500 and counting...

WISBECH TOWN 1-1 EYNESBURY ROVERS

Saturday 27th July 2013

Pre-season Friendly

Elgoods Fenland Arena, Lynn Road, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

No plans originally today after spending the previous four Saturday afternoons watching three different sports (cricket, football and American Football), but having spotted that Wisbech Town Football Club had a pre-season friendly the decision was made to make the one hundred and thirty mile round trip. Wisbech is somewhere that has been on my radar for a number of years, and rather annoyingly didn't get to their old ground in the town Fenland Park. A visit to the club also became high on my priority since they joined the United Counties League (UCL) over the summer, having previously played in the Eastern Counties League (ECL). Why you may ask? Well simply because last season I completed the UCL for the first time with visits to the three remaining grounds, and want to keep on top of it as it were. After today there is still one more ground (Campbell Drive, Peterborough Sports FC) in the UCL to visit, with the intention to visit when Oadby Town play there on November 30th.

As the post title says this will be (in my records) my 500th venue that I have seen football played at. This total could and would have been reached sooner had I not got involved with Oadby Town in the late nineteen nineties, but I have no regrets and I feel I have the best of both worlds - the buzz of supporting a team, and also relaxing at games and not caring which team comes out on top. Some landmarks in terms of numbers are as follows:

1. Filbert Street - Leicester City FC sometime in the 1980's for Tommy Williams Testimonial

100. Rolls Royce Sports & Social Club - Hucknall Rolls FC 19th March 2002

200. Carters Park - Holbeach United FC 24th September 2005

300. Moira Dale Recreation Ground - Castle Donington Town FC 20th April 2009

400. Horsewell Lane - Sparta Moshdock FC 9th October 2011 

Wisbech is a market town, civil parish and inland port with a population of around 20,200 inhabitants. The town is located in the Fenland District of north-east Cambridgeshire, and is approximately twenty one miles east of Peterborough and thirteen miles west of King's Lynn. The tidal River Nene runs through the town and is spanned by two bridges.

more information on the town can be seen on the Wikipedia page: Wisbech

The football club were formed in 1920 following a merger of three local clubs and joined the Peterborough & District League (PDL). In their first season they finished in 9th place in the thirteen team division one. Town were crowned PDL champions five times (1924/25, 1927/28, 1928/29, 1931/32, 1932/33) before making a step up and joined the United Counties League (UCL) in 1935. Between 1936 and 1939 they also competed in the East Midland League (EM), which was probably due to a lack of fixtures in the UCL. In 1939 with the outbreak of World War 2 the UCL and EM competitions were abandoned, and they competed in played in a war time competition of the PDL. When the hostilities ended in 1945 Wisbech competed in both the UCL and PDL and finished 3rd in both competitions before solely concentrating on the UCL. Between 1946 and 1950 Town were crowned UCL champions three times and were runners-up once. In 1950 they transferred to the Eastern Counties League (ECL), spending just two seasons in the ECL before joining the Midland League. Six seasons were spent in the Midland League before another transfer, this time to the Southern League, which at the time was probably the strongest league outside of the Football League. Success was hard to come by in the higher standard of football, winning the division 1 title once in the 1961/62 seasons. In 1970 they switched back to the more local ECL, and since their formation spent the most time playing in the same competition (twenty seven years), winning the league title three times (1971/72, 1976/77 and 1990/91), before a runners-up position in the 1996/97 season secured promotion back to the Southern League. Five years were spent in the Southern League before they were relegated back to the ECL in 2002. After eleven years in the ECL Town are on the move again, this time back to the UCL for the start of the 2013/14 season. How long will they stay in the UCL this time? Who knows as they I believe their aim is to be playing step four football as soon as possible. This though will not be easy as the UCL premier division will be very competitive this season with the likes of Spalding United, AFC Rushden & Diamonds and Deeping Rangers expected to make a promotion challenge.

The drive across to Wisbech for me is very straight forward in terms of the route (all along the A47), but isn't the easiest drive. This is because of having to drive across Leicester - not a pleasant experience at the best of times, but with school children being on the summer break there are road works galore going on, and also the A47 is for the most part a single carriageway, with the part of it being dueled is around Peterborough. According to Google maps it is sixty four miles and should take 1 hour forty minutes, though I expect it to take slightly longer. In reality this was about right, with the only time that I was held up was a set of traffic lights on the east side of Leicester. I got into Wisbech at around 1.15pm and managed to park for free in the Horsefair car park. With not knowing about any decent pubs I made my way to the JD Wetherspoon outlet, the Wheatsheaf Inn on Church Terrace. A typical 'spoons lunch was had which was washed down with a very nice pint of Gold by the Grainstore Brewery. From then it was a short drive to the ground along Lynn Road at the eastern extremities of Wisbech.

I found the ground to be typical of recent new-build non-league grounds - practical and functional, but lacked character or originality. On to the people that are involved with the club - well I found them a friendly and welcoming bunch. A notable mention goes to the chap that does the announcements, as he waited for me at the end of the game and gave me his copy of the team sheet - much appreciated and thank you. The admission charge for this friendly was at the reduced rate of £3, though with no programme issued I purchased a strip of raffle tickets for £1 and ended up winning 2nd prize. This was a bottle of red wine which I donated back to club, this was due to myself not being a wine drinker and the wife preferring the white grape variety.  

The game was a competitive one and gave both teams a good work out with just two weeks before the UCL season starts on August 10th. Very few chances were created in the first half, and when it looked like it would end goalless the home side took the lead on 43 minutes. An excellent Tom James cross from the right was headed home by right back Neal Spafford. The second half was a more open affair with more chances at either end being created. With around seventy minutes on the clock Spafford needlessly pulled back Eynesbury substitute Lee Bassett's shirt and the referee rightly awarded a penalty. Bassett stepped up and slotted the ball past Tom Roberts in the Wisbech goal for the equaliser. Five minutes later and Wisbech were awarded a penalty kick themselves which was for handball. Unfortunately for the home side Callum Reed's kick was high, wide and not very handsome!!! The final fifteen minutes saw both sides test the opposition keeper before the referee, Anthony da Costa ended the proceedings bang on ninety minutes. In all fairness a draw was the right result.    

10 photos of the ground can be viewed in the slideshow below:

Two Herts - part 2

ROYSTON TOWN 2-1 HISTON
Saturday 21st July 2012
Pre-Season Friendly
Garden Walk, Royston

Following on from the 12.30pm kick-off at nearby Baldock I head nine miles eastwards along the A505 to Royston. I arrived at the ground with around twenty minutes before kick-off, but due to parking being at a premium I parked at the Town Hall car park, which is a few minutes walk away and only cost 50p due to it being free after 3pm.

The town grew up around the crossing of two ancient throughfare - Ermine Street and Icknield Way and is located in north-east Hertfordshire and has a population of around 14,500. It is situated on the Greenwich Meridian and is 14 miles south west of Cambridge and 44 miles north of London.

The football club were founded in 1875 and a list of some of their first team honours are listed below:

Spartan South Midlands League champions: 2011/12

Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division Cup winners: 2011/12

Spartan South Midlands League Floodlit Cup winners: 2008/09; 2009/10; 2010/11; 2011/12

Spartan South Midlands League Division 1 winners: 2008/09

Spartan South Midlands League Division 1 Cup winners: 2008/09

South Midlands League Division 1 winners: 1977/78

South Midlands League Floodlit Cup winners: 1994/95

Herts County League champions: 1976/77

Herts County League Division 1 winners: 1969/70; 1972/73 

Herts Charity Shield winners: 1981/82; 1989/90; 1996/97

Creake Charity Shield winners: 1911/12

The ground is one I liked immediately with the wooden fencing surround the pitch instead of the bog standard metal making a pleasant change. There are three seperate areas of covered accommodation at the ground - two stands (one seated and one standing) plus a lean-to from the clubhouse. The clubhouse was refurbished and decorated during the summer and has a very modern feel about it. 

The was pretty decent, especially for a pre-season outing and despite the warm weather was played at a high temp throughout the first half. Royston caught their higher ranked opponents cold by scoring inside sixty seconds, though this was helped by a spillage from the Histon keeper that fell kindly into the path of Matt Standon. Histon were rattled and it came as no surprise when Royston doubled their lead on eight minutes, as Martin Standon headed home a corner. Histon never settled and very rarely troubled the home defence during the opening forty-five minutes, while Royston played with pace and gave the Histon defence no time or space on the ball. 


