The Recollections of a Copycat!

Oxford United 1, Altrincham 0

2009-10-31T12:38:00.000-07:00

After the 'hors doeuvres' dished up in the morning over at Horspath, it was over to the south-eastern corner of the city, to the Kassam Stadium, for the main dish of Oxford United versus Altrincham, in the Blue Square National, despite the sponsored title, it's still widely known as the 'Conference', which was a title bestowed under previous sponsorship agreements, & not the original name of the league, which started back in 1979 as the Alliance Premier League.

It is very rare for me to take in a match at this level, which, although 'technically' non league, is -in my eyes- Football League in all but name. And way, way removed from the 'non league' it was when formed. In fact the last match I went to in this division was a Friday night match at Gravesend & Northfleet (as they were then, rather than the hidiously titled Ebbsfleet United) on the 23rd March 2007, when they drew 1-1 in front of 1,103 spectators. One of those that night being Tony Mullins, a Dulwich Hamlet & Gillingham fan from the Medway towns, who kindly paid for my admission that evening, which is why I was there.

Having arrived in convoy at the ground we parked up just past it at the 'Priory' pub, a couple of hundred yards from the ground. I don't know anything of the history of this boozer, but it seems nice & traditional, also packed, as you'd expect on a matchday, as there doesn't appear to be many/any others around. The name tickles me, what with it being the same name of the posh 'rehabilitation' places where the rich & famous go to hide from the press, when they need to pretend they want to sort out their drink & drug problems, when they're caught out by the tabloids! The Belgians & Oxford friends 'set up camp' here, with over an hour to kick off, while some of us head round to the club shop, which is surprisingly not straight ahead at the stadium, but round the corner, as a shop unit, in the adjacent hotel/leisure complex. There are probably more shirts in stock than people we get through the Champion Hill turnstiles for home games! I boost their coffers when I buy a mug that has a photo of the stadium embossed onto it. One more for the collection!

The rest head back to the pub, but I decide to walk round the exterior of the ground, taking photos as I go, for my grounds blog. It is strange to say the least. A modern three sided ground, with one end of nothing! Just a 'garden fence' between the pitch and the car park outside. If you forgot the rest of the stadium, which was impossible as it towered over you, this end was more Isthmian than former Football League!

Back to the pub & extremely busy outside, but fast moving, was barbeque on the go. I bought myself a burger, which wasn't just tasty, but extremely good value for money. A quarter pounder £3.10; I opted for one with cheese, only twenty pence extra. It was while we were standing outside, congregated around the tables, that the main Oxford supporters' team man John Matthews came round with the match tickets, which he'd pre-bought as a block so that everyone body would sit together. While I roughly knew the price of football at this level & happily handed over my fourteen pounds, I still couldn't quite believe that I was handing that much over to watch a non league football match! But there you go...

I bought the programme, and that certainly wasn't 'non league' either. Three nicker for an admittidly substantial full colour 68 pager. It included a page from their chairman Kelvin Thomas, who played for the Hamlet for a while in the mid nineties. His head and shoulders mugshot, covering half the page, shows he's put on a few pounds since then, but the lads' done well for himself! As a player he wasn't the most popular, as I recall, & got a bit of a 'bad press' from some of the fans. But, oh what we'd do for him in his prime playing for us now! Back then I don't think some supporters' realised how spoilt we were...

There was also a wonderful gesture in the programme with a small piece about the earlier supporters' game with Namur, which included pictures of the teams from Oxford's visit to Namur last year. But don't forget...no matter how well these two get on, Dulwich Hamlet were there first!

Also included on this page was a photo of an Oxford fan called Simon Parker, who is currently working in Brussels for six months. He actually returns for as many games as he can via Eurostar.

It was now time to walk to the ground, and as if the day wasn't expensive enough, you couldn't walk more than what seemed like a few yards for rattling tins. All good causes mind. In the car park was a huge Wicker Man, the design being the winner of a competition run by a local charity, for the upcoming Bonfire Night celebrations. With less than two weeks before Armistice Day people were also collecting for the Poppy Appeal, which the Belgians contributed to, & wore with pride, as it clearly meant a lot to them. Also, this time on sale, were '12th Man' badges. I didn't realise the significance of this, & didn't bother buying one, which I regretted once I got home & found out what it was all about. This is a supporters' campaign to raise funds to boost the wage bill for the first team, in the push to regain their Football League status.

Our seats were towards the back of the 'main' home stand behind the goal. Not the main stand, which was to our left, but 'main' as in the bulk of the hardcore home fans. The view is excellent, and as much it can be at this price, is 'value for money'. Oxford are six points clear at the top, with Altrincham further down in the mid table region, with a record 0f 4-4-2 on their travels. Once the game got going it was clear to see how they'd only lost twice away from home. Don't play football & try to hit teams on the break. Without a shadow of a doubt that was their only gameplan today...and despite Oxford dominance it almost worked! They would have been more than happy with a draw, if they had managed to earn one, but what price football? No doubt their visiting contingent of 79 fans in the away section, in a crowd of 5,609 would have been happy with a point, but I know I wouldn't enjoy supporting my team if they were as negative as Alty were this afternoon.

It was only after Oxford took the lead in the second half, that they started attacking for the last 25 minutes. But it could have been so different after Oxford were awarded a penalty in the 12th minute of the match, Simon Clist being brought down in the box by visiting keeper Stuart Coburn, earning him a yellow card. A price he probably thought worth paying, as he guessed correctly, diving to his right to save Matt Green's spot kick, which look rather weak, admittedly from the other end.

The hosts had more of the possession, but almost went behind halfway through the first period, after the visitors lone striker Colin Little fluffed a good opportunity to score, in what was their first real attempt of the match, as they tried to hold on to the ball, and hassle the opposition, but with no genuine urgency in their game.

Jack Midson put the goal in the back of the net, but it was called offside by the referee, who wan't too popular, getting roundly booed when he blew the half time whistle. I wandered round my stand during the break, snapping away, and also took the opportunity to purloin two nice colour fixture posters from the toilets. One for me, the other for my Belgian friend Nicolas Lucas.

Back in my seat for the second half the game was even more one sided, as Oxford piled on the pressure. But despite that there seemed to be a sort of 'lack of urgency' in their play. And while they never looked like losing & it was a matter of not if, but when they would score, I only started getting excited Sam Deering came on for Jack Midson in the 61st minute. Almost immediately there was a buzz about the place, as he ran at players and took them on. This lad hadn't been at the burgers at the 'Priory' before the game because, boy oh boy, he was hungry!
I don't know if this was a bit of a 'one off' showing from him, but if really can play like this then surely he's a star in the making once they're back in the Football League?

Moments after coming on he delivered a cross that Matt Green just failed to connect with. This lifted everyone and the ground was positively buzzing. And on the 65th minute defender Damian Batt fittingly for someone with such a nocturnal name, scored his first goal on Halloween, hitting the ball from the edge of the area into the back of the net.

If I were a betting man I'd have lost the shirt off of my back as I was certain that the stout Altrincham rearguard was going to collapse & it would be comfortable home victory, with two or three more goals. But I'm not a betting man, and despite the game never being in any doubt to me as a neutral, albeit an Oxford supporting one for the day, I was surrounded by nervous home fans until the final whistle blew.

The final score suggested a much closer game than it was in reality. I haven't seen any Conference football this season, but I am in no doubt that I have just seen the champions elect.
Next Saturday they are at home to Yeovil Town in the first round proper of the FA Cup. Despite the Glovers being two divisions above them it will be a major shock to me if the Somerset side are in the hat for the next round.

On the way out I passed one of the onsite bookies stations, from local firm Claydon Racing, in the concourse under the stand. I took down one of their game sheet prices from the wall, which I tucked into my programme. In case you're wondering you would have got a miserly but understandable 1/3 for a home win, and an even shorter 1/4 for Oxford being the first team to score. A lone goal in the game would have paid 7/2, as would a half time/full time draw/Oxford double. The correct score of 1-0 would have paid out 13/2, but as for the goalscorer....poor old Damian Batt wasn't even listed! You'd have been cursing yourself if you had the penalty miss man Matt Green as he was down at 9/2 . Oh dear....

After the match we reaquainted ourselves with the 'Priory', to let most of the traffic to leave, before we headed back into town. The Namur contingent headed back to their hotel, while our Dulwich trio headed for a bit to eat, going for the easy option of McDonalds. After which we all met up in a lovely historic town centre backstreet pub called the 'Bear'. It was small ,tucked of the main streets, but full of character, ceilings and walls covered by a large collection of ties, collected by an old landlord over several decades! worth visiting for that in itself! The Oxford team were perfect hosts, not only supplying plates of curry & rice for all the Namur party, but by being wonderful ambassadors for their club. I don't know if the 'powers that be' realise the great work that the 'Raging Fever' supporters' team do in promoting Oxford United, but take from me, they should be really proud of them!

It was getting late, and we had to leave to drive back to London, at around half past nine. For everyone else the night was young, and both teams partied the night away, first at the pub, and then in a local nightclub until three in the morning!

And so came to the end a rather long day, but one I will cherish for a very long time. Combine the pleasure of the morning game, the excitement of being part of a huge crowd at a new ground for me, in the afternoon; rounded off with a sociable evening in friendly company, and-hand on heart-footballing days don't get much better than this!

Raging Fever 5, Union Royale Namur supporters' 1

2009-10-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought it? At the age of 43 I am making my 'international debut', guesting for the supporters' team of Union Royale Namur, from the Belgian third division, away to
Raging Fever, which is the Oxford United supporters' team!

How on earth did that come about? Do you want to know...how long have you got? It's a long story. Here goes!

I was one of the founding members, & instigators, of the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team way back in May 1989. We had a not too serious game against a Club XI, which we 'won' 9-7! It wasn't really under Football Association rules, well nominally it was, and four of our goals were from the boot of an eight year old boy called Bobby Cooper! Last seen watching Football League football down the road at The Den! Towards the end of that match we must have had twenty players on the pitch!

From little acorns, and all that, fast forward over two decades later & the Supporters' Team are clinging to survival. albeit with an ageing team, with a problem recruiting players. It's not for me to say here really why that is, but like all football, some management teams are better than others...

I think it would be fair to say, without me trying to blow my own trumpet, that without my perseverance in arranging fixtures over a substantial part of those decades the Supporters' Team would have folded many years ago.

One thing we talked about for many years, typical bar talk over many pints, was how great it would be to go on tour abroad. In 2002 I bit the bullet & decided to arrange one, for our first ever 'beano' overseas. Not against other supporters' sides, but through a football tour company called Eurosportring. I chose Amsterdam as our destination, as I knew it would appeal, for the beer, drugs & tarts, some of our squad partaking in all three...but what goes on tour stays on tour eh? ;-)

That tour to Amsterdam was also an event that changed my life, believe it or not. I had known for a number of years that I had a serious drink problem, & looking back was clearly concerned about it at the time. I had 'convinced' myself, as I had organised the tour, & was the 'team secretary',so to speak, the contact with the tournament organisers, that I would 'pace myself' & control my drinking. Unsurpringly I couldn't. Without going into detail at one stage I was out on my own & I blacked out somewhere, collpased on the street, with the police taking me back to our hotel, with-fortunately-none of our lot seeing this! And on another evening we went for a team meal, at a local steak house, & I literally threw up half way through my meal, over my table, got up and walked out. Understandably everyone, not just from my crowd, were not impressed! Sadly, even to this day, I have no recollection of any of this, apart from vague flashbacks. I went home by boat, still drinking, a couple of beers 'topping me up' in the morning, so I was pissed before luchtime. To be honest I'm not sure how they managed to let me on board, I was wobbling that much.

It sounds quite shocking like that, and that's the sanitised version, but I can't hide from the past, just learn from it. That Monday-the 27th May 2002- was the last time I picked up a drink. Late that night I got home, and simply stayed it bed. My body fought like mad, I was sweating & shaking. Burning up & then freezing. I was craving alcohol, but fighting it. This was what going 'cold turkey' from alcohol was for me. The next day, on the Wednesday, I picked up the phone to one of my fellow Hamlet supporting mates, who I knew was going to Alcoholics Anonymous, & asked him full of trepidation, & if truth be known, very scared, to ask if I could go to a meeting with him. Now, nearly eight years later, I am still sober, only going to meetings once in a while, when I feel the need to go to them. I am grateful for that, and if I was still drinking....well I'd be dead by now without a doubt. And I certainly wouldn't be enjoying the football trips I have abroad, & days out like today. My friend, who I went to AA in the early days, I don't know if I've ever thanked him properly. But I know he sometimes looks in on here, so if he does, then from the bottom of my heart....thank you for your support mate!

Back to Holland, I thought that after the inaugrial one future tours would be simple. And you know what? I was right! Two further competitions with this company were entered in 2003 & '04. To Prague, in the Czech Republic & to Rimini, in Italy. The following year we travelled to Paris, for our first international eleven-a-side match, against the fans of Red Star '93. Which we won by the odd goal in five, and to this day my proudest moment as part of the Hamlet Supporters' Team. Our first victory on foreign soil on a wonderful day, at a great club, who I have become a big fan of, albeit very part-time & long distance! But all of that is for another tale. I could probably write a book on its own about our trips over the English Channel!

In 2005 we received emails from the supporters' of RFC Liege, a proud old Belgian club who had fallen on hard times. Apparently there was some sort of Dulwich connection, as they were founded in 1892, a year before the Hamlet, & one of their very early members was an Englishman from our Club, though his name had been lost in the mists of time.

As a result of this they discovered our supporters' messageboard & we ended up getting an invite to their Johan Felix Supporters' Tournament in May 2005, Johan being a lifelong loyal fan of theirs, who was cruelly murdered in a non-football crime. Taken far too soon...

This was an eight team tournament, and one of the Belgian clubs represented was Anderlecht. 'Guesting' for them was a man called Nicolas Lucas, who got talking to some of our crowd in the clubhouse, in between games. Nicolas, it turns out, was the chairman of the Belgian branch of the Paris Saint Germain Supporters' Club; which is the only official PSG grouping outside of France. As a result of him being so approachable he brought a PSG Belgian supporters' side to Dulwich the following September for an eleven-a-side match at Belair Park. In the same season, on the 27th January 2006, to be exact, we then visited Paris to play them! Honours were shared, two apiece, in a game played at no less a venue than the official Paris Saint Germain training complex! We then saw the 'big boys' take on on Sochaux, at the Parc des Princes, in the evening.

In May, still in 2006, we finally ventured to Belgium, staying in the home town of Nicolas, which is Namur, the capital of the province of the same name; as well as the predominantly French speaking region in the south of the country, Wallonia. This was a five-a-side tournament organised by Nicolas, for the PSG Belgium branch, with the full support of the main PSG club in France. It was staged at a local non-league club, CS Onhaye, & two things stick in the mind, for one. We had two teams entered, & Mark Hutton scrambled the ball in the back of the net for the B team, in a (i think) 5-1 defeat against the host club, who were Belgian Fifth Division level. What made this particularly memorable was not just the fact he was playing in borrowed boots, having forgot to pack his own, but that he became our oldest ever 'European goalscorer' at the age of 56! And in case you're wondering...yes he does still have a run out now and again, despite the fact his knees have gone & he has one eye!

The other abiding memory was 'the drugs test'! James O'Shaughnessy, who was only seventeen at the time, was totally duped by us in, in full collaboration with Nicolas Lucas! We had borught over a couple of test tubes & forged a note on 'UEFA headed notepaper' & halfway through the competition Nicolas came up and asked him for a 'specimen' for the 'tournament doctor' from the Belgian Football Association, having been chosen at random! Without Nicolas in on the joke it is doubtful if he would have fallen, but provide the specimen he did, only to be given the second bottle, when he said he'd just gone & couldn't do any more! cue much biting of lips, and holding in laughter in the changing room from the rest of us. But he did get a bit worried, when his old man, Mick O'Shaughnessy, who was also on the tour & in on the joke, shouted at him "James! If you've been taking drugs..!" whereupon he stamped his feet like, erm, the petulant teenager that he was! Of course, it won't surprise you that the 'tests' came back positive less than an hour later! He still denied being a druggie, but then though he night have inhaled the smoke from someone's spliff in the bar we were all in the night before! Just in case that 'excuse' failed he then put Herbie 'H' Smith, the former Fisher & Barnet footballer in the frame! 'H' refereed at the time in the 7-a-sides on the all-weather pitches at Champion Hill, & James had played there the previous Wednesday. Now while 'H' was thought of as a decent bloke at the time-& even if he wasn't you wouldn't dare say so to his face!-he was a poor referee, as he didn't always pay attention to the game, enjoying a roll-up of 'waccy baccy' in one hand, the whistle in the other. "Maybe I inhaled some of 'H's spliff" he tried to offer in his defence! We evnetually told him it was all a 'set up' about six months later, to which he claimed that he knew, & then threw another of his strops when his dad informed him even his grandad knew! "What do you mean grandad knew!?" Teenagers on tour eh?

Our next trip to Belgium was in January 2008, when we shared a twelve goal thriller with the UR Namur Supporters' Club! Nicolas also supports his local town side, who were in their first ever season in the Belgian Second Division. Following on from this one of the top Namur fans Stephane Tournay 'guested' for us on our 2008 trip to Estonia & Helsinki; returning to Helsinki with us in 2009, along with fellow Belgian David Doumont.

Nicolas is not just someone who is a nice person, both him & his fiancee Danuta Wilmart have become close personal friends of myself, & one or two other Hamlet fans. I have stayed at their home several times, & they are very special people to me. Aa an added bonus they are now also Hamlet followers, coming over to watch the boys in Pink 'n' Blue at least once or twice a season!

I have has the 'misfortune' to 'adopt' UR Namur as my Belgian side. I say 'misfortune' as not only were they relegated at the end of last season, I have yet to see them win!

Anyway, that's the 'short' background to this supporters' game today. The Hamlet have a blank Saturday, as our league match away to Chipstead has been postponed as they are still in the FA Trophy. I don't really have enough money to make the trip up to Oxford, but & fortunate that fellow Dulwich man Lawrence Marsh is 'guesting' for Namur, & driving up with his partner Melanie Lucking. They ask me along with no petrol money wanted, so all I have to do really is find enough cash for the 'big boys' football in the afternoon. And as I haven't been to Oxford United before who am I to turn down the chance of a 'hop? ;-)

A couple of days ago I found out that Namur didn't have a full squad, so packed my boots 'just in case', secretly hoping to get some sort of run out. As it happened the main Namur honcho Stephane Tournay was more than happy to allow me to have a full ninety minute run out, which is more than I ever get for the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team! But that's another story...

This morning I am not just happy to play, but-dare I say it-proud & honoured to do so. On getting to the changing rooms though I do panic...as I have forgotten to pack my boots! They are still on the table at home! Thankfully Lawrence has a spare pair with him, slightly bigger than mine, but not loose enough to look like Coco the Clown!

I'd met the Oxford bunch before, at the Queens Park Supporters' Fives back in June, & didn't really get to know them. But Nicolas speaks very highly of them, & he is right. They are a thoroughly decent bunch. The Namur team is a motley make up. Seven from Belgium, two from Dulwich...and two 'loaned' from Oxford. And not just their 'two worst players'. You know, like a kickabout in the primary school playground when two capttains would pick their sides, one at a time, from all the boys lined up who wanted a game. The last two would be the ones 'lent to the other side', so to speak. But not today. no, Oxford had class. They rotated the two players in Namur shirts, so half of their squad ended up having a run out with the Belgians. A gesture I've never seen before, & fairer than fair.

The game was played in the middle of knowhere, as far as I was concerned. It was at an open sportsground, at an area of Oxford called Horspath, where there was an athletics stadium adjacent, & where we changed. The obly thing that annoyed me though, was that there were three chaps with the Namur party who were clearly young & fit, but couldn't be bothered to get kitted up. Whatever their reasons I simply could not understand that mentality. It's a bit of fun & a FOOTBALL tour after all!

The game itself was the 'proverbial one of two halves'. Keenly contested, but never it a dirty or antagonistic way, it was actually our boys in yellow-Raging Fever being in a change strip-who took the lead! And,somehow, held on to it until around the half hour mark, when the equaliser came.

After the break the Oxford strength began to show, not surprising as they are a half-decent side who play on a regular basis, & we were changing keepers, using three different ones for the duration. An early second half goal as their player skipped past my challenge with ease to get the ball in for them to take the lead from the resulting corner. And after they went in front there was only one winner, adding another three before the final whistle.

Despite the fact I can't play football, not so much 'past it' as a 'never was', I thoroughly enjoyed my run out, and it was wonderful to be able to say that I've actually pulled on a Namur shirt.

Time to head to the rugby club bar for a couple of drinks before heading in a convoy over town for the afternoon match.

FK Baumit Jablonec 5, Sokol Zivanice 1

2009-10-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday 28th October. The Wednesday in itself is not that important, well it is-sort of-football wise, but I'll come back to that. It's the date. For the twenty eighth of this month is a national holiday in the Czech Republic. Their independence day, commemorates the establishment of the Czechoslovakian state in 1918.

In football terms this Wednesday is a 'bonus' for me as Czech FA Cup, known as Ondrasovka Cup, is played midweek & the fourth round, which is the last sixteen, has often coincided with my late October trips. For a huge beer drinking country like this it's quite apt that it's sponsor is a mineral water company. Not everyone's favourite tipple, but an essential ingredient in the making of beer, who sponsor the more important domestic league. It's needed and liked, but not really loved.

The crowds tend to be much lower than league games, but I love them for the simple reason they are often played on a Wednesday afternoon, Bank Holiday or not. This season there is a change, in that this round is two legged for the first time since I discovered the Cup. It's done me proud in the past, with 'ticks' at both Kladno & Sezimovo Usti. & the old draw has thrown up another new place to go to today. I'm off to FK Baumit Jablonec against Sokol Zivanice. In case you're wondering, Baumit are the sponsors; Jablonec the town.

It's the second leg of the tie, & Jablonec-currently top of the first division-are 6-3 up from the first leg, with fourth level Zivanice having been leading by the odd goal in five at the break!

I'm not expecting a 'giantkilling' then, with 'plucky, little' Zivanice, in effect, being three down at the 'real half time', but being away, now proverbially playing the rest of the game 'up a slope & with the wind against them'. Not that they aren't partial to the odd shock or two. In the previous round they won by the only goal of the game at home to second division Vitkovice.

I am also not to knowledgable on lower club sides away from the Prague area, & even then I'm no expert! I must hold my hands up & admit I've not even heard of Zivanice the place, never mind the team! Which is not a shock as it is a small village with a population of less than a thousand!

The only thing I can tell you about Sokol Zivanice is that they are mid table in the C division of the fourth division, which is split regionally in five divisions, I'm more familiar with the A & B ones, which has the Prague area clubs in it.

There is more than one Jablonec in the country. This one is Jablonec nad Nisou, which is the second largest town in the Liberec region, the largest being the one with the same name as the area, namely Liberec. The other Jablonec is also in the same region, Jablonec nad Jizerou, which makes it sound like some Muslim fundamentalist training camp, though that could just be me! :-)

It has a population of just under 45,000, so it's not tiny. Getting there is easy enough though, get trains to Liberec & then a local chugger along to Jablonec. I arrive a good three hours before kick off but it is a bank holiday, & everything is shut. Well what else would you expect? Except I come from London, and am spoilt with shops being open all the time. Here they are not just closed, but the whole area is nigh on deserted. The parts that I saw seemed rather modern, so wasn't the most picturesque to walk round. But that may be a tad harsh, as I didn't have a map, and who knows...there may have been an 'old town' just over the next hill. I did pass the town hall, I think it was, some modern concrete monstrousity, but that was it really. I had checked on a town billboard map where the ground was, though you couldn't fail to know which direction to head, as the stadium was up on a hill, and the floodlight pylons were visible from the station.

As I started to head to the ground, in plenty of time, as it was still over an hour and a half to kick off at two o'clock, I had a bit of a 'bonus' for a sporting anorak like myself. I passed the local ice rink, home of the town ice hockey club. I say 'passed' but I couldn't just do that, and dived into the entrance to take some photos, and watch a few minutes of a junior match that was taking place. I'd have liked to stay longer, but the main purpose of my trip was football today. So it's just a venue snapped, not actually ticked!

I reach the Strelnice-Chance Arena, which is a hybrid of the traditional name & the sponsors name,way too early, as there are only a handful of people milling about outside. The turnstiles are not open for business yet, with a pocket of stewards stadning by them. The ground is set up on a hill, and next to it is a small athletics stadium. Time to play 'hunt the entrance' to that. I stroll round the outer perimeter of the main ground, down some steps & a path, then along the road below, before turning up another road behind the stand on the far side. Then it's onto a small road behind the goal, which leads to a small hotel, and then the way into the athletics track. There are no goals up, so I don't think it's used for local non-league. There is a small stand along the side, and lots of snow still piled up. most has melted, but just over a week earlier this part of the Czech Republic had been hit by an unseaonally early bout of heavy snowfall. The fact there there are heaps of it still in places tells how severe it was, and also that it is a few degrees colder than Prague!

At the far end of the seats I climb a few steps and am now inside the football stadium! Without even trying to I've managed to bunk in! There are a few fans already milling about, around the food window behind one of the stands, no more than a dozen or so. Glancing over to the turnstiles I see that they are not yet open, which is a bit puzzling. I can't see any programmes of any sort about, which is unusual for a Czech game. I'm half expecting a tap on the shoulders to be asked for my 'papers' aka ticket, as in an old war film, but this is not make believe nasty Germany! It takes me a while to fathom the fact that nobody is being charged to get in anyway, so my conscience is clear at least, & I haven't sneaked in for free,albeit unintentionally.

Programme wise there are none, and even the souvenir hut is closed. Clearly this not a priority game for the fans, or the club. I try to get a press type team sheet, which they hand out for the 'VIP' fans as well. Not sure if there is one, but you can usually get them abroad if there is no programme for the plebs, I mean 'ordinary' supporters. My Czech is non existent, & so is their English on the doors to the VIP areas, so no luck there. But at half time I snag one from the centre VIP bit of the stand I'm in, as the posh people have all gone inside for their warm half time coffees.

The ground is three sided. It is clearly a redeveloped athletics type ground, as three sides have newish stands, with the area behind the other being fan free, & open, with a curve from, presumably a former track. I am guessing that the athletics stadium next door was built around the same time this ground was redeveloped. Behind the other goal, hidden away beyond the stand, is a fenced off curved bank of old terracing, a relic slowly going back to nature, tucked out of sight, to a bygone era.

The game itself is the one sided spectacle I'm expecting. But fair play to Sokol Zivanice, as they try to make a game of it. I'm not sure if I want a valiant battle from the visitors, or a 'cricket score' from the hosts. I'm sat in the main stand, just to the right of the Jablonec Ultras in the corner. There's not too many of them, but they still try their best with drums and the rarely seen in England since the Seventies toilet roll 'streamers' onto the pitch. Opposite are about a dozen singers from Zivanice, complete with their drums.

It's the home brigade who are the first to celebrate, after nine minutes. A cross from the left is placed with precision into the centre, for a simple 'six yard job' that hits the back of the net. But only four minutes after that Zivanice are back on level terms-if you 'forget' about the three goal deficit from the first leg-winning the ball in the middle of the park, they bring it forward, knock it on to the forward who holds the line to perfection & he goes on to score.

For the rest of the half it's clear who are the better side, & it's not the plucky fourth division side in their bright orange. But at least they battle for every ball, & while often second best, are not totally out fought. At the break it's still one each, but I can't really see them holding out for another forty five minutes.

I'm in the almost empty stand behind the goal when the tie is put beyond doubt after a penalty is given to Jablonec, and slotted with ease into the right hand corner. Just before the hour mark the game is put beyond the reach of the tiring lower division visitors when Jablonec bag a third. After another quarter of an hour it's four, with the last goal headed home in the final minute.

The sun is setting, and it's getting colder, not that the old mercury has crept up the thermometer that much today. Despite that it's been a good afternoon, visiting the last new ground of my October 2009 trip to the Czech Republic, in a fairly picturesque setting, trees tower over the stands & whatever the local hills are in the distance form a scenic backdrop of sorts.

I head back to the station for my connections back to Prague from Liberec. I have a choice on arriving there. Get the next train, or dash for the Slovan Liberec ground, where they have been at home to Bohemians 1905 in the Cup as well. I won't make any of the game, as they had a later kick off, but if luck is with me I might just get to the gates in time for the final whistle. I've been there before, for a Monday evening televised match a few years ago, but don't have any digital snaps of the ground. I take the gamble...and lose! It's a bit further than I thought, and I know the direction toward the stadium, but not the actual route, so get lost a little, and arrive as the crowds are streaming out, and am half way across the car park when the floodlights are switched off! Bollocks! Five minutes earlier & I'd have been ok!

Not to worry. I was pissed off for about five minutes, but it's just resignation now. Stroll toward the town centre, it's dark, and intermittent drizzle, on my previous visit I didn't have much time pre-match, but at least it was still light! I head toward the main square. Understandably there's not many people about. I'm surprised to find a shopping centre on the corner of it still open, though the shops are just closing. But the supermarket in the basement is not shut yet. I pop in & get my usual fare of rolls, salami & cheese for my evening meal on the train home & buy a bottle of coca cola. It's not until I'm on the train home that I realise I've bought the wrong one, & have to suffer a few mouthfuls of that disgusting cherry coke flavour, before I bin it!

Before I board the 'Prague Express', if only...it's over two hours on the snail train, I get to the station over an hour before departure. First I have some of my grub sat on a bench in the booking hall, then head up to the large, spartan bar on the first floor. high ceilings & dingy. I sit on a stool at the bar & have a couple of coca colas.

Eventually it is departure time, & I find an empty compartment, pull the seats across & drift asleep, sweet dreams of all the places I've been to over the past week, and thinking ahead to next year, when I plan to return in October 2010!

Slavia Praha 1, Sigma Olomouc 2

2009-10-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about going to watch football in the Czech Republic is that you are guaranteed a game on the Monday evening, as there is always a live game shown on the tellly, and at the early evening time of five o'clock, so if it's a bit of a distance from Prague you still have a chance of getting a train back. Though as this is now my eighth visit there is always the possibility of a 'repeat; tick, rather than a new ground.

I first went to Prague on a trip with the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team in May 2003. I loved the city so much I decided to go back to see more, & have been doing so ever since! On my first return, in October '03, I saw Sparta Praha play in a European clash with Besiktas on the Thursday I arrived. Sods law on the Monday they were also the televised game, so I saw them at home twice in four days. On other trips I've had Monday night games at grounds I've been to, and haven't bothered to travel, instead recharging my batteries doing tourist stuff in Prague. museums, galleries, that sort of thing.

Today I am very lucky, and extremely happy. For Slavia Praha are at home against Sigma Oloumouc. It is a spanking new ground, their old stadium completely demolished and rebuilt on the same site. Their old Eden Stadium was old & had fallen into disrepair. They have had plans to leave it since the seventies, but the planning was extremely slow under the previous communist regimes, & it wasn't until 1989 that they finally left, first of all playing their First Team fixtures at the nearby Dolicek Stadium, home of rivals Bohemians.

This was short lived, & they then moved into the Evzena Rosickeho Stadium, up on Strahov Hill, but building work was stopped back & Eden, and Slavia returned there once more, with a temprary stand being built. There were several attempts to redevelop but the funding was never in place, & by 2000 Eden was not up to the required standard for the Czech First Division, so they moved back to the unpopular ground up at Strahov, which was to be their 'home' until they returned to Eden in May 2008.

On vacating the original Eden in 200o the ground was still used for Reserve Team fixtures, their reserves fluctuating in the second & third divisions, but it was finally vacated for good, and demolished in December 2003. Sadly I hadn't realised this never saw their second XI play there. Although I did get some snaps of the overgrown terracing inside, but on an 'ordinary' camera, not on digital, so I can't show them on my blogs.

Sad as it sounds it will always be one of my 'sporting regrets' that I never saw a game at this venue. It is up there along with missing out on the old amateur ground ay Lynn Road, the old home of Ilford. Also the reportedly magnifcent Brooklands home of Romford. And also the historic White City Stadium over in west London. I suppose my love of the big old amateur grounds stems from growing up supporting Dulwich Hamlet, whose old Champion Hill home was the greatest of them all.

So while I've missed out on some I can take comfort, indeed am grateful, that I saw matches at the likes of Leytonstone's Granleigh Road & Walthamstow Avenue's Green Pond Road.

The new Slavia ground was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of 2005, but increased costs led to delays & cutbacks of the original plan, and it was finally opened , with the stadium not quite complete,with a match against Oxford University, who were their first ever opponents back in 1892, on May 7th 2008. A few days later, on the the seventeenth, they drew 2-2 with Jablonec, to clinch the Czech League title, in their first competitive match there.

I had hoped to see a match here last season, but was extremely disappointed they were away on my 2008 trip. But this year I was ecstatic when the fixtures were announced. This match was originally scheduled for the 24th, which would have been the best birthday present ever for me, but I couldn't complain too much when it was moved to this evening for the Monday night televised game.

I spent the day making good use of my Prague travelcard, going round the city taking more snaps of non league grounds. Just in case I was running late I headed to Eden, or the Synot Tip Arena, to give it the sponsors name which nobody uses, and bought my ticket, also taking the opportunity to snap the outside in clear daylight. Round the back it was just ugly breezeblock, out of sight, out of mind. clearly part of the costcutting. I wasn't entirely sure which end of the stadium I was buying one for, but it was the cheapest, at 150 Kc. I think there were slightly more expensive ones along the side for 220Kc.

Just as well, as I got out of the local Metro station less than a hour before kick off, enough time to get there, but pushing it if I had to queue. Walking along I passed the old ice hockey rink at Eden, a few hundred yards away from the football ground. I saw my first ever game of Czech ice hockey here, back in October 2003.

I can't remember the opposition but it was a cracking game, the first foreign hockey match I'd ever been to. And as I was only used to the 'pedestrian' English sides, even not high quality at the top level compared to the best in Europe, never mind the North American version, that wasn't difficult. But it was the atmosphere, and the venue itself that I fell in love with! The spectators were mostly on the two sides. One a bank of seating, and the other...all terracing, packed, like an old fashioned football game, with proper flags and chanting! As with all hockey games music is played when the puck was dead, and one tune had lyrics in English, albeit American, and included the phrase 'So fucking what! So fucking what!' Which cemented my love affair with the Slavia Prague hockey club for me! I'm since asked around & think it was the Metallica version.

They say you always remember your 'first time' & my first foreign hockey time will always be my first & foremost Czech hockey love. Whilst almost certainly makes me unique! For when it comes to the city of Prague I must be the only person who follows Sparta at football & Slavia at hockey!

I had a bit of a surprise when I left the rink & got to the ground. Just as I got there I bumped into a carload of serious English groundhoppers, who were all on a week long tour through Austria, Germany, here & Switzerland! One I knew well, Eddie Smith, a fellow South Londoner who also supports Streatham Redskins. Two of the others I first met at Admira Praha, two years previous. They were 'Veteran' & Stan Green. As I walked round chatting with Eddie as he headed straight for the beer stall (oh to be able to partake with him!) , he spotted the last of their quartet, & introduced me to 'Yorkieexile', who I had not met before. It's always a pleasure to chat to fellow 'anonymous' names who are also Kempsterites, no matter how fleeting.

It was a bit embarrassing chatting to Veteran, actually. He told me where there'd been, but my mind went a total blank, & couldn't recall the names of some of the games I'd watched that weekend! Imagine! Getting tongue tied in such exalted groundhopping company! not surprising really, as I am a mere amateur compared to those gentlemen!

The ground itself must be the best in the whole country. I don't know what sort of contract the authorities have with Sparta, in regard to staging internationals, but this really should be the home for them. I'm not too clued on international football, to be honest, and they may stage games here already, which must be a huge blow for rivals Sparta, who used to hold them.

It's a superb stadium for a new build, to me it's like a 'poor mans Emirates', comparing it to Arsenal back home. There is a wooden roof inside, which I am presuming was designed with the acoustics in mind. for, with the place just over half full tonight, the singing is loud! And for the 'anoraky' among you apparently it's made from Canadian cedar, which is between thirty & one hundred years old. The stands are continuous, no obstructions, with all supports being through the roof & anchored outside.

Going through the turnstiles you could pick up a free 24 page glossy colour programme, so naturally-being English-I grabbed a handful! As per usual when abroad I turn to the league table. Slavia are struggling by their standards, only in fifth spot, but despite that it's almost been 'fortress Eden' in the league. Their only home defeat being three weeks previous, a one nil defeat to Sparta, in front of an almost sell-out 19,370...which probably was capacity, is segregation 'dead areas' are taken into account. By contrast the vistors this evening, Sigma Oloumouc, are only three points off the bottom spot, held by Bohemians Praha, who are the fake munfactured version, as opposed to the REAL one. And it is against the rock-bottom outfit that Sigma claimed their only away win of the league campaign, way back on the opening weekend of the season on the 26th of July.

My seat at one end is a decent one, despite being the cheapest. I'm just to the left of the goal, and I'm high up enough in row 9, to have a good vantage point. Even better, from a 'crowd watching' standpoint, I am just to the right, on the edge of, their main bulk of hardcore fans. At the front is a 'leader'. On a raised platform, megaphone in hand, who co-ordinates all of the chanting. It's not the English way, but that's how they do it abroad, though I can't say I've noticed it in the Czech Republic before. And it's not the only thing that's pre-meditated...

Around the centre circle are a group of 'ball boys' all with red & white flags, which they are waving round in a synchronised fashion. There are lots more behind my goal. A mass of red and white flags. some are quartered. Others halves. Tricolours, like the Austrian flag. The white cross on a red background like Denmark. And, pleasingly to warm the old cockles, some St. George crosses too! The players come out, line up, shake hands and wave to the crowd. the Sparta players then go to the centre circle & each take a flag from one of their little helpers and throw them into the crowd at our end! How's that for PR eh? Presumably they do this every home game, hence the huge amount of flags. Not all are kept, as they many are dumped at the final whistle. I grab an 'English one' as a souvenir!

