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Post by eppinggas on Dec 19, 2021 9:28:06 GMT
Ware FC 0 North Leigh 0 (Tier 8, Southern League Division One Central). 30 minute drive to leafy Ware, a couple miles up the road from Hertford. Fun fact, Ware FC claim to have one of the shortest names in the pyramid. 4G pitch. Their biggest game was against Kidderminster in the 1st round of the FA Cup in 2006-07. A blue and white quartered signed shirt was on display in the bar to commemorate the game. Though Ware play in blue & white stripes. Decent new bar area and a stand. Not a tent in sight. Both sides seemed to struggle with the pitch as every through ball was over-hit. Both sides were pressing and both sides resorted to long balls, which were inevitably hit too long. The North Leigh left back was Scott Isherwood, programme suggested he was on loan from Bristol Rovers. Had a brief word at FT and he was released from the development squad last Christmas. He had a good tidy game, plenty of pace. North Leigh substitute was Jefferson Louis and the name rang a bell. He's had over 40 Clubs! I later discovered he had played for Bristol Rovers (9 appearances, 0 goals 2005). Not sure if I ever saw him in the quarters. Anyway - Ware had the best of the first half chances and the North Leigh keeper made 2 or 3 really good stops. Second half - a rare North Leigh attack around the hour mark saw their No.9 taken out by the last Ware defender and a red card all day long. Even the very vocal Ware manager didn't complain. Despite the one man advantage Ware still had the better of the chances, but to no avail. It ended 0-0 and the Clubs remained 4th and 5th.
Result
Ware FC £19.50 (£10 entry, £1.50 programme, 2 pint of Aspalls).
Bristol Rovers FC £0
Attendance: 143
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Post by eppinggas on Jan 15, 2022 18:33:38 GMT
Hertford Town 0 Bedford Town 3. (Tier 8 Southern Football League Division One Central). A 30 minute drive to Hertford turned into an hour drive with the M25/A10 junction closed off. Table-topping Bedford brought a few fans and the parking was pretty chaotic. Missed kick off as there was a 5-10 minute queue at the single turnstile. A decent crowd and a good atmosphere. £8 entry with a complimentary e-programme, which my QR scanner failed to read. I would be happier paying an extra £1 or £2 for a physical programme. The stadium was old, but in good condition - recently the name changed from "Hertingfordbury Park" to the substantially less attractive "Lomo Bar and Grill Stadium". I guess beggars can't be choosers. The Club house bars were 'traditional' and did good business all game. Sadly a prolonged dry period for Jan/Feb limited me to just a coffee at HT. 4G pitch. First half Bedford quickly took control with a high press and Hertford didn't have the ability to play out from the back. Queueing for a coffee just before HT and just missed the first goal, shot from distance (probably) and turned to see the ball bouncing down from the underside of the bar. Minutes later Bedford through 1 on 1 and their No. 9 was brought down from behind. Should have been a red card, but ref just gave a yellow and a penalty - that was subsequently dispatched. 0-2 at HT and no way back for the home side. Apart from the No.11 left winger Hertford offered very little going forward. The Hertford No.9 went clear 1 on 1 but shot tamely at the keeper with the score at 0-2. Some very robust challenges saw a number of yellow cards, but the official just about kept a lid on things. Bedford scored their 3rd from a well worked corner and the final score looked about right to me.
Hertford Town FC £9.20 (£8 entry, free e-programme, a coffee).
Bristol Rovers FC £0
Attendance: 403 (if my hearing was right)
Edit. And THIS is why I like physical programmes! Bedford No.9 was a bit of a unit, strong - won the penalty. Checked the line ups this morning and it was Jermaine Howe. More commonly known as Renee Howe - 12 games for Rovers and 1 goal back in 2011.
