Groundhopping : 90/ 92 Completed

After a long time failing to keep up my record of having been to all 92 Premier League & Football League Grounds, I have decided its time to re-complete the 92 Grounds. At the Start of this season, I had the following grounds to do:

Harrogate Town – admitted to league during covid lockdown
AFC Wimbledon – moved to a new ground during covid lockdown
Brentford – moved to a new ground during covid lockdown
Barrow – admitted to league during covid lockdown
Fleetwood Town – never been and had several unsuccessful plans to visit.

Harrogate Town v Exeter City 28 August 2021

Fortunately I have friends who had some of these grounds to do, so for example I travelled to Harrogate on 28 August and met my fellow Spennymoor fans Dave & Kath and had a glorious day out in the sunshine watching a surprisingly good game at Harrogate to do that ground. An easy train trip from London. The ground shows signs of their rapid rise through the leagues. It is a pleasant ground with friendly stewarding and fans.

Orient beat Exeter City 3-0 earlier in the season. then on 24 August, Harrogate came to Orient and deservedly beat Orient 2-0. As a result, i thought this was likely to be a fairly comfortable win for the home side. The truth was very different. The game ended in a 1-1 draw with Exeter probably the better team, despite playing for 50 minutes with only 10 men. Football is nothing if not unpredictable

Owing to an issue with seat reservations on the train up, I was entitled to a full refund of my outward train ticket costs, so this made it into a very cheap day out.

for anyone going on the train to Harrogate, the Harrogate Tap pub next to the train station is a fantastic pub serving lots of real ales and is well worth frequenting.

AFC Wimbledon v Portsmouth Papa John Trophy 7 September 2021

Next up on the 92 trail was on 7th September when I ventured into South London to AFC Wimbledon at their new ground. This is on the site of the old Wimbledon Dog / Speedway track. The ground is surrounded by blocks of flats that were built to finance the ground. They are not the most attractive looking flats!

The walk to the ground from the Earlsfield Station was one through a rather gentrified area. Plenty of posh cafe’s, but a lack of proper pubs to drink in.

The ground itself is bult to a size that is likely to be sufficient for the needs of AFC Wimbledon, but would appear to have no room for expansion. It has 3 stands of the same height and one much larger stand which has all the club offices, changing rooms, corporate hospitality in it.

One end of the ground has rail seating built in. I know lots of people are excited about rail seating, but to me it is pointless. you get all the disadvantages of seating , eg price, unable to congregate with your mates etc, high pricing without the benefits of seating. rail seating will not increase the capacity of a ground, so it won’t be any cheaper. Unlike proper terracing, you are knackered if you are small or have a tall person in front of you, or are a child as you are unable to move to another part of the stand where you can see.

The introduction of this rail seating will be pointed to as a reason not to bring back proper terracing at football grounds.

I got to the ground early and as I was looking round the main stand, i bumped into a fellow East London groundhopper Richard who was recompleting the 92 grounds that night. So, after a long chat with him, I took my seat and sent a tweet with a picture of the game and saying which game I was at. That was picked up on by Keepo, one of the Sutton United lads. It turned out that he was sat 2 blocks from me, so we had a good catch up at half time over a pint. We also made arrangements to go to Brentford on 21st September as we both needed that new ground.

That half time pint did highlight one thing AFC Wimbledon need to do some wotk on. The speed of service was so slow that many people had not got served by the time the second half started. More catering outlets should have been opened and for some reason the mobile bar that was in place before the game was not there at half time when the demand was higher.

A positive point was that all the plastic beer glasses are recyclable and there were dotted round the foyer places to put your glasses so they are sanitised and reused next game. A good idea to recycle more and cut plastic waste. A further bonus was those glasses were much stronger and thicker than the single use disposable plastic glasses often used

As so often happens when I go to games with Keepo, I managed to miss at least one goal. I am sure he would like me to remind him the only game i was at with him when I saw all the goals was when Spennymoor put 3 past Sutton United in the FA Trophy

Bonus Game: Sutton United v Hartlepool EFL Div 2 14 September 2021

This was a game that was supposed to have been played in August, but was re-arranged owing to delays in Sutton replacing their 3G pitch caused by bad weather. Originally I was going to this game with Dave & Kath as they need it for the 92. When it was rearranged, they couldn’t attend, but i did arrange to meet 3 exiled Durham lads who all have that same burden as me and are life long Newcastle fans.

We arranged to meet at the ground in the bar. I got their early, and despite not having been to Sutton since the weekend before the pandemic, i was warmly welcomed by the car park stewards, and the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Club Secretary. Given I am only an occasional visitor to Gander Green Lane and they are now in the lofty heights of the Football League, the fact they all took time to come and say hello to me says a lot about the friendly welcoming nature of the club.

A couple of beers in the bar and a chat with some of the regular faces preceded an enjoyable evening where until the last 10 minutes, Sutton were well on top and deservedly won the game. A quick beer or 2 in the clubhouse after the game and I had to travel home. I made my train, unlike Keepo who ended up walking home after missing his train by seconds.

If it didn’t take so long to travel to, I would be a regular at Gander Green Lane. A traditional amateur club that have kept that wonderful friendly amateur atmosphere despite the rise through the leagues.

It turns out to be a small world. One of my friends from Durham brought his son with him. It turned out his son was at school previously in the same class as one of the younger Sutton fans I know!

The biggest shock of the night was i never missed a goal.

Brentford FC v Oldham Athletic EFL Cup 21 September 2021

Another new ground tonight. This was the game I thought would be the hardest to get a ticket for as its both a new ground and Brentford’s first year in Premier League. it would be a high demand season for home and away fans. The early rounds of cup competitions are heaven sent for groundhoppers as tickets are available and prices are usually low.

Keepo sorted out tickets for me for this game and we met him and Paul at Clapham Junction Station to head to Kew. Waiting for those two, it was interesting to see how many different groups of football fans were getting trains in the station.

Arriving at Kew station, we had a couple of beers or more in the bar outside the station. Its a posh part of London right next to Kew Bridge and the price of a pint proved that. Varying between £5 and £6.50 a pint. Expensive, but there was a good selection of real ales and ciders on sale. This pub must have seen its takings rocket since the new ground opened. It has a big conservatory and beer garden and does food as well as alcohol.

The ground is less than 5 minutes walk away and once in our seats, it was clear to see other ground hoppers taking lots of pictures of a new ground. indeed sat in front of us was Alison, a Northampton Town fan from Loughborough who was doing the ground as part of the 92.

In the first couple of minutes, Brentford were awarded and scored a penalty. Game effectively over as Premiership Brentford were playing bottom of League 2 and in crisis Oldham Athletic. By half time it was 5-0 to Brentford, although I missed the last two of those goals as I was at the bar getting in the half time drinks. not cheap at £6-50 a go, but welcome. I never tried the pies, but the looked and smelt rather nice. so they should for £4-50.

Leaving the game immediately on the full time whistle, we got to Kew station and had 2 pleasant surprises. The first was seeing the Flying Scotsman steaming through the station – yes, groundhoppers are closely related to train spotters. it was the first time I have seen the Flying Scotsman in action since 31 August 1975 at the 150th anniversary of the Railway event in Shildon, Co. Durham.

The second pleasant surprise was a train not showing on the departure board, but sshown in the timetable arrived and it was a fast train back to Clapham Junction and Waterloo meaning I got home earlier than expected.