As for the game itself...well, well! What a turn up for the books! I turned up as a neutral, got 'won' over by the great home support, who just kept on singing, but was silently willing Oloumouc to hold on at the end, as it was such an upset against the overall play. I still can't see how Slavia lost. I doubt if there was more than a bullseye of away fans to celebrate, but having made such a long journey across the country they deserved it! Such blind loyalty deserves repaying sometimes.

Most fans had barely settled in their seats when Tomas Horava headed Sigma ahead in the third minute, getting onto a cross from Marek Kascak. This wasn't in the script, and it continued, with Slavia not seeming sure what to do, looking a tad lethargic against an Oloumouc side who didn't seem that phased by holding such an early advantage against supposedly more illustrious opponents.

On the half hour mark they doubled their lead. A long free kick floated in, which ended up with Pavel Sultes slotting under Martin Vaniak in the home goal. This seemed to stir Slavia & they started to awaken from their disastrous slumbering start. A mere three minutes later Adam Hlousek reduced the arrears making no mistake in the six yard box.

The second half continued as the first had ended, all Slavia pressure, as Oloumouc defended in strength. I had, by now, moved round to the seats along the side, and had a superb view on the halfway line. I had been snapping round this side of the ground at half time, and just plonked down in one of the empty seats a few minutes into the half. I was well settled down by the time things got even harder for the visitors when captain Marek Kascak got his marching orders in the 61st minute, both for fouls, I think. He's not happy, and he appears to be moaning as he goes.

It's almost constant Slavia pressure for the rest of the game, but Tomas Lovasik in the Sigma goal is playing a blinder, anything on target is not getting past him. I am expecting Slavia to score every time they push forward, and I am torn between wanting them to score because they deserve to, and their support is unwavering from the stands; & willing Oloumouc to clear every ball as they defend for a shock result! Weird emotions, as I'm split between who I want to win, it's almost as if I'm behind both teams!

There is drama right up to the end, as Sigma pick up a couple blatant yellow cards for timewasting. I have no problem with that, with three important points at stake for them. They are extremely fortunate to say the least, with two minutes left on the clock a blatant handball is missed by the referee, which was a clear Slavia penalty to everyone but the man in black, with well over nine thousand of the 9,159 crowd having spotted the infringement!

Fair play to the home side. At the final whistle they go back up to the home end to applaud the fans, though I'm sure they don't really want to. it's a psot match ritual, rather than trying to milk the applause I think!

With the match over it's still early, & I'm not quite sure what to do, as I'm not really going to hit the bars, not drinking, as even though I'm over seven years sober now, it is still quite a temptation in this city! I cross the road to the large shopping centre, and wander round the huge Tesco, where there are a lot of Slavia fans buying cheap beer to drown their sorrows. They seem to congregate outside, in the sort of square, the open space by the entrance on the main road. I cannot understand a word as they chat in their small knots of friends, but it is clear from the tone of their voice that they are not happy bunnies!

It's getting a bit cold, now it's dark and early evening, but not overly nippy. I jump on a tram back toward the centre, and end up walking around the Old Town Square & the Charles Bridge. I realise that although this is the end of day five on my trip, I haven't ventured around the touristy part of Prague at all. Until I do so now I've forgotten how nice it is. There's no football tomorrow night, and I only had a basketball game lined up in Pardubice, as there was no hockey that I could get to. But right now I change my plans. And choose to have leisurely day in town here, not chasing football grounds to photograph for once, & just chill out, being a lazy tourist abroad.

SK Dynamo Ceske Budejovice 0, FC Viktoria Plzen 0

2009-10-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

With yesterday being my birthday it's just as well I'm not drinking, as today is an 'early to bed, early to rise' day. But not quite as early as it actually was...

I'd set my alarm early, so I could get the 7.15am train to Ceske Budejovice, all well and good, and all in plenty of time. It was only when I got to the station that I looked up at the clock and realised I was an hour early, having forgotten that the clocks had gone back! Doh!

As luck would have it the first train of the day to my destination was at a quarter past six, so I would be there just before nine, instead of ten. Not the biggest disaster in the world. The game I'm off to is a three o'clock kick off in the Czech First Division, the first top flight match of my trip. SK Ceske Budejovice versus FK Viktoria Plzen. It's a 'two sport double header' day, as at five o'clock the ice hockey team, HC Mountfield, are also playing, against Pardubice. Coincidentally, I also did a football/hockey double when I visited Plzen in 2004.

Back at my hostel in Prague I'd been conversing with Sigma, a fellow Kempsterite from the (now) Non League Matters forum, and he mentioned that the Under Nineteens were at home this morning, with an 11.00am kick off, but he wasn't sure of the venue. He thought it might be at a ground he'd found on the internet, but it turned out to be the main First Team stadium, so no luck there.

Not the end of the world as, for once, Ceske Budejovice seemed a half decent sized town to stroll around, and it was a bright sunny morning, so I couldn't complain. Having got there I nearly shat my pants though...seriously! Nothing to do with local hooligans or anything, but I had a case of the trots!I'd got up early, and didn't have my 'morning constitutional', just a bit of farting! It didn't bother me, you just go when you gotta go! On getting to Ceske Budejovice it was still early, and being a Sunday, the town wasn't really awake. And then I realised I had to go, but couldn't find any toilets! Not to worry, I wasn't desperate, but half an hour or so later it really was clenched buttocks time! I remembered walking past a McDonalds not far from the station so quickly retraced my steps. Not easy when you are desperately clenching your bum! Thankfully I got there just in time...and boy, oh boy, what a relief!

Now I could enjoy the sights! And also do a bit of shopping, as there was one place open, the Albert chain supermarket. So I went in & bought some rolls, ham, cheese & salami for breakfast, with more for later on. Carrying on down the pedestrianised area I crossed a sort of ring road, & found a town map on a board, to get my bearings, noting down the directions I needed to the ground for the morning game, easy as I had the street name, & had drawn a map from the one that Sigma had linked to. It was still quite early, & it looked not too far away, so I continued up to the big old square in the town,which some nice old 'picture postcard' buildings, but it was still early, with not many people up and about.

At about half ten I headed for the ground I thought was the youth venue, and proceeded to get lost, going round in circles a little, but found it. right place, wrong ground. This was the main stadium, and by now it was about a quarter past eleven. I can't see any sign of, nor signs to 'second pitches', so I have no idea where the Under 19 match was. Even this early though, a ticket booth was open for the main match, & I bought a ticket for 120 Kc. I knew it was a fairly small ground, but didn't know what sort of crowds they got, so didn't know if it be close to a sell out or not. I doubted it, but better to safe than sorry.

After that I wandered about a little, over a footbridge & into a nearby park. I wasn't sure where I was heading, but I had plenty of time on my side until the three o'clock kick off. I suppose on the off-chance I might find a local Sunday morning kickabout if I'm honest! But I heard no distant whistles, which is usually a giveaway.

Which, sort of worked for me, back in the early nineties, on one of my last decent (drinking) groundhopping trips. After that any spare money I had was spent on booze, and I couldn't 'afford' to go abroad properly, as alcohol took a serious grip on my life. Anyway I was based in Amsterdam, and was off to a match at Willem II Tilburg. I thought it was an afternoon match, but it turned out it was an evening one. From vague memory the ground was a bit of a way out from the town centre, & I got a bus there. Which was when I found out it was a night time kick off. I couldn't face the journey back into town, in case I got lost & couldn't find my way back. I know it sounds silly, but alcohol muddles the brain, & my priority was finding a local bar. I couldn't see one, but came to a park & heard a whistle. Yes! A local non-league game, and-thus- a clubhouse. not quite! It turned out an encounter was just starting in the national baseball league, a sport I knew nothing about, nor cared for. And that's how I watched the first & only game of baseball in my life watching Tilburg! I paid my few guilders entrance, and YES! there was a bar. The game dragged on, but I wasn't really following it. I necked back beer after beer, and got merrily drunk! I do recall the barman being a bit shocked at my consumption, but they were only those small 'half' glasses with all the froth on, as is the continental way, so it wasn't difficult to knock back a couple of dozen.

I eventually left for the Willem II match. I have no idea who they were playing, nor the score, but vaguely recall it was large open terracing behind the goal, which is where I was stood, drinking more beer. And at one stage a hot air balloon flew over! They had some sort of brass terrace band, & I started conducting them, & singing Dulwich Hamlet songs, much to the (be)-amusement of the locals. I got talking to them & one asked what I was doing there. I said it was to watch Tilburg, meaning to 'tick' the ground, but he misunderstood it to mean I was a long distance Tilburg admirer from London, making his first pilgrimage! He insisted on buying me beers for the rest of the game, and refused all my efforts to reciprocate. Who was I to argue! After the final whistle I was 'forced' to go into the clubhouse & have a few more, and they then insisted on paying for a taxi to get me back to the station so I could get the last train back to Amsterdam! Which is just as well, as I don't think I would had any idea how to get back to the station! It sounds a cracking story, but looking back it's a bit shocking how much drink I necked...

Fast foward back to today, in a deserted Czecho park, and it bright and sunny. not the warmest, but still a good few degrees above freezing. There are a number of circular benches around the base of trees & I sit down on one to start my breakfast picnic. I get a book out of my bag, and read. It's not something I do back home, not the reading bit but taking time out in a park. I am unexpectedly contentedly happy. for these few moments I don't have a worry in the world, not really thinking about anything in particular, just totally chilling out. It feels strange, but in a nice wonderfully weird way. I'm only interupted when two teenage students come up to me & ask me something in Czech. I apologise, and say I only speak English. The girl replies falteringly, that they are sorry for disturbing me. They would have like to ask some questions and film my responses, for a college project. But their English is not strong enough. And they're on their way. As soon as theyr'e gone I wish I'd asked them to try to explain what their assignment was, as it's starting to bug me already, but there you go!

After an hour or so I get restless and head back toward the town centre. There are a few places open now and I pop into a church & a gallery, before climbing up the Black Tower that overlooks the main square. I love tall structures like this, but am my own worst enemy, as my knee gives me a bit of gyp, which I try to ignore as I get older, Just a twinge now & again, not painful, but annoying, if you know what I mean. But I'm a sucker for high up panoramas. I prefer towers that have lifts, but this one does not. From the top there's the usual landmarks marked out on photos for you to match up what you're looking at. More importantly, from a time perspective, as it's now less than an hour to kick off, I get a perfect route to the football stadium. And, as luck would have it, it's right by the ice hockey arena!

Once I'm back down the bottom that's the end of my 'being a tourist' . I stop at the rink to get my ticket, purchasing the cheapest for the standing area behind one of the goals, which is a mere 100Kc. then it's straight ahead for the football ground.

I had planned to take a few pictures outside the ground, but it's getting close to kick off, so I head straight in, buying a glossy 24 page programme for only 15Kc outside. It's full colour, not sure of the size, one of those bigger than A5 but smaller than A4 efforts. The ground is smart but samey, my stand is along one side, with a smart blue plastic barreled roof over it. It has seating for 2,597. The section at the end, to my right, is fenced in, & this is the away area, with seats for 378. The goal to my left has identical seating & roofing, as does the other end, but less of them. Opposite is the main stand, an older concrete one, with the players' tunnel in the middle. Thw whole place was reconstructed, in phases, between 2003 & 2006, and now has a capacity of 6,746, all seated. Prior to the rebuild it could hold 12,000; of which only fiteen hundred were seated. I have no idea what it looked like back then, but I think I'd have prefered it, just because it had terracing.

As per usual I take snaps of the ground once inside, but they are all from the one side, rather than all angles as I prefer. But I'm not complaining...about the ground! The football though is another story.....

You can't always get a pulsating match that keeps you engrossed for the whole ninety minutes, but dear oh dear, I doubt if there was a decent ninety seconds of football! I really should have studied the form book beforehand. Their previous two home matches we nil nils, and now here was a third!

Just as well I'm not a serious as some groundhoppers, who don't count a ground as a 'tick' if they haven't seen a goal! Goos luck to them, but i'm not coming back in two weeks time, thank you very much! Strange people some folk, surely you're there to visit the ground..hence the description of the hobby. If it's goals you want then become a bloody GOALhopper!

The first half was really dire, & the more it wore on the more I looked over at the clock on the scoreboard, to see how much longer I had to suffer! There were a couple of early attmepts on goal in the opening ten minutes, one from each side, but any other rare attempts were weak longer range hit & hope efforts that ballooned over the bar. There may have been one or two efforts from Dynamo, but nothing of note from Plzen. Which was worrying, as they were the mid-table visitors, of which I expected a bit more. Not that it curbed their hemmed in fans, about forty or so had made the trip, who kept up their vocal support, including one who went topless a la Newcastle, even though the temperatures were dropping, as the sun started setting.

Such was the game for me, the most 'exciting' moment was when plumes of black smoke started rising from the stairwell behind me, along with the delicious smell of sausages, as I thought the tea bar had caught fire! nobody batted an eyelid, and it was just the way they cook them on the open barbeque style grills. I would have welcomed a bonfire down below...any distraction!

The other thing of 'note' was with about seven minutes left on the clock. Another awful wayward high shot caught a bloke in the back row behind the sparsely populated goal to my right in the face, and knocked his hat off!! Cue lots of laughter & ironic cheering all round the ground.

At half time I have my klobasa, well I had to as I'd spent the first half smelling them cooking!

They are quite fatty, but still tasty. And not too spicy, though funnily enough while I don't particularly like spicy &/or hot foods, I don't mind when it's salami or sausages. I always take care when biting into them, once burnt twice shy. This is because of an 'incident' on my first 'hopping' trip to Prague back in October 2003, when I was with two fellow Dulwich Hamlet fans Lawrence Marsh & Phil Baker. We had decided to go to watch Marila Pribram on the Saturday afternoon, principally because we thought this was the old Dukla Prague club. Which technically it was, just a franchise type move. It was actually an awful game, on a really cold day, when they lost 2-1 at home to Bisany. That ground was quite new, being rebuilt. At half time we tried, and just failed, to blag our way into the VIP bar, before heading round to the far end, which was a steel shell, still being built. behind it was a small refreshment hatch, in an old building. We bought klobasa, and while chatting I suddenly screamed in pain! Phil, who was standing at least a foot away from me, had bitten into his, and a piece of hot fat had shot out & hit me on my cheek! It was funny, but it did hurt! We still joke now & again about spitting sausages!

The second half was slightly more watchable than the first, but to be brutally honest I don't think it could have been much worse! There are a few early efforts from Plzen, the one of note being on the hour mark when the ball is knocked into the box & Pavel Kucera pulls off a fine save, blocking a shot from Milan Petrzela. Plzen are having a good spell, with the home keeper appearing to be a bit of a 'good shot stopper'. Oh how I hate that phrase! You know, when someone asks what a goalie is like, and the response is "He's a good shot stopper." Well he should be...that's his bloody job! He wouldn't be much of a keeper if he couldn't stop shots!

The deadlock was almost broken in the 67th minute when there was some sort of melee in the goalmouth, nothing much, and I certainly didn't notice anything untoward, Plzen put the ball over the line, but the referee blew for some sort of infringement.

Despite not having a shot on goal for the whole of the second half one of the home players did have a bit of a 'skillspot' moment. Petr Dolejs was advancing when the Plzen man Daniel Kolar came toward him. He then took great delight in 'nutzing' him, which was amusing I admit, but totally pointless, as the ball went straight to another Viktoria man!

Ceske Budejovic had a chance near the end when they earned a free kick on the edge of the box, but it came to nothing. The home crowd got a bit excited though, starting one of those rhythmic handclapping moments that the continentals like so much. Or maybe it was out of kindness, and it was just to wake up those who had fallen asleep, to let them know there was only two minutes left on the clock?

The final whistle goes, & I have ten minutes to get over to the ice hockey, which I do just in time for face off. Buying my ticket earlier has paid dividends, as there are queues outside at the ticket windows. Pardubice are the visitors, and they go home happy, winning 4-1; with three wearly goals to 'kill' the game at the start of the second period., after Mountfield had led in the first. I miss two of these, as I'm finishing off the delicious bowls of goulash soup on sale at the refreshment stands outside. Not that I'm too bothered, I'm not really bothered as I'm not supporting either side, just enjoying a sporting spectacle at another 'ticked off' rink, with the crowd of 5,645 being substantially more than the attendance that was at the football, which was 3,128.

SK Cesky Brod 2, Rezuz Decin 1

2009-10-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

The second part of my sporting trio today was the 'meat in the sandwich'. A regional fourth division game about forty minutes from Prague by train. Cesky Brod versus Decin. As luck would have it the station of departure was directly across the road from my hostel so I bought a ticket this morning, in case there were queues, or time was tight. As it happens neither, but nothing wrong with 'being prepared' as old Baden Powell taught the Scouts.

I was an 8th Camberwell one myself, but I had to leave in my last year of the cubs, when I was eleven. I hadn't done anything naughty, but the 8th met on a Tuesday evening. I think cubs were six til seven; & then the older scouts were eight til nine, or something like that. The problem for me was I was always bunking off when the Hamlet had a midweek game. Now I don't know if you are aware,but there is a bit of discipline and hierachy in the scouting movement. For cubs the pack was split into little groups, of which the name escapes me, but there was a 'leader' in each one, and then a deputy below that boy. Think of it as a 'captain' & 'assistant' in a sports team, sort of thing.

During my last year in the cubs, which was 1977/78 if you're thinking football, I was called aside by Akela, who was the person in charge of the whole group. Here we go, I thought, I'm going to get kicked out. But no, I was being given 'one last chance'. He knew the Hamlet meant a lot to me, but I could still go every Saturday. If I showed commitment to the cubs I would be made a sixer next week, which would hold me in good stead for the move up to the scouts the following year. Cor! Me? A 'Sixer'?

One 'slight problem'. Dulwich Hamlet had been relegated the previous season, and were involved in a three horse race, for the two promotion spots, wirh Bromley, Ilford and ourselves. (Although they both ended up blowing out, and we went up as champions, with Oxford City runners up) And the following Tuesday night we were away to Bromley in a first versus second clash! So that was the end of my scouting life. We won by a lone goal at Hayes Lane. A second half strike from Ron Bexley, who got a 'bad press' from a large proportion of the Dulwich followers at the time. He wasn't booed, or anything like that, he just wasn't rated.

As you can probably guess, I made the right choice, and was at Bromley rather than St. Thomas More Hall in Lordship Lane,East Dulwich that night. It was nil nil at half time, and as the players trooped off I handed a birthday card, with a six verse poem inside, to Ron Bexley. It was his 21st brithday! And he celebrated it by getting the winner, presumably after he'd read the card! He must've talked to the local rag, as a few days later, in the Friday edition of the 'South London Press', our headline was ' Ron's just the card for Dulwich! ' But even back then they cocked it up. I was a 'young girl fan' according to the report. Presumably they couldn't get their head round how a young boy could worship a footballer! Was he my first crush? Who knows...I wouldn't have even known what a 'crush' back then...!

Enough of my childhood. Fast forward to the 24th of October 2009...and it's MY birthday. 43 today. Which I had completely forgotten about, not thinking about it once, until I got off the train at Cesky Brod station, and glancing up at the 'departures' board, it had todays date on it. And I thought 'bloody hell, it's my birthday today'. No emotion really, just a strange small wave of happiness. That I was in a nondescript place in the Czech Republic, on my way to a football match, and another new ground! As I walked down the road I'm even quietly singing 'happy birth to me!' to myself!

Well, hopefully on to a new ground. It was about an hour to kick off, but I had no idea where the stadium was! Usually there is a town map of sorts somewhere by the main station building, but I couldn't find one here. But out of that misfortune came some good. Taped up onto the wall outside was a match poster for the match, giving the name of the ground. The poster says: Fotbalovy Stadion Na Kutilice, so I guess that's where I'm looking for. I take it down as a souvenir, and for something to point at, if I am lost, and head toward the town centre, if 'town centre' be the right word. Cesky Brod is a very small place, with a population of less than seven thousand. Coming from London, where you can add another three noughts, this is tiny! It's also a total dump, and I'm not one to be too judgemental of places. There is nothing here of any note.

A church stands in a square, in what I presume is the 'hub' of the place. There are a few small shops dotted around, mostly closed. Just past the church I find my saviour. Not a person, but the town map. After getting my bearings and jotting down the names of streets, continue along Palackeho....left at Rokycanova....right at Rohacova....Well that was the idea. Unfortunately it seems the locals are still in 'confuse the Germans during the War' mode & had taken them all down, actual street signs being few and far between. I realised I didn't have a scooby as to my location, other than it was vaguely somewhere to my left, when the houses and council blocks on my left stopped and there was fields.

Time was ticking towards kick off, and while I wasn't panicking yet, I was starting to mildly worry! Retracing my steps I saw a man walking towards me, and I tentatively asked if he spoke English. Thankfully he did 'a little'. I love it when your Johnny Foreigner types say 'a little'. What they mean is a million times better than you speak my language! Not surprising in this place he knew were the ground was, and was heading partly in that direction. He asked me why I was going there. I thought 'oh shit, have I got the wrong day?' & told him I was going to the football match. He responded by querying 'But why Cesky Brod? They are rubbish?' Rather than bother to explain what an English groundhopper abroad was, I just blustered that it was the nearest match to Prague & that I was on holiday. I'm not sure he would have understood...

'Walk down to the end, and it's next to the swimming pool', he said pointing, as I thanked him.

And it was, with only ten minutes before kick off. I paid at the entrance, 30 Kc, and another five for a basic, but welcome, 8 page black & white A5 effort. Can't understand a word of it, but it's the league table I'm looking for . Cesky Brod are second, but got stuffed 6-1 away to league leaders SK Jirny the week before. Todays opponents are in seventh place, and seven points behind. So I'm not making any predictions.

Nor am I one to tell you about the opening goal, after only a couple of minutes, when I wasn't really paying attention, busy taking snaps of the ground, and I'll be honest & say I missed it!
It won't be the first time I've not seen a goal at a game I've been at, and it won't be the last. By the time I've gone round to the main stand on the far side I decide to take a pew, and take a bit more interest in the happenings on the pitch.

As the game continues the Cesky Brod crowd are not happy. Clearly, as far as they are concerned, they should not be losing to opposition like Decin. It's not a concerted unhappiness. No booing, or anything like that. But more a series of 'aah's, as in 'what a load of rubbish' each time they waste a scoring opportunity. It's not until just over twenty minutes into the match that there's the real cheer & an 'ooh!' when a shot goes just wide of the post. They continue to press and just after the half hour mark comes their best chance so far. A corner is floated in which is met by a poweful goalbound shot. But it's deflected by a visiting defender, who I don't think knew much about it, the jammy sod!

The equaliser comes in the 34th minute, after a succession of corners, with one of them leading to a goal with Josef Kozak getting the touch.

It's not been a dirty game so far, so there's been no need for anything as serious as a stretcher. One is brought onto the pitch, as a precaution, after a late challenge, and the player is looked at by the trainers. They check out his leg, or maybe it's his ankle, and he's placed onto an old fashioned canvas, army surplus type stretcher. With two wooden handles at either end. They lift him up, one bloke at each end, and they then proceed to carry him off. Almost a disaster, as the man at the rear drops one corner, and the poor player starts to slide, but the first aider manages to grab the stetcher just before he came tumbling off! So close to a cracking 'Fred Scuttle' comedy moment!

At half time I finish off my photographing of the ground, marveling at how 'fashionable' garish, shellsuits are still 'fashionable' for pensioners in these parts! And then sit back in the stand. The second half sees Cesky Brod the better team, but it takes a penalty to give them all three points, after the visiting keeper pulls someone down, gets a yellow card for his trouble and Michal Kopecky scores from the spot with just over twenty minutes left on the clock.

After the game I take another, shorter route back to the station. There's nothing much to see around here, I stop to look at the war memorial. The only other thing of note is an electrical shop (closed, of course) It has it's wares in one window, but it's the other one that is a time warp delight. Packed with old fashioned appliances, almost like a mini museum, from the nineteen fifties or earlier. On the other hand maybe this is all they had before the Russians went home...

I wait for my train back to Prague. The sun is setting & it's starting to get dark. I am, at this very moment, stuck in the middle of nowhere, there's hardly any other passengers on my platform. Over on the other are two young soldiers drinking and smoking. Perhaps doing their national service & on home leave for the wekeend. The waiting room is shut, the station grim, rusting and in need of a lick of paint. It might seem a bit grim...

But you know what? At this very moment in time I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I've just seen a fairly decent match, at least up to Isthmian Premier standard, at a quirky, homely ground & I am just so contented and have a happy, warm glow inside. I reflect that, yes I am forty three years old today, and I've done something I really enjoy. Visiting new grounds and taking photos. What I lack through not much money in my pocket you simply cannot buy. It's called being sober and not drinking. For if I was still boozing my life away I would never have the opportunity to go to places like Cesky Brod, no matter how dull they seem.

No, it's not been a bad day at all. Now for my train back to Prague. no more football for the day, but I'm off to a sport I've never seen before. Usually, if I've no football to go to in an evening when in the Czech Republic, I go to watch ice hockey. But no luck there either. So I'm off to
SSK Future to see a floorball match!

SK Union Vrsovice 1, SK Motorlet Praha B 0

2009-10-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

One of the things that appeals to me about the great city of Prague is you can always get two games on a Saturday if you wish. With the local Prague divisions staggering their kick offs over morning & afternoons On Sundays too! But I'm off elsewhere tomorrow.

I have a choice of three matches this morning, and opt for SK Union Vrsovice, which is the closest to Strasnicka Metro station, so I can have an easy getaway for my afternoon match. It's an easy stroll down the main road, passing the old Eden home of the Slavia ice hockey club.

The sun is shining, not too cold for this time of year, just crispily fresh. You can't ask for more when it's late Autmn in Central Europe. Well apart from being able to 'tick' off a new ground. Check. Hope it's not a nil nil. Check. And, hopefully see a decent game. Che....well maybe not. But what do you expect for only 20 Kc, which is less than a quid! Mustn't be too greedy.

There's no programme, and the ticket is a bog standard one, so not even a token souvenir. But, hey, at least I know I've been here, you can't have everything. It's a 10.15am kick off & I'm a quarter of an hour or so early. I pay my money, head for the club room, aa bar we'd call it, and yes it does serve alcohol. But like lots of clubs at this level it also serves hot drinks and snacks. It's not big, or smart enough to be called a restaurant as clubs of this size also have, but whatever it is it's homely.

Various trophies are in cabinets on the wall, and old men sup their early morning pints, while children buy sweets & hotdogs for breakfast. There is a food list, but I struggle to understand anything. Klobasa is on there, so try to order one of them, but no English is spoken, and although I work out enough to realise they have none, I don't know what else is on the menu, but manage to point at someone else's sausage, which is a long, frankfurter style hot dog. And she gets the message.

Time to go outside for the game, and I spend much of the first half taking my time strolling round taking photos. My starting point is the corner where I entered the ground, so I am fortunate enough to be up the right end for the only goal of the game in the eighth minute. It's scored by one of the older players, who wouldn't have looked out of place in whatever is Czech for the 'Dog & Duck', or whatever their pub teams are called, if they have such a concept.

His beer belly would have made him a first choice selection for the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team, but he is still more gifted than any of the 'Rabblers'. Wearing the number four on his back he drifts around up front, and he is on hand to knock the ball over the line from six yards for the goal. Despite his bulk he continues to make a nuisance of himself, to & froing in the area.

The ground itself is a basic railed off one, but behind the goal is a steep grass bank, which makes a perfect vantage point. There's a chain link fence at the back, and one or two local folk stop for a few moments on their way to whatever they do on a autumn morning in Prague. Playing on the hill are around half a dozen children, almost uninterested in the game,even if they have a home made Vrsovice flag with them. Part of me wants to ask them if I can take their photo with it, which I 'm sure they would happily do, but I cannot bring myself to speak to them, such is my English paranoia of being labelled a nonce, through even daring to think of taking innocent snaps of happy children. Which I find rather sad.

The crowd is around 90, from my rough headcount, and they are quiet. The biggest murmours occur at the end of the half when a Motorlet chance went wide, and the referee somehow spotted an invisible deflection. I certainly never spooted it, and it was right in front of me! I'm not sure what was being said over the other side, but you can bet it wasn't in keeping with any Czech 'respect' campaign! Not that it mattered, the corner kick was pants, and was easily cleared.

After the interval the football was much of the same. End to end, but with the home side dominant. Nothing to write home about, and not a game that will live long in the memory. Not that i'm complaining. not every match you go to can be the proverbial cracker, and I can accept limited ability, even at this lowly level, as long as they are keen and try. Despite what the mass of ignoramuses that follow professional football think, limited ability non-league players does not equal pile of cack!

In the closing minutes the visitors hit the post from a free kick, which would have given them a point that they wouldn't really have deserved. I can't be too harsh on Motorlet though, this was only their B side after all. And on this viewing I don't think too many of their first team will be losing too much sleep tonight worrying if their places are under threat.

FC Vysocina Jihlava 5, FC Zenit Caslav 1

2009-10-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

It's Friday night so it must be Jihlava!

I had no idea where Jihlava was, nor who they are, though I have heard of them. The most important thing is that I can get a train back to Prague afterwards. Which I am able to do, so that is all that matters! It's a fair old journey, about two and a half hours each way, but I can cope with that. It's extremely slow for the distances covered, but I'm used to the Czech railway system which isn't reknowned for it's high speed service.

The town of Jihlava is actually around 150 kilometres from the capital, & strange as it sounds, like many journeys in this country, it would be quicker to drive. Which is irrelevant anyway as I've never driven, but I thought you might want to know that.

The purpose of my trip is to go to a Czech Second Division match between FC Vysocina Jihlava & FC Zenit Caslav. I have vaguely heard of both sides, but that is it. Jihlava are midtable,7th from sixteen, on 17 points; while Caslav are three places behind. One of four teams a point behind the hosts tonight, on 16 points.

It's a six o'clock kick off, and for once I'm organised enough to be in town around four hours before that to have a look round. I've checked the town's tourism website, and there were one or two places of interest that caught my eye, the main one being their catacombs. Unfortunately shut for renovations. Sods law!

Thanks to the excellent messageboard on the Non League Matters site, inherited from the later, great Tony Kempster (RIP) one I had been exchanging, make that pestering if truth be known, a post under the moniker of Sigma, from the town of Olomouc, in the west of the country, about info on the places I was going to. Or, more specifically, details of grounds! He found two for me to look at in Jihlava, the first appeared to be their training ground. The other the delightfully old terraced home of TJ Sokol Bedrichov.

For those of you who like looking, and learning about Czech football, Sigma has his
own excellent football blog, covering his part of the country. Well worth a look!

Being the toally disorganised person that I am, I had left my print outs of directions back in my hostel, so only got a local free town map from the tourist information when I got to the town centre, which was about a mile or so from the main station. Annoyingly the Bedrichov ground was close to the station, so I had to walk back there. I jumped on a trolleybus, as it was uphill, not steep, but sharp enough to slow you down. I was lucky in that the driver let me on free, as I spoke no local lingo, and he didn't collect fares. I would guess you buy them pre-paid from newsagents and the like. One had passed me earlier, and not being used to them made me jump, even though it was a good twenty yards in front of me. The juice carrying poles, from the roof to the current strung up above the road, came loose and sprung wildly across the road. not knowing how they operate I was expecting a mjor disaster! The bus calmly pulled over at the next stop. The driver disembarked and nonchalantly strolled to the back, opened the boot, pulled out a long pole, a re-hooked it up to the pwer line above. Such an anti-climax after I had visions of me being 'lucky' enough to be viewing a major incident!

Having snapped both grounds it was time to head toward the main FC Vysocina Jihlava ground. A good half hour walk, guessing from the basic map, and I wasn't sure when daylight would fade, so I jumped on a bus, now knowing they were 'free', for the few stops down to where the stadium was. Well close enough anyway. According to the map. The problem with maps is that they are both flat, and often leave out minor roads. So it was uphill again through back streets, & across a park, which should have brought me out across the road from the stadium. I say 'should'...not too bad, I was only about half a mile out!

The floodlights are now ahead of me, over an hour before the 6.00pm kick off, and I see an open gate. I walk in, in the hope and anticipation, of getting a few daylight snaps inside, and before iIknow it I'm pitchside! I quickly point my camera left, right and centre, and am tempted to walk onto the pitch itself, but for some reson am loathe to draw too much attention to myself. I know it's only a few quid to get in, so am going to leave anyway, to pay to get in, so I can get a programme if there is one. But, walking behind one of the stands I'm finally clocked and politely asked to leave, my only words, after a shrug of my shoulders, being 'Sorry, English!'

Outside the turnstiles aren't open yet, so I stroll round to the training pitch behind the far goal, and on my return I can finally pay to get in. There are a number of stewards on the gate, searching bags, & in mine have a large bottle of coca cola for the train journey back to Prague. I do an about turn & put it under a nearby hedge, for collecting at the final whistle! I'm not addimg to it though...

Which is what I did at the port of Civitavecchia to Cagliari, during the 1990 World Cup finals. The local old bill had the port well under lockdown, allowing locals to give it large, while having a go at any English who gave it back. On getting to the port they were doing full bag inspections, and confiscating any alcohol they found, which was ALL of it! Not nice...a twelve hour crossing on a dry boat! (Wouldn't bother me now, mind!) I had a suty free bottle of scotch I'd been saving for the crossing. Luckily I saw what was happening, and while I had no time to neck it down, I dashed to the toilet, tipped about a third away, and pissed in the bottle to the top! Queuing politely back at Checkpoin Thieving Eyetie, I made a show of protesting when it got to my turn, smiling imwardly as they held my bottle of Bells aloft, and grinning and shouting to each other. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I never! ;-)

It's another Czech bargain price to get in, only 60Kc, which is just over two quid! A 12 page A5 programme is also free on the gate, a colour glossy cover, with eight pages of standard black and white inside, and being English I grab half a dozen!

I head behind the newst stand, behind the goal, which is the largest. This is stand B, which holds 2428. I'm sat in here, with the front row raised above the goal, with excellent views down the pitch. I love the floodlights which curve upwards. I wrongly presumed they are old fashioned ones, but were actually constructed, along with the new B stand, in 2006. To my left is a small stand, with a mere 101 seats, high up at about third floor level, for the VIPs and press. The far end has a small stretch of open terrace, and a hundred open seats, for away fans. It is totally empty tonight! And to my right is a shallower, older home stand, which holds 2428. There is a small area of terrace to the side of this nearest to the new stand, and this is where the noisy 'hardcore' fans were. About fifty of them. They had banners and jackets with 'highlanders' on them. My initial reaction was to jump to the wrong conclusion, and wind myself up, on the assumption that they had some sort of fan link up with a Scottish side. Nothing of the sort, thankfully!

Vysocina, in the club name, is not a sponsors name, which was my guess. It's actually the region where the town of Jihlava is. Which is a hilly area, hence the 'highlands' tag! Panic over, I can now happily support the home side!

It's a while to kick off yet, but I settle down & take my seat, the stand is sparcely populated at the moment, and the players are warming up down below. One wayward shot, with a fair bit of power smacks into the seats only teo places along from me! Was it something I said? I haven't said a bloody word! All I was doing was 'reading' the programme, or to be more precise, studying the statistics, which is all I can understand. Numbers good, letters bad!

The previous week Jihlava had been well and truly stuffed 5-1 away to third placed Banik Sokolov & after Caslav took a fourth minute lead, and the way the game looked like going early doors, another heavy defeat for them would not have surprised me. Which shows how little I know about football, as the final score was five one, but to the hosts!

From a throw in the ball goes over the static home defence & Martin Kotyza is on hand to pounce at the far post, knocking the ball over the line. A minute or so another Caslav player is allowed an 'after you Claude' moment, but his effort is just wide of the post.

The atmosphere is not good, practically no existent. Although the sixty or so 'Highlanders' to our right are making an effort the rest of the crowd are silent. It takes the chap behind the tannoy to get the crowd clapping for a free kick. The sort of rhythmic hand clapping that they like so much abroad. Not that it did any good...the effort is well wide, and so far, if you asked me what I think of Jihlava, my response would be 'bloody awful!'

But, almost as if they can read my mind, and don't want to disappoint their visitor from London, the game is turned on it's head! The equaliser comes on nineteen minutes when Stanislav Tecl heads home to level. And only three minutes late it's the same player who puts them ahead, once more off of his bonce. The home fans were up on their feet cheering, but in one sense it was almost as annoying as the sterile, manufactured atmosphere that you see on 'Match of the Day' week after week, as 'We will rock you!' blared out of the loudspeakers. Why?

Now it's game on, which is just as well, because the temperature is dropping, so I need a half decent game to keep my mind off the cold. And the cockles are warmed six minutes before half time when the visiting keeper fumbles, from a corner as if he were Scottish, which is ironic what with the hosts being the Highlanders, and this time it's Jan Penc who heads home.

I spend half time wandering around the outside beer stands, wistfully looking at them, as they do look so tempting, but I just cannot as a recovering alcoholic! Thankfully I'm mentally strong enough to resist the 'temptations' and go back to the stand before the second half, being sad enough to stop the multi-coloured hedgehog thingy that is the home mascot to stop at the front of the stand and pose for a photo!

Sat back in my seat for the second half I almost had a 'highlight of the game' moment, when one of the beer sellers who worked the aisles with trays of eight beverages, stumbled over a seat while trying to get his wares to a fan, but-just-managed to keep his footing, without spilling a drop. There was a collective 'ooh!' from those around us, and another, 'aah!', with a tinge of disappointment I detected, as he held the lot!

Jihlava continue to dominate, and have more of the play, just wide, or a whisker over the bar, but it's not until over half of this second period has gone that they add another.

The man on the mic continues to try to whip up the crowd, trying to encourage a 'Mexican Wave' or two. I'm more than pleased when it's only half-hearted, with most of the 1,450 punters more interested in the football, too cold to bother, or a combination of the two. maybe like me they just can't stand bloody 'Mexican waves'!