The second half was only a few minutes old when Histon got a goal back with an unstoppable header that flew past the Royston keeper. Even though it was a friendly pride is a powerful emotion and I expected Histon to throw the kitchen sink at their hosts. This didn't materialise and it was a fairly even second period. 


It is always difficult to gauge teams in pre-season games, but I feel Royston should have enough about them to at least make the play-offs in the Southern League Central Division.

Admission: £4
Programme: Free
Badge: £2.50
Attendance: c200


A slideshow of thirty photos of the ground and game can be viewed below:



A cracking pre-season double, helped by the glorious weather and Graham Norton not being on Radio 2 but instead was a DJ who I had never heard of before, John Holmes who played some cracking tunes and some banter with his guests. Enjoy "50 Ways To Say Goodbye" by Train:

Two Herts - part 1

BALDOCK TOWN 1-0 LINTON GRANTA
Saturday 21st July 2012
Pre-season Friendly
The North Herts Arena, Norton Road, Baldock

For the second successive Saturday I have managed to find two games to attend in one afternoon. Following my trip "up north" last week I head in the opposite direction today with 12.30pm and 3pm kick-offs. The first of these sees me travel 75 miles, firstly south on the M1 to junction 13 before heading across country along the A507. The final part of the journey sees me turn right off the A507 onto Norton Road which takes me to Baldock and the North Herts Arena.

Baldock Town were formed in 2003 as Baldock FC and played in division 1 of the North Herts League in their debut season. A fifth place finish was achieved, while the following season they secured promotion to the premier division after finishing in 3rd place. Just one season was spent in the premier division, as in 2006 Baldock became founder members of the North & Mid Herts League (NMHL). Also in the summer of 2006 the club changed their name to Baldock Town FC. The clubs spell in the NMHL was short lived as the club achieved promotion to the Herts County Senior League (HCSL). The found their new surroundings to their liking and they ended the season as division 1 champions. This was rewarded with promotion to the premier division. Another name changed occurred in 2008 as the club became known as Baldock Town Letchworth FC. The first three seasons in the HCSL saw Baldock finish in 3rd place twice and 4th once. In 2011 there was a third change of name with the club reverting back to their previous name of Baldock Town. The 2011/12 season saw the club become HCSL champions for the first time as they lost only three games in their thirty match programme.

Baldock itself is an historic market town located in the North Hertfordshire District of....surprise surprise Hertfordshire. The town is located thirty-three miles north of London and fifteen miles south east of Bedford. The county town of Hertford is around fourteen miles to the south east. 

It is believed the town was founded in the 1140's by the Knights Templar, and one theory of the origin of the name of the town is that it is a derivation from the Old French for Baghdad Baldac, which the Templars hoped to conquer during the crusades. The modern layout of the town, and many buildings are from the 16th century.

The Knights Templar

To be honest history is not one of my strongest subjects and have very little knowledge of the crusades and had never even heard of the Knights Templar. 

The following is taken from the Wikipedia page on the subject:

"The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici), commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple (French: Ordre du Temple or Templiers) or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders. The organization existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages.

Officially endorsed by the Catholic Church around 1129, the Order became a favored charity throughout Christendom, and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, innovating financial techniques that were an early form of banking, and building fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.

A seal of the Knights Templar

The Templars' existence was tied closely to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the Order faded. Rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, many of the Order's members in France were arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake. Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order in 1312. The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the "Templar" name alive into the modern day." 


After arriving at The North Herts Arena I was charged £1 for the admission and a further £1 for a programme, and was informed that the ground was used by the previous club that bore the Baldock Town FC name who folded in 2001. There are two sets of tip-up seating on the near side, a small stand on the far side that sits between the two dugouts and some terracing on the left hand side. The pitch is now an artificial surface and a cage surrounds the pitch, though the stand on the far side is not restricted by this. 

