United States of America

Major League Soccer

Saturday 2nd March 2019

Kick Off 13.00 Actual 13.10

Philadelphia Union 1 Toronto F.C. 3, attendance 16,498

45’ + 3, 0-1

62’ 0-2

73’ 1-2 (pen)

90’ + 4, 1-3

@ Talen Energy Stadium

1, Stadium Drive

Chester

PA 19013

Admission $42 + $6.75 fees, Print at Home Ticket.

No Programme.

The Talen Energy Stadium (current sponsor name) was opened in 2010 and has an all seated capacity of 18,500. The stadium is in the town of Chester, some 14 miles south west of the centre of Philadelphia and is reached by taking the SEPTA (South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) train towards Wilmington, which takes around half an hour. It costs $5.25 each way and on matchdays the club run a free shuttle bus to and from the main station in Chester to the stadium.

It was a bit concerning to have arrived in Philadelphia on Friday afternoon to be greeted by 3 inches of freshly fallen snow, although unlike in England, everything was carrying on as normal and later that evening the club had tweeted pictures of the pitch having been cleared, so the game would be going ahead. Again, unlike at home, where the club would have just postponed the match and made no effort whatsoever in getting the game on.

This was the season opener for both clubs. In fact, it was actually the first match to get underway in the entire league. The standard in the MLS is improving, but most of the teams would probably struggle to survive in the Championship in England. The crowd, which looked far less than the announced figure, still have huge numbers who don’t appear to really understand what they are watching and certainly don’t get the basics of the offside rule and seem to think any tackle where their player falls over is a foul and a yellow card to the opposing teams player. They certainly didn’t get that the ball has to actually cross the goal line for it to count as a goal, which was evident when a shot was easily cleared. It didn’t help that VAR was in use for the match, which meant any close call took an age to decide on whether it was offside/handball/ a goal etc. etc.

Union had plenty of possession, but rarely threatened. Toronto did very little, but having had a penalty saved after 34 minutes, went ahead in stoppage time through American international Michael Bradley. The second half really opened up and Toronto went 0-2 up when Bradley added a second goal just after the hour mark. Union pulled a goal back from the penalty spot, but the visitors finally killed the game off with a third goal deep into stoppage time.

The match itself was certainly enjoyable and a decent watch as a neutral. What was a pain though, was the ten minutes late kicking off, not helped by having to go through two national anthems before we got underway. Added to five minutes stoppage time in each half and what felt like endless stoppages for VAR decisions and players rolling about pretending to be injured, then a match scheduled to kick off at 13.00 didn’t finish until 15.09 !

Thankfully, there wasn’t a train back in to Philadelphia until 15.54, so plenty of time for the shuttle bus to get back to the station and we could start thinking about the next sporting event, which was later that evening and was certainly the hottest ticket in town…………..

British Universities & Colleges Sport

South Eastern 1A

Wednesday 27th February 2019

Kick Off 16.15 Actual 16.17

Reading University 5 Surrey University 2, attendance 17

7’ 1-0 (pen)

18’ 2-0

45’ 2-1

66’ 3-1

70’ 4-1

71’ 5-1

85’ 5-2

@ South Reading Leisure Centre, 3G Pitch

Northumberland Avenue

Reading

RG2 8DF

No Admission or Programme.

Reading came into this in a 3 way tie at the top of the league table, but had the worst goal difference, but the fact that the other two, East London and Chichester, were playing each other today, meant they still had a chance of winning the league, although it is looking unlikely as East London will still have one match left after today and that is against Surrey, who have lost all their matches so far.

I had seen Reading win the reverse fixture by a single goal in a poor match. Today, it was much better. The early penalty set Reading on their way and they looked comfortable throughout. The goal of the game was undoubtedly the fourth for Reading, when a 35 yarder was curled over the ‘keeper.

Stroud & District League

Presidents Cup Quarter Final

Sunday 24th February 2019

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 13.57

Tredworth Tigers 5 Leonard Stanley 1, attendance 29

12’ 1-0

15’ 2-0

28’ 3-0

46’ 4-0

54’ 5-0

59’ 5-1

@ The Spa

Spa Road

Gloucester

GL1 1UY

No Admission or Programme.

Over the years, the Stroud Charity Cups have been played on Sundays, but having now gone under the umbrella of the Stroud & District League, rather than being run independently, most of the matches are now scheduled for Saturdays. With a number of clubs still entered who play at a higher level, then it still throws up the odd Sunday match, with this being such a case.

Tredworth Tigers are in fourth place in the top division of the Stroud & District League, with Leonard Stanley playing two levels higher, in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division 1, albeit bottom of the league table, having won just two matches in the process.

Tredworth, led by former Gloucester City striker Lee Smith, had the game wrapped up after half an hour, easing into a 3-0 lead, although Stanley did hit both crossbar and post, but were unable to convert anything. Two early second half strikes made it 5-0, before the visitors scored the final goal of the match just before the hour mark.

