If you drive along the A420 from Oxford to Swindon, you’ll spot a hill on your right just before Faringdon. Its not the largest hill you’ll ever see, or the most prepossessing, but the turret that pokes out of the top of the Scots Pines gives a clue as to its interest.
The hill’s history massively pre-dates the turret, as it was fortified by supporters of Matilda sometime during the Anarchy (1135–1141) – her campaign to claim the throne from King Stephen – but was soon razed to the ground by once he’d won the war. Oliver Cromwell fortified it again in his unsuccessful campaign to defeat the Royalist garrison at Faringdon House, during the English Civil War.
It wasn’t until 1935 that the turret, or tower if you’d prefer was built, and that dear reader is where the fun really starts! Continue reading →
CHESSINGTON & HOOK UNITED 0 Gilbert sent off 83 (2nd booking)
Att 103
Entry £6
Programme
To the beginner groundhopper the name Westfield or Westfields is a recipe for confusion. There’s Westfields, based in Hereford, and Sussex-Leaguers Westfield too. See the problem?
To avoid any doubt, this Westfield calls Woking home, but my confusion was complete when the sat-nav brought me to the Kingfield, Woking FC’s ground! I wasn’t too far wrong, Woking Park is only 150 yards away!
The place is futuristic, a feature of a 2011 building project, that turned Woking Park into something of a hub. Apart from the football, there’s boxing, and various Scout and Guide troops. I shouldn’t have been surprised at the looks of the place, Woking after all does have Continue reading →
If ever there was a contrast with my last game, this was it. For the avoidance of doubt, this is HambledEn, near Henley-on-Thames, and not HambledOn in Hampshire.
Its best approached from the Stokenchurch turn on the M40, and you drive along narrow lanes down in the valley through the most bucolic villages. I used to live in Henley so the area is known to me, and with a connection or two to the former Brakspear brewery I knew most of the pubs too! And how could you not love The Frog pub when it’s in a village of Skirmett!! I wonder if Jim Henson stopped for a pint! Continue reading →
ROYAL STANDARD DE LIÈGE 2 (Mujangibia 56 Batshuayi 84)
Att 10,402
Entry €20 (terrace)
Programme FREE
Firstly, lets abbreviate those club names, its KV Mechelen versus Standard Liège. I’m all for getting things recorded correctly, but there is a limit! Continue reading →
If you look back to most of my foreign jaunts there’s always a common factor; the thing was it took me until half way across the English Channel to realise what it was.
The roots of this trip lie with Fareham Town secretary Paul “Splodge” Proctor, and his liking for a particular brand of Belgian beer. That necessitated a trip over or under the Channel, and ever the hopper he found two games to take in too! He soon roped me in and with Peter Miles ( The Itinerant Football Watcher) and Lee West (Adventures In Football) we had a full car, and as the midnight ferry left Dover for a bargain £67 return, it dawned on me what we’d created. As far as I’m concerned Lee is the best groundhopping photographer out there, and Peter the best writer. Splodge is one of the most popular and knowledgeable people in Non-League, which just left little old me to make up the numbers! Sat here now typing away, I’m not completely sure why I’m doing this, look at the links to your left, it’s all there already!
From Dunkirk it takes no time at all to reach Belgium, and after a little rest, we found a boulangerie in the beautiful town of Veurne for breakfast, before calling in at it’s not so beautiful twin Adinkerke. That town exists it seems, to sell all those passing through the products you shouldn’t buy such as tobacco, porn, chocolates, and yes Splodge’s beer!
From there the Splodgemobile (his term, not mine!) blasted north-west around Antwerp to the town of Lier. The town has around 34,000 inhabitants, and is the base of the coachbuilder Van Hool. The great Belgian footballer Jan Ceulemans was born here.
What we always had on this trip was time, which allowed us the time to sample that most Belgian of cuisines, the Frituur. These Friteries offer several fried and grilled dishes served with frites, such as hamburgers, brochette, meatballs, merguez and fried chicken. The portions tend to be large, to the extent that all 4 of us had food left over!
But let’s be honest here, we were all we just waiting for the gates to be opened! We’d had a mosey around before we went to eat, and the reports we’d heard were being borne out before our eyes!
Lyra have played at the Lyra Stadion since 1912, and the history is there for all to see. The most obvious is the main stand, originally a small wooden affair, but extended both forwards and lengthways, but with the original features still there. There’s also the terrace and tunnel behind the goal with, to the groundhopper’s eye, an almost indecent curve at the corner.
And folks, if this appeals, then take heed, this is the last season of this wonderful edifice. Already the narrow terrace opposite the stand has been demolished, to make way for, would you believe, a new Police Station! Here’s what the terrace used to look like.
The club will groundshare for around 2 years, while a new ground is built, but the stalwarts aren’t happy. One said “Our President…..” and made the throttling gesticulation. And if the Lyra stadion isn’t sufficient to convince you to pay the club a visit, the club officials will well and truly convince you. We were standing open-mouthed on the terrace when an official tapped us on the shoulder, and presented us with copies of the club’s centenary brochure, and when we decamped to the raised bar area, despite the fact that the key to the club shop couldn’t be found, merchandise was found including copies of the club anthem, “Lyralied,” on 7″ single no less. I hope they enjoyed they enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed theirs.
With no badges available on the day, the club found a young lady that spoke excellent English to organise posting them over to us. She said she’d email us when she’d sent them, which she did, and her surname proved to be interesting! She is Jan Ceulemans’ niece! It’s a small world isn’t it? The great man sometimes comes to watch Lyra but at the moment he’s coaching 3rd division outfit R. Cappellen FC.
Which left the vexed question of the game! After all that has preceded it, it had to be an anti-climax didn’t it? Well, actually it wasn’t, with Lyra in the 4th tier Promotion League Group C, having just that little bit too much for their visitors plying their trade in the 6th tier Antwerpen Provincial League 2nd Division.
The game kept us all royally entertained, and it was with genuine regret that the final whistle went, and it was time to bid this magnificent ground, and its gallant officials goodbye. They are great, and please use these words and pictures as a reason to pay them a visit, the 4 of us owe them that for a quite wonderful afternoon.
So dear reader, imagine its the 17th century and you are a Puritan. You’re in Kent and fancy some curative baths. Where do you go, Tunbridge Wells? Continue reading →
One of the downsides of the “Do everywhere but once,” culture is that you don’t get to spend nearly enough time with the stalwarts who both run, and are devoted to a particular club. There’s Splodge at Fareham, who these days dreads my presence at his club’s games, http://wp.me/s1PehW-banned but another is Continue reading →
Tuesday 23rd July 2013 ko0 19.45 (delayed to 20.00 due to crowd congestion)
Pre-Season Friendly
OXFORD CITY 5 (Skendi 26 34 Benjamin 33 Winters 39 Green 76)
OXFORD UNITED 1 (Hall 3p)
Att 1,005
Entry £5
Programme £1.50
Often in the City of Dreaming Spires its United that get all the press coverage. It wasn’t always the case, in the 1930’s and 40’s Isthmian League City were top dogs, with Headington United, the Boys From Up The Hill playing in the inferior Oxon Senior, and then the Spartan Leagues. The balance of power shifted in 1949, when United turned semi-professional and entered the Southern League, eventually being Continue reading →
At Valeside Park, Kilbirnie (Kilbirnie Ladeside JFC)
Entry £5 (but see below!)
No Programme
Badge £3
Raffle £1
Football Card £1
Kilbirnie is a small town of around 7,000 inhabitants situated in North Ayrshire around 20 miles south-west of Glasgow. The area was built up around the flax and weaving industries before iron and steelmaking took over in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Glengarnock Steel Works opened its blast furnaces around 1841 which caused a massive influx of people seeking work. Initially these works were owned by Merry & Cunninghame before being taken over by David Colville & Sons and eventually were Continue reading →
There’s signs of life in the lower reaches of the Scottish game for this season. There’s never been a functioning pyramid below Division 3, in the north if a club wins the Highland League there’s no way up, and in the south there’s the East of Scotland and South of Scotland Leagues, the former far stronger. And parallel to it all are the Juniors, ploughing their own furrow, a few only meeting their nominally senior compatriots in the Scottish Cup. The clubs at the bottom of Division 3 simply have carried on being uncompetitive knowing that there’s no automatic means of their removal.
Football: Wherever it may be 