Category Archives: H

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.

Gentlemen No Swearing Please

10 Tuesday Apr 2012

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Saturday 7th April 2012 ko 4.45pm

Northern Counties East Division One

HALLAM 1 (Getliff 88)

TEVERSAL 0

Att 212

Entry & Programme Hop Ticket

150 year brochure FREE

When we put this hop together there was one ground that loomed large, Hallam’s Sandygate, as it’s the oldest football ground in the world, and the club the second oldest behind Dronfield based Sheffield FC. On the coach we were a little nervous about how long we would need to cross Sheffield, but the traffic was kind and we reached S10 in plenty of time.

The first ever challenge match at Sandygate took place against Sheffield FC, on Boxing Day 1860. This is still believed to be the first ever inter-club game. The club also holds the Youdan Cup named after a local football enthusiast Thomas Youdan. This is believed to have been the first cup competition and the oldest football trophy in the world which remains the property of the club as it was won outright by Hallam in 1871. Although lost for a number years it was bought back from a Scottish antique dealer in 1997.

The club understandably trades on its “Oldest Ground status,” but the visit of the hop was also the start of something new for the club. Having been left a sizable bequest from a fan, the club have built an impressive new clubhouse, complete with some impressive signed shirts! This game was to be its opening bow. Although this was my second visit to the ground, the thing I’d forgotten was just how steep the slope is! So steep is it that our conversation soon turned to comparisons with the infamous slope at Chard. That slope for those who haven’t been, is far more acute than here, and is frankly jaw-dropping.

I’d got the impression from NCEL officials that the club might struggle with the hop crowd. I had to sort out getting a team sheet pinned up somewhere prominent, and the club were surprised that Chris and I would do the crowd count. Both were in the notes to clubs, but were easily sorted out. I was disappointed that the club quickly ran out of badges, but the 150 years brochure was a nice touch and made up for a poor programme. All in all, the club coped reasonably well with the crowd, and our coach driver Godfrey was pleased at the excellent hospitality he received.

I spoke to the Hallam officials prior to kick off and they didn’t seem at all confident at their team’s chances. Right from kick off in became obvious why. Hallam played with absolutely no confidence, and unfortunately for the neutrals, Teversal soon became sucked into the malaise. The game was the quintessential nil-nil bore draw until, with the hoppers beginning to move towards the exit, Craig Getliff rifled in from just outside the box. A stunning strike utterly out of step with the rest of the game, but a goal’s and goal and we continue.

Estuary English

02 Friday Mar 2012

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Wednesday 29th February 2012 ko 7.45pm

Western League Premier Division

HALLEN 3 (Andrews 11 Bright 69 King 86)

RADSTOCK TOWN 0

Att 62

Entry & Programme £6

Badge £3

Pie £1.50

Tea £1

So, how did you spend your “extra” day? I finally got round to visiting a team I’d seen about 10 years ago away at Bideford, and found their story interesting. They’d had a long stint in the Hellenic League and had fought tooth and nail to be transfered to the Western League, eventually taking their case to the FA to get their way.

Hallen is on the southernmost edge of Gloucestershire, close to the Severn estuary. You can see the red lights atop the Avonmouth and Second Severn Bridges from the ground. The village has a rural feel to it, with its pub and war memorial but is marooned, trapped between the M49, M5 and the M4 to the north. Despite the M5 being clearly visible from the village, it takes a good 10 minutes to drive from the Cribbs Causeway turn on the M5 to reach the ground.

Co-incidentally the Hallen Centre ground was built at least in part from monies secured from the sale of the land that allowed the huge Cribbs Causeway shopping complex to be built. The Asda Store in its former guise of Carrefour was once the largest supermarket in the UK.

The money has allowed the club to build an excellent ground, with the undoubted centrepiece being the Frank Fairman stand, which wouldn’t look out of place at a ground of a far higher status. That said the club haven’t rested on their laurels, as the new turnstile block was put to work for the first time. It’s a converted bus shelter, with the turnstiles themselves being procured for a cut-down price, second hand from a firm near Henley-on-Thames! As ever it was the people involved with the club that made the place, as I learned more about the club, and their hopes for the future.

On the pitch I felt the score was a little rough on Radstock who looked a competant side. It was they who made the better start with neat clipped passing catching the home defence cold, but other than a snap shot that shaved the outside of the post it all came to nothing. Hallen took the lead after ten minutes when Billy George crossed to the far side of the penalty area. Radstock keeper Austin Byfield blocked Tom Collett’s shot only for Greg Andrews to follow up to pass into the empty net.

Radstock always looked dangerous, but Hallen’s second goal on 69 minutes killed the game. Neat passing play between George, Collett and Jaz Bright resulted with the full-back overlapping, completely missed by the defence, and firing home.

I was having a chat with the one of the substitutes, Ryan King at this point. He thought as I did that Radstock were worth at least a goal but it wasn’t to be, as it was to be to be him who had the final say, coming on to side-foot home from the edge of the box.

So, two “H’s” in two days, and in both cases excellent visits. I’ll look on both with considerable fondness.

The Long and the Short of it

01 Thursday Mar 2012

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Tuesday 28th February 2012 ko 7.45pm

Spartan South Midlands League Division One

HARPENDEN TOWN 2 (Burns 52 B Warren 77) B Warren sent off 90 (2nd booking)

LANGFORD 2 (Forsythe 34 Garrett 45) Forsythe missed penalty 86

Att 32

Entry £4

Programme £1

Tea-in-a mug 50p

It has to be said that the Hertfordshire town of Harpenden is extremely well-to-do. You drive past wine bars and exclusive restaurants, en route to Rothampsted Park. The local supermarket is a Waitrose. Amongst the famous living there have been Eric Morecambe, John Motson, and Ellen Terry. There is however, nothing snooty about the welcome at the town’s football club. Continue reading →

Daddy’s Scored!!!

19 Sunday Feb 2012

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Saturday 18th February 2012 ko 3.00pm

FA Vase 5th Round

HERNE BAY 1 (Campbell 86)

LARKHALL ATHLETIC 0

Att 612

Entry £7

Programme (reissue from last week’s postponement) £2

Badge £2

I have a soft spot for this competition, for sides 5 or more promotions from the Football League. There’s a Wembley Final, and unlike its bigger brothers, the Cup and Trophy, all the participants take it totally seriously, to the point that some refuse promotion so they can continue to enter!

The Kent town of Herne Bay lies close to Whitstable, on the south bank of the Thames Estuary. TV game show host Bob Holness hailed from the town, but the place is most famous for Sir Barnes Neville Wallis whose invention, the bouncing bomb, was developed and tested at nearby Reculver. The bomb was most famously used in World War II to destroy the Möhne Dam, as immortalised in the film “The Dambusters.”

Winch’s Field is set in a residential area, well away from the coast. It really is an Isthmian League ground in waiting with cover on all 4 sides, a club shop, and a spacious bar, There’s even a community radio station! The clubhouse sees service during the week as “Kiddies Corner” kindergarten, which probably explains the little garden along one perimeter fence! The real oddity though is the block containing the changing rooms, executive seating and the dugouts, I’ve never seen something like that before. However I’m not quite sure what the plastic deer on the grass back opposite are there to achieve!

The game was a high quality passing affair that at times was incredibly frustrating as neither side could find the killer pass to create a gilt-edged chance. Bay were clearly the better side but they made life difficult for themselves on 29 minutes when they had Tom Parker sent off. Herne Bay’s Michael Turner’s studs up challenge on Ross Beazer saw him lucky to stay on the pitch. A 20 man melee ensued and Parker received his marching orders for a punch on Larkhall’s Gary Thorne.

For the second half I decided to place myself behind the near goal, and a few minutes in, a young lady and her children arrived. She asked what the score was, and pointed out “Daddy,” James Campbell to her children.