Cambridgeshire F.A. Cliff Bullen Challenge Cup

Semi Final

Saturday 23rd February 2019

Kick Off 13.45 Actual 13.48

Thorney 1 Whittlesey Athletic 2, attendance 53

4’ 0-1

88’ 1-1

90’ + 4, 1-2 (pen)

@ Campbell Drive Playing Fields

Campbell Drive

Gunthorpe

Peterborough

PE4 7ZL

No Admission or Programme.

I wasn’t really sure what standing this competition had, as it involves teams from the Cambridgeshire County League and the Peterborough & District League, but it is certainly a long standing competition. It was first played for in 1897, under the name of ‘Senior Cup’, before becoming the Challenge Cup in 1921 and then adding Cliff Bullen to its name in 2004. The other semi final tie was an all Cambridgeshire County League affair, whilst this one was between two teams in the Premier Division of the Peterborough & District League, which was 3rd versus 7th as far as league positions go.

Over the last couple of years I have only seen matches in this league during the late July groundhops, where the football has been awful, as teams still have players on holiday and it is just too early in the season for them to have gained any match fitness. However, watching a match when both teams are fully in the swing of things, certainly makes this league look much better than the impression gained during the ‘hops. It is also nice to see a match under normal conditions and of course, there are no ‘rip off’ admission charges, or one off programmes produced for the match either.

Whittlesey went ahead early on, but just couldn’t get the second goal to kill the game off. Both teams had chances to score, although it looked like the one goal would decide it. With two minutes left, the inevitable happened, when Thorney scrambled in an equaliser out of nothing and it looked like we would be heading to penalties to decide it, as there would be no extra time, but four minutes into stoppage time Whittlesey were awarded a penalty and duly scored. A further four minutes were played, in which Thorney had a couple of good chances, but the visitors held on.

Football League Youth Alliance

Merit League 1

Saturday 23rd February 2019

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 11.02

Peterborough United U18 1 Southend United U18 2, attendance 45

32’ 0-1

46’ 0-2 (pen)

75’ 1-2 (pen)

@ Mick George Training Academy

Nene Park Academy

Oundle Road

Orton Longueville

Peterborough

PE2 7EA

No Admission or Programme.

I hadn’t realised just how long ago it was that I last saw a youth match of Peterborough United. It was back on 19th September 1998, when I saw the U19’s draw 2-2 versus Liverpool. The match that day was played at ‘Woodlands’ in Splash Lane, Castor, but these days they have their own training ground, which is part of Nene Park Academy, although it is separated with mesh fencing and the grass pitches are only accessible through one gate, which is to the left hand side of the 3G caged pitch that is behind the changing room building.

There was no problem gaining access to watch the match, with spectators limited to watching along one side of the pitch only. For anyone who wants to watch the U16’s, who play their games on the 3G pitch, viewing is through the fence only.

Peterborough started off on top, but Southend were making the more clear cut chances. Indeed, it was the visitors who went ahead just after the half hour mark with an angled shot into the far corner of the net. They made it 0-2 when they were awarded a penalty less than 10 seconds into the second half, which was duly dispatched. Peterborough reduced the arrears with a penalty of their own, but Southend deservedly held on for the win.

Belgium

Brabant Provincial 3C V.F.V.

Wednesday 20th February 2019

Kick Off 20.00 Actual 20.03

F.C. Sint- Jozef Londerzeel 1 K. Crossing V.V. Elewijt 3, attendance 127

5’ 0-1

31’ 1-1

58’ 1-2

90’ + 5, 1-3

@ Complex Stuikberg

Stuikbergstraat 49

Sint-Jozef

1840 Londerzeel

€5 Admission

No Programme.

Once again it was another Wednesday when the only grounds I hadn’t visited in England were in the B.U.C.S. student leagues, so once again it was a midweek trip over to Belgium. It looked like our party would be travelling at half capacity, as two of the passengers were held up en route by an accident on the M25, but a quick change of our outbound train, done on-line, from the original 13.20 to the later 13.50, meant we would still make it, providing there were no other problems. In the end we were actually boarded on to our original train anyway, as the Tunnel was very quiet and it even departed a couple of minutes early.

The match tonight was sixth versus second in the league table and was played at a really high tempo, especially in the first half. A miss kick by the home ‘keeper saw his clearance put straight into the empty net to give the visitors an early lead. A thirty yarder, helped by a slight deflection, saw it levelled up at 1-1 just after the half hour mark. Elewijt then had a man red carded for a trip off the ball, but held out until halftime. The second half saw the ten men gain the upper hand and they were back in front when a quick break down the right was finished with a shot across the ‘keeper into the far corner of the net. Sint-Jozef were also reduced to 10 men, when their ‘keeper received a second yellow card, having handled the ball outside the area, as we headed in to the last five minutes of the match. Five minutes into stoppage time, Elewijt again broke down the right and the cross was side footed in from 3 yards to round off a deserved 1-3 win. This strengthens their second place in the league, having cut the deficit behind leaders Eendracht Mazenzele Opwijk to 4 points and they still have one more game in hand to play.