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Post by eppinggas on Jan 22, 2022 23:51:33 GMT
Stansted FC 3 Cockfosters 1 (Tier 9 Essex Senior League). 30 mins up the M11 and just up the road from Bishops Stortford to Stansted Mountfitchet. Very limited parking at the ground - easy enough to find space on side streets though. Similar to Hoddesdon - the football ground and the cricket pitch are adjoined. A small stand and a little rundown - possibly more quaint than decrepit though. Stansted (formed 1902) are 2nd in the league, some way behind Walthamstow - Cockfosters are top third. The pitch was not in great shape. Both teams looked capable of keeping it on the floor - but the conditions forced both into a lot of long ball football. Cockfosters didn't clear the Stansted first attack and conceded early on. Cockfosters did enough to deserve an equalizer which duly came from a well worked move down their right. HT 1-1. The Club house Bar was actually just outside of the ground - and was doing decent business at HT. Plenty of draught beers. I had a coffee - cursed be dry Jan/Feb. Cockfosters started much the brighter in the 2nd half, but couldn't score. A melee around the hour mark disrupted play. Stansted went in front from a well placed header. Cockfosters pushed hard to level, but were undone a couple of times on the break and late on Stansted got a third. Much to the delight of the Stansted massive which consisted of about 20 'very nearly old enough to get a drink' teenagers. One suspects they were partly responsible for decent trade in the Bar earlier. But they were no trouble. Maybe Stansted deserved the win, but the score line flattered them. The 'Airport Army' went home happy.
Fun fact. Stansted's most famous previous player is Dwight Gayle.
Result:
Stansted FC £10.00 (£7 entry, £1 programme, two coffees).
Bristol Rovers FC £0
Attendance: Estimate 90. Will update when I have the official figure.
Edit: Official attendance 121
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Post by eppinggas on Jan 29, 2022 19:36:47 GMT
Takeley 2 Walthamstow 2. (Tier 9 Essex Senior League). Another 30 minute drive up the M11, this time turning right instead of left at the Stansted Airport junction. Walthamstow (Stow) are clear at the top of the division. Parking at the ground and at over-flow was near capacity. I reckon Stow made up about half the crowd. Decent newish Club house and a couple of small stands. Stow scored from their first attack after Takeley failed to clear. 15 mins in and a corner from Stow saw a defensive howler and gifted the second goal. So felt like it was going to turn into a bit of a drubbing. Takeley had young side out and not a lot of height. 0-2 at HT. 5 mins into the 2nd half Takeley had a rare attack, Stow keeper brought a player down, resulting penalty scored. Stow were knocked out of their stride and Takeley got more and more into the game. Around 85mins Stow failed to clear a corner and Takeley scored the best goal of the game.
Finished 2-2, a fair reflection over all. Played in good spirits, well officiated.
Walthamstow have a very complicated history. Initially they were called Leyton FC and were formed in 1868 (nothing to do with Leyton Orient). The through a few bankruptcies and mergers went through Matlock Villas, back to Leyton FC, Leyton-Wingate FC, Leyton-Pennant FC, Waltham Forest FC and finally Walthamstow FC.
Note they are not anything to do with the 'famous' Walthamstow Avenue who were a leading amateur Club in the 1950's.
Stow created most the noise. "Always believe in your soul, you've got the power to know, you're indestructible, always believe in-in, Wal-tham-Stow."
Result:
Takeley FC £8.00 (£7 entry, complimentary programme, one coffee).
Bristol Rovers FC £0
Attendance: 140.
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Post by eppinggas on Mar 26, 2022 21:21:16 GMT
Almost 2 months since my last live game of football! A combination of covid, a broken collarbone, pneumonia & deep vein thrombosis. I can now drive. Hurrah. Initial plan: go to Saffron Walden in the Essex Senior League. M11 shut. Doh. Plan B: 35 mins along the A414 to Chelmsford City (CC) vs Hungerford Town (HT). The giddy heights of National League South tier 6. Car park full, but easy enough to find space on the streets. £10 entry (non-league day promotion). Met with 25-30 fans protesting about Chelmsford owners and a lack of communication. Mmmm, heard that one before. Clocked the Hungerford team luxury coach - impressive. Until I saw the Swindon Town name on it. Decent facilities and a good sized stand. The pitch is surrounded by a running track which is always a bit crap for atmosphere. Couldn't find any Rovers links to either squads. Simeon Jackson is on the CC management team though - we must have played against him a few times. 0-0 at HT and a pretty poor quality, niggly game. After just over an hour the best move of the day - one touch football and a bit of movement rewarded Hungerford with the opening goal. 10 mins later they doubled their lead from a long throw and a goal mouth scramble. Both scored by Ryan Seager - looks like he might play at a higher level. Long delay while the CC No. 5 was taken off with a serious injury (knee or ankle). Not much rhythm to the game after than and HT comfortably kept their lead. CC bottom three and not looking in great shape, though I think only 1 goes down. Good sized crowd in the spring sunshine. The usual friendly atmosphere, as you tend to find in the lower leagues.
