GOSCOTE SPARTANS 1-2 SYSTON MIDLAND RAILWAY Sunday 26th February 2012 Leicester Sunday League Senior Cup Jubilee Playing Fields, Long Furrow, East Goscote
With the better half working this morning between 10am and 1pm this gave me the opportunity to take in my third Sunday League game this season. The other two were back in 2011 when I saw a cracking Alliance Football League encounter between Sparta Moshdock and Premier Sports Travel. The visitors coming from 2-0 down after just ten minutes to win 3-2 @ Horsewell Lane in Wigston. The second was an FA Cup Sunday 2nd round match between Advance Couriers (Alliance Football League) and Birstall Stamford (Charnwood Sunday League). The match was played at Oadby Town FC and Stamford won 2-1 after extra time.
This game was chosen primarily because it gave me a chance to visit a venue that is not used by a Saturday side. Both sides currently ply their trade in the leagues' Premier Division with the Spartans sitting in seventh place in the eight team table with six points. Their opponents from nearby Syston sit two places and nine points better off. The two sides have already met twice in league action with Syston coming out on top in both of them. The first was a 5-1 victory on the opening day of the season and the second came just four weeks ago when they won by the odd goal in seven.
Some photos taken at the game can be viewed in the slideshow below:
DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE 0-5 CHELTENHAM TOWN Saturday 18th February 2012 Football League 2 The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium
Today is the 35th birthday of the editor / big chief of All Roads Lead Somewhere and this was spent in east London. It had been suggested around Christmas time about going out for the day with my wife (Angela), mum (Christine) and her partner Dave but the question was where? I came up with the idea of dropping Angela and my mum off at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock, Essex and me and Dave could go and watch some football nearby. All agreed. Originally I did think about Tilbury FC but then I did wonder where Cheltenham would be playing that day. Well of all the away fixtures they could have it turned out they were playing a mere twenty minutes away @ Dagenham & Redbridge FC. This could not have been planned any better. Following a phone call to good friend Colin Buchanan who lives in Cheltenham to see if he fancied meeting us there and the trip was confirmed.
The history of Dagenham & Redbridge (D&R) is an interesting one to say the least, with the club that we know today having its roots in four amateur non-league clubs from east London. The four are Ilford (formed in 1881), Leytonstone (1886), Walthamstow Avenue (1900) and Dagenham in 1949. Firstly Ilford and Leytonstone merged in 1979 to become Leytonstone / Ilford. They in turn then absorbed Walthamstow Avenue in 1988 and became Redbridge Forest a year later in 1989. In 1992 Redbridge Forest who were groundsharing at Dagenham at the time merged with their landlords to become D&R.
The clubs first season saw them finish in 3rd place in the Football Conference (now commonly known as the Blue Square Premier) with sixty seven points. This was followed by 6th and 15th place finishes before ending the 1995/96 season bottom of the table and relegation to the Isthmian League. Four season were spent in the Isthmian League with final placings of 4th, 4th, 3rd and then in 2000 were crowned champions and promotion back to the Conference. Promotion to the Football League came in the 2006/07 season but at one stage they were ten points behind favourites Oxford United. The Daggers took over at the summit of the table on December 31st 2006 and it was a position they never relinquished. They were crowned Conference champions on the 7th April 2007 following a 2-1 victory over Aldershot Town. Along with this was promotion to the Football League (FL).
The clubs first game in the FL saw the Daggers lose 1-0 @ Stockport County on August 11th 2007, with the first victory coming three weeks later against Lincoln City. At the seasons end the club finished in 20th place and avoided relegation back to the Conference. Things improved the following season as they just missed out on a place in the play-offs following a last day defeat against Shrewsbury Town. The 2009/10 campaign got even better as the club were promoted to the third tier of English football following a 3-2 victory over Rotherham United in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. Just one season was spent in League 1 as the Daggers were relegated back to League 2 at the first time of asking. This season the Daggers have struggled and at the time of writing find themselves in the bottom two. They have recorded seven league victories this season, of which five have been at home and have amassed twenty four points. Meanwhile opponents Cheltenham Town are having their best season for a few years and sit at the other end of the table. Currently they sit in second place in the table with fifty six points, though only goal difference seperates the top three.
