Gloucestershire County League

Saturday 27th December 2025

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.02

Totterdown United 1 Sharpness 2, attendance 44

47’ 1-0

75’ 1-1

90’ + 6, 1-2

@ Bristol Barbarians R.U.F.C.

Norton Lane

Whitchurch

BS14 0BT

No Admission or Programme.

I first saw Totterdown United play a game here at Bristol Barbarians R.U.F.C. in September 2019, when they beat Pucklechurch Sports 2-1 in a Bristol Premier Combination League match. Back then, they played on the pitch that runs parallel with the track leading into the complex, to the left and having no more than a pair of dugouts on the far side. They’ve since developed a new pitch beyond the brick built changing rooms, which has enabled them to make the step up into the Gloucestershire County League and today’s visit would once again complete the league. It runs lengthways away from the building and is fully railed off and has a pair of dugouts on the left hand side.

The match saw 15th (out of 17) host 2nd in the league table, with the visitors trailing league leaders Tewkesbury Town by two points, having played three games fewer and the only team yet to lose a game this season, having won 10 and drawn 2 of their twelve played. The first half was very poor. Neither team managed a shot on goal. The second half was much better, helped considerably by Totterdown making the breakthrough just two minutes after the break, when a cross from the right was deflected high into the air, looping over the backpedaling keeper and dropping into the far corner. Sharpness piled on the pressure and deservedly drew level with fifteen minutes left, when a diagonal ball in from the right saw a striker just beat the ‘keeper to the ball and poke it past him into the bottom corner. Having rescued their unbeaten record, they now set about grabbing all three points, rather than settle for the draw. They almost lost it three minutes into stoppage time, when a Totterdown one on one against the ‘keeper resulted in a good save, before stopping the follow up too, but three minutes later the visitors grabbed the winner, when a corner on the right was met with a glancing header that was swept in at the far post. The win sees Sharpness leapfrog Tewkesbury at the top, whilst Totterdown remain third from bottom.

What should have been a two and a quarter hour drive down to the south east of Bristol took almost four hours, arriving just nine minutes before the scheduled kick off, due to horrendous traffic on the M25 from J9-J12 as well as coming off the M4 at J17 and going cross country from there. The return took just three hours, including diverting off the M4 from J17-J16 and the usual queue at the M3/M25 interchange.

As far as ‘new’ ground visits go, that rounds off 2025 for me, ending the year with 153 (91 England, 30 Wales, 20 Scotland, 5 Belgium, 5 Spain and 2 France) and an overall tally of 6,254.

Above photo : 1. First visit and 2. The new pitch.

Stroud & District League

Division 1

Saturday 20th December 2025

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 13.59

Stroud United 1 Minchinhampton 4, attendance 49

30’ 1-0

45’ + 2, 1-1

55’ 1-2 (pen)

80’ 1-3

85’ 1-4

@ Stratford Court Playing Fields

Stratford Road

Beeches Green

Stroud

GL5 4AQ

No Admission or Programme.

Pre-Christmas shenanigans in Stroud should have seen me at Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division 2 club Painswick, but by ten o’clock that was showing on F.A. Full Time as postponed. The only other club I hadn’t visited in that league, Winchcombe Town, were also at home this afternoon, but they play on a 3G cage with no spectator area. With it being a nice sunny morning, with plenty of blue sky, it seemed a waste to settle for an artificial pitch, so I looked for a local game on grass, but with enough time to get to Winchcombe if need be. I opted for Stroud United, one step lower and to my surprise, the only club in the top division of the Stroud & District League I’d yet to see a game at, although it’s not that difficult with only seven of the twelve teams being non-reserves.

I arrived at Stratford Court Playing Fields just after one o’clock and was pleased to see the corner flags in and the goal nets being put up. There’s no car parking here, but it’s free to park across the road at Stratford Park, as long as you don’t exceed the 12 hour time limit! It’s a basic venue. There’s a wooden changing room/clubhouse building, serving a variety of canned alcohol and soft drinks, which has a covered overhang, but not needed today. The pitch runs widthways in front of here, roped from one corner to the halfway line.

The match was 11th (out of 12) versus 4th and attracted a far bigger crowd than I was expecting, with almost half appearing to be with the visitors. Just to add spice to the fixture, the Minchinhampton manager was making a return to his former club, as were a number of his players. It was real end to end stuff, with both teams going at it with 100% commitment and a great advert for this level of football. Stroud took the lead after half an hour, when a diagonal ball in from the left was chested down and finished from the edge of the box and although the ‘keeper got a hand to it, he couldn’t keep it out. Minchinhampton levelled two minutes into stoppage time, when a throw in was laid off in the corner of the 18 yard box for a curled shot into the far corner.

