Category Archives: T

Diversions

27 Thursday Dec 2012

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Wednesday 26th December 2012 ko 11.00

Northern League Division 2

THORNABY 4 (Mitchell 32p 57 66p Morrison 33)

STOKESLEY SPORTS CLUB 3 (Foley 11p Bravo 15 Redman 24)

Att 54

Abandoned after 73 minutes due to player injury

Entry £4

Programme £1

If Christmas Day is for spending with your family and watching the Queen’s message, then Boxing Day is definately for chasing around the country with your friends! This adventure involved picking up Lee at 7am and Chris at 8.15. We were joined by Newhall United secretary Dan Bishop, indulging a spot of groundhopping with his side having no game.

The self styled Poundland Peter Ustinov brought his “Viz” annuals along, and kept us all amused during a 500 mile day. The original plan was to watch games at Marske, then Harrogate Town, but with the weather as wet as it was we were prepared with fixture lists, phone numbers, and all kinds of Twitter accounts. Harrogate fell early Continue reading →

Mannschaftsaufstellung

07 Sunday Oct 2012

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Sunday 30th September 2012 ko 11.00am

Kreisliga 2 Süd München

SpVgg THALKIRCHEN FREUNDSCHAFT 3 (Broch 24 43 Stoier 90)

SV ISTIKLAL MÜNCHEN 2 (Durmaz 47 77)

Att 47 (h/c)

Entry €4

Programme FREE

Badge €3

From Wackersbergstraße to the Bezirkssportanlage Thalkirchner Straße, is a mere one kilometre, so making kick-off shouldn’t have been a problem, except parking proved to be a real issue. You don’t expect the car park to be full for a Sunday morning Kreisliga (local league)  game, but when we worked out how to locate to the football pitch (use the entrance marked 207) we arrived a few seconds before kick-off. The fripperies of programmes and badges were easily obtained, but what required our immediate attention was the ground. With over 5000 grounds between us, none of the four of us had seen anything like it before.

It’s hard to know where to start with a description. The main entrance makes you immediately think of a Continue reading →

Stop me and buy one

02 Sunday Sep 2012

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Sunday 26th August 2012 ko 11.30am

Mid-Wales League Division One

TYWYN/BRYNCRUG 4 (Edmondson 27 Holt 42 54 Grant 44p)

BOW STREET 0

Att 267

Entry/Programme Hop Ticket

Badge £3

Ice Cream £1

Sunday beckoned, and its a factor of the longer hops that you inevitably feel slightly more tired than the day before. Not great when there’s two full days’ hopping left! Still, the weather was glorious, and there was a happy hubbub on my coach as Alan left Newtown and headed west to the Gwynedd coast.

Perhaps it was fortune, or Minsterley Coaches supplying the perfect man for the job, but I soon spotted that Alan wasn’t bothering with either a map or sat-nav. I asked if he was happy where he was going, and he said,”

“Absolutely! I’ve played at most of these grounds, I’m just trying to remember whether this one’s on the left or right side of the road!”

Now, just for the record, it was on the right, and Alan had guessed correctly, so we pulled into Cae Chwarae in plenty of time to meet the club officials and see what was on offer.

Nowadays Tywyn is a tourist haven, but in 1990 a high tide and rough seas caused the town’s flood defences to be breached.  4 square miles of land was flooded, affecting 2,800 properties and causing areas of the resort to be evacuated. The coastal defences have since been reconstructed and significantly enhanced as a result.

Even though the football club plays a mile or two north at Bryncrug (pronounced Brin-creeg) its Tywyn that provides the identity, and a particularly delicious honey flavoured ice cream that sold very well for £1. Bryncrug’s history is a little more puritan, being where Mary Jones settled after famously walking barefoot for 25 miles from Llanfihangel-y-Pennant to Bala, in order to buy a bible.

Referee Mark Farington seemed totally unconcerned as he let Chris jot down the line-ups to put on our new whiteboard. I got the distinct impression that he’d have approached the game the same if there’d had been 20, 200, or 20,000 present.

I had just enough time to explore my surroundings before kick-off; there’s only 2 sides available for viewing, and a steward assiduously patrolled behind a goal lacking a rail. There’s a small 50 seat stand set at an angle to the pitch, that had its view impeded by the sheer number of hoppers present. I didn’t get to see much of the game during the first half, what with chatting with Paul from the North-West Counties League, and to club officials, and doing the crowd count. The warm weather made for a pleasant morning’s viewing, and everything was going swimmingly.

Still, I did get to see Bow Street have a goal disallowed for a dubious looking offside, before Tywyn took the game by the scruff of the neck. Mark Edmondson’s strike gave them the lead and two goals just before half-time ended Bow Street’s interest in the tie.

