Hopping in Essex & East London

 

Another week and a couple of games watched. It should have been more. Let me explain…

TUESDAY 26 November 2019

On Tuesday night I finished work early intending to go to watch West Essex v Stansted. On my way home from work I learned this game had been postponed owing to a waterlogged pitch. Not to worry, I had a back up, I would head up to Takely v Tower Hamlets also in the Essex Senior League…checked on that and its also postponed. Ok, I will have a drive down to Bowers & Pitsea for their home game with Corinthian Casuals. This would definitely be on as Bowers have a 3G pitch….Good job I checked on their twitter feed for the kick off time as this match was postponed because of floodlight failure. I did have one final option Sawbridgeworth v Ilford. I however decided I couldn’t be bothered to go to this one. Just as well as that one was abandoned in 2nd half owing to floodlight failure.

A blank night, but it did mean I got to watch the car crash of the year (so far) on TV of Jeremy Corbyn’s TV interview with Andrew Neill.

 

Friday 29 November 2019

Frenford FC 5 Brightlingsea Regis Reserves 1 Thurlow Nunn Eastern League Division 1 South

Frenford are a progressive club who succeeded in getting a place in the step 6 league when it was formed. Frenford are based about 2 miles from my home. An easy trip you may think. Well not exactly, because in order to have a ground suitable to this level of football, Frenford play approximately 25 miles away at Bowers & Pitsea FC. So, after checking the floodlights had been repaired I drove down the A13 to Pitsea for this game. I haven’t been to Bowers since the end of the 2017/8 season. The place has changed a lot since then.

The pitch instead of being a poorly draining grass pitch is not a new 3G pitch. There are new flood lights. ” new small seated stands on the far side of the ground. There is also a small covered terraced stand behind the goal at the end the furthest from the turnstiles, and a new “Bowers Burger Bar behind the other goal. The biggest change is the new stand being completed on the clubhouse side. In place of a small but adequate seated stand is a new stand running most of the length of the pitch. Half is seated and at present the other half is empty, not even terracing. I do not know what is to be built here, if anything.

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I do like Bowers & Pitsea as a club. They have grown from being a youth football club into a progressive adult club and are expanding on and off the pitch. They are not splashing money at the first team, but are also developing a thriving youth section and developing an impressive little ground.

The crowd was very sparse, in fact there were far more people in the bar watching the Maldon & Tiptree v Newport County FA Cup 2nd round tie. Mind you with the home club playing 25 miles from home on a Friday night, that is no surprise.

As kick off time approached I bumped into 4 other ground hoppers I know. I hadn’t expected them to be there. 

The game itself was a rather one sided affair with Frenford winning 5-1 and hitting the woodwork at least 3 times and missing numerous other chances.

The stand out thing for me was the standard of the football. Playing on a 3G pitch enables sides to produce much better football than you would expect. I suspect that is because the pitch is flat and players know the ball will not bobble up or hit a divot.

 

Saturday 30 November 2019

Haringey Borough 2 Worthing 2 Isthmian League Premier Division

Haringey are one of my favourite non league clubs, not just because they give out free season tickets! It is a friendly club that is growing via lots of community outreach. In recent years, they have installed a 3G pitch, encouraged families to attend and instead of one man and his dog, they are getting crowds circa 350-400. They also have the proud claim to be the only football ground in White Hart Lane, despite what Spurs call their place, it is not in White Hart Lane.Haringey have come up with a money making idea this season. They charge Spurs fans £15 to park at their ground for Spurs home games. For that money, if its a 5:30 ko they can watch the Haringey game and or use the bar at the ground. 

Despite this money making idea, they still provide free car parking for those attending their own games, by using a separate car park for those attending the game. So arriving at the ground, a quick pint in the clubhouse and a chat with the turnstile operator Adrian who had reached out to me earlier in the week on an Orient forum. Adrian looking to increase the number of season tickets he distributes!As usual I take a seat at back of the Main Stand, at the opposite end to the Bell End Choir. A group of fans who come out with some witty songs and chants. They also have a drummer who can actually play the drums! I know that is unheard of at most football grounds.

The game was mid table Haringey hosting 3rd place Worthing and the visitors scored early on to put themselves in control. Haringey never gave up and shortly before half time they got a deserved equaliser.

A game played by 2 sides full of passion. A great afternoon’s entertainment in a friendly environment.

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Driving home from the game, I was listening to %Live and a few calls reminded me why I prefer non league football these days. Firstly, Arsenal fans ringing up to demand Arsenal appoint an ex Arsenal player as the next manager as such a person would apparently understand the game. There seems to be an obsession amongst some fans with appointing as manager a former player, irrespective of his ability as a manager. One of people mentioned was Thierry Henry who failed miserably at Monacco and another was Sol Campbell who is steering Southend into League 2 and previously just avoided getting Macclesfield relegated out of the Football League.

The biscuit was taken by the Liverpool fan who rang up complaining the media give Liverpool no credit and never talk of them as title contenders. He asked when will someone in media accept Liverpool are genuine title contenders. The presenter said he did and that the title is now Liverpool’s to lose given how far ahead they were. At which the caller turned round and dismissed the presenter saying you win nothing in November! Bizarre, complain your team doesn’t get the credit, then when they are credited, dismiss it as too early!

Not for me, I’d rather stick to the non league game

Football Can Seriously Affect Your Eyesight & Judgement

Just when you may have thought I had gone away for good and you were about to open the prosecco to celebrate my disappearance.

So, why am I putting pen to paper ( or should that be finger to keyboard)? Well, I was watching Leyton Orient lose at home 4-2 to Forest Green Rovers and saw a few things I wanted to rant about.

FOREST GREEN ROVERS – Observations

Lets start with a bit about Forest Green Rovers. They are owned by Dale Vincent who never misses the opportunity to lecture about his beliefs. He is a rabid vegan ( if that’s not a mixed metaphor). Who refuses to serve anything other than vegan products at their home ground, The New Lawn. You won’t get a meat pie, nor dairy milk in your tea. I have to confess however that when I visited two years ago for an FA Cup tie, that the Chips and curry sauce in the Main Stand were delicious.
In the clubhouse at the ground they served me beer in what I first took to be a disposable plastic glass. Not very environmentally friendly I thought. I was ( not for the first time) wrong. They were compostable glasses. I hadn’t heard of these before, but after a bit of google research it appears these cost virtually the same as disposable plastic glasses. It should be a licencing condition that these are used instead of plastic glasses at concert, football matches and in pubs when proper glasses can’t be used.

