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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Tag Archives: Wantage Town

Don’t Mention…

16 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by laurencereade in B, E

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Alfredian Park, Burghclere, East Hendred, nbfl, North Berkshire League, Wantage Town, War Memorial Cup, War Memorial Cup Final

Friday 10th April 2015 ko 19.30

North Berkshire League- War Memorial Cup Final

EAST HENDRED 1 (Mason 35og)

BURGHCLERE 2 (Gannon 22 Smallridge 32)

Att 267 at Alfredian Park, Wantage (Wantage Town FC)

Entry & Programme £3

I’m tempted to start with this one with a similar line to the one I used when I attended the 2012 final here, in fact lets do just that, Continue reading →

Reunion

06 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by laurencereade in W

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Alfredian Park, Didcot Town, FA Cup, Jermaine Ferriera, Pablo Haysham, Richard Claydon, Sean Webb, Wantage Town

Friday 30th August 2013 ko 19.45

FA Cup Preliminary Round

WANTAGE TOWN 2 (Claydon 60 86)

DIDCOT TOWN 3 (Webb 3og Ferriera 37 Haysham 70)

Att 321

Entry £6

Programme £1 (poor, far too many adverts)

After the excesses of the weekend, I’d felt rather footballed-out. There were no lack of options on Tuesday and Wednesday, but save for a little writing the urge to jump in the car had been absent. But on Friday, a nice local game beckoned, and an FA Cup game too. It was time to get back in the swing of things, and on arrival I wasn’t the only one to have thought along the same lines. There were a good 20 hoppers, many of whom had been touring around North Wales with Chris and I. There was North Berkshire League representation too, with fixtures secretary Charlie East, and Treasurer Mike Panting casting an interested local eye on the proceedings.

However the reunion had a far more significant member, Continue reading →

51.588868 -1.426453

Alfred the Victor

12 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by laurencereade in W

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Alfred the Great, Alfredian Park, Anaclet Odhaimbo, Danny Lachacz, Hellenic, Jimmy Deabill, Josh Ashby, Lester Piggott, Matt's Collis, Wantage Town

Wednesday 10th July 2013 ko 19.45

Kevin Sinton & Colin Blunsden Memorial Match

WANTAGE TOWN 2 (Odhiambo 33 Lachacz 54)

OXFORD UNITED XI 1 (Ashby 61)

Att c150

Entry £6

No programme

It’s impossible to think of Wantage without thing of Alfred the Great. The famous king of Wessex was born here in 849 AD and was king from 871 until his death in 899. He is the only English monarch to be accorded the epithet “the Great.”  Alfred’s reputation has been that of a learned and merciful man who encouraged education and improved his kingdom’s legal system and military structure. His statue dominates the town’s square.

The town’s other famous son was born a little later, 1935 to be exact! Lester Piggott was born conveniently for the stables at Ardington, Lockinge and Lambourn nearby. The whole area is notably affluent, even down to the entrance to Alfredian Park being down an easy-to-miss tree-lined lane.

I’ve been to Alfredian Park a lot over the years, Oxford United often send sides here, the welcome is fulsome and the football good, and the North Berkshire League uses the ground for some of its cup finals. In fact my most recent visit was Continue reading →

Illuminate

26 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by laurencereade in C

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Adam Clayton, Brian King, Chinnor, Fllodlights, Floodlights, Gareth Tucker, Hellenic hop, hellenic league, John McMahon, Oxford City, Paul Alder, Quarry Nomads, Station Road, Stuart Cattell, U2, Wantage Town

Tuesday 25th September 2012 ko 7.45pm
Hellenic League Floodlit Cup 2nd Round

CHINNOR 1 (Cattell 12og)

WANTAGE TOWN 2 (McMahon 23 Alder 28)

Att 93

Entry & Programme £2

The Oxfordshire village of Chinnor really does mark both a geographical and topographical boundary. The limestone escarpment slopes up from the village towards the Bledlow Ridge, and its that escarpment that marks the boundary with Buckinghamshire. Former weatherman Bill Giles lives here, and almost unbelievably, U2 bassist Adam Clayton was born in Chinnor before moving to the Irish Republic aged 5.

It’s been a long time since my last visit to Station Road, I think it was for a Hellenic Hop game against Oxford City’s Reserves, but that was on what’s now Chinnor’s second pitch, and that was just roped off. Ironically given the opposition, soon after they inherited the rail from Quarry Nomads’ Margaret Road home- Oxford City took over the Nomads to get their place in the Hellenic, and soon, the team was wearing City Blue and White, and there was no football at Margaret Road. With there now being no Hellenic hop, it was a straightforward decision to get the new pitch ticked. Judging by the sheer number of hoppers there I wasn’t the only one thinking along these lines!

The Nomads’ rail is still is situ but Chinnor have moved about 50 yards, and a right angle from the clubhouse, itself due to be demolished in favour of something more suitable. It all looks new, clean, and built with precious little thought. The pitch only just fits its footprint, I certainly wouldn’t want to see a goalkeeper at the clubhouse end fall backwards into the goal, he’d hit his head! Whoever decided it was a bright idea to put the two prefabricated stands behind the dugouts obviously hadn’t considered what the view would be like from them. I assume that in time some attempt will be made to enclose the ground, as my £2 entry was taken by me finding a small pile of programmes behind the bar and buying one.