A good day out.
Result:
Chelmsford City FC £21.50 (£10 entry, £3 programme, one Heineken, one Captain Bob).
Bristol Rovers FC £0
Attendance: 1,392.
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Post by eppinggas on Apr 10, 2022 8:32:57 GMT
Buckhurst Hill 6 Park View 0. Thurlow Nunn 1st Division South (tier 10). Had to be back in Epping for the Hertha/Union game so kept the journey short and re-visited Buckhurst Hill. They've had a good season and are neck and neck with Ipswich Wanderers. Both miles clear at the top of the league IW P34 W29 D4 L1 91pts BH W28 D5 L1 P34 89pts. They meet on Tuesday in the title decide - only 3 games to go. Park View (formed 1991) are from Tottenham and look like they do a lot of work in the local community. They are struggling this year. No surprise that the game was very one sided. Buckhurst Hill very comfortable on the ball and totally dominated. A tap in, good finish, penalty (slightly dubious) and one off the underside of the bar saw it 4-0 at HT. They eased up a bit 2nd half, but Park View never get near the Buckhurst goal. Another penalty and another cut back and finish off the underside of the bar delivered 6-0. Park View keeper was kept busy and made a couple of decent saves, could easily have been double figures. Buckhurst players of note - 4, 7 ,9 ,11, 16.
Back in Epping for the Berlin derby and the pub f*cked up the screens and ended up watching most of it on a mates phone. Hertha 1 Union 4. EISERN UNION!
Buckhurst Hill £13 (£6 entry, complimentary programme, 2 bottles of Doom Bar).
Bristol Rovers FC £0
Attendance: est. 70-80. Will update later.
Edit: attendance 59
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Post by eppinggas on Apr 30, 2022 19:35:56 GMT
Buckhurst Hill (BH) 1 Halstead Town (HT) 2. Play-off for promotion from Thurlow Nunn 1st Division South, tier 10. Buckhurst Hill were 24 pts clear of the 3rd placed team and 27 pts clear of Halstead going in to the play-offs. The aggregate score of BH vs HT in the season was 10-1. What happens next...
HT go ahead after about 10 mins from a corner, nice finish - volley straight into the top right hand corner. BH draw level after about 40 mins as the HT keeper clears the ball straight into the BH No. 9 arse and it rebounds into the net. 1-1. BH smash a shot against the underside of the bar. So close. More Geoff Hurst than Frank Lampard, not given.
Halstead take the lead from a well worked move down their right and the cut back was neatly tucked away. Half Time BH 1 - HT 2.
Cue 45 minutes of relentless BH pressure, but always lacking a final decent ball. That's how it ended with Halstead fans howling for the final whistle after about 8 mins of injury time.
Very tough luck on Buckhurst Hill. A second successive promotion evades them. Pretty sure that Halstead get promoted to the Essex Senior League and they should do OK there.
Buckhurst Hill £13 (£6 entry, complimentary programme, 2 pint cans of Stella).
Bristol Rovers FC £0
Attendance: est. 200-300. Will update later.
Edit. No official attendance given.