The game was pretty decent as pre-season games go. Linton Granta who won the Cambridgeshire County League last season settled quicker and looked threatening and creating numerous chances to boot. It took a while for the hosts to get into the game but as the half wore on created a few half chances but nothing that gave Linton much concern. The second period saw Linton come out like they started the first, and had two excellent chances. The first was a long range effort that was superbly saved by the Baldock keeper and the second was cleared off the line. Baldock posed more of a threat going forward and they scored the only goal of the game with around ten minutes remaining after a ball across the face of the goal was turned in at the far post.


Following the final whistle it was a short drive eastwards to Royston for game two of the afternoon.


Admission: £1
Programme: £1
Attendance: 31 (head count)


A slideshow of twenty photos of the ground and game can be viewed below:

Roade

ROADE 3-0 RUSHDEN & HIGHAM UNITED

Friday 29th July 2011

Pre-season Friendly

Connolly Way (7pm k.o.)

This is a bonus game as with being out all day tomorrow down in London, I didn't even look at any possible fixtures for this evening. It was only a phone call from Kev Zupp on Tuesday who asked I fancied meeting up for this game, and having thought about it and also getting permission from the wife decided to head south into Northamptonshire.

Roade is a village (population 2,304 - 2009 estimate) in south Northamptonshire, located a couple of miles south of junction 15 of the M1 motorway. Northampton is six miles to the north while Milton Keynes is twelve miles to the south. 

club logo (source: official website)

The football club play their home games on Connolly Way which is off Hyde Road in the western side of the village and compete in the Northamptonshire Combination (NC). They joined the premier division of the NC in 2002, from I believe the North Bucks & District League. In the nine years in the NC they have finished in the runners-up position twice, the first in 2003/04 when a three point deduction saw them finish two points behind champions Moulton, and in the second in 2006/07 when they were just one point behind champions Harpole.  

The journey down to Roade is an easy one with the majority of it being on the M1 and the 40 miles journey took around 45 minutes to make.

On arriving at the ground I noticed that the main pitch was out of action tonight and the game would be played on the back pitch. For the record the main pitch is on of the better ones in the NC with it being railed on three sides, permanent brick dugouts in place and a (very) small section of cover which is in the form of an overhang from a storage building. I met Kev and his three (youngest) kids there who arrived with about five minutes to kick-off. Also present in the crowd (!) were a few hoppers, a couple of which I have seen around before. 


The game was a typical pre-season friendly at first with very little between the two teams and to be honest Roade took their chances while Rushden didn't - simple as. The opening goal came was a well taken effort on 21 minutes when lobbed the ball over the keeper from fifteen yards. No further scoring ensued in the opening forty five minutes, and it was not until mid-way through the second half that the home side doubled their advantage. The number 29 was put clean through with only the keeper to beat whom he rounded and finished with aplomb. The third and final goal of the evening came with seventeen minutes remaining with the best of the lot as scored a cracking solo effort as he took on the Rushden defence and finished superbly. The final ten minutes were the best of the game as both Rushden came close to scoring twice, only for the Roade keeper to pull off a couple of good saves, while at the other end Roade had an effort cleared off the line and they themselves forced the visiting keeper to make an excellent save.

Admission: none

Programme: none

Attendance: peaked at around 45

Match rating: 2 out of 5

Sources:

Roade FC (official website)

Northamptonshire Combination (official site)

Roade - wikipedia page

p.s. Will I go back to do a re-visit to see a game on the main pitch? 


Well never is such a strong word but it is doubtful - there are too many places to watch football I have not been and besides I am not a "pitch" hopper.

Carlton Town

CARLTON TOWN 2-0 STAVELEY MINERS WELFARE

Saturday 23rd July 2011

Pre-season friendly

Bill Stokeld Stadium

My second game of the day is a trip to the other side of Nottingham to Carlton. The journey through Nottingham city centre from Beeston took around half an hour and following lunch in a well known ubiquitous fast food joint I arrived with around 20 minutes before kick-off. 

Carlton Town were formed in 1904 as Sneinton FC and spent most of the last century playing in local Nottinghamshire Leagues. In 1995 they were promoted to the Central Midlands League (CML) and in their third season in the CML secured promotion to the Supreme Division with a 3rd place finish. In 2002 the club changed their name to their present and at the end of the season were crowned CML champions for the one and only time. This championship secured promotion to the Northern Counties East League (NCEL) division 1. The division one title was achieved in the 2005/06 and this secured promotion to the premier division. Just one season was spent in the premier division as a 3rd place finish secured promotion to division 1 south of the Northern Premier League. 

The club currently play at the Bill Stokeld Stadium on Stoke Lane. The following information on the ground is taken from Christopher Rooney's Nottinghamshire football website:

"The local council had for many years been planning to build a by-pass on the A610 to take traffic away from the nearby suburb of Gedling. Tragically, the proposed road bulldozed right through the middle of Carlton's main pitch. As a result, the club had to move all of it's facilities a few yards north, including the re-location of their spanking new stand and existing changing rooms, all at their own expense. Carlton moved into the all-new Bill Stokleld Stadium in the summer of 2007. and it's a vast improvement.

You shouldn't miss the ground, as there's one road in and one road out - well sort of. A controversial decision was made by the local council to only allow access to Stoke Lane from the new by-pass into Stoke Lane. this has affectively sealing off the north side of Stoke Lane, with only buses allowed through only (there are traffic lights in force that only turn green for buses to continue through to Burton Road.). The major problem is that all of the potential fanbase for Carlton is to the north of the stadium, thus no passing traffic equals no passing punters. A crazy decision by a council who are supposedly meant to be supporting the local community."

Carlton were supposed to be playing Leicestershire side Barwell but I was told on arrival that they had pulled out due to not being able to raise a team!!! Seriously. Staveley stepped in at short notice as they themselves were without a game. The game was no better than the first game at lunchtime though for the most part both teams were more interested in kicking each other than playing football. Both referees (one used for each half) struggled to get the players to calm down and  if this was a competitive game then quite a few cards would have been shown. Why the game was like this is a strange one as from what I can gather their is no history between the two sides. A friendly that was too competitive for it's own good!!! As I was walking around the ground during the first half I came across Malc Storer for the second time in two days. This followed our first meeting at Pinxton last night. Malc and his mate Kev are fellow bloggers and their's can be found here: On The Road 2011-2012. 

The only goals of the game came in the second half - the first after 46 minutes when Massiah McDonald cut into the penalty area from the right and laid the ball off to Rob Gill who slotted the ball past the keeper. Carlton's second (and final) goal of the afternoon came on 73 minutes when Ryan Goward smashed home a shot from outside the penalty area that gave the Staveley keeper no chance. With tempers at boiling point the referee called a halt to proceedings a couple of minutes early - a wise decision in my book.

Admission: £5

Programme: none

Attendance: between 50 and 60

p.s.

A weekend that saw me attend three games and eleven goals that helps increase the total to my charity donation. (click on the link at the top of the blog for more details).

A slideshow of photos taken of the ground and came can be viewed below:

Trent Vale Road

RADFORD 0-4 BILBOROUGH PELICAN

Saturday 23rd July 2011

Pre-season Friendly

Trent Vale Road, Beeston (12noon kick-off)

After my original plan of Barnsley v Feynenoord fell by the wayside about ten days ago it was a case a looking for alternative arrangements for today. A few choices stood out and I had decided on the way home from Pinxton last night to head south to Biggleswade for their friendly against Wealdstone. Having checked the weather report rain was forecast in the Biggleswade area during the afternoon, so decided to stay local and take in a "double". The first part is at the old Siemens ground in Beeston which is to the west of Nottingham city centre. I don't know whether any club uses Trent Vale Road at present but it has been home to the now defunct Notts Senior League (NSL) side Siemens FC and current NSL side Boots Athletic. Boots now share the facilities at the Rolls Royce Sports & Social Club in Hucknall with fellow NSL side Hucknall Rolls Leisure.

The venue is a large sports ground that consists of three football pitches, cricket pitch and tennis courts. The one that Siemens and Boots used is furthest away from the clubhouse. The area around the ground consists of residential housing, allotments, a caravan park and the Beeston Marina. Today the sports ground was a hive of activity with games on all three pitches with slightly different kick-off times, with this game being played on the right hand (westerly) pitch. There is nothing to distinguish the three pitches from each other with all of them having no dugouts and none of them were roped or railed. To be honest it is not somewhere I would have chosen to go if it was my only match today, with the only benefit it being another new venue I have seen football at. 

