Corinthian Casuals 0 v 3 Ramsgate

Monday 31st August 2009
King George's Field
Ryman League Division 1 South
Attendance: 133
Admission: £8.00
Programme: £1.50

So, a mini dash across south west London got me to second game of the day with about quarter of an hour to spare. I had always wanted to visit this ground for the curiosity factor - Corinthian Casuals doing astoundingly well over many seasons to remain above County League football despite their strict and laudable adherance to remaining a completely amateur outfit. Unsurprisingly they are perennial strugglers at this level, although they had made an excellent start to the season this time round, in the top 4, with the visitors, Ramsgate, having a made a solid start, lying in mid-teable. As for the ground, there is no major stand, although three sides are covered for the entire length and this was a neat, tidy and perfectly adequate ground for a team that struggles to attract much more than 100 spectators. Special mention must be made of the pitch however, particularly considering the dusty, bobbly ones I've seen in the past week or so...this one was green and lush, with consistent bounce of the ball. As for the programme, at £1.50 it was quite cheap for this level, but could only really be described as adequate, containing all the basic essentials but containing little of interest.

An even game was anticipated, and so it proved - unfortunately, the Corinthian goalkeepers has to take a large share of the blame for conceding two of the three goals. His first cock up came after 15 minutes, a harmless punt up forward bounced high and as the goalkeeper came to collect it, he misjudged it and only succeeded in palming it over his shoulder and the Ramsgate forward headed into an empty net from about 8 yards.This should have been Ramsgate's second, having had a goal disallowed and the ball cleared off the line before they scored. It was becoming clear that this was a poor referee, giving yellow cards out for silly little offences but seemingly turning a blond eye to more serious fouls. For that, he was lucky to not have lost control of this game. Throughout the first half, Ramsgate always looked the better side with more goalscoring opportunities, although Corinthian Casuals always looked a threat at the same time.

However, the Casuals were seeminly killed off early in the second half when Ramsgate scored their second with a low shot from about 10 yards out, and the game was completely put out of sight by another howler from the Casuals' keeper, missing a cross from the byeline allowing the Ramsgate forward an easy header to score their third. Although Ramsgate were certainly the better team, 0-3 was harsh on the Casuals,who played very well in the second half gaining many corners and making lots of forward runs although only very occasionally did they convert these into a goalscoring opportunity. So, I made my way back to Tolworth station for the train home, not the best two games I've ever watched, and the weather was strange - in the morning it was overcast and oppressively humid - for the afternoon game, the clouds cleared to leave a fresh but warm summer's day on this last official day of summer for the year.

Sadly it appears that no photos will be upcoming for this and the Molesey game - the memory card cannot be read. Shame, as some nice action photos were taken of these two grounds.

Molesey 0 v 0 Banstead Athletic

Monday 31st August 2009
Walton Lane, West Molesey
Combined Counties League Premier Division
Attendance: 78
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.50

The first bank holiday of the season heralded my first two games in a day of the season, for which I headed over to south west London, as the Combined Counties League was just about the only league in the south-east kicking off at 11.30 (or playing at all today). Indeed, it's days like this that makes it a relief when you do have a second game to go to, after witnessing a hugely tiresome first game. Which was at Molesey, in south west London, for a 11.30 kick off. The Walton Lane ground, by Combined Counties League standards is very good. Not surprising as they were members of the Ryman League for many years, would have no problem gaining promotion were they to be in a position to be promoted, and also given the general truly shocking low standard of facilities of Combined Counties League clubs who have not previously been in the Ryman League previously. Chessington and Hook, Raynes Park Vale are classic examples, closely followed by Colliers Wood. It must also be said that Molesey do tea that is as good as at any ground I have been to, thoroughly recommended! As for the programme, although a tad pricey for this level, was full of relevant infomation and stats and so was probably worth the money.

As for the game, this was truly awful. I suppose this could have been expected as, somewhat surprisingly, Molesey had only taken one point from their opening 3 games, and Banstead pointless from their first four games. A typically closely fought local derby but with precious few goalscoring chances at either end, ieven free kicks were ballooned high and/or wide, and the only decent chance of note came right at the end of the game for Banstead, when their forward had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, the ball hit the keeper, rebounded straight back to the forward but he could only tamely head the ball wide with the goal at his mercy. This would have been quite an improbably winner for Banstead, as they had been reduced to ten men midway through the second half for an elbow. So the game ended 0-0, which was fair to both teams and the game itself. So I headed for Hampton Court train station for my train to Berrylands and then walk to Tolworth for my second game knowing that surely the quality and entertainment can only improve...