Still, the club is justifiably proud of the progress its made, and Brian King, General Secretary of the League was beaming at being present at the club’s first ever home game under lights. It wasn’t long ago that the club was doing very little in the Oxfordshire Senior League on very little more than a park pitch. But that’s the rub for the club, floodlights aren’t cheap, and the Hellenic League Division One East has only 14 teams in it. It will be interesting to see how many times, save for the mandatory Saturday 3pm kick offs, that the lights actually get used!

It was an odd evening, with a ladies’ circuits class taking place in one corner, and a referee’s assessors’ course separating into gaggles of 5, spread around the pitch. It was one only a few occasions I’ve not looked out-of-place with my clip board.

As perhaps you’d expect, Wantage of the Hellenic Premier were too proficient for their lower-ranked opponents. They had a shock though, when Stuart Cattell attempted an interception, but watched horrified as it looped over Gareth Tucker to give Chinnor an unlikely lead. Wantage soon put that right, and two quick-fire finishes from John McMahon, and Paul Alder gave a more realistic view of the play.

What should have been a simple second half was made more difficult by Wantage easing off and failing to capitalise on they did create and were nearly forced into extra time when Wantage’s Brad Davies header produced a diving save from Tucker, his own keeper with 2 minutes left. That of course exhausted an obvious source of a floodlit game for Chinnor. I wonder when the next will be?




A Preview

22 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by laurencereade in S

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Andy Goodchild, Ben Hummel, Cottage Road, groundhop, James Bowsher, James Stevens, Jamie Gregory, North Berkshire League, pam ayers, Stanford in the Vale, Uffington United, Wantage Town, white horse hills

Saturday 21st April 2012 ko 2.30pm

North Berkshire League Division 3

STANFORD IN THE VALE 1 (Gregory 76)

WANTAGE TOWN A 6 (Stevens 11 28 75 Bowsher 37 Hummel 40 Goodchild 54)

Att 36 (h/c)

Entry FREE

No Programme

Tea-in-a-mug 40p

The West Oxfordshire village of Stanford-in-the-vale is best known as the birthplace of poet Pam Ayers. I drove in via Pusey and what a beautiful part of the world it is, with the stone cottages set against a backdrop of the White Horse Hills in the background. I think its part of human nature that we tend to marvel at places we’ve travelled long distances to see, and ignore what’s on our doorstep.

Apart from the obvious attractions of a game of football, I wanted to visit Stanford as its the only ground provisionally on the 2012 NBFL hop I knew nothing about. With the hop visiting divisions at a level never featured on an organised hop, I wanted to be available to help the clubs make the most of next September 22nd.

I met club secretary Simon Jackson, and he told me all about the club. They’ve no qualms about accomodating 200 or so hoppers. The ground is enclosed, so they’ll have someone on each gate with a box of programmes, they’ve got a huge barbeque set so that’ll be handy, and since the White Horse Brewery is in Stanford, there’ll be real ales to try. It should be a great day out for everyone.

What a charming ground Cottage Road is too. The clubhouse is good enough to attract drinkers who aren’t there to watch Stanford, and the pitch is railed on the near side. There’s trees on two side, which proved to be helpful in the midst of a hail storm! I was struck by how well this Oxford United fan was well-treated by what appeared to be a club of Swindon Town fans, although I’m bound to point out that Stanford play in OUFC yellow and blue!

Simon had told me that Stanford were going into this game with 6 players missing due to injury and suspension, and that Wantage’s A team is very strong. Incidentally they play at the Wantage Leisure Centre, and not at Alfredian Park, so there’s somewhere else so me to visit! Simon’s fears were justified as Wantage ran out easy winners. Centre half James Stevens collected a hat-trick as Stanford failed to convince when defending any form of cross. James Bowsher, Ben Hummel and Andy Goodchild piled on the misery as the visitors were first to everything and had the better ideas.

But let’s not dwell too much on the game. I drove away afterwards, thinking “What a lovely little club” and “That’s club I don’t have to worry about next September.”

I took a little detour to visit Uffington United, as its only around 4 miles away. That’s set to be the finale of the hop under their lights. Forget their league position, they’re just as ready for the crowds as Stanford, and you’ll be amazed at the ground.





 

Death & Taxes

20 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by laurencereade in B, S, W

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Adam Oram, AJ Stockford, Berinsfield, Brian Rawlings, David Murphy, nbfl, North Berkshire League, Sam Childs, Simon Kenny, Sutton Courtenay, Wantage Town, War Memorial Cup Final

Friday 20th April 2012 ko 7.30pm

North Berkshire League War Memorial Cup Final

BERINSFIELD 5 (Rawlings 45 90 Kenny 46 D Murphy 56 Ingram 90)

SUTTON COURTENAY 2 (Oram 33 Childs 37) Johnson sent off 85 (2nd Booking)

Att 340 (h/c)

Played at Alfredian Park, Wantage. (Wantage Town FC)

Entry & Programme £2

That’s right folks, a measly two quid. I mean, what of significance can you buy for £2 these days? Of course, if you like the NBFL it buys you a fantastic evening’s entertainment.

The match was hosted by Wantage Town, a ground I’ve visited quite a few times over the years. It used to be positively ramshackle, I once described the stand as looking like a scene from “Tenko” but on each time I returned there have been improvements. Firstly the stand was rebuilt, then the ground enclosed. Now there’s a turnstile block, and I would imagine the ground now meets Southern League standards.

This is the North Berkshire League’s Cup for first XI’s that aren’t in the top division. The fact of the matter though, is that Berinsfield for the last two years have been in an entirely false position. Continue reading →

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