eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 17, 2021 13:21:36 GMT
Rochdale 0 Scunthorpe 0. Crown Oil Stadium (but I still prefer Spotland). Found a great little pub before the game - the Cemetry Hotel. Local beers, friendly locals. Game had 0-0 written all over it after about 20 minutes. Dale passed and moved it well, but with no punch in the final third. Most attacks down Dales left flank - No. 16 Done looks a good WB. The No.9 Beesley was very isolated and the diminutive No. 10 and No. 20 looked more like mascots than professional footballers. Scunny offered nothing. They defended well, but resorted to punting it up to their No.9 Loft who was never going to beat three defenders and get a goal. Dale probably deserved the 3 points. Major disappointment that the meat pies had sold out before HT. WTF. Food & drink were expensive for what you get. Was it worth £18 to watch a 0-0 in the drizzle? Well Dale are obviously 'part of the community' and have a small, but solid support base. No yobs. Felt like a good traditional Football Club trying it's best to just survive with the giants of united and citeh only just down the road. Result as follows: Rochdale £25 (inc. food & drink). Bristol Rovers £0.
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 22, 2021 8:19:03 GMT
In sharp contrast to a 0-0 draw in the drizzle... Clapton Community FC 8 Hounslow Reserves 6 (The Stray Dog). Tier 11 of the pyramid. Very brief history. Clapton FC had strong community support from east London anarchists and anti-fascists. Bit like a very small version of Union. The supporters felt they were being betrayed by the owners in some deal involving the status of the football stadium (the Old Spotted Dog). Some of the supporters split and formed Clapton Community FC. Clapton CFC have been granted the Old Spotted Dog and work is ongoing to get it back in use. Clapton FC still exists. So how many turn up at Clapton CFC, and what was it like? Car parking was free and easy - in this bit of London this is very, very unusual. The entrance fee was a donation. Bar - shared with Walthamstow FC who were also at home in an FA Cup qualifying round. £3.20 a pint a pint of Heineken, very cheap for East London, but very quiet. Quiet because - Clapton CFC supporters turn up with backpacks full of their own beer and drink them on the terrace. Very friendly supporters, somewhat surprised to find Union Berlin and Bristol Rovers support on the terrace. A strange game of football saw Clapton 3-4 down at HT before storming back to win 8-6. A lot of flags. A lot of noise from the (est) 250 or so supporters. They were very hipster. At the final whistle no-one left. The squad did some moves, engaged with the supporters and fist bumped everyone on the way out. There was a mass taking of the knee. Which all players and supporters did, apart from me. But no-one seemed to mind. Saw a Walter Tull banner up - former Clapton player and first (I think) high profile black player in England. A thoroughly enjoyable and very cheap day out. A random Newcastle fan was there and informed us that his best mate was in Exeter... watching the game, and gave us the 4-0 score-line after 30 mins. I had a far better afternoon than the long suffering Gasheads who travelled down the M5. Result Clapton CFC £12.40 (2 pints, donation entry and a programme) Bristol Rovers FC £0. Edit: Clapton CFC No.7 looked best player on the pitch - Owiredu. Houslow sub came on and, difficult not to be mean, had the physique of Dudley Dursley. Official write up here www.claptoncfc.co.uk/2021/08/22/clapton-cfc-8-cb-hounslow-united-res-6-incredible-win-for-mens-first-team/ Attendance 322.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2021 11:18:16 GMT
I had a lovely old time watching West Didsbury & Chorlton win 3-0 away at Stafford Town. No real opinion on the game as it was mainly drinking beers with pals. A lovely day out!
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 23, 2021 12:32:47 GMT
I had a lovely old time watching West Didsbury & Chorlton win 3-0 away at Stafford Town. No real opinion on the game as it was mainly drinking beers with pals. A lovely day out! Tier 9 or 10? Bloody glory hunter.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2021 15:17:51 GMT
I had a lovely old time watching West Didsbury & Chorlton win 3-0 away at Stafford Town. No real opinion on the game as it was mainly drinking beers with pals. A lovely day out! Tier 9 or 10? Bloody glory hunter. Tier 10, Step 6.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Aug 23, 2021 23:37:07 GMT
West Didsbury and Chorlton are legendary for the beer they serve at the ground. I know many people who go to watch them although I've never made it there myself. Maine Road FC (who started life as a Man City supporters club football team) are West Didsbury and Chorlton's local rivals and I used to go and watch them quite a bit though. Now Abbey Hey FC in Gorton (where Shameless is set) is my local Tier 9/10 club. I like that there are these non-league teams representing suburbs of Manchester - it adds something. Doesn't really seem to exist in Bristol to the same extent. When my sister moved to St George I was really dissapointed to discover that Roman Glass St George had moved out to Cribbs. Given the changing nature of St George it seemed like a potential prime spot for a non-league hipster football club!
