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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Tag Archives: Royal Engineers

The White Gloves Final

08 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by laurencereade in O, W

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

1872, AH Chequer, Andrew Cottam, Bobby Gould, corinthian casuals, Daniel Flash, David Gold, Dean Ellis, FA Cup, Gerwin Griffiths, James Hubbard, Mike Crame, Morton Betts, Paul Carter, Royal Engineers, The Oval, Wanderers

Wednesday 7th November 2012 ko 19.00

1872 FA Challenge Cup

ROYAL ENGINEERS 7 (Hubbard 8 Carter 18 Griffiths 20 Cottam 23 45 Ellis 33 Crame 86)

WANDERERS 1 (Flash 66)

Att 2,257*

Entry £10

Programme £2

There are grounds which are routine, there are grounds that are unusual, and just once in a while there are grounds that you drop everything and head over there. The Oval for a football fan is definately one of the latter. It was the site of the very first FA Cup final, in 1872 at the end of a competition in which 15 teams entered, and a full 3 years before the crossbar was introduced. The 2,000 viewing on that day were at the start of something special, 758 clubs entered this season’s competition! This game saw both sides wear similar colours to those in 1872, but playing to todays laws.

I’ve put an asterisk by the attendance, as I reckon around 800 were watching. The figure above is how many tickets were sold, but with the event being a fundraiser for the Royal British Legion, The Haig Housing Trust, and Lambeth Tigers FC, many had opted to simply use the ticket as a means of donating.

The Oval is of course a cricket venue, but unlike its more illustrious London test venue, Lords, has seen other sports regularly played on it. Last week saw an Aussie Rules game, and baseball has been played regularly here. The Wanderers used here as a home in the 19th century and between 1951 and 1962 Corithian-Casuals used the Oval for home fixtures. Apart from a one-off Corinthian-Casuals fixture in 1973 there’s been no more football at the Oval since. That’s a long time to wait between games!

It was a superb night out with the Long Room normally only open to members, displaying the current FA Cup together with the second FA Cup, a replica of the first version, famously stolen, found, then stolen all over again. The second trophy was used from 1896 to 1910, and is the property of West Ham United chairman David Gold, who presented it at the final whistle. It was noticable that all who handled it wore gloves, for obvious reasons!

Whilst in the Long Room I managed to meet a real hero of mine, Stuart Clarke. His work, “The Homes of Football,” is a massive influence on the pictures you see on this blog. His exhibition is now at the National Football Museum in Manchester and I cannot recommend it highly enough. He gets right to the heart of the game in away I’ve not seen any other photographer manage.

In the 1872 final the Wanderers won 1-0 courtesy of a goal by Morton Betts playing under the pseudonym AH Chequer, apparently due to his having played for the Old Harrovians. This was rather ironic given that the roots of The Wanderers lie in former pupils of Harrow School!

Since 1872 the two sides have had differing fortunes. The Wanderers disbanded in 1887, they’d declined rapidly after winning the FA Cup 5 times. Incidentally the reason why if a club wins the FA Cup 3 times in a row, they don’t keep the trophy is due to the Wanderers, as when they completed the feat in 1878 the trophy was returned to the FA on the proviso that no club would ever be able to win it outright. The club was reformed in 2009, and completes in the lowly Surrey South Eastern Combination, a far cry from their all-conquering past. For this game they had a guest manager, Bobby Gould, an FA Cup winner both as a player with West Ham in 1975 (as a non-playing subsitute) , and as a manager with Wimbledon in 1988.

The Royal Engineers have never entered a league; the practicalities of being a regiment on active service making it impossible. Nevertheless the club has maintained a team continously since the famous first final, and continues to be a major force in armed services football, in fact I saw them at Aldershot Military Stadium in January 2012.

https://laurencereade.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/name-rank-and-number/

With the club having been credited with inventing the passing game, rather than simply kicking the ball forward and charging, and some military fitness, a repeat of the 1872 final was never likely to happen. The Engineers had the first half entirely their own way, and ran up 6 unanswered goals, without having to really try.