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Post by eppinggas on May 3, 2022 8:02:15 GMT
Ware 2 North Leigh 4. Play-off for promotion from Tier 8, Southern League Division One Central. A repeat of my only other visit to Ware. Cars were scattered all over the A1170 and I chucked mine in a farmers field along with about a dozen others. Into the ground for 2:30pm and queued for a beer. Gave up at 2:50pm to gain a good vantage point at a packed ground. Programmes had sold out. North Leigh went 1-0 up with a 'screamer' from their No. 4 - about 30 yards out into the top right hand corner. HT 0-1. North Leigh doubled their lead just into the 2nd half with another well placed shot from distance. 85mins gone, surely game over. Started to work my way to the exit. Header for Ware goes in 1-2. Attack from the restart, cut back and finish and the crowd goes mental 2-2. Surely this goes to extra-time. Aha - I thought. Time to get a beer at the outside bar to last me through the additional 30 mins. Deep into injury time Leigh score. 2-3. And again 2-4. Jefferson Louis (ex-Gas) with both. Bit of scuffling with some very happy North Leigh fans and very p*ssed off Ware fans. Bit sad, lots of kids at the game. Have to say though - excellent value for money. Tiers 7,8,9,10 have all finished their seasons and play-offs. Might have to do some research and scavenge for some tier 11 stuff next week. (If anyone has seen The Platform - Spanish futuristic prison psycho drama - it feels a bit like that. Possibly only my son will get the reference). Matty the scum snake Taylor was at North Leigh before moving to FGR. North Leigh didn't even finish in a play off place and only got there because Welwyn Garden stadium wasn't up to scratch. North Leigh go into tier 7 for the first time in their history.
Result
Ware £15 (£10 entry, 1 yes just 1 pint of Moretti at £5)
Bristol Rovers £0
Attendance: est 1200 will update later.
Edit. Still no official attendance but in the Ware write up they state "crowd of over 1500". Cash at the turnstiles and bar... mmm...
2nd Edit: Official attendance 1,564
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2022 11:20:28 GMT
A Gasless season has seen me get new ticks at; Banbury, Stafford Town, Shelborne, Edinburgh City, Aberdeen, Dundee United (The Dundee Derby), Sidmouth Town, Newport IOW, Dinamo Zagreb, Leganes, Real Madrid, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Arbroath, Livingston, West Didsbury & Chorlton, Altrincham, Union Mills, FC Isle of Man, Cowdenbeath, Maine Road, Cheadle Town, Barnton, Energie Cottbus, St Pauli, Hertha Berlin (The Berlin Derby) & Dynamo Berlin.
Add to that a trip to Podgorica for the Montenegrin Derby between Budućnost and Sutjeska it's been a successful season. I really need to update the blog.
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Post by eppinggas on May 4, 2022 7:49:16 GMT
A Gasless season has seen me get new ticks at; Banbury, Stafford Town, Shelborne, Edinburgh City, Aberdeen, Dundee United (The Dundee Derby), Sidmouth Town, Newport IOW, Dinamo Zagreb, Leganes, Real Madrid, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Arbroath, Livingston, West Didsbury & Chorlton, Altrincham, Union Mills, FC Isle of Man, Cowdenbeath, Maine Road, Cheadle Town, Barnton, Energie Cottbus, St Pauli, Hertha Berlin (The Berlin Derby) & Dynamo Berlin. Add to that a trip to Podgorica for the Montenegrin Derby between Budućnost and Sutjeska it's been a successful season. I really need to update the blog. Madrid, Berlin and Zagreb? Pah. I've been all over Essex, as far north as Stansted and all the way east to Southend Manor. Looking forward to the blog update. Particularly the slaying of Hertha at home. |
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2022 8:01:23 GMT
A Gasless season has seen me get new ticks at; Banbury, Stafford Town, Shelborne, Edinburgh City, Aberdeen, Dundee United (The Dundee Derby), Sidmouth Town, Newport IOW, Dinamo Zagreb, Leganes, Real Madrid, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Arbroath, Livingston, West Didsbury & Chorlton, Altrincham, Union Mills, FC Isle of Man, Cowdenbeath, Maine Road, Cheadle Town, Barnton, Energie Cottbus, St Pauli, Hertha Berlin (The Berlin Derby) & Dynamo Berlin. Add to that a trip to Podgorica for the Montenegrin Derby between Budućnost and Sutjeska it's been a successful season. I really need to update the blog. Madrid, Berlin and Zagreb? Pah. I've been all over Essex, as far north as Stansted and all the way east to Southend Manor. Looking forward to the blog update. Particularly the slaying of Hertha at home. Was nice being in the away end...  |
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Post by eppinggas on May 4, 2022 8:07:59 GMT