After the break I did get to see more of the game, and Paul Tolchard very kindly helped me to fill in the gaps. The law of sod, of course means that the bit you can see is never as good as the bit you missed!

Captain Matthew Jones was clearly leading from the front and Tywyn clearly decided to tighten up and defend what they’d got. Bow Street tried hard but found no answer to some stout defending, and you wondered at what point they would over-commit themselves.

Unfortunately for them that happened within 10 minutes of the restart, Ben Holt taking advantage of some slack defending. The remainder of the game saw Tywyn dominating and it always looked inevitable that our little run of both teams scoring would end.

Near the end I spied Taunton-based Martin Bamforth looking rather nonplussed, I asked why, and he revealed why. He’d won a spoon on the club’s tombola, but wondered he he needed to enter again to win the knife and fork!

Trying not to laugh, I found Alan and Clive, as they’d had to a park up a short distance from the ground and gathered everyone for the short trip south to Aberdyfi. The day was shaping up nicely.

 

 

Competition in other places

17 Friday Aug 2012

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Wednesday 15th August 2012 ko 6.30pm

Gloucestershire County League

TAVERNERS 3 (Spring 50 58 Lees 70)

LONGLEVENS 1 (Dunn 51)

Att 20 (h/c)

Entry FREE

Programme £1

Tea-in-a-mug 70p

I knew this one was going to be tight, from a 5 o’clock start a few miles north of Banbury, a 6.30 kick off just south of Stroud was a big stretch. I used every short-cut I knew, it does help having worked in Cirencester, and lived in Banbury! I made it to Nympsfield Road was seconds to spare. Continue reading →

Planet Earth

05 Sunday Aug 2012

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Thursday 2nd August 2012 ko 7.30pm

Pre-Season Friendly

THAME UNTED 2 (West 34 Lagan 88)

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Marsh 25)

Att 105 (h/c)

Entry £5

No Programme (‘e’s on holiday!)

Tea £1

With Thame United now happily esconced back home, at the ASM Stadium, friendlies between Oxford United the club are becoming quite frequent. You can see why, the pitch is excellent, the club welcoming, and the facilities very good. A bugbear is the main stand, with the seats set a fair distance from the pitch. The idea of this is that, as the club progresses up the pyramid the seating block can be replaced with a larger one.

One thing that comes across to all visiting, is just how keen the club is to escape the confines of the Hellenic League. It was made abundantly clear that there is no love lost between the managements of club and league. That, I suspect is a story that will run and run.

There was the usual vexed question of which Oxford United we would be watching. OUFC had made it crystal clear on their website, the youth team plus first year professionals Tyrone Marsh and Max Crocombe. Nevertheless the signage outside stating “Oxford United” made me slightly uneasy.

Still the hundred or so got a decent game for their money. A solid tackle from Duran Martin in midfield released left back David Lynn. His parallel pass found Tyrone Marsh who showed why he was awarded a contract by slotting home neatly across Lee Farrar is the Thame goal. The lead didn’t last long, as Nick Rhodes pass found Dan West. He thumped a 20 yard drive that OUFC keeper Harry Palmer got a palm to but was unable to stop going in.

The 2nd half saw Crocombe replace Palmer, and as the substitutions mounted the game lost its way. The OUFC press area contented themselves by spotting West Ham’s Rob Hall (an ex OUFC loanee) quietly watching his brother Matt playing for Thame, but I think all watching had written this off as a draw. That changed with a Thame corner that the defence could only scramble out to substitute Cameron Lagan who stabbed home for the win. The final act was a nasty challenge on young keeper Max Crocombe, who took a heavy challenge on his ankle. Harry Palmer was readied to come back on, but their was insufficient time to make the change.

Curiosity

22 Sunday Jul 2012

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Saturday 21st July 2012 ko 3pm

Pre-Season Friendly

KETTERING NOMADS 3 (Ingham 20p Langley 64 Payne 82)

THRAPSTON TOWN 7 (Gilsenan 7 Thompson 51 74 89 Arnold 73 Petranyuk 80 84)

Att 16 (h/c)

Played at Victory Field, Catworth, Cambs

Entry FREE

Nothing for Sale

Another in a my series of grounds you can’t normally do on a Saturday, this pitch, is only used for Sunday football. The village is only just over the border from Northamptonshire, used to be in Huntingdonshire, and is now in Cambridgeshire. I noticed that this is roughly where the land begins to level out, as you head towards East Anglia.

There’s a well-appointed clubhouse, and a rather laconic game of mixed doubles was taking place on the tennis court. Underneath the mulberry trees the groundsman silently observed the afternoon’s entertainment.

The game pitted Northants Combination Division One Nomads against United Counties League Division One Thrapston, a gap of two promotions. Of course I’d seen Thrapston a week or so earlier so when manager Paul Lenaghan spotted me, clipboard in hand, he laughed, ” Couldn’t you find some decent football to watch?” That of course is selling his embryonic side short, as they’re a good watch, and on the evidence of this fixture the side’s shaping up nicely.

