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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Tag Archives: Conference

Everything & Nothing

16 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by laurencereade in D

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bonnyrigg Rose, Conference, Denny, Dunipace, East of Scotland League, Football, groundhopping, GroundhopUK, Juniors, Scotland, Westfields Park

Friday 29th March 2019 ko 20.00

East of Scotland League – Conference B

DUNIPACE 0

BONNYRIGG ROSE 4 (Murrell 6 Currie 60 83p Lough 88)

Att 380

Entry £6

Programme £1

Just like last year Robyn and I were sat having breakfast at the Wetherspoon’s at Beaconsfield Services. Our duties were exactly the same as for previous years’ Scottish Hops; meet Doug and the coach at Hillingdon Underground Station, then with Robyn couriering the coach I’d follow behind in my car to Birmingham International Rail Station to meet Chris Berezai. From there Dave Collins and Craig Dabbs would join us, and we’d aim to reach the first ground on the hop 90 minutes before the coach (not difficult with Doug’s mandatory stops) and use the time to make up the programme and ticket packs. Continue reading →

56.020340 -3.905379

Gas Panic

21 Thursday May 2015

Posted by laurencereade in B, G

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bristol Rovers, Conference, Conference Premier, Football, Football League, Grimsby Town, groundhopping, John-Lewis, Playoff final, Wembley Stadium

Sunday 17th May 2015 ko 14.00

Conference Promotion Final

BRISTOL ROVERS 1 (Harrison 30)

GRIMSBY TOWN 1 (John-Lewis 2)

AET Bristol Rovers won 5-3 on penalties

Att 47,0229 at Wembley Stadium

Entry £10 (Member clubs’ allocation- “Neutral Zone”)

Programme £5

Now I know the Conference Premier is pretty much League 3 these days. I know it’s almost entirely full-time and I know there are many former Football League clubs in its ranks. The vital word here is “Former” though, and take it from me, a fan of a club that did lose its place in the League, it hurts a lot it when you get relegated. You get used to the comments like “How on earth did you end up there?” and every time you go to a game you cheer your club on straining every mental sinew to get back to whence you came. There’s nothing wrong with the Conference, but believe me the fans of at least half of the clubs in its top flight hate being there.

Continue reading →

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Looking After Number One

20 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Barnet Copthall Stadium, Barnet Council, Barnet FC, Cambridge United, Conference, Curtis Weston, Edgar Davids, Harrow Council, high barnet, Kwesi Appiah, Luisma Villa, The Hive, Wealdstone FC

Saturday 16th November 2013 ko 17.30

Conference Premier

BARNET 2 (Villa 38 Weston 45)

CAMBRIDGE UNITED 2 (Appiah 29 32)

Att 2,853 (Ground Record)

Entry £21

Programme £3

Tea £1.50

Pie £3

I like Barnet, I always did, right the way back in the early 90’s when, as a student I used to catch the Northern Line to its terminus at High Barnet, then counter-intuitively walk down to Underhill.

The place reminded me of my club Oxford United’s spiritual home, The Manor, with the sloping pitch, and the hotpotch of stands and bits of terrace. It was magical, but unsuitable for the rigours of League football so a move was inevitable, however painful. I paid my my farewells last season, but the move has not been without controversy, Continue reading →

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The 22

24 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by laurencereade in N

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Aaron O'Connor, Carl Zeiss Jena, Conference, european cup winners, FA Cup, Giant Killing, Jefferson Louis, John Aldridge, Lodge Road, Matt Groves, moreton in marsh, newport county, newport transporter bridge, Rodney Parade, Rushden and Diamonds, Scott Thomas, Southern League, Tom Knighton, Tommy Tynan, Yate Town

Tuesday 23rd October 2012 ko 19.45

FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round Replay

NEWPORT COUNTY 1 (O’Connor 43) Pipe sent off 66 (2nd booking)

YATE TOWN 3 (Knighton 72p Thomas 109 Groves 115)

AET

Att 1,463

Entry £13

Programme £2

Large Hot Dog £3

Tea £1

The City of Newport, has an undeserved reputation for being bereft of anything cultural. I have never found a port town that didn’t have something of interest and the city on the confluence of the River Usk, and Severn estuary has much to recommend it. Whether its the Peter Fink sculpture, “The Wave,” situated on the harbour, or the Newport Transporter Bridge, built in 1906 there’s something to catch the eye wherever you look. More recently, in 2007 the Newport City footbridge opened, and that provides a backdrop to proceedings at the local football club.

The travails of Newport County are an article in itself! I remember in the late 1970’s the bottom of the Football League always seeming to consist of Crewe Alexandra, Workington, and Newport County. Workington failed to get re-elected, Crewe found salvation with Dario Gradi and a vaunted youth system, and Newport found two lethal strikers in Tommy Tynan and John Aldridge. A renaissance followed and Newport as Welsh Cup winners went on a run in the European Cup Winners Cup in 1980-1 eventually losing in the quarter final over two legs to Carl Zeiss Jena. Thereafter it was a gradual decline in fortunes for the club, and they were relegated out of the league in 1988, and were bankrupt before completing their first season in the Conference.

You could argue that this was ony the start of the club’s problems. The club was quickly revived, but as a new club in Wales the Welsh FA wanted them to play in the Welsh pyramid, but the embryonic club’s sole aim was a return to the League- in England. It meant that the club started based over the border in Moreton-in-Marsh, and periods of exile followed in Gloucester, until the High Court found against the Welsh FA and County moved into Spytty Park, a multi-sport stadium, but crucially, in Newport.

The trouble is that the sight-lines across a running track were poor, and the pitch, shared with Llanwern worse. So for the next 3 years the club have agreed a groundshare of Rodney Parade with Rugby Union outfit Newport Gwent Dragons.

The ground has a unique flavour, being not just for rugby, but also being the base for the local bowls club. There’s two stands, the modern all seated “Bisley” stand, and the classic Hazell stand which only runs for around 3/4 of the pitch length. For football only the terrace in front is used. There’s an open terrace behind one goal, but the other has only the changing rooms, and a multi-storey hospitality block there. For football the capacity is 5,511.

With Newport being back in the Conference, there’s no lack of league experience in the playing ranks. Top goalscorer Aaron O’Connor has tasted League football with Rushden & Diamonds, but fellow striker Jefferson Louis takes well-travelled to extremes, this is his 25th club, and he’s still only 33!

With a lower than average crowd it made for a poor atmosphere, and County’s player did little to raise spirits. They’d had a real scare on Saturday with Yate, 3 relegations and bottom of the Southern League’s South and West Division, coming within seconds of a famous victory, Tony James header giving the Exiles, currently top of the Conference a barely deserved replay.

That final score never looked like being replicated, Newport continued to underestimate their part-time opponents, and may well have got away with it, Aaron O’Connor did give them the lead, but two bookings for pointless fouls saw Newport captain David Pipe take an early bath. Within 5 minutes goalkeeper Lenny Pidgeley had flattened Mitchell Page; Pidgeley collected a booking and Tom Knighton levelled the game from the penalty spot. With a first round tie with Cheltenham Town the reward, the incentive was obvious but only Yate showed the requisite urgency.

In extra time it was Yate who looked the fitter, and the inevitable happened. A corner was swung in, the ball bounced back off the bar, and there was centre half Scott Thomas to head in from close range. As Newport finally began to push forward, more out of shock than belief, they were hit with a real sucker punch. Matt Groves exploited the gap where right back Pipe used to be to turn and fire home, in front of a band of delirious travelling fans. The Newport faithful turned, and silently made for the dark wet exits.






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