Top and bottom three (upto & including Tuesday 14th February)
Pl
W
D
L
Pts
1
Southend United
30
17
5
8
56
2
CHELTENHAM TOWN
30
17
5
8
56
3
Torquay United
30
16
8
6
56
22
Plymouth Argyle
30
5
9
11
24
23
DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE
29
7
3
19
24
24
Northampton Town
29
6
6
11
24
Club Honours & Records:
Football Conference champions: 2006/07
Isthmian League champions: 1999/00
Isthmian League One-to-One Shield winners: 2000/01
Essex Senior Cup winners: 1998, 2001
Record victory: 8-1 v Woking 1993/94
Record defeat: 0-9 v Hereford United 2003/04
Record attendance: 5,949 v Ipswich Town (FA Cup 3rd Round) 05/01/2002
The ground
Victoria Road or The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium as it is currently known due to sponsorship purposes has a capacity of 6,078. It has been a football ground since 1917 when it was used by the Sterling Works side whose factory was situated along side it. It was not fully enclosed until 1955 when Briggs Sports moved out to Rush Green Road and Dagenham FC moved from the Arena.
"The stadium has been improved recently with the constuction of the new Traditional Builders Stand (aka Pondfield End) at one end of the ground, which replaced a small open terrace. This new all seated stand which was opened during the 2009/10 season, is a sizeable affair, housing 1,200 spectators. The stand is covered, raised above pitch level and has windshields to either side. Although only eleven rows high, it is free from supporting pillars and is quite steep, meaning that fans are kept close to the playing action.
On one side is the relatively modern Main Stand, which was opened in 2001. Sponsored by Carling, this 800 capacity stand, is covered and all seated, with the team dugouts situated at the front of it. The stand comprises of six rows of seating and has a small executive area at the back of it. The stand, which is free of supporting pillars, is elevated above pitch level which means that supporters have to climb small sets of steps at the front of it, to gain access. The stand though, only runs for three quarters of the length of the pitch and at one end towards the Traditional Builders Stand, another separate stand exists. This stand which is called the Barking College Family Stand, is a small covered, seated stand. It is smaller in height that the Main Stand and contains around 200 seats, with some supporting pillars running along the front of it. Again it is raised above pitch level and is accessed via a small staircase.
The rest of the ground is terracing, with a small open terrace behind one goal and a covered terrace along one side. The home end, the Bury Road End (aka the Clock End), has a small basic electric scoreboard situated above it. This area also contains the club shop and Police control box. The North Terrace, which runs along one side of the pitch, is known affectionately by the Dagenham fans as 'The Sieve' as apparently at one time it was famed for its leaking roof. This old fashioned looking terrace, is partly covered to the rear and has a number of supporting pillars. It also has a television gantry perched upon its roof. Unusually the teams emerge from not from the main stand, but from a tunnel located in the new Marcus James Stand at one end of the ground. The stadium is completed with a set of four modern looking floodlights."
Having left Leicester at just after 10am the motorways one and twenty five were primarily clear and it was a trouble free journey. The first port of call was the Lakeside to drop off the two female of the species, and as we had enough time before having to make our way to the ground we had a snack and a coffee. It took around twenty minutes to get to the ground and was easy to find. Due to arriving about ninety minutes before kick off we managed to park for free on Victoria Road itself, some forty yards from the ground entrance. Having met Colin outside the club shop we then went to where the away supporters would be housed on the far side of the ground. The stand is the newest part of the ground and had an excellent view of proceedings as well as plenty of leg room. The tea bar, toilets and bar area are found underneath the stand itself.
This was a game in which the stats and the scoreline do not match up. Cheltenham took their chances Dagenham didn't. Simple. After an even twenty minutes the visitors opening goal was finished in some style as Luke Somefield rifled in a first time shot from the edge of the area. Two minutes later and it became 0-2 when a corner was not cleared properly and Steve Elliott took advantage. The third and killer goal of the afternoon came a few minutes from the end of the half. Daggers keeper Chris Lewington was judged to have handled outside the penalty area and was given a straight red card. Dave Hogan came on from Medy Elito and his first touch of the ball saw him parry Luke Garbutt's free kick into the path of Kaid Mohammed, who duly made it 0-3.