If last time they made a slow start, then found their feet later, then this was the exact opposite. Jamie Gilsenan’s goal was scant reward for 15 minutes of utter domination, and they were denied what even the Nomads bench admitted was a clear penalty. But as the half wore up the concentration began to wilt, and a silly penalty allowed Nomads back into the game. The rest of the half was relatively even, in fact what swung the tie back in Thrapston’s favour was the introduction of Jake Thompson at half time.

The bald facts state that Thompson notched a superbly taken hat-trick, but he brought better play from those around him, particularly Taras Petranyuk. 5 goals between them speaks volumes, and whilst some of that success can be attributed to a tiring opposition, that opposition did still manage to score twice during that time!

All in all a hugely enjoyable afternoon out, and (say it quietly) the sun shone!

Clouds Unfold

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

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Tuesday 10th July 2012 ko 7.00pm

Pre-season Friendly

THRAPSTON TOWN 3 (Middleton 22 Cummins 23 Gilsenan 50) Marshall sent off 79 (foul language)

WHITTLESEY BLUE STAR 1 (Hibbins 7) Morrell sent off 78 (violent conduct)

Att 12 (h/c)

Played at Titchmarsh Playing Field, Northants

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

With Thrapston’s ground unavailable due to cricket, this fixture was moved around a mile and a half to the pretty village of Titchmarsh. Its population is a mere 500 or so, and is the birthplace of the former Poet Laureate John Dryden (1631-1700). The village is dominated by the parish church of St Mary, which seems far too large for the size of the village. There’s nothing too unusual about that, England’s pleasant pastures supplied enough itinerant labour in the past to make a church like this thrive.

In ancient times those feet toiled the lands where the playing field now stands. There’s two pitches, one raised above the other, and both are used in the Rushden and District Sunday League. There’s a smart Pavillion too, built in 2008 and when the rain came, a few of the hoppers used its entrance for shelter during the second half. The agrarian feel still is there with the fields still in evidence on two sides of the pitch. In, one two horses rather disdainfully ignored the action.

The game saw United Counties Division One outfit Thrapston take on Blue Star, newly promoted to the top flight of the Peterborough and District League, one division below their hosts. Intriguingly the fixture was being refereed by Bruce Stevens, a qualified official, but also the husband of the home secretary. It didn’t matter to either side, even with what happened later. Yes there were multiple substitutions, Thrapston virtually changed teams at half time, but this was a good competitive fixture to watch upon the clouded hills.

The opening few minutes saw the mental fight conclusively won by the visitors. Paul Hibbins fired home after 7 minutes, but as the half wore on, the clouds unfolded and the rain fell, Thrapston gained the ascendancy. Jordan Middleton soon equalised from a free kick, and a defensive slip saw Luke Cummins fire home a minute later. When Jamie Gilsenan made it 3 it looked like an entertaining, if routine win against lower level opposition. What made it interesting was what happened with just over 10 minutes left.

It is, of course an unwritten rule of pre-season friendlies that no-one gets booked, or sent off, but in this instance Mr Stevens had no choice, the arrows of desire had taken over completely. Clearly, Blue Star’s Jamie Morrell was the victim of a rough challenge from Lewis Harman. Harman deserved his booking and possibly worse, but when a player (Morrell) kicks out at his tormentor, what option does the Ref have, whoever their spouse is? It got dafter a minute later as Scott Marshall’s backchat to Mr Stevens produced another dismissal, but if you will swear at an official, what do you expect?

It all seemed out of keeping with the resy of the game, and the beautiful surroundings. A satanic finish which produced a furrow to the countenance divine, in England’s green and pleasant lands.

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.

The Idle Working Men’s Club

08 Sunday Apr 2012

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Friday 6th April 2012 ko 1.45pm

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

THACKLEY 1 (Mallinson 84)

LONG EATON UNITED 1 (Chambers 26)

Att 327

Entry & Programme Hop Ticket

Badge £3

Copy of Jack Charlton’s autobiography £3

Team Sheet 20p

It really was a very shot drive across Bradford to Thackley, in fact we had enough time to call in at the Idle Working Men’s Club! The name is a simple pun as the club is in the district of, yes Idle!

Despite the Bradford address Dennyfield has a rural feel to it, it even has a stables at one end! The club once again had read their notes, and were ready for the descending hoppers! This time the food of choice was a delicious chilli-con-carne with rice which seemed to be very popular. The club ran a bookstall in aid of “Help for Heroes” which I thought was a nice touch, and again the club’s big day went like clockwork.