Madrid, Berlin and Zagreb? Pah. I've been all over Essex, as far north as Stansted and all the way east to Southend Manor. Looking forward to the blog update. Particularly the slaying of Hertha at home. Was nice being in the away end... Congratulations on getting a ticket?!? What allocation did Union get? It's almost impossible to a ticket at the Stadion an der Alte Forsterei. At least there was a few matches with a decent atmosphere at the olympiastadion this year - with Union playing their European games there... |
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2022 8:39:18 GMT
Was nice being in the away end... Congratulations on getting a ticket?!? What allocation did Union get? It's almost impossible to a ticket at the Stadion an der Alte Forsterei. At least there was a few matches with a decent atmosphere at the olympiastadion this year - with Union playing their European games there... I think they got around 10,000. I was lucky, know a season ticket holder who had a spare. |
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Post by eppinggas on May 15, 2022 9:41:07 GMT
Clapton Community FC 4 Wilberforce Wanders 2 (Tier 11 of the pyramid in the Middlesex County Football League Premier Division). A second visit to Clapton who play at Wadham Lodge in Walthamstow. They were supposed to move back to the oldest Football ground in London (The Old Spotted Dog) in early 2022 but it never happened. They are still fund raising and recently acquired the lease to the old pub with a view to incorporating that into the Club. Tickets were only available on-line and in advance, so a decent crowd for 'probably' their last game at Wadham Lodge. The ground is called The Stray Dog.
Ticket prices were optional - from £0 to £6 with a 'suggested' cost of £3. I went for £4, what the hell, you only live once. Went along with a Watford ST holder. No alcohol allowed on the terrace! (Though by the 2nd half a drinking area had been established behind the goal). Decent Clubhouse which acts for the 6 Clubs that share facilities at Wadham Lodge. £3.50 a pint of Heineken. Some comedy defending let Clapton quickly take a 2 goal lead. A third and fourth soon followed. A very dry, bumpy pitch didn't help the quality of some of the football. Wilberforce got a couple of goals back in the 2nd half and they must have rued the goals they gave away in the 1st half. Lively atmosphere. A mix of hipsters (I was wearing my 1974 DDR shirt, Watford Dave sporting a Joy Division Unknown Pleasures top), punks, anarchists and anti-fascists. This fan-owned Club is definitely going places. They failed to get promotion this year finishing third, probably 3 or 4 players short of a decent team. Buckhurst Hill in tier 10 would probably have put double figures past them. Wilberforce relegated. No yellow cards. The game played in good spirit. No rolling around the ground, or waving imaginary yellow cards. No back chat to the officials.
Grass roots football is great. Watford Dave was enthused.
Result
Clapton Community FC £14.50 (£4 entry, complimentary programme, 3 pints of Heineken)
Bristol Rovers £0.
Attendance: est. 300, will update later.
Edit: Bloody good estimate. Official attendance, 308.
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Post by eppinggas on May 22, 2022 8:07:44 GMT
Harold Wood Athletic 3 Old Southendians 1. Essex Olympian Premier League tier 11. Fixtures are getting a little harder to locate and this was my first visit to this league. Harold Wood have a couple of pitches near a cricket pitch and a kids playground. No entry fee. The Clubhouse is a community asset and beers reasonable (£4 a pint of Amstel for non-members). Watched a bit of pretty poor cricket before trudging over to the football pitch. Harold Wood are bottom of the league. They play in West Ham colours and this bit of London is very solidly Hammers territory. The Harold Wood defence and mid-field - physical appearance and aggression very much from the pre-season Julian Dicks school of hoofball. Southend were miles better on the ball but were battling uphill and into the wind in the first half. A foolish push in the box gifted Wood a penalty and the lead. A long ball and decent finish surprisingly put them 2-0 up at HT. Quick turnaround and the modest crowd just about had time to buy a pint and walk it back over to the pitch. Southend played a bit of head tennis in the box and it finally went in 2-1. Southend laid siege to the Wood goal, but to no avail. Wood scored a third from another long ball and breakaway. Wood then preceded to defend resolutely. Well - if the definition of defending resolutely is just kicking anything that moves, but rarely the ball. The referee kept control, but could easily have been handing out cards every 2 minutes. Very odd system of substitutions - players came off for 10 minutes and then resumed playing? Must be a quirk of the Essex Olympian League.