The second half was a pretty much non even with damage limitation the game plan for the home side. Cheltenham added two futher goals which delighted their visiting supporters. Firstly on the hour mark James Spencer took advantage of a mistake by Oluwafemi Ilesanmi and hit a powerful shot past Hogan. The final goal of the afternoon came with around twenty minutes remaining as a Mohammed cross took a wicked deflection off Michael Spillane that ended in the back of the net via the woodwork.
This win puts Cheltenham's promotion push back on track while Daggers are in serious danger of a second successive relegation. This was summed up by chants / taunts of "you're going to Forest Green" from the visiting fans. Following the game we made our way back to the Lakeside and had a meal at one of the restaurants there before the boring driving back up to Leicester, and arrived home at around 9.30pm.
OADBY TOWN 2-1 AMPTHILL TOWN Saturday 21st January 2012 FA Vase 4th Round Greene King Park
After what feels like a long time since I saw Oadby in action this is to be the first of two consecutive Saturday home games for the Poachers. The last time I was down here for a games was on December 3rd when they hosted Tipton Town in the last round of this competition. A combination of the following has seen me miss all home games since - a postponement (10th Dec); midweek matches and two weeks ago I was down in London for the Spurs - Cheltenham FA Cup tie.
This tie pits two sides that compete at Step 6 of the non-league pyramid, with Ampthill playing their football in division 1 of the Spartan South Midlands League. Like Oadby they are having a good season as well and currently sit in second place in their division and have won their last four matches. Also like Oadby they have only lost two out of their twenty five league games played and currently sit in second place though are eleven points behind leaders London Colney. Oadby meanwhile are on a decent run of form themselves having only lost once in the last twelve matches in all competitions, which was against Barwell recently in the Leicestershire Challenge Cup.
On paper this should be a cracking cup tie between two in form sides.
Both sides also have similar records in this seasons FA Vase so far with them both starting out at the second qualifying round and also they have had one tie that went to a replay. The record for both teams is as follows:
Oadby Town
2nd Qualifying: Huntingdon Town (H) Won 3-2
1st round: Lutterworth Athletic (A) Won 2-1
2nd round: St. Andrews (H) Won 1-0
3rd round: Tipton Town (H) Drew 1-1 aet
replay: Tipton Town (A) Won 2-1
Ampthill Town
2nd Qualifying: Barkingside (A) Drew 1-1 aet
replay: Barkingside (H) Won 1-0
1st round: Basildon United (A) Won 4-0
2nd round: Haringey & Waltham Development (H) Won 3-2
3rd round: Lancing (A) Won 3-1
The club shop
Oadby progressed to the last 16 of the FA Vase with a victory that should have been more comfortable that it was. After a bout of sparing Oadby settled down and took the lead on eleven minutes. A Matt Moore shot from twenty five yards out took a slight deflection on its way into the top corner. The hosts doubled their advantage ten minutes later when Matt Piper converted a Steve Fenton cross to put some daylight between the two sides. A few minutes at it should have been three nil but Piper failed to connect with a cross from the right flank. Ampthill's ploy was to play long balls down the channels and these on the main were dealt with comfortably by Joe Latham and Declan Towers. The visitors best chance of the opening period came around the twenty six minute when a Jake Duffy cleared an effort off the line. Oadby themselves had an effort cleared off the line and then Matt Moore was unable to beat Tom Kennard in the Ampthill goal.
The second half saw Oadby take their foot off the gas and allowed the visitors to come into the game more, though their efforts were on the whole easily dealt with by Oadby keeper Elliot Shilliam. Oadby had three notable chances to put their supporters at ease with both Moore and Jermaine Gordon being a whisker away from converting crosses from Piper, while a Latham header was tipped over by Kennard. With six minutes remaining Ampthill got a lifeline as Chris Lester scrambled the ball home via the post from a couple of yards out. A nervy finish for the home supporters but in the end Oadby deservedly progressed to the next round and as the final whistle blew a chorus of "we're all going to Wembley" rang out.
