Schemes O’ Mice An’ Men

30 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in I

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 29th December 2012 ko 13.45

Scottish Junior FA West Region Superleague Premier Division

IRVINE MEADOW 0 McGowan sent off 57 (2nd booking)

AUCHINLECK TALBOT 2 (McCann 44 Spence 86) White sent off 62 (2nd booking)

Att c400

Entry £5

Programme None

I wish I could see more of my mate Iain. The trouble is that he lives in Dumfries, a 5 hour drive from Oxford. We met longer ago than either of us would care to remember, when we were marooned on a bank course at a faceless hotel in Tewkesbury. When however there’s a game, a curry and a pint to be had, one of us jumps in a car….

The west coast of Scotland, south of Glasgow is Robert Burns country. From Iain’s house, a mere stone’s throw from the Burns Mausoleum (more on that in my next article) from our drive up the A76 past the Burns Memorial at Mauchline, and seeing signs for Ayr, his birthplace and setting for the poem “Tam O’ Shanter.”

Irvine doesn’t seem to fit the poetic theme, this is a New Town, based on shipping and shipbuilding, and was extensively bombed during World War 2. Burns did spend time here, working in a flax factory on the Glasgow Vennel. More recently Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was born here, and cycling champion and innovator Graeme Obree calls Irvine home.

If you’re not familiar with Scottish Non-League please don’t get Continue reading →

Memories of Henley

28 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in H

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Thursday 27th December 2012

It seems like a lifetime ago that I last visited the Oxfordshire town of Henley-on-Thames. On one level its the quintessential English market town, complete with town hall, square, and bridge over the River Thames into Berkshire. Its the river that makes Henley what it is, or rather a mile-long stretch of it. For that dead straight mile gives the town its regatta each July, and puts the town in the centre of the social calendar.

Having once lived there I managed to get a ticket one year for the oh-so-desirable Continue reading →

A sense of identity

28 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in H

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 26th December 2012 ko 15.00

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

HALL ROAD RANGERS 0

TADCASTER ALBION 3 (Qualter 14 J Barrett 82 D Barrett 90)

Att 52

Entry £5

Programme £1

Hall Road are one of those clubs whose name gives little clue as to their location. For the record, they play in the village of Dunswell, just north of Kingston-upon-Hull. In fact now I think about it, they don’t even play at Hall Road. Dene Park, is in Dene Close, just off the Beverley Road.

For me Hull has always had something of a split personality. On one hand it has the Continue reading →

Diversions

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by in T

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

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 →

Insurance

23 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in M

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 22nd December 2012 ko 15.00

Isthmian League Division One South

MAIDSTONE UNITED 2 (King 69 A Olorunda 86)

WORTHING 2 (Brown 3og Daniel 55)

Att 1,765

Entry £10

Programme £2

Badge £3

With so much sport falling to the weather, I wanted something that was more or less guaranteed to be taking place. With Maidstone’s new ground having a plastic pitch, the element of doubt was more or less removed. It did leave the vexed question of having to get back to Oxford early enough to attend a Christmas bash, but I spotted a short-cut up a grass bank to get quickly back to my car, parked in a charity car park. The game finished, I made for the bank, slipped, and… Continue reading →

The Joy of Six

21 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in O

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

Tuesday 18th December 2012 ko 19.45

FA Cup 2nd Round Replay

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Constable 66 Leven 80)

ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0

Att 2,566 (48 away)

Entry £20.50

Programme £2 (Reduced size, reissued from postponed fixture 6 days earlier)

Accrington Stanley must be sick of the sight of Oxford United. As if being replaced by Oxford in the league in 1962 wasn’t bad enough (although they replaced OUFC 44 years later!), this makes a rtun of 7 games against the two sides where the Lancastrians have failed to register a win. They came mighty close in the first attempt to settle this tie, with United equalising through the unlikely figure of Michael Raynes with seconds remaining.

Now, Accrington to Oxford on a cold Tuesday is a big ask of any fan Continue reading →

Sans Pareil

16 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in S

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 15th December 2012 ko 15.00

FA Vase 3rd Round
SHILDON AFC 3 (McCabe 66 Owens 75 80)
PARKGATE 1 (Lee 8)

Att 157

Entry £7
Programme £1.50
Badge £3
Tea 80p

There’s something slightly unworldly about many Northern League grounds, a by-product of the North-East’s domination of the amateur game in the early part of the twentieth century. You’re just over the border from Teesside into County Durham here, the land of the Prince Bishops, appointed to the two roles as a bastion against Scottish incursions from the north. Shildon is the cradle of passenger steam railways too, the first passenger train drawn by steam was built here, and departed on the new Stockton & Darlington Railway. The trackbed is still there, now a footpath- I wonder whether you can walk the entire length?

