Category Archives: K

A sense of Dacorum

29 Thursday Dec 2011

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Tuesday 27th December 2011 ko 12.00pm

Spartan South Midlands League Division One

KINGS LANGLEY 4 (Noonan 24 90 Warrell 26 Armstrong 90)

LONDON COLNEY 0

Att 130 (record gate receipts of £340)

Entry & Programme £4

Tea-in-a-mug 70p

The village lies on the Southern Edge of the Chiltern Hills, and its western portion lies in Dacorum. The borough includes the towns of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, and Tring. It was once the location of Kings Langley Palace, a royal palace of the Plantagenet kings of England. The village is perhaps best known for being the location of the Ovaltine factory, now long since closed and converted to flats.

If the film “Field of Dreams,” espoused the comment “Build it and they will come,” then this fixture suggested a comment of “Set and stick to an unusual kick off time and they will come.” Continue reading →

Wingless Wonders

22 Thursday Dec 2011

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Saturday 16th July 2011 ko 7.00pm

J-League Division 1

VISSEL KOBE 4 (Matusuoka 2 Poppo 54 Park 57 Okubo 89p)

CEREZO OSAKA 1 (Bo-Kyung Kim 67)

Att 14,961

Entry & Programme 3,000 yen (prices hiked by 500 yen for the local derby)

Beer (thanks Erkki!) 500 yen

Nepalese Chicken Curry & Rice 800 yen

So the only revisit on my Japanese tour, and what a great way to do it, with some of the friends I met along the way, and Peter, without whom I simply wouldn’t have been there. Many thanks to you.

It was fun seeing the ground from a different perspective, from that of an away fan. Still totally safe, and Japanese queuing culture was very much in evidence as we waited to get in. I tried out the Nepalese Curry, which was delicious, and I tried to thank as many of new new friends as I could with my one word of Japanese- 感謝!

The only issue was the darned game! Put simply, Cerezo didn’t turn up! From start to finish, they looked like third place in a two horse race. So bad were they, you didn’t even notice calamity keeper Kim, and after the match Brazilian striker Rodrigo Pimpao was informed his services were no longer required.

But still the fans sang their hearts out, but after the final whistle something happened that is extremely unusual. The players came over to the away end to bow to the fans, and were roundly booed. They looked shocked, but the boos and catcalls continued until the players left the pitch. Then normal service resumed, the kit was neatly folded, litter tidied and everyone quietly went home.

I asked later what the fans were shouting. “Mostly play better next time,” was the gist of it. Polite to the last. I like that.

Empty Vissels

20 Tuesday Dec 2011

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Saturday 9th July 2011 ko 7.00pm

J-League Divsion One

VISSEL KOBE 0

NAGOYA GRAMPUS 1 (N Nakamura 84)

Att 17,568

Entry & Programme  2,500 yen

Towel Scarf 1,500 yen

Badge 760 yen

After a happy day’s sightseeing in Kobe, I took the subway out to the suburbs to the Home’s Stadium (and yes the apostrophe is in the correct place!). The ground used to be called the Wings stadium during its stint as a World Cup venue, as the extended stands behind each goal stuck out from the curved stands. Since then they’ve been truncated to allow a retractable roof and air conditioning to be installed.

It was slightly daunting getting a ticket as everyone seemed to be in queue for something! There seemed to be a wide disparity between the cheapest and most expensive seats, so I did the simple thing and bought a cheap ticket for behind the goal, in the home end. It was obvious even at this early stage that there was no possibility of any trouble. In fact both sets of fans were happily mingling, sat together eating something from the wide range of cuisine on offer.

I headed round to the home end, and discovered not only were the programmes free, you could take as many as you wanted! Since the seats were not reserved I found a reasonable seat and discovered a paper banner as the fans were to do a mass display when the teams came out. It had the words to most of the chants on the back. The lyrics were in Japanese,  but thoughtfully the tune to sing it to was printed in english! That revealed that one song would be to the tune, “River Kwai March!”

And this will be my abiding memory of football in Japan. Friendly, courteous clubs and fans, but once the game starts, the fans go bananas! Cheerleaders with megaphones whip the fans up into a frenzy. But for all of that, its always positive, and at the end of the match, they cheer the team, win or lose. After that tidy up the litter, fold up the flags and quietly go home.

And on this occasion the Vissel fans had plenty to complain about. They could and should have won this easily. However they conspired to miss chance after chance, and were made to pay when Naoshi Nakumura’s 25 yard dipping volley stunned the crowd. It was all a little too late for Vissel ( an amalgam of Vessel for Victory by the way) and it all ended rather tamely. The Nagoya fans (the Eight bit has been dropped, but it remains on the badge), went wide, for it was a great victory for them.

This is it!

20 Tuesday Dec 2011

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Friday 8th July 2011 ko 7.00pm

Japan Football League

ZWEIGEN KANAZAWA 1 (James 40)

HONDA FC 0

Att 1,658

Entry, Fan, and Programme 1,500 yen

Badges 1,500 yen

Stickers 800 yen

Towel Scarf 1,200 yen

In many ways this day was the perfect day for a groundhopper like me. The day was spent visiting Kanazawa Castle and the Kenrokuen gardens. That was followed by a thorough wash and shave in a public baths, and after 35 degree heat and 90% humidity trust me you need it, a trip to see a 7.00pm kick off.