Other 4th Round Results Whitley Bay 5-0 South Park Tunbridge Wells 0-1 St. Ives Town Willand Rovers 1-3 Staveley Miners Welfare Shortwood United 1-0 Enfield 1893 Newcastle Benfield 1-2 Herne Bay Bournemouth 2-1 Royston Town Old Woodstock Town 0-2 Bethnal Green United Newport Pagnell Town 2-3 Ashington Norton United 1-2 Peterborough Northern Star Wisbech Town 2-2 Dunston UTS (after extra time) Bitton 1-3 West Auckland Town Tividale 7-1 Binfield Gresley 1-1 Three Bridges (after extra time) Billingham Synthonia 0-0 Runcorn Town (after extra time) Reading Town 2-3 Larkhall Athletic
EYE SPORTS 4-0 OAKHAM UNITED Saturday 14th January 2012 Peterborough & District League Premier Division Lindisfarne Road, PE6 7XH
After last weeks trip to the land of Satan that is a "premier league" football ground, I need to cleanse my soul as it were and get back to watching the grass roots form of the game. The main stipulation for us today was that we wanted a 2pm kick-off and with dad living in the eastern suburbs of Leicester, we headed across eastwards for a very rare venture into the Peterborough & District League (PDL). I had only previously seen one game in the PDL and that was nearly two years ago when I saw Uppingham Town record a 2-0 victory over Leverington Sports.
With an overnight frost covering much of England doubt set in as to whether any particular game would still go ahead. Armed with about a dozen fixtures and club secretaries I set off about 11am. First port of call was to pick my dad and then make the one hour drive along the A47 to Eye. We pulled into a petrol station on the edge of the village and made several calls, all of which went unanswered - very helpful indeed!!! With the sun being high in the sky and the temperature about four or five degrees above freezing we were reasonably confident that the game would go ahead, added to this was that Eye's ground was south facing which allowed enough time for the sun to thaw out the frost. After a quick visit to the ground which confirmed that the game was going ahead we made our way to the Blue Boar, one of the two pubs in the village for some lunch.We both had the same - a ham, egg and chip lunch washed down with a pint of Elgood's Feelgood Festive which is a 3.7% seasonal ale.
The footprint of the PDL covers an area that goes from Rutland in the west to Wisbech in the each, with Spalding at its northerly perimeter and Alconbury to the south. It was founded in 1902 and Fletton United were the first champions. Currently there are six division and they all contain a mixture of 1st, reserve and 'a' teams.
Eye is a large village in the unitary authority area of Peterborough and has a population in the region of 4,000 inhabitants. Until 1963 Eye was part of Northamptonshire as the county diocese is focused upon Peterborough Cathedral. However Peterborough had its own county council since 1888 and in 1965 was merged with neighbouring Huntingdonshire. Under the Local Government Act 1972 Eye along with Peterborough and Huntingdonshire became part of Cambridgeshire.
I believe the club were founded in 2002 and joined the Peterborough & District League the same year. A full playing record is as follows:
SEASON
COMPETITION
PL
W
D
L
F
A
PTS
POS
2002/03
PETER-5
26
18
3
5
100
40
57
2ND
2003/04
PETER-4
24
17
2
5
83
32
53
3RD
2004/05
PETER-3
26
15
3
8
66
39
48
5TH
2005/06
PETER-2
26
3
0
23
30
124
9
14TH
2006/07
PETER-2
26
4
6
16
44
86
18
12TH
2007/08
PETER-2
24
20
1
3
87
32
61
2ND
2008/09
PETER-1
22
17
4
1
69
20
55
2ND
2009/10
PETER-1
22
16
4
2
83
28
52
1ST
2010/11
PETER-P
30
16
4
10
59
44
52
6TH
This season Eye currently sit in fifth place in the Premier Division, recording eight wins from their fourteen games played. They are currently on a five match unbeaten run recording a 6-2 victory against Uppingham Town a week ago. The last time they tasted defeat was in November when title favourites Pinchbeck United left Lindisfarne Road with a 1-0 victory. The reverse fixture against today's opponents was on the 26th November that saw Eye record a 2-0 victory.
