard drive. Time to breath more easily? Not a bit of it as the nerves once again frayed as the clock wound down. Jokes were nervously told, substitutes paced and a dog looked nervous.

There was just enough stoppage time for Hanborough to float one more free kick into the 6 yard box. Keeper Kev Trethowan came for it but his weak punch went straight to Haggle whose header went back over Trethowan’s head, and with time almost standing still, gently dropped into the net.

There was no time for a second equaliser, but West Witney will have a chance of salvation next Tuesday evening at home to Charlbury. I wouldn’t bet against them!

 

The Vulture Job

28 Sunday Apr 2013

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Saturday 27th April 2013 ko 15.00

Southern League Premier Division

BASHLEY 2 (Gamble 49 90p)

BANBURY UNITED 0

Att 196

Entry £10

Programme £1.50

In groundhopper parlance the Vulture Job is visiting a ground purely because it’s about to disappear. And which ever way you look at it that’s the case with Bashley’s Recreation Ground or is it? The waters seem a little muddy.

The club play in the grounds behind the village hall (no cats?!!!). The hall was built in 1946 and 1948 an additional 3.5 acres were purchased “to enhance the life of the inhabitants of Bashley.” A lease was granted to the football club to use the grounds and it would appear that the relationship between the two is the root of the club’s move two and a half miles to Wessex League outfit New Milton Town’s Fawcett’s Field. That in turn creates two issues, firstly the FA has banned mergers that would allow a club to improve their standing by artificial means, and secondly Wessex League rules forbid ground sharing.

The result as it stands is a merger by default, with the new club provisionally named Bashley New Milton, with New Milton resigning from the Wessex League. The trouble with this is that the Southern League have vetoed the name change so the club are awaiting a decision from the FA as to whether to overturn the Southern League’s decision.

In the meantime planning permission has been gained for a stand at Fawcett’s Field so as to fulfil Southern League ground gradings, and the move does look set to go ahead, but you wonder if the Recreation hasn’t had its last hurrah, a charity game this Thursday excepted.

And to be honest I don’t really need much of an excuse to visit the beautiful New Forest in any case. The village lies in the centre of the medieval forest, and you do have to watch your speed, in case you encounter the famous ponies, cattle, or in my case a donkey waiting for a bus, on my way out in Burley! Burley Fire Station, incidentally, is thought to be the only fire station in the country with a cattle grid at the entrance.

Another reason to be there was the opposition, I used to live in Banbury, and the Puritans are a wonderful example of a small club who season after season defy the odds to maintain their Southern League Premier status. They do the little things well too, for example their programme is always exceptional.

With all the build-up and conjecture, and the fact that I absolutely HAD to be back in Oxford at 6.30pm without fail, perhaps it was inevitable that the game wouldn’t be a classic. Banbury claimed to have 7 out for various reasons, and although they named two substitutes there seemed scant evidence of them being present, let along actually used. If the team was lacking, then the support certainly wasn’t. They made up over half the crowd, and many wore flat caps in honour of manager Edwin Stein.

Stein is the former manager and player at Barnet, and on the day when they agonisingly lost their Football League status, his current charges ran out of steam in the second half to lose 2-0. The difference ultimately, was forward Mark Gamble. His drag back and shot followed Rob Gradwell’s through ball to open the scoring just after half time.

Bashley lost midfielder Matt Finlay to a red card to two poor challenges, but try as they might, Banbury couldn’t find the energy from tired legs to a find an equaliser. Deep into injury time, a tired challenge brought down Gradwell and Gamble stepped up to score from the penalty spot. It was a fitting final word on Bashley’s tenure on the ground…..probably!

 

 

Battle of Chalgrove Field

26 Friday Apr 2013

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Wednesday 24th April 2013 ko 18.30

Oxon Senior League Division One

CHALGROVE 5 (Godfrey 38p K Coleman 40 Skiller 60 68 75)

YARNTON 2 (Johnson 57 Chalal 80) Johnson sent off 80 (dangerous play)

Att 32

80 minute game

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

The village of Chalgrove lies about 10 miles southeast of Oxford, and was the site of a small English Civil War skirmish, the Battle of Chalgrove Field on 18th June 1643. The result was a Royalist victory, and the Parliamentarian John Hampden was wounded in the battle, as a result of which he died six days later.

Hampden was one of the 5 members of Parliament whose attempted unconstitutional arrest by King Charles I in the House of Commons in 1642 sparked the Civil War. The towns of Hampden, Maryland, Hamden, Connecticut and Hampden, Maine, as well as the county of Hampden, Massachusetts are named in his honour. A statue of the great parliamentarian is to be found in the Market Square, Aylesbury, and a monument near to where he was shot is in Chalgrove Field.

The football play at the Back Rec’ and it certainly is well named. The only clue I found to its location was the full car park at the village hall. You walk across a smaller pitch, then beyond the tennis courts, then its over a footbridge to the pitch. It feels like you’re walking out of the village and into the countryside. Its bucolic at the end of April, but I can imagine it being bleak in summer. The 13th century parish church of Saint Mary the Virgin provides a quintessentially English backdrop.

This is Chalgrove’s first season in the OSL. They had applications for both this league, and the North Berkshire, Chalgrove lies comfortably in both League’s footprints. Both Leagues accepted them, in fact when I attended the NBFL’s AGM there was a constitution with Chalgrove’s name on it, crossed out! They plumped for the OSL as they felt they would have to travel less.

