Tuesday 2nd April 2013 ko 18.00

Midland Combination Division Two

INKBERROW 0

HENLEY FOREST 1 (Fitter 38)

Att 12

Entry FREE

Programme NO

With Silly Season kick offs this early I wonder how on earth amateur players manage to reach the ground on time. From Banbury I only just made kick off on time, and I didn’t have to change or warm-up.

The Worcestershire village of Inkberrow is one of those pretty-as-a-picture places that you’d enjoy a drink at the local pub, and take a picture at the church, but then move on to the next place on your itinery. However it does have one massive claim to fame.

The world’s longest running soap opera is Radio 4’s The Archers, and the fictional village of Ambridge and its pub, The Bull, is based on Inkberrow and it’s pub The Old Bull. The series started on May 29, 1950, and since January 1, 1951, five 15-minute episodes (since 1998, six 12½-minute episodes) have been transmitted each week, at first on the BBC Light Programme and now Radio 4. The actor Norman Painting played Phil Archer continuously from the first trial series in 1950 until his death on 29 October 2009. He holds the title of longest-serving actor in a single soap opera in the Guinness Book of Records. The series is now over 15,000 episodes old!

Since my previous visit to Sands Road, the club has moved pitches, over the hedge on to what was a farmer’s field. Football Foundation money has seen that field levelled and drained, and the result is two excellent pitches. The trouble was that those pitches are on top of a hill. The views are spectacular, but the wind ruined the game, and watching anything is difficult when you’re uncomfortable! Some spectators commandeered an upturned dugout for shelter!

One goal settled it, Ed Fitter, finishing well after a good move from the right. Inkberrow continue to be a notably friendly, go-ahead club running a number of teams where the population base would suggest one would struggle. When you go, do pay a visit to the Old Bull, but check how windy it is first!