Lordswood 1 v 1 Whitstable Town

Saturday 29th August 2009
Martin Grove, Lordswood (Walderslade, Chatham)
FA Cup Preliminary Round
Attendance: 83
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00

Another fine late August day meant another long hike to a game today, this time to north Kent and the southern ooutskirts of Chatham for this FA Cup Premiminary Round between Lordswood, of the Kent League Premier Division, and Whitstable Town, of the Ryman League Division 1 South (although only for the last two seasons and previously were also in the Kent League for many years), and there was the possibility of a giant killing here, although there was little prospect of that, with Lordswood having lost their opening two games in the Kent League (although winning their FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie against Sussex League opposition) and Whitstable making a steady start in the higher league. To get to Lordswood's ground by rail, Chatham station is the closest, but I chose to make the 5 mile walk from Aylesford, which took about an hour and three quarters. This was an enjoyable although quite difficult walk, heading towards the North Downs but then having to negotiate a very long and steep hill to get over the North Downs. Although mounting the North Downs is pleasant enough, with a narrow path uphill and with great views back towards Maidstone and beyond behind.





The ground itself is quite a typical County League ground with one small stand with seating and has perfectly adequate facilities for crowds in double figures, although there is little charming about the place, even though it is placed between two cricket pitches. One negative feature which quickly became apparent as the game started was the poor state of the pitch, which was very bumpy and dusty, which made controlling the ball very difficult. This no doubt helped make the first half quite a poor and dull affair, and there was little to tell between the two teams - if anything, Lordswood, the supposed underdogs, looked the better and stronger team, although Whitstable almost took the lead just before half time with a wonderful shot which smashed against the crossbar.




As the teams went in at half time, this was very much a game which could have gone either way, however within just a couple of minutes of the restart, Lordswood looked like they had come out of the changing rooms half asleep, defended sloppily and allowed Whitstable to take a lead with a well take shot from inside a crowded penalty area. Whitstable certainly looked a far better outfit after the break, although Lordswood were still looking good, well organised outfit with the occasional chance on the break.It looked like their chances of taking the tie to a replay disappeared when their right back got himself sent off for some off the ball nonsense, however still Lordswood looked good and it was thoroughly deserved when they equalised a quarter of an hour from time, with a stunning shot from outside the box which went over the keeper and into the net. Chances were few and far between for the rest of the game, which ended in a draw, requiring a replay at Whitstable on Tuesday to settle the tie. In home turf, you would surely have to fancy Whitstable to progress, although if Lordswood, a team consisting entirely of amateur players playing for nothing, play as well as today, an upset still couldn't be discounted. So after an intriguing if not the most enteraining game, I made my way back to Aylesford to catch the train home. Mention should also be made of Aylesford, a very nice old fashioned village on the banks of the River Medway an with a church overlooking the very narow high street.

Wealden 1 v 2 Seaford Town

Tuesday 25th August 2009
The Oaks, Framfield (near Uckfield)
Sussex RUR Charity Cup 2nd Round
Attendance: 55
Admission (including programme): £5



A spontaneous late decision took me on a rare midweek jaunt to deepest Sussex to take in this Cup match between two teams of the Sussex County League Second Division. The Oaks is located in the middle of nowhere, about 3 miles outside of Uckfield, but is not even in a village, it's just off a main road tucked behind an Indian restaurant. As can probably be expected, and certainly when included in the admission price, the programme wasn't up to much, mainly filled with advertising although it did contain the "essential information" of welcome message, fixtures and results, league table and team sheets.





The Oaks is a really pleasant country venue, completely surrounded by oak and pine trees in almost complete quiet. With the setting evening sunshine making the trees glow, this was a glorious late summer venue for football. Facilities are certainly very basic with 2 stands but no seating, but they're more than adequate for this level. A major downside of The Oaks is the parking facilities - on site, there is only room for about 10 cars, with other parking spots having to be sought on an available grass verge next to a busy main road.




The game itself was an even affair, which was expected with two mid-table sides. Uckfield took the lead midway through the first half, but with Seaford equalising with a bullet header from a corner about 5 minutes before half time. At half time the worry was there that the referee would lose total control of this game due to missing too many bad fouls and being too pineckty with other very minor indiscretions. There were few goalscoring chances in the second half and extra time looked most likely until Seaford scored the winner about ten minutes from the end when the keeper could only parry a shot upwards and the ball fell into the net. A draw certainly would have been a fairer reflection on the game however.

Tiptree United 4 v 3 Eton Manor

Saturday 22nd August 2009

Chapel Road, Tiptree

Essex Senior League

Admission: £6.00

Programme: £1.00

Attendance : 70

A few times a season, I like to take advantage of the longer, warmer days by finding a game to go to deep in the countryside, to which I can walk several mailes to get to. This game in deepest Essex fitted that bill perfectly, being a warm summer's day. Arriving at Kelvedon, just under an hour's train ride from London Liverpool Street between Chelmsford and Colchester, I set out on the three and a half mile walk across the countryside to Tiptree, which proved to be a pleasant if unspectacular walk.The same could also be said about the village of Tiptree. A further reason for wanting to go to this game today was it wuld be one of the last opportunities to visit the Chapel Road ground, as its sale is imminent and a ground-share arrangement with nearby Maldon Town already agreed for when Tiptree have to vacate their ground some time during the current season.

The ground is reasonably nice, surrounded by trees which always helps and a small old fashioned stand made of brick. The clubhouse is a rather strange building, right up close to the pitch but with no outward facing windows save for a small tea bar. This was the first home game in the Essex Senior League, having transferred from the Eastern Counties, of which they won the First Division by a mile last season, They have started this season very well too, having scored 11 goals in their opening three games. A special mention is due for the excellent programme, you don't mind paying £1.50 when it is packed with information, although the very minor blot is many mentions of the Ridgeons Eastern Counties League - which they no longer play in. Obviously they're using the same programme format as last season.

The first half was an even affair, although poor defending and some direct attacking play meant that the London based Manor Park deservedly went into half-time leading 2-1. Indeed, it could be argued that Tiptree were lucky to only be one goal. However, the second half proved to be a completely different affiar, with the Tiptree manager obviously earning hi money with his half time team talk. They equalised within a minute of the restart and suddenly, from looking likely winners, Eton Manor looked happy with the draw, wasting time and breaking up play at every opportunity.That game plan went out of the window when Tiptree took the lead on 66 minutes, and now Tiptree looked like the only winners of the game as Eton Manor's players seemed to let their heads drop. However, with just over 5 minutes of the game left, Eton Manor eqaulised with a well taken goal to tie the game 3-3. This time, Eton Manor didn't look happy to settle for a point and pushed hard for a winner. However, deep into added on time, a Tiptree forward surged into the box and a defender tackled the forward's ankles, missing the ball, for a clear cut penalty. The Eton Manor players looked absolutely crestfallen, quite understandably, and Tom English, the outstanding ex-Colchester striker, sent the keeper the wrong way to win the game for Tiptree 4-3.

I couldn't have asked for much more from a game which swung both ways throughout, had two penalties, at a pleasant rural ground which, sadly, will soon be consigned to history and turned into yet another housing estate. I then set off the hour and a half walk back to Kelvedon, finding a different footpath route this time, and then caught the train back to Liverpool Street. An enjoyable day out, although not one I would particularly recommend as a "must do". If you, you'll have a pleasant day out at a friendly club and won't feel disappointed.

Stansted 2 v 5 Royston Town

Sunday 16th August 2009
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Woodside Park, Bishops Stortford
Attendance: 159
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.50



The second game I took in of the opening FA Cup weekend took me to Bishops Stortford for the tie between Stansted, of the Essex Senior League, and Royston Town, of the South Midlands Premier Division. It was a good job I double checked where this game was kicking off as I had planned to go to Stansted's ground, which I was looking forward to, apparently being a particularly scenic ground with an old fashioned wooden grandstand, but then found out that, as Stansted share their ground with the cricket team who were playing all weekend, the tie had to be switched to their near neighbours from the Blue Square South. Certainly far superior surroundings to what you would get from a County League arena!

Woodside Park is remarkably well kept and is a very well appointed and comfortable ground, with the added quirk of planes regularly taking off close by from Stansted Airport. Even in an unpromising location of right next to the M11 and the motorway service area, this is quite a nice venue as you couldn't hear the traffic and surrounding trees added to a rural feel to the place.

A close contest was expected, with Stansted a much stronger outfit these days than in the past and Royston only just promoted into the top division. Stansted had more possession in the first half, although Royston took the lead on 26 minutes. Stansted equalised 10 minutes later, but Royston then scored twice within a couple of minutes of the equaliser. As the first half wore on, Royston looked more in control, playing very attractive football on the floor in the process, and at half time seemed to be in control, although one sensed that Stansted were far from out of the game if they could get a goal back soon after the restart.

Indeed, Stansted came out for the second half fired up and soon pulled a goal back to make it 2-3 and the game looked anybody's. However, once Royston restored their two goal lead on 64 minutes, there was only one winner, with Royston adding another and should have scored several more as Stansted fell apart probably due to tiredness and lack of discipline. This was a most enjoyable game out at an excellent venue (for this standard of football) and one with several wonderful goals.

Tunbridge Wells 2 v 2 Sevenoaks Town

Saturday 15th August 2009
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Culverden Stadium, Tunbridge Wells
Attendance 127
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.50




Always one of the best moments of the season this weekend...the opening round of the FA Cup, and my first game of the weekend took me to one of my local clubs, Tunbridge Wells. Culverden Stadium will always be one of my favourite grounds at this level, in an attractive setting surrounded by trees and with terracing behind the goal which gives an excellent view of the pitch as well as a (relatively, for this level) passionate atmosphere.

An added bonus of this game was it being a local derby, which Tunbridge Wells usually has the upper hand on in recent encounters, and several players had made the move south from Sevenoaks to Tunbridge Wells over the summer, adding more spice to the game. Tunbridge Wells were favourites for this game too, on the back of a 6-0 opening day win (admittedly against the Kent League whipping boys, Sporting Bengal).

On a gloriously sunny day, this was an even game in the first half, with Tunbridge Wells taking the lead 10 minutes before half time. However, Sevenoaks were the superior side in the second half and within 10 minutes of the restart, were leading 2-1, fully deserved. Although Sevenoaks continued to have the edge, Tunbridge Wells wasted some excellent chances and it wasn't a surprise when they equalised 10 minutes from time, and a draw was how it ended to take the tie to Greatness Park, Sevenoaks for a replay. A fair result overall, and I wouldn't like to call the outcome of this tie, probably Sevenoaks would be slight favourites to earn a lucrative trip to Dulwich Hamlet in the next round.

Dartford 1 v 0 Folkestone Invicta

Saturday 8th August 2009
Pre-season Friendly
Princes Park, Dartford
Attendance: 1171
Admission: Free
Programme: £2



I had always wanted to visit Princes Park ever since it was opened 3 or 4 years ago, and today was the ideal opportunity, with free admission to all supporters for this pre-season friendly between Dartford of the Ryman League Premier against Folkestone Invicta of the Ryman League South. I was actually quite surprised that no more than the 1171 in attendance took advantage of this. Princes Park certainly is impressive, completely covered and just the right size with terracing on three sides of the ground and seating along one of the lengths.

As might be expected of a friendly, this was not the most interesting of matches, although Dartford always looked the stronger with Folkestone's ventures into the opposition half heavily restricted. Dartford scored what turned out to be the winner on the stroke of half time, with a cross from almost the corner flag dipping and swerving beyond the keeper and into the net.

The second half continued in a similar vein, although Folkestone did come into the game more, without ever really looking like scoring. Going from this game, Dartford look quite an exciting outfit, with pace on the wings and solid in defence. As predicted by many others, they should be comfortable in the Ryman Premier, possibly pushing for the play-offs. On the other hand, whilst Folkestone also looked pretty solid and comfortably kept Dartford at bay for most of the match apart from a fluke goal, they look particularly bereft of attacking ideas, and although you always need to be wary of reading too much into a pre-season friendly, I can only imagine a mid table finish for Folkestone in the Ryman South - which surely couldn't be satisfactory considering their status, even despite their financial problems.

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Fulham 3 v 0 FC Vetra

Thursday 6th August 2009
Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round
Craven Cottage, London
Attendance: 15,106
Admission: £10
Programme: £3

I took this game in on my way home from Stansted Airport, taking advantage of buying my tickets in advance for just £10. Although I have already been to Craven Cottage twice before, it's always a pleasant experience to visit, which had become a modern facility apart from the Johnny Haynes stand where I sat, which had old fashioned wooden seats and an old fashioned designed stand with very narrow concourses.

With the Lithuanian side half way through their season, I was expecting this tie to be a close affair, however Fulham winning the first leg 3-0 in Lithuania effectively ended this tie as a contest. On a really foul night with constant torrential rain, this turned out to be another entertaining game (I certainly have been lucky recently!), wth Fulham by far the more superior side and creating chance after chance, although FK Vetra still managed to have some excellent chances on the break.

