Monthly Archives: September 2009

Taking the Mick – one last time….

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A change in format this weekend….A match report first, followed by an exclusive chat with Luton Town’s Mick Harford in his last ever public interview as the Hatters Manager, the newest fan of the Blog.  And what a game it was.  Seven goals, appalling refereeing, a sending off, the first appearance of the season of the riot police, Football Jo on her best behaviour for some reason and a reality TV star…not often you can say you see all of that in 90 minutes of Indian Summer.  All that was missing was my EFW logo…Please forgive me Danny…

Cambridge United 3 Luton Town 4 – The Abbey Stadium -Saturday 26th September 2009
 

The start of the comeback

The start of the comeback

Forty three minutes into this game Liam Hatch needlessly challenged late for the ball in no-mans land near the Cambridge by line and was shown a second yellow card.  Luton were 2-0 down, playing against Cambridge and a referee who seemed to be blind to what had gone on before, and coming on the back of some important defeats on the road recently, had nearly two thousand away fans baying for blood.

The game had started well for the Hatters.  They passed the ball well, creating some early chances for Hatch and Gallen up front.  But in the twentieth minute it was the home team who took the lead against the run of play as Courtney Pitt turned in the ball from close range after Mark Beesley had squared the ball.  One became two thirteen minutes later when the referee saw a challenge in the box Anthony Tonkins that nobody else in the stadium saw and he awarded a penalty.  Liam Hatch protested too much and was booked for his haranguing of the official.  Holroyd made no mistake from the spot, and it looked all over for the visitors.  After recent away defeats at Oxford and Wrexham many of the fans had come expecting a better performance, and despite the efforts of the players, they had been done up like a kipper by the officials.  The away fans occupying the terrace along the side of the pitch let their feelings be known and some over zealous policing took a manageable situation to the brink of all out hostility.

On the other side of the pitch in the Main Stand the non-playing Luton Town players had had enough of the abuse being levelled at them, and led by Kevin Nicholls they attempted to head to the South Stand, only to be blocked by the police who insisted they went down the tunnel instead.  Harford looked in disbelief as Hatch picked up his second yellow and stayed behind on the edge of the tunnel to have “a word” with the referee, knowing that public opinion was definitely swinging against him.

What was said at half time will remain a mystery (we did ask him afterwards) but whatever it was it deserves to be up their with Al Pacino’s speech in The Whole Nine Yards. Three minutes were on the clock when the veteran Kevin Gallen turned the ball in from close range after the keeper had made a great save.  Luton went on the attack immediately afterwards, coming close to an equaliser before five second half minutes were on the clock.  They did have to wait though until the 60th minute for that.  Gallen picked up a loose ball outside the penalty area and squared it to Ross Jarvis who picked his spot and gave the Cambridge keeper no chance.  The fans went wild, quite unsure as to what they were seeing on the pitch.  The local police took the jubilation for some sort of mass violence and went into the crowd to try and remove a few of the most “boisterous” fans.  A minute later it was 3-2 to Luton as Kevin Gallen found himself one on one with the keeper, and despite his effort being saved, Jake Howells was on had to complete a remarkable recovering.  In the ensuing celebrations Howells hurt his leg and another twist to this amazing game took place as he could take no further part.

So three goals in eighteen second half minutes had left the home teams and fans stunned.  Martin Ling made a tactical change, and for the first time in the half Cambridge launched an attack against the ten men.  Two minutes after Luton had taken the lead it was 3-3 as the impressive Tyler in the Luton goal made a great save from Hatswell’s header only for Holroyd to smash the ball home form the equaliser.

Five minutes later Cambridge almost took the lead as another Tyler save rolled along the goal line just needing a touch from anyone.  The crowd were then treated to ten minutes to relative calm until the referee decided to take centre stage, awarding a penalty to Luton after some pushing and shoving in the area by Brian Saah, who in fairness had actually been booked for a similar offence a few minutes before.  Harsh, but equalling up the decision from the first half.  Up stepped Gallen and it was 4-3 to Luton.

Five minutes of injury time proved too much for many fans who could not watch, but the final whistle was greeted by jubilation from the 1,700 away fans (including Cerys Matthews from Catatonia), although the scenes of Riot Police on the field, police dogs outside the gates and a police helicopter flying overhead was hardly what you expect from Blue Square football.  Game of the season so far and a win that took Luton shooting back up the table.

The team here at The Ball is Round pride ourselves on our contacts within the game.  After a year of working with Danny Last and his magnificent Logo gallery with all of the good and famous in Non-League football, I though it was time I delivered a big fish of my own. After all it’s not what you know but what you know about someone else that you can use to your advantage that matters.  Now I am not revealing any of my sources, but when I approached Mick Harford, current manager of Luton Town and generally all round nice guy, he agreed to a chat within seconds after the game versus Cambridge United with Football Jo, Lolly and myself.

Harford build a reputation through his career as a no-nonsense type of centre forward.  Blessed with height and more than a match for most centre backs, he played for ten clubs over a career that spanned over 20 years, 600 matches and nearly 200 goals.  A goal every 3 games is a decent return in anyone’s book and coming in a time when the Premier League was at an embryonic stage and the foreign invasion had not yet started you can only wonder was he would have achieved in the modern game where training regimes would have strengthened his game, and the quality of the ball into the box would have been so much better for him to get on the end of.