I suspect most are here for the goals, & there is another. With the fifth hitting the back of the net not long after, on 78 minutes, for the last goal of the game. But it didn't mean the action was over, as I see my first red card of my holiday, with Caslav's Vladimir Dobal getting an early bath for a second yellow, a foul just outside the box.

The game is almost over, we're into stoppage time, and I'm moving rapidly toward the exit, & checking and double checking my route back to the station, for now every second is vital! The main station is on the edge of town, and I've already realised I will not have enough time to make my train back to Prague. But there is a nearer local station, which appears to have a coonection, when I looked at the non-English timetable there when I arrived. Trying not to panic I trot in the right direction. 'Trot' not being quite the wrong word, I'm not fit enough to break out into a trot, it's more of a 'brisk walk'.

I stick to the main roads, as my map is only a tourist type handout, which I have been using all afternoon, but has already resulted in me double backing on some side streets, which aren't on there. I find the station, but realise the train I thought I was dashing for isn't on this timetable, I have no idea what i was looking at, but there is a train that gives me a 'two minute' window at the main station. After my initial panic, as in 'fuck, fuck, fuck! I'm gonna have to sleep on a freezing station in the middle of the country, a long way from my bed in Prague!' I realise that the 'local train' I think I'm going to get is in fact the cross-country service that I need to get my connection to Prague, & it also stops at this Jihlava station. Phew! I'm starting to relax now, and crack open my bottle of coca cola, which I remembered to pick up from the bushes outside the ground.

The station is almost deserted. Bar two Germans. I don't speak to them, I don't want to make a tit of myself. Which is weird really, as they are doing the same as me. Groundhopping! I can't be certain of that, but they spoke German, one had a copy of 'Kicker' in his pocket; & the other had a camera, was half pissed, and had a supply of beer!

I'm sure they would have been interesting company, presuming they spoke English, but I am always reticent to approach foreigners really in this situation, although I'm amenable to them chatting to me. Strange, I know.

Reminds me of the time, a couple of seasons ago, when I went to Dieppe, to watch Red Star play, with fellow Dulwich Hamlet fans Paul Griffin & Mark Hutton. I was wandering around the Canadian War Cemetery there, which was very close to our hotel. The place was deserted, bar a couple of Canadians paying their respects. They saw us, and we clocked them. Yet I couldn't approach them to see why they were there. I would have loved to hear their story, but just couldn't summon up the inner courage to try to converse. Which is bloody stupid!

As it was tonight. The Germans also end up in Prague..so clearly they were crazy groundhoppers like me. Sadly I will never know...

Sparta Praha 2, CF Cluj 0

2009-10-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

This is the first football match of my October 2009 'birthday trip' to Prague. I 'treat myself' each year for remaining another year sober, since my last birthday. It started out as a long weekend trip, but it's grown into over a week long stay.

Yesterday I travelled to Chrudim, for a second division ice hockey game. I also took time to snap the two local non-league grounds; AFK & SK. Which was just as well, as it wasn't the best of places to visit, with some of the few touristy type places being closed for renovation, or simply shut for the winter. But pleasant enough to walk round, as it was dry & sunny.

Today I have spent the day in Prague, where I am based for the next week. After a day travelling around the city photographing a variety of non league grounds I'm heading for the Generali Stadium,home of Sparta Prague, for a Europa League match with CF Cluj, from Romania.

Technically my first visit there, though it isn't a new ground. On my previous trips it has been the Toyota Stadium, and then the AXA stadium. The traditional name is the Letna Stadium. It holds 20,854 & for tonights match it was just under half full, the official attendance being given out on the electronic scoreboard as 10,134.

Letna is a small area of the city of Prague, dominated by the Letna Park across the main road outside the ground. Walk across here from the stadium and you will reach the site of the former statue of Stalin, which stands atop the Vltava River, which runs below, and from where you can get superb views of the Old Town, with steps down to the river. Erected in 1995, but blown up in 1962, the site now has a strange huge metronome, ticking away since 1991. The marble & stone slabs up there are now crumbling & the site is a bit of a mecca for local skateboarders, as the South Bank is in London, along the Thames. What isn't mentioned in the majority of tourist type sites is that at night, in the summer months, until the cold weather starts arriving, this area is also a busy area with gay cruising and rentboys at night!

I'm not sure, off the top of my head how many times I've been to watch football here.
It's a few... My first visit was in October 2003, when I saw Sparta take on Turkish side Besiktas, in a European Champions League group game, with two fellow Dulwich Hamlet fans Lawrence Marsh & Phil Baker with me on that trip, which was my first ever 'groundhopping' one, having made my original trip to Prague the previous May, when the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team had taken part in a tournament in the city. I liked the place so much I vowed to go back in October as a 'birthday treat' to myself, & I have been doing so ever since! This trip being my eighth to the capital of the Czech Republic!

So why so many visits to watch Sparta? Unfortunately I am from the 'old school' that believes that once you have chosen your team you cannot change it, so I am stuck with them...You see they were formed in 1893, the same year as Dulwich Hamlet, & it was simply on that basis why I chose them. At the time I didn't realise their 'ultra' element was right wing and racist. I persevere with Sparta, but having been to Bohemians 1905 a couple of times their fans are more in tune with my sort of supporter. I am very tempted to be fond of Sparta, but ditch them as my number one Czech club, by my principles won't allow me.

The game this evening is my third European tie here, but my first in the new fangled Europa League. (As well as the aforementioned Besiktas match, I have also seen FC Zurich, from Switzerland play here) I had a choice of two matches tonight. The other is an ice hockey one, Slavia being at home to Kladno in the top flight 02 Extraliga. Bizarrely at football I support Sparta, but my favourite hockey team is Slavia! This stems back, not to year of formation, but simply the first Czech hockey match I ever saw was the at the old Slavia hockey home at Eden. A cracking game, with superb atmosphere, and my first experience of terracing at an ice kockey match, every bit as passionate as football supporters'! Thus I adopted Slavia as my Czecho hockey sons!

The thing that 'swung' the football for me was the opportunity to see the UEFA experiment that is 'fifth & sixth' officials standing behind the goal. How would it work? What was the point? Maybe I wouldn't even notice them?

The stadium is an easy ten minute stroll from Hradkanska Metro station, on the green coloured 'B' line, but the main road is parlty closed off for some huge building work on the Letna Plain across from the ground, which has been ongoing for over a year now. It's not a hardship, as I know which direction the ground is, and simply follow the crowds through the back street pedestrianised diversion.

On getting to the ticket office I am not entirely sure which ticket to purchase & the woman behind the jump tries to 'knock me' for the most expensive ones, at over 800 Czech crowns! (Kc)
I opt for a cheaper one, at 150 Kc, behind the goal, in an upper tier, just to the left of the goal. This is around a fiver, and there were cheaper ones down below!

I go through the turnstiles and have the obligatory search, which isn't too thorough, I could have sneaked in whatever I liked. The programme is the best I see on my Czech trips, though you do have to pay for it. Some clubs hand them out free. It is a bargain 20Kc, less than a quid, as is a full colour glossy 40 pager, with lots of articles & photos; though padded out with 12 and half pages of adverts. Still at that price you can't really complain can you?

I go up the stairs once inside and am in an open concourse, that is 'roofed' by the seats going up above, but you can look out over to the road. There's a number of food stalls up here, selling the traditional czech sauagages Klobasa, which is a fatty meat, sold on o small paper tray, with a slice of dry bread and a dollop of mustard. Which is a pain, as I don't like mustard, so struggle to keep my bread and sausage away from it, as I don't know the local lingo for 'no mustard'! There's also a stall offering portions of roast chicken, either quartered, halved or whole! I'm a bit hungry now, as it's early evening, so go for a half! A bit greasy, but still delicious. The food I had been looking for, & had enjoyed on previous matchdays here, was nowhere to be seen. Where was the goulash man? No sign of the bowls of goulash soup. Gutted!

The large wooden club shop was also no longer there. It sold lots of official souvenirs, but also had a large selection of badges for sale. There was a newer one, which I didn't spot straight away, but it was smaller, and more limited, only selling a small amout of merchandise from the official club shop, which is open every day, in another corner, outside the ground.

Time to take my seat, & it's a good one, in the front row of the upper tier, so I'm looking right over the pitch with no obstructions whatsoever. But to be honest none of the vantage points are poor really, and I've sat on all four sides of the ground. The crowd are whipped up by the playing of the club song, and then the battle commences.

I'm no expert on Czech football, but one name that stands out on the starting line-up is Czech International Tomas Repka, who had a spell in England with West ham United. Out injured is another ex-English based international, Patrik Berger. I know even less about the opposition CF Cluj, other than the fact they are a releatively recently succesful Romanian club, having come up from a lifetime in the lower divisions, and that a few years ago they were drawn against Chelsea.

The game starts off fairly cagey, as the two sides try to suss each other out, the first real attempt on goal being a Sparta header, after twelve minutes. Three minutes later, on the quarter hour mark it's one nil Sparta! A cross from the right is headed downward by Juraj Kucka & into the back of the net.

After twenty minutes I start to experience the nasty side of the Sparta fans. Lacina Traore, a 19 year old youngster from the Ivory Coast, playing up front, is fouled on the edge of the box, at the far end, cue disgusting monkey noises from the hard core Sparta supporters, fenced into their own enclosure to my right. In front of them, standing pitchside, is one of the extra officials, who could NOT have failed ot hear it. I trust it was mentioned, & included in their match report...

In the 24th minute I finally see the fifth official in action. Sparta are awarded a free kick just outside the area, and HE marches onto the pitch to instruct the Cluj wall to move back the full ten yars (or whatever it is nowadays in metric!). Surely the official in the middle is able to do that? This is the official who stays on the right hand side of the goal, as i'm looking toward it for the entire ninety minutes. so if there's any incident of note the other side of the goal he has to view it through a crowd of players, rather than moving along the touchline to get a good view of play either side of the net. And why on the right? He's standing right in front of the hardcore 'ultra' section, which could make him a bit of a target? I would make more sense for him to stand in front of my section, where the crowd are noisy, but not so crazy would it not?

The free kick is taken, and although no goal results from it, I see something that I can't recall before, and although it is legal, not sure if it should be! The Sparta player runs to hit the ball but steps over it...quickly swivelling & running back to strike it second time. It certainly unsettled the Romanian wall, & I would have imagined unsporting at the very least.

Since taking the lead Sparta are starting to dominate, and just after the halfhour mark the lead is doubled. On 32 minutes Roman Hubnik scissorkicks in the box, the keeper parries, but the second attempt goes into the back of the net.

The crowd are certainly warming up now, & I'm not sure if I'm surrounded by loonies, or just fans enjoying themselves. Individual punters jump up and start songs, but when nobosy joins in next to them they continue right to the end of it! No hint of embarrasment by looking, what would be classed as back home in England, and total idiot! Fair play to them I say!

The rest of the first period sees no more goals, Sparta continue to be the better side, though Cluj manage to break through, but waste a good chance, ballooning the ball way over the bar.

After the break there were no more goals, but an early effort in the 50th minute could well have been. Kamil Vacek lets leash a shot in the area, just outside the six yard boc, which the visiting custodian reacts superbly to, just tipping it over the bar for a corner.

What was quite pleasing about this game, was there was very little of the Czech habit of rolling around & feigning injuries after hard tackles. Maybe this is because they knew they couldn't play about with the Russian officials, or maybe there has been a genuine clampdown on this nonsense domestically, who knows?

There were only three yellow cards shown throughout the match, which isn't that many nowadays, the 'luckiest' one going to Ondrej Kusnir, on 59 minutes, for a crude foul on a visitor, that could quite easily have made him see red for an early bath.

Another should have been dished out to Lubos Kalouda, from Sparta, who after one challenge, held his head, then theatrically rolled on the floor, not once, twice or even three times...but FIVE! No stetcher called for, and he jumped up once he realised that play was moving on! What a pillock! This is the play acting I was referring to earlier.

With just over twenty minutes to go there finally came some drama with the fifth official. he indicated the ball had crossed the touchline, before being centred, right in front of him, so the referee blew for a goal kick. much to the digust of the home 'ultras' behind him, as cups of plastic beer reigned down toward him, as they questioned his decision. untiI was further along, but in the front row of the upper section, & had a good view of the touchline, & I was sure it had not gone out. So much for them being able to solve everything...

And while we're on the subject of extra officials, the number four ones are a bit of nuisance too. midway through the half Sparta's Kamil Vacek took a knock & rather than go down, hobbled a little, before going over to the home dugout for treatment. The fourth official hovered over like an officious headmaster high on power, to make sure nothing untoward occured!

The three 'proper' ones weren't immune to my ridicule either. The ball was clearly out on the tuchline nearest to me on my left, but he waved play-on, in Sparta's favour, which was the cue for much laughter & ridicule for the poor man! Maybe their should be a 'secondarylinesman' shadowing the main one to pick up on any errors he might make. If they disagree with each other, having had a quick conflab about it, then maybe toss a coin to decide, or a drop ball? No, no! I'm only joking!

When the Cluj number nine from the Ivory Coast went off, for their final substitution, which was the cue for more concerted monkey noises. Joining in was an old boy to my right, who stook up going 'ooh, ooh!', turning and laughing at me, when he sat down again. What did he excpect me to do? Give him a round of applause. Luckily for him I don't speak Czech, or I'd have told the racist old fucker where to go! ' Karma' meant he got his 'payback' at the end. the two younger chaps with him, who knows maybe his racist sons, I don't know, got up to leave a minute or two early, & they had to call for him to follow. He jumped up quickly, foregetting the thin folding Sparta cushion that you can buy in the club shop. Before he had time to come back and claim it I whipped it right away into my bag. Cheers old man!

Despite being beaten by a clearly better side fair play to Cluj for still trying to press. A couple of chances in the last five minutes resulted in corners, and I was almost winning them to get a consolation, if only for their three hundred or so fans who had got behind them for the whole match, even when it was lost.

There was drama at the death, when the Cluj keeper pushed a Sparta player, & there was a bit of 'handbags' right in front of the home 'Ultras', which results in more beer & other objects being thrown onto the pitch.

London FA Under 18s 3, Northamptonshire FA 1

2009-10-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

With one of the Dulwich Hamlet Youth Teams not having a game this morning, & being too lazy to get up early & travel down to Faversham Town to watch the other one, I took the easy, lazy option & headed to Champion Hill for a two o'clock kick off.

We're staging an FA County Youth Cup First Round tie, between the London FA Under 18 representative side, and their Northamptonshire counterparts. This competition has always been a bit of a puzzle to me, well not so much the competition, but the sides selected. I find it hard to understand how a county FA as large as London rarely fail to impress in it. Most managers see it as a nuisance, especially if playing in a Sunday youth league, as if you have more than a couple of your best players selected you will then postpone your match, & end up with a fixture backlog. I have no idea what 'scouting' system London have in place, but I would hazard a wild guess and suggest it's probably non-existent, & players picked are those that the manager happens to know. Todays line up has half a dozen players from Bromley Academy, with only two listed in the programme NOT from south of the river. And from Ebsfleet & Woking, hardly London at all!

The Northamptonshire team have some teams I've not even heard of, such as Northampton Sileby Rangers and Thrapston. I know nothing of the strength of either squad, but will have London down as favourites, with the opposition being one of the lesser footballing counties.

I call that right as London run out three one winners. It was good to see the referee Chris Phillips from the Surrey FA, stamp his authority very early on when the Northants keeper is booked in the third minute for pulling down an attacker outside the area. A couple of minutes later London go one up when the collosal Uchechi Ibermore powers past two defenders, leaving them in his wake to shoot past the keeper.

Up the other end it's a lucky let-off for London when Aaron Gayle clears across the area going for a corner, but hits the post. He embarrasingly covers his mouth as if to go 'whoops!'

Moments later London keeper Jamie O'Connell of Blackheath Wanderers (if he really is the best young keeper in London what's he doing playing for them?) is impressed with a defensive clearance, that moves the ball upfield. "Fucking quality" is crystal clear from where I'm sat in the stand, in front of a packed directors box. Much muttering from the county bigwigs, the majority senior citizens. One draws his hand across his mouth while shouting 'button it!'. Not long after a London player is substituted. Not one round of applause from the old fogies, so much for decency & fair play eh?

London double their lead around ten minutes before half time. Ucheche Ibermore cuts in from the left, and is fouled by the touchline, in the box. A penalty is given, much to the surprise of the wise old men in the stand, although not one player complains. One home official turns to his Northampton counterparts an jokes: " Oh dear. He's not from London I tell you." The penalty is converted and it looks like two nil going into the break, but Northamptonshire get one back just before the half is over, as the ball squirms under the London keeper,to keep the second half interesting.

Just under halfway through the second period it's game over after Jay Smale sees the keeper off his line and floats the ball over him into the back of the net from a good thirty yards, wide on the left. Northamptonshire don't give up, but end up second best. It's been a surprisngly good match, considering these teams are thrown together, often at short notice, when players drop out. I may watch one or two more as the competition progresses.

Dulwich Hamlet 1, Eastbourne Town 1

2009-10-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

This game was brought forward from the 20th of March next year, after we were knocked out of the FA Trophy at Burgess Hill, & Eastbourne Town were comprehensively beaten away to Enfield Town 4-0.

As this was my Saturday off work I had been planning to use the blank day to tick off a new ground, & had a visit to North Greenford United lined up. By the time a quarter to five had come round I wished I had headed over to the other side of London.

Another poor home performance from the Hamlet, in front of our lowest crowd of the season. Only 149 hardy souls turning up, with not even the 'nine' bothering from the Sussex coast.

The previous week we'd had a 3-3 draw with Chatham Town, in front of well over a hundred more punters. Why the sudden drop?

A number of reasons. This game was hastily arranged at only eight days notice, & not everyone looks at the internet, or have other things planned. One of our regulars, Phil Baker, is partial to a pint (or ten!) & often spends much of the game in the bar, looking out through the large windows behind the seats in the newly named Tommy Jover Stand. Paul Griffin texted him just before half time, assuming he was up there, telling him to get the half time beers in, & it turned out he didn't know about the game & was at home in Blackheath! He got to the ground for the last ten minutes. In time to see our equaliser &, on what he saw, almost certainly the only person in the ground who thought it was a half decent match.

The previous week was a Premiership-free one, as it was an international weekend, so that probably helped the crowd too. As did the official naming of our stand as the 'Tommy Jover Stand' . He was one of the all time Hamlet greats, our Club President & former player, who passed away last year aged 91. His wife did the honours of unveiling the plaque, fittingly in the directors box area, where most fans will never see it, as he wasn't one to chat to supporters' unless they spoke to him . On the overhang of the stand in big blue letters, both on the front, and on the side over the tea bar, it now states 'Tommy Jover Stand'. But oh dear, it looks so cheap. Whayt should have been a smart sign actually looks like lettering stuck on with giant Letraset. It's look cheap, even thought it wasn't, costing eight hundred quid! Behind the goal this afternoon Richard Watts suggested running a sweepstake to see how many letters would be left by the end of the season, as the weather begins to take its toll on them.

It is also possible that one or two fans stayed away after more embarrassing antics from our player-manager Gavin Rose last week. Having come back from three one down the Hamlet equalised in stoppage time to earn a point. And how did the boss celebrate? By making a 'Nescafe shuffle' gesture towards some of the fans behind the goal. As much I have a lot of time for Gavin I simply cannot defend the indefensible, and the only person that sounds like a tosser is Gavin himself!

Eastbourne Town have only won once this season, & everyone had cautiously high hopes of ourselves winning our first home game of our campaign! In the first few minutes we were still optimistic, but with their first decent foray onto our goal Ashley Jarvis scored, with our defence being all over the shop. More Eastbourne pressure followed, and they had the ball in the back of the net fifteen minutes later, but fortunately the flag was raised for offside.

Despite Dulwich having more possession there was, once again, no end product, & when Eastbourne did counter attack they got a darn sight closer than us. One effort smashing against the crossbar. In truth we never put their keeper under any real pressure, & the visitors had the last chance of the half when an Adam Davidson effort was an inch or two wide of the target. How we only went in at the break a lone goal behind was a bit of a mystery.

I spent more of the half chatting away with Mark Hutton, who had just returned from a week away in Poland, & kept me much more entertained with tales from his travels. As I headed round the side, from behind the goal a few minutes just before the merciful interval, I was kept amused by Ian Caldecourt, who took the mick out of the balding referee who looked a ringer for Al Murray the Pub Landlord, much to the amusement of the lineman in front of him ,who was struggling to keep a straight face. There was definately a wide grin!

The second forty five minutes were an improvement, but not much to write home about. True we did up the tempo, but in all honesty it couldn't have got much worse. Surely the game was there for the taking when Eastbourne had centre-half Matthew Sellick earn a red card for needless abuse of the referee. How he was not joined by their little pipsqueak of a manager Ady Colwell who hardly stopped moaning from his dugout I have no idea.

With all their ill-disciplined whinging, combined with a ridiculously slow walk off the pitch when Liam Baitup baited the referee with a ridiculously slow walk to the touchline when substituted during the previously announced five minutes of stoppage time, it was poetic justice when we finally equalised in time added on, as the clock ticked into the sixth minute.

Sanchez Ming skinned their full-back, crossed the ball into a crowded area, for Alex Tiesse to prod home. A relief to the Hamlet faithful, but no great celebrations, as it was still two points dropped to poor opposition. no doubt Eastbourne will claim they were hard done by, & deserved all three points. But with their moaning & time wasting they were not worthy of anything of the sort.

Panthers LFC 3, Haringey Borough LFC 4

2009-10-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

This was a surprise bonus game. In the morning I'd been at the South Bank University ground in West Dulwich watching one of the Hamlet Youth Teams. I was planning to go home for a bite to eat, before heading off to Streatham to watch some ice hockey. The womens' B team at 4.30pm, followed by the Bruins, the mens' second string, afterwards. That was the plan...

Midway through the second half of that match I got a text from Dave West telling me there was an FA Women's Cup Second Qualifying Round match at the old Nat West sportsground in Norbury, with a 2.00pm kick off. Not that he was bothering, the lazy git, even though he lives that way. But he thought I might, as it was so close to Streatham. I 'ummed & arghed', but not for long, and jumped on the bus to Brixton, then another to Norbury. Eddie Smith was also there, it's local for him too. At least I have someone to chat to. He tells me about his forthcoming trip up to Inverness.

I knew it wouldn't be anything like the calibre of the match I say a few days before at Boreham Wood! Too right! I got there a few minutes late, and the home side Panthers LFC, of the London & SE Regional Womens League Premier Division, were already one up against Haringey Borough. Who themselves compete in an equivalent level in the Eastern Region Womens League. They have been on the back foot as it is, only having ten players. Another is on the way, presumably lost when coming south of the river! But when she arrives & gets on a ful strength Haringey first equalise, & then go ahead just before half time.

When they score a third after the break it seems game over. But they are tiring. At this level we're not talking finely tuned athletes. Their main forward isn't exactly agile, to be honest she's a bit of a tub of lard, and it's surprising she knows what exercise is, but there you go. Panthers pull one back, and then equalise, and now it's Haringey on the defensive. With the drizzle meaning I'm not only watching two poor sides but getting wet in the process, the last thing I need is extra time. Especially as I'm supposed to be goal judging at the ice hockey in the first game.

I'm saved from more suffering with a few minutes left on the clock, when the long ball is played over the top for the fat forward to latch onto & hit the winner! So that's why she's out there!

The final whistle goes, not a seven goal thriller, but bit of a chore, if I'm honest. I've nothing against womens football. It's a sport within it's own right. The error people make is comparing it to the mens game, which you clearly can't. But it doesn't mean it's pretty crap at the lower reaches. So I think my occasional delving into these matches in future will be to see the Arsenals & Millwall Lionesses of this world.

Dulwich Hamlet Under 18s 10, Cray Wanderers 0

2009-10-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

Another North Division match in the Kent Youth League, against Cray Wanderers. I wasn't expecting such a one sided game. Especially against Cray Wanderers, who you usually have a tight matches with.

Not that I didn't enjoy it. This was my first 'double figures' of the season, & you don't get many of them. Too easy to be competitive? Not on your nelly! As long as it's my team scoring the more goals the merrier. There was no cabaret this year. For the last two seasons one of the Cray players parents has been quality entertainment. Never mind the lads playing football on the pitch, he was worth the admission money alone, if gates were ever taken at these fixtures. Which they're not. His son played for the Wands, and is over age for youth football now, I would guess. His old man would moan about every challenge, and shout at the referee, but when it came to our players giving it back it was 'play the game, we're here to play football'. And heaven forbid any verbals at the officials from our lot. He would admonish our boys telling them to let the man referee & get on with the game! As I say, he was pure cabaret! And astonishingly in the latter games against them last season he even ran the line as their club lino!

This morning there was sportsmanship, of sorts, on the line. Early on we whipped a cross in, and the Cray keeper bawled out his defeneders, ending with a loud 'fuckin' 'ell!' One of their parents on the sideline moved his fingers across his mouth & ordered him to 'zip it!', then went back to his conversation with another of their crowd, littered with swear words.

As the half wore on I'm surprised he didn't swear more, as the goals rained into the back of his net. The first came after eight minutes, a cross from the right was knocked into the back of the old onion bag with a textbook downward header. By the time the half time whistle went it was five. Who knows if it could have been more, as Cray desperately tried to keep the score down with the help of the Cray club lineman in front of me. Just before the break a Hamlet shot was deflected by a defender for a clear cut corner. The referee was unsighted, so looked over to the lino. Who gave a goal kick! I didn't say anything, as clubs are totally accountable for spectators at youth level, but was digusted when he joked with his Cray cronies that 'I had to give a goal kick, we've been under too much pressure!'

The second half was more of the same. I missed our sixth, not because I was late out of the clubhouse. I was back on the touchline in time for the re-start, but only had half an eye on the game, as I was reading the 'Non League Paper' at the same time. I did try to pay more attention & saw the remaining four goals. I also spent the rest of the half part earwigging a gaggle of Cray mums, which was quite funny. They clearly weren't too impressed with the lad between the sticks for them. After our seventh went in one exclaimed: " I'll go in goal, he's rubbish!" Not long after the Cray number six took a tumble and stayed down. One of them, presumably his mum, went: "Oh shit! It's not his ankle again! We wasn't even watching, chatting again. What happened. He only broke it in March, it's the same one!" He hobbled off the pitch, but moments later was fine, gingerly walking up and down the touchline. Calm down mother!

But with no subs they were down to ten men, & Dulwich continued to dominate. Bitchy anti-keeper mum shot off another barbed dig as he made a save. "Blimey it moved!", as if the heavy defeat was all his alone. no doubt her boy must've been playing in defence. I'll leave you with the benefit of their footballing wisdom to one last comment. It's a Cray throw-in, & there's not much movement, with no yellow shirts moving toward the thrower. "If he's got to throw that then surely the others should get closer...they're not moving....oh...he's got a pretty long throw!"

Two goals later & it was double figures. I left with a smile on my face.

Arsenal Ladies 9, FC PAOK Thessaloniki 0

2009-10-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

At the start of the season I didn't think I'd see a match in the UEFA Womens' Champions League. If I totally honest with you I hadn't even heard of the competition!

In my job I always have Wednesdays off, so when I saw that Arsenal Ladies were at home to the Greek champions FC PAOK Thessalonika. Not at the Emirates...who knows, maybe if the get to the semi finals? The actual final itself is in Madrid on 20th May next year. Which is two days before the mens' Champions League Final in the same city. Imagine if Arsenal were to get to both!

This match is at Boreham Wood FC. Easy to get to, on the edge of zone six. Well it should have been easy. Coming home from work yesterday I checked the train times as I was going through London Bridge on the way home. Sensible you'd think. Except I looked a the boards on the bridge over the platforms which were out of date. So when I got to platform six today I had to change at St. Pancras, as they no longer go direct to Elstree & Borehamwood. As a reslut I missed the first few minutes, but not any goals. Which I could well have done, as the Gooners girls are 9-0 up from the first leg!

The rain is coming down & I'm soaked from the 15 minute walk down the high street from the station. It's free to get in ,& there's an excellent glossy, full colour 16 page A5 programme for only a quid. Rather than go into the main stand, where the majority of the crowd are, I head over to the covered terrace side, & chat with my old mate Dave West, who's got his long lens out, as always. There's another hopper with us, a srcuffy bloke with long straggly hair, a bit of a groundhopping stereotype, I suppose. I seen him about at grounds for many years, but never spoken to him before. Talking to him for the first time, he had a good sense of humour & the pair of them were decent company for the afternoon.

The game itself was as one sided as I expected. Arsenal opened up their tally in the 11th minute when Kim Little scored, doubling her tally a couple of minutes later. She added another early in the second half, to bag a hat trick. By half time a Kyriaki Kynossidou own goal made it five at the break.

I was impressed with the skill of the Arsenal side, even against clearly inferiour opposition. But credit to the Greeks, they continued to try to make a game of it, rght up to the final whistle, with the final score being a repeat of the first leg, making it eighteen for no reply on aggregate.

At half time a chap who had been taking photos stopped to chat, & sold me a copy of a magazine called 'Fair Game', for £2. With the wet weather I put it straight in my bag without looking at it. Something to peruse on the train back into central London. Bit of a cheeky sale if I may say so. It had April 09 on the cover, with a face value of £2.25, so we did 'save' a few pennies, & I wasn't too fussed at it being way out of date as i hadn't seen a copy before, but it would have been nice if he'd mentioned it was such an old edition.

The crowd looked a couple of hundred, not bad for a midweek afternoon in the rain. It would have been as quiet as the old Highbury 'library' but for one totally barking mad woman in the corner of the stand. Dressed in red, with Arsenal scarf & hat, she sang constantly throughout the game, including a number of anti-Tottenham songs in her repertoire! It was bad enough on the other side of the ground from her, never mind the poor sods sat around her!

On the train home we got talking to an Arsenal fan Paul Bright, who is a regular at the Ladies fixtures, & I mentioned the mad woman. turns out that she's his aunt, & is just a loony at the Emirates, where she's a season ticket holder. I admire her dedication, but couldn't be stuck next to her every home game! He's travelled up from his home in Brighton today, but she lives near the Holloway Road. He didn't disagree that she was a bit 'mad', and said her home is covered in Arsenal memorabilia, including the carpet!

It was a little strange seeing 'household names',even if I didn't recognise their faces ,on the pitch,such as Rachel Yankey. She didn't so much tear apart the Greek defence as skip through them. They may as well have not been there, such was her ease in taking them on.

The next round is on Wednesday 11th November, also an afternoon kick off, against Sparta Prague, following on from the first leg in the Czech Republic the week before. It's not often I watch womens' football, but I'm hungry for more, & will return for the next round.

Enfield Town 1, Dulwich Hamlet Under 18s 4

2009-10-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

It's the next round of the FA Youth Cup. Having been to this ground to see the landlords Brimsdown Rovers in the FA Cup earlier in the season, I hadn't expected to be back so soon!

On walking into the car park I see we have travelled in style on a big team coach. Now presumably you can offset this against the gate, as this is an FA competition, but after th officials & other match day expeneses have been knocked off I would have thought that this is a loss shared. For a Club that's supposed to be so skint I cannot fathom how we afford a fancy coach for this tie. But there you go. What do I know? I'm only a supporter.

So here I am, in a confident mood, even though the 'non-league grapevine' says that Enfield Town are not a bad youth side. On arriving some of the home fans have long memories, from the old Isthmian days when they supported Enfield FC, before they walked away to form Town. Several come up and say hello to me, and chat. They were old adversaries of ours in supporters' football, and as a result we got on really well with them. Somewhat embarrassingly I haven't a clue who I'm speaking to. My memory is not as good as theirs!

I pop in the bar, and I notice an old football shield on the wall, which hadn't caught my attention on my last visit. I've never heard of the competition, presumably a local Essex/east London based one. Engraved wirh ' Surburban Northern Intermediate League' it states 'founded 1921'; with the last winners with their name on it being a team called Claptonians. The Brimsdown tea bar is shut. I would guess they have an agreement with them to run their own one on Town matchdays. There is one inside the ground, but it's only hot drinks & sandwiches, none the traditional substantial greasy fare like hot dogs, burgers & chips, which Brimsdown Rovers had of a high standard when I saw them a few weeks earlier.

The game is a real end to end one, both sides going for it, & at some pace. But we are tearing them apart when going forward, even though they're not a mug side, & despite our dominance I'm happy with a lone goal lead, a low shot that beat the keeper from.

Ten minutes into the second period our lead was 'doubled' but disallowed for another non-existant challenges on the home goalie. The referee appeared to let it stand, but dithered, changing his mind after whingeing from the Enfield players. Justice was done five minutes later when we scored a totally legitimate effort. Two more were added as a much fitter young Hamlet side took control as the game wore on. Nyren Clunis finished with a hat-trick, with the other goal coming from Roy Odiaka, our hat-trick hero of the previous round

He must have impressed the watching Rio Ferdinand, the Manchester United & England star who was a Peckham boy, & close mates with Gavin Rose. He helps to fund the ASPIRE Academy, & it's great to see him manage to get to a game. Until he was pointed out I hadn't noticed him, but word got round. His attempts at being incognito didn't quite work, despite him 'hiding' under a grey hoodie. But fair play to people for letting him get on with just watching the match & not pestering him for autographs and photos. I'm sure he would have realised that goes with the trappings of fame, but it was good that people stepped back, didn't hassle him & allowed him some quality privacy while watching the Dulwich Hamlet Youth Team!

While I was well pleased with our performance I hope someone can have a word with Aaron Scott, our number two. Two second half incidents stick to mind. In one he was poleaxed in the middle of the park, but after a little lie down & realising the referee had allowed play to continue, he jumped up and jogged off in a recovery that Lazarus himself would have been proud of. A little later he was fouled, & to be fair he was cuaght, but the resultant squeal sounded like a who pen of pigs in unison. It did its job though, as the culprit got booked as a result. All in all a bit embarrassing, if I may so so.

We even had the luxury of allowing Louis Baldwin to stick a late consolation past us. And despite us knocking four past them I can't finish without mentioning their keeper Jason Holmes who showed real promise. It's hard to put him at fault for any of the goals, if anything he was let down by his defenders for some of them. His positioning was good, he was confident & had that natural self belief that is the mark of good keeper. I'd be surprised if he doesn't go on to be their first team keeper before long.

We're in the hat for the next round, actually pre drawn, but you know what I mean. If I were to say we are at home to the winners of Chelmsford City & Halstead Town it doesn't have the same ring to it. Football wise this was a superb job done, & once again, like Uxbridge the round before, the opposition were no pushovers despite the scorelines.

When I got back to Liverpool Street I jumped on a bus round to Liverpool Street for my train home. I flashed my travelcard & sat near the front behind the driver. I have an 'old fashioned' paper one, not the new fangled Oyster thingys. One chap hopped on & swiping his Oyster beeped funny. The driver called him back & he tried again, with the same noise, which meant he had no credit on his card. The driver quite correctly & politely told him that he would have to top it up & refused to let him travel for free. The indignant suit told him; "I've got money, I just haven't got any cash!" as he sheepishly got off the bus with the rest of us laughing away at him. Talk about 'icing on the cake' after a great win!

Dulwich Hamlet Under 18s 1, Thamesmead Town 1

2009-10-04T13:50:00.001-07:00

I can't get yesterday out of my head. The first thing I notice as that one of our players has a long white undershirt beneath his kit. Aaargh!! I'd never have spotted such an anoraky infringement if it wasn't for the moaning at Burgess Hill yesterday!

I was expecting a feisty game this morning versus Thamesmead Town. They have tended to be based on recent matches. None one more so than the London Cup final last season, when they were among the most ungracious losers I've ever seen, after we beat them five one.

Presumably they've had a change of personnel, as there was no real animosity in this Kent Youth League North Division match at South Bank University Sportsground.

The Hamlet had the best of the opening spells, a 30 yarder just over the bar; and hitting the post. One thing that annoyed me was when one of our forwards went for the ball, legitimately as far as I could see, as the keeper never had the ball under control, but the referee immediately blew for a foul. Protecting the keeper goes too far sometimes & it's almost as if there's a little invisible exclusion zone around them.

Just before half time I got a tap on the shoulder & our former Reserve Team manager Michael Watson said hello, in his job as scout for Charlton Athletic. If ever Gavin Rose leaves, then here is a man who could certainly be our First Team manager on a limited budget.

The Thamesmead equaliser comes midway through the second half, after they're awarded a penalty, after someone is brought down just inside the area. Despite the inevitable protestations that 'I never touched him!' it looked fair enough to me. Not a hack, but he did nudge him.

We do well to save the shot from the spot, but the penalty taker follows up to head into the net.

With ten minutes or so to go we get the ball into the net. Unfortuantely it's punched in Maradona style. And unlike the cheating fat Argie drug taker, this one is spotted, & he gets a straight red card for deliberate hand ball. Which I thought would only be a yellow, as I was under the misapprehension that you could only get a straight red if a handball denied a goalscoring opportunity, rather than scoring yourself.

One last thing that re-surfaced from yesterdays terrace talk. One of the Thamesmead subs was wearing those fashionable bright pink boots. Oops, sorry Morroccan Sunset! ;-)

Burgess Hill Town 2, Dulwich Hamlet 0

2009-10-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

A break from the league today. Time for a Trophy run to titilate us all. Yeah right....Another uninspiring performance from the Hamlet saw the end of the Wembley dream at the less salubrious surroundings of Burgess Hill Town before we'd even had it! Not so much a wet dream of glory as a damp squib!

On the way down I stopped off at Haywards Heath to take photos of both Haywards Heath Town & St. Francis Rangers, two Sussex County League clubs, and by the time a quarter to five had ticked round I wished I was a groundhopper & had stayed at one of them for my afternoon entertainment!