That sense of history extends to the Dean Street football ground, nestled in amongst the terraced houses. Continue reading →

The Toughest of the Tough

14 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in L

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

On every Sunday morning for the first 16 years of my life I attended my local church. Whilst its fair to say the religious side of things meant absolutely nothing to me, I was there because my mother said I had to be, but it was a wonderful place to observe and learn.
I used to watch as at communion time, the little old ladies would queue up to receive their wafer, and sip of wine from the priest, and marvel at how they defied the disabilties of old age to shuffle up the aisle to complete, as they saw it, their religious duties.
At that time I was very much discovering the world and its workings, and being a young boy I hero-worshipped the tough and the daring. Be it Ian Botham smashing the Aussie bowling around Headingley in 1981, or Oxford United’s hard-man centre-half Gary Briggs tackling Doug Rougvie so hard Rougvie’s collar was broken, these were my heroes.
As time went by I added other experiences to my palate, travel, art, and literature, but there was, and is still the part of me that likes the idea of the James Bond, Alpha-male character, because its so far from my own personality and physical prowess.
Occasionally in the adult comic “Viz” there’s a strip called “Mrs Brady, Old Lady” about a senile pensioner and her friend Mildred. They speak of their ailments in a mixture of Les Dawson-esque euphemism, and almost gruesome medical detail, but time after time there they are, still not quite comprehending their own mortality. They did, however lead me to a conclusion, especially as its now my mother who’s joined the ranks of the little old ladies shuffling down the aisle at church.
You see for all these years I’d been labouring under a misapprehension. I’d considered the tough guys as being entirely different from the little old ladies. In fact the ladies are simply the stronger, after all when someone gets mugged but successfully fights back, is it the Stallone-type muscle man? Of course it isn’t, its the toughest of the tough-the little old lady. I await the Hollywood blockbuster with interest.

Shades

09 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in O

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Saturday 8th December 2012 ko 15.00


League 2
OXFORD UNITED 1 (Chapman 33) Heslop sent off 90 (dangerous play)
ALDERSHOT TOWN 1 (Mekki 84)

Att 5,721 (244 away)

Entry S/T
Programme (inc Ox Mail) £3

On occasion I take a friend of mine to football. He loves his sport, but he’s a man of definite opinions. He watch some leagues but not others, and some formats he loves, others he won’t touch. Life is in two comforting shades, black and white.
This was an afternoon in which he would have felt comfortable; one of those dull pre-Christmas games where people can shout for the manager or the chairman’s head in the near-certain knowledge that their wish will not be granted.

It had been a difficult week for Oxford United. As if losing two players, Jon-Paul Pittman and Andrew Whing to injury wasn’t bad enough, the club had been rocked to its core by the death of former midfielder Mitchell Cole the weekend before. His career had ended to a heart defect a year ago, but had remained close to the club, and so his passing at just 27 was incredibly sad. It was announced before a minute’s applause that his widow had just given birth to his third child.

Of course supporters tend to forget the human nature side of the game. It cannot be easy simply functioning, let alone doing your job under such tragic circumstances, and certainly many of United’s frailties were on display for all to see. There was little punch up front save for a glaring James Constable miss early on, and Peter Leven’s lack of mobility in midfield saw partner Adam Chapman frequently exposed. I wondered if the unfortunate Whing had been fit, whether Chapman would have started,and with Whing’s lack of scoring prowess. Chapman’s clinical finish from 18 yards was a moment of class in a game that looked precisely what it was, a game between two struggling teams.

The second half saw no demonstrable improvement in quality, but with United having failed to take advantage of their first half possession, Aldershot gradually took the ascendancy and when substitute Adam Mekki curled a delicious effort round Ryan Clarke it was as predictable as it was deserved. It was fair to say that Aldershot gained far more from their substitutions than Oxford did, and that point was underlined when Simon Heslop was dismissed with a minute left for a quite dreadful challenge. Whilst his 3 game ban won’t hurt the team as much as some other players absences, the club need all the bodies they can get at the moment.

From the visitors’ perspective, second from bottom of the league, this was a valuable point. However this wasn’t a day of black and white opinions, just an occasion to forget about what went on the pitch and consider the plight of a widow and three young children.

Marilyn

08 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by in H

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Tuesday 4th December 2012 ko 19.45

FA Vase 2nd Round Replay

HANWORTH VILLA 2 (King 77 Reddings 90)

LITTLEHAMPTON TOWN 1 (Kew 21)

Att c125

Entry £5

Programme £1

Tea £1

It seems an age since I watched the Vase 2nd round fixture at Newport, Isle of Wight. That day, Littlehampton playing in the second tier of the Sussex County League did well to force a replay in south-west London, as Hanworth play one step higher in the Combined Counties Premier.

This part of the world always seems busy, with a dual carriageway at one end of the ground, and the stream of aircraft taking off and landing at Heathrow. The district is probably best known for its long-disappeared airfield, which welcomed Amelia Earhart following her transatlantic flight in 1932, but the area is now cut in two by the M3.

I gave a lift to Calne based hopper Paul, for his first taste of a Combined Counties League ground. There are few great grounds in this league, Rectory Field is typical of the genre, two prefabricated stands, floodlights and a fence are recent additions to the facilities, to no doubt keep the ground graders happy, but it has provided the basics for their band of followers.

And what a jolly band they are, friendly, noisy, and clearly passionate about their club. What I didn’t expect though, was a life-size cutout of Marilyn Monroe, wearing Hanworth Villa kit. I’ve seen some strange sights at football grounds, mascot Elvis Gresley being high on my list,but I think this takes the biscuit!!

On a cold, bleak night the two teams served up a game so good I completely forgot how cold I was! In a high quality encounter Littlehampton took an early lead then were forced back as Hanworth began to control possession. In fact the game could easily have been over by half time if the  home forwards been even slightly less profligate.

The second half was a similar story, as Littlehampton were reduced to sporadic counter-attacks. The frustration began to tell as heavy challenges went in, and referee Matthew Westlake did well to keep 22 men on the field. As a neutral I was perfectly happy to see the game end 1-0, what I wanted to avoid was an equaliser and extra-time.

I ended up getting one but not the other, as Levi King finally converted a chance, then just as I’d given up hope of getting home at a reasonable hour up popped substitute Steve Reddings to send Hanworth to a third round tie away at Croydon. Obviously late goals are a hopper’s best friend!