Oakham United were only formed in the summer of 2011 when two local clubs Rutland Rangers (Peterborough League) and Oakham Imperial (Leicester & District League) merged. Oakham themselves come into this game on a decent run of form recording three successive victories.
The ground on Lindisfarne Road is on the southern edge of the village and the entrance is between two houses. It opens up and there is a small car park to the right and a breeze block building to the left which houses the changing rooms and club room. The pitch is railed off along the two sides and there are dug outs on the far side.
My thoughts before the game were that this could be an entertaining match between two in-form sides and this proved to be the case. Don't let the score at the top of the report mislead you as this was not was one sided as it suggests. It was an end to end game in which the visitors from Rutland more than matched their hosts at times. To put it another way - Eye took their chances and Oakham did not. The opening goal came with five minutes before the half time interval as Ryan Francis created some space for himself inside the Oakham penalty area and slotted the ball across the keeper into the far corner of the goal. Two goals in the space of five minutes around the hour mark put the outcome of the game to bed. The second goal of the afternoon came on fifty-eight minutes when Steve Shore finished with aplomb following excellent work down the left. The third and killer goal of the game came just five minutes later when Francis got his second of the afternoon. The ball fell kindly to him inside the Oakham penalty area and his first time shot found the back of the net. With around fifteen minutes remaining Francis completed his hat-trick in some style. Oakham were caught on the counter attack and from around thirty yards out Francis let fly with a shot that beat the Oakham keeper all ends up.
An enjoyable but chilly afternoon with some good football being played. When I will be back for another game in the PDL is another matter but it won't be due to the football on offer.
Sometimes in football cup draws fall the way you like and
prior to the draw for the 3rd round of this seasons FA Cup I said to
the wife that I hope Cheltenham get Chelsea, Manchester City or Spurs away.
Well this prediction and wish came true and as regular readers of the blog know
one of my closest friends is a season ticket holder @ Cheltenham. This made
getting one of the 5,000 tickets that Spurs released for the visitors section straight
forward as season ticket holders were allowed to purchase two tickets each. An
added bonus was that Spurs reduced the admission price to a respectable £20,
with the cheapest adult tickets at White Hart Lane this season for league games costing £31 for
the lowest category games.
Useless fact alert: This will be the 26th FA Cup that I have seen, yet only the second in the competition proper. This came in the 2005/06 season when I saw Cheltenham host Newcastle United in the 4th round. The rest of the ties were in the qualifying rounds.
My original plan was to drive down to north London and
then get the tube and bus to the stadium, but for some unknown reason decided
to check how much I could get to the capital and back on the train. I was
quoted £31 return but the stipulation was that I had to get a specific train
there and back – the train tickets were duly purchased and I was booked on the
1057 from Leicester which got me into St. Pancras International @ 1220. With
Colin also arriving in London on the train via Paddington we arranged to meet @ St. Pancras itself at 12.30pm and make our way to White Hart Lane from there. Firstly there was
a tube ride to Seven Sisters which is only three stops away on the Victoria Line and then a mile and a half walk to the ground itself. According to the excellent
Transport for London website it should cost £5.20 return using an Oyster card.
This was fortunate as I have £7.20 left on my card from my last visit to London
at the end of July.
The area between the tube station and the stadium along Tottenham High Road is a cosmopolitan and multi-cultural mix. The High Road consists of plenty of small businesses which range from fast food takeaways to computer repair specialists, as well as two branches of the biggest supermarket chains. Also for anyone wanting a pre-match drink there are numerous pubs in the vicinity, though a lot of them near the stadium are for home fans only.
The club
As is the case when I went down to fellow North London
rivals Arsenal I will just give a list of the club’s first team honours and
records for Spurs. A full detailed history including reserve and youth team
honours can be found on their official website @ http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/index.html.
The club were formed in 1882 as Hotspur FC before
changing their name to the current title two years later. Their first league
competition competed in was the Southern Alliance for the 1892/93 season, before
joining the Southern League three years later in 1896. I have no idea if they
played in any league competition between 1893 and 1896. While in the Southern
League before they were elected to the Football League in 1908 they also
competed in the United League, London League and Western League.