Result
Harold Wood Athletic £8 (free entry, no programme, 2 pints of Amstel)
Bristol Rovers FC £0.
Attendance: It's a public park. How can you count the 'crowd'? Of the people watching most the game, I would reckon 25-30.
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Post by eppinggas on May 22, 2022 8:54:26 GMT
Buckhurst Hill (BH) 1 Halstead Town (HT) 2. Play-off for promotion from Thurlow Nunn 1st Division South, tier 10. Buckhurst Hill were 24 pts clear of the 3rd placed team and 27 pts clear of Halstead going in to the play-offs. The aggregate score of BH vs HT in the season was 10-1. What happens next... HT go ahead after about 10 mins from a corner, nice finish - volley straight into the top right hand corner. BH draw level after about 40 mins as the HT keeper clears the ball straight into the BH No. 9 arse and it rebounds into the net. 1-1. BH smash a shot against the underside of the bar. So close. More Geoff Hurst than Frank Lampard, not given. Halstead take the lead from a well worked move down their right and the cut back was neatly tucked away. Half Time BH 1 - HT 2. Cue 45 minutes of relentless BH pressure, but always lacking a final decent ball. That's how it ended with Halstead fans howling for the final whistle after about 8 mins of injury time. Very tough luck on Buckhurst Hill. A second successive promotion evades them. Pretty sure that Halstead get promoted to the Essex Senior League and they should do OK there. Buckhurst Hill £13 (£6 entry, complimentary programme, 2 pint cans of Stella). Bristol Rovers FC £0 Attendance: est. 200-300. Will update later. Edit. No official attendance given. Ah - the vagaries of life in the lower leagues. essexseniorleague.co.uk/fa-announce-esl-constitution-for-2022-23/Walthamstow promoted from the ESL to the Southern League Division One Central as expected. "But with Ipswich Wanderers being placed into the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division meant that there was still one promotion place into the ESL available and so the FA ended up promoting both teams that reached the Thurlow Nunn Division One South play off final ie Halstead AND Buckhurst Hill.)" "Dropping down into the Thurlow Nunn Division One South are Sporting Bengal United and St Margaretsbury." Good riddance St Margaretsbury. |
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Post by eppinggas on May 29, 2022 9:14:33 GMT
Sungate 0 Canning Town 3. Essex Olympian Premier League tier 11. Possibly the last regular season fixture in the country? A 20 minute drive over to Fairlop for a 2pm kick off and found the ground at the bottom of an industrial estate. Sungate share with Ilford Wanderers RFC and have a very decent Clubhouse. The pitch has a proper perimeter and good flat playing surface. There was a surprising number of people there. A chap came over and introduced himself as he was also at the Harold Wood game the previous week. AFC Wimbledon fan. Groundhoppers must have homed in on this very late season fixture. The Sungate assistant manager asked me if there was anything to do with a German influence. I had my DDR 1974 home shirt on, there was a Borussia Dortmund shirt and also a St Pauli. Must be some kind of connection between the soul of football existing in the lower tiers of the pyramid and the Bundesliga. The sides had played each other a few days before and drawn 1-1. Sungate are mid-table and Canning Town surprisingly one from bottom. Sides were evenly matched, played decent football and in a very good spirit. No bad language and backchat to the officials (who it has to be said made quite a few howlers). The teams and management both had a bit of good natured banter. Proper football. Canning Town standout player (no.9) opened the scoring in the second half. Well worked move down the right and good cut back saw the 2nd slotted home. Near the end and a slack back pass was pounced on and the No. 9 slid in his second and Canning Towns third. A bit unfair on Sungate who just lacked a bit of composure in the final third.