I took a few minutes to have a look around. I soon found well-loved hopper Derek Coope having a doze in the clubhouse. No hop is quite the same without Deadly, a retired professor of mathematics. He’s not in the best of health these days, and I doubt his doctor would approve of him going groundhopping but its obvious what a lift these weekends give him. What he probably doesn’t know if how much his presence lifts everyone else!

The ground would grace a much higher level. There’s hard standing behind both goals and a large stand at the half way line. On the other side there’s a open terrace which the club are fundraising to convert to a second stand. Beyond the near goal there’s an intriguing tower structure. It turned out we were actually standing on top of a railway and the “Tower” is in fact a ventilation shaft!

The game for all the world looked a home banker as Long Eaton are struggling to maintain Premier Division status so when Danny Chambers fired United into the lead from a corner, and the visitors looked strong in defence a minor upset looked on the cards. I had my cup of tea with the officials at half time, none of which seemed unduly worried, apart from the vexed issue of consuming the delicious but hot soup and be out for the second half!

That seemed to be following a similar path to the first. Thackley attacked and Long Eaton defended, it wasn’t a wonderful spectacle but I found it gripping in a “Will they, won’t they” way. Thackley did equalise, Matt Morgan’s through ball into the box was seized on by John Mallinson, who from the tightest of angles on the right managed to find the net. That was the very least Thackley deserved, but it did leave one person slightly disappointed, Long Eaton resident Chris Berezai! Not sure the accent is quite Derbyshire though!

Dilemna at Junction 30

02 Monday Apr 2012

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Sunday 1st April 2012 ko 12.00pm

Golesworthy Cup Quarter Final

TOPSHAM TOWN 3RDS 3 (Gibbons 35 Rouse 38 Ward 45)

CLYST VALLEY 3RDS 3 (Hine 6 Hood 73 Cooper 90)

AET Clyst Valley won 4-3 on pens

Att 22 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No Programme

The pretty Devon town of Topsham is often described as a suburb of Exeter, but does retain its own distinct identity. Part of it is that there are many Dutch style houses in Topsham dating from the time when the town was an important cotton port. Many of Topsham’s houses are built using Dutch bricks, which were brought over as ballast from Holland – to where the wool and cotton from South-West England had been exported. There is an excellent antique centre on the Quayside, where once I picked up a rather impressive cheese grater!

The genteel feel does not extend to the Exeter Road based Coronation Field. Leaving town you pass by the University of Exeter ground, under the M5 and Topsham’s home is the next thing you see on your right. A huge sign for Junction 30 of the M5 is visible from the far goal. The club have played in the South-West Peninsula League, but following relegation, now ply their trade in the top flight of the Devon & Exeter League. The ground is well appointed, and would have no difficulties in gaining SWPL grading. In fact tucked away at the far side is a set of floodlights, bought as salvage from the sadly demolished Clyst Rovers ground.

Things are looking up for Topsham. They’re third in the table some distance behind leaders Seaton Town, but with doubts on Seaton’s rather narrow pitch, there’s all to play for. Except of course that Mike and I weren’t there to watch the 1st XI! With this game kicking off at midday and another at Sidmouth straight afterwards this wasn’t a day to worry about semantics! An unexpected bonus was that another hopper thought the same. I hadn’t seen Taunton-based Martin Bamforth for 2 years, which was a real pity. Martin has a long line of groundhopping mishaps which he’s not embarrassed to recount. A favourite was driving to Edinburgh to watch Hibernian in a European fixture only to discover on arrival that it was Hibernians of MALTA that were at home that evening!

The Golesworthy Cup is primarily for teams who play in the 6th, 7th and 8th divisions of the Devon and Exeter League, although some Perry Street and District League teams do enter. With criteria like that it’s inevitable that there’s very few first XI’s in the draw, and with these two sides 4th and 6th respectively in Division 6 the fixture did look competitive. I was told that Topsham’s 4th XI had won the trophy last season.

The trouble was it that the game found new ways to be a poor spectacle. Firstly Topsham conceded a daft goal, keeper John Parkes fumbling Danny Hine’s hopeful lob, before racing into a 3-1 lead, and looking completely dominant. Trouble is, after half time they stopped the neat passing that had given them the advantage. David Hood came on for Clyst and despite suffering the after-effects of a Saturday night curry, he finished well to get his team back in the game. With time tight for the Sidmouth we really didn’t want extra time, but of course that’s what we got, after a poor clearance was knocked in by Sam Cooper with seconds left.

Of course extra time produced nothing, as the both teams had ran themselves into the dust. That delayed the inevitable penalties by half an hour, and in this case Clyst knocked in all 4 they took to win. Except it wasn’t quite as straightforward as that. Barlow took the 4th for Clyst which was saved. Unfortunately for Topsham he hadn’t waited for the whistle and he scored with his retaken kick

At the end the Topsham players bemoaned that one incident, but if they’d kept doing what they’d started they’d have won this one easily.