Football League
champions (2) 1950/51; 1960/61
Football League
Division 2 winners (2) 1919/20; 1949/50
FA Cup winners (8)
1900/01; 1920/21; 1960/61; 1961/62; 1966/67; 1980/81; 1981/82; 1990/91
Football League Cup
winners (4) 1970/71; 1972/73; 1998/99; 2007/08
Record victory: 13-2
v Crewe Alexandra (H) 03-02-1960 (FA Cup)
Record defeat: 0-8
v 1. FC Koln (A) 22-07-1995 (UEFA Intertoto Cup)
Most appearances: 854
– Steve Perryman
Top goalscorer: 266
– Jimmy Greaves
Record attendance:
75,038 v Sunderland (05-03-1938)
Highest transfer
fee paid: £16.75m for Luke Modric (Dinamo Zagreb) – June 2008
Highest transfer
fee received: £30.75m for Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United) – September
2008
The Stadium
Stating the obvious here but Spurs play their home games
@ White Hart Lane in north London and currently has a capacity of 36,310. When
the club were first formed they played their home games on Tottenham Marshes
before moving to Northumberland Park in 1898. The move only lasted a year
before they converted a disused nursery owned by brewery chain Charringtons at
the present site. The first game on
White Hart Lane saw Spurs beat Notts County 4-1 in front of approximately 5,000
spectators.
My impressions of the stadium were just ok. It did not give you the "wow factor" like their north London rivals Arsenal, though I do admit comparing the two is unfair. Also I felt it did not have an aura about it, like for example Anfield where you know you are somewhere special and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I am struggling to sum up anything else that could be constructive or descriptive to describe the place...maybe "an average medium sized football stadium".
One thing that I was not impressed with was how narrow the concourse was. There was only one entrance and exit for the away fans, which I presume was due to the larger than normal away contingent. This meant that it felt like an awful long time to get out of the stadium and back on to Tottenham High Road.
The food and drink inside and outside the ground consisted of the usual fare - pie, hot dog, burger, beer (Carlsberg only) etc etc. There were four meal deal options which varied in price between £5 and £7. We ate at one of the many food outlets outside the ground and paid £3 for a hot dog.
The game
This tie pits two teams doing well in their respective
league campaigns although they sit three divisions apart. Spurs are third in
the Premier League with only the Manchester clubs, United and City above them
in the table. Their last game on Tuesday saw them beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0
with the goal coming from Jermaine Defoe. Cheltenham are second in League 2, just one
point behind leaders Crawley Town. They are unbeaten in nine games in all
competitions, recording a 2-1 victory @ Port Vale in their last match on
Monday. Their two FA Cup games so far have both been away from home and
recorded victories @ Tranmere Rovers (1-0) and Luton Town (4-2).
What we had was in effect a Spurs 2nd XI that had a comfortable victory against their league two opponents. It should be said that the team that Spurs put out did consist of players that were / are full internationals. For example Jermaine Defoe, Aaron Lennon, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Niko Kranjcar.
To be honest I feel that the report on the BBC website is a fair reflection and without copying it word for word it can be viewed by clicking here: report
To sum up - well it is nice to visit the bigger stadiums in the country but I could not watch football in that environment every week. It is not because I did not enjoy the football on offer but because of the restrictions you have compared to watching the game at grass roots level.
This was only my fourth ever game of football I have seen in London and the second time this season. As it happens I am back in London and meeting up with Colin in six weeks time (February 18th) for Cheltenham's visit to Dagenham & Redbridge for a League 2 encounter.
Despite it taking longer than we (and most of the Cheltenham fans) would have liked getting out of the stadium I got back to St. Pancras without any problems for the 1825 train back to Leicester. Following a detour in Leicester to pick up some theatre tickets which are a 60th birthday present for my dad I arrived back home in Leicester at 8pm.