The Cemetry is indeed one of the great football pubs in this country. Always make sure I take the train when I go to Rochdale so I can drink at both ends of the game at Spotland. One of the funniest things I've ever seen at a football match started outside the Cemetary. I was walking up to the ground and suddenly a minibus pulls up just next to me and about 15-20 Hibs fans in full gear and utterly inebriated pour out and start singing 'sunshine on Leith etc' which was obviously quite weird and a bit baffling. I got in the ground and discovered that they were sponsoring the game because pne time Gas goalie Conrad Logan was playing for Rochdale and the previous spring he'd become a cult hero at Hibs because he game on as a substitute in the Scottish Cup final and saved several penalties in a shootout winning Hibs the Cup for the first time since god was a boy. So there was this kind of party atmosphere, good local story connecting Hibs in bizarre. Except the Rochdale manager obviously hadn't read the scipt as Logan was dropped to the bench following a mare in the previous game so the Hibs fan went mental and got themselves ejected - the whole thing was gloriously ridiculous! Decent atmosphere at Spotland normally but I wish they had an away terrace.
Cricket season so I haven't managed to get to FC United yet - hopefully next week.
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 24, 2021 8:39:22 GMT
West Didsbury and Chorlton are legendary for the beer they serve at the ground. I know many people who go to watch them although I've never made it there myself. Maine Road FC (who started life as a Man City supporters club football team) are West Didsbury and Chorlton's local rivals and I used to go and watch them quite a bit though. Now Abbey Hey FC in Gorton (where Shameless is set) is my local Tier 9/10 club. I like that there are these non-league teams representing suburbs of Manchester - it adds something. Doesn't really seem to exist in Bristol to the same extent. When my sister moved to St George I was really dissapointed to discover that Roman Glass St George had moved out to Cribbs. Given the changing nature of St George it seemed like a potential prime spot for a non-league hipster football club!
The Cemetry is indeed one of the great football pubs in this country. Always make sure I take the train when I go to Rochdale so I can drink at both ends of the game at Spotland. One of the funniest things I've ever seen at a football match started outside the Cemetary. I was walking up to the ground and suddenly a minibus pulls up just next to me and about 15-20 Hibs fans in full gear and utterly inebriated pour out and start singing 'sunshine on Leith etc' which was obviously quite weird and a bit baffling. I got in the ground and discovered that they were sponsoring the game because pne time Gas goalie Conrad Logan was playing for Rochdale and the previous spring he'd become a cult hero at Hibs because he game on as a substitute in the Scottish Cup final and saved several penalties in a shootout winning Hibs the Cup for the first time since god was a boy. So there was this kind of party atmosphere, good local story connecting Hibs in bizarre. Except the Rochdale manager obviously hadn't read the scipt as Logan was dropped to the bench following a mare in the previous game so the Hibs fan went mental and got themselves ejected - the whole thing was gloriously ridiculous! Decent atmosphere at Spotland normally but I wish they had an away terrace.
Cricket season so I haven't managed to get to FC United yet - hopefully next week.
I was planning to see FC United, but they were away at Warrington - hence why I went to Dale. By coincidence FC United played Clapton Community FC in a a couple of 'high profile' games recently. The Women contested the Footballer Supporters Association Trophy - marking 100 years since the FA banned women's football and 50 years since rescinding the ban. FC United 9 Clapton CFC 0. The men then played out a friendly, FC United 5 Clapton CFC 2. I'm finding quite a lot to enjoy away from Rovers at the moment. Next up probably Waltham Abbey / Didcot Town on Saturday. Tier 8, step 4.
