Saturday 7th October 2023 ko 15:00

Southern Counties East Premier Division

FAVERSHAM TOWN 5 (Campbell 21 Payne 45 49p Miller 80 Gray 88)

HOLLANDS & BLAIR 2 (Grant 77 90)

Att 563

Entry £10

Programme £2

For me the journey from Rochester to Faversham represented far more than just distance, or even a one division increase in status. It all boiled down to perception, I was surprised to see either Faversham or Whitstable at this level, let alone both. I still see them both as Isthmian League clubs and that fact I knew would impact on how the clubs might approach hosting a groundhop game.

There’s reasons why there are no groundhops above Step 5 but the main one is the impact on both clubs and groundhoppers. The whole nature of an organised event is that all parties, the clubs, the league and the groundhoppers gain enough from the experience to make it all worthwhile. Some might say that the sweet spot is Steps 5 & 6, certainly the vast majority of events have been at these levels, and above it the impact of adding 150 or so on the gate is diluted considerably.

I tend to use Sherborne Harriers as the acid test. There, an off-pyramid club moved heaven and earth to cope with 130 groundhoppers. You simply cannot expect the same from a club well used to dealing with crowds far in excess of that.

We saw it here, Faversham were excellent hosts and it was touching to see an official Roger allocated to use to tell us all about the club and its history. That includes Faversham’s civic coat of arms being based on the Royal Arms of England so they are the only club in England whose badge has three lions passant guardant just like the England team.

Elsewhere the club simply coped admirably with the 150 or so extra on the gate. In fact the only clash of the club’s world and the groundhoppers’ involved the metal badges so many of us collect. Groundhoppers know the going rate, somewhere between £3 and £4 so to see badges costing £15 was something of a culture shock. Of course we weren’t comparing apples with apples these badges were made by jeweller and Chris Berezai was able to sell the humbler badges simply by walking round the crowd and spotting the usual suspects (like me!)

Clearly the biggest change in Salters Lane has been the change to a 3G pitch. Whether you see it as a a money-spinner, a community benefit or a bit of both Faversham certainly made good use of it here. Hollands & Blair were far from being a bad side but the hosts looked talented, well-resourced and motivated and more than lived up to their billing as championship favourites. As far as I’m concerned we were fortunate for the to catch them before they head back to Step 4.

We headed back to Shirley and the bus to find her a little flumoxed. Our driver has absolutely no interest in football so opted to spend the game catching up with a little sleep. Some children spotted her trying to get some shut-eye and one was heard to comment.

“Its a dead body!”

Shirley was awake enough to set them straight I promise!