It was a comfortable two and a quarter hour drive back to The Tunnel for our scheduled 01.22 return. It only left a minute late, but we lost another 15 minutes time on a lengthy diversion, when the M20 was closed at Junction 9.

Western League

Division 1

Tuesday 19th February 2019

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.46

Bristol Telephones 1 Bishop Sutton 1, attendance 58

35’ 0-1

63’ 1-1

@ B.T.R.A. Ground

Stockwood Lane

Stockwood

Bristol

BS14 8SJ

£5 Admission

No Programme.

Last season I made at least four attempts to do a game here, but a combination of a waterlogged pitch, floodlight problems and pitch inspections that were taking place too late to actually make it there after the game was given the go ahead, meant I missed out. This season they have only played two midweek matches, both in August, when they don’t even need the floodlights, so it looked like another season of not making it here. Even this match, which was postponed a few weeks ago, was originally re-scheduled for a Saturday, but then moved to a midweek match following more postponements.

There was no problem with the weather tonight, although when the floodlights were switched on for the warm ups, one of the pylons failed to light up initially, but came on about five minutes after the others, so everything was set to go. Even when all the bulbs were lit they were very poor and there were some dark areas on the pitch.

When I started watching Western League matches back in the early 1990’s it was a superb league, dominated in those days by the likes of Tiverton Town, Taunton Town, Clevedon Town and Mangotsfield United. Today, it certainly isn’t anything like as good, although admittedly tonight’s match was only a second level match. It probably didn’t help that Telephones are bottom of the table, and deservedly so if this is what they are like every week, whilst Bishop Sutton were only fourteenth, out of twenty.

There was plenty of effort, but very little quality. A cross from the right was converted from close range to give the visitors a 0-1 lead at the break, with Telephones levelling it up with a header from a corner just after the hour mark.

I was surprised not to see a match programme tonight, but at least the home club don’t inflate the attendance figure, as the official crowd is given as only 40 on the Western League website, so roughly a third of the spectators were free loaders! Despite being bottom of the league, the club are adding a new covered area behind the far goal, so they must not be expecting to be relegated.

This completes visits to all the current Western League grounds for me and leaves just Frenford and Skegness Town to complete Step 6 of the pyramid, whilst Crawley Green is the only one left above this, at Step 5.

Middlesex County League

Premier Division

Saturday 16th February 2019

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 13.59

Brentham 1 PFC Victoria London 3, attendance 34

30’ 1-0

35’ 1-1

73’ 1-2

75’ 1-3

@ Brentham Club

38a Meadvale Road

Ealing

London

W5 1NP

No Admission

Programme, free, 8 pages.

The journey from New Malden had taken around 50 minutes, despite it being less than 14 miles. On arrival I found the place deserted, but then noticed the Referee and one of his Linesmen making their way along a path between the tennis courts, which went down behind the bowling green, with the football pitch running lengthways beyond here. The two teams were warming up behind a hedge on what looked like a small sided youth pitch. A club official handed me a free programme on arrival, which was a bit of a surprise, as I hadn’t thought to check if they even issued one, although the Middlesex League are one of the leagues that made it compulsory to do so in the past, although it was not always adhered to.

PFC Victoria are in effect a Polish club, who have had a rapid rise through the league since being formed in 2016. Successive promotions now sees them sitting in third place in the Premier Division league table, whilst Brentham are eighth. They drew 2-2 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, so I was hoping for a good contest and that is how it turned out.

Brentham went in front after half an hour, somewhat against the run of play, before a shot from the edge of the 18 yard box levelled it up five minutes later. PFC took control in the last fifteen minutes of the match, with a mazey run finished with a shot that beat the onrushing ‘keeper, then rounded things off with a free kick into the top corner of the net a couple of minutes later.

Football League Youth Alliance

Merit League 1

Saturday 16th February 2019

Kick Off 10.30 Actual 10.32

A.F.C. Wimbledon U18 3 Luton Town U18 1, attendance 43

22’ 1-0

55’ 2-0

57’ 3-0

83’ 3-1

@ King’s College Sports Ground

Windsor Avenue

New Malden

KT3 5HA

No Admission or Programme.

This was the opening round of the Merit League fixtures. Wimbledon were superior throughout in what was a really entertaining match, which had far more attacking play than the last couple of youth matches I had seen. I hope the coaches don’t get this type of football drummed out of them!

The opening goal was scrambled over the line, with an immediate signal from the Linesman that it was a goal. No need for VAR here! The second was a tap in at the far post, from a corner that came right across the six yard box and the third was a follow in to a parried save by the ‘keeper. Luton did get the goal of the game though. A long kick from their ‘keeper saw a chase between their striker and a Wimbledon player. The ball was taken down first time and a shot from the angle of the 18 yard box flew into the far top corner of the net.

There was no problem getting in to watch this match, although, as ever, it is difficult to take photographs.