Result
Sungate £8 (free entry, no programmes printed, 2 pints of Stella)
Bristol Rovers £0
Attendance: est. 40-45
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Post by eppinggas on Jun 4, 2022 10:48:35 GMT
Well - priced out of the Solihull / Grimsby game, that means a brief end of season summary.
28 games. Starting in tier 4 at Rochdale in the Lancastrian August drizzle, finishing in tier 11 in the spring sunshine at Sungate (Ilford Wanderes RFC).
Entry cost from £0 to £18.
Average entry £7.86.
Average total spend £15.26.
Most games watched in the Essex Senior League (9).
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Post by irishrover on Jun 21, 2022 12:33:20 GMT
Well - priced out of the Solihull / Grimsby game, that means a brief end of season summary. 28 games. Starting in tier 4 at Rochdale in the Lancastrian August drizzle, finishing in tier 11 in the spring sunshine at Sungate (Ilford Wanderes RFC). Entry cost from £0 to £18. Average entry £7.86. Average total spend £15.26. Most games watched in the Essex Senior League (9). Excellent - magnificent value!
I have a very belated couple of additions that occurred during my self-imposed forum exile before we close the book on this for the season.
Abbey Hey 5 AFC Bury 0 (which I think occurred some time in December). Abbey Hey in Gorton (most famous for being where Shameless is set) is my nearest pyramid club in Manchester. They play in the 2nd tier of the North West Counties League but had a very good season and made the playoffs. AFC Bury are obviously Bury's phoenix club and played at the same level (but in the parallel league as North West Counties is organised into a North and South division at that level) and easily won promotion. This was a very entertaining afternoon - it was an FA Vase game and this was the first game AFC Bury had ever lost and they got bang for thier buck in defeat! There were about 1000 Bury fans crammed into the small (but perfectly decent) Abbey Hey ground and they were utterly stunned as the homeside proceeded to completely play them off the park. I went with a mate who is a Bury fan and he was genuinely stunned. The quality of the football was fantastic though - it really made me think about how the quality of non-league football has improved so much in such a short space of time. I reckon £15 covered entry, a portion of chips and a couple of pints in the surprisingly nice Robinson's pub in Gorton on the way home. An excellent afternoon!
As a short follow-up. Something interesting is happening in local football up here. Obviously the stories of FC United and Salford are well-known for different reasons but obviously there's Bury now too, Abbey Hey are getting a reasonable crowds, West Didsbury and Chorlton have now taken up the hipster football mantle and are getting loads of fans down for craft beer/Chorltonista crowd and are really getting big numbers. They also got promoted this year and are definitely hiving off some of FC United's fanbase. Altrincham are attracting quite a similar kind of crowd. There is definitely a boom going on in non-league football in Greater Manchester among young people. I think part of it is just how distance United and City feel and people want to create something that feels more community orientated but it's really noticeable. I'd be interested to know if this is a national trend but, dare I say it, round here non-league football is becoming disturbingly trendy!
Speaking of FC United - they had an absolutely nothing season but had their first European success in winning the inaugral Fenix Trophy (as they absolutely should have done given the quality of the opposition). Details can be found here;
Basically it was a European competition between fan owned clubs with a finals day (involving all 8 sides) in Remini. Brilliant idea - even includes fans putting each other up for away trips. I briefly had a mad idea to go to the final but it didn't quite fit around work. However, it did give me my football highpoint of the year. FC played a side from Warsaw in February time and were 8-0 up after 15 minutes. Pretty sure I could have gotten a game for the Polish side - the striker was about 8 stone overweight and couldn't run and the goalie couldn't catch! However, they bought about 200-300 fans over and it was the weak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine so there were blue and yellow flare and mass singing of 'Putin is a w****r' as well as some very entertaining flags and banner. Plus, newsflash, Polish football fans like a beer so much fun was had well into the night! |
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 8,619
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Post by eppinggas on Jun 22, 2022 9:20:08 GMT
Well - priced out of the Solihull / Grimsby game, that means a brief end of season summary. 28 games. Starting in tier 4 at Rochdale in the Lancastrian August drizzle, finishing in tier 11 in the spring sunshine at Sungate (Ilford Wanderes RFC). Entry cost from £0 to £18. Average entry £7.86. Average total spend £15.26. Most games watched in the Essex Senior League (9). Excellent - magnificent value!