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 29, 2021 8:36:21 GMT
A festival at Waltham Abbey meant road congestion... so I looked for another local kick-off. Stumbled across Enfield FC vs Ilford, and checking wiki the Enfield player/manager is a certain Jamie Cureton. Up the M11 it was then - Enfield FC are now playing at Bishops Stortford. (Enfield FC - not to be confused with Enfield Town who still play in Enfield). Had a chat with Jamie. He still follows Rovers results and was "very surprised" at the Barton appointment. He said a lot of "bad decisions" were being made at Rovers. He keeps in touch with Tom Gorringe, and would like a trip to the Mem at some stage. He had surgery on his knee so sadly wasn't available to play. Only 29 people worldwide have played over 1000 competitive games, and Jamie is one of them. To the game - Essex Senior League (tier 9). Unsurprisingly a huge leap in fitness and quality from tier 11. Enfield went 3 up very quickly. Attacking partnership of Miles & James were running Ilford ragged. Ilford were much better after the break and got it back to 3-2, before James scored a very well taken 4th for 'the E's'. Any lull in the football, and you could watch easyjet and Ryanair planes landing every 5 minutes at nearby Stansted Airport. Very good playing surface and a decent 'modern' stadium. Free parking (it's £2 when Stortford are at home). £7 entry. Well it was certainly better than a trip to Cumbria. Result Enfield FC £20 (2 pints, food, entry) Bristol Rovers FC £0 Attendance: 155.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Sept 1, 2021 21:11:02 GMT
I went to the glamour game of Stockport County vs Grimsby yesterday. Have to say that it was a bit of a thrill as it's the first time in my entire life that I've been able to walk from my house to game at that standard. 0-0 and not a very good match but Edgeley Park has had a significant makeover and there were 6,500 in attendance. Stockport have not had a great start to the season but they feel like a club who are getting their act together finally.
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Post by eppinggas on Sept 12, 2021 7:51:57 GMT
Cheshunt FC 0 Merstham 1. Isthmian Premier, Tier 7. A 20 minute drive to Cheshunt. Lots of free parking available. Caught the end of Palace / Spurs. Cheshunt is straight up the A10 from Spurs so quite a few groans when Palace got their third. £3.80 a pint of Kronenberg. £12 entry (would have been £10 in advance). Had to download the free e-programme. Looking through the Merstham squad - a name rather leapt out - Barry Hayles. Only bloody Barry Hayles! THE Barry Hayles. He is assistant manager and very occasionally striker, sadly not even on the bench. Cheshunt the better side, lots of possession, but no real cutting edge. Merstham went 1-0 just before HT and defended stoutly. Merstham No.9 was like a tier 7 Akinfenwa, surprisingly quick for a big fellah, and a good jump on him. Despite the Merstham centre backs totally dominating in the air - the Cheshunt 'plan' was to repeatedly lump high balls into the box, which were repeatedly headed away. Game finished 0-1. Hung around like a saddo to catch Mr Hayles as they walked off. A quick word and the obligatory selfie. Told Barry that my son saw his first ever game in the 1-1 draw with Janners. Barry's home debut, and inevitably he scored. So another Rovers legend, another good afternoon. It was significantly better than going to Hartlepool. Result Cheshunt FC £19.60 (entry, 2 pints) Bristol Rovers £0 Attendance: 205
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Post by irishrover on Sept 15, 2021 13:37:35 GMT
I was finally able to make use of my FC United season ticket last night. They best Bamber Bridge 1-0 to climb to the heady heights of 12th in the Northern Premier League having had a pretty dodgy start to the season.
1,500 in ground but they are being stricter on social distancing rules than most places so the atmosphere is not quite what it usually is although everyone got into it come the end. Blyth Spartans away in the cup on Saturday (tough one - I will not be going!) but it would be good if they could cause an upset.
