Tag Archives: FA Vase

What Was Left

06 Wednesday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 18th November 2006 ko 15.00

FA Vase 2nd Round 

FLIXTON 4 (Mitten 44 Grandison 53 Wilkinson 75 Tobin 83)

PICKERING TOWN 0

Att 84

Entry £3

Programme £1.50

The sole reason I, and around 50 groundhoppers ended up here was the Salford City/FC United game at the Willows that kicked off at midday. There was roughly an hour to get the tram back to the car, and make a quick blast across western Manchester which did limit the opportunities to complete a Mancunian double. It boiled down to a choice between Trafford and Flixton, we chose the latter mainly to watch another Vase game. It proved to be both a good move, and an interesting one too! Continue reading →

Who’d Have Thought It?

03 Sunday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 18th November 2006 ko 12.00

FA Vase 2nd Round 

SALFORD CITY 2 (Turner 2 Burrrows 90)

FC UNITED OF MANCHESTER 3 (Rudd 8 Carden 13 Chadwick 54)

Att 2,799 at The Willows, Salford

Entry £7

Programme £2

It must be said that 2006 and 2007 was a pretty good time to be a ground hopper, we’d had Llanelli playing a one-off game at Stradey Park and the birth of FC United of Manchester had given the clubs of the north-west something to think about. Continue reading →

Football By (and in) Coventry

12 Tuesday Dec 2017

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Wednesday 6th December 2017 ko 19.45

FA Vase 3rd Round Replay

COVENTRY UNITED 3 (Rankine 80 Morris 90og Mussa 90)

BROMSGROVE SPORTING 3 (Clark 4 Gregory 18 Cowley 40)

AET Bromsgrove won 4-3 on penalties

Att 205 at Butts Park Arena, Coventry

Entry £7

Programme £2

There can’t be many clubs in the Midlands as groundhopper-friendly as Coventry United. Easy parking (for £2), midweek games on a Wednesday, and an informative Twitter feed. In fact so hopper-friendly are they that earlier this season the league version of this fixture was scheduled for a midday kick-off allowing for all kinds of doubles. Now okay it probably took 20-30 off of each the attendances on the North Berkshire Hop that day and as event organiser that was a shame, but there was no malice in it. As organiser sometimes you have to simply shrug your shoulders and make the best of it. And there are so many reasons to like Coventry United. Continue reading →

Eastbound Train

22 Sunday Nov 2015

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Saturday 21st November 2015 ko 15.00

FA Vase 2nd Round

KIRKLEY & PAKEFIELD 1 (Smith 50)

EDGWARE TOWN 2 (Butt 60 Ali 86)

Att 60

Entry £6

Programme £1

As a committeeman at the North Berkshire League, you’d have reason to think I dislike the Eastern Counties League, but I’ll let you dear reader into a little secret- I do like visiting their clubs, and this visit proved why. Like all the other clubs in the ECL I’ve visited, they were an absolute joy to meet and spend some time with. Continue reading →

But It Was Gone

10 Sunday May 2015

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Saturday 9th May 2015 ko 15.00

FA Vase Final

GLOSSOP NORTH END 1 (Bailey 55)

NORTH SHIELDS 2 (Bainbridge 80 Forster 96)

After Extra Time

Att 9,674 at Wembley Stadium

Entry- Complimentary (Many thanks to the Wessex League)

Programme £4

I do enjoy my annual trip to the Vase final, even though on this occasion I found myself photographing the same people I did a few years ago! There’s something touching about the trip to the hospitality seats and seeing all those officials from Step 5 leagues. These people aren’t the career administrators from the higher echelons, these are the people who do it for the love of it, and I do wonder whether when the event will switch to a joint Trophy and Vase day that flavour will be lost in a sea of professionalism? Continue reading →

Looking Back

31 Wednesday Dec 2014

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Hindsight is a wonderful thing, so with 2015 nearly upon us let’s cast a final glance on 2014, after all some exceptional places did get a visit! If you’d like to see more of the places featured, the links with take you to the original articles.

January saw a week’s visit to Malta, and between avoiding nervous British pensioners, and my attempts to source the biggest full English breakfast on the Island, we did manage to watch 9 games. For me there were two highlights, the games on Gozo, where there seemed to be more capacity in the Catholic Churches than residents!

SONY DSC

Of Continue reading →

You Are Only Coming Through In Waves

14 Wednesday May 2014

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Saturday 10th May 2014 ko 15.00

FA Vase Final

SHOLING 1 (McLean 71)

WEST AUCKLAND TOWN 0

Att 5,341 at Wembley Stadium

Entry to Bobby Moore Lounge, Programme, and Team Sheet – Complementary (Thanks to the EMCL and the NCEL)

 

So, a third visit to the Vase final in three years, for last year’s final click here, and the method is more or less set in stone. You park at Hillingdon Tube station for £2, then buy a six-zone travelcard for £8.90 for the Metropolitan Line trip to Wembley Park. I could park at Bicester North and take the train to Wembley Stadium, but that’s £22, or drive but it’s £30 (£15 for Blue Badge holders) to park at Wembley. I’ve yet to find a cheaper way of doing it, and yes I did try an unofficial car park for a rock concert here once. I  drove home with no driver’s window or sat nav! Yes, Wembley is an expensive place to visit, and I get the feeling that’s part of the reason why the stadium has been close to empty each of the 8 Vase Finals held at the rebuilt stadium. Continue reading →

A Distant Ship Smoke On The Horizon

07 Tuesday May 2013

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Saturday 4th May 2013 ko 15.00

FA Vase Final

SPENNYMOOR TOWN 2 (Cogdon 18 Graydon 80)

TUNBRIDGE WELLS 1 (Stanford 78)

Att 16,751 at Wembley Stadium

Entry- Complementary

Programme £4

Team sheet Comp

For a while I’ve applied an acid test to all newly constructed stadia, called the, “Dad Test,” and its simple, can my 77-year-old father use it? He’s not particularly fleet of foot these days so long flights of stairs, and standing for long periods are a no-no. With the rebuilt Wembley having virtually no parking and public transport being actively “encouraged” the ground looked a bit of non-starter for him. Continue reading →

Sans Pareil

16 Sunday Dec 2012

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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 →

Marilyn

08 Saturday Dec 2012

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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!