I have a very belated couple of additions that occurred during my self-imposed forum exile before we close the book on this for the season.
Abbey Hey 5 AFC Bury 0 (which I think occurred some time in December). Abbey Hey in Gorton (most famous for being where Shameless is set) is my nearest pyramid club in Manchester. They play in the 2nd tier of the North West Counties League but had a very good season and made the playoffs. AFC Bury are obviously Bury's phoenix club and played at the same level (but in the parallel league as North West Counties is organised into a North and South division at that level) and easily won promotion. This was a very entertaining afternoon - it was an FA Vase game and this was the first game AFC Bury had ever lost and they got bang for thier buck in defeat! There were about 1000 Bury fans crammed into the small (but perfectly decent) Abbey Hey ground and they were utterly stunned as the homeside proceeded to completely play them off the park. I went with a mate who is a Bury fan and he was genuinely stunned. The quality of the football was fantastic though - it really made me think about how the quality of non-league football has improved so much in such a short space of time. I reckon £15 covered entry, a portion of chips and a couple of pints in the surprisingly nice Robinson's pub in Gorton on the way home. An excellent afternoon!
As a short follow-up. Something interesting is happening in local football up here. Obviously the stories of FC United and Salford are well-known for different reasons but obviously there's Bury now too, Abbey Hey are getting a reasonable crowds, West Didsbury and Chorlton have now taken up the hipster football mantle and are getting loads of fans down for craft beer/Chorltonista crowd and are really getting big numbers. They also got promoted this year and are definitely hiving off some of FC United's fanbase. Altrincham are attracting quite a similar kind of crowd. There is definitely a boom going on in non-league football in Greater Manchester among young people. I think part of it is just how distance United and City feel and people want to create something that feels more community orientated but it's really noticeable. I'd be interested to know if this is a national trend but, dare I say it, round here non-league football is becoming disturbingly trendy!
Speaking of FC United - they had an absolutely nothing season but had their first European success in winning the inaugral Fenix Trophy (as they absolutely should have done given the quality of the opposition). Details can be found here;
Basically it was a European competition between fan owned clubs with a finals day (involving all 8 sides) in Remini. Brilliant idea - even includes fans putting each other up for away trips. I briefly had a mad idea to go to the final but it didn't quite fit around work. However, it did give me my football highpoint of the year. FC played a side from Warsaw in February time and were 8-0 up after 15 minutes. Pretty sure I could have gotten a game for the Polish side - the striker was about 8 stone overweight and couldn't run and the goalie couldn't catch! However, they bought about 200-300 fans over and it was the weak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine so there were blue and yellow flare and mass singing of 'Putin is a w****r' as well as some very entertaining flags and banner. Plus, newsflash, Polish football fans like a beer so much fun was had well into the night! I think you're right Irish. Grass roots football appears to have increasing support and is becoming (somewhat embarrassingly) 'hipster'. From what I've witnessed this appears to be happening in Essex / north east London. I'll see you a West Didsbury and Chorlton (also attended by @chewbacca) and raise you a Clapton Community FC! Cheaper. More fun. Your entrance fee and beer money helps support a community asset. I've really missed Saturday afternoons, a map, doing some research and seeking out a local match. Down in step 5 Essex Senior League, average attendance: Saffron Walden (fan owned) 309 Woodford Town 306 Walthamstow 239 Step 7 Clapton Community FC (fan owned) 316 "£15 covered entry, a portion of chips and a couple of pints". Or a trip to Arsenal / Spurs and not a lot of change out of £100. |
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