So, now I’m back to 92 grounds done and only 2 remaining. Barrow I am hoping to do in October with Dave & Kath. That will leave me with Fleetwood to do. I have been trying to do it since 2018/2019 season. That season there were lots of weekend rail strikes by Northern Rail on Saturdays, so i couldn’t be sure I could get back from Blackpool to Preston to get home. Then in 2019/20 covid stopped me going. and in 2020/21 no fans were able to go because of covid.

Football, Financial Fair Play, Administration & The fit & Proper Test

So, with the sad, but inevitable news Derby County have gone into administration after years of grossly over spending, there are many calls on social media railing about how the “authorities” should have stopped this.

In this blog, I am going to share a few of my thoughts on the topic and explain why I am of the view the authorities get unfairly blamed. I come at this from someone who has seen four teams I watched suffer financial problems.

Newcastle United – whilst not necessarily financial problems, they have an owner who is hated by the fans and seems to do all he can to avoid spending his money on the club.

Darlington – they have had numerous financial crisis dating back to 1982 and partially contributed more recently by the costs of their then ground at Darlington Arena

Leyton Orient – so nearly went out of existence, and did fall out of the football league under the owner of Albanian Bechetti

Spennymoor United who did go out of business before a new club was formed in the summer of 2005

Reading that list, perhaps you should be worried if I start watching your club. It seems that I may be an albatross.

The first thing that should be born in mind is that the number of football clubs that go out of business is far below the average across all business types. Football clubs do get into financial trouble, but few actually are wound up. In recent years, Macclesfield Town are the only EFL/ EPL club I can thing of to be wound up and even then by the time they had been wound up they had ceased to be in the EFL.

Those complaining about the “authorities” on social media not doing enough all seem to not understand the difference between the Football Association (FA), English Football League (EFL) or English Premier League (EPL). The FA are the governing body for football in England. The EPL and EFL run competitions that clubs compete in and all three are separate organisations.

All these organisations have separate rules for clubs in their competitions. I have seen for example people complaining Manchester city got treated differently by UEFA for breaching the UEFA version of Financial Fair Play, compared to how Derby or Sheffield Wednesday were treated by the EFL for breaching EFL rules. That is a bit like complaining someone in Russia got a different sentence for a public order offence there to someone in England for a public order offence here

The starting point here is that all these organisations are governed by English Law and must act in accordance with English Law. The Companies Act governs the ownership and running of Companies in England. All football clubs in the EPL or EFL are Companies.

Various people suggest that the “authorities” (often not specifying which body they mean) should have prevented an owner from buying a club. Firstly, they are looking back with hindsight. Yesterday, the owner of Fleetwood Town appeared in Court charged with financial crimes. He has not been convicted and people are saying the authorities should not have allowed him to pass the “fit and proper test” (FPT). At the time he bought the club there was nothing to suggest he was not fit and proper and indeed the mere existence of criminal charges is not reason to say he is not fit and proper given he has not been convicted of anything. The FPT can only be carried out on information known at the time it is applied. The “authorities”, do not as far as I am aware have the ability to travel forward in time and use hindsight.

It has repeatedly been said on social media that the FPT is not fit for purpose. I think this is partly because people do not understand what its purpose is or what the EFL or EPL can actually do, given they are limited to acting in accordance with English Law.

If say the leader of Russia, wanted to buy Derby County and purchased the same, the EFL (or EPL as appropriate) have no power to stop them doing so. The purchase of a company is governed by Company Law. So if Mr Putin bought the shares in Derby County, he in English Law owns the football club.

So, what is the FPT and what is the point of it. The FPT basically looks to see who is funding / owning the club and are they good for the money and of good character. So in my imaginary situation, what can the EFL do if they decide Mr Putin does not pass the FPT? They cannot legally prevent the takeover by Mr Putin as that is a matter governed by the Companies Act. What the EFL can do ultimately is not approve the takeover and as a final resort, they can remove the football share from Derby County. As they did in 2020 from Bury.

Withdrawing the football share would have the effect of expelling Derby from the EFL and ultimately, the may find themselves having to apply to re-join the football pyramid in the 10^th tier, the Midland League or similar. This is a league where generally gates of 100 people are considered good. Almost certainly it would mean the end of the club as it could not operate at that level and maintain the ground at Pride Park. Back in 2012, Darlington ended up in 9^th tier (for financial reasons) and had to move out of the Darlington Arena, and out of Darlington for several seasons.

If the EFL says someone has not passed their FPT and that person refuses to relinquish control of the club, then if the EFL removes the football share it effectively brings about the end of the club in football competitions. Thus bringing about the very situation the FPT was supposed to guard against!

So those calling for the FPT test to be stronger appear to fail to see that the consequences could be that more clubs go out of existence.

The FPT test in reality acts as no more than a check or an obstacle to someone running a club. It does not and cannot prevent someone buying a club. To think it does is to show a complete lack on English Law.

Football fans also need to look at themselves, its everyday on social media you see fans demanding their chairman spends more money, eg why doesn’t he put his hand in his pocket and buy x” OR “We need a bigger squad” etc. This is exactly what the owner of Derby County has done, and finally he reached a point when he can’t or won’t continue to throw good money after bad and turns off the tap of money. Fans then turn on the owner, calling him corrupt and saying it’s the EFL to blame for not doing enough in their FPT to stop such a person becoming the owner of the club.

Fans create huge pressures on their clubs to spend money chasing the unlikely dream of promotion, Europe etc. The reality is that only 3 or 4 clubs in a division n can achieve promotion. All the other clubs are not going to reap rewards for their excess spending and are heading like Derby and so many others to financial disaster.

In this respect the situation at Newcastle United is interesting. Mike Ashley operates on the basis the club will not spend money it does not have and insists on paying transfer fees upfront, rather than spreading the debt over several years. To be honest, this is a laudable approach and financially very prudent. The situation at Newcastle is much more complicated than that and the contempt shown by Mike Ashley towards the fans, with his refusal to do interviews, issuing false claims of taking cup competitions seriously etc cause huge resentment with all fans.

Also, he has not spent any money on ground maintenance or improvements and as such the stadium is looking shabby and run down. Even the corporate sections are looking shabby and run down and are not attractive to the prawn sandwich brigade, they running down the value of the club.

Derby County over speculated and paid the price. Newcastle United under Mike Ashley are spending the bare minimum to retain their place in the EPL and are letting facilities run down. It is clear Ashley is hoping someone will buy the club and have to pay for the refurbishment of facilities.

The situation at Orient a few years ago was again one of an owner stopping funding a loss making enterprise after losing £millions over the previous couple of seasons. The owner it has to be said tried to interfere in team selection and got through several managers. However, it should be remembered that the club, like all professional football clubs is a business. Owners of a business can run their business in any way they like. This seems to be something that many football fans fail to appreciate. The claims its “our” club not the owner’s club is emotional nonsense that football encourages because it breeds customer loyalty. You wouldn’t continue to shop at Tesco every week if you got awful produce at a high price. You would look around for a better grocery supplier. However, football promotes this idea of tribal loyalty from its fans and thus fans turn up week in week out even when the product is rubbish and you are treated like crap. An example of this is the huge crowds Newcastle continue to get despite the anger at the owner and the way he treats the fans with open contempt.

