Spartan South Midlands League

Division 2

Wednesday 11th November 2026

Kick Off 20.00 Actual 20.03

Redbourn 2 Sarratt 3, attendance 102

19’ 0-1

45’ 1-1

55’ 1-2

59’ 2-2

80’ 2-3

@ Redbourn Leisure Centre, 3G Pitch

75 Dunstable Road

Redbourn

AL3 7PP

£5 Admission

£2 Programme, 20 pages (back 2 blank), given free copy after a few were remaining unsold.

I came to a pre-season friendly here at Redbourn Leisure Centre back in 2018, when the match was played on a grass pitch in a section of the complex separated by a hedge from the main area housing the changing rooms/clubhouse. Since then, a 3G pitch has been installed, which is to the right of the car park as you enter off Dunstable Road. It’s about a hundred yards from the clubhouse and although it’s just a cage, it does have spectator access on all four sides and a tea bar, which was in addition to the one inside the main building.

The match was 10th versus 16th (out of 19) in the league table. The visitors took a nineteenth minute lead, breaking quickly from defending a corner and finishing with a lob from just outside the box. Redbourn drew level in the last minute of the first half, when a ball in from the left was poked into the far corner. The visitors went back in front ten minutes into the second half, lobbing the ‘keeper from the angle of the 18 yard box, but it only took Redbourn four minutes to level it up at 2-2, with a low angled shot into the bottom corner. The winner went the way of the visitors with ten minutes left, when a 30 yarder from wide on the left beat the ‘keeper at the near post.

A decent crowd in attendance, with close on two dozen of those being ‘hoppers, with the majority of those, like myself, re- completing the Spartan South Midlands League with tonight’s visit. Journey to Hertfordshire was only blighted by about a mile of queuing traffic at the M25/M1 intersection, whilst the return journey was totally trouble free.

Surrey Premier County League

Saturday 7th November 2026

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.35

Parkside 1 London Hibernian 3, attendance 21

17’ 0-1

24’ 1-1

27’ 1-2

42’ 1-3

@ Sir Francis Barker Recreation Ground

Leatherhead Road

Chessington

KT9 2NB

No Admission or Programme.

Today I opted for my nearest Step 7 ground I’d yet to visit, a mere thirteen miles from home, which took around twenty five minutes to drive. The Sir Francis Barker Recreation Ground is on the left hand side of the A243, just beyond Chessington World of Adventures, when heading north off J9 of the M25. There’s a small car park, with the changing rooms straight ahead to the left, beyond a clubhouse currently fenced off and out of use. The pitch runs lengthways away from here, with the side backing on to the open playing field being roped along its entirety. This side had a pair of portable dugouts too, with the other three sides hemmed in by the changing rooms at the near end and hedges and grass banking on the other two, which made it feel more enclosed.

I was surprised that this was scheduled for 14.30 (all other non floodlit matches in this league were 14.00 k.o’s) with the clocks having changed a couple of weeks ago, but despite a minutes silence (totally ignored by four home ‘supporters’ who talked loudly throughout, completely oblivious to what was going on) taking place beforehand and then getting underway five minutes late, there was no problem with fading light, with the game finishing at 16.27.

It was 9th (out of 16) versus 4th in the league table, with the visitors being the only remaining unbeaten team this season, with six wins and a draw from their opening seven games played. It was Hibernian who broke the deadlock after seventeen minutes, breaking down the left before crossing for a shot was controlled and finished into the bottom corner. Parkside levelled seven minutes later, when a corner was cleared, but crossed back in to the far post, where it was headed back across the box and met with another header that gave the ‘keeper no chance from six yards out. Hibernian were back in front within three minutes though, cutting a ball back from the left that was side footed into the bottom corner. Three minutes before halftime it was 1-3, when a cross in from the left was met with a half volley into the bottom corner that gave the ‘keeper no chance. Chances were created at both ends in the second half, but that was it as far as goals went.

The win sees London Hibernian now move up to third in the league table, a point behind second placed Worcester Park, with three games in hand and just six points behind leaders Chessington & Hook United, who they have five games in hand over! After today I’m left with just one club, Richmond & Kew, to complete the league now.