By far our best player was keeper Kieran Thorp, who had a blinder in the second half.Somehow only conceding one, to add to the opener for the Hillians five minutes before the break. Chances were few and far between for the Hamlet, & if we were uninspiring the home side weren't much better, though they did have far more chances, forcing quite a few corners. Our best attept on goal was from Gavin Rose,in the 37th minute when a strong shot from his was tipped over. But three minutes later Burgess Hill took the lead, in a move that came from us conceding a needless free kick.

After the interval what backbone we had for a fightback went after Junior Kadi was forced to go off injured, having been 'clattered', seen by everyone in the ground bar the man in black, who waved play on. This set off one of our resident referee baiters Liam Hickey, who harrangued the match official for the rest of the game. One of his most henious crimes being to allow a Burgess Hill player to wear a top under his shirt that wasn't a matching colour. A long black sleeve under a yellow short sleeved shirt. Disgraceful eh? 'What about their undershirts ref!' Erm, what about them? Give it a rest man!

For those of you who like 'celebrity names' on the pitch the Hillians brought on 15 year old
Max Miller in the latter stages.
But our comedy moment was off the pitch. When I discovered was that pink isn't neccessarily pink. Hamlet fan Richard Strivens mentioned he has bought a new pair of football boots. Pink ones, not that he described them as such. He insists they're Morroccan Sunset! And the chat on his new boots provided the most entertainment of the match. Which tells you all you need to know about the game.

I hope they enjoy their trip to Cray Wanderers in two weeks time, lovely way to spend a Sunday eh? A touch of bitterness & jealousy creeping in there, I wish it were us really...

Baldon Sports 2, Maccabi London Lions 3 (after extra time)

2009-09-27T15:34:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time since I've watched an FA Sunday Cup tie. Back to 1993/94, when Ranelagh Sports won the competition, with a side that included a number of Dulwich Hamlet players.

Even longer since I'd seen a tie at Champion Hill. I was still at primary school when I saw 2-7-9 lose to Evergreen in the 1976 semi final! I've recently done some research in the Southwark Local History Library, looking through the microfiche archives of the 'South London Press' on 2-7-9 in the Sunday Cup, for a chap called Ian Wharton, from Keighley, who is slowly compiling a book on the history of this little known & often ignored national competition.

Today, a week later than the rest of the round, I am at Dulwich Hamlet for a preliminary round tie between Baldon Sports, of the London & Kent Border League, and London Maccabi Lions; who play in the Maccabi Southern League. The reason this tie has been delayed is that the previous weekend was Jewish New Year, so they got dispensation to delay for a week. Hence the late booking of Champion Hill, with the original venue of Greenwich Borough not available today. It's a 12 o'clock kick off as Maccabi have some religious bash or other to get to, so they're hoping for a quick getaway at the final whistle.

So their plans are not helped when kick off is delayed on two counts. A player from a previous letting, apparentlly AFC Parkside versus Nacional de Londres, some sort of cup game involving the sportsmans League, which kicked off at 10.00am is lying on the pitch injured. An ambulance car is on site, followed eventually by an actual ambulance. This game is eventually abandoned, I have no idea if the 3-0 scoreline would have stood, but I would guess so, as 71 minutes had been played. I'm sure it could have been brought to a premature halt earlier than it was, but the match referee for the FA Sunday Cup tie was late, and this-the game I was here for- belatedly began at half past twelve.

Baldon didn't take a gate, and gave away an excellent 24 page programme free, which the half dozen or so hoppers there would have been more than happy to part a couple of quid with. I snaffled a couple from the pile left unattended on the side, I was tempted to grab more, but didn't want to deprive anyone of copies. At half time there were still a few left, so happy that everyone who could have wanted one did, I purloined half a dozen more. Looking down the Baldon line-up they were dominated totally by the Dolby family. The current chairman Graham Dolby first played for the club in 1975, a year after they were formed, & his father George Dolby went on to be manager. In the starting eleven was Jason, Dean, Ryan, Adam (the captain) & Marc Dolby, who edited the programme; with another, George, on the bench! I don't think I've seen so many of the same family in a team before.

After the injury drama I took my seat in the stand for a quiet game...if only! Not just the football. I had to listen to the farce of the post-match buffet! Anne Bowes, who does the tea bar thought she was going to do it, Until Hamlet sponsor Ennio Gonnella turned up and said he was. I'm not sure exactly what happened but they both got the hump, buggered off and nobody did a buffet!

There were a few hoppers present, I didn't recognise some of them, but one was Eddie Smith, who would be going to the same ice hockey match that evening as me, Streatham Redskins away to Haringey Greyhounds.

I must admit to knowing not too much about Senior Sunday football, but I do know that the top division of the London & Kent Border is a decent standard, so I am expecting a good game. What I was not expecting is what actually unfolded!

It started off funnily enough, when the players lined up for the hand shakes, and stood as if it was the FA Cup Final. Not something they do in their ordinary Sunday League matches, I would guess, as a Baldon player was so amused by it all he started belting out the national anthem at full voice!

These were two contrasting sides, 'personality' wise. Maccabi were gentlemen, almost from the 'after you Claude' brigade, apologetic if they mistimed a tackle. Whereas Baldon were rough, tough and up for it Sarf Lunnon wideboys! As well as that though they were half decent footballers, and they took the lead around the half hour mark. Ryan Dolby played the ball through to his brother Marc whose shot went in off the post. somewhat unusually just before half time, with no apparent sign of injury Baldon brought on another keeper & changed over their goalies. But there was no more action, of note. This was the 'calm before the storm'! Roll on the second half...

From kick off Baldon had a hopeful punt at goal direct from the centre circle that came to nothing, but it was the Lions who had the ball in the back of the net and equalised. I then saw something that is becoming a dying art, namely a contested drop ball! Remember those?
Yhen came the first red card of the afternoon, it was,unsurprisngly as there were so many of them, the Dolby family who were involved. Adam greedily had a shot at goal, rather than setting up a waiting team mate, and his brother Jason called him a 'fucking cunt', which earned him a second yellow, & thus a red.

The resulting one man advantage was a shot in the arm for Maccabi, and they took the lead ten minutes later through Michael Pearson, for his second of the match. This followed Baldon having hit the woodwork at the other end. The South Londoners pressed forward for the rest of the half, and their pressure finally showed fruit in the dying seconds when Adam Dolby equalised with a header at the far-post from a free kick. Literally seconds later the referee blew for full time, and thus another half hour of football, with the ball barely leaving the centre circle.

Sitting up by the boardroom was an official from the London FA. He was saying that it would be a good idea to introduce sin bins, which might help to cool down some teams like Baldon, who 'never learn' & are always a bit ill-disciplined. How prophetic his words were as extra time commenced!

Both Ryan Dolby and Adam Dolby ended up with 'early baths' for foul and abusive language, challenging the officials, swearing and calling them cheats & worse. not just them, but the dugout, and people in the stand. It's been a long time since I've heard someone scream 'fucking monkey' at a black referee. Shameful! It all made a mockery of Baldon Sports having the 'Let's Kick Racisim Out of Football' emblem on the cover of the superb 24 page programme. And as for having the word RESPECT on it as well...you're having a bubble!

Not content with being down to eight men Jack Merral joined them for a very late challenge, & rightly so! the first actual 'proper' red card, as in one that was for a footballing error, rather than self-inflicted dissent. Down to seven some confusion followed, as some thought the game was going to be abandoned, but you need to have LESS THAN seven players left for this to have, not just seven, so after brief consultation with his assistants referee Michael Barnes continued.

The Baldon seven went for broke and went all out for attack, while Maccabi, despite their vastly superior numbers, didn't wuite know what to do. They pussyfooted about, rather than going for the jugular, but their numbers told in the end, and Michael Pearson found himself in plenty of space to hit the winner into the bottom corner, for his hat-trick.

The whistle finally went, with Baldon bitterly moaning about the piss poor officials, not realising it was they themselves that brought their own downfall. Which was a pity really, because if they had just stuck to the football they would undoubtedly have been in the next round of the competition.

Ramsgate 1, Dulwich Hamlet 3

2009-09-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

There is definately something in the sea air that suits the Hamlet on their travels! Another convincing victory for Dulwich Hamlet on the Kent coast, this time at Ramsgate.

I'd had a good morning, which was ominous. Call me superstitious if you like, but I'm having a good day out the football always tends to ruin it. Something went 'wrong' though, as today was near perfect!

My original plan had been to go & pop into Margate, fitting in a flying visit to Hartsdown Park, to snap Margate FC for my grounds blog. But that was scuppered when I got to Bromley South station & realised there was engineering works on that bit of line. I head to head 'the other way round', & discovered that I could jump off at deal, so visited Deal Town instead. I found a gate open, & did my circuit snapping away. Half way round I noticed an elderly couple eyeing me suspiciously. And I do mean elderly. I would be surprised if they weren't octogenarians, but they both looked well for it. I explained my hobby was taking photographing football grounds but he couldn't understand why I was snapping so many. When I eventually get round to publishing them I must send the club an email so someone can allay their fears!

After that I went back to the train station & continued my journey to Ramsgate. I had a bt of time to kill before heading to the ground, and trawled a few charity shops, not looking for anything in particular, but I like to nose about for cheap second hand videos & books. But something else caught my eye. Two local comemorative mugs in support of the Kent NUM, from the great miners strike of a quarter of a century ago. I thought they were worth a punt for ebay at three quid each, but before I'd paid for them the senile old bat behind the jump broke the handle of one of them! It was a clean break though, and she guiltily gave it to me for free, so I got the pair for £3. I don't use eBay personally, so fellow Hamlet fan Bill Azzi lists stuff on there, or buys things for me occasionally when I spot them. Fingers crossed I make a few pennies..

Having strolled up & down the High Street it was time to head for the ground. It's been four seasons since I've been here & Ramsgate have smartened the ground up, with the terracing tidied, and roofs put up at both ends. The cover having been erected at the start of last season.
The low barrel roofed stand with the concrete pillars still runs down one side, and it is one of my favourite grounds to visit.

I made apoint of finding Bill Collar, to see how he was, after getting a ball smack in the face last Tuesday. Hardly a mark , just a small cut under the eye. I think he was loving the popularity as he had a bit of a crowd around him holding court!

Before the match there was a impeccably observed one minute silence for one of their loyalist fans Valerie Harding, who did a lot of voluntary work around the ground. I always find it moving when a club remembers one of their own.

Onto the game itself. The first half wasn't the greatest,with the chances we had going begging. We had a new striker, someone called Tom Lyons, who was with Newport County, & we immediately nicknamed Hartson due to his slapheadish similarity in the hair department to former Welsh international John Hartson! Being a new player he seemed a bit unsure of his surroundings, but held the ball up well, definately looking as though he will bring something to the team. The one thing I wouldn't have described as is ''neophyte', wich is how Paul Griffin did on the official Club website report of the match. Now call me old fashioned I prefer to read a match report that deals with the game, not one that is mostly pseudo intellectual gobbledygook from a wannabe Stuart Hall! It may be entertaining to read as a one off, if you're an opposition fan looking in, but you try to plough through it all week after week. I don't think he realises how many Dulwich fans laugh at his guff...decide for yourself here.

Of our attempts on goal the most glaring of them coming from the boot of player/manager Gavin Rose when he ballooned his attempt way over the bar! You can imagine the half time pep talk: Don't do as I do, so as I say! But whatever he said seemed to work. In the 53rd minute Osa Obamwonyi rose at the far post to head the ball with rare power in the back of the net. Less than ten minutes later he did it again! almost identical, off of his bonce following another Luke Hickie corner.

This knocked the stuffing out of an Ramsgate fightback, and it was Hickie who made it three in the last minute of normal time. It was fortunate we had such a strong lead as in the fifth minute of stoppage time we conceded a needless penalty, which was converted for a consolation by Gary Mickelborough, after he had been fouled in the box. So late was his strike from the spot that seconds after we re-started the match from the centre circle the final whistle blew.

I headed off back into Ramsgate, and walked around the harbour area, before buying some fish & chips as te sun set, to scoff on the train home, to round off a wonderful day. I started reading two books on Hastings United, which I'd bought in the well stocked Ramsgate club shop, if you love digging through boxes of old programmes & shelves of books. The Kent countryside flew by un-noticed, as I devoured one cover to cover before I'd arrived back at Victoria.

Why can't all awaydays be like this?

Dulwich Hamlet Under 18s 3, Uxbridge 0

2009-09-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

If watching the First Team is a bit depressing then at least popping down to watch the Youth Team tonight is lifting some of the gloom. And I had to smile, and bite my tongue, when I got to the turnstile & saw Paul Griffin was working on it. His first words to me as I handed over my four quid admission was: "See, some of the committee do work". I let him have his moment, deciding not to point out that it wasn't the committtee as such, just him on the committee that they were taking advantage of. You can bet your bottom dollar that if we get another home tie in future rounds it will him again staffing the gte NOT the rest of the committee. for if they ask him he hasn't got it in him to say: 'No,you do it. It's your turn'. It's not for nothing that I've got him programmed into my mobile phone as 'Griff the Doormat'.

As an example of how bloody useless the committee are, who are prepared to move out of their precious boardroom on matchdays (apart from Griff the Doormat, naturally!) let me tell you about a few seasons ago, when he still had a Reserve Team. I was often asked, and did, voluntarily work the turnstile, to help out. Something I did because I was happy to, despite geting no thanks from the Committtee, which to be honest, I wasn't holding my breath in getting. I also did this job when there were midweek games under lights for the Youth Team. But one game I requested to the Committee for one of them to do the gate when the youngsters were at home to Epsom & Ewell in the FA Youth Cup. My oldest nephew Raymond Morath-Gibbs was playing in the Hamlet Youth Team that year, & this was his actual Champion Hill Stadium debut, and as a lifelong Dulwich fan I wanted to saviour every minute of it, alongside his mum, my sister Katalin, and my older brother Ferenc. A simple request I'm sure you'd agree. But you know what...not one of them could be bothered. So, like an idiot I was fuming as I worked the turnstiles & missed the first half. I continued to do the gate for the Reserves when I could, out of loyalty to Hamlet fan Andy Tucker, who is a very good mate, for the rest of the season. But since then I haven't volunteered to help out. I will, if ever asked, as I get a little bit of personal pride in helping out my club in any little way I can. But there's not way I was volunteering ever again after that snub. If asked I'm happy to do, whether it's something on matchdays, or lettings. But they're too stupid to work this out. I really do despair about our committee sometimes. They're not so much as football board, as a pseudo-old-boys gentlemans club. The sooner they're all kicked up the arse the better! Oh to win the lottery!

I have a lot of belief in this Gavin Rose Youth Team, and am quietly confident of reaching the competition proper this season, though-as always-quietly cautious, having been a Hamlet fan for far too long to really expect success!

As is often the case with football at this level I know next to nothing about the opposition Uxbridge, as they play in a different league to us,competing in the East Division of the
Allied Counties Youth League.

Overall they don't actually look too bad a side, but they can't compete with a superb first half hat-trick from Roy Odiaka. His first was as early as the sixth minute when he held the line perfectly to sprint through and score. Five minutes later he advanced on goal once more, but his attempt was saved by Tom Bray, but he only parried it out for Odiaka to hit the back of the net with the rebound. His third came after constant Hamlet pressure, with wave after wave of attacks, just after the half hour when he headed home at the far post.

The second half was more open, our job was done, and although our foot wasn't taken off the pedal completely, and the visitors defence still had their work cut out, doing a fine job to prevent any further goals.

As if often the case at these games there were a number of scouts in the crowd. Not of the 'dib,dib,dob' variety, but on the lookout for potential talent for professional clubs. One from a bit further afield was here tonight. From some outfit called Liverpool no less, who have been tracking one of our players. Now don't get me wrong I don't have much time for football scouts, many are full of broken promises who string kids along & break their hearts. But they are a neccessary evil in the game. I hear afterwards that the Liverpool scout, who was fully accredited, tried to pop into the boardroom for tea & biscuits, but was refused entry by our Club Secretary John 'Primo' Leahy. Just what on earth was he thinking of? Manners cost nothing, & it's not as if the place was full! Bad manners like that are the difference between maybe negotiatiang a prestige friendly against a Liverpool club XI if a move ever did go through. Call me old fashioned but I believe in the 'you look after me & I'll look after you' ethos. this chap will probably go away & tell his mates in the scouting fraternity how rude they were at Dulwich Hamlet.

Dulwich Hamlet 0, Whyteleafe 2

2009-09-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Another game, another defeat. Oh dear, this really is going to be a long season.
Whereas on Saturday we lost to the better team against Worthing, it's when you get nothing against decidedly average outfit like Whyteleafe-or Shyteleafe as they're 'affectionately' referred to- that hurts.

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying they weren't good for their three points, but they were nothing special. In an ideal football world, I'm sorry but I can't shake of my footballing snobbery, we should not be losing to teams like Whyteleafe. Having a young side that is learning will take some geting used too...

'Leafe took the lead as early as the seventh minute, which really knocks the stuffing out of you. Bang goes the hope and anticipation that has been getting you through work all day. To make it worse the goal came from an obvious foul throw which the officials ignored, the cross then came over for Leon McDowall to head home. Tell me how can the opposition know how to head the ball when we're bloody useless at it?

Having said that our only real scoring chance of the game was a Sanchez Ming header which was cleared off the line, which shows that opinions mean nothing! Our guests continued to dominate, & only some smart saves from young Kieran Thorp kept us in the match.

After the break we showed some more fight, with a couple of attempts on goal, the best chance falling to Alex Tiesse, who somehow managed to scoop his shot over the bar rather than the back of the net. Any chance of a Hamlet fightback went when Danny Oakins headed in from a deflected free-kick.

The only 'consolation' was that veteran Richard Dimmock failed to score when he came on a sub for them with 25 minutes left on the clock. I've nothing against the chap, but he's got to be the candidate for the portliest player at this level. It was a humiliation when he got the winner against us at their place last season. I didn't want him rubbing salt into the wounds tonight.

The biggest drama was in the last few minutes, when a ball was hoofed out into touch & caught Hamlet fan Bill Collar smack in the face, knocking him backwards, catching his head on the metal steps of the stand. Luckily he wasn't badly hurt just shaken, and our club doctor Paul Nicholas sorted out a cut under his eye, from his glasses, with a couple of butterfly stitches. It could have been a lot worse...

Dulwich Hamlet Under 18s 8, Cray Valley PM 0

2009-09-20T04:52:00.000-07:00

Having watched the ASPIRE Academy Central Division team a couple of weeks ago, this morning I head to leafy West Dulwich, to the South Bank University Sportsground, to see the North Division team.

On arriving I was surprised to see a local groundhopping Millwall fan Dave there. He does all the local clubs, and is fairly regular at Champion Hill. He was often at our midweek reserve & youth games, back in the day when we had a reserve team, & used to compete in the Southern Youth League, until Fisher started groundsharing with us. He surprised me by saying he'd never been to the South Bank sportsground before, I just assumed he'd watched football EVERYWHERE locally! He explained he'd seen the fixure in the 'Traveller' & decided to pop down, to see what the team were like before the FA Youth Cup tie at home to Uxbridge on Wednesday night-a rare Champion Hill game for the youngsters. I was left to break the news that this was the 'other' youth side, & these weren't the FA Cup boys.

Todays opponents Cray Valley PM play in the Kent County League at first team level. But the huge game there doesn't always mean the same at under eighteen football. But today the gap was just as vast. Eight for no reply in the Hamlet's favour. The proverbial 'cricket score' looked on the cards when I saw the size of visiting custodian. He was big. But not in an agile, muscular sort of way. Tall yes, but rather than stocky this was blubbedy blubber all the way. Think a young twenty first century 'Fatty' Foulkes and you'll get the picture!

Not that he was totally to blame. Cray Valley PM were simply out of their depth. As if they weren't struggling enough they made matters worse by having a player sent off in the latter stages of the second half. I didn't catch the actual incident, but saw the referee quickly whip out a straight red. I assumed it was for verbals, but after the game I asked the referee what it was for, and he said that he'd lashed out with a quick kick after a challenge. Fair enough.

Still it wasn't all disaster for the vanquished visitors. At least they had a sense of humour. Or to be more precise their man with the armband did. Seven down now, with a few minutes left on the clock & he was still inspiring his troops with the rallycall of "We can still win this"! Though once our final goal hit the back of the net it was downgraded to: "Come on! Let's not concede any more!"

Dulwich Hamlet 0, Worthing 2

2009-09-19T04:51:00.001-07:00

The only thing that put a smile on my face this afternoon was the Worthing fans who had a 'bad football shirt' day, as a group of them wore their favourite loud and lairy ones. Some recognisable, others more obscure from other parts of the globe. I heard they were doing this & 'paid tribute' to them by wearing my FK Teplice 60th anniversary shirt, from the Czech Republic. It's a bright yellow number, with the front plastered with a collection of different crests from their history. I couldn't resist buying it when I saw them play in May 2005. it's loud but loveable!

Tell a lie. A text I got that morning from a Club official, whose name I shall keep to myself, put a grin on my face. It informed me that the new First Team kit had finally arrived:
"New kit being worn today, be the first to know apart from "the now out of hiding" Liam. "
This was a pop at our kit manager Liam Hickey, who walked out last season after a spat with one of the coaching staff Kevin Ramsey, demanding he be sacked before he would return to the Club.
'Rambo' moved on in the summer when manager Craig Edwards parted with the Club, which allowed Liam to take the 'moral high ground' and claim he'd won.

But other than that it wasn't a great day to be a Dulwich fan. This match was the proverbial 'mem against boys'. Worthing dominated the first half & totally deserved their two goal lead at the break. These were to be the only goals of the match, but the ball was in the back of the net four more times, with both sides having a goal apiece ruled out for offside in each half, all for offside.

Judging from what I've seen today I would expect Worthing to challenge for the title. Certainly the best team I've seen so far. I'd be gutted to see them go up, as that's another good trip, with a supporters' game against a great bunch of lads out of the window.

By rights I should have done the decent thing & buggered off home at the final whistle, but felt obliged to stay for a hastily arranged 'meet the manager' event in the boardroom at six, which stunk of a hastily arranged 'damage limitation' PR exercise after the shenanagans of VT last week. It came as no shock to me when I was one of only half a dozen fans who bothered. Jack Payne, the chairman, said he was disappointed at the low turn out, as previous events had been much better attended in the past. He totally missed the point, which is that many of the hard core fans are supportive of the Club, and understand the economics and reasoning behind the appointment of Gavin Rose, but after his antics after we went out of the Cup have no time or respect for him, even though they will still be generally supportive of the team. Or maybe he knew, but was too much of a gent to say so in front of Gavin, who was sat next to him.

When he spoke Gavin did apologise for his behaviour, and had also done so in the local papers, and through his 'puppet' on the Committee Paul Griffin, on the forum, but nobody from the Club-& certainly not Gavin-had spoken personally to the abused supporter Mick O'Shaughnessy to apologise. Which was shocking! In the pub afterwards I tried to explain this to Griff, but in his 'pipe & slippers comfy boardroom seat' hat he blustered & bullshitted that 'they' might not have had his phone number! Really? Mick was on the Committee himself until a year or so ago, and I and lots of others fans have it. They only had to ask around to get it... But the truth is, as always, the Committee are good at 'lip service' but in reality are spineless & don't ever want to rock the boat, so bury their head in the sand. I know they're doing a job, but from where I'm standing & observing it's not a very good one.

Gavin shocked me when he mentioned the abuse some of our players have been getting from some of our fans. So bad apparently that their family had stopped coming to games. Players had been called 'useless fat cunts', which I find hard to believe. If they had I'm sure I would have heard it, or word of the abuse reached me. Also we don't have any 'beasts' in our side. This abuse just doesn't ring true. I'm not saying he made this up to try to rationalise or deflect from his own behaviour, but I'm sorry Gavin, I like you, but I reckon you've told some porkies here.

In a room of only six fans one of them unbelievably asked about the progression of the current crop of youth players from his Academy through the reserves. Gavin looked a bit bemused. Rightly so. We haven't even had a reserve team for two seasons!

The other thing of note, which I'd had wind of, but the Club owner Nick McCormack only went public on tonight, was the total reorganisation of the Club in the near future.

We are currently a Limited Company, of which he is the majority shareholder, And both the all-weather pitch and the Hamlets Health Club upstairs comes under this umbrella. It wasn't gone into with detail, as there will have to be a shareholders meeting when it will be made clearer, but the plan is to change the Limited Company to be the Health Club only. A new company will be set up to run the Football Club, wich will include the bar, & be run as a 'Community Amateur Sports Club', the same status as Corinthian-Casuals, among others, according to Liam Hickey, who has been heavily involved in trying to set all this up. Another similar, separate entity will be established to run the all-weather pitches for community, not for profit benefit. It all sounds good, but I'm honest enough to admit I know nothing about business to understand it all.

One huge benefit would be being able to get huge reductions on council tax and utility bills, if I've understood it correctly. nick said that the utility bills had practically doubled in the last year alone!

One thing is for sure, we can't be worse off than we are. Liam wasn't at the meeting, but he had expalined to me earlier about Corinthian-Casuals having the same status. He worked out that their players were, in effect, getting paid the same as ours, not in wages, but in expenses that you could legimately pay out through this status. I'm not sure how accurate his assertions are, but I've no reason to doubt him. Which I would interpret as 21st century 'legalised boot money' and they are no more amateur than the 'shamateurs' of half a century ago!

Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' 1, Worthing supporters' 5

2009-09-19T04:51:00.000-07:00

It's great to play the likes of Worthing supporters'. A genuinely decent bunch of lads, who play for fun, and are-give or take- as rubbish, make that ineptly keen, as us! so I'm gutted to be out 'injured'. And what makes it worse is that I haven't a clue how. I've got pains in my shoulders, like pulled muscles or something, & whilst I'm not in agony, it's fairly constant enough to be annoying & restrict some movement. I'd put it down to 'old age', but I'm 'only' forty two. Oh dear, that'll be old age then.

I still turn up to watch, & some of our lads look a little concerned when they see how young some of the Rebels fans look, but that's not unusual, as anyone under thirty looks young to most of our boys.

Nick Courtnage, the person who runs the Worthing fans' team, AKA 'The Caveman', has asked in advance if the Worthing first team manager Simon Colbran can play for them. Our gaffer Mick O'Shaughnessy has no problem with that. He might be a former semi-pro footballer, but who are we to stop them having the chance to play alongside him? He did look a class above though, and got on the scoresheet from a free-kick. Shaun Dooley was more than happy to 'catch him' early on. Not deliberate as such, he expalined it, with a smile, that 'I just wanted to let him know I was there!'

As it happens, when the match gets underway, we have a sever problem of 'first team-itus' and fail to take our chances, which will come back to haunt us. We are two down at half-time, but the game has been more even than the scoreline suggests. The second half is another story. As we start to weary & Worthing gain the upper hand. Though we did deservedly pull one back, with James O'Shaughnessy getting on the scoresheet with a quarter of an hour to go. Well taken, but scant consolation for the previous hat-trick of chances he'd missed. Towards the end we were going to 'sneak' on Vikki Grater, & she makes a bit of history being the first ever 'mother & son' combination to play for us, being on the pitch at the same time as her 14 year old son Louis Grater, who joined the fray earlier in the half.

Making his debut for us was Ennio Gonnella as one of a number of second half changes, who is the new club sponsor. not the biggest of corporate tie-ups, I've heard it's three hundred quid a month, but it all helps. You may recall the Club were concerned he may have been offended by some supporters' choice language at Horsham YMCA. Clearly he wasn't by asking to play this morning! After the match he asked for a few words, and expalined how he was getting involved in the Club, & had heard on the grapevine how some fans weren't too happy with the way the bard had been run. He said he was laying on some decent food before games,, reducing the prices of pints prior to kick off, and making sure the pipes were being cleaned regularly. He apologised for the way things may have been & hope we would use the bar more. Fair play to him.

And fair play to both teams. A really enjoyable moment, without a nasty moment in it. despite the defeat everyone enjoyed it, this is what supporters' football is all about. Having fun and a bit of a laugh with the opposition supporters. Marvellous!

Time to head back to Champion Hill & the comfort of the 'new,improved bar' for the game between the 'big boys'.

VT FC 1, Dulwich Hamlet 0

2009-09-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

The magic of the cup! Well if it is magic this was more from the Tommy Cooper school of conjuring as we lost to a team hardly anyone has heard of from the a league hardly anyone has heard of thanks to it's new sponsored title.

I'd vaguely heard of VT FC, but that was about it. I nkew nothing whatsoever about them. But as soon as the draw for the early rounds of the FA Cup was made back on the 1st of July I took the 'gamble' and booked today off work. The first qualifying round read: Littlehampton Town or Cobham or VT versus Dulwich Hamlet or Tunbridge Wells or Sevenoaks Town. I've been to the first two, but VT would be a club I'd be unlikely ever to visit unless the Hamlet drew them in the Cup or Trophy in future seasons. Possible, but unlikely. Oh, and in case your wondering, VT stands for Vosper Thornycroft, a famous old local shipbuilding company; now trading under the banner of the VT Group.

As an added bonus a good friend of mine Tracy Anstey & her little boy Joshua had moved down that way, now living with her husband to be Steve Hammond, in Eastleigh. I was heading there after the match, & staying with them for the rest of the weekend.

VT are the pacesetters in the Zamaretto League Division One South & West, topping it after five matches. I'm not particularly bothered by that, as I feel the Ryman One South is generally stronger than the Southern League equivalent. What pisses me off is the way some of our fans always seem to build up the opposition in cup ties. 'Good side they are...that'll be a hard game' sort of thing. And it's not just the fans. One of the worst for this was our former chairman & manaager Martin Eede! Never mind the fact we might be a good side ourselves. Show the opposition respect by all means, but by hyping them us must work against us, as we end up giving them too much respect & start doubting ourselves.

Going back to that league sponsorship...I'd not heard of Zamaretto until the start of this season, it seems thery're some sort of drinks company. Even though I don't partake anymore due to being a recovering alcoholic, it looks pretty disgusting even if I was!

I got to the ground fairly early. I'd had a wander around Southampton beforehand & on getting back to Southampton Central station was on the same train as another Hamlet fan Brian Tipper MBE. Yes...you did read that right! He got it for his work as some sort of clock man. Now retired,he worked on and repaired them all over the country, including one job of national importance wich was making sure Big Ben continued to function with perfect accuracy.

I walked to the ground with him, about a mile and a half, & we were there a good hour before kick off. I chatted to him in the bar about his own footballing days, when he turned out for Whyteleafe in the old Surrey Senior League, & how he came to follow the Hamlet. His first mens side was an outfit called South Croydon Athletic, who he turned out for when he was only fifteen. He often hung out around the old changing rooms on the Purley Way, which were ex-prisoner of war huts, with his boots, in the hope of getting a game. Which more often than not he did. After going to Whyteleafe in about 1967 the highlight was a cup final against Bracknell Town. About this time a former Hamlet player Les Brown was their manager. He also had a short spell at Bromley reserves, but didn't really enjoy his time there.

I was surprised he only became a Hamlet follower in the late eighties, but then he was regularly playing himself on Saturdays until he was 34; & continued lacing up his boots in Sunday football for another twenty years after that!

The VT Sportsground is basic, but adequate for their needs. The first thing you actually notice is the building just inside the turnstiles. Well not the structure itself. That's nothing special. What is more unusual (well who knows ?Maybe not in the country, but I'm from London!) is the sign on it that declares its' the home of the 'Vosper Thorneycroft Pigeon Club'. I don't know of too many of them in London, though I think that both Sutton United & Molesey share their grounds with their local ones.

The actual ground itself is open on three sides, with hard standing, no actual steps of terracing, And a small, low stand along the fourth , with a small steel covered terrace next to it. Nothing special, it's bland, without character. The only bit that 'sticks out' as a bit unusual is a row of trees down the far end, towards the corner flag, inside the ground itself. What the ground is NOT is a shithole. Which is how one of our fans, Liam Hickey, described it. And Liam is one of those opinionated people who is like a dog with a bone. When he has something to say he makes sure you hear it, and doesn't change the record. On, and on..and on! Today he was in fine form!

A local fan got on his nerves, after trying to chat and be friendly, by describing Champion Hill as run down and vandalised, not being in as good condition as here at VT. What he was trying to say was that when he came up to South London with Salisbury City when they played Fisher Athletic a number of seats were broken, and the front few rows ripped out completely, leaving concrete steps. And that's true...except it wasn't vandalism. But the seat supports were corroded by constant bird shit from the pigeons roosting in the roof of our stand. Maybe it was their revenge because we don't have clubs for them. So Liam, in his own opinionated diplomatic style had a go at the bloke for saying their ground was better than ours, which was clearly not what he meant. The Salisbury VT man was, in his own way, asking if we still had problems with local brats smashing our ground up, which they never really did in the first place.

Now when you're visiting a new ground playing a club you've never met before is to try to create a good impression. Small talk, chit chat, learning about their set up, past & ambitions. That sort of thing. But Liam told me LOUDLY as soon as I saw him: " One of their fans thinks our ground is shit, & this shithole is better than ours!" Oblivous, or not, to the fact the chap who he had misconstrued was only a couple of yards or so, away well within earshot & was getting a bit annoyed and upset by being misinterpreted. Repeatedly, as it was like stuck needle on a record player, Liam telling the same thing, gradually cranking up the decibels, as another Hamlet fan walking past was collared, whether they wanted to be or not.

I actually made a point of chatting to the 'wanker' that Liam was referring to, trying to deflect the bad impression that was being created. He calmed down and explained to me that it looked vnadalised to him, and he assumed we had problems with the council estates around our ground. I put him right & has a nice chat with him about his trips with Salisbury, & in turn, told him about my only visit there watching our reserves on a Sunday, when both myself & the two other Hamlet fans who travelled-Andy Tucker & Richard Watts- were invited by one home official to watch the second half from the directors balcony, only to annoy another one when we hung my Dulwich Hamlet Union Jack over the side! Andy was Reserve Team secretary at the time, & we didn't have a full compliment of substitutes that afternoon. So he named himself, unkitted, in case of injuries. But the REAL reason was they Salisbury had an electronic scoreboard & he wanted to see his name on it!

Once the game started Liam forgot about the 'ground man'. more by accident really, as he had another target. The man in black. Robert Allum from Croydon. And it must be said he did have a bit of a shocker, but with him being from the edge of London we didn't even have the standard sour grapes excuse of him being a 'homer'. And I don't mean the great man from Springfield! Though he did make us go 'doh!' throughout the game. I know referees are supposed to be impartial, but subconsciously abuse from supporters must influence them. Sarcastic comments from Liam when we got a decision, along with constant, repetitive verballing exhorting the man to start refereeing the game rather than mincing across the pitch, which had nasty homophobic undertones to me, was getting on lots of Hamlet fans nerves. Many present muttering 'what the fuck is he on?' behind his back. I'd go as far to say that Liam got an 'assist' on the VT victory, with his permanent harranguing throughout.

What makes his loud harrassing of officials worse in my eyes, is that he regularly compares the FA 'Respect' campaign to that in rugby league, where he takes charge in junior games. In League players know to respect the officials as play is brought forward ten metres if they do. It seems his beloved League is perfect, but he doesn't realise, I doubt if he has ever stopped to comprehend, that he is part of the problem in non-league football at our level! And before you say it, yes we are responsible for each other, and I do regret, with hindsight, not telling him to shut the fuck up!

But all this paled into insignifcance with the shocking scenes at the final whistle. I was behind the goal until the end, but a few fans were along the side, near our dugout. With five minutes to go, looking impotent up front a lot of the game, and certainly the entire second half, our manager Gavin Rose decided to bring on a forward Jamie Cheeseman for the last five minutes.

Lifelong Hamlet fan, former Club Committee member & the current Supporters' Team manager Mick O'Shaughnessy-speaking to the crowd with him- questioned that decision. I didn't hear this. Gavin Rose got the wrong end of the stick & clearly thought the comments were aimed directly at him & reacted. I quote Richard Strivens, who was by him, as posted on the independent supporters' messageboard:

" Next thing I know Gavin has leapt off his bench and proceeded to shout "Fuck off you knob, you fucking idiot. If you want to fucking do it, go and fucking apply for it. Great fucking support that is, fucking great support"; this was followed by other comments such as "Fucking knob" and "You Fucking Idiot". "

When the final whistle went I walked round the side behind the dugouts & walked slapbang into the middle of it all. Gavin was being extremely aggressive & threatening to puch Micks' lights out. Not once, not twice, but several times! Fair play- Mick didn't shy away. Perhaps the proper thing would have been to walk away. But he simply said "Let's talk about it". To which Gavin was just dishing out more threats to do him!

Simply the most shocking scenes I've ever seen inall my years of being a Hamlet fan. I went away in a daze, almost in disbelief, thinking 'did I really see that?' I've a lot of time fo Gavin. Always found him very approachable and friendly, but I can't excuse the inexcusable. The 'tunnel' off the pitch was in the far corner. I reached there as the Dulwich team were coming of. Gavin was clearly still fuming and wound up. He said to me that I had to sort him (Mick) out, that I needed to have a word with him. Pardon? I didn't really respond, muttering something along the lines of what do you expect me to do? Gavin needs to look inwards. He lost the plot today, and turned on one of the loyalist fans our Club has.

The game was almost secondary, with everyone talking about the manager going ape shit at the end. I fear this one will run and run...

Ah, the game. Yes, we lost one nil. Should have had the game wrapped up at half time, but couldn't hit the back of the net. Lots of pretty football from the Hamlet, but once again no end product. The end product today would have been being in the hat for the next round.

Yes there have been some moans, & unfair expectation, that we should be challenging for promotion. I don't think that will happen with our young side this season. But our fans are, generally, fairly understanding. We've never been a bunch to get on managers' backs. I am sure there will be some who call for Gavin to be sacked after this. But that won't happen. If there is a repeat though he may find that Hamlet fans aren't so forgiving & he may be in for a rough ride.

Which would be a terrible shame, as I have a lot of time for Gavin, & is a good appointment for the Club.

Toykington Manor Under 18s 1, Clapton 1 (AET: 3-5 on penalties)

2009-09-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

Another Friday night game in the FA Cup, but this time it's the youth version. Preliminary round. Toykington Manor against Clapton.

I happen to be off work today & am sat at home lazily perusing the Tony Kempster (RIP) messagboard & notice that this game has been posted up on there. It's to be played at what I call Viking Sports, even though that club no longer exist. It's a small ground off the A40 on the edge of West London. They were a club formed after the Second World War, with the original players eventually running the club after hanging up their boots. I know this because-somewhere-I have a book written by one of their founders in the seventies which tells about his life & the Viking club. I don't have it to hand, so can't tell you who he is, but if ever I do unearth it I'll edit this post & let you know. In the eighties and nineties Viking played in first the Hellenic & then the Combined Counties Leagues; changing their name to Viking Greenford in 1999. They struggled for the next few years near the bottom of the table, and finally folded in 2004, having finished rock bottom of the CoCo.

I'm not entirely sure who else has played here, but I think Stonewall, the highest ranked openly gay football team, were based here a few years ago in the Middlesex County Premier. Bedfont Green also played here, I'm guessing, before they moved to groundshare at Windsor & Eton. The ground is still run by the Bedfont side, and their reserves play here.

As do the reserve & youth sides of Tokyington Manor. Their first team played here last season, but have now moved to share at Hanwell Town, as the facilities here are not up to standard for the Spartan South Midland. The ground certainly looks as though it does, even if it's nothing special. I've seen a lot worse. It has a small stand behind the goal, with a few rows of seats. Open standing down one side, and a covered shed up the far end. Just the dugouts down the other side, no hard standing, and no access for spectators. Certainly good enough, at first glance, to me.
This is a one of the many venues that I've meant to do, but never got round to. Which clinches my attendance tonight. Why a Friday? Apparently it was supposed to have been played on Tuesday, but the ground was 'double booked' and Bedfont Green reserves were at home.

On arriving at the entrance following an easy ten minute stroll from Greenford station there is a table by the entrance from the busy road. No turnstiles, but this is the 'money table'. A bargain two quid, which includes a decent programme. I'm asked if I want a go on the scratch card, which surprises me as this is a club with a reputation for struggling to attract any support. A gate in double figures is almost cause for cracking open a bottle of champagne. Still it's a bargain to get in tonight so I have a couple of goes, but somehow I don't expect to hear who wins, as there's no way that will be full before the final whistle.

Prior to kick off I have a quick walk around the ground, to get some photos in before it's too dark. It may still be early September but the nights are slowly but surely starting to draw in. It's also a bit overcast, and by the time of kick off at 7.30pm daylight is fading. I'm stood on the halfway line with about half a dozen hoppers. I recognise a couple of them, but don't know their names. One I should, as I've chatting to him, on and off, since the early nineties, when he saw a few games at the new Champion Hill when it first opened, back in 1992. To us lot at Dulwich he's the 'Hayes fan'. As that's who he was following at the time. But now he's switched his allegiance to Uxbridge. Coincidentally it's Uxbridge who the Hamlet will host in the next round of the FA Youth Cup & he tells me that this game has been confirmed for Wednesday 23rd September. So I, a Dulwich Hamlet fan, has to find out when OUR game is from a groundhopper at Toykington Manor on a Friday night! Typical. The traditional lack of communication at Champion Hill continues...

The game starts on time, but it is getting difficult to follow the ball. Someone needs to find some change for the meter! More likely is that somebody doesn't know where the switch for the floodlights are. Those suspicions are seemingly confirmed when the lights on the empty training area behind the far goal suddenly brighten up the sky, but the ones on our pitch stay stubbornly in the dark. although it's mildly amusing, with Hayes Man repeatedly calling for 'the candles' to come on, we're in agreement that it's a bit embarrassing for such a prestigious competition, & are surprised the referee hasn't called a halt to proceedings until they are working. Nine minutes after the start one pylon shines! But it's another three minutes before the other trio illuminate the rest of the pitch. Farcical really.

The programme notes call on total respect for the officials, which seems to be standard practice nowadays, and for once they are treated with genuine respect. Even the Clapton bench are being polite. Thier gaffer is smartly atired in a whistle with decent language to match. In frustration he shouts at one of his young charges:" Ryan!Give the friggin' ball, give the ball!" much as I have no problem with swearing, I am genuinely impressed. Just because you're poor doesn't mean you can't have standards. The 'Ton players look a rag tag ragamuffin outfit. Shirts that are not badges, some with sponsors embalzoned across the- Calabash Restaurant- others blank. but their manners are impeccable.

Back on our touchline Hayes Man has a bit of banter with the man in the middle, as he clearly knows him, and although I miss the gist of the banter, the linesman on our side is getting a bit of a ribbing for coming from Harlesden, which is a rough area of North London. I do catch his riposte, which was that Harlesden was "Ok when you wear a stab vest!"

The pitch made it very difficult for good football, the pitch was extremely bumpy, & the grass uneven. It was more lump it and hope rather than pass and play. But both teams tried. And just before half time the Clapton perseverance paid off as they took the lead.

At the interval I head into the bar & ask the Toykington chap from the gate why they don't play first team games here. He explains that the changing rooms are really not up to standard, and the whole place is a bit of a dump which isn't up to Spartan South Midland standard, hence the groundsharing at Hanwell. It just goes to show that even if a venue looks ok there is sometimes more to the story. And the forced demotion of Kings Lynn in the summer from the Blue Square regional divisons to the Northern Premier League springs to mind. I've been to The Walks with the Hamlet a few pre-seasons ago, & it's a superb venue. But I never saw the facilities behind the scenes, and that's what they were forcibly relegated for. so much howls of indignation from their fans saying they had one of the best grounds around, but that anger should have been directed at their own board for not ensuring improvement work was done.

I thank the gateman for his info, and mention I saw the fixture on the Kempster site. He says it was him who posted it, so I've now met the Kempsterite called Rhodes! I actually feel a bit sorry for him tonight. he's the gateman, match secretary, ball boy...you name it and he's running around all on his own trying to do it. He doesn't appear to have any help whatsoever. I take my hat off to him. Or would if I was wearing one, but you know what I mean!

I spend much of the second half keeping an eye on the footballs flying over the fence to the adjacent playing field. There's no gate to retrieve them, but a strategically placed ladder for one of the subs to nip over & get them back. He's kept busy, as there are a few stops and starts, as there seems to be a shortage of match balls. But play does go on, and Clapton are holding on to their lead but somehow not adding to it, despite being by far the better side. Shots pushed round the post and cleared off the line. Everything but hitting the back of the net. I hope their dominance without being able to seal the game doesn't haunt them in the latter stages.

It's four minutes to nine when my delicate ears almost force me to go into shock. We are well into the last third of the match when suddenly I hear my very first "Fuckin' 'ell!'" of the game. I'm not tutting or 'owt like that, but it's been such a 'clean' match verbally that you can't help but note it. And before the nine o'clock watershed too. Disgusting!

The tension is rising. The little hand is pointing to the nine, and the big one has gone past the twelve, so it's ok to swear, & I hear only the second F word of the night. Not sure from which team though. Probably the Manor as Clapton pile on the pressure, but Toykington have their moments too. They go close to equalising, for an audible collective 'ooh!' from the majority of the crowd sat in the stand behind the goal. I'm not sure what the attendance is, but one of the hoppers has done a headcount of 29. Surely a record gate for them? But not enough to fill the scratch card. It hasn't been anywhere near filled, & much to my surprise, Rhodes has walked round the ground to seek me out and refund my two nicker. I'm impressed...and am now looking forward to a bag of chips from the parade of shops near the station.

I'm not as fucking impressed, pardon my language but I wanted an early night, when Tokyington sneak an equaliser,after Clapton fail to clear, with a couple of minutes to go. Extra bloody time! I don't mind really, but it means i'll get home quite late, & i've got an early start in the morning, as the Hamlet are away to VT FC in the FA Cup, somewhere near Southampton. So you can be sure this match is going the whole hog, and I'm fully expecting this to go the whole hog, all the way to penalties. Which is exactly what happens.

Call me old fashioned but this s cup football & there should be replays. But there's no time or inclination for that in the modern game, so we now have five kicks from the penalty mark to decide who earns the right to entertain Wingate & Finchley in the the next round. To be honest it will be criminal if Clapton aren't victorious in the shoot out, as they should have won the match comfortably. After the usual huddles & discussions to see who has the balls to take one, Clapton score from their first. Premature celebrations as their keeper saves Toykington's effort, as the goalie has 'danced' some way off his line, as he attempts to put off his striking adversary; who makes no mistake with his second attempt. Clapton sore their second, but this time Toykington do miss, striking the woodwork. The next two apiece hit the back of the net, but Clapton have their one penalty advantage,& successfully convert their fifth to go through.

I finally leave the ground over an hour later than I expected, hoping I wake up in time for an early start down to Southampton in the morning. Despite being a bit peeved at the lateness it has been a surprisingly thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Dulwich Hamlet Under 18s 6, Bearsted 1

2009-09-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

A new season...a new team. This is NOT the Youth Team from last season. Though that still exists. With Gavin Rose being appointed First Team manager his former ASPIRE Academy lads not only make up the majority of the Ryman squad, but the current crop are also representing the Club both in the Kent Youth League on Sundays, & in the midweek afternoon Football Conference Youth thingymajig. Not that you'd know it, as there's no mention of this mmidweek team & league at all in the Club programme, and to be honest I'm sure there are some of our 'esteemed' Club committee who are not even aware we compete it!

We also had a side in it last season, in a link up with some college or other, not the ASPIRE mob, but no-one knew anything about it, or how they fared, with not a dickybird about them from the Club in either the official website or programme, so it's no shock we ignore the current lads too. At least this years crop have a chance of progressing with us, the 2008/09 lot may as well have not existed, just using our Club as a 'badge of convenience'. As I suspect happens at many outfits in this league.

The Ian Neal managed Youth Team, London Cup winners, have been sidelined out, but are still playing in the North Division of the KYL. TheAcademy lot I'm here to see today are in the Central Division. So which one is the official youth team? Well for me it's the one that is in the FA Youth Cup. And that's Gavin's Central team, which also plays in the conference set up.

But to cloud the waters a little, the North team will be representing the Club in the Isthmian Youth Cup! Work that one out, because I can't.

As someone who supports Dulwich Hamlet I now have the choice of two games on Sunday mornings, at eleven o'clock. Whilst I have great sympathy with Ian, who I feel was shafted somewhat by the Club, I am also pragmatic about it, & knew that when Gavin was appointed his Academy side would be our main youth football representatives.

I'm not taking 'sides', I'm not entirely sure there's 'sides' to take anyway, as I get on well with both of them. It just means more choice for me, as I can pick and choose my spectating on a Sunday morning. The North side are away to Phoenix Sports, & the trip over to Crayford doesn't appeal really, so I have a leasurely fifteen minute stroll from my front door to the CEGAS Sportsground, in Lower Sydenham, to see what Gavin's team are made of.

I expect them to be strong, he has a reputation for developing footballers that play a proper passing game. But enough of what I think of the footballers. This is also a 'new ground' for me. Not one I'd usually count, as it's just a playing field without a Senior men's team rather than a private ground with an established Saturday afternoon league side, but I do 'tick' it, as it's a home venue for a Senior Club Dulwich Hamlet side.

There are two pitches, side by side, open to the elements as you'd expect, roped off down one side. Behind the goal, where the entrance is, there are the changing rooms, and a bar with a patio, with a few tables and chairs outside. Pleasant enough on a sunny early season Sunday morning, but I can't get my head round groundhoppers who have done thousands of grounds, and watch football in godforsaken fields like this all over the country every week. Once in a while I don't mind dipping in to the lower reaches of the pyramid, but the key for me is in the name of the hobby-GROUNDhopping. And a field isn't a proper ground in my eyes, even though I count them as a'tick'. Grounds should really have barriers, and walkways, at the least.

But I digress! Back to the football...

As is not unusual for this league it didn't kick off bang on time. There doesn't always seem to much rush to get things going, and today we were seven minutes late in getting under way. Straight from the off you could see how this team was drilled. They looked a more effective version of the First Team. Which they're not of course. What I meant was that their passes pay off. It's youth team football & they're not caught out by the anticipation of the opposition, as some of our players are in their first season of Senior football. It's relatively easy to look half decent in youth team football, but the jump up is ginormous.

Having said that doesn't stop me standing back and being quietly content knowing that the long term future looks good, if this is representative of the 'production line'. As the season progresses it will be nice to see one or two of these boys in Pink 'n' Blue progress through the ranks. Not that there's any 'ranks' to progress through, as we scrapped the Reserve Team a couple of years ago to save money. More like thrown in the deep end it will be...

At half-time it was three nil to the Hamlet. It could have been four. Not a 'near miss'. It really could have been four. I thought I was taking a brief note when we scored a goal, & by the time the referee put his whistle to his lips for the last time at 12.56 I thought we'd won 5-1. Imagine my surprise a few days later, when looking at the Kent Youth League website to see that we'd in actual fact hit Bearsted for six! Whoops!

How did I miss a goal? No idea! It may have been when I was sneaking glances to the game on the next pitch. A mens game from the London & Kent Border League. I hadn't been paying it much attention until someone called my name. I looked round & saw Brian Murphy with hand outstretched to shake. He is the brother of the former Hamlet player & manager Frank Murphy.

Brian's family run the 'Prince Alfred' pub in Sydenham, & it is them who he is watching. It's not wuite the standard of when Frank played for them back in the day, but he was also turning out for some team called Barnet on Saturday afternoons in the Football League at the same time! ;-)

The Alfred compete in Intermediate Division One, which is the third tier of the competition, and Brian brought home to me the astronomical cost of running a Sunday pub side. He said the boozer was out of pocket every week, even after charging the players £10 a week match subs. The pitch alone cost £120, and while it is a private sportsground it's certainly not a plush one. We're not talking Bank of England in Roehampton here! Add to that £30 for the referee & £10 for the washing of the kit & it's is bloody expensive. And don't forget that's before you add the cost of the kit and avarious affiliation fees for the season. It's a wonder that Sunday League football survives at all.

Whitstable Town 1, Dulwich Hamlet 4

2009-09-05T01:54:00.000-07:00

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside! Especially when we dish out a footballing thumping against Whitstable Town!

This was a result I wasn't expecting! Not that we weren't capable of it, but we just haven't had that bite in front of goal. This afternoon it all came good. And I'm going to revel in it, because I don't think there will be too many results like this over the coming winter months.

I don't mean to sound too negative of course, just realistic. We have a very young side, many in their first season of mens football. 'You win nothing with kids' said Alan Hansen, and I'm not expecting to. I've said all along we will be mid table. And results like this will ensure that is where we end up come the end of April.

The early part of the game was fairly end to end, with chances for both sides. But the Hamlet gradually got on top & as the half wore on took the lead through Gerry Gonnella, with about ten minutes left on the clock before the interval. The fact that there was only one goal separating the two teams was thanks, the main, to the Oystermen's custodian Kevin Fewell.

At the start of the second half it was game over! Two quick goals in the first three minutes of the half effectively killed off the half and put the game way beyond the reach of Whistable. First Luke Hickie came through the middle and knocked the ball past the keeper, then moments later a cross floated in from the right left the boot of Ryan James and ended up in the back of the net. Whether he meant it or not who knows? Certainly nobody was complaining. Not even the group of Hamlet fans who missed them both as they were still quaffing their half-time pints in th bar.

This double quick double strike brought back memories & plenty of reminiscing of our glorious FA Trophy victory away to Cheltenham Town back in 1997 by the odd goal in three. One down at the break, the majority of us-myself included-were still in their bar under the main stand at half time, when we struck them with a double whammy through the best strike force I've seen all of my thirty five years as a Dulwich Hamlet fan. Namely the footballing gods that were Paul Whitmarsh & Willie Lillington.

It was their goals that day that resulted in Cheltenham Town reaching the Football League. After our victory there manager Chris Robinson got the tin tack & he was replaced by a local man, one of their former players Steve Cotterill. He steered them to the Southern League runners-up spot that year, which was enough to take them up to the Conference, as the actual champions Gresley Rovers ground wasn't up to standard for promotion. The following year the Robins won the Trophy, & in 1999 won the title to earn their place in the Football League. Who knows where they would be today if they had not lost to us, and had continued to bumble along with Robinson in charge. For the life of me I cannot understand how there is not a statue of Whits & Willie outside Cheltenham Town Hall, never mind one for that Cotterill chap! Our boys are surely far more deserving...

Back to 2009....For the rest of this Isthmian League canter we dominated, but with only one more goal to tally, Gerry Gonnella claiming his second, sidefooting an Alex Tiesse pass into the net. We could even allow Whitstable the luxury of an 85th minute consolation from Dan Dolton.

After the match I went for another wander around this delightful little town. Strolling along the pebbled beach, rather than heading to the 'Ship Centurian', one of many delightful boozers in Whitstable, on the High Street. The Centurian being the nicest, and one that Hamlet fans always head for pre & post match. I gave it a miss though, and simply enjoyed the the sun setting. to be honest I had no real interest in the England versus Slovenia friendly, live on the box. We win that 2-1, but by the time the final whistle goes at Wembley I'm already on the train back to London.

Content that Ing-er-lund have won, but much more delighted at a cracking three points for the 'Am-er-let!

South Kilburn 1, Rayners Lane 3

2009-08-31T05:35:00.000-07:00

It's Bank Holiday Monday, & I should be off to Champion Hill for an Isthmian League match against Whyteleafe. Saturday's FA Cup draw at home to Sevenoaks Town has scuppered that. The replay is tomorrow night, which I can't make as I'm working til seven.

So what to do for my 'football fix' today? I'm undecided. And also feeling lazy. Dossing in the armchair, computer on my lap with telly on in the background appeals. But the 'lure' of visiting a new ground wins, & I'm heading across London for South Kilburn versus Rayners Lane, in a Hellenic League Division One East match.

South Kilburn have just moved to the athletics stadium, based at the Vale Farm Sports Centre, just behind and totally separate from Wembley FC, whose ground is also called Vale Farm. Although to call it an atheltics stadium nowadays is a bit of a misnomer. There is an old overgrown track, but it is looks as though it hasn't been used for years. And there is a railing around the inner football pitch all the way round, so if you get to watch a game here, you will be standing pitchside, not 'miles' away from the action.

It has an unusual kick off time of 2.30pm, due to being the 'meat in the sandwich' on the second day of the two-day, six game 'Hellenic League Hop'. It follows on from the morning match at Chalfont Wasps, & from South Kilburn they head on to Flackwell Heath. I'm not sure exactly when these organised hops started, I think the first one may have originated on the north-east, but they have now spread all over the country, & there are three or four of them over the season in various points of the country. If I wasn't a 'club' supporter I'd certainly be sad enough to partake!

But South Kilburn today is the first time I've ever been in the middle of one, so to speak. And sods law, I pick the short straw! I get to the ground at about ten past two. The 'entrance' is through th sports centre, & it's four quid, which includes a 12 page colour printed programme that's been run off a computer. For a neutral like me, & the vast majority of the crowd I assume, it's nice to be able to read a concise history of both clubs. South Kilburn are the 'little baby', having only been formed in 2005, & progressing upwards through the Middlesex League.

As soon I've walked through the glass doors into the 'stadium' I realise things are amiss! dozens of hoppers are milling about, not quite sure what is happening. The players are warming up on an adjacent pitch, and there is no activity whatsoever on the main one. Unbelievably the match is in doubt! It hasn't been raining, but apparently the dry weather had brought dangerous object below the pitch up to the surface, such as pieces of flint. The general opinion, including some hoppers who have carried out their own personal pitch inspection, is that the correct decision has been made not to play it on the main pitch. Apparently an Edwardian old penny was found out there!

Just outside the perimeter fencing there is another pitch. Perfectly playable, but not fenced or even roped off. Rayners Lane are already saying they don't want the game on, and the referee is saying it won't be played. But a helpful & understanding Hellenic League official who is present steps in & insists the game goes ahead on the outer pitch of the Vale Farm complex.

I did feel for the 'hop' organiser, Over the Top, who I met recently at Hertford Town. In the second half he spots me, and stops to have a word, which is nice, as i've only met him the once. Beofre the game he was looking remarkably calm for a man so flustered! Such is his tip top organisation of these events that a coach is hired between venues for the comfort of the people going to all the venues. He hollered several times that the coach would stay, if people wanted to go to the Hendon match next door. And that if anybody wanted to go to Hayes they would have to make their own way there, but the coach would pick them up, en route for the final match at Flackwell Heath.

I'm a bit miffed at having had to pay £4 to stand in what is a park pitch, but I wanted a programme, & at least it helps swell the home club coffers. I think I'm more annoyed by the amount of people who see it as an 'opportunity' to save some money & just stroll through the car park & stand on the touchline free of charge.

So at least everyone present gets to see a game, if not on the ground they wanted. There were a few mutterings that Lane should be booed if they score, as they didn't want the game on. But this didn't come to fruition. Groundhoppers are just too polite I suppose, even the ones who were too tight to pay! ;-)

One hopper is going round telling anyone and everyone who will listen to him that it's not a 'tick' for him, as this pitch is a former Middlesex County League venue for Willesden Constantine. Which, after I hear him regaling his woes to someone else for the third time of earwigging, I'm actually quite pleased about!

The kick off is put back to three o'clock, and a number present go next door to see Hendon take on Aveley in an Isthmian Premier match. I had hoped to catch the last half hour of that 'free of charge' after this South Kilburn game, but that's now scuppered. A few others go off to Hayes & Yeading United, as they are also at home, but the majority stay put. Counting this outer pitch as a 'new tick', as it's a different venue for South Kilburn. You won't get more basic than this! It really is just a pitch, with a hastily grabbed rope laid down one touchline to act as a 'rope' for spectators to stand behind. The League & hop organisers are rewarded with the biggest crowd in the One East division of 166; with only two gates bigger in the top flight. 168 at Flackwell Heath, part of the hop that evening; & 169 at Binfield.

As for the game itself....I'm not too bothered about the low standing in the pyramid, I can cope for those limitations as long as players are keen, but this was the first time I was watching a game this season & thinking to myself 'what on earth am I doing here?' In the London Senior Cup Dulwich Hamlet have been drawn at home to the winners of Clapton versus South Kilburn, which led to most of our fans asking South who? Well on what I see this afternoon it will, without a doubt, be Clapton who we are playing.

In the first half I sat on a bench behind the goal, not a park bench, but what appeared to be one of those long, low benches you find in school gyms, which semed to have been dumped in front of the trees. I didn't know the other groundhoppers sat on it, but one of them came out with a comment you can olny attribute to 'ignorant northerers': " I'm surprised the pitch isn't better. I don't think I'm being racist, but if there's a big proportion of coloureds the council pour money into it." Rather than give him some sense of importance by playing to his gallery of hopping friends, who pointedly ignored his comment, I chose not to give him the benefit of voicing more of his racist views & got up and walked off. What a prat!

It's nil nil at half time, and it's hard to see where the first goal is coming from. And much as I'd like a home win just to annoy the visitors, I'm not too fussed either way. And it is Rayners Lane who open the scoring early in the second half, from th penalty spot. The home custodian got a touch, but was unable to keep out their shot. Around ten minutes later they double their lead, and it seems to be 'boring game over', but Kilburn pull one back to keep us awake, sorry on our toes, before Lane seal the game in the dying moments. A goal wich a number of hoppers take 'delight' in, not for the quality, but to mock the hoppers who are already halfway across the car park, in the dash for a quick getaway!

I'm off next door to the Wembley FC now to have a quick drink in their bar, (don't worry folks, non-alcoholic for me. I'm not falling off the wagon yet!) with Jeff from Oxford, a fellow Hamlet fan, who was ticking off another new ground today. I take some snaps of that ground too, & bump into John Cumberbatch, a former Hamlet player, now on our committee, who has been watching his son Marc Cumberbatch turn out for Hendon, having just gone on loan there from Staines Town. He is surprised to see me, even more so when I tell him where I've been! We chat a little about the current situation at Champion Hill, the lack of potential investors & why some might not be putting their cash in. much of it in confidence, which is why I can't discuss it here.

Brimsdown Rovers 2, Flackwell Heath 4

2009-08-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

More 'magic of the cup' on a Friday night! Two weeks on & it's now the preliminary round. No FA Cup on show here though. I heading over to the edge of north-east London, to Goldsdown Road, Enfield; which is the home of Brimsdown Rovers.

I finished work at two today, which is why I've gone to this match. I doubt if I'd have bothered if it was my six o'clock finish, as I probably wouldn't have fancied the dash through the rush hours throngs. There would still have been plenty of time to get there if I had left Bermondsey at six, at this cup tie was at the strange late time of eight o'clock.

I must also confess that I wouldn't have wanted to get there as dusk was coming in, as part of the appeal for me was taking a set of ground photos for my grounds blog. I'm not entirely sure if that means I a really sad git, or extremely dedicated! Hopefully somewhere between the two!

I've been here once before, a few years ago now, to see the first & original supporters' owned club Enfield Town. Yes...there were such things before AFC Wimbledon appeared on the scene!
I don't recall who it was against, but it was a Saturday, & the Hamlet weren't playing. I went with another Dulwich fan, Andy Tucker, who-despite the grief he sometimes gives me-is also a bit of a groundhopper on the sly!

I was made welcome back then by the Town fans, who I knew from their Enfield supporting days, before the split, when our Supporters' Team had regular games against theirs. But the biggest welcome was saved for a lad from Darlington, who had 'adopted' Enfield (the old one) as his 'second club' from afar, & it was 'rigged' to make sure he won the raffle! Which was fair play, he did spend a fair bit of money in the club shop, buying Town memorabilia, having turned up head to toe in Enfield FC gear, & having got a bit of abuse for haiving done so. There was more than one shout of- 'Get that shit off!'

But tonight, of course, it's Brimsdown Rovers who are playing, the cup being a welcome distraction from their Spartan South Midland campaign ,where they sit mid-table after five games. I expect them to be made of sterner stuff than Haringey Borough, who I saw pre-season, & from what I saw of them am not surprised to see them bottom of the table.

The visitors are a former Isthmian League side Flackwell Heath, now back in the
Hellenic League. I don't know enough about the two leagues to really compare, but would have to make Flackwell favourites, as they sit atop of their division, the only side with a 100% record with a mere three games having been played.

Though the turnstiles are not yet open for business, but I stroll through the players' entrance & get my pictures. I head back outside, & sit in the clubhouse & treat myself to a pint of orange & lemonade. A chap comes round with the programmes & I buy one. Turning over the front page theres' not the expected opening editiorial but a heavy black bordered NOTICES. 'Visitors to Goldsdown Road who have paid admission, are welcome to use the Club's facilities but are requested to adhere to the Club's rules. Dogs are not allowed anywhere on the grounds or in the Clubhouse. The Lounge Bar is only for the use of Home and Visiting Club officials on match days. Players and supporters are invited to use the bar in the Main Hall. Once you have purchased drinks please move away from the bar area to allow others easy access. ' I could go on, and it may just be me, but for a first impression this doesn't seem the most inviting of clubs.

My dark mood wasn't helped by a swarm of brats running around the bar. They were fully kitted up, & I presumed they had just been training outside on the open spaces around the main ground. You may guess by description of them as 'brats' that I'm not the most tolerant of youngsters running amok. Bit of an old fart at heart before my time. I'm not sure which age group they were, but would guess about Under Tens. My mood was lightened a little when one of the nippers said to another, almost wide eyed as only kids can be: "I just went into the stadium. They have some big goals like they have on telly. You wanna see?" And they dashed outside. Not for long, as it started raining.

I went inside myself about fifteen minutes before kick off, & not only was it raining, but there was a wonderdul show from 'Mother Nature' with a cracking thunder & lightening show, which was spectacular, thankfully easing up by kick-off.

I sat in the main stand along the side. For no other reason that it was the best protection from the elements. There was also some cover behind one of the goals, and a small shed on the far side, but I took a pew in the back row of this stand. Each seat with a sponsor from an Enfield Town fan, or supporting company. I fon't know how long it had been here, but it certainly wasn't on my previous visit. Presumably they had to put this in place to get the ground up to Isthmian standard.

It was when the teams came on the pitch from the corner that I realised why all the little godfers were here. They walked out hand in hand with the Brimsdown team, and my heart of stone started to melt. This was a great way to get the youngsters involved with the main team, and there were lots of proud parents taking photos as both teams lined up for the handshakes, with the boys in front of them. At Champion Hill we have a Junior Club that is practically ignored by the Senior Club. We could learn a lot from Brimsdown Rovers.

Thankfully, for my sanity & eardrums, the nippers went in the shed behind the goal to cheer for Brimsdown, with the mums & dads sat near me. One young lad stayed behind. The darling little number two, who was clinging to his mother, scared of the thunder & lightening show! Aw!

The mums themselves weren't entirely sure who the opposition were. "Who are we playing?" "Flackwell Heath." "Who are they they?" Causing one to screech in full voice: "OO ARE YA?'" Mercifully I wasn't sitting right next to her.

The game itself flowed to & fro. Which you would assume from the scoreline, but isn't always the case. Flackwell took the lead early on, about ten minutes in., the hosts losing possession in midfield which led to the first goal. Did the boys get despondant? Not at all! A few were making their way back round to my stand, with one of the stranger chants I've heard made up at a ground- "Two-four-six-eight! Who do we appreciate? Not the king, not the queen; we support the Brimsdown team!" Well I certainly applaud them for their anti-monarchy sentiments at such a young age!

There was a testotsterone-fuelled moment for them, as they got excited by a bit of 'handbags' on the pitch, but not enough to produce any yellows. I say 'testosterone fuelled', but they weren't as they were so young their balls hadn't dropped yet. But they were certainly getting worked up by this more than the 'ordinary football'!

There were chances at both ends, & although I thought Flackwell were edging it, Brimsdown produced the best bit of football so far, playing the ball down the wing, & cutting in to score. The quality even surprised me, which it shouldn't, as you really can see good goals at all levels. But two minutes or so later a low shot at the other end restored the lead for the Hellenic Leaguers.

At half time there was quite a queue for the tea bar, which did supurb burgers, sausages in french bread & more. I don't always go for food at matches, so aren't really an expert on grub at games, but the sausage I had was well tasty, & value for money. Certainly filled a hole, without giving me integestion!

Back out for the second half, I chose to stand along the side, chatting away to Richard, Graham, a Croydon fan who also watches the same ice hockey side as me, Streatham Redskins. He was also enjoying his fare from the tea bar. Just after the hour mark we saw one of the freakiest, but also funniest as a neutral, goals of the season so far. A low shot from a Brimsdown player was cleared by a Flackwell player...well not quite! It struck the back of another Heathen and went in off the post!

Having thought that Flackwell were on top in the first half Brimsdown were now coming back into the game, but once Flackwell scored a third ten minutes later I felt their hopes faded, and sure enough the visitors wrapped the tie up with ten minutes remaining.

There can't really be a lot worse ways to spend a Friday evening than a local non-league ground. It's a shame there aren't more Friday games around. I'n sure, if marketed correctly, bigger crowds would result.

Horsham YMCA 1, Dulwich Hamlet 3.

2009-08-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

This was a match I wasn't supposed to be at. I work until seven on Tuesdays, and 6.00 pm Mondays. But a colleague asked me to swap the two round this week, as he was playing football for the Libraries team last night. Who was I to complain?

So I had a mad dash to Horsham YMCA. Newly promoted in third spot, seemingly against FA rules, but it suits the suits of Soho Square needs, as Horsham FC want to groundshare there, having been at Worthing last season, & with the Sussex County League not allowing their members groundshares, it was in the interests for the good of the non-league pyramid to promote YMCA.

They have played at Ryman One South level before. From humble beginnings in 1898, there is still actually a YMCA in Horsham. Playing in local leagues they joined the Sussex County League in 1959. They won the title for the first time in 2005, but their Gorings Mead home didn't satify the ground graders. But it passed in 2006, to take their place in Division One South for the '06/07 campaign . They lasted two seasons, before returning to the county leagues. Then in the summer they were promoted 'through the back door' to help their homeless neighbours, who wanted to groundshare.

Why do I mention all this? Simply because although your head tells you that your team are only as good as the level you are playing at your heart tells you that your rightful position is at least in the division above. But with our current set up of playing a predominantly teenage side, with very little experience, & a small wage busget, I fear we will stuck at this level for many years to come. Playing clubs like YMCA, who are at the pinnacle of their footballing ambitions, with absolutely no hope of ever going any higher. And no matter how hard it is to take this is what we must accept. After all how can you take a football club seriously whose name is a karaoke classic?

These are teams where you would go to in warm-up pre season matches, or a jolly day out in the Fa Cup first qualifying round. Now we are on equal terms.

But here I am for a Ryman League Division One South game. It's an unusual 7.30pm kick off, which used to be the norm. Annoyingly I would have made kick off if it had been a seven forty five. Instead I miss the first ten minutes. Much more annoyingly I've already missed two goals!
We went one down after only two minutes, before Sanchez Ming equalised a couple of minutes later. I heard the cheer for our goal as I was walking towards the ground, & had assumed it was the home side putting the ball in the net as it was quite loud.

So it's one apiece as I enter the ground. I'm not too bothered about missing goals. If we score then I'm happy. If it's the opposition..well I din't want to see it anyway! The first thing I notice is a small covered metal terrace along the side, with an identical one next to it, except it has about sixty green seats in it. Presumably this gives the ground the neccessary grading for Horsham FC to move in. How sad it must be for their supporters' to have to play their home games at their small neighbours. Next door, where their old ground was, houses are already being built. A lovely old non-league home gone forever.

After having snapped the new structures I head behind the far goal. The first thing I do is ask who the new keeper is. It's a young lad called Kieran Thorp making his debut, having been released by Crystal Palace. That's already put me in a good mood. We had gone through pre-season with another teenager Tim Roberts, who looked way below the standard needed for Isthmian League, in my humble opinion. I'd rather have kept Sheikh Ceesay, who was our 'bench warmer' last season, or Danny Baldwinson, who was our promising Youth Team custodian the campaign just gone, but was overlooked by the new manager Gavin Rose. Not just him, but all of the squad from 2007/2008-both First Team & Youth squad! Each & every one. Danny is now between the sticks at the new Fisher FC in the Kent League. They've got a good one there. Our loss I think.

There aren't that many Hamlet fans here. There very rarely is at away games nowadays.In the 'old days' of the seventies & eighties we would comfortably have brought seventy or eighty fans to this sort of game, midweek. Albeit in a higher division. In 2009 it's the usual hardy few, which is around thirty on a Saturday away game, & twenty or so midweek. We may lack in numbers, but we can still be loud. None more so tonight than Shaun Dooley & Mick O'Shaughnessy, two lifelong fans both brought up in Peckham, who've been on the beer before hand. I've no problem with 'old fashioned Anglo-Saxon', but boy oh boy are they LOUD tonight!

Slagging off the referee & the opposition constantly! All good fun, but a bit off putting if you don't know them I suppose. Which I do, of course.

It was an open match, both sides passing the ball around, but with the Hamlet more dominant. A dominance we couldn't convert into goals though. Not until the 67th minute when Stefan Cox received a pass on the right, nipped past a couple of defenders & hit a twenty five yarder nice and low, which completely fooled the home keeper Simon Lockwood. Was he fooled by it, or just unsighted? Well we let him know that he'd cocked up, but there were a few more 'F' words and another 'C' one involved.

Which seemed to annoy a home official as he walked behind us, muttering that he was going to complain to our committee, as he walked past. Without having the bollocks to complain himself, directly to those being so loud.

So much for the page in their programme that states, in their 'message to supporters' : 'Foul language will not be tolerated and offenders will be asked to leave the premises.' If he had asked us to 'tone it down' then I'm sure we would. But instead he spinelessly muttered behind our backs & around one of they came. Unfortunately they chose to send round Paul Griffin, who doesn't quite carry the coat of office that earns respect. He asked us to cut out the language with the bizarre comment that 'the new sponsor was here'. And....??? Never mind the reputation of the club, or respect for the opposition & match officials, it was our sponsor we mustn't upset! Are we really that desperate for his three hundred quid a month?

As it happens I'm still not over my sore throat infection, and wasn't really up to shouting & swearing if I wanted to. But I managed to raise my voice & tell him not to fucking accuse me... A moment or two later our chairman Jack Payne came round, in his perfect diplomatic hat, and asked us to tone down. Now that's the way to do it, and the remainder of the game was played out to shouts of bounder & rascal, rather than 'you cunt' and 'tosser'!

And some loud cheers in stoppage time as Sol Pinnock put the game beyond doubt, which was the cue for the first 'Gavin Rose's Pink & Blue Army' chant of the season.

At the final whistle I popped into the bar to check the West Ham versus Millwall league cup result, with Mick & Shaun, among others staying for another pint or two. Still happy to serve them, if it meant taking money off them, so the locals can't have been too digusted. Not even the woman who I overheard enquiring where we'd 'parked our Variety bus!'. not bad as insults go...

But not my all time favourite. In the summer of 1984 a seven year old boy disappeared from a fun fair in Wokingham. His was believed to have been murdered by a paedophile gang, which included the notorious sick bastard Sidney Cooke. His body has never been found. The fair was on the fields next to Wokingham Town Football Club, just the other side of the railway line. It was also reported at the time that the lad was a ballboy at their games. A few years later we were behind the goal at a Hamlet game there, & the local were up our end, so we started winding them up with comments like "All the fun of the fair!" & "How come you've got no ballboys today?"

Which, understandably riled them somewhat. Which was our intention. One of them said loudly: "Those Dulwich fans are sick!" This resulted in a big cheer from our assorted 'Rabble' next to them. Which promted one of their number to retort: "No they're not! They're WORSE than sick!" Which prompted an even louder roar from our group of fans. As 'compliments' go you can't get much better than "Worse than sick"! A few swear words at Horsham YMCA pale into insignificance don't you think?

Dulwich Hamlet 1, Leatherhead 1.

2009-08-22T01:19:00.000-07:00

What a choker!

Having taken an early lead through a Ryan James tap in it was a very late equaliser from visitors Leatherhead that denied the Hamlet all three points, in the fourth minute of stoppage time. There wasn't even time to get the ball out of the centre circle following the re-start before the final whistle was blown.

What made this defeat, oops sorry draw-it only felt like a defeat- even more galling was that we were well on top for the majority of the game, but failed to convert our superiority into goals to make the game safe. And we were also denied a stonewall penalty in the second half when Stefan Cox was clearly pushed over in the box. The whole ground saw it. I was in perfect line with it, as I was sat up in the stand feeling sorry for myself, still suffering from a bad sore throat virus, & too knackered to stand behind the goal in the second half.

This should have been our first win of the season, instead we were mugged by Levred.

Still...out of sight, out of mind eh? After clocking the full time professional results in the bar I was off up to the West End with my brother Ferenc, to meet one of his mates, and to go to the
Leicester Square Theatre for a sketch comedy show called 'Canuxploitation!'; which allegedly won the best sketch group at the Canada Comedy Awards 2008. The good news was that my brother paid for the ticket. The bad news was I had to sit through the whole show. To say they were crap would be an understatement! Well maybe a bit harsh, as there were a few bits that raised a smile, but in the main a load of rubbish!

The funniest bit was my brother's mate Bernie regaling us with the 'customer care' argument he had with the Eastern European woman at his gym, where he ended up advising her, as she burst into tears!

All in all not one of the most enjoyable Saturdays I've ever had!

Dulwich Hamlet 1, Godalming Town 3

2009-08-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

How times change!

It only just under three years ago that the Hamlet thrashed Godalming Town 8-1, or 'eight bloody one!' as they say in Barnestoneworth, in an Isthmian League game at Champion Hill. Star of the show that night was hat-trick man Chris Dickson.

That was under the managership of Wayne Burnett, & there are a number of Dulwich fans who are already comparing the style of football we're playing under Gavin Rose's charge to those halcyon days of Wayne's time in the Champion Hill dugout. Well both try to play football on the floor, with a passing game, but that's where it ends. The current crop are a lot younger, with very little to no experience at this level, & more importantly we lack it in front of goal.

There was to be no repeat of that scoreline tonight, as our opponents from Surrey finished up comfortable 3-1 winners. There was a hat-trick though, from former Hamlet man Phil Williams.

There's not much to write home about really. The official Hamlet website told us that 'we never really got going with our passing game' which is as clear a euphemism for 'we were rubbish' as you'll ever see.

Even before a ball had been kicked in anger I was having one of those 'good grief' moments. I paid my one pound fifty for the programme & saw the cover...Three footballer jumping up for the ball silhouetted in black. Bloody awful! It could just as easily be a line out in rugby yawnion.

Paul Griffin has designed the cover for a few years now, & more often than not it's a good effort. Not this season though. And it wasn't just me, a fair number of my fellow Hamlet fans were muttering about it. Griff seemed to take umbrage when I told him I thought it wasn't too good, which he took umbrage at. As I said to him-no need to get the hump, you're more than happy to take the praise when it's a decent one. But then it's possibly a touchy subject as his attempt for last season was so laughable, a cartooned caracature of our former striker Chris Dickson who had gone professional with the anoraks, that he scrapped the print run, & produced a new one sharpish!

Just before kick off we remembered one of our own. Hamlet fan Bob Coventry, who died suddenly in the summer. Bob has recently passed sixty, & got a letter for a routine prostate cancer check. He was called back & it was found his body was riddled with cancer, & he died a couple of weeks later. We hadn't heard about this, but one of our fans Jack McInroy had heard from someone at his church, who described Bob to him. Jack posted on the supporters' messageboard & asked if anyone knew anything. I got hold of his address in Brockley & took it upon myself to knock on his door with some trepidation. A woman answered, who turned out to be his niece, & I asked "Is Bob there?" As soon as I saw her I knew it was true, and I explained what we had heard. I told her I was one of his mates from Dulwich Hamlet & I was invited in to see his father. They told me the full story & I expressed my sadness, on behalf of both myself & the fans at Champion Hill. A fair number of us attended his funeral a couple of weeks later at Brenchley Gardens. The one minute silence before kick off was impeccably observed by everyone in the ground.

Our first reall attempt on goal was actually in stoppage time of the first half, an effort from just outside the area from Alim Sesay being saved by the Godalming custodian. This was a few minutes after Williams had put Godalming in front.

We came out of the traps a bit faster after the break, presumably there was a bit of a rollicking in the dressing room, whick kicked a few of them up the arse, & Sol Pinnock equalised eight minutes into the half. Lamin Ojo headed wide, when it seemed easier to nod the ball into the net, just after the hour mark, and that was it for us, as Godalming took control once more, with two more goals to clinch the match.

Godalming are rumoured to be one of the divisional big spenders, so it's not the end of the world, even though it ruins your night to see your team lose. One point from six doesn't look good, but I'm taking comfort that I don't expect a lot of the opposition to come to be as strong as Godalming. And I am fairly sure they will be in the play-off mix come the end of April next year.

Folkestone Invicta 0, Dulwich Hamlet 0

2009-08-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

This may be game number nineteen for me this season...but as far as I'm concerned:

THE SEASON STARTS NOW!

It's the opening day of the Ryman League season, and Dulwich Hamlet are away to Folkestone Invicta. How lucky can you get? This fixture certainly isn't one you want in the middle of a wet & cold January! Ask any fan who they want for an opening day match & they'll tell you one of the seaside trips, and that's what we got. Certainly more appealing than someone like Whyteleafe or Chipstead at home. We have those to 'look forward to'. It's my Saturday 'on' today, at work. but I've got annual leave booked, which I bagged as soon as the fixture list came out last month.

What is not so lucky is that I feel like death warmed up. I have picked up some sort of 'bug' somewhere. Last night I was struggling to sleep, alternately sweating & shivering. I'm tired, weak, and have a really painful sore throat. Before heading down to the Kent coast I check on the internet. thankfully I'm not showing the symptoms of swine flu, so I set off. Too late to get there early enough to look around the town, as is my want, but I'm feeling rotten, so wouldn't really be up to it anyway. As it is I'm nodding off on the train as it is.

Today is a very big game for me personally, as it sees the competitive, & thus official, First Team debut of my nephew Kalvin Morath-Gibbs, in the Dulwich defence. At least I hope he is. I expect him to start, but am unsure as to what name it will be under. As he's been called Calvin with a 'C', in stead of a 'K' in some of the pre-season reports & teamsheets, as well as just plain Gibbs. Leaving out the part from my family, which is Morath. I hope they get it right today, which as it happens they do, as it means a lot to me to have his name properly spelt in the programme.

They got it wrong in the 'South London Press' yesterday, when they were quoting Gavin Rose, the First Team manager. I was so pissed off about I decided to send an email to the Club about it. Well not a genuine angry one, but a wind up one, with a serious point behind it. Don't get me wrong, it is getting on my nerves that they can't get Kalvin's name right, but the person I'm sending an email to is one of the committee members Paul Griffin. He's one of the regulars behind the goal, but since he's been on the Committee over the last year or so has settled in to the 'committee' frame of mind far more than most of us in the 'Rabble' behind the goal ever expected. Last season I won a bit of an internet spat with him, when he tried to suggest than supporters were 'customers' not supporters! So although I was airing a genuine grievance, it was done more to wind him up. ...

"In your committee hat I wish to express my personal disgust at the coverage in the 'South London Press' today, where the Dulwich Hamlet First Team manager Gavin Rose is quoted as referring to one of our squad as Kalvin Gibbs, rather than his PROPER name of Kalvin Morath-Gibbs.
As part of the Morath family, who moved to East Dulwich in 1970, & have been Champion Hill regulars since then, this is not just distressing to me, but extremely upsetting that the manager cannot even get the basics of getting a players name right!
If Kalvin plays tomorrow it will be one, if not the proudesest moment in all my thirty five years as a Dulwich Hamlet supporter if my nephew appears in an Isthmian League match. However some of the gloss will be taken off of it if the Club cannot even get his name right!
This has happened in a number of pre-season matches, & although I mentioned it to my sister (his mother) & Kalvin himself at the Beckenham Town pre-season match, who both assured me he has not & has no intention of dropping 'MORATH' from his name, the manager continues to do so! I have also spoken to Junior Kadi & he assures me he knows Kalvin's full name. So there is a lack of communication somewhere.
To say I am disappointed is an understatement!
Gavin is also quoted in the paper today as saying that 'he hopes supporters will turn out in numbers for Tuesdays match at home to Godalming'. Well if he can't even be bothered to get the name of one of my family members in the team right then it may just be the straw that breaks the proverbial camels back for me, & I may pick and choose my future games, as it will clearly show that the Club does not care about the feeling of this lifelong supporter & his family!
I trust you will take this matter up with both the chairman Jack Payne & the manager, Mr. Rose himself, immediately!"

Well it killed a fifteen minute tea break for me, anyway! ;-)

To be fair to Griff-trust me I'm being very generous by saying 'fair'-he did respond by firing back an email six minutes later:

"Due to a heavy workload at the present moment I am unable to fully address your complaint until such tiime as I have had a chance to speak to the parties concerned. However I do acknowledge that your complaint has been received and will be dealt with in the appropriate manner."

I just read that & muttered...'' 'kin 'ell!" Talk about up his own arse! You really wouldn't think that he has known me for over twenty years! As someone who wants supporters like me to be customers that really is an awful response from a 'customer care' perspective. If someone I knew sent me an email like the one I had to him then I'd have replied along the lines of: "sorry mate, very busy at work, as you understand. I'll try to have a word with Jack & Gavin tomorrow to get it sorted then. See you at Folkestone"

Would that really have been that difficult? But no less than I've come to expect from him. How a comfy seat in a boardroom can change people...

I was so incredulous at his response that I forwarded to one of my close Hamlet mates to laugh at & his view was: " That is ridiculous- the response reads as if he has never met you & considers you just a 'customer'. Numpty! " Exactly!

Time to concentrate on the actual game now. For a nil nil this was an entertaining enough match. Folkestone have had their financial problems in the summer, at one stage it was being rumoured they might even go ut of existence. This was 'downgraded' to them going into administration, & starting the season on minus ten points, but neither happened. They are claiming to being skint, but their wage bill will still be more than ours. The big supporters' banner with the club name on it has had the words 'we will survive' added to it. I sincerely hope they do. They boast a good support base, and have probably the best ground in the division. Decent terracing on three sides, cover at one end, & along the side; with seating on the opposite side of the pitch. They travel away in decent numbers, bringing about fifty to Champion Hill last season.

Chances though, were few and far between for our young new Hamlet side. The build up play was good, as we were clearly trying to play decent football, as did Folkestone. But we just lacked it once more in the final third. They seemed to suffer from the same affliction in front of goal, & neither keeper was really troubled in the first half.

After the break we went close, with an Alex Tiesse shot deflected over the bar, but it was the home side who we then had to keep at bay, as they had more of the game. But as the match drew to a close it was the Hamlet who sprung to life, and had a few chances at the end, the closest being a Junior Kadi effort which was just wide. A good point for us, which is always better than an opening day defeat, but I've seen nothing thar changes my pre-season mind that we will finish mid-table.

I spent the opening part of thesecond period walking round the ground taking some snaps of the Buzzlines Stadium, as their Cheriton Road home is called. A couple of our fans standing along the side, who I stopped to chat to, were kindly complimentary about Kalvin's performance, which was nice. But, like, as if it's got anything to do with me! At one point I stopped in line with our back four, along the side, and watched him at close quarters. I was glad I was on my own, as I actually got a bit emotional. I'm not ashamed to say I was welling up with pride a little, and had to wipe away a tear or two. Forcing myself to 'pull myself together' to stop them becoming a flood! Who knows if Kalvin will play one game for the Club? Maybe half a dozen, or a hundred or more? But you can never take away from me the day one of my own family pulled on the famous Pink 'n' Blue shirt & played for the Dulwich Hamlet First Team for the very first time. The same shirts that the likes of Edgar Kail, Ossie Bayram, Tommy Jover, Reg Merritt & other Hamlet greats wore. I was a very proud uncle this afternoon. So much so that I waited around after the final whistle, & had my photo taken with Kalvin after he'd completed his warm down.

On the train home I nodded off again. I was brought out of my slumber by my phone ringing. It was Gavin Rose, the First Team manager! He wasn't too happy, and said he was disappointed that Jack Payne (the chairman) had handed him the letter (email) I'd written. He said he'd known me for a long time, going back a good few years, from when he was first a player with us, & that I should have spoken to him. I was about to bluster & bluff that I was just angry at the time, & shot off my email in anger, without thinking it through. Not having the heart to tell him it was sent to wind up Griff! I'm not sure if he'd have quite understood where I was coming from.

Unfortunately I couldn't even do that, as the train went into a long tunnel & the connection was lost. I didn't even have any credit on my phone to call him back. So now he probably thinks I was being rude & cut him off! Oh well. nothing I can do about that. I'll give him a bell from work on Monday to clear the air.

Hertford Town 1, Newport Pagnell Town 2

2009-08-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

Contrary to the popular opinion of the 'armchair football fan' the FA Cup does not commence in January when your Arsenals & Chelseas come into the competition. Nor is it in November when your 'plucky little non-league sides' get a chance to have a crack at the Third and Fourth Division clubs. Well ok, League One & League Two if YOU must. I don't!

It actually commences SIX rounds prior to that, And tonight there are a few ties in the Extra Preliminary Round. I finish work at two o'clock today, so have decided to go to one of them. Hertford Town, of the Spartan South Midlands League, versus Newport Pagnell Town, United Counties Leaguers. There are also matches in the cup tonight at Eton Manor (who groundshare at Barking) & Flackwell Heath. But I opt for Hertford as the FA Cup itself will be on display.

Ossie Ardiles will also be in attendance, his son Pablo is the Hertford manager, but I couldn't care less about him, losing any respect I may have had for him back in 1982, when he was on his toes following the outbreak of the Falklands War, when he fittingly crossed the Channel to those well known surrender monkeys, the French, to play for Paris Saint Germain, on loan.

It's quite a few years since I've been to Hertingfordbury Park, previous visits being with Dulwich Hamlet, and all while I was still drinking, so this was the first time I noticed that one of the ends was called the 'Stable End', & that there were actual stables just outside the ground, by the car park. Unremarkable if you're from the country, or small towns like this. But if you're from inner city London & grew up on council estates like me, seeing real, live horses is still both fascinating & scary!

My last trip here was also for an FA Cup tie, when the Hamlet were 'giantkilled', losing 3-1 in the second qualifying round, with Hertford being two divisions below us at the time. I do recall that they had a very young keeper, & he was getting quite a few 'verbals' from us lot behind the goal, especially when he danced with glee, as they scored, to wrap up the game. I almost felt sorry for him, as he tried to hide in the corner of the bar, not knowing what we'd do to him! This game is part of "supporters' folklore' for the antics of Shaun Dooley, as we left about six thirty-ish, to adjourn to a local pub. There was a car parked on the grass outside, with the window wound down, which he then 'dampened' rather than peeing up a tree!

My first visit was way back in 1977/78, for a late season Isthmian Division One match. A win would give us the championship, & we had brought three coachloads of fans, in anticipation. Those were the days! But the champagne had to be 'put on ice' for another week, as we only drew 1-1, with a late goal from my first ever Hamlet hero, Ron Bexley, saving our blushes. My brother Ferenc Morath was at this match, & he was well annoyed we hadn't won. Why? He was at Hull University at the time, having made a round journey of over three hundred miles, to see us clinch the title, & couldn't make the next week, where we won the title in style at Finchley, thrashing them four nil!

But back to tonight. I paid my fiver to get in, with another quid for the programme, and there, to the side of the stand, on it's very own plinth was the FA Cup! Presumably a replica, as the actual one must surely be in the boardroom at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea having beaten Everton 2-1 at Wembley Stadium a mere 76 days earlier.

I'm deliberately here early, as I still want some decent daylight, to take snaps of the stadium for my grounds blog. After I've done my circuit I ask a stranger to take a picture of me standing by the FA Cup. It sounds a bit sad, but hey, come on! Let's be honest with ourselves. If you had the opportunity to have a photo of yourself with the most famous cup in the world you would too!

Just past the clubhouse was a small shed, which was the club shop. There wasn't much by the way of old programmes in it, but I treated myself to a Hertford town scarf. There were a number of old Tottenham Hotspur cuttings on the walls, from the sixties & seventies. The shop was under the charge of a pensioner called Tony. He was also a Spurs fan, and had been coming to watch Hertford since his National Service days, in 1948.

The pre-match publicity has brought a fair bit of media interest. There is a photographers scrum pre-match as Ossie sits with the Cup in the dugout, and there's even a camera crew filming the match for the FA website.

Although I'm usually a terrace man, as I'm a neutral tonight I take a pew up in the stand. I don't mind sitting down now & again, as although I prefer standing, you tend to get a better view, and a totally different perspective of the game.

Under my jacket I'm wearing a Hamlet shirt, which is clocked by some of the groundhoppers present, & they turn out to fellow 'Kempsterites'! A 'Kempsterite' being someone who posts on the wonderful resource that is the late Tony Kempster's messageboard. They are fully fledged serious 'hoppers, not a mere part timer like me, & I'm entertained by tales from Aggedor & Over The Top. To show how dedicated/mad they are, the previous night OTT had been at a Didcot Festival Cup Group C match between Hagbourne United & Steventon. Neither of whom I've heard of, nor the competition.

We're sat at the back of the stand, they're to the left of me, not quite in the back row. The reason being....if you push down the tip up seat in the last row there is actually no leg room. Not even a few inches. None at all! Bizarre. But presumably they have enough seats in the stand to be able to pass the ground gradings. Nobody said anything about being able to sit on them!

Just as you get 'A listers' of celebrities, Aggedor must be up there with the top hoppers! Most groundhoppers have their notebook, and write down the teams and goalscorers for their records. (Not something I do, which is why I'm not a 'hopper myself!) But Aggedor is much more organised than this. An A4 clip folder, teams noted on a pre-printed team sheet, with a football kit outlined, to be coloured in! With the programme clipped secure on the other half of the folder. Now that IS organised. But then I'd expect nothing less from the person behind the Hellenic League Hop, later this month.

To my left is a local old boy. I get chatting to him as the game starts, & he points out the Hertford number five to me. He is Glen Draper, & their captain. My friend tells me that Hertford had lost the last two games, but he had not played, as he had been supended, carried over from last season, & he hoped that he would make the difference tonight. In fact, with the aid of a bit of a weak ref, he proved to be a bit of a dirty git, & it was easy to see how he earned his suspensions!

There was hardly time to settle & get comfortable before Newport Pagnell took the lead, a header from a corner by Richard Armstrong, after only four minutes. This gave him the honour of scoring the first goal of the 2009/10 FA Cup competition. After taking the lead both team continued to attack, with neither totally dominating but if I had to favour one then Newport Pagnell shaded it. . Entertaining enough, but no more goals before the break.

I continued to chat to the old boy next to me, and he told me he used to be a White Hart Lane regular. But since he retired it's become far too expensive, & he's been totally priced out. Only making the odd rare trip there, when he's 'lent' somebody's season ticket, if they can't make a game. But he has to make to with Hertford Town, as he can no longer afford his beloved Tottenham Hotspur. Which is actually quite sad, and rather damning on the modern game.

Part of the reason he's come along tonight is that one of his old Spurs heroes Ossie Ardiles is here. He has with him the programme from the Keith Burkinshaw testimonial match from way back in 1984, which he will try to get him to autograph. By coincidence that match was my only visit to White Hart Lane! Part of the reason I was there was a certain player called Maradona 'guesting' for Spurs. Back then I was young & naive, & thought he was a good player. Now I wouldn't cross the road to piss on him if he was on fire, the cheating, fat, tax dodging, drug cheat! though I must say he's doing a good job as Argentina manager at the moment!

After the break the visitors looked more dangerous, but Hertford had their chances too. The game swung end to end, and there had to be a goal eventually. This was to be the equaliser, just over two thirds into the game. Substitute Adam Furness ran with the ball down the middle of the park, blasting the ball past the keepr, for the goal of the match. This should have been the cue for Hertford to gain the upper hand, but as if often the case in football, they switched off. A free kick up the other end was half cleared, but Pagnell's Vinny Shrieves hit the ball into the net, to restore their lead, & win the tie.

Moments before the end, well into stoppage time, there was a bit of a brawl, as the game erupted, as it had threatened to. The volatile Hertford skipper, Glenn Draper, was extremely lucky to come out of it with only a yellow. He then proceeded to try to carry on after the final whistle was blown, as he tried to headbut a visiting player, & had to be dragged away by his team mates. All seen by the referee, but ignored. Shocking!

I missed the scenes that were to come. I was on my way out of the ground, heading back to the station, and missed a home fan hitting a Newport Pagnell supporter! I only know about it, having read the report from Aggedor, on the 'Where did you go?' section of the Kempster forum. I copy the relevant part here:

"The unsavoury incidents then spilled into the stand as a home "fan" thumped an aged Newport supporter, leaving him collapsed on the steps. This was seen by many people in the stand, along with the Ref and the NPT team (who came charging over to have a go at the culprit). I last saw the aggressor being marched away by the Police, don't know what happened after that. As for the victim, OTT texted me as I was driving home to let me know that NPT had received word that he was concussed and had suffered a fit, but was expected to be otherwise OK. The incident was apparantly caught on film too, this being the match chosen for coverage in the round-by-round documentary."

What more can I add to that?

Fisher 1, Beckenham Town 2

2009-08-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

Fisher are dead. Long live the Fish!

Following their long, lingering death throughout last season in the Blue Square South after their 'sugardaddy' Sami Muduroglu stopping paying the bills as his own income dried up in the 'credit crunch' the name of Fisher is back in senior non-league football tonight! The all new, all singing, all dancing Fisher FC make their Kent League bow at Champion Hill against Beckenham Town. By coincidence another outfit formerly in the Muduroglu stable. Nobody knows what the future holds for Sami, or his brother Eren, who was-on paper-the owner of Fisher Athletic, despite being based in Italy. to 'muddy' the waters further the company they had that owned the old Salter Road Stadium has apparently gone into receivership, so the rumour doing the rounds goes. I'm not sure how true that is though..

But they are still in control of DHPD Limited, which owns the Champion Hill Stadium lease, purchased through a mortgage company, so who knows what the future holds there? Worrying times all round, but I try not to worry about it too much, as there's nothing much I can do to change things until my six numbers come up one week.

It's strongly rumoured that the new Fisher FC are playing rent free at Champion Hill on Muduroglu orders, but I have no problem with that. I don't know Sami well at all, just to talk to at football, & I can only judge as I find. And I've always found him a decent enough chap. It's said he's not the most 'legit' of businessmen, but hey...this is south east London. What do you expect? All I know is that while I think he was crazy to pump in so much money into the old Fisher Athletic when he had it, he loved the game, and did what he thought was right. Wideboy? Dreamer? Ideallist? Who knows eh? It's just all very sad...

So fair play to the small, but loyal, Fisher support who rallied round to form their new club, and getting set up for the Kent League. This has all been achieved in less than three months. It would have been easy to let the Fisher name disappear. Who would have noticed with the small crowds they get? Not many. But to the people who cared-the true fans-that wasn't an option.

I pay my fiver on the gate,& you can feel the almost carnival atmosphere in the air. Tim Rogers, on the gate, even welcomes me as enter! Though I decline his offer to defect from Dulwich!

Programmes are on sale inside, a decent glossy effort, and up in the bar there's a table selling new badges & stuff. But the strangest thing is just how happy the Fisher faithful are. They all seem to have a smile on their faces. It's almost as if they''ve beaten cancer, and have been given a second chance in life. And in footballing terms they have.

Fisher will start out as 100% amateurs. Set up as a completely democratic one member-one vote Supporters' Trust run club they can only spend what they have, and what few shekels they have raised so far is being spent on setting the club up. If a sugar daddy turns up he won't be able to take over the club unless the membership vote for it.

With this being both a Monday night, & their first home match, there is plenty of interest in the game tonight. From local groundhoppers, other 'hoppers who want to see their first match, interested locals from their Bermondsey heartland, former fans disillusioned by the way the club had been run and sunk, some supportive Dulwich Hamlet fans like myself. It all added up to a healthy crowd of 222, which will without a doubt be higher than a few Hamlet gates this season, though I think it will the highest the Fish get through the Champion Hill turnstiles.

I also spotted a former Dulwich Hamlet official at the match. I walked past him in the second half with a bit of trepidation, as I'd sent in a letter of complaint, which resulted in him leaving the club last season. Walking before he was pushed. We had just lost a London Senior Cup tie, at home to Erith & Belvedere, from the Kent League. Disappointing? Certainly. An hour or so after the match I was chatting with another fan in the main entrance area when he walked past and stuck his oar in. The reason we lost was that they had palyers who wanted it. We never. I asked how he worked that out, and the response was that it was eleven black against eleven white! I then retorted by saying what about the games we've won? He said there hadn't been many of them, and walked off!

To say I was shocked was an understatement! Not by his racist attitude, I'd heard rumours about him coming out with similar comments in committee meetings, hidden behind the walls of the boardroom. That is bad enough, and if true, shows what a spineless old fashioned committee we have in allowing him to air them. But in a public part of the ground they are one hundred per cent totally unacceptable. We have a majority black side, and have done for a few seasons now. I don't see the colour of their skin. I see the colour of their shirts. Players are 'Pink and Blue', and that's all that matters to me. Black players in an inner city minor non-league club, in the most cosmopolitan city in the world? Whatever next?!? Funnily enough in the Sixties we finished near the bottom, or even rock bottom, of the Isthmian League, getting re-elected more than once, when it was a one division amateur league, with a team full of 'whiteys'! ;-)

I thought the Club were lucky that night that a journalist, visiting fan, or league official, had not overheard. We could have been plastered all over the internet as a racist club, with all the advese publicity that goes with that. I thought long & hard about complaining to the Club. If he stayed as a club official my conscience would have no choice but to tell me to walk away from the club I love. But I had to do what was right. I was fortunate in that the Hamlet fan I was talking to could confirm what had been said, which was also heard by the Fisher chairman, who had also previously held that office at the Hamlet.

Thankfully, for me, when the matter was brought up, he chose to resign. I was thanked by the Dulwich Hamlet chairman for bringing it to their attention, and the owner of the Club thanked me personally, saying that he had been looking for an excuse to get rid of him anyway! Which was just a well, because if he had stayed I would have had no choice but to walk away, & contacted the local press, & the Kick It Out campaign, until he was forced out.

I had since been told that the departing official had told anyone who wanted to listen, that he wasn't racist. Which he may genuninely think he's not. But it doesn't alter the dact he came out with a racist statement much in the way that Ron Noades & Jimmy Hill have, and they are simply not acceptable. I was told he rang one Hamlet official up, and said that he wasn't a racist or bigoted, but that he would "do the fat poof" the next time he saw me! ;-)

As I walked past him, along the side of the pitch, in front of the stand, I wondered if he would say anything. He saw me, but didn't catch my eye. I looked ahead, without acknowledging him. But imprtantly, he never said a word. Which,as far as I'm concerned, validating my actions, as he had nothing to defend. But back to the historic first ever competitive Fisher FC match this evening...

It's a game of 'pikey' kits. Fisher FC play in the old Fisher Athletic (London) FC kit, from the Blue Square South, the season before. Somehow I don't think they've bought it off of the Official Receiver, whose property it should be by rights. Me thinks it may have been spirited away no long before they were wound up in the High Court on 13th May! While Beckenham Town are turning out in an exact replica of the Arsenal kit, including the 'Fly Emirates' sponsorship plastered across their chests. The only effort they've gone to to make it their own is to have their own badge put over the Gooners one.

No score at half time, it was fast and frantic at times, Fisher should have scored early on through defender Lloyd Boateng, who headed over, & there were chances for both sides. But lots of passes went astray, not quite reaching players, or being overhit. This was Kent League football after all. But it was none the less entertaining for it.

The second half saw Beckenham open the scoring, through Danny Bleach, a few minutes before the hour mark. But the new Fish hit back, through a delightful goal from Elstrom Die, less than ten minutes later. He went back the visitors defence & hit the ball over the keeper, into the top of the net. I'd not heard of him before, but he impressed. I wouldn't mind him being watched with a view to changing over his shirt to a Pink 'n' Blue one! Apparently he's moved down from 'oop north', & was at Curzon Ashton last season.

Although Beckenham looked the more deserving winner I wasn't going to begrudge Fisher their point...but there was heartbreak with only a minute to go when the big Beckenham defender James Holder volleyed past the deserved man of the match Danny Baldwinson, in the Fish net. He was the Dulwich Hamlet Youth Team goalkeeper last season, & in my humble opinion far better than Tim Roberts, who is our current first choice. Definately one that got away...

The Fish were gutted to lose tonight, sick to the gills. But they didn't let it show. Having had such a miserable season as their club slowly died a lingering death it was just pure happines at being back & enjoying their football.

It may only be the Kent League for them, but it's a million times better than having no club at all. And thanks to the few Fisher faithful they have re-grouped & been reborn to live another day. They may not be AFC Wimbledon, so they won't get all the headlines, & certainly won't climb back up the pyramid to the Conference, where Fisher Athletic were. But I wish them all the best...as long as they return back to Bermondsey where they belong sooner rather than later!

Haringey Borough 1, New Salamis 0

2009-08-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

How could I resist a trip to White Hart Lane for this unusual pre-season fixture? Not that White Hart Lane. This one is a couple of miles or so away, at the Wood Green end of it. The home of the slightly less illustrious Haringey Borough.

Easy enough to get to. Tube to Wood Green then a short bus ride. One stop longer than usual. 'Usual' being a couple of times a year I head over here for yet another sporting venue, to watch the absolutely woeful rugby league outfit London Skolars.

Haringey Borough are a club I know nothing about really. But their roots go back a long way, & they claim that they are continuation of the old amateur club Tufnell Park, who Dulwich Hamlet defeated in the record breaking 1919/20 season FA Amateur Cup Final. Back then the Hamlet played in pink and blue narrow stripes, and it is the style of this kit that the current Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team kit is based.

Of New Salamis I know nothing. I am presuming they are a local Sunday League team, and on reading the programme that was handed out on the gate, included in the £3 admission, that is confirmed. They are the current champions of the K.O.P.A. Cypriot League, which has twelve clubs in their top division. The part of north London that Haringey Borough are based in has a large immigrant Cypriot community, so it's not surprising to see such a flourishing league.

I pay my money and start to look at the ground. The chap on the gate comes up to me & points out the bar, as he obviously recognises me as a visitor.

The ground has an old stand along one side, the rest is open hard standing. I watch most of the game up in the stand, which actually rattles each time a heavy vechicle goes past, usually the bus back to Wood Green, which seems to be every ten minutes or so. I'm surprised the actual structure hasn't been condemned yet, though I'm glad it has not.

It's a strange place to still see football, as it's surrounded by housing, and bizarrely to me, allotments ajacent behind part of it! I cannot believe that a small club, with very little support, has survived here against the march of the propert developers. Richard, who was the chap on the gate, explains why. The ground is called Coles Park, and named after the benefactors the Cole family, who gave the land to the Wood Green Town club in 1930, placing it in a perpetual covenant saying it must only be used for community sport. He also informs me that the club hold charitable status, which helps them survive, and strengthens their aim to be a genuine community club, with numerous junior sides, as well as a womens team, all playing under the Haringey Borough banner.

Of the game itself...well the programme states that while it is unusual for a Saturday Senior side to play a Sunday side to complete their pre-season preparations, the visitors are no ordinary Sunday side. They are a "Marks and Spencers Sunday team". I must have had the misfortune to have caught them on a bad day, for this was more "Netto" than Marks & Sparks.

It was a match of very little chances, but quite a few 'couldn't hit a barn door' attempts on goal. And while Haringey clearly looked the fitter and more acomplished team, trust me that's not really a compliment.

The only real 'bright spot' if that's the right word, was Melvin Thompson-Klass converting from the penalty spot for the only goal of the game early in the second half, sending the keeper the wrong way.

I know very little about the standard of the Spartan South Midland League, but if this Haringey performance is anything to go by I'd expect them to struggle.

Southwark Libraries 3, Southwark Call Centre 9

2009-08-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

Not a game I'd usually watch, but I work for Southwark Libraries, and the bonkers chap that is Rodney Bonnick, who organises their side, works in my branch.

I usually finish work at six on Monday, but he asked me to swap my seven finish tomorrow with him, so he could disappear at six tonight, and get to the all-weather pitch at Burgess Park in plenty of time for the seven o'clock kick off.

It was a pleasant sunny evening so I headed over there too. jump on a passing 381, then a few minutes walk from Bird-in-Bush Road, in Peckham. I got there at about twenty past, & it hadn't started yet, which tickled me somewhat. Any excuse to keep the Call Centre side waiting is fair enough. give them a taste of their own medicine, if my experience is anything to go by!

The pitch is one of those lovely 3G artificial ones,or whatever they're called, with some sort of rubber based 'soil'. They are magnificent to play on, and I cannot fathom out why all non-league clubs are not allowed to play on them in all competitions, provided they are maintained properly.
This venue has been completely rebuilt thanks to Lottery money. Not just the pitch, but the erecting of smart changing rooms, both for the football pitch and the cricket green over the road. Cricket? What like a village green? Yep! The Burgess Park Cricket Club, a proverbial stonesthrow from the Old Kent Road! I used to be against money from the National Lottery beinf 'wasted' on things like the opera, but then I realised that not everyone thinks ploughing money into sport is a 'good use' for the dosh. Horses for courses, and all that. One thing is for sure-without lottery money this place would be a derelict glass & needle strewn wasteland.

I'm not expecting 'total football' this evening. It's basically two groups of people having a knockabout for fun. The Libraries team don't even have their own kit. A mix of various whitish tops, along with one or two others. I think the word 'ragamuffin' was invented for them!

There's a few benches on the far side, so I plonk myself down to enjoy the game. And enjoy it I will. Helped by the fact I know a number of the Libraries team, that is the ones that work for the Council. As it's about a 50/50 mix of genuine employees and 'ringers'.

I suppose in the 'olden days'. half a century or more ago, the local parks would have been full of these sort of sides-'works teams'- in an organised Thursday league, or something similar, from the many factories & docks in the area. All long gone, just like the workplaces they represented. This is all that is left, the twenty first century equivalent. a couple of practically scratch sides, having a kickabout for fun, after work.

When the game does start it's the Call Centre that take control. They are the dominant side, restricting Libaries to the odd break. The goals start to flow after about twenty minutes. First one, then two. Not long after the Call Centre advance again. Up goes a Libraries arm. 'Offside!' Now I'm directly in line, woth a better view than the referee, and he clearly says 'play on' too. The chap who was waving his arm about, stops moaning when the shot goes wide. Moments later a Call Centre player is fouled. Not a bad one, but typically niggly, and a free kick is given. it's taken quickly, knocked across the park, & the ball rips the back of the net from the resulting thunderbolt! 'Offside Man' is speechless. Karma payback time for his attempt at cheating me thinks!

But the last goal of the half goes to Libraries, as from a rare corner someone jumps totally unmarked to nod the ball home. Which sums up the 'quality' of the game really.

After the break the book brigade stamp their mark on the encounter, and come out of the traps flying. The Call Centre seem to be on hold and it's now three two. But this seems to shake the visitors out of their lethargy, or complacency. Maybe a bit of both. They take the game by the scruff of the neck & score three more within the next six minutes!

Being a friendly there were numerous substitutions. After the last goal Libaries changed their keeper, with my colleague Rodney going between the sticks.at at one stage the referee failed to notice that there were ELEVEN outfield players on the pitch for the Call Centre! When he did they took one off, but the man in black failed to notice, and ordered another red shirt to leave, despite there now being the correct number on the field!

There's something about Southwark Libraries fixtures that attacts buffoons to the middle! the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team has had a number of games with them over the years, but not for a good year or so. The last one was ruined by an incompetant referee, who gave everything their way, and only blew for our fouls. The unsporting attitude of some of their number, in effect, meant the end of this fixture, as we now can't be bothered to waste our time playing them. In another match the referee-a badged, qualified one allegedly- forgot his whistle, so we had to play with him waving a handkerchief every tome he should have blown for an infringement! You can imagine what a farce that was!

To be fair, the Libaries lack of respect for 'fair play' wasn't anything like as bad this evening. There's no real whingeing, as they're clearly overrun by a far better side, including a woman playing in the middle, who looks good enough to play at least at Southern Division level. I wish I'd asked her who she plays for.

After three more Call Centre goals it's another keeper change for Libraries, which you could say almost 'changed the game'. Another goal is conceded, but up the other end! A late 'consolation' goal for the Southwark Library Lions, as they call themselves in their five a side league on Wednesday nights in Mile End. Not sure about Lions. More like pussy cats on this showing!

Lewes 1, Dulwich Hamlet 0

2009-07-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

This was an unexpected game. Unexpected in that it wasn't on the original list of pre-season matches for The Hamlet. Presumably arranged because our assistant manager Junior Kadi played for Lewes a couple of seasons ago. Not that I'm complaining about it. As it is on a Wednesday. Rather than the more usual Tuesday night, for if it was twenty four hours earlier I would still have been in Riga.

So I can't complain too much really, even if I've got back to the 'wrong' airport this lunchtime. Not 'wrong' as in I've been diverted to another one, but 'wrong' as in it's not Gatwick, which is a darn sight nearer to Lewes than Stansted, which is where I flew into, courtesy of Ryanair. Having said that, if I had arrived at Gatwick I would probably have lugged my heavy bag down to the South Coast, rather than dropping it at home first.

Now before you all point out my mistake I know that Lewes isn't actually on the Sussex coast, and you can't go paddling in the seas there, but on so many previous trips there down the years I've gone there via Brighton, and strolled around there beforehand. So it always feels like a seaside trip to me, even though it's not.

Today I'm getting the train direct from East Croydon to Lewes, and get there just before six o'clock. Unfortunately as I arrive so does the rain. I'd planned to have a wander around the high Street, to kill some time, as it's quite a pleasant historical town, but as soon as I did the heavens opened. And no brolly either, the only thing to keep me 'dry' was my recently purchased HJK Helsinki baseball cap. I took refuge under a shop awning until it died down, then headed back towards the station, & the ground. Which is,literally, round the corner from it.

It's been a few years since I've been to the Dripping Pan. Not since the 2003/04 season, when they were Ryman Division One South champions. And my gosh, what a shock! The Dripping Pan really has gone down the pan! All in the name of progress! Ground gradings have a lot to answer for. A once unique bowl of a ground with an old wooden stand & magnificent grass banking has now been turned into a semi-concrete monstrousity, in the name of progress.

The grass banks are now all railed off, in the name of health & safety. With only a concrete walkway along the top, so you can't stand pitchside along the entire far side, opposite the new main stand. Built in the same place as the previous wooden one, which at least had character.

Behind the goal, as you come in, to the right of the club house & changing rooms, is a concrete terrace, nicely roofed I must admit, which was there for my last trip here with Dulwich. No doubt they had to build this to get the gradings, but how stupid are those actual gradings? For if you stand to the back of the right hand side of this terrace you cannot see half of the pitch, as it's built tight up to the wall of the two storey club building next to it!

I also recall our last trip there, as we were stood here in the first half. Unfortunately so were some of the home fans, despite no segregation, even though they were attacking the other end. Now the vast majority of Lewes fans are decent people. But with the start of their success that year came a few 'local glory hunters' too. And we had to put up with loads of verbal abuse, and things chucked at us, including lit cigarettes! Charming!

There is now another, open, terrace, at the far end. Presumably built for segregation purposes to get them into Conference National. Around it is cordoned off grass banking, now overgrown and neglected, which helps to contribute to the overall sad state of a once unique ground, concrete wrecking the natural amphitheatre feel of the steep green slopes.

Lewes are a club that has overstretched itself, wrecked by people in the boardroom, who tried to become a bigger club than they were, and wrecking over a hundred years of history along the way. They are currently struggling to pay huge sums owed to the Inland Revenue, & it's touch and go if they will even start the season. I think they will, though whether they complete it is another matter. My gut feeling is that they won't, though I sincerely hope I'm proved wrong.

As always it's the fans that are left to pick up the pieces, galvanising themselves to try to save the club, after the supposed directors in the boardroom, who 'always know best' have fucked things up. On entering the ground I'm handed a small flier publicising the efforts of just one.Lee Cobb, who is walking the South Downs Way to raise funds. Which is about a hundred miles!

The Club Shop is open, to the left as you come in the ground, and I treat myself to a Lewes scarf & a glossy booklet celebrating their promotion to Conference National, a review of the season type thing, when they won the Blue Square South in 2008. That was the bizarre ending when the manager who built the team, Steve King, was sacked before they'd been presented with the trophy, after securing promotion. Now Steve has got a bit of a reputation as being a 'gobby shite' in some non-league circles, but from where I'm sitting he's a quality young manager, who wears his heart on his sleeve. Steve's first job as a manager was with the Youth Team at Dulwich Hamlet, at the turn of the decade, when I was Youth Team Secretary. you could see then that he was passionate about the game, and was going to go far. I couldn't believe it when the then Chairman of Dulwich Hamlet Martin Eede failed to appoint him as First Team manager when he applied for it a couple of years after, citing his lack of experience. Admittedly, Dulwich Hamlet has a strange set up, with the Limited Company controlling both the football section, as well as the gymnasium, bars, and all-weather pitches, with the seven-a-side leagues. And we don't exactly file the most detailed accounts, getting away with the bare legal minimum, so it's hard to see how much money comes in, where it goes & who takes it. But that was a convenient excuse for Martin, used far too often. 'Limited company, this, Limited Company that...' He should, but never will, carry the burden of the way our club has plummetted over the last decade or so.

I head to the bar. I don't see any other Hamlet fans, just three committee & a hanger on. That 'hanger on' being an elderly fan called Bill Kirby. I've nothing particularly against him, he's a nice enough bloke, and has been supporting the club since before the Second World War. In fact, he was actually at Upton Park, the last time we lifted the FA Amateur Cup, beating Leyton by two goals to nil in 1937. He returned south of the river & went to the 'Crown & Greyhound' in Dulwich Village, which was the Club post-match headquarters at the time. He will tell, if prompted, that this was the first time in his life that he got drunk! Sometimes he still wears the old pink and blue woollen bar scarf that he had at that match too! The only beef I have if that he gets in free everywhere, & swans in boardrooms, simply because of who he knows. He is not on the committee, nor has he ever played for the club. So as far as I'm concerned has not right to be in there. He tells opposition officials that he is 'Bill Kirby, vice-president', as if it's an important post. In fact we have some sort of' Vice Presidents Club', which is an ad-hoc association of old players & committee, & people like Bill, who is a member because he mixes with them.

Away to Crowborough Athletic last season their 'boardroom area' was simply a partitioned off area of the clubhouse. I was sat on the 'ordinary' side, & one of the home officials misunderstood him, and called him the President. Shamefully, he made no attempt at correcting the chap, despite being introduced as such. Oh the life of a freeloader...

There are no programmes tonight, though I'm reliably told both that 'there are some team sheets about' & that 'there should be some programmes, but they're not here yet.' I don't see anyone with either, though there is a team sheet pinned up in the bar. I take a look & immediately it gets my hackles up once more. Someone called 'Calvin Gibbs' is playing, when my nephew is KALVIN MORATH-GIBBS. Grr!

By the time kick off comes round it has stopped raining, and although there's very few others who've made the trip up from south-east London, I see four other Hamlet fans, which makes a pitiful five of us. When I first started supporting the Hamlet as a young boy in the mid seventies we'd have had a full supporters' coach to a match like this. How times change!

This season Dulwich are going with a very young, inexperienced side. But one that will try to play football, rather than hit & hope. Tonight is a prime example of this, as you would be hard pushed to say who is the Conference South side, & which is languishing in Ryman One South. We more than match them, & I'm wondering if they have put out their full first team. I pleasantly surprised to discover that, in the main, they have.

But we lack in the final third. On the games I've seen so far it's hard to see where the goals are going to come from. 'Pretty football' is all well and good, but the bottom line is that all fans really care about is results. Lewes only get their winner once we have taken our foot off the pedal after a number of substitutions in the latter part of the second half.

It seems it's not just me who's noticed. for the Lewes manager Steve Ibbitson is quoted afterwards, by the Sussex Express, as saying: "Dulwich played exactly as I knew they would do as Kadi will play football and keep playing football no matter what. Sometimes it is even to the point that you think he has forgotten the point is to score."

But, 'helped' by playing two divisions below them, I think wewill have an easier ride on the pitch than the Rooks. Though, with al ltheir problems, just being able to finish at the bottom at the end of the season will be deemed a success, as it will mean they have survived.

Sakret/Mantija 4, Rigas Satiksme 0

2009-07-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

When on holiday I always try to find a football match to go to. Some may thing that a bit strange, but not me. I'm a bit tired, if I'm honest. It's been a very long day to say the least.

Last night I left Helsinki and got the half past ten sailing to Tallinn. Except it didn't leave on time, and finally departed at gone midnight. Which suited me as it happens. I've not got a bed booked anywhere, as my plan is to get on the 5.45am bus to Riga, the capital of Latvia.

I've not been there before, so I have a flight booked back with Ryanair on Wednesday morning.

The bus down to Riga is actually a more expensive one than the regular service, but worth it, as it's a comfortable executive type 12 seater posh minibus. And I catch some much needed shuteye on it.

Unfortunately for me there's no top division fixtures midweek, so I spend the day visiting the main football grounds and taking photos. One of them is the Daugava Stadium...and on their second pitch, in the shadow of the main stadium, I have managed to trace a third division match on the internet.

When I'm looking at the main ground in the afternoon there is some sort of schools, or youth, match going on. Though I don't really stop to watch it, as I'm off to the Skonto Riga stadium, before heading back here.

It's a seven o'clock kick off, and the teams are Sakret/Mantija & Rigas Satiksme. I know nothing about them, nor the standard. But I suspect it won't be that high. Part of me questions what I'm even doing here! But then I think it through rationally. Yes it is a basic all-weather pitch. There's just dugouts and a couple of benches. But it's no worse really than something I might once in a while dip into at home, like the lower divisions of the Kent County League or Combined Counties. And it's a 'serious' enough match, as there are three match officials.

I take my pew on one of the benches along the side, and tiredness kicks in. I am yawning a bit too much, and at times, into the match almost nod off completely! It's not the game that's putting me to sleep though, just a long day.

The game is worth it for being in the shadow of the huge floodlight pylons from the main stadium, behind the goal to my right. They are massive, and look just like how I imagine classic Eastern European pylons look like. In their own way they are actually beautiful!

The game kicks off nine minutes later than scheduled, & the first thing I have to do is work out which team is which. The home team are in yellow, with the visitors in blue. The most helpful identification is the sponsors logo on the visitors shirts, as I realise that Rigas Satiksme is the name of the main Riga transport company, with the emblem being the same as the one that is on all the buses and trams.

So, presumably, they are a works team, which tells you what you need to know about the standard. My comparison with the equivalent 'level' of the English non-league pyramid.

It's Sakret/Mantija who start the stronger, but their superiority isn't converted into goals until just under ten minutes before half time, when they take the lead with a header. A minute before half time their lead is extended thanks to a powerful volley, which deserved more than the muted cheering, and polite tound of applause it got.

At half time I walk over to an overgrown third pitch to my left, which has a very worn running track around it. This pitch is enclosed by a concrete wall on three sides, and this is what catches my eye. Every panel is covered with urban 'street art', which appears to have been the venue for a 'graffiti' competition for the Baltics a couple of years before, & I merrily spend the interval snapping away.

Back for the second half, and on the hour mark I see an unusual substitution. The visitors goalkeeper is taken off. Presumably pre-arranged, as he doesn't throw a strop, or even look as though he's got the hump. he hasn't had the proverbial 'mare', nor is he injured. It's just a straight swap with the sub goalie coming on. He's competent enough, but can't do anything about the next goal, a twenty five yard screamer, that you wouldn't have complained about, if this was a First Division match, never mind a regional third division one.

Sakret/Mantija scored one more before the end, to give a 'two goals conceded' record to each keeper. As the final whistle went it told you something about the standard, as some of the participants stood around lighting cigarettes, rather than warming down with their team mates. It may have been 'Hackney Marsh-like' in behaviour, but it was pleasantly enjoyable. Obviously not the highest of standards, but what they lacked in talent they made up in keenness. Passes may have gone astray, and there were plenty of long balls in among the attempts to play it along the floor. But isn't than low level non-league football the world over?

HJK Helsinki 3, FC Haka 3

2009-07-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

At first glance this must look like a cracking game! A six goal thriller between top of the table HJK Helsinki & third placed FC Haka. But from where I was stood, on top of my seat actually, as I'm not too keen on all-seaters unless I'm really cream crackered, it was bloody awful! Which is a bit harsh, but I was gutted at dropping two precious league points! The game almost gifted to Haka by HJK, with only a late equaliser saving our blushes! I say 'our' because, without a doubt there is a small pocket of us from south-east London who are rooting for HJK from afar, & it was points thrown away, rather than one gained. This was the second capitulation on four days, I was fortunate not to have witnessed the European fiasco here.

But the hard core of about a hundred HJK fans behind the goal, I can't quite call them hooligans, as they're not what I'd call anything resembling a 'decent firm' despite some English style 'copycatting' of Burbury & Stone Island, who let their feelings known on that defeat. with a banner held aloft that I am told roughly translates as 'now ends tinkering', which would mean, I guess, they're pretty pissed off at team selection!

In the day a group of us had gone to the beautiful island of Suomenlinna, which is a World Heritage Site. We spend a few hours there, in the company of our HJK hosts, before we head back for the game in the evening. About half an hour before kick off we get a quick visit of the trophy room, which was marvellous, before we head into the ground with our complimentary tickets. The HJK supporters couldn't have done more for us, & I, for one, was very humbled by their hospitality. Especially their head honcho Vellu Niemi, a really friendly bloke, who arranged everything for us.

Last season we saw a comfortable four nil victory, and while we wanted more of the same, we expected a tighter match, but still with all three points in the bag. unfortunately Haka hadn't read our suggested script, as they stunned the crowd by taking a shock lead in the sixth minute. But normal service was resumed when the HJK's Gambian winger Dawdah Bah not only equalised exactly six minutes later, but also gave us the lead seven minutes before half time.

But in the second half HJK imploded, with what seemed like a lack of interest, allowing Haka to run at them, with some slapdash defending, which culminated in an equaliser in the 68th minute, & the visitors taking the lead again four minutes later. From then on HJK were chasing the game, and even a late face saving goal from 20 year old striker Akseli Pelvas didn't do much to raise the spirits.

It's a long time since I've seen any team I follow come back from behind, and for it to still feel like such a defeat. Come the end of the Finnish season in mid October, I hope it's not a sub-standard performance such as this that costs HJK the title.

At the final whistle it was back to 'Happy Dayz', where the 'man of the match' is obliged to visit, and give a post match interview to the fans, that is broadcast through the sound system in the pub. Not a easy thing to do, after the last two disappointing games, but he got no grief. Somehow I can't see this catching on down the local near the Emirates, or Stamford Bridge, an hour or so after the final whistle!

Atlantis FC 1, KPV Kokkola 2

2009-07-25T15:34:00.001-07:00

This was a game at a strange venue. I say 'strange' because it sits in the shadow of two much larger stadiums. The Atlantis ground is called the Toollon Pallokentta, and is very much one sided. A steep bank of open bench seating, with a capacity of four thousand, though I'd be surprised if there was more than a couple of hundred today. There were more watching though, as a couple of dozen looked in for free, through the chain fencing surrounding the ground.

I've dashed here to catch a Ykkonen game, which is the Finnish Second Division, between Atlantis FC & KPV Kokkola.

Up behind the bank of seating is the Olympic Stadium, where Finland play their international matches, & immediately behind the goal to our right is the Finnair Stadium, home of HJK Helsinki.
I could actually have watched a game here last night, as Klubi 04 were at home. they are, in essence, the reserve team of HJK, who also play in the second division. Their match was at todays venue. But the rain was hammering down, monsoon style to someone like me used to 'ordinary' London downpours! If the rain had eased I would have gone to watch them, as it was only a few hundred yards away, that was my plan B.

My original plan A was to go to a local third division match, at IF Gnistan, I got as far as the bus stop, as their was a brief lull in the downpour, but headed back to bar, where everyone else was encamped...apart from the ever getting stranger fellow Dulwich Hamlet fan Paul Griffin, who did go to Gnistan, despite knowing that the ground had no cover whatsoever, just an open metal stand. Unsurprisingly he got soaked through! And for what? A bloody awful nil nil draw! I think I got the better deal, returning to the 'Happy Dayz' bar, our 'unofficial HQ, which became my plan C!

On the Saturday afternoon I missed the start of the Atlantis match, but I'm not a serious groundhopping purist! No sir, no! Not by a long chalk! So it's still a 'tick' for me. I was fortunate at the gate, as I was allowed in free of charge once they realised I was an English tourist. I wish that would happen at more places ;-)

Of the game itself, well while I willing the plucky underdog, that was the home side, to make a game of it, they didn't threaten much at all. Kokkola are tucked behind the leaders, while Atlantis are at the bottom of the table. They seem keen enough, but just aren't that good, and it comes as no surprise when the visitors finally take the lead after 25 minutes, and double it about ten minutes before half time.

What was a mild surprise was Atlantis coming out fighting at the start of the second half, only three minutes into it they had pulled a goal back, a player knocking in the rebound from an expectant long range shot, probably a good twenty five yards out.

But that was really the end of their resistance, and despite no more goals Kokkola were dominant, though there was a 'scare' in the dying minutes as Atlantis had a goal disallowed, when the linesman raised his flag for offside.

Forza HJK 2, Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' 1

2009-07-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

Supporters' games & tours don't get better than this! No matter that we lost....there is something magical about going on tour with 'The Rabblers'; & many a time when we sat in various bars over the season 'chewing the fat' it's invariably our foreign trips that we reminisce about.

As it happens Helsinki wasn't my venue of choice. We played them for the first time last season, and they were perfect hosts. It is great returning to play them, but it is an extremely expensive country...& in the 'credit crunch' it's not an ideal choice. but that didn't detract from a great trip. Once the management have decided where to go I'll be there! I haven't missed an overseas trip yet, and I quietly take some personal pride from the fact that I initiated our tours, when we entered a tournament in Amsterdam, back in May 2002.

Funnily enough it was also me who made the contacts with the HJK Helsinki supporters' through many emails last year, as I tried to convince them-successfully in the end!- that we were not a serious side, and just played for fun. Our 'gaffer' Mick O'Shaughnessy was ready to give up on them, and wanted to find other Finnish contacts, as we found websites for Helsinki based English supporters' clubs, such as Arsenal. But for me the whole point of going on tour is meeting with, mixing with & making friendships, with genuine foreign supporters'. so I'm glad I persevered!

This years game was at a different venue, as the pitch next to their main Finnair Stadium was already booked. So we played at the Braha Ground, which was a few tram stops away from where we were based, in the Kallio area of town. I, personally, was pleased with this, as I'd gone past this venue last year, & jumped off to photograph it, an all-weather pitch, with a small, covered stand on one side.

We were under no apprehensions about the result, we would have to do very well to get anything out of the game, being a lot older & unfitter! I was never intending to play the full game myself, and don't pressure the 'gaffer' into how long I play, but was still a bit dissapointed he only put me on for the last twenty minutes. even more so after he'd cut the match from a full ninety minute match to only 35 each way. I found out from him afterwards, when we got home, via a few emails going back and forth between both of us, that he'd consulted with the majority of our team, and they agreed, as it was warm, & we would get too knackered!

Now I can accept that if we had the bare eleven, but some of our squad were sort of fit, and we could have easily 'borrowed' a player or two from the large home squad, if people dropped out by asking to substituted if there was nothing left in the tank. It seems a hell of a long way to go, and a lot of money to be shelled out on a football tour, only to cut the game short! There...that's got that off my chest! We had a squad of fourteen, plus one 'guest' from them...

Of the game itself...we actually took the lead, through the player the Finns had kindly loaned to us, Maxim Hamalainen, though he had to go just before halt time, as he had an afternoon match to take part in!

We had our chances, with both the 'gaffer' Mick O'Shaughnessy & Darren Nicolas missing chances, when it seemed easier to score! But eventually the HJK fans equalised, and then hit the winner. Not that defeat mattered. It was a great game, played in supurb spirit summed up when in the latter stages Dawn Taylor swapped sides with her fellow female counterpart Sisko, who finished the game for us.

We're not returning to Helsinki in 2010, but I am sure we will do in future years. In the meantime, with Easyjet now flying Gatwick to Helinki we hope they may be able to come over to us!

FC Lahti 2,ND Gorica 0

2009-07-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

It's a bit of a dash today! I'm flying out of Gatwick early morning to get to Helsinki for the 2009 Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team summer tour! We play on Saturday, which means a couple of days of sightseeing, or whatever.

I've checked the fixtures, & lady luck is with me, because today is the second leg of the second qualifying round of the new fangled Europa League. Two games are within reach. Our hosts, HJK Helsinki are at home to Lithuanians FK Vetra, & this is where the rest of our party are off to. Not for me!

We will be watching them on Sunday evening, at home, and I also went there last season when we visited. It's not so much snubbing our hosts, I think they understand me well enough, as an opportunity to go to another top flight Finnish club.

My choice is FC Lahti, at home to ND Gorica, of Slovenia.

Both ties are nicely poised from the first legs. HJK had the advantage, having won their first leg by a lone goal. Sitting in the driving seat, with a huge carrot for them, a home victory would see them have a plum draw against Fulham in the next round! They took a commanding lead, going a goal up after three minutes, but by the half hour mark it was even on aggregate, as FK Vetra scored two goals in three minutes, around the half hour mark. With less than ten minutes on the clock the visitors wrapped it up with their third goal. With the obvious benefit of hindsight I was glad not to have gone, as I'd have been supporting HJK, & it would have been such a miserable atmosphere I would not have enjoyed it. I am not a good loser, and even if it's not Dulwich Hamlet, I don't like my teams losing!

We landed at Helsinki Airport at lunchtime, and we shared a cab to the area where we were staying. I went straight to my hostel, dropped my bags off, then headed for the main railway station. This is actually a tourist attraction in its own right, one of the more magnificent train stations in Europe. From here I was getting a fast commuter train to Lahti, which is just over an hour away. Now I'm not a train spotter, or anything like that, but I do enjoy travelling by train. And this was clean, modern, & for early evening not too packed, with plenty of seats. A complete contrast to the sardines of the London rush hour! The electronic indicator boards in the carriages even told you the speed of the train, and at it's fastest moments was zooming along at a constant 157 kilometres per hour.

Although I'd not been to Lahti before you can't miss the ground. As the train pulls into the town you see the floodlights over to the left, completely over shadowed by a huge ski slope behind one of the goals! I'd seen various pictures of the stadium, & I must confess this was part of the appeal of going there! A fellow Dulwich Hamlet fan, Paul Griffin, has been here not once, but twice before, on previous trips, though he won't be here tonight, as he arrives tomorrow. Each to his own, of course, but I cannot understand why someone would go to a ground more than once. Surely there are other grounds to visit, but maybe that's just me? And I'm certainly not going to try to understand Griff! For after our tour in Helsinki he went on to Latvia, Lithuania, & then flew back from Poland, making it a decent little trip. But when he was in the capital Vilnius it was the next round of the Europa League, & FK Vetra, who vanquished HJK, were at home to Fulham, & he couldn't be bothered to go! How bizarre is that?

Back in Lahti I came out of the station, but didn't have a map. Not a problem. I knew which direction the ground was, I after a ten minute stroll could see the ski slope as my 'marker'. I didn't see much of the town, as I was pushed for time, but the bit that I saw seemed very ordinary. Pleasant enough, but bland. Perhaps there was a historic old centre, but I never had time to find it. Which is a shame, as I do like to look around towns on my trips, as it is invariably the only time in my life I will visit the place, if it's not a major capital.

The ground itself is part of the Lahti Sportscentre. As well as the ski slope, and we're not talking about the tiddly effort that used to be by the old Harlow Town FC Sportcentre here, there is the rink for the local hockey team; & also a sports hall.

The ground itself is, to all intents and purposes, two sided. The main side is a covered stand, & this is where I got my ticket for, having had to queue up at a ticket booth first. Then it was through a gate to get inside. Here a simple four page programe was handed out free. Or to be exact, there was a box of them for you to help yourself, so I did, and ended up with about a dozen! Behind this stand were a number of food & beer stands, along with a souvenirs table. I had a look, but baulked at paying twenty euros, just under a score no less, for a scarf!

Opposite the covered stand was open seating on the far side, & set back behind the goal was some shallow terracing, which offered a poor viewpoint anyway, but was closed, as there was some minor refurbishment work going on to the swathe of flagpoles at this end, presumably for the forthcoming Womens' European Championships. There was no standing behind the other goal, just the backdrop of the huge ski jump!

The section for my ticket was to the left of the halfway line, and I sat a few seats along from the 'hardcore' Lahti fans. About a hundred of them, all singing, all dancing. very passionate, with big flags. But they certainly weren't hooligans. Just noisy. One of my favourites was to 'The Beatles' 'Hey Jude' tune... "La,la la..la la la la...LAHTI!" When they shot wide their groans were different to ours too! Instead of an 'English' 'Oooooh!' it was more of a 'Finnish' 'Eeeeehh!'

One weird thing was that, despite the match being played in bright sunlight, the floodlights were on throughout! As it happens I've no truck with the greenie global warming brigade, so it's no skin off my nose, but what a waste of money, if nothing else!

I'm not sure what standard to expect, but the game is fairly decent, if a bit slow at times. Lahti have more of the half, with more attempts on goal, but can't find the back of the net. I take the opportunity of the break to walk round to the other side so I can snap the ground, and get a closer look at the ski jump!

I watch the opening moments of the second half from the open seats, but gravitate back round to my original spot in time to see probably the greatest ever Finnish footballer, now in the twilight of his career, even the tie. none other than Jari Litmanen, which made my night! The ball was knocked in from the wing, landing at his feet, he sidestepped the defender & knocked the ball into the back of the net. A player of that quality made it look so simple, and reminded me of the time when Frank Murphy played for Dulwich Hamlet! Now there was a quality player who really should have graced the upper echelons of the Football League. I only saw him at then edn of his career, in his mid thirties, turning out for us, but still one of the greatest players I've ever seen for us.

Twenty four minutes left on the clock, it was a game now for Lahti to win, & this they went on to do, with the winner coming in the 79th minute, a header from Pires Vieira. After that Gorica didn't really threaten, though they did have a last gasp chance in stoppage time, that would have given them the tie on away goals, if they'd hit the back of the net! A few minutes before that a Gorica player went down like the proverbial sack of potatoes, in a blatant attempt to cheat a free kick, which the referee ignored. The man in black eventually went over to see how he was, & called on the trainer. The home fans loudly chanting 'wanker, wanker' as he mock hobbled off the pitch, which amused me no end!

But they never, so the vast majority of the 4,118 crowd went home happy. I wandered around for a while, on the way back to the station, before darkness set in at around ten o'clock, & was happy to snap a local non league ground, though I don't know which club actually plays there!

All in all an unusual venue to visit, a fairly decent game, on a lovely summer evening. What more could you possibly want on holiday?

Lambeth All-Stars 2, Fisher 1

2009-07-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

What on earth makes someone get up early, for a Sunday morning, to travel across to the other side of south London for a meaningless pre=season match? Stupidness? Loneliness? Nothing better to do? Lack of a life? A bit of everything really! ;-)
But the 'attraction' , if that's the right word, is that this is the 'first game' of the brand new Fisher FC, following the expected demise of Fisher Athletic in the summer.
It's a rare Sunday morning pre-season, a 10.30am kick off, and it's being played at Colliers Wood United FC, well their second pitch, just behind the main one.

There's a number of pitches beyond that, & one of them was actually the venue for the first ever Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' game in the IFA, back in 2003, & on piling out of our cabs from Wimbledon station, we saw some sort of young boys game was in progress on the main pitch. Age ground about Under 13s or 14s, as soon as we clocked who was playing we took sides & started barracking the team in black & white stripes. Poor lads...I doubt if they even realised there was a bit of rivalry between t*****g & mitcham and Dulwich Hamlet! Shame we couldn't stay til the end of the match as we had to go and get changed for our game, it was quite enjoyable!

Funnily enough Fisher play in black & white stripes, and they're probably the only team in those colours who I don't mind! but then they're a fellow London Borough of Southwark club, they've never been our rivals, and I often went to their former Salter Road ground in the early eighties, when I was 'learning' to drink, and you would always get 'afters' there. It was a half hour 'stagger' home through thr backstreets, as I lived off the Old Kent Road back then, & often got to bed, after a midweeker there, at three or four in the morning!

But that Fisher is a million miles away from the reincarnated version today, based at our Champion Hill. They have re-formed as a democratic Supporters' Trust, and will be playing as amateurs. Which will inevitably ensure they will be fairly crap, but at least they will live within their means and not go bust.

In truth this wasn't a proper game, but a team of triallists, well that's what all the players must be as they're a new club, and it was three 'halves' of half an hour each. I'm not a fan of these 'glorified training sessions', but they are becoming more an more common each pre-season. Call me old fashioned, but what exactly is wrong with 45 minutes each way? Still, can't complain too much....at least a gate wasn't taken!

I got there a little late, getting confused by the bus stop locations outside Raynes Park station, as there were untold roadworks in the area. Not helped when I then jumped on one, which proceeded to turn left, when I knew I wanted to go straight on. I jumped off at the next stop & dashed back to the bus stop I'd boarded, luckily the same people were all still at the bus stop, so I hadn't missed the one I wanted.

As I walked into the ground I was just in time to see Fisher equalise from the penalty spot. The rest of the game was fairly close, but I thought that Lambeth All-Stars deserved their win. They are a well established Sunday league side, competing in the strong Morden & District League Premier Division. Their manager Roger has been involved at Champion Hill for many years, as he runs the sven-a-side leagues on the all-weather pitch behind our main one, and Lambeth have a team in the top division of the Tuesday night one.

For a re-born club, despite this being a low-profile 'trial' match, I somehow expected more Fisher fans, in fact I counted nine of them! But they were keen, and just glad they had any sort of Fisher to watch. One of them was kind enough to hand me their just published Kent League fixture list, & I was pleased to see their first home game will be on a Monday night against Beckenham Town. see you there!

In that nine this bright morning was their not so bright public relations manager Joe Arif, who arrived even later than me, moaning he'd been going up and down the A3, but couldn't find the entrance, & it had taken him over two hours from Beckenham!

Lambeth ran out winners by the odd goal in three, and I'm sure Fisher weren't too bothered by the result, it was more about simply looking at players for their manager Gary Lisney, & his new coach Donna Powell. Yes, that's Donna, who raised over £500 to be the Fisher gaffer for a game last season in a Blue Square South match against Eastleigh, and attracted publicity nationwide, from all areas of the media-newspapers, internet, radio & television! At the time there were some who said it was making a mockery of the national game, but why on earth shouldn't women be involved in mens' football? She got coachng badges,& is working towards some more, so good luck to her!

At the final whistle I had a quick word with the Fisher chairman Martin Eede, and he admitted it will be a long, hard season, but the important thing is that they've survived as a club, and the fans have got new belief, & really do think they've got their club back. There were about thirty players in the large fisher squad today, and he said there were no 'names' as such, but the centre half had played for Holmesdale, & another player was from Midland Bank, in the AFA leagues. He also mentioned they didn't really have a keeper yet, but they were looking at three.

Starting to build a squad from scratch will be difficult, but they will get there. The Kent League is smaller than most, so there's less games to get things right, I don't think they'll finish in the top half, but time will tell.

One of the players turning out today,as pointed out to me by the Chairman, was one of the defenders Mark Lewis. The name meant nothing to me, until he pointed out his dad, watching alone on the far side, none other than former Dulwich Hamlet defender from the late seventies & early eighties Martin Lewis. 'Young' Mark isn't actually that young at all, despite not having played senior football. He had previously been excelling in another sport...up to international standard as a swimmer for England!

He was a superb left back, career cut short by knee injury. I'd seen him last season at Champion Hill, when there was an old players reunion at one of our games. I chatted to him at the final whistle, as he waited for his lad to get showered & changed. He recalled when he left the Hamlet in his last spell. Eddie Presland was the manager, & Harlow Town came in with an offer to more than double his money. he said he didn't particularly want to go, but Eddie told him to, as his knees were gone, & he wouldn't get another offer like that, which is fair enough. He then reminded me of something I'm forgotten about in the 'mists of time'!

When he came back to Dulwich, in a Harlow shirt, I had made a big banner behind the goal, bearing the words 'GREEDY GAMMY LEWIS'! Not something he'd forgotten, even if I had!

Time to head off home, I was going via Grand Drive, home of Raynes Park Vale, to take some more snaps for my grounds photoblog.

Bracknell Town 0, Hendon 6 & Hillingdon Borough 0, Slough Town 1.

2009-07-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

Two truncated matches this evening...but it's 'two for the price of one', as this is part one of a two team tournament hosted by Hillingdon Borough, in aid of their local hospice. Not that the 'charidee' was the appeal for me. It was an 'excuse' to see some Friday night football that attracted me.

No doubt there are so-called 'purists' out there who wouldn't even dare to contemplate such 'games', as they were only thirty minutes each way. But not me...I'll watch anything. At a mere three quid for two hours of football good value too!

I was in two minds whether to go, almost up until I left work at two. It had been hammering it down, and although I had a brolly I didn't fancy a treck across London in the wet. But fortunately it eased up, so I headed over to Marylebone for the train to West Ruislip. I was early, but planned to try to stick my head into Wealdstone Football Club, at the old Ruislip Manor ground, and mosey around the High Street, before heading to the Middlesex Stadium. so far so good...

Luckily, or unluckily, depending on whatever way you look at it, I was checking out my camera on the train &, to my horror, found it was totally kaput! I jumped off at Wembley & retraced my steps not just to Marylebone, but all the way home to Sydenham to grab my other one. So that knocked me having a butchers at the Stones on the head. Sometime later in the season perhaps?

A couple of hours later I did finally get to West Ruislip station. It looked a fair trot from there, and it had started to rain once more, albeit fairly lightly. I hopped on a passing bus to Ruislip centre, & then good old 'Shanks Pony' onwards. I was cutting it fine, but got there about ten minutes before the first match was due to kick off at 7.oopm.

The rain had been heavy, & I hadn't actually checked that the tournament was still on tonight, they could just play the second part tomorrow as a one dayer & still raise a few bob. But a populated car park eased my fears as I arrived, even though the turnstiles were shut. I could see a table, and money changing hands, just inside the entrance to the clubhouse.

Game(s) on! I had been here before though. a long time ago now. for a London Spartan League match back in 1990/91, for an August Bank Holiday match, which I 'doubled' up with the Manor in the evening. I can't recall the score, but there was a big crowd, of a few hundred, not the usual spartan effort for Spartan League. If memory serves me right this was their first ever home match as a re-formed club, having gone out of business in the mid-eighties. I seem to recall the opposition were Croydon Athletic, but have no idea what the score was! Though I am sure a former Dulwich Hamlet Youth Teamer called Rodney Prosper was playing for the South Londoners.

My abiding flashback of that afternoon was of the guest of honour Russell Grant. He was 'lording' it in the bar a good few years before he actually gained the title Lord of Ashford in Middlesex. He was surrounded by sycophantic county & league officials, humouring him, & laughing at each quip he came out with. The blazered home officials weren't too impressed, & I'm sure it's not my memory playing tricks on me. They chuckled along with the astrologer, but he couldn't read them taking thepiss out of him behind his back, making 'wanker' hand signs to anyone who was looking behind his back!

I'd never been to the old Hillingdon Borough, in their previous incarnation. The closest I'd got was when I was nine & The Hamlet had been drawn at home to the then Southern Leaguers in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup,way back in 1975!

My old man was then employed in a bakery, & worked weekends. On Saturday evenings my mum always sent me out to the 'top of the hill', that is the old wooden paper stand at the top of Dog Kennel Hill, to pick up a copy of the Saturday football special edition of the 'Evening News', so he could check his pools coupon when he got home. For some reason they chose that season to feature a non-league game on the back page in a small report. Usually when he got home he asked me how Dulwich had done. not because he cared about them, but to feign interest to keep me happy I suppose. he had no time for The Hamlet & never missed the opportunity to say we were rubbish! Not that night! I handed him the paper...folded in half with the non-league match prominent. Not only had they chosen to send their reporter to Champion Hill..we hadn't just won, we'd slaughtered them! I can still see that headline: POOLEY PLUNDERS HAT TRICK as we brushed aside Hillingdon 5-1! Well even he couldn't laugh at us that night!
Thank you Charlie Pooley, wherever you are.

But tonight was a little less 'high profile'. The first match was Isthmian Premier Hendon against Bracknell Town, from the Zamaretto League Division One South & West. With a name like that is it any wonder I don't like sponsors names?

The clash was a complete mis-match. The homeless North Londoners took an early lead, eased into a two goal advantage, before adding a third just before the break. The second half was more of the same, but at a slightly sedentary pace, with only one more goal added. Highlight was a harmless bit of banter between the Bracknell keeper & the small knot of Hendon fans behind the goal. After a perceived delay by the man in black the Bracknell custodian shouted: "Get on with it!"; to which one fan retorted: "Stop bloody reffing!". The keeper turned & said "I like refereeing". But how no response when he was taunted: " It's the only thing you're good at!"

In the break before the next match I walked round to the covered verandah in front of the clubhouse, & purchased a delicious cheeseburger for a bargain two quid, before stopping to chat to a Hendon fan I know, called Dave, as he's also a fellow ice hockey Streatham Redskins fan. I'd never really asked him about his sporting loyalties before, and he's a strange one! As well as Hendon, he also supports Queens Park Rangers, while living in Rainham in Essex. We both fear it will be a long hard season for the Redskins, but can take comfort with both Chelmsford coming up, & the Isle of Wight dropping down, two big money clubs (for our level) who will be able to challenge the superiority & arrogance of our bitter rivals Invicta Dynamos. Dave can't make the latter part of this competition tomorrow, as he's helping out on the Redskins stall at the Lambeth Country Show, at Brockwell Park, over the weekend. He's hoping for an upturn in the weather!

The second game was an altogether closer affair, between the hosts, of the
Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division & Southern League (that's better!) Midland Division Slough Town. It was the Rebels who dominated the first half, but couldn't score, & it was only a second half header from Dean Harper than won the game for them. And that was a bit against the run of play after Hillingdon had been putting them under a fair bit of pressure.

I spent the second half talking to a chap called Mike, who was taking photographs of the match. A Fleetwood Town fan, serving in the Royal Navy, which he had served in for nearly thirty years, currently based at Portmouth, where he was docked. he was spending his leave clocking ground all over, & this week had been to both Abingdon, which he showed me some snaps of on his camera, & Wootton Bassett. He talked about how far Fleetwood were progressing, and their intention was the Football League, but wasn't enjoying it as much as they progressed, preferring the real 'grass roots' of the game, which he feared they were leaving behind. I chatted about a few of the places I'd been to, & when I threw in Auchinleck Talbot, where I'd seen a game in mid-June, he said he'd done lots of Scottish & Highland League clubs when he was based up there. not only had he also been to Auchinleck, but it was for none other than their fierce local derby with Cumnock, which he described as 'tasty'! It was a pleasure to chat to him, he clearly loved going to new grounds just for the love and enjoyment of it, keeping himself to himself, until I approached him. He wasn't concerned about filling in notebooks, or train timetables (well he wouldn't, he drove up from the south coast), but you know what I mean. A genuinely decent bloke to chat to, who was decent company for the small amount of time we shared each presence. Even though I doubt I'll ever bump into him again in my life, this is what it's all about!

Beckenham Town 2 Dulwich Hamlet 3

2009-07-16T16:34:00.001-07:00

Yet another midweek dash from work to catch the second half of a match. Even though I'm not seeing full games it's rare that I get to games three nights on the spin. I'll put this down to the fact it's so early in the season, & I'm desperate to watch any football! The fact they're all local & free certainly helps too.

This is a hastily arranged game,at Kent Leaguers Beckenham Town & with the seven o'clock kick off. I suspect is on their second pitch, next to the main one. Which proves to be correct, as I see the match in progress from the train as I'm pulling into Eden Park Station on the 19.30 from London Bridge.

The second half has just is already underway when I get to the touchline. We're losing two one, but end up winning by the odd goal in five, which makes me a bit of a lucky mascot! Who am I trying to kid? Junior Kadi hit the back of the net early on in the second period, & with a few minutes to go. The winner took a deflection that helped it into the back of the net, which some might say was lucky. But you've got to have the attempt in the first place to get the deflection. Of course if it's the other way round it's jammy!

No sign of Teddy Sheringham. It's been widely reported that Beckenham are trying to sign him up for their FA Vase campaign & that he fancies a last crack at playing at Wembley Stadium! Apparently he's an old friend of the Beckenham chairman & he starred in a well attended fundraising match for the club in the summer. It would be a great boost for them if he does make an appearance or two as they bid for the Twin Towers. Yeah, yeah, I know they were demolished, but the Big Arch doesn't have quite the same ring to it!

But is it only me who is a bit concerned about whoever the Beckenham Town regular will be whose place in the starting line up he takes? I used to admire Teddy, as he was, & still is, a Millwall legend. The gloss was taken off his 'hero' status in my eyes when he spurned the opportunity to return to The Den in the twilight years of his career, & joining the 'mighty' Colchester United! And this after having been turning out for West Ham United over the water! Sacrilege!

Of course that could just be me, but he's none too popular down at Whyteleafe either. Last season he went to Church Road to watch his son Charlie Sheringham play for Welling United in an FA Cup tie. Despite being a multi millionaire he refused to pay to get in even though a complimentary ticket hadn't been left for him. What a tosser!

Contrast this to a midweek visit I made to Leighton Town a few years ago now. I missed the kick off-I'm quite good at that,as you'll have already noticed!-but I wasn't the only one. Pulling up in his fancy car was Barry Fry. But did he swan in, goving it the big 'un? Not at all. He went straight to the turnstile & insisted on paying like an ordinary fan, even though they tried to usher him in as a guest. He certainly went up in my estimation that night.

Fry was manager of Barnet when the Hamlet beat them 2-0 at Underhill in an FA Cup qualifier in 1986/87. They finished runners-up in the Conference that seeason, the first year of automatic promotion & relegation to the Football League. Our kit that season was all blue shirts, with pink trim....and pink shorts! After the match their wideboy chairman, the ticket tout Stan Flashman, ranted 'How the fuck did we lose to a bunch of poofs in pink shorts?'...much to our delight!

We actually did the 'double' over Barnet that season. For a few years the Conference League Cup was expanded to include some of the feeder leagues, & we knocked them out at Champion Hill, so beating them home & away, which no other side achieved that year! This was called the GMAC Cup, which is probably the most long winded title ever for any competition that Dulwich Hamlet have played in-the 'General Motors Acceptance Corporation Challenge Cup incorporating the Bob Lord Trophy'!

At the final whistle I popped into the bar, just as well because no sooner had I popped outside to relax with my pint of orange & lemonade the heavens opened & it chucked down. I took a pew inside, sitting with fellow Hamlet fan Paul Griffin. He was quite upbeat, as we discussed his future job prospects, having just heard he is to be made redundant, after fourteen years service with his employers. But he has a wealth of experience in his line of work & I have no doubt he won't be out of work long.

The Beckenham bar, despite being small, is smart. The chairs are comfy, & it has a decent telly, & it's nice and clean. A far cry from an end of season visit here, in my drinking days. That season we'd beaten Herne Bay, down on the Kent coast, in the FA Cup, a good day out, but almost ruined by some of their 'inbred' fans, who were very much 'in your face' in the bar before the match. so it was sweet to knock them out. On the May Bank Holiday Monday they were away to Beckenham, on the last day of their season, so I went along to cheer on Beckenham. It was a bit of a let down when none of their 'mongs' made the trip. There were quite a few groundhoppers though. As I was quite a drinker back then I had supplies of cans of lager in my bag. At half time I dashed to the bar, to beat the half time rush, and tripped over the (now gone) stage along one side & promptly 'surf dived' across the floor. "Ooooh!" cried the shocked barmaid, but I just dusted myself down & ordered my pint! Outside for the second half I stood behind the goal, next to one of those 'weird' groundhopper types, who had his notebook in hand. I delved into my bag to crack out a tin, forgetting I'd shaken them up ten minutes earlier, & it frothed up all over his pad, with the intensity of a bottle of champagne on the podium at a Grand Prix!

As I left the ground my phone rang...it was a fellow Hamlet fan Andy Tucker. Not asking for the score, as I assumed. He hadn't been at the game tonight, as he's involved in football himself, coaching Coney Hall Reserves, in the Kent County League. He hadn't been at training tonight, but had taken a call himself to tell him that the Coney Hall first team manager Ryan Musgrove had been shot dead by a masked motorbike rider, just before the start of their session at Sparrows Den sports ground. What can you say to that? He is simply stunned by it all...what can you say to that?

Croydon 2, Redhill 1

2009-07-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Same time, same place. Just another day. Talk about Groundhog Day! I was sat at home & in two minds as to whether to go to this match. It got to about twenty to seven, & I thought 'sod it! Why not?'

From home it's just over ten minutes strolling back to the 'Goals' ground I was at last night. It is a different match, obviously, but one of the teams are the same! Redhill again. Playing Croydon FC.

I got there as the sides were warming up, and gravitated towards the small pocket of Trams fans, as I knew some of them. Andy Hillburn was there again, as is Richard Graham. I know him well as he's also a fellow fan of Streatham Redskins ice hockey club. Richard is quite pleased with the switch to the Combined Counties League, as he has quite a few grounds to 'tick off' in the CoCo. But with the news that Slade Green are folding it's seems crazy, with the benefit of hindsight, to allow them to switch, as the Kent League are now down to a bare fifteen clubs. Despite that I hope they survive as a league, & keep their independence. I don't see any merger with the Esssex Senior League as beneficial to either organisation, despite the need for them both to bolster their numbers. The clear problem is the lack of Step Six leagues both sides of the Thames Estuary. The water is there for a reason...to keep them apart! Andy was bemoaning more midweek away games in the CoCo. As Match secretary he has to hand the team sheet in three quarters of an hour before kick off, and will be cutting it fine from work for some of them.

The Croydon crowd were trying to work out who was who, & how many of last season's team had moved on. A number have upped sticks to Lingfield with the previous manager Tony Beckingham, with wild guesses as to who had gone elsewhere. One of the many gone to Lingfield is the young defender Dave Waters, it is his dad Dave Waters, who tells me this, as I bump into him for the second night running. He's not too upset about his move of club, despite the extra travelling this will entail,. as he like to visit new grounds with his football, & plans to travel to a fair few Lingfield away matches.

Of the match itself, well Croydon looked the stronger, I'm not the most observant of characters so I'm not entirely sure if the Redhill team bore much resemblance to the one twenty four hours previous, but it didn't look that familiar to me. An early goal put Croydon ahead, & they doubled this in the second half. Again for a pre-season it bore more resemblance to a 'proper' match, than a glorified training session. A few tackles sneaked in & it could have turned a bit naughty, as the referee wasn't the strongest, but it didn't quite boil over. Which is a shame, when you're there as a neutral!

On the touchline a chap called John Dunphy (not sure if the name is right) was pointed out to me. Apparently he goes to a fair few Croydon home games, & was a former professional with West Ham United, now in the building trade. I didn't talk to him, but would have been entirely predictable if I had. Asking him how he felt about the money in the Premiership, compared to his day...how boring is that? An investigative journalist I'm not! Chatting to him for most of the match was Dickson Gill, the Croydon Chairman, & former manager. And he took the time to pop over, shake my hand, and say hello. not the most popular of ex-Hamlet staff, but htis was probably because Dickson was Jim Cannon's right hand man at the start of nineties at the old Champion Hill. 'Guilt by association' & all that. They took the Hamlet back up to the Premier Division in '91/2, the season when Champion Hill was redeveloped. Despite that achievement Cannon was not well liked. He had all the odds stacked against him. He was Scottish. He was moody. And he was a Crystal Palace all-time great. Which didn't exactly go down well in East Dulwich, which was a solid Millwall manor! He was often reminded of the time he blatantly cheated against the Lions a few years previous on an FA Cup tie. for which he never made any apologies for, and had no shame in revelling in his stitch up! A poor mans Maradona!

But the final thing that sealed his unpopularity was at an end of season bash in the bar, when he was thanking the committee, his backroom staff, the players, the bar staff, the tea lady, the woman down the laundrette...well not quite all them, but you get the picture. It was like he'd won an Oscar, but he'd seemed to have forgotten a few people. I piped up, admittedly drunkenly, 'What about the supporters?' to which he retorted: 'Fuck the supporters!' Which didn't go down to well, and when he crops up now and again in conversation, almost two decades later, that moment is still recalled, & he's slagged off.

The season we went up with him & Dickson at the helm we were actually groundsharing at none other than Sandy Lane, home of bitter rivals Tooting & Mitcham United! It had been assumed that we would go to either Bromley or Fisher Athletic, but it turned out both were asking extortionate fees for a season. To be fair they had as by the short & curlies, as we HAD to share somewhere! In the end it was the old 'Thugs & Muggers' who mugged us for the least...at 'only' five hundred quid a game! But the decision wouldn't have been popular with a lot of the fans, not least those of us behind the goal. The Club Committee somehow managed to keep the groundshare quiet until after the season ended, as they feared protests on the pitch during matches! They were right...we would have done. And they didn't want a repeat of the 'coffin game' a few years earlier.

This was when manager Eddie Presland was sacked over the phone, with the chairman not even having the balls to do it to his face. Yes, we were in a slump, but Eddie was a well respected & proven manager in his second spell in the Hamlet hotseat. Us supporters were frothing at the mouth! This was at the time when the entire old Champion Hill terracing was completely closed for health & safety reasons, as it was totally crumbling. The only part of the ground still 'safe enough' was the centre of the large old wooden stand. We congregated at the back, and blew up balloons with 'Bring back Eddie' scribbled all over them. Which, once the game started, we proceeded to bat down to the front so they bounced on the heads of the committee in the front two rows at the bottom! If they were embarrassed by this, well there was more to come. Which they should have rumbled by the extremely rare appearance of a photographer from the 'South London Press', who sent a snapper once in a blue moon!

Half time came & surprising the 'powers that be' didn't notice as we disappeared onto the terracing, instead of heading for our half time pints. Behind the old terracing before the game we had made a 'lifesize' cardboard coffin & sprayed it black, as part of our demonstration. We took it down to the front of the crumbling terrace & just as the teams were coming back onto the pitch we jumped over the perimeter fence around the pitch & solemnly carried it in funeral style on our shoulders to the centre circle, where we left it & calmly walked toward the main stand. We climbed up the steps at the front & took our pew at the rear once more!

A bemused Hamlet player Paul Gbogidi, by coincidence in relation to the game tonight he was also a former Croydon player, was left to pick it up & place it by the home dugout, before the second half could commence! As he did so the man from the local rag was snapping away, & then left the stadium! What made it funnier was that although the paint had dried on the cardboard, the bits that were taped over to hold it together had not dried properly, & Gbogidi's hands were covered in wet black paint! At least he made the back page, with a picture of him carrying it off the pitch!

Back in those days everyone mucked in to help the Club, and it was us fans who were happy to be volunteer bar staff on match days. But as part of our show of anger we withdrew out labour for that match. so it was some of the Club Committee who were on duty behind the pumps, instead of swigging their large scotches in the boardroom. Their faces were as grim as granite as we ordered our post match pints, handing over our money with our smeared black hands!

Tonight, in suburban Beckenham, it was a tad more genteel. The only bit of drama being in the dying moments, when Redhill were awarded a penalty, which was clear cut, so not really that dramatic at all. this time they hit the back of the net, unlike last night, & moments later the final whistle went.

I don't think there was much there to impress the watching Dulwich Hamlet assistant gaffer Junior Kadi, who I briefly had a chinwag with at half time.

Dulwich Hamlet 2, Redhill 0

2009-07-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

Another seven o'clock pre-season game which fortunately for me didn't kick off on time. Once again I was working, so just got here as soon as I could. Another neutral venue, this time the Goals centre, in Beckenham. Better known to people of my generation & older as the NatWest ground, one of the former sportsgrounds of the National Westminster Bank. At least this one is still in half decent nick. One of their other grounds is nowhalf built on in Norbury, & the pitches that remain make Peckham Rye Park look like Wembley! Though having said that the reports on the 'pitch' at the new Wemberlee aren't that complimentary, so that's no great comparison!

The nearest station is Lower Sydenham, & the venue is a few minutes walk from there. Luckily there are some bricks knocked off the top of the perimeter wall, which makes it low enough to jump over, even for someone as short & fat as my good self! ;-)

There are two matches in progress. sods law dictates that the Dulwich Hamlet one I'm there to see, against Sussex County Leaguers Redhill, is at the far end of the fields. The near one looks familiar..I recgonise the goalie. It's Isthmian local journeyman James Wastell, who almost signed for the Hamlet last season, but was injured. He's playing for Chipstead, and the opposition are Holmesdale,from the Kent League. Wastell is a half decent keeper, & well respected by our fans actually. As you can always have a laugh & banter with him during a match. It's just as well he can take it, as not only is his getting 'portlier' as he heads toward the twilight stage of his career, but he also has a passing resemblance to the 'EastEnder' Phil Mitchell. A few years ago at Champion Hill, I can't recall who he was turning out for, his stint between the sticks against coincided with the famous love triangle on the soap between Phil, Mel & Lisa,from around Christmas 2000. Every time the ball came near him 'The Rabble' behind the goal split into two & chanted "Mel!"; "Lisa!"; "Mel!"; "Lisa!" continually. As I said, he's a decent bloke, and had a chuckle with us, hopefully admiring our craziness!

Not that I really follow any of the soaps, to be honest. I used to keep track of EastEnders & Coronation Street, when they were on twice a week, but once they expanded to almost every night it was harder to keep track. So I struggle to follow who's who when I do tune in. Dirty Den, Hilda Ogden & co. They were real 'soap' stars!

I couldn't walk down the touchline at this other match without someone saying hello. Another goalkeeper was watching. Danny Harwood. One of my all time footballing heroes! (More accurately an old football crush, if truth be told!) Danny played for the Dulwich Hamlet Junior team at Under 17s & 18s from 1989 to 1991, when we 'adopted' the Junior Club, who were previously based at Southwark Sports. He was known as 'Interesting' as he was a bit of an anorak, which probably appealed as well! That Youth Team, under the managership of Bernard Shannon, was-and still is-the finest Hamlet Junior side I've ever seen. I followed them every Sunday, as did a few other Hamlet fans. We clinched the Shirley & District League title in a 'treble match' day. In the morning maximum points were gained against Beckenham Town, in a 'double header'. then it was a dash back to Champion Hill, from Whitefoot Lane, in Bellingham, for the last game of the season, to clinch the title on a mudbath of a pitch! After it was party time in the bar! That was the very last week of the old Champion Hill Stadium, and whatever stock was left had to go. although this lot were the Under Eighteens they liked a drink or two (dozen). Snakebites, or-bizarrely- Pernod & black! As the ground was up for demolition there was a fair bit of graffiti by the end of the night on the toilets walls, which became covered with "Cham-pee-oh-nees!" type stuff, as well as lots of anti-Tooting & Mitcham scribblings! I educated them well! ;-)

It would be marvellous to have a reunion with that team, a great bunch!
As well as Danny there was Shane Jules; Billy Pruden; Rick De Cristofano; Paul May; Leon Mutton; Martin Kehoe( he was the one who didn't drink!); Richard Cole; Junior Goffe; Matthew Baker & Paul Harwood, who was no relation to Danny. I would like to say they tip off the tongue, but I've been sat in my armchair with pen & paper & it's taken me nigh on three quarters of an hour to get the lot!

Danny was one of the few who played non-league senior football, certainly the only one who was a semi-pro for the long haul. He had long spells at Coney Hall, Erith & Belvedere as well as Bromley. Currently at Holmesdale, he was on crutches, & told me he'd broken his leg in the second to last match of the season, but hoped to be training in November, & reclaiming the first choice keeper's jersey in the New Year. I wish him well.

I'd hardly gone ten yards after saying cheerio to Danny when I bumped into Dave Walters. I've seen him around for a long time, I first knew him through the junior game, when he was part of Elms FC. The unlikeliest spot I bumped into him was on the 'post match charge' out of the ground, after we were one of the lucky ones who got tickets for the Auto Windscreens Shield southern area final, with Millwall winning away to Walsalll in 1999. I was still drinking back then, & while you had to be careful of alcohol on coaches, as we had to go up on official ones, no-one checked by vodka & orange 50/50 mix, 'hidden' in bottles of Sunny Delight! I even made some corned beef sandwiches for the 'authentic' packed lunch! He told me that Holmesdale were going to be the Croydon Athletic reserve team in all but name for the new season.

I finally made it over to our pitch, & was told we were one up, through a Junior Kadi penalty. He is supposed to have a decent record from the twelve yard mark, not that anyone at his last club Carshalton Athletic would believe it, as it was his miss that cost them the Ryman Premeir play-offs at the end of last season. A second put the match beyond doubt in the second half, with the 'highlight' being a 'superb' penalty from Andrew Dalhouse, of Redhill, in the latter stages. Not only did it clear the bar, it was also over the bar & wide of the posts of the rugby posts immediately behind! One Hamlet fan on the messageboard comparing it to the famous Don Fox miss in the 1968 Rugby League Challenge Cup Final!

After the whistle went walking towards me was Hamlet Committee member John Cumberbatch. He'd been watching the Holmesdale game, where a number of his proteges were playing. He has been part of the coaching staff at the Croydon Athletic Youth Team Academy, & four of his boys from last year were playing for them . He seemed to confirm the link up between the Rams & Holmesdale, though there's a lot of work to be done if it's to succeed. Chipstead beat them 6-0.

On the way out I said hello to Bobby Langford, who had also been watching the other game. I asked him if he'd fixed himself up with another club yet. Even though we always rib each other about Tooting every time we bump into each other he's a genuinely decent bloke, & worked miracles in the hot seat at Banstead Athletic for many years. Last season he was forced out at Leatherhead, & he was clearly not happy with the interference in the team from the powers that be at Fetcham Grove, without going into too many details. As it stood he was simply enjoying a strange summer relaxing without the attendant pressures of football. I'd be surprised, not to say shocked, if he is not back in the game by Christmas.

Lucas Green Stag XI 4, Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' 1

2009-07-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

The Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' outfit aren't really a proper side, even though we've been going for twenty years! That's not to say we don't takes our matches seriously, but the winning isn't everything. As it happens the winning is actually a bloody rare luxury!

I'm one of the few to have been around since the start, and it would be fair to modestly say that the team would not be in existence now if were not for some of my efforts to keep things going down the years. Nowadays I take an 'ordinary back seat', as one of the supporters who has a run out now & again. Well not so much a run out, as a 'huff & a puff'! It is a struggle, as I'm somewhat limited in my footballing ability. Remember your schooldays, all lining up in the playground during P.E. Two captains pick teams one by one. A sort of draft system. Maybe that's how they do it in American Football? Well I was always the last one to be chosen! The peak of my childhood footballing career was being on the bench for the 8th Camberwell Cub Scouts!

Until May 1989 when the Dulwich Hamlet First Team Assistant Manager John Langford arranged for a Club XI to play a supporters' side as a thank you for our support, where we had flirted with relegation, but pulled away, with our bitter rivals Tooting & Mitcham United going down. Their manager? None other than his brother Bobby Langford! That year we had our end of season player of the year presentations at a local nightclub in Sydenham, called 'Twilights'. For most of the night we had the DJ playing 'Down, Down' by Status Quo as we drunkenly screamed 'Down, down! Tooting are down!'

At that inaugrial Supporters' Team match John arranged to play for the Club XI...wearing the Tooting black & white stripes underneath! We had the 'last laugh', winning 9-7, a not too serious game, with four of our goals scored by a young lad called Bobby Cooper, who was about eight years old! They haven't been down Champion Hill for years, but I understand they're still regulars at 'The Den'.

Somehow the Supporters' Team continued, & one of our 'stream of players' down the years has been journalists from the local press. One or two from the 'South London Press', but we've always had a superb relationship with the smaller, but much more loved by Hamlet fans, 'Southwark News'. Our opponents this morning are as a direct result of this.

Every club, no matter how small, like to lay claim to a celebrity fan. Ours-both Dulwich Hamlet Football Club itself & the Supporters' Team-is as a direct result of the 'Snooze', as we affectionately call the 'Southwark News'. The 'SLoP' is the 'South London Press', not just because it's an abreviation, but in recognition of their coverage being much poorer, & frankly totally sloppy!

About a decade or so ago one of the reporters on the 'Snooze' was Damon Green. He bought a house in East Dulwich & still lives there. Now Damon is one of those with a similar sense of humour to mine. Sick! Heard any Michael Jackson recently? Well Damon will have the full repertoire to entertain & shock! his 'highlight' when at the local rag was to be reported to the Press Complaints Commission following a 6-0 victory at Hungerford Town in the Isthmian League Cup. The headline ran:

"HUNGERFORD MASSACRE"

& opened up...

"Dulwich Hamlet shot on sight..."

That match was actually my only visit to their Town Ground, in the small Berkshire market town. I travelled up there on the Team Coach, as did one or two others, as I didn't fancy the long, late train journey back to Paddington, with the possibility of missing the last tube across London. As a result I must claim an 'assist' on the comprehensive thrashing. Only a few weeks before the tie a book on the Hungerford Massacre happened to come into stock at the library I was working at then. In the front was a two page map of the town, with all of the spots where Michael Ryan shot his victims clearly numbered & marked. So I blew them up under the copier & as the coach turned into Hungerford I handed them out to all the players, who then played their very own 'disaster bingo'! Studying my plagiarised blueprint of the narrow streets there were cries of 'On your left, number seven! & 'Over there. fourteen!' An almost certainly unique 'team bonding' exercise enthusiastically participated in by the whole squad....apart from one. We had a Danish player with us back then, Morten Hansen, & he sat there not getting the joke, shaking his head repeating "I just do not understand this English humour!"

Well Damon Green would have approved! As I've said he's still local, but is now working on television. From newspapers he progressed to 'London Tonight' now you can see him regularly on the national news, working for ITN. He also got his brother Lucas Green to play for the Supporters' Team (desperately trying to get this post back on track!) & although he hasn't been down to Champion Hill for a couple of years Lucas still has the occasional run out for the Supporters' Team.

So when he got in touch with our current 'Gaffer' Mick O'Shaughnessy to ask if we could knock up a team to play his mates as part of his 'stag do' how could we refuse? Which is how we ended up at the all-weather pitch at Kennington Park, for a half hour each way eleven o'clock kick off. This was to one of his last moments of 'freedom' before he marries his fiancee Nicola Peck, in Cambridge, on 15th August.

The result was a foregone conclusion, though they sportingly lent us one of their number Anthony Thomas to bolster our midfield, to make it a bit of even match. It could, and should have been more than 4-1, but it was a bit of fun. Damon played for us, and Lucas failed to score, despite desperately trying to do so. In fact one of his squad half jokingly moaned that we should let him score as it was a sort of testimonial game for him!

I played the full game, and-surprisingly-enjoyed it, with the run out being a nice 'warm up' for the eight of us who will be going to Helsinki at the end of the month, to play our friends from HJK Helsinki supporters.

Once we'd changed the 'Staggers' staggered over to The Oval for Surrey v. Kent, with some sort of strange 'intrepid explorers' theme, which I forgot to ask about. While I headed off to 'The Stoop' for Harlequins against Huddersfield, in the Superleague.

Dulwich Hamlet 1, Croydon 2

2009-07-07T07:57:00.000-07:00

The close season is over for Dulwich Hamlet! All roads lead to Beckenham. Not the footballing venue you'd usually associate with football, namely Beckenham Town, but Langley Park Sports Club. Only a few minutes walk from Eden Park station, I can get here from work for the start of the second half. Truth be known I'm not too interested in the football. Of course I want us to win, but it's the first pre-season match & I'm not expecting much more than a glorified training session. Is is just me or are these pre-season friendlies not what they were years ago? But then years ago they didn't start until August...

The opposition are Combined Counties League newboys Croydon FC, who have just switched over from the Kent League.

This evening is more about trying to work out what players we have. Gavin Rose is our new manager. And the entire squad from last season has gone. None retained at all. apparently without so much as a 'tahnk you but no thanks...', which-if true-is a bit poor, and reflects badly on the Club. A courteous letter thanking them all for their services would not take much but would go a long way for the reputation of the Club.

So who is Gavin? He's been at Champion Hill before, as both a player & our Youth Team boss. He's been in the 'hot seat' at both Beckenham Town, in the Kent League where he took them to a respectable third, with quite a young side; & a shorter spell in the Champion Hill dugout with our tenants Fisher Athletic. His sidekick is another former Hamlet player, make that playmaker, Junior Kadi, who was also with him running the old Youth Team. Junior returning alone as a player is an exciting prospect. But as a management team they are committed to playing a decent passing game, & with a small budget to work with, as will many teams in our division, we shall be going with a predominantly young team, who have all come through, or are with Gavin & Junior's ASPIRE Academy. Last season junior was at Carshalton Athletic, rumoured to have been on £300 a week, ans it's been whispered he was offered more to stay! But he's always wanted to involved at Dulwich, & is on a fraction of that now, with our limited budget.

Last season they ran a side in the Wednesday afternoon College/Academy based Conference Youth League under the Fisher banner, this season ASPIRE will be our Youth Side. More importantly for me, from a 'selfish' family point of view, my nephew Kalvin Morath-Gibbs plays for them, so who knows one of my family could finally play in Dulwich Hamlet colours for the First Team! I don't count pre-season matches, & I don't know even if he is involved, but-fingers more clenched than crossed-if he ever does run on the pitch in an actual Isthmian League match I will be one very proud uncle!

It's been raining heavily all afternoon, but I've had no phone calls, & there's nothing on the messageboard, to say the game is off. Fortunately I've packed a brolly in my bag before I left for work, so I am prepared for once! It's half time as I arrive. I get to the entrance to the complex, and see some lights over yonder, I was led to believe tonights runout was on an all-weather pitch, but this wasn't confirmed. Reason being it was on grass!

I give our top 'customer' Paul Griffin, otherwise known as 'Griff', a call, to ask where the pitch is in relation to the entrance, but I spy him as I'm walking towards the bar. He's headed toward it from the other direction,so I quickly finish the call before he digs it out of his pockets, or Tardis like bag he always has with him, before I waste some 'pay as you go' credit! A few of the regulars are here, all eager to find out who will be in our colours for the upcoming campaign. By all accounts I've missed a half decent first half. Dominated by Dulwich we lead through a Jamie Findlay strike, but not long into the second half it's even stevens as the Trams equalise after our keeper Tim Roberts rushes out, but not quick enough & is beaten. Their reports describe it a 'well worked goal' ,which must be a euphemism for 'keeper cock up', which i've not heard before.

(Un)fortunately I wasn't out of the bar quick enough, & am informed of the latest score by Dave, the Daggers 'hopper, who I saw last night! He gives me the latest instalment of his broken camera saga, wich packed up in Sweden, after torrential downpours out there on the Hop.

Oh & in case you're confused by the 'customer' comment, we had a little bit of a tete a tete with him on the Hamlet messageboard, when he suggested that supporters' were customers, & I slaughtered him on there as a FAN, much to the amusement of lots of people who were following the on-line barney. Which I won, naturally!

I head round to the far side & pass the small handful of Croydon fans on the way. They are a decent bunch, & for them it's quality rather than quantity. Though size wise Andy 'The Duke' Hillman qualifies under both categories! I don't really stop to chat, it more of a 'nice to see you', & I try to canvass their opinion about the switch of leagues. Admittedly it's a rather small 'straw poll!' But it seems they'd have been happy either way. no problems with being in the Kent League, but with the advantage of more games, plus new grounds to visit in the CoCo.

Moving along the touchline I talk football, & pre-season chit chat with our own fans, more numerous than the Trams. It's actually quite a large crowd for one of these 'neutral traing game' style friendlies. I'm not one to do serious headcounts, like serious groundhoppers, but I'd guestimate there's about eighty or so present. A fair amount of that being friends &/or family of our players, a lot of youngsters, from the ASPIRE stable at a guess. 'Genuine' Dulwich fans I'd say make up around thirty or so. Single figures from The Arena, the remainder also including a variety of not kitted up players from both sides.

Croydon came more into the game in the second half, the football being competitive for this stage mind, but our 'fun & games' was playing 'guess the player'. I kept quiet on the number twelve. It's my nephew Kalvin, though they rumbled it when a few players shouted his name. They I had to admit that was indeed one of the family, trying to act nonchalant, while not breaking out into a broad grin. I think I just managed it!

Our lack of an 'old fashioned out & out striker' cost us, but it didn't really matter that Croydon got the winner with a couple of minutes to go in the fading light. We may have lost the game, but it wasn't about winning. The test for the players was the chief thing, winning or losing being of little consequence...as losers always say! ;-)

At the final whistle a few of us adjourned to 'The Toby Carvery', myself after a quick detour to get some snaps of Beckenham Town's ground for my photoblog. Richard Watts, keeping up to speed with his summer exploits following both cricket & rugby league; & Jeff, who has done at least treble the amount of grounds I have down the years, & travels to most Hamlet home & away games from Oxford! 'Phil 'Big Nose' Baker makes up our company, which is no surprise, as it's a pub! You'll be hearing a lot more about these characters as the season unfolds!

West Ham United XI 1, Ilford 1.

2009-07-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

The football season starts earlier & earlier. One of my fellow Dulwich Hamlet fans Richard Watts, a bit of a stickler for tradition even though he's only a year or two older than me, & I'm no old dinosaur even though I'm forty two now, can't quite understand why the boys in Pink 'n' Blue are playing our first pre-season match tomorrow night when the First Test hasn't even commenced!

The 2008/09 campaign only finished using our European governing body UEFA as a yardstick, or should that be metre rule, on Monday 29th June, when England were comprehensively smashed by Germany in the UEFA Under 21 Championships Final in Malmo, Sweden. The very next day the 2009/10 season opened in Malta when Hibernians hosted FK Mogren, of Montengro in the European Champions League First qualifying round First Leg! So now it's official-football is an all the year round game!

For my good self I count the season as 'officially' lasting from 1st July to the end of June. The whole calendar year. I am restricted by my employers as to how many games I see, as my job entails that I must be at work every other Saturday. It is possible, of course, to knock a few of these off through prudent use of annual leave, but not many. I'm also hampered by having to work til six on Mondays, & seven o'clock on Tuesdays & Thursdays. These strange times are because I am a library assistant in a public library. Though I do get Wednesdays off, & finish at two every other Friday, the one before my Saturday on.

This time of year should be for summer holidays. Perhaps chugging by choo-choo through the Alps catching the glorious mountainous sunsets. Tonight is the first day of the week, so it's a six o'clock end to the day. It's been raining, & I'm in two minds as to what to do. Part of me wants to go home. The other, with that 'little groundhopping bird' whispering in my ear like a naughty devil: "Go on, it might clear up. In the shadow of the Alps. What more do you want?"

I'm nowhere near Switzerland, or Austria, but my arm is twisted. It didn't take much. I'm off to Beckton, home of the now derelict ski jump, on the site of the old Gasworks, I think, & known to the chirpy cockneys in those parts at the 'Beckton Alps'.

I must hold my hand up & admit all. My name is Mishi & I am a groundhopper! Even if I am a bit of a 'fraudulent' one! I support a club side for starters, which means I'm not gallivanting around the country in search of a new ground to 'tick', so I can't do that, even if I could afford to! I don't possess a notebook where I note every line-up, substitution, goalscorer, booking, red card, player farting...I don't actually think anyone keeps a record of centre forwards who let one rip as they stand if front of the opposing keeper at a corner, but you never know. Apparently there's someone out there in 'groundhopping world' who insists on touching both crossbars at games!

So I try to say I like to visit grounds, rather than being a groundhopper, but I must be otherwise i would not be in Beckton tonight to commence my 2009/10 season. And yes, it is a 'tick'! I've not got definitve records, these were never documented, & some have been lost in the mists of time/an alcoholic haze! Thankfully I'm now over seven years sober, so it's easier to keep track, & enjoy visiting places. I think this evening is ground number 475 for me. Though I'm sure there are a few I could add, if i ever recall them, but it's as good a count as I'll ever be able to get.

The match is West Ham United Under 20s versus Ilford, & it's at the West Ham Community Ground, which as I've intimated is in Beckton. Albatross Close to be exact.

It was originally scheduled for Monday 29th June, which-in my book-would have been the last game of last season, if I'd known about it and gone. But i only found out 'after the (postponed) event' anyway, learning about the fixture on the magnificent Kempster messageboard. 'Groudhopping' is something you don't always admit to, as people think you're a bit weird. But to the 'initiated' I'm proud to call myself a 'Kempsterite', as a regular on that forum.

One poster got to the ground last week, only to find it was off. Posting as under the moniker of Ernest, whoever he is, didn't think much of the neighbourhood:

"Arrived in Beckton not really sure that this game would be going ahead at all. Fortunately it was a very short drive for me. Although not football related I want to add this posting as I think that anyone who regularly posts on this part of the forum and travels all across the UK for games should be made aware of this part of East London. It is in what has to be the filthiest borough of all in London and the thugs that sit halfway up the old ski slope were just amonsgt the lowest forms of human beings I've sen for ages. Added to this you have yobs out walking their vicious dogs and the rest of the thugs here are made up of both sexes, many nationalities and a wide age group. If West Ham Youth do have any more games here, then anyone driving is urged TO NOT leave any valuables in the car. I used to think that Tower Hamlets & Hackney were horrible parts of the East End, but I take that back as those places do have a lot of areas where pride is taken in their appearance. However Newham as I see it is quite disgusting and I've never seen so many streets lined with abandoned mattresses, cookers, microwave ovens, fridges and furniture. No offence meant here, but this is how I see that place."

Blimey! Now I'm no fan of the 'other side of the water' as a 'Sarf Lunnoner' but that is scathing! I don't what part of Newham Ernest went through, but as I came out of Beckton DLR station & turned right, strolling to the ground for seven or eight minutes & I saw nothing remotely close to what he describes, and on turning into Albatross Close it's a cul de sac leading to the pitch, with small blocks of flats.

This is the site of former London-Spartan League side Beckton United,on though clearly NOT the same venue, as part of it has been built on, & the current pitch is a floodlit all-weather one. I only ever saw a game here once, I couldn't tell you when, or who against, but it was very late seventies/early eighties. I was on a Red Bus Rover with one of my mates, & we'd jumped on a bus from the north side of the Woolwich Ferry, & from there onto a bus not knowing where we were going. We had these 'adventures' all over london, the one day tickets were about forty pence! Riding away from the Thames we passed their very open ground, which had a wooden pavilion in the corner, with the club name on the roof, if memory serves me correct. Which it should do, as it wasn't pickled by massive amounts of alcohol consumption, as I was in my younger teens at the time!

On arriving I got my camera out & took a few snaps of the brick building that included the changing rooms. A claret & blue plaque on the wall told me that this was 'The Higgins Sports Link Building', opened on 24th November 2004, by Mr. Richard Higgins, the Chairman of Higgins Group PLC. There was a small car park, with an official West Ham mini bus & car parked up. The single pitch complex was surrounded by a metal fence, through which you could still view the pitch. within the perimeter there were no spectator facilities, just the artificial surface, with hard standing down one side. There was also a claret & blue portakabin, with a few tables & chairs in, looking like 'overspill' space for their community scheme.

There was a banner laying down the spirit of decent behaviour to the local youngsters who the Hammers outreach staff work with:

*Play fair and play to win

*No foul or abusive language will be tolerated

*Accept defeat with dignity

*No knives or guns

Of the game itself...the less said the better! Suffice to say it wasn't a classic. The Ilford squad was made up of triallists, who would struggle to get into the Romford & District league never mind the Ryman League Division One North! As for the Hammers side...was this really their actual Under 20 side, as billed on the Ilford website? If it was then the 'Academy of Football' is no more! They were stronger than the Ilford boys, but that's not a ringing endorsement! To be fair the second half was a lot more watchable than the first half, I spent most of that with only one on the match, chatting to Dagenham & Redbridge 'hopper Dave, who regaled me with tales of his recent trip on the Sweden hop. Not the first time he's done it, & will be going back next year! I'm not one who's dismayed by nil nils, though I do prefer to see goals scored, & by the interval I couldn't see where a goal was coming from. In the second period the young Hammers took the lead, but were surprised by a late equaliser from Ilford, for a final score of one apiece.

As the clock ticked down one of the groundhopping fraternity said hello to me by name, which was a bit embarrassing, as I didn't know who he was! He enquired about the Hamlet chances this season, & walked back towards the DLR with him, before I turned off right towards the big ASDA store, geting myself a nice large uncut loaf, which I tucked into, making cheese on toast-with worcester sauce naturally-at around midnight.