Back in the early days of football when players largely played for their local teams, it is understandable that people had a tribal loyalty. These days few clubs have local players and there is a large number of foreign mercenaries playing for teams that have no loyalty at all to their current team. These mercenaries demand a move when there is a sniff of an extra 50p a week from another club. The same is true of managers, and even owners. They have no loyalty to the business, but they want fans to have blind loyalty and to pay up their money every week.

This blind loyalty to a club is why fans are treated so much with contempt. The prices charged for football over the last 40 years for admission have risen far faster than inflation, but fans continue to pay stupid prices willingly.

This alone suggests the average football fan either is not discerning about the product or does not think about finances.

Most football clubs that get into financial trouble is because of overspending by the owner rather than because of any criminal or improper financial dealings. Yes they are some sharp accounting practices at some clubs in relation to the presentation of their accounts, especially in relation to Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. This overspending is encouraged or even demanded by fans, until the proverbial hits the fan. Then the same fans blame the “authorities” for not stopping the owner buying the clubs years before, even though they have no such ability in English Law. For these powers to exist, the government would need to change the law before the football “authorities” could try to prevent such takeovers. This seems to escape the football fan who brainlessly lashes out at the EFL, EPL or FA instead

Another regular call when clubs like Derby get into financial trouble is that Manchester United, Man Chester city, Chelsea etc should bail them out. Again those making such calls seem to want to reward a club for its financial mismanagement. No one says Tesco should bail out Mr Patel’s corner shop when it is losing money. So why should football businesses bail out other badly run businesses?

Another cry is that the EFL / EPL should run/ finance a club that is in administration until a new buyer can be found. Firstly, those making such calls fail to think about where such money would come from. It would have to come from the other clubs in such competitions. This would penalise the well run clubs who have managed their finances accordingly and reward the profligate club in administration by making the well run clubs pay to bail out the profligate. This would mean that effectively clubs are paying their rivals to compete against them and allowing the profligate club to pay wages for players the well run club decided were too expensive.

This is without the clear and obvious conflict of interest there would be is the EFL / EPL were to run a team or teams in that competition

This is a long rambling post, but to sum it up I am trying to say:

1. Football Clubs are businesses and the owner can run them as he wishes. He takes the rewards or bails out the loss making club.

2. When a club ends up in administration, it is the owner who loses most if not all of the money he has put into the club.

3. Fans are merely customers and do not have any right to demand an owner run a club the way they want. They can however, vote with their wallets, i.e. stop funding the club if you do not like the way it is being run.

4. The EFL / EPL can do little under English Law to stop someone buying a business. Their ultimate sanction is to remove the football share which will cause the immediate and inevitable collapse of the business – they very thing fans want to prevent happening.

So, what can the EFL / EPL do? The first thing would be to tighten up the FFP rules and for the EFL / EPL to work together and end the situation where if a club breaches FFP in the EFL, but gets promotion to the EPL then do not get punished until or if they are eventually relegated. Sanctions should apply whichever division a club are in.

The FFP investigations need to move at a faster pace, to try to reduce the time lag between the breaches of the FFP rules and the punishment

Punishments need to be made far more sever, both in financial terms and in terms of points deductions. For example make a minimum 30 point deduction for breaching FFP, with the ability to increase the punishment depending on the seriousness of the breach.

Allow the points deduction to be used over more than one season – for example if a club ends a season (in which they were sanctioned for breaching FFP rules) on 50 points and if they had 10 points deducted they would be relegated, then the remaining 20 points deduction would apply the following season. Thus making the punishments so swingeing that clubs would not risk breaching the FFP rules. In addition the rules on FFP need to be tightened up to allow clubs less wriggle room.

Que Sera, Sera

So, yesterday (18th September 2021), I decided against travelling to watch Spennymoor Town at AFC Fylde in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying round, mainly due to it not being possible to get a train ticket or tickets for under £100, even using split ticketing websites, a variety of routes and being very flexible on train times.

Leyton Orient were away at Bristol rovers, and 2 of the 3 remaining teams I need to re complete the 92 were playing away. The other are Fleetwood, the neighbours of AFC Fylde, so ruled out this weekend on price grounds.

A scan of the FA Challenge Cup 2nd Qualifying Round ties produced some interesting local ties that I could attend, but I had already done those grounds, so I decided to take in a game at a ground I had not visited before and decided upon AFC Sudbury.

Unusually, for a club with a name starting AFC, they are not a phoenix club formed out of the ashes of another club. The AFC stands for Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury. Formed from the merger of Sudbury Town and Sudbury Wanderers. I first became aware of AFC Sudbury in 2003 when they lost the FA Vase Final at West Ham. They returned the next 2 seasons to lose the finals again at Villa Park & White Hart Lane. A hat trick of FA Vase wins was completed by Billericay in the 1980s and by Whitley Bay in the late 2000s, but a hat trick of losing finals is unique. Looking back over the list of Vase finals, I also learn that back in 1989 Sudbury town, one of the predecessors of AFC Sudbury also lost in the FA Vase Final.

Given this record, perhaps AFC Sudbury could be forgiven for not wanting to get to the Final of a National Competition! Fortunately for AFC Sudbury, they now play at Step 4 in the Isthmian League Division 1 North (currently 3rd).

The visitors today, Stowmarket Town also play in the Isthmian League Division 1 North (currently 8th), although this is their first season at this level.

An added incentive to choose this game was that I could have a quick visit to the outlet shopping centre at Braintree Freeport on the way home. Killing two birds with one stone so to speak.

I have cycled in the Sudbury area a few times, and it is in a lovely location, but I had never been to the ground, in fact I didn’t even know where in Sudbury the ground is. appropriately as I arrived on South edge of the town, I had to turn left at the traffic lights by a café called The Cyclist. The ground is down a leafy lane, near the River Stour.

Om arrival at the ground is a large free car park and a football pitch outside the ground. There is a building next to the pitch that is I understand for the AFC Sudbury Academy. Beyond this

building are the turnstiles. The sign above them gives an indication of the friendly nature of the set up. Admission is £10 and can be paid by card or cash. Certain clubs like Darlington £16 admission to sit or Chester FC £17 for a seat could take note of this.

Into the ground and the first think I notice is the 3G pitch. A great idea for boosting income for clubs and it ensures a good playing surface.

The ground has cover on all four sides. Behind each goal, it is a very simple cover over a flat standing walkway. Along the halfway line on either side is a seated stand. On the far side this stand unusually has standing behind the seating.

There is a large clubhouse, changing rooms, corporate viewing area on one side with tables outside so you can sit and drink whilst watching the game in the glorious September sunshine we had on Saturday.

Another big plus for the set up here was that they sold real ale at the bar.

One unusual item in the ground was the vending machine unit in one corner. I presume this is used when the pitch is being hired out.

The floodlights look slightly unusual, not the pylons, but the actual lights. I believe they are LED lights, which would account for the unusual appearance.

A simple electronic scoreboard is built into the turnstile block, giving the score and the number of minutes played.

There are 2 different refreshment huts in the ground. The main hut selling burgers, chips, soft drinks etc. in the fridge there was a selection of bottled beer and also bottles of wine…Is there a drink problem in Sudbury? certainly not a problem in getting it!