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Post by eppinggas on Sept 19, 2021 8:11:51 GMT
Waltham Abbey 3 Biggleswade 0. Southern League Central Division (Tier 8). Waltham Abbey is the shortest distance from Epping to a Club in the football pyramid. Went with a West Ham fan who in contrast will be off to watch manu and CR7 this afternoon. Free parking. Friendly bar, Guinness / San Miguel both £3.75 a pint. Entry £8. Pitch in excellent condition. The Abbots went 1-0 up against the run of play after a 'worldie' strike from Coker. Biggleswade dominated the 1st half but couldn't score. Best player - Alex Marsh (Biggleswade, Capt.) - but he faded badly in the 2nd half. Abbots keeper had a very good game. More even in the 2nd half. A looping header put Abbots 2-0 up (keeper could have done better) and a late penalty wrapped up the points. Abbots player/manager Holland picked up a yellow for an awful challenge and lucky it wasn't a red. Surely he would sub himself off? Nope - he continued and got himself sent off with another yellow just before FT. As did their No.2 for kicking out. Surprisingly excellent officiating. A little girl was standing next to us near FT - she asked her Mum "will we see Daddy soon". Mum rolled her eyes and replied - "No, he's just got himself sent off again". It's these little snippets that get you closer to the action. There is more of a connection with the players and the events happening around you. Certainly closer to the soul of football than the awful hype and noise of the premiersh*t. Was it better than trapesing 300 miles to the Mem and back and watching an abysmal Rovers performance? Yup. Result Waltham Abbey FC £21.25 (entry, 3 pints, programme) Bristol Rovers £0 Attendance: 70 (very disappointing for tier 8)
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Sept 20, 2021 17:27:39 GMT
Waltham Abbey 3 Biggleswade 0. Southern League Central Division (Tier 8). Waltham Abbey is the shortest distance from Epping to a Club in the football pyramid. Went with a West Ham fan who in contrast will be off to watch manu and CR7 this afternoon. Free parking. Friendly bar, Guinness / San Miguel both £3.75 a pint. Entry £8. Pitch in excellent condition. The Abbots went 1-0 up against the run of play after a 'worldie' strike from Coker. Biggleswade dominated the 1st half but couldn't score. Best player - Alex Marsh (Biggleswade, Capt.) - but he faded badly in the 2nd half. Abbots keeper had a very good game. More even in the 2nd half. A looping header put Abbots 2-0 up (keeper could have done better) and a late penalty wrapped up the points. Abbots player/manager Holland picked up a yellow for an awful challenge and lucky it wasn't a red. Surely he would sub himself off? Nope - he continued and got himself sent off with another yellow just before FT. As did their No.2 for kicking out. Surprisingly excellent officiating. A little girl was standing next to us near FT - she asked her Mum "will we see Daddy soon". Mum rolled her eyes and replied - "No, he's just got himself sent off again". It's these little snippets that get you closer to the action. There is more of a connection with the players and the events happening around you. Certainly closer to the soul of football than the awful hype and noise of the premiersh*t. Was it better than trapesing 300 miles to the Mem and back and watching an abysmal Rovers performance? Yup. Result Waltham Abbey FC £21.25 (entry, 3 pints, programme) Bristol Rovers £0 Attendance: 70 (very disappointing for tier 8) A little surprised there isn't a team in Epping. It's a reasonable sized place. I suppose there isn't one in Loughton either now I come to think about it.
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Post by eppinggas on Sept 21, 2021 8:40:18 GMT
Waltham Abbey 3 Biggleswade 0. Southern League Central Division (Tier 8). Waltham Abbey is the shortest distance from Epping to a Club in the football pyramid. Went with a West Ham fan who in contrast will be off to watch manu and CR7 this afternoon. Free parking. Friendly bar, Guinness / San Miguel both £3.75 a pint. Entry £8. Pitch in excellent condition. The Abbots went 1-0 up against the run of play after a 'worldie' strike from Coker. Biggleswade dominated the 1st half but couldn't score. Best player - Alex Marsh (Biggleswade, Capt.) - but he faded badly in the 2nd half. Abbots keeper had a very good game. More even in the 2nd half. A looping header put Abbots 2-0 up (keeper could have done better) and a late penalty wrapped up the points. Abbots player/manager Holland picked up a yellow for an awful challenge and lucky it wasn't a red. Surely he would sub himself off? Nope - he continued and got himself sent off with another yellow just before FT. As did their No.2 for kicking out. Surprisingly excellent officiating. A little girl was standing next to us near FT - she asked her Mum "will we see Daddy soon". Mum rolled her eyes and replied - "No, he's just got himself sent off again". It's these little snippets that get you closer to the action. There is more of a connection with the players and the events happening around you. Certainly closer to the soul of football than the awful hype and noise of the premiersh*t. Was it better than trapesing 300 miles to the Mem and back and watching an abysmal Rovers performance? Yup. Result Waltham Abbey FC £21.25 (entry, 3 pints, programme) Bristol Rovers £0 Attendance: 70 (very disappointing for tier 8) A little surprised there isn't a team in Epping. It's a reasonable sized place. I suppose there isn't one in Loughton either now I come to think about it. I don't think Epping or Loughton have ever been in the pyramid. About 20 years ago Epping Town were jointly managed by my mate "Millwall Sean" with some money coming in from Terry Venables (who also owned The Magpie at Epping Upland). I am pretty sure they had Stan Bowles in the squad! I'll check. So it's odd, no football teams up the east end of the Central Line. Woodford Town are closest (tier 9), and are on my list to tick off...
