Tag Archives: League 2

The Saga

29 Monday Jun 2020

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Tuesday 23rd December 2008 ko 19.45

FA Cup 2nd Round Replay

DROYLSDEN 2 (Newton 31 55p)

CHESTERFIELD 1 (Lester 35)

Lester sent off 84 (violent conduct)

Att 2,824 

Entry £5

Programme £1

On one level I knew exactly why I was at the Butchers Arms Ground in Manchester’s eastern suburbs. Leaving aside the groundhopper’s insatiable urge to collect football grounds I was happy to escape a Milton Keynes office, and the kind of job where you inwardly measure every minute you’re on duty. So to Droylsden I drove, and all because any FA Cup tie is interesting and a potential upset involving a Conference North club against a League 2 outfit looked attractive. However, if you know what had happened in the month prior to the tie you’ll know just how much of an understatement that last sentence is! Continue reading →

Taking Stock

14 Sunday Jun 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 2nd August 2008 ko 14.20

Scottish League Division 3

COWDENBEATH 1 (McQuade 16)

ANNAN ATHLETIC 4 (Jack 30p 48 Archibald 58 Johnstone 90)

Att 596

Entry £10

Programme £1.50

There are of course no lack of towns that with the greatest of respect to their residents, that you’d never visit for tourism but would for football.  That said I do know one couple where the wife made the rather rash decision to let hubby book their summer holiday. They were due to visit Sunderland this June had it not been for Coronavirus. Cue the complaints from the Sunderland tourist board….. Continue reading →

The Class Of 92

09 Sunday Feb 2020

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Saturday 16th November 2019 ko 15.00

League 2

SALFORD CITY 2 (Rooney 4p 90p)

swindon town 3 (Doyle 9 54p Yates 78)

Att 3,509 (1,340 away

Entry £10 (terrace)

Programme £3

Its been many years since I completed the 92, that is the grounds of the 92 clubs that make up the Premier League and EFL. For what little it’s worth I finished at Doncaster Rovers’ old home of Belle Vue, and each season I normally get a new ground to aim for. This season though, the 92 has been reduced to 90, with Coventry City sharing at Birmingham City and Bury FC having been ejected from the EFL. But with Tottenham at their new ground, and Salford City having been promoted into the EFL, I had two new grounds to visit, and you could easily argue Salford is the more interesting case! Continue reading →

Westland

20 Thursday Jul 2017

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Saturday 15th July 2017 ko 15.00

Preseason Friendly

YEOVIL TOWN 1 (Olomola 75)

BRISTOL CITY 3 (Reid 22 28 Magnusson 25)

Att 2,636 (883 away)

Entry £8

Programme £1

On occasion I get asked how I pick my games, and people are often surprised when I say that often they pick me! This one was a case in point, I was due to be in Minehead in the evening and my girlfriend Robyn is a Bristol City fan. Then there was the Martin McConachie factor to consider…

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My Wembley

10 Sunday Apr 2016

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Sunday 3rd April 2016 ko 14.30

Football League Trophy Final

BARNSLEY 3 (Dunkley 50og Fletcher 68 Hammill 74)

OXFORD UNITED 2 (O’Dowda 29 Hylton 76)

Att 59,230 @ Wembley Stadium

Entry £60

Programme £5

Tea £2

I’m fortunate in that I get to visit Wembley reasonably frequently. It fulfills both sides of my divergent footballing personality. On one hand I’m a traditionalist, for me Wembley is English football’s spiritual home, so when the stadium was rebuilt in situ it was the correct decision. I admit it may well have been entirely logical to build the national stadium in Birmingham, but….. Wembley, is… home isn’t it? Continue reading →

Making Bets On Local Derby Day

08 Thursday Oct 2015

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Tuesday 6th October 2015 ko 19.45

Football League Trophy Southern Section, 2nd Round

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Roofe 41 54)

swindon town 0 Turnbull sent off (violent conduct) 31

Att 9,013 (1,179 away)

