United Counties League

Division 1

Wednesday 21st March 2018

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.46

Oakham United 1 Burton Park Wanderers 1,  attendance 28

47’ 1-0

86’ 1-1 (pen)

@ Lonsdale Meadow

Main Road (B640)

Barleythorpe

LE15 7EE

£5 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

I had been a bit concerned about whether I would make a visit to the county of Rutland whilst Oakham United were still playing at Step 6, but needn’t have worried. Apparently, the club have been told that there will be no relegation from Division 1 of the United Counties League at the end of the season, which is good news for them, as they have struggled all season and are just a point above bottom club Stewart & Lloyds Corby, who they beat at home on Saturday. They haven’t been helped by a 3 point deduction, although they have no chance of catching any of the clubs above them even with those points. It doesn’t help when they are on their fourth Manager so far this season either.

With it being 19th versus 15th (out of 20) in the league table, I wasn’t expecting a very big crowd, but thought there would be more there than a pathetic 28. I was also surprised that a club at this level didn’t bother to do a match programme, as there must have been one done for the original scheduled Saturday fixture, but with such poor crowds it isn’t worth them bothering. They did give out a list of the teams, but there were no numbers, so not a lot of point.

Oakham battled well and having opened the scoring with a well taken volley early in the second half, they must have been gutted to concede a late equaliser from what looked a harshly awarded penalty, thus preventing them from picking up back to back wins.

Tonights ground visit completed the United Counties League for me once again and now takes the grounds required to complete everything down to Step 6 in England to four…….Penn & Tylers Green, Bristol Telephones, Helston Athletic and Sticker.

Wessex League

Division 1

Tuesday 13th March 2018

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.46

Alton 2 Hythe & Dibden 1,  attendance 68

10’ 0-1

22’ 1-1

62’ 2-1

@ Anstey Park Enclosure

Anstey Lane

Alton

GU34 2NB

£5 Admission

£1.50 Programme, 20 pages, including voucher for tea/coffee worth £1.

I had visited Bass Sports Ground, former home of Alton Town back on 28th August 1999 (2-1 v A.F.C. Aldermaston, Hampshire League, Premier Division). When the club moved to the new ground, here in Anstey Park, they dropped ‘Town’ from their name.

The match tonight was 8th versus 14th in the league table. Hythe did enough to deserve at least a draw from this.

Tonights visit was something of a milestone for me as it was the  5,000th ground I have now seen a match on. It also completes all the Wessex League grounds for me, leaving just five clubs at Step 6 to go…………Oakham United, Penn & Tylers Green, Bristol Telephones, Helston Athletic and Sticker.

Belgium

Hainaut Provincial 1

Sunday 11th March 2018

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

Pont-A-Celles Buzet 1 R.F.C. Rapid Symphorinois 2,  attendance 107

13’ 0-1

22’ 1-1

86’ 1-2

@ Rue Norte Dame De Grace

6230 Pont-A-Celles

€6 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

With the driver once again heading for a ground I had already visited (R.F.C. Rhisnois in Namur Provincial 1) it was another split car of passengers. Two of us opted for what was the game of the day in Hainaut Provincial 1. This was third versus fifth in the league table, with the visitors (40 points) being three points behind the hosts (43 points, with this being seven points off top place), but with a game in hand.

The game started off at a great pace and was excellent viewing for the first 32 minutes, by which time it was 1-1. Sadly, as a neutral, the game was spoiled when Buzet had a man red carded for a last man foul, resulting in them having to try and close the game out for an hour. They almost succeeded, but a far post header won it for Rapid with just four minutes left.

We were collected at our agreed meeting point less than half an hour after the final whistle and back at The Tunnel without any problems. This time, the passport checks seemed okay, but the trains were running half an hour late. We had also left nine minutes late on our outbound journey.

Middlesex County League

Premier Division

Saturday 10th March 2018

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.29

Indian Gymkhana Club 2 Brentham 1,  attendance 20

43’ 1-0

45’ + 2, 1-1

52’ 2-1

@ Indian Gymkhana Sports Club

Thornbury Avenue

Isleworth

TW7 4NQ

No Admission

Programme, free, 8 pages.*

I arrived from my earlier match about twenty minutes before this was due to start, which was *too late to get one of the handful of programmes that had been produced. The Gymkhana Secretary told me they only do a few as no one is really interested in having one.

Anyway, onto the more important matter, the actual match. Gymkhana came into this in seventh place in the league table, whilst the visitors were in second place, seven points behind British Airways, but with two matches in hand. Gymkhana fully deserved the win and should really have won it more comfortably than by the single goal.