East Sussex League

Division 2

Saturday 31st October 2026

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.02

Catsfield 0 Ticehurst 3, attendance 23

12’ 0-1

37’ 0-2

76’ 0-3

@ Catsfield Recreation Ground

Powdermill Lane

Catsfield

TN33 9DH

No Admission or Programme.

Today it was back to what feels like a never ending quest to visit every ground hosting first team football in the Sussex football pyramid. Catsfield is just southwest of Battle and they play on the local recreation ground. It’s shared with the local cricket club, with the pavilion housing the changing rooms. The cricket pitch is in front, with the football pitch to the right, running lengthways away from the building/car park and a few park benches dotted around, but they’re placed more to suit the cricket.

The match was 5th versus 4th in this eight team division. Ticehurst took a twelfth minute lead, lobbing the ‘keeper from just inside the centre circle. They doubled their lead eight minutes before halftime, finishing left footed from the edge of the box. Catsfield had chances to get back into it, but couldn’t make their chances count and Ticehurst rounded off the scoring when they made it 0-3 with fourteen minutes left, when a corner from the right was hit towards the far side of the box and returned with a low shot into the bottom corner. The win sees them move up to third in the table, trailing leaders Parkfield by eight points, with both teams having played eight matches.

It was a trouble free hour and a quarter drive each way, via M25, A21 and A2100.

Kent County League

The Leckie Family Cup 2nd Round

Saturday 24th October 2026

Kick Off 14.15 Actual 14.16

Barming 5 Deal Town Youth 4, attendance 8

20’ 1-0

26’ 1-1

32’ 2-1

38’ 3-1

47’ 4-1

50’ 4-2

51’ 5-2

59’ 5-3

70’ 5-4

@ The Maplesden Noakes School, 3G Pitch

Buckland Road

Maidstone

ME16 0TJ

No Admission or Programme.

By 10.30 I’d lost my first three choices of games on grass pitches, so opted for a 3G instead. This one is one of those dreadful cages with no spectator access inside the fence, but unlike the majority of those, you can actually watch the game from a raised area behind one goal end, which has very little in the way of obstructions, apart from the top foot or so of the fence when the ball was in the near right corner. Unless you’re a completist, I wouldn’t recommend coming here, as there’s nothing to offer bar ticking it off a list! I really can’t see why these grounds are accepted in hosting competitive football and it certainly doesn’t give a good impression for a county league to allow such venues to be used.

Anyway, onto the match. These two are both in Division 2 East of the league, with 4th (won all six league matches played so far) hosting 6th as far as league positions go. It turned out to be an excellent game, where both sides opted for all out attack from start to finish. Barming took a twentieth minute lead, following in an initial effort that had struck the crossbar. Deal levelled six minutes later, rounding the ‘keeper after winning the race to a ball over the top and thought they’d doubled their lead a couple of minutes later, but the effort was ruled out for offside. The hosts took full advantage and went back in front minutes later, sliding in to poke in a cross from the right at the far post. An angled shot into the far corner saw them extend their lead to 3-1 just before the break. Two minutes into the second half a 20 yarder into the top corner made it 4-1. Deal tapped in a rebound, following a 20 yarder that was saved by the ‘keeper, to make it 4-2, but conceded again within a minute to see Barming restore their three goal lead. An angled shot into the far corner saw Deal pull it back to 5-3 just before the hour mark and with twenty minutes left they scored again to make for an interesting finish, but they couldn’t force an equaliser.

It was a trouble free forty five minute drive each way. It rained throughout the match, with very wet roads coming back and the spray on the M25 stretch made for horrendous driving conditions.

Cheshire F.A. Senior Cup

1st Round

Tuesday 20th October 2026

Kick Off 20.00 Actual 19.59

Crewe 4 Alsager Town 2, attendance 96

24’ 0-1

31’ 0-2

59’ 1-2

61’ 2-2

83’ 3-2

90’ + 3, 4-2

@ The Excel, 3G Pitch

West Street

Woolstanwood

Crewe

CW2 8SJ

£5 Admission

£2 Programme available, 10 pages, didn’t bother buying.