Dale Vincent is also known for his commitment to environmentally friendly and green issues. He had plans for a new stadium to be made largely of wood and with lots of energy saving and environmental features. I believe the planning authorities recently rejected the plans, but I don’t have to hand details of this. Given this it was surprising to see the FGR fans transport was a diesel engined coach, given how much harm diesel pollutants cause and how much the internal combustion engine contributes towards climate change. One would have thought Dale Vincent would have insisted on an electric vehicle or using public transport as opposed to a polluting vehicle.

THE GAME

There were circa 4000 home fans at the game today. I say fans rather than supporters. After Orient went a goal down, the level of bile and abuse director by the Orient fans towards their own players, and especially Dean Brill was exceptional. I don’t know what the fans think this abuse is going to do for the moral and confidence of the Orient players. For people who would call themselves supporters of Orient, their behaviour is doing more to help the opposition than supporting Orient. Its no wonder Orient have a poor home record and seem to play better away from home.

Football fans seem oblivious the effect their actions have on their team. People who are normally sensible level headed businessmen become out of control foul mouthed and abusive when at football matches. It does make me laugh to sit amongst the crowd at Orient games and see people behaving erratically and in ways they would not behave outside of the ground.

There was an incident that occurred when FGR opened the scoring. The player who scored was Adams, a former Orient player who got in the faces of Orient players, wound them up and played the pantomime villain to Orient fans. The incident occurred between the 2 benches and resulted in the Orient interim manager Ross Embleton being sent to the stands for assaulting Mark Cooper, the FGR manager by apparently throwing his chewing gum at the FGR manager.

Before half time it had been put out on twitter that the FGR manager had said something to the Orient Interim Manager to the effect that he was an imposter for Justin Edinburgh the former Orient manager who died in the summer. Its not clear what actually is alleged to have been said as there are various versions circulating on twitter.

The 4th official and match officials did not hear anything said, but did apparently witness Ross Embleton throw something at Mark Cooper, hence his being sent to the stands.

It is also fair to report that FGR have issued a statement denying Mark Cooper said anything of the sort and that Mark Cooper was a good friend of Justin Edinburgh and wouldn’t do anything to denigrate the memory of him.

Obviously it has been a subject of much debate on social media by Orient fans. Despite no one seeing or hearing what had happened, Mark Cooper was condemned by many Orient fans who declared that Embleton should have “given him a slap”. These Orient fans have decided like a lynch mob that Cooper is guilty and Embleton did nothing wrong. Their evidence, a tweet from Orient chairman about the incident. They ignore the fact that FGR and Cooper deny the incident happened and that the match officials heard nothing.

Anyone who said anything to the contrary is a c*nt, a boring bastard or worse to some of these fans. Even stating that in law what Embleton is alleged to have done would technically amount to an assault ( which indeed it would), is tantamount to herisy and produces many responses of a foul and abusive later, even when quoting the relevant criminal legislation.

Now lets turn to the referee’s decisions. If an opponent dives or feigns injury he is a cheat ( usually a few anglo saxon adjectives included), yet if a player on your team does the same, he has shown initiative and is to be encouraged to do it. Similarly appealing for corners or throw ins when your side put ball out is cheered, but responded to with foul mouthed abuse when an opponent does it.

Fans see a handball if an opponent heads or chests the ball, but strangely do not see when their player handles the ball.

So what you say? It matters not and is to be expected. Sadly that is true, but its the level of aggression and abuse that accompanies the reaction that is so shocking.

A friend I see at a lot of non league games in this area often says that being a football fan affects your eyesight. It goes beyond that and affects your judgement and your behaviour at games.

Today was unusual at Orient as I was sat in the middle of the North Stand behind the goal when I heard and witnessed the behaviour I have described. I should mention this is the Family Stand! A great environment for children and a great example is being set.

I say it is unusual for me to be there as I have moved to sit in the disabled section at the front of this stand and separate from the majority of the stand to get away from the abusive behaviour towards both their own players, the opposition and the referee.

My disabled companion was unable to attend today’s game, so I went to see the people who used to sit near me.

Now, I hear you say football is about passion. I agree with you. Its the passion that makes football so exciting.

There is a difference between passion and abuse.

There is a difference between passion and foul language.

You can be passionate without being unsporting.

The above is one of the reasons I prefer to go to watch lower league football. You can go, mix with the opposition, have a pint and chat with the opposition whilst supporting your team. There is no need for segregation at most games and their is not the same vitriol or abuse towards either team or the officials.

Can You Hear The Author Blog?

It’s been a while since I last put finger to keyboard and posted random thoughts and rants. Fear not, I have not disappeared.

So what had happened in the football world since I last blogged?

1. World Cup

Once again England disappoint their fans. This time the team went to the World Cup as no hoppers, won a couple of games and found themselves in the World Cup Semi Final where for 45 minutes it seemed a World Cup Final beckoned. Sadly, it seems the England team thought the game had ended as they never showed up for the 2nd half or for extra time. So once again the critics claimed a mid season break was needed to stop players being tired. This fails to explain why the other 3 semi finalists also had numerous Premiership players and they seemed to cope. The calls for a mid season break fail to explain how cramming more games into less time would stop players being fatigued.

Then of course, it doesn’t explain what will happen if say there is a month’s break in January and then we get bad weather in say February. We regularly have fixture pile ups when there is bad weather without the extra time pressure caused by a mid season break

We all know that if there was a mid season break the top Premiership clubs would be jetting off to the Far East and the USA to play lucrative games. So players will not get a break at all

Greed?

1. Newcastle United

Once again Newcastle spend less money than a homeless man, despite receiving well over £120m in TV and prize money. Clubs much lower down the Pyramid can seemingly spend many times the money Newcastle can.

Once again the FCB makes statements which turn out to be worthless promising the earth… then delivering very little. A successful season will be finishing 17th and avoiding relegation. Despite this and the fact it is now 63 years since Newcastle last won a domestic trophy, the crowds turn up week in week out. Ironically, if my maths is correct, Newcastle were formed 126 years ago and in 1st 63 years won 6 FA Cups and 4 League Championships. In the next 63 years they have won nothing

3 Sunderland

What can I say other than…. It reminds me of the time Burton relegated Sunderland.

The Beautiful & Not So Beautiful Sides of the Non League Game

I have been lucky in recent weeks to see that the beautiful side of the game still exists. Sadly, the not so beautiful side of the game exists.

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

Spennymoor Town 1 v 1 East Thurrock United  FA Trophy 3rd Round 03 February 2018

East Thurrock United 2 v 5 Spennymoor Town FA Trophy 3rd Round Replay 06 February 2018

Bromley 0 v 0 Spennymoor Town FA Trophy 4th Round 24 February 2018

These three games were examples of all that is good about football. You may recall my last blog post was about the 2nd round FA Trophy tie between East Thurrock and Chester. Well coincidentally on the Monday East Thurrock were drawn away at Spennymoor Town in the next round. Even more co-incidentally, on the day of the 3rd round, Orient had been due to play away at Hartlepool, but that game was off as  Orient had a home tie in the FA Trophy. As a result, I was able to get a cheap train ticket off an Orient fan and with the help of my parents picking me up at the train station and taking me back after the game, I was able to get to the Spennymoor v East Thurrock tie.

It’s fair to say this was probably East Thurrock’s biggest game in the FA Trophy and by their standards, they brought a big away following to Spennymoor. Probably in the region of 75-100. This included a few South East ground hoppers that I know. Why did they travel up? I suspect 2 reasons, one because it was a chance to get a tick for a new ground and two because East Thurrock are such a friendly club.

The game at Spennymoor was played on a pitch that was almost unplayable. It was very wet and clearly little work had been able to be done on the pitch because of this. The grass appeared to look more like a local rugby pitch than a football pitch. East Thurrock were clearly the better team in the first half. In fact, I think it not unfair to say East Thurrock were the only team in the first half. It was no surprise they went 1-0 up, albeit a lucky goal. They were very unlucky not to have a second goal minutes later when they hit the woodwork.

The second half saw Spennymoor wake up and eventually they got a draw. Perhaps a little fortunate, but at least they never went out.

The replay however would be a different proposition. 3 days later a 600 mile trip to Corringham. This really highlights the problems for part-time footballers in needing at short notice to get time off work. Spennymoor chairman Brad Groves put a free  bus on for fans. A great gesture from a great chairman who looksafter his club’s fans.

For me a trip to East Thurrock United was a bit easier. It was only a 30 mile drive after work. Tonight, I had company in the form of my Orient friend Greg who was getting used to non league football this season following Orient’s relegation.

A disappointingly poor crowd at the game, 238 of which about 50- 75 were from Spennymoor. The game at least was being played on a relatively flat pitch that looked more like a football pitch than a cabbage patch.

Before the game we had a pint in the clubhouse. A great set up, with a decent sized bar, and a big function room. The bar even serves real ale. What more could you want? Friendly staff and a warm welcome from the home fans perhaps? Well yes these were also included. East Thurrock is always a friendly set up.
The game started disastrously for Spennymoor when somehow a free kick went into the top corner through the Spennymoor keeper. Was the 300 mile journey and late arrival at the ground going to scupper Spennymoor’s cup run?

Not a chance, the rest of the game saw a masterclass from Spennymoor. An equalizer was followed on the stroke of half time by a second for Spennymoor. The start of the second half saw Spennymoor score 3 more despite playing for over half an hour with 10 men following a dismissal for handball which saw East Thurrock score from a penalty.

It looked more like Spennymoor had the extra man, not a man short. After the game, Greg and I nipped back into the clubhouse for a quick beer. We were made to feel very welcome by East Thurrock fans who congratulated us on Spennymoor’s performance and wished them well in the competition.

The Beautiful Game? Yes if East Thurrock is anything to go by. I have always liked going to their ground. They may not be the biggest club, but they give a great welcome.

So, to the FA Trophy 4th Round and a quarter-final tie  away at the competition favourites Bromley. Now, to say this was a tough tie is no under statement. Bromley are a club with a great set up and growing every year. They are in play off places in the  National League and therefore could be in Football League next season. They beat Orient 6-1 earlier in the season at Bromley.

For reasons I do not know, Bromley decided to segregate this game. Away fans get an uncovered terrace only. As I was going to the game with a couple of friends who were unable to stand, I contacted Bromley who arranged a disabled parking space at the ground and seats in the main stand for us. A nice start.

Once again Brad Groves put on free buses for the fans. As a result 4 buses left Spennymoor for the game. For me, it was a lunchtime departure to pick up my friends and then to brave south of the river (shudder even typing that brings on cold shivers). Arriving at the ground, the stewards and club staff couldn’t be more helpful. We were given parking next to the ground, the best seats in the stand and the stewards couldn’t be more helpful.

The next issue was to put up my flag. Once again, the stewards let me through to the away section to put the flag up and then back to the main stand. Again, near the ned of the game, I was let back into the away end to get the flag and watch the last few minutes of the game there, Including meeting a fellow lawyer I had only met once since we were children and that was when she opposed me in a court case!

The game itself was an intriguing one. The Bromley team were giants compared to Spennymoor, but never used their height advantage. The game was played on a 3G pitch. As readers of my blog will know I like 3G pitches as they encourage good fast football. This 3G pitch seemed to play slower than most 3G pitches I have watched games on. I don’t know why that should be and I am not blaming the pitch for anything.

Bromley players seemed to be perhaps more skillful, but Spennymoor players battled hard and a 0-0 draw was not an unfair reflection. For the effort put in by both teams, neither deserved to lose. Bromley had 2 good efforts cleared off the line. However, apart from that, the Bromley keeper probably had more to do in the game.

I said it on twitter after the game and will say it again, I was proud of my team today for the 100% effort they gave.  It’s so refreshing to see players giving 100% and not going through the motions for their £50,000+ per week wages.  This game reminded me why I rarely watch Premiership football and why I fell back in love with non league football.

A few more words about Bromley FC. They have a great set up and lots of land. They are building a new stand and gym complex in the summer. This will increase income and improve the ground. They have a fantastic academy set up and are very family friendly. They have several bars in the ground, and even a food kiosk serving pizzas as well as a kiosk serving the usual football fayre. Bromley are a former leading light of the Amateur scene having won the FA Amateur Cup and been stalwarts of the Isthmian league for years. Despite their rapid rise to the top of the non league pyramid, they have not forgotten those fantastic and friendly amateur values.

This applies as well to the Bromley fans who I chatted to in the ground and the bar. You made us all feel very welcome today and I thank you for that

The Beautiful Game? Yes if Bromley are anything to go by. They give a great welcome and have retained that friendly touch,

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Canvey Island 2 v 1 Maldon & Tiptree Isthmian League Division 1 North 17 February 2018

I decided to make my first visit to Canvey Island FC last week. Canvey Island are former winners of the FA Trophy and used to play in the Conference before their owner removed his funding and they took a 2 division voluntary relegation.