The game looked like it was heading towards extra-time then a replay, when Michael Jenner drove a free-kick from the left into the penalty area. The ball evaded Larkhall keeper Chris Snoddy, and Campbell ghosted in at the far post to tap into an empty net. Amid wild celebrations “Mrs Campbell” turned to her young son, ” Daddy’s scored!” The reply was “Oh, can we go home then?”

Larkhall threw everything they had into the few minutes left. Substitute Tom Welch’s  35-yard free kick forced Eason to dive full-length to his left, but the ball bounced off the top of the crossbar and clear. With seconds left Welch again was on target, this time Eason dived low at the bottom corner to paw the ball round the post.

The final whistle sparked wild celebrations, but there was a nasty moment which the referee failed to spot. Amid the celebrations Tom Parker had made his way back on to the pitch and started to bait Gary Thorne, who had pensively squatted down. Fortunately Thorne showed restraint, and Parker was removed from the scene by a fellow player.

When I’d walked through the turnstiles around 2 hours earlier I’d looked at this fixture as being for the right to lose to Whitley Bay at some point. With the other Bay now knocked out, the competition looks wide open.

Dog of Five Head

12 Thursday Jan 2012

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Tuesday 10th January 2012 ko 7.45pm

Wessex League Premier Division

HORNDEAN 0

WINCHESTER CITY 1 (Mills 89p) White missed penalty 56

Att 70

Entry £5

Programme FREE

Tea £1

Bacon Cheeseburger £2

Horndean is a small village around 8 miles north of Portsmouth. Its claim to fame is it’s where Gales Ales used to be produced, before the brewery was bought by Fullers and closed.

5 Heads Park is to be found the north of the village, a nearby pub, The Colonial, is the site of the village’s long since closed workhouse. On entering the ground I immediately felt a sense of Oxford United’s former home, The Manor Ground, the pitch slopes in exactly the same way, from bottom left to top right! I was given a programme, or rather a shell, for free as the match inserts hadn’t turned up. A few days later, I’m now in possession of the missing insert, Continue reading →

School’s Out!

22 Thursday Dec 2011

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Saturday 16th July 2011 ko 2.30pm

Junior High School Friendly

HANNAN 3 (6 8 12)

SHIRASAGI 0

Att 3 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No programme

Drinks via vending machines

@Tsurumi Ryokuchi Stadium, Tsurumi Ward, Osaka

Very much a case of get what you can. The park, Ryokuchi means Green Plaza by the way, is in the east of Osaka, and features swimming pools, cycling and jogging trails, and peaceful seating areas, although it is the flowers that have become the main attraction here. A massive attraction in Japan in early spring is gazing at the blossom, and Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park is a popular place to indulge the hobby.

As for the the Stadium well, it’s a municipal edifice originally built for American Football, but converted to 4G, and association rules. It’s huge given that the highest level of football regularly played there is the 4th tier Kansai League. The stadium was used for the 2001 East Asian games football tournament, together with the Nagai Number 1 stadium (Cerezo Osaka) and the Osaka Expo ’70 Stadium (Gamba Osaka). Nearby is a swimming pool, tennis courts, even the park’s own subway station. Pete and I were due to watch a Kansai League game there and soon discovered that it had been moved from the Saturday to the Monday, a public holiday, and all there was to watch was a friendly between 2 Junior High School teams.

Now at this point you may have picked up on the fact that this was at roughly midday and the authorities were asking teenagers to play at the height of the heat and humidity. After, all the professionals don’t play until the evening! In Japan football is a summer sport despite it being a northern hemisphere country. The reason is due to the fact that roughly 4 northern teams do get significant snow during winter, and so staging and travelling to games would be difficult. I’m bound to say that in a country renowned for its ingenuity, I’m surprised a work-around hasn’t been found as it was really very warm even to watch!

Well, it was truncated, but the game was perfectly watchable, and yes, it counts because what are the chances of me ever returning?