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basel
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Post by basel on Sept 21, 2021 19:04:21 GMT
A little surprised there isn't a team in Epping. It's a reasonable sized place. I suppose there isn't one in Loughton either now I come to think about it. I don't think Epping or Loughton have ever been in the pyramid. About 20 years ago Epping Town were jointly managed by my mate "Millwall Sean" with some money coming in from Terry Venables (who also owned The Magpie at Epping Upland). I am pretty sure they had Stan Bowles in the squad! I'll check. So it's odd, no football teams up the east end of the Central Line. Woodford Town are closest (tier 9), and are on my list to tick off... In the scenario Epping Town play in a league Epping,then they are in the pyramid system which goes from the top end - the Prem - down to eg the Downs League bottom division. Apologies if I've just stated the obvious.
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Post by eppinggas on Sept 21, 2021 19:38:22 GMT
I don't think Epping or Loughton have ever been in the pyramid. About 20 years ago Epping Town were jointly managed by my mate "Millwall Sean" with some money coming in from Terry Venables (who also owned The Magpie at Epping Upland). I am pretty sure they had Stan Bowles in the squad! I'll check. So it's odd, no football teams up the east end of the Central Line. Woodford Town are closest (tier 9), and are on my list to tick off... In the scenario Epping Town play in a league Epping,then they are in the pyramid system which goes from the top end - the Prem - down to eg the Downs League bottom division. Apologies if I've just stated the obvious. No need to apologise. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_football_league_system"The system is only defined as far as level 11. What follows is a notional structure, based on which leagues promote and relegate to each other".
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Post by eppinggas on Sept 21, 2021 19:42:52 GMT
A little surprised there isn't a team in Epping. It's a reasonable sized place. I suppose there isn't one in Loughton either now I come to think about it. I don't think Epping or Loughton have ever been in the pyramid. About 20 years ago Epping Town were jointly managed by my mate "Millwall Sean" with some money coming in from Terry Venables (who also owned The Magpie at Epping Upland). I am pretty sure they had Stan Bowles in the squad! I'll check. So it's odd, no football teams up the east end of the Central Line. Woodford Town are closest (tier 9), and are on my list to tick off... I checked. Millwall Sean was a "consultant". Stan Bowles was involved. There was a strike by other players and I am reliably informed by Millwall Sean that he was the last person to manage (sort of) Stan Bowles.
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Post by baselswh on Sept 21, 2021 20:00:54 GMT
In the scenario Epping Town play in a league Epping,then they are in the pyramid system which goes from the top end - the Prem - down to eg the Downs League bottom division. Apologies if I've just stated the obvious. No need to apologise. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_football_league_system"The system is only defined as far as level 11. What follows is a notional structure, based on which leagues promote and relegate to each other". Oh,i did'nt that,but in theory Stapleton Road Rangers could go all the way to the top.
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Post by eppinggas on Sept 21, 2021 20:56:26 GMT
Yes. But their progress up the leagues is not formalised until promoted (invited to) tier 11. A lot of Clubs went under during Covid, so a lot of dust still waiting to settle.
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Post by irishrover on Sept 22, 2021 9:40:16 GMT
Yes. But their progress up the leagues is not formalised until promoted (invited to) tier 11. A lot of Clubs went under during Covid, so a lot of dust still waiting to settle. Yes this is right as I understand it. Not all clubs (even quite long-standing and formalised ones) compete in the pyramid. There are closed leagues that exist outside of the pyramid that have existed for years and are quite successful. A lot of grassroots club opt out of the pyramid for cost/organisational reasons. The club that is literally round the corner from me has existed for 80 years, gets 50-80 people watching them every Saturday and have never had any interest whatsoever in competing in the pyramid even though they probably could easily hold their own in the lower reaches. So anyone can (as long they meet the minimum requirements of the bottom level) but many (in fact possibly the majority below that level) choose not to. Partly it's because it requires a huge step up in organisational capacity. In fact there have been problems around here with the bottom level of the pyramid occasionally struggling to attract enough clubs because teams aren't interested in stepping up.
Went to FC United yesertday evening - good ding dong of an FA cup tie vs Blyth Spartans. Even though they lost 2-0 (caught on the break with some naive defending by a side that was impressively clinical on the counter) I'm pleased to say that both on and off the pitch it was bit more like it. All a bit subdued last week - this was a return to normal. They were a bit unlucky to lose but Blyth are in the top half of the division above and looked more organised and professional - one of the great non-league FA Cup names, I will follow their progress.
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