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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Tag Archives: martin bamforth

Football At The Belmont

01 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by laurencereade in W

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

ban, Bochum, Dagenham and Redbridge, Everton, Friendly, Heysel, isthmian league, League 2, martin bamforth, Wayne Burnett, Whitstable Town

Saturday 29th June 2013 ko 15.00

Pre-Season Friendly

WHITSTABLE TOWN 0

DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE 4 (Dennis 21 Elito 40p Goldburg 75 Gale 85)

Att 301

Entry £8

Programme £2

With a mere 15 minutes to drive the six or so miles from Faversham to Whitstable I was pleased and thankful to have Martin Bamforth behind the wheel. We were fortunate, the roads were kind to us, but I was grateful to Whitstable programme editor Andy Short for reserving me a programme; they’d sold out just before I’d got there.

I’ve owed Andy a visit for some time; he uses some of the material on here in his excellent publication, but every time I’ve tried to visit the Belmont Stadium I’ve been thwarted, last time it was by the M25, so I ended up watching an eventful game at Sevenoaks Town. http://wp.me/p1PehW-18S

What Andy hadn’t told me is what a gem the Belmont is. The stand is a wonderful example of an Isthmian League stand, dating from the 1950’s. What makes that remarkable is that the club have only played in the Isthmian League for 7 years! It’s beautifully maintained, a classic of its kind and a must-visit for fans of the Isthmian League.

Of course there’s more to Whitstable than just the Belmont. It’s famous for its oysters, which have been collected in the area since at least Roman times, and in 1830 one of the earliest passenger railway services was opened by the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway Company.  In 1832 the company opened Whitstable Harbour and extended the line to enable passage to London from the port. The railway has since closed but the harbour still plays an important role in the town’s economy.

Perhaps the town’s most interesting quirk involves the football club itself, and I reckon it’s a wonderful pub quiz question too. On 29th May 1985 escaping fans were crushed against a wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, before the start of the European Cup Final between Juventus and Liverpool. Thirty-nine Juventus fans died and the backlash saw English clubs banned from playing European football for 5 years, but what was the first club to be affected? The record books show it was Everton, the league winners in 1995 but in fact it was Whitstable Town, playing in the more humble Kent League! The reason was that Whitstable is twinned with Bochum in Germany and the two sides were due to meet for a pre-season friendly in Germany, but the ban made the game impossible.

Andy also managed to answer a question that really needed an answer. Normally only internationals and organised summer leagues are allowed to play football in June according to FA rules. It transpired that both Faversham and Whitstable contacted the FA at Wembley Stadium for permission, and the blazer-wearers simply delegated the decision to the local Kent FA. They had no objections so our two games went ahead, but I do wonder what would have happened if a host club outside of Kent had have asked.

The game proved to be a one-sided affair as the Daggers passing was too slick for their hosts, who defended manfully to keep the score respectable. The visitors stayed in League 2 by the skin of their teeth last season, and they looked a proven goalscorer short of being a good team. That person manager Wayne Burnett will find difficult to recruit, the club has one of the lowest wage bills in the Football League, the Daggers teams I’ve seen over the years have often seemed like an Isthmian League Dream Team. I suspect it will be another season of struggle for them, fighting as they always are against almost impossible odds.

Those are odd well-known to Whitstable and almost every small club, trying to squeeze a pint from a half pint pot each and every season. I’d been greatly looking forward to my trip to Whitstable and both the club and ground managed to greatly exceed my expectations. That’s another club whose results I’ll be looking out for, as a hopper you do tend to have a list of clubs to follow!






Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

30 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by laurencereade in F

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Aaron Millbank, Adam Birchall, Bradley Dack, Faversham, Gillingham, isthmian league, Linden Rowland, martin bamforth, Salters Lane, Wayne Wilson

Saturday 29th June 2013 ko 13.00

Pre-Season Friendly

FAVERSHAM TOWN 2 (Wilson 11 Rowland 74)

GILLINGHAM 4 (Millbank 15 Dack 25 Birchall 65 76)

Att c500

Entry £8

No Programme, old copy free (some others were charged £1)

Badge £3

It was less than 3 weeks since I finished off last season in Sweden on a joyous Swedish hop, but in that time I can honestly say I lost my edge. I know it seems daft, all I do is show up at a game, watch it and take a few pictures! But even during the planning of this one I felt I wasn’t on top form. I’d agreed to meet the undoubted star of the Swedish adventure Martin Bamforth, at the old Andover FC ground to do the Sealand game at Thamesmead, but we changed plans just as soon as we worked out you can get from Faversham to Whitstable in 15 minutes flat, making an unlikely double possible.

That feeling of unease was still there when we reached Salters Lane, I didn’t slide into my normal habits of knowing instinctively where to obtain the line-ups, über-hopper Peter Miles helped me out what that one. I even had to think about my camera angles!

Eventually everything fell into place and I began to appreciate my surroundings and the entertainment on offer. It just shows how easy it is to lose that state of unconscious competence!

There was a lot to enjoy too, the Kentish town is the cradle of the UK’s explosives industry. The first gunpowder factory was established in the 16th century, probably with investment from Faversham Abbey. At that time the monasteries were deriving good profits from their estates and were keen to invest in promising technology.

The town was the perfect location as it had a stream which could be dammed at intervals to provide power for watermills. On its outskirts were low-lying areas ideal for the culture of alder and willow to provide charcoal, one of the three key gunpowder ingredients. The stream fed into a tidal Creek where sulphur, another key ingredient, could be imported, and the finished product could be  loaded for dispatch to Thames-side magazines. The port allowed the finished product to be shipped to mainland Europe for use with minimum effort.