He was also known as someone not to mess with.  Legend goes that when he joined Wimbledon in 1994 he was spared the usual new signing initiation ritual for the other squad members fear of reprisal – and this included a squad including shrinking violets such as Vinnie Jones, Robbie Earle and Marcus Gayle.  He stayed on at Wimbledon after his playing career ended at the grand old age of 38 and picked up his coaching badges, and working with Joe Kinnear.  When Kinnear went onto Luton a few years later Mick went with him and masterminded their promotion season in 2001/02.  Spells at Nottingham Forest, Colchester United, Rotherham United and Queens Park Rangers followed before the opportunity arose to return to Luton Town in February 2008.  He joined a club in turmoil from the previous management and coaching staff, a club destined for relegation and being investigated by the Football League for all sorts of “irregularities” he inherited.  Try as he could the club could not avoid Administration and the ten point penalty that went with it effectively ended all hope long before the final ball was kicked.

Happy with the interview

Happy with the interview

Worse was to follow in the summer when the club were hit with a massive 30 point penalty for various reasons by the Football League, including exiting Administration – which for some reason the footballing authorities deemed twice the sin as entering it in the first place.  Harford vowed the club would try to survive against all the odds, and pulled off a remarkable achievement in guiding the club to the Johnstones Paint Trophy Final at Wembley, and then beating Championship bound Scunthorpe United in extra time.  Without that penalty the club would have finished in 15th place in the division – justice? I don’t think so.

At what point last season did you realise all of your hard effort was in vain?
When I was told that we had been relegated after the match at home with Chesterfield in April.   Whilst we came away with a 0-0 draw from that game Grimsby Town’s 2-0 defeat of Notts County meant it was mathematically impossible with just four games left.

What did you say to the team when relegation was confirmed in the dressing room?
There wasn’t alot of talking going on but after a while when the players had realised the situation I said “Look at the clock and remember this time and date. This is the new beginning of Luton Town FC. Thanks for all your efforts and I’m sorry it was all in vain.”

For the final four games when you knew you were going to be playing in the Blue Square Premier, how did you motivate yourself and the team?
Motivation to go out on the field and play our best was never an issue because we are professionals and we had a responsibility to the fans and the other teams in the league who still had something to play for.

Turning the attention to this season, what will you class “success” in May?
Promotion.  Simple as that.  Getting Luton Town back into the Football League.

 

Preparing the half time rant

Preparing the half time rant

Tuesday 11th August 2009.  First home game at this level in front of an impressive 7,000+ crowd at Kenilworth Road.  Eighteen minutes on the clock and Mansfield take the lead. What went through your mind?
Here we go again! But the plan worked over the ninety minutes and a 4-1 victory was a fair reflection on the chances we created.

How much homework have you done on the division as a whole?
A lot and it’s an ongoing process.  There are quite a few teams we have never come up against and so homework is vital –  Watching games, speaking to other managers and players.  We only have one objective this season – Promotion.  That is what I will use as the yardstick for success.  In the first few weeks of the season it is obvious from the teams we have played (such as Forest Green, Gateshead, Kettering Town, etc) that they raise their game against us.  We are a big scalp for them, and for many it is their Cup Final.  The one game I am looking forward to is the one that wins us promotion.

Luton+Town+v+Scunthorpe+United+Johnstones+3VUvK3cbpY_lAfter your success in winning the JPT at Wembley Stadium last year, what about a nice cup run?
Of course I wouldn’t say know but the league is the priority.  If I had a hand in the draw I’d love to get Watford or Millwall – that would be quite an atmosphere!

 So was that final the highpoint of your career in football?
As a manager definitely.  Not many managers these days can say they have won a cup at Wembley.  I have been very fortunate to win one both as a player and a manager but the win last season was special as being a manager means you are responsible for so much more.  My highpoint as a player was my second cap for England against Denmark at Wembley in 1989.  One of the lowpoints was the moment I realised that I couldn’t carry on playing.  After Wimbledon played Aston Villa in 1998 I damaged by Achilles again and realised that I would need an operation.  At the age of 38 1/2 I felt that was a step too far.

So you played for England under the late Sir Bobby Robson.  How did you find out you had been called up into the squad?
At the time I was playing at Luton Town, and we were on a great run (it was the year that we went on to beat Arsenal at Wembley in the League Cup Final).  England had a friendly coming up away to Israel in Tel Aviv.  I found out I had been selected for the squad after the FA sent a letter to the Club, and the manager Ray Harford (no relation I should add!) called me into his office and told me.  I made my debut in the second half when I came on for Clive Allen.  The game ended up 0-0.

So some of the best moments of your career have come at Luton
Yes.  Both as a player and a manager.  And that is why it was so disappointing to be relegated last season because even with the 30 penalty point I thought we could get out of it.  I had a great time with the club as a player and settled in the area.  My son was born in Luton, I have so many friends in the area and have built a strong affiliation with the people at the club.

Who inspired you as a player, and as a manager?
I was a Sunderland fan from boyhood and was greatly inspired to become a player by Bob Stokoes team that beat the great Leeds United team in the 1973 FA Cup Final.  Brian Clough stands out as a great inspiration as a manager – he wanted his team to play good football and never wavered or compromised.

 

Lolly and big Mick

Lolly and big Mick

Looking back on your career which I believe covered nearly 600 games for 10 different clubs, what stadiums stand out?
As a player I thoroughly enjoyed playing at Wembley obviously, as well as Old Trafford.  As a manager I remember going to West Ham’s Upton Park at Christmas in 2004 when I was at Nottingham Forest and that was one of the most hostile places I had been – no Christmas cheer for us there!

Best player you played with?
Chris Waddle without a doubt!  I was a strong, abrasive and technical player, and he was cultured and skillful.  What a combination!

 So lets turn our attention to the game today.  What do you think about the events at Manchester City and Real Madrid in the past few months?
Good luck to them!  But in the longer term it will push English players further down the ladder at Manchester City and could weaken our national side.  In terms of the whole Ronaldo saga I am not sure whether they wanted the player or the brand.  Either way £80million is a hell of a lot of money to spend on one person.

Talk us through some of your matchday preparations
I have a Lucky Suit that has seen me through some good times.  After the game I will sit down and watch the video of the game, look at the components of the team and individuals and plan some ways to improve and ways to eliminate the mistakes.  I then translate these into plans for training.  Alas my knee is too sore for me to take part myself! I do make a habit of never listening to the football phone ins!

So there we have it.  Mick has promised to give us more during the season, and we wish them well and officially appoint Luton Town our “Football Friend” of the Blue Square Premier League this season, and Mick an honorary member into the TBIR Hall of Fame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Cuptastic in DK

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The FA Cup despite all the efforts of the governing body to sell the naming rights, allow the police to dictate when matches can be played and deciding to penalise fans through the pocket at the semi final stage, still has a magical image. Last month we was at Brimsdown Rovers as they played in the Preliminary Round of this year’s long road to the final in May at Wembley. It is still the one cup competition that clubs on the whole take seriously and crowds are consequently good throughout the rounds.

But overseas most cup competitions are seen as a side show to the league. In Italy, Juventus often played their games during the working day in front of crowds of less than 500, often fielding a team that would fail to make their reserve squad for a league game. In Germany, despite the changes made in making it more competitive by drawing the higher placed team away, demand rarely exceeds supply. Last week we saw at the Swedish Cup Semi-Final in Helsingborgs that the attendance of 4,000 was less than a third of the capacity of the ground for a gain against one of the biggest teams in the league and just over an hour away by train. This would be the equivalant of a crowd of 12,000 at Upton Park or 25,000 at Old Trafford.

This week was the third round of the Danish Cup – the Ekstra Bladet to give it is proper name, and the round where the Superliga teams come into the game. Again, using the German principal the higher placed teams were drawn away, meaning the likes of FCK were drawn away to Elite 3000 of Helsingor who play some four levels (which is the equivalant of Chelsea playing Averley). The game that caught my eye was FB v Vejle. why did it catch my eye? It was near Carlsberg where I had a meeting, it was on the way to the airport and of course it was another ground in Copenhagen that I had not been to.

The game had to kick off at 4.30pm at Frederiksberg stadion, a two minutes walk from the fantastically named Peter Bangs Weg, as it had no floodlights. In fact it is a big Athletics stadium with an old wooden stand on one side and a tuck shop like wooden hut on the far side. The club had allowed school children in free so the atmosphere was very Hockey International, complete with streamers and jelly and ice cream.

FB, or Frederiksberg Boldklub are nearly 100 years old and were one of the clubs that were merged to form the “super club” of FC Copenhagen back in the 1980′s. And at this point I have to admit defeat. I could not find any further information in English about them (there was very little in Danish either) so all I can say is that they played in a natty yellow and black number and were currently in the Danmarksserien Pulje 1 league along with the likes of Nexo Bornholm, GVI, Dollefjelde Musse and B1921 (not to be confused with B1903 of course).

Vejle were a Superliga club last year, losing their place in the final weeks of the season. They hail from Jutland – that bit of Denmark that is stuck on the top of Germany. They have won the league on six occasions, most notably in 1983 when they were inspired by Allan Simonsen, fresh from his stint at The Valley with Charlton Athletic. That was their last title and the highpoint since has been the opening of the Vejle Stadion.

FB 0 Vejle BK 4 – Frederiksberg IP – Wednesday 24th September 2009

I wish I had brought my coat

I wish I had brought my coat

60 Danish Kroner got me in, and 65 Danish Kroner got me a beer and I took a bench (as in a park bench) behind the goal and settled down to watch the game from a distance. And do you know, it wasn’t bad. Sure you could see the difference in league status but both teams went for it from the first whistle. Vejle played with three up front and went past the defenders at will, trying the old Sunday league tactic of trying to shoot from 30 yards to score the perfect goal. It took 14 minutes for the deadlock to be broken with the impressive Edu Silva (could be two Arsenal players!) heading in unmarked in the box.

They away team continued to pass the ball around, and somehow did not manage to score a second. However in the second half they stepped up a gear with the impressive Ibrahim Salou pulling all the strings going forward. It was 2-0 six minutes after the break after a great drive in from the edge of the box (sorry I was distracted at this point by a sausage), and a third in the 71st minute when Salou got his reward when he headed home.

One of the home fans (in a crowd of around 300) spent the whole of the second half running up and down the edge of the pitch berating the players for their lack of effort (see my Danish lessons are working) and threw his baseball cap at the dugout in disgust. The wind took said cap and it landed firmly in the back of the head of the fourth official. He looked round to see who the culprit was but our friend had been route marched out of the ground by two stewards. A fourth came in injury time when Valentino Lai scored from close range, giving the score line a fair reflection.