For those who want a paper programme, you are going to be disappointed as AFC Sudbury have moved with the time and produce a 30 page electronic programme that is free to download. It is very bright, being on yellow pages with blue writing! On the page for the visitors details, it is blank apart from this:

I do believe that if it comes to the attention of the FA that a fine may be heading Stowmarket’s way for failing to provide details

It was good to see so many families and children at the game, along with a decent number of Stowmarket Town fans. It seems the club forms a real part of the local community.

The game itself was one of few chances. The two teams were very well matched and closed each other down well. it was I have to be honest not the best game to watch, but that was not for lack of effort on the part of the players or the fans. A 0-0 draw means both teams will have to replay on Tuesday night at Stowmarket. In the meantime, both are in the draw on Monday for the 3rd qualifying round and can continue their FA Cup dreams for a couple more days.

Attendance was a healthy 440.

Taking The Knee At Football & The Crowd Response

There are so many issues to discuss here, and I am not going to attempt to cover them all in this blog.

Let me start by saying that I oppose racism by anyone. Racist behaviour can be by anyone towards someone of a different race.

I wrote a personal block about this in August of 2020. That blog post was entitled Black Lives Matter. It is the story of one of my ancestors, the son/ grandson of a freed black slave, so the whole topic is one that has a real and personal link to my family history. This is perhaps not the case for many of those who rioted in the UK last summer “in support” of a movement founded on the death of a convicted criminal in the USA. I urge you to read (or re-read) that article I wrote.

Out of that protest came the sight of footballers adopting the gesture of the Black Lives Matter movement in taking the knee. This is a Marxist organisation who have on their website a demand to

“defund the police”

and also contains the outrageous and false statements

The police were born out of slave patrols. We cannot reform an institution built upon white supremacy.

Now it is clear there are issues currently involving footballers and the abuse they face on social media. it is not just racist abuse, there are all sorts of abuse handed out by keyboard warriors. Most of it is unfair and a lot is very offensive. No reasonable minded person can condone such behaviour or to justify why anyone should have to receive such abuse.

If, footballers want to highlight this issue, then no one can deny it is a just cause, but one may question why footballers choose to make the gesture of a Marxist organisation that want to defund one of the pillars of a democratic society. This causes many people to take offence at the gesture, not the issue. Imagine if instead the footballers chose to use a different gesture, say a Nazi salute, It won’t happen? Well it did on many occasions

England famously doing Nazi Salute v Germany

Ireland doing Nazi Salute

Derby County doing Nazi Salute

These three images are only a sample of the occasions it was done. It was pre World War 2 and was supported by the footballing authorities, rather like the current gesturing by players is.

It is not surprising that football fans object to players making gestures associated with a Marxist organisation whose views they oppose. It would be the same if the players made Nazi salutes instead.

If players want to indulge in political gestures, then they must accept that not everyone shares their political views. To hear current England manager, Gareth Southgate complaining that his players should not have to face distractions from football such as the fans booing the taking the knee gesture is rather ironic. There is a simple way of the players not having to deal with the distraction of the booing, and that is to stop making a gesture which is associated with a Marxist political organisation.

Again, Gareth Southgate talks about some people not getting the message. Has it never occurred to him, that it is him and his players making gestures in support of a Marxist organisation that wants to defund the police and talks about white supremacy, that have not got the message.

As I said earlier, no reasonable person can object to players wanting to take action to end the online abuse they sadly get. However, making the gesture associated with the Marxist Black Lives Matter movement is not the way to do this. It offends a large section of the fans and as a result the intent of the players is lost in the row over booing.

I am sure this article will upset people on both sides of the debate, some will see me as supporting “racists” by not condemning the booing of the players, others will see me as supporting the players by not sufficiently condemning the players. To all those people on either side, I would refer them to the quote often mistakenly attributed to Voltaire

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”

The players have the right to protest , but equally the crowd have the right to express their views. I will always defend the right of both parties to express their views.

Perhaps the way forward is for footballers to find a way to express their views that does not use gestures associated with a Marxist organisation who want to defund the police and preach about white supremacy. The actions are not supporting their cause, and indeed, sadly seem to give more motivation to the keyboard warriors to anonymously abuse players. It is of course not the case that those booing the gestures are necessarily the offensive keyboard warriors.

Sometimes, to win the war, it is necessary to change tactics. That is not an admission of weakness or failure, rather it is a sign of strength.

Mental Health & Society

As its Mental Health Week, and I have seen a few people posting some very honest posts about their Mental Health, I thought I would share a few thoughts about the topic.

We appear to be far more aware of mental health issues these days than in the past. Indeed at times it seems that it is the “trendy” thing to say you are suffering from mental health issues. That is perhaps unfair because the truth is not only are we far more aware of mental health issues than in the past, there is definitely an increase in the number of people suffering from a variety of mental health problems.

So, why are we seeing an increase in mental health problems?

POVERTY?

if you compare society with say 1950, its certainly the case that we are a more affluent society than we were. Look at the amount of clothes, electrical goods etc we have now compared to 70 years ago. We generally work fewer hours than previously and less people work manually. Even for those who do manual labour, it is not as back breaking owing to technology as it was. I know that some may point to those at the bottom of the ladder who are struggling, but overall things have improved in terms of affluence.

Another aspect of affluence is the number of people who own their own home compared to 1950 and back in 1950, very few people owned a motor car, whereas nowadays its not uncommon for households to have several cars. The same is true with TVs.

Whilst undoubtedly poverty does have a negative impact on people’s mental and physical health, it does not appear to be the cause of the increase in mental health problems, in my view when one considers there I less poverty in real terms than 70 or so years ago

PHYSICAL HEALTH?

People seemed to have very little, but conversely accepted their lot and seemed to enjoy what little they had. Yes people did have mental and physical health issues then as well. Life expectancies were shorter.

Physical health was an issue. nowadays, we have problems caused by affluence, i.e. obesity, diabetes etc whereas back in 1950 it was more likely to be caused by contagious diseases and accidents at work.

The treatment given by the NHS has improved massively since say 1950, both in terms of treatments and afflictions that can be cured, but also in terms of pain relief. Also both health and social treatment for those suffering from disability has improved beyond all recognition over the last 70 or so years. That is not to say it can’t be improved further, because of course it can and should be so improved.

It doesn’t appear in my opinion that physical health issues are the cause of the increase in metal health problems, perhaps excluding the elderly who living longer and in failing health may suffer some mental health issues as a result.

SOCIAL MEDIA & THE INTERNET?

This is something that did not exist previously. Whilst social media, the internet etc have made great improvements in modern life, they have also caused problems.

Benefits include having access to information instantly and having the ability to communicate instantly with millions. I do not propose to try to list all the benefits of the internet or social media, nor do I propose to list all its disadvantages.