The visitors had a headed goal disallowed for a foul nine minutes into the second half, before going in front a minute later from the penalty spot. The home No.5 was scuffing up the penalty spot, whilst a number of his team mates surrounded the referee arguing the decision, but it made no difference, with the penalty emphatically fired into the corner. Minchinhampton totally dominated from here, but didn’t get the all important third goal until ten minutes from the end, heading in a corner at the far post and five minutes later they added a fourth, when a header back towards the ‘keeper fell short and was lobbed in from just inside the box.

The win sees Minchinhampton move up to second in the league table, two points adrift of leaders Abbeymead Rovers and a point ahead of Tuffley Rovers Reserves and Old Richians, who both have games in hand on the top two.

So, that’s it until after Christmas. The home linesman certainly got into the festive spirit, dressed in full Santa outfit, just minus the white beard.

Essex Olympian League

Division 2

Saturday 13th December 2025

Kick Off 14.00 On Time!

Rawreth Lane 2 Galleywood 2, attendance 15

7’ 1-0

61’ 1-1 (pen)

75’ 1-2

85’ 2-2

@ Ford Sports & Social Club (Basildon), North Pitches

Gardiners Close

Basildon

SS14 3AN

No Admission or Programme.

With this being my 4,000th ground I’ve seen a game on in England, I wanted to avoid doing a 3G cage if at all possible and was pleased to see a text message to the home club being replied to with the news that the game was going ahead okay. I’d read somewhere recently that the Ford Sports & Social Club in Basildon was/is closed and under threat of housing development. That is partly true. As you turn off Gardiners Lane South, into Gardiners Close, the social club is on your left, where there are also two pitches. This is the bit that is now fenced off and inaccessible, whilst on the other side of the road are another four or five pitches, where there’s a good sized car park and separate brick built changing room building, which backs on to a bowling green. Today’s game was on the middle of three pitches at the far end of the complex (Basildon Post Office Ground is the other side of the hedge) and was roped off on all four sides.

The match was 2nd versus 9th (out of 11) and was in the balance right up to the final whistle. Rawreth Lane took a seventh minute lead, when a corner was only partially cleared and played back into the box where it was met with a glancing header that went in off the post. Galleywood’s best chance of the first half saw the ‘keeper tip the ball onto the crossbar as he backpedaled as a looping shot went over his head. The visitors drew level with a penalty just after the hour mark and edged in front with fifteen minutes left with a long range effort. With five minutes left the hosts grabbed a deserved equaliser, when a long throw in was headed clear of the box, but returned with a first time shot into the bottom corner.

My trip to Essex was hindered by a problem at the M25/M26 intersection, which meant diverting cross country from J6, meaning it took 1 hour 10 minutes to drive the 32 miles to Dartford Crossing. No problems on the return and back home for 16.30.

National League U19 Alliance

League Cup 3rd Round

Wednesday10th December 2025

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.03

Enfield Town U19 1 Folkestone Invicta U19 2, attendance 7

12’ 1-0

34’ 1-1

86’ 1-2

@ Enfield Playing Fields, 3G Pitch

Donkey Lane

Enfield

EN1 3PL

No Admission or Programme.

F.A. Full Time was (still is) showing this game as being played at Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, which hosts Enfield Town’s first team games, which I’d visited in 2011. Although the players used the changing rooms there, the game was actually on the 3G pitch on Enfield Playing Fields, about 300 yards away, on the right hand side when heading south from the M25 at J25, running parallel with the A10. It’s a standard cage set up, with spectator access along three quarters of one side.

An easy tap in saw Enfield break the deadlock after twelve minutes, with Folkestone levelling the scores eleven minutes before halftime, with a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Folkestone had the better chances in the second half, hitting the crossbar and having another effort cleared off the line, before grabbing a late winner, avoiding a possible penalty shoot out, when a cross from the left was side footed in at the far post.

I ignored the quick route on the M25, going via Dartford Crossing, by opting to go westbound instead, which was only eight minutes longer, but avoided the toll. Came back the same way, which took 40 minutes longer, not helped by enforced 40 mph and 50 mph speed limits all the way from J25 to J10.

League 2

Tuesday 9th December 2025

Kick Off 19.45 On Time!

Bromley 3 Crawley Town 1, attendance 3,554

9’ 0-1

43’ 1-1

49’ 2-1

69’ 3-1

@ Copperjax Community Stadium

Hayes Lane

Bromley

BR2 9EG

£27 Admission (£2 increase on day of match)

£5 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.

I’d been to see Bromley here at Hayes Lane (pre sponsor names) twice before. First up was for a 1-1 draw versus Slough Town in an Isthmian League Premier Division match in April 1995 (att. 514) with a re-visit on New Years Day 2010 when they lost 0-1 to Welling United in a National League South match (att. 1,093). Since then they’ve gained promotion into the Football League and tonight was a perfect opportunity to see them as part of ‘The 92’.

The ground has certainly developed over the intervening years and now has a capacity of over 6,000 following the opening of a new full length covered terrace opposite their main seated stand. The visitors are accommodated in the end section of the new terrace and a small covered section behind the adjoining goal end, with 558 making the relatively short journey up from West Sussex. I opted to stand on the new structure, which gave a decent view, but has yet to be fully kitted out behind the scenes, so temporary/portable refreshment huts and toilets are currently in use. I did have some food here, which although very tasty, was an absolutely eye watering price, especially when you’ve already paid £27 to get in. It’s certainly not cheap to attend games in the bottom division of the league these days. There’s no car parking available here, so at least that’s not another expense incurred, but there’s ample free parking in the surrounding roads anyway. I arrived about 18.30 and parked just two minutes walk away, on Hayes Lane itself.

The match was 4th versus 19th (out of 24) in the league table, with Bromley unbeaten in their last twelve home games coming into this, with eight of those being wins and they’re the only team in the division yet to lose a home game this season, so it was a bit of a surprise when Crawley went ahead after nine minutes, when a diagonal ball in from the left was met with a diving header from Ryan Loft that sent the ball low into the far corner of the net. The equaliser for Bromley came two minutes before halftime, when a corner from the right was headed in from a couple of yards by Omar Sowunmi. Four minutes into the second half Bromley edged in front, when a shot from just outside the box by Idris Odutayo took a deflection on its way into the corner. They made it 3-1 with twenty one minutes left, when Crawley lost possession when trying to play out from the back and the ball was squared across the six yard box for top scorer Michael Cheek to roll the ball into the empty net. Crawley never looked like getting back into it from here and Bromley easily held on to take a vital three points in their promotion push.

Unlike the outward journey, which took just over an hour to cover the 18 mile journey, cross country via some very rural lanes, considering it is inside the M25, the drive home was much quieter and I was back home for 22.30. It leaves me with Everton’s brand new Hill Dickinson Stadium and Newport County and Salford City, both as re-visits, to tidy up the 92 now.

Mid Sussex League

Division 2 North

Saturday 6th December 2025

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.01

Ansty 1 Old Oxted Town 2, attendance 17

13’ 1-0

15’ 1-1

38’ 1-2

@ St. Paul’s Catholic College, 3G Pitch

Jane Murray Way

Abbotsford

Burgess Hill

RH15 8GA

No Admission or Programme.

It was a day when the option of going a game on grass was very risky. I’d intended heading for East Anglia, with my preferred game being at Mutford & Wrentham, but with the pitch inspection not taking place until 11.00, it would be too late for me to then get there for the 13.30 kick off. News came through about 11.10 that it was going ahead, but by then I’d resigned myself to staying more local and played it safe with the 3G option.

Ansty play at St. Paul’s Catholic College, on the north-west edge of Burgess Hill. It’s a cage set up, with no designated spectator area, but no problem watching from inside the fence, with all spectators and both ‘benches’ using just the near side. Rather annoyingly, there were a couple of overhead wires, which hold the dividing curtains for the small sized pitches, which the ball hit at least half a dozen times during the game. There are no other facilities here, although toilets may have been available inside the changing room building, which was on the far side of some concrete tennis courts that backed onto the cage.

The match was 9th (out of 11) versus 1st, with Old Oxted Town leading second in the table Wakehams Green by five points, as well as having a game in hand, having won eight of their nine games played so far. Ansty had just one win and one draw from their seven games played, with the reverse fixture having been won 1-0 by Old Oxted, when they met at the start of last month.

It was a tight game today too. Old Oxted had an early chance cleared off the line, after a fumble by the home ‘keeper, but it was Ansty who opened the scoring after thirteen minutes, breaking quickly from defence before finishing with an angled shot into the far corner. Within two minutes, a close range finish saw the visitors draw level, which was the 25,000th goal that’s been scored at matches I’ve attended. Seven minutes before halftime they edged in front, when a corner from the left was headed back across the six yard box and met with another header from six yards that gave the ‘keeper no chance. They just couldn’t find the killer third goal and had Ansty not hit the post early in the second half, as well as having a goal ruled out for a foul on the ‘keeper from an in swinging corner, then we might have had a different outcome, but it would have been harsh on the visitors, as they were the better team for the majority of the match.

Apart from a couple of very brief (1-2 minutes) spells when it threatened to rain, it remained dry for a change. It did go gloomy towards the end of the game, with the floodlights coming on as we entered the last 15 minutes and with everyone having stayed out on the pitch at halftime, we were done and dusted for 15.43. Just three more grounds required in this league now, with one of those shared by a team from the West Sussex League.