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.