Lancing FC

Lancing 2 Dorking 4

View across the ground

Lancing into the night

Lancing 2 Dorking 4 aet

19/9/09

On examining Sussex league division two, I discovered that I hadn’t visited any of the grounds. I’ve certainly been to fixtures in this league before but all the clubs I’d visited had been either promoted or relegated. I skimmed through the fixtures for this round and Lancing were the first side from this league that caught my eye.

The journey is remarkably simple, from London to Brighton and then a branch line to Lancing from where the ground is only a 5 minute walk away.

On arriving at Brighton station, the place was swarming with police. I couldn’t establish any particular reason and my confusion was increased when one officer walked up to a guy sitting on a bench, said “Okay, let’s go again” and then pulled out a camcorder. You certainly see some diverse looking people in Brighton, the places makes London look positively boring.

On arriving in Lancing, I set about finding my lunch venue. There is an Asda right next to the station & I popped in there to see if they have a café. They don’t, but what I found left me open-mouthed! I have been to Canada twice recently and they have a chain of fast-food shops called ‘Tim Horton’s’. They are designed a bit like McDonalds and are found with the same kind of regularity at every roadside and junction. Instead of burgers, Tim Horton’s sell coffee and donuts. The stores are clean, the food and drinks are tasty and remarkably cheap. I was under the impression that there were no such outlets in this country. But low and behold, on entering Asda, there was a little Tim Horton’s, serve yourself area with donuts and hot drinks to go.

I left the shop in a state of shock and found a little café where I sat at a table whilst texting my family details of my find. Lunch at the very British and friendly ‘Rainbow café’ was an omelette and chips. It won’t win any awards but was hot and nice enough and I always like to support this type of establishment. I then rushed with excitement back to Asda for my hot chocolate and donut. I left to find the ground, a happy and contented guy.

Lancing FC is also the headquarters for the Sussex FA and the parking and clubhouse buildings all look very modern and well maintained. There is a good sized function room and other areas that I did not have access to. This clubhouse complex is part of the same building used as the main stand which has ample seating. The pitch was good but the rest of the ground was of a much lesser standard. High netting behind each goal is essential to protect surrounding houses but looks ugly. There are doors leading up to the near corner flag that looked like lock up garages, very odd in a football ground. The far side has some mounds behind the hard standing but they were very bare with little grass and you get the overriding feeling that so much more could be done here. Obviously, it’ easy to say that, but would cost loads of money. On climbing the bank, you get a view of two pitches the other side of the fence and I spent a happy ten minutes watching some local games.

The second half of the match was interrupted by a small red, stunt plane performing aerobatics on the horizon. Very impressive, but you would not get me in one of those for love nor money.

The match itself started as a scrappy affair but settled down and was ultimately quite entertaining. Lancing scored on 37 mins after some nice trickery on the left and Dorking equalised 5 minutes later. Lancing went ahead again on 75 mins only for Dorking to quickly equalise again after a man was left criminally unmarked at the far post from a corner. Dorking pulled away in extra time with Lancing clearly exhausted. Two goals in the first period pushed them past the finishing line.

An interesting day full of surprises played in glorious, warm sunshine on the South coast.

Warminster Town FC

Warminster Town 0 Hayling Utd 5

View across the pitch

Hayling win at War

Warminster Town 0 Hayling United 5

5/9/09

Twice I’ve been to Center Parcs at Longleat, only a mile or so from this ground. Both times I was in the area, Warminster Town were away. So this was a ground I had a determination about visiting, & here was a good opportunity.

Firstly, another complaint about British rail. I have a Network rail card, when I examined the websites at National Rail & Raileasy, the cheapest fair was about £55 return. Now, I was prepared to pay this but had to renew my expiring Network card. Whilst examining the coverage map on the leaflet, I saw that it reached Bath. I wondered to myself if it would be cheaper to get a network return to Bath & then buy a straight return from Bath to Warminster. Needless to say, this way came in £12 cheaper. Although please with myself, it made me think that it may be even cheaper another way & why did these websites not flag up this option?

My journey was straightforward enough and I had an interesting view of where the Reading festival was the week before. The marquees were still up. There were abandoned tents still in the fields along with thousands of rubbish bags. The music festivals certainly have their place but what a nightmare to clear up.

I did my good deed at Bath station whilst catching my connection. The train pulled in & a member of staff barked out loud “Well get off then”. This small boy and girl, I’m guessing about 5 years old came to the door and stood looking terrified as there was quite a gap between the train & the platform. I reached out & helped them down. As I boarded the train, the member of staff in a polite voice asked me if I’d like a drink from the trolley. I gritted my teeth & declined to tell her what I was actually thinking.

Whilst looking for a lunch venue in Warminster, I was suddenly greeted with the sight of a Routemaster, red London bus coming round he corner. Talk about a sight for sore eyes, it was an absolute delight to see it and gave me a warm glow for the rest of the day. I looked it up on the Internet when I got home & discovered that it was being used for trips to Imber open day on Salisbury plain, this location is usually completely off bounds to the public as it is an MOD site, wjhat a great idea!

Lunch was taken in a café off the main High street called Gorge café. I got excellent cod, chips & peas for only £3.40, a bargain. It was a strange little café with loads of elderly ladies passing the time of day over the dregs of a coffee cup, one of them at an outside table got through 3 cigarettes in 20 minutes. I initially felt a little sad for them, but with hindsight they probably love the place and the company.

The ground is about a 15 minute walk from the station, the last segment up quite a steep hill. Being so high, you are treated to superb views of the rolling hills and indeed, a view right down on to Warminster town. The clubhouse has an unusual beige coloured roof and its shape reminds me of a little aircraft hanger. The inside has a bar, large screen TV and all looks quite tidy and modern. A white rail surrounds the pitch, there is hard standing around about half the ground, some cover and a single row of seats in front of the clubhouse. Another little covered area at the near end is also available, this may be designed for wheelchair users?

After a bright start by Warminster, they were comprehensibly beaten by a well drilled Hayling unit who looked quite useful.

Hayling were four up at half time after a header, a penalty after a push and a couple of extremely skilful and well finished moves. Warminster were given the softest of penalties for handball only a minute into the second period but the Hayling keeper made a classy diving stop. The final goal came on 75 minues straight from a 30 yard free kick that the keeper should have stopped.

Nice to get the competition under way again and a trip that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Whitley Bay 2 Glossop North End 0

The end of another long Vase campaign. For one reason or another, my travels came to a stuttering conclusion and a mixture of the weather & circumstances made this one of my less memorable Vase years. I still have fond memories of great fish & chips at London APSA, bustling committee members at Faversham, an enjoyable reserve match at Bitton, the biting cold in Long Eaton, two contrasting matches at Chalfont and a great new stadium in Biggleswade.

For the second year running, the weather was more than kind to us and it was shirt sleeve weather as I polished up my best Northern accent for Whitley Bay against Glossop.

I went to the game with a friend and we had decided to drive to Stanmore and catch the tube from there as parking anywhere near Wembley stadium is a nightmare. Thanks once again to London Transport’s seemingly never ending maintenance, there was only a bus replacement service from Stanmore. Quick thinking and a 10 year old map helped us find our way to Northwick Park, just 2 stops from Wembley on a different tube line. I used to live not far from here when I was a kid and hadn’t bee there for about 25 years. It’s surprising how little it had changed and I had a huge wave of nostalgia as I sat on the station remembering all the shots which I’d sent sailing over the bar at Northwick Park playing fields.

Once again we spent half an hour sitting near the fountains, drinking bear and eating chips. Strangely, the beer was a pound cheaper than last year and you got twice as much. The chips were also reasonably priced and were cooked in clean oil. Prices inside the stadium as still as outrageously overpriced as before and I therefore didn’t buy anything there – when will they learn?

Having looked round the rather good Wembley stadium shop, we tossed a coin and brought tickets for the Whitley Bay end. We were allocated seats behind the goal which gave us a great view and the Northern humour was in fine form from all the fans around us. I good sized crowd enjoyed an entertaining match.

Glossop started strongly and had chances to score. Whitley Bay held on and two fine pieces of skill and neat finishes gave Whitley Bay a lead that they never relinquished despite strong pressure in the last 10 minutes.

All in all, I think the best team won this years tournament and I look forward to the draw in early July so that we can start all over again.

All to play for

Chalfont St Peter 3 Glossop North End 3

I decided to visit Chalfont for the second time in this years competition and would then attempt the long journey to Glossop the following week. It takes the pressure off when you've been to a ground before and know where you're going and I had an incident free relaxing journey to Gerrards Cross station. Having polished off another Italian BMT Subway (How nice are they!), I started a leisurely walk to the ground, this time vouching to avoid the dual-carriageway. I diverted down a road and turned right into another road called School Hill. This little road was quite attractive, but really steep and quite narrow. You had to dive into a hedge whenever a car came along to avoid being wiped out, there's obviously not many pedestrians on this road as most cars screamed along at about 60mph. At the end of this road, I discovered that I was almost back where I started & had once again, taken a slightly wrong route. I picked myself out of the hedge as another vehicle shot by, found the correct road at last and made my way to the ground. It's quite strange to see a ground you've visited several times in the past, often with only about 50 supporters, jam packed with folk waving scarves and singing. Glossop had certainly brought a good number of fans and must have outnumbered the Chalfont faithful. The local Chalfont cheerleading group came along to offer vocal support and it sounded weird to hear 'When the Saints go marching in' sung tunefully at a football ground.

The atmosphere was good, the weather was rubbish as usual with strong winds and two hail storms and the game was brilliantly officiated, I noticed the referee for the first time about 5 minutes from the end  and only then did I realise that no cards had been shown. 

There were a few scuffles in the crowd, such a shame at a place like this. There's absolutely no place for it! Fortunately, it didn't come to much and we could enjoy an enthralling match.

Unfortunately, I discovered that the second leg was to be all ticket and hard as I tried, I couldn't buy a  ticket for the second leg and would be unable to visit Chalfont during the week to collect one. Disappointing & slightly annoying when you've been following a competition from the earliest rounds when only 20 people turn up and you almost have a ground to yourself, but understandable that people come out to support their town.

So to the game. Chalfont struck first, a throw from the right resulted in a shot well saved, but it dropped to Strutton who shot in from 12 yards. Then on 31 mins, a corner from the left fooled the keeper who fumbled it against the near post and Carroll turned it in from 6 yards. Glossop got back into it on 38 mins when Gorton stooped to head home from a left hand corner. Only 4 mins into the second half and Chalfont restored a two goal advantage. A throw from the right saw a lovely turn to the dead ball line fool the defence, the low cross was expertly turned in at the near post by Brosnan. Chalfont then seemed in cruise control and weren’t being troubled until two defensive lapses let Glossop back into the tie. On 73 mins, a ball over the top found Hodges clean through who simply lobbed the keeper on the first bounce from the edge of the box. Then on 78 mins, a ball through skidded off a defenders foot freeing Bailey who slid a shot home. An almighty scramble at the end almost gave Glossop the win but Chalfont hung on.

I'll be rushing home from whatever game I attend next week to check on how this tie turned out.

Chalfont St Peter FC

Clubhouse & old stand - Now condemned

Chalfont St Peter 4 Christchurch 0

Saints destroy church

Chalfont St Peter 4  Christchurch 0

14/2/09

This game had been postponed  the previous Saturday due to the huge quantities of snow that had dropped on this part of the World during January, 2 days prior to this game, the southeast was hit by another covering, but it miraculously disappeared overnight and the club secretary gave me the all clear before I left. I was happy to see a blackbird washing itself in a puddle on my way to the station, all water on the ground had been solid ice for about a fortnight prior to this. The fun started at Kings Cross as British rail decided to make life as difficult as possible for its customers. The gates to the underground were shut due to overcrowding, the official on duty claimed it was just Saturday traffic. Actually, it was because the Victoria line, Hammersmith & City line and various other lines were closed, so nobody could actually get anywhere. Notice how the prices are never reduced when all this work goes on. When there was no sign of the gates opening after 5 mins, I walked across the road to St Pancras and went in that way, I then had a 15 minute wait for a tube. What a joke! It's why I always give myself plenty of time. I reached Gerrards Cross in good time & was pleased to find a Subway, one of my favourite fast food joints. My Italian BMT with cucumber, Jalapeno peppers and bbq sauce was the business! It seems anything involving the word Amersham comes with a steep hill, those of you who've visited Amersham FC may know what I mean and my walk along Amersham Road presented me with another mountaineering challenge. Google maps had directed me to the A413. Thanks lads! for future reference, there's no footpath and walking along the soft grassed route next to this busy dual carriageway was interesting to say the least and I was knackered by the time I reached the ground. After the event, I consulted a map at home and realised I could have avoided this route, ho hum, the adventures of a football traveller! The ground is set just outside this sleepy little town, there's a stand behind the near goal and a more interesting, condemned old stand behind the dugouts. Best to visit here on a nice day, but the pitch was flat although very sticky and the ladies in the tea hut did their best despite being out of their comfort zone. 

This game will probably be remembered as it was Christchurch's first game after the tragic death of their player Marc Burrows, a cancer victim at the young age of 30. Nothing I can say will do this player justice, it was great to see that the minutes silence was impeccably observed by all those present.

I expected Christchurch to be likely winners but they just simply never showed up, I guess for obvious reasons and were brushed aside by a rampant Chalfont. The keeper made an early fumble that almost gifted a goal and then on 9 mins, he did the same again, this time the ball fell to a striker who picked his spot. Chalfont kept pushing forward and on 19 mins, a defender slipped at a crucial point and the attacker on the right of the area shot across the keeper and into the bottom left hand corner. The third came on 33 mins, a lovely diagonal ball was inch perfect finding the left sided attacker who shot across the keeper, this time into the bottom right hand corner. Christchurch had their best chance just before half time, but the Chalfont keeper saved well. Chalfont remained superior in the second half, hit the bar and put the tie to bed on 52 mins when an attacker was put through just beating the offside trap and finishing well past the keeper from 16 yards.

Nice to see a small club like this make the quarter finals.

Biggleswade Town FC

Biggleswade Town 2 Croydon 1

Entrance to Biggleswade Town FC

View from the road

Washout saved by Waders

Biggleswade Town 2 Croydon 1

17/1/09

Once again, I had good intentions when the draw was published. I decided on visiting Christchurch despite the fact that it was quite a journey with a long walk to the ground. But after weeks of freezing weather & heavy frosts, the temperature warmed up & suddenly we had storms and heavy rain. And at 8am on match day, the game was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. I have to commend Christchurch who published the pitch inspection the night before on their website and updated their site as soon as a decision was made. So plan B was put into operation, step up Biggleswade.

Whenever a new ground opens, Hoppers all descend on mass & you read report after opinion on the new facilities. I usually leave it a few years to see a ground once it’s settled down. But beggars can’t be choosers and having checked that the match was on, I made the simple journey to the ground.

It’s funny how events happen & having taken a seat on my train, I took to reading a book. A couple of stations down the line and /i became aware of a conversation on the seats across the aisle from me where two guys were discussing the postponement at Christchurch and why they couldn’t understand it. I probably scared the hell out of them by butting in & explaining the reason for the postponement. The guys then showed me the way to the ground from the station, a happy coincidence. For those who don’t know, you turn right out the station towards the town centre, keep walking until you reach the fish and chip shop where you turn left, walk along the road under the A1 and the ground is on your right. It’s about a 15 minute walk from the station.

Biggleswade’s previous ground was little more than a pitch at a recreation ground with a tiny covered area and a tiny clubhouse with no facilities. The new ground is about as different as can be. A purpose built stadium set back from the road with good parking, it makes an immediate impression. The clubhouse is large with a bar, pool tables and will certainly be used for other functions. There is also a gym and physio area. The pitch is flat and there is an impressive stand for this level, a much smaller covered area is on the opposite side. A neat, tall fence surrounds the ground. Everything looks very new and the officials are justifiably proud. I never thought I’d see Biggleswade (The Waders) in such a facility.

I broke my rule of not eating hot food at football grounds and ordered a hot dog from the burger van. It was edible but basically reminded me of why I normally eat in the town I am visiting.

Croydon were the liveliest side from the whistle and I don’t think we ever saw the best of Biggleswade all game. The first goal came on 28 mins for Croydon. A quick free kick down the left channel into the box was crossed to the far post where Atkins scored with a stooping header. Biggleswade equalised on the stroke of half time, winning a dubious penalty after a man was bundled over in the right of the area, Kilroy scored comfortably from the spot. The winner came on 50 mins, a neat 1-2 30 yards out resulted in a 25 yard drive that caught a wicked deflection and left the keeper with no chance, it has to go down as an og. Croydon pressed for an equaliser and the Biggleswade keeper made one superb save.

Nice to see a 'Good news' story in non league football for a change.