Arthurian League

Premier Division

Saturday 10th March 2018

Kick Off 12.00 Actual 12.02

Old Marlburians 0 Old Chigwellians 5,  attendance 2

7’ 0-1

29’ 0-2

52’ 0-3

62’ 0-4

65’ 0-5

@ Lincoln Field, 3G Pitch

across Chertsey Road from Whitton Sports Centre

Percy Road

Twickenham

TW2 6JW

No Admission or Programme.

The pitch here is accessed from a footbridge that crosses over the A316 dual carriageway. It is part of Whitton Sports Centre, but the pitch has its own changing rooms, situated behind the goal nearest the footbridge.

The match itself was 10th (bottom) v 7th and the result was never in doubt once the second goal went in.

Belgium

West Vlaanderen Provincial 4A

Friday 9th March 2018

Kick Off 20.30 Actual 20.32

White Star Bulskamp 1 K.S.V. Veurne ‘B’ 3,  attendance 66

12’ 0-1

22’ 0-2

64’ 0-3

75’ 1-3

@ Cobergher Sportpark

Bulskampstraat 37A

8630 Bulskamp

€5 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

This was a bit of a surprise result, as it was sixth versus sixteenth in the league table. Veurne were always in control and were well worth the win. Despite light rain falling for most of the match, the pitch stood up well and looked no worse at the end than it had at kick off.

With Bulskamp only being a few miles over the border from France it is only 43 minutes drive back to The Tunnel. We made our check in for the 23.37 crossing with a few minutes to spare. There is currently a trial system in operation to try and improve getting from check-in to UK Border Control, but once again the whole thing is a complete farce, due to the incompetence of the Brits. We only made the train with 7 minutes to spare, and that was for a crossing with very few cars. It doesn’t matter what system they use, if they don’t ever open more than two lanes at the passport check, then they will never process people efficiently.

As it turned out, the train then left three minutes late and lost a further ten minutes on the crossing.

2018 Challenge Cup

Wednesday 7th March 2018

Kick Off 19.00 Actual 19.02

Royal Grammar School Worcester 2 King’s School Worcester 2,  attendance 1,100

2’ 0-1

37’ 1-1

42’ 2-1

78’ 2-2

@ Worcester Warriors R.U.F.C.

Sixways Stadium

Warriors Way

Worcester

WR3 8ZE

£5 Admission

No Programme.

Sixways Stadium was opened in 1975. It has gradually been transformed into a fully enclosed stadium, including a 3G pitch, and now has a capacity of 11,499. As well as Rugby Union, the stadium has also hosted finals in the British American Football Championships.

This is the second year that the Challenge Cup match has taken place here at Sixways, with King’s School having won 3-2 last year. Only the west side of the stadium was open, but with a four figure crowd present, two blocks of seating were opened up behind the north goal. Unusually, with the match finishing all square, rather than extra time or penalties to decide the winner, the cup was retained by King’s.

The Netherlands

Derde Divisie Zondag

Sunday 4th March 2018

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.35

O.F.C. 4 V.V. Dongen 0,  attendance 230

3’ 1-0

35’ 2-0

47’ 3-0

90’ 4-0

@ Sportpark O.F.C.

Twiskeweg 1

1511 BZ

Oostzaan

€5 Admission

No Programme.

This match hadn’t been on the agenda for this weekend. I had planned to visit A.F.C. versus H.H.C. in the Tweede Divisie yesterday afternoon, but as they have a grass pitch it was no surprise that it was postponed due to a frost, but at least this was known early on Friday afternoon. No problem, I would just visit a different ground in Amsterdam, but at a lower level, but one that play on a 3G pitch. This would have been fine, but a decision was made by Amsterdam Town Hall to cancel all matches under their jurisdiction for this weekend, regardless of what type of pitch they play on. Rather than travel close on two hours on public transport to get a game in the Tweede Divisie that I hadn’t already visited, I decided to settle on doing a game today instead.

The nearest option was at O.F.C. who play in Oostzaan, (Dutch clubs are always called by their abbreviated name, rather than their full title, so no other club can call themselves O.F.C. as this is now taken by todays hosts Oostzaanse Football Club) which is 25 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal Station on bus 392, which cost €11.70 return, but payment on the bus was by bank card only, unlike the bus to and from Volendam on Friday/Saturday that took cash. Very Odd !

I rarely use public transport due to unreliability and poor connection times, although the journey today was unreliable on the way out, but brilliant on the return. The 12.31 bus was cancelled, which meant going on the 13.01, which left two minutes late. The walk from the ground back to the bus stop took twelve minutes at a pretty quick pace, but it meant the 16.39 bus back into Amsterdam was made with a couple of minutes to spare.