Problems caused by this include:

I) The ability to spread disinformation – it can be difficult to determine what is true online and what is not

ii) The fact that it can be difficult to get away from social media. If you have a phone with you, then generally you have social media with you. It finds you without you hunting it.

iii) Related to point ii) above, it is difficult to get away from bullying on social media. To take an example relating to children. In the past, if you were being bullied at school, you could at least get respite from bullying when you got home and shut the bullies out. Now with social media the bullies and trolls can continue you to harass you even though they are not near you. It doesn’t just apply to children, it applies to everyone. This bullying can take place from people who do not even know anything about the person they are bullying. You only have to look at any message board or on twitter to see examples of this.
The abuse given to public figures on social media is regularly reported in the media. It happens equally to non public figures as well/

iv) The pressure to conform – whether to look a particular way, to like a particular style etc is massively increased by social media, including the use of photoshopped unrealistic images.

v) The pressure to keep up with the Joneses is increased when you are bombarded constantly with images of what others have. You see one person on luxury holidays, another driving luxury cars, another buying a huge house and you feel you need to try to emulate all of them. In the past you were not bombarded by so many images from different groups and did not have the same pressure

Another related issue that has been exacerbated by the lockdown is the use of the internet , laptops and emails at work. In the past when you left work, in most jobs, that was it until you return to work the next day. Nowadays, you can be emailed, texted etc at home on an evening and there is always a temptation to log onto your laptop at home and check your emails. This means you never get a chance to switch off from work.

This can be exploited by unscrupulous bosses, who think if you are contactable then they can email or call you anytime. I had experience of this recently, when during a busy time at work, where I am employed to work 9-5 Monday to Friday and not paid overtime, I worked 12 hours on a Friday, 12 hours on a Saturday and planned to work the Sunday afternoon. I had advised my manager I was not available on the Sunday morning as I was going for a bike ride , my one relaxation. Despite this being non working hours, and a time he knew I was specifically unavailable, during the course of a couple of hours on my bike, I was called several times by him and received numerous texts. I tried to ignore them, but you are left feeling anxious as to why you are being called. This meant my “relaxation” turned out to be nothing of the sort. I know I am not unique in having this happen.

ASPIRATION & UNREALISTIC AIMS?

One major change is society is the upward mobility of society. In the past working class people rarely went onto further or higher education. It was common for people to leave school at first opportunity and go into jobs, often manual jobs or minor admin roles. Apprenticeships were highly prized and young people could learn a trade.

These were the aspirations for many people. A job that enabled them to rent a property and pay for a few luxuries such as nights out or a holiday whether in the UK or later abroad.

For the last 30 or so years, and especially from the Blair government onwards (including under the Tories since 2010) in 1997 there has been a massive push to encourage children to go to university. It has become the case that going to university is expected of children, compared to back in the 1950s when virtually no one went to university.

It is right that the option to go to university is available to all groups in society, not just the wealthy. To that degree it is a positive. However, it has gone beyond that and children are pressurised by expectation into going to university, even when they will come out of it with a degree, massive debts and no job. Conversely, there is a shortage of people going to learn trades or doing apprenticeships.

The balance between making it possible for people to go to university and it being an expectation is out of kilter. People leaving university with a degree and unable to find a job are left feeling they have failed.

This is after they have already felt under huge pressure to get the necessary GCSEs and A Levels to get to University. Children who in previous generations would not have worried about getting A Levels etc are left stressing about their grades when they should be growing up and maturing. From the age of say 14, children are under increasing pressure from society to get good grades, go to university etc.

then when they leave university with all that debt, there are only so many secure long term “graduate “ jobs. Many end .up working in the gig economy or in jobs that previous generations did without degrees. This all adds to pressure on people.

If people are lucky enough to get a job, they then struggle to raise funds to buy a house. Property prices have increased faster than inflation (for many reasons) meaning that unlike in the 1950s both parties in a relationship need to work to pay rent or mortgage. This of course then means when they have children both parents need to go back to work and spend less time with their children as they grow up causing more stress.

NEWS MEDIA?
No piece can be complete without a reference to the part the news media play. They create unrealistic hopes then dash them. The media love to build up hope then destroy it creating more stress.
I am not going to go into lots of examples, but one in today’s paper I think highlights it. We are coming out of lockdown. The papers have been demanding that we speed up the removal of restrictions claiming everything is wonderful, thus building up people’s belief that things are back to normal. then an immediate about face, the press today have a story entitled :

Could Indian variant jeopardise Boris’s unlocking plan?

Immediately they have caused fear and panic amongst a population that were getting used to lockdown easing. When you actually read the story, the reality is that the Indian variant is currently unlikely to have any effect on the unlocking plans. The media ( of all political persuasions) like to sensationalise headlines – click bait – to get attention. Many people do not go beyond the headline.

CONCLUSIONS

There are many reasons why mental health problems are increasing and there is no single reason why we have a mental health crisis these days, but if people are aware of some of the causes, they may help to enable them to adopt strategies to lessen some of the problems.

It is important to take time away from work and other pressures. As an employer or line manager, it is your duty to respect your employees work life balance.

Take time for yourself and relax away from work.

I was out cycling at the start of the year and saw a banner advertising “Free Food”. I made enquiries about this, and it turns out it was for a Food Surplus Charity that distributes surplus food to those who want or need it, without means testing. Treating people with dignity. I volunteered to help out with this, and find that although it takes up some of my free time, giving something back to society is a wonderful way to reduce stress and anxiety and improve my mental health. This is especially so when I am able to cycle to / from the sessions, so get cycling in as well as helping out.

To misquote a hashtag phrase BE KIND TO YOURSELF

May be an image of text that says "If people stopped looking for things that offended them and started looking for things that inspired them ,i'm sure we would have a better country"

The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated

It’s been a long time since I put pen to paper ( or more accurately fingers to keyboard). I can give loads of excuses for this- another time. perhaps. My procrastination is something I am going to tackle on another day.

I am currently off work, and it has given me lots of time on my hands to do lots of things, like sitting on the sofa watching re runs of the Bill, Classic Eastenders, Classic Coronation Street etc [ BTW Since when did “classic” mean “repeat”?]

It has also given me plenty of time to take in world events, and in particular people’s reactions to those events, whether on social media or in the real world.

Perhaps ( ignoring Covid) one of the most significant events in recent days was the local government elections ( including Hartlepool By election, Scottish & Welsh elections etc). The media reporting and people’s reactions to these events are interesting for the spin they put on them.

Taking things at a high level, the SNP ( ruling party in Scotland) Welsh Labour ( ruling party in Wales) and the Tories ( ruling party in Westminster Parliament all improved their overall positions. This suggests that despite what the noisy social media types, and newspapers would have you believe, the population generally think our rulers have performed well during the last 15 months of the pandemic. Strangely, you wouldn’t have thought that from reading social media or news media over this period.

I will return to this topic throughout this blog, which from hereon is more likely to ignore Scotland & Wales and be based on what is happening in England predominantly.

The Tories have been in power ( either on their own or in coalition) since May 2010. That is 11 year, a long time in politics. It is perhaps rather surprising that a ruling party in mid term elections has improved its position. Traditionally, ruling parties do not win by elections or improve their standing in local councils.

Labour has now suffered defeats in the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 General Elections and you can add to that the EU Referendum and now the 2021 Local Government elections and Hartlepool By elections. It is not all bad news as Andy Burnham amongst others increased his vote in the Manchester Mayoral election. Sadiq Khan managed to retain his post as London Mayor, but made heavy work of winning almost unopposed.

I do not intend to discuss the election results or to analyse in detail. What interests me is that despite the media ( news & social) telling us everyday how unpopular the tories are or back in 2016 how popular remaining in the EU was, the results at the ballot box show something contrary to this. Why is this?