But a drubbing really wouldn’t be cricket, so the Engineers replaced 7 players at half time, and at the risk of a bad pun- declared! The second half saw the Wanderers cheered on by their followers and many neutrals at least manage to register a goal from Daniel Flash, whose header, er, flashed past Sapper Luke Cairney in the Engineers goal.

That took nothing away from the Engineers victory, but I did feel sorry for one of their organisers Matt Surtees, who would have featured but is on active service. That was food for thought with Remembrance Sunday just round the corner.


Les
This was going on in one of the unopened concourses
Only the Pavilion was open

The 2nd FA Cup
Chelsea Pensioners in the Long Room

That’s photographic maestro Stuart Clarke with the Band of the Corps of the Royal Engineers


The Wanderers’ players don’t seem to be too disappointed, but ever the professional Bobby Gould can’t hide his angst.

The Falklands Walk

25 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by laurencereade in N

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Ben Steward, Cambridgeshire County League, Falklands, Football, groundhopping, Hundon, Jamie Farlie, Jamie Hayes, John Major, Needingworth United, Royal Engineers, Tom Kulik

Wednesday 21st MArch 2012 ko 7.45pm

Cambridgeshire County League Senior A Division

NEEDINGWORTH UNITED 1 (Steward 40og)

HUNDON 1 (Hayes 17p)

Att 10 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No Programme

Tea 70p

Raffle £1

The small village of Needingworth lies close to St Ives, and for a small town a lot has happened. There’s a massive aggregate pit, which in time will become a nature reserve under the wing of the RSPB. The ground, Millfields, as the name suggests was linked to a long demolished windmill, and the village has gained an excellent sports facility. There’s room for 4 football pitches, as well as a cricket pitch, together with the clubhouse, opened by local MP John Major in 1992. Surrounding the whole lot is Falklands Walk, an area of woodlands and footpaths funded by a unit of the Royal Engineers after their posting to the Falklands in 1989. Yes, it’s all very neat, if a little bland, the trouble is that the locals patently don’t care about their football club.

And what a bonny little club it is. Run by a small band of stalwarts, it was an absolute pleasure to spend a couple of hours in their company. From running a line, to making tea, to sorting out two bottles of wine for the raffle prize, everything was done with humour and a friendly welcome, so why on average do only 4 locals come and watch their team?

Yes, the team are struggling, near the bottom of the second tier of the league, a feeder to the United and Eastern Counties Leagues. They once had a ground inspection for acceptance into the UCL, but balked at the cost of adding the lights and stand they had already. The stand got sold to Ramsey Town, themselves refugees from the UCL, but so far hasn’t been erected there. On the pitch relegation happened despite the league rather liking a floodlit ground in the Premier Division.

This game saw two clubs struggling to maintain their place in the division. The home officials happily admitted they’d be happy for a point, and that both sides would probably still be the same division next season due to a withdrawal and a lack of clubs wanting to make the step up.

The game was therefore exactly as I expected, nervy and error strewn. The moment of controversy was when Hundon’s Jamie Farlie was put clean through on goal. The keeper Tom Kulik went in on him with his knee raised, and a penalty was the only decision referee Brian Lewis could possibly make. The question was, should it be interpreted as dangerous play or denying a goal scoring opportunity too?  Lewis opted not to, arguing that a penalty was enough, and took into account on the fact the Kulik had been on the receiving end of a studs-up challenge the previous Saturday. Probably against FA directives, but instinctively correct. Jamie Hayes slotted home the spot kick neatly.

Needingworth got the equalizer in bizarre circumstances. Luke Gatford swung in a corner to the near post and there was Ben Steward to head home… past his own keeper! The second half was a bitty affair, with few chances, but to be honest I was enjoying the company too much to care!

I left having watched a distinctly average game, but loved this little club with a big heart. I wish the locals would walk down the road and discover what I drove for 2 hours to find.




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  • The 100 Grounds Club Shaun Smith’s groundhopping football blog. The original internet ground logging website. 0
  • The Football Traveller The bible for every groundhopper. Non-League fixtures magazine delivered weekly. Published and edited by Chris Bedford 0
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