It was surprising that this game was goalless at half time, but Fulham looked stronger and stronger as the game wore on and it was no surprise when Fulham took the lead on the night on 57 minutes, and then added to late classic poacher goals from Andy Johnson in the last ten minutes, to give Fulham an extremely comfortable 6-0 aggregate win

Grondals IK 2 v 2 Ostersunds FK

Tuesday 4th August 2009
Division 1 Norra
Aspuddens IP, Aspudden (western Stockholm)
Attendance: 208
Admission: 100 SEK
Programme: Teamsheet included with admission

The last game of my Swedish visit took me to the humble surroundings of Aspuddens in south west Stockholm, for this third tier clash. This promised to be an interesting game, with Grondals mid table with some decent recent results, and Ostersunds, although marooned at the foot of the table, had recently appointed the Englishman Lee Makel as player-coach, who had brought various other English journeymen to northern Sweden.

This was another entertaining game, with Ostersunds taking a shock lead on just 3 minutes, with a lovely long range effort from Lee Makel from outsde the penalty area. They were full value for their lead, although it wasn't a total surprise when Grondals equalised on the stroke of half time.

Grondals then were reduced to ten men, losing a midfielder to a second yellow card, and then fell behind. One bizarre feature of this game was one corner of the field flooding badly, bizarre as the current and recent weather was non-stop dryness and sunshine. A burst water main was to blame. Despite all this, Grondals managed to equalise on 75 minutes, and although both sides had chances to equalise, the 2-2 draw was a fair result

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Hammarby IF 1 v 2 Helsingborgs IF

Monday 3rd August 2009
Allsvenskan (Swedish Premier League)
Soderstadion, Stockholm
Attendance: 9949
Admission: 125 SEK
Programme: 20 SEK

The second game of my Swedish tour took me to southern Stockholm to the Soderstadion, with apparently the largest globe in Europe adjacent. This was the game I was looking forward to most of all, at a stadium with a capacity of 15,000, the Hammarby fans famous for being the most passionate and noisy support in Sweden, and Henrik Larsson lining up for the visitors.

Unfortunately, Larsson had damaged his leg the previous week ruling him out, but the support indeed was impressive. I took my place at the top of a huge bank of terracing behind the goal (I always prefer terracing) with a great if distant view of the pitch and stadium. Helsingborgs certainly would have been favourites for this match, lying in 4th place in the league with Hammarby hovering just above the relegation zone, and failing to score in their previous 3 games.

This game did indeed go according to predictions. Hammarby had most of the possession and chances, but Helsingborgs played on the counter, always looking dangerous and took the lead just before half time. They extended this on 60 minutes, and although Hammarby almost immediately pulled a goal back with a wonderful free kick and fair chances to equalise, Helsingborgs looked pretty comfortable to take the win which sent them to the top of the table and Hammarby still struggling above the relegation zone.

IF Brommapojkarna 2 v 1 Halmstads BK

Sunday 2nd August 2009
Allsvenskan (Swedish Premier League)
Grimsta IP, Vallingby (Western Stockholm)
Attendance: 1708
Admission: 120 SEK
Programme: 20SEK

The first game I took in during my summer holiday was at Vallingby, a western suburb of Stockholm, which was a 45 minute tube ride away from central Stockholm. Blessed with gorgeous summer evening sunshine, Grimsta IP is located in the middle of a park which makes for a wonderfully green and tranquil setting, even if it's hard to believe that this small, homely ground hosts top-flight football. Brommapojkarna is a strange club - this is only the second season they have ever been in the Allsvenkan (Swedish Premier League), the ground only has a capacity of 7,000 (even that seems a tad ambitious to me) and with attendances ranging from just 1500 to 3000. Yet Brommapojkarna is apparently the largest club in Europe in terms of youth teams and players associated.

Both sides were in the bottom half of the table, but this was an entertaining game, played at a much slower pace than I am used to in England although the warmth probably was a factor. Brommapojkarna took an early lead on 4 minutes, which they doubled on the half hour, and were full value for their comfortable half time lead. They continued to look comfortable in the second half, missing some guilt end chances to score a third, but Halmstads pulled a goal back with quarter of an hour to go, and then had numerous chances to equalise, but Brommapojkarna held on to take an important win to keep them comfortably away from the relegation zone. An enjoyable start to my short Swedish (Stockholm) tour

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