SPRATTON 2-4 JAMES KING BLISWORTH Saturday 31st December 2011 Northants Combination Division 1 Smith Street, NN6 8HW
After a two week break from watching football for Christmas I am in Northamptonshire for my final game of 2011. With Oadby Town not playing until Monday, good friend Kevin Zupp agreed to come with me and I picked him up from his house in Kibworth at lunch time for the forty minute drive south. The drive was very straightforward taking the A6 to Market Harborough before heading onto the A508 to Northampton. We turned off the A508 at Brixworth and headed westwards to Spratton itself, with Smith Street being on the northern edge of the village.
Spratton is a small village and civil parish in the Daventry district of Northamptonshire and according to the 2001 census had a population of 1,099 inhabitants. It is located on the A5199 (previously A50) that runs between Leicester (25 miles to the north) and Northampton (7 1/2 miles to the south).
If going by their club badge Spratton Football Club were formed in 1890. There is very little information on the club on the internet, and the only details that I have come across are on the archive section of the Northants Combination website. Their records go back as far as the 1953/54 season and Spratton finished in 5th position in the premier division. It is only from 1973 (apart from the 1990/91 season) that they have a full set of league tables. Apart from three seasons between 1988 and 1991 the club have spent the past thirty eight years in either the premier division or division. The club have been crowned premier division champions on two occassions in 1984/85 and 1986/87.
Last ten years in the Northants Combination:
SEASON
COMPETITION
PL
WON
DRW
LST
FOR
AGA
PTS
POS
2001/02
NHC-1
26
8
7
11
48
56
31
8TH
2002/03
NHC-1
26
7
9
10
42
45
30
8TH
2003/04
NHC-1
26
12
7
7
47
48
43
5TH
2004/05
NHC-1
28
11
6
11
46
46
39
7TH
2005/06
NHC-1
28
12
5
11
58
63
41
6TH
2006/07
NHC-1
28
7
7
14
46
63
28
13TH
2007/08
NHC-1
26
6
2
18
43
69
20
12TH
2008/09
NHC-1
24
7
1
16
37
75
22
12TH
2009/10
NHC-1
24
5
3
16
33
66
20*
12TH
2010/11
NHC-1
22
6
4
12
25
55
22
10TH
When arriving at the venue we found it to be typical for this level with no pitch side facilities but there is a social club on site which appeared to be well used by the local community. On one of the walls there was a few of old team photos with a couple catching my eye in particular. The first was from 1957 when they had silverware on show for winning both the Northants Combination Division 1 title and cup competitions. The second was from the 1929/30 season with the headline "Mid-Northamptonshire Village League winners". It is a shame that information like this is not preserved in either the print form or online.
On the day the game pitched bottom of the table Spratton against high flying James King Blisworth who lie second in the table. It was played in dry but very blustery conditions with the location being very exposed to the elements. It was one of the most competitive games that either of us had seen with no quarter given from either side. Spratton took the lead within a couple of minutes when a mistake in the visiting defence allowed Adam Lett to poke the ball past the keeper into an empty net. On the half hour mark and they made it 2-0 when Joe Savage took advantage of some indecision in the Blisworth goal and finished from a couple of yards out. Right at the end of the half Blisworth got a goal back from the penalty spot. Chris Cully was fouled, got up and put his side back into the game. The Spratton keeper was very close to turning it round the post but despite getting a hand to it could not turn it round the post. To be honest Spratton should have been three up as their #9 blasted the ball over from eight yards out in what was probably the best chance of the half for either side. After an excellent save from the Blisworth keeper in the opening ten minutes of the half, the visitors took control and scored three goals in the space of fifteen minutes which ultimately resulted in the victory. Firstly a corner was knocked back across goal to allow Steve Hearly draw the teams level just before the hour mark. Blisworth's third goal came on the seventy minute mark when following a corner a Jay Vieira (?) shot from the edge of the area took a couple of deflections before finding the net, and just two minutes later it became 2-4 when a back pass sold the Spratton keeper short which was read by the Blisworth #14 who rounded the stranded keeper and finished into an empty net. The visitors saw out the final fifteen minutes or so to give them a victory in their quest for promotion to the premier division.