The match was 6th versus 9th in what is the fourth level of Dutch football. An early goal for the hosts set the tone and when a bullet header was scored into his own net by a defender trying to clear the ball, Dongen knew it wasn’t going to be their day. With it becoming 3-0 so early in the second half it killed the game as a spectacle, with the final goal coming with the last kick of the match. The three points now lifts O.F.C. up to fourth in the league table.

The Netherlands

Eerste Divisie

Friday 2nd March 2018

Kick Off 20.00 Actual 20.02

F.C. Volendam 3 F.C. Eindhoven 2,  attendance 2,910

31’ 1-0

33’ 1-1

45’ 1-2 (pen)

65’ 2-2

89’ 3-2

@ Kras Stadion

Sportlaan 10

1131 BK

Volendam

€12.50 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

A long weekend in Amsterdam was booked before the weather problems with ‘The Beast from the East’ began to set in. The flight from Gatwick Airport left 45 minutes late, not helped by having to loop round the taxi area of the runway again, when the plane in front of ours suffered a bird strike on take off.

Once we arrived into Schipol Airport, it was a train into Amsterdam Centraal Station, followed by a 100 yard walk to the Bus Station. A choice of busses, either the 312 or 316, made the 29 minute journey north to Volendam, for the price of €7.50 single, which passes the Kras Stadion on the left hand side when coming into the town.

With the temperature being -5 degrees and having been below freezing for a number of days, all the canals were frozen over, but at least with no snow around the game would go ahead due to the 3G pitch and at least the forecast for the evening was showing that it would only be -3 degrees at kick off !

Tickets were purchased just after lunchtime, at the ticket office at the stadium, with no Club Card necessary, or even the need to show passports, so at least there would be no need to arrive at the match any earlier than ten minutes before kick off. The club were offering free drinks of hot chocolate as a way of thanking fans for venturing out into the cold, which was most welcome. With no evidence of a matchday programme, an enquiry to a steward saw him go inside the building and return with a team sheet a couple of minutes later.

The Kras Stadion has an all seated capacity of 6,984. It was opened in 1975, known then as Veronica Stadion and underwent renovation in 1992 and 2010, but it is nice to see the four huge traditional corner floodlight pylons remain. Volendam have been a yo-yo club over the years, but whilst playing in the second level of Dutch football they are unlikely to ever get near selling out matches. The crowd for tonight’s match was nowhere near what they claimed. In fact, I only counted 650 people in the seats, which included about a dozen away fans hemmed into a corner of the ground, fully enclosed with perspex screens, but not sure if it is to keep them in, or the home fans out, but as the 25-30 home ‘ultras’ were behind the goal at the opposite end of the ground, it must be the former. There were certainly a fair few in the warm of the V.I.P. and hospitality areas, but nowhere near the amount to take the attendance up to just short of 3,000.

This was a really good open game, pitting 14th against 15th in the league table and very enjoyable to watch as a neutral. The winning goal was good enough to win any match, being hit from the corner of the 18 yard box into the far top corner of the net, giving the ‘keeper no chance of making a save.

Belgium

Brabant Provincial 1 V.F.V.

Sunday 25th February 2018

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

K.F.C. Strombeek 0 Sporting Club Hoegaarden-Outgaarden 4,  attendance 142

1’ 0-1

50’ 0-2

75’ 0-3

87’ 0-4

@ Stadion Singel

Singel 65

1853 Strombeek- Bever

€8 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

Pocket size Season Fixture Card, free.

Once again, it was a day being dropped at a different ground to that of the driver as I had already visited F.C. Naninnois (Namur Provincial) which was his choice for today. As it turned out, all three passengers chose the option of being dropped off at Strombeek, which is just inside Brussels Ring Road, to the north of the capital.

The ground has hosted Belgian League football in the past and is still a pretty impressive venue, especially the main stand that seats around 550 on bench seating, with old terracing on the other three sides taking the capacity up to 3,000. What would have been the away supporters section behind the goal still has the imposing fences in place, giving an indication of what it was like to be caged in as a visiting fan in the good old days.

Todays match was 13th versus 11th. Hoegaarden got off to a perfect start, scoring in the first attack of the match. Having gone two up early in the second half they began to take control. Strombeek had a man red carded on the hour mark, which meant it was pretty much game over for them.

We were picked up shortly after 17.30  having walked 15 minutes back to the nearest motorway junction and back at The Tunnel in time to be offered an earlier train than we were booked on, making it onto the 20.06 departure. Our outbound crossing was only two minutes late this morning, so perhaps Eurotunnel are finally getting the hang of things !