Entry £15

Programme £3

It was 6.30 and there I was stood sheltering under the canopy over turnstile 1 waiting for Alan to open up. I watched the other Oxford fans waiting alongside me, and we all had the same expression on our faces. We were nervous, and despite there being 50 or so stood there it was quiet, I could even hear Joey Beauchamp’s footsteps as he walked over to the Quad Bar hospitality entrance. Being an Oxford United legend affords you that luxury. Continue reading →

The Barnett Formula

14 Sunday Dec 2014

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Saturday 13th December 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Jones 70og Barnett 90)

BURY 1 (Mayor 63)

Att 6,912 (215 away)

Entry- Season Ticket, my guest FREE

Programme £3 (incl Oxford Mail)

There are several strands to my footballing life, what I travel to watch personally is often different from what I’d organise a groundhop to, and I the only club I watch with any degree of regularity is my home-town team Oxford United. Perhaps the great irony of my existence is that the further the club slid down the footballing pecking order the more creditability I gained in my groundhopping life!

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Empathy

09 Friday May 2014

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Saturday 3rd May 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 3 (Marquis 29 Toney 33 Kouo-Doumbe 50)

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Williams 6) Williams sent off 19 (violent conduct)

Att 7,529 (1,358 away)

Entry £19

Programme £3

I’ve watched my team lose their league status, and its a perfectly horrible experience, and one I wouldn’t wish on any fan (well perhaps Swindon, but that’s tribal!). The Conference may well be a quasi-League 3 but the process of falling into it still hurts a lot. 6 months ago, Northampton were racing favourites to take that drop, sacked manager Aidy Boothroyd, recruited Oxford United’s Chris Wilder more here, and went into this game out of the relegation zone for the first time this year, needing a point to guarantee League football.

In contrast Oxford had been in the play-off positions virtually all season, but since Wilder’s departure form had slumped with the club destined to finish 8th whatever the result. They had nothing but pride to play for, but the Cobblers’ conundrum was as follows. If they lost and either Wycombe or Bristol Rovers won, they were down, so how the club decided to stage the game surprised me.

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Quality

16 Sunday Feb 2014

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Saturday 15th February 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 3 (Connolly 27 Wroe 53 Smalley 68)

MANSFIELD TOWN 0

Att 5,108 (365 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc’ Oxford Mail)

Its been a good week to look at sport as a whole. I do enjoy the Olympic games, and like many others I watched agog as Lizzie Yarnold won gold for Team GB in the Skeleton Bobsleigh. I’m not sure why I enjoy watching the sports that I don’t know intimately, but there’s something visceral about throwing yourself down an ice tube on a tray with your chin an inch from the ice. Of course she won by just under a second over 4 runs, a massive margin, but it was the way she conducted herself afterwards that impressed me. Calm, collected and respectful she is a credit to herself, her country and her sport, and watching her interview you could imagine a legion of young girls taking up sport with her as their inspiration. I fact a few hours later I saw a tweet of a 5 year-old girl, face down on a skateboard wearing her brothers cycle helmet. It’s a powerful, positive message, and one I hope will be repeated many, many times. Continue reading →

Loneliness

05 Wednesday Feb 2014

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1st February 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Newey 40 Connolly 56)

AFC WIMBLEDON 1 (Wyke 75)

Att 5,745 (693 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc’ Oxford Mail)

A few years ago I was genuinely lonely. I was sat in a house that I was doomed to be leaving, on my own. Although friends and family spent plenty of time with me and I’ll always be grateful for their support,  I didn’t start rebuilding my life until I moved out.

It felt a lot like that at Oxford United over the last few weeks with former manager Chris Wilder surrounded by people, but utterly alone with only his own thoughts for company.  On Saturday with Wilder happily ensconced in a relegation battle at Northampton Town, it felt that the burden has been lifted on both club and former manager.

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