The ground at Canvey Island is neat and interesting. One end is a big, very steep terrace with 18 steps of terracing. The other end has 2 separate terraces of 3-4 steps. The far side of the ground has 2 identical covered sections of terracing either side of the halfway line. The remaining side of the ground is a simple 4 row of seating deep brick-built stand. In one corner of the ground is the very smart and impressive clubhouse with a large well stocked bar, and once again selling real ale.

Unusually for a football ground, the toilets were immaculate.

The game itself was a game of 2 halves. Maldon were caught napping at start of first half and again at the end of it and were 2 down at half time in this 4th v 5th place clash. The second half saw Maldon come more into it and after they pulled one back it made for a nervy end for Canvey Island, but they managed to hold on for a win.

So why I have I included it in the Beautiful Game Section of this post? This is not just because of the toilets or the simple, relatively cheap but very smart ground, but mainly because of the number of children at the game who were there and made welcome by the club. Canvey Island realise the children are future fans and had them as mascots and I believe there had been kids football earlier in the day.

NOT BEAUTIFUL BUT NOT  UGLY

Morpeth 1 v 0 Penrith Northern League Div 1 10 February 2018

This was a last-minute decision to attend. A first visit to Morpeth for me. The game was not the best, but was won 1-0 by Morpeth on a very heavy pitch. To be honest, it could easily have been called off by a different referee.

A poor game on a poor pitch. Penrith started off better and should have been one up, but put a penalty well wide. After that, Morpeth were always going to be the winners.

The set up at Morpeth is interesting. The ground is located in a wooded area. The pitch is down a small bank from the clubhouse. The food in the clubhouse is excellent! Strangely there is one small seated stand and no other covered area. The seated stand is almost pointless as you can’t sit in the seats as they allow spectators to stand in front of the stand thus meaning you can’t sit to watch the game.

Great food – check

Picturesque location – check

Ability to sit to watch game – NO

THE UGLY GAME

There is a link between the clubs in this Ugly game section

York City 2 v 2 Spennymoor Town National League North

I am not going to say much about this, but it was a day out for Spennymoor fans that was ruined by the bullies and thugs York City seem happy to employ. They made what was one of the biggest league games for Spennymoor into a thoroughly un-enjoyable day. Stewards who seem to think they are working the doors of a particularly rough nightclub rather than stewarding a football club that is sinking faster than the Titanic under mounting debt and gates way below their break even figure.

Quick looks on social media make it clear that just about every team that has visited York City has had cause to complain about the thugs and bullies York call stewards. Here is a lesson for York city, if you want to try to attract enough people to your ground to reach your break even crowd, then you need to make them feel welcome and not bully and assault your potential customers.

Next in this section, I am going to give a mention to the supporters of Darlington football club who seem to think they are a big club and that everyone is obsessed with them. Ask a question about the current financial position of a club that has had to have more bail outs from the fans in the last 36 years, and more periods of administration than just about any other club in England, and you get people posting on social media they want to punch you in the face!

Darlington like York are a club that are getting gates below their break even figure. Unlike York where the fans are decent and the club/ stewards are the problem, the opposite is true at Darlington.

Many local football fans in County Durham used to have a soft spot for Darlington when they were in the Football League and would often go to watch them if their local team were not playing. I was one of them and over the years have watched Darlington all over England and Wales. However, after their financial meltdown in 2012, their fans have basically abused all those who have helped their club. From abusing fans of Northern League clubs as pitchfork wielding morons, to slating Mike Amos who as Northern League Chairman saved them from being placed in Division 2 of that league.

There now are few fans of other North Eastern clubs who would go and watch Darlington in the way ground hoppers did with East Thurrock at Spennymoor  or fans of Shildon did with Spennymoor at Wembley in 2013 and recently at York.

Sadly these moronic few Darlington fans are unable to see the harm they are doing their club by putting off fans of other clubs from watching Darlington play when their club isn’t. The extra income could help Darlington reduce their annual losses and repeated calls for fans to bail them out when they overspend.

Next club I am going to mention are the fans of Leyton Orient and Hartlepool who were both relegated from the Football League in the summer and gave it large on social media about how they were going to win the National League by Christmas and how it would be easy to get out of the National League. Both of these clubs are now in the bottom half of the National League.

I have seen fans of both clubs asking if teams in the National League had turnstiles or covered areas in the ground.

The lack of respect shown by these fans to non league is a not very pleasant facet and is part of the Not So Beautiful Game.

So, what is the link here? The 4 clubs ( York as a club) or fans of those clubs ( Darlington, Orient and Hartlepool) I have mentioned are all ex football league clubs who seem to think they are better than they are. They fail to see they are failing clubs and are treating the leagues they are in and the fans of opponents with no respect.

I should make it clear it is only a minority of the fans of these clubs that are getting their clubs a bad name.

I don’t want to end this blog on a negative, so I am going to end it by saying East Thurrock United, Bromley & Canvey Island, you are part of the clubs that make it a Beautiful Game

The Road to Wembley is Paved with Giant Killings – East Thurrock United v Chester FC – FA Trophy 2nd Round – 13 January 2018

Today, step 2 Spennymoor Town were at home in the FA Trophy to step 1 side Solihull Moors. Spennymoor only earned their place in this round after a cracking cup tie on Tuesday night that they won 5-3 on penalties after a 4-4 draw in 120 minutes. As a result, I did not have time to arrange to travel up to the game, so was left trying to find a game to watch.

I suppose some of you would say I should have travelled down to Bognor Town to see Leyton Orient in this competition. However, the words allegedly attributed to King George on his deathbed came to mind, “Bugger Bognor”.

So I trawled the fixtures and decided to go to watch step 2 club East Thurrock United host step 1 club Chester FC. East Thurrock are a club I have a liking for. I saw them cling promotion to National League South when they beat Dulwich Hamlet in a play off final.

East Thurrock are a relatively small club. They get gates of 2-4oo at home and are only 50+ years old. It is incredible that they not only reached the 2nd tier of English non league football, but are very competitive. They are based in Corringham which only has a population of 9,000 or so. In a lot of ways, they are similar to Spennymoor Town who are based in a small town, population circa 18,000 and are competing with ex football league clubs like Stockport, Southport, York and full time professional outfits like Salford, Harrogate Town and Nuneaton. Like Spennymoor, East Thurrock were playing a side from the division above.

I arrived at the ground early and after parking the car , saw the sign advertising the game. Its not the most professional looking or expensive sign and has match details written on it in chalk! Its actually quite endearing and makes you realise how well such a small club has done for itself.

