Review of the 2010/11 season

As always I like to give a brief review of the season and this year is no different:


Number of games seen: 53
Number of new grounds / venues visited: 48
Number of new clubs seen: 44
Number of different leagues seen games in: 23 (including 2 in Germany)
Number of new leagues seen games in: 8 (as above)


A breakdown of the new teams that I have seen in league order:


Cambridgeshire County League (2) Longstanton; Over Sports
Central Midlands League (6) Church Warsop S & S; Kinsley Boys, Nettelham, Nottingham United, Phoenix, Thorne Colliery
East Lincolnshire Combination (1) Chapel Swifts
FA Premier League (2) Everton; Liverpool
German Bundesliga (1) VfL Bochum 1848
Germany Niederrheinliga (1) Turu 1880 Dusseldorf
Hellenic League (1) Winterbourne United
Leicester & District League (5) Allexton & New Parks, Aylestone Lounge*, GNG, Queniborough, Thurlaston Magpies
Liverpool County Premier League (1) Waterloo Dock
Midland Combination (3) Clements '83, Future Legends, Stretton Eagles
Midland Football Alliance (1) Tipton Town
North Leicestershire League (4) Butler Court, Marlborough Rovers, Measham Imperial, Sutton Bonington Academicals
North West Counties League (2) Ashton Town, Glossop North End
Northamptonshire Combination (2) Weldon United; Welford Victoria
Northern Counties East League (1) Winterton Rangers
Notts Senior League (1) Kimberley Miners Welfare
Scottish Football League (1) Stranraer
Southern League (2) Bideford; Chippenham Town
Spartan South Midlands League (1) Leverstock Green
United Counties League (3) Boston Town, Harborough Town, King's Lynn Town
West Midlands (Regional) League (2) Goodrich; Tividale
Western League (1) Roman Glass St. George


* - play at a venue previously seen another team at


There were also four grounds that were visited either used as a neutral venue or a case of clubs moving into new grounds:


Ermine Street, Ancaster; Eagle Valley, Arnold, Hunts Post Community Stadium, St. Neots and Evans Park, Stafford


Best Game: saw some cracking games this season but winner is Leverstock Green v Enfield 1893 (FA Vase) – a nine goal thriller with a goal in both the 1st and last minute 

Worst Game: Phoenix v Kiveton Park (CML) – simply awful. 

Best Team (in relation to level): Allexton & New Parks (Leicester & District League) – won their division with 100% record and if they have the same players, should do it again next season. 

Worst Team (in relation to level): Raunds Town (UCL) – totally outclassed at King’s Lynn on New Years Day 

Favourite Ground (professional): Anfield 

Favourite Ground (non-league): The Walks, King’s Lynn 

Ground liked the least (non-league): Eagle Valley, Arnold – boring and soulless etc 

Most picturesque setting: Thurlaston Magpies (Leicester & District League) 

Best programme: VfL Bochum - 60 A4 pages for only €1. St. Helens Town was the best non-league one I picked up. 

Worst programme: King’s Lynn Town (UCL) – shocking A4 effort they issued on New Year’s Day. 

Most difficult ground to find: Did not have any trouble finding any grounds this season. A sat-nav and good maps always help! 

Friendliest club: Tipton Town (MFA) – very friendly club and they even allowed me pitch side(instead of being behind the athletics’ track) to take photographs. 

Most arrogant / unwelcoming club: King’s Lynn Town -Came across as arrogant and had a Billy big time attitude. 

Best goal: The third goal for Mablethorpe Athletic @ Chapel Swifts (21-05-2011). A superb side foot volley that flew past the keeper. 

Scores seen for the 1st time: 5-4, 7-2, 7-3, 2-7 and 0-8
Average goals per game: 4.83 (256 goals in 53 games)


Back in July for the football when I will be attending day 1 of the 2011 Emirates Cup. There might be some new posts during the summer as I hopefully will be attending at least one cricket match and / or going to Mallory Park to watch some motor sport.


Take care


The Rambler

Anniversary @ the Chapel

CHAPEL SWIFTS 0-5 MABLETHORPE ATHLETIC
Saturday 21st May 2011
East Lincolnshire Combination Division 2
Sea Road, Chapel St. Leonards

Six years ago today, the last time May 21st fell on a Saturday yours truly was getting married to one Angela Sidwell at the County Hall Registry Office in Glenfield, Leicestershire. A day that I keep getting reminded about in the sense that it was the only Saturday in May that year in which it rained!!!

In Havana on our honeymoon

We had been invited to a 30th birthday bbq up in Hucknall but due to having trouble getting a dog sitter we decided to go out for the day. The Lincolnshire coast between Skegness and Mablethorpe is an area I know very well, having had a lot of holidays at the family caravan in Anderby Creek. With me being me and my obession for football I checked if there were any fixtures in the East Lincolnshire Combination and hey presto! Three fixtures in the top two divisions caught my attention due to the location of the home teams involved:

Alford Town v A&G Auto Repairs

Sutton Rovers (from Sutton-on-Sea) v North Somercotes United

Chapel Swifts (from Chapel St. Leonards) v Mablethorpe Athletic

With us more than likely heading first to Chapel it would be a case of where we would be in time for the 2.30pm kick-offs. The journey to this part of Lincolnshire from south west Leicester takes around 2 1/2 hours and is approximately 95 - 100 miles away depending on the resort. We left Leicester in glorious sunshine and it stayed that way all day. I decided to head first to the small seaside hamlet of Anderby Creek which is located between Chapel St Leonards and Sutton-on-Sea. The reason being is that I knew it would be fairly quiet and we would be able to let Millie (the dog) off her lead and allow her to have a run round. More information on Anderby Creek can be found on the official website by clicking here. After getting back to the car we had a coffee at the beach cafe before making the two mile drive south to Chapel. This is where we had a lunch which consisted of what else...chips followed by again what else...ice-cream, before making the (very) short drive to the village hall in time for the 2.30pm kick-off.

Millie on Anderby beach

Chapel St. Leonards

The East Lincolnshire Combination is a league that will be new to me in terms of watching a game, and it was only about a year ago that I had even heard of the league itself. In the end I decided to take in the division 2 encounter between mid-table Chapel Swifts and division champions Mablethorpe Athletic in what will be both clubs final game of the season. There is only one other game today and that is between North Thoresby and Barnoldby. 

League table (upto & including May 14th 2011)

Pos Team                   Pl W. D. L. For Aga Pts

1   MABLETHORPE ATHLETIC   15 11  2  3 63  23  35

2   Tetney Rovers          16  9  4  3 51  34  31

3   Burgh Town             16  7  6  3 47  28  27

4   Barnoldby              15  8  2  5 46  37  26

5   CHAPEL SWIFTS          15  7  1  7 53  37  22

6   North Thoresby         15  6  3  6 26  37  21

7   Donington              16  5  2  9 33  55  17

8   Theddlethorpe Village  16  4  4  8 30  52  16

9   Scamblesby             16  0  2 14 25  71   2

    Tetford United         Withdrew during the season

Chapel St. Leonards is a small seaside village in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire. In 2001 it had a population of 3,405 (source: Statistics of Chapel St. Leonards) and is located 6 miles north of Skegness, 11 miles south of Mablethorpe and 44 miles east of Lincoln. There are numerous caravan parks which are located to the south of the village centre along South Road and Trunch Lane. The football club play behind the village hall on Sea Road which is approximately a five minute walk from the beach. The pitch was not roped or railed, no dugouts or anything else for that matter, though there are various items of children's play equipment which including a swing and climbing frame.

Club Logo

This was a typical end of season game played on a rock hard pitch. There was nothing on the game and despite this it was fairly competitive and entertaining to watch. The first half was a fairly even affair and predominantly a midfield battle. Chapel settled quicker but were hit on the counter attack on 10 minutes when the Athletic #4 slotted the ball past the Swifts keeper following a run that took him past several defenders. A couple of minutes later and it should have been all square but after being put through and with only the goalie to beat the ball was put wide. Just before the half hour mark and Mablethorpe doubled their lead when the ball was scrambled home from a few yards out following a free kick. The closest the home side came to scoring came on the 38th minute when the ball was lobbed over the Athletic keeper, only for it to hit the bar and bounce kindly back into the grateful keepers hands. The second half was more one sided and Athletic could, and should have scored more than the three goals. It did feel like that if they wanted to, they could step it up by another couple of gears. Their third goal of the afternoon was the best of the lot when a diagonal ball found the #9 unmarked in the penalty area and he volleyed it side footed past the keeper. The Swifts best chance of the half came with around 20 minutes left but the ball was dragged wide of the left hand post. A fourth for Mablethorpe was added a couple of minutes later before the scoring was completed with four minutes from time.

   
Admission / programme: none
Attendance: peaked at 20
Match rating: 2 1/2 out of 5


A slideshow of photos taken can be viewed below:



Sources / Links:
Chapel Swifts FC
East Lincolnshire Combination website

For the record the result of the other game in division 2 today ended in a 2-2 draw, while the results of the other two games I was considering ended in two comprehensive away wins. Alford lost 6-2 while Sutton were on the wrong end of an 8-2 scoreline.

The good, the bad and the ugly?

WELDON UNITED 2-1 WELFORD VICTORIA

Saturday 14th May 2011

Northants Combination Premier Division

Oundle Road

Today was a rare chance to meet up with good friend Kevin Zupp with this being only the second time this calender year. Our original plan was to go across to Oundle for a Peterborough & District League encounter between Oundle Town and newly crowned league champions Ramsey Town. With it being FA Cup Final I had e-mailed the secretaries of both teams but had no reply. Also this morning the kick off time on the Peterborough League website was still showing as 3pm. With this in mind we arrived at Oundle at 2pm only to be told that the game had just ended. Thanks a lot :-((((((((((((((( An hours drive for nothing. Surely it is not too much to ask for kick off times to be correct on league websites? Luckily I knew that Weldon United were at home in the Northants Combination, and as we had to go through Weldon on the way home we stopped at their ground on the edge of the village. The kick off time had not changed and we stayed and watched, thankful to get a game in. Also another bonus was that neither of us had been here before so a new ground tick as well.

Weldon is a small village on the eastern edge of Corby that had a population in 2001 of 1,644. Weldon United's ground is on the eastern edge of the village on Oundle Road itself. As you turn off the road the changing rooms and bar are on the right hand side with the pitch on the other side of the slip road. Immediately behind the ground is a caravan park. The pitch is railed off on the near side while there is no rope or rail on the other three. There is also no hard standing, dugouts or cover. 

The game was one that Welford should have won at a canter with the amount of chances created. Fortunately for the hosts most of them were off target or tame efforts that did not test the keeper. In truth the first half was pretty forgetable in terms of a spectacle for the neutral. The second half was only a few minutes old when an altercation occurred which resulted in the Weldon #7 being sent off for throwing a punch. During the ensuing melee Weldon sub Steve Brydon came onto the pitch but was hauled off by his team mates. Brydon then made threatening gestures to the Welford official running the line on this side. Thankfully there were no more incidents during the rest of the game and it went off without further incident. Weldon then carried on where they left off at the end of the 1st half and created numerous chances that were wasted. They took the lead with around twenty minutes remaining with a drilled shot from Ollie Watts. This seemed to inspire the home side rather than deflate them and they created a few chances of their own. Weldon equalised with ten minutes through the previously mentioned Brydon who drilled a shot past the Welford keeper. The winner came with five minutes on the clock when the ball found its way to Gareth Robb who hit a first time shot past the stranded keeper - cue mass celebrations from the home side. 

At the end of the game the Weldon player who was sent off wanted to "go for a walk" with the Welford player he had the altercation with but the offer was declined. He was then ushered away by his teammates and (I believe) the issue was sorted out with a handshake.

Admission / programme: none

Attendance: 15 (Kev Zupp head count)

Match rating: 2 out of 5 

A slideshow of photos taken can be viewed below:

Cambs League Double

Saturday 7th May 2011


"The bloody weather forecast"

A term that has been used frequently this season by myself, and no doubt many other football fans throughout the country. After the glorious weather we have had of late which included yesterday (Friday 6th May) here in Leicester, it   should have turned overnight with the forecast of showers and / or prolonged heavy periods of rain during today.  The sold called forecast left me with the case of trying to find where it would be driest during the lunchtime / early afternoon period within a ninety minute drive of home, and in the end Cambridge seemed the best bet. In the end this (the rain) did not materialise apart from a heavy spell between 10am and 10.30am, and this happend while I was driving eastwards on the A14. Due to the forecast I put to bed my original plan of Milton v Welford Victoria in the Northants Combination and I set about looking at fixtures in the Cambridgeshire Senior League - a league that will be virgin territory for me. St Neots based club Eaton Socon jumped out at me as a possible but then I came across an 11.30am kick off in the leagues third tier (Senior Division B) between Longstanton and West Row Gunners. An email to their secretary Edward James confirmed this and now it was a case of what game I could "double" it up with. 

Game 1

Longstanton 3-5 West Row Gunners

Cambridgeshire County League Senior Division B

Longstanton Recreation Ground

Longstanton is a village (population 1,700 in 2001), located six miles north west of Cambridge. For the majority of its history Longstanton was split into two parishes - Long Stanton All Saints and Long Stanton St. Michaels. The two did not official merge until 1953. The village is home to two mediaeval churches: 

All Saints Church 

1) All Saints which was built in the mid 14th century and is a grade 1 listed building
2) St Michaels is smaller of the two and was built around 1230. It is a rare example of a church with a thatched roof and is a grade 2 listed building.

St. Michaels Church

The village will also border the proposed new town of Northstowe which will become the UK's first eco-town. More information on this can be found on the wikipedia page: Northstowe.


The journey to Longstanton is around 75 miles and takes approximately an hour and a half with the majority of it being on the A14 dual carriageway. It was straightforward with the traffic being light and having stopped for petrol and food I arrived at the recreation ground ten minutes before kick-off. Just before kick off I made acquaintance with two fellow groundhoppers Bob Davies  who is from Stevenage and Newmarket based Martin Wray (who was with his wife Fran and dog Lucky) and has his own website: Football Grounds In Focus. This is a site that I been contributing to for a couple of years now, whether it be photos and / or match reports. The football club share the facilities with the local cricket club and it was due to cricket that the game today was brought forward by a few hours and as such the game attracted a number of groundhoppers who took advantage of this like myself to attend two games . The pitch was in pretty good condition and roped off on the two sidelines. Also on the site are tennis courts and the village bowls club. 

The game itself was a cracker with the two teams prior to kick off seperated by two points and one place in favour of the home side. West Row started the better but the best chance in the opening spell came to Longstanton but the effort was saved by the keeper. The opening goal came on 18 minutes when a corner was hit first time into the net by Austen Diaper to give the home side the lead. This lasted just nine minutes when a misplaced back pass allowed Nick Agombar to score from a narrow angle. West Row then had an excellent chance to take the lead but hit the post from a yard out following a fumble by the keeper. Before half time Longstanton missed a excellent chance themselves to take the lead but their number 7 put the ball wide. We did not have to wait long for another goal following the half time interval as Longstanton re-took the lead on 51 minutes. Diaper got his second with a simple finish from 8 yards which followed a well worked move on the right. Ten minutes later and the visitors were awarded a penalty following a foul by the keeper. This was confidently dispatched and the game was level again. With twenty minutes remaining Longstanton look the lead for the third time when a through ball was hit first time by one of their substitutes. West Row equalised for the third time with 78 minutes on the clock and just two minutes later took the lead for the first time in the game. This was a simple tap that followed a cracking shot from outside the area that was parried by the Longstanton keeper. The final goal of the game came with time up when West Row hit the home side on the counter attack and the chance was finished with aplomb.


Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 45 (head count)
Match rating: 4 out of 5


The second half was spent chatting to Martin and at the end of the game bode farewell as we set off in different directions for game number 2.


A slideshow of photos taken can be viewed below:

With numerous options for game 2 I made my way to the one nearest to Longstanton for a 2pm kick-off.


Game 2
Over Sports 0-0 Chatteris Town
Cambridgeshire County League Premier Division
Over Recreation Ground


Over is just four miles from Longstanton and has a population of around 3,200 inhabitants. It is also located some ten miles from both Cambridge and Huntingdon. 

Village sign (source: Wikipedia)

The village recreation ground is similar to that of the one at Longstanton in the fact the football club share the facilities with the cricket club. Also at the side is a childrens play area and skate park. The pitch was roped off on three sides with no access behind the near goal. 


At the start of play Over needed a point to finish runners-up behind league champions Lakenheath and in the end they got what they required. In truth the game was a shocker with it being played at a high tempo throughout. It was a very niggly encounter with very few chances created and at times the referee (especially in the second half) struggled to keep control. I am struggling to remember any chances but I do recall the visitors hitting the bar in the second half and the Over keeper making a decent save. Of the chances created most either went wide or were tame efforts that did not trouble either keeper.


Admission: by donation - gave £1
Programme: none
Attendance: 74 (head count) but appeared more in the second half
Match rating: 1 out of 5


Both games were played in glorious sunshine and the rain did not appear until after dark, long after I arrived home. 


A slideshow of some photos taken during the game can be viewed below: