From Hackney Marshes to The Old Spotted Dog.

On a trip to South of the Thames that included no football match, I sneaked in a visit to Hackney Marshes and the Old Spotted Dog. I’ll start with the Old Spotted Dog the oldest senior football ground in London. Having been to the oldest in the world on Tuesday I couldn’t resist the opportunity, even though it was a slight detour.

The Old Spotted Dog

What a welcome, it was difficult to get in with the footpath in the area being upgraded to high spec block work, but by chance one of the committee, they all have equally votes here, let us in and showed us round. What enthusiasm and pride in what they have achieved, it was infectious.

I remember Clapton playing in the Isthmian League against St Albans many moons ago but that team is no more with the last owner falling out with the fan base. A new team was formed, Clapton Community Football Club, and they were able to buy the Old Spotted Dog Ground from Heineken and start to reclaim it from a sorry state. One of their main income sources was from the sale of their away shirts, the design of which resembled the republican movement in Spain and led to 5500 shirts being sold there. The sale of the shirts allowed the club to purchase the ground from Heineken who once owned the building next door which was a brewery.

The Clapton Community club was formed on 27 January 2018 by the disgruntled fans and they have progressed through playing on Hackney Marshes and other venues, through the Middlesex County League and now play in the Southern Counties East Football League Division 1.

The club now run men’s, women’s, youth and development teams all of which are fully inclusive to reflect the ethos of the club and community. The club is run by it’s members, anyone can join, on a democratic basis, where there is equity between women and men. Financial issues are dealt with full transparency by issuing their accounts monthly. The clubs ‘Community’ in the name is matched by their local involvement having for example a hardship fund for those in distress. They also have a philosophy of ‘not pricing anyone out of football’ by allowing you to pay what you can afford, zero if necessary.

I could write for hours about this club but instead have challenged myself to return and watch a game and further write then. I have also joined as a member.

Such is the inclusivity that entering the ground there was an urban fox sat in front of the dugout looking at the pitch. I think he was planning the tactics for the afternoon match which they won. We were told that often the youngsters who play on the pitch can be distracted by the foxes and that the members have to clear fox poo off the pitch before games.

Hackney Marshes

Before I went to Clapton I visited nearby Hackney Marshes, where there are over 80 football pitches and has been a spiritual home to grass roots football in London for many years. It is thought that football has been played on the marshes since the 1880’s but its biggest expansion and use was after 1946 when rubble from the destruction by the Blitz were deposited there and used as the substrate to layout approximately 110 football pitches. Today there are also cricket and rugby pitches, some with artificial surfaces and modern changing rooms. The Marshes are considered the birth place of Sunday League football which has its rivals in other parts of the country but it certainly was at the forefront of this part of the game.

With so many pitches it has a unique atmosphere where many teams and players have come together over a century, where players had a space to belong and achieve at their level.

I myself played here in 1966/67 when I played for Luton Nomads in a South East England Jewish Sunday League. Not being of the faith I was made an honorary member and played in many parts of London but my best memories are from ‘The Marshes’ on a wet windy Sunday afternoon, racing over three pitches to retrieve the ball with the teams on those pitches totally ignoring you as they were concentrating on their own match. It was fantastic on Saturday morning to see people of all ages using the pitches to their best advantages and having the same enjoyment that I had so many years ago.

Football continues to be threaded in our culture at all levels of the game.

The Old Spotted Dog Inn, reputed to be an Hunting Lodge of Henry the eight net door to the football ground which the local community are also attempting to revive.

This picture was displayed on the walls and was photographed by the son of the man who showed us round. It has recently been displayed in the West End of London and will soon be displayed at an exhibition in Paris. Football can join us all together.

Personal farewell to Denis Law

It was sad to see that Denis Law left us a week ago at the age of 84. He was undoubtedly one of Britain’s greatest forwards, proving this in a career across Scotland, England and Italy.

He was a forward who was able to show balletic skills on rubbish surfaces as well as on major stages as he won all of the honours in the English game. He was blessed with the skill to beat defenders, overhead kicks, back heels and an ability to be there at the right time.

I was there to see him score six goals at Kenilworth Road in the infamous abandoned F.A. Cup game of 1961.

Being treated for my 11th birthday, my Dad and I caught the 321 London Country Bus from the Ancient Briton, in St Albans, to the top of Cutenhoe Road in Luton, where a Luton Corporation ‘Special’ bus was waiting to take us to the ground. We stood at the Kenilworth Road End and watched a sensation, Denis Law, totally overrun the home side. It didn’t matter that we were drenched we were watching a master. Some of the crowd around us were complaining about the conditions at half time, and wanted the game abandoned so that they could get their money back and I also suspect that they didn’t like to see Luton thrashed. The teams did come out for 24 more minutes and no money was refunded or tickets given to the rearranged game.

I didn’t care, what a birthday treat to see Dennis Law tiptoe through atrocious conditions and score 6 goals, against Luton’s 2. Denis even scored in the rearranged game but Luton came out winners of that 3.1.

I only ever saw Denis Law on the TV after that, what a player, what a career.

2024/2025 season, interim Chip League

At the half way stage of many of the leagues, I thought it prudent to issue an interim league table for my chip league. After 25 matches and 15 portions of chips there is a clear leader in Hednesford Town, and by a co-incidence it was by far the most exciting game I have seen so far this season and for many seasons.

As I always state this is subjective and could change at a subsequent visit, sometimes dependent on whether you are first in the queue for a newly cooked batch of chips. After 7 years of chips I do wonder if I am getting a bit jaded in my appreciation of chips but the smell and anticipation, often on a cold evening, overcome those thoughts.

I will in anticipation look forward to the end of the season to see if anyone can knock Hednesford off their top billing.

	payonthegate 2024/25 chip league
Club	Score	Comments
Hednesford	82	Really good taste.
Coleshill	74	Tasty under the gazebo.
Hallam	72	Hot and Tasty
South Leeds	72	Freshly cooked, good Friday night out.
Clay Cross	72	Good taste. Very thick Bovril.
Matlock	70	Big portion
Clifton All Whites	67	Enjoyable
Sheffield FC	67	Good texture
Basford	62	Greasy background taste, good food hut.
Worksop	60	Gone backwards since last times improvement
Mansfield	58	Only ate half, greasy, why chips in away end not main stand.
Sandiacre	56	Lingering, greasy taste, served on a reuseable plate
Albion Sports	55	Lasting greasy taste
Brigg	54	Too greasy, friendly club house.
Wombwell	52	Taste of burnt fat.
Fakenham Town	0	No Chips
Club Thorne Colliery	0	No Chips
Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	No Chips
Kiveton Park	0	No Chips
Gretna	0	No Cips but the Scotch pie was great.
SJR Worksop	0	No chips, packet of Quavers instead.
Sheffield Union	0	No Chips, didn’t go to the club house.
Chesterfield	0	No Chips
Aston Villa	0	Couldn’t get to the food kiosks, too busy
Shrewsbury/TNS	0	No Chips

You have to deal with disappointments following the Villa, Part 4 !!!!!!!

Friday saw me take a drive to Villa Park to see their 150th Anniversary Game, which had been deemed to be the Third Rond FA Cup game at home to West Ham. Tickets were reduced to £25 and less for children so another grandson was able to come along and see his first ever game at Aston Villa.

Other celebratory actions were the use of an Anniversary kit of black shirts, to pay homage to the original shirts that also had no sponsorship or player names on them. There were also items for sale in the club shop, which had lengthy queues, for £1.50, as well as a souvenir programme for the same price. Unfortunately only a few had been printed and although we entered the North Stand an hour early, there were none left, although they were for sale on eBay the next day at a very inflated price. Subsequent to this a new batch have been re-printed for sale to fans.

It was a cold clear night with the car temperature registering minus 4 degrees as we parked, and we were soon chilled on the way to the stadium, but inside, where there was a full house, it was warmer. There had been rumblings about Villa making this their anniversary match yet I felt the full house was a vindication considering the weather , a Friday night and the game being on TV. It also gave the chance for younger fans to attend and get their first taste of the Villa bug.

Villa fans were in good voice as too were the 6000 from West Ham who helped to create a good atmosphere.

Aston Villa 2 West Ham 1

Friday 10th February 2025 20.00 pm kick off F.A. Cup 3rd Round

Villa Park, Trinity Road, Aston, Birmingham, B6 6HE, Villains v Hammers

Villa; Black shirts, white shorts West Ham; White Shirts, claret shorts.

The noise ramped up as the game started with both sides looking to take control. A mistake trying to head clear a challenge in the centre of the pitch was swept out to the West Ham right and the ball was quickly moved forward to be centred which allowed Luca Paqueta to shoot low to the left of Olsen, in goal for Villa, maybe for the last time, into the corner of the net to take the lead with 9 minutes gone.

Villa looked sluggish at this point and continual sideways passes with no result were greeted with derision by the home fans. The continual probing didn’t lead to anything and their flow was disrupted on 23 minutes when Barkley was substituted for Onana after a leg injury, not long after Fullkrug had been replaced for West Ham by ex villain Danny Ings. The probing pattern of play continued for Villa, with West Ham occasionally making a quick break but neither side looked like adding to the score as the clock wound down to half time. A group of past players were warmly applauded when they walked around the pitch at the break.

The second half started without West Ham’s Summerville who had been influential in the visitors play.

Villa took more control yet still didn’t score even though they forced a series of corners. One corner from the right was swung in to be headed on by Tyrone Mings to Ezri Konsa at the back post who headed it down into the ground where it was spilled by Fabianski, the West Ham keeper, after an intervention by a defender. The ball was pounced on by the imposing Onana who poked it over the line. Should the Hammers goal Hero, Paqueta, not have fallen over next to Konsa, he would have been able to challenge his goalward header.

The goal signalled a resurgent Villa which was also helped by the immediate introduction of three substitutes. Five minutes after the goal, Yuri Tielemans released a long ground pass from deep in his own half to Emi Buendia, who had started with a positive go forward attitude, who swept the ball out to the left where Ollie Watkins raced into the Hammers penalty area and flashed the ball along the ground to Morgan Rogers who with one strike buried it into the net. A typical Villa goal under Unai Emery. The onslaught continued and only the left hand post stopped Jacob Ramsey’s beautiful curling shot from making it three.

Villa relaxed a little and it was their other substitute, Nedeljkovic who raced back at impressive speed to block a goalward bound shot. Villa fans were now in full flow and were relieved and pleased at their teams second half play. For 70 minutes I though that I would need to write ‘ You have to deal with disappointments following the Villa part 4’ but my influence had changed which I put down to wearing my claret and blue scarf, knitted by my mother 30 years ago, to keep me warm.

UP THE VILLA, even though I couldn’t get any chips with the huge queue, because all food and drink was £1.50 and the crowd was 40898.

Wimborne Town FC v Poole FC postponed

Last week, Appleby Frodingham and this week, as I arrived at Wimborne’s modern ground with an artificial pitch that is postponed too, waterlogged I pressure, although I had checked social media half an hour previous.
Journeying from Derbyshire, I don’t think I will be taking them up on using my pre paid ticket for the re-arranged match.
Unfortunately I have previous with Dorset in that I had travelled, again in January, to see Poole play St Albans City, only to find it was postponed due to a frozen pitch, something rare in these southerly parts.
After a pasty and a coffee, I felt refreshed and ready for the year ahead.

Match postponed
Unfortunately, the following fixture has been postponed:
Wimborne Town FC vs Poole Town01/01/2025 at 15:00Wimborne Town Football Club
Your tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled fixture. Please keep an eye on communications from Wimborne Town FC on the new date.

10 men Zebras beat the fog and the The Penguins .

I decided to get one more game in 2024 and headed for North Lincolnshire to see Appleby Frodingham but first checked their social media and the league site to make sure the match was on. I have previous with Appleby Frodingham with games cancelled through a frozen and waterlogged pitch. Luckily, in the past, I had been able to switch games. The last few days had been miserable foggy and grey, and they were again as I pulled off the drive, but the sun was out as I whizzed along a quiet M18. The mood changed as the fog returned along the M180, and it thickened through Scunthorpe. It was to get worse when Google Maps took me to a local rugby club. Not deterred, the Northern Counties East web site gave me a different post code and 3 minutes later I was there along with a couple of other people in cars looking at a very closed ground. Social media now told me that the match was postponed, but again, not givingup, I knew that Brigg Town were at home and that was 8 miles away and I had 30 minutes to get there. Pulling into the large car park at 14.51 with the game on, my luck had changed. There was a large lined out car park all part of more sports facilities. I stopped and chatted to a man collecting for James Hitchcock, the Barton Rovers goalkeeper who lost his life on a night out, and walked to the turnstile. Now I was confronted by a queue! Evidently, another helper had not turned up so I managed to get in at 15.04, unluckily they were sold out of programs but luckily no one had scored.

Brigg Town can trace a history back to 1864, one of the earlier teams in the country. Playing for a long time in Lincolnshire Leagues, they moved up to the Midland League in 1976, and in 1982, when League mergers created the Northern Counties East League they were founder members.
Their highest league status was reached in 2004 when they were promoted to the Northern Premier League, but 11 years later, they were back in the NCEL. 2017 saw a further fall back into the Lincolnshire League, which they bounced back from the following year and have stayed since. Briggs Cup exploits have been amazing winning the FA Vase on two occasions in 1996 and 2003.

Athersley Recreatin FC has a much shorter history, only being formed in 1979 as Athersley North Juniors and took their current name in 1986. They played initially in the local Barnsley Leagues until 1997 when they were promoted to the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Senior League. Promotion to the Northern Counties East League in 2012 they have played in both the Premier Division and Division one. After a few poor seasons, this year has proved more successful.

It was foggy here too but you could see from end to end. The miserable conditions made everything else look sad, with the undulating grass pitch having as much mud as grass. The good news being that at the end of the season the pitch is to be dug up and a new alweather one installed with six changing rooms for multi use and increased income. A reason to return in the future to see how it looks.

It was grey, damp and only 4 degrees giving a miserable feel.

The two ends of the ground are open with low level covered seating dow almost the length of one side. The other side houses the changing rooms, club house, other rooms, with covered standing in front.

Brigg Town FC CIC 1 Athersley Recreation FC 0

Saturday 28th December 2024.

The EC Surfacing Stadium, Wrawby Rd, Brigg DN20 8DT

15.00 pm kick off. Northern Counties East League Division One.

4th v 10th, The Zebras v The Penguins or ‘The Rec’

Although Brigg were more dominant in the first 30 minutes, Athersley made dangerous quick attacks mainly down the left. With just 5 minutes before the break a second yellow card for Prince Hayward of Brigg meant an early bath and some reorganisation at half time for the home side.

The second half started with the fog thickening but on the field despite being one man down the home side kept pressing with Athersley still breaking fast. Athersley despite their attacks only forced the Brigg keeper to make one great save when he managed to launch himself and tip the shot over the bar.

There was plenty of passion and endeavour on and off the field as every tackle, foul or clash of heads was greeted with cries to reduce Athersley to 10 men. The referee kept his nerve and the game moved on to the final few minutes with not only the fog but the cold increasing.

With on my watch, time up and added time being played Brigg fought harder and harder and they were awarded a corner from the left. Harrison Coley curled it in and up rose Josh Jordan unmarked to head the ball with some strength into the back of the net. Fans and players of Brigg went wild, while the Athersley team trudged back to the centre circle knowing that they had missed a golden opportunity to get three points. The crowd of 302 was one of the best at this level for the day.

Considering the weather conditions and the cloying , muddy pitch, heavy legs, both teams had served up a fascinating, hard fought match to remember.

The club house was warm and friendly with many photos of old endeavours. TV screens were showing the World Darts Championship which a few chose to watch rather than the game. The chips although hot were tasty but too greasy for my liking, scoring only 54.

Little Christmas Cheer at Mansfield

I decided on a short trip for football to Mansfield on this busy travel weekend before the festive season. There was also an interesting local Derby between Mansfield and Rotherham and on this usually lean day for football crowds, with shopping being a priority in many families, a good crowd could be expected. It would also be the return of Steve Evans ‘the Marmite character’ to a club he left mid season and not on the home fans Christmas card list. Steve Evans had a football career in Scotland and then fell into management of Non-League and lower English clubs and usually creates a buzz and some excitement on and off the field where ever he has gone. My last brush with him was when he plotted knocking Aston Villa out of the F.A. cup when at Stevenage.

The traffic was bumper to bumper in Mansfield , especially around the ground, which is ringed by ‘Retail Sheds’. I couldn’t believe my luck at parking on the road, only a short walk to the match. My ticket was in the Rotherham end having not been able to get a ticket from Mansfield. A large contingent of the away fans had arrived by coach and on queuing up saw six ‘Father Christmases’ joining. For some reason the stewards were asking everyone to remove their hats to check if anything was concealed but no strip search? For some reason they did not ask me! To my great surprise the food stand was offering chips, some thing that has not been on the menu at the home main stand on previous visits, more of that later. It was also noticeable that this three sided ground had a fourth side as the Bishop Street side has been relieved of its hoardings and remedial work is going on to find a solution to making this a safe seating or standing area to increase capacity. This side of the ground has not been in use for nearly 20years and with crowds nearing capacity for popular games good income is being missed.

It was a grey dry day but with some strong gusty winds that sent darker clouds scurrying across the sky. The grass pitch looked immaculate and was watered heavily before the kick off.

Mansfield Town F.C. 1 Rotherham United 0

Saturday 21st December 2024, English Football League Division One, Kick off 15.00 pm

Field Mill Ground, Quarry Lane, Mansfield. NG18 5DA

Stags v Millers, 11th v 17th

Rotherham started the match with the greater possession but the swirling wind meant that their high balls were difficult to control. Their fans were the most noisy and were enjoying a holiday atmosphere. However as often is the case out of a rare Mansfield attack poor clearances meant the ball fell behind their defence for Deji Oshilaja to run through on his own and plant the ball in the net to the keepers right.

The Rotherham fans silenced and the Mansfield ones more vociferous to the point that Steve Evans complained afterwards about the vitriolic verbal treatment he received.

There is not much more I can say about the rest of the game. The wind totally spoilt it, but my mind drifted back to Hallam’s FA Vase win, when the part timers, in similar windy conditions, hit three goals in the second half by playing football along the ground.

The Rotherham fans turned on their own teams lack of attacks and mistakes.

Mansfield’s win meant that they went up one position in the League and Rotherham dropped down one after their recent form revival. Certainly no Christmas cheer here and perhaps the shops had the better offer for the 8401 who had made the effort.

The chips were a good quantity, crispy, hot, but greasy, and as I eat more the greasiness seemed to overwhelm the taste, to a point where I stopped half way through. A poor score of 58.

The best football team in Wales.

I headed west on a miserable, grey, drizzle ridden day with a temperature of just 6 degrees. I was headed for Shrewsbury, where ‘The New Saints’ were playing Panathinaikos in their latest European Conference League game. £16 had secured me a ticket, a lot less than other UK clubs playing in Europe. The game was being played in Shrewsbury due to the fact that their ground in Oswestry did not meet the UEFA standards, Shrewsbury FC is only 21 miles from TNS’s ground.

TNS are the first football team from Wales ever to reach a European Group stage of a European trophy and capped that achievement by winning one of their league games at home to Astana.

Others would argue that Swansea sitting 9th in the English Championship, Cardiff 22nd, Wrexham 2nd in League 1, Newport County 17th in League 2 and Merthyr Town top of the Southern League Premier Division South all play at a higher level. For me, these are just outliers as unless they spend billions of pounds, they are never going to compete in Europe when TNS are doing it now. The Cymru league offers a pathway that playing in the English Leagues never will.

The history of TNS goes back over 150 years when in 1860 Oswestry Town Fc were formed, but it was their merger with Llansantffraid that forged todays club. llansantffraid had been successful in climbing the Welsh Leagues to enter the Premier League and changed their name to Total Network Solutions in 1997 due to a worthwhile sponsorship deal. They first qualified for European football in 2000. The merger with Oswestry was completed in 2003, and the name of The New Saints was adopted in 2006 when the sponsors company was sold. They have stayed near or at the top of their league ever since. Although they have developed a very good ground with other sporting and leisure facilities it is not big enough for their European nights.

Panathinaikos based in Athens, were founded inn 1908 and throughout their history have been considered one of two leading teams in Greece having won numerous national leagues and cups and being European football finalists.

The New Saints 0 Panathinaikos 2

Thursday 12th December 2024, Kick off 20.00 pm. UEFA Conference League

The Crowd Meadow, Oteley Road, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY2 6ST

The Saints v Panathenians TNS 2nd in their League, Panathinaikos 4th in theirs.

TNS; Green and White hooped shirts with white sleeved shirts and green shorts. Goalkeeper in all orange.

Panathinaikos; Royal blue shirts and shorts that had a purple hue under the lights with a green dart on the shorts. Goalkeeper in all pink.

Panathinaikos had brought a good contingent of fans with them who kept singing and chanting all game.

The Shrewsbury stadium is modern with covered seating on all four sides with a flat grass pitch that has hardly been cut up at this point of the season. The drizzle of the day had luckily stopped for the game.

Panathinaikos played a very pleasing controlled game across the back of their defence, then suddenly trying to break the well drilled TNS defence. TNS suffered a blow after only 11 minutes when one of their central defenders had to be subbed for what looked like a leg injury. Four minutes later the TNS keeper Connor Roberts, made a fantastic left handed save but almost immediately he was called to save again, this time with an outstretched leg from point blank range, only for it to rebound to Duricic to knock it into the net. TNS looked like they would comfortably hold out until half time but Connor Roberts was again asked to perform heroics with a save at the near post just before half time. The half time score of one nil to the visitors meant the game was still all to play for.

Panathinaikos started the second half well and had good chances to increase their lead, which they did from the penalty spot on 61 minutes after one of their forwards was upended in the area. It was Ioannidis who coolly despatched the ball into the left hand side of the goal.

TNS showed a few flashes of attacking intent but never really threatened the Panathinaikos team that was sprinkled with a majority of international players.

A thoroughly enjoyable game for the 5716, and still the faintest chance of TNS staying in the competition if they win their last game.

Unfortunately no chips, but a great food offering.

N.B.

Football in Wales looks like growing in strength with the expandeded Cymru Premiership for the 2026/27 season sharpening competition next year. With more teams upgrading their facilities to be able to apply for the Premier League the supporters should get an enhanced experience.

Clay Cross finally grind down Ashbourne.

Having not been to a match at the weekend, I saw that Clay Cross. Town were playing Ashbourne in the third round of ‘The Derbyshire County F.A. Senior Challenge Cup.

I hadn’t been to Clay Cross since bonfire night in 2019 and I understood that there had been many changes since last there. As I pulled up outside, I noted that it was just 1.5 degrees on a very still night. Fully wrapped up, I entered the ground to immediately see that my expectation was rewarded. A new clubhouse, new café, new seated stand behind one goal, which was still being kitted out, new changing rooms and work on the pitch that had suffered badly in the previous season. The pitch itself had a good grass cover over the undulating surface, which slopes slightly from end to end.

It is suggested that there has been a football team in Clay Cross since 1881 with the current clubs inspiration taken from the team of 1909. It played in local football in different guises until in 2012 when a new ‘Town’ club was reinvigorated. Disappointment in missing out on promotion was finally forgotten when they made it to the Northern Counties East League Division One in 2023 and moved to the United Counties League Division One for this season following a regional reorganisation. They are third in the league with games in hand on the two teams above them.

When thinking about football in Ashbourne thoughts are immediately drawn to what’s known as the ‘Ashbourne Game’. This game that has been played since 1667, on Shrove Tuesday, and may be longer, between large groups of players from two areas of the town, has been promoted as one of the fore-runners of the modern game. The team on show was only formed in 2009 with the merger of Ashbourne United and Ashbourne Town. They have made it to the Premier Division of the Staffordshire County Senior League despite being based in Derbyshire and currently sit in seventh position.

Clay Cross Ton FC 2 Ashbourne 0

Tuesday 3rd December 2024, The Derbyshire County FA Senior Challenge Cup, third round.

Clay Cross Town FC Mill Lane, Tupton, Derbyshire.

The Millers v The Shrovetiders

Clay Cross; Blue and white vertical stripes to front of shirts with white backs and dark dark blue shorts. Ashbourne; Red and white vertical striped shirts and red shorts.

I heard before the game started that the home team had made changes to their line up with an FA Vase game looming on the following Saturday.

Clay Cross playing down hill in the first half had most of the play in the but it was Ashbourne who came closest when against the run of play they grazed the bar with a long range shot. Both teams left the field with it 0.0 at half time with the Millers unhappy with their performance.

Ashbourne’s goal keeper kept making good saves as his outfield players made a defiant rear-guard performance with occasional break aways. This pattern of play continued throughout the second half with the small band of away supporters making the most noise and giving the most encouragement.
But with 85 minutes gone a long ball was latched on to by a player on left who clipped it in and at the second attempt Reece Clegg hit it to the right of the Ashbourne goalkeeper to give Clay Cross the lead.

Ashbourne threw everything forward now and with their previously rigid backline now out of shape, and minutes later Ross Duggan was left on his own to run on to place the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net for 2 nil.

Ashbourne were disappointed, but considering they play at a lower level than Clay Cross they performed brilliantly, for me their number 6, Logan Cuthbert, was the man of the match, he left everything out there on the pitch like all of his colleagues.

The chips were really good, hot, golden, crispy on the outside, tasty, thick and with no greasy aftertaste, a great score of 72.

At half time I decided another hot drink was needed to try to thaw out. I chose a cup of hot Bovril which did the the trick regarding warmth but it was so thick that it seemed more like Bovril soup.

A big shout out to Clay Cross for producing a really magnificent program for a match that was never likely to draw a major crowd. Thank you, others should take note.

The Bromley Boys

The Bromley Boys – The true Story of Supporting the Worst Football Team in Britain.

Written by Dave Roberts , Published by Portico in 2008

Another charity shop find and relevant on many levels, a planned visit to Bromley, a potentially interesting football book and a period when I watched St Albans City who were in the same League as Bromley. I had also read one of Dave Robert’s books before, ’32 programmes’ and enjoyed it.

The book is about Bromley’s 1969/70 season which was a disaster for the team but an extraordinary adventure for the adolescent Dave. The book is just fun and would remind any adolescent of their hopes, fears, views on life, just growing up.

New season expectations soon evaporate into despair, and a mind blowing adventure unfolds. The story of his life and Bromley are a must to read in a book that you will not put down.

The book was later made into a film and Brimley have gone on to greater heights, this season playing in League 2.