Second Impressions

27 Thursday Dec 2018

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Saturday 24th November 2018 ko 13.30
Eastern Counties League- Division One North

HARLESTON TOWN 4 (Roberts 3 Stone 21 Imrie 69 Delaney 88)

FELIXSTOWE & WALTON UNITED RESERVES 2 (Lee 27 Hillyard 27)

Att c100

Entry & Programme £5

We turned right in to Harleston’s leisure centre car park from Wilderness Lane, and spotted two sets of players warming up on an unrailed pitch. Our collective hearts sank a little, I do like going back to basics every so often, try Headington Butchers for example, but I couldn’t even see a set of goals! Harleston are new to Step 6 for this season having won the Anglian Combination. With the Eastern Counties League expanding into 3 divisions for this year new clubs have been given 3 years to bring their grounds up to standard, but this looked extreme!

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Journeyman

20 Thursday Dec 2018

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Tuesday 20th November 2018 ko 19.45

Southern League Premier Division South

CHESHAM UNITED 0

WALTON CASUALS 2 (Farrell 72 Roberts 83)

Att 192

Entry £10

Programme £2.50

It was a filthy night as I picked my way down the hill from Amersham to the roundabout ready to turn left into Amy Lane. For Robyn it was her first visit to the Buckinghamshire market town, but for me it was something of a sentimental journey.  Continue reading →

A Tale of Two Cities

16 Sunday Dec 2018

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Friday 16th November 2018 ko 19.00

Brookes Varsity 2018

OXFORD UNIVERSITY 4 (Thelen 21p Liew 40 Cantrill 70 Coveney 87)

OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY 0

Att 499 at Iffley Road Stadium, Oxford

Entry £6

Programme FREE

When Robyn moved to Oxford two years ago the slightly schizophrenic nature of the city was something of a surprise to her. I’d shown her around the sites many months previously, and the college buildings are a beautiful must-see for any visitor. But for those of us that both are from, and live in Oxford, we live almost entirely separate lives from the university and those who teach and study there. This evening out though was a chance to sample something from the “Gown” side of Oxford, and a chance to look at another part of Oxford where one side is set against the other.  Continue reading →

Bohemian Rhapsody

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

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Sunday 11th November 2018 ko 10.15

Fortuna Divize A/ Czech 4th League-Division A

FK ADMIRA PRAHA 4 (Pavlata 13 Doudera 54 Martinic 67 Zahalka 79)

Zahalka penalty saved 37

TJ TATRAN SEDLČANY 1 (Senft 69)

Att 334

Entry 40 Kč (around £1.40 ) (for Robyn 20 Kč)

Programme 10 Kč

The tram snaked its way through virtually deserted streets in Prague’s 8th district, better known as Kobylisy. While the beery previous evening was the the cause of our relatively quiet selves, the great advantage of Czech lower league football kicking off early is that it gets you out of bed early, and you still have plenty of time afterwards for sightseeing!

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Save Me

06 Thursday Dec 2018

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Saturday 10th November 2018 ko 11.00

1. Celostátni Liga dorustu U19 (1st Czech U19 League)

A.C.SPARTA PRAHA 1 (Voltech 17)

S.K. SLAVIA PRAHA 1 (Cerv 23) Vit missed pen 60

No Extra Time- Sparta won 4-3 on penalties

Att c300 at the Great Strahov Stadium, Prague

Free Entry

Free Teamsheet

It was nearly midnight on Friday night and Robyn, Sim and I had been in Prague for less than 2 hours, and in the case of the other two had been in work at 3.30 that afternoon. We needed food, and since just about every restaurant had shut we found ourselves sat on a bench in Praha hlavní nádraží, Prague Main Railway station contemplating sandwiches, a Danish each, and fairly anonymous bottle of pop. Nearby there was a communal piano and a group of students were plonking out bits of Beatles songs, then the one song they really had to play given where we were. Yes, Bohemian Rhapsody….  Continue reading →

Come As You Are

05 Wednesday Dec 2018

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Tuesday 6th November 2018 ko 19.45

United Counties League Premier Division

LEICESTER NIRVANA 6 (Nassor 32 43p 50 Anastasi 45 65 Brown-Wingfield 79)

WELLINGBOROUGH WHITWORTH 0

Att c50

Entry £5

Programme £1

It was of little surprise that this game was something of a hopper-fest. The case of Leicester Nirvana is an odd one, but rather compelling. The original Leicester Nirvana club started in the 1980’s and rose through youth football to play two stints in the Central Midlands League in the late 80’s and early 90’s. However in 1992 they left the CMFL to return to their roots of providing youth football. Continue reading →

The Oldest Of The New

30 Friday Nov 2018

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Saturday 3rd November 2018 ko 15.00

E.F.L. League 1

SCUNTHORPE UNITED 3 (Clarke 60 Thomas 64 Goode 66)

OXFORD UNITED 3 (Henry 8 Brannagan 50 Nelson 55)

Att 3,665 (383 away)

Entry £22 (away end, if bought in advance)

Programme £3

Parking £3

Last season I wrote a piece about Southend United describing them as the youngest of the old, Roots Hall was built in 1955 and no further Football League club moved home until Scunthorpe United moved from the Old Showground to Glanford Park in 1988. It is a curio as the club moved before the spur that encouraged other clubs to follow suit. Continue reading →

Mercury & Bismuth

28 Wednesday Nov 2018

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Tuesday 30th October 2018 ko 19.45

Eastern Senior League Division One South

MAY & BAKER 2 (Owuadey 6 Harvey 88)

FIRE UNITED CFC 1 (Dias 89)

Att 27 

Entry £5

Programme £1

With the creation of the Eastern Senior League, to fill a hole at Step 6 in Essex, a slew of new clubs have taken a step up in status to fill the league. For Fire United that meant a move from Hackney Marshes to the Terence McMillan Stadium in Newham, formerly home to London APSA. More on them later, but May & Baker’s story is fascinating. Continue reading →

Nomenclature

26 Monday Nov 2018

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Tuesday 23rd October 2018 ko 19.45

Eastern Senior League Division One South Cup 1st Round

WHITE ENSIGN 0

BENFLEET 2 (Delieu 51 G Unwin 52)

Att 33 at Basildon Sporting Village

For this season the FA has taken steps to iron out one of the quirks of the footballing pyramid, in that until now there hasn’t been a league to link the Step 5 Essex Senior League and the Step 7 Essex Olympian League. They had a blueprint; the Kent Invicta League was formed in 2011 to bridge the gap between the Kent League and the Kent County League. The Invicta League eventually was swallowed up by the Kent League and the result is now the two divisions of the Southern Counties East.  Continue reading →

Social

25 Sunday Nov 2018

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Saturday 20th October 2018 ko 15.00

South West Peninsula League Division One East

BUDLEIGH SALTERTON 1 (Nott 63)

HONITON TOWN 4 (Fremantle 40 Grant 44 Flanagan 86 Isaac 89)

Att c50

Entry £3

Sometimes I think back in the 1980’s Madness’ “Baggy Trousers” had it right.

Naughty boys in nasty schools 
Headmasters breaking all the rules 
Having fun and playing fools 
Smashing up the woodwork tools 
All the teachers in the pub 
Passing ’round the ready-rub 
Trying not to think of when 
The lunch-time bell will ring again.

Back in the day I went to a middle school in Oxford that could have so easily fitted Suggs’ lyrics. Of course I loved all the characters there, even learning when to avoid the occasional flying blackboard eraser! Time passes by, people move on, at times literally and people lose touch. Two of those characters were Lisa and Jason Continue reading →