A very pleasant late afternoon in anyones book, and I was off to the airport, awaiting the draw for the next round, hoping to see a Bronshoj or Valby home game to tick off my final grounds in Copenhagen….Is that a bit sad? Of course not…Where there’s beer and sausages surely any man is at home!

Whoring all over the world….

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I am opening myself up for some serious abuse with my headline.  Not necessarily from fans and football commentators but from those random visitors who still visit this blog daily, looking for the “glory hole in Zurich” or “big jugs”.  I kid you not.  Tags work very well with search engines and have made CMF an almost overnight celebrity with her “jugtastic” picture (check for yourself by searching on Google for “Big Jugs” then images and low and behold on the bottom of page 2 is CMF smiling away with her two big jugs of beer in Munich’s Hofbrauhaus.

So anyway, sorry to disappoint all you mac wearers out there.  This post is not about ladies of the night, nor establishments where they reside.  This is about our good old Football Association, and their never ending quest to secure the 2018 World Cup.  Since announcing that they would bid for the 2018 (and the back up 2022), the FA, Labour government and every Tom, Dick and Harry in the public face has tried to say what a festival of football it would be if we won the bid.  Gordon Brown even said “Football would have truly come home” – quite inspirational and original.  What’s next Gordon?  I know what about D’ream’s “Things can only get better” as your election anthem next year???

I am not going into the why and wherefores of the current football administration in this country.  Ask 100 followers of the national team if they think that the FA do a good job and have the best interests of the fans at heart and you would be hard pressed to find more than 10.  The poor PR they got in Germany 2006 was all too obvious, and testament to the corporate baggage the organisation now carries.  The term “Football Family” has now been added to Wives And Girlfriends as terms to describe those individuals who never have to worry about a seat at an international, whilst thousands of true fans spend ridiculous sums of money to follow the team.

In November 2007, defeat on a farce of a pitch at Wembley (due to said FA allowing American Football to be played on the surface for astronomical sums of money I would guess) to Croatia meant England would not be playing in Euro2008.  After a qualifying campaign that had seen the fans follow the team to Barcelona (for the game versus Andorra), Zagreb, Tallinn, Moscow and Tel Aviv.  Five new venues for the fans to go to.  With the exception of Barcelona all venues were hardly easy to reach.  Tallinn had just two flights (i.e 300 seats) a day from UK.  Moscow ran out of hotel rooms and then hiked the price of a visa to astronomical levels.  And Tel Aviv was a 5 hour flight away – hardly easy to do a day trip to, but some of us paid well over £350 for such a privilege.  After the McClown disaster the FA failed once to publically thank the fans or apologise for some of the gutless performances.  A friendly in Paris in March 2008 was attended by a huge away following and it was here that rumours started to circulate that we would be playing a friendly in Trinidad and Tobago at the end of the season.

The end of the season.  Premier League manages have been complaining for season for the need to give their best players a rest, so after a long a gruelling campaign the last thing they would have wanted was for their England Internationals to be shipped thousands of miles across the Atlantic for a meaningless friendly, played on a dodgy pitch in conditions that were hardly conducive to the recovery of their stars.  The like loyals fans, their opinion counted for nothing.

So why Trinidad & Tobago in the first place? Perhaps a reward for the fans to go somewhere that could be combined with a holiday? At over £1,000 for a few days it could hardly be seen as a bargain, or a trip that many would make (in the end around 300 made the trip).  With the World Cup two years away fans were obviously trying to obtain as many caps as they could (caps were essentially points given to fans for games they can prove they attend.  1 for a home game and 2 for an away one) to be secure in successfully applying for tickets for South Africa.  But at what cost?  Another £1,000 on the back of £500 (minimum ) in Tel Aviv plus another £1,500 minimum for the other games adds up to a fair chunk of cash for most.  Some took it as a chance to go on a family holiday, using the half term break to head for the Caribbean paradise.  Well not quite!. Saying Trinidad has a crime problem is a bit of an understatement.  Violent crimes have been on the rise over the past decade, and murder has increased five fold in the last nine years (source: TTcrime.com) to 550 reported cases in 2008, from a population of 1.2m.  Human rights have also been under the microscope in the past.  Hardly the island paradise the brochures would have you believe.

Shaka defends his goal stoutlySo why play there at all? Well, in the world of influence in football, the island of Trinidad plays a massive part.  One of their executive members of the football board is none other that Jack Warner.  Warner not only owns Trinidad’s best known football club, Joe Public FC and is not only a member of the parliament on the island but more importantly is the Vice-President of FIFA.  And being so influential in footballing terms, the controversy is never far behind.  After Trinidad & Tobago qualified for the 2006 World Cup Finals, Warner, through one of his associated companies, announced that only packages booked through them would be entitled to a ticket.  It was later proved that this was in breach of FIFA regulations, and despite Warner holding such a senior position he was not held totally accountable despite the levying of a $1m fine (of with only a fraction has ever been paid (source: Daily Mail’s Andrew Jennings).  With Warner controlling a sixth of the voting power for the Presidency of FIFA it is hardly surprising that Blatter forgot to send the reminder letters on this one (for more details of this story, click here).  There was also controversy concerning the bonus payments due to the squad in Germany.

But the proof of the changing face of Warner was seen in August 2007.   In an interview with the BBC (here) Warner responded to England’s formal bid for the 2018 event by saying he wanted to stage the event himself within CONCAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean).  He went on to attack English football and the FA:-

“Nobody in Europe likes England.  England invented the sport but has never made any impact on world football.  If the World Cup were to go to Europe (in 2018) I’m quite sure with the English luck as it is they won’t get it.  It will be Italy, Spain or even France who will get the World Cup if it goes to Europe”

Well thanks Jack.  Ignoring the fact of the FA work in the region which had seen the FA set up football workshops for coaches and young players alike, including three on the island of Trinidad itself.  So what a Valentine’s Day treat the FA had when a card with a lovely heart on the front arrived at Soho Square with a Trinidad stamp on it (not really) with an invitation to come and play in a game to mark the centenary of the T & T football association.  With Warner controlling 3 of the 24 votes that would be made for the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 the FA agree, subject to Warner apologising.  We can only assume this was done under his breath as it has never been stated publically, but Capello (reluctantly) took a squad out there in late May 2008 for the game.  Of course it was sold out, with locals being charged ridiculous prices for the match (and guess where all of that cash went???).  The “England” team on that day included such stars as Dean Ashton, uncapped and unheard of Peterborough United keeper Joe Lewis, David Wheater and Stephen Warnock – all players who have not appeared in a squad since.  Granted senior players like Beckham, Gerrard and Ferdinand played but the game was meaningless, placed at a pace as if it was an end of season friendly in high humidity – oh it was!  The FA were quick to say it was nothing to do with votes, or cash but a chance to say thank you to an important member of the Commonwealth.

Fast forward 18 months and England have just qualified with ease for South Africa.  Eight wins out of eight in qualifying had put them in the finals.  The fans had followed the team loyally into the unknown once again.  Barcelona (Andorra) and Zagreb were old hat to us know, but Minsk and Almaty were challenges, and expensive ones at that.  Kazakhstan is a 8 hour flight from London, five time zones away and in the foothills of the Himalayas but almost a year to the day that the fans arrived in Trinidad, they were filling the bars of Almaty, prepared to spend well over a thousand pounds following England.  Whilst the vast majority had enough caps for any venue in 2010, the issue is that at the end of each “campaign”, in this case 30th July 2010, all caps from games attended in the previous period are wiped off.  So in this case the trips to Tel Aviv, Zagreb and Barcelona (1st time), Moscow and Tallinn would disappear.  And so with the next qualifying tournament due to start in September 2010 and a real possibility of venues such as Tallinn where England were given less than 1,000 tickets, fans still needed to spend and attend as many games as they could.

The FA announced an August friendly away in Amsterdam – an easy 2 caps for anyone who wanted to attend, followed by a home friendly with Slovenia which served no purpose to anyone so early on in the new season. Ukraine away was more problematic as the logical (and easy to get to) destination of Kiev was not possible due to the renovation work being carried out to the Olympic Stadium (which was a real shame as it is the only stadium in the top 50 biggest list in Europe I have not been to).  Eventually the Ukranian’s announced it would be in Dnipropetrovsk, or Dnipro for short, Ukraine’s third largest city and home to the Dnipro Arena, a smart modern 31,000 stadium.  But again, getting there was a massive issue.  Few airlines flew direct to Dnipro and so fans would have to rely on charter travel or face gruelling 20 hour + train journeys from Kiev.  Our official travel partner wanted to charge £569 per person for this one.  Again, astonishing considering the economy we are in at the moment.

A few days after the game was announced, rumours began to circulate that England would also travel to Qatar to play Brazil in November.  As long as the team got the one point needed from the final three games we would not need a playoff and so the weekend reserved for one of these games in November was “free”.  Not shy at trying to fill the Premier League players calendars with as much football as possible (before blaming tiredness I am sure as a reason why we will fail next summer in South Africa) they looked around for a game.  Brazil, with their global deal with Nike, had been hostage to fortune for years, being hawked around the world to play in strange games, such as playing Wales at Tottenham’s White Hart Lane a few years ago, and Italy at the Emirates as recently as February this year. Part of their deal with Nike meant that they had to be open to these games, but with most of their squad based in Europe it was never a major issue.  Somehow the idea of a game in Qatar came up.

England v Brazil

England v Brazil

On the 10th July Qatar Football Association secretary, Saud Al Mohannadi, announced England would play Brazil in Doha, with the game being arranged by Al-Jazeera TV channel.  The FA of course said absolutely nothing.  All of the main media outlets picked up on the story, asking the same questions but nobody would say anything.  Eventually, nearly ten weeks later the officially announced the game in Qatar, saying this was part of our “contractual obligation” with the Brazilian FA after they played at Wembley in May 2007.

So why Qatar?  Well it’s hot that is for sure but the original reason of “acclimatization” hardly washes.  The temperatures and altitude are nothing like winter in  South Africa, and with eight months to the tournament it was also very premature.  It’s somewhere where England have never played, granted.  But the fact overlooked by most casual observers is that it is home to Mohammed Bin Hammam, President of the AFC Confederation and strongly tipped to be the man to take over Blatter’s crown.  He also controls the whole confederations votes for the World Cup , another four votes.  With Warner’s three votes in theory secured, and with four more here plus the fact England has one vote on the committee as it is (Geoff Thompson), that mean that the FA only had to get five more to secure the games.  Obviously there was some “you scratch my back” tactics here as well.  Qatar themselves had put in a bid to host toe 2022 competition and this too would be decided in December 2010 and so they wanted the support of the biggest nations in football (two of which are Brazil and England).  Simple really.  They are also keen to showcase their infrastructure.  Doha is a city similar to Dubai with thousands of dollars of investment pouring in every hour, and swish buildings going up on a monthly basis.  The city hosted the 2006 Asian Games, and will also host the 2011 AFC Cup.  The main stadium, and one that would host this absurd game is the Khalifa International Stadium, a 50,000 modern stadium with an arch not too dissimilar to Wembley’s.

So in summary, we are planning on playing one of the world’s best team which is a good idea.  But why Doha?  Why not Wembley?  Because it is all about the votes.  It is all about hosting the 2018 World Cup.  And what will be the overwhelming reason for this?  It certainly will not be inclusion.  Ticket prices will undoubtably be the most expensive on average in all of the World Cup Finals.  And where will this cash flow to afterwards?  I doubt that grass roots football will see any improvement – in fact since we hosted the very successful 1996 European Championships, the facilities available to grassroots football have diminished across England, with land being sold off by local authorities for housing and retail development.

The definition of a whore is someone who is willing to sell themselves for money or favours irrespective of location (sort of).  How is the stance of playing in the likes of Doha and Trinidad & Tobago in return for securing World Cup votes any different ? Between now and 2010 there are friendly windows in February, March, May and August 2010.  So where could they play?  Well a look at the Executive committee structure may give you a clue.  This committee of twenty four (General Secretary does not carry a vote of the group) is split as follows:-

  • AFC (Asian Confederation) - 4 members (South Korea, Qatar, Japan, Thailand)
  • CAF (Confederation of African Football) - 4 members (Egypt, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon)
  • CONCACAF(North, Central America and Caribbean) – 3 members ( T & T, Guatemala and USA)
  • CONMEBOL (South America) – 3 members (Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil)
  • OFC (Oceania) - 1 member (The hotbed of football that is Tahiti)
  • UEFA (Europe) – 9 members (England, France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Cyprus, Russia, Turkey and Blatter’s Swiss vote)

So have a guess?  My opinion is England v Australia in Tahiti, and England v Egypt in Cairo? Answers on a postcard please.

Go on the Fleet!

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This week we turn our attentions to my home town, Gravesend and get an update on how Ebbsfleet are doing from our resident Man of Kent, Glenn Bowie.

So Glenn, nearly a quarter of the season gone, how has the season gone so far for The Fleet?
Not the greatest of starts to be honest with only one win and five draws from our first eleven games. This leaves us sitting just 2 points above the relegation places. Almost the entire first team squad was released last season so it’s nearly a completely new team. However, the team is now starting to gel and we have moved out of the bottom four relegation places so we’re moving in the right direction.

Still Gravesend & Northfleet to me

Still Gravesend & Northfleet to me

What is the situation with Myfootballclub? Last season was the vote to determine whether they would still continue to invest – what happened in the end?
The Myfootball club membership renewal figures reduced from something like 30,000 to 9,000 which really hit us hard in terms of the playing budget for this season. We had to release the majority of last season’s first team squad and had to put a new team together, basically made up of pre-season trialists who had been released by League clubs. It does seem that the 9,000 members that are left in the venture are in it for the long-term and continue to support The Fleet. So for the foreseeable future, Myfc are here to stay.

The club has attracted some big name sponsorship – a kit supplied by Nike and sponsored by Eurostar. Has that given the club a boost?
We attracted alot of big sponsorship deals when the Myfc deal was announced and in addition to Eurostar & Nike we had EA Sports sponsoring the back of our shirts as well. The Nike deal has now ended but we have secured a deal with Vandanel for this season. The Eurostar sponsorship continues which if I’m right is up for renewal at the end of next season.

What’s the best team you’ve seen Ebbsfleet play this season?
So far I’d say Cambridge United. Although we produced a great first half display against them, they really stepped up a gear in the second half and were far too quick and clinical for us on the break and we ended up losing 3-1.

What have the home crowd been like at Stonebridge Road this season?
Given that we haven’t seen the team win at home so far this season, (our only win came away at Eastbourne Borough), the crowd have pretty much backed the team. The performances have been good but we have struggled to score goals. We’ve pretty much matched the teams we have played and really should of had wins instead of draws against Rushden & Diamonds and AFC Wimbledon.

Liam Daish was rumoured to be off to Cambridge a few weeks ago, how did the fans react to that?
With the very minimal finances he is having to work with the season and having to rebuild the team from scratch alot of fans were of the feeling that they wouldn’t blame him if he went. It would have been an offer I don’t think he would of turned down and there was a rumour that he did in fact have an interview for the post before it was offered to Martin Ling.

Almost a second

Almost a second

Do you agree that the Blue Square Premier is an unfair playing field due to the structure of promotion/relegation from the football league? Luton Town, Wrexham, Cambridge United and Oxford United all attract crowds on a par with League Two (and One in some instances) clubs, yet others such as Hayes & Yeading and Gateshead barely get 400 people. Is that right?
I love it when the so-called big ex-League clubs come down to the Blue Square Premier as the majority of their fans have the arrogance that they shouldn’t be here, etc, etc. The majority of the teams that come down don’t usually go straight back up which gives an indication that the Blue Square Premier is a good League. The away following of the ex-league clubs does help the smaller clubs in terms of finances when they visit. We usually get between 900-1,000 but this usually increases to 1,500-2,000 when an ex-League club comes visiting.

What are the best expectations for the season?
Realistically it’s still got to be to finish just above the bottom 4. With the announcement that we have purchased our Ground last week (see here for details), this should give us something to build on for the future of the club and help us achieve our aim of getting into the football league in a few years time…..hopefully!

You can sign one player on a free – who would it be?
Thierry Henry. I’ve had the pleasure to watch, live, many great footballers around the world but he’s one of the best I’ve seen. Maybe more on our level, I would always welcome back Charlie MacDonald from Brentford. Whilst only having Charlie with us for a couple of seasons, he was without doubt a class goalscorer and probably the best finisher in I’ve seen in a Fleet shirt since the great days of our all-time leading goalscorer, Mr Stevie Portway.

Thanks Glenn for the update.  We will be down to Stonebridge Road later in the season for the game versus Luton Town in March next year.  For details of our previous trip, have a read of the post here.

An ‘Appy ‘Ammer?

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So five weeks after the start of the 2009/10 Premier League season I had the chance to see my first Hammers game.  ”Unloyal supporter” some of you may chant, but during that period where I had actually seen ten games around Europe West Ham have only played at home in the Premier League once!  The game versus Spurs which was moved due to TV clashed with my flights over to Denmark so I had to miss the game (and the Millwall riot too) against our bitter rivals.  In that five weeks we had played away on three occasions, and had three international games – brilliant scheduling….and talking of scheduling lets give Transport for London three cheers for chosing this Saturday to do engineering works on the two lines that run to Upton Park and thus no tubes would run close to the ground.  Their advice was comprehensive – train to Barking or Forest Gate and then either a 45 minute walk (but they would be putting up extra signs for us bless) or local buses – now they would be run to get on after the game!

Lolly and I had been handed a Danny Last Golden Ticket (see his blog for some examples of how he manages to sneak a game in at every opportunity).  The West Ham game was not due to start until 5.30pm with Liverpool (TV again!) so we had a chance to get in a 3pm local game….Littlest Fuller was off to Rainbow Roundup at a local E-Coli(we hope) free petting farm, which meant CMF had the day to herself and was treating herself to a day at Ikea.  So out  came the Famous Fuller Crystal Ball….tempting was the return of the legend that is Julian Dicks at Grays Athletic but I fancied continuing my run of Blue Square South games, and so the mist cleared and we saw Bishops Stortford.  Just up M11, only 20 miles and (in theory) 25 minutes from Upton Park, we would have time to see 75 minutes or so of their game with Dorchester Town before heading south.

I was keen on this one as goals had certainly been on the agenda at Woodside Park recently – twelve in the past three games including the 5-1 defeat to Bath City.  They also had Charlie Sheringham, son of Teddy, leading the line, and he was the leading scorer in the Blue Square South with nine goals so far, including five against Weymouth and a hatrick away at Hampton & Richmond.  In keeping with the theme of the day, Woodside Park is also the venue of West Ham United’s reserve team this season.

Now there’s an interesting topic.  Reserve team football.  West Ham had certainly shared around these games in the past using Leyton Orient’s Matchroom stadium, Southend’s Roots Hall, Dagenham & Redbridge’s Victoria Road and Grays Athletic in the past.  This season, with more emphasis being put onto the Premier Reserve League the club had done a deal to play in Hertfordshire.  Crowds rarely reach three figures despite the quality of some of the players on show.  West Ham’s first reserve home game this season, the 6-0 demolition of Birmingham City (at Upton Park) had seen new signings Alessando Diamanti, Manuel Da Costa and Franck Nouble, returning from injury Valon Behrami  plus promising youngsters Josh Payne, Zavron Hines and Anthony Edgar…oh and Nigel Quashie!

So anyway, back to Bishops Stortford.  The neat little Woodside Park stadium (capacity 4,000) sits almost at the end of Stansted Airport’s runway, separated by a golf course and the M11.  It is one of the simplest grounds at this level to find – turn left at junction 8 of the M11, past Welcome Break and take 1st right and there you are.  What else can I tell you about the club?  Members of the Blue Square South since 2004, and almost reaching the Premier in 2007 but lost in the play offs to Salisbury City.  Average crowd of around 4,000 and local rivals are Braintree who are a dozen miles straight down the A120.  Last season they finished in 9th place and Lewis Smith was top scorer with 12 goals, only 3 more than young Mr Sheringham has already!  Two other notable facts for you….

1. Bishops Stortford played the last “association football league” match of the 20th century when on the 30th December 1999 they beat Chertsey Town 5-3.

2. The club were the last winners of the FA Amateur Cup, joining such esteemed yet now unknown clubs such as Old Carthusians, South Bank, Crook Town, London Caledonians and Middlesborough, in 1974 at Wembley Stadium when they beat Ilford 4-1.  After the game the FA decided that the term “amateur” no longer applied to football and took away the trophy in a paddy.

Dorchester Town were the opposition for this one, themselves floating around the bottom of the table, and arriving with five defeats in a row on the road, shipping in sixteen goals in the process.  So two teams that liked to concede goals – surely this had a nil nil draw written all over it!

Bishops Stortford Dorchester Town – Woodside Park – Saturday 19th September 2009

What's not to like about non League football?

What's not to like about non League football?

Another easy journey saw us park up in the car park within 45 minutes of leaving home.  A bargain £10 for the two of us, £2 for a programme, £3.60 for two Hot Dogs, £4.00 for a couple of drinks and our customary golden goal tickets (17 and 62 today) beats our £20 budget from last week’s game, again underlining the difference in value in watching football a few divisions lower than the Premier.  The only disappointing element for the club must be the attendance – 401, including a visit from Sir Edward of Sheringham, there to see his Charlie (not the same Charlie that everyone seems to be looking for in Amsterdam).

It’s a nice neat stadium, perfect for football at this level.  The club have those pop up sprinklers which before the game liberally watered the grass.  A great idea, but in this case they seemed to spray water over the terraces rather than the goal mouth.  That’s fine for those fans in the know, but for fans on their first visit who are busy having a beer and reading the programme it is not so good as I got soaked, much to the amusement of the few fans who were around me (including Lolly).

Stortford always looked like the form team.  Brayley and Sheringham created early chances before the latter smashed the ball home from 10 yards after an excellent knock down.  They then looked to double the lead with the lively Ashley Nicholls creating chances for Bowditch and Sheringham.  1-0 wasn’t a fair reflection on the game but at the end of the day 3 points were the main objective.

The second half started slowly, with most of the ball failing to leave the midfield.  Dorchester started to come back into the game and they were unlucky not to equalise when a Bishop’s Stortford defender nearly diverted a cross into his own net.  The game was competitive but never malicious so it was amazing that the referee decided to send off Dorchester’s Vickers after a mild disagreement with a Stortford player in the penalty area after a free kick had been awarded.  One can only think it was for foul and abusive language because most fans could see no other reason.

The second goal for Stortford sealed the match and caused us to run back (well stride) into the ground as we were leaving, when substitute Duane Jackman followed in a loose ball in the penalty area.  So 2-0, a third consecutive win for the Blues and we were on our way south.  Fifty minutes later as “bubbles” starting drifting across the pitch at Upton Park we were in our seats.

1-1

1-1

I am not going to subject you, dear reader, to a biased report on how wonderful and unlucky the Hammers were against Liverpool.  It was just nice being able to say this far into the season that I had at last seen them play at home.  For once the atmosphere was spot on and nobody could fault the effort of any of the players in the 3-2 defeat.  Instead let me introduce you to a new feature, related to West Ham of course…..It’s called “‘Appy ‘Arry and his Wheeler Dealings” where each week we will take a look at one of Redknapps classic bits of business.  You may remember a few weeks ago we mentioned the Titi Camara deal (see here for more details) which was a classic bit of Harry business.  This week it is the turn of Gary Charles.

Charles was a promising pacy right back who won two caps for England whilst he was at Nottingham Forest.  He then sealed a big money move firstly to Derby County, then Aston Villa.  He was then signed by Graeme Souness in his bizarre “lets sign as many crap players as possible” phase at Benfica where he played a grand total of four games in a team featuring Mark Pembridge, Scott Minto, Michael Thomas and Dean Saunders – oh how those Benfica fans must have laughed!  Quite what Redknapp saw in him is a mystery but he splashed out £1.2million for him in 1999 (It is unclear if he was represented by a certain Mr McKay).   Over the course of the next three years he played a grand total of 5 games for the Hammers.  When asked by Chairman Terry Brown why he was never picked, Redknapp said he was slow and useless and “what do you expect for £1.2m”.   Charles battled with Alcoholism towards the end of his spell with West Ham and never played professional football again.  Nice one ‘Arry.

Next Week – Javier Margas

About Woodside Park
Bishop’s Stortford F.C play their home games at the 4000 capacity Woodside Park which was opened with a game against Norwich City in 1999. The grandstand is covered and all seated with the addition of press facilities and directors box. There is a paddock at either end of the stand with refreshment/wc facilities. Both terraces behind the goals are standing only and are covered. The far side terrace is uncovered. Turnstiles are located at both the town and airport ends of the ground. Access to the club bar is direct from the ground and located off the paddock at the town end. Programmes are available just inside both sets of turnstiles and from the club bar.  On the far side, there is a smaller seated stand with a capacity of 200 which was erected during the 2006/2007 season to bring the ground to the minimal League standard.

How to get to Woodside Park
One of the easiest grounds to find as it is just 3 minutes from the motorway. Exit M11 at Junction 8 for Bishop’s Stortford and Services NOT the Airport! On the M11 roundabout take 2nd exit (1st exit is for the services only). Within 200yds is another roundabout. Take 1st exit. After about 400yds take first right (opposite the golf club) into Industrial Estate and follow the road around to your right. The ground and car park are straight ahead.

The nearest station is Bishops Stortford which is on the Liverpool Street to Cambridge line. Fast & frequent services and some Stansted Express trains stop at Stortford station and the journey time is between 35 and 47 minutes (fast or all-stops trains). The ground is a good 20 minute walk from the station, but there is a taxi-rank immediately outside the booking office.

How to get a ticket for Woodside Park
With average crowds just less than a 10th of the capacity turning up a few minutes to kick off is not a problem for league matches.  Admission is £10 for adults, £4 for under 16′s and Lolly sized people are free.