The explosives industry lasted until 1934 when owner ICI realised that war with Germany was likely, and that Faversham was in a vulnerable location to bombing so moved production to Ayrshire.

These days the town is a quiet market town, and the football ground hides itself amongst the trees midway down Salters Lane. Its a good example of the classic Isthmian League-style ground (the club lost in the Division 1 South playoffs) with the asbestos roofed main stand typical of many in London and its hinterlands. The burger bar was swamped with custom as the visitors, freshly promoted to League 1 brought a bumper crowd. They’d split their squad, with half going to Ashford United at 3, giving their more intrepid supporters a tougher job than Martin and I at the final whistle if they wanted to make kick off.

The hosts made an error in not doing a programme. Even if only half the crowd had bought one at say, £2 there’s £500 the club could have made, and it gave the impression that the club was better run on the pitch than off it.

Even though Gillingham had the luxury of changing the entire team at half time, no bad thing in the heat, Faversham gave the visitors a thorough test, and Wayne Wilson’s 11th minute free-kick was worthy of any stage. The Gills however, always had experience where it mattered, and it was no coincidence that 3 out of the 4 goals were scored by Bradley Dack, and Adam Birchall, both regular first teamers.

But of course these fixtures aren’t about the result, more about fitness, and assessing what works best. It was a decent spectacle, Faversham’s endeavours ensured that, but the last 5 minutes were memorable for arguably the best version of a phenomenon you only ever see when a reasonable number of groundhoppers attend a game.

I call it groundhopper’s itch, when with about 5 minutes left the hoppers slowly make their way to the exit, and hover by the gate. When the final whistle blows, off they scuttle, even if there isn’t another game to go to! On this occasion there was, and yes, I was there too, hovering by the exit with Martin already outside, in the car revved up and ready for the next adventure. That was a neat metaphor for the day, the season to come, and the hobby in general. Its good to be back!




 

The Start of Something Big

04 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by laurencereade in M

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

7th century, arlanda airport, Beowulf, Division 5 Norra Uppland, Kim Hedwall, Kristoffer Lund, Linus Svensson, martin bamforth, Mattias Jansson, Månkarbo, Ohthere, Swedish Groundhop, Tallparken, Uppsala, Vendel, Viking ship burial, Wictor Svensson

Friday 31st May 2013 ko 19.00

Division 5 Norra Uppland

MÅNKARBO 4 (Lund 54 L Svensson 69 W Svensson 77 Jansson 87)

KARLHOLMS GOIF 0

Att 176

Entry, Programme, Badge, Beer, Sandwich,- Included in hop cost

The day started quietly, Kim and I met the coach and the third member of the team, driver Thomas, in Solna. From there we picked up another hopper, John who’d been to the Djurgårdens game the previous evening. We headed north to Arlanda airport to pick up from two flights, Gatwick and Manchester. On the way we received word that the London flight had been delayed due to the pilot having food poisoning. It didn’t matter too much, the drive north to Uppsala was only around an hour, and we still had enough time to allow everyone time to relax in their rooms for 90 minutes before setting out north once again.

It wasn’t far, around a 40 minute drive along the E4, no bad thing for hoppers who’d spent a fair time sat in a departure lounge for 2 hours more than they’d expected. It turned out that Månkarbo was exactly what everyone needed. It’s a village of 600 or so inhabitants, set in the most gorgeous forest. Nearby is the village of Vendel, where in the 19th century an excavation of the local churchyard revealed artefacts from a 7th century Viking ship burial, and a further dig in 1917 produced the grave of a powerful ruler, probably Ohthere. The character of the same name in the epic Beowulf is based around him.

Tallparken is so clearly the village’s hub. The hall behind one goal is large enough for the club to use as a gymnasium, a bar, and a music venue. For this evening Continue reading →

Canter

30 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by laurencereade in P

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Tags

Adam Stephens, August Bank Holiday, cattle sales, Dan Farmer, GroundhopUK, Jake Bufton, Kevin Bufton, martin bamforth, Mid Wales Hop, Mid Wales League, Penybont, Phil Ruell, St Harmon, Trotting

Saturday 25th August 2012 ko 11am

Mid Wales South League

PENYBONT 8 (Ruell 5 J Bufton 12 Stephens 21 29 Farmer 21 25 K Bufton 76 79)

ST HARMON 1 (Martin 45)

Att 257

Entry/ Programme by Hop Ticket

Badge £3

When my alarm sounded at the Dolforwyn Hotel , I made a beeline for the window, I really didn’t want rain! Avoiding Martin Bamforth’s gaze, he was out having an early cigarette, I was pleased and relieved to see a glorious sunny day. That changed at Penybont, but fortunately there was enough cover for everyone to shelter.

The first two games today saw the hop dip down into one of the Mid-Wales feeders for the first time. This was due to the club we were due to visit, Knighton deciding 2 months earlier that the town’s annual carnival taking place on their pitch over August Bank Holiday would mean that football couldn’t be played on it! In the end it all worked out in the hop’s favour, as we got two grounds in place of one, and still have Knighton to visit on a “Hop-up” at a later date.

The Powys village is the source of the A488, but it was the A44 which also runs though the village which was the key to the day’s hopping, all the grounds were on the road, allowing a straightforward 4 games in a day. The village used to be a centre for sheep and cattle sales, but it now best known for its trotting Continue reading →

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