It’s worked out well for them, as they went in to this game needing a point to confirm promotion to the Premier Division. Perhaps understandably, it was a tight nervy opening few minutes with for me the visitors looking marginally the more promising. One decision, the penalty for an ill-advised tackle, altered the entire game. Yarnton were adamant is wasn’t a penalty but then Chalgrove were just as certain it was! I thought it looked harsh, but it didn’t worry Simon Godfrey who buried the spot kick. That lead was doubled on the stroke of half time by Keith Coleman who fired home following some poor defending.

The second half saw Yarnton come on strongly, and Jay Johnson’s long distance strike was justice at the very least. However, Chalgrove brought on Nick Skiller and in a mere 15 minutes he’d collected a hat trick and won his side promotion.

The final action saw Johnson be on the receiving end of a tough challenge on the right wing. Before the referee had a chance to blow for the foul, he got up, and scythed his opponent down, the ball an irrelevance. Johnson was dismissed, his season now over, but the was correctly awarded to Yarnton. That was floated in, and evaded everyone except for Jordan Chalal who tapped in at the back post for the final touch of the game.

An odd coda to an interesting game that attracted a decent crowd on a warm evening. I for one will watch Chalgrove’s progress in the higher division. They look a well-run club. Just allow yourself a little extra time to find the pitch!

Blessed

25 Thursday Apr 2013

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Tuesday 23rd April 2013 ko 18.00

Banbury, District & Lord Jersey League Division Four

G.Y.F.T.I.D. 7 (S Saleh 14 A Williams 22 Ali 27 Robertson 30p 53 80 Vikanis 37p)

WOODFORD UNITED “C” 0

Att 16 (head count)

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

On the face of it a game in the bottom division of a local league, on Pitch 2 of Easington Rec’ in Banbury isn’t the type of game to inspire. Add to the mix that the opposition are the 5th XI of a side rock bottom of the Southern League Central Division, with real money worries, and I did wonder whether we’d get a game at all. A few groundhoppers will read this and think, “Well I don’t do reserve sides,” well my only comment on that would be to state that you missed a real gem this evening.

The Easington district of Banbury is a classic case of a village being swallowed up being up by its larger neighbour. It was first noted in 1279  and was a rural estate attached to the former Calthorpe Manor. Over the years the land was slowly built on to the extent that the 1919 Housing Act was followed by the building of the Easington housing estate of 361 council houses in what was one of the first slum clearance schemes in the country.

Easington Rec’ or Park, if you believe the notice at the entrance is a benefit of that planning, a wide expanse of green, with two football pitches, a children’s play area, and a changing room denuded of its windows. On a warm evening it was a pleasure to spend a couple of hours in the company of the Banbury and Lord Jersey League.

Inevitably I had to get one question answered. Yes, you’re probably thinking it too! The answer is Global Youth For Talent In Diversity, and their Twitter biography states that they are “A dynamic organization creating change in the lives of young people.” They are very much the brainchild of Rev Browne, whose quiet authority was an obvious guide to everything his young charges did. GYFTID are a diverse group of people brought together by a love of sport, and it was clear that the whole group pulled together despite obvious differences in race, culture, and experience.

It reminded me of many years ago when I captained my university’s 6th XI. Being the bottom team at college, I got the players no one else wanted, plus those who turned up fancying a game on a Wednesday afternoon. One day I had an away tie, and 3 Asian lads turned up who I’d never seen before. They were dressed “Gangsta” style, in bandanas and tracksuits and on the coach kept themselves to themselves, speaking in Urdu during the journey. Once however they were kitted out and ready to play, everything changed and they were great lads to play alongside and socialize with afterwards. The 19-year-old me learned a valuable lesson that day and I suspect it’s a similar one that the Rev Browne is teaching his young charges.

Except one of them isn’t quite so young. I hope centre half Steve Hatt won’t mind me mentioning his age, he’s 52, and there’s a sparkle in his eye; he clearly loves playing alongside lads half his age. He said, “I don’t mind, I pass the ball, they do the running!”

I enjoyed a chat with stand-in goalkeeper Darius Browne. He’s “Rev’s” son and didn’t mind playing in goal, although he did produce a few saves that did seem to be purely for the spectators, and League Rep’ Paul Harper was serenaded with a few bars of “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone!”

Paul was there to help referee Gino Spiro in his first adult game, and I if Paul hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have noticed. He did well, although Rev Browne’s influence was enough to make sure nothing unsporting could happen. When you live by your principles its easier to influence others by them. Rev chose to name himself as a substitute, and it reminded me of the genesis of another local football club started by another Reverend, the Rev John Scott-Tucker in 1893. That club was Headington United, now Oxford United.

Woodford did their best, but bottom with 4 points all season points to a team playing for nothing more than pride, and they will certainly finish the season with that intact. GYFTID could and should have reached double figures, only profligate finishing in the second half prevented that.

In truth, the game rather petered out as Woodford wilted and GYFTID realised that the hard was work was finished. Of course they play for more than just victory in a mere football match, I was amazed when the players came to me to shake my hand at the final whistle. I strolled back to my car having come to a conclusion. Yes my hosts are gifted, but more than anything else, they’re blessed.