I should explain the Japanese pyramid. Top is the J-League First Division, then the second division, and the JFL is the 3rd and last national tier. Below you get the regional leagues followed by the prefectoral ones. More of those…. later!

The Ishikawa Seibu Ryokuchi Stadium is conveniently placed in a park right by the main freeway, and is adjacent to another impressive stadium. It’s far too big for Kanazawa’s needs being the largest in the JFL but the club do their best to make it feel homely. The German Zwei, or two is a reference to the fact that this is the second Kanazawa team to try to make it big. If simply being friendly and well-organised is a guide, then they’ll have no problems.

Ah yes, that teamsheet. Usual thing, I asked for the lineups, and the next thing is I’m handed a pass and a media guide. Quite a souvenir!

The game was a fair summary of my take on the Japanese game throughout my stay. Some sublime passing and individual skill, but sometimes rather naiive, and just about every team needs a 30 goal a season striker.

This was a highly entertaining game, and I was pleased to pick up my first towel scarf. That’s an interesting Japanese take on the football staple. If you’re going to watch a game in the heat, why would you want something woollen? Zweigen have ambitions for elevation to the J-League 2 whilst the visitors as a works team are forbidden from any further promotions. They could simply divest themselves of the works link, as many other teams have, or just accept their fate.

But the abiding memory will be just how well organised and friendly it all was. With the game still clearly learning, this was something more established footballing nations can learn from the Japanese.

Germany, but only just!

17 Monday Oct 2011

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Sunday 16th October 2011 ko 11.00am

Kreisliga A Aachen

SV 1927 KOHLSCHEID e.V. 4 (Savelsburg 30 Sendscheid 32 39 Ronneie 81)

SV RHENANIA 05 WÜRSELEN 1 (Böhnen 59)

Att 132 (h/c)

Entry €3

Programme FREE

Coffee €1

So, after leaving Belgium we managed to be in 3 countries within 2 hours. From Belgium to Holland, then a mere 5 miles into Germany, and the Casinostrasse, Hertzogenrath. In fact, I bought a cup of coffee in Holland, drank it in Germany, and disposed of the cup back in Belgium!

In German Kreis means circle, or less literally local, and this level of football is towards the bottom of the German pyramid, Kreisklasse does need to be seen to be believed!

Whilst I’m always up for a game, and especially in a new league,  I wasn’t expecting much at all. I was not so much surprised, more amazed, firstly at the well appointed ground, but the major surprise was the excellent programme!

We decamped to the clubhouse where the 2 English visitors caused a little disbelief! “You come all the way here to watch this?” As a hopper I live for comments like that!

It was easy enough to get the lineups, and I got talking to the announcer. It transpires that the visitors have a rich history, playing in the top flight of German football pre-Bundesliga. One of the trainers of the German national side started his career at Würselen.

Not much to call between the two sides in a good passing game whose skill level far exceeded my expectations. The main difference was Fabian Sendscheid who took his goals well, to put the game well beyond the visitors before half time. The seond half eased off a little, perhaps inevitably, but this was a mighty fine game, at a fine ground, a little off the beaten track.

Win a holiday in Jura

09 Sunday Oct 2011

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Saturday 8th October 2011 ko 6.30pm

Hellenic League Premier Division

KIDLINGTON 3 (Coyle 34 Curtin 47 73)

ARDLEY UNITED 4 (D Beckett 5p 84 Thorne 24 Bryan 43)

Att 158 (h/c)

Entry £5

Programme £1

Bacon Roll & Cheesy Chips £3.10

So, the final game of this mini-hop was at Yarnton Road, and unlike poor old Witney, this club are right at the heart of the local community. The facilities, are nowhere near as good as at Downs Road just two squat “Arena” stands, but the clubhosue does a roaring trade seven days a week, and that allows the football team to thrive. On this occasion they were bested by a resurgent Ardley United managed by former Oxford United and Banbury United legend Kevin Brock. Ardley have a strong ex Banbury United flavour, in fact at times I felt I was watching the Banbury side I enjoyed around 7 years ago when I’d moved to the town. It seems such a long time ago now….

One of the throng watching was Pete Hack. Pete reminds me of a bluesman, in that the restrictions put upon him has made him groundhop in a really interesting way. He runs the Whisky shop in Oxford’s historic Covered Market, which means he works every single Saturday afternoon. So he watches student football, the Sunday game, anything he can. A bluesman restricts himself to 3 chords, Pete’s restricted to non-Saturday afternoons. His hopping CV is, as a result, highly unusual and interesting. With the late kick off he was able to attend and brought a bit of a bonus. The Jura distillery have a competition to win a trip to the island, but Pete’s customers couldn’t be bothered to fill out the postcards to enter. So, at half time we had the sight of hoppers frantically filling in postcards, wondering whether there’s any football played on Jura! Anyone know?

That shouldn’t detract from the game which was excellent, and in my opinion the best two teams of the day. I always felt that Ardley were the better team, but the result was in doubt for the full 90 minutes, and that whether you’re a spectator, official, or groundhop organiser is all you’re looking for.