Admission / programme: none
Attendance: peaked at 23
Entertainment rating: 6 out of 10
A final note should go to the people behind the scenes at Spratton Football Club itself. They made us both feel welcome right from the start and even allowed me to charge up my camera battery for half an hour, as when we arrived I found it dead as a dodo. Fortunately I managed to get some shots off before it died once again. These can be found on the slideshow below:
North Leicestershire League Cobbin Trophy 3rd Round
Towles Playing Field, Burton on the Wolds
The original plan was to head down to Cheltenham to catch
up with a mate of mine Colin Buchanan and watch a game within an hour’s drive
of his house, but Cheltenham Town were handed a plum FA Cup 3rd
Round tie @ Tottenham Hotspur on January 7th and we have arranged to
meet up then. Now it was a case of seeing if any fixtures caught my attention
in either the Leicester & District League or North Leicestershire League.
To be fair there were numerous ones that did and it was a case of deciding
which one to go for.
My mum's other half Dave Todd agreed to come and watch this pre-Christmas cup tie a few miles east of Loughborough and, having picked him up from Thurmaston made the short drive to Burton. When arriving in the village we drove past the playing fields to make sure there were no problems, and with the players putting the nets up we made then headed to the Greyhound Inn in the centre of the village for pre-match liquid refreshment. This was a pub that neither of of us had ever been to before and we were impressed with it. It is part of the Everards chain and had several real ales on tap as well as the usual non-descript lagers. A pint of Sleigh Bell went down very well.
Ferrari FC were formed in 2007 and joined the North Leicestershire League (NLL) the same year. They are a Shepshed based club and originally played at Hind Leys School, but due to an increase in match fees moved out to Burton two seasons ago. The club's record since joining the NLL is as follows:
SEASON
COMPETITION
PL
W
D
L
F
A
PTS
POS
2007/08
N LEIC-4
22
12
1
9
56
57
37
5TH
2008/09
N LEIC-4
22
13
4
5
68
53
43
3RD
2009/10
N LEIC-3
22
10
2
10
59
69
32
6TH
2010/11
N LEIC-3
20
7
1
12
49
59
22
8TH
The reason this fixture was chosen was due to two reasons. Firstly the 1.30pm kick-off, and secondly yours truly had seen games at Greenhill and Belton Villa in the previous two rounds of this competition and enjoyed them both. This fixture pitted division 3 Ferrari (who went into this game with a 100% league records) against division 1 Whitwick United who sit in a mid-table position. Despite it being the 3rd round the two teams had only played one match between them in the competition so far. Round 1 saw Ferrari have a walkover against Coalville Colliers and Whitwick had a bye. In round 2 Ferrari produced the upset of the round winning 3-2 @ premier division side Sileby Victoria while Whitwick had a walkover against Asfordby Village.
The game was one that saw the visitors have the better of the proceedings for the majority of the game and created more chances in 90 minutes of football than you will see in several other games combined. If they had had their shooting boots on or had a bit more composure they could have hit double figures. To be fair to the home side they stuck at it and took the lead on 25 minutes. A free kick was missed by the home defence and John Bowles finished into the corner of the goal from twelve yards out. Two goals in the final couple of minutes of the half saw the game turn in the visitors favour. A break down the left saw a perfectly waited low cross to the far post which allowed Graham Hutchinson to beat the Ferrari keeper at his near post. In stoppage time at the end of the half Hutchinson crossed from the right and Jamie Holmes headed in at the far post. The second half was a similar affair to the first with the visitors looking the better side. Again though it was the home side that scored first and levelled up the proceedings. Matt Griffin with the finish following a well worked move and cross from the left. Whitwick only had to wait three minutes to restore their lead as Hutchinson got his second of the afternoon with a twenty five lob over the keeper. Chances kept coming and with seven minutes remaining of the ninety Hutchinson completed his hat-trick. The referee played about ten minutes of stoppage time due to a nasty injury. One of the Ferrari players was on the ground when an stray boot from Hutchinson caught him between his nose and left eye. From my point of view it appeared innocuous with the home players not making an issue of it. Even in stoppage time more chances were wasted by Whitwick.
To sum up - another enjoyable game in this competition that was played on a heavy pitch in dull and at times during the first half wet conditions.
Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 6
Entertainment rating: 8 out of 10
A slideshow of some photos taken during the game can be viewed below:
