Saturday 27th January 2024 ko 14:00

Witney & District League Division 2

LEAFIELD 1 (I Ribeiro 19)

YARNTON A 2 (Fouracre 26 Payne 46)

Att c10

Free Entry

If it’s my lot to slowly visit all the grounds of the Witney & District League like this, I’ll be quite happy. I’d remembered passing by Leafield between Milton-under-Wychwood and Minster Lovell on the first Witney Hop and wondering why I hadn’t put them on too! The truth of it, is that my geography of this part of West Oxfordshire wasn’t great, and in any case I was happy with the clubs we visited back in 2019.

I suspect most will remember Leaford for the Technical Centre in nearby Langley, used by Formula 1 teams such as Arrows, Super Aguri and Caterham. In fact, the original site was used as a radio transmission station from 1912 to 1986, the cars came after a stint as BT Training College. I had a scout around before the game, its fenced off, with a security detail behind, amid plans afoot to turn the place into a holiday resort. I have to say I can’t see a resort there, but what would I know? Butlin’s F1 anyone?

But you could easily visit pretty Leafield without ever seeing the Technical Centre. I could have easily have done, travelling in via North Leigh then Finstock with the pang of regret that until AC Finstock reform, that’s one I’ve missed out on. I’ll blame it all on the trains, Finstock station is the least used in Oxfordshire, with just one up and down train each day, Monday to Friday.

But perhaps Leafield should be best known for football anyway, as the village sports field is a little gem with the most rustic bench since Challow FC folded and the George Gilbert Scott designed Church of St Michael & All Angels does provide quite a backdrop. Incidentally if you’ve ever visited the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, you’ve seen more of Scott’s work.

But with all due respect to Mick Ody who runs Leafield FC what makes them unusual is that on the pitch at least you are far more likely to hear Portuguese spoken than English, as almost all the players are Brazilian! It seems that it all started a few years ago when a couple of Brazilians turned up for training. They enjoyed themselves so brought their friends along with the situation now that by and large the first XI is Brazilian and the second XI English. I did remind me of Middle Barton who featured two Brazilians during their Hellenic League days. One of them had the pen picture in the programme, and I quote, “Local lad, from Brazil,” which is a little beyond comment!

It seems to work well, in fact the only problem is that both firsts and reserves are bottom of Divisions 2 and 3 respectively and since the 3rd division is the league’s lowest and you can’t play reserves and firsts in the same there’s a possibility of a real log-jam come the AGM. Hopefully it won’t come to that, as despite losing this there was plenty to suggest that there’s enough for them to stay in Division 2.

Groundhoppers will no doubt be interested to know that Yarnton A play their home games at Tackley the ground that convinced me the Witney Hop ought to have Sunday fixtures, and produced a sausage connection! Here the cultural cliches more or less played out as organisation eventually prevailed over flair. Incidentally, Yarnton’s firsts play in the Oxon Senior League at the Littlemarsh Playing Field; that ground really is a must-visit, particularly if you like trains!

The nets were taken down and I contemplated the recently flooded roads on the way back to Finstock, I half walked, half squelched back to the car, very quietly enjoying the timelessness of it all. I am lucky to live in a lovely part of the world.