I paid the £12 admission entered the ground. It has not changed since my last visit. The ground is interesting. On the far side of the ground are 2 separate seated stands either side of the dug outs. Behind those stands is another  pitch which is also floodlight and I understand used for training.

The far end of the ground is simply a concreted path. The near end of the ground is interesting it has 2 small terraced stands that look like bus shelters. That leave the near side of the ground which house the small seated main stand, the snack bar, and the entrance to the clubhouse.

Chester FC are a relatively new Club having been reformed in 2010 after the old club were wound up. However, in reality in most people’s mind they are the same club. They still play at the Deva Stadium which has the unique distinction of being partly in England and partly in Wales. Chester brought a relatively large support to the game and probably had around 1/2 of the fans at the game.

I took a seat in the Main Stand and started to read the programme and team sheet. East Thurrock are good at ensuring team sheets are available for spectators. The programme editor seemed to be confused thinking today was a first round tie! He clearly had forgotten the excellent win against Aldershot in the last round.

The game started with East Thurrock doing lots of running, although initially Chester probably had the best chances. However, it was clear that East Thurrock players were putting everything into this game. They never shied a tackle and were determined to win every 50-50 ball. It came as no surprise when they took the lead on 17 minutes.

Chester needed to up their game if they were going to avoid an upset. They didn’t do so in the rest of the first half. After the break, Chester did up their game but not enough. The game was a great cup tie to watch. It was clear that the Chester players had more skill, but they didn’t apply themselves as much as the East Thurrock players. There were chances at both ends, especially for East Thurrock who hit the bar and narrowly put the ball wide on several occasions.

Late in the game, the result was determined when Chester had a player sent off for an horrific 2 footed challenge that could easily have been a career ender for the victim. Fortunately he was able to carry on. Amazingly the Chester officials sat in the seats behind me were so myopic they claimed the referee had sent the player off for nothing. I would hate to see the sort of tackle the Chester officials think is worthy of a red card.

The full time whistle brought a deserved victory for East Thurrock and a second National League side put out by them in 2 rounds. They beat Aldershot 4-0 in the previous round.  Speaking to a couple of Chester fans after the final whistle they seemed to have resigned themselves to another defeat. Things are not seemingly all happy at Chester, at least as far as the fans are concerned.

For East Thurrock, it was a well deserved victory and into the last 16 of the FA Trophy. This is an incredible achievement for the club and one they should be proud of. I am pleased to say that Spennymoor Town also earned a place in the last 16 with a 2-0 win at home to Solihull Moors.

The sides left in the competition and their ball numbers for Monday’s draw are:

Third Round ball numbers:

1 EBBSFLEET UNITED OR WARRINGTON TOWN
2 KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS OR STOCKPORT COUNTY
3 EAST THURROCK UNITED

4 LEYTON ORIENT
5 BRACKLEY TOWN OR BARROW
6 WESTON SUPER MARE OR WORKINGTON
7 BILLERICAY TOWN
8 MAIDENHEAD UNITED
9 MAIDSTONE UNITED
10 DOVER ATHLETIC
11 GATESHEAD OR BOREHAM WOOD
12 WEALDSTONE
13 SUTTON UNITED
14 BROMLEY
15 SPENNYMOOR TOWN
16 ST ALBANS CITY OR HARROGATE TOWN

As you can see, a lot of the National League sides have gone out already. I can’t wait for 1pm on Monday when the draw is live on Talksport Radio. I am sure everyone at East Thurrock is feeling the same.

Football Can Still Be a Beautiful Game

Back in 1987, Burnley played Leyton Orient on the last day of the football season. Burnley had to win to stay in the football league. Orient were already safe. Burnley won and survived to fight another day.

Fast forward to 25 May 2014 and Leyton Orient were at Wembley in the League One Play Off Final and were 1 penalty kick away from playing in the Championship ( 2nd tier of English football). They lost the penalty shootout and started to slump.

Fast forward again to 16 December 2017 and Burnley are now 5th in the English Premiership and Leyton Orient are now 20th in the National League ( 5th tier of English football). Whilst Burnley are playing a Premiership away game at Brighton, Leyton Orient are playing their first ever game in the FA Trophy ( Non League version of FA Cup). They were drawn away at nearby Haringey Borough FC who play in the Bostik Isthmian League Div 1 North ( step 8 of English Football).

Whilst Leyton Orient have a modern stadium with 3 new stands and an all seated  ground capacity of around 9000, Haringet Borough play in a ground with one stand with a couple of hundred seats and one small section of covered standing. There is no terracing at the ground, simply a concrete walkway round the ground.

Haringey Borough normally play in front of a handful of fans. They are however a club with a posaitive attitude. They installed a 4g pitch last season to increase their income. They offer free season tickets to encourage people to attend.

The game with Leyton Orient would probably be the biggest game Haringey have ever staged. Leyton Orient have enough season ticket holders to fill Haringey’s ground twice over.

The game was said to be an all ticket game. I initially didn’t bother to apply for a ticket, but on Wednesday I decided to see if Orient had any of their allocation left. They did, so for a massive price of £7 I bought an unreserved seat ticket for the game. By Thursday, it had been decided to allow people to pay on the door for the game as it had not sold out, although it would be a record crowd for Haringey.

Normally when I drive to Haringey games, I park in the club car park, but this was not possible today. No worries, I will park in one of the nearby residential streets I thought. Turns out they are all permit parking on Saturdays. No, not because of Haringey home games. The location of Haringey’s Cole Park being in White Hart Lane may give a clue…yes, Haringey’s ground is near Spurs normal home ground! However with Spurs temporarily playing their home games at Wembley, this is the only football ground in White Hart Lane that will be hosting FA Competitions this year.

Anyway, I parked up and walked to the ground as the rain fell. I had to collect my ticket from the Orient ticket office at Haringey’s ground. This was a member of Orient staff stood in the rain with the collection tickets in his pocket.

The stewards outside and inside the ground that I saw were all provided by Leyton Orient. A sign of the good co-operation between the two clubs. I took a seat in the stand, and was glad I had a seat as I had shelter from the rain.

The ground was the busiest it has ever been. The official attendance was given as 1133 at the ground, but on Haringey’s twitter as 1033. No segregation of course.

Inside the ground, it was good to see that Haringey had taken steps to cope with their biggest crowd, from extra catering, including a gazebo on far side of ground to serve refreshments. In fact there were at least 4 different locations to buy refreshments in the ground and decent prices for decent looking food.

Additional toilet facilities had been brought in and since I was last there, new turnstiles on the far side of the ground. I am not sure the Orient visit was the sole reason for the new turnstiles

The attitude of everyone connected at Haringey that I met seemed to be one of enjoying the day and being helpful. I was sat at the back left hand side of the small stand and surrounded by a group of Haringey fans of a similar age to me. They spent the whole 90 minutes supporting their team with lots of singing and great humour, even between themselves as some were Spurs and some were Arsenal. One of the comments I heard was “The last time I saw this many people in Haringey, there was a riot going on!

The game itself started badly for Orient with them going a goal down in the first five minutes. For the rest of the first half, Haringey were by far the most dangerous side. To be honest it was embarrassing to watch Orient being ripped apart by a side three divisions lower than them. A cup upset seemed to be on the cards.

Half time was a relief to Orient. A few minutes before Haringey returned, Orient were back on the pitch. I don’t know what Justin Edinburgh had said at half time, but it seemed to work and Orient ripped into Haringey in the second half. It became inevitable that Orient would win. It was no surprise that Orient scored twice and eventually won.

All credit must go to Haringey- both the team for pushing Orient so hard and to the club for its fantastic efforts to welcome and cater for the fans.

Saturday was a reminder that away from the corporate greed, football is a beautiful game

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Home & Away Again

So, its now heading to the back end of September and since my first game of the season on August 15th, I am up to match 23. That is 23 games in 40 days. I thought it was a rather sad that I had been to that many games, especially as I missed a couple of games this week owing to illness. However, I learned that some of my fellow hoppers are up to 80 games already this season! They are retired and take in youth games, sunday league games etc.

My list is as follows now

Date	Home Team	H	R	A	Away Team	Competition
15/08/2017	Spennymoor	3	H	0	Bradford Park Avenue	NLN
19/08/2017	Brackley town	2	H	0	Spennymoor	NLN
22/08/2017	Saffron Walden Town	3	A	4	Barking	FAC Pre R
23/08/2017	Romford	3	H	1	Stowmarket	FAC Pre R
26/08/2017	Leyton Orient	1	D	1	Eastleigh Town	National League
28/08/2017	Grays Athletic	4	H	2	Aveley	BIL 1N
28/08/2017	Barkingside	2	H	1	Burnham Ramblers	ESL
29/08/2017	West Essex	0	A	3	Basildon	ESL
30/08/2017	FC Romania	2	H	1	Ilford	ESL
02/09/2017	Leyton Orient	4	H	1	Guisley	National League
05/09/2017	Harlow Town	2	H	1	Thurrock	FAC 1QR
06/09/2017	Grays Athletic	2	A	3	Hertford Town	FAC 1QR
08/09/2017	Tower Hamlets	2	H	1	Hackney Wick	FAV 1Q
09/09/2017	Tamworth	3	H	1	Spennymoor Town	NLN
10/09/2017	Barkingside	2	H	1	Southend Manor	FAV 1Q
11/09/2017	West Ham United	2	H	0	Huddersfield Town	EPL
12/09/2017	Leyton Orient	0	A	3	Halifax Town	National League
15/09/2017	Barkingside	1	A	2	Redbridge	ESL
16/09/2017	Leyton Orient	1	A	2	Hartlepool	National League
17/09/2017	FC Romania	2	D	2	Hayes & Yeading	FA Cup 2Q
19/09/2017	West Ham United	3	H	0	Bolton Wanderers	FL Cup
23/09/2017	Billericay Town	1	H	0	Tooting & Mitcham	BIL Prem
24/09/2017	Barkingside	2	A	3	Whitton United	FAV 2Q

I have been to watch Barkingside 4 times this season. That is not surprising as they are the nearest club to my home. It is around 3/4 mile from my door to their ground. They are also the friendliest of clubs. It is a shame that they are so poorly supported. Indeed, then now play in Ilford rather than Barkingside so don’t get any real local support. The 4 games I have been to this season have had attendances of 80,85,165 and 90. The 165 was for the local derby with Redbridge.

Its only £5 to get in and the football is never dull. I wish more people would take an interest in the football. Barkingside are a club who will move games to a Sunday or Monday or even a Friday night to avoid clashing with other games and with Premiership games on TV. Sadly whilst this brings a few extra ground hoppers along, it does not seem to bring in the locals.

Today I watched a very entertaining FA Vase tie. Two weeks ago I watched Barkingside win in the FA Vase 1st Qualifying round v Southend Manor. A win that was more convincing than the 2-1 result.

Today, unfortunately that FA Vase run came to an end. They lost 3-2, but were 3-0 down at half time. You may think it was a one sided first half, but that was not the case. 3 very well taken goals flattered Whitton United at half time.

Strangely, at half time, Barkingside went to the dressing rooms, but Whitton United stayed out on the pitch and had their team talk at the away dug out ( see second picture). Why this was I do not know.

The second half saw Barkingside pull two goals back. You would have expected Barkingside to go all out for an equaliser, but for some strange reason, they still kept 4 players at the back and did not pressurise the Witton goal. Strange in a cup tie!

Congratulations to Whitton United and good luck to them in the FA Vase.  As for Barkingside, just the league to concentrate on now. LEts hope they can get a bit of consistency going. When they play well, they look good, but seem to be a bit Jekyll and Hyde this season.

The Crowd of 90 today was a bit of a contrast to last Tuesday night when I was at the London Stadium to watch West Ham United v Bolton Wanderers in the Football League Cup. West Ham claim the official attendance was over 35,000. I am not sure of the method they use for counting. The ground appeared to be considerably less than 1/2 full. West Ham won the game at a canter. They put out a mainly youth/ reserve side but were too strong for Bolton Wanderers. In fact, if this game had been a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it after 30 minutes with West Ham 2-0 up and strolling about the pitch playing. That is two West Ham Games I have been to this season and the only two West Ham have won.

Look at the photos below and you can see plenty of empty seats which make a mockery of the official attendance figure of 35,000

Eight days before on the 11th September 2017, I was at the London Stadium for the first West Ham home game of the season against Huddersfield. West Ham had not been able to play home games before this because the ground was still being converted into a football ground from an athletics stadium after the World Championships. The capacity for the ground had been increased from last season and as a result a new club record crowd of 56977 were in attendance.

West Ham recorded their first win of the season against a Huddersfield side that I believe were unbeaten until then. West Ham did not look like a side struggling as they deservedly beat Huddersfield.

I must commend West Ham on their treatment of disabled supporters. They run shuttle busses from Stratford Station to and from the ground. These are free for disabled and their carers. This is excellent, but what makes it even better are the people running the transport. They could not be more helpful and friendly. They are a credit to West Ham United.

I have not been avoiding Leyton Orient and have been to 4 games this season. With mixed results.

26/08/2017	Leyton Orient	1	D	1	Eastleigh Town
02/09/2017	Leyton Orient	4	H	1	Guisley
12/09/2017	Leyton Orient	0	A	3	Halifax Town
16/09/2017	Leyton Orient	1	A	2	Hartlepool

Apart from the Guisley game, they have been games to endure rather than enjoy. I appreciate they are now in the National League, but I would have expected the players to understand what the white metal rectangles are at each end of the pitch. Orient players seem to not understand they are supposed to put the ball between the posts at the end they are attacking and stop the ball going in the end they are defending.

This is going to be a long season watching Leyton Orient. The only good thing so far this season has been the ticket prices ( free for me) and the company I go to games with ( Hello Tony, Lisa, Greg, Barney etc)

Last Sunday, I went to Romania to watch an English FA Cup tie. Yes, you read that right. To explain it, I went to Cheshunt to watch FC Romania ( who ground share with Chesunt) in an FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round Tie against Hayes & Yeading. The last time I saw the visitors in the FA Cup was before Hayes & Yeading had merged. Yeading had reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup and played Newcastle United in a tie staged at QPR’s ground . Newcastle won 3-0 that day I think.

Since then Yeading merged with Hayes, reached the National League ( then Conference) before finding themselves homeless for several seasons and plunging to step 4 of the pyramid.

Today’s tie was a lively and eventful tie with Romania beating their higher placed opponents 2-1 until a moment of stupidity when a Romania defender punched a Hayes & Yeading player in an off the ball incident. This earned him a red card and because the punch was in the penalty area, it earned the visitors a penalty from which they equalised

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Where else have I been? Well 2 weeks ago, I drove up to Tamworth to see Spennymoor lose 3-1. The less said about that the better. The Spennymoor performance was woeful. The drive up to Tamworth was in heavy rain, the M1 was closed because of an accident. This should have prepared me for the game. Finally just as the game ended a huge thunderstorm started and everyone leaving the ground got soaked.

The one game I have not mentioned was my visit to Billericay yesterday. That I will deal with in a separate post. Billericay have been the subject of lots of media attention since Glen Tamplin bought them towards the end of last season. They have at least 2 ex premiership players on their books and a wage bill said to be in excess of £30,000 per week. Incredible for a side playing at the 7th tier of English football.

Home and Away 1

I know, I know you were hoping I had gone away and this blog was defunct….However, a new season is upon us and I will start again attempting to blog my way through the season.

This season has had a very slow start for me. I have been to no pre season friendlies and attended my first game only on 15 August, despite the season starting on 5th August and pre-season friendlies throughout July. Why the slow start? I will pretend I heard you ask. Well I took part in July in the UK Police Unity Tour bike ride , a 3 day ride raising funds for the families of police offices killed in the course of their duties. This was a 180 mile ride from London to Staffordshire. I will be doing the same event next summer and its not too early to donate to the COPS charity .

After that event, I was forced by my employers to work away from home for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately for me, despite my protestations, I was forced against my will to work in Grand Cayman for 2 weeks.

It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it. As I believe in doing my bit for you the tax payer, I suffered the deprivation and parting from my home comforts.

 

After returning back to the UK, I went first to Spennymoor Town v Bardford Park Avenue in the Conference North. The first time Spennymoor have played at such a high level. Its incredible to think that Stockport, York, Kidderminster and Darlington will be visitors to Spennymoor this season. In the past they were fantasy FA Cup ties, not routing league games.

The Brewery Field had been worked on over the summer. The pitch looked excellent. The bar facilities were now a luxury marquee run by the 4 star Ramside Hall Hotel instead of the cramped little bar at the back of the main stand. Catering facilities have also been uprated.

More importantly, the football had also been massively uprated. This was Spennymoors 3rd game of the season, after wins against Stockport County at home and FC United away. Tonight;’s  game saw Spennymoor win with 3 goals in 3 first half minutes. This was the best I had seen Spennymoor play since the glory days of the late 1970s

 

On Saturday 19th August, I was driving back to London from Newcastle, so I diverted via Brackley Town to see Spennymoor  again. This was 2 sides with 100% records and something hasd to give. Brackley are a small club that have consistently in recent seasons punched above their weight and size

Their ground is easily of Conference North Standard, but is also very simple. I think it is a testimony to a well run club. They have improved their ground to necessary standards without wasting funds. The pitch itself is incredibly wide. It must be the nearest it could be to being square.

 

On the pitch, the experience of Brackley at this level showed and Brackley deservedly won 2-0. No complaints from me about the result. The better team on the day won.

 

 

Romance is Dead

So, time for another  sporadic blog on the topic of football.

Its FA Cup Round 10 this weekend. Known to those who think football does not exist outside of the  premiership as the 4th Round.

The media love to bleat on about the romance of the FA Cup and seeking to find romantic stories about teams of labourers and school teachers beating full time professional clubs.

This weekend, there have been several  so called upsets such as:

• Liverpool 1 Wolves 2
• Lincoln Utd 3 Brighton & HA 1
• Oxford 3 Newcastle Utd 0
• Millwall 1 Watford 0
• Sutton United 1 Leeeds United 0
• Fulham 4 Hull City 1

 

Out of 14 ties completed so far, 6 so called upsets might make you think that the so called romance of the FA Cup is all alive and well. That would be too let the headlines disguise the truth.

Romance of the FA Cup is a bit like in a lot of relationships. To those glancing from the outside, they appear to be an in love couple living a great relationship, but if you too the time get to know them, you would find its all a front, and he is wedded to his work and the pub, and she is seeking solace in the arms of someone else behind his back.

This is a great analogy for the FA Cup. The media tell you the relationship is well, but in reality, the so called big clubs are instead getting into bed with the Premiership and Champions League and even the Championship clubs are now getting in on  the act.

Yesterday I went to see Newcastle United in their FA Cup run away at League One Oxford United. Newcastle are at the top end of the Championship and Oxford at at the lower reaches of the tier below (League 1). Newcastle only entered the competition in the 3rd round and beat Birmingham after a replay. Oxford entered at round one and had won 3 ties to get this far.

Newcastle, a club with attendances regularly of 50,000 compared to Oxford who play in a 3 sided ground and have only been back in the Football League a few years. This should have been a banker for Newcastle.

As most so called big clubs do these days in the FA Cup, Newcastle fielded an almost reserve team. Quite why clubs do this is beyond me. Apparently it seems that today’s footballers not only cant play 90 minutes in a game, but cant play 2 games a week these days. I would suggest they are too tired counting their wages to play. Back in 1976/77 Season, Liverpool won the League, The European Cup and lost the FA Cup Final. This was in days when pitches were far heavier, and only 1 substitute was allowed. Liverpool used 18 players in all competitions, one of whom was a substitute once, 2 other players only played 3 games between them. Oh and they also won the Charity Shield.
Now clubs have bigger squads, can make 3 substitutions per game and games are only ever played on pitches like bowling greens. Players are flown by jet to games, no long coach travel etc.

Despite all these changes, the side Newcastle put out was on paper far too strong for Oxford. However, the big difference was that Oxford players took the  game seriously, Newcastle didn’t.

Oxford won 3-0 and fully deserved their win. The Newcastle players should hang their heads in shame. They played with no passion, no pride and no commitment. To be frank they did not care one bit whether they won or lost. Even if the players did not want to compete in the competition, surely personal pride would kick in and ensure you did not disgrace yourself. Apparently not.

I do not know the stories behind the other FA Cup “upsets”, but I do know that Leeds put a team out with an average age of around 22 today at Sutton. That is hardly taking the competition seriously and sadly for teams like Oxford, Sutton etc it devalues their heroics.

This was the 2nd FA Cup tie I have seen this season since the league teams entered. I went to watch my home town team Spennymoor Town at MK Dons in the 1st Round Proper. Spennymoor were 3 goals down in less than 15 minutes. The Spennymoor team battled on, pulled 2 goals back and by the end, MK Dons were glad of the final whistle. The difference between the attitude of those Spennymoor players and the Newcastle players was as different as chalk and cheese. The conclusion is the more money you earn, the less you give a damn about the public who pay your wages.

So back to the day… itself. I should have known it was going to be a bad day when I got to my local train station to buy a ticket to Oxford. The ticket office was closed, but lights on, fire on etc. A Sign said to use the ticket machine…the ticket machine was refusing to take cards. So there was no way of buying a ticket. The barriers were open as there were no staff on the barriers. I got the train to Liverpool Street and approached the guard at the barriers, explained I wanted to buy a ticket from Seven Kings to Oxford as I was unable to buy one at Seven Kings. At which point I was told I was committing an offence and he was going to issue me with a penalty ticket which if I refused to pay I would be prosecuted for not paying my fare at Seven Kings!

After much hassle I was eventually allowed to go to ticket office and buy the ticket I had intended to buy. I am still not sure how I buy a ticket at Seven Kings when there was no means of buying a ticket and I approached the guard and advised him of position.

Anyway, I got to Oxford, met some good friends and had a few beers before a taxi to the game. The ground at Oxford has 3 nice stands and bizarrely one end where the stand was never built. It is a 12,000 capacity ground and apart from the open end is a decent ground. Lots of bare concrete is on show.

The next 90 minutes are best glossed over. Gutless and spineless sums up Newcastle

Fortunately the bowling alley served beer, so after we left the ground we had a couple of beers before our taxi back into Oxford.

Another depressing FA Cup campaign is over for Newcastle, but at least for once it extended beyond the first Saturday in January.

 

 

The Romance of the FA Cup?

Us fans want a divorce, on the grounds of adultery and unreasonable behaviour

Monday Night Football is a Live Game, Not a TV Programme: Barkingside FC v Redbridge FC: Essex Senior League: 15 August 2016

Its great to see Monday night football is back. Its a Monday night, so its Barkingside FC that is my destination.

Both these sides were relegated from the Step 4 Ryman Isthmian League Div 1 North last season to the step 5 Essex Senior League. That is to say they are 5 divisions below the Essex Senior League.

This is a local derby and a game between the former tenants and landlords. Originally, Barkingside were resident at Oakside Stadium in Barkingside. Then Redbridge moved in as tenants. This situation swapped with Redbridge becoming the senior side. Then Barkingside moved out and now play their home games at Cricklefield Stadium in Ilford. This they ground share with Ilford, another Essex Senior League side.

I saw Redbridge play 9 days ago in the FA Cup when they were hammered at home by Waltham Forest. Barkingside won their FA Cup game the same weekend.

Before tonight’s game, Barkingside had six points from three games and Redbridge one point from three games. The odds were therefore in Barkingside’s favour, especially with home advantage.

Going to Cricklefield is rather easy for me. 20 minutes before kick off, I was at home having a shower. I still had time to get to ground, get in and meet my fellow ground hoppers before kick off. There was a good turn out of ground hoppers there tonight. This is one of the reasons why Barkingside play home games on a Monday night. The extra money from the dozen or so ground hoppers makes a huge difference to clubs at this level. The crowd tonight was 95. That means 12.5% of crowd were ground hoppers. A big boost to the income of a club.

I do like Barkingside as a club. They are a friendly club and the chairman greets fans with a cheery hello and makes you feel welcome. Some of you will remember my tweets last year or year before when I whinged repeatedly about not being able to get a cup of tea. The club contacted me via twitter the next day and offered me a free ticket to next game and an apology (catering difficulties).

Things like that are what is the difference between football at this level and the professional game. Here, you are valued and are not just a wallet. I should say I refused the offer of a free ticket. Barkingside need my money more than I need a free ticket. Indeed, last night I tweeted that I was going to game today. Today, I got a tweet from the club inviting me to blog about the game. Go to a professional game and you are threatened with ejection for taking photographs to support a blog post. What a difference in attitude.  The Admission and a programme here costs £7. Compare this to League 2 Leyton Orient where admission and a programme would cost around £27.

The game itself tonight was a competitive affair with Barkingside starting slowly, but as the game went on they became stronger. They were awarded a soft penalty after 40 minutes. The decision was right, but the Redbridge player deserves a slap for bringing down a player running away from the goal and who did not have the ball under control.

Barkingside missed the penalty , well it was saved by the Redbridge goalkeeper who had a great night and kept Redbridge in the game.

It was not until the second half that Barkingside finally got the goal their pressure deserved. A simple header from a corner made it 1-0. Barkingside and Redbridge players contrived to miss numerous chances to keep the score at 1-0.

A deserved win in the end for Barkingside. I look forward to my next visit to Barkingside.

Looking through the programme, the Chairman asks for fund raising ideas for the club. I live less than a mile from the ground, but have never seen a poster advertising games in any of the local shops. Many people do not even know there is a football ground here. I know it is a matter of time, but a bit of publicity of the existence of the club, the dates of the games and the excellent value for money the admission price is would help. There is a school academy right outside the ground. Could some form of promotion of the club via free / reduced priced tickets for school pupils increase the attendances?