Well firstly, the results of the local by elections last week, like the resounding Tory win at the last General Election and the Referendum result have been greeted by many on social media with comments like:

” The electorate are stupid”
“The voters do not know what they were voting for”
“Voters do not understand the consequences of their votes”

and many other variations on these themes.

Now, I am not sure that insulting or abusing voters is the best way to encourage them to vote for the party / viewpoint you wish. To win an election / referendum you need to encourage / court the voters. Insulting them is not going to encourage people to be sympathetic to your cause, irrespective of how good a cause it is,

If we turn back to the 2016 EU referendum, most if not all pollsters / pundits thought it would be a Remain win . It turned out of course not to be so. No doubt remainers will claim voters were lied to, ignoring the fact that remain supporters lied. However, that is almost insignificant in my view.

For years many people in the UK had concerns with parts of the EU. for some it was a legal issue around soverignity, for others it was to do with immigration, for others it was other issues. Unfortunately when people tried to raise their concerns, they were shouted done by others as being biggotted, racist etc.

These people all held valid concerns in that they were issues that mattered to them. If these issues had been debated, then in some cases, it would be shown the concerns were not based in fact, but in myth or misunderstanding. The immigration issue was a point in issue. The majority of immigration into the Uk was from outside the EU, so not affected by our EU membership in any real way.

By shutting down debate with insults and threats, it acted a bit like Prohibition in the USA, ie it drove the issues underground. People with concerns felt unable to discuss it in public or on social media and instead remained silent. Thus the only noise head in public was the Remain support, but under the surface, resentment to the EU was growing and not being debated. Those who tried to raise the issue were shouted down and silenced. It was not a debate, it was harassment and bullying to silence opposition.

This approach proved to be a disaster for those who wanted to remain in the EU. However, instead of looking at their own actions, many on the remain side chose to blame the electorate as stupid, racist, ignorant, not understanding the issue etc. This approach was largely led ( but not exclusively) by the Labour Islington Elite.

This was an approach that has been continued by many on the left. The popular trendy “woke” issues are pushed with great force and anyone daring to disagree with them is hounded both in employment or on social media. The reality is that the majority of the population are not that interested in these issues.

For example we have the Black Lives Matter protestors and the taking of the kneee in support of a convicted armed robber killed in the USA. Many violent protest and much damage also done in support of something that is irrelevant to people in England. It is a matter between the citizens of the USa and the authorities there. In the meantime we have more pressing issues in this country that are ignored by the same groups – eg why are white working class males falling behind every other group in schools

We had huge protest and incidents after the tragic killing of Sarah Everard on Clapham Common, but when a few weeks later PCSO Julia James was murdered in Kent and Maria Rawlings murdered in Ilford after leaving hospital. You may well wonder why if the Sarah Everard protests were genuinely about women’s safety, the other 2 murders have been ignored by the same protestors. At the risk of being controversial, I may suggest there is an element of being trendy in the original protest. [ That should not be twisted into me suggesting the murder of any female is not horrendous, more the opposite, all three are equally awful and we should not be ignoring 2 of them]

Labour has a habit of backing “trendy” idealist issues which appeal to its small band of noisy idealistic supporters, but not to the majority of the electorate, or even its traditional heartlands. Traditional Labour voters feel they are being ignored by Labour.

Since the election results were announced at the end of the week, Labour has resorted to its usual tactic of internal civil war rather than having a long hard look at its treatment of the electorate and looking to see why the electorate are continuing to desert them. Instead of looking at what the electorate want or are saying and seeing how they can meet those desires, Labour start from itself and expect the electorate to follow them.

A classic example was on the radio this morning. I think it was Lisa Nandy (but I may be wrong) was being interviewed and talking about listening to the voters and letting the voters know that Labour are listening to them, unlike the Tories who should be taking the lead to stop the disturbances in Israel. Clearly saying words without understanding them. The British electorate are more concerned with the ending of lockdown and the rebuilding of the lockdown than the problems in Israel between the Jews ans Palestinians.

If Labour want to help introduce their “woke” policies etc, they need first to obtain power. At present they seem not to understand or realise how to obtain power.

It is a matter of concern for all voters whatever their political persuasion as for a democracy to operate effectively, we need an effective opposition to hold the government to account on issue that matter to the voters in this country. I would suggest those issues are things like education, housing, the economy etc ie basic issues. Without power, then you are not going to be able to change the agenda for the more “woke” issues. Labour seem to have their priorities in the reverse order wanting to implement their “woke” policies but forgetting they need power first.

Bonie Bobby Shafto

May be an image of monument and outdoors

We Ride For Those Who Died

A post from me on a Saturday normally means I have been to a football match and am doing a write up. This week however that is not the case. I did not go to any football today, despite there being a number of games locally.

No, I am not self isolating, nor am I ill. Instead of going to football today, I went out on my bike. Today was the 3rd of the 10 days over which the Virtual UK Police Unity Tour is taking place. Normally the last weekend in July the UK Police Unity Tour takes places and we ride from various locations across the UK to the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas in Staffordshire to raise funds for UK COPS.

To quote from their website,

Care of Police Survivors (COPS) is a charity that supports the families of police officers and staff who have lost their lives on duty.

Having been luck to have taken part in every UK Police Unity Tour since its inception in 2013, and also in the US Police Unity Tour on 4 occasions prior to that, I have been privileged to see the fantastic work that UK COPS do.

It is a Charity run by survivors (relatives of police officers killed in the line of duty), providing help and support to other survivors. It is a club no one want to be a member of, but sadly every year additional families become members whether as a result of criminal acts or accidents. No one deserves to die doing their job.

However, what is easy to forget are the families left behind following the death of a serving police officer. Those families said goodbye to their loved one as he set off for work, but never got to speak to them again.

Those widows or widowers , parents, children have to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. It is not an easy task when you have lost suddenly without warning your loved one.

UK COPS provide vital help and support to deal with the emotional turmoil, whether it be someone to listen, offer advice or provide more practical help.

Sadly in the last year or so, we have lost a number of officers killed as a result of criminal acts. PC Andrew Harper was killed in Thames Valley by thieves trying to steal a Quad Bike. He had only been married 4 weeks before his death. He & his partner had not even had their honeymoon.

Then more recently there was the murder of Sgt Matt Ratana who was shot whilst acting as Custody Sergeant at Croydon Police Station by a prisoner. He was heading towards retirement in 2 months time and had volunteered to work as a Custody Sergeant because he felt it was a safer role than being out on the streets. Again, he leaves behind a partner and a son.

As I said, normally we have rides from across the UK to the National Memorial Arboretum in July to coincide with the UK COPS annual Survivors’ Weekend. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Survivors’ Weekend was cancelled as was the Police Unity Tour. Instead the Organizing Committee agreed to my suggestion to run a Virtual Event with riders expected to complete 100 miles in a 10 day period whether out on the road ( as old fashioned cyclists like me have done), or using gym bikes, turbo trainers etc whether linked to Zwift or not. That is some form of computer game – or at least its what I say to wind up those who won’t venture out onto the road. Bloody soft southerners complaining its too cold or too wet to venture outside on the road. Have they never heard of Rule 5 ? Every cyclist should remember that rule.

So, I headed out before work on Thursday and did 25.72 miles and after work, I did another 16.06 miles. Neither work in particularly good weather and both were at rush hour. Friday, I did another 28.42 miles before work and got a visit from the p*nct*re fairy for my troubles. That was 70 miles done, so today Saturday, I decided to sacrifice going to football to do another 30 mile ride to bring up the 100 miles. As it was such a nice day, that 30 mile ride turned into a 41 mile ride and would have been longer, but I had to return home to sort out the workmen repairing my house roof.

Today’s ride took me on a route I have ridden many times over the last 20 years, and one I used to ride most Sunday’s with my son when he was little. I only recently discovered that on the hill out of Stapleford Abbotts, there was a police officer George Gutteridge murdered in 1927. So today, I took a minute out of my ride to pay my respects to him.

So I have done 111 miles in the first 3 of the 10 days available for doing the Virtual UK Police Unity Tour. I think it may be too much of a challenge to me not to complete a total of 200 miles in this time.

If any of you kind folk wish to sponsor me, then follow the links below and donate online. Any amount will help this charity continue its fantastic work.

http://www.justgiving.com/owner-email/pleasesponsor/PeterBennett2020

Hopping Around

Only three more games this week to write about. I had planned to go to games tomorrow ( Friday 11th ) and Saturday, but owing to a welcome change in plans I have ended my week of ground hopping early.

Barkingside 1 v 0 Hackney Wick FC – Eastern Counties League Div. 1 South Monday 7 September 2020

A very local game for me as I can walk to and from the ground. Its a regular venue for me as both Barkingside and also Ilford play here. Barkingside ironically used to play at Oakside which was the venue of last game I attended. Barkingside are a favourite club of mine for several reasons, apart from being so close to my home. The Chairman Jimmy is always so welcoming and puts a huge amount of effort into making people welcome. Also Barkingside often play on Monday nights or Friday night to avoid clashes with other games and to attract the ground hoppers.

One slight difference for this game was the need to ring Jimmy to get a reservation for the game because of the covid restrictions. imagine having to ring the chairman at Manchester United on a match day for a ticket?

So, after a stroll to the ground and after a temperature check etc, I wandered along to the Main Stand to take my seat for tonight’s Eastern Counties League Division 1 South game ( step 6 ). There was a much higher than usual crowd for the game. It was later announced as 155, compared to the usual 50-75. Part of the reason for the extra fans was the regular East London ground hoppers. Many of whom I had not spoken to since early in the year pre lockdown. It was good to catch up and learn that none had suffered physically owing to Covid.

Barkingside took the lead from a good header from a good free kick in the first half. That proved to be the difference between the two sides. The game itself was an entertaining affair, probably more so than one would expect from a step 6 game ( that’s the 10th tier of English football). The lack of further goals was no reflection on the entertainment value.

A few of noticeable events tonight were:

a) the relative quality of the pitch. It certainly looked far better than I remember. This may simply be because of the lack of use since early March, but I think that work has been done to improve the pitch.
b) parked up against the fence around the pitch was a scooter. Not something you expect to see at a football match.
c) In the second half, the Barkingside chairman Jimmy made a point of thanking those in the main stand for attending. A nice gesture that sums up the friendly nature of this club

A short walk home and I was in the house only 15 minutes after the final whistle

Good value for £6

Waltham Forest 1 v 2 FC Stansted Essex Senior League Tuesday 8 September 2020

Tuesday night saw me make the short trip to Wadham Lodge Sports Centre to watch Waltham Forest host FC Stansted in the Essex Senior League. This is a step 5 league and at the same level in the pyramid as the Northern League in theory. In practice, the Northern League is much stronger as shown by the fact that the 2019/2020 FA Vase Final is between 2 Northern League sides. It is several years since an Essex Senior League side reached the semi finals of the FA Vase ( Bowers & Pitsea who lost to eventual winners Morpeth (from the northern League!)). I hadn’t been to Wadham Lodge since the start of last season. I’m not sure why as its not very far from my home.

Another lively and entertaining game tonight. Waltham Forest took the lead after 13 minutes from a penalty after a clear foul inside the area. Lots of protest from the Stansted players, but it was one of the simplest decisions the referee had to make.

After 34 minutes it was 1-1 with Stansted equalising after a goalmouth scramble.

The whole game was a rather feisty affair and it was credit to the referee that he never sent anyone off and only sin binned 1 player. Stansted in particular seemed to be very pumped up for it and seemed to want to argue everything. Their competitive spirit was rewarded in the 74th minute when they scored after a corner. It was a bit of a turn around as 4 minutes earlier Stansted could have been 2-1 down when Waltham Forest hit the post.

It was probably a fair reflection of the game and another entertaining game.

Admission £7

Ilford FC 6 v 2 Redbridge FC Essex Senior League Wednesday 9 September 2020

So Wednesday and my 2nd visit in 48 hours to Cricklefields. This time to see Ilford play. Last week, you will recall I saw Ilford lose at home in the FA Cup to a side from a division below them, whereas on Saturday I saw Redbridge unlucky not to beat a Sawbridgeworth side who would probably have been promoted if it wasn’t for the lockdown last season. On this basis, you may have expected Redbridge to be favourites, but other ground hoppers who watched Redbridge in the FA Cup last week said they were very poor.

After only 18 minutes of tonight’s game, Ilford were 3-0 up. Its a while since Ilford were so dominant in a game. It was 1-0 after 5 minutes. After 16 minutes, it was 2-0 with a David Beckham –esq free kick. One of the best free kicks I will see this season. Two minutes later, Ilford had made it 3-0 after beating the offside trap and a well taken goal.

Shortly before half time Redbridge pulled one back from the penalty spot giving a slight chance of making a game of it in the second half.

The second half was dominated by Ilford with goals in the 70th and 72nd minutes to make it 5-1.
A few minutes later a Redbridge player launched into a foul mouthed rant at the referee accusing the referee of timewasting. The foul mouth rant was heard by everyone in the ground and should have resulted in an immediate red card for the foul mouthed yob. The referee chose to ignore completely the incident…or did he?

A minute or less later the ball was played forward by Ilford and the Redbridge foul mouthed yob challenged for the ball and was penalised by the referee with a straight red card for an elbow ( allegedly). Some may think the referee had in mind the foul mouthed rant when making his decision.

This was not the ned of it, because as he walked off the pitch and along the running track, the Redbridge player resorted to a further foul mouthed rant about the referee , the decision etc. I wonder if the yob realised that his rant was directly in front of both the ESL Chairman and Secretary? Could make for an interesting hearing if he is stupid enough to appeal his card.

After this, the player went into the changing room, got changed, came back out to near the main stand where he spoke to the league chairman and sat down quietly to watch the last few minutes of the game. Technically this is not allowed as a player sent off has to remain in the changing room and can’t return to the stands. A rather silly rule it seems to me. I can’t see the harm done by the player watching the game as opposed to being detained in the changing room like a prisoner in a cell.

After 83 minutes, Redbridge were 6-1 down and a minute later it was 6-2. That was the final score.

Another entertaining game and probably the best I have seen from Ilford in many years. What a contrast to a week ago.

So, three enjoyable games in three nights and all for a total sum of less than £20. Great value for money.

That’s my lot for this week. Next week? I haven’t got as far as planning that yet, other than perhaps Barkingside on the Friday for the FA Vase tie

Glad To Be Back–Football Has Come Home

Football is back and on Wednesday night I went to watch my first competitive football match since mid March.

To be honest, it was actually the 2nd game I had seen.

Frenford 0 v 5 Coggleshall Town Pre Season Match 22 August 2020

The first was a one sided friendly game between Frenford FC and Coggleshall town FC which saw Frenford lose 5-0 to a side 2 divisions above them. That game marked the 1st game at Frenford’s redeveloped ground that admitted spectators. Even though Frenford are based in Ilford, it is the first time I have ever visited their ground. I did see them last season when they were ground sharing with Bowers & Pitsea whilst their ground was being redeveloped. Frenford have an interesting history. They started out as a boys club and now have a first team playing at step 6 of the Pyramid ( 10th Tier of English Football).

Frenford have a new 3G pitch on a ground that has apparently been turned through 90 degrees since they last played there. There are 2 seated stands there, but at present no other covered accommodation. When I went, I ended up cycling there ( not my original plan), but was allowed to take my bike into the ground and left it next to one of the stands. In the new Covid era, as well as paying, I had to give my name and phone number for contact tracing purposes. There appeared to be no refreshments in the ground, but I am not sure if you could have got them in the clubhouse. I expect this will change once the season proper starts.

As I said above, Frenford were outclassed by their visitors, but that is not surprising given their visitors are 2 levels above Frenford. There is little more to say really other than Frenford was a friendly club and one to visit again.

Ilford 1 v 3 Halstead Town FC FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round 2 September 2020

As the FA Cup is late starting this season, the FA have scrapped replays in the early rounds. This meant tonight’s tie would reach a conclusion.

After cycling to Frenford, tonight’s game was reached by pony – Shank’s Pony. Its only a mile from my home, so I walked to the game.

For probably the first time since Ilford reformed, there was a queue to get into the ground. Indeed the attendance was well over 200 compared to their normal 50 or so. There were several reasons for this, including quite a number of Halstead fans and people desperate for football after the lockdown. Indeed all the programmes had gone by the time I got there.

Into the main stand, and there were the usual groundhoppers there. It was good to catch up as I hadn’t seen them since February / early March time.

Tonight’s FA cup tie saw 9th tier Ilford hosting 10th tier Halstead. It was the first competitive game for both sides. Ilford started very strongly and hit the post in the 1st minute and were a goal ahead by the time 5 minutes had gone. It looked as though this was going to be a very one sided game. Unfortunately for Ilford, no one had told Halstead this.

After 34 minutes a blooper by the Ilford keeper allowed Halstead to score a simple goal. Its to be hoped no one recorded this incident to save the embarrassment of the keeper. Only 5 minutes later, Halstead were ahead. Could a cup shock be on the cards?

There were no more goals in the first half, but only 1 minute into the 2nd half, Halstead extended their lead and surely took the game out of Ilford’s reach.

There was no more scoring in the game and after a rather good cup tie, Halstead Town claimed victory and a place in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup. Ilford must be disappointed after letting victory be taken from them by lower ranked opposition.

Redbridge FC 2 v 2 Saffron Walden Town FC Essex Senior League 5 September 2020

Today brought lots of choice in games to watch. There were pre season doule headers at Avely and at Barking and it was also the opening round of the Essex Senior League. I only decided on which game to attend as I returned from my late morning bike ride. After a quick 36 miles, it was 13:30 and therefore time was limited as to where to go. I decided to cycle over to Redbridge for their game. Mainly because it was near and I could cycle there so didn’t need to shower and change etc before going.

Redbridge play at Oakside Stadium in Barkingside and its fair to say it has been gradually deteriorating for a number of years now, but it was convenient and a competitive game was more appealing than a pre season double header with no doubt lots of substitutions etc.

Arriving at the ground I was allowed to bring my bike inside and safely chain it up to railings near the clubhouse. Thank you Redbridge FC. I had to pass a temperature test and to scan in using the EvePass system. Interestingly, this said I was at West Essex not Redbridge. West Essex had played there on Wednesday night, so wonder if it was an old barcode. I am not sure how the system works if truth be told.

Once into the ground, the first think I noticed was the massive smartening up of the ground since my last visit. A new fence around the ground, new dug outs, the removal of the dilapidated covered stand opposite the main stand, the cleaning of the seats in the Main Stand and most significantly the work that had been done to the pitch. The ground now looks a lot more welcoming and I for one am more likely to attend at games here when it looks like this.

Saffron Walden were top of the Essex Senior League last season when the season was abandoned, so they have to be one of the favourites this season. Redbridge finished mid table last season, so it was not unreasonable to expect an away win today.

As I wandered around the ground before the game, I had a lengthy chat with the Redbridge club secretary who approached me after noticing my UK Police Unity Tour cycling shirt. It was interesting to learn of the work the club officials have put in. Many clubs have similar hard working officials who never get the credit they deserve. I think its fair to say Redbridge know where they would like to go and deserve to succeed.

The game started, and it was easy to tell that Saffron Walden possessed the more skilfull side, but the work rate of the Redbridge side was fantastic and they made life uncomfortable for Saffron Walden. Indeed, Redbridge should have taken the lead after 29 minutes when they were awarded a penalty. Sadly it was a poorly taken one and the keeper dived to his right and saved it

https://youtu.be/0xBWyo0HOwU

Six minutes later, Saffron Walden were unlucky not to take the lead when they hit the post and the ball bounced away with the keeper well beaten. Half time came with the game still scoreless. Chances at both ends in a very enjoyable first half.

Seven minutes into the second half, and somewhat against the run of play, Redbridge took the lead with a breakaway goal. A shock on the cards?

The lead did not last long and after 59 minutes, Saffron Walden were level and it was no more than they deserved.

On 72 minutes, Redbridge had the ball in the back of the net only for it to be ruled out for offside. A correct decision in my opinion.

Three minutes later and another Redbridge goal ruled out, this time for a foul and correctly so again I think.

Two disallowed goals, a missed penalty and one that counted. Redbridge could have been 4-1 up!

On 81 minutes, Redbridge went 2-1 up and it seemed there was no way back for the visitors. That was so until the 94th minute when from an attacking set piece, Saffron Walden got an equaliser.

There was a total of 8 minutes of stoppage time played, and still time for more drama with the referee threatening to abandon the game as the ball went out of the ground and all the spare balls had been used, even the visitors warm up balls had been used. Eventually a ball was found and the last 2 minutes could be played out.

Imagine a game being abandoned in stoppage time owing to no match ball!

A very enjoyable 2-2 draw was the final result and if Redbridge keep up their battling performances, they will surprise a few people this season.

The game was fantastic value for the £5 admission fee and an afternoon I thoroughly enjoyed.

However, I can’t end this match report without a couple of negative comments.

1. The foul language used by some of the players, especially the Redbridge players make it a venue I would hesitate to suggest people bring their kids. Quite gratuitous foul language is not needed, and the referee should have dealt with it.

2. At half time the haranguing of the referee by a manager / coach again was not needed and again, the referee should have dealt with it firmly and sent the person concerned off. The referee is not there to be shouted at and abused

3. The language and behaviour of some of those from Saffron Walden sitting in the seats reserved for away officials casts a bad reflection upon Saffron Walden which is a lovely club. It is something the Saffron Walden officials need to clamp down up. Sitting in the officials seats, it suggests the persons were players from the club.

however, I am not going to let these three points ruin my afternoon and I will be back at Oakside again soon to watch Redbridge