Another midweek trip north for another one of the new clubs at Step 6 this season. The ground here at The Excel is a 3G cage, with spectator access behind the entrance end goal, where there are two sections of cover and along the left touchline, where a seated stand is due to be put in, but currently just has a couple of temporary awnings. The two storey clubhouse/changing rooms are outside the ground itself, where hot and cold food are available, but service is very slow, especially at halftime, not helped by the stewards refusing to let spectators out of the cage until all players and officials had left the pitch…still, it’s the club that suffers most here, as it cuts into the time available to spend money in the clubhouse. Totally unnecessary and poorly thought out! At least the attendance figure was genuine, with the official figure being just one higher than my headcount and only charging a fiver at this level was a pleasant surprise.

The match pitted two teams from North West Counties League Division 1 South, with 17th hosting 19th (out of 20) as far as league positions go. Alsager went ahead after twenty four minutes, scoring after a long punt forward was punched by a hesitant ‘keeper, but resulted in a visiting striker rolling the ball into an empty net as it failed to clear the box. They doubled their lead seven minutes later, when an initial shot was saved, but followed in with a shot into the roof of the net. Just before the hour mark Crewe got back in it, when a cross was met with a blocked shot, but the rebound was volleyed into the bottom corner. It only took them two minutes to draw level, finishing low into the corner after being played through on goal. It was end to end stuff, with Crewe going ahead for the first time in the match with just seven minutes left, sweeping in from six yards after the ‘keeper spilled a cross from the left. The game was finally made safe three minutes into stoppage time, when a shot was tipped onto the crossbar, before being nodded in from close range by Joshua Maris, which completed his hattrick.

No real problems heading north to the game. Coming back saw the M5 closed, so SatNav diverted via M6 instead to pick up the M42. Just one closure tonight on the M25, with it closed at J15, so diverted one junction towards London on the M4 before rejoining the M25 via the southbound slip road. The game didn’t finish until ten o’clock, but still home for 01.35.

Belgium

Hainaut Provincial 1

Sunday 18th October 2026

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.05

Erpion-Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure 3 R. Association Sportive Pays Blanc Antoinien 2, attendance 112

3’ 1-0

8’ 2-0

16’ 2-1

29’ 2-2

71’ 3-2

@ Stade Michel & Anne-Marie Algoet, Pitch 2 Synthetic

Ruelle Catton 36

6441 Erpion

€7 Admission

No Programme.

We were on the 0815 P&O ferry from Dover to Calais this morning, which ran to time, before making the 140 mile drive south east to the Belgian province of Hainaut, where 3rd in the league table were hosting 6th. I’d done a game at Erpion back in March 2014, when the club were known as Espoir Club Erpion, when they beat R. Baileux Sport 4-1 in a Hainaut Provincial 2 match in front of 129 spectators, which was the middle game of a treble for me, having done Jeunesse Sportive Froidchappeloise beforehand, then Sporting Club Montignies afterwards. In those days the main pitch here in Erpion was the grass one that runs widthways in front of the clubhouse, but they’ve since developed a 3G pitch, built in place of the former grass second pitch, which runs end on to the former main ground, but on a slightly higher plane. Spectator access is limited to the full length of each touchline, with a seated stand on one side and a pair of perspex dugouts opposite. The clubhouse remains as it was, with the changing rooms still adjacent to their former pitch, hidden out of sight, down below pitch level on the far side.

Erpion got off to a flying start, taking a third minute lead, when a cross cum shot from the left found it’s way into the far corner of the net, but it was hard to tell if this was directly in or had a touch from another player on the way. They doubled their lead five minutes later, when a ball over the top saw an initial shot saved, but it was followed in on the rebound by a supporting player. Antoinien pulled one back after sixteen minutes, cutting in from the right before a shot from the edge of the box went in via a deflection. They levelled it up at 2-2 just before the half hour mark, when a cross from the right was swept in at the far post. Surprisingly, there was only one goal in the second half and it was enough to win the game for Erpion, when a one-two on the edge of the box was finished with a low shot into the bottom corner with just under twenty minutes left. The win sees Erpion move up to second in the league table, where they trail leaders R.F.C. Luingnois by seven points after nine games played, whilst Antoinien drop to eighth.

The route back from Erpion is mainly in France and we stopped en route in Steenvorde for our evening meal, before heading onwards to Calais. Our 22.25 P&O crossing left on time and I was back home just before 00.30.

The following two photos show the grass pitch I saw Erpion play on in 2014. Unchanged in the intervening twelve years.

Mid Sussex League

Division 4 South

Saturday 17th October 2026

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.02

Scaynes Hill 1 Poets’ Corner 2, attendance 15

17’ 0-1

61’ 1-1

76’ 1-2

@ Scaynes Hill Recreation Ground

Lewes Road

Scaynes Hill

RH17 7PG

No Admission or Programme.

I picked this game for two reasons. Firstly, it was a nice sunny day and this is a ground prone to water logging and secondly, it would complete this division for me and along with it, complete the entire Mid Sussex League first team home grounds for the first time. It’s just an open pitch, at the rear of the Millennium Village Centre. There’s a reasonably sized car park, although it struggled to cope today, not because of the football, but the kids party taking place at the same time. The pitch runs lengthways away from the building and dips away dramatically, especially when standing in the corner nearest the car park, with players only visible from the knee upwards when they’re in the far penalty box!

The match was 8th (out of 11) versus 4th in the league table. The only goal of the first half saw the visitors take the lead after seventeen minutes, scoring with a quick breakaway having just defended a corner. The hosts equaliser came just after the hour mark, when a long clearance from their ‘keeper bounced well inside the other half of the pitch and as his opposite number hesitated to come and clear it, a striker nipped in to send a header looping over him from just inside the box. The visitors got the winner with fourteen minutes left, when a corner from the left was met with a header that went in off the underside of the crossbar. Scaynes Hill lost any chance of grabbing a late equaliser when they had a man sin binned with a couple of minutes left, before having a man sent off a minute into stoppage time for complaining about not being awarded a corner. The referee wrongly awarded a goal kick (he went with the decision of the away team linesman, who was blatantly cheating, as it was a definite corner) and the hosts had another man sent off after the final whistle, for carrying on the argument of the injustice of the goal kick being incorrectly awarded.

An easy drive of around forty five minutes each way and no traffic problems whatsoever.

North West Counties League

Division 1 North

Tuesday 13th October 2026

Kick Off 19.45 On Time!

A.F.C. Knowsley 2 Halewood Apollo 5, attendance 284

17’ 0-1

22’ 0-2

36’ 0-3

50’ 1-3

58’ 1-4

63’ 1-5

67’ 2-5

@ Lord Derby Pavilion

Knowsley Lane

Longview

L36 8JB

£7 Admission

£3 Programme available, 20 pages, didn’t bother buying.

It was a trip to Merseyside tonight for the first game under floodlights at North West Counties Division 1 North club A.F.C. Knowsley. Their Lord Derby Pavilion ground is still a work in progress, gradually being brought up to the ground grading required at Step 6. The clubhouse is immediately in front of you as you enter off Knowsley Lane, with ample parking at the front of the building, as well as round to the right. The pitch runs lengthways away from the building and is three sided as far as spectators go, with the left hand touchline (with Lord Derby Playing Fields behind) inaccessible. There’s minimal cover from an overhang on part of the clubhouse building, but that’s it. There’s a concrete base in place awaiting a seated stand to be installed, but it’s right between the two dugouts, so will be dreadful to watch the game from, with huge blind spots, but it will tick the boxes as far as grading is concerned, which is all the league/club will care about. Hot food and drinks were available from around 6 o’clock, with pies and sausage rolls (both sold out before halftime) and later on burgers and chips and they were well organised and efficient.

The match was 19th (out of 22) versus 6th in the league table and went to form. Apollo were ahead after seventeen minutes, following in after an initial shot had been saved by the ‘keeper. They doubled their lead five minutes later, sweeping in a cross from the right at the far post and it was 0-3 nine minutes before halftime, dispossessing a defender before cutting in from the left and curling a shot into the far corner from just inside the angle of the 18 yard box. An angled shot on the turn, that found the far corner, saw Knowsley pull it back to 1-3 five minutes into the second half, but they failed to build on it. Halewood had a goal ruled out for a foul on fifty seven minutes, but within a minute they did make it 1-4, with a cheeky back heeled finish into the far corner from the edge of the six yard box and five minutes later they added a fifth. Knowsley made it 2-5 midway through the half, with a shot that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down over the line and although it was hacked clear, it was signalled as a goal by the linesman. The final scoreline flattered Knowsley, with Halewood good value for the three points.

Journey up to Merseyside was trouble free, which is a real rarity. Coming back made up for it though. Firstly, no access from the M57 eastbound onto the M62 meant a five mile detour, before hitting two sections of the M6 where it was down to a single lane. The M5 was closed around West Bromwich, meaning continuing via the M6 to pick up the M42 and queuing traffic meant SatNav diverted off between J6 and J5 around Spaghetti Junction. The only problem from here onwards was the almost obligatory closure of the M25 between J10 and J9. Considering all the problems, pleased to get home at 01.50.

Berks & Bucks F.A.

Charles Twelftree Trophy 2nd Round

Saturday 10th October 2026

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.02

Cholsey United 2 F.C. Bracknell 2 (4-5 pens), attendance 23

18’ 0-1

24’ 0-2

52’ 1-2

65’ 2-2

@ Cholsey Recreation Ground

Station Road

Cholsey

OX10 9PT

No Admission or Programme.

This match pitted Oxfordshire Senior League Premier Division with East Berks League Premier Division, in a county cup competition for teams in or below the Regional Feeder Leagues. Cholsey Recreation Ground is very basic and not the best of grounds for me to have completed this division at. It’s just a single pitch, roped along part of one side. Car parking is at the entrance, off Station Road, with a brick built community building in front, which although housing toilets, remained closed throughout. The changing rooms are round to the left, with the pitch to the rear, running lengthways away from here, with tennis courts flanking the left touchline and Cholsey Skatepark the other….skateboarding is certainly of more interest to the local kids here, rather than the local football club, if you’re judging by the numbers taking part, including a couple who looked to be in their fifties!

Anyway, on to the football. Bracknell were ahead after eight minutes, chasing down a long ball over the top, just beating the ‘keeper to it, then squaring the ball for an easy tap in. After twenty minutes they had a goal ruled out for offside, but did double their lead four minutes later, when a corner was headed clear but crossed back into the box where a striker headed in as the ‘keeper failed to punch clear. On the half hour mark Cholsey lost their ‘keeper to injury and he was replaced by their right back, who, to be honest, looked better than the previous incumbent!

Seven minutes into the second half Cholsey got back in the game, when a diagonal shot from the left was saved, but followed in on the rebound. Midway through the half they levelled it up at 2-2, when a diagonal free kick from wide on the right was met with a stooping header at the far post. Bracknell thought they’d won it when they scored again with a minute left, but with the ball on it’s way in, a player in front of the shooter decided to help it on it’s way and was flagged offside.

For the second successive Saturday, my game was to be decided by penalties. Cholsey went first, but saw their first kick saved. Bracknell scored their first, but sent their second one over the crossbar and with all the others scored, we were level at 4-4 going into sudden death. Cholsey then saw their next one saved, but so did Bracknell, brilliantly stopped low near the foot of the post by the stand in ‘keeper. Cholsey then blazed another over the crossbar, before Bracknell netted again to win it.

It was only 63 miles to Cholsey, via M3 and a very congested Bracknell, before taking the M4 then heading north through Pangbourne. SatNav chose a more cross country route coming back, via Henley-on-Thames, before picking up the M4 just west of Maidenhead. The two routes were only a mile different, with the only hold up coming back being the usual M25 crawl approaching the M3 intersection.