I have no idea why Radford are playing this friendly here (away from their normal home in Nottingham itself), and also kicking off early. Whatever the reason it gives me the chance to visit two new venues either side of Nottingham. The second of which is the Bill Stokeld Stadium, home of Northern Premier League side Carlton Town.

The two teams play one division apart with Radford playing in the East Midlands Counties League and Bilborough Pelican re-joining the Central Midlands League in the summer after a spell in the NSL. As you can gather there was no admission charge nor was a programme issued. The game was pretty poor compared to last nights excellent game @ Pinxton and I did wonder what I was doing here watching this. Pelican looked the better side though it wasn't until the latter stages of the half when Danny Blanchard scored their opening goal on 39 minutes. A minute later and Pelican were 2 up when a ball across the face of the Radford goal from Blanchard allowed a team mate to score from a narrow angle. The second half was a case of how many Pelican wanted to score and in the end they got just two - the first was a thunderous thirty yard belter and the second was an overhead scissor kick. Obviously friendlies don't mean a lot, but on this performance it would appear to be a season of struggle for Radford while I expect Pelican to finish in the top six of the CML Southern Division.

A lovely drive now followed across to the other side of Nottingham for game two of the afternoon. 

Season opener

HOUGHTON RANGERS 1-2 OADBY TOWN XI

Saturday 9th July 2011

Pre-season Friendly

Gipsy Lane, Leicester (4pm kick-off)

My opening post of the new season is going to be a relatively short one. This fixture was one that had been changed several times over the past few days that I am somewhat surprised it went ahead at all!! Originally it was to be a 3pm ko at Houghton's home ground on Weir Lane, but a couple of days ago I read that it had changed to a 4pm ko @ St Patricks FC (Leicester & District League) on Gipsy Lane due to cricket. Another change then ensued - it was to be played @ 1pm on Manor Road in Oadby. On arriving at Oadby Town FC just after mid-day I was told that it had been put back to the original change due to Houghton not being able to make the 1pm ko time. If anyone is still following this well done!!! Then to cap it all of we (myself, Kev Zupp and his young son Daniel) arrived at St. Patricks FC to find plenty of people around but no goals or any sign of a football match taking place. After a few minutes wondering we noticed some players walk through a gap in the hedge towards us, and we headed to where they came from and found that the game had already started on a seperate sports ground. I knew about this sports ground but had no idea how you got into it as there is no road access. The only other form of access is through a gap in the fencing from Gipsy Lane itself. Will I be classing this as a new venue? Well after thinking about it and looking at Google maps I decided I would - my hobby, my rules :-)))

The game saw Oadby field two different teams in each half as they begin life in the East Midlands Counties League following relegation from the Midland Football Alliance. They are also have a new manager in the form of former Coalville Town boss Lee Harriman. The first half was slow to get started but became quite competitve and reasonably entertaining. After creating a few half chances Oadby were caught out on 36 mins when Houghton took the lead. This lasted just five minutes when Kelvin Philips hit an unstoppable free kick past the motionless Houghton keeper Jimmy Greasley. Greasley himself had pulled off a couple of decent saves prior to this and is probably the best keeper in the Leicester & District League. The second half saw a more younger looking Oadby side appear and had less quality about it. Both sides created a handful of chances but it was Oadby who got the winner with a last minute goal.

Admission / programme: none

Match rating: 1 1/5 out of 5

I also have two more contributors to my fund raising for Loros this season, making it at present 85p per goal seen. So after one game this stands at £2.55. 

Cat

CATERPILLAR 1-2 SHEPSHED DYNAMO

Saturday 17th July 2010

Pre-season friendly

Caterpillar Sports & Social Club

I don’t do many pre-season friendlies at present, though the chance to get out of the house on a Saturday afternoon for the first time in a while tempted me. This fixture was originally scheduled to be played at Shepshed, but a check on their website stated that the game had been switched to Caterpillar’s ground in Desford. This was not a new ground for me having seen a Leicestershire Intermediate Cup tie there in January of this year, but as Desford is only a ten minute drive from home I was not bothered. The game took place on the second pitch which is adjacent to the main one but is not railed or roped off. I know some ground hoppers would have classed this as a new “tick” as it were but not me.

Caterpillar won the North Leicestershire League last season and with it promotion to division 1 of the Leicestershire Senior League. Shepshed reformed their reserve side in the summer and have also been accepted into the Senior League. Two other sides will join them in the league – Belgrave (champions of the Leicester & District League) and Newhall United who have transferred from the Midland Combination.

The game was not bad considering it to be both clubs first outing of the season, with Shepshed settling quicker and forced a couple of corners in succession but nothing came of them. Cat gradually got into the game and the majority of the play was in the middle of the park with clear cut chances few and far between. With around five minutes left in the half Cat nearly took the lead when a free kick which was heading for the top corner was tipped over by the Dynamo keeper. Two minutes later and it was 1-0 when a shot on the turn from one of the home centre forwards looped over the keeper. Shepshed again were quicker out of the blocks following the half time interval and drew level just four minutes in from the penalty spot. A second penalty mid way through the half for Dynamo gave them the decisive goal. The home side’s best chance of the half came later on when a low cross from the right saw the centre forward fail to make contact which surely would have brought the game level again. The last five minutes or so saw Shepshed create a few chances but alas none were converted and the game ended 1-2.

The attendance was around the 50 mark with the majority from Shepshed. There was one prat who had to bring a vuvuzela along but thankfully did not have enough lung power to get a proper sound of it. I did suggest to the Shepshed manager that it needs to be shoved up his arse!!!

About time...

MANSFIELD TOWN 0-0 LEICESTER CITY
Tuesday 21st July 2009
Field Mill
Pre-season friendly

My first game of the new season saw me head up to Mansfield Town F.C. for their pre-season friendly with Leicester City. With the weather being bloody awful it does make you question why sometimes, but after having a three month break from watching football I was suffering from withdrawal symptoms and itching to take in a game again. I have visited a lot of non-league clubs in the area but not actually Mansfield Town itself, so tonight was an ideal opportunity to visit a new club that is not that far from home and also see my home town club Leicester City in action. I met my dad at the Trowell services on the M1, from then we headed north to junction 28 and headed across the A38 towards Mansfield itself with the intention of finding somewhere to eat and hopefully the premises allowing us to leave one car there while we headed to the game. This was achieved when we pulled into the Watermill @ Sutton-in-Ashfield and after having some lunch we found the ground very easily and managed to park for free in the adjacent health club. Mansfield charged a £10 pay on the turnstile admission policy for the game and £2 for a programme which covers all four of their home pre-season games. The away fans situated behind the far goal which backs onto the retail park.

Leicester settled the better of the two teams and created a fair few chances with the home keeper dealing with the ones on target. Midfielder Max Gradel wasted at least two good opportunities when he blasted the ball high and wide after cutting inside on his left foot. The home side got into the game around the half hour mark but could not find the breakthrough. Six minutes into the second half Mansfield had the ball in the net but it was ruled out for offside and this was the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock. Overall a typical pre-season game I suppose and it was good the see Leicester in action at a ground that I have not been to before.

I can’t imagine I will go to man more pre-season games, though one is confirmed as I have tickets for Leicester’s home game with Spanish side Real Valladolid on Sunday 2nd August. As I have previously stated on numerous occasions my work plays a large impact on when and where I can watch football, and as most leagues have finalised their constitutions and started to release fixtures my list of clubs has changed a few times in the last couple of months.

At present it now looks something like this:

Melton Mowbray BS [Leicestershire Senior League] – hope to go to their first game on Saturday 15th August v Dunton & Broughton Rangers. This will complete the LSL in terms of 1st team clubs again. With Kingsway Rangers being promoted to the Premier Division of the Leicester & District League (L&D) I would like to take in at least half a dozen of their away games, examples being County Hall, Blaby United and Welby Lane United. As well as games in the L&D I intend to break my duck in the two other feeder leagues for the LSL, the North Leicestershire League (NLL) and Leicester City League (LCL). With the early fixtures released by NLL a possible is the Asfordby Village – Markfield fixture on Saturday 5th September. Before league fixtures commence in the LCL the clubs play in the Mick Booth Memorial Cup and I am thinking of taking in a game involving defending league champions South Wigston Wanderers. Away from football in my home county I would like to tick off a few more clubs in the following leagues: Central Midlands, Midland Combination and the United Counties.