Category Archives: H

Bibliophile

02 Sunday Sep 2012

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Saturday 25th August 2012 ko 7.30pm

Mid-Wales League Division 2

HAY ST MARYS 3 (K Jones 26 Goodwin 44p 49)

TALGARTH TOWN 2 (Perry 7 Brooks 87)

Att 317

Entry/Programme Hop Ticket

Badge £3

A quirk of the journey from Presteigne to Hay-on-Wye, is that you spend the vast majority of it in England, ducking back across the Wye only to enter this pretty bibliophile town. That’s right, Hay is Wales’ book town, the English and Scottish equivalents being Sedbergh and Wigtown. It is Hay though which started the practice, although there’s more to the place than just the 30 or so second hand bookshops.

There’s two castles, which as the border has moved over the centuries, have frequently changed hands. The town only really settled down when Wales was taken over by King Edward I Longshanks Continue reading →

Nurture

22 Sunday Jul 2012

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Tuesday 17th July 2012 ko 7.45pm

Pre-season Friendly

HIGHFIELD RANGERS 2 (Oshungere 47 Bond 90)

BORROWASH VICTORIA 5 (Newton 7 9p 24 Thompson 16 Banks 75)

Att 25 (h/c)

At 3G pitch, New College Leicester, Glenfield Road.

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

Sometimes you have to accept the less than ideal to get a new ground to tick off, or in this case a new pitch. When Lee and I drove up the M69 to Leicester, I wondered why Derbyshire based Borrowash would want to travel this far for a friendly, and travelling back afterwards I was none the wiser!

The only reason I can think of its the facility. It’s well appointed, with a spacious clubhouse and changing room block, and other than our game Leicester Storm were playing on a far pitch, trooping to and from the block. Annoyingly the tea bar wasn’t open this evening. After handing over a large envelope of chinese takeaway menus to a fellow hopper who collects them, for some reason I felt peckish!

The 3G pitch is brand new too, and apart from the occasional wire above our heads breaking the flight of the ball, it played beautifully. Beyond the 3G is the pitch used by Allexton & New Parks, newly promoted into the Leicestershire Senior League. A brick-built set of dugouts have appeared since my last visit, but I noticed how bumpy the pitch looked. That will need some attention before thew season starts.

So, the game; nominally at least LSL versus East Midlands Counties League, so one step on the footballing pyramid. Some interesting people too, the friendly Borrowash committee, and it was fun chatting to Mark Wilson their manager. As far as I know I don’t need Police checking to obtain the line-ups. For the hosts the problem wasn’t a CRB check, it was that they didn’t know who many of their players were! But when you’re a club that discovered the likes of Emile Heskey, and have Dion Dublin’s brother Clem as your manager, you let them get on with it!

That lack of knowledge cost Highfield the game, as they conceded 4 goals in 25 minutes, with Shane Newton collecting the easiest hat-trick he’ll ever notch. It didn’t help that Highfield lost their keeper Ben Davies to a knee injury picked up during the scpring of the 3rd goal. It looked nasty, but he seemed determined to turn-up for the night shift at work. ” They’ll sack me if I don’t!” Daniel Magalhaes took over his position, but the damage was irrepairable.

The second half was a poor spectacle, as the rate of substutions increased. Levi Oshungere mugged Victoria for some consolation. The lead was restored by substitute Steve Banks before Tim Bond rounded off the entertainment with Highfield’s second.

Not one to remember with any great fondness, but a useful run-out for both sides. I for one won’t read too much into the result.

“Third” Time

15 Sunday Jul 2012

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Saturday 14th July 2012 ko 12.30pm

Pre-season Friendly

HOLMESDALE 4 (Carnegie 16 Hiwood 37 Spain 64 Wells 89)

ELTHAM PALACE 2 (Axell 38 Harris 71)

Att 19 (h/c)

Played at Chislehurst Recreation Ground, Empress Drive

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

It was an apocalyptically bad drive round the M25 to get to the London Borough of Bromley, in fact at the road’s a southern-most tip by Cobham the rain was bad enough to make 6 lanes of traffic slow.

If my recent trip to Bacon’s College was an exercise in renewing my acquaintance with central London, then this one was a reason to enjoy its south-eastern suburbs. John Betjeman waxed lyrical about London’s north-western suburbs in “Metroland,” but he could have done similar work about this part of the world. There’s a pleasing mix of the urban and rural, the major chain shops together with a duck pond complete with children attempting to fish in it!

This is also Richmal Crompton country too, and you could imagine William Brown and The Outlaws playing in the woods, while his father caught the train, “To do something in the city.” The local Wetherspoon’s pub in Bromley is named after Crompton, and you get the impression that little has changed since the 1920’s when, ” Just William” was set. Even the lamp-posts look as if they’ve been converted from gas!

With the weather as bad as it was, I did wonder whether the game would be on, but ever the optimist, I stumbled on and upheld by intermittent hope, I parked up in Empress Drive, with its large Edwardian houses, and narrow road built without mass car ownership in mind. The ground entrance is in the far corner, an unlikely place, almost an apology, strange given this place has a “Friends of Chislehurst Rec'” group for it. The stream of muddy children leaving told me my journey had not been in vain, and there was the bonus of a little cover too!

The Rec’ is used by Holmesdale as a training base, and although the pitch is short, it held up to the deluge well. The trouble is that everything surrounding it didn’t, and I quickly regretted not wearing boots! The match saw a match-up between Homesdale of the step 5 Kent League, against Eltham Palace, newcomers to the Kent Invicta League at step 6.

Unusually the game was played in three 30 minute periods, which did create a small issue for both benches, as neither could come up with a suitable term for the two breaks. It clearly wasn’t “half time,” and “third time,” just doesn’t sound right! Other than that, and the rolling substutions, you could have been forgiven for thinking this was a normal league game. Both teams worked hard, and their fitness will be all the better for it. The final score flattered Holmesdale, but only slightly, the difference being that extra sharpness in front of goal.

I have to say though I found myself enjoyed this more for the surroundings than the football, good though the game was. That, I suppose is a back-handed complement for a side (Holmesdale) that I’ve managed to see play “home” games twice without ever having visited them at Oakley Road.

The Deep Breath

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

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Sunday 3rd June 2012 ko 15.00

Nord-Rhine Westfalia Liga

SC WESTFALIA HERNE 0

SpVgg VELBERT 6 (Janas 4 9 Onucka 18 69 Kaya 54 59)

Att 200 (Official website)

Entry €7

Programme 50c

Badge €5

Coffee €1

From Essen it was just a couple of stops by train to Bochum, then a U-Bahn ride to Herne. It was clear that Lee had planned the weekend around a visit to Westfalia-Stadion Schloss Strünkede, and the further the train headed towards its terminus the more I found myself anticipating our final game of the tour. We walked across the public park that homes the ground, and glimpsed huge swathes of terracing but it wasn’t until we got through the turnstiles that I understood what I was seeing.

As a traveller I reckon you visit places in the hope of having a “Deep Breath” moment, where you just stop in awe, and, yes take a deep breath. The Kinkaju-Ji Temple in Kyoto provided me with one, as did Niagra Falls. I climbed to the top of the terrace here and had another. A huge 32,000 capacity bowl, with a large bench seated stand providing the only cover. Unbelievably this magnficent stadium, if it were in England could not stage FA Vase games as there are no floodlights.

We had a good walk around, and bought our souvenirs, before picking a seat in the stand as it was raining. Lee had let me know that the NRW-Liga is in fact equal in status to the Oberliga, so we were watching the 5th tier of German football. We would also be watching one of the last games in this league as its being abolished as the level 4 Regionaliga expands from 3 to 5 divisons. None of which was relevant to poor Herne, marooned at the bottom with a mere 12 points. However there was something riding on it for Velbert, a win would give them a playoff spot for promotion. It spoke volumes for how they viewed Herne’s threat that they named several U19 players in their line-up.

It was a ruse that worked perfectly, as Velbert raced into a 2 goal lead with Sebastian Janas being on both occasions the beneficiary. The first he simply walked through a static defence, the second a horrendous Tim Reimann backpass gave him the easiest of opportunities. Herne offered nothing by way of resistance so  it came as little surprise when Markus Kaya placed a delightful cross on to the head of former Herne player Marko Onucka to make it three.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first. Kaya collected a neatly taken brace before putting through Onucka for the sixth. Kaya was then withdrawn, the job was done, and Velbert cruised through the last few minutes for a victory that if more goals had been needed, could have been far more savage.

We walked back to the station, caught a train back to Dormund to collect our bags then made for the airport. An amazing, and varied 4 game programme to celebrate Lee’s impending nuptials. Good luck Lee and Gilly, and thanks to Lee for both organising this, and inviting me along.

The Piano man just caught the last bus home

06 Wednesday Jun 2012

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Sunday 27th May 2012 ko 18.00

Division 6F Stockholm

HÖGDALENS AIS 0

STUVSTA IF 0

Att 35 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No Programme

Coffee 10 sek

From Handen it was back to Stockholm Central on the train then on to the T-bana (underground) green line out south-west to Hagsätra. We actually passed Hammarby’s Söderstadion and the home club’s actual district, on the way to the end of the line.

Hagsätra IP is a pleasant enough location set amongst the trees in suburban Stockholm. The train we’d arrived on rumbled away beyond the far side, and a cafe in the changing room block lost out on some business by closing up early. There’s  an uncovered terrace on the near side, and an ice rink (also uncovered) beyond one goal, but no cover save for a tiny overhang on the changing room block. Not an issue on a warm evening with a barely a cloud in the sky. Continue reading →

The Burning Mountain

06 Wednesday Jun 2012

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Sunday 27th May 2012 ko 14.00

Division 3 Södra Svealand

IFK HANINGE/BRANDBERGEN 3 (Ljobdje 10 87 Gonzalez 58)

IFK ESKILSTUNA 1 (Alias 6)

Att 171 (h/c)

Entry 50sek

No programme

Burger 35sek

Can Coke Zero 10sek

With the car back at the hire company, and Kim and I back in Stockholm, the plan was two games at nearby Skytteholms. Trouble is, I’ve watched games on Skytteholms before, and fine facility though it is, I fancied something new. So, Kim studied the internet and I spent 115sek on a one-day pass on Stockholm’s buses and trains, and away we went.

Torvalla IP is easily found from Handen rail station, in the southern suburbs of Stockholm. This is isn’t blond hair and blue eyed Sweden either, this is an area that’s seen significant Turkish immigration over the years. What that meant in my terms was an excellent barbeque and some interesting names to jot down. This season has seen Haninge absorb local side Brandbergen, which translates as Burning Mountain. That gave the club a place in Division 3 but there seemed to be little other reference to the second name elsewhere.

What the team did have at Torvalla is a choice of pitches. There’s a grass pitch within a running track, but this time the somewhat worn 3G pitch was used. I’d seen Eskilstuna before, a year previously at their Tunavallen home, and they’d looked a decent team. That encounter will always be the time I had a press pass for a free entry game!!

On this occasion Eskilstuna were second best to an extremely solid home side. It didn’t stop the visitors taking the lead, with Henrik Rodriguez crossing from the left and Gabriel Alias heading in from a yard or two out. And that was more or less it from the visitors save for the odd flurry. Put simply Haninge shut them down, and soon found parity as Dario Ljobdje headed powerfully home from Alexis Gonzalez’ corner from the right. Gonzalez scored the second himself, running on to a neat layoff from Stankovic to shoot past Richard Larsson in the visitors’ goal.

Larsson was the best player on show, and may well be one to watch. He’s formerly of Eskilstuna City of Division 1 Södra but opted to drop down to fellow Tunavallen tenants IFK. He’s impressing many so expect a move up soon.

He could do nothing with the winner either, and facsimile of the opener. Again the Gonzalez corner from the left and again the Ljobdje header powered in. So worthy winners, but this was neither a game nor a performance to savour.

Perhaps the real bonus was that Thomas, the coach driver of the Swedish hop came down to see us. He’s no football fan, but enjoys ferrying us around for some reason. Its was lovely to catch up and I put in for a coach with a jacuzzi for this year’s hop!

Behind the Mic

04 Monday Jun 2012

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Wednesday 23 May 2012 ko 19.00

Allsvenskan

HELSINGBORGS 1F 1 (Nordmark 2)

DJURGÅRDENS IF 1 (Span 75)

Att 9,861

Entry 275 sek

Programme FREE

Badge 30 sek

Helsingborg is as close as you can get to Denmark and still be in Sweden. From the Kärnan tower near the waterfront, the views of the straits, and Danish territory are spectacular, and you can also see the Olympia stadium!

The town has been in both Swedish and Danish control (Kärnan was built by the Danes) but today is a hub for several companies. Both IKEA and Nicorette have bases here. Sofiero Castle, a mansion formerly owned by the Swedish royal family is situated 3 miles out of town, and is well worth a visit. Curiously there’s a “Royal Football Pitch,” there. I looked, but sadly saw no posts…

Olympia is very much the modern stadium, with its curved main stand rather reminding me on the new stand at Wrexham, and the huge two tiered edifice opposite. Behind each goal there’s open terracing which since Helsingborgs have qualified for Europe as Allsvenskan champions, will not be open for European nights.

It was oppressively hot and humid as Kim and I took our seats in the top tier of the stand. With the sun shining in our faces it was hard work watching a dull game. We’d had difficulty getting a programme, they were available only on one turnstile, the idea I think being that everyone else would use the centre page spread in the local newspaper! Watching from the top tier got a lot worse when the man sat to my left, woke up from his drunken stupor just long enough to be sick in his lap! He was swiftly ejected, what he left behind wasn’t… We watched the second half from the back of the lower tier.

We were fortunate to get an early goal Daniel Nordmark’s 25 yard free kick was swung in from the left, noone touched the ball but somehow Tommi Vaiho in the away goal failed to position himself properly and the ball trickled in at the back post.

The rest of the half was a poor scrappy affair, a tense midfield battle littered with errors. DIF were played with the the one attacker, and it was hard to see how they could get level. British midfielder James Keene worked hard to support loan striker Ricardo Santos, but they could make little leeway. The trouble for the neutral though was that HIF were doing precious little either.

The changing point for DIF was the replacing of Santos with Andreas Dahlén near the hour mark. Kaspar Hämäläinen saw his shot tipped over the bar, before Peter Nyman’s cross found Brian Span at the back post and he headed home to level the scores.

That sadly was the end of the meaningful action, but neither side deserved a winner in a game that gave no clue as to the host team’s championship status. A postscipt though was that Djurgårdens were staying at our hotel! We have a good chat to James Keene at breakfast next morning. He’s from the Bristol/Bath area and was a product of the Portsmouth youth set-up.  After loan spells at AFC Bournemouth, Kidderminster, and Bristol Rovers, he was tempted over by Gothenburg based GAIS, before signing a for Elfsborg for the next season. He’s on loan to Djurgårdens for this season.

Its a small world isn’t it!

 

It Ain’t Necessarily So

17 Thursday May 2012

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Thursday 17th May 2012 ko 6.30pm

Oxon Senior League Premier Division

AFC HINKSEY 1 (Lawrence 50)

O.U.P. 4 (Hedger 46 72p Pepperall-Gray 60 Lockhart 70p)

Att 35 (h/c)

80 minute game at Pitch 2 Westminster College, Botley

Another day, another OSL game at a ground other than the host team’s home. AFC Hinksey play at Brasenose College’s sports ground along the Abingdon Road in Oxford, but since the students are now playing cricket our game got moved to the home of Westminster FC of the North Berkshire League. Having visited less than a month ago, I really couldn’t raise much enthusiasm for this one, but its a game, and on arrival there was the usual gaggle of hoppers and they were playing on a different pitch to Westminster!

If points win championships then Hinksey have won the league easily. A league official commented that they are the best side in the OSL by far. The problem with them became apparent when I asked them for their line-ups. They were friendly enough but the smell emanating from their bench reminded me of student days. The league official also admitted that Hinksey’s admin was far from up to scratch. “They didn’t send us a result card for 3 months!” He also admitted that the league had charged them with 2 counts of fielding ineligible players, and were worried about the contents of their last result card. Add to that more items of poor administration and he let slip that 12 points could be on the line. And OUP, or to use their full title Oxford University Press, are in second place, just 6 points behind…..Mind you the official did also state that the league wanted the league settled on the pitch, so read into that what you might!

Both teams treated the first half as if nothing depended on it, so lets draw a line overt that 40 minutes. Everything changed when Paul Hedger fired home after 46 minutes, and Hinksey were shaken into life as Triston Lawrence powered home a header from a corner. The trouble is that they soon dozed off again as a defensive howler allowed Andrew Pepperall-Gray to run through and score.

The moment of controversy happen on 70 minutes when Pepperall-Gray looked yards offside when he raced through to score. As he did the referee whistled, and everyone assumed it was for the offside. It wasn’t as he’d blown for a challenge by keeper Martyn Clark, so as the ball had been in play when he’d blown he had to award the penalty. Fortunately justice was served as Neil Lockhart scored from the spot.

Within 2 minutes it was 4, as Lockhart was crudely chopped down in the box by Toby Webster, and this time Paul Hedger took the penalty, sending Clark the wrong way.

So, in the end an easy win for OUP, but the destination of the championship won’t be decided on the pitch, more the smoke-filled rooms. That’s typical of the OSL.

Cathkin

13 Sunday May 2012

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Saturday 12th May 2012 ko 10.00am

Glasgow Colleges League Division One

HAMPDEN 2 (Addison 34 Walker 52)

ST DAVID’S 3 (G Rankin 3 Taylor 25 58)

Att 16 (h/c)

@ Cathkin Park, Glasgow

Entry FREE

Nothing for Sale

So, why would anyone drive from Long Eaton to Glasgow to watch a low grade game on a council pitch? Well this is no ordinary council pitch. From 1872 from 1967 this was the home of Third Lanark AC. The club went bankrupt a mere 6 years after finishing third in the Scottish League, amongst allegations of huge financial mismanagment and corruption. There’s still more to Cathkin though, as prior to Third Lanark moving in it had been home to Queens Park, and known as Hampden Park, the second ground to bear the name. Queens moved a few hundred yards to the third Hampden Park in 1904, and its that’s the Hampden of today.

It wouldn’t mean so much if Cathkin wasn’t so atmospheric. The huge banks of terrace still remain, albeit overgrown in many places, and the open side is where the huge main stand once stood. I’d visited around 15 months ago, and when Chris Berezai suggested it, and with a little change in my pocket going jing-a-ling, I jumped at the chance. The great Scottish football writer Bob Crampsey used to live in Myrtle Park, just beyond the open end, and the there’s been moves afoot to renovate the place a little. The Scottish actor Simon Weir, whose great-grandfather John Weir played for the “Hi-Hi” in the 1910’s has been gradually clearing debris, and has painted the remaining crash barriers Third Lanark red.

There is a revived Third Lanark playing in the amateur ranks, and they did start their existance playing here. Sadly they’ve moved elsewhere, rather defeating the point of their existance, but a club called Hampden strikes me as the next best thing, although I did find the Hibernian-style green kit a bit odd!

So what about the game. Well, this is the top division of a league that started life as a churches league then became a colleges league, when there weren’t enough church sides. Nowadays the participating clubs have little of nothing to do with Colleges, and there are moves afoot to rename the league again. St Davids are this year’s champions, and Hampden third. (The term Third doesn’t half crop up!). The St Davids manager told me about the time former Falkirk, Albion, Arbroath and Brechin midfielder Hugh Hill signed for the club. League rules stipulate that a photo must be provided, so Hill simply handed over his Panini Sticker! His son, also a Hugh, played in our game.

I really wasn’t expecting much of a game, but we were surprised at how good the quality was. Two good sides, on an obviously boggy pitch passed and moved beautifully. At no point did the champions look like losing, and two of the goals were sublime, the passing move that led to Nicky Taylor’s first, and his second a cushioned lob. Both were worthy of a far greater attendance, at a ground I couldn’t decide was either a shrine or a graveyard. What it definately is, is an icon, and one I’m pleased to have seen a game on.

As we left we found an inscription set in the terrace. “Life is short; art long; opportunity fleeting; experience treacherous; judgement difficult.” That aphorism is attributed to the Greek Physician Hippocrates, and I’m not sure its an original feature, but its a fine comment on the demise of a once proud club.

So folks, there’s the league, go find the website, and visit this amazing piece of football history.

Paradise Lost

13 Friday Apr 2012

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Wednesday 11th April 2012 ko 6.25pm

Northants Combination Premier Division

HARPOLE 5 (Clarke 15 18 Markie 55 80 Inns 97)

MILTON 2 (Snooks 46 Cook 65) Billingham sent off 54 (2nd booking) Snooks missed penalty 84

Att 71 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No Programme

This small village in Northamptonshire is not to be confused with the Harpole in Suffolk, immortalised in “Viz,” that famously had Newcastle restaurateur Abdul Latif as its Lord of the Manor! This version is more sedate, there’s a scarecrow festival each September to raise funds for the local church! In the distance you can see the outskirts of Northampton itself.

The agrarian theme continues at the local playing fields, with farmland as their backdrop. There’s a well-appointed clubhouse, with fascinating memorabilia of the clubs highly successful past in the Northants League. There’s two pitches with a cricket square between them; our game took place on the pitch furthest from the clubhouse. Unlike its brother, it sports a skeleton dugout block, and  removable posts and rails. On a bright, if chilly evening it was a pleasant place to watch an excellent game.

With Harpole pushing for the title and Milton worrying near the bottom, it was surprising that Milton opted to play the first few minutes with 10 men, despite having a full complement of substitutes. Michael Betts soon arrived, but I had no other reason to note his name again as Harpole raced into a two goal lead. As if to add injury to insult, Milton keeper Piotr Hajemo took six studs to his ribs from his own defender as Stuart Clarke slid in to guide the ball home.

Callum Snooks pulled one back for Milton immediately after the restart, but Glenn Billingham’s red card for kicking an opponent cost his teammates any chance of a way back into the game. Not that at the time you’d have noticed, as Milton still found it within themselves to miss a penalty! There was an exchange of goals, but Harpole only made the advantage count when their visitors visibly tired. Shaun Markie collected his second, before fellow substitute Darren